MLP EG Forever

Chapters

Chapter 2: Meet the Gang
Chapter 3: Dinner for Two
Chapter 4: Leftovers and Movies
Chapter 5: Photograph
Chapter 6: The Beach
Chapter 7: Pizza
Chapter 9: The Talk
Chapter 10: Monday
*Chapter 11: Tuesday Morning
*Chapter 12: Tuesday Afternoon
Chapter 13: Wednesday
*Chapter 14: Wednesday Evening
*Chapter 15: Thursday
Chapter 16: Friday
Chapter 17: Saturday
Chapter 18: The Call
Chapter 19: Stories n' Stogies
Chapter 20: Stories n' Wings
Chapter 21: Guess what, Rarity?
*Chapter 22: Doing My Worst
Chapter 23: The Bar
Chapter 24: River Field
*Chapter 26: Unexpected Guest
Chapter 27: Unwelcome Guest
Chapter 28: At the Farm
Chapter 30: Payback
*Chapter 31: Fluttershy and Rarity
Chapter 32: Homecoming
*Chapter 33: Doing Sunset a Favour
Chapter 34: Nachos!
Chapter 35: Dinner at Pinkie's
Chapter 37: The Fundraiser
*Chapter 38: You Want WHAT?
Chapter 39: Return To Canterlot High
Chapter 40: Hangin' Out at the Sweet Shoppe
Chapter 41: The Saviour
Chapter 42: Aftermath
*Chapter 43: In the Dark
*Chapter 44: The Next Day
*Chapter 45: Sunset's Confession
Chapter 46: Alarm
Chapter 47: The Return of Cody
Chapter 48: The Search
Chapter 49: Makeover!
Chapter 51: The Cell
*Chapter 52: Washington DC
Chapter 53: The Great Carousel Robbery
Chapter 54: The Plan
Chapter 55: PARIBT!
*Chapter 56: Sunset's Mission
Chapter 57: I'll Get Even
*Chapter 58: The 'Fallout'
Chapter 59: The Tests
Chapter 60: Lyra and Bonbon's WACKY Night Out!
Chapter 61: Back to Basics
Chapter 62: The Tour
*Chapter 63: Mission Hiatus
Chapter 64: Girls Night Out
Chapter 65: Nachos 2.0
Chapter 66: Die, Die, Die, My Darling
Chapter 67: Ingram and FS1
Chapter 68: The Wrath of Fluttershy - Part 1
Chapter 69: The Wrath of Fluttershy - Part 2
*Chapter 70: 32.92 North by 106.16 West
Chapter 71: The Road
Chapter 72: The Return to Canada
*Chapter 73: Clean Body; Dirty Mind
Chpater 74: The Sweet Shoppe
Chapter 75: Return to Grace
*Chapter 77: It's Gonna Be A Long Night - Part 2
*Chapter 78: It's Gonna Be A Long Night - Part 3
*Chapter 79: It's Gonna Be A Long Night - Part 4
Chapter 80: Back in the Hot Tub
*Chapter 81: Home At Last
*Chapter 82: A Conversation With Pinkie Pie
Chapter 83: The Sleepover - Part 1
Chapter 84: The Sleepover - Part 2
Chapter 85: The Sleepover - Part 3
*Chapter 86: A Walk in the Woods With Sunset
Chapter 87: Morning
*Chapter 88: Running With Scissors
Chapter 89: An Awkward Breakfast
*Chapter 90: Best. Week. Ever.
Chapter 91: A Day With Applejack
*Chapter 92: Cleaning Up For Dinner
Chapter 93: Dinner Revelations
Chapter 95: Everyone Needs Help Sometimes
Chapter 96:Things To Do
*Chapter 97: Taking Care of Business
Chapter 98: Special Delivery!
Chapter 99: Catching Up
*Chapter 101: A Night at RAD’s
Chapter 102: Workin' at the Boutique
*Chapter 103: A Night on the Town
Chapter 104: Know Thine Enemy
*Chapter 105: The New Girl
*Chapter 106: The Dawn of a New Friendship
Chapter 107: Riverfield Revelations
*Chapter 108: Musical Reminiscence
Chapter 109: Golds' Custom Garage
*Chapter 110: Twilight Sparkle Gets Railed on the Hood of a 1981 Dodge Diplomat
*Chapter 111: Twilight Sparkle Gets Railed on the Hood of a 1981 Dodge Diplomat... AGAIN!
Chapter 112: The Return of the Rainbooms
Chapter 113: A Diplomatic Mission
Chapter 114: Happy Holidays!
Chapter 115: Rainbow Dash’s Plight
*Chapter116: To Save A Friend
Chapter 117: Winter Blues
*Chapter 119: There is No Sex in The Champagne Room (Usually)
Chapter 120: A New Day
*Chapter 121: Sunset Gone Wild
*Chapter 122: Tying Loose Ends
Chapter 123: Maud
Chapter 124: The Search Begins
*Chapter 125: Not Enough, Yet Too Much
Chapter 126: Discovery
Chapter 127: I Can't Drive 55
Chapter 128: A Lucky Catch
*Chapter 129: Literally Smells Fishy
Chapter 130: Follow the Names
Chapter 131: What Happened at the Wheels N' Pipes Bar and Billiard Hall?
*Chapter 132: On the Eve of Retribution
Chapter 133: Got One Chance, INFILTRATE THEM!
Chapter 134: Get It Right, PERMEATE THEM!
Chapter 135: Break Their Pride, DEVASTATE THEM!
Chapter 136: Take No Prisoners, CREMATE THEM!
Chapter 138: It's the Canterlot Movie Club!
Chapter 139: A Taste of Humble Pie
Chapter 140: Moving On
Chapter 141: You Can't Run
*Chapter 142: Starship Troopers
*Chapter 143: Another Conversation With Pinkie Pie
*Chapter 144: A Sweet Piece of Pie
Chapter 145: It Is Done
Chapter 146: Fuck Around and Find Out
Chapter 147: The Ministry Explained
Chapter 148: Pinkie's First Training Night
*Chapter 149: Taste the Rainbow
Chapter 150: Conflict Then, Conflict Now
Chapter 151: Dealing With the Blaze
Chapter 152: A Common Enemy
Chapter 153: Operation: Distract
Chapter 154: Storming the Castle
Chapter 156: Adagio
Chapter 158: A Rather Important Meeting
*Chapter 159: Battle of the Bands 2.0
BONUS
Chapter 1: Car Trouble
Chapter 8: Who Are You?
*Chapter 25: Lights Out at Carousel Boutique
Chapter 29: Fluttershy's Reveal
*Chapter 36: Just the Three of Us
Chapter 50: And The Road Becomes My Bride
*Chapter 76: It's Gonna Be A Long Night - Part 1
Chapter 94: Back to the Grind
Chapter 100: An Interesting Dinner
The 118th Chapter Spectacular: A Date With the Princess
*Chapter 137: Meet Me In the Kitchen, Darling
Chapter 155: Sleep With the Devil and then You Must Pay
Chapter 157: The Great Escape

Chapter 2: Meet the Gang

Chapter 2

After about twenty-five minutes or so, Rarity’s car pulled into an obscure dirt driveway on the right side of the road. The driveway was narrow, but long, and the cottage didn’t come into view until after a wide, left-hand bend, which was lined with trees on both sides. There were three other vehicles there; a car, a small SUV and an old, beat up Ford pickup.

I pulled up and parked to the side to avoid blocking any of them in since there was lots of clear space around the house to park.

It was actually a nice, quiet and fairly isolated spot to live.

I watched Rarity and Rainbow Dash get out of the car, talking loudly back and forth with each other. Rarity was speaking in that high, mildly irritated tone again and Dash was having yet another hearty laugh at her expense, making me think this was simply a dynamic of their relationship. Apparently, Rarity was a bit of a drama queen, and Dash knew this, so her modus operandi was get under the fashionista's skin any chance she could, which I guess must have meant that Dash was a bit of a dick.

I liked it.

“What a pair those two are,” I thought, grinning at the Rainbow-haired girl's antics.

Dash ran into the house and began talking immediately, followed by the sound of multiple voices ringing out in reply. I noticed Rarity waiting for me by her car, so I walked over to join her, and then she turned and walked with me to the door.

The house -- or cabin, to be more accurate -- was quite rustic. The front door was made of heavy wood, as were all the trim and accents on the outside of the house.

Rarity turned to me with a smile, noticing that I must have looked a bit nervous as she opened the door, saying: “Not to worry, you’re going to love my friends, darling.”

As the door swung open I could see a very large, heavy wooden table on the right side of the room, just inside the door. It looked to be a permanent fixture, due to it’s immense size and probable weight; appearing to be made from a large tree trunk sawed in half down the middle, made evident by the rounded bottom that still had bark on it, which was coated in a clear, shiny layer of varnish, with the top finished to a very smooth, glossy surface. Naturally, the lines from the tree rings running the length of the tabletop drew my attention, how they seemed to be deliberately punctuated by random, yet impeccably-placed knot holes and varnish-filled cracks. I couldn't help but wonder where that particular tree had grown, and how long it stood there before it became the massive, yet beautiful piece of furniture that had now taken its permanent residence in this lovely little house.

To the right of the table was a narrow space to walk, beyond which sat a counter that stretched the length of the right hand wall with a sink, stove, and a fridge in the corner, directly to my right. Straight ahead, past the table, was a large, brown sectional sofa that faced the opposite direction. There was a big flat screen TV mounted on the wall, which was turned on, but ignored; displaying the menu for a Nintendo Wii, quietly chiming away in a feeble attempt to draw the attention of the group of young women in the room. Lining the left wall was a series of shelves, shoe-racks and empty animal cages. On the right, past the end of the counter was the entrance to a hall, which I presumed led to the bedrooms and bathroom.

The smell was nice. It was very rustic, with a hint of smoke, like there had been a woodstove in there at one time, although I couldn’t see one in there now. The comforting aroma seemed to combine perfectly with the lovely smell of cooking in the air; whatever they had prepared for their little dinner must have been quite delicious.

There were two women seated at the far end of the table.

One of them had light pink skin and a big poof of wild, curly pink hair. She seemed to have ants-in-her-pants, perpetually bouncing on her chair as she conversed with Rainbow Dash, her words rapid and high pitched; a bit like Dash’s voice, although Dash had more of a raspy, crackle in her tone, with a much more relaxed pacing. The pink girl was wearing a small, white top with a heart on the front under a small blue jacket, below which she had a pink skirt on.

Her figure was chubbier then the others, with fuller curves and very large breasts. I found it nearly impossible to peel my eyes from them as they bounced up and down continuously, jiggling along with her non-stop hyperactivity. She had curvy hips, and proudly showed-off her love-handles, which shamelessly protruded from the bottom of her shirt.

The other girl was wearing a dusty, brown Stetson hat, which had a thick, blonde pigtail hanging out the back. She was wearing a white button-up shirt with green shoulders, accompanied by a worn-out looking jean skirt that covered her thighs to just above her knees. Just as I looked at her, she turned to look at me with her tanned, freckled face; her green eyes meeting mine as she stood and walked towards me to introduce herself.

Rainbow Dash was standing at the end of the table, talking to the pink girl as the farm girl approached me.

“Hey there, partner,” she greeted, holding her hand out for a shake, “I hear my friends were in a bit of a pickle with the car.”

I shook her hand, noticing very quickly that she was surprisingly strong, not to mention tall, putting her eyes level with mine as she matched my six foot height, and she had some real muscle on her. While Dash’s build was quite muscular, she much more spritely and athletic looking; this girl was built like a brick shithouse.

“Oh…yeah, I saw them stopped on the shoulder, so I pulled over to see what was up,” I said, putting my hands in my pockets, suddenly realising I was still wearing my dirty work clothes.

“Rainbow says you spent yer afternoon goin to get some parts and then puttin them on fer Rarity. I thank ya kindly for that, sugarcube. We were friggin starvin here, waiting fer them,” she said with a friendly chuckle.

“Oh?” I replied, “I thought Rarity said it was an early dinner. Didn’t you guys eat?”

“Nah, we kept the grub hot and decided to wait for Rarity and Rainbow to get here. There’s lots extra though, so yer welcome to dig in!”

I nodded. “Oh, Yeah. OK. I appreciate that.” I smiled at her.

A dainty white hand came to rest my shoulder, followed by the sound of Rarity’s voice next to me. “No, I appreciate it, Golds. Now, you have a seat and I’ll bring you your dinner. It’s my turn to do you a favour now.”

I had forgotten that Rarity was standing next to me and that I still had my work boots on, so I took a quick moment to remove them and set them down beside a pair of tall, green boots on the floor mat by the door, then I took a seat at the nearest spot available. Surrounding the table were tall chairs to sit at, which complimented well with how high it stood.

“Fuck, these chicks are even more different than I expected," I thought to myself, looking around the room. "There’s a posh girl, a redneck, a tomboy and one with ADHD…wait, isn’t there also supposed to be a quiet one?”

The Stetson hat plopped down on the table next to me, and the big blonde girl sat down on the chair to my immediate left while Rarity went to fix my plate.

“Name’s Applejack,” she said leaning on the table with her elbows. “You’ve met Rarity and Rainbow Dash already, and that pink shit-storm down there is Pinkie Pie.”

I smirked, noticing how thick Applejack’s drawl really was. "A pleasure," I replied. "I'm Golden Arrow."

Applejacks eyebrows rose when she heard the name, and she let out a short chuckle. "Heh! Like the tractor?"

I cocked my head, brows furrowed. "Uh, I don't know. Maybe?"

"Nevermind," the farm girl chuckled.

Dash sat down on the far side of Applejack as I looked down the table at Pinkie, who was now looking at me, smiling ear-to-ear and waving so fast her hand was blurred into obscurity. “Hey there, stranger! Thanks for coming!” she rattled, in a tone about three octaves higher than Applejack’s.

As I silently nodded back to Pinkie, Rarity set a large bowl of orange soup down in front of me. It smelled of foreign spices and actually looked quite pleasant.

“Smells good. What is it?” I asked.

“Sweet potato curry soup with coconut milk. Fluttershy makes it. It is truly divine. I promise you will love it,” Rarity answered.

Rainbow Dash perked up. “Where the fuck is she, anyway?”

“Back there somewhere.” Applejack leaned back in her chair and lazily pointed towards the hallway at the end of the counter, patting down her matted hair with the other hand.

Pinkie got up and stood at the hall entrance. “Oh Fluttershy! Everyone’s here! Time for yummy nummies!” she sang in a very squealy voice while wagging her hips from side to side.

“Jesus, that girl needs some downers,” I thought.

Pinkie sat down again as Rarity continued to hand out bowls of the aromatic soup.

I raised a spoonful to my lips and sipped it. It was smooth; surprisingly sweet and buttery, with just the right spice. I hadn't tasted anything this delicious in what seemed like ages.

Just then, I heard the sound of quiet footsteps coming down the hall, so I looked up to see what the next friend was going to be like.

When she emerged, my heart stopped instantly, leaving me frozen in place like a statue; dumfounded by the innocent beauty that stood before me.

She came out wearing a green skirt adorned with pink butterflies and a small, white tank top. Her skin was a custard colour and she had long, soft pink hair with loose, natural looking curls at the ends. Her eyes were a deep teal colour and she had pink eye shadow on with lashes that jutted out to the sides, giving her a very innocent and almost worried look. She was slender, but tall, probably within two inches of Applejack’s height, and her tank top was holding in a surprising bust; not quite as big as Pinkie’s, but it was disproportionately large for how thin she was.

Her soft, pink hair seemed to flow weightlessly behind her as she darted gracefully from the hall, seeming as though she was moving in slow motion as I took in her every detail; that is, until she got to the end of the table and spotted me at the far end.

The two of us locked eyes, and she froze suddenly.

Her pupils had shrunk down to pinpoints, with a look of nervous terror contorting her pretty features as though I had pointed a gun at her.

After a few seconds -- which seemed like hours -- she lowered her head, letting her hair drape down to cover her right eye. She then clasped her hands together in front of her and turned back towards the hall, where she stepped out as quickly as she came in.

“For fuck sakes,” Applejack cursed, shaking her head. “I take it Fluttershy didn’t know we had a guest.”

“Guess not,” Dash said, leaning back in her chair to face me behind Applejack, who was now leaned forward, eating. “What the hell, Golds; you scared her off!”

I suddenly realised I was still in the same position as when the shy girl entered, so I looked down and dipped my spoon into the soup again for another bite. “No I didn’t,” I replied, trying to avoid blame. “I just, um…” And I trailed off from there.

Dash waited for about ten seconds for me to finish my sentence -- which I didn’t -- then she finally chuckled and went back to her soup.

“Not to worry, darlings. I’ll go get her,” Rarity said, setting a bowl of soup on the table in front of Pinkie.

She then rounded the end of the counter, her voice getting quieter as she made her way down the hall towards whatever rooms where at the far end. “Fluttershy? Where have you gone, darling?” she asked, her words eventually trailing off into murmurs.

“You’d think she would have grown out of that shyness by now, at least a little,” Applejack said between bites. Her soup was almost gone already.

“I know, right?” Dash replied, in her obnoxiously loud voice. “Like what the hell, man! Time to grow a pair, Flutters.”

Pinkie perked up, saying: “Yeah! Look how much I’ve toned down since high school! Time to grow up, girl!”

“Jesus, Pinkie…“ I thought. “You’re toned down? What were you like in high school?”

“Personally, I think she’s actually gotten worse since she moved out here in the middle of the damn woods,” Dash continued, talking about the shy girl.

I could hear Rarity’s voice returning from the hall, sounding laboured now. I looked up and saw Fluttershy emerge first, leaning back against Rarity, who was pushing her out from the hallway. They passed the end of the counter, where Rarity turned her to the left, leading her between the table and counter. Rarity, although roughly three inches shorter than Fluttershy, seemed to be quite a bit stronger than the shy girl and was able to shove her along with relative ease, before sitting her down at the end of the table, right across from me, of all places.

“Now, as I said, darling; he’s a very nice young gentleman who fixed my car this afternoon on the side of the road,” Rarity explained to the shy girl, who looked like she had just been put into the electric chair.

Fluttershy had her head down again, hiding her entire face behind her hair, prompting me to look down at my bowl to avoid embarrassing her anymore.

Rarity set a bowl of soup in front of her. “Do move your hair, please, darling. You wouldn’t want to get it in the soup.”

The shy girl used her fingertips to tuck a lock of hair behind her left ear, uncovering a small portion of her face.

I looked up to look at her again, but she still had her head too low for me to see her pretty features, much to my disappointment.

I decided to try to talk to her. Maybe that would ease the tension? “Good soup,” I complimented, with a small nod.

She remained silent, but I did see her eyes dart up at me for a split second. That was pretty much the only response I got, however.

Applejack gave my arm a light elbow, prompting me to look at her as she chuckled silently. After rolling her eyes and shaking her head, I took the hint that it probably wasn’t any use trying to talk to the shy girl.

“Well, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that’s the quiet one that Rarity mentioned.”

I decided to eat faster so I could get up from the table and give the shy girl some space. I felt kind of bad since she looked relaxed and light on her feet when she first entered the room, but seeing me had reduced her to what can only be described as 'completely fucking petrified'. She wasn’t just quiet, she was painfully shy.

Rarity sat beside her with her own bowl and started daintily eating the soup. “My goodness, Fluttershy, you’ve done it again. This is heavenly.”

Fluttershy just nodded gently, then finally picked up her spoon to eat.

Applejack was finished her soup and had gotten up to take her bowl to the sink. “Man, that stuff is good, but it sure is fillin. We're gonna have ta wait a bit fer dessert, I think.”

“No way, Applejack! That's bullshit!” Pinkie roared, pounding the table with her fist, causing Fluttershy to nearly hit the ceiling.

"God dammit, Pinkie!" AJ scowled, gesturing towards the shy girl as she shook her head. "Yer gonna give poor Fluttershy a friggin stroke already!"

As Pinkie giggled to herself, Dash changed the subject. “Did you guys hear the Friendship Games was this past week?”

“No shit, really?” Applejack replied, heading over to the couch, glancing back as she spoke. “How’d it go?”

“Pretty much what you’d expect; CHS got it's hymen busted by Crystal Prep again,” Dash said with a casual flatness. “Just like the last games. The time before that, when we played is still the closest CHS ever got to winning.”

“Yep,” AJ agreed. She had sat on the couch, found the Wii-mote controller and was now zooming around the menu on the TV.

I didn’t know what they were talking about. It sounded like some sort of sporting event, but I didn’t feel like asking about it, so I finished my soup and got up to put my bowl in the sink the way AJ did, but Rarity waved me down.

“Just leave it there, darling. I’ll look after it for you.”

“You sure? It’s no big deal,” I said. In truth, I actually kind of wanted the excuse to walk past the shy girl to see what she smelled like -- creepy, I know -- but in the end, I yielded to Rarity’s hospitality and left my bowl on the table.

Applejack called me over to the couch. “You wanna take a crack at this game we started a few weeks back?”

“What game?” I asked as I walked around the end of the couch to sit next to her.

I felt at ease around AJ. Her presence was one of calmness, and her demeanor was very inviting.

“Megaman 9,” she said. “I remember playing the old games on my brother’s Nintendo years back, then we found this one just recently on the new Wii store. It’s a lot newer, but it’s exactly like the old ones, only it’s got new bad guys n' shit.”

“Yeah,” Dash said from the table. “And this one is way harder! We haven’t gotten anywhere with it yet.”

“Well we’ve only played it a bit so far, sugarcube. We’ll beat one of them bosses tonight,” AJ vowed as she selected the game from the menu.

I was actually quite familiar with this particular game. I had played the old ones a lot when they came out in the late 80’s and early 90’s, and before that, I played many hours of Atari 2600 as well. When Megaman 9 came out about ten years ago I played it and got to the final boss once. I didn’t beat it that time and never tried again, mostly due to lack of time and interest. I don’t remember the later levels much, but I played the eight early bosses many times and was pretty competent with it.

Dash suddenly leapt over the back of the couch and landed next to me, almost bouncing me off the cushion.

“Haha, sorry Golds!” she said, followed by a playful laugh.

“Christ almighty, Rainbow!” AJ scolded at Dash, “you tryin ta break the damn sofa?”

“Oh relax, it’s fine!” Dash defended.

Pinkie Pie then came around the end of the couch. She had a slight bounce to her step, causing her curves to jiggle slightly as she walked. I can’t say it was unattractive though; somehow, she carried a certain allure, which could be easily seen hidden under her childish and playful nature. As she flopped herself down onto the floor on her belly and began to watch Applejack play the game, I noticed she had a cupcake in her hand, which she promptly bit in half, revealing some sort of thick filling inside.

Dash sat up suddenly on the couch to get a closer look at the treat. “Whoa whoa whoa...Pinkie, did you make those ones with that cream shit inside?”

Pinkie turned her head to face Dash with her cheeks full of the first half of the cupcake. “Hell yeah I did, Dashie!” she replied, with muffled words.

“Awww yeah! I need some of that!” Dash cried excitedly as she leaped over the back of the couch again.

“Really, Rainbow Dash!” I heard Rarity scold from the dining area, “This isn’t your house! Stop jumping on everything!”

“Oh Fluttershy doesn’t care, do you Flutters?” Dash asked. I listened for an answer from the shy girl, but as expected there was silence. “Besides, she’s got animals in and outta here all the time.”

“Yes and they are all more civilized then you,” Rarity said flatly.

"Eeh, there all more civilised than you," Dash replied, imitating the fashionista in a deeper, stupider sounding tone, before returning to her normal voice. “Get over it, toots!”

I heard a very soft snicker coming from the dining area, prompting me to turn around to see who it was. It sounded like a new voice, one that I hadn't heard yet.

Dash had an armful of cupcakes by then and was heading back, this time walking around the couch.

“Don’t you start!" Rarity scoffed in response to the soft laughter. "Oh goodness, of all people!”

I looked at the only other person there; the shy girl, who’s shoulders I could see shaking ever so slightly with silent amusement.

“Is she laughing at those two?” I wondered, smirking at the sudden show of personality from her.

Rarity shook her head and sighed, placing the dishes in the sink while it filled with water. She looked like a stressed-out mother which made the situation slightly more amusing; acting like she was the only mature one there, even though she had technically instigated a bit.

I felt the Wii-mote slam down next to me on the couch, followed by AJ’s angered voice. “FUCKIN TARNATION! HOW IN THE HELL ARE YA SUPPOSED TO GET PAST THAT BULLSHIT?”

I looked back at the screen to see that she had lost the game just as Dash sat next to me again, handing me a cupcake with a cocked eyebrow. “You’re gonna wanna try one of these,” she said with the utmost confidence. She then turned her attention to Applejack. “What happened, AJ?”

“I was tryin to jump over that hole and one of those flying thingies knocked me back and I fell in,” AJ explained.

Dash shook her head. “Well did you try shooting at it?”

“Yeah, I-“ AJ started, then she shook her head, realising the obviousness of the question. “Whut? Of course I shot at it! What are ya, some kinda asshole?”

Dash was laughing hard as Pinkie flipped over on the floor, giggling, with icing all around her mouth. “Wait! There’s more than one kind of asshole? Why wasn’t I told???”

Dash and AJ both laughed. Even I had a good chuckle over the exchange.

Rarity’s voice rang out from the behind the couch again. “Now ladies, let’s keep it clean. We have a guest, don’t forget.”

"You sayin we got dirty assholes?" AJ joked, twisting Rarity's words. Dash, Pinkie and I laughed out loud.

"Applejack! That's not what I-" Rarity stopped, knowing it was a fruitless endeavour to try getting them to behave. Applejack in particular had become much more vulgar in the years since she finished high school, presumably a product of the full-time farm life, which was more-or-less all she'd been doing since graduation. "Oh, nevermind!" Rarity shook her head dismissively.

I could see the three of them silently roll their eyes, followed by a series of smirks.

Dash then put the cupcake in her mouth and gently held it between her teeth while she reached across me to grab the Wii-mote.

I took a bite of the cupcake, and wow! It was good. I’m not a fan of loads of icing usually, but this stuff was nice and light, almost like a mousse, and not too sweet. There was a creamy filling as well, very similar to Boston Cream. The cake itself was soft and moist except around the top, where it was actually a bit crunchy. “Hm,” I mumbled, signalling my approval.

“You’re darn right, hm!” said AJ to me, reaching across me to grab her cupcake off of Dash’s lap to have a bite.

We enjoyed the cupcakes together while Dash attempted to play for a few minutes, only to hear the familiar sound of Megaman’s death and the game’s music coming to a halt once again. Dash clenched the Wii-mote in her lap and leaned forward, glaring at the TV screen with fire in her eyes. “AARRRRGGH!” she growled through the cupcake that was still in her mouth.

I chuckled a bit at her reaction.

She turned to me, taking the cupcake out of her mouth. “You think you can do better, grease monkey?”

I remembered then that they still didn’t know that I’d played the game plenty of times before, so I decided to have some fun with it. I took the Wii-mote and looked at the screen; the game was over and we were back at the stage select screen. Without hesitation, I selected a boss and watched the title animation play out.

Dash shook her head. “Oh you’re fucked now, this is the one with that dragon mini-boss. You don’t even have any weapons yet.”

I ignored her and played. When I reached the mini-boss, I was able to breeze through it fairly easily -- to my relief -- and then I continued on to the final boss while the girls watched in silence. Again, I used my experience to whittle down the enemy’s life meter. As I got closer, the girls all leaned in, holding their breath; watching as I delivered the final blow and ended the level.

Dash jumped to her feet and threw her fists in the air. “That…was…AWESOME!”

At the same time, AJ gave a loud “Yee-haw! Way to go, sugarcube. I can’t believe you just did that!”

Pinkie giggled on the floor, mostly just amused with her cupcake.

I gave the Wii-mote back to AJ. “Now do Hornet Man and use the weapon we just got against him,” I instructed.

“Will do, partner,” she replied, excited to finally see some progress in the game.

By this time, Rarity had finished the dishes and had made some tea. She offered some to us, but we all declined. Fluttershy was still at her spot at the table.

“Is she gonna stay there all night?”

Rarity walked around the couch and sat on the other side of AJ, sipping her tea and looking dainty.

We continued to play the game for quite a while, chatting and enjoying the odd laugh every so often, particularly when Dash would call Rarity out whenever she would critique the different colours Megaman would turn when he switched weapons.

After a while, to my surprise, the shy girl walked around the end of the couch and passed silently in front of us, making her way to the chaise lounge at the far end of the couch. As she curled up in the corner, I quickly noticed how worn the fabric on that that spot was.

“Must be her favourite spot,” I figured.

I glanced over at her from time to time; unable to help myself, really. She was just so nice to look at.

We played for a couple hours, having a few failures and successes in getting through the game. On multiple occasions, I found myself wondering how I ended up here. That morning I woke up and went to work, intending to come home to my 'building' afterwards to relax and waste time thinking about things. But instead, I ended up here with a bunch of mid-twenties women, having a lot of fun. Dash, AJ and Pinkie were actually pretty funny, cracking vulgar and sometimes smutty jokes while Rarity rolled her eyes and sipped her tea like a little old lady. Dash and AJ were a little more on the nose about their humor, however Pinkie had a way of hiding it behind her goofiness. It was there; you just had to look for it a little more.

Rarity was almost like the mother of the group, and even though she was a bit dramatic and even a bit pretentious, I had a certain respect for her. She had a certain selflessness about her, like she would do anything to make someone else happy.

…And the shy girl sat in the corner and never said a word. After about forty-five minutes, I saw a little white rabbit hop across the floor. It passed right by Pinkie where she was laying and hopped up onto the couch, where the shy girl picked it up and snuggled it tightly.

At that point I saw her relax quite a bit, allowing her legs straighten out across the cushion as she petted the little animal on her lap. In this state, she gave off a peaceful radiance that I could hardly peel my eyes away from.

Rarity was also very beautiful, but it was different. Her appearance was deliberately elegant, like she went to great lengths to look the way she did. Fluttershy's beauty seemed to just happen naturally however, like a sunrise, which is exactly what she reminded me of with her soft pinks and yellows...

I could tell the others had picked up on my watching her; several times I noticed them going quiet and smirking at each other, but at the time I didn't care.

The shy girl had me hypnotized.

After the evening wore on a for few hours, we eventually called it a night, and everyone got up from the couch and put on their boots to leave one by one.

“Same time next week, darling?” Rarity said to me as I headed for the door to put my boots on.

“Huh?” I replied. “Next week?”

“Absolutely. We had a wonderful time and we’d love for you to return next week. We try to do this as many weekends as possible, just to stay in touch since life can be so dreadfully busy during the week.”

“Oh, sure. I don’t have any plans next weekend as far as I know.” I knew I didn’t, but I just didn’t want to sound like I had no life.

So, Rarity and I exchanged cell phone numbers and agreed to text later in the week to confirm.

“Ok, see you guys then. Thanks for dinner,” I said, pulling the front door open.

They all shouted their different farewells in unison…well, all except one. The shy girl was standing by the end of the table with her hands folded in front of her, her knees touching together with her feet pointed inward, and she was looking awkwardly at the floor. I watched her for a second to see if she would wave or something, and when she didn’t, I walked out the door and headed to my truck. I started it and drove out to the end of the driveway.

Once on the road, I suddenly realised where I was.

“Jeez, this is only about a five minute drive from my place. I can’t believe I didn’t know there was a house back here. Especially with someone like HER living there…”

As I drove home, I thought about the next weekend.

“Should I spend time with them on a regular basis? They are kind of fun. Will that shy girl loosen up eventually? I kind of like having company rather than being alone. It’s a nice change after several years of being alone when I’m not at work. Aw, fuck it. I’ll do it.

"It’s not like they’ll learn my secret.”

Author's Note

A little more explanation on the OC's name:
Yes, I did Google it before adding it, and yes there is an OC by the name of Golden Arrow created by a user on Deviantart; a dark green female Pegasus pony with -- you guessed it -- a golden bow and arrow as a cutie mark.
Now, since my character is a male human, I don't feel like I'm plagiarizing the name, especially since I got it from something else entirely, which brings me to Applejack's comment about the tractor.
This is a Golden Arrow:

These were produced by the Cockshutt Plow Company in Brantford, Ontario, Canada and were made solely for testing a new hydraulics system. As a result, only 135 of them were produced in 1957, making them EXTREMELY rare and collectible today.
Why did I choose it?
I grew up on a farm and have a pretty big soft spot for old machines like this; plus, the name Golden Arrow sounds like an MLP name, and I thought it fit the OC's character pretty well. Don't worry, this story is NOT about tractors, other than Applejack making reference to it. This is simply the reason that I chose the name.

Cutie marks are not discussed much in this story, being that it takes place in the EqG world, but if the OC was to have a cutie mark on his clothes somewhere, I guess I would choose the Cockshutt brand logo:

Obviously, it goes well with the name, but mostly I just like the way it looks; a simple, abstract image of an arrow hitting a target.

Chapter 3: Dinner for Two

Chapter 3

All week at work I thought about the girls. It was an unusually busy week, and I was working late almost every night. I didn’t get home until 7 or 8 pm a couple times, then I just felt alone when I got there.

The first time I had to call the parts supplier to order something, Al asked me about the ‘smoke show’ that was with me on the Saturday when we came to get the alternator. I just told him I got her fixed up and on her way. I didn’t mention the dinner.

I wondered how Rarity would react to being called a ‘smoke show'. Would she be flattered? Probably not, especially if it came from those guys in particular.

Friday night after I got home and showered, I saw a text waiting on my phone. It was from Rarity, just as she'd promised.

RARITY: Hello, Golds! Just curious if you're still planning to attend this weekend at Fluttershy's? ME: Yep RARITY: We usually arrive around 1. Is that OK? Do you remember the way? ME: Yep to both RARITY: Splendid! See you then! ME: Later

The next morning at work, I worried slightly that it might be busy enough to keep me late, but it turned out to be pretty quiet. At noon I clocked out and drove my truck home so I could clean up a bit and change this time, so I wouldn't look like such a bum.

I was ready to go, but it was only 12:45 so I sat down and waited impatiently for a bit, not wanting to be super early so I wouldn't look too eager to come back.

After ten minutes or so, I left. I drove my truck down the road that the cottage was on, trying to remember where it was since I was coming from the opposite direction this time. I almost missed the driveway, the trees had it hidden so well it was barely visible from that direction. As I pulled up to the house, I could see the same old Ford truck parked there, as well as a small SUV. I quickly got out of my truck and walked up to the house, passing in between the other two vehicles. The Ford had to be AJ’s, I figured. In the back of the SUV I could see an empty animal cage.

I reached the front door, not comfortable enough to just walk in, so I decided to knock first.

“Come on in!” I heard AJ’s voice reply.

I opened the door and stepped in, slipping my shoes off. I felt a bit unsure of myself, like I was barging into the place, especially since the girl who actually owned it had yet to speak to me. I wondered how she felt about me being here.

I was surprised to see the shy girl busy at the counter, moving back and forth hastily as she prepared something to eat for dinner. She stopped what she was doing to turn and see who had arrived, tensing up slightly when she locked her eyes with mine. I thought she was going to go back to being too scared to move again, but instead, she actually gave me a little smile before returning to what she was doing.

It made my knees wobble just a bit.

AJ was sitting at the table, leaning with her folded arms on the tabletop. “Hey there, partner.”

“Hey,” I replied. “How was your week?”

She shook her head. “Aw man, it was fuckin unreal down at the farm this week. Equipment breaking, shipments got mixed up…we got it all sorted, but man! What a shit show. You?” she said, adjusting her hat.

“It was pretty busy, but things went well,” I said. “It was a good week, profit wise.”

AJ nodded. “Well that’s good to hear. Good on ya, sugarcube.”

We sat for a minute, watching Fluttershy busily moving about the counter.

“Where are the others?” I asked, turning back to AJ, unsure of how to start a good conversation without the others here.

“Well Rainbow has a game tonight, which we knew last week anyway, so she’s out. Pinkie Pie took on a last minute catering job for tonight, so she’s out. Rarity should on her way over…maybe in the next half hour she’ll be here,” AJ explained.

I heard a buzzing coming from AJ’s pocket. She pulled a dirty, old scratched-up phone from her front shirt pocket and answered it.
“Yep…hey Big M-…whoa, slow down…WHAT?...aw fuck are you kiddin me right now?...alright I’m headin over.” She ended the call and put it back in her pocket. “I gotta go back to the farm. My little sister tried to move the tractor and she accidently hit the side of the barn and knocked the wall off the foundation.” She went over to the door to put her boots on. “Now the whole fuckin barn is teeterin like it’s gonna fall so I gotta go help get it looked after.”

“Um, is everyone OK?” I heard a new voice ask. It was a very soft voice; sweet, like a whisper made of sugar. I looked at the shy girl, who was watching AJ with a concerned look on her face.

“She spoke!” I hollered inside.

“Yeah, they’re all fine. Sorry guys, I gotta run. I’ll text you later, Fluttershy, about next weekend. OK?”

“Sure,” the shy girl said in her soft little voice. barely audible enough to hear what she said.

With that, AJ was out the door. Fluttershy and I nervously stared at each other as we listened to the old Ford putter down the driveway.

“What now?” I wondered to myself.

She went back to the counter and silently worked away at preparing the meal, probably hoping Rarity would arrive soon.

I was kind of glad in a way. It was just going to be me and the two hottest ladies of the group this time, and for the next eight hours or so. Maybe Rarity could get the shy one talking more. The two of them in particular seemed to be rather close friends.

I pulled out my phone to distract myself for a bit as she worked.

After about five minutes of silently ignoring each other, I heard her phone vibrate against the hard counter top. She stopped what she was doing to pick it up and read her text.

After about a minute, I noticed she hadn’t moved. I looked up at her, quickly noticing she was frozen in place, nervously staring at her phone.

Then my phone received a text while I was still holding it. I tapped the notification and a message from Rarity popped up.

RARITY: My apologies, unfortunately my sister has gotten a stomach bug of some sort and is quite ill. There is no one else available to take care of her and I can't leave her here alone like this. I’ll text you about next week. Ta-ta!

I made the assumption that the shy girl got the same message and we both knew that it was only the two of us attending dinner tonight.

“Oh great, we can spend the next bunch of hours staring awkwardly at each other.”

I felt the need to relieve her of her burden -- as well as myself of the awkwardness that was sure to follow -- so I put my phone in my pocket, saying, “Well, I, uh…I can go. If you want.”

She turned suddenly to look at me with her sparkling teal eyes, causing her hair to swing around her face and come to rest on her shoulders.

“WOW,” I thought as I looked at the beautiful shy girl. “Take a note, terrorists. THAT is what can melt steel beams.”

She looked somewhat hurt by my offer, and my brain forced me to continue. “I mean, it’s up to you.”

She glanced back at the counter with her preparation currently at a halt. “Um, well,” she said in her soft voice, speaking directly to me for the first time, “I have a lot of food being made here, it’s too much for just me to eat. I was, um...expecting m-my friends to be here.”

“But they’re not…it’s just me,” I said, feeling like a bit of a jerk for saying so.

She looked down at the table, studying the lines in the wood. Then, she seemed to have a wave of bravery wash over her, holding her shoulders in a more confident posture. “Um, w-well, starting now, y-you’re my friend.” Her face blushed very suddenly, and she quickly turned back to the counter to continue working, presumably so I wouldn't see how red she'd become.

The statement made my heart flutter a little bit. Feeling the need to return her kindness, I decided to do something other than sit there while she worked to prepare a meal for me. I looked at the TV, thinking about playing the game from last week, but the TV was off and I hate trying to figure out how to turn on other people’s setups.

I walked around the table to the end of the counter, standing near the entrance to the hall where I first saw her emerge a week earlier.

“What are you making?” I asked. “Can I help?”

She turned to me, looking a bit surprised at first, then she smiled with a little blush and set me to cutting up some chicken into small pieces.

“W-we’re having sesame chicken and..um, rice,” she said in a quiet, but proud voice.

“That sounds great,” I said.

We worked together for the next hour, cutting the chicken, battering it, deep frying it and making the sweet sesame sauce to coat the fried chicken pieces with. She had some rice boiled up and sliced some green onions into little bits to go with the meal. We worked in relative silence, only speaking for instruction purposes. A few times when we were both reaching for something on the counter, our hands would accidently touch, and we would stop for a moment to gaze at each other, then she would blush and look away.

When the meal was finally ready, we sat at the table across from each other and ate quietly. Even if she didn’t talk much, I had to admit I enjoyed her company. It was calming and peaceful. So different from some of the experiences I’ve had to live through in my past.

She seemed to be more relaxed as well, despite her shyness. It was hard to believe she was so nervous last week.

When our plates were empty, I told her it was delicious and thanked her for making it, and she played with her hair and blushed while saying I was welcome.

I looked around the house, trying to think of something to say. I looked at the couch, remembering where she sat last week while everyone was playing the game. Then I remembered the bunny.

I turned to her. “What’s the bunny’s name?”

Her eyes seemed to light up. “Oh, his name’s Angel! He’s just the sweetest little guy.”

Much to my surprise, she continued on about her pet.

“Looks like I finally found the ice breaker,” I thought.

She went on for quite a while, her quiet voice slowly changing from a whispery hush to more of a normal speaking voice, although still never as loud as her friends. Her voice was sweet. Like her eyes. And her hair. From head to toe she was just…beautiful.

The conversation kept going. I was surprised to hear she actually co-owns an animal shelter and clinic. She used to volunteer there in high school and a couple years ago she went in 50/50 with a licensed veterinarian to buy it. She still does the same basic job as she did as a volunteer, but now she also does more paperwork and administrative type of stuff. She said she didn’t like it as much as being with the animals, but it was all part of being the co-owner. It made me smile to hear how genuinely caring and friendly she was. There were not many people around like that in my experience. I also had a hard time imagining this extremely shy person going out and handling deals like buying a business; there must be more to this girl than meets the eye.

After some time of this, she seemed to run out of career things to talk about. I wondered if she would go into more personal things, like was she single? I was pretty sure she was, but sometimes you never know.

“Oh goodness, I’ve been going on all this time about myself,” she said, playing with her hair. “How about you? How long have you been a mechanic?”

I didn’t really want to talk about myself with her. Not yet, anyway. “About 5 years,” I lied. “I don’t have much to tell, really.”

“That’s OK,” she said, letting out a deep yawn. “Wow! Sorry about that. I guess I didn’t realize how late it is.”

I looked at my phone. It was only 8 pm. I looked back at her with cocked eyebrows.

She could see my confusion. “Oh, I get up very early everyday to feed and look after all the critters around here. So I tend to get pretty tired in the evening. Last week I stayed up later because you and my friends were here. They make such a noise, I wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway.”

“Well,” I said, “If you’re that tired, I don’t want to keep you up.” As much as I didn’t want to leave her, I thought I’d return some of the kindness she’d shown me.

“Oh, it’s no problem if-“

I cut her off. “I insist,” I said, smiling at her.

“Oh! Well that’s very kind of you. Um, how about I give you my number and we can text?” she offered.

My stomach jumped a bit at her offer. “Sure. That’d be great.”

So we exchanged numbers and I put my boots on while she stood close to me, seeing me off.

I opened the door and looked at her one more time. “Bye,” I said, with another smile.

“Bye,” she said back with a small wave and a smile.

Her send-off made my heart melt a bit as I went out and closed the door behind me. I don’t even remember the short drive home. At my building, I got inside my metal door, closed it and leaned against it on the inside. I stared at the cement floor that spanned most of the interior of my makeshift home. I could barely make out the shape of the machinery, cloaked in the darkness.

I lifted my shirt to my nose and smelled it. It smelled like her house and her cooking. I closed my eyes and tried to imagine her face. "So lovely..." I really didn’t want to leave her when I did, but I knew there would be more time to spend with her.

I have her number now too, so that’s a plus.

Chapter 4: Leftovers and Movies

Chapter 4

It was now Sunday morning, my only full day off of the week. I had some things to do around my dwelling, starting with an oil change on my truck. I opened the large bay door on the back of my building and drove the truck inside onto the hoist that lies just inside the entrance.

Before I went any further, I realised I still had last night’s clothes on. They still had the scent of the shy girl’s house on them, so I changed into something to work in, even though I wanted to keep that smell on me so I could enjoy it throughout the day.

As I worked, I thought about the night before, and the time I spent alone with that quiet, yet lovely girl. I felt a little bit of excitement and couldn’t help but have a little bounce in my step as I moved about. I loosened the plug and drained the oil from my engine after lifting the truck on the hoist so it was above my head. As I watched the thick, black stream of old oil run out into the waste tank, my thoughts stayed on the pink-haired beauty; how she looked at me with those teal eyes, and how she spoke in that soft voice.

I finished up with my truck, double checking that it was full of fresh oil and that the new filter was tight. Then I closed the hood and backed it outside.

When I came back in and pulled the chain to close the big door, I looked around my home. How did I end up living in what can only be described as a shop with a cement floor, steel walls and machinery everywhere? There were lathes, mills, cutting torches, welders and a tool box, as well as countless other tools and pieces of equipment. I could do any repairs to my truck here if I wanted, and if need be I’ve even used the machining equipment to make my own parts. The only space that resembled something ‘liveable’ was a room I had built in the corner. Inside, it was carpeted, and there was a couch, TV, some electronics, and a stand up shower stall in the corner. There was a washer and dryer to do my clothes, and a side door that led to a small restroom stall, but that was pretty much it. No bed. No kitchen. Some people couldn’t deal with that, but I was just fine without it.

I walked over to my mill, which was currently out of use with a bad motor. There was a crate sitting beside it with a new motor inside, which I had been planning on installing so I could use this mill again, but the lingering thoughts of last night were causing a major lack of interest in starting such a task that day.

Instead, I had a shower and put on some fresh clothes. I sat on my old, saggy couch for a minute and stared at the floor, thinking more about the shy girl. Then I remembered I had her number. I went to pick up my phone so I could look at it again to see if I could memorize her number, only to find a text message waiting.

FLUTTERSHY: Hi Goldie, its Fluttershy. What r u doing today?

My heart stopped. I wasn't keen on people calling me Goldie, but coming from Fluttershy, I could make the exception.

"She texted me! Holy crap..." Staring at the screen, I began to wonder how long the shy girl must have taken to muster up the gusto to hit 'send' after typing that message out.

With shaky fingers, I typed back.

ME: Just doing some tinkering. U?

A few minutes passed, then I realised she’d sent her message a couple hours ago. She’s probably not going to re-

A new message appeared on my screen.

FLUTTERSHY: Nothing. Did u want to come over today? I have way too much leftover chicken to eat all by myself. I thought we could have some to eat and maybe watch a movie or something? I texted the girls but they're either busy or not answering so it will just be us again.

“WOW, holy crap she asked me to come over aga-”

Another message.

FLUTTERSHY: If that's OK with u

"Hm." As shocked as I was at the invitation, I smiled, I imagining Fluttershy saying it in her soft, sweet voice.

ME: Sure what time?

FLUTTERSHY: Whenever u like. I'm here all day. U can come over whenever ur done tinkering :)

ME: Lol OK

I knew damn well I was going right away.

I threw my boots on and jumped in my now well-oiled machine, firing it up and heading down the road. I liked that her place was so close. How did I not know she lived there? How have I never run into her friends in the area before? Maybe she just moved out here, but even so, I never knew that cottage was there. Even in the winter when the leaves are gone, you can’t see far in these woods because of all the evergreens.

I found her driveway easily this time, and made the same drive up to her house and parked. As I walked up to the house, the front door opened when I was still twenty feet away, and there she was. The shy girl looked the same as always, except outside in the sun, her creamy yellow skin seemed to glow with radiance. I noticed her green skirt had three pink butterflies on it, which was something I never noticed before. Her soft pink hair hung down over one eye just for a second, until a breeze kicked up and blew her hair gently away revealing her whole face with a welcoming smile on her lips, and her eyes seemed to shine when she saw me coming towards the house.

“Wow,” I thought. “I have no words…like seriously.”

“Um, hi,” she greeted softly. “I heard you coming so I thought I’d come and greet you.”

“Oh thanks,” I replied. “Yeah, it’s hard to sneak around in that truck.”

“Oh…yeah, I bet. It’s very loud,” she smiled.

“I hope it doesn’t bother your animal friends,” I said, trying to show concern.

“Oh no, they’re fine. I told them-“ she stopped abruptly for a second. “N-nevermind. Come in.” She turned and went into the house, after which I followed.

I had wondered what she was going to say before she stopped herself, but I decided to just let it go, figuring it was nothing. Once inside, I breathed in the now familiar scent of her house while taking my boots off. I set them beside a pair of tall, light green boots which I assumed were hers.

“Are you hungry?” she asked. “I can reheat some leftovers for you.”

I wasn’t really hungry, but I nodded anyway. “Sure.”

“It probably won’t be as good as last night.”

“I’m sure it’ll still be good,” I reassured her.

She smiled and made up a plate with the food from the fridge and put it in the microwave. She then filled a second, smaller plate and set in near the microwave, waiting to heat it up next.

I took a seat at the table while she waited by the counter, rubbing her elbow at her side with the other hand. She looked like she was trying to think of something to say, but then the microwave beeped and she took out my plate with an oven mitt on, setting it in front of me. She grabbed a fork from the drawer and set it next to the plate.

“Enjoy,” she said with a nervous smile. “I…um, hope it’s still good.”

She put her plate in the microwave and started it as I picked up my fork.

“C-could you excuse me for just a minute?” she asked.

I looked up as she rounded the end of the counter in disappeared down the hall. I assumed maybe she was using the washroom, so I set my fork back down and decided to wait for her food to be ready before I started eating so we could eat together.

While I waited, I pulled my phone out, looking at our text conversation from earlier. Lower down, I could see my previous messages from Rarity. I decided to send her a message asking how her sister was.

I got a response after only a few seconds.

RARITY: She's doing much better this morning, thank you for asking. How was last night? Dreadfully sorry I had to miss it. ME: It was fine. We had dinner and basically talked for a bit. RARITY: That sounds nice. I'm surprised you guys didn't get into that game again or watch a movie though. That's usually what ends up happening with those girls...they simply cannot be content to just sit and have a lovely chat. ME: Actually, everyone else had stuff going on, so it was just me and Fluttershy.

There was a longer pause this time before she sent another message.

RARITY: REALLY??? No one else made it? ME: Nope RARITY: Well I hope she wasn't too quiet for you. She really is a sweetheart, but she can be so dreadfully shy. ME: Yeah, she was fine after a little while. Especially once she got talking about her animals. We had a good time, in fact she invited me back today for leftovers. I'm here right now. RARITY: SERIOUSLY??? I am surprised at her! That's wonderful news though, I certainly hope you two have fun! ME: We planned on watching something after we eat. Should be a good time.

I’ve never liked when text conversations go on too long so I decided to wrap it up.

ME: Well, we're starting to eat now so I'll talk to u later. RARITY: Thank you again for your well wishes. You two have fun now, just try not to suggest any horror movies to her. She is not a fan. XD ME: K thanks. Bye.

I started to put my phone away when I heard the microwave beep, signalling that it was done. My phone buzzed one more time so I looked quickly at the screen to see one last message.

RARITY: Ta-ta

I slid the phone into my pocket and got up to take Fluttershy’s plate out. I set it next to mine so she’d sit next to me when she came back and I set a fork next to the plate for her.

When she finally returned, I immediately noticed she had changed her clothes. She was wearing black yoga pants and a tight, light blue T-shirt with a V-neck. Her bust showed very nicely, perched atop her small waist, and the pants seemed to hug to her hips and thighs as she strolled towards me, sitting at the table. I was glad to see her hair was the same, flowing behind her shoulders as she walked as always, surrounding her pretty face, which had a slight blush on it as though she knew exactly what her outfit was doing to me.

She paused as she entered the room again, seeing her plate next to mine, ready to be eaten. “Oh!” She said as she headed over, realising I’d gotten things ready for her.

“I thought I’d wait for you before I started eating,” I said.

“Oh, thank you, you didn’t have to do that,” she said with appreciation. “I just wanted to go put on something more comfortable for sitting and watching movies.”

“Nothing wrong with that,” I said as we started eating. The food was still pretty damn good, but as she predicted not as good as last night when it was fresh. Truth be told though, I would have eaten dog shit if it meant I could spend time with her again.

I finished my plate and set my fork down, looking around the room. She set her fork down not long after, even though there was some left on her plate. Evidently, she must have decided she’d had enough.

“S-so what do you want to watch?” she asked, suddenly getting up and heading to the couch. I got up and followed her over, watching her sit at her spot on the chaise lounge in the far end of the couch. I decided to sit on the spot next to it. The lounge was pretty wide, so I was a couple feet away from her.

“I’m not sure, what do you have on here?” I asked.

She turned on the TV and flipped through the menu, stopping at some romantic-comedy that I didn’t have much interest in seeing. “Is this OK?” she asked.

“Uh, it’s fine,” I said. “Whatever you’re into.”

She could see that it didn’t really arouse my interest, so she kept looking through the menu. “We’ll keep looking. I want you to enjoy yourself too,” she said, stopping on a Marvel movie. “How’s this?”

“Yeah this one’s pretty good,” I said. “Do you like these kinds of movies?”

“I like them a lot actually,” she confessed. “I like seeing powerful people use their abilities to save the day. Sometimes, I wish…um, that I could be more like them.”

I looked at her for a second, then said: “I think you’re fine the way you are. I think your friends do, too.”

She blushed, then said “Thank you, but still…I have a hard time even talking to people I’m not used to. I don’t know how my friends do it.”

“You seem fine around me now,” I said.

“Yeah,” she replied. “I don’t know, there’s something about you that makes me feel, um...calm? I don’t know...” She looked down at her lap as the movie started, then at the cushion she was sitting on. She looked at me next, then patted the seat right next to her. “You wanna sit here? There’s lots of room and you can put your feet up and stretch out just like me.”

I looked at her, surprised. My heart jumped a little and I could feel my face get warm as I blushed. She could see it, so she smiled and looked back down.

I suddenly realised that I hadn’t moved yet. “Go sit by her, you asshole!” I cussed to myself.

I slid over to the free half of the chaise lounge cushion and put my feet up, placing them only inches away from her feet. I leaned on the back of the couch with my shoulders almost touching hers and we watched the movie.

It turned out they were running a marathon all day of these superhero movies, so when the one we were watching was over, we just started the next one. We exchanged comments here and there, had some chuckles at the funny parts and she even got a little teary at the few dramatic scenes.

I didn’t mind these kinds of movies, but there were some parts in the action scenes that I thought were bullshit. I didn’t say anything though, she was enjoying herself and I didn’t want to spoil it for her by critiquing the movie too much.

I was paying close attention to her. Whenever she moved something, especially her hair, I could smell a wave of intoxicating fragrance that would make my eyelids shudder uncontrollably. I wondered what she was thinking with me so close to her, and I wondered how she would react if she knew who was really sitting with her on that couch.

I could see it getting dark outside as another movie came to an end.

“That was the best one yet,” she said, putting her arms up and stretching her back. I could see her bust sticking out in the corner of my eye as she arched her back sharply, letting out a soft, content moan.

“Yup, they saved the day again. Too bad they have to do it again in the next movie,” I said as she finished her stretch. I continued, “you know, cuz the mortician working on the bad guy’s body is gonna drop his lunch into the machine which will create the nuclear lightning bolt thingy and that’ll bring the bad guy back to life…or some damn nonsense.”

She giggled at me for the first time, and it struck me again how cute her voice is.

When I turned to face her again, I suddenly realised how close we were to each other. Our noses were only a couple inches apart, and her teal eyes seemed to sparkle as we stared mindlessly into each other’s eyes. My heart started to speed up when I felt her warm, soft breath blow gently against my face from her ever-so-slightly parted lips.

“What should I do? Should I kiss her? Would she like that?” My thoughts raced.

As if instinct took us over, we both started to lean closer, millimeter by millimeter until the tips of our noses just barely touched, which caused her to suddenly blink a couple times and look back at the TV, seeming to snap out of it. “Is there another one starting?” she asked, getting us back on track.

I exhaled a bit and turned to face the TV. “Next time,” I thought.

We started another movie as we continued to sit together, stretched out on the couch.
I wasn’t even paying much attention to the movie. Instead, I was observing the shy girl. Her movements, her scent, her breathing, she was such a graceful, innocent creature, and her mesmerizing effect seemed to take hold of me as I closed my eyes and eventually fell into a deep sleep. A real, true deep sleep; the first I’d had in months.

Chapter 5: Photograph

Chapter 5

I awoke somewhat startled. “What a weird feeling…” then I remembered I was at her house on the couch.

“Holy shit, did I fall asleep?” I thought. “FUCK, is it Monday? What time is it?”

I stood up and looked around. Fluttershy was nowhere to be seen. I looked at my phone.

'7:45am'

I was going to be late for work.

“I’d better call and let them know I fell behind this morning,” I told myself.

I called my employer and let him know I would be getting to work a little late, which he was fine with since I’m usually on time most other days. He was an old man, past retirement age, but he still liked to run the shop. He was very easy going and didn’t do much actual work on vehicles, mostly just paperwork and talking to customers. He and I have a good thing going, like if I need time off; anytime, even at a moment’s notice, he’ll let me have it, no questions asked. It’s a good deal for me, but I don’t take advantage of it very often out of respect for him, even though I know he’d let me take a few months off if I asked.

Knowing I had to get going soon, I briefly resumed my search for the shy girl. Maybe she went to bed after I fell asleep?

I decided to venture for the first time down that hall at the end of the counter. It wasn’t as long as I expected, and all I found was a large bedroom with an attached bathroom on the right side. It was a tidy room with a queen-size bed and lots of stuffed animals, posters of animals, and some pictures of her friends.

She wasn’t there.

Not wanting to snoop too much, I went back out to the main room. The dishes from our leftovers the day before were gone and everything was clean, then I noticed a little note on the big table.

I went over and picked it up.

‘Goldie,
Thanks for coming over again yesterday. I had fun. Sorry I had to leave you here, but I had to go to work this morning. I didn’t want to wake you so I let you sleep. Hope you don’t mind.
I’ll text you sometime this week. You can let yourself out, don’t worry about locking the door.
~Fluttershy’

“Hm.” I mumbled to myself. I didn’t want to stick around too much longer alone in her house, so I went back to my place, got dressed for work and headed off.

At work, I thought about her all day; the clothes she wore, the way she smelled, the fact that we almost shared a kiss—maybe. And the fact that I feel asleep there. I still couldn’t believe that happened.

That night I got home and messed around with that motor for the mill, thinking about the shy girl all the while. After a few hours —probably about 2am— I finished it up and tried the mill out. I cut a few test slots out of a block of mild steel and after I was satisfied that it was working well, I showered, changed and sat down on the couch in my ‘living room’.

I decided to check my phone to see if she had texted me. She hadn’t, but I had a message from an unknown number with a photo attachment. I opened it and did my eyes went wide, my chest seizing up at the sight of the image.

It was a picture of me, asleep on Fluttershy’s couch…and she was sleeping on me. One of her legs was sprawled across both of my legs, her arm wrapped around my waist and her head was on my shoulder. Her hair was spread across the both of us, partially hiding us in a fan of pink silk.

“Who took this picture?” I wondered.

I wanted to text the number back and ask who it was, but it was 2:00 am. They're probably asleep, whoever they are. After pacing for a few minutes, I gave in to my curiosity and texted the number that sent me the image.

ME: Who's this?

Surprisingly, I got an answer immediately.

UNKNOWN NUMBER: IT'S PINKIE PIE SILLY! ME: Oh hi. Where did u get this picture? PINKIE PIE: I TOOK IT! I WAS UP SUPER-DUPER EARLY THIS MORNING AND I HAD TO DROP SOMETHING OFF AT FLUTTERSHY’S SO I DECIDED TO GO TO HER PLACE CUZ SHE’S USUALLY UP EARLY TOO AND WHEN I GOT THERE I FOUND U 2 SLEEPING LIKE THAT SO I TOOK A PICTURE CUZ IT WAS SOOOOOOOOO ADORABLE!!!

“Oh ok, yeah…taking pictures of people sleeping, good thing that’s not fucking weird at all.”

ME: Oh OK well thanks for sending it to me. I'll see u later. PINKIE PIE: BYE-BYE!

I sighed, then chuckled to myself a bit. “Well that solves that mystery,” I concluded.

*****

After a couple more days of work, I got a text from Rarity later on in the evening.

RARITY: Good evening, Golds! I am pleased to invite you this Sunday to join us for a day at the beach. A couple of the other girls are busy again this Saturday, so we’ve decided to move it to Sunday to go relax in the sun and have some fun in the water, if so desired. You will also get to meet our other two friends who are away at university in the big city. They are able to make it this Sunday so it will be a full house! So exciting! Hope to see you there. Ta-ta! ME: Sounds good. Where is this beach? RARITY: It is almost an hour drive from this area, so you can follow one of us or someone can ride with you who knows the way. Or you can ride with one of us. ME: I’ll drive. I can figure out the way like u said. I’ll text on the weekend to figure out exactly what’s going on. RARITY: Splendid! So excited to see you again! Ta-ta!

I put my phone down and started to walk out to the shop area of my home to start sorting some scrap metal, when I heard my phone buzz again. I went back and read the text.

RARITY: Could I ask you something? ME: Sure. What is it? RARITY: Did something happen between you and Fluttershy last weekend?

This message had me worried, and a little confused.

ME: What do you mean? RARITY: Well I haven’t heard from her all week. I’ve texted her numerous times and have gotten no reply. None of us have.

I felt a twinge of concern for the shy girl when I read the message. What could be going on? Last I knew, she left me there sleeping so she could go to work, and I hadn’t seen her since.

ME: I can try texting her.

I switched to Fluttershy’s messages on my phone and sent a short message.

ME: Hey

I waited for a minute, watching the message send, then eventually change to ‘sent’.

In the meantime, I got a message from Rarity.

RARITY: If you could, please. See if she will respond.

As I watched for a reply, I saw the message status change from ‘message sent’ to ‘message read at 8:42 pm’, which was the current time.

After a few more minutes, there was still no reply. I explained this to Rarity and she texted back.

RARITY: Well at least she’s read it, so we know she’s OK. She’s probably just upset about something, she does this from time to time.

“What could she be upset about? Something I did?” I wondered.

ME: Should I go check on her? I actually live pretty close. RARITY: Thats very sweet of you, but I think it best if we leave her be. I am certain she’ll be over whatever this is by the weekend. ME: OK then. I’ll text you after work Saturday? RARITY: Sure thing. Ta-ta!

I set my phone down and continued out to sort scrap, but my mind was on Fluttershy. What was her deal? Did I do something wrong? Was it something her friends did?

I was very tempted to go to her place to check on her since it was so close, but I decided to obey Rarity and stay home. The whole situation made me unambitious for sorting scrap, so I went back to my couch and watched TV for the rest of the night, though I wasn’t really paying attention to what was on anyway.

The rest of the week dragged on agonisingly slow. I just wanted Sunday to come so I could see what was going on with Fluttershy, and to make sure I didn’t screw something up.

Saturday I got home after work around 1:30pm. After cleaning myself up and changing, I sent Rarity a text to see what the plan was.

She was much more direct now.

RARITY: Meet me at Fluttershy’s house tomorrow morning at about 10:30. ME: K

Did something go down between them since I talked to Rarity last?

I paced around restlessly all afternoon and night, watching as it got dark outside, then light again several hours later. 10:30 could not come fast enough.

When 10:25 finally arrived I hopped in my truck and headed for the shy girl’s house, nervous about what was going on.

When I pulled up to Fluttershy’s house, I saw Rarity’s car there, and she and Rainbow Dash were standing outside of the house. Dash was wearing a T-shirt and red shorts that had white stripes up the sides. Rarity, wearing her usual attire, was standing by the front door while Dash paced around, looking irritated.

I parked, rolled down my window and shut the truck off so I could hear the conversation.

“Let’s just go in and get her,” Dash said loudly.

Rarity shook her head. “Nonsense, darling. She’s upset enough as it is!”

“What the hell is going on here?” I thought.

“Fuck it,” Dash said. “I’m going in. Like you said, she’s already upset, so what difference does it make now?”

Rarity threw her hands up in the air. “Fine then, you do what you like. I’ll have no part of it.” The fashionista stuck her nose up and walked back to her car. She opened her door and was halfway in when she glanced over at me sitting in my truck, looking like she just realized I was there, so she gave me a forced smile before getting in and driving off.

“Well she’s pissed about something,” I thought.

In the meantime, Dash had run into the house, leaving the front door open.

“FLUTTERSHY!” I could hear her yelling.

I heard some commotion inside the house, I thought I could hear the shy girl talking back, a bit of thumping and more of Dash yelling. What I saw then caught me off guard…

Dash emerged from the front door with the shy girl slung over one shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Dash’s arm was wrapped around Fluttershy’s thighs to keep her from squirming too much, and the shy girl had a grip of the back of Dash’s shirt, quietly pleading to be put down. Dash, only holding her captive with one arm, shut the front door to the house with her other hand and carried the shy girl over to my passenger side door. The whole scene looked like a silly cartoon with the girl who was being carried was half a foot taller than the one who was carrying her.

“Damn, I knew that little chick was strong…”

Dash set Fluttershy down, who turned towards the truck and froze when she saw me through the window. Dash opened the door, saying : “Like I said, we’re going to the beach and you’re coming with us. Now GET IN!”

Fluttershy reluctantly climbed in as I flipped up my center console to make room for the two passengers. The shy girl shimmied over to the middle seat next to me and Dash hopped into the far passenger seat.

“Alright, lets go,” Dash ordered.

I started the truck, making Fluttershy almost jump out of her skin at the sudden noise. Dash just shook her head in response to the shy girl’s skittishness as I drove to the end of the driveway and stopped. I looked over at them; neither of them were speaking, and Fluttershy’s face was dark red.

“Which way?” I asked.

Dash perked up, “Oh shit, sorry, Golds. Turn right here. You’ll stay on this road for quite a ways. I’ll tell you where to turn next.”

I did as she instructed and we headed down the road in silence, aside from the perpetual chatter of the big diesel under the hood. Two or three awkward minutes went by before Dash finally spoke.

“OK Fluttershy, what the fuck? What is your problem?”

Fluttershy didn’t respond. Instead, she just sat there hugging herself in silence. I looked in my rear view mirror to see her pretty face contorted in a scowl, after which she met my eyes briefly and looked down immediately.

“Seriously, Fluttershy. I’ll have Golds drive us in circles all day until you talk,” Dash threatened.

After a few seconds, the shy girl pounded her knees with her fists. “You guys are mean! You embarrassed me!” Her voice was still soft, but with her anger, it carried much more authority. I found it a bit frightening, but kind of cute at the same time.

“Pfft! What are you talking about?” Dash asked, confused.

“Pinkie Pie snuck in and took that picture and passed it around to everyone! Even him!” she growled, pointing at me.

This was all new information to me.

“You guys were teasing me, and you embarrassed me! I didn’t mean to fall asleep on him, it was an accident! He wasn’t supposed to find out! Now he knows and he probably thinks I’m weird and creepy!” Fluttershy complained.

I shook my head a bit, “You can sleep on me anytime. I'm just sorry I missed it,” I thought to myself.

“Oh come on, Fluttershy! Don’t you remember Pinkie was supposed to bring those boxes of rope ‘n stuff out to your place? She found you guys there like that, took the picture and sent it to us because it’s AWESOME! “

“What do you mean, awesome?” Fluttershy asked.

“You and Golds! We meet this cool guy, you guys hang out, just the two of you and you hit it off! YOU! Fluttershy! You did it by yourself! And it's about time, after being alone for so long because you were too chicken-shit to talk to anyone. I have to admit, I thought it was going to be the same as every other time after the way you acted the first night he came over, but you totally turned it around! We’re all proud of you!”

The shy girl’s expression changed. She appeared to feel like she had misjudged her friends and started to look apologetic. “You guys are…proud of me?”

“Of course we are. And you scored big! Look at this guy…nice, awesome at stuff, good lookin...” Dash paused, then gave Fluttershy an elbow to the arm. “Come on, you deserve this!”

“Hold the phone, is that what they think about me?” I wondered to myself, not expecting Dash to say something like that.

“Well, “ Fluttershy started, “Did you guys really have to send him the picture?”

Dash leaned forward to talk to me past Fluttershy. "Hey Golds, did you think it was weird? That she fell asleep on you?”

Fluttershy looked at me while I answered. “Not at all," I said, "I didn’t mean to fall asleep either, I actually felt bad about that. But I don’t care that you slept on me. It made my shirt smell good,” I joked.

“HA!” Dash shouted. “You see? I told you! You need to stop worrying about what people think about you so much.”

Fluttershy's pretty face became flushed and she looked away for a moment, then she looked back at me with a warm smile. I was glad to see her like this again. Dash watched on with a smile of her own when she saw us gazing at each other.

I was really struck by Dash’s whole demeanor. The first night I was with them, Dash seemed really brash, vulgar and a bit arrogant. Not too arrogant, but definitely enough to notice. But here, she was being genuine. She was a good friend. I noticed this about all of them; even though they were so different from one another, there wasn’t anything they wouldn’t do for each other.

Fluttershy looked down at her lap again. “I’m sorry, Dashie. I shouldn’t have made assumptions about what you guys did.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it, Flutters. It was just the embarrassment talking. I know how you are and I knew I just had to drag you out here to face your demons,” Dash replied. “I’ve known you forever. I know what makes you tick.”

“Thanks Dashie,” the shy girl said after a pause and a smile.

I spoke after a minute or two of silence. “How did Pinkie Pie get my number, anyway?”

“Oh, she just asked Rarity for it. Who, by the way, knew you two were hanging out together,” Dash explained.

“Yeah,” I replied, “I texted her while I was there.”

“Oh my God, yeah!” Dash shouted, “Rarity would not stop going on about it! She was so excited…I must have gotten like 300 texts from her that afternoon.”

Fluttershy was still blushing. “Oh, I didn’t know you texted Rarity that day,” she said to me.

“Yeah, while you were changing. I was asking if her sister was feeling better and it kind of came up that I was at your place again,” I told her.

“Oh,” Fluttershy said, looking down at her lap. “Well, um, that was nice of you. Poor Sweetie Belle, she was really sick.”

We drove for a bit in a more light-hearted silence. After a moment or two, we began talking about different things. Dash and I talked for the most part, Fluttershy only said a few things. They told me about the band that they had back in high school, and I had a fun time trying to picture them playing. It must have been an interesting sounding group, and I was quite surprised that Fluttershy would get up on stage in front of a crowd of people like that.

It seemed like we got to the beach in no time with the conversations we were having. As we pulled up and parked, I saw Rarity’s car parked next to the other car I had seen at Fluttershy's the other week, and the group of friends was out on the sand, some running around and some relaxing in the sun.

I prepared myself, as there were two new members of the group there that I was about to meet.

Chapter 6: The Beach

Chapter 6

We walked out onto the sand, heading towards the group. Dash had run off ahead to meet up with them, peeling her t-shirt off as she ran, revealing a black and white one-piece bathing suit underneath. As she met up and talked to the others, I noticed a few of them were sitting down under a sun umbrella.

Rarity was one of them, the other two I didn’t recognise. Pinkie and AJ were running around nearby, throwing a Frisbee back and forth. Dash stood for a few seconds talking to the ones under the umbrella, saying something that prompted them to turn and look back at us. Fluttershy was walking with me, keeping pace a few feet away. As I looked over at her, she was looking down, watching her feet sink into the sand with each step. She glanced up at me and smiled, then looked back at her feet. I smiled back, but I was unsure if she saw it.

When I looked ahead again, I noticed the two unfamiliar ones get up as Dash ran over to join the girls playing with the Frisbee. The new girls were walking towards me and Fluttershy, and as I got closer, I could see one was fairly tall; about the same as Fluttershy’s height. She had a skin tone similar to Applejack’s, but had a large head of wavy red hair with yellow strips zig-zagging all through it. She had sunglasses on and was wearing jean shorts and an aqua coloured t-shirt that was long enough to almost cover her shorts completely.

The other girl had lavender coloured skin and was wearing black, thick-framed glasses. Her hair was mostly a navy blue colour, with straight-cut bangs covering her forehead. There was a pink stripe in her hair, slightly offset to her left with a darker purple stripe alongside it. The hair was long and straight, hanging down her back in a pony-tail, almost to her black shorts. She was wearing a light blue golf shirt with the buttons undone so the collar was spread open, showing off her collar bones.

They stopped and smiled when they got about six feet from us. I stopped, looking back at Fluttershy as she joined me at my side.

“Hey Flutters,” the fiery-haired girl greeted. “So, this is the new guy?”

“Um, yeah,” the shy girl replied, “This is Golden Arrow. He helped Rarity with her car a few weeks ago and came to the Saturday dinner a couple times.”

“That’s great! It's nice to meet you,” the red-haired girl said. Both of the new girls gave me a small wave, so I gave a little wave back, trying not to look too nervous. That fire-haired girl looked like someone you wouldn’t want to cross, although she was quite beautiful.

Fluttershy gestured a hand at them, “This is Twilight Sparkle and that’s Sunset Shimmer.” The shy girl seemed distant during the introduction. Instead of looking at either of the girls she was introducing, or even me for that matter, she seemed to be looking past them towards the rest of the group.

Each of the new girls nodded and smiled as their names were said.

“It’s good to finally meet you guys,” I said. “I hear you go to school in the big city?”

Sunset opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Fluttershy.

“Um, sorry guys, I need to go talk to Pinkie Pie,” the shy girl said as she walked off towards the rest of the group. I watched her go, loving how she walked gracefully, but somewhat clumsily in the soft sand. I noticed then that she was wearing her usual white tank top and green skirt with the green boots I saw by her door a week earlier. I felt kind of bad seeing that she was unprepared for being at the beach after Dash had dragged her out of her house earlier.

“Well anyway,” Sunset continued, “Yeah, we’re actually almost done for this year. Then we’ll be back in town for the summer. Or at least I will be.”

“I’ll be going back for a summer course,” Twilight finally spoke up. “Plus I’m from the city originally, so my family is there, but I’ll be around as much as I can to hang out with my friends.”

Sunset pointed with her thumb at twilight. “Twi here is what you call a professional student. She’s taking every engineering course there is. She’s going back for more next fall, but I’ll be done this year so I won’t be going back.”

I nodded, trying my best to listen as I watched Fluttershy in the background. She had approached Pinkie, who'd stopped to watch the shy girl as she approached, as if she didn’t know what to expect from the situation.

Pinkie was wearing a light blue bikini that looked way too small for her body type. It appeared to be sinking into her curves, and her top looked like it was going to snap under the weight of her huge boobs, which honestly wouldn't have been a bad thing.

I snapped my attention back to Sunset and Twilight. “So you’re pretty much done school then?” I asked Sunset. “What did you take?”

“I majored in forensic science, and I took a bunch of other things too," she answered.

“Oh, that’s interesting. Good for you. What sort of work do you want to get into?” I asked, watching as Fluttershy and Pinkie talked in the distance, not really considering if my question made any sense.

“I’d like to be involved in helping solve crimes, being a part of investigations…you know, all that stuff. I don’t want to bore you with too many details right now, but I really just want to help make sure there’s justice in the world. You know?” Sunset said. Something about her seemed like she’d be good at a career like that; gathering information and putting the pieces together.

“And I’m just gonna keep going to school, haha…” Twilight sheepishly interjected. “I don’t have much desire to enter the work force and I keep getting scholarships because I’ve been doing so well, so as long as I can afford it I’m gonna keep going to school. I love learning and if I could do it forever, I would.”

I watched in the distance as Fluttershy and Pinkie talked a bit more, then suddenly they came together in a tight hug. When I knew that all was forgiven about the picture Pinkie had taken, I brought my attention back to the girls in front of me.

“Do you wanna head over to the group?” Sunset asked.

“Sure,” I replied. “So, what happens when you’ve taken all the courses and there’s no more to do?” I asked Twilight as we started walking.

“Well that’ll never happen, but at some point I was thinking I might become a professor myself and pass on whatever knowledge I can to others,” she answered.

“Yeah, that would be good,” I said.

“This girl is kind of a nerd, but she seems nice. Both of them do, actually,” I thought to myself as we walked together.

“So what do you do, Golden?” Sunset asked.

“Me? Oh, I’m just a mechanic,” I answered.

“Ah, hence you fixing Rarity’s car,” Sunset replied.

”What was wrong with her car?” Twilight asked.

“Her battery died because the alternator wasn’t working,” I answered, looking back at Fluttershy who was having a chat with AJ now.

“What was wrong with it? Did the diode bridge fail or were the brushes worn or…?” Twilight asked enthusiastically.

I looked at her with some surprise. “You sound like you know your way around cars. The bearings were actually shot and it was making a crap-ton of noise,” I said.

“Ah,” she said with a shrug. “Yeah, my first year at school I took electrical and automotive engineering, so I do know a bit about…well, everything.”

“Oh, good job,” I said. “Sounds like you aced them both.”

“Haha yeah,” she laughed with a small snort. “I always do.”

I smiled at her as we walked up to the umbrella. Rarity was sitting in a lounge chair wearing some big sunglasses and a wide-brimmed sun hat. She had on something that looked like a fancy poncho which more or less covered her upper body. I could see her legs stretched out in front of her. They were nice legs; slender, smooth and white as snow. She turned to look up at me and smiled.

“Oh hi there, darling. So glad you made it. Dreadfully sorry about earlier, but it looks like all is well with Fluttershy now?”

I nodded. “A little misunderstanding.”

She took a sip of the iced tea she was holding. “Well, these things tend to happen, darling. All’s well that ends well.”

Twilight and Sunset resumed their sitting places under the umbrella with Rarity. I stood where I was with my hands in my pockets, watching the others throw the Frisbee. I let out a sigh, brought on by a mix of boredom and relaxation. I was content as long as Fluttershy was in my sight, who I noticed was now walking over towards us.

She walked up and spoke softly to her friend. “Hey Rarity.”

“Hello hun,” Rarity replied, looking up at her with a smile.

“Um, could you do me a f-favour?” Fluttershy asked, bending down to Rarity’s level. “Can I borrow the-“ her voice got too quiet for me to hear.

I could hear Rarity though. “The red one? Are you sure, darling?”

Fluttershy whispered some more to her.

“Do you want the sandals, too?” Rarity said, reaching into a bag beside her, pulling out another smaller bag and a pair of white sandals. Fluttershy nodded as she took them and walked past me, giving me a little glance and a smile, along with a little blush. She walked off to a little building that looked like it had changing stalls in it.

I looked back towards the girls who were playing to see that Pinkie was running into the water, splashing up waves of water with her feet. She dove in then came back up a few seconds later with just her head above the water. I could hear her shrill voice: “GAAAH! IT’S COOOOLD!”

Dash was laughing throwing the Frisbee up a few feet into the air and catching it again.

Applejack was headed over to us. She was wearing tattered jean shorts over a yellow one-piece bathing suit, along with her signature brown hat. She walked up and stood by me.

“Hey there, partner,” she greeted.

“Hey. How’s the barn?” I asked.

She looked at me for a second before remembering what had happened the week before. “Oh, yeah. That. We got it all fixed up. What a mess. My poor sister, it wasn’t really her fault. Turns out the clutch rod broke on the tractor when she was backing it up and she couldn’t stop, so BAM she went, right into the damn barn.” She chuckled and shook her head, looking at the ground.

“How old is your sister?” I asked.

“Apple Bloom? She just turned twenty-three; been done high school a few years now. She can drive tractor just fine—that old thing’s just a piece a’ shit. I told my brother we should take it out back, if ya know what I mean, heh-heh,” she chuckled, pretending to fire a shotgun.

“Yeah,” I chuckled back, digging the toe of one of my boots in the sand.

“Granny says it ain’t the right time fer the expense of a new one though, so my brother welded it up for now. It’ll get us by fer a bit,” AJ continued, staring out at the water.

Susnet suddenly made a noise. “Woooooo! Check out Fluttershy!”

I looked over to see the shy girl walking back to us, wearing a small red bikini.

“Ho…lee…shit…”

My jaw fell open when I saw her. That smooth, custard coloured skin, flowing pink hair, and those breasts bouncing slightly in the small top as she stepped along gracefully. She had a very slight bit of tone on her midsection, but most of her body just was smooth and slender. She was nothing short of god-like.

“I don’t know how that girl keeps a body like that, “AJ said. “If I were you I’d be takin her into that little building there and givin her a little somethin somethin, heh-heh.”

Rarity looked at AJ for a second then turned back, shaking her head.

I smiled at the fashionista's response.

Fluttershy looked over at us, briefly locking eyes with me before blushing and looking towards Rainbow Dash.

Then I felt a light slap on my shoulder. “Hey, wipe yer chin, man!” AJ said sternly.

I looked at her and touched my stubble-covered chin with my fingertips. “Please tell me I’m not actually drooling…”

“Heh-heh-heh, just kiddin, sugarcube,” she laughed.

“Hey,” Dash shouted from the distance. “We lost in Pinkie Pie to the water. Who wants to play two-on-two?”

“I’m-a-comin!” AJ shouted in reply. She turned her head towards me as she started to run back. “See ya, Golds!”

I nodded back to her.

Dash turned to the shy girl who was headed her way. “You in, Flutters?”

Fluttershy nodded and broke into a graceful run into her playing position.

“We need one more! You in, Golds?” Dash shouted towards me.

I’m not big on things like that so I just shook my head.

“Aw, come on!” Dash yelled with a smile, showing she wasn’t going to insist, but was still going to bust my chops a little.

Sunset stood up. “I’ll play,” she said, running over.

“Alright!” Dash yelled, shaking her fists to psyche herself up.

Rarity looked up towards me. “Why don’t you have a seat in Sunset’s spot and get some shade, darling?”

I went over and sat down where Sunset had just gotten up from, right between Twilight and Rarity. We watched the girls play as I had a few conversations with the two seated with me under the umbrella. It was mostly Rarity who talked, Twilight was reading a book so she didn’t say nearly as much.

I continued watching the four girls play as I listened to the beautiful fashionista talk about the upcoming busy season; graduations, proms, summer weddings and so on. She was going to be a lot busier in the upcoming months as the demand for formal wear goes up.

I was stunned to see Dash’s athletic prowess in action. She was running and jumping all over the place, sometimes doing backflips in mid-air while throwing the Frisbee. When she ran, her feet kicked so much sand up behind her she reminded me of a dirt bike running around, flinging dirt from the rear wheel as it spun.

The other three girls were pretty average athletes, although it was obvious that Applejack was a lot stronger, even more so than Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy was surprisingly agile, but she was more graceful, like a deer. Her feet seemed to barely touch the ground as her beautiful, slender legs carried her surprising distances with seemingly no effort. Sunset was a competent athlete, but had a strange, almost clumsy quality to her movements. It was almost like she hadn’t spent as much time on her own two legs as the others.

Rarity's voice slowly became white noise in the background of my mind as I watched the pink-haired girl run back and forth, catching and throwing the Frisbee with the bright sun shining down onto her butter-coloured skin, making me half-expect her to begin melting in the heat.

"...so what do you think of that, darling?"

"Huh?" I mumbled, turning to face the indigo-haired girl. I suddenly realised that I had no idea what she'd been talking about, but rather than just admit to it, I decided to take a shot in the dark and try to respond to her. "Oh...um, yeah. You should have told the waiter to take it back."

Rarity chuckled quietly and shook her head. "My goodness, were you paying attention to me?" she asked as she slid her sunglasses down her nose to look at me with her sparkling, sapphire eyes. "Or were you looking at Fluttershy?"

"Uh..." I responded dumbly. "Shit..."

"Because she's looking at you, darling," Rarity continued with a flirtatious smirk on her lips.

"Huh?" I looked out over the sand again to see the shy girl standing idle, her dreamy gaze locked directly on me as the Frisbee flew by, missing her shoulder by a few inches.

"FLUTTERSHY!" Dash's voice screeched from across the sand.

The sound of her name snapped the shy girl out of her trance, prompting her to look behind her to see where the Frisbee had landed. "Oh!" her cute, quiet voice carried across the beach towards us as she scampered towards the plastic disc to pick it up.

"Pay attention!" Dash scolded. "Quit staring at the cack!"

On my left, Twilight laughed out loud and let her head tip back from her book. On my right, Rarity took her sunglasses off to pinch the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. "Oh my god, that Rainbow Dash can be so embarrassing!" she said flatly, shaking her head. "I am dreadfully sorry about that, darling."

I waved her off. "Nah. You should hear the shit mechanics say to each other."

The fashionista let out a tiny giggle, followed by a relaxed sigh. "You know," she said as she slipped her sunglasses back on, "It is quite unusual for Fluttershy to choose to wear such an outfit."

"Mm-hm," Twilight nodded in agreement, keeping her eyes locked onto the pages of her book.

I glanced at the lavender-skinned girl for a second, then returned my eyes to Rarity.

"I simply cannot imagine why she would have chosen today to wear it," the fashionista said inquisitively as she turned her head towards me with one of her thin, purple eyebrows rising above her sunglasses.

"Hm," I mumbled as I looked out over the beach once again, watching the shy girl play with her friends. "Did she really do that for me?" I wondered, gently rubbing my chin with my index finger as a warm twinge of excitement washed through me.

As it got later in the afternoon, the group decided to pack up and head back to Fluttershy’s. Her house seemed like the popular spot for them to gather, maybe because the isolation gave them the freedom to do what they felt like and make all the noise they wanted.

As I walked back to my truck, I saw the rest of them climbing into the other vehicles. I was just thinking about how I would be following one of them back when I heard footsteps running up behind me. I turned to see Fluttershy, now again wearing her usual white top, green skirt and boots. “Can I…um, come with you?” she asked, tucking some of her hair behind her ear to get it out of her face.

“Absolutely,” I said, with a smile. After seeing her in that bikini for the last few hours, I wanted nothing more than to be close to her.

I got in the driver’s seat and put the key in the ignition as she opened the door on the other side. She climbed into the cab onto the passenger seat, but rather than putting on the seatbelt, she scooted over to the middle again, right next to me.

“Is someone else coming with us?” I asked.

“Um, no…I don’t think so,” she replied in her soft voice, looking at the other vehicles with everyone else piled in.

“Oh. OK.”

She put on her seatbelt while I started the engine. This time the shy girl was steady as the loud diesel barked to attention, ready for another trip. We waited for the other cars to pull onto the road, then we rolled out of the dirt parking lot and followed them.

Neither of us said anything. After a few minutes on the road, watching the car in front of us, I felt a soft weight pressing on my right shoulder. I looked down and saw that she had rested her head on me, letting out a relaxed sigh with her soft voice, instantly making me feel butterflies in my stomach.

I kept switching my gaze from the road to her while taking in the smell of her hair. Her hands were sitting idle, resting on her lap, and mustering some bravery I slowly moved my hand over to hers, letting our fingertips touch. She responded to me by opening her hand up a bit and letting our fingers lace together, finally ending with our hands in a tight grasp. I could feel her warm, soft palm against mine and her cheek press against my shoulder as she smiled in response.

We spent the remainder of the drive back to her place like this, neither of us wanting it to end.

Chapter 7: Pizza

Chapter 7

The hour-long drive back to the shy girl’s house seemed to pass in a heartbeat. Before we knew it, we had pulled into her driveway behind the other vehicles and parked. I reached over the steering column with my left hand to shut the engine off, having driven the whole way here using just that hand—while the other hand held Fluttershy’s the entire time. We sat in silence, watching everyone else get out of the other vehicles, stretching their backs, laughing and talking, and I suddenly felt her squeeze my hand a little tighter. I looked down at her as she lifted her head from my shoulder to look at me, those teal eyes shining as she gave me a heart-fluttering smile.

“I wish…we could keep going,” she said.

“Same here,” I agreed, looking back at her friends as they headed for the front door of the house. “But they’re gonna be waiting for us.”

“Yeah,” she said, sighing and resting her head on my shoulder again. “I’m sorry we didn’t spend more time together at the beach today…you know…um, just you and me. And I’m sorry about the fight I caused with my friends earlier.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” I said. “Shit happens.”

“Yeah...” she said with a content tone in her voice.

“You wanna go in?”

“Yeah, we’d better,” she said as I opened my door. We let go of each other’s hands, the thin layer of sweat from our warmth causing our hands to peel apart like Velcro. I slid out after taking my keys from the ignition, and she followed me out through the driver’s door, holding my hand to help herself jump down from the high-sitting vehicle.

We walked to the front door together, where I opened it for her.

“Oh thank you, kind sir,” she giggled.

Everyone was inside, though a few of them were out of the room—presumably taking turns using the washroom after the long drive. Most of them turned to watch as we entered, and a couple of them smiled when they saw Fluttershy's face flush after she realised we were the center of attention. AJ in particular nodded at me while holding a bottle of what looked like some kind of apple drink in her hand.

Rarity approached me and Fluttershy. “Fluttershy darling, I've taken the liberty of bringing some frozen pizzas in a cooler. I already have them in the oven. No need for you to slave away in the kitchen again this week. You enjoy yourself, OK?”

“Oh! OK, um...thanks Rarity,” Fluttershy replied, relieved that she could just relax and enjoy her time with everyone.

I went with her to her favourite spot on the chaise lounge and we sat together while we watched Rainbow Dash bring up some ‘ultimate fail’ YouTube videos on the big TV. Everyone watched, with the exception of Rarity and Twilight—who were having a conversation at the table while watching over the pizzas.

Every so often, someone in the video would fall and hurt themselves in a big way and the whole group would roar with laughter, and Dash could be heard over top of it all. “WHAT AN IDIOT!” she hollered, letting out a shrill laugh.

After watching a few videos, the pizzas came out and we all gathered around the table to eat. Broken, but funny conversations were being had between bites as I looked around the table at my new friends. Each one of these women were so different from one another; all were uniquely beautiful, and they shared an inexplicable bond that was stronger than any other I’d seen in a long time. I thought about seeing Rarity’s car on the side of the road those few weeks ago. If I had passed on by and left them there, then right now I’d probably sitting alone in my cold, dark shop, not having fun with these girls and certainly not sitting next to the shy girl who’d grabbed hold of my heartstrings and held on relentlessly. She was the first woman in many years to be able to do such a thing to me, to make me feel this way. I was completely at her mercy.

As we finished eating and everyone dispersed, I was still sitting at the table on the side closest to the counter, finishing the last few bites. Fluttershy had gone back to her favourite spot on the couch in the meantime, and I had every intention of joining her as soon as I was done eating. As I finished my last bite, I started to turn to get up and set my plate on the counter —where the others had stacked theirs— when I felt someone pass behind me.

“Whoop, just gonna slide past you there, Golds.” It was Sunset, heading over to set an empty glass by the sink, having to squeeze between me and the counter to get by. She set it down and turned to head back as I started getting up, and her hand unexpectedly brushed my forearm.

I was about to say “whoops” or something like that, but before I could, she suddenly gasped aloud and staggered backwards, bumping into the counter with her back. She reached behind with her hands to steady herself on the countertop, but ended up knocking the glass over that she’d just set there, causing a loud clang as it hit the hard countertop. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her brow was furrowed, a look of anguish on her face.

“What the...? Does this girl have some kind of medical condition?” I wondered, stepping forward to help her. “Are you OK?”

Sunset opened her eyes and saw me reaching for her. She recoiled in terror—much to my dismay, and embarrassment.

“NO!” she turned and staggered away, using her hands for support on the countertop. “DON’T TOUCH ME!” she shouted, raising a hand in defense after facing me again, propped against the counter by her hip.

By this time, everyone else had gone quiet and was watching the scene unfold.

I put my hands up to show that I wasn’t doing anything wrong as I turned to face the group; some of them were looking back at me, and some at Sunset.

“What happened?” Applejack asked as Twilight approached Sunset to help her.

“I don’t know,” I replied, “she just started freakin out!”

Twilight could be heard talking quietly to Sunset, trying to calm her down. I looked over to at the couch see where Fluttershy was. To my relief, she had gotten up and was making her way back to me.

Sunset had started to settle down a bit by the time Fluttershy joined me, wrapping her hand in the crook of my elbow to try to comfort me. As Sunset’s breathing returned to normal, she looked around at everyone and blushed a little, clearly embarrassed by the outburst.

“I’m...just gonna go outside for some air,” she said quietly as she started for the door.

“I’ll come with you,” Twilight said, following her. They opened the door after putting their footwear on, but just before Sunset disappeared from sight, she looked back once more to give me a sharp glare.

I returned a blank stare, unsure of what to think. “What was that all about?” I wondered.

“Are you alright, darling?” Rarity asked, leaning on the far end of the table. “She certainly gave you quite a start!”

I glanced at her and nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. I, uh...I don’t know what happened there.” I looked at Fluttershy, who was rubbing my arm for a bit of comfort—which I had to admit was working.

Dash piped up. “Aw, she’s probably just having a panic attack about the finals coming up next week. She always stressed this time of year.”

I was skeptical. That didn’t look like a panic attack, she acted as though I did something to her.

*****

Roughly a mile down the road from Fluttershy’s house, Sunset Shimmer —with Twilight Sparkle seated behind her, arms locked around her waist— slowed her motorcycle and pulled off to the side, stopping on the shoulder. After cutting the engine, she toed the kickstand down and lifted her helmet off, fluffing that fiery hair with her fingertips afterward.

Twilight did the same while the red-head swung her leg over the handlebars, on which she hung her helmet by its strap after dismounting the bike. With her helmet now removed, Twilight set it on her thigh and watched her friend walk away in silence.

Sunset stopped finally, paused, and then turned around. Then she began the slow trek back to the motorcycle, her eyes never leaving the ground.

Twilight tapped the dome of the helmet with her nail as she watched her friend pace, unsure of what to make of it. It had been years since she’d seen Sunset act this way.

After clearing her throat, Twilight spoke. “You seem…disquieted.”

Sunset stopped just in front of the motorcycle, sighed, and then turned to walk away again, oblivious to the remark.

Twilight cocked her head—and a brow. “Uh…Sunset?”

“Huh?” The red-head turned to look back this time, as though she’d forgotten that she wasn’t alone. “Oh…um…”

“What happened back there?”

Sunset froze, surprised by the point-blankness of the question. “Nothing,” she replied, turning away again. Then she turned back. “Well…not nothing, per se…just…”

Twilight watched, allowing her friend some time to gather herself; her eyes fell to Sunset’s hands when she noticed them wringing together, fingers trembling violently.

A deep inhale through her nostrils was followed by an exhale through pursed lips, and then Sunset locked eyes with her friend. “That guy…who was there today. Golds. What did you think of him?”

Twilight looked up to the treetops for a moment and then shrugged. “I dunno. Seemed nice enough. Why? What happened?”

Sunset hesitated. Then she looked down at her hands. “I accidently touched him.”

Twilight groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Ugh…this is why I keep telling you you should go back to wearing your gloves.”

Sunset was silent; that statement didn’t seem to matter much to her.

After a sigh, Twilight asked, “so what did you see?”

The red-head’s mouth hung open slightly, her eyes darting around the ground. “I don’t know. It was like…I could see everything…and nothing.” Her eyes shot up to meet Twilight’s. “It…hurt.”

The lavender-skinned girl furrowed her brows and pushed her glasses up. “Has that ever happened before?”

Sunset shook her head, slowly.

Twilight paused for a moment. She looked down at her thigh and idly rubbed it as she thought to herself. “What does it mean?” she asked, looking up again.

“I dunno.” Sunset chewed her lip for a moment. “But I don’t think that Golds is as ordinary as he lets on.”

The other girl raised a brow.

“I mean…” Sunset turned away and began to pace again, holding her hands up as she spoke. “It was almost like…when I touched him, it was like…some sort of defense mechanism.”

“Hmm…” The shorter girl rubbed her chin and looked down at her reflection in the helmet, that bespectacled face looking back skewed by its shape. “That could be a possibility, but for what? I mean, this is all just speculation. We just met him today, Sunset; we don’t know anything about him.” She looked up at her friend. “On the other hand, when it happened, and I saw that look on your face…” She gave her head a shake. “Whatever was happening to you, it looked rather unpleasant.”

Sunset stopped and turned partway, looking across the road at nothing. “Uh…yeah, no. It was definitely not an enjoyable experience.”

Twilight sighed and looked to where Sunset’s attention appeared to be. “OK, so…crazy question: couldn’t we just go back and talk to him?”

Sunset snapped her head around to face her friend; her eyes were wide, and she looked anxious. “No!… No, I don’t wanna go back there right now.”

Twilight sneered. “Why not?”

The red-head approached the bike, her hands outstretched as she shook them. “Because, Twi! What if he’s dangerous? What if he has Equestrian magic!?”

The other girl leaned away, hand raised. “Whoa, calm down! Are you being serious?”

“Well, think about it! If there is something more to him, then he’s keeping it from us on purpose, Twi. Why would he do that?”

Twilight shrugged. “Could be any number of reasons.”

Sunset shook her head stubbornly. “I don’t like it. It doesn’t feel right.”

“Ugh…” Twilight shook her head. “Don’t you think you might be jumping to conclu-“

“No, Twi! I think…I think this might be it,” Sunset countered, to which Twilight looked confused.

“What might be it?”

Sunset held her arms outward, gesturing around her. “This! Our magic; this is why we have it! How long has it been since the thing at Camp Everfree?”

Twilight rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “Not quite nine years,” she finally said.

“And what’s happened since then?”

“In terms of magical beings trying to take over? Not much. Nothing, actually.”

“Exactly!” Sunset shouted, pointing at Twilight. “Why would we have these abilities if we weren’t meant to use them? All this time’s gone by, but…I’ve known. I’ve known all along that we’ve had them for a reason. And I think this is it!”

Twilight sighed and rubbed her forehead. “Well, there’s also…” —she closed her eyes and shook her head— “OK, so…I suppose there’s a remote possibility that you could be right. Let’s just say for a moment that you are. What do we do?”

Sunset drew a deep breath. “Well…we can’t go back to Flutters.’”

The lavender girl gave a sigh. “Why not? If there is something wrong with him, shouldn’t all be together to face it?”

Sunset shook her head. “Not there. If we call him out and he turns out to be dangerous, what if he goes nuts? I don’t want Flutters’ house to get fucked up.”

Twilight laid a finger on her lips, thinking. “Hm. Good point.” She looked up at Sunset. “Should we text the others and warn them?”

Sunset paused to think. “No. Not until we know more; especially if they’re still there. If Dashie catches wind of it, she’ll come out guns-a-blazin and then we’ll be in the same boat again.” She paused for a moment, watching Twilight shake her head. Then she folded her arms. “I think we should follow him when he leaves Flutters’ house. Then we confront him where he can’t do any damage—nice and quiet.”

Twilight looked at Sunset, eyes wide. “What, just you and me?”

The red-head nodded. “Yeah. Don’t worry, Twi, we can handle him on our own. You’ve got the strongest magic of all of us; you pretty much took Gloriosa down yourself, remember?”

A hesitation from Twilight. “I…I just-”

“We’ll follow him to wherever he lives, and we’ll find out what his deal is; show him who he’s messing with. But I need your help to do it, Twi.”

“But…what if you’re wrong?” Twilight asked. “What about Fluttershy? She seems quite…smitten with him; I don’t wanna mess things up if this is her chance for something genuine.”

Sunset paused, her face grim. “I’m not wrong. There’s something not right about him; I know it.”

Twilight looked down at the ground and sighed, prompting Sunset to step closer and place a hand on her shoulder.

“Come on, Twi. Flutters could be in danger; we can’t let anything happen to her. Are you in, or not?”

*****

The girls talked about high school and college for a bit, telling some of their own stories about stress and being worried about the future. This went on for about twenty minutes and my concern about Sunset began to fade, convincing myself that maybe she really was just stressed.

“Well,” AJ said, checking the time on her phone. “Maybe it’s about time we call it a night. Tomorrow’s Monday and we’re all gonna be back ta the grind fer another week.”

“Ah! Don’t remind me Applejack,” Rarity complained, “It’s already gotten so busy with graduations and proms coming up, I just don’t know how I’ll get through it.”

“Oh whatever, Rare,” Dash dismissed her with a wave, “you always make it through and come up smelling like a rose.”

Pinkie interjected as well, “Well, I get to go bake cakes, so it’s not so bad! But I do have a few peeps booking me to host their grad parties already…actually, wait…that’s fun too! La lala lala…” She sang to herself as she skipped over to the door to put her boots on.

“Yep. Well, ladies…today was awesome! We’ve gotta do the beach again soon,” Dash said as she went over to her shoes.

“Damn straight,” AJ agreed, following Dash to the door. “It was great havin everybody together today.”

With that, Pinkie, Dash and AJ all went out the door together, shouting their goodbyes as they went. We waved and said goodbye back to them.

After a moment of silence, Rarity sighed. “Well, Darlings, it's been a wonderful day, but unfortunately it does have to come to an end.” She made her way over to the door, gathering up her things and putting her tall, purple boots on. “I’ll try to text you later this week, Fluttershy. If you don’t hear from me by Thursday, then by all means, text me first and we’ll see what we’re doing next week.”

“Sure thing, Rarity,” the shy girl said.

“OK, I’m off. See you later!” Rarity said with a wink as she departed.

“Bye,” Fluttershy said back to her with a yawn.

I saw that she must have been getting tired, so I made the hard decision to announce that I was going to go as well.

“Oh”, she said softly, “you don’t have to go...but it’s OK if you want to.”

“Well, you look tired, and you have to get up in the morning and feed your little friends,” I reminded her.

“Yeah,” she said, playing with her hair, twirling one of her pink locks around her index finger. “Y-you’re right…um, you’re so sweet. Thank you.”

I went to put my boots on.

“I’ll walk you to your truck…I mean, if that’s OK with you,” she said sheepishly.

I smiled. “Sure, I’d like that.”

We went outside and saw that all the vehicles had gone, except for mine and her small SUV. We walked over and stopped by my truck, looking at each other in silence.

“I had fun today,” I finally said, breaking the slightly awkward silence. It seemed to me by the look on her face and her body language that she wanted something, but was reluctant to act on it.

“Um, m-me too,” she replied.

We paused for a moment, before I spoke again. “You looked really nice…at the beach,” I complimented, clearing my throat nervously.

She blushed darkly and looked to her right, too shy to make eye contact. “Th-thanks. I hoped you would like it.”

“Of course I did. You wore that on purpose, to make me a little crazy, didn’t you?” I asked.

She giggled, “Yeah, um…d-did it work?” She was now looking me straight in the eyes.

“Yup. Pretty much,” I said, not breaking our gaze.

She smiled and looked at me for a few seconds, biting her bottom lip nervously. Finally, she reached up, wrapped her arms around the back of my neck and planted her lips on mine. The sudden advance caught me off guard, but I soon relaxed and wrapped my arms around her lower back to pull her against me. I could feel the warmth of her body, as well as her generous bust pressing against my chest as she squeezed her forearms tightly around my neck. We opened our mouths to intensify the kiss, letting our tongues dance and twirl around with each other; her lips were soft, and she tasted sweet. The mellow scent of her hair surrounded us with it's intoxicating floral tranquility, making me feel as though time had come to a standstill, allowing myself and the shy girl an eternity to savour our first kiss together. It wasn't long before I could feel myself getting hard, making me wonder if she could feel it pressing against her.

After a couple minutes, we broke the kiss and looked into each other's eyes.

"Um, y-you have, um...beautiful eyes," she cooed softly, which threw me for a loop.

"Me?" I said, surprised. "That's kind of ironic, coming from someone with eyes like yours."

She smiled and bit her lower lip as her cheeks became a deep crimson, then she gave me one more little peck on the mouth before we unwrapped our arms from each other, ending up with our hands joined down at our sides.

“Well, um…thanks for hanging out with us today,” she said, still smiling. I could see in her eyes that she was aroused, but wanted to control herself and not take things too fast.

“It was my pleasure,” I said.

We let each other’s hands go, and she slowly backed away from me towards her front door. “Bye,” she said with a little wave. “Text me later. Or...whenever.”

“OK. I will," I said. "Sweet dreams.”

After one more smile, she turned and walked into her house, and I had to clench my fists to stop myself from following her. I then opened the door and got into the truck, started the engine and drove off. As I made my way home, I touched my lips with my fingers, thinking about her lips against them; how soft they felt, how good she tasted, and I how I probably still had her saliva in my mouth.

I pulled into my yard, secluded from the world and now feeling lonelier than ever. After shutting the truck off and hopping out, I headed to the door of my makeshift home, distracted by a mental snapshot of Fluttershy—completely unaware of what was about to happen.

Chapter 9: The Talk

Chapter 9

Fluttershy opened her eyes slowly, hearing the muffled sound of her friends’ voices surrounding her, their words becoming clearer and more vivid as her consciousness returned fully. She could only see a bright blur at first, then slowly her eyes started to focus, and she began to see the familiar shapes and colours of her friends all around her.

“She’s waking up!” Dash’s voice could be heard.

They gathered round her, checking to see if she was ok.

Fluttershy quickly realised she was laying with her head on a pillow, looking at the familiar ceiling directly above her couch. She started to sit up, feeling a dull pain in her head. Putting her palm to the left side of her forehead, she felt a sudden sharp pain when her hand touched her temple.

She hissed in response, squinting her eyes, realising her hair was stuck to her head, and was cakes with a hard, crusty substance. She looked at her hand and was shocked to see small flakes of dried blood stuck to her fingertips.

“Please take it easy, darling," Rarity’s voice sounded close by. Fluttershy turned to see the fashionista, kneeling on the floor next to the couch, her face close to Fluttershy’s. “You've taken a rather nasty hit on the head,” Rarity continued as she nuzzled her cheek against her best friend’s temple. “You poor thing!"

“Wha-what happened?” the shy girl asked.

“Oh, where to begin…”Rarity started.

“There was a bit of an accident,” Applejack cut in. “We almost lost ya, sugarcube,” she said, holding her hat to her chest with a concerned look on her face. “Are you feelin alright?”

“My head hurts,” Fluttershy replied, closing her eyes and placing her hand on her temple, next to the sore spot.

“Here, put this on it.” Sunset Shimmer appeared over the back of the couch, handing Fluttershy an ice pack.

The shy girl took the cold package wrapped in a towel, and gently held it to her head, groaning quietly as she felt the sting of the cold against her wound. “How long was I out? What happened? Where's Golden Arrow?” she asked.

“He’s here,” Sunset replied.

“What? Where?” Fluttershy asked with sudden urgency.

“At the table,” Sunset answered.

Fluttershy tried to sit up.

“Take it easy, darling,” Rarity said, putting her hands on Fluttershy’s shoulders.

“No! I want to see him,” the shy girl demanded.

Reluctantly, her friends allowed her to sit up more, using her free hand to grab the back of the couch to pull herself up enough so she could see me sitting with my hands folded on the table, staring down at the wooden top.

I didn’t move.

Fluttershy noticed right away that I was now wearing a plain red t-shirt that was too big for me.

She let herself lay back down with a flop, exhaling from the strain of sitting up.

“You were out for about half an hour,” AJ started.

“Why is he here?” Fluttershy cut in, “I thought he was…dangerous?”

Everyone looked at each other for moment, then Rarity held Fluttershy’s hand. “Well, actually…he saved you, darling. Like Applejack said: we almost lost you.” Rarity’s eyes started to tear up and she paused to wipe them and sniffle. “…and it was my fault!”

Fluttershy frowned in confusion.

“NO!” Pinkie Pie’s voice rang out from the end of the couch. “It was my fault! It was my bomb!”

The memory of what happened has slowly begun to return to the shy girl’s mind. She remembered standing by her vehicle, a few feet from the front door. Pinkie had been to the right of Fluttershy, near the corner of the house. She remembered seeing me ahead of her, about thirty feet away, starting to come towards her. She remembered Pinkie throwing one of her bombs at me while Rarity simultaneously erected a barrier of diamonds to keep me away, and the already airborne bomb bounced off the wall and headed towards Fluttershy, landing at her feet.

Confused, Fluttershy glanced up at her friends. “Th-there was a bomb…right next to me. H-how did I survive?”

“It was Golds,” AJ answered. “He saw that you were in danger, and he broke through Rarity’s wall, dove on top of the bomb, and took the blast.”

“He did?” Fluttershy said in a slight daze.

“Yeah, sugarcube. And he’s not dangerous…er, well, not to us, anyway,” AJ continued. “Even with everything going on, when he saw you in danger, making sure you were OK was all he cared about.”

Fluttershy put her free hand on her chest. “Really?”

Rarity added, “Unfortunately darling, when the bomb exploded, he was blown off and his body hit yours, which knocked you against your car, and your head hit the door rather forcefully, I'm afraid.”

Fluttershy stared at her feet for a minute. “Um, why do you and Pinkie think it’s your fault, Rarity?”

Rarity paused for a minute, then answered. “When I put up that wall to keep him from getting to you, I hadn’t realised that Pinkie Pie had thrown that explosive, an it bounced off of the wall and rolled back towards you.” Rarity rested her head on the shy girl’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry, darling. I simply cannot imagine what I would have done if something had happened to you because of me.”

“No! I shouldn’t have been throwing those things around so much!” Pinkie confessed. “I know how dangerous they are, and it was a stupid idea when you guys were all so close.”

Sunset finally stepped in. “This whole thing is my fault.”

Everyone looked at the red-head.

“I may have…not…handled the situation very well, and I made the wrong judgement about him. I thought he was something, I don't know…different. But he obviously cares about you a lot, Flutters. He saved you from that explosion.” Sunset shook her head. “I still can’t believe he broke through Rarity’s wall.”

“What do you mean Sunset? Why did you think something was different with him?” the shy girl asked, adjusting her ice pack.

“Here at supper; I felt something in him. Something...not right,” Sunset explained.

“Well, we shouldn’t have done what we did,” AJ said, “Ya know, going on the offensive on him like that. We shoulda tried to approach him and talk about it first.”

“We did,” Sunset replied, trying to justify her actions.

This seemed to ruffle Applejack’s feathers a bit. “Now wait just a minute there, Sunset,” AJ said with her voice raised. She plopped her hat back on her head and pointed her finger at the fiery-haired girl. “You guys followed him to wherever it is that he went, restrained him with magic and demanded he answer a bunch of crazy questions, and you think that qualifies as ‘talking’? It’s no surprise he lashed out at you the way he did when you show up actin like that!”

Sunset hung her head, realising when she heard AJ put it this way that she really went about things the wrong way. “I just wanted to make sure we were safe,” she said quietly, folding her arms.

Fluttershy spoke up, unaware of these details until hearing them right then. She had only heard Sunset’s initial story when she returned to the house earlier, saying that I was dangerous, not human, and not to be trusted. “What did you think was wrong with him? W-why did you go after him?”

Sunset sighed. ”I accidentally brushed his arm with my hand when I went past him to put my glass on the counter. Usually I just get a few thoughts when I read someone, usually whatever they’re thinking at that moment, but this was different. It was like a flood of thoughts, memories, images; like a tidal wave, or an overload. I felt like my head was going to explode.”

This got my attention, and I looked at Sunset.

She noticed me looking at her suddenly, and decided she may as well explain herself.. “Oh, um…when I touch people with my hands I can…uh, read their thoughts. It’s like I instantly download what’s in their brain.”

“Of course,” I thought. “Why else would she want to be an investigator? Imagine having such an ability in that field. No need to interrogate, no need to worry if someone is lying; just use a fake flirtatious touch or something like that and you can have everything that person knows. It’s actually quite brilliant of her to choose such a field to work in.”

“When that happened,” Sunset continued, “I knew something wasn’t normal with you.”

“And Sunset was right,” Twilight said as she adjusted her glasses—which had been returned to her while Fluttershy was out cold. “We can see that you obviously have some…I guess you could say, abnormal abilities. Super strength like Applejack for one, and you don’t seem to be vulnerable to injuries of any kind.”

I looked around the room at everyone for a minute, watching silently as they awkwardly looked back at me. “We need to talk,” I finally said.

“Yeah, no shit!” Dash said.

I put my hand up to Dash, signalling her to stop. “Hey, I wouldn’t get too ahead of yourself there, little miss flash,” I said. “You guys have some explaining to do yourselves.”

“Oh, uh...yeah, I guess,” Dash said, sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck.

I turned on my chair to face them, leaning an elbow on the table. “I might have an answer for Sunset; why she got overwhelmed when she touched me.”

Sunset looked at me with her arms folded.

“Tell me, Sunset,” I said, looking at the dirt under my fingernails. “How old are most people that you…uh, read?”

“Anywhere from 20 to 50 or 60. Really, it could be anyone from birth to death. Why would that matter?”

“Have you ever noticed any difference between a younger person and an older person when you read them?” I asked.

Sunset sighed as she thought, letting her eyes shift up to the ceiling. “Not really…well, maybe older people seem to have their thoughts a little more jumbled…like, they come at me a bit faster and it takes me a little more time to sort it out.”

I believed this confirmed my idea, but I decided to come back to it later. I took a deep breath, looked at them, and said: “Ok. Well, I’m just gonna come out and say it.” I folded my arms in front of my chest before continuing. “I can’t die. I can’t be cut, burned, drowned, crushed, poisoned; well, you get the idea. I don’t eat, I don’t sleep, I don’t age…I just stay exactly like this. Forever.”

There was a long pause. None of them knew what to think.

“…Wow.” Twilight said, being the only one able to finally come up with something to say.

I reached up to rub my forehead with one hand while continuing to speak. “And I assume you know that means that I’m actually older than I look.”

“Uh, how old are we talkin?” AJ asked. “Like fifty, or seventy five?”

Without saying anything I put my thumb up in the air, signifying she needed go to higher.

“A hundred?” she guessed.

I kept pointing my thump upwards.

“One fifty?”

I started shaking my thumb up and down.

“Two hundred?”

I shook my head and kept pointing up.

“Oh come on!” Dash cut in. “Five hundred??”

I finally put my hand down. “No,” I said. “To be honest, I couldn’t even tell you how old I am because I really don’t know. I honestly can’t remember that far back. What I can tell you is that I definitely have some vague memories going back to about four fifty.”

“Four hundred and fifty years,” Dash snorted, shaking her head in disbelief.

“…BC,” I finished.

They stared at me blankly for what seemed like hours, to the point where I actually started to fidget in my seat.

"Did you guys hear me?" I finally asked.

Rarity was the first to finally speak. “Did...did you just mean to say four fifty…BC? As in ‘before Christ’? Darling, are you saying you are almost 2500 years old?”

“Yeah…well, at least that much,” I said, clapping my hands, then rubbing them together. “So, back to you Sunset, you say older people seem to give off more information when you read them, right?”

Sunset knew where I was going with this, so she finished the sentence for me. “Older people have more memories since they’ve been alive longer, and you say you’ve been alive for 2500 years, so…wow. That’s why I got overloaded. Makes sense, actually; that’s kind of what it felt like.”

Dash put her hands out in protest, shaking her head. “Sunset, you don’t really believe this bullshit, do you?”

“Why not?” Sunset answered. “The princesses from my world are over 1000 years old. And don’t you remember the sirens?”

“Don’t worry,“ I said, “This isn’t the first time I’ve had this conversation with people and had them think I was full of shit…even after they see me fend off their best attacks without breaking a sweat.” I glanced at Dash as I said this, who cocked an eyebrow in return.

“Yeah, it makes perfect sense now,” Sunset continued, “You guys didn’t feel what I felt. All those memories; all that information trying to enter my brain all at once. Just…wow.” She trailed off, rubbing her forehead as her eyes dropped to the floor.

“Sorry about that, Sunset,” I said, adjusting the loose t-shirt I was wearing. "I never meant to cause you any harm."
Earlier, when I had thrown myself on the bomb to protect Fluttershy from the blast, my shirt ended up tattered and had a big hole blown in the front. AJ happened to have a pack of new t-shirts in her truck that she’d picked up for her brother so she gave me one to wear. He must have been a big boy, cuz this shirt was fucking huge.

“So if you’re that old, why don’t you seem old?” Pinkie asked. “Why don’t you talk and act like Shakespeare or something, like all Victorian?...I mean, you have a smartphone! You text people! It's so CRAZY!!”

I shook my head. “It doesn’t work like that,” I explained. ” Human society slowly changes overtime, and I’ve evolved along with it. It’s not like I was scatting the 1940s one day, then singing grunge music in the 90s the next. Things change so slowly and you change along with it without even noticing. It’s just human nature to adapt.”

“OK, say its true; doesn’t that make you…like, an old man? I like all wise n’ shit?” Dash asked, stopping again to think for a second. “Wait, isn’t it kind of creepy, you know…you and Fluttershy? She’s only like 26.”

“I didn’t think it was creepy,” Fluttershy said from the couch.

“You didn’t know though, Flutters!” Dash replied quickly, turning to the shy girl. “How about now that you know he’s supposedly a hundred times older than you?”

“I don’t know…” the shy girl said, lowering her face, unsure of what to think or feel.

AJ spoke up, turning to face Dash. “If you don’t believe him about his age anyway, then why do you care about him and Fluttershy being a thing?”

Dash folded her arms and shrugged. “Pfff…” was all she could come up with.

I understood where Dash was coming from, but she didn’t understand how things work with me. “Like I said,“ I explained, “I don't age. That doesn’t just include my body. My mind doesn’t age either.”

“That’s an interesting thought,” Twilight said, rubbing her chin. “So, for all intents and purposes, you are a young adult; but you just happen to have been around for 2500 years because your body and mind are basically…stuck on pause?”

“Yeah, basically. That’s one way of putting it,” I said. “So don’t expect to see me sitting on my front porch, bitching at all the young ‘whippersnappers’ running around. I’m not an old man." I looked at Dash next. "You mentioned wisdom. Well, you’re right. I do know a lot of things. I've certainly been around the block a few times, and I’ve had a very long time to learn and gain experience and skills in a great many things -- many of which are obsolete these days -- but anyway, the point I’m trying to make is that wisdom and knowledge are not the same thing as age and maturity.”

Most of the girls nodded their heads, starting to grasp what kind of being they were dealing with.

"The things you must know, I...I don't even know what to ask you about," Twilight said, rubbing her forehead. "You must possess skills and historical knowledge that are thought to have been long gone."

"Was ist Sprache? Oder man könnte mich fragen, wo ich gelebt habe." I said, much to Twilight and the others' amazement. I enjoyed their reactions, so I kept going. "Ho viaggiato in lungo e in largo nel corso dei secoli..."

"Holy shit," AJ gasped as I continued to speak.

"J’ai combattu des centaines de guerres, prises et sauvé des milliers de vies," I said. "Я видел достопримечательностей, достаточно красиво, чтобы разбить мое сердце в два, но я никогда не видел ничего довольно как потрясающий, как это застенчивая девушка там."

When I finished what I was saying, I was met with nothing but wide eyes, staring at me with the vast array of colours that the girls possessed.

"My goodness," Rarity cooed. "That was simply marvelous, darling!"

“Why do you eat?” Pinkie asked out-of-nowhere, eliciting a groan from some of the other girls after hearing the question. “What?” Pinkie asked, shrugging.

“I don’t need to eat. I can’t starve to death, but I can eat and my body will process it the way yours does,” I replied.

“What’s the longest you’ve gone without food?” AJ asked.

“I don't know. Years, probably? I never really paid attention,” I answered.

“Don’t you get all skinny ‘n stuff?” Pinkie asked.

“No, I stay like this. I’ve looked exactly like this the entire time,” I said, starting to feel as though I was doing a Q&A at a fan expo of some kind.

“Wait a second,” Twilight said, raising an eyebrow as she spoke, “how do you shave and cut your hair if you’re indestructible?”

“My hair doesn’t grow,” I said, “it stays like this. I assume this is how I looked when I became this way; however and whenever it happened.”

“You don’t know how you came to be?” Sunset asked.

“No,” I answered. “but I think something or someone did it to me, whether it was aliens, or gods, or...something else. I don’t know, but trust me, I’ve had a lot of time to think about it.”

“Is that why you always have that dashing five o’clock shadow, darling?” Rarity asked, going back to my answer to Twilight, her smooth, white cheeks flushing a little. The other girls, especially Fluttershy, promptly gave her a strange look.

“Yep,” I said, rubbing my chin as though I was making sure my stubble was still there. “We obviously had blades to shave with back then, but they clearly didn’t do that great of a job.”

I got up from the table and made my way across the room to sit on the floor at the end of the couch, wanting to see if Fluttershy was OK while the others intently watched my every step. She was frozen in place, staring back at me with wide eyes, most likely trying to wrap her mind around all the things I've seen throughout my life.

Sunset narrowed her eyes, suddenly changing the subject. “Have you ever killed anyone?”

“Well, I have been to war, actually; like dozens of times, so…yeah. I have,” I replied, trying not to dwell on the subject.

“How many?” Sunset asked.

I cringed, unsure of how they would react if I told them, not that I actually knew exactly how many lives had come to an end at my hands over the years. “I actually don’t really want to answer that.” I said, glancing at Fluttershy, knowing she was sensitive about things like that. She quickly looked away and began to fidget nervously.

“Damn,” I thought to myself. “Don’t hate me, Fluttershy.”

“OK, well that’s heavy,” Sunset said, feeling regretful that she’d brought it up. “OK then, how many children have you had through the years?” she asked, trying to lighten things up.

“Yeah,” Twilight perked up. “Were any of them important historical figures? Are they…like you? You know, immortal?”

“No,” I said, shaking my head as I continued, “as far as I know, I am the only one of my kind. And, no. I never had any offspring.”

“What??” Dash laughed, “What are you? Like, some 2000 year old virgin?”

“No,” I replied “I’m not a fuckin vir-“ I stopped myself for a second, then let out an exasperated sighed. “I can’t father children. I don’t know why. Everything is there, everything works, but no woman has ever conceived from me. I don’t know why. That’s just how it is and probably always will be.”

“Oh, that’s so sad,” Rarity said, giving a pouty lip.

“No it’s not!” Pinkie argued, “Not having to worry about birth control! How about that, eh Fluttershy?”

The shy girl covered her face with her free hand, feeling her face heat up as a dark blush spread across her cheeks, making a quiet 'eep' sound.

“Pinkie Pie!” Rarity scolded. “Don’t embarrass the poor thing!”

Pinkie put a hand over her mouth. “Oh strawberry shit-cakes! Sorry, Flutters!”

The rest of the girls rolled their eyes at Pinkie during the awkward silence that followed.

AJ spoke up next. “Why didn’t you just tell us all this at the beginning so we could’ve avoided this whole mess?”

I looked at the tall farm girl. “What do you mean?” I asked.

“You know, about your powers. You could have told us and we wouldn’t have had to have that little hoedown out in Fluttershy’s yard.”

I looked at the floor next to me. “This isn’t exactly something I go around advertising,” I said. “There are certain people in this world who want to…shall we say, make use of me.”

“What do you mean? Like who?” Twilight asked.

“Governments mostly," I explained. "I’ve actually been in hiding for about the last 60 years. They, the CIA especially, wanted me to work for them. Of course, they didn’t want me letting their secrets out, and since they knew they couldn’t kill me, they expected me to just stay in lockup and let me out whenever they needed my help, which obviously didn't go over too well with me."

I paused for a moment, ruminating about the calamity that my life had become in recent decades, caused by modern-day intelligence gathering, espionage, and war.

"They were out of line," I continued. "Things got out of hand and I 'let myself out', which I don’t think they liked very much. I might be a little different than most people, but at the end of the day, I'm still a human being, and I think deserve to have a normal life like everyone else. That’s why I moved out here; where it’s quiet, I found a job -- you know, to pay the bills -- and I just wanted to keep to myself.”

“Are they looking for you still?” Dash asked.

“Always,” I answered. “They want me back, but on the other hand, I’ve been gone for so long, I doubt they’ve got looking for me very high on their priority list, BUT," I paused, raising my finger, "if they caught wind that I was around, I’m sure they would come for me.”

The girls shifted in their spots, looking at each other, clearly feeling uneasy about what I just said.

Dash suddenly perked up, changing the subject yet again, “Hey, wait a minute!” she said, “You said you don’t sleep, but in the picture Pinkie Pie took, you were asleep! She saw you sleeping! Didn’t you, Pinkie?”

“Hey, yeah!” Pinkie said.

“I can sleep,” I said. “I just don’t. Usually. My body doesn’t require rest, but I can fall asleep. It’s just hard to do. You know what it’s like when you’re trying to go to sleep and you’re not tired? When Pinkie Pie took that picture, that was actually the first time I had fallen asleep in months.” I glanced at Fluttershy. “I felt...peaceful. For once.”

The shy girl blushed again, looking down at the couch, still holding the ice pack against the side of her head.

“What picture?” Sunset asked.

Pinkie quickly darted over to Sunset, pulling out her phone out to show the red-head the picture of Fluttershy and me sleeping.

“Ok,” I said. “How about you guys? What’s your story?”

“Ah fuck, where to start?” AJ lifted her hat to scratch her head. “Well first off, Sunset here is technically not human,” she explained, pointing towards Sunset with her thumb.

I looked at Sunset in surprise, who was looking at Pinkie’s phone with a smirk on her lips as I she looked at the picture. “Aww, that’s actually really cute,” she gushed, tilting the phone to show Twilight, who also smiled upon seeing the image.

“You’re not human?” I asked.

Sunset snapped her attention back to me. “Uh, well I am, here in this world, but I’m not actually from here.”

“Sunset came here when we were in high school,” Rarity explained, “and she brought with her some magic from the other world; bit of a disaster, if I do say so myself,” she said, waving her hand dismissively at the memory.

The girls proceeded to tell me all about Sunset coming to this world through the portal with plans of gaining power, and how they eventually stopped her and convinced her to change her ways. They also told me about the three sisters who came to the school, trying to get a hold of the magic, how they met Twilight, and about the incident at the camp where they got the powers that they still have today. I couldn't help but shake my head, chuckling at the realisation that the ‘urban legends’ I was thinking of a couple weeks ago were all true, and these seven young women were at the center of it.

"So," I was saying, rubbing my temple as I spoke. "You got your powers from these geode things in the cave?"

"Yeah," Dash explained, "And they became these pendant things that we could wear around our necks, and we got these totally awesome outfits to wear when we put them on!"

"Ah yes," Rarity cut in with a limp-wristed wave, "those little diddys were absolutely stunning! I do wish we could figure out how to get them to come back."

I took a moment to quickly glance at each of the girls to see the pendants they were describing, but something didn't quite add up. "None of you look like you're wearing your pendants though, so how were you doing these things tonight?"

"We're not wearing them," Sunset answered. "We figured out a couple years go that we didn't have to wear them to keep our powers."

"Oh?" I replied.

"I figured it out," Dash said, pointing smugly at herself with her thumb.

"Ugh," AJ groaned, shaking her head. "You didn't 'figure it out', Dash! You forgot to wear yours to work one day."

Dash's shoulders slouched after hearing AJ's comment. "Why do you gotta break balls, AJ? You couldn't let me have this one thing?"

"Hang on," I said, putting my hand up to stop them from getting into the argument that I knew was coming. "What does that mean, 'you forgot to wear it to work?'"

"Oh," the rainbow-haired girl replied, "Well like AJ said, I forgot it at home when I went to work that day, and I was zipping around super-fast and super-awesome, as always; obviously not even thinking about the pendant not being with me. It wasn't 'til I got home and saw it on my night stand that I realised I was using my powers without wearing it."

"That's correct," Twilight interjected. "Rainbow Dash told the rest of us about it, so we all tried going without them and Lo and Behold, we all kept our powers."

"To be fair, we already knew we didn't actually have to wear them to use our powers," Sunset continued. "Remember when we first got to camp and we started seeing our powers almost right away?"

The other girls nodded.

"That's true," AJ said with a nod. "Gloriosa still had the geodes, but that didn't seem to matter. Our powers still worked."

"Yeah, but when I left camp, mine went away when I got too far and I had to walk back at my normal speed. Remember that?" Dash said.

Sunset nodded. "Yeah I remember, but I think after wearing the pendants for so many years, the powers have become a permanent part of us. Besides, we come home to them every night. I mean, we all have them in our bedrooms, either in our nightstand, on our dresser, or wherever it is that we happen to keep it."

"What if you're away from it for weeks at a time?" I asked.

"Well, last summer I went with the family down to Florida, and I left my pendant at home," AJ explained.

"And?" I asked.

She gave me a nod. "I had my powers the whole time."

I took a deep breath, rubbing my chin as I thought about all the things I'd learned about the girls that night. "Hm," I mumbled. "Well, I guess it's a good thing, really."

"What is?" Sunset asked.

"That you can't lose your powers if you lost the pendant," I replied. "And no one can steal it from you."

The red-head nodded in agreement. "That's true, but some of us kinda wish we could turn it off once in a while, if you catch my drift."

I glanced at Sunset, raising an eyebrow in surprise. "What do you mean? Like, any time you touch someone, you read their mind? Whether you want to or not?"

She nodded. "Yup. I can't help it."

Her words struck me, and I couldn't help but take a moment to ponder what it must have been like to be stuck with such an ability, and then I realised that what had happened earlier that night when she read me was purely a mistake; a chance encounter between two people, who inadvertently revealed themselves to one another as extraordinary.

I gave my head a quick shake, bringing myself back to the conversation. “OK then,” I said, while putting my hands together, placing my fingertips against my chin as I reviewed their abilities, “Applejack has super strength like me, Rainbow Dash can move faster than fuck, Pinkie Pie can make things explode, Sunset reads minds, Rarity can create structures made of diamond, Twilight has telekinesis...” I felt like one was missing. Then I remembered something. “Wait, wasn’t there a big cat that jumped on me? Like a mountain lion or something. What was that all about?”

Everyone looked at Fluttershy, who quickly shrunk into herself, looking very nervous. She finally sighed, reluctantly forcing herself to answer. “Um, that was me.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Um, I can…kind of…talk to…and control animals,” she said, looking regretful.

My heart sank as I realised what she was saying. “You made it attack me?”

Her eyes began to moisten slightly. ”I’m s-sorry,” she said, trying to keep her voice from quivering. “But I trust my friends. They said you w-were something bad. We’ve had to deal w-with bad things before...” she trailed off, realising that I was put off by her confession when she saw me staring blankly at the floor.

Susnet sighed, putting her hands on her forehead. “Look, this was all my fault. I got overwhelmed when I accidently read your mind, and I knew there was something different about you, so I made Twilight come with me to go after you so we could find out the truth. It’s been years since we’ve encountered anything like this, and I guess I got a bit too excited about it and maybe got a little ahead of myself.”

“I think we’re all a little rusty at this kind of thing,” AJ admitted, straightening her hat.

My thoughts were still on Fluttershy. “She attacked me? And now she knows what I really am. She must think I'm some kind of freak…or a liar."

“Um, guys?” Twlight said, cutting in. “I hate to break this up, but it’s two in the morning. Sunset and I still have to ride all the way back to the city. We were supposed to leave like five hours ago.”

“Aw dang,” AJ said, pulling her phone out to check the time. “She’s right. It’s damn late.”

“Yeah,“ Sunset agreed. “There is still way too much to discuss, but there's just not enough time in the day. We all really should go home and get some rest.”

“Yeah, this conversation has been all over the place.” Twilight said. “I have so many questions, but I guess they will have to wait until later.”

“What about the, um...tree in the driveway?” Fluttershy asked. “Isn’t it blocking your cars in?”

“Applejack and Golds moved it already, darling,“ Rarity answered. “Not to worry, it was looked after before you even woke up.”

“Oh,” Fluttershy replied, sweeping a lock of hair from her face.

“Fluttershy, you should stay home from work tomorrow,” Rarity said. “Your head looks dreadful.” She looked closer at the shy girl’s wound. “Actually, maybe you should just take the week off.”

“I’ll stay with her.” I offered, feeling obligated to let them get on with what they needed to do, and so I could have some time with Fluttershy to try to talk things over. I knew deep down that the events of the evening were partly my fault since I didn't tell them the truth about myself.

Everyone stopped when I made the suggestion.

I shook my head. “I’m not going to hurt her. I saved her tonight, remember?…from you guys, I might add.”

“What the hell are you talking about??” Dash spun around to face me as she headed towards the door to get her shoes.

AJ had one boot halfway on and stopped, looking at the ceiling while letting out a frustrated groan. “Really, Rainbow Dash? REALLY? We almost killed Fluttershy and you know it. We’ve been out of the game too long and Golds is right, we fucked up. ”

I was starting to have a great respect for AJ, she had such a level head and an amazing ability to be honest, even if it meant admitting she and her friends were in the wrong.

“That wasn’t my fault!” Dash yelled.

“Fuck off, Dashie!” Pinkie giggled, walking past Dash to head out the door.

Dash rolled her eyes. “Ugh! Whatever,” she said, putting her shoes on.

The rest of them were still standing there looking at me, trying to consider my offer to stay with their friend.

“Don’t worry, I’ll look after Fluttershy tonight. You can trust me,” I insisted.

Sunset looked at Fluttershy. “You ok with that, Flutters?”

The shy girl hesitated, looking at me for a few seconds, then back at Sunset before nodding her approval.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw her response, even if she did hesitate.

“But don’t you have to work tomorrow too?” Rarity asked me.

“I can get time off work anytime I want. My boss is good like that,” I explained.

“Sounds pretty sweet,” Dash said sarcastically, “So, how did you, a 2500 year old immortal super-dude virgin score a dream job with a boss like that?”

“I saved his life,” I said.

Chapter 10: Monday

Chapter 10

After about fifteen minutes of gathering themselves and asking a few more lingering questions, the girls finally trickled out the door one-by-one, leaving me alone with Fluttershy. She was sitting up on the couch now, still holding the now warm and mushy ice pack to her head.

I pointed to the ice pack. “Do you want another one of those?” I asked.

“Um, n-no. Thanks,” she said, timidly.

I put my hands in my pockets. “Are you OK? How do you feel?”

“I don’t know,” she replied. “I mean, my head is a bit better. But, I feel…weird…about you.”

My head drooped. “Damn.”

“It’s just,” she continued, “I feel like I’m just a little girl.”

I looked at her again, caught off-guard by the confession. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you’re…like, a god,” she continued, hanging her head and taking off the ice pack.

I couldn't help but feel empathetic for the shy girl after seeing such lack of self worth. She was a beautiful, sweet person. Why would she think of herself this way?

I shook my head. “I’m not a god,” I corrected her. “Do you...think you’re not good enough for me?” I asked.

She nodded, with her eyes starting to moisten.

"Why? That’s crazy."

Fluttershy didn't respond.

I shook my head in disagreement, rubbing the back of my neck as I thought about what to say to her. “Well, the way I see it,“ I began, “You might think you’re a little girl, but you have a ‘god’, as you call it, wrapped around your little finger."

Her expression changed to a confused one.

"Besides, you and your friends have these powers; so you’re all closer to being gods than anyone else I’ve ever met.”

After a few seconds of rumination, her beautiful teal eyes made contact with mine again.

I continued. “To be honest, I didn’t think you wanted anything to do with me anymore...you know, because I kept this whole thing a secret from you guys.”

She broke here eye contact with me again, her expression that of shy worriedness as she looked around the room, searching for a response. "Um...a-actually, I understand why you didn't say anything about it, I mean, it's kind of a crazy thing to just come out and...um, say to people you don't know. B-besides, look at how shy and silly I was acting around you already, and, um...imagine if I knew all this? I probably would have f-fainted or s-something."

I couldn't help but smile at her reasoning, and I found her self-awareness so adorable it almost hurt—that is, as close to hurting as I can get. "I guess," I replied. "But still, I should have been honest with you a little sooner than this. It wasn't my place to assume you would be OK with getting involved with someone like, uh...like me. You were obviously going to figure it out eventually anyway, but I shouldn't have waited to tell you about it until after kissing you, or...after some other stuff...that might have happened." I paused for a second, feeling a tad awkward for mentioning the activities that new lovers engage in, especially to someone so easily embarrassed. "Uh, well you know what I mean. Like, for all I knew, you might have thought it was creepy or weird kissing someone who's old enough to have seen the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, and it might have upset you, which is the last thing I would want."

Fluttershy shook her head quickly, placing her slender fingertips to her chest, “Oh, no! I didn’t pay any attention to what Rainbow Dash said; you don’t seem like an old man. Not to me, anyway. Y-you have a young soul; I don’t want to go away,” she said, blushing. “I-I liked kissing you. A-and I still do...or I would, I mean, i-if it happened again.”

My heart leapt with excitement. “Really? You're sure?”

She nodded. “Are you sure about me?” she asked.

I snorted. “Are you kidding? I was hooked on you the very first time I saw you. That first night I was here for dinner, and I saw you come out of that hallway for the first time..." I paused, closing my eyes briefly as I replayed the image in my head over and over again. "I was smitten. Blown away. Honestly, I haven’t allowed myself to get close to anyone for a very long time, but when I met you, I just...couldn't help it.”

The shy girl turned red as a tomato. “D-Do you really mean that? You must have known a lot of people in your life and, um…you like me that much?”

“Absolutely! How could I resist you?” I asked. “I’ve had companions before -- all of them are long dead, obviously -- but I’ve had wives who grew old, some got sick and died, one was murdered in front of me, and I started to avoid being close to people to avoid the heartbreak of losing them. I’ve known so many people who are now gone, but I never got used to losing them so I started to avoid letting myself get close, but with you…I couldn’t let you pass me by. Something about it just felt right; like I knew getting to know you and your friends was going to be worth the heartache in the end. And I was right, you guys are obviously special, each in your own way.”

Worry suddenly entered her eyes. “What about when we're gone? What will you do? W-won’t you be sad?” She lowered her head, “And...I’m sorry that you’ve been through such awful things in the past. It must be so hard-”

I put my hand up to stop her. “Let’s not worry about that.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Um, OK,” she replied softly as a warm smile appeared on her lips. “And, um...th-thank you.”

“For what?” I asked.

“For saving my life,” she said, fidgeting bashfully with the hem of her shirt.

“Oh,” I said. “Well, I had to. No way was I going to let you get hurt.”

Fluttershy smiled, and we gazed amorously at one another for a few minutes, until finally, she let out a quiet yawn. “It’s pretty late,” she said.

“You should go to sleep," I suggested. ”Everything’ll be fine. I’ll feed your animals in the morning so you can sleep in.”

“What are you going to do all night?” she asked, appearing concerned about how I was going to pass the time.

“I’ll manage. I’m used to being up all the time,” I said, reassuringly.

“Um, were you really awake for months until you were…with me?” Fluttershy asked, playing flirtatiously with her hair.

I nodded, making her blush, knowing that she was the one who had that affect on me, and she responded with a playful shrug, followed by a coy smirk.

“W-well, I’d better go to bed, I guess,” she said, brushing her hair over her shoulder with her fingertips.

“Sure,” I replied. “You sure you’re OK?”

She nodded, then looked up at me. “Would you come lay down with me? Um…in my bed?”

I felt a jolt go through me suddenly, unprepared for the brash invitation. “Uh, I can if you want,” I said, trying not to look stupid.

“Ok, um…lets go,” she replied.

I stood first and held her hand while she slowly rose from the couch. I put my hands on her shoulders once she was on her feet, unsure of how stable she might have been, but to my surprise, she seemed to be fairly steady. Maybe she hadn’t hit her head as hard as we had originally thought.

I released Fluttershy, and we walked together towards the hall to her room. I kept myself ready, remaining close to her in case she became light-headed or dizzy, but she was sure-footed and made her way down the hall with relative ease. When we got there I stood by the entrance, watching her take off her socks and sit on the bed before turning to face me.

“Could you, um…look away for a second?” she asked timidly.

“Oh, sure,” I said, turning my back to her. Standing there, I studied her room; the trees outside the window, the pictures of animals on her wall, the tambourine on her dresser, all the while I could hear clothing rustling behind me followed by the sound of the bed settling, and finally, her voice.

“OK.”

I turned to see her under the covers.

“C-come on in,” she invited in a friendly tone.

I went to the other side of the bed and laid down next to her. Not wanting to be too forward, I decided to lay on top of the covers. She laid for a few minutes on her side, facing away from me, visible to me only as a pile of pink hair on the pillow.

After a few minutes, she rolled halfway to look at me with one eye. "You don't have to lay above the covers like that."

I shook my head. "I'll be fine. I don't wanna be too, um...I don't know, provocative? Not sure if that's the word I'm looking for."

Fluttershy giggled. "But I invited you to come lay with me, silly."

"I know," I said, turning to look at the ceiling. "Just...uh, you know, you really should just get some sleep. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

“Ok...um, goodnight,” she said quietly.

"Night,” I said.

She was quiet for a while.

I listened to her breathing.

It was soft and rhythmic, hypnotizing me each time I heard the air flow into her, then back out again.

Then, suddenly I remembered something from earlier in the evening, and without thinking, I spoke out loud.

“FUCK.”

Fluttershy jumped, then turned over to look at me. “W-what’s wrong?” she asked.

I sighed. “Twilight has my keys,” I replied, looking over at her. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

The shy girl giggled. “It’s ok, you can stay here as long as you want,” she said, rolling back over. "Goodnight, Goldie."

"Night," I said again.

"Um, if you want to, you're more than welcome to come under the covers with me," she offered. "Like, if you get cold...or...something."

"OK," I whispered.

She was asleep within minutes.

*****

I laid there, on top of the covers of Fluttershy's bed while she slept. Normally, I would use this time to do things around the shop when I’m at home, but tonight I was here, pondering on how I ended up lying in this bedroom with some young, beautiful girl instead of cutting something on my lathe or rebuilding yet another turbocharger while reminiscing about some long ago war I had fought in, or a voyage I had taken on some old galleon that had long since been sunk, and was now resting at the bottom of the ocean while I continued to live on centuries later.

I felt antsy; like I was wasting my time lying there, staring at the ceiling instead of getting things done that needed to be done...not that I had anything to do here anyway. Besides, she asked me to stay with her and that’s what I was going to do.

I laid perfectly still on my back, listening to the shy girl's soft snoring, breathing in the scent of her hair, her bedspread, and the room in which she slept. After staring at the ceiling for a while, I decided to close my eyes and wait. It was already after 4am; and I could easily lay here, staring into the darkness of my mind for a few more hours until it got light out.

At about 5:30am it was still dark.

I continued to wait, staring into the back of my eyelids, hoping that maybe I would fall asleep again, but it never happened. There was just too much on my mind.

“My new friends attacked me…they know what I am…what do they think of me? Do they even believe me? What is going to happen next?”

The girl next to me had begun to stir. I didn’t move, figuring she was just fidgeting in her sleep, but she kept moving more and more, and eventually her soft voice wafted into the dark room.

"Goldie?"

I opened my eyes, not expecting her to be awake already. "Yeah?"

My response was met with only silence.

I turned my head to look at her, but could only make out the shape of her hair on the pillow next to me. "Are you OK?" I asked.

"Um...why do you like me?"

The question blindsided me, and I wasn't sure how to respond. "What?"

"Like, what is it about me that you like so much?"

"Uh...jeez where do I start?" I said with a chuckle, expecting her to giggle in return.

Instead, she was silent.

I cleared my throat nervously, then continued. "Well, you're very caring, sweet, cute, shy...you love animals, which I think is great, you care about your friends, and you're one hell of a cook."

"Anything else?" she asked, catching me off guard.

"Uh, well y-you're very beautiful." I replied nervously. "Like, off-the-charts, stunningly beautiful."

She waited for a moment to respond, making me wonder if I had said something wrong.

Finally, she let out a long sigh. A disappointed sounding sigh.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"It's just..." she paused, sounding reluctant to continue. "That's what everyone says about me. Like that's all there is to me; quiet and meek, scared of everything, afraid to talk to people...'but it's OK because she loves animals and is really pretty.' "

I frowned, biting my lip in confusion. "I wasn't trying to say that's all there is to you," I replied, trying not to be too obvious about back-pedalling from what I said earlier.

"I know I'm pretty," Fluttershy continued, "I just wish people would see the other things about me too." She stopped for a moment to let out another sigh. "But it's my own fault that they don't."

"Why?" I asked.

Some time passed before she answered. "I...it's because I'm so quiet and shy. I wish I could be like Rainbow Dash sometimes, so I could say what I want to who I want, whenever I wanted to."

I stared at the ceiling, surprised that she was opening up to me the way she was. I could feel the frustration in her words, and I quickly noticed that she was stuttering less, and she seemed to speak more confidently as a result.

"Well," I replied. "Unfortunately, there's no real trick to not being shy, you just have to face it, and learn by speaking up and facing your fears that there's really nothing to be scared of."

"I know, but...it's hard," she complained softly. "Everyone thinks I'm just this childish, shy, innocent girl who loves animals, and no one knows what I'm really like. I think about things, things that I'd like to do or say, things that would surprise most people, but I'm always too scared to go for it. I think of something funny to say when I'm with people, but I don't say it cuz I'm scared...and I don't even know why. Maybe because I'm afraid they won't laugh, and I'll just end up embarrassed."

"Who cares if they don't laugh?" I said. "Look at some of the shit Rainbow Dash says, but it doesn't stop her, and the rest of you still like her, right?"

"I guess," she replied softly. "It's just that no one, except for maybe Rarity, really knows the real Fluttershy; the Fluttershy that lives in here," she said, pulling her hand from under the blankets to point to her head.

"I'm sorry if I didn't give you the answer you were looking for," I said, "but to be honest, I haven't really known you that long." I paused to rub my chin, then took a deep breath. "I really hope I get to know the real Fluttershy, though, if it makes you feel better."

"I'd like that," she replied. "And I think you would, too."

"Hm," I chuckled, staring at the ceiling.

We laid together in the dark, enjoying the sounds of each other's breathing, feeling a bit closer to one another after the surprisingly personal conversation we'd just had.

“Why don’t you come under the covers?” she asked.

Given that this was the third time she'd asked, I figured she probably wasn't going to stop until I did it, so I got up, lifted the covers up and slid into the bed next to her.

I had forgotten how nice a real bed could be; so warm, soft and secure. So much nicer than my old, worn couch with no blanket. Only seconds had passed before I felt the blanket stir around my shoulder, followed by a small gust of air on the side of my neck, air that was exhaled from the shy girl’s nostrils.

She was close.

Next, I felt her arm come to rest across my chest, and then I felt her nose press against the side of my neck, followed by the gentle caress of her lips. My eyelids fluttered uncontrollably as she continued to kiss my neck, leaving dabs of her saliva on my skin, creating a cluster of wet spots in the wake of her kisses that began to cool rapidly when she exhaled her sweet breath against me.

Fluttershy made herself at home against my side, sharing her warmth with me. Her head was resting on my shoulder, with one arm across my chest and one leg across my hips. I put my arm around her, pulling her close as she nuzzled her cheek against my shoulder.

She began to stroke my collarbone with her thumb, which immediately sent a tingle across my skin, resulting in goosebumps popping up all over my body.

"Am I...sexy?" she asked, after which I felt her face quickly heat up against my shoulder.

Her latest question surprised me. "Uh, I guess so, yeah."

"I know I'm pretty and cute and all that," she continued. "But I'm not a little girl. I'm a woman."

"Yeah..." I replied, unsure of what else to say.

"Did you like it when I kissed you outside, by your truck?"

"Um, Yeah."

Fluttershy giggled. "Was it...hot? Did it turn you on?"

My eyebrows went up in surprise upon hearing the question. "Yeah, it did. A bit."

Satisfied by my answer, she pulled herself tighter against me, letting out a content sigh. "Good," she whispered, placing her lips close to my ear. "That was just a small sample of the real Fluttershy."

"Hm...well, I like her already," I quipped, drawing a soft giggle from her. “So...aren't you tired?” I asked.

“I’m used to getting up this early anyway,” she said. “I’m not used to having a man in here with me though. Especially one like you; it's actually kind of exciting, and even a little scary because if you wanted to, you could kill me like it was nothing. But somehow, I know you'd never hurt me, so I actually feel really safe with you...if that makes any sense.”

"Well," I chuckled, "You hit your head pretty hard, so..."

As Fluttershy let out another sweet giggle, I reached down with my free hand to stroke her thigh, which was still sprawled across me, but I was surprised when my fingers touched hot, bare skin. After resting my hand there for a second, I eventually gave in to curiosity and slid my fingertips towards her hip, finding the edge of her panties. I realised at this point that she was only wearing her white tanktop and a pair of underwear.

I could hear her breath quiver a bit. I moved my hand up to her waist and pulled her against me, then I placed a gentle kiss on her temple. “I promise I’ll always take care of you,” I said.

She smiled in response, then looked up at me, reaching up to grasp the back of my neck and pulled me in to kiss me on the lips. Not an aroused sort of kiss, more like a show of commitment from her; like she was forming a bond between us with it, making us an official couple. When she broke her lips away from mine, she looked into my eyes again.

“Same with me,” she replied. ”Even someone like you needs to be taken care of. I could see it in you the first time I saw you, you looked like you needed something. I knew there was something different about you, something more, but also something missing.”

“She understands me,” I thought. “Amazing...”

We laid there for a while, sharing each other’s warmth. The sun was finally coming up, casting some warm-coloured light into her room.

She started to get up, stopping to speak. “I’ll be right back.” She peeled the covers off herself and got up to head toward her bathroom. She had apparently stopped caring about me seeing her dressed in so little, evidenced by how she seductively adjusted the back of her plain white panties as she walked, making me focus on her rear end, which was, needless to say, beautiful.

She went in and closed the door and was in there for about a minute before she re-emerged, followed by the sound of the toilet running. As she headed back towards me, it was obvious that she didn’t have a bra on under her white tanktop; her bust was a tad lower than it usually was and I could plainly see a hard point on each breast, signifying that getting out of bed had given her a slight chill.

She laid down on her stomach, letting her feet point into the air, swinging them playfully back and forth.

“Oh my god, I’m going to spend the week with this girl,” I thought to myself, feeling my heart skip a beat.

“Do you wanna feed the animals?” she asked playfully.

I smiled. “Sure,” I said, not really wanting to leave the bed just yet.

“Damn. Oh well, sometimes you’ve gotta play the game to get the girl,” I thought as I lifted the covers off and got up.

She slipped into the black yoga pants that she wore the other week, shimmying and bouncing herself to get them up over her hips, her unrestrained bust bouncing heavily inside her tanktop in the process, causing me to clench my fists at the sight of her, biting the inside of my cheek.

“Fuck…FUUUUCK!”

She put on a gray hooded sweater next, so that she wouldn’t be too cold outside in the morning air.

After Fluttershy decided to call and leave a message at the shelter, letting her partner know she wouldn’t be there this week, I figured I’d better send my boss a text as well, before I forgot about it. I had a great many distractions here in the shy girl's house, after all.

Next, she set to looking after her critters.

First, she filled the bowl in the living room that belonged to Angel Bunny, who I really didn’t see much of because he hid under the furniture most of the time. After that was done, we went outside.

Fluttershy was carrying a package that she’d gotten from her fridge. Taking me around to the back of the house, she showed me her vast array of animal friendly items; there were a whole lot of birdfeeders, bowls and other items to please the animals, as well as scratching posts, toys, and just about anything else you could think of. You name it, she had it.

She opened a small shed in the corner of the yard and got out some bags of different feed, handing me a couple and telling me which bowls to fill, and with which kind of feed. She proceeded to go fill some birdfeeders, and then went around checking the nectar level in the hummingbird feeders.

I watched in amazement as animals began to appear out of nowhere; birds, squirrels, rabbits, a couple deer, all kinds of wild creatures. I watched at her as she stood there, admiring her own handywork. She let her eyes close as a few of the birds circled around her, one finally landing on her shoulder and one on the top of her head, drawing a sweet giggle from her as she used her fingers to brush some pink hair out of her face.

“Good morning to you, too,” she said sweetly. I watched in awe, wondering how she didn’t think of herself as a goddess.

She still had the package from the fridge in her hand, and I wondered what it was for.

She spoke, “There’s someone coming to say sorry to you, Goldie.”

I glanced at her as she pointed to the right side of the yard, prompting me to look to where she was pointing. At first, I couldn't see anything, but then I locked eyes on a large brown cat that was squatting in the tall weeds. I recognised it immediately as the one that had attacked me the night before.

“Come on out,” Fluttershy coaxed.

Like it was nothing, the animal stood up and causally walked towards us. I got a little nervous, not for my own safety obviously, but for Fluttershy’s. Instinctively, I stood in front her to block the predator from potentially hurting her, only to have her put her hand on my arm and walk around in front of me again.

“Don’t worry,” she said, “He won’t hurt us. All these animals are under my control, and I know exactly what they’re all thinking.”

I paused for a moment, contemplating her statement. "Wait," I said, pointing around the yard at all the animals moving about. “You’re controlling all of them?” I asked. “Doesn’t that take a lot of concentration?”

“Oh…no, it’s not like I’m controlling everything they do. It’s hard to explain,” she said with a pause, before continuing. “I can hear them all talking at once. It took a long time for me to get used to it. Of all my friends, I probably use my magic the most, by far; especially since I moved out here in the woods. There’s never a time when I can’t hear them,” she explained.
“Wow,” I thought. “How does she deal with that? Most people would lose their minds.”
She squatted down and let the big cat nuzzle it’s snout into her chest. She giggled then said: “Now you go say sorry to Goldie.”

The cat came over to me as I squatted down, letting me put my hand on its head to give it a little scratch behind the ear. “No hard feelings?” I said, feeling a bit silly for talking to an animal. It backed up to sniff my hand, then proceeded to rub its cheek against my palm.

“Aww, that’s nice,” Fluttershy cooed. Then she opened the package. “I have a little treat for you.”

The big cat looked in the bag, which was filled with chunks of meat. It took the bag in its mouth and quickly pranced off into the woods again, disappearing from sight.

As Fluttershy and I stood again, she was looking around at all the creatures scampering back and forth, eating their generously served meals while I looked at Fluttershy. Something then crossed my mind from the girls’ attack on me the night before; it was the only thing that actually caught me off guard, other than them having special powers.

“How did you guys know I was coming last night?” I asked.

She turned to look at me. “Hm?”

“Last night,“ I continued, “When you guys ambushed me; I can’t figure out how you knew I was coming. I mean, Twilight took my keys so I couldn’t drive and surely you guys didn’t think I could get here on foot that quickly. And yet, you knew I was coming, and your cars were all here. I thought everyone went home?”

“Oh, Twilight texted us while she and Sunset were heading back, telling us to meet here so they could tell us what was going on. Pinkie Pie had already dropped Applejack off at her farm so she just came back in her truck, and the rest of them just turned around and came back. Sunset and Twilight were here first. They were really scared, especially when they knew you were coming back too.”

“Yeah, but…how did you know I was coming?” I asked again.

“Oh, well…the way you were crashing through the woods, you scared a lot of animals. I could hear them from the house. Some of them even came here for help,” she explained.

“The animals told you? ” I said, shaking my head. “Huh…bravo. That’s actually really smart. You basically used them like radar.”

She blushed. “Really?”

“Yeah. I mean, the actual attack was kind of… uh, shitty, but you guys have great abilities. If you learned to use them efficiently and actually work together…well, you would be almost unstoppable,” I explained.

She looked enthusiastic for a second, then her head dropped.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, noticing that something was obviously bothering her.

She sighed. “It just that…I mean, I love my magic; being able to connect with the animals is wonderful, but it doesn’t help much when it comes to fighting.”

“But you sent your cat friend to get me. If I was a normal person I would have been dinner,” I replied.

“Oh my! I wouldn’t have let him kill you,” she said, briefly covering her mouth. “Besides, he just happened to be around. There’s almost always something around out here in the woods, but what if I’m in the city and there’s no big animals there to help me?”

“I can teach you to fight,” I said. “I have a lot of experience in hand-to-hand combat.” I chuckled at my own understatement. “I've trained countless soldiers for many wars over the centuries, and I can teach all of you girls to defend yourselves effectively, especially if you can integrate your powers into your fighting style.”

She looked down at the ground beside her, rubbing her elbow. “But…I’m not very strong, and I get scared easily. I would probably just get hurt.”

“Well...” I started, but I got the sense that she didn’t want to talk about it anymore, so I remained silent. The way she was standing, I could see the wound on her head. “Can I look at that?” I asked, walking over to her.

“Sure.” She tilted her head so I could see it.

I gently pulled her hair back, some of which was still stuck to the crusty, dried blood. There was a fairly big bruise, with a little split in the skin at the center. Noticing it was a bit red and swollen, I touched it gently, to which she suddenly hissed through her teeth, pulling back and squeezing her eyes shut.

“We should get that cleaned up,” I said. “We should have done that last night, I didn’t even think about it. I wasn’t thinking properly at all.”

“It’s OK, no one was,” she said, “I should...um, have a shower anyway.”

She gave one last look at the animals, and after blowing a kiss to them, headed for the front of the house. I followed her inside, and we made our way to her bathroom. She took off the hooded sweater, quickly reminding me of the tanktop she had underneath.

“Wow.”

She turned on the water in the shower, waiting for it to get warm.

“You think you’ll be OK?” I asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she answered, giving me a gracious smile. “Um, thank you.”

“OK, I’ll be out there then,” I said, returning her smile as I motioned to the front room.

She nodded and closed the bathroom door, making sure to smile at me first. I went out to the main room and sat down on her couch, pulling out my phone to check for messages. There were a few.

UNKNOWN NUMBER: Hey Golds, it's Sunset. Sorry again about everything. Also we accidently took your keys home with us. I should be back this weekend unless you need them sooner? Let me know.

I went ahead and added Sunset as a contact to my phone. The next two messages were from Rainbow Dash:

UNKNOWN NUMBER: OK, so I admit I thought the whole thing was bullshit, but Twilight did some research and she thinks she found u in some old WW2 pic. She sent it to all of us. It's awesome!

"Hm..."

UNKNOWN NUMBER: This is Rainbow Dash, BTW. Sorry I was a jerk last night. It's not that I think ur a liar, it was just too much to think about at once.

I decided to answer Dash.

ME: No worries. Like I said, no one ever takes it very well. U guys actually did pretty good, prob cuz u've had ur share of crazy shit too.

She had sent the picture with the text. I opened the picture, wondering if Twilight had actually found me. It was a black and white photo of about fifty World War II soldiers standing at attention, arranged in straight rows. There was a bright red circle that Twilight had added to the picture surrounding one of the soldier’s faces.

“Son of a bitch, she actually found me,” I thought.

I added Dash to my contacts.

I decided to text Sunset back about my keys, wondering if any of them had gotten any sleep that night.

ME: Hey, no hard feelings. I might try to come up there to get my keys sooner. I'll let you know when I see how Fluttershy is feeling.

I sat for a bit on the couch, then decided to send Sunset another text.

ME: Tell Twilight good job on finding the picture. Yeah, that's me in it.

I put my phone down and waited after hearing the shower turn off. After a few minutes, I heard the door open and Fluttershy came down the hall wearing a thick, white bathrobe that was decorated with pink stripes on the collar and belt, along with a white towel wrapped around her head.

Fluttershy came over and sat with me on the couch.

“How do you feel?” I asked.

“Good,” she said. “Did you want to look at it now?”

“At what?” I asked, absentmindedly.

“My head, silly,” she giggled as she pulled the towel off and rubbed it around to dry her hair.

“Oh, yeah,” I replied, turning towards her and moving her hair away so I could see the wound. “It looks better now that it’s clean,” I said after studying it for a bit. “You’ll probably be able to see it for a couple weeks though. We should put something over it, do you have any of those big square band-aids?”

“Yeah,” she said, getting up. “In the bathroom cupboard. Follow me.”

We went to the bedroom again where she got one of the band-aids from the bathroom and came back, handing it to me before sitting on the edge of the bed. I sat next to her as I peeled the back off the Band-Aid, and after brushing her hair out of the way, I placed it over the wound, covering it completely.

I let her hair go and pulled her close to me, placing a kiss on the top of her head.

“Thank you, Goldie…um, you’re really sweet,” she said, blushing.

“No problem. If there's anything you need, just ask,” I said as I looked at her again, noticing her eyelids looked very heavy. “Hey, didn’t you only get like two hours of sleep last night? Aren’t you tired?”

Fluttershy looked up at me. “Oh, yeah…Kind of. I think I’ll just brush my hair and lay down for a bit.”

She got up and went to the bathroom to start brushing her long, pink hair.

“Would it be ok if I borrowed your car while you sleep?” I asked her, standing up from the bed.

“Sure, I guess. Why?” she responded.

“Well, I need to go to my place and get some clothes so I can get out of this huge-ass shirt,” I explained. “Plus, I’m going to get some things so I can clean up your yard.”

She looked out of the bathroom at me with a confused look on her face. “M-my yard?”

“You know,” I said, “cuz it looks like a battle ground.”

Her eyebrows went up when she realised what I was talking about. “Oh, yeah,” she replied softly, “that makes sense. Poor Pinkie Pie, she caused most of that. She always had the hardest time with her magic, trying not to make a big mess with it. She started out just being able to make sugary things explode, like sprinkles and marshmallows n' stuff, but after a few months, she started noticing she could charge up practically anything; as long as it was inanimate. As far as we know, she can't charge living things; like plants, animals, bugs or people.”

I cocked an eyebrow. "That's probably a good thing."

Giggling, Fluttershy set her brush down and walked out of the bathroom with her hair now straight, but still wet, so it hung down her back, flat and heavy looking. “I feel bad for Pinkie sometimes. She blew her parents’ house up right after high school graduation, so they moved out into the country, pretty close to the Apple Family farm, which is kind of nice for them, actually. The Apples and the Pies sometimes get together and spend the holidays with each other. It’s kind of cute.”

I shook my head and chuckled a little. “Crazy old Pinkie Pie.”

Fluttershy giggled about her friend as she plucked a pair of underwear from her dresser drawer and slipped them on in front of me, one leg at a time, pulling them up inside the robe. Then, with her back turned, she took robe off and let it drop to the floor, revealing her bare back to me. It surprised me to see her do this, especially since the newly placed panties were literally the only thing she was wearing. I was frozen in place, my eyes on her bare, yellow skin as she slipped a dark blue T-shirt over her head and pulled it down over herself.

She turned, and saw me staring, which caused her to blush a little as she walked towards me and wrapped her arms around the back of my neck, gently pressing her lips to mine. I kissed her back, enjoying the feel of her body against me, her breasts squeezing against my chest through that thin t-shirt. She then separated herself from me and slipped under the covers of her bed. “I’m so tired, Goldie” she said with a sigh. “Sorry.”

“No need to apologize,” I said. “You need your rest. I’ll see you later. Text me when you wake up if I’m not in the house, K?”

“OK,” she said, settling down under her covers. Then she lifted her head up again, “Oh, my keys are hanging on the hook by the door.”

“OK, thanks. Sweet dreams,” I said as I walked out of the room.

“Bye,” she whispered, and she was asleep in seconds

*Chapter 11: Tuesday Morning

Chapter 11

I was pretty busy for the rest of the day while my new girlfriend, Fluttershy, slept. I took the cage out of the back of her SUV before getting into it and driving to my place.

When I got there, I checked that my truck OK where it was sitting first, then I went inside. I don’t usually lock my door since no one is ever out there, so luckily I didn’t need my keys to get inside. I changed into my own clothes, enjoying the feel of wearing a shirt that actually fit properly, rather than wearing that giant bed sheet that AJ had bought for her brother. I loaded a bunch of gardening tools into the back of her vehicle, along with my chainsaw, which I needed to cut apart the tree that Pinkie had knocked down.

Before heading back, I paused and looked at her car. One side was covered in dirt from when Pinkie’s bomb exploded, which sent dirt and stones all over the side of it, so I decided to get my power washer out and clean it off for her. Afterwards, I could still see the dent on the driver’s door from where she’d hit her head. I ran my hand over it and shook my head, thinking about how Fluttershy was actually tougher than she thought.

I headed back to her place and unloaded the equipment that I brought with me.

I went inside the house first to check on her. She was still sleeping soundly, so I came back out and started cleaning up her yard. I leveled the small crater in the ground from Pinkie’s bomb near the front door first, then leveled the rest of the driveway, erasing the ruts and scuff marks from fighting with Dash, AJ and the mountain lion.

Then I moved onto cutting up the fallen tree with the chainsaw. AJ and I had moved it alongside the driveway that night so they could get their cars out, but the base of the trunk clearly looked like it had been blown up so I cut the stump off as low to the ground as I could, then dug it out and filled the hole in with dirt. All evidence of the ‘next level shit’ that went on there would be as good as gone by the time I was done with the place.

I cut the tree up into chunks and piled them in the corner behind the house, then I dug a small pit in the middle if her back yard and got some rocks out of the woods to place in a circle around the pit. I put a few pieces of wood in the middle, intending to make a fire for her and me to sit by later to watch after it got dark.

Once I was finished, I loaded everything back into her vehicle and took it back to my place. After unloading it there and putting it away, I showered in my little stall and brought a few changes of clothes with me back to her place. The sun was setting as I pulled back into her driveway and put the cage back into her SUV.

I went inside to see her, wondering if she was awake yet, even though she hadn’t texted me. I found her still asleep in her bed.

I went out to the front room and sat on her couch, picked up the remote and started messing with the TV. I found something to watch and just left it on with the volume low while texting a couple of the other girls who had asked me some questions as well as were commenting on the old photo.

I ended up sitting there all night, watching TV long after the texts had stopped coming in. Obviously, the other girls had gone to bed by then and I was alone again for another night.

Fluttershy ended up sleeping all the way through until the morning. I heard her get up once to use the bathroom at about midnight, but that was all the activity I heard from her.

It was one of those nights where my mind ran endlessly, ruminating about my life; a solitary life in this world that had run on so long by that point that some of my oldest memories had simply faded into obscurity. I was amazed with myself at how far back I could remember, even if it was quite vague. I chuckled at the fact that I’d ridden in horse drawn chariots centuries ago, but just a few months ago driven a customer’s Tesla Model S at work, two things that couldn’t possibly any different from one another. No one else on the planet that I know of has used both of those types of transportation during their heydays, and I marveled at the progress of mankind’s technology over the past 150 years and wondered what more the future would bring.

What would make the Tesla look like a simple chariot?

And of course, I thought about Fluttershy.

How could such a creature exist? Such a kind, gentle beauty, who’s life had been a mere blink-of-an-eye compared to my own, yet she’d made an impact on me like nothing and no one ever before, and within only a couple weeks became one of the most endearing people I’ve ever known, and someone I now cared for so dearly.

I thought of the terrible day when she would no longer be with me and what agonizing sadness it would bring. Will I ever meet another like her? I wished I would be able to end my own life when she passes on; my own death being preferable to the limbo that this world would become with her gone.

But I can’t end it. That’s impossible. How long will I be here? Will I live long enough to see our sun give up its ghost and destroy this planet? Where will I be then, just floating in space? Surely by then mankind will have travelled to other worlds…

I shook those thoughts from my mind. I needed to enjoy my time with her. I didn’t want to say it to her yet, but I loved her. I knew I loved her ever since the day we fell asleep together watching movies on this very couch.

“Good morning.”

My heart leapt at the sound of Fluttershy’s voice. She had come up behind the couch so quietly I didn’t know she was there. Not very many people can sneak up on me like that.

“Oh, I didn’t mean to startle you,” she said, sitting next to me on the couch and resting her head on my shoulder. “What are you watching?”

"You didn't startle me," I replied as I looked at the TV, having forgotten that it was on. I hadn’t even looked at it for hours. They happened to be playing the ‘Little Baby’s Ice Cream’ commercial right then, in which there was a strange person on the screen who was made of ice cream, taking a scoop off the top of their own head and eating it.

“Whoa, what the fuck? I have no idea what the hell this is,” I said, picking up the remote and turning off the TV.

Fluttershy snickered at my reaction to the bizarre imagery. “What time is it?“ she asked.

“6:30am, Tuesday morning,“ I said. “You slept for a long time.”

She glared at me surprise. “Oh my goodness! Really?”

“Yup,” I said.

She paused, then said: “S-sorry I left you all alone for so long.”

“It’s fine,” I said, “you obviously needed it.”

After a minute of sitting, she suddenly perked up. “I’d better go feed the critters,” she said. “You wanna come?”

I nodded and we went outside and fed all of her little friends the same as the day before, except this time, instead of watching the animals, she kept her lidded eyes locked on me with a warm smile on her face. Her pink hair was wild, the result of going to bed with it still wet, followed by such a long sleep. It appeared to be glowing with the morning sun behind her, her frazzled locks picking up the warm beams of light as she stood there, watching me with her hands folded in front of her.

“Where’s the big cat?” I asked, noticing it hadn’t returned this time.

“He doesn’t come everyday,” she said. “I only give him treats once in a while. I can’t have him losing his edge for hunting.”

She finally took her eyes off me to look at the fire pit. “D-did you make this for me?”

“Yeah,” I replied. “Well, for us. I thought we could have a fire later and watch it together.”

“Aww…that sounds wonderful,” she said, returning her gaze back to me. “The front yard looks great, too. It doesn’t look like there was a war out there anymore," she giggled. "Thank you for doing that.”

I stepped closer to her. “It was no problem,” I replied. “I really just didn’t want anyone to see that some crazy shit was happening here.”

She nodded, then reached out to hold my hand. We stood for a minute, enjoying the feel of each other’s fingers laced together, then eventually decided to go back inside.

Once inside the house, she went to have a quick shower again to get her hair back in order. She came out of the bathroom with that same robe on again, the same as the day before. This time she blow-dried her hair, bringing it back to that signature style that I loved the very moment I first laid eyes on it. After spending some time doing her makeup, she looked exactly the way she did the night I met her, other than the bathrobe, which was OK with me.

I had returned to the couch and was checking my phone while she got ready. When she finally came back out to sit at her spot on the chaise lounge, she patted the cushion, inviting me to sit close to her.

“What do you want to do today?” she asked.

“I don’t know. I was thinking about going to get my keys from Sunset and Twilight. Do you feel like going to the city?” I asked.

“Maybe,” she replied. “I’m not sure if I feel like it today though. It’s a long way. Maybe we could go to Canterlot tomorrow?”

“Yeah, maybe we can do that. We’ll figure it out. How is your head?” I asked.

“It’s ok, it only hurts if I touch it. Otherwise it’s fine. I put a new band-aid on it, but it looks the same underneath,” she replied.

“Yeah, it’ll look rough for a while,” I said. “I wouldn’t change the band-aid anymore unless if falls off though.”

“Ok.” She gave me a little smile, her face lighting up with radiance, creating one of those moments where I was completely dumbfounded by her beauty. “Thanks so much for taking care of me,” she said, resting her head on my shoulder again.

We sat for a bit before I looked at her once more. “What did you want to do today?”

“Hm,” she mumbled. “You were pretty busy yesterday. Did you want me to make you something to eat?” She stood up from the lounge suddenly, heading around the couch to the kitchen area.

“Oh, no it’s OK,” I said, trying to stop her. “You should take it easy.”

“No no, silly.” She smiled back. “You need something to refuel yourself.”

I shook my head. “It doesn’t work like that with me,” I explained. “I don’t get tired and I don’t need to refuel. It’s OK, just come back and relax.”

There seemed to be no stopping her by that point, and she’d already passed the end of the big table and was making her way along the counter. “W-well,” she continued, “then at the very least, let me, um…make you something delicious just to say thanks for fixing my place up, and for making me a fire pit. That w-was really, um…sweet.”

I sighed, turning back to the blank TV as I rubbed my eyebrow, wondering how to get her to stop what she was doing without hurting her feelings. She was a very sensitive girl, after all.

As I chewed my lip, thinking about what I should say, I heard a soft whimper behind me. I turned quickly to look. She was leaning on the edge of the table with her hands, squeezing her eyes shut after a wave of dizziness had come over her.

I leapt over the back of the couch and held her by the arms to keep her steady. The last thing I wanted was to see her fall and hit her head again, making the injury even worse. What would her friends think of that?

“Hey,” I said quietly. “You OK?”

Her eyes popped open in surprise when she realised I was so close. “Oh! How d-did you get over here so fast? You startled me!”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to,” I replied quickly. “You looked like you weren’t feeling well.”

“Oh…” she sighed, rubbing her palm against her forehead. “It’s OK now, I think.” She turned to lean on the edge of the table, facing the counter with me directly in front of her. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you.”

“It’s OK,” I said, releasing her. I backed myself up to lean on the counter with the small of my back. “Listen, I appreciate the offer, but you just need to chill for a bit, OK?”

Fluttershy chewed her bottom lip timidly as she looked at the floor, folding her hands in front of her. The band-aid on her forehead did nothing to take away from how beautiful she looked, leaning against the table in the morning light with her hair perfectly styled and hanging delicately over her left eye. Her make-up was perfect, accentuating her pretty face with those gorgeous teal eyes and those cute lashes…

Something struck me suddenly. “Hold on,” I thought, “How did she shower, do her hair and make make-up and all that, and not have any dizzy spells?” I shook the thought from my head. “No, she couldn’t have been faking it to get me to hold her…could she?”

My attention came back to the shy girl when I noticed her chewing on her fingernail, her eyes making their way down my chest to my pants, then slowly back up again. She froze suddenly when she realised I was watching her; her cheeks turned a vivid shade of scarlet and she took her fingernail from her mouth to sweep the hair from in front of her eye.

“You, um…really care about me a lot, don’t you?”

I nodded, feeling a small tingle of goosebumps as they sprang up on the back of my neck. “Of course,” I replied, folding my arms across my chest.

Her cheeks darkened even more, and she lowered her face to hide it, looking bashfully at herself.

“And I want you to get better, so why don’t we go sit down again?” I continued, gesturing to the couch.

She didn’t move. “I’m OK.”

I looked her over again, wondering why she seemed reluctant to take my advice, but then it suddenly struck me as odd that she was still wearing her bath robe as well. “What’s she got on under that robe, I wonder?”

Her eyes were locked on mine now, sparkling in the morning sun as it shone into the room through the window. It was as though she was staring though my eyes, directly into my mind, making me wonder if she could hear what I was thinking. “Um…” I mumbled absentmindedly, mesmerised by her gaze as I tipped my head towards the hallway to her room. “Why don’t you go get dressed, and uh…we can sit down and watch a…um, moving thing…on the big square…” I trailed off at that point.

Fluttershy and I both stood motionless for a moment, lost in each other’s eyes.

My heart rate elevated slightly as she snapped out of the gaze.

“Oh! Um…sorry. I forgot what I was saying,” she said quietly, blinking a few times, followed by a cute smirk.

I furrowed my brows, bringing my wits back into my mind. “Uh…I thought it was me who was talking?”

“Oh,” she replied quietly. “I’m sorry, w-what were you saying?”

“Um,” I cleared my throat, “I was just saying you should finish getting dressed and, uh…things.”

Fluttershy pursed her lips, drawing in a slow breath through her nostrils. “I don’t really feel like it,” she replied in a deeper, softer tone.

I was caught off guard by the response, and then my heart nearly leapt from my throat when she slowly and methodically raised her left knee, letting her long, slender leg escape through the front of the robe. It was smooth, shaded in that perfect butter-coloured tone that I was helplessly drawn to, unable peel my eyes away from its softness. She raised her foot and set it on the counter beside my hip, creating a bridge that connected the table and countertop.

I swallowed nervously, letting my eyes follow her long, graceful leg from her ankle all the way up to her thigh, which was fully exposed to her hip, where the robe split open to allow its escape, barely covering whatever else was underneath, waiting to be discovered.

I cleared my throat again, bringing my eyes back to hers, which had a new expression in them; one of lustful mischievousness, accentuated by the biting of her sweet-looking bottom lip.

A flurry of butterflies passed through my stomach when I saw the look in her eyes. I chuckled nervously, forcing out the first funny thing that came to me. “Uh…is it getting warm in here?”

She let out a quiet giggle. “I think it’s about to...” she said in a quiet, yet sultry tone. She reached out with her left hand next, hooking her index finger over the collar of my shirt to pull me closer. “Come here,” she whispered.

I stepped towards her, feeling her exposed leg wrap around the back of my calf as she closed her eyes and brought her lips to mine, connecting them in a tender, yet hungry kiss.

“Mmmmm…” she moaned softly. A cool exhale left her nostrils, blowing against my face as her beautiful, floral scent wafted into my senses.

Intoxicated by the shy girl, my instincts quickly took over. I let my hand find its way to her bare thigh to slowly caress it, feeling her soft, smooth skin, radiating intense heat that quickly absorbed into my hand as I ran my fingertips across the long, graceful limb that held me captive against her.

Her arms slowly slid around the back of my neck, pulling me against her as she pressed her mouth against mine, nipping ravenously at my bottom lip with her teeth. I could feel her breasts pressing against my chest through the robe, her soft lips rubbing firmly against mine, followed by her moist tongue poking my lips, begging me to grant her entrance into my mouth.

I complied, parting my lips to let her tongue come in, which it did with surprising boldness where it met with the tip of my tongue, giving a playful flick, then a second, followed by a sudden full-on wrestling match. Our tongues wrapped and twirled together, rubbing together firmly, allowing me to taste the wave of sweet, foreign saliva that she brought with her in exchange for a dose of mine.

Our heart rates had both skyrocketed by then, her arms clamoured around the back of my neck to pull me closer still, her slender frame pressing against mine, our mouths locked together in an exchange of heated passion.

We separated our lips finally, and she let her head tip back, closing her eyes as she silently invited me to explore more of her fragrant, tender features. I ran my lips across her cheek, leaving small wet kisses along her smooth skin until I found my way to her ear. Fluttershy giggled softly as I nibbled her earlobe and she shrugged her shoulders in response, drawing a deep breath when she felt my lips run down the side of her neck to kiss her collarbones, drawing more sweet giggles and hums from her as her womanhood tingled with excitement.

After a moment of enjoying my mouth teasing her skin, she came forward and met my lips with hers again, sending her tongue back in for a brief visit before pulling away once more, gazing into my eyes. Our bodies remained pressed together, and I quickly realised the bulge in the front of my pants was pressed firmly against her abdomen.

I worried suddenly if it was going too fast for her. After all, she was such a terribly shy girl; a girl who could hardly stand being in the room with a stranger like me only a couple weeks ago, and yet now here she was, pressed against me, feeling my erection poking into her like a knife. Initially, I had intended to back away to avoid embarrassing her, but I was stopped in my tracks when she spoke.

“Um, you want to fuck me, don’t you?”

My thoughts shattered like a plate glass window and I stared vacantly at her, dumbfounded by the sudden vulgarity emitted from her sweet lips.

She was correct, though. I did. I wanted badly to claim her right then and there.

But this was Fluttershy; probably the most innocent, timid girl I’d ever met. I felt naughty, as though she’d caught me thinking dirty thoughts, like she knew my agenda.

I had to tread carefully with someone like her. She was young, pure and innocent. She liked snuggling with furry little animals, watching fantastical superhero movies and cooking for her friends. The last thing I wanted was to scare her awa-

“Say it,” she ordered suddenly, her fingers tousling the hair on the back my head as she glared intensely into my eyes. “Tell me you want to.”

“Whoa…” was the only thing my brain could muster before my thoughts totally stalled out. She leaned forward and rested her forehead against mine, placing her sparkling eyes directly in front of me, filling my entire field of vision with nothing but that heart-stopping teal colour. I snapped myself back to reality, reminded suddenly that she was waiting for an answer. “Uh,” I cleared my throat, “I…I do, but-“

“You do what?” she asked in her soft voice, carrying a strange new tone of authority along with it.

“Uh…”

“Say it to me,” she demanded, exhaling softly against my face. “And say my name, too.”

I took a deep breath, trying to prepare myself for saying something as forward and vulgar as this to such a sweet individual. I was reluctant, but at the same time, something had changed in her and I felt as though it would be unwise for me not to follow her instructions.

“I want to fuck you, uh...Fluttershy,” I said quickly and quietly, then I held my breath to see what she would do next.

To my relief, Fluttershy giggled softly, amused by my awkwardness.

She planted a little peck on the tip of my nose, then bit her lower lip as she prepared her response. “I’m so glad to hear that,” she said quietly, “cuz I would like it if you did.”

“Oh god,” I gasped, leaning in to kiss her lips again.

I had finally lost control of myself.

The sound of our lips smacking repeatedly echoed around the room, accompanied by her excited breathing, increasing in response to the intense heat that grew under her robe.

“Kiss me,” she panted softly. “Ohh...kiss me hard, Goldie; you make me soooo hot!”

I buried my mouth against the side of her throat, leaving a pile of wet kisses all over her skin as she gasped deeply in response. Her hips gyrated against me, her abdomen rubbing against my arousal, sending waves of sensation up my spine while I tried my best to concentrate on kissing her.

She brought her head down, nuzzling her face into my neck to plant a dozen soft kisses on my throat. She ran her warm tongue up to my ear, where she playfully flicked my earlobe, sending a chill across my skin as the air in her house cooled the saliva she’d left on me.

I reached down to grasp the belt on her robe, unravelling it to allow the front to open up, revealing her bare skin underneath. I slipped my hand inside, feeling the heat of her body as I placed my hand on her right hip, then ran it up her smooth body to her breast.

It was soft under my touch. I cupped my hand over it, squeezing it gently, feeling the warmth of it as I gently pinched her nipple between my thumb and forefinger, prompting her to gasp sharply against my neck.

“Ooohh…” she moaned quietly, then leaned back against the table, allowing me full view of her breasts when the robe fell open before me.

They were beautiful, full and round; jiggling around when she moved, heaving up and down as she panted with arousal, her nipples becoming hard as the cool air in the room caressed them gently. Fluttershy reached out and wrapped her hand around the back of my neck to pull me in for another kiss, frantically sliding her lips and tongue all over my mouth in an unfettered fit of passion.

As her tongue slipped in and hooked itself around mine, I cupped her breast with my hand again, massaging the soft, full weight of it, marvelling at how massive it was for belonging to such a slender girl. Her erect nipple tickled my palm as I returned the kiss, then she suddenly reached up, grabbed my hand and slid it off of her breast, down her slender body, past her abdomen to the warmth between her legs.

My heart leapt when I felt it; a hairless mound residing above her delicate slit, into which she guided my fingers, plunging them deep into the soaking wet crease that she had been waiting eagerly for me to discover.

My finger slipped in between her lips with ease, instantly soaking me with her slick juice as I stroked her slowly, spreading the smooth moisture around her swollen flesh before adding a second finger to gently pinch her tender folds, causing her hips to jerk in response.

“Oohhh, my goodness!” she gushed, keeping her mouth against mine, parting her lips to speak softly into my mouth. “That’s sooo nice,” she cooed, her eyes closing as she enjoyed the blissful jolts of warmth ran through her body.

I exhaled into her mouth, feeling her delicate flesh warming my fingers as I continued to stroke her, causing her slender frame to quake between me and the table.

“You’re so fuckin beautiful,” I whispered, causing her eyes to pop open, accompanied by a dark blush across her cheeks. A timid giggle tried to escape from her lips, but was stopped short when her breath suddenly hitched, her body shocked by the sensation of my fingertip grazing her clit for the first time.

“Oh m-my, that’s so…so…” her whimpers trailed off, her brows furrowing as the pleasure washed endlessly over her.

Out of nowhere, she backed away and grabbed my shirt collar. “Let’s go,” she growled through her teeth, glancing to the hall that led to her bedroom.

With my heart rate doubled, I quickly glanced over my shoulder towards the hall and then looked back at her. My body was tingling, and she gazed back at me with insatiable lust in those gorgeous eyes of hers, prompting me to remove my fingers from her slit to reach behind her inside the robe, picking her up by her petite backside, after which I carried her to the bedroom as she wrapped her legs around my waist, squeezing me tightly.

Fluttershy giggled as I laid her down on the bed, her robe draped open so her body was on display before me.

She was absolutely stunning.

Her skin was smooth, coloured in that radiant yellow tone, complimenting that cotton-candy coloured hair that fanned around her head as she lay before me. Her body was tall, slender and graceful; her slit glistened with moisture and her surprisingly full breasts jiggled as I crawled over her to kiss her lips again.

She welcomed me by gently placing her hands on my cheeks and closing her eyes as we reconnected our lips, both of us eager to have a taste of each other’s saliva again. As we continued sweeping out each other’s mouths with our tongues, her hands slid down to grab my T-shirt and pull it upwards. We separated our mouths briefly so she could yank the shirt over my head, then she wrapped her arms around the back of my neck, pulling me into another passionate kiss as our bare bodies came together, sharing each other’s warmth.

Her warm, delicate hands eventually made their way down my back, then slid between us, where she frantically pulled at my pants, eventually getting them undone so she could pull them part way off.
She couldn’t reach far enough to take my pants all the way off however, so I rolled part way off of her to remove them, along with my boxer shorts. Fluttershy gasped as she looked down at my erection for a brief moment, excited to finally see it out in the open, standing at full mast and ready to serve. She placed a hand on my cheek and kissed me one more time.

“Lay down,” she ordered, leaving me a tad surprised.

“You sure?”

She nodded quickly, and so I laid back on the pillow beside her, feeling the goosebumps spread all over my skin as her naked, warm body slid over mine. She straddled me with her legs; her hot, moist slit rubbing against my throbbing length, pinned firmly between us. She let her weight settle upon me with her breasts resting against my chest, and I quickly noticed how much bigger they appeared in this position. Gravity was certainly her ally.

The reality of what we were about to do together struck me at that moment, and I suddenly remembered how long it had been since I’d been with a woman, not to mention the differences between her and I. I thought it was only right to make sure she was positive that this was what she wanted.

“Hey,” I said quietly.

“Hm?” she replied, pursing her lips.

“Are you sure about this?” I asked. “I mean, I’m a…and you’re…you know…not.”

She gazed down at me as she pondered the question. Her eyes burned with desire, her warm breath gently caressing my face, accompanied by the delicate scent coming from the curtain of pink hair that surrounded us, illuminated by the morning sun shining in through the bedroom window, casting a pink glow across our faces.

Fluttershy leaned down to kiss me softly, then lifted her face to answer. “Oh Goldie, I don’t care who or what you are…”

I let the tiniest of smiles curl the corner of my mouth as her sweet words warmed my heart, causing it to flutter at the thought of this beautiful creature wanting to connect with me, despite how different I was from her.

“The only thing I care about right now is having you inside me,” she finished.

My heart leapt when I heard this, and I had hardly any time to react before she lifted her hips into the air. Supported on her knees, she positioned herself above me and reached down to grasp my red-hot erection with her fingertips.

She rubbed the tip against her opening, spreading a slick streak of my pre-ejaculate along her supple folds, soaking the head of my erection with her own moisture as she blended our fluids together, readying us for penetration.

Fluttershy didn’t hesitate. She held her breath, closed her eyes tightly and drove herself down onto me, letting me slip into the soft, tight heat of her body. I watched the look of awe appear on her face as her body opened to accommodate my girth, her hair still surrounding our faces, secluding us from the rest of the world while her velvety tightness slid further down my length, gently warming it with the furnace-like heat of her interior.

She suddenly let a gust of sweet breath blow against my face, as if the air had been displaced by the new occupant in her body. Her eyes popped open and she stared at me intensely, thrilled by how good it felt to finally have me inside her.

“Oh my goodness,” she whimpered. “You’re a big boy!”

She drew in another deep breath, then brought herself up to lean on her elbows, using the new angle to force her hips down onto me, wriggling herself from side to side as she struggled to stuff every inch of me inside her.

“Oohh,” she moaned. “You’re a really big boy.”

“Nah,” I said with a snicker. “It works, but I wouldn’t say it’s huge or anything.”

She giggled at me, her breath elevated now as she felt her tight flesh struggling to welcome its new tenant. “Oh, don’t be modest,” she panted softly. “I think…I’m going to have a lot of fun with you.”

“Likewise,” I said as she closed her eyes and slid herself up against me, her breasts brushing against my chest as she moved, tickling me with her hard nipples.

“Mmmmm…” she moaned, loving the sensation of my ridged length sliding in and out of her tight flesh, sending a shiver down both our spines as waves of intense pleasure washed over both of us. Her hips began to gyrate, stroking me more aggressively with her hot insides, sending a barrage of sensation all over me as her hot breath fired against my face repeatedly, her own pleasure evidently working wonders for her enjoyment as well.

She paused and kissed me frantically for a moment as her heart rate continued to skyrocket, then she rested her forehead against mine and continued to ride, her breasts brushing my chest as they swung with her rhythm.

“Do you like it?” she panted softly, closing her eyes as she concentrated on the pleasure.

“It’s...amazing,” I replied quietly, blissfully enjoying the feel of her tightness massaging my throbbing length. It had been such a long time since the last time I was inside a woman, but I don’t remember it ever being like this.

Fluttershy was a goddess.

“How about you?” I asked.

Her face was hovering over mine, moving rhythmically up and down as she worked our bodies together. She finally let out a small, quiet moan in response. “It’s…it’s so…” she squeaked, her eyes locking onto mine. “I…I…” She trailed off, her brows furrowing, her eyes slamming shut.

Her breath locked up suddenly, her teeth gritting as her body stiffened over mine, trembling violently as an orgasm tore through her body, crashing over her in a wave of euphoric delight. I could feel her tight flesh squeezing down on my length in a pulsating fit of pleasure, followed by a sudden increase in moisture that soaked us both.

Her body suddenly fell limp against mine when the climax subsided. Her heart beat like a drum inside her chest as she laid on me, her back rising up and down as she breathed heavily, letting me enjoy the feel of those warm, full breasts of hers pressed against my chest.

I took in the sweet, floral scent of her hair as it draped across my face. Her cheek was resting on my shoulder, her hot breath blowing softly against my neck as she stared into space in awe of what just occurred in her body. “Oh...my...” she panted. “That…was…amaaaazing!”

I gave a quiet snicker, running my hands down her back, feeling her soft, hot skin under my fingertips as she breathed contently. “Glad you’re enjoying it,” I panted. “Do you...need a break?”

Fluttershy suddenly picked herself up, putting her hands on the mattress to hold her body above mine. She glared down at me with a look of confusion as her breasts swayed above me like two soft, heavy pendulums. “A break?” she huffed, shaking her head. “Nuh-uh...I’m just getting warmed up.”

“Uhh…” That was all I had a chance to say before she sat up without warning. Letting her weight rest on my hips, she pushed downward, pressing her mound against me, impaling herself with my length as deeply as possible.

Her eyes went wide as she looked down at me in shock, squeezing her own breasts to tease herself, pinching her nipples between her thumbs and forefingers. “Oooh wow,” she gasped, her mouth hanging open. “You are such a big boy!”

I swallowed, looking up at her, feeling myself pointing straight up into her body, which was on full display before me now. She was amazingly beautiful; her face like that of an angel, aside from those teal eyes, which had the look of the devil in them at that moment.

She licked her bottom lip and then bit it, smirking seductively as she brought her hips forward, then rocked them back, driving me further into her, stroking me with her soft, wet tightness.

I closed my eyes as I felt the warm sensation pass through me just as she brought her hands down to grasp mine, lifting them to her breasts to silently invite me to hold onto them as she rode me. I cupped them gently, feeling her nipples poking my palms while she kept her hands over mine; her brow furrowed deeply as she impaled herself on me again and again, hitting us both with one wave of pleasure after another.

Her hips accelerated with each pass, becoming vigorous to the point where her hair began to sway along with her rhythm around her back and shoulders. When her hands finally left mine, I opened my eyes again to watch what she was doing.

Fluttershy ran her fingers through her hair, lifting it up to hold it above her head in a large bundle of soft, pink locks. She turned her head to press her cheek against her bicep, eyes closed to reveal that pink eye shadow as she breathed softly through her parted lips.

I kept my hands on her breasts as she continued to thrust, watching her slender body slither above me, her slit coming into view each time her hips came forward to stroke me with her insides. I’ve been around for many years, more than anyone can imagine, but never before had I beheld a sight like this.

Fluttershy was a goddamn goddess.

Her thrusts became shorter and more erratic, her body tensing up as the second orgasm slowly crept up on her. Her breathing deepened each time she cocked her hips back for the next thrust, her brows furrowing uncontrollably as she approached the edge, her soft moans rising in pitch; and finally, the climax pounced on her, sending her into a frenzy of laboured breaths, quiet squeals and pulsating flesh.

She let her hair go and leaned forward on my chest with her hands, digging her fingernails into my skin as her hips jerked randomly, her body clenching down hard on the erection within her. Her breathing was stopped, her hair hanging down over her face until the orgasm finally released her, letting her flop down on me again with a loud exhale.

Fluttershy’s hair was fanned across both of us, her body heat intense, her heartbeat and breathing running at full throttle in the aftermath of such a pleasure overload. She remained silent, content to let her breath blow against my neck as she lay on top of me, well-aware that she didn’t need to say a word to get the point across that she was having a good time.

I reached around her, running my hands down her body to soothe her, only to discover a wet patch of perspiration on the small of her back; yet another product of her vigorous lovemaking.

She exhaled again before attempting to speak. “Mmmm…hhm…I…uhh…is good…”

I chuckled at her nonsensical response. Her hair tickled my nose as I turned to position my mouth closer to her ear. “You sure you don't need a break?” I asked.

Her breathing stopped suddenly, and she lifted herself up, leaning on her arms with her hands on the mattress. Flutterhy looked into my eyes, her breaths deep as she gave her answer.

“I’m not done with you yet,” she panted, giving her head a small shake.

“Holy shit,” I thought as her body started up again, her hips reciprocating against mine; gently at first, but quickly accelerating to an aggressive pace once again. The moisture from our sex was spread all around our abdomens by then, allowing her hot skin to glide over mine with ease as she continued straddling me, her hips gyrating gracefully as her interior stroked my sensitive, twitching length into a state of euphoria.

Her breasts were swinging above me, tempting me to play with them. I grasped one of them to hold it steady, then lifted my head to wrap my lips around her nipple, gently sucking on the hard bud, twirling my tongue around it. The sensation drew a deep gasp from the shy girl, who let her face come down and release hot breaths on the top of my head.

I switched to the other breast after a moment, showing it the same affection as the other, using my lips and tongue to stimulate her while gently pinching her other nipple, feeling the moisture from my mouth on it still.

“Mmm,” she moaned. “I love that!”

I continued to play with her breasts as long as I could, but eventually I felt the pressure building in my loins, signalling to me that my own orgasm was fast approaching. Knowing I was helpless to hold it in with such heavenly flesh sliding repeatedly along my length, I decided I should let her know what was coming.

“Hey,” I began, drawing a deep breath as I laid my head back onto the pillow. “I’m getting close to...you know.”

Fluttershy slowed her pace a bit and looked down at me. “Uh-huh…isn’t that the idea?” she giggled.

“I just…I wanted to let you know, in case you didn’t want it inside,” I explained, trying my best to keep my breath under control so I could speak clearly.

“But, you said nothing ever happens, right?" she asked. “Your, um…stuff doesn’t work on normal people.”

I nodded. “Yeah…I was just making sure. I didn't want to assume...”

She giggled softly while bringing her lips down to mine, planting full, yet sloppy kisses on me, her exhaustion obviously taking its toll on the precision of her movements. “You’re sweet for asking,” she said between kisses, “but I want it. I’ve never let anyone go inside me before, and I want to, um, make you the first. Right now.”

My heart rate went up a few beats, realising that she’d been riding me the whole time we were talking and I was now much closer to bursting than before. “OK,” I said, returning her kiss before she leaned up again to continue on unrestrained, with the full intention of having me reach my release inside her.

“I want it so bad,” she moaned, closing her eyes as she bounced along. “And besides, you have no choice anyway.”

I locked my eyes on her pretty face. “Huh?”

“I’m in control,” she continued, keeping her eyes shut as she breathed down on my face with each thrust. “Your body might be indestructible, but don’t you d-dare think that I can’t take control of it.”

I furrowed my brows in confusion, her words momentarily distracting me from her flesh. “You mean like, with your magic?”

She giggled. “No silly, you’re not an animal. I, oohhh...I meant with my body.”

I licked my bottom lip nervously, unsure of what she meant. “Oh?”

“Yeeeaah…” she moaned, enjoying the pleasure that she took from me. “I...may have a normal... mmmm...body, but it can still do things to yours.”

“Like…?”

Fluttershy opened her eyes to glare down at me. “Like, um…I can make you fill me up with your cum, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it." Her eyelids began to flutter and she paused to let out a soft moan before continuing. "Oohhh...I’m gonna take it from you. Every. Last. Drop...will be mine. You have no choice but to give it to me; we both know it feels too good not to.”

“Wow,” I replied with a blank stare. “You’re...a bit different when you're in the mood.”

She giggled, giving me a flirtatious look with those gorgeous eyes. “Hm, do I scare you?”

“Maybe a little,” I joked.

She smiled warmly, letting out a sensual giggle as she lowered her face so the tip of her nose was just touching mine. “You don’t need to be afraid of me, Goldie; aahhh...I’m gonna make you feel sooo good.”

I bit my lip and closed my eyes, trying to force my brain to comprehend the shy girl's words. All the while, her supple tightness brought me closer to the end with each stroke; each thrust was like a bolt of lightning, increasing the sharp sensation at the tip of my erection each time her soaked flesh swept along its rigid length.

Her orgasm was approaching at the same time, her interior clenching around my sensitive length as she delivered the final strokes needed to bring us both to the peak of ecstasy. She knew it was coming. It was unmistakeable. The sudden growth, the rock-hard edges wrapped in her supple depths, my tightening grip on her hips; all of it indicated that my explosion was imminent.

Gasping with excitement, Fluttershy came down and connected her lips to mine, indulging in one last moment of innocence before her swift gyrations would cause her body to be filled, to be permanently marked by my hot, thick signature. At the very last moment, she broke the kiss and placed her forehead on mine. “Come on...give it to me,” she whispered, her breath warm against my face as she gazed into my eyes, her tone authoritative, yet sweet and loving.

As soon as she said it, her brows furrowed and a soft, but shrill moan escaped her lips as the orgasm took her away to heaven for the third time.

Her sudden tightness was all it took for me as well, and I felt my own sensation skyrocket as I exploded into her, bursting forth from my throbbing head with one shot after another, filling her depths with as much of my hot gift as she could hold. We were both locked in place, our breath stuck in our throats as we savoured each other’s orgasmic pulsations, throbbing rhythmically in near-perfect synch and rippling with pleasure.

Fluttershy lifted her head and exhaled suddenly, then opened her eyes to look at me with a victorious gaze, giggling with delight as she bit her bottom lip. She let her weight settle against me, her breasts resting on my chest. “Ohh my...what a good boy,” she cooed, placing her fingertips on my temple and trailing them down my cheek, her eyes locked with mine as she treated my face to a loving caress.

She connected our lips again, then rested her forehead against mine, her eyes filled with excitement and satisfaction. ”My goodness,” she giggled softly. “It’s so warm!”

I exhaled contently, then closed my eyes for a moment, lying together with Fluttershy as our bodies cooled together in the aftermath. We remained silent for a bit, listening to our breathing and feeling one another’s body heat as we took in each other’s arousing scent. Finally, I turned my head to kiss her cheek and found a layer of glistening sweat on her skin, which left a mild salty taste on my lips.

“Oh...sorry about that,” she said, lifting her head to look at me.

In that moment, I noticed how hard she’d exerted herself. Her face was flushed, her forehead covered in beads of moisture; some of that pink hair was stuck to her temples, darkened by the sweat that had soaked into it.

“It’s fine,” I replied. “Working up a sweat doing what you just did doesn’t put me off one bit.”

Fluttershy smiled as she rolled off, leaving behind a thick strand of hot cum across my hip as she went, obviously not concerned about it leaking out of her onto the bedspread.

I looked over at her. The unmistakable smell of sex had been released into the room after she flopped onto her back, staring at the ceiling as she idly fondled her own breast, running her fingers through her hair with her other hand. She looked content in that moment, euphoric, like nothing bad could ever happen for the rest of time.

“Was that good?” she asked softly, shifting her eyes over to me.

I exhaled slowly, then looked at her with a smirk. “I can’t believe you just asked me that.”

“I’ll take that as a yes,” she giggled.

I nodded, then slid my hand across the bed towards her. She glanced down at it for second, then took her hand from her breast to reach down, lacing our fingers together. As I held her hand, I watched her look into my eyes again before giving me a radiant smile, striking me with her innocence, which was now tainted by her glistening skin, smudged make-up and the moist hair stuck to her temples. She had the unmistakable appearance of someone who just had a lot of fun, in fact she was practically glowing, lying there next to me in the light of the morning sun.

“You’re…a lot different than I expected,” I said.

She continued to watch me, blinking a couple times before she responded. “I like to be in charge,” she confessed, with a bite of her lip. “It makes me, um…hot.”

I let out a small chuckle. “I noticed.”

“Don’t worry, Goldie,” she continued, “I’ll let you be in charge next time.”

“Sounds like a deal,” I replied, giving her hand a little squeeze.

“Hmmm,” she sighed happily through her nose.

We laid in silence for another moment. I turned to stare at the ceiling, reflecting on how much my life had changed in the past couple of weeks—for the positive, of course.

It wasn’t long before she spoke again.

“Are you ready?”

I looked over to her, wondering what she meant.

“For what?”

“To be in charge, silly. You didn’t really think one would be enough, did you?”

My eyes widened. “Uhh...”

The shy girl let out an innocent giggle. “You’re not getting off that easy, big boy,” she said, raising her index finger to coax me over. “Now get over here; let’s see if you can make me really squeal!”

*Chapter 12: Tuesday Afternoon

Chapter 12

I did my best to match Fluttershy’s performance. I was a bit rusty at first, but things eventually got moving along pretty well as I hit my stride with her.

We were at it for a while; her soft moans filled the room, our fluids smeared all over each other, and eventually she ended up on her back, ready to take on the final stretch and receive another hot, juicy reward. Her legs were slung over my shoulders while I pushed into her as deeply as I could, thrusting over and over again, watching her eyes widen every time I pushed our bodies together, bottoming myself out in her tight flesh. The tingling feeling was starting to return as I felt my big finish coming up again, and I knew she felt it too when I started to swell up inside her for the second time, ready to burst. She gasped with delight, knowing it was coming soon, and she suddenly reached up with her hand to grab the back of my neck.

“Come on...gimme some more of that cum, you bad boy!” she hissed through her teeth.

The way she spoke these words sent me into a frenzy and it only took a few more thrusts to build up to the explosion, delivering another thick, juicy payload into her heat; replacing the one I’d just given her already, which was now spread all over our abdomens and her bed sheets from the activity of our second session.

She looked at me with those teal eyes, her makeup smudged all over her sweaty face, giggling and biting her bottom lip as she felt me twitching inside her during the aftermath. I laid down on her, pressing my cheek to hers as we breathed together, slowing our bodies back down once again.

“I guess it’s true what they say about the shy ones,” I said, kissing her moist, salty neck.

Fluttershy laughed softly and wrapped her arms around my shoulders and her legs around my waist, hooking her feet together behind my back. She squeezed me against her, not wanting me to pull out yet.

We laid there for a bit, enjoying each other’s bodies, now connected as one.

After I started to finally lose my firmness, I lifted my head to kiss her on the lips one more time and she released me from her grip so I could withdrawal from her.

We decided we might as well just have a shower to clean ourselves up after making such sloppy messes of each other. She and I got into the shower together, rinsing the slippery juices off from one another…soon realising this was a mistake as we watched the water run off each other’s bodies, quickly becoming aroused by one another again.

We started to kiss each other and before we knew it, I was back inside her, ready for another round of pleasure. She was leaning on the tiled shower wall with her hands, raising one knee to place a foot on the rim of the tub as I took her from behind, thrusting deeply into her sloppy, yet tight and very satisfying flesh. We eventually turned off the water and got out of the tub to continue our third session with Fluttershy bent over the vanity, leaning with her hands on the large mirror on the wall above the sink with her feet far apart, allowing me to assault her body over and over again with rippling waves of intense pleasure. I had become less sensitive by then, so I had to thrust faster and more vigorously to reach my finish, and she took it like a champ, making a lot more noise this time around. She had been fairly quiet the first two times, which was no surprise to me, given how quiet she was, but this time she was unable to contain herself. It was the loudest I’d ever heard her voice, hollering loudly and wildly as her body jarred against the hard thrusts, her breasts bouncing up and down continuously as beads of water from the shower ran down her body, dripping off of her onto the floor and vanity top. She looked into my eyes in the fogged up mirror, barely able to keep hers open as her brows furrowed under another orgasm while I finished inside her a third time, filling her with another thick, hot flood before we collapsed right there on the bathroom floor.

We remained still for several minutes, our wet skin pressed together as we spooned on the tiles in front of her vanity.

Finally, she turned her head and looked over her shoulder at me. Her wet hair, turned a darker shade of pink, was stuck to her face, neck and shoulders.

“Mmmm...I could do this all day long,” she panted, flashing me a sultry smirk. “I would love to just stay in bed and let you fuck me silly until you cum inside me over, and over, and over again.”

I let my head rest on my shoulder. “Same here,” I said, followed by a long exhale. “But...aren’t you getting, like...hungry or anything?”

Fluttershy giggled. “Kind of, actually.”

So after a little break, we decided to shower quickly again—individually this time, since we obviously couldn't control ourselves. After we got cleaned up and dried off, she re-did her makeup and dried her hair, now giving off that sweet fragrance as always. She dressed herself in the green skirt and white tanktop; and I put on a fresh pair of jeans and a black t-shirt that I had brought from my place.

Back in the main room, we settled onto the couch together to make a plan for the day. “OK, let’s start again. What would you like to have for lunch?” I asked, reaching my hand out to hold hers.

“I don’t know, did you wanna go somewhere to eat?” she offered, lacing her fingers with mine and then placing our conjoined hands on her lap. “I mean, I know you don’t really need to, but I think it would be kind of fun. There’s a nice 50's diner about twenty minutes down the road from here; we could go there if you want.”

“Sure,” I said. “I love diner food, especially since it can’t kill me.”

She laughed and put her head on my shoulder. “Do you want to go now?”

“Sounds good to me,” I replied.

We went outside and hopped into her SUV, then headed down the road for a few minutes before making a left turn.

We continued on, heading further away from Canterlot while chatting quietly about different things. I asked her about her animal shelter some more, and she proceeded to talk about it pretty much non-stop until we arrived at the diner. I loved hearing her voice when she wasn’t shy or nervous; I mean, I did like it when she was shy, but her natural speaking voice at a normal volume was so beautiful.

The restaurant was exactly as she'd promised; one of those quaint little retro 50’s diners. it had nice kind of a charm to it, although sometimes 50’s diners bugged me because some things weren’t very authentic. I would know, having personally frequented diners many times in the 1950’s myself.

We sat in a booth and ordered our food, then continued to talk while we waited. We made plans to go to Canterlot the next day to spend some time seeing the sights together, and possibly even pay a visit to Rarity at her boutique. We discussed going to the big city, but eventually decided not to; instead, we would just wait for Sunset to bring my keys on the weekend. It wasn't like I really needed my truck anyway, so long as we had Fluttershy's vehicle to drive.

We talked more about her animal shelter for a bit, then eventually the conversation evolved into talking about animals themselves. I happened to mention remembering passenger pigeons, a type of bird that once existed in the billions all around North America only a couple hundred years ago, but surprisingly went extinct in the early 1900s as a direct result of over-hunting and deforestation. She was fascinated by the fact that I’d seen these creatures in their heyday, but was also saddened by the fact that they were now gone forever, having never had the chance to see them herself.

I was surprised when she brought up the Sasquatch. I knew they existed, having personally seen them in China when I lived there quite a few centuries ago and even a few in North America, but I hadn’t seen one in a long while as they are quite uninterested in humans and extremely stealthy. She informed me that she knew there was some around the woods where we live, further out to the west, away from civilization. She had never made visual contact with them, but she can feel them when they are around and told me she can communicate with them using her magic, but again, they are not very interested in interacting with humans, so she has only encountered them a couple times during some of her longer hikes through the woods. She said they are so good at staying hidden that many people who go into the woods can have three or four of the creatures around, watching them closely, and they never know it. In truth, Fluttershy was most likely the only person on the planet who they are unable sneak up on.

“They’re very nice,” she was saying, “and very smart. More than we give them credit for. I –“

She suddenly became quiet when the server arrived with our food. I couldn't help but smile at how she had become so comfortable talking to me, just like she was with her friends, but was still unbearably shy with other people. Especially when only an hour ago, she was like a wild animal in heat; something that I, or anyone, really, would never have expected from her.

Not that it was unwelcome.

She had ordered pancakes and some fruit on the side. I had steak and eggs. The syrup soaked stack they brought her looked like enough food to feed three people, and I couldn’t help but make a remark about it.

“Oh…well, um, I worked up quite an appetite this morning,” she smirked, winking at me.

It surprised me that she alluded to the sex right there at the table, immediately after the server that she had been so shy with had just walked away. I had a short chuckle with her, then began cutting my steak.

We finished eating, continuously making small talk along the way. I paid for both of our meals, and then we left the diner to go back to her house.

It was a beautiful sunny day, so we decided to take a walk in the woods behind her place. Holding hands as we walked, we continued talking non-stop along the way. She asked me lots of questions about the past, as well as the present; like how people are different now than they used to be, for example.

“People are generally the same as always, but I have to shake my head at some people nowadays,” I explained. “When I see a grown man losing his shit because the app on his phone crashed or something like that,” I paused to look at her, then asked, “You know in ‘Game of Thrones’ when they say winter is coming…?”

“Yeah,” she replied.

“Well back then that was no joke. It was serious shit. People died every winter.” I said, shaking my head.

“That’s awful. We sure do take things for...um, granted these days,” she continued, “It must frustrate you to see how people are now, and I must have seemed so silly to you for being mad at my friends over that picture that Pinkie Pie took of us sleeping.”

“Nah, not really,” I replied, with a shrug. “It didn’t bother me. I understand that it really embarrassed you.”

We walked for a few minutes, listening to the sounds of the forest.

"Um...what’s it like?” she asked.

I glanced at her, unsure of what she meant.

“I mean...um, being around for so long?” she clarified.

“Oh...I don’t know,” I answered. “It’s hard to explain. Even after this many years, it feels like it went by in the blink of an eye, you know? It’s like when you’re in school and you feel like it’s never going to end; then when it’s over, it feels like it went by just like that,” I said, snapping my finger. “Except in my case, I have way more memories of it.”

“Yeah, I get what you’re...um, saying,” she replied, stopping to pick up a stick to carry with her. “I don’t feel like you’re that old; when I talk to you, it’s just like I’m talking to someone my own age. You look young, too...a-and you're really...um, h-handsome.” She lowered her head after saying the last few words barely above a whisper, her hair sliding down to cover her blushing face.

I couldn't help but smile at her sweetness, as well as the ensuing embarrassment that she endured after forcing herself to deliver the compliment. “Yeah. No, people can’t tell,” I replied. I felt a sense of security hearing Fluttershy say these things. It made me happy to know that she hadn't rejected me after learning about my true self. "Thanks, by the way. You're not so bad-looking yourself."

Her face flushed about three shades darker, and she giggled quietly to herself, showing a sense of pride in herself for having her boldness. “It must be nice to know that you’re never in danger of being hurt,” she continued.

I stopped walking to look at her. “Well…someone could hurt you though,” I said. “That would be just as bad, if not worse.”

She had stopped walking, and turned back to look at me. “Oh…I suppose that’s true,” she said looking at the ground for a few seconds before looking back up at me. “You’ve lost a lot of people who were important to you, haven’t you?”

I nodded.

“I’m so sorry to hear that. It must have been so hard,” she said, stepping towards me to wrap her arms around my waist, laying her head on my shoulder. “You must have been through so much.”

“It’s not just that,” I said. “just because I can’t die doesn’t mean I can’t go away, or be gotten rid of.”

She leaned back a bit to look at me with a worried look on her face. “W-what do you mean?”

“Well,” I explained, “suppose I fell into lava that cooled and got hard. I’d be trapped, and no one would ever be able to find me. I’d be alive in there forever; in the dark.”

Fluttershy covered her mouth in horror. “Oh my goodness, don’t say that! I couldn’t bear the thought of it.”

I put my arms around her to give her a firm hug, then kissed her on the top of her head. “Don’t worry. It’s just something I’ve thought about many times. I’m just saying, no one is truly invincible. Besides, that wouldn’t happen. Lava is too dense. People don’t plunge into it like water; they actually just sizzle and skip around on the surface like beads of water on a hot frying pan, and they just burn to death.” I chuckled a bit, “Please don’t ask how I know that.”

“Oh my…” she said, shuddering a little.

We walked on for a couple hours in the woods, and then eventually returned to her house. It was close to supper time, and I decided not to have anything and she just had a bit of raw vegetables since she wasn’t too hungry yet after the large stack of pancakes she'd had late in the morning.

When the sun was going down, I started a fire in the new pit in her backyard and we sat in one of her adirondack chairs together with her on my lap, laying back against my chest.

It was a wonderful day. I was more content than I have been for…well, a very long time. Longer than most people even live, and it was Fluttershy who made it possible. I thought about how many days like today I would get to have with her; making love, conversing with each other, eating together, walking in the woods, relaxing together by the fire…what would our future together bring? I thought about what she would look like as she ages, and I wondered if she would ever have the desire for children, which was something I could not give her, for reasons I will probably never know. At times, certain aspects of this never-ending life of mine can be a curse.

She went to bed around 11pm to get rested up for our trip to Canterlot tomorrow. She had slipped into some long, green pajamas with butterflies on them to sleep in, and she made sure to give me a long goodnight kiss before getting under the covers for the night.

I made myself at home on her couch again; turning on the TV, preparing for another night of watching terrible crap. At least I wasn’t alone this time, however. Her bunny, Angel, had decided to come out of his hiding place and hopped up onto the couch with me, snuggling into the cushion against my leg as I petted him while my girlfriend went to sleep for the night.

Chapter 13: Wednesday

Chapter 13

It was now Wednesday morning. I sat on the couch, watching TV as Angel bunny snuggled against my lap.

Fluttershy finally emerged from her room at about 7am, sat on the couch next to me and put her head on my shoulder, giggling softly when she noticed Angel was snuggled up on the other side of me.

“Oh! You made a friend,” she said. “Angel doesn’t usually snuggle with anyone but me.”

I smiled as the bunny quickly hopped over my lap into hers once he heard her voice and realised she was there.

“How was your sleep?” I asked.

She shrugged. “It was OK, I tossed and turned a lot. I'm not sure if I actually slept very...um, much. I was thinking a lot about yesterday morning when we…you know…”

“Had amazing sex three times?” I finished for her.

She blushed and buried her face in my chest while letting out a snicker. “Yeah…that,” she said, following it up with a sigh.

“You also slept a ton the night before.,” I said, “You’ll sleep good tonight after our trip to town today.”

“Yeah, true,” Fluttershy said, standing up again. “Well, time to feed the critters.”

We repeated our morning routine, one that I had really begun to enjoy. I enjoyed seeing her in her element, watching her use her magic with the animals. Best of all…she was happy while doing it.

After that, we decided to make breakfast, after which we showered, got dressed and readied ourselves to head to town. We took our time; no need for us to rush. It was hopefully going to be a great day, just like the day before.

We got into Canterlot around 11:30am. The town was fairly close to the shop I work at, which is just beyond the outskirts of town, just about where the woods start to become fairly dense. I’ve been to this town many times, but never really knew the significance of some of the locations there, nor did I care to learn about them; that is, until now.

My girlfriend drove me around to see some of the sights, one of them being the high school she went to. She stopped her SUV across the street, pointing out the front entrance that Sunset Shimmer had ripped apart while she was transformed, in possession of an artifact that she had stolen from her own world. She also pointed to the statue of the colt that was out front. Fluttershy mentioned it was only a few years old; they had finally replaced it recently, quite a few years after Twilight had blown it up after getting a hold of some of the girls' magic that she’d collected in a device she had created. It quickly occurred to me that humans don’t seem to be capable of handling too much of the power from that world without going a little crazy in short order.

“So, note to self,” I said, “Stay out of that school yard.”

Fluttershy laughed. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” She then pointed to the large pedestal that the statue was sitting on. “That’s where the portal was.”

“Portal?” I said, looking at the concrete block. “To Sunset’s world? Is it not there anymore?”

“Its closed,” she explained. “It can still be opened, but they have to do it from the other side. Sunset has a way to send messages to them if we need it opened, but nothing has happened for quite a few years so it’s been closed for a while.”

“She doesn’t want to go back?” I asked.

“She didn’t really leave on good terms,” Fluttershy said. “But I think she’d be fine if she went back. They know she’s better now, I just don’t think it’s something she wants to deal with. She feels at home here now, anyway. She sends messages to them every so often, too…just to stay in touch. You know?”

I nodded. “Hm.“

What crazy things go on in this world under our noses. I was unaware of any of these events at the time, although it was true that I wasn’t living here just yet. Unable to help myself, I began to wonder how things might have played out if I was around to join the battle with them.

“You wanna go to the Sweet Shoppe?” she asked, unexpectedly.

I looked at her, unaware of the location she was speaking of.

“We used to go there all the time after school. I’ve been wanting to go for a couple weeks, for old time’s sake, but the other girls have been busy…but I’d like to go with you, if that's OK,” Fluttershy said.

I smiled. “Sure.”

She pulled away from her parking spot drove to the next location. It wasn’t long before we were getting out of her car and walking into the little shop on the corner. It was a nice little place that had ice cream, shakes, tea and many other little items to snack on.

The older lady at the counter recognized Fluttershy as soon as she laid eyes on her.

“Oh hi, sweetie! Haven’t seen you here for a while!” she said.

“Hi, Mrs. Cake,” my girlfriend quietly replied. “Yeah, I-I’ve been pretty busy lately.”

“How are things going at the shelter?” the lady asked.

“Pretty good, but I’m off this week,” Fluttershy said, pointing to the band-aid on her head. “I had a little...um, fall while I was hiking in the woods last weekend.”

“Oh dear, I hope you feel better soon! You look great though,” the lady said, glancing at me next.

“Oh,” Fluttershy said, “This is my…um, boyfriend, Golden Arrow.” I gazed at the shy girl, loving the sound of her calling me her boyfriend for the first time.

I smiled and nodded to the lady. “Nice to meet you.”

She smiled back, “Likewise, deary,” she said, turning back to Fluttershy. “Oh dear, he sure is handsome.”

I smirked a bit and rolled my eyes.

“Yes, he sure is,” Fluttershy agreed, giving me a wide smile as her eyes sparkled with delight, ecstatic that she had someone to be with, someone to talk about, to introduce to her acquaintances; finally, someone to call her own.

Her look of pride sent a shot of excitement through my body, almost causing my to knees give out when I saw the level of infatuation she had for me in her eyes.

We ended up ordering two shakes, then sat in a booth together, chatting quietly and contently back and forth while watching the flat screen TV they had mounted on the wall, which was showing 24 hour local news.

After that, we went to the shopping mall and walked around for a bit, looking around at different stores, holding hands as we walked through the crowds of busy shoppers and idle teenagers.

At about 3:30pm we decided to go to Rarity’s boutique to pay her a visit. After driving there, leaving her vehicle in the parking lot behind the building, we headed around to the front entrance.

The place was very fancy looking. The building itself was light blue and had a faux carousel built into the front of it, coloured in a few different shades of purple. When we walked inside, it smelled like perfume, new fabric and materials; the scent almost reminded me of a new car interior, laced with the scent of cleaning solutions.

There was a girl in the showroom, blithely straightening out the display pieces. She had light skin, light blue hair and was wearing a plain looking, off-white dress that had a purple collar with a red ascot tied in the front.

“Hi Coco,” Fluttershy greeted softly, after waiting for the girl to see her first.

Coco’s face lit up when she recognized Rarity’s friend. “Hey, Flutters! How are you?”

“Pretty good,” the shy girl said. “Is Rarity busy?”

“She is, but I think she’ll let you in,” Coco replied, ushering us through a doorway behind the main counter. I followed Fluttershy into a messy room with work counters and cupboards all around, with fabric scraps and rolls of material strewn about; there were sewing machines, scissors, measuring tapes, pin cushions and many other items that a seamstress would put to use lying all over the place.

Rarity was sitting in a swivel chair facing away from us with a garment on her lap. She was hunched over it, looking closely at what she was doing through the red-framed magnifying glasses she was wearing. She seemed to be having difficulty trying to get something on the garment to come together the way she wanted and appeared to be getting frustrated.

Just as we entered the room I could hear the fashionista muttering under her breath. “Oh, get fucked, you piece of shit!” she hissed at the dress, giving it a frustrated shake.

My eyebrows went up as Fluttershy turned back to look at me, biting her lip, trying not to laugh.

“Wow, she does have a vulgar side,” I thought to myself with a smirk.

My girlfriend decided to make ourselves known before Rarity said something else she might not like us to hear. “Um, hi Rarity.”

Rarity jumped and turned to us with her eyebrows raised in surprise. “Oh, uh…darling! How is, uh..how are you?” she awkwardly greeted when she recognized us, realising we had probably heard her foul language.

“I’m good, how are you?” Fluttershy replied, holding in a snicker.

“Oh, quite busy, thank you.” After turning to look at me over her glasses for a second, she cleared her throat and said: “Hello Golds,” with an unsure smile.

“Hi. Nice place,” I said, smiling awkwardly.

“Oh, yes…thank you, darling,” she replied, turning back to her work.

I could tell she unsure of how to act around me after what she learned on the weekend, so I decided to try to get out of there, and leave her to relax. This wasn’t really my kind of place anyway.

“Do you want to stay here for a bit while I go pick some things up?” I asked Fluttershy.

She looked at me for a second, before quickly realising that I really just wanted to give Rarity some space. “Sure,” she said, handing me her car keys.

I took the keys, gave my girlfriend a kiss and turned to leave, saying bye to the girls. Fluttershy said bye in return, along with a cute smile and a wave, while Rarity merely gave me a quick glance.

*****

Now alone with her friend, Rarity resumed her work. Admittedly, she was falling behind schedule this week; a direct result of what had happened during the past weekend. She thought about it a lot, worrying about her best friend, all alone in her house with that mysterious man, who was now watching over her. He'd started out as such a nice, normal and somewhat handsome new friend, but now they'd learned that he was some kind of ancient being, possessing strength and knowledge beyond their comprehension, and the prospect of him being able to wipe any of them out with ease was somewhat frightening, however, he didn't do it. Did this mean he was safe to be around? Could he be trusted? Was he really who he claimed to be? What did he really want with Fluttershy? Rarity had seen the World War II picture that Twilight sent everyone, but her brain was still trying to process it all, leaving her unsure of what to believe, however, seeing me and Fluttershy together there at her shop that day, looking happy and sharing kisses did put her at ease a little.

“So, how’s it going?” Fluttershy asked.

“Good, darling,” Rarity lied. “How are you? How is your head?” Rarity kept her eyes on her work, trying to stay ahead up to the demand placed on her that week.

“Oh, it’s...um, OK,” Fluttershy said. “It only hurts when I touch it, so I just don’t touch it, hehehe!” she joked, trying to lighten the mood in the room to match her own.

Rarity kept her eyes on her work, not really paying attention to her friend.

Fluttershy noticed how busy her friend was, so she started walking around the room, gazing idly at the materials and partially finished works lining the shelves and walls. While doing this, she was thinking of the good times she and I had this week already, bringing her into a dazed light-heartedness as she sauntered around the room.

Rarity had her head down, concentrating on her work, but then she realised she could hear someone humming. She stopped, furrowing her brow as she listened to the soft voice, creating a happy tune as it moved around the room. Rarity finally looked away from her work, slowly turning around to see her best friend practically dancing around the place, humming happily to herself. She looked light as a feather, infinitely content; her skin practically glowing with radiance.

The fashionista had seen this mood plenty of times before with her other friends. Usually, it was after they'd had se-

Rarity gasped suddenly. "Oh my!" she thought, realising that something more must have happened, something that the shy girl must have been keeping from her. "Fluttershy, you didn’t…”

Now, there were two things that Rarity could not resist: gossip and sex talk. Traditionally, she’d rarely had the chance to engage in either one of those things with Fluttershy, and now was her chance to indulge herself in some steamy chit-chat.

“So darling,” she said, trying to sound casual, suddenly very interested in her friend’s demeanor. “How is everything going out there?”

“Hm?” the shy girl asked, turning to face her friend.

“What has been going on out there…at your place? Has Golds been taking good care of you?” she inquired, trying to think of a way to ask the shy girl if she’d done what Rarity was thinking she’d done without embarrassing her.

“Oh, it’s been wonderful!” Fluttershy gushed, lacing her hands together to hold them to her chest. “We went for walks in the woods, we went to that 50’s diner on the highway out past my house, we sat by the fire; and he’s been taking such good care of me, Rarity…he’s so amazing!”

Rarity smiled, then raised one eyebrow. “Anything else happen, dear?”

Fluttershy looked at her, letting her hands fall down in front of her. “W-what do you mean?”

“Like, anything…else?” Rarity asked again, now completely obsessed with what had happened at her friend’s house in the last couple of days. After getting no response from her friend for a few more seconds, Rarity sighed while rolling her eyes. “Oh come now! You’re practically glowing, darling!”

Fluttershy was starting to think that her friend suspected that she’d had sex. She hadn’t really planning on telling her just yet, but she quickly decided she might as well, now that Rarity was obviously suspicious of it. Before saying anything more, the shy girl turned her head, looking at the door that connected the work room to the sales floor.

Rarity got the hint and set the garment on the counter, then took her glasses off and went to close the door. She could see Coco at the counter, turning toward them with a bemused look just as the door closed, shutting her out of the room, leaving the fashionista and the shy girl in complete privacy. Rarity returned to her chair to sit down, using her feet to roll the chair over to her friend. She excitedly grabbed Fluttershy’s hands, saying: “Tell me everything, darling!”

“Well,” Fluttershy started. “Yesterday…we, um…” she stammered, blushing.

Rarity was impatiently tapping her feet at this point, waiting with mad anticipation to hear her friend confirm her suspicions.

Fluttershy chewed her bottom lip nervously, avoiding eye contact with her best friend. “Well, we m-maybe…might have…um, did it.”

That was it. Rarity knew it already, but hearing her shy friend say it made her giddy, and she clasped her hands together as she bounced in the chair. “YES! Oh my goodness, I knew it!” she squealed.

“SHHHHH!” Fluttershy loudly shushed her friend, not wanting anyone else to hear.

“Oh! Sorry darling,” Rarity said, lowering her voice. “Well, how was it? Hopefully better than that fellow you were with right after high school; what was his name?”

Fluttershy lowered her head, unwilling to mention him.

He was a guy from CHS, who was one grade lower than her. She'd dated him for a few months during the first summer after she graduated, and although she didn’t really like him all that much, she was so inept at talking to boys that she decided to settle for him after he'd hit on her numerous times. As it turned out, he wasn’t worth her time. He was interested in her only for her looks; he didn’t care about her animals and he never once visited her at the shelter, where she was still volunteering at the time. Her friends told her to dump him, and rightly so, but she didn’t want to be alone again so she stayed with him, forcing her friends to stand by helplessly and watch as that douchebag used her to bolster his own image, treating her like nothing more than an accessory.

She had sex with him about four or five times, all of which were terrible. There was no passion, and he seemed like he was there just to get off, not caring about how she felt, or if she was enjoying it. The only time the sex was even remotely good was the couple of times that she was on top, but even that was short lived since she made him fill his condom up in less than a minute both times. She had regretted giving him her virginity ever since, feeling like she was never going to have the love that she wanted, knowing full well that it was her own shy personality and fear of what others thought of her that kept her from it. Her awareness of the situation made her depressed and even more drawn in, creating a vicious cycle of loneliness and self deprecation.

The only things that made her happy was her animals and her friends, which was one of the reasons that she bought her little house out in the woods; to be closer to nature.

The first time she had ever been even somewhat glad that she wasn’t a virgin was just yesterday, when she went into her room and she showed her new boyfriend what she was capable of. The practice she had gotten from her first times all those years ago, however little, was enough to give her the skills to achieve the mind-blowing ride that she did.

“Oh, who are we kidding?” Rarity answered her own question. “It clearly must have been better than him! That wouldn’t take much at all,” she laughed, while Fluttershy looked at her.

Rarity gasped. “Oh wait, did you…have one?”

“One what?” the shy girl asked.

“You know…the big ‘O’,” Rarity hinted, perking her eyebrows as she waited for an answer.

“Oh…um, yeah,” Fluttershy answered, blushing like a tomato. “Probably like…I don't know, fifteen times?”

Rarity threw her head back in laugher. “Oh my goodness darling, you’re too funny!”

“W-why is that funny?” Fluttershy asked, confused.

“Well darling, sometimes it hard to tell when it just feels good and when you’re having one for real; surely you didn’t actually have fifteen! That’s crazy!” Rarity laughed, waving a dismissive, limp-wristed hand at her friend.

This comment irked Fluttershy. She loved Rarity. She was her very best friend, but sometimes she had an arrogant edge to her, which Fluttershy could usually deal with, but not this time.

This time was different. Fluttershy knew what an orgasm felt like. She’d had them by herself many times, and although they weren’t as good as the ones she had yesterday, she knew they were the same thing.

Rarity would do this sometimes; treat Fluttershy like a child when talking about subjects such as this, and other times like a child in general. The night she met Golden Arrow, when she came out to the dining area and saw him sitting at her table, she didn’t expect him to be there and she wasn’t ready for it. Shocked, she scurried back to her room to take a minute to prepare herself, but then Rarity came in and shoved her back out before she was ready, then eventually scolded her like a little kid for almost getting her hair in the soup. Fluttershy was embarrassed about it for most of the night.

Rarity also acted like she was the be-all-and-end-all on the topic of sex, and while it was true that she had lost her virginity second out of the seven friends, she wasn’t quite the sex guru that she thought she was. She would tell her sex stories to Fluttershy during senior year and in the years since high school, acting like they were the best stories ever, even though Fluttershy thought they were usually pretty mundane.

Not possible to have fifteen orgams? Fluttershy begged to differ.

“It’s not…um, crazy,” Fluttershy muttered.

“Oh darling, even if you only had one, it’s still a vast improvement over that other loser,” Rarity said, adjusting her hair, which had gone slightly askew during her stressful work day.

Fluttershy was at her limit. Her friend was starting to get on her nerves. “I’m not some kind of sex lightweight,” she thought to herself. “I’ll prove it to her!”

Suddenly, something snapped inside Flutterhsy’s brain, and the frustration left her mind. Something about yesterday had changed her, and had given her a new level of confidence, as well as a fresh resolve. She wasn’t going to let her friend dismiss one of the best experiences of her life as: ‘her simply not knowing what a god-damn orgasm is!’ The shy girl knew what she experienced. It was amazing, and she was partially responsible for making it happen. The passion was there, she was turned on, almost animalistic; none of her friends would have believed how she handled herself, even if they had witnessed it for themselves.

Fluttershy’s eyebrows lowered as a sly grin crept across her face. “I bet he would rock your world, Rarity,” she said with a soft, yet sly tone.

Rarity was still giggling from before, so it took her a second to comprehend what her shy friend just said. “Hehe, oh, I…WHAT?” she shouted, taken aback by the statement.

“He would have blown your mind too,” Fluttershy continued, tauntingly. “Fifteen is nothing.”

“Fluttershy! I beg our pardon?” Rarity said with a slight blush, her pupils shrinking to pin points.

“What?” Fluttershy asked, “You think I don't know what I'm talking about? I’m the one who fucked him.”

Rarity gasped at her friend’s vulgarity, unsure if she’d ever heard Fluttershy use that word before. “Fluttershy, I didn’t mean…I wasn’t saying it wasn’t as good as you said, I just-”

“You what?” the shy girl cut in. “You think you’ve had better? Why don’t you try him out and see for yourself?”

“FLUTTERSHY!!!” Rarity shouted, a dark blush washing over her porcelain face.

“Come on, Rarity. I’ve seen you looking at Goldie. I know you think he’s cute,” Fluttershy continued, bending down to lean on the arms of Rarity’s chair with her hands. Her face was only a few inches from Rarity’s beautiful, snow-coloured visage, causing the fashionista’s heart rate to increase. “And what was that crack about the ‘dashing five o’clock shadow’ the other night, huh Rarity?”

“I…I was just asking,” Rarity defended, pausing to giver her head a shake. “Wh-what’s gotten into you, darling?”

“Goldie did,” Fluttershy answered, without skipping a beat. "He was so deep inside me, I thought I was gonna choke on it." She then winked, followed by a little smile before standing up, putting some space between her face and Rarity’s.

Flabbergasted, Rarity gasped at her friend. She had never seen Fluttershy like this before.

The shy girl resumed slowly sauntering around the room, looking once again at the different fabrics laying on the shelves, allowing Rarity a moment to process what was said.

Fluttershy was becoming aroused. She could feel the heat build up under her innocent, green skirt as she thought about her best friend having her little white body ravaged by her new boyfriend. Closing her eyes to picture it, she smiled, then sighed softly at the image of the fashionista's naked body bent over the table, being taken from behind; her cries of ecstasy almost shattering the windows out as she climaxed on the hard intruder within her. Eventually, she would end up moaning like a whore, receiving the thick, white reward she would have earned after enduring such a barrage of deep, powerful thrusts.

Fluttershy always thought Rarity was so beautiful; so elegant and poised, yet undeniably sexy. Numerous times during their friendship, Fluttershy had found herself yearning to kiss that tender white neck, hidden under those silky, indigo locks as she ran her hands up under that blouse and under that purple skirt. Her scent was captivating, many a time sending Fluttershy into a flurry of lust and confusion during the countless times they had spent together, having sleepovers as teenagers. Fluttershy imagined Golden Arrow taking her best friend’s body, making it quiver and drip with sweat -- among other things -- hearing her howl with delight...

"I wonder if his cum would show up on her skin, or would I have to find it with my tongue?" Fluttershy wondered, clearing her throat to speak again. “I’ll be there too,” she said, prompting Rarity look up from her dazed stare at the floor, where she had been trying to comprehend the exchange they were having.

“Huh?” Rarity said numbly.

“I’ll be there too,” the shy girl repeated, a smirk appearing on her face. “We could take turns.”

Rarity’s eyes got wide when she realised what her friend was proposing, and she struggled to put a sentence together in response. “Fluttershy! I-I’ve always known that you’ve had a bit of a…a deviant side, but this…this is too much!” She steadied herself, trying to take control of the situation again. “No, Fluttershy! We simply cannot have a ménage à trois with Golds. It is not right, it is beneath us, and it is not going to happen, so you need to put it out of your mind this instant!”

Rarity saw Fluttershy stop to look at her, then slowly revert back to her usual stance; with her knees together and her shoulders drawn in. It was a relief in a way, but it also made Rarity feel somewhat remorseful to cause her friend to return to this perpetual state of shyness after finally showing that she had some power in her. What she had proposed, however, made Rarity uncomfortable, and the shy girl's sudden dark personality frightened her.

Little did Rarity know, the regression back to shyness was just an act. Fluttershy was standing like her old self again, but her mind was still on fire with arousal.

“Fuck that noise, Rarity. Just you wait, this is fucking happening.”

*Chapter 14: Wednesday Evening

Chapter 14

I drove around town for about an hour and a half, making a few stops to get some hardware for my shop, among other things. I didn’t really need any of it; I just wanted to leave Rarity alone. I’ve seen many times how people get when they learn my secret, and I’ve gotten pretty used to it. Sometimes they just need some time and space to process it all, and eventually they either accept it, or they don't.

In all honesty, I hoped Rarity would accept it, because I liked her. Although she was not the type of person I would normally associate with, I still found her posh lifestyle and prissy attitude somewhat endearing, but not only that, she had proven herself time and again to be a genuinely good person. The one good thing was that Fluttershy was with her right then, hopefully telling Rarity about the week so far, which should have put the fashionista at ease, knowing I’d been taking good care of her friend.

At about 5:30pm I got a text from Fluttershy.

FLUTTERSHY: Hey, Rarity just closed the boutique and we're headed over to her townhouse. Do u want to meet us there? ME: Sure. Address?

She sent me the address. I punched it into the navigation on my phone and then headed over to Rarity’s place, wondering how she was going to act around me.

“I wonder if she knows that me and Fluttershy banged?” I wondered to myself as I drove the little SUV across town to a nice neighbourhood that had large townhouses lining the streets.

I pulled into the parking spot next to Rarity’s car, got out, and approached the front entrance. When I stepped up to the door, which was adorned with fancy textured glass, I gripped the handle to enter, but paused; deciding instead to ring the doorbell since it was my first time there, out of respect to Rarity.

I waited for a minute before I reached out to press the doorbell again when I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. I took it out and read the text.

RARITY: We're out back on the deck. Come in, go straight past the couch and the patio door is on the left. There's a little closet with some men's swim shorts right by the door.

“Swim shorts?”

I opened the door and stepped inside, noticing immediately how clean and modern looking her place was. There was a hall at the front door with some closets on each side, where I took my boots off before walking out of the hall into her front room.

The room was all white, with modern paintings on each wall. There was a long, black leather couch in the center of the room, facing a large flatscreen TV that was mounted on the wall to the right of my position by the entrance to the front door. The end tables were glass, with black coasters and plants on them, and there was a large purple overstuffed rocking chair next to the end table that was beside the couch. The opposite wall was about four feet behind the couch, creating a walkway of sorts, leading to the patio door on the left. On the right, the other end of the room, there was an entrance to a stair case leading up to a landing that disappeared around the corner. The pot lights in the ceiling were dimmed, giving the room a rather dark glow.

I walked over to the patio door and slid it open. Only part of the deck was visible to me since most of it resided to the right, past the corner of the exterior brick wall. The recognizable scent of a hot tub presented itself to me immediately, and I could hear it's pump motor running out of sight, around the corner.

“Oh! Are you there, darling?” Rarity’s voice called out.

“Yeah, where are you guys?” I replied.

“In the hot tub,” my girlfriend’s voice said, barely audible.

“Did you find a pair of swim shorts, darling?” Rarity asked.

“uh, no,” I said. “Where did you say they are?”

“There’s a closet to your right; there should be some in there. You can change in there, too,” she replied.

I turned to the wall on my right. Next to the sliding door, there was a set of folding doors, which I opened, revealing a large closet that doubled as a change room.

It was deep, with large shelves on both sides. Stacked on the shelves were white towels and many different styles and colours of bathing suits, most of them for women, unsurprisingly. There were some cleaning supplies and maintenance items for the hot tub at the back of the room as well, along with a basket on the floor, where I noticed the red bikini that Fluttershy wore at the beach the previous weekend sitting in the bottom of the basket.

I looked around until I found a pair of plain, black shorts to wear that looked like my size. After changing into them, I headed back to the sliding door, bringing a towel with me. I went out, stepping onto the wood with my bare feet, rounding the corner to the right to find the two girls in the hot tub. There was a window on the right that provided a look into Rarity’s bedroom, which was dimly lit and not giving up much detail. At the far wall there was a small outdoor table and two chairs, where the fashionista presumably sat in the early morning, enjoying a nice, hot tea. That's what I pictured, anyway.

The entire outer edge of the deck -- as well as above it -- was closed off with lattice that was covered in vines and different coloured flowers, isolating the deck and hot tub from the outside. There was only one small opening in the lattice at the corner where I had just passed, leading down a couple steps to a small backyard of grass with a tall, wooden fence around it. The main part of the deck, especially the hot tub, was very well hidden from outside view.

I brought my attention back to my girlfriend and Rarity, who were relaxing in the hot tub. Fluttershy was sitting with her back to the vine-covered lattice, facing the bedroom window. Rarity was sitting with her back to the little table and chair set, her phone sitting on a folded hand towel on the deck, not far away.

The tub itself was installed so the top rail was flush with the floor of the deck, and was circular-shaped, with seating all the way around. There were LED lights in the bottom under the water, illuminating the tub in different colours that slowly changed about once every minute. I dropped my towel on the deck and stepped into the water, sitting with my back to the bedroom window, facing Fluttershy, who was across from me, slightly to the left. Rarity was on my right.

Silently, I watched the girls as they talked with one another, sitting with their shoulders just above the surface of the water. They both had their hair up to keep it dry; tied in big bundles high up on the backs of their heads, held in place with large hair clips. It had the effect of making their heads look bigger than they really were, and to be honest, I thought it looked pretty cute on both of them. I smirked, loving how their hair bundles would bounce and jiggle with the movement of their heads as they chatted and giggled back and forth. I could see their delicate, bare necks with those soft, little stray hairs behind their ears, dancing carefree in the light breeze. The sight of it gave me the urge to nibble on my girlfriend's neck in that spot...but not in front of Rarity.

Rarity finally spoke to me. “Golds, I apologize for my behaviour at work today. I was quite stressed, and seeing you there after what happened last weekend put me rather on edge.”

I shook my head, settling into the warm, swirling water. “Nothing to worry yourself over,” I said. “I’ve been through it with lots of people. I’m used to it.”

“Well, I suppose,” she replied. “Anywho, all is well now, darling. Fluttershy here has been telling me about how you’ve been taking such good care of her; feeding her animals, fixing up her yard, taking her out to eat and so on. And she tells me that you two have made yourselves official.”

I nodded, turning to Fluttershy, smiling.

She returned the smile back to me.

“I am so happy for you two, and I couldn’t care in the least about your...ahem, life situation, Golds. We ladies aren’t exactly normal either, so I suppose it would be hypocritical of us to judge you,” Rairty said, “especially after you’ve been such a dear to my darling Fluttershy.”

“Oh, thanks. I appreciate that,” I said, turning towards Rarity, giving her a nod of gratitude.

We sat somewhat awkwardly for a minute before Rarity closed her eyes and slowly sank deeper into the water, submerging her shoulders, yet making sure to keep her hair above the water. “Mmmmmm…” she moaned. “That is divine. I am so very glad you talked me into this tonight, Fluttershy. Goodness, I am so far behind this week, but right now I simply do not care. You were right, darling; I can take just one night this week to relax and unwind.”

“Oh, you do care, but you deserve a re-charge, Rarity,” the shy girl said in her soft voice. “Like Dashie said, you always come out on top.”

I noticed my girlfriend put some extra emphasis on the words ‘on top’, and when I glanced over at her, she was looking back at me with a sly grin on her lips. She raised an eyebrow suddenly and gave me a sultry wink, catching me off guard.

Fluttershy then turned to Rarity. “Hey Rarity, do you still have that bottle of Bollinger?”

Rarity opened her eyes to look at Fluttershy. “I believe I do, darling. Why?”

“I, um…thought we could celebrate with a little champagne…you know, me and Goldie,” the shy girl said timidly.

Rarity sat up, her wet shoulders emerging from of the water again. “Oh, that’s a splendid idea! I’ve been meaning to find a use for that. Let me go find it,” she said, climbing out of the tub.

This was the first time I'd had a good look at Rarity. Previously, whenever I saw her, she always wore that loose shirt and purple skirt, and at the beach she was covered in that poncho thing, but now…

As she stood up to let the water run off of her snowy-white skin, I noticed immediately that she was wearing a small, dark purple bikini. The bottoms were tied together with a little bow on each hip, and the top tied at the back, with one knot between her shoulder blades and one on the back of her neck.

Rarity's body was slender, with some subtle muscle tone on her midsection and limbs. She was a few inches shorter than Fluttershy, and slightly more petite; with limbs that weren’t as long and graceful as Fluttershy’s, giving her less of that natural, fluid movement and more of a refined, elegant step. It wasn't hard to notice her hips swaying with each stride, putting on quite an arousing show for me as she walked past; so much so that I was left wondering if she may actually have been doing it on purpose.

“Oh, silly me! I didn’t bring a towel,” Rarity said, stopping on the deck behind me.

“Take mine,” I said, picking up my towel from beside me and holding it up to her.

“Ah, thank you, darling. What would I do without you?” she giggled, taking the towel from me before walking away and rounding the corner towards the sliding door. I watched the fashionista as she departed; unfolding the towel, preparing to wrap it around her sleek, white body. I couldn't help but notice the little, white cheeks of her backside, bouncing with each step, showing from underneath her bikini bottoms as she wrapped the towel around herself before disappearing around the corner.

When I turned back to Fluttershy, I was caught off guard when I realised she was right in front of me, her pretty face only inches away from mine, with a little smile on her lips.

“Isn’t she beautiful?” she asked.

I gulped, thinking I’d been caught gawking at her friend. “I wasn’t really looking, I wa-”

Her eyebrows went up. “Oh! Well then I guess I wasn’t either,” she said, leaning in and planting a slow, sensual kiss on my lips. When she pulled away, she smiled again and said: “Just enjoy yourself tonight, OK?”

Fluttershy slowly floated back to her spot at the far side of the tub. It was then that I noticed she was also wearing a bikini, similar to the red one from the beach, except this one was green.

My stomach suddenly had butterflies in it, and I couldn't help but wonder what she meant by me 'enjoying myself tonight.'

I heard the sliding door open again as Rarity returned with three fresh towels, three champagne flutes and of course, a bottle of champagne.

I put my hand up. “Oh sorry, none for me, thanks,” I said.

Rarity stopped to look down at me. “Are you sure, darling?”

“Yeah,” I replied, “I don’t drink. It doesn’t really work on me.”

Rarity nodded. “Ahhh, I see. Well, no harm done.” She set the extra glass on the table.

She sank back into her spot, handing a glass to my girlfriend before opening the bottle and pouring some out for the both of them.

They held their drinks up in a toast. “To us,” Fluttershy said, smiling at me. Rarity nodded and they both took a sip as I watched.

As the night wore on, we relaxed in the hot tub, chatting endlessly together about any number of things. Fluttershy and I exchanged glances here and there, however I still had a feeling that she was up to something after what she'd said earlier.

The sun had set and it was now after 8pm. The deck had a different ambiance now in the dark; the dim light from the bedroom window cast just enough light for us to see our way around the deck if we needed to get out of the tub. The coloured LEDs in the water now looked much brighter, illuminating the two beautiful girls’ shoulders and throats, allowing hardly any of the light to touch their faces, shaded by their chins as the light shone from below.

Rarity'd had a few glasses of the drink and was starting to show the effects, her demeanor becoming more giggly and playful, which even she herself was noticing.

“My word, darlings, I’m starting to feel a bit…loose,” she said, finishing the last sip from her glass. “How many have you had, Fluttershy?”

The shy girl shrugged. “I’m not sure. Not very many.”

Rarity waved her off and turned to me. “Oh, you can never tell with her anyways. Fluttershy’s always been so very quiet,” she giggled.

“Actually, um…I think you’ve had enough, Rarity. Could you please pass me the bottle?” the shy girl ordered softly.

“Nonsense, darling! I’m just barely feeling it,” Rarity retorted.

“Don’t forget, you have work tomorrow, and you’re behind. You don’t need to be hungover on top of everything else,” Fluttershy reminded her friend, holding out her hand for the bottle.

Rarity groaned and rolled her eyes. “Oh fine then. I suppose you’re right, darling,” she said, picking up the bottle and passing it to Fluttershy, who set it on the deck next to her.

We sat together in silence for a few minutes, listening to the hum of the hot tub as the warm water swirled and bubbled around our shoulders. Rarity had finished her last sip of champagne and was setting the glass down beside her as Fluttershy stared at me with a content smile on her lips. After the long gaze, she said: “You’re so handsome,” to which I replied:

"And you're so pretty."

"Awww," Rarity cooed. "You two are so cute together!"

Fluttershy smiled, then shifted her eyes onto the fashionista. "You're pretty cute too, Rare."

Rarity giggled, waving they shy girl off as she rolled her eyes. "Oh, go on, you!"

My girlfriend locked her eyes on me next. "What do you think, Goldie?"

I was caught off guard by the question. Naturally, I looked over towards Rarity to see her lowering her eyes to the churning water below her chin, purposely avoiding eye contact with me.

Obviously, she was cute. In fact, she looked completely amazing with those coloured lights shining up around her, but rather than say something that might get me in trouble, I decided to just nod silently.

Fluttershy responded with a satisfied grin, then she turned to Rarity. “How about you, Rare? Don't you think Goldie is handsome?”

Rarity briefly glanced at me. “Oh...um, yes darling. I suppose he is,” she replied awkwardly, looking down into the water with her cheeks immediately darkening.

I had begun to chew the corner of my mouth as I watched my girlfriend, wondering what kind of game she was playing. "What is she doing? This is starting to get fucking weird," I thought to myself, completely unprepared for how much further she was planning on taking things.

“What do you think, Rare? You wanna do it?” Fluttershy asked her friend.

Rarity’s eyes got wide when she heard the question, and she quickly shook her head. “Fluttershy! I told you this afternoon, it’s not going to happen.”

"What's this now?" I wondered to myself as I watched the conversation unfold.

“Oh come on, Rarity, I know you want to,” Fluttershy insisted, in a seductive tone.

“Fluttershy…” Rarity warned. “Please stop this lewdness. This behaviour is not becoming of us.”

"Oh, don't you worry Rare, with this behaviour, both of us will be cumming."

Rarity gasped sharply, her hand quickly emerging from the water, flinging droplets into the air as she pointed sternly at her friend. "That's enough of that!"

There was a long pause. Rarity had slowly lowered her hand and was looking down into the water while my girlfriend stared intently at her. It was pretty obvious to me by that point that they were talking about something of a sexual nature, and I had started fidgeting nervously in my seat, wondering how the scene was going to play out.

Fluttershy glanced toward me again for a moment, looking as though she was thinking about something.

Then suddenly, one of her eyebrows went up. She reached back to pick up the bottle again, then started to refill her own glass. “OK then, how about a deal?”

Rarity looked at her friend. “A deal? And what would that be?” she asked inquisitively.

Fluttershy took a small sip of her drink. “Just give Goldie a kiss, and I’ll leave you alone.”

“HUH?” I recoiled, then glanced at the fashionista to see her reaction.

Rarity's eyes widened suddenly. "Not a chance! Are you out of your mind, Fluttershy?"

"Fine then," Fluttershy said, setting her glass down firmly, with a loud clank. She then sat up out of the water, reaching behind her back to untie her top. "Let's get it on!"

"What the fuck!" My heart nearly jumped out of my mouth when I saw what the shy girl was about to do, while at the same time Rarity had pressed her fingertips to her temples.

"Oh my god, darling! STOP!"

Fluttershy paused, keeping her hands behind her back as she looked at her friend, waiting for a response.

Rarity sighed, then shifted her eyes to the left, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. “Just one kiss?” she finally asked.

“Mm-hm,” the shy girl answered.

“And then you’ll leave me alone about this?” Rarity asked, seeking confirmation.

“Yup,” Fluttershy answered again as she took another sip of champagne.

Rarity took a deep breath, thinking it over once more. “Fine,” she finally accepted. “One kiss.”

Fluttershy quickly pointed a finger at her. “But it has to be good!"

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Of course, darling,” she replied, before gliding over to me, keeping her shoulders just under the water.

My heart started to race when I saw what was happening. I looked at my girlfriend, who gave me a wink, followed by a smile, signalling that she was OK with it. "Seriously?"

I turned back to Rarity, who was now reaching around me, lacing her fingers together around the back of my neck, her delicate touch instantly sending a shiver down my spine.

Seeing her this close gave me a new appreciation for the fashionista's beauty; in fact, she was absolutely stunning. Her powdery white skin was flawless, and looked as soft as velvet. Her sparkly, sapphire eyes gazing into mine caused my heart to skip a beat or two, especially when she blinked, causing her eyelashes to flick down and then up again, further augmenting her sexy, yet classy demeanor.

“Um, Hi," Rarity said sheepishly.

"Hey." I didn't know how else to respond.

She swallowed nervously, glancing down at my mouth for a second before gently exhaling her champagne scented breath against my face. "I just need to, uhh...borrow your lips for a moment," she informed me softly, biting her bottom lip afterwards.

I let my eyebrows raise in response. "Oh...yeah. Yeah, no problem. Just remember to uh..." -- I stopped for a second to clear my throat -- "just remember to bring them back in one piece."

By the time I finished my sentence, she was slowly bringing her face closer to mine. "S-sure thing...darling," she said at a volume that was barely above a whisper, closing her eyes as she gently pressed her lips against mine.

They were soft like Fluttershy’s, but noticeably fuller. The discomfort of the situation faded quickly when I heard her soft breath escaping from her nostrils, and I immediately noticed a shift in blood flow to my manhood as her smooth, white thigh pressed up against my leg under the water.

She broke the kiss before long, but failed to back away immediately. Instead, she gazed intently at me, striking me yet again with her big sapphire eyes; they way they shined in the colourful darkness that surrounded us was nothing short of breathtaking.

Rarity finally turned to her friend, showing that it was done as she unwrapped her arms from me.

Fluttershy, however, was sitting motionless in her spot, stone-facing her friend.

Rarity covered her mouth in response, then dropped her hands to her chest, worried by the presumption that Fluttershy had had a change of heart and was now upset with her for kissing me. “I…I’m sorry, darling! I didn’t mean to…I mean, you wanted me to do it-”

Fluttershy cut her off. “I said it had to be good. I’m falling asleep over here,” she said with a disappointed tone, followed by a fake yawn.

Rarity looked confused. “But…you’re not mad that I kissed him?" She then shook her head suddenly and scowled when she realised what her friend had just said. "Wait, that wasn’t good? What do you mean it wasn’t good??”

Fluttershy rolled her eyes and sighed while setting her glass down on the deck. “Like this,” she said confidently, yet softly.

Rarity was frozen in disbelief, watching the shy girl float over to me, giving me no time to prepare as she came at me with her mouth already open, pressing her soft lips firmly against mine. Her tongue quickly and forcefully came into my mouth, first flicking the tip of my tongue before twirling them around together in an arousing dance of mixing saliva and sweet flavours. I could taste the champagne in her mouth, mildly sweet with the slightly cool taste of the alcohol, and I could sense her familiar scent invading me as she kissed me deeply for a minute or two, before finally breaking it off and looking smugly at her friend.

“Oh my…” Rarity gasped, her eyes wide.

“That's how it's done,” Fluttershy said, floating back to her spot. “A deal’s a deal, Rarity.”

Rarity sighed, then looked at me again with an expression of unsureness on her face. Finally, she appeared to accept the challenge and gave a playful shrug. “OK then, let’s try this again, darling. Shall we see if we can top that?”

I nodded absentmindedly as Rarity approached slowly, closed her eyes and connected her lips with mine again. She opened her mouth slightly, pressing her lips against mine with increasing firmness as she tilted her head to deepen the kiss; and before long, I could feel her tongue slide in timidly, giving quick, playful licks to the tip of my tongue before backing out, only to return with more bravery, flicking my tongue with hers more aggressively this time.

Rarity brought her hands up to place her delicate fingertips on my cheeks, her tongue diving into my mouth with increasing boldness, sharing the flavour of her saliva with me, which tasted similar to the sweetness of Fluttershy's, having enjoyed the same champagne throughout the evening with her. Our breathing became elevated in unison, and I began to draw in the scent of her indigo hair; a heavenly combination of vanilla and spice, although I was unsure of which spice it was. Cinnamon maybe? It was difficult to concentrate…

The fashionista's arms slowly wrapped around me again, her forearms crossing behind my neck as she pulled herself closer to me. My hands instinctively found themselves on her waist, squeezing her petite figure gently before running my fingertips up the sides of her body, causing her to break the seal between our lips and gasp at the sensation, exhaling her warm breath directly into my mouth before bringing our lips together again. Both of our mouths opened widely this time, our tongues fully engaged in a wet, slippery battle for dominance as our bodies began to heat up under the warm, swirling water. When Rarity and I finally pulled our mouths apart, her breathing was elevated and shaky, and she turned to her friend, hoping for approval this time, which she did indeed receive.

“Ooh, that was good,” Fluttershy smirked. “But you know, you guys don’t have to stop if you don’t want to,” she finished, after which she took another sip of champagne.

Rarity laughed a little at the notion of continuing as she turned back to face me. We then smirked at each other in amusement for a brief moment, and before either of us knew what was happening, an invisible force had pulled our lips back together and our tongues returned to each other's mouths, twirling themselves together once again as she pulled herself closer to me again, letting out a long, deep moan into my mouth.

"Mmmmmm..." she hummed, followed by a sharp inhale through her nostrils as I put my hands on her lower back and brought her even closer. She responded by separating our lips and sliding one thigh across me, straddling herself on my lap as she let her legs come to rest on both sides of my body. Next, she placed her palms on the sides of my head, tilting it back to match the position of her mouth, and then quickly put our lips together again to begin another make out session. With our tongues once again wrapped together, she pressed her little, white body against mine, rocking her hips slowly under the water, grinding herself against me, feeling her sensitivity rise in synch with her arousal; but then she suddenly became aware of something hard, poking her between the legs, through the bathing suit.

It sent a jolt of warm sensation through her loins, and she quickly broke the kiss, looking down at me with her eyes opened wide. “Oh my! Darling, I…I didn’t mean to…” she stuttered, breathing heavily. Her hands, which felt smaller and more dainty than Fluttershy’s, were gripping tentatively onto my shoulders as she paused to appraise the situation.

Fluttershy came up behind her. “Did you find something you like?”

Rarity's cheeks flushed at her friend’s question. “It’s just…well it’s to b-be expected, I suppose; when doing things such as these, w-with a man. Your man, to be exact.”

The indigo-haired fashionista ruminated about the situation that she had found herself in.

"How did this happen?"

Here she was, straddled on her best friend’s new boyfriend's lap in the hot tub, suddenly realising she had been grinding her heated flesh against his arousal. She hadn't intended on doing any such thing, at least not consciously, anyway.

It felt good however; the hard pressure rubbing against her most intimate place, setting her on fire as the arousal quickly took control of her body.

She knew she needed more. She was helplessly craving it, but this was Fluttershy's new lover, who happened to be a particularly unique individual -- not that it really mattered to her at that point -- but how was she supposed to act on her desire when the one she desired belonged to her best friend?

Fluttershy’s eyebrows went up, feigning surprise. “Oh! Let me help you with that.” The shy girl reached under the water and pulled the strings of Rarity’s bikini bottoms to untie them, then she pulled the garment out from under her friend and held it above the water, displaying it for all to see.

My heart screeched to a stop when I saw it, realising that the indigo-haired girl was now straddling my lap bottomless.

Rarity gasped in disbelief. “Fluttershy!” she squealed, “Give me those!”

The fashionista tried to grab them back from her friend, but Fluttershy quickly tossed them up into the lattice, where they got snagged on a vine.

“Hey!” the indigo-haired girl shouted, about to stand up. She quickly stopped herself, however, before exposing her naked bottom half above the water. Flustered, Rarity helplessly looked up at the garment as it hung far out of her reach, taunting her relentlessly as she tried to think of what to do.

Then she looked down at me again, realising she was still straddling my lap.

Bottomless.

Her heart suddenly leapt with excitement over the fact that only one layer of fabric was now separating her tingling flesh from mine. More than likely a combination of champagne and arousal, she suddenly found herself not caring about the bikini bottoms anymore, but rather how she could go about getting some direct contact on her eager womanhood.

Then it struck her. This was a setup, masterminded all along by her timid, innocent friend. What had gotten into the shy girl? And why had Rarity never seen this side of her before?

Rarity turned slowly to face her pink-haired friend. ”You clever little minx…” she said as Fluttershy giggled. “I simply cannot believe I let you trick m-“

The fashionista froze when Fluttershy suddenly grabbed my left hand and placed it between Rarity’s legs. A wave of shock reverberated through my chest when I felt her soft, tender folds between my fingers as she gasped sharply at the unexpected sensation.

I was stunned by my girlfriend’s sudden brashness that night, and I was unsure if I should take my hand away from her friend’s delicate flesh, that is, until I noticed Rarity's hips swaying ever so slightly, subconsciously brushing her tenderness against my hand to pleasure herself. One look into her beautiful sapphire eyes was all I needed to know what she really wanted, so I proceeded to fulfill her desires and began to manipulate her sensitive flesh with my fingertips.

Biting my lip, I stroked her soft, warm crease, gently playing with the tender little folds, brushing her clit with my thumb to elicit a sudden quiver from her, accompanied by a quiet 'ooh!' sound as I continued exploring her flesh, noticing how much slicker it was the closer I got to her entrance. I let my middle finger slip inside her, stroking in and out of the soft, tight flesh as she arched her back and quivered at the feeling, her delicate hands squeezing my shoulders to brace herself against the waves of pleasure that had begun washing over her. I rubbed her hood with my palm while keeping my middle finger inside her, marvelling at the intense warmth she had inside as her flesh squeezed down on my finger.

Fluttershy, satisfied that she’d gotten the ball rolling on its own, went back to her spot to watch the scene unfold while sipping her champagne.

Realising I had a free hand, I ran my palm up the right side of Rarity's body to her breast, squeezing it gently through the bikini top, enjoying its softness while I watched her head tip back as she closed her eyes, showing me her blue eye shadow and black eyelashes, meeting in thick, spiky bunches when her eyelids came together. She took her right hand from my shoulder and squeezed her other breast with it, massaging it around with her fingers while letting out a soft moan.

We continued our activity as Fluttershy watched from her spot, sipping her champagne.

Rarity’s breathing intensified as she began to rock her hips, rubbing herself against my hand, letting my finger dig deeper into her. She increased her intensity with each thrust, driving herself towards the edge until finally, I felt her whole body jerk, creating small waves that rippled across the colourful, backlit water. Rarity's flesh tightened up around my finger in quick pulses as the climax washed over her, causing her to throw her head back and let out a reserved cry of ecstasy, trying not to be too loud since we were outside and her neighbours might also be on their decks nearby; out of sight, but within earshot.

Rarity leaned against me, wrapping her arms around my head, nuzzling my cheek against her chest. I could feel her heart thumping inside her chest, breathing heavily on the top of my head while I rested my hands on her thighs, waiting for her to come down from her pleasure high.

“Rarity…” we heard Fluttershy’s voice say, prompting us both to look over at her. She was sitting in her spot, watching us with lidded eyes, sipping from her glass of champagne. “I wanna watch you fuck him.”

The fashionista and I both stopped breathing for a second.

Rarity stared at Fluttershy in disbelief; the girl she thought she knew, the girl who clearly had desires and ambitions that the fashionista had been completely unaware of.

What had gotten into her?

Rarity was again snapped back to reality as she tried to comprehend the situation she had found herself in; almost completely naked in her hot tub, deeply aroused to the point of climaxing against my palm just a few seconds ago, and now her normally timid friend was asking her to do the unthinkable: take this man, Fluttershy's lover, inside her while Fluttershy herself watched.

The shy girl had obviously known Rarity’s weakness. When she gets aroused she has to have more, and right at that moment, because of Fluttershy's carefully orchestrated plan, she was now firing on all cylinders, and ready to go at a moment's notice. Being so busy at her boutique these past couple years had put a significant damper on Rarity’s sex life, and she wasn’t sure when she’d last been with a man, making it that much easier for the shy girl to get the fashionista right where she wanted her.

Right now was Rarity's chance to fulfill her needs, and she knew she couldn’t resist it. Fluttershy was obviously OK with it, insisting that she watch her boyfriend and her best friend making love, so why not give her the show she desires?

Rarity turned back to me, shaking her head. “Your girlfriend sure knows how to get what she wants.”

I gave an agreeing nod, still unsure if I could believe what was going on between me and these two women.

“Well, darling…I suppose those shorts will have to come off,” Rarity said, standing up out of the water, exposing herself to both me and Fluttershy. My eyes locked on the little slit between her legs, above which she had a very neatly kept indigo-coloured landing strip, one that I didn’t realise was there when I was touching her under the water a minute earlier. I let my eyes travel around her body, taking in her details; she had the most perfectly sculpted curves imaginable, a stunningly beautiful face, well-proportioned breasts and flawless white skin that, when wet, looked like it was made of porcelain.

I could see Fluttershy gazing at her friend’s backside, keeping her eyes locked on it for a few seconds before she closed them and slowly shook her head, making an impressed little 'mmm' sound.

I shook my head and gathered my thoughts, remembering what I was supposed to be doing, and I lifted myself up off my seat so I could pull my shorts off.

Fluttershy snapped her fingers, holding her hand out for them. I tossed the shorts to her and she set them on the deck, next to the champagne bottle.

“Now then,” Rarity said, bending forward at the hips, giving Fluttershy an eyeful as she leaned on my shoulders with her hands, then came down again to straddle my lap, putting our bare skin in direct contact. “Are you ready?”

I gave a small nod, feeling like I was on autopilot. It was as if this whole thing wasn't really happening; like I was watching a movie, having an out-of-body experience, or caught in a dream.

She proceeded to raise herself slightly, reaching down into the water to gently grasp my erection with her fingertips, positioning it at her entrance and rubbing the tip around until it found its sweet, slick target. Then, holding her breath, she lowered herself down onto me.

I was surprised by how intense the heat inside Rarity was as she slid me into her tight depths, letting all of her weight come rest on my lap, taking in every inch she could before wrapping her arms around my shoulders and exhaling against my face.

"My goodness, darling!" she gasped. "I didn't expect there to be such...displacement."

Fluttershy giggled from her side of the tub. "Just try not to cum, Rare. I dare you."

Rarity shook her head and turned her face part way towards the shy girl. "I can already tell that is an unfair proposition, Fluttershy," she said, turning back to meet my gaze, followed by a sly smirk. "But I shall try my best to meet your challenge."

She leaned in to connect our lips again, sending her sweet tongue into my mouth for another visit as she began moving her hips back and forth, rocking her body against mine to massage my hard length with her hot, moist interior, sending waves of warm, tingling sensation throughout my body.

She intensified her movements with every thrust, rubbing her little porcelain body against mine, steadily speeding up her hips until she was riding my erection so vigorously that there were waves of water beginning to splash over the edge of the tub, onto the wooden floor of the deck.

I found my hands resting on her thighs, unsure of when I placed them there. I decided to put them to good use by gently running my fingertips up to her hips, sending a shiver up her spine, accenting the heavenly jolts of electricity emanating from deep inside her. It wasn’t long until I felt her body stiffen and tremble against me, and she let a hot exhale blast against my face as she spoke.

"Oooohh," she moaned, "it appears I'm going to lose your lit...little chaa...hhaaaa...allenge, F-Fluttershy."

My girlfriend let out a victorious giggle as Rarity squeezed my face against her shoulder, her hot flesh sharply clenching down on my length with every wave of her orgasm, soon followed by the sweet tremble of satisfaction as she relaxed against me after her peak had subsided.

"I bet losing never felt so good, eh Rare?" Fluttershy quipped, followed by another sip of champagne.

The fashionista leaned back to look me in the face. "Normally, I am not fond of losing," she panted. "But in this case, I think I can make an exception."

"How about we do best two out of three?" I teased, giving Rarity a playful smirk.

She returned the smile, then leaned forward to let our foreheads rest together. "I accept. Here's hoping I lose again, darling," she giggled.

Our eyes remained locked on one another for a moment, and then she finally closed hers and brought our lips together for a another deep kiss, poking into my mouth with her tongue once again as she raised her hips upward, sliding my length almost completely out of her.

Rarity gripped my shoulders tightly to brace herself, then she forced her body down onto my lap, taking my entire length within her again. Spreading her legs wide, she pressed her mound against my body, greedily stuffing every possible inch of my manhood into her slick tightness while rubbing her clit firmly against me, sparking up jolts of intense pleasure that mercilessly racked her body.

"Ooh yyyes!" she gasped as she reached up to untie her bikini top, frantically pulling it off to release her jiggling breasts and throwing it onto the deck a few feet away. Her breasts were beautiful, like the rest of her; much perkier than Fluttershy’s, but slightly smaller, however with such a petite frame, they were very well proportioned to her flawless, white body.

I reached up to cup them in my hands as she continued to grind herself against me, her nipples hardening against my palms with each squeeze of the soft tissue. I massaged them gently, rolling them back and forth between my fingers while I enjoyed the sensation of her tight flesh gliding itself up and down my length.

She had leaned back slightly during her activity, her eyes drifting closed as she savoured the fullness of having her hot flesh occupied by me, who she continuously worked in and out with her slithering hips, creating waves of euphoric delight that washed over us both, again and again.

Slowly, I slid my hands downwards from her breasts, letting her nipples trail between my fingers as I went, gently pinching the firm buds between my digits before sliding my palms down to her waist so I could once again take in the striking vividness of the scene before me. There was Rarity, her white skin like a blank canvas, absorbing the colours of the LEDs, shining up from under the water onto her face, shoulders and bare breasts; bright blue on her left side, and intense red on her right.

She let her head tip back, her delicate hands sliding down my arms as she leaned away from me, entrusting my hands on her waist to keep her from falling back into the water, endlessly grinding our bodies together with soft moans of ecstasy emitting from her lips. Using one hand, she reached behind her head and released the clip from her hair, letting her silky, indigo locks fall into the water, followed by her body pulling gently against my grip, prompting me to lower her down, allowing the rest of her hair to dip into the water until only her face was above the surface. I watched in awe as her hair created a dark cloud in the water, floating around her face, which remained above the swirling water, along with her dainty, white shoulders and pert breasts.

I briefly took my eyes from the fashionista to look at Fluttershy, who was contently sitting across from me, sipping her champagne with a sultry smirk on her lips. Her eyes locked with mine for a moment; the arousal in her gaze plainly evident as she gave me a playful wink.

Just then, Rarity sat upright suddenly, snapping my attention back to what she and I were doing. I pulled her towards me again as she reached up to run her hands over her soaking-wet hair, her perky breasts lifting with her elevated arms as she wiped the slick locks away from her face to keep the water from running down and spoiling her make-up.

She looked strikingly different now with wet hair, flattened and stuck to the sides of her face and neck; her cheek-bones, nose and big sapphire eyes seemed to pop out at me, serving her well by accentuating the cuteness of her features that much more.

Unable to help myself, I leaned forward and put our lips together, sending my tongue into her mouth to swirl it around with hers in yet another dance of passion. She moaned softly and accelerated her hips in response, hitting us both with intense jolts of bliss as I ran my lips along her smooth cheek, making my way to her neck. She tilted her head, panting deeply as I nibbled at her earlobe and then ran my lips down her soft, fragrant throat to her collarbones, where I left another cluster of soft kisses on her wet skin. She leaned back, allowing me to wrap my lips around her left nipple, which I gently nibbled, sucked and flicked with the tip of my tongue while squeezing her right breast with my free hand.

Her breath hitched suddenly, and I felt a sudden squeeze on my erection as the next orgasm came upon her.

"Ooooohh my," Rarity squeaked as her fingers ran through my hair and then gripped it tightly, pulling my face firmly into her breasts while gritting her teeth, enduring the intense waves of pleasure that ripped through her quivering body. Her muscles clamped down on my length and her hips bucked violently against mine, stirring up waves in the hot water until the climax finally subsided and she flopped against me in a panting heap.

Her insides continued to pulsate in the aftermath, squeezing my erection in quick bursts as she rested her head on my shoulder, breathing against my neck. I reached around her with my hands, running my fingertips along the skin of her shoulder blades and down her back to soothe her overstimulated body.

Finally, she lifted her head and put her cheek against mine, placing her lips close to my ear to whisper something to me. "You..." she panted, "You have a fabulous cock."

I snickered at her unexpected slang, followed by a sense of pride after hearing the compliment. "You know," I said, "You're really getting into this; especially for someone who didn't want to do it in the first place."

She brought herself back and looked at me with a humble smirk. "Well, I certainly am glad I did."

The LEDs slowly transitioned from orange to green as we gazed into each other's eyes, and then we were suddenly rushed back to reality when we heard Fluttershy's soft voice across the tub.

"Rarity?"

The fashionista looked at me, nervously wondering what the shy girl was going to ask of her next. She turned slowly to face her friend, who was blissfully shaking her champagne glass in a circle, swirling the drink around inside.

"Turn around," Fluttershy ordered, raising her index finger and waving it around in a circle. "This time, I wanna see your face when you cum."

Rarity turned back to me, then shook her head as a smile crept across her sweet lips. I smiled back as she took a deep breath through her nose, then slowly lifted herself off of me, letting my length slip out of her. She turned herself over, keeping her shoulders and breasts above the water as she laid against my chest with her back.

As she rested the back of her head on my right shoulder, I could feel her soft, yet toned ass settle against my hips under the water, followed by her fingertips grasping my erection when she reached down to guide me back inside of her.

I glanced over at Fluttershy as I felt Rarity's tight heat slide down my length once again. Seeing her bite her lip with arousal while watching her lover and best friend connect their bodies was a massive turn-on for me, and it made Rarity's flesh feel that much better when I returned to it's hot depths.

The fashionista let out a long, satisfied exhale, and then closed her eyes as she turned her head to playfully nibble on my neck. The feel of her heavy, wet hair piled up on my shoulder, acting as a pillow for her was comforting, and I responded by reaching my arms around her to hold her breasts, which were completely exposed above the water.

Her body began to gyrate against me again, the soft cheeks of her backside rubbing firmly against me as her warm tightness massaged its way up and down my sensitive length, sending me down a river of tingling bliss, accented by her lips and tongue gently tickling my throat.

Rarity let her head tip back as the pleasure washed over her, and she closed her eyes to let out a long moan when my fingertips gently pinched her nipples, compounding the sensation that hammered her into a daze from between her legs.

Wondering if her friend was enjoying the show, she decided to open her eyes and look in Fluttershy's direction, and sure enough, the shy girl was watching intently as-

Rarity's mind stopped, her eyes widening when she noticed something; Fluttershy still had the glass of champagne in one hand, but her other hand was under the water and her arm was rhythmically moving back and forth, causing small ripples in the water. Her teal eyes were rolling back in the sockets, despite how hard she tried to focus on watching her companions. She locked eyes with the fashionista, who was just now realising what was happening on the far side of her hot tub.

"Oh my!" she gasped. "Fluttershy is pleasuring herself to me and Golds making love!"

Rarity couldn't help but avert her gaze down to the water, shocked beyond belief of what was happening at that moment, unable to maintain eye contact with the shy girl as she penetrated herself under the bubbling water. Her heartbeat was further elevated by the situation now, her mind overloaded, her body bombarded...

"Look at me," Fluttershy's stern voice called out from across the tub, snapping Rarity's attention back to the shy girl. Sapphire locked onto teal, and both girls watched each other intently, taking in the looks of intense pleasure on each other's faces as they endured their own mind-numbing sensations.

Rarity, with a racing heart, decided it was her turn to step up the intensity, so she sat up on my lap, letting the weight of her body press her ass down against my hips, driving my length deep inside of her. She reached behind herself to place the heels of her hands on the edge of the hot tub on both sides of me, then hoisted herself up, supporting her body above mine with her limbs so the only part of me that was in contact with her was my erection, which remained inside her.

I placed my hands on her hips as she lowered herself down again, driving me deep within her, then used her limbs to raise herself up again to repeat the heavenly process over and over. The fashionista smirked at Fluttershy through her heavy breathing, and with a purple eyebrow arched, proceeded to taunt the shy girl.

"What do you think of this?" she panted, her breasts jiggling each time her little white body bounced on mine.

Fluttershy's brows furrowed as her own fingers brought her pleasure at the sight, and she let out a shaky exhale before answering. "Cum for me, Rare; and look into my eyes when you do it," she ordered, softly.

Desperate to see this take place, I decided to let my hands Explore Rarity's naked, wet body. Reaching around her, my right hand found its way up to her breast while my left hand slid down over her hip, my fingers eventually finding her slit. I proceeded to stroke her swollen folds, causing her body to tremble and spasm as her dark, wet hair gently slapped against my face, swaying with her movements every time her supple derrière bounced against me.

"Ooooh!" she gasped, slamming her eyes shut. "Th-that's...aaah!"

Fluttershy giggled at her friend's reaction . "Eyes open, Rare," she reminded her. The shy girl bit her lip as she watched me take Rarity to her next orgasm with the utmost swiftness, her body unable to avoid the imminent explosion with my hand on her breast, gently pinching her nipple, my fingers stroking her clit as my hard length slid into her again and again, filling her body with its rigidity, stretching her flesh to its maximum every time I bottomed out in her.

The climax came down on Rarity with ferocious intensity, eliciting a muted cry from her lips, gritting her teeth as she attempted to keep her fluttering eyes locked onto her friend's, enduring the shockwaves of pleasure that radiated through her body.

The sight of her friend's uncontrolled reaction promptly brought Fluttershy's own peak upon her; her fingers drawing the powerful explosion of warm ecstasy from her sensitive flesh as she watched the fashionista tremble and spasm, stirring the warm water up in the wake of her climax.

Rarity's thighs came together suddenly, pinning my hand between them to prevent me from further overloading her senses. Unexpectedly, her hand slipped off the edge of the tub and her slender body slammed down onto me, sending up a splash of water, some of which ended up on the right side of her face, resulting in a streak of dark eye make-up running down her cheek as her back plopped down against my chest.

"Aaah!" she squealed, looking over to Fluttershy, who was giggling softly at the dark blot that had spread around Rarity's right eye. "Oh dear," she panted, I must look absolutely dreadful!"

"No Rare, you look fucking hot; like you've been pleased like never before," the shy girl panted.

The fashionista watched in disbelief as Fluttershy reached into the water with both arms and began fidgeting around, biting her lip as she locked her lustful eyes with her friend. After a short moment, the shy girl produced a green garment from under the water, presenting it to Rarity and me as the bottom-half of her bikini, which she unceremoniously plopped down on the deck next to the tub before floating over to us.

Looking over Rarity's shoulder, I watched my girlfriend make her approach, drawing a gasp from the indigo-haired girl when she slid her tall, slender yellow frame over top of her hopelessly spent friend, her movements causing small waves of water to repeatedly lap away at Rarity's supple breasts. Fluttershy straddled the fashionista's hips, placing her eager sex mere inches from her friend's well-worked folds, which were still stretched open, occupied by my twitching erection. The shy girl placed her hands on Rarity's dainty white shoulders and leaned in, letting her full, green-bikini clad breasts press against the perky white bust below as she stared intensely into the sparkling sapphire eyes before her.

The tips of their noses were less than an inch apart when Fluttershy expelled a hot, champagne-scented breath against the fashionista's messy face. "Take a break, Rare," she finally whispered, following-up with a flick of her tongue against the tip of Rarity's nose, causing Rarity's heart to almost leap from her chest. "It's my turn," the shy girl finished.

Rarity nodded silently, her shock allowing her do nothing but to comply with the shy girl, who had lifted herself up so the fashionista could slide out from between me and Fluttershy, letting my erection finally exit her tight body, leaving me face-to-face with my sexual deviant of a girlfriend.

Fluttershy's tall, graceful body settled itself onto mine, her bikini-clad breasts mashing against my chest as she wrapped her long, slender arms around the back of my neck, kissing me deeply with her sweet-tasting lips. Without using her hands, she placed the slick entrance to her fresh, eager depths against the tip of my erection and slid herself onto me without hesitation.

As I felt myself slip into Fluttershy's tight, fiery-hot depths, I glanced over towards Rarity as she settled into her spot to our right. It shocked me to see her face again; a look of incredulous fatigue had set itself upon her features, accented by pure, complete satisfaction after having her petite, white body ravaged to three seperate mind-blowing orgasms. I smirked at the sight of the dark blotch around her right eye, along with the dark streak that trailed down her cheek, which seemed to go well with the dark, wet hair that was wrapped tightly around her head, neck and shoulders.

I brought my attention back to Fluttershy, who had started to thrust her body into mine, working me in and out of her excited flesh while grinding her clit against my abdomen, taking her pleasure to new heights. She felt different to me than her friend; her taller height and longer, more graceful limbs gave her a different geometry, and I had to crane my neck more to kiss her as she bounced and gyrated over of me.

Gone was the stark contrast of the purple-on-white colours of Rarity, replaced by the soft pastels of Fluttershy; her yellow skin, her light pink hair, dyed multiple colours by the surrounding LEDs. I was helpless to look away from the multicoloured points of light reflecting in her gorgeous teal eyes as she mesmerised me with her rhythmic movements and soft moans, accompanied by her hot, sweet breath hitting my face.

She steadily intensified her thrusts, massaging my over-excited length with her heavenly tightness, her breathing quickly elevating until I noticed the familiar shortening and quickening of her strokes, followed by her body seizing up and trembling as she squeezed her eyes shut, breathing a soft moan onto my face as the orgasm crashed into her, shattering her mind with one powerful wave of euphoric bliss after another.

Fluttershy paused only briefly to kiss me again, her tongue wrestling mine with frantic lust before she resumed grinding herself against me, continuing her heavenly assault almost immediately. She was relentless, fresh and full of energy; ruthlessly stroking my sensitive length with her insides, threatening to bring about my own orgasm with ease, knowing i'd already been through a lengthy session inside her friend, which had left me in a much later stage of arousal than her. I squeezed her breasts with my hands, which were still held captive inside her bikini top, feeling her hard nipples poking through the thin fabric, noticing how much heavier and fuller they were than Rarity’s more perky bust.

Rarity sat at her side of the tub, watching in awe as Fluttershy, the girl she’d always known as being too shy to even speak, rode her lover with a sensual ferocity that rivaled even Aphrodite herself.

“My goodness, Fluttershy…I never knew you could be so...ferociously sexy...and stunning…”

She watched the shy girl's tall, yellow body slither above me as she swung her hips back and forth, causing Rarity to tingle with warmth down low at the sight of it, only minutes after having some of the best pleasure she’d ever experienced herself. She accepted the invitation from herself and slid her hand down her slender white body, running her fingers between her legs to gently caress her swollen, well-serviced lips. She slipped one finger between them, but was struck beyond comprehension by how sensitive her flesh had become as she ran her finger up and down the bottom of her crease, making damn certain she didn't graze her clitoris even a tiny bit. Finding her sensitivity too much to handle and unable to push herself to continue, she retreated back to the outside to enjoy a more gentle sensation.

Rarity couldn’t decide what she wanted more; to watch her amazingly beautiful and surprisingly skilled friend continue to dominate the man who had effortlessly sent the fashionista herself over the edge numerous times, or to be back in his lap, feeling his substantial length inside her again, making her body explode with fireworks of delight.

As Fluttershy continued to ride me, I could feel the tingle starting to build at the tip of my length, growing in intensity with each pass of her tender flesh as I started to harden even further within her depths, preparing for the explosion of sensation that I had grown to love experiencing with her.

She knew the climax was upon me as well; the sudden increase in size and rigidity made it easy for her to know she was going to overpower me soon, and she locked her eyes onto mine, gasping through a smirk of anticipation before speaking softly to me.

"Oh my goodness, You're so hard!" she panted, "Are you ready?"

I nodded silently, pursing my lips as I felt the pressure in my loins boil to the surface with each thrust.
She increased her speed, her eyes widening, her breathing intensifying as she edged me closer and closer to my release.

"How bad do you want it?" she asked, wafting her breath on my face again.

"Bad," I gasped, biting my lip in anticipation.

"Ooohhh," she giggled, "Well, you lucky boy, you're gonna have it."

I squeezed my eyes shut in anticipation of the release, feeling my length swell up, the pressure boiling to the surface, holding by breath as the explosion drew near...

Without warning, Fluttershy stood up quickly, letting me withdraw from her.

My body screeched to a halt as I almost choked on my own breath; my hard excitement left twitching on the edge of orgasm under the water. I looked up at her as the water shed itself from her tall, slender body, leaving me confused as to why she had stopped, only to see her wagging her finger in my face as though scolding a child.

“No, no, no, you bad boy! That’s not for me…” she taunted with a soft, yet stern tone. Her fingertip gently came to rest on the tip of my nose as she continued. "I never said where you can have it."

It took me a second to realise what she was saying, and then I looked over to my right at Rarity, whose wide sapphire eyes were locked on mine.

Fluttershy stood there, showing her naked, custard-coloured bottom half to Rarity and I, her hairless slit visible to me between her thighs as she ran her hands up and down, caressing her own body. “I want to watch you take it from him, Rare,” she instructed, looking down at her exhausted friend.

“Me?” Rarity gasped.

Fluttershy sank back down to her spot across from me, picking up her glass of champagne to take a sip from it again.

Rarity glanced at me, then closed her eyes, letting out a sigh as she leaned forward and floated over to me with a smirk appearing on her face. “Well then, it looks like I’ll be taking care of you tonight,” she giggled. "And believe me when I tell you, darling; it will be my pleasure."

She arrived in front of me again and slid back into my lap, placing those milky-white thighs on both sides of me as she reached down to guide my trembling length inside of her soft, tight heat. She wrapped her arms around the back of my neck, pulling herself close to me as she began thrusting her hips, sliding me in and out of her soft flesh. I knew it wouldn’t be long before I was finished; after Fluttershy had gotten me so close just a few seconds ago, I knew it was inevitable.

I didn’t stand a chance. There's only so much a man can handle.

As Rarity rode me, pressing her bare, perky breasts against my collarbones, she rubbed her clit against my body, causing bolts of lightning to strike her body with each movement. I could feel the tingle returning, growing faster than before; the pressure skyrocketing each time she slid her tightness down my length.

I prepared myself again as the pressure reached its apex, feeling myself swelling, this time inside different flesh; a new lover whose only goal was to bring me the most satisfying pleasure a person can give.

A thought came over me suddenly. "Is she sure that this is what she wants? Or is she just following Fluttershy's direction out of nothing more than shock and disbelief?"

I glanced up at her to speak. Misinterpreting my gesture, she slammed her wet lips against mine and slid her sweet tongue into my mouth, moaning into my throat as she felt another one of her own climaxes edging closer. I snapped myself out of my euphoric trance after enjoying her full lips against mine, and pulled my head back to whisper softly so Fluttershy wouldn't hear.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked, looking into her hungry sapphire eyes, one of which still had the ragged, smeared makeup encircling it. "Because you don't ha-"

Rarity suddenly placed her index finger over my lips, silencing me. "Not to worry," she whispered back in shallow gasps. "I am well aware of your...ineffectiveness with us normal ladies."

I nodded, accepting her decision as she increased her speed to deliver the finishing thrusts in haste, desperate to bring me the same reward I had given her numerous times already. I teetered dangerously close the edge of pure bliss, unsure of how it was possible to hang on this long without tipping over; then I realised she knew it was happening too when I heard her voice close to my ear, whispering: ”Oh god...you’re SO close; I can feel it!”

Unable to hold myself any longer, my sensation suddenly peaked and I exploded violently inside Rarity's hot depths, firing blast after blast of my fluid deep into her, flooding her completely.

She reacted strongly, her eyes going wide when she felt the powerful, hot injections deep inside her interior. "Yes!...YES!" she gasped, hugging my face into her soft neck as she threw her head back and cried out, her voice husky with excitement. "Fucking fill me up, darling! Oohh I love it!" She came forward again and locked our lips together, sending her tongue into my mouth to dance with mine as she continued to bounce mercilessly on my lap.

The feeling of her tight warmth sliding along my over-sensitive length caused my whole body to quiver uncontrollably as I delivered the final few shots, leaving her gasping at the feeling of my erection throbbing within her, and she proceeded to chase down her own completion with ease.

It wasn't long before her eyes widened as she hit her own peak, her flesh soaked with my hot, thick offering, pulsing around my length as she let a chorus of quiet squeals escape from her lips.

We then realised we were hearing Fluttershy’s soft moans as well, coming from the far side of the tub. Her fingers were buried inside her tight womanhood, pleasuring herself as she watched her lover pump her best friend full, making it easy for her to bring herself to another climax of her own. She closed her eyes, letting her head rest against the edge of the tub as she let her pleasure run its course, smiling with satisfaction of how her devious plan had played out.

Rarity had come to rest over me, letting out a small giggle every time she felt me twitch inside her during the aftermath. She pressed her wet body against mine as I rested my head on her shoulder, enjoying the feel of her breathing on the top of my head, her jaw trembling in the afterglow of her final climax.

“Mmmmm. That was simply...divine,” she sighed. “Th-thank you, darling.”

She placed a small kiss on top of my head, then rested her cheek on that spot, closing her eyes as she remained on my lap, unwilling to let me to leave her body just yet.

My eyes were closed as well, my head still resting against her soft, wet skin. I felt something brush against my shoulder, prompting me to open my eyes to see Fluttershy’s face close to mine with a warm smile on her lips. I smiled back, appreciating how cute she looked in that moment. Her hair, still held up in that fluffy, pink bundle; her deep, teal eyes, gleaming with the wide array of colours from under the water, and even that band-aid on the side of her forehead.

She leaned in and planted a gentle kiss on my lips, then snuggled up beside me to rest her head on my shoulder.

The three of us sat there in silence with our bodies piled together, breathing softly as we enjoyed the warmth of each other, the water, and the colourful ambiance created by the underwater LEDs in the dark.

Author's Note

I get nosebleeds thinking about these two in a hot tub. Occupational hazard, I guess.

*Chapter 15: Thursday

Chapter 15

I was sitting on Fluttershy’s couch early Thursday morning. The TV was on as usual and I wasn’t paying attention to it, as usual. My thoughts were racing about the previous night at Rarity’s.

“How the fuck did that happen?...God damn, Fluttershy is HOT…I need to get a hot tub…Rarity is fucking HOT too…I can’t believe she let me cum inside her…my girlfriend becomes a psycho when she’s horny…I love it…I need to get a hot tub…” my thoughts just continued to run in a closed loop like this all night long.

Angel bunny was sat next to me all night, both of us waiting for the pink haired girl to get out of bed. Speaking of which…

At about 7:00am Fluttershy came out of her room and walked silently around the end of the couch, sitting on the cushion about two feet from me. She would usually say ’good morning’ or something, followed placing her head on my shoulder with a light-hearted sigh, but today she seemed distant. She just sat there, staring vacantly at the wall next to the TV.

“Good morning,” I said.

She gave no response.

“Uh, hi?” I said again.

She remained motionless.

“Are you OK?” I asked, starting to wonder what was going on with her.

“Is this about last night?” I wondered.

When she didn’t respond again, I reached out to stroke her arm, prompting her to blink a couple times and slowly turn her head to look at me, revealing a look of worry in her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, with my brows furrowed.

She shook her head slightly, without saying anything.

“Are you upset about last night?...at Rarity’s?” I asked.

Her eyes finally seemed to focus on mine and she drew in a breath suddenly, looking concerned that she had me worried. “Oh, no!” she said, “I’m not upset about last night. It was amazing!”

Finally, she scooted over and put her head on my shoulder, just like she had done every other morning that week, her demeanor apparently back to normal once again.

“I wonder what that was all about? Maybe she was just tired...”

“What should we do today?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” I replied. “Maybe we should just take it easy…you know, after yesterday.”

“OK. That sounds good to me,” she said.

“So…what happened with you last night?” I asked, wondering how the whole episode in the hot tub had come to fruition.

“What do you mean?” she asked, looking up at me.

“Like…” I began, “I don’t even know where all that came from.” I looked down at her. “You know, you get a little crazy when you’re turned on, just so we’re clear.”

She blushed, pressing her suddenly hot face into my shoulder with a slight look of embarrassment.

“It’s good,” I quickly added, “I mean, I like it, but how did you get, you know…Rarity into it?”

She gave a devious smile. “I know how Rarity works,” she giggled. “Did you have fun?”

I nodded slowly. ”Yeah I did, as a matter of fact. But I’ve gotta be honest, I was completely in the dark about…well, all of it. Like when you guys started talking about it, I had no clue what was going on.”

“Oh,” she said, “I was just really in the mood for something...um, c-crazy,” Fluttershy looked up at me again. “Like I said, I like to be in charge sometimes, and when I am, I tend to push the envelope a little.”

“A little?” I said, raising my eyebrows. “Your friend rode me 'til I popped; not that I'm complaining or anything.”

“Mmmmm…yeah she did,” my girlfriend said, nuzzling her face into my arm.

“That’s the part I really can’t believe,” I said. “How the hell did you talk her into that?”

Fluttershy sat up straight and curled her legs next to me on the couch, turning to face me. “Like I said, I know how she works.”

“Well then,” I asked, “how does she work?”

“When she’s turned on,” Fluttershy started, “her inhibitions go out the window. It’s getting her turned on that’s the hard part…if you don’t know her.”

I nodded. “Soooo, how do you do it?” I asked.

“Remember the champagne?” she asked in reply.

“Yeah,” I said, “but getting her liquored-up doesn’t seem all that complicated.”

“No!” Fluttershy suddenly scolded. “You can’t get her drunk. I’ve seen so many guys try it, hoping they’ll get into her…um, pants...or dress, but the problem is she gets crazy and she’ll start badgering you about your clothing choices.”

I chuckled at the mental image of Rarity; drunk, with a beer bottle in her hand, wearing a sweat stained wife-beater, standing over some old lady who’s holding her hand up in defence as the fashionista bitched with slurred speech at her about her outdated clothing.

I shook the image from my head. “OK, I give up,” I said. “What about the champagne, then?”

“She just needs enough to take the edge off,” Fluttershy said. “Um, the thing about Rarity is that she can be very affectionate, but she is also very reserved. If she gets a little buzz on, she can get pretty touchy-feely. It’s a fine line though; just one or two too many and she’s gone.”

“Wait a minute,” I said, “that’s why you took the bottle of champagne away from her, isn’t it?”

“E-exactly,” she said. “I needed to get her just loose enough to kiss you so she would get turned on. Once that happens, she’s on-board for whatever.”

I shook my head. “I couldn’t believe that,” I said. “When you told her to kiss me, I thought for sure she was gonna tell you to fuck off.”

“I was a bit worried too,” Fluttershy admitted, “but lucky for us, the conditions were just right. Plus, I think she’s attracted to you...um, a little bit.”

“Really?” I said, rubbing my chin with a thoughtful smirk.

Fluttershy giggled. “Yeah. Um, but anyway, as soon as she kissed you, I knew it was game on. Especially after the second kiss.”

“I totally thought she was just fuckin around when she said ‘yes’.” I confessed, shaking my head. “Then she started coming at me and I was like ‘what the fuuuuuck?!’”

My girlfriend laughed softly, covering her mouth with her fingertips. “I know! The look on your face was so funny!”

We sat together for a short moment, gazing at each other; thinking about the night before.

“Man, that was a crazy night,” I finally said, shaking my head and looking down at the cushion for a second, before looking up at her again. “Were you happy with how it went? I mean, did you get what you were looking for?”

She nodded enthusiastically. “Oh, yes! Watching you two was so amazing! You looked so good together.” She blushed a little more. “If I didn't know better, I'd say she’s probably glad she did it too; I think you really rocked her world.”

“You think so?” I asked.

She nodded again. “Definitely. And that’s the nice thing about it, she was practically sober so she’ll remember all of it. I kind of like that she might be thinking about it whenever she’s around us.”

“I doubt she’ll ever drink around us again though,” I said, with a short laugh.

“I don’t know,” Fluttershy replied. “I b-bet she’ll come back for more. Just you watch.”

“Speaking of watching,” I said, ”I noticed she was doing a little watching of her own, when you were riding me.”

“Really?” Fluttershy asked, perking up with interest, along with another blush on her pretty cheeks. “Do you think she liked it?”

“I think you shocked the shit out of her, to be honest,” I said. “You put on quite a show when you’re on top.”

“Oh,” she said, smirking, with a shy look in her eyes. “I guess I do get a little crazy when I’m really into it.”

“Yeah…a little,” I said flatly, staring at the wall for a few seconds as I briefly ruminated about her sexual prowess.

She giggled softly. “Well, it’ll give her something to think about the next time we’re hanging out together. I hope it drives her crazy. I think it’s kind of hot,” she said with an evil grin.

“My god, you are devious,” I said, “promise me you’ll never change.”

“You got it,” she said, lazily drawing shapes on my chest with her finger. “I do kind of feel bad though,” she admitted. “She was already behind on her work this week; hopefully she’s not too distracted by what happened now.”

“Yeah. Hopefully she’ll pull through,” I said.

We sat there, snuggling together on the couch for a few minutes before she decided to go about her morning routine of feeding the animals, followed by a shower and then getting herself made up for the day as usual. We decided to take it easy that day; maybe watch a few movies, just like we did on our first date on that one Sunday when I feel asleep for the first time in…well, who knows how long. I honestly couldn't remember.

We looked on the TV menu for a bit, but there wasn’t much on. It was Thursday morning after all, not really prime movie watching time.

Instead, Fluttershy got the idea to go into the woods, saying there was something that she wanted me to see. I was fine with that, so we started walking straight from her backyard to the west. It was a long walk, a little over an hour.

When we finally emerged from the trees, walking hand-in-hand into a clearing, my breath was taken away by what I saw there.

There was a huge, grassy pasture with a single maple tree standing in the middle of it. Behind that, there was a river that snaked through the field, its sparkling water flowing from right to left, eventually disappearing into the trees. The source of the river was a small waterfall coming off the top of a rock cliff to the right of us, and there were trees on top of the cliff that spread across the background of this place, sloping down as it went across to the left, merging into the forest that continued all the way around us.

“Isn’t it amazing?” Fluttershy said, taking a few steps in the long grass, lifting her knees high as she stepped to avoid getting weeds caught in her boot laces. I couldn't help but smile at her cuteness, reminding me of a toddler taking its first steps.

She stopped about ten feet in front of me, standing with her hands folded in front of her, just looking around at the beauty of the place. Her pink hair was blowing in the gentle breeze, as was her green skirt. The scene was lovely; made perfect by the quiet, peaceful droning of the waterfall in the background.

She turned to face me after a minute. “I found this place last summer and um, ever since then, I like to come here when I need to feel happy.”

“You’re not happy?” I joked.

“Oh, of course I am, silly,” she said, giggling. “I-I wanted to bring you here, because I thought you needed some happiness, too; after everything you’ve been through.”

The sound of her words warmed my heart. She was the first person in a long time who cared how I felt, which was a rare thing, especially for someone who knows the truth about who I am. Most people who know about me just write me off as: ‘Oh, Golden Arrow is invincible, he’s fine. He’s got no problems; nothing at all to worry about.’ But Fluttershy knew better. She was probably the kindest person I’ve ever met, and that said a lot, given how many people I had known during my unnaturally long life on this planet.

“Thanks,” I said, “but you know I was already happy just having you. You were all I really needed.”

She smiled, looking down at her feet, her face flushing brightly as her hair hung over part of her face, covering her right eye again. I absolutely loved it when she looked like this.

I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her shoulders, holding her close to me as she rested her head on my shoulder.

“It’s so beautiful here,” she said after a few moments.

I smiled. “That’s only because you’re here,” I replied.

I could feel her smiling against my shoulder, with a soft giggle emanating from her throat as I held her close to me.

We spent a couple hours out there, snuggling together in the tall grass, basking in the warm sun, talking about different things; her friends, her work, me and my life, and so on until finally, we started the walk back to her place through the thick woods after we’d had our fill of the wonderful landscape.

Upon returning to her house, we spent some time watching a couple TV shows, curling up together on her chaise lounge. It was nice to just enjoy each other’s company, and it made me wonder what I must have been thinking, living in a cold, filthy machine shop for so many years, in the dark and all alone.

“Should I take her there?” I wondered.

She decided to make that sweet potato curry soup again for supper as a do-over of sorts, in lieu of the first night we met when she had been too embarrassed even to look at me. It was hard to believe how different she was now; not even three weeks later, especially after what had happened at Rarity’s last night.

I thought about Rarity pushing her out of the hall to sit at the table to eat this same soup that first night, and then how the tables were turned in the hot tub; when Fluttershy was casually sipping champagne, watching Rarity and I get it on, all part of a devious plan that she herself had concocted for her own enjoyment, as well as mine and Rarity's, if I'm being honest.

We made love again that night, just before she went to bed. It was fairly tame this time around, but enjoyable as always. How could it not be? Fluttershy was an unbelievably beautiful young woman; such a skilled lover, and the level of passion she showed while she was aroused was like nothing I’ve ever seen before.

She brought me to my finish sitting straight up this time around. Her head was leaned back, looking at the ceiling as my hands reached up, holding onto her breasts as she gyrated her hips back and forth until she received another injection of my hot fluid, then she flopped her body down onto me once it was all over, nuzzling her face against my neck while sighing contently.

After spending some time snuggling together, she dressed herself in some green pajamas to sleep in, then invited me lay with her in bed for a bit. I was starting to miss her during the nights, and I longed to lay with her for entire night, but I also didn’t want to keep her awake, so I finally decided to get up and head to my spot on the couch. Before I left, however, I placed a gentle kiss on her temple, right next to the band-aid that had started this whole week off. Her eyes were closed, but I knew she was still awake because of how she smiled at the warm feeling of the kiss.

“Goodnight,” she whispered.

“Sweet dreams, Flutters.”

Chapter 16: Friday

Chapter 16

It happened again the next morning.

It was now Friday.

Fluttershy was acting very distant when she woke up, like the day before. Only worse this time. She didn’t even make it to the couch, but instead ended up standing at the end of the table, staring off into space.

I had turned around on the couch to look at her, trying to get her attention.

“Hey,” I said. “What’s up?”

She responded only with a slow shake of her head.

I stood and walked around the couch toward her. “Hey,” I said, reaching out to rub her back.

She blinked a couple times, but that was it, so I waved my hand in front of her face.

Fluttershy didn’t react at all. She just kept staring.

This began to worry me. “What’s wrong with her?” My mind started racing. “Maybe she hit her head harder than I thought…maybe she has brain damage. What will her friends think? They’ll blame it on me!”

I finally gripped her by the shoulders and shook her gently. Finally, her eyes slowly focused on me. “Hi,” was all she said.

“What’s wrong?” I asked again.

The shy girl looked into my eyes for a few seconds, and I could see that she was worried again about something; same as the day before.

“What's she so afraid of?” I wondered. “What’s going on with you?” I asked.

She finally spoke slowly. “I, um…haven’t been sleeping.”

“Oh,” I said. “Well it’s been a crazy week, you know?”

She shook her head. “At all,” she said flatly.

“Well,” I said, “if you’re tired, you can go back to bed. I’ll be fine out here.”

She slowly shook her head again. “I’m not tired.”

I looked at her sideways, furrowing my brows. “When did you sleep last?” I asked.

“F-four days ago,” she answered. “When I slept for a really long time, um…Monday night.”

feel a twinge of uneasiness in my gut. ”That’s not right…” I thought to myself before speaking to her again. “…And you’re not tired?”

She shook her head again. Her eyes were still blank, staring off into space. “I’ve been awake for three days and I’m not tired. I can’t fall asleep, just like yo-“

She stopped suddenly, and her eyes went wide, looking directly into mine. After a few seconds, she turned her head to one side and raised a hand to her forehead, touching the band-aid on her temple; gently at first, but then she pressed on it quite firmly.

She glanced back at me with a look of terror in her eyes, and then turned and hurried down the hall towards her room.

I quickly followed her, finding her in the bathroom leaning over the vanity, looking at herself in the mirror. I couldn’t see her face because her left side was facing me and her hair was hanging down in a way that blocked her face from my view.

Fluttershy reached up, peeled off the band-aid and looked at herself again in the mirror, her hands beginning to tremble as I saw the spent band-aid fall from her fingers and land in the sink. She suddenly cupped her hands over her mouth and then turned to me; her eyes wide as saucers, and with pupils like pinpoints. Her hands trembled over her mouth, letting out small whimpers as her shaky breaths escaped between her fingers.

Then I saw it.

I looked at her forehead where the band-aid had been.

The wound was gone. Completely gone; like it was never there.

I couldn’t move.

I stood there and looked at Fluttershy, standing in her bathroom, trembling with panic.

“Whoa,” I thought. “What the fuck is happening?”

She suddenly charged out of the bathroom, shoving past me and heading back to the main room. Then, I heard the familiar sound of the gas stove turning on; the clicking of the igniter followed by the whoosh of the flame.

“What the hell is she doing?”

I walked back down the hall to the counter in the main room to find her doing something strange, something that filled me with shock and confusion.

She was bent over the stove, with the burner on high. The tall ring of blue fire was dancing around through the iron bars, and Fluttershy was holding a lock of her soft, pink hair in the flame.

“Whoa, what the hell are you–“ I shouted as I stepped forward to grab her and pull her back.

But then I stopped.

I looked at Fluttershy's hair as she continued to hold it directly in the flame.

It wasn’t burning.

The blue flames were simply fluttering around it. There was no smoke, her hair didn’t become charred or black; there was no effect at all. It was completely unharmed.

Finally, she stood straight, letting her hair drape back against her body as she stared into the dancing flames. Her face was emotionless. Her breathing was rhythmic.

Fluttershy then reached her hand out slowly, cautiously moving her slender, yellow fingers directly into the flames.

I instinctively reached to stop her, but again I paused when I saw her calmly watching the flames wrap and dance around her fingers; no burning, and no smoke whatsoever. She didn’t scream or react in the slightest.

I looked at her face, unsure of what to say as I watched her staring at her hand in a daze.

“How is this happening?” I thought. ”Has she become…like me?”

With the intention of keeping her calm, I slowly reached my hand into the fire with hers, slowly caressing her slender fingers as the blue flames licked both of our hands. I could feel the intense heat, but there was no pain.

There was never pain.

I slowly pulled her hand from the fire and held it between us. As I caressed her fingers, I could feel the heat that had been absorbed into her hand; hot enough to scald a normal person’s skin if she touched them at that moment.

Her eyes were locked on mine. ”W-what’s happening to me?” she whispered.

I stared back at her, with the answer to her question escaping me. I was the only one. Ever. That’s how it always was.

Why had this happened?

“Am I…l-like you?” she asked, her eyes widening as her thoughts began to race again.

“I don’t know,” I replied. “This isn’t possible. It’s never happened before.”

Next, I could see her jaw clenching, her eyes narrowing. “Did you do this to me?” she said in a harsh tone.

Nervousness started to creep up my spine, and I quickly shook my head. “No, listen–“

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?” she yelled suddenly, catching me off-guard.

I’d never heard Fluttershy's voice like this before. It was her voice, the same voice that I fell in love with, but it was growly, and loud. It was frightening to hear her like this, especially when her rage was directed at me.

She suddenly swung her fist at me in a feeble attempt to hit me in the chest. I caught it with my hand easily, stopping the attack.

“At least she doesn’t have her strength yet,” I thought, relieved.

I pulled her against me, pinning her arms at her sides as I wrapped my arms around her. “Stop, Flutters,” I said, “I didn’t do this to you; at least, I didn’t mean to, if I did.” I said, hoping she was listening.

Her body was trembling, and she began to sob on my shoulder, soaking my shirt as her worried eyes released a wave of tears that gushed down her cheeks like waterfalls.

“Listen to me,” I said. “This has never happened before. I don't know how it's even possible.”

Fluttershy shook her head in disbelief, her cheeks wet with tears; her mind racing.

“Let’s just sit down for a minute,” I suggested, not knowing what else to do. What do you say to someone who just found out they might be alive forever?

I started to turn us around to walk to the couch, but unexpectedly, she snaked loose from my arms and darted towards the hall to her bedroom.

“Dammit,” I whispered, rubbing my face in frustration, before following the shy girl to her room where I found her curled up, hiding under the covers on her bed.

I sat on the edge of the bed, reaching out to rub what I think was her back, through the covers. “Listen…” I tried to think of something comforting to say. “Maybe it’s just temporary.”

She didn’t respond.

I lifted the covers and poked my head underneath, where I met her pretty face; her moist, worried eyes shining in the dark. “What are you scared of?”

“Am I…going to be alive…f-forever?” she asked, her voice little more than a whisper.

It immediately broke my heart to hear the terror in her voice, to hear her breath quivering after she asked such a profound question with an innocence that would normally be sweet, but at this moment was painful to hear.

“What have I done?” I asked myself, feeling guilty for turning this poor girl's world upside down.

Sighing, I looked down at the mattress for a moment, then looked up at her again. “I don’t know,” I replied, “I’m sorry. I wish I could tell you that I knew what was going on, but I can't.”

She wiped her cheeks and sniffled a bit.

“Why don’t we sit up and talk?" I asked, reaching out to gently sweep away a lock of hair that had stuck to the moisture on her face. "We'll just talk, OK?”

She stared at me for a moment, and then finally nodded.

So, we lifted the covers off and sat next to each other, leaning with our backs against her headboard.

“I know this is probably the most, umm...insane thing to you right now,” I said, lacing my fingers together with hers to squeeze her hand tightly. “But…why are you afraid? Nothing can hurt you now.”

She stared at the ceiling, pursing her lips as a fresh tear ran down her left cheek. “I’m scared…o-of things changing; i-in the future. Everything’s going to be different, and I’m afraid I w-won’t be able to handle it,” she said, her voice quivering.

I glanced at her, taking in the sight of her beautiful, tear-soaked cheeks, then I looked down at the bed. “It’s OK, Flutters. Things change slowly. You’ll be fine. You're stronger than you think,” I told her.

“H-how do you know?” she asked, looking away from me.

“Because I was fine,” I answered, releasing her hand to wrap my arm around her shoulder. “I’ve been through it myself -- for a very long time -- and I’ll be here with you. You won’t have do this alone.”

The shy girl looked at me, finally showing a sense of comfort on her face. “R-really?”

“I won’t leave you alone,” I said, reassuringly. “I promise. I know it’s probably scary, but you’ll just live one day at a time, just like before.”

She sighed. “W-what should we do?”

“Let’s just relax and calm down for a bit. OK?” I suggested.

“..Um, O-OK” she said, resting her head on my shoulder.

We sat for a few minutes, listening to each other's soft breathing.

“Sunset is coming tomorrow morning to bring my keys,” I explained. “We should tell her.”

Fluttershy looked up at me again, surprised by the suggestion. “You think we should?”

I nodded.

I really didn’t know what else to do. I needed help to deal with this, and Sunset obviously seemed like she was their leader. Maybe she could help me…somehow.

I felt Fluttershy tense up next to me again. “A-are my friends going to…get old…and die?”

I closed my eyes tightly. This was a question that I was really hoping she wouldn't ask, especially since I knew that she already knew the answer. I looked away for a few moments, before finally nodding reluctantly.

Her eyes immediately filled with tears, sending them streaming down her cheeks once again as she buried her face in my shoulder, sobbing hard against me. I rested my head against the headboard, staring at the ceiling while she wept against me for what seemed like an eternity.

I genuinely felt bad for her. I couldn’t imagine what she was thinking; what her mind must have been going through.

Her world was about to change in a big way.

It had happened. Fluttershy had become immortal, and I had no idea how or why. It was strange to see; she still looked the same, acted the same, still had the same sweet voice, beautiful teal eyes, long, soft pink hair and pretty face. Except now, she would remain like this for all time, and could now survive things that an ordinary person's mind couldn't even begin to fathom.

As her sobs began to subside, I gave her a comforting, tight hug. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I know it’s hard thinking about your friends. It’s how I was feeling about you, not being around one day.”

She sniffled, her moist eyes staring down the hallway to the main room.

“You’ve gotta make the most of your time with them,” I said. “But, I know it’s hard; knowing what’s going to eventually happen with them.”

She squinted her eyes shut again, squeezing more tears down her cheeks, her lips trembling as they curled down under the weight of her sadness for her friends.

We sat there for close to an hour, not moving or speaking. I just wanted to let her think, to let her process it. Maybe it would be temporary like I thought earlier. Maybe not. Who knows?

She let out a shaky sigh. “Will you always be with me?” she finally asked.

I looked at her, then gave her a comforting smile. “Yeah. I can’t think of anything I would like more than spending eternity with you.”

Fluttershy finally smiled.

It was a tiny smile, but a smile nonetheless. Reaching around my waist, she pulled herself tighter against my side, seeking comfort from my body heat.

Then she said it.

“I love you, Goldie.”

Chapter 17: Saturday

Chapter 17

Sunset Shimmer rode her motorcycle down the winding road through the woods.

It was now Saturday morning and she was on her way to Fluttershy’s house to bring my keys back to me after Twilight had mistakenly brought them back to school with her.

Normally, Sunset would not make such a long trip just to bring someone their keys, but this situation was different; these keys belonged to someone that Sunset had spent the entire week thinking about non-stop and had become fascinated -- even borderline obsessed with in the process.

“Where has he lived?....What has he done?...Who has he known?...Did he influence any major events in this world's history?” she thought, her mind racing as the sound of the V-twin engine echoed off of the trees as they passed her by.

“What does he want with Fluttershy?” she continued. “What have they been doing out there all week, alone together?”

Like the engine beneath her, Sunset's mind droned on endlessly, even as she approached Fluttershy’s driveway. She rolled in and circled around before parking the bike, then shut off the engine and kicked the stand down and then finally, hung her helmet on the handlebar.

It was another beautiful day; sunny and warm, and not a cloud in the sky. Sunset stood in the driveway, stretching her back as she looked around, noticing the gravel looked like it had been levelled and raked and the tree that Pinkie had blown down was gone. It looked surprisingly normal, like nothing had happened the week before.

She decided to head inside and see how things were going.

Sunset opened the door slowly, knocking quietly. “Hello?” she called out, peeking her head inside.

The first thing she saw was me; sitting at the table with a cup of coffee.

“Oh hey,” I said, glancing toward the door when I noticed her.

Sunset heard the shy girl’s voice come from the couch next. “Is she here?”

“Yeah I’m here, Flutters,” Sunset answered, stepping inside and closing the door before taking off her boots. “Hey Golds,” she said as she took my keys out of her leather jacket and tossed them to me.

I saw them coming towards me from the corner of my eye as I took another sip of my coffee and quickly snapped my arm out to catch them without turning my head.

“Wow, good catch!” Sunset said, eyebrows raised.

Silently, I nodded, then took another sip.

By then, Fluttershy had gotten up from the couch and was approaching us at the table. “I’m glad you’re here, Sunset,” she said quietly.

“It’s good to see you too, Flutters.” Sunset raised a finger. “Could we just hold that thought? It was a long ride out here from the city, and I’ve gotta use the little girl’s room, if you don't mind.”

“Oh! Of course,” Fluttershy answered, gesturing down the hall and then folding both hands in front of her green skirt.

Sunset pranced quickly down the hall to use the bathroom. When she was done, she flushed the toilet and stood in front of the mirror, adjusting her fiery locks of hair, trying in vain to fluff out the helmet imprint left there from the long ride.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed a hand print on the mirror in the lower left corner. Not thinking much of it, she went back to checking her appearance; she looked at her eyes, making sure there was no gunk in the corners, then she gritted her teeth, checking for any bits of food stuck between them. She then noticed another hand print on the mirror, this time down in the lower right. It looked to her as though someone with wet hands had been leaning against the mirror.

“Hm,” she wondered aloud, chewing the inside of her cheek, but quickly decided not to dwell on it much. She headed back out to the main room to find Fluttershy and me sitting across from each other at the table, silent.

“Must have been a pretty quiet week here,” Sunset thought, watching us sit there like old people at a retirement home.

Sunset walked to the door to take off her jacket and then set it down on top of her boots. She was wearing a fuschia T-shirt with a large red and yellow sun on the chest, portrayed in a tribal style, below which resided a pair of tight blue jeans. She came back and leaned on the end of the table, looking at my girlfriend first, and then me.

"Um, so I wanted to apologize again for last week, Golds," Sunset said, scratching her earlobe somewhat nervously.

I looked up at her. "Hm?" I replied absentmindedly. "Oh, yeah...that was crazy."

As I returned my eyes to the steamy beverage before me, Sunset arched an eyebrow, noticing the strange lack of interest in what had happened the week before, which still had her feeling pretty overwhelmed; in fact, texting the other girls late in the week had revealed that all of them were still reeling from what they'd learned that night, even several days afterward. Wondering about the change in attitude, Sunset glanced at Fluttershy, who just stared down at the tabletop.

“Sooooo…” Sunset said, “how’d it go this week? Everything OK?”

I nodded. “Yep. We’re good.”

“Has it been this quiet here all week?” she inquired, curious to hear more.

I shook my head. “Um, no…not all the time,” I said, sounding like I was hinting at something.

Sunset frowned. “What’s going on here?” she wondered. “What does that mean, Golds? What happened?”

I looked at Fluttershy. “We’ve gotta tell her.”

The shy girl lifted her head slowly -- sitting with her arms wrapped around her waist in a very defensive posture -- to look at Sunset, who was looking back at her with a concerned brow.

“Is something wrong, Flutters?” Sunset asked. She recognized Fluttershy’s demeanor; it was something she’d gotten very familiar with during the time that she had bullied the pink-haired girl in high school over eight years ago, before she’d become her close friend.

I answered for my girlfriend. “Not really…wrong…per se…” I nodded to Fluttershy. “You might as well just show her.”

Fluttershy nodded silently and stood up. She made her way over to the knife block on the counter and pulled out a large cleaver. Without hesitation, she turned back to us and placed her left palm flat on the table in front of Sunset. With her other hand, she raised the cleaver above her head and swung it down hard, driving the blade across her fingers with a dull thud.

“FLUTTERSHY! WHAT THE FUCK?!” Sunset yelled, recoiling and turning away, covering her eyes with her forearm. She held that position for a few seconds, gritting her teeth, waiting to hear the shy girl's cries of pain.

But there was only silence.

Sunset finally decided to look, and slowly turned to face Fluttershy, curious to see what had happened. What she saw was Fluttershy looking back at her with the cleaver still resting on the back of her hand.

Incredulous, Sunset stared at the delicate, yellow fingers as Fluttershy lifted the blade away; her eyes wide when she saw that there was no damage done. “Uh…what in Tartarus just happened?”

Fluttershy then ran her fingers through her hair, exposing her forehead so the red-head could see where the wound from last week should have been.

Sunset quickly realised there was no wound there either.

Then, she looked at me. “What’s going on?” she asked, confused and frantic.

I shrugged. “I’ve got no fuckin idea,” I said. “We noticed it yesterday.”

Sunset leaned closer, glaring at me under her brows. “Noticed what?”

“Flutters is like me now.”

Stunned by the response, Sunset closed her eyes and shook her head. "Like him? How is this possible? Pressing her fingertips firmly to her temples, Sunset opened her eyes to watch the shy girl, who she'd known for a decade now as being meek, shy, scared of everything -- even loud noises; but who had just then -- to Sunset's utter shock -- tried with full intention to chop her own fingers off.

Unsuccessfully.

Of all the people in the world, who would ever expect such a girl -- the epitome of sweetness and innocence -- to become something so...unbreakable? How would this change her? What sort of things would she do in the centuries ahead?

All of these questions began to rush into Sunset's head at once, cluttering her mind with a swarm of voices as she stared blankly at the shy girl, watching as she quietly slid the cleaver into its home in the knife block, then folded her hands in front of herself and calmly made her way around the table to return to her seat.

The scene played out before the red-head, seemingly in slow motion and in a strange, muffled silence. She hadn't even noticed the question being asked of her, which had sounded like nothing but low murmurs in her ears as she stared absentmindedly at the harmless-looking animal lover.

The muffled voice rang out again, catching Sunset's attention this time. Jarringly snapped back to reality, she shifted her eyes onto me and quickly realised that I had been asking her something. The situation was rapidly overwhelming the red-head, so rather than trying to respond to whatever was said to her, she absentmindedly spit out a question of her own.

“Whoa, whoa, wait…you can give people your power?”

I chuckled casually. “Apparently. I didn’t know I could, but…here we are.”

Sunset furrowed her brows, confused. “But...you’ve never done it before?”

I shook my head. “No, ma'am. We’re not sure why it happened.”

“Oh,” Sunset said, her eyebrows rose as she realised that Fluttershy and I were just as befuddled about it as she was. Determined as always to be the problem solver of the group, she quickly decided to try to figure out how it happened. “OK, well…let’s go back. Trace your steps: what did you do this week?”

I took a deep breath, trying to remember how the week played out. “Well; Monday she slept all day while I fixed up the yard,” I started, shifting my eyes to the ceiling.

As I spoke, Sunset shook her head at herself for not thinking; she could read minds for crying out loud! Why bother asking these questions? “Oh hang on, duh! Let me just take a peek at her mind,” she huffed, stepping over to Fluttershy and reaching her hand out.

Not listening to the red-head, I had continued to ramble on about the week. ”Tuesday we had sex…uh...like, a lot.”

Sunset suddenly turned to me, her turquoise eyes wide with shock. Her fingertips were only inches from touching Fluttershy’s arm when she pulled back, stopping the mind read. “WHOA! Hey…you guys had sex?”

I looked at my girlfriend, hoping she wouldn’t be too embarrassed. She did blush a little, but nodded, looking up at Sunset.

“Wow,” the red-head said, then paused. “Just…next time give me a little more warning than that.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “Why?”

Sunset sighed, then gestured to Fluttershy. “I was about to read her. I would have seen it…you know…you guys; gettin it on.”

“Ah,” I replied. “Sorry.”

Sunset sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger as she turned around, walking back to the end of the table. “That’s the last thing I need after that time Rainbow Dash had that guy from her work spend the night,” she explained, with a shake of her head. “There were hand cuffs, and things going into places that shouldn’t have been…”

I grimaced. “Yeesh, you read her after that?” I asked.

“No!” Sunset said bluntly, glaring at me. “Well, not intentionally; fucking Rainbow came up and grabbed my hand on purpose so I would see it. She thought it was pretty damn funny,” she sighed, shaking her head again. “Real fucking funny, Dash!” she muttered to herself before turning back to us. “I couldn’t look her in the face for two weeks after that.”

Fluttershy and I watched her for a few seconds.

I won’t lie, I smirked a little at Dash’s prank.

Sunset finally ran a hand down her face, letting her palm slide off of her chin before bringing herself back to Fluttershy’s situation. “OK, so you guys had sex,” she paused, floored yet again by the revelation. “Wow, really?” She looked at Fluttershy and smirked, showing a bit of admiration for the shy girl, who'd finally decided to come out of her shell, which was good; except for the unexpected conundrum she now found herself in.

Fluttershy was immortal. Indestructible. Forever young.

She was never going to die.

The stark reality of it struck the red-head all over again, and she began to rub her chin when another thought came to her.

“Oh...shit," said Sunset, remembering suddenly what she’d just seen in the bathroom. "Well, that explains the hand prints on the mirror."

"Oh," I replied, after a second's confusion. "That was from the third time, actually. I was drilling Flutters over the counter and she-"

"OK shut up!" Sunset shouted, closing her eyes and waving me off with both hands. "Holy shit, you guys," she glared at Fluttershy, who innocently shrugged her shoulders and stared back with a face of scarlet.

“Well,” Sunset continued after a short pause, “Wouldn’t that be it? The reason she became like you; cuz you guys had sex?”

I was already shaking my head before she finished. “No, it’s got nothing to do with that,” I replied. “I’ve been with lots of women over the years and they’re all dead now, so...yeah.”

Sunset chewed on her bottom lip, ruminating to herself as her eyes shifted up to the ceiling. “Hm…”

We remained silent for a minute.

Then Sunset looked at me suddenly, cocking an eyebrow. “Wait; did any of those women happen to have Equestrian magic?”

I drew in a breath to answer. “Well,” but then I stopped. “Hang on…” I thought. “Oh shit!” The realisation hit me like a ball-peen hammer to the forehead, and I looked at Fluttershy, who was staring at me with vacant eyes.

“No,” I answered flatly, as I turned to face Sunset again.

“That’s gotta be it then!” Sunset proclaimed, slapping the table. “Fluttershy’s magic did something, and must have made her become like you.”

I shook my head, confused. “Wait, slow down...how would that even work? And why would it happen?” I found myself looking to Sunset for the answers now; she was obviously the bigger expert on that magic, which was from her world.

“I don’t know,” she answered. “Back home, I knew all about Equestrian magic; but in this world, it’s got a mind of its own. I can never predict what it’s going to do here.”

Fluttershy listened intently, but remained silent. What must have been going through her mind?

“OK, how about this,” Sunset offered. ”Did you guys use protection?”

Fluttershy and I shook our heads.

“Uh…why?” I asked, unsure of what that had to do with anything.

“Well, you said last week that no woman you’ve been with has ever conceived. Maybe Fluttershy’s magic allowed her to conceive, but instead of creating a 'new' life,” Sunset said, doing air quotes, “maybe it created ‘everlasting' life, like yours.”

My girlfriend and I looked at each other to gauge each other’s reactions.

Was this possible?

With an exasperated groan, Sunset suddenly buried her face in her hands and scolded herself. “No, that makes no sense. Come on, Sunset!”

I shook my head, pointing a finger at her. “No, wait; that’s a decent theory,” I said. “There’s just no way to prove it, that's all.”

Sunset slid her hands partway down her face, enough to uncover her eyes so she could look around the room for a bit, before leaning with her hands on the table, letting her head hang down as she thought; red and yellow locks of wavy hair sweeping the smooth table top. “Well, what would Twilight say?” she thought out loud.

Sunset lifted her head, stood up straight and put one finger in the air, imitating Twilight’s voice, saying: “In science, to prove a theory, you must conduct experiments that show consistent and repeatable results that support your idea.”

I frowned at the suggestion. “Repeatable results?” I muttered. “What is she saying? That I should fuck anoth-“

I stopped when I realised something. “Oh shit!”

Looking across the table at Fluttershy, I could tell right away that she was about to have the very same revelation because she was staring back at me; frozen in place, her mouth gaping with a look of utter shock her eyes. Gasping, she covered her mouth for a brief second, then, speaking for the first time during the conversation, shouted:

“RARITY!”

Chapter 18: The Call

Chapter 18

“WHAT?” Sunset shouted, her face contorted with confusion and disbelief of the revelation she'd just received. “YOU GUYS DID WHAT?...IN THE HOT TUB?...WITH RARITY?...LIKE, ARE YOU SERIOUSLY FUCKING KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW?”

My girlfriend and I nodded quietly, sitting at the table, looking like a couple of kids in the Principal’s office.

After a short pause, Sunset managed to calm herself a bit and she rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. “I don’t even know you guys anymore,” she muttered before locking her eyes on me, staring with pure intensity.

“Whoa,” I said, raising my index finger. “You actually don’t really know me. Besides, the whole thing was her idea.” I pointed toward Fluttershy with my thumb.

Sunset shifted her eyes to the pink-haired girl with a look of shock on her face, making Fluttershy look down and blush.

I felt bad right away for throwing her under the bus. “Sorry,” I said to her.

Fluttershy brought her face up to look at me. “No, it’s OK. It was my idea. I set it all up.”

Sunset tipped her head back and looked at the ceiling, folding her arms. “Wow, Flutters. Of all people, you’re the last one I expected to get into something like that,” she said, looking at Fluttershy again with her brows furrowed. “How in Tartarus did you talk Rarity into it, anyway? She’s always been so prim and proper; and yet, you talked her into a threesome with you two?”

I cut in. “Flutters was amazing; she knew exactly what she was doing, and we all had a great time, thanks to her." I smiled at my girlfriend, who had a shimmer of pride sparkling in her eyes.

Sunset’s eyebrows rose, clearly surprised by the seemingly demure girl’s tenacity, but then she shook the thought from her head, bringing herself back to the situation we now found ourselves in. “Wait wait; let’s get back on track,” Sunset ordered, and with a shake of her head and a wave of her hand, she took a seat at the chair two spots down from Fluttershy. “OK; so...you guys fucked Rarity, and now you think she might have gotten Golds' immortality too?”

I chuckled at the absurdity of the sentence. ”There’s something you don’t hear everyday.”

“Is this funny?” Sunset looked at me, annoyed.

“No,” I answered quickly. “Well, actually…yeah, kind of. It's just…the way you said it was funny.”

Sunset glared at me for a moment, then shook her head and drew in a deep breath for the next question; making it apparent that she was quite comfortable having to bring it up. “So I take it that means you…you know," -- she waved her hand in a circle as her eyes went to the ceiling, trying to find an easy way of phrasing it -- "in Rarity?” she finally asked, biting her lip awkwardly.

"Blew my load in her? Yes," I said plainly, with a nod. “Flutters made me do it. She wanted to watch.”

Sunset looked at Fluttershy again, eyes wide; evidently she was learning a lot about her shy friend that day...although she had serious doubts that there was much arm-twisting involved in getting me to go along with it.

Fluttershy shrugged timidly. “T-technically, Rarity did it, not Goldie. She was on top, and she rode him until he...um-”

Sunset grimaced, looking away with her hand raised, signalling Fluttershy to stop. “Alright, I get it...I don’t need the details, guys,” she said, sighing as she slowly turned back to look at me first, then Fluttershy. “So, what? Like, you guys haven't heard of using protection?”

I shook my head, shrugging. “Why would we? Nothing like this has ever happened before. How was I supposed to know this magic that you guys have would cause this to happen? As far as I was concerned, I’ve basically just been sterile all this time since my shit never worked on anyone.”

Sunset rubbed her chin for a moment, considering my response. “OK, fine. I guess you have a point there.”

“Shouldn’t we tell her?” Fluttershy finally spoke up. “I mean, um...what’s done is done, but she deserves to know.”

Sunset and I both looked at Fluttershy for a brief moment, then Sunset nodded in agreement. “Yeah, you’re right, Flutters. We’ve gotta tell her.”

I put my hands up, stopping them before they got ahead of themselves. “Now wait a minute, we don’t even know if anything happened to her yet; we’re just assuming that little theory of yours is correct. We should probably find out if she's actually turned first, before we go and say to her: 'Hey! Guess what? You're not gonna believe this, but: blah blah blah, you're fucking immortal; crazy, eh?'”

“Shit. You’re right,” Sunset replied, tilting her head back and rubbing the kinks out of her neck. “This is SO fucked up,” she muttered to herself. "Last week, we find out that you're indestructible, over two-millennia old and super-strong; and now: this week, you've had sex with not one, but two of us, and spread your power to Fluttershy for sure, possibly Rarity, too."

“You should call her,” I suggested, pointing a finger at Sunset.

She looked at me, surprised, her eyes wide. “What? Why me?”

“I don’t think it should be either of us,” I explained, pointing to myself and my girlfriend. “She might think it’s weird after what happened, and may be reluctant to talk. Just call her like you’re having a chat: ask her about her week; she was falling behind when we saw her that day. See if she says anything that might indicate…you know…”

Sunset sighed, taking out her phone. ”OK fine,” she replied, sounding reluctant to go through with it.

“But don’t ask too much, she might get suspicious,” I instructed. “She’s obviously going to avoid talking about the threesome, so don’t talk like you know too much.”

Sunset nodded again. “OK, got it,” she said. “I’m going to put it on speaker so you guys can hear her too, but you guys need to be quiet, K?”

Fluttershy and I nodded, ready to proceed.

Sunset put her phone on the table top. Using her finger, she scrolled through her contacts until she found Rarity's profile. I could see her finger shaking as she tapped Rarity’s name and the phone icon appeared on the screen with the caption: ‘calling: Rarity.’

Sunset let out a nervous sigh as the sound of the phone ringing filled the room.

It rang quite a few times. We were starting to think she might not answer, and Sunset had begun to look relieved when we heard a clicking sound, followed by Rarity’s voice over the speaker.

“Sunset Shimmer, darling! How are you?” Rarity greeted.

It caught Sunset off-guard a bit after expecting no answer, and she had to force herself to reply quickly. “Uh…hey, Rare! I’m good, how are you?” she answered.

“I am simply wonderful! What can I do for you?” Rarity asked.

“For me?” Sunset asked, losing her train of thought.

“Well yes, darling; you called me,” Rarity answered.

“Uh, oh right…I did,” Sunset said, shaking her head after the bumbling response. “Well…uh, I just got into town this morning and…uh, I was wondering what everyone was up to.”

I gave Sunset a thumbs-up for her recovery.

“Oh, yes,” Rarity replied. “I was thinking about the Saturday dinner this morning; nothing was ever decided for today after all the excitement last week at Fluttershy’s.”

“Oh, yeah I hadn’t heard anything either,” Sunset said.

“Well, I was thinking of having it at my place this week…you know, to let Fluttershy have a break," Rarity offered. "The poor thing’s been through so much lately.”

“Uh-huh…” Sunset said, unable to ignore the irony in the fashionista's statement as she locked eyes with the shy girl, who had just realised less than a day ago that she might live forever.

“I thought we would order in some food, sit and relax and enjoy each other’s company; perhaps we could listen to some stories from our new” -- she cleared her throat -- "friend?" Rarity's expression was laced with a slight coyness, followed by what sounded like a quiet, flirtatious giggle, making Sunset give an unimpressed glance in my direction. “Is Twilight with you?” Rarity continued, sounding like she'd realised her tone was simpering and had quickly composed herself, changing the subject.

“No,” Sunset answered. “Twi’s still in the city; she’ll be down later. I can let her know about the dinner for you, if you want.”

“If you could, darling; that would be splendid,” Rarity replied. “I still have to send messages to the others to let them know as well, so you looking after Twilight would be one less thing for me to worry about.”

“Yeah, no problem,” Sunset said.

“Thank you, darling,” Rarity replied.

There was a short, awkward silence; the kind that occasionally happens on the phone when speaking to someone you don't normally call, especially when the individual in question has done something rather unexpected: like having a threesome with the shyest girl ever, then inadvertently and unknowingly becoming a possible demi-god in the process.

This is why Sunset preferred texting!

I waved my hand in a circle at the red-head, signifying her to keep steering the conversation to get more information from Rarity.

“Uh,” Sunset broke the silence. “So, how was your week?”

“Oh my goodness, darling, what a week!” Rarity cried. “The first half was dreadful: it was SO busy; some of the pieces I was working on weren’t coming out the way I wanted and I was falling WAY behind.”

“Uh-huh…” Sunset mumbled, just to acknowledge that she was listening.

My heart had begun to race, wondering what Rarity was going to say next. I can only imagine how Fluttershy felt. I glanced over at her; she was sitting in her chair, chewing her thumbnail nervously as she stared at the tabletop, listening intently to the conversation.

“I was at my wit’s end by mid-week, so Wednesday evening I decided to relax a bit and…hehe…take a ‘load’ off; sort of a mid-week recharge,” Rarity said, giggling playfully.

Sunset groaned silently and closed her eyes, shaking her head. Quite obviously, Rarity was unaware that Sunset knew about the threesome, nor did she know that Fluttershy and I were listening when she dropped that horrendously-timed sex pun. It made for an uncomfortable moment, to say the least.

I covered my face with my hand, sighing with embarrassment. “Oh Jesus, Rare...wow. Just, wow.”

Fluttershy had her hands over her face as well, mortified for her friend.

“Mmmmm, anyway,” Rarity continued as Sunset cringed, “the last half of the week, everything came together and I actually managed to get caught up. I don’t know how I did it, I must have caught my second wind; I worked into the wee hours of the morning Thursday night, then I got home and couldn’t fall asleep -- it must have been the adrenaline, darling -- so I went back early yesterday morning and kept working. I worked all day yesterday and right on through the night; I just finished the last order and left the boutique about an hour ago, and am on my way to personally deliver them to my clients. I feel like I could take on the world, I have so much energy! I simply do not know where it all came from!”

By the time she was finished her spiel, my skin was crawling with goosebumps and my stomach felt like it was going to leap out of my mouth. “Holy shit, she’s not sleeping either,” I thought to myself as I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples with my fingertips.

I looked at Fluttershy next, who had her hands pressed to the sides of her head, with her eyes open wide. She opened her mouth, silently mouthing the word: ‘FUUUUUUUCK!’

Sunset had momentarily forgotten about the no-sleeping aspect of my existence, and was looking at Fluttershy and me with one eyebrow cocked.

I silently put my hands together, put them to the side of my face and closed my eyes, tilting my head to the side, pretending to be asleep. Then I looked back at her and shook my head, indicating: ‘no sleep’.

Sunset stared vacantly at me for a few seconds, confused by the gesture.

Then she understood.

Her eyes got wide, her pupils shrinking to pinpoints as she slapped her hand over her mouth in shock.

The three of us sat there, holding our breath and staring at each other in silence after hearing her confirmation: Rarity had most likely become an immortal, like me and Fluttershy.

“Darling, are you there?” Rarity’s voice sounded from the speaker again.

Sunset blinked and gave her head a shake. “Uh, yeah…sorry Rare, I was just looking at some weird guy across the street,” Sunset lied.

“Ah yes darling, there is certainly no shortage of those around, ah-haha!” Rarity quipped.

Sunset struggled to think of something to say. She desperately wanted to get off the phone now. “So you haven’t slept in two days, Rare? Are you sure you want to host the dinner tonight? Aren’t you tired?”

“Nonsense, darling! I feel wonderful!” Rarity replied. “Although, I might try to have a nap in a bit, but I doubt I will. I feel like I never need to sleep again; I simply do not know where all this energy came from!”

“From my dick...” I thought, shaking my head.

“OK,” Sunset said, trying wrap up the call, “I’d better let you go so you can try to get some rest. What time is everyone showing up?”

“Oh whenever, darling. Anytime after one or so,” Rarity answered. “Remember to bring a bathing suit in case you want to a have a dip in the hot tub!”

Sunset glanced at me and Fluttershy before answering. “Uh…yeah, probably not.”

“Ok, well suit yourself, darling. I have some swim suits here if you change your mind,” Rarity replied.

“OK, I’ll see you around one or two then, Rare,” Sunset concluded.

“OK darling. Ta-ta!”

“Bye,” Sunset replied, then pressed the 'end call' button.

For an unknown amount of time -- hours, for all we knew -- the three of us sat there at the table; Sunset was staring at the counter, idly chewing her bottom lip, Fluttershy was sitting with her hands loosely covering her mouth, staring down at the tabletop, and I looked around the room for a few moments, before I finally decided to speak.

“Shit…” I said, cocking my head. "That is one satisfied girl."

Sunset and Futtershy looked at me, unable to decide if they should laugh of throw something at me.

I looked at the shy girl. “You’re right. We have to tell her,” I said. “Tonight.”

Sunset paused, then nodded in agreement.

“She’s going to figure it out eventually anyway,” Fluttershy said. “It might scare her if things start happening and she doesn’t know what’s going on.”

“OK: we’ll stay later and tell her after everyone else is gone,” Sunset decided. “And at some point we’re going to have to tell the others, too.”

“We have to be a hundred percent sure though,” I said.

They looked at me, confused.

“But…she’s not sleeping,” Fluttershy replied, confused. "Doesn't that pretty much mean that...um..."

“I know,” I interjected, ”we just need to make sure it’s not just a fluke, or that she’s not on coke or something.”

Fluttershy frowned. “Rarity’s not a coke-head!”

I raised my hands to calm her. “I’m just saying; sometime tonight, one of us should do something to her…to test her.”

“Like what?” Sunset asked.

“Something small,” I replied, “like, seeing if we can cut a little bit of her hair or something. If it won’t cut, then we’ll know.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Sunset nodded, “as long as we don’t get caught. If Rare catches you fucking with her hair, she'll shit in your mouth and make you swallow it.”

“I’ll do it,” Fluttershy blurted out suddenly.

What, shit in my mouth?" I asked, scowling at the suggestion.

"No!" she replied, frustrated, while Sunset rubbed her temples and closed her eyes. "I mean, I'll try to cut Rarity's hair. I can get close to her a lot easier than you guys."

“Oh OK,” I said, relieved. "Yeah, that makes a bit more sense."

Once we had all agreed on the plan, Sunset decided to head back to town. She had a few more things to do, and I wanted to go to my place to get my truck.

Sunset put her boots and jacket on, then opened the door to leave. She paused to looked at us, raising her eyebrows with a slow exhale; giving us a ‘here goes nothing’ kind of look.

“Thanks,” I said as she turned to leave.

She stopped and looked at me, caught off-guard by my gratitude.

“For helping us figure this out. We couldn’t have done it without you, and we wouldn’t have known about Rarity,” I explained.

“Oh…well, it’s no problem,” she replied, with a shrug.

Fluttershy joined me at my side and rested her head on my shoulder as Sunset looked at us with a smile.

“At least you guys aren’t a weird couple anymore,” Sunset smirked. “You’re both the same now; it’s actually kind of sweet.”

Fluttershy and I looked at each other, smiling. I gave her a little kiss on the forehead then rested my cheek on her temple, looking back at Sunset who was now stepping outside.

“Bye,” the red-head said as she reached back to close the door behind her.

I was really starting to like Sunset. I had thought my initial impression of her being someone you didn’t want to piss off was correct, but now I see that her confrontation with me the week before was a decision made in haste, not because she was a bitch, but to protect her friends; a perfectly understandable mistake on her part, and one that was easier to overlook that more I got to know her.

Now that I could see how intelligent and strong she really was, it was easy to see why the others looked to her as a leader.

And she was a caring friend.

Her magical ability was also a great asset. She didn’t even use it today and she still figured out how Fluttershy had changed. If she was to combine the mind-reading with her excellent critical thinking and problem solving skills, she would be a very powerful ally in war.

Hell, I’d kept my secret hidden for over a decade and she figured it out the same day she met me, without even trying. Now that is something to take notice of.

Chapter 19: Stories n' Stogies

Chapter 19

I decided to have Fluttershy take me to get my truck and show her where I had been living for the past several years.

She almost didn’t believe me when I told her where to turn. “You live way back here?” she asked, surprised.

I nodded.

As we pulled up my driveway, she saw my truck parked facing the large, square metal building.

She looked at the place, unsure of what to think. I got out of her little SUV, walking towards my truck. I stopped after a few steps and turned back to her.

“You want a tour?” I asked.

I could see her nod through her windshield as she opened her door and got out. She walked towards me, taking my hand as we walked to the gray metal door. I could see the ruts in the ground near the door where I had pushed against Twilight’s force magic. I pointed them out to my girlfriend who shook her head with a smirk when she saw them.

“I can’t believe you were able to break loose from her magic…” Fluttershy said. “Twilight is the strongest of all of us.”

I smiled, having a bit of pride in myself at the reminder of the things that I could do.

I opened the door and let Fluttershy enter first. Seeing her here with her pretty pink hair, her little white tank top, green skirt and tall green boots made me a little nervous. I couldn’t believe she was finally here, but she stuck out like a sore thumb. It didn’t feel quite right.

She stood there, looking around at all the machinery. I could see her scrunching her nose at the smell of used oil, diesel exhaust, cutting fluids and bare metal.

“You…live here?” she asked, looking at me with sad eyes. “All alone?”

“Seven years.” I said.

She looked at me, then back at the room filled with cold, heartless equipment. “But…how?”

“There’s a little room over there with a couch and a TV and a shower…” I said.

I took her in there to show her, but I found myself embarrassed by how run down, dirty and tattered it looked. It was worse than I remembered.

“What was I thinking living here?” I wondered, surprised by my old self.

My girlfriend looked at me with a tear in her eye. “You poor guy…” she said, wrapping her arms around me and hugging me tightly. “You can’t stay here anymore.” She said.

We separated and I looked at her. “What?” I asked, surprised.

“Unless, you really want to…” she said, letting her head drop to look at the floor.

I looked around. “Why would I want to stay here...for any reason other than habit…?” I thought.

“All my shit is here…” I said.

Fluttershy shook her head, looking back up at me. “I-I want to you to come and live with me. It’s close to this place and you can come here when you need to work on your stuff…Besides, I don’t want to stay at home alone either.”

I looked at her. I did love being at her place…and I loved her. She had a point, this place was close and all my stuff would be safe here.

“OK.” I said.

She gave me a big smile and kissed me softly on the lips. “I’m so glad you’ll be staying with me; you won’t regret it. I promise,” she said, leaning in and flicking my left earlobe with her tongue.

“Whoa…hey…” I said, eliciting a sweet giggle from her.

We decided to leave. On the way back to the door she asked me what kinds of things I work on here.

“Well, the last big project was actually on my truck.” I started. “A couple years ago at work we had a big dump truck that went off the side of a bridge. The frame was twisted so it was a write-off, but it had a big Detroit Diesel in it with a big turbo…so I took the turbo out of it before they scrapped it and I made up some mounts and charge pipes and I put it in my truck along with the turbo that’s already in it. Then I ordered some injector tips from a bigger application from Canterlot Injection Service and installed those and re-popped the injectors…I tweaked the injection pump timing, rack travel limiter, governor springs…then it blew the transmission from all the extra power so I rebuilt that with better clutch packs and a better torque converter and did some valve body tweaking. Then it blew the head gasket, so I cut some o-ring grooves in the block, ported the head and installed studs to hold the head on, and –“

Fluttershy was starting off into space as I realized I was rambling…she looked back at me when I stopped talking.

“Sorry,” I said. ”I tend to ramble about my truck sometimes. My boss hates it, too.”

“Oh! No, I don’t hate it,” she said, “I just don’t really know what you’re talking about. But…I think it’s cute…that you like to tinker.”

“Yeah.” I said, smiling as we stepped outside.

“It makes me feel better…” she said.

“About what?” I said, locking the door.

“That you know how to work on this kind of technology, after living so long without it…” she said. “It makes me believe that I’ll be able to keep up when things get more advanced.”

I put my arm around her. “You’ll be fine. Trust me.” I said. “Now let’s go to your best friend’s place so we can tell her she became immortal after I fucked her in the hot tub.”

Fluttershy laughed out loud, which was a rare thing for her to do. She shook her head…”I still can’t believe any of this is happening.” She said.

“I know…it’s fuckin nuts.” I said, as I started towards my truck.

I stopped after a couple of steps, then looked at her as she headed to her vehicle.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“We both don’t need to drive.” I said. “Let’s leave the truck here and we’ll get it on the way home.”

She smiled. “OK”

We both got into her vehicle and headed for Rarity’s…wondering what was going to happen later in the evening.

*****

We pulled up to Rarity’s town house and parked. I felt a little twinge in my stomach as I saw the place, remembering what happened the last time I was here.

Some of the other familiar cars were there, too. It looked like they had to car pool since parking in the complex was limited.

As we approached the front door, Fluttershy turned the knob and we let ourselves in. We took off our boots and walked through the front hall into Rarity’s living room. Twilight, Pinkie and Dash were sitting on the large black leather couch watching something on the TV.

They all perked up when they saw us walk in. “HEY!” they greeted us in unison.

“How’s your noggin?” Dash asked.

“Oh,” Fluttershy reached up to gently touch the new band-aid she had put on to hide the fact that the injury had disappeared. “Um, it’s OK.”

“We heard you took good care of her all week, Goldie-Woldie!” Pinkie started. “Good job, buddy!” she said loudly, giving me a thumbs-up.

I nodded. “It was nothing, really.” I said.

“Did you get your keys from Sunset?” Twilight asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, I did. Thanks.” I said.

“No problem.” She said. “Sorry I forgot to give them back to you last week.”

“No worries. Turns out I didn’t really need them anyway.” I said.

“Where’s Rarity?” Fluttershy asked.

“In her room, I think.” Dash said. “She’s been acting all weird today. Overtired, I think.”

“I’ll go see her.” My girlfriend said, giving me a little peck on the cheek before she jogged over to the stairs in the right hand corner of the room.

The three girls on the couch looked surprised by the kiss. “Whooooaaaa, Flutters!” Pinkie hollered as Twilight giggled.

I stood there for a minute, wondering where Sunset was.

“Is Sunset on her way?” I asked.

“She’s here.” Dash said, pointing with her thumb to the patio door. “Out on the deck.”

“Oh, OK.” I said. “I’m gonna go say hi.”

They silently continued to watch the TV as I went over to the sliding door at the left of the room.

When I opened the door and stepped out, I was hit with the strong smell of cigar smoke.

“Are there dudes here?” I wondered.

I rounded the corner, expecting to see at least one guy out there…and also wondering if Sunset had decided to use the hot tub. What I saw was Applejack and Sunset Shimmer, standing on the deck smoking cigars by themselves.

My eyes immediately went to the hot tub, which was now covered. Rarity must have decided that she didn’t want her friends sitting in a tub full of her sex juices, even if the tub had a filter system.

“Hey there, partner!” AJ said, with a cloud of smoke billowing from her mouth as she spoke.

I nodded to her as I walked over to them. “Hey.” I said back.

I headed for the little table with the two chairs, passing Sunset on the way. I looked at her as I passed. “Hi, Sunset.” I said.

“Hey.” She said, trying to be casual. She wasn’t really smoking the cigar at that moment, just kind of twirling in between her fingers.

I passed both girls and sat down at the little patio set, letting my arm rest on the table top.

We hung out there in silence for a minute before AJ spoke up. “I saw your picture there, sugarcube. The one from World War II. Pretty crazy.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I can’t believe Twilight found that.”

“Twilight can find anything.” Sunset said, placing the cigar between her lips, letting it just sit in her mouth.

“So, you’ve been in a bunch of wars, huh?” AJ continued. “You must be a tough cookie…no wonder you made fools of us in Fluttershy’s driveway.”

I shrugged. “I’ve been around the block once or twice, yeah.” I said. “I didn’t actually fight in World War II though.”

“Really?” AJ said, surprised. “Why not?”

“They wouldn’t let me.” I explained. “They didn’t know yet at the time if the Germans had nukes or anything like that…so the Allies wouldn’t let me go directly into battle because if the Germans saw me and thought we had super-soldiers, they might escalate to using their nukes or whatever…if they had them. The Germans had a way of pulling things out of their asses like that. The Allies just didn’t want to take the chance.”

“Ah, that makes sense.” AJ said.

“Well, what doesn’t make sense is that the Americans turned around and used their own nukes on Japan.” I said, with a pause. “I love Japan…I spent many years there a long time ago. I was so fuckin pissed at them for dropping on Hiroshima. Fucking hypocrites.”

The girls both shook their heads.

“War sucks.” Sunset said. “So what did you do in the war?”

“I was a strategist.” I explained. “I helped plan the invasion of Normandy…helped figure out a way to get the Germans to think we were going to attack somewhere else so our planned target would be less heavily guarded.”

AJ shook her head. “That’s crazy. What a fucked up time that must have been to live in.” she said.

“Yeah…it was.” I said, trying not to let the memories of that time return. “About two-thirds of the other guys in that picture with me didn’t walk away from that beach.”

AJ sighed, shaking her head again.

We were silent for a few minutes. Sunset took the cigar from her mouth and spoke up as AJ took another drag. “I was thinking about the sirens this week…”

“The sirens?” AJ said with the cigar in her mouth, muffling her speech a bit. “What were you thinkin about those bitches for?”

“Just, like…about how they were here for 1000 years…” Sunset started. “That means you shared this world with them for that long, Golds. I just thought that was kind of crazy…”

“Yeah it is, now that you mention it.” AJ said, blowing a stream of smoke from her lips.

“What are the sirens again?” I asked.

“They were the three sisters…I’m not sure if they actually are sisters though…that were banished here from my world.” Sunset explained. “When I came here and brought that magic with me, they sensed it and moved in pretty quickly to try to take it. But we stopped them.”

AJ shook her head. “You stopped them, Sunset. We couldn’t have done it without you.”

“It was all of us.” Sunset said.

“So, what…are they dead?” I asked.

“Nah,” AJ said. “We just took away their power.”

Sunset gestured to her chest. “They wore these ruby pendants…that’s where they got their power. Our magic destroyed them so now they’re just normal women. I’m not sure if they age now…if we see them in twenty years, we’ll know.”

“What kind of power?” I asked.

“They could control people with their singing and make them act like assholes.” AJ said. “Then the sirens would feed on the negative energy.”

I started thinking…something about this seemed familiar. I frowned and looked at the girls. “Did the lead one have lots of orange hair?”

“Yeah, why? Have you seen them before?” Sunset asked, showing sudden interest.

I nodded slowly as my memories started coming back. “Yeah…I remember those cunts…” I said, which got a chuckle out of AJ. “You heard of the Salem Witch Trials?” I asked.

Applejack’s eyes widened…”Yeah…”

“Who do you think caused it?” I asked her.

AJ slapped her forehead under her hat. “No shit…” she said in amazement.

Sunset looked confused. “What are the Salem Witch Trials?”

I looked at Sunset, suddenly remembering she’s not from this world. I started explaining: “In the late 1600’s there were about twenty people executed after being falsely accused of witchcraft.” I said. “The history books will tell you it was because of poor judicial practices, religion getting out of hand, mistaken disease, isolationism…” I shook my head. “I was there. It wasn’t any of those things…people are crazy, but not that crazy. It was those fuckin sisters you were talking about.”

AJ shook her head. “That’s Fuckin unreal.” She said, taking another drag of her cigar.

“So what happened?” Sunset asked. “How did it stop?”

“I happened.” I said.

They raised their eyebrows.

“I didn’t permanently take away their powers like you guys did,” I continued, ”but I happened to be in the area and saw what had been going on…for almost a damn year by that time…they were using their voices to get people acting like nutcases. That shit didn’t work on me though, so I was able to convince them to leave.”

“Convince them?” Sunset asked.

“Well…” I said. “Put it this way, if you see them again, ask the one with the purple hair to give you a thumbs-up…I bet it won’t point straight.”

Sunset cringed. “You broke her thumb?”

“She’s lucky that’s all I did…and she knows it.” I said.

AJ chuckled, shaking her head. “You fight a little different than we do, I guess. We basically just join hands and all-of-the-sudden there’s rainbows and fuckin lasers ‘n shit…sounds to me like you’re just a full-on, tough-ass brawler.”

I nodded. “You could say that.” I said. “But it sounds like you guys had the right approach since you took care of them permanently.”

“Fight fire with fire.” Sunset said. “Equestrian magic is most effectively taken care of by other Equestrian magic.”

“Hm.” I nodded. “So where are they now?” I asked.

Sunset blew a thin stream of smoke from her mouth. “I heard rumors that they’re in the city…as well as Canterlot, but I’ve never seen them. Apparently their attitudes haven’t improved much…so I’ve heard.”

“No big surprise there.” AJ replied.

We pondered in silence for a few minutes.

I sighed. “Small world, eh?”

“Eeyup.” AJ said.

We stayed quiet for another few minutes. Sunset was holding her cigar between her fingers while chewing nervously on her thumbnail of the same hand. I saw her looking at the covered hot tub, then glancing up at me before quickly turning away once she knew I was looking at her.

Applejack was standing close to me. She took a drag of her cigar…then lowered it to her side as she leaned her head back and exhaled a long stream of smoke from her mouth up towards the vine-covered lattice. Then her eyes seemed to lock onto something. She squinted, trying to focus on what it was. “What the hell…?” she said, walking over to the lattice, reaching up and plucking down a small purple garment.

The fire-haired girl started taking a drag of her cigar as AJ studied the object for a second.

“Aw man…it’s someone’s damn bikini bottoms!” AJ said with surprise.

Sunset suddenly coughed very loudly, causing a cloud of smoke to erupt around her head and launching her cigar across the deck towards the lattice, where it escaped through one of the small openings into the yard beyond.

“Oh shit…” I thought to myself as I watched the scene unfold.

Sunset was waving the smoke from around her head while coughing hard into her fist, her eyes watering up, wetting her lower eyelashes.

“Holy shit, Sunset…You OK?” AJ asked.

Sunset nodded while continuing to cough.

“I have one more stogie if you want…” AJ offered.

Sunset shook her head, finally catching her breath. “I’m good,” she croaked. “I’m gonna head inside, I think.”

“Well, OK then.” AJ said as Sunset rounded the corner. I could hear the door sliding open...then closed again, muffling the last few coughs that the red-head let out.

Applejack walked up to the lattice, peering through the small openings, looking to see if she could find the cigar in the yard. “Dang, that’s too bad. I wonder where it went?” She said, standing on her tip toes trying to get a better view. “Ah, oh well.” She said, finally turning around. She took a couple steps towards me, before stopping to take another drag of her cigar.

I watched her as she let her cigar-holding hand drop to her hip as she looked down, raising the purple garment in her other hand slightly to study it. She parted her lips, letting a thick ribbon of smoke slowly pour out of her mouth…it floated up in front of her face, hitting the brim of her hat and billowing around the perimeter before dissipating above her head. As she looked down at the little garment, I watched the thoughtful look on her face.

At that moment, I realized that I loved Applejack. That’s not to say that I was ‘in love’ with her like I was with Fluttershy, it was more like the love you have for someone you look up to…someone you aspire to be like. Applejack was just that. Friendly, level-headed, great humored, with a wisdom beyond her years…and a level of honesty that was as unbreakable as I am. Last week, when everything went down, she was the only one who stood up in my defense against her friends’ mistakes…even having the balls to call out Sunset, their leader.

She was an amazing specimen to behold, standing there in that work-hardened body, with her weight on one hip, wearing those cowboy boots, jean skirt, her white and green button up shirt…and of course, that brown Stetson hat. The light coming through the lattice was picked up by the smoke, surrounding her with gray, swirly sunbeams in the afternoon warmth.

“What a badass chick…” I thought to myself, unable to take my eyes off her.

Finally, she slowly looked at me, letting a grin creep across her tanned face. She let out a small chuckle, punctuating the stream of smoke coming from her mouth with a final puff as her breath escaped.

She shook her head. “Sometimes I wonder what that crazy girl gets up to.” She said, speaking about Rarity.

I shrugged, trying to play it cool. “Well, uh…sometimes…you know…what people do on their own time is, uh…that’s their business.” I said, kicking myself for falling all over my own words. AJ was one of the few people who could intimidate me…though not physically, of course…

She looked at me for a moment, biting the corner of her mouth before nodding in agreement. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right, sugarcube.”

She then stepped forward, searching for a place to set down the bikini bottoms. She looked around, unable to find a suitable place. She didn’t want to set them on the table right in front of me…and she didn’t want to just toss them on the floor of the deck either.

Finally, she shrugged and turned back to the lattice. “Ah fuck it…up you go!” she said, under-hand tossing the purple garment back up into the lattice, watching it catch on a vine again, resuming its helpless dangle amongst the flowers.

“At least she’ll know where to find them.” AJ said, chuckling as she turned. Her cigar was down to a nub, so she tossed it out through the lattice to join Sunset’s lost smoke.

She sat down in the other chair with me at the little table, staring at the far wall past the lattice for a moment.

“You ever break things?” she said suddenly.

I looked at her. “Break things?”

“Like, with yer strength…” she continued.

“Oh,” I said, looking back to the floor. “No. I’ve had lots of time to get used to mine. I didn’t used to be this strong, actually. It increased over the centuries so slowly I could hardly tell it was growing, until one day I noticed I could lift more than men twice my size…and it’s just kept growing ever since. Slow and steady...and I’m sure it’s going to keep growing.”

“Heh heh, yeah, you’re not a super-big fella. Most people wouldn’t expect it.” AJ said. She paused for a few seconds. “I still break shit sometimes. It’s been eight years, and I’m still not used to it. Sometimes, when I’m not expecting it, it just kicks in.”

“Well…” I paused. “Your strength is different than mine. It’s like apples and oranges to compare the two.”

“Yeah, I suppose. “ she said, looking at the deck, rubbing her boot against one of the boards. “I ain’t invincible, neither…except for against my own magic.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Like…” she sighed, trying to think of a way to explain it, “If I pick a car up over my head…it won’t crush me like a normal person. Or, if I pick up a five ton block, it won’t snap my arm off…know what I mean?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I see what you’re saying.”

She looked at me for a moment., then took her hat off to run her fingers through her hair. “I like ya, Golds. I’m glad Fluttershy has you, and I know you’ll take good care of her.”

I looked at her, somewhat surprised by her sudden heartfelt words. “Thanks.” I said. “I have no choice but to look after her. I love her…I just can’t help it.”

She smiled at me as we heard the sliding door open, followed by Rainbow Dash’s voice ringing out. “Hey, we’re getting wings! Lots of ‘em…come pick your flavours, guys.”

“I guess we better go inside, sugarcube.” AJ said, getting up from the table.

Chapter 20: Stories n' Wings

Chapter 20

I followed AJ back inside, noticing everyone was gathered around the couch except for Fluttershy and Rarity. We went and stood with them, deciding what flavours of sauces we would get on the wings, as well as what sides we would get.

“Those two better get in here or I’m ordering them both extra hot!” Dash threatened, referring to Rarity and my girlfriend.

“I doubt that would bother them anyway…” I thought.

“Why don’t you go find them, Golds...see what they’re up to.” Sunset said.

I looked at her. She was giving me a look, implying that I should go see if Fluttershy had completed the hair cutting test.

“Uh, OK.” I said. Where are they?” I asked.

Pinkie spoke up. “Just go up those stairs over there and make a left. There’s a hall with a bathroom on the right, then the kitchen and dining room after that. If they’re not in there, Rarity’s room is at the end if you just keep going.”

I started toward the stairs at the right of the living room. “Ok, thanks Pinkie.” I said.

“Noooooo problem!” she squealed in her high-pitched voice as I started going up the steps. “Oh Goldie, wait!”

I stopped and looked back at her.

“If you smash through the big window and end up on the deck…you went too far.” She said, giggling.

I smiled and shook my head as I started going up the steps. “Window; deck; got it.” I said jokingly, looking back at her.

I wasn’t watching where I was going as I went up the stairs. As a result, I ran into something at the top of the short staircase. I could feel it bump against my chest. It was soft, and created a gust of scent as it hit me…a familiar scent. Vanilla and…mild spice?

When I turned look at what it was, I saw the indigo hair right in front of me followed by Rarity’s ghostly white, but beautiful face looking up at me. We locked eyes, her sapphire gems sparkling for a second, then shrinking down to small points as she realized it was me.

“Oh…hello dar – um, Golds.” She said with a small nervous giggle and a blush. She looked away immediately. “Sorry, about that. How clumsy of me.”

“It’s OK, I –“ I started, then I noticed Fluttershy was behind her, looking stressed. I looked at her to see what was wrong. She silently mouthed the word ‘help!’

I nodded to her, then turned back to Rarity. “They want to know what kind of wings you guys want.”

“Oh,” Rarity started. “Garlic parmesan for me, darlings!” she shouted down the stairs.

“Honey garlic…” Fluttershy said in her normal quiet tone.

Knowing they wouldn’t have heard her downstairs, Rarity repeated the order louder. “Honey garlic for Fluttershy!”

“OK!” we heard dash confirm.

Rarity looked back at me again, unsure of what to do next. She was quite obviously feeling awkward around me after what we did together the other night.

Fluttershy reached out and gently touched Rarity’s arm. “Rarity…” she said.

Rarity perked up, “Oh, yes…won’t you join us in my room, darling?”

“Uh…” I started. “What? Again?...Right now?” I thought.

“Just for a moment. To have a chat.” She finished.

“Oh…sure.” I said.

“This way!” she said, putting her finger in the air, spinning on her heel and walking down the hall toward the far end. Fluttershy followed her as I walked behind them both. As we walked down the hall, I watched the right side as we passed the bathroom that Pinkie had mentioned. After that, also on the right was the large, open concept kitchen and dining room. It was very nicely designed and modern looking, like a kitchen a professional chef would have. There was an island in the middle with a built-in stovetop with pots and pans hanging above it. The counter, sink, fridge and cupboards were on the left wall. There was a small flat screen TV on the right wall with some plants around it and the dining table and chairs were straight back, beyond all that.

When we passed the kitchen area, I looked back ahead at Rarity, noticing her hips swaying slightly as she walked, causing her purple skirt to swing along with it. I shifted my sights over to my girlfriend, who was walking a little closer to me as I watched her more graceful stride. I shook my head a bit, incredulous of the fact that I had slept with both of these women within the past week.

“If these two are going to be around for centuries with me, then this might not be so bad…” I thought to myself.

The hallway continued on for several feet past the dining area, followed by another small flight of stairs going downwards into a modestly sized, but fancy bedroom. The head of the bed was on the right wall, and the large window that looks onto the deck and the hot tub was on the opposite wall, straight ahead of us.

“Nice place…” I said.

“Oh, why thank you, darling.” She said. “Why don’t you have a seat?”

She gestured to the foot of the bed. I sat down and Rarity sat next to me, closer to the right corner of the bed.

“I’ll be right back.” Fluttershy said suddenly as she left the room, gliding back up the stairs. Rarity looked at her as she she left, appearing a bit flustered at the fact that’d she’d been left alone with me.

I decided to try to get her to start talking about whatever it was she wanted to chat about, which I was guessing was going to be about the other night. “So…what did you want to talk about?” I asked.

She turned back to me, blushing again a little bit. “Oh, well…it’s about the other night…”

I nodded and looked away from her, towards the wall in front of us. “Yeah…”

“I just…” she started. “I don’t know what came over me…” she said. “I never thought I’d do something like that.”

“Oh.” I said, unable to come up with anything else.

“I’ve always thought of myself as an upstanding and classy lady…” she continued. “To do that...in front of someone else…I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“It’s OK.” I said. “Things just got a bit heated…we got a little ahead of ourselves. Plus we were kind of being instructed…you know.”

As I said this I could see Fluttershy coming back, she was keeping one hand close to her side, partially behind her back.

“Darling, I don’t want you to think of me as some kind of…hooker.” Rarity continued, covering her face in embarrassment. “...Some kind of low-class slut. I don’t want you to think this is something that will become the norm.” she said, looking back at me.

I shook my head. “Of course not. And I don’t think of you like that.” I said.

Fluttershy had sat on the right edge of the bed, positioning herself behind Rarity. I saw her take her hand from behind her back, holding a pair of scissors. She picked up a throw pillow off the bed and put it on her lap to hide the scissors underneath.

“Oh, Rarity,” Fluttershy said, rubbing her friend’s arm. “You know you’re not a slut.”

Rarity smiled at Fluttershy.

“I thought you were beautiful, not slutty or low-class.” I said. The words came out of my mouth before I could stop them…I didn’t mean to say it. My eyes widened as they both looked at me…I didn’t know what to expect next.

As Rarity looked at me, Fluttershy took the opportunity to take out the scissors and reach out to grasp a small lock of her friend’s indigo hair. I tried to keep my eyes on Rarity so she wouldn’t see me looking behind her and end up looking herself, wondering what I was looking at.

It was then that I knew why Fluttershy needed my help. When she was alone with Rarity, their attention was always on each other, not allowing Fluttershy to have a chance to try cutting Rarity’s hair. She needed me there as a distraction..

“Well darling, I appreciate the compliment,” Rarity started, “but it’s not just that…I also don’t want to come between you and Fluttershy.”

As Rarity said this, she turned her head unexpectedly to face my girlfriend with a smile to show her loyalty as the shy girl’s shaking fingers were just about to pick up a lock of the purple hair. Startled, Fluttershy jammed the scissors back under the pillow as she looked up at Rarity, trying to look inconspicuous.

My heart rate picked up after seeing my girlfriend almost get caught. I had to think of something to say to get Rarity to look back at me.

Fluttershy spoke before I could. “Oh no, Rarity.” She said, trying to come up with something to say. “I’m not jealous at all…it was amazing…the most fun I could have asked for.”

“Yeah…” I said. “I’m, uh…glad we could share something together like that…and uh, still be friends.”

Rarity turned back to me with a somewhat blank expression. I’m not sure if she knew what to think.

“Uh, and I respect you.” I said, unsure if Rarity was buying into the distraction…not that I didn’t actually respect her. I had grown to admire her need to please others, even if it was at her own expense.

Rarity smiled a bit at that, as Fluttershy quickly reached out with the scissors, grabbed a small lock of her friend’s hair and tried to cut it.

“Well…thank you darling. I appreciate that.” She said. “And…you think I was beautiful?”

“Oh…uh, yeah.” I said. “And, uh…I really like your hot tub.” I instantly cringed at what I said.

“What the fuck did I just say?” I thought to myself.

Even Fluttershy stopped what she was doing to give me a cock-eyed look.

“Oh…” Rarity said after a pause. “Well, thank you…for that.” She started to turn away.

“Uh, sorry…” I said, trying to bring her back. “I got sidetracked. Yeah…you were beautiful. Gorgeous, even.”

I could see a twinkle in her eye at my words. Her response to my compliment made me think she might actually have a slight crush on me like Fluttershy said…but I’m also bad for misjudging things like that sometimes.

Behind her, I could see Fluttershy out the corner of my eye suddenly cover her mouth as her eyes went big. Not knowing what else to do, or how she would react, I put my arm around Rarity and pulled her close to me. To my surprise, she actually rested her head on my shoulder.

Now that I knew Rarity wouldn’t turn around, I turned by head, passing my chin over the top of Rarity’s head to look back directly at Fluttershy…who slowly shook her head while holding up the scissors, signalling that they would not cut the fashionista’s hair. This was the final proof we needed to say 100% that Rarity was definitely immortal too. A tingle rose up my spine at the realization as she rested her purple head of hair on me, innocently unaware of her new condition.

Fluttershy quietly put the scissors on the floor and swept them under the bed with her foot. She then got up and walked around to the front of Rarity, kneeling down and taking Rarity’s hands in hers, resting them on her friend’s white thighs.

“We’re OK with what happened if you are.” Fluttershy said to her friend. “And of course you are beautiful…and classy. I hope you don’t think we took advantage of you in any way…”

"Heavens no, darling..." Rarity shook her head and smiled, releasing one of Fluttershy’s hands to reach up with her dainty white fingers, stroking her friend’s soft yellow cheek. The shy girl smiled and nuzzled against her friend’s caress, closing her eyes and letting out a soft sigh through her nose.

“Whoa, these two are close…” I thought. I knew Fluttershy must have been playing the part a little bit, hiding the fact that she just tried to cut her friend’s hair behind her back...but her reaction to her friend’s touch seemed very natural. Too natural…not that it was a bad thing.

“HEY!” Dash’s voice suddenly rang out from the other end of the hall, causing the girls both to jump to their feet. “You guys coming or what?”

“Oh…we were just about to set the dining table.” Rarity said.

“Oh OK, whatever then.” Dash replied. “We just found Harold and Kumar on TV…we’re gonna watch it. Come on out whenever you’re done.”

“I’ll help you.” Fluttershy said as Rarity went up the stairs leaving her room. My girlfriend looked back at me one more time with a stressed look on her face, now knowing that her friend had also unknowingly turned into an indestructible being and that we were going to have to tell her tonight. It was already enough of a shock that she’d just found out yesterday that she herself was now an immortal, and now she has this situation to deal with. I felt bad for her. I couldn’t imagine what was going through her mind.

Before I headed back to the front room to join the others, I took my phone out and sent Sunset a text.

******

Sunset was sitting on the right end of the long couch with her legs crossed. Her arms were folded across her chest.
They were all sitting and laughing at the movie on the TV, except for Sunset, who was nervously swinging her crossed leg.

Sunset felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She took it out, seeing a message from me on the screen. The red-head held the phone down low so no one else could see the screen as she opened the message.

ME: Immortal confirmed.

She squeezed her eyes shut, tipping her head back. “Shit.” She thought. “Now we’ve definitely gotta tell her.”

I entered the room, stepping off the bottom stair as I saw Sunset on the couch with her head back and her eyes shut.

She suddenly opened her eyes and looked at me as I approached the couch to sit at the opposite end, next to Pinkie…who was next to Dash, who was next to AJ, who was next to Twilight, who, finally, was next to Sunset.

We watched the movie for a bit, laughing at the funny parts. It was at the scene where the gross tow truck guy was driving Harold and Kumar back to his place to fix their tire. The characters were whispering back and forth in the truck cab about the leaking boil on the guy’s neck.

Twilight spoke up. “Jeez, imagine meeting some weird mechanic guy out in the woods like that…” she stopped as the other girls all looked at her. After thinking about it for a second, she remembered how I came into the picture. “Oh, uh…no offense, Golds.”

“None taken.” I said calmly, thinking nothing of it.

Dash threw her head back. “Oh god, not this again…”

The other girls chuckled. I didn’t know what was supposed to be so funny so I just shrugged it off.

About half an hour went by before the delivery guy showed up with the food. Dash answered the door, taking a credit card with her. The delivery guy was Asian and had a thick accent. He was trying to say something to Dash about her card and Dash was naturally talking back arrogantly as he raised his voice at her when she repeatedly failed to understand him. He finally got the point across that his card machine was down and could only accept cash.

“Aw fuck!” Dash yelled back at us. “Who has cash?”

“How much?” AJ asked.

“A hundred and twenty bucks.” Dash answered back.

“Whoa, that’sh a lotta shmack…” Pinkie said, in a 1940’s gangster voice.

They all rummaged through their pockets, purses or wallets…whatever they had, trying to scrounge up enough cash to pay the delivery guy. None of them were expecting to be paying cash and all they could come up with was forty-seven dollars. They were about to go ask Rarity and Fluttershy if they had any more, but I spoke up since I had enough in my wallet to cover the rest.

I took their cash and went to the door getting my own bills out of my wallet to add to the stack. The delivery guy looked annoyed, especially by Dash. As I handed him the wad of cash, I told him to keep the change.

He gave me a quick nod and handed us the food, which was in four separate bags. I took two and started carrying them down the hall, heading to the dining area as Dash took the other two bags and thanked the delivery guy.

I heard the delivery guy say in a mock friendly voice. “Bat po!” he said as he waved, trying to mask the true meaning of what he said.

I stopped suddenly and turned to give him a sharp look. Dash saw the look on my face as well and stopped, wondering why I was looking at him the way I was.

“Seung sei ah?” I asked him back.

His smile disappeared and his eyes got wide in shock. Then he quickly turned and walked away, heading down Rarity’s front path to his car.

“Fuck, man…close the door!” Dash cursed, carrying the bags back and pushing the door shut with her foot. She headed back, looking at me. “What was that all about?” she asked. “You understood him? What language was that?”

“Cantonese.” I said.

“You know Cantonese?” she replied with an impressed look on her face. “That’s so awesome!”

I nodded. “I spent a lot of time in that part of the world…many years ago.” I explained as we walked across the front room. The other girls got up to follow us to the dining room as we passed, they too were surprised by what I’d just done.

“So what did he say?” Dash asked.

“Nevermind.” I answered.

Dash was about to protest, but decided to let it go, realizing it was probably something mean about her and that I had defended her in some way. “Fine…” she said. Then she smiled again, saying: “Holy shit, dude…the look on your face was intense! I wouldn’t want to get on your bad side after seeing that…”

“That’s probably a good idea.” I said with a chuckle.

We got into the dining area where Rarity and Fluttershy had set up plates, glasses and silverware for us. It was a bit cramped at the table with eight of us sitting there so we unpacked everything on the counter and the island and loaded our plates, taking them to the table.

We sat, eating and talking about different things. I had expected them to ask me more things about myself, but they actually didn’t. It was kind of a relief, actually. There was a couple times when Dash asked me to pass something to her, calling me ‘old man’ as a nickname which earned her a dirty look from Fluttershy. The second time Dash called me that, Fluttershy pointed her sauce-covered finger at her rainbow-haired friend.

“Dashie!” Fluttershy said sternly. “Don’t call him that!”

“Whoa, easy Flutters…sorry!” dash said, putting her hands up, holding a wing in one of them. “If it bothers you that much, I won’t say it anymore.”

“Thank you.” Fluttershy said quietly, going back to nibbling on her food. She was sitting at the corner of the table, next to me. Rarity was across from her, who I saw looking at me quite a few times. She would quickly look away every time I caught her with her eyes on me.

Sunset was at the head of the table at the far end and Applejack was at the head of the table at our end, between my girlfriend and Rarity. Beside Rarity was Pinkie, then Dash was next to her. Twilight was on my other side.

The conversations continued after everyone got over the shock of Fluttershy putting Dash in her place, which had always been an extremely rare occurrence. I think that might be about to change as Fluttershy’s new life starts to sink in and she realizes that she is going to be a force to be reckoned with…especially after I teach her how to handle herself in a fight.

The conversation eventually evolved into telling embarrassing stories.

“Hey,” Sunset said, “Remember when you guys and the other Twilight tried to use the Elements of Harmony on the sirens in the gym and it didn’t work?” She laughed a bit as she finished the sentence.

Dash threw her head back, groaning loudly. “AW GOD! That was so fuckin embarrassing!” she said as she reached across the table to grab a handful of onion rings from the box.

“Yeah,” AJ said. “We looked like total assholes, standing there holding hands like that.”

Rarity waved a hand at the memory…”Ugh, don’t remind me, darling…”

Something Sunset said stuck in my mind. “OTHER Twilight?”

Sunset started laughing harder. “It is kind of funny now that I look back on it.”

“That’s cuz you weren’t up there with us!” Pinkie shouted. “I wasn’t actually embarrassing to me, I did stuff like that all the time…I was just mad that all the cool rainbow stuff didn’t happen!”

Sunset chuckled on for another minute or so before picking up another wing.

“Hey!” AJ perked up suddenly. “Remember when Pinkie Pie, Rainbow and Vinyl Scratch all rented that house together right after high school?”

Dash had her elbow rested on the table. She closed her eyes and leaned her forehead on the back of her hand so she wouldn’t get sauce on her face. “Oh please AJ, not the mushroom story…”

The rest of the girls started laughing right away at the reminder of the story. AJ turned to me. “So…the three of them rented this house in town, you know, until they got on their feet. Well, this one day…Vinyl, out of nowhere offers Rainbow and Pinkie a bunch of magic mushrooms…” AJ started snickering before she could finish the sentence.

Pinkie stepped in for AJ, who was snorting now and couldn’t continue talking. “We had some, and I really didn’t see the difference…I honestly thought they helped me focus…”

We had a chuckle at Pinkie’s inability to be affected by the substance. “But anyway,” Pinkie continued, “Me and Scratchie were in the kitchen making supper and all-of-the-sudden we hear Dashie out in the hallway by the stairs yelling ‘GET THE FUCK OFF ME!’ so we ran out there and found her rolling around the floor, wrestling her coat!”

I shook my head in surprise. “Her coat?” I chuckled.

Pinkie was starting to laugh too hard to tell the story now as well. “Hehe, yeah…Dashie always hung her coat on the end of the railing at the bottom of the stairs…hehe she was coming down the stairs and claims the coat grabbed her…hehe!”

The rest of us started laughing more as Dash had her face pointed down at the table before she suddenly threw her hands out in front of her. “I swear to god! When I walked by my coat, the sleeve reached out and grabbed my arm and said ‘HEY!’” she shouted.

Everyone at the table burst with hysterical laughter.

“GUYS! I WAS FREAKING OUT!” Dash protested, her face starting to turn red for a few seconds before she finally started to laugh a bit at herself.

I looked at Fluttershy, who was laughing quietly at the story, her shoulders bouncing up and down. I looked at Rarity next, who was turned away from the table, hiding her face as she laughed along with the rest of us.

We continued to enjoy the meal as I listened to their stories. I finished eating first, wiping my fingers off with one of the few wet-naps that were provided with the food. I got up and went over to the island counter to throw the bones into one of the empty boxes. As I turned around, I bumped into Rarity, who was holding her sauce-covered hands up in front of her.

“Would you be so kind, darling?” she said, tipping her head towards the sink.

“Sure.” I said, reaching out for the faucet handle as another roar of laughter broke out at the table, causing Rarity to turn and look at them. I got an idea and decided to try something. I turned on just the hot water while she was looking away. She turned back, then started rubbing her hands together under the stream as I watched the water get hotter. Eventually there was steam starting to billow out of the sink.

Rarity didn’t react at all. She finished rinsing her hands off and reached for the taps to turn them off. I saw her try to turn the cold off, then when it wouldn’t move and she realized it wasn’t on, she frowned a bit in confusion. She reached for the hot water tap, turning it off, seeing the water stop…confirming that it was indeed hot water only.

I watched the wheels in her head start to turn as she grabbed the hand towel and dried her hands, keeping her eyes locked on the faucet.

I looked toward the table to see everyone still laughing, except for my girlfriend and Sunset, who were both looking over at me and Rarity with bewildered faces. It was obvious they had seen what I did.

Rarity hung the towel back up and spun around on her heel to go back to the table. The gust caused by her perfectly styled hair swinging by me sent a wave of her sweet vanilla scent into my nose, reminding me of the other night…causing me to shiver a bit, thinking of the pleasure we had together in the hot tub.

The other girls eventually came over to wash since there wasn’t enough of the wet-naps provided with the food. I turned the water on for them, both hot and cold this time and left it on as they each took their turn.

Sunset finished drying her hands as she came up to me. “Why did you do that?...With the hot water?” she asked quietly as Fluttershy joined us, taking the towel from Sunset to dry her own hands.

“Planting the seeds for our conversation with her later...hopefully it'll get her thinking. Denial can be a powerful thing, the more evidence we have to show her, the better.” I said.

Sunset blinked a couple of times before nodding a bit. “Good idea.”

We continued visiting in the front room for a couple hours until about 11pm. The others finally decided to head out. Pinkie, Dash, AJ and Twilight started to get ready to leave.

Twilight approached Sunset. “Hey, Rainbow Dash says we can crash at her place. You ready to go?”

“Not yet, Twi. I’ll catch up with you later.” Sunset answered. “I can get Flutters and Golds to drop me off. I just have to talk to them about something for a bit.”

“Oh…OK.” Twilight said, seeming like she wondered what was going on. She had noticed Sunset acting a bit different all night. “I’ll see you later then, Sunny.”

“Later.” Sunset said, watching Twilight disappear out the door with the other three girls as they all said their goodbyes.

Now, it was just the four of us. Fluttershy and I were sitting on the end of the couch closest to Rarity’s big purple chair where she was sitting, rocking gently in it with a content look on her face. Sunset was standing up in front of us with her arms crossed.

The three of us looked at each other for a moment…then at the same time, we all slowly turned towards Rarity.

She looked back at us with a nervousness growing on her face. “What?”

Chapter 21: Guess what, Rarity?

Chapter 21

The three of us were there, surrounding Rarity…trying to think of how to start the conversation off. I didn’t want to be the one to tell her. It felt wrong…her friends should be the ones to do it. She will be more likely to trust them.

Looking at Fluttershy, I could tell right away that she wasn’t going to do it. She was looking down at the floor now, rubbing the back of her neck with her hand.

I looked up at Sunset, who seemed be aware that it was falling on her to start things off. “Uh…hey, Rare?” she started as she took a step towards the fashionista, who was still curled up in her big chair. Sunset knew it was going to be difficult to drop such a bomb on her after such a fun night.

“Yes, darling?” Rarity said, knowing something was going on now, but not knowing what.

Sunset drew in a breath, opening her mouth to say something…she paused for a moment, then closed her mouth and turned her head away from Rarity, letting her breath exhale through her nose in frustration. She didn’t know what to say.

“How do you tell someone something like this?” I wondered to myself.

A few awkward seconds went by, then suddenly Fluttershy perked up. “Hey Rarity…you wanna see who can hold their breath the longest?”

The rest of us looked at her with cocked eyebrows upon hearing her strange request. She started to blush and played with her hair under our watching eyes.

“What?” Rarity asked…”Darling, what kind of childish game is that to play?”

“I don’t know…” my girlfriend answered. “I thought it might be fun.” Then she looked at her indgo-haired friend. “I bet you can’t beat me…”

Rarity took the bait. “Oh really?” She said, sitting up straight in her chair. “Is that what you think?”

“Y-yeah.” Fluttershy replied. “I’ll take you to…um, school.”

“Take me to-“ Rarity started in an elevated tone before she stopped herself, then stuck her nose up. “We shall see, my dear lady. I accept your challenge. But just this once!” She turned to point a finger at Sunset. “Then you guys are going to tell me why you’ve been acting so strange all night!”

Sunset bowed her head slightly. “Fine.” She said.

The two challengers both drew in a deep breath…then closed their mouths, their cheeks puffed out, their lips puckered.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket to check the time, then I looked at Fluttershy, who gave me a thumbs-up.

I stood up and stepped over to Sunset, who was shaking her head at the scene. “Smart…” I said about Fluttershy’s idea under my breath.

Sunset looked at me, then smirked a bit.

“So…” I said to the red-head, knowing I needed to spend some time distracting Rarity. “I’ve been a little confused by something you said at the table.”

“What’s that?” Sunset asked.

“You were talking about going up against the sirens at school…in the gym.” I said. “Why did you refer to Twilight as ‘the other’?”

Sunset tilted her head up a bit, taking a breath as she realized I was probably confused by her choice of words. “Ahh…” She answered. “Well, in the world I’m from…there are people just like each of us, except they are different.”

“Different how?” I asked.

“They’re kind of…a different species…” Sunset answered slowly.

“Like what?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” She said, shaking her head.

“Fair enough.” I said, looking back at the two competitors, who were still holding their breath as they listened to Sunset and me talking. Their colour hadn’t changed at all yet…they still looked fine.

“Anyway,” Sunset continued. “We fought the sirens before we met the Twilight you know…the Twilight who was there that day was the one from my world. She was the one who followed me back here after I stole her crown and tried to use it to take over this world.”

“Take over this world? Haha, not with me around.” I chuckled.

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Whatever…so anyway, Twilight and the girls stopped me and they took me under their wings.”

I looked at the two girls again, who were looking back at me with a sense of pride as I learned their story while they continued to keep their breath held in.

“Then Twilight came back to help us against the sirens.” Sunset continued. “And that was her in the gym with us when the magic didn’t work.”

“Why didn’t it?” I asked.

“Not sure.” Sunset said. “Like I said, Equestrian magic doesn’t behave here the way it does in Equestria. We did pull it together later and beat them…actually, Vinyl Scratch helped us too…you remember, Pinkie and Rainbow’s roommate from the mushroom story?”

I nodded. “Is she magic too?” I asked.

“No,” Sunset answered. “But she had a killer sound system, plus she wasn’t under their control because she’s a DJ and has those big headphones on all the time…we needed to play our music loud to overpower their singing so we could take them down.”

“Hm…” I said, nodding.

Sunset pulled out her phone. “I have a picture of her…” She scrolled through her phone before she finally tapped her finger on the screen and held up the phone so I could see it.

They were all in the picture…they looked so much younger, especially AJ. I could see Twilight in the middle, but she looked different…no glasses on, her hair was a bit different, her clothes were different and she seemed to hold herself differently…like she had more confidence. I saw the extra blue-haired girl on the right side, wearing a white zip-up jacket and purple pants. She had big headphones on like Sunset described and a pair of large, round sunglasses with red lenses.

Then I noticed something in the picture that made me grab the phone from Sunset’s hand, pulling it closer so I could see. Twilight had…wings? Then I noticed that Rainbow was higher up, above everyone else…I had thought that she was standing on something when I first looked, but now I noticed her feet up behind her…like she was floating. Then I could see a couple blue-coloured blurs behind her back…

“Is Rainbow Dash flying? She had wings too?” I thought to myself as I scanned the picture for more abnormalities.

Then I noticed my future girlfriend, kneeling in the front, who also had a pair of yellow wings protruding from her back. I looked up at her suddenly, still sitting there holding her breath…

“You guys had…wings?” I asked.

Fluttershy shrugged innocently then nodded, still holding her breath.

“Yeah,” Sunset said. “Well, not all of us. That was something that happened when we used our magic back then…we would conform to the appearance of our counterparts from the other world…well actually, me and Princess Twilight actually ARE the counterparts from that world. We just turned human when we came here, but we changed too.”

“Whoa…Princess?” I asked.

“Yeah, Twilight is one of five princesses there. Her brother’s kid just became one too, but she’s only seven. They’re immortal as well, but they’re not indestructible like you.” Sunset explained.

I shook my head. “So, the Twilight who was here tonight is…from here?” I asked.

Sunset nodded. “Yeah, she was born here.”

“What about you? Is there another one of you around?” I asked.

“I assume there’s a human-born version of me here somewhere. I don’t know where, though.” Sunset said. “I've never seen her.”

“So, what about these wings?” I asked, looking at Fluttershy again.

Sunset shook her head. “That doesn’t happen anymore…it hasn’t for years. Not since Camp Everfree when we got the powers we have now…they kind of became the norm. They seemed to take over permanently, whereas the wings and hair ‘n stuff only happened sometimes, usually when shit was going down.”

I gave Sunset her phone back. After a few seconds I said: “Wait a minute…so there’s another Fluttershy in that world?”

Sunset nodded, smiling.

“Holy shit, what are we waiting for? Call her up, get her over here!” I joked.

I looked at my girlfriend who was staring to smirk with her puffed up cheeks.

“A double Fluttershy three-way…could I handle it?”

“Nevermind that…” Sunset said with a chuckle.

I shook my head, smiling at my own joke as I looked at the two girls, still holding their breath.

“Oh…” I said, pulling my phone out again to re-check the time, then looking at Rarity. “Do you realize you’ve been holding your breath for seven minutes?”

Rarity’s eyes opened wide with surprise as the exhale exploded from her mouth. She jumped up from her chair. “Seven minutes??” she exclaimed in disbelief.

Fluttershy exhaled and stood up as well. Neither of them were breathing hard as one would expect after holding their breath for even a fraction of that time.

“That’s simply not possible!” Rarity continued.

“Have you noticed anything else strange in the past few days?” Sunset asked the indigo-haired girl.

“What ever do you mean, darling?...Like what?” the indgo-haired girl asked.

“Like the hot water tonight?” I asked.

Rarity looked at me. “Why yes, actually…did you do that?”

I nodded. “Did it burn you?” I asked her.

She shook her head, frowning. “No...”

Fluttershy spoke up. “I tried to cut your hair…earlier, in your room. I couldn’t cut it.”

“I…what are you getting at?” she asked, looking around at us, confused.

I decided to just come out with it. I put my hands on her shoulders. “You’ve become like me.” I said.

She looked at me, cocking an eyebrow.

“Fluttershy too.” I finished.

Rarity turned to look at her pink-haired friend, realizing she had also held her breath for seven minutes. She stood motionless for a moment, then she started laughing, batting my hands off her shoulders. “Oh ha-ha, very funny, darlings. You had me going for a minute there.”

“It’s no joke…” Fluttershy said quietly.

Rarity looked at her friend as the denial spread across her face. “Oh come now! Enough!” she shouted. “I will not be the victim of your little practical joke!” She started walking with her fists clenched at her sides toward the stairs to get away from us.

Sunset spoke up. “When’s the last time you slept, Rare?”

Rarity stopped suddenly. She stood there motionless as the realization set in that she hadn’t stayed up working the last two nights because of the adrenaline, but rather it was just another piece of evidence supporting our claim that she was indeed immortal now.

She slowly turned to Sunset. “Wednesday night…actually. I woke up early…about three o’clock that morning. I haven’t slept since…”

We all stood there, letting her process it.

Surprisingly, she stuck her nose up and continued walking away. “No. It’s simply not possible.”

Fluttershy rolled her eyes. “Oh for god’s sake Rarity!”

To mine and Sunset’s surprise, Fluttershy suddenly reached out, grabbing Rarity’s purple hair and yanked on it…causing the fashionista to stagger back with a high-pitched scream coming from her mouth. When my girlfriend had pulled Rarity back to face her, she wound up her right arm and swung her fist at her best friend’s face with a right hook.

It connected with Rarity’s dainty white cheek, causing her head to snap to the side. She slowly looked back at the shy girl with a look of shock on her face.

“That hurt?” Fluttershy asked, holding her hands outwards.

Rarity put her fingers on her cheek, feeling it…realizing there was no pain at all. Then she looked up at Fluttershy, who was now looking at her with a bit of remorse for hitting her. A scowl grew across Rarity’s face. “No, darling…it didn’t.” she said angrily She suddenly threw a straight jab at Fluttershy’s yellow face, planting her porcelain fist right between the shy girl’s eyes.

Fluttershy was knocked back, landing in a seated position on the couch. It was obvious that Rarity could punch a lot harder than her friend.

“Holy shit!” Sunset yelled.

“I’m fine, Sunset.” Fluttershy said, sitting up and giggling.

I looked at Sunset, shaking my head with a smirk on my face at the scene. Sunset stressfully rubbed her forehead with her fingers in response.

Rarity spun around to face me with fire in her eyes. “OK…so it let’s say this is true…WHY? Why did this happen??”

“Just relax…” I said, not realizing how dramatic Rarity could be.

“Relax?...RELAX?” she shouted, her voice becoming raspy as her volume increased.

“It wasn’t supposed to happen…Fluttershy just noticed it herself yesterday. She hadn’t slept in three days…” I explained.

Rarity looked at Sunset. “You too?”

Sunset shook her head. “No, not me. I never had s –“ the red-head stopped herself.

Rarity narrowed her eyes at Sunset. “Never what?...”

“Well,” Sunset started. “We think we know why it happened…we figured it out this morning at Fluttershy’s.”

Rarity put her hands on her hips. “Well, come out with it then!” she demanded.

Sunset cringed at the idea of telling her…it would mean that Rarity would then know that Sunset knew about the threesome. She reluctantly approached Rarity, putting her mouth next to the fashionista’s ear, cupping her hands over it and whispering something to her.

Fluttershy and I watched as Rarity suddenly gasped, her eyes becoming wide as saucers. “In my puss-…WHAT?” She turned to Sunset suddenly, making the red-head jump back a little. “How did you know about that?”

Rarity turned to me and Fluttershy, blushing darkly. “You told? Who else knows?” she shrieked.

“Just me, Rare.” Sunset said. “They had to tell me this morning because of this whole thing.”

“Oh Rarity,” Fluttershy said softly, ”I’m surprised you didn’t tell everyone already…”

Rarity shook her head, looking at the shy girl. “Oh darling! I would never have thrown myself under the bus like that…”

“Under the bus?” Fluttershy replied. “What does that mean?”

“Fluttershy, he’s the first boyfriend you’ve had in…what? Six Years?” Rarity explained. “I wasn’t about to brag to the others that I went and slept with him myself.”

“Oh…” the pink-haired girl said, looking down, rubbing her elbow with her other hand. “That makes sense.”

Sunset snapped her fingers at them. “Hey! Let’s stay on topic…” she said loudly. “Rarity, you’re immortal, remember?”

A look of shock returned to Rarity’s face. “Oh yes…that.” She said, sitting down in her purple chair. “So…why did him doing…that…make me like this?” she asked, then she looked at me. “I thought nothing ever happened when you slept with women?”

“That’s true…” I said, “but you and Fluttershy have something the others didn’t…”

Rarity stared at me for a moment as she tried to comprehend what I meant…then her expression changed suddenly as her head turned straight ahead and her eyes dropped to the floor. “…our magic.” she said flatly.

I looked down at the floor as well, letting out a sigh. “Yeah.”

Rarity and I looked at each other again.

“You didn’t mean to do it…” she said softly, now understanding that the whole thing came as a surprise to me as well.

I shook my head.

I could see the worry growing in her eyes, making me start to feel bad for her. “So…what do I do now?” she asked quietly.

“Nothing.” I said. “Just live your life. Go to work. Get groceries…you know…”

Her mouth opened slightly as she continued to stare at me.

“Don’t worry.” I reassured her. ”Just keep living your life one day at a time. It’ll be no different, except you won’t sleep. You’ll actually have a lot of extra time on your hands. You might like it…” I told her.

“How long am I going to live?” she suddenly asked with a shaky voice.

I shrugged and shook my head, meaning that I didn’t know.

“…Oh my…” she said, sitting back in the chair. She held out her hand and there was a flash of light that emitted suddenly from her palm which subsided after a couple seconds. She was now gripping what looked like an empty glass in her hand. It was clear and had a blue tint to it…then I realized it was the same diamond material that she had made her wall out of when she tried to keep me away from Fluttershy.

“Oh, excuse me!” Rarity called out, shaking the glass loosely in her fingers, “Could somebody be a dear and fill this with the strongest liquor they can find?”

“How’d you do that?” I asked her.

Rarity looked up at me, then down at the glass. “Oh darling, that’s my magic. You’ve seen it before…”

I nodded at the glass. “You can make different shapes out of that stuff??”

She paused for a second, looking at me, wondering why I had a sudden interest in her ability. She rolled her eyes a bit while shaking her head. “I suppose so…with practice.”

I rubbed my chin, thinking about what I had just learned about the indigo-haired beauty. Then I pointed at the glass. “You know booze won’t work on you anymore, right?”

Rarity sighed. “I know…I remember you saying that the other night…I was only kidding…” she said as another flash erupted from her hand and the glass vanished.

I raised one eyebrow. “That’s actually pretty neat…”

We stayed there with Rarity all night, keeping her calm and reassuring her that things were going to be OK. Sunset feel asleep on the couch at about 1am, so we moved to the dining room and sat at the table so we wouldn’t wake her up.

Rarity asked me many questions…some I knew the answers to, some I didn’t. She would get agitated at the idea of not knowing what was going to happen when I couldn’t answer her.

She would occasionally have attacks of denial as well. The first time, she tried cutting her hair again…the second time she found some nail clippers and tried cutting her nails. It obviously didn’t work either time and she would get wound-up, causing Fluttershy and I to have to settle her down all over again.

Eventually the sun came up. Sunset appeared at the entrance to the kitchen, rubbing her eyes and stretching her limbs. “How’s it going, guys?” she asked, walking over and sitting at the table with us.

“OK darling, I suppose.” Rarity said flatly.

Sunset nodded, then looked at me and Fluttershy. “Why don’t you guys head home? I’ll stay here with Rare.”

“Oh Sunset…are you sure?” my girlfriend asked.

“Yeah.” Sunset answered. “Don’t forget Flutters, you’ve only known about this yourself for a couple days. You should go home and take some time for yourself.”

Fluttershy looked at me.

“She’s right,” I said. “Tomorrow’s Monday. We’re probably both going back to work.”

The shy girl nodded. We got up from the table after deciding to get going. Rarity stood up and hugged Fluttershy tightly.

“I’m so sorry I hit you, darling.” Rarity said softly.

“Me too.” Fluttershy replied.

They separated, looking at each other. Rarity reached up and gently caressed my girlfriend’s forehead where the wound was. Fluttershy had taken the band-aid off a few hours ago to show her friend that the injury was gone.

They let their foreheads touch together, leaning against one another.

Rarity smirked. “BFF’s?”

Fluttershy giggled. “Yeah…I guess so.”

They separated and Rarity suddenly came to me, wrapping her arms around me, squeezing me in a tight hug. I hugged her back.

“Don’t worry. Everything’s gonna be fine.” I said.

She nodded her head against my shoulder. “I know, dear. Thank you.”

Fluttershy was hugging Sunset at the same time. After Rarity and I pulled ourselves apart, the other two girls separated and Sunset turned to me. She put her arms out, grinning.

“Aw come here, you!” she said with a chuckle as she approached me and wrapped her arms around me. I hesitated to hug her back at first…it was kind of unexpected, coming from her. Eventually I put my hands around the small of her back and hugged her gently. Her hair still smelled like the cigar smoke a bit, but there was another sweet scent under that…I couldn’t quite place it. Root beer maybe? It was kind of nice.

After we left, Fluttershy drove us back out into the woods. We were silent for most of the drive. We stopped at my place to get my truck like we had planned.

I hopped into the cab, turned the key and listened as the reliable old diesel fired up as though it had been running just a few minutes ago. I rubbed my hand on the steering wheel, watching as Fluttershy turned her vehicle around and drove out of the yard.

“I missed you, old girl.” I said to the inanimate machine as it rattled there, waiting to get on its way. “You wouldn’t believe what’s happened this week.” I said, chuckling.

I drove to her house, meeting her there and parking next to her little SUV. We went into the house and stood by the table, staring at each other, contemplating the night we just had.

I took a deep breath, as if it would reset the day. “Well, what now?” I asked.

She was standing there with her hands folded in front of her green skirt, her legs together, her hair covering her right eye…looking like the same old shy girl that I fell in love with. “I don’t know…”

“Well, what do two immortals do with their time?” I asked.

She looked at me with her one visible eye. “I don’t know, aren’t you the expert?”

“Well, yeah…but alone. This is new to me, too.” I confessed.

“Well,” she said in her soft voice as she reached up and brushed the hair out of her face with her slender fingers. She looked up at me with both of those shiny teal eyes. “You wanna get it on?”

I laughed at her line. “Sure…that’s one thing we could do.”

She giggled as she put her body against mine and kissed my cheek.

“You may not need sleep anymore, but it’s still important to spend some time on your back, I guess.” I joked.

“Oh, no…” she started. “I wanna be on top…I want this to be goooooood.”

“Whoa…” I thought. “Good? Does she think I can’t make it good?”

I admit, I was a little rusty at first when we started having sex, but after the week I’ve had, a few of my old tricks were starting to come back to me. I have been around the block a few times, after all. I know a thing or two about pleasing the ladies.

“You’re getting a bit cocky there, Flutters.” I said. “You think I don’t have a few tricks up my sleeve?”

She looked at me with her eyebrows cocked. “I don’t know…do you?”

I grabbed her by the arms, just below her shoulders and picked her up, holding her out in front of me…she looked down at her feet which were dangling a few inches above the floor. “Don’t forget,” I said. “You’re like me now…so I can be a little rougher on you.”

She looked at me with nervousness in her eyes for a few seconds. Then her expression softened. Her eyes narrowed as a smirk grew across her lips. Fluttershy leaned her face closer to mine and said:

“Do your worst, big boy.”

*Chapter 22: Doing My Worst

Chapter 22

We were in Fluttershy's room now, standing next to the bed, our arms wrapped around each other, kissing each other intensely; tasting, nibbling, panting. I loved the feeling of her soft lips against mine, feeling our saliva moistening them to helping them slide around against each other; our tongues were swirling around in each other’s mouths, caressing one another, swirling together, wrapping around each other.

We separated our mouths for a moment to look into each other's eyes. Feeling playful, I stuck my tongue out at her to tease her a bit, only to have her wrap her lips around it and suck it free of my saliva, and then she brought her lips forth once more to connect them to mine, and her tongue found its way back into my mouth again, swirling it around aggressively to leave a mixture of our saliva behind.

I ran my hands down her back to her skirt to squeeze her tight little backside, and then I reached under her skirt, running my fingers up her smooth thighs until I found the sides of her panties. Hooking my thumbs over the top of them, I slowly pulled them down, over the smooth curves of her hips and then down her thighs to the floor.

I could feel her hot breaths blowing against my face from her nostrils as she kept our mouths locked together, mixing our saliva with each lick, poke and flick of her nimble tongue.

Realising her panties were still draped around her feet, Fluttershy glanced downward briefly as she stepped out of them with one foot, then kicked them away using the other.

I brought my hands back up to slip them inside the green skirt and ran my fingers over the round, cheeks of her derriere to give them a firm squeeze, reminding myself that I could go ahead and squeeze her hard; after all, she could no longer be hurt. In fact, I could put her through the wall and continue to have my way with her in the backyard, and I dare say she would even enjoy that -- other than having a huge hole in the wall afterwards. No matter, I had a plan for her: a plan that didn't necessarily involve force, but intense sensation, rather.

As I kneaded her warm, supple cheeks between my fingers, I contemplated the slew of ideas I had for her, staring thoughtfully at the ceiling while enjoying her soft lips pecking at my throat until finally, I settled on one particular deliciously devious method. It was just in time, too; I was just about to let my hands make their way around her hips to the warm, moist treat waiting for me up front, which would have spoiled my plan. I could tell she wanted it, however; as she had started to push her hips forward, grinding herself against me in an endeavor to put some pressure on her throbbing, eager womanhood.

I gave her bare ass one more squeeze and then moved my hands up to the bottom of her tank top. Peeling it up over her head, her slender waist was revealed, topped by her beautiful bust, contained in that plain, white bra; when I looked down at her cleavage, at that effortlessly flawless, custard-coloured skin, my chest sprang forth with a swarm of butterflies, and I had to bite my lip at the sight of it.

She had placed her fingertips on my cheeks now, rasping my stubble with her fingernails as she leaned forward to plant tiny kisses on my lips while I reached around her back and promptly unhooked her bra. Her breasts dropped a tiny bit as the straps came loose from her shoulders, and she backed up a bit while letting it slide down her arms and she tossed it away, revealing those amazing breasts of hers, jiggling around as she discarded the bra before grabbing the bottom of my shirt to lift it over my head and cast it aside as well.

She pressed her naked chest against mine, wrapping her arms around the back of my neck as she resumed kissing me deeply. Her warm breasts squeezed softly between us as I hooked my hands behind her knees and hoisted her up, letting her legs wrap around me as I turned and laid her down on the bed.

The only thing left on her was the green skirt, which she promptly reached down and unfastened at the side and then slid down her legs before throwing it on the floor. I gazed at her silently; lying naked before me, breathing heavily, running her hands over herself; one of her hands was heading towards her slit, presumably to pleasure herself, and I reached down to grab her wrist, stopping her.

Surprised, he looked up at me with those sparkling, teal eyes wide open.

“Not yet,” I instructed.

I kneeled down beside her, then leaned down to kiss her sweet lips, followed by her cheeks, and then her neck. I continued running a line of kisses down her chest, over her collarbones, between her breasts and down her slender belly to her navel, where I stopped. I sat up again and reached up to her shoulder to place my hand on it, then I ran my palm down her chest and between her breasts, following the same path as the kisses she'd just been served. When my hand reached her navel, I ran it over to the right side of her waist and placed my other hand on the left side of her, then trailed them upwards, along the sides of her ribs. I then ran them inwards to cup her breasts from the sides, circling my hands around the soft mounds, being sure not to touch her nipples, which were hard as glass and pointing straight up at the ceiling. Next I ran my hands down, away from her breasts toward her waist again, continuing this time down over her hips. The feel of her pelvis beneath the skin was vivid as my fingers trailed over her graceful curves, and I continued running my hands down her thighs; she arched her hips up a little, her breath tremulous.

I let one hand remain where it was on top of her thigh, and the other I slid down to the inner side of the opposite thigh. With a hitched breath, she quickly parted her legs in response, allowing me to slide my hand up towards her hot, moist core. She drew in another breath as my hand inched closer to it, only to slide back up to the top of her thigh, diverting around her slit. I ran both hands upwards again, away from her thighs and over her hips toward her waist.

An exasperated breath burst from between her lips and she shook a bit; frustrated, yet further aroused by my teasing.

“You big meanie,” she chided softly before drawing in another trembling breath.

I continued running my hands over her breasts again, being sure to avoid her nipples. Anything sensitive to pleasure was off limits at this point: that’s how this game is played, and I knew it would drive her absolutely insane.

I slid my hands back up to her shoulders and stroked her neck, tickling her a bit, which caused her shoulders to fidget in response, accompanied by a sweet giggle.

With a sly grin, I continued the torturous process. Running my hands downward once again, over her chest, her breasts, her waist, hips, thighs; I repeated the path, running my hand up her inner thigh again, but when I was only inches from her throbbing, wet crease, I diverted around it again, sending my hands back up to caress her slender body.

“Ohh!” she moaned as she started running her own hand down her body towards her slit. I reached down in response, stopping her hand in its tracks.

“No cheating,” I said shortly.

She groaned, pressing the heels of her hands against her eyelids as she kicked her heels repeatedly against the mattress. “Oh my goodness! Please touch it, Goldie! I need it!” she begged, arching her hips up, exposing her mound to me, begging for even the smallest morsel of pleasure.

I placed my hand a few inches below her navel, enjoying the heat of her skin against my palm before giving her mound a gentle squeeze. I paused there for a moment, letting her wonder if I was going to slide my hand down and give her the stimulation she was so desperate for...or upward, to continue the teasing. I slowly slid my hand down a tiny bit, making her draw in a breath, then I steered my hand around it, running my palm down her thigh again.

She shook her head in frustration, whipping her soft, fragrant hair into a cotton candy coloured mess as I continued to ruthlessly tantalize her. I continued this soft torture of her goosebump-ridden body for close to twenty minutes, moving my hands directly towards her most sensitive areas, only to divert my path around them at the last second; and I did this to her over and over again. Occasionally, as I was reaching past her crotch to her thighs, she would arch her hips up to try to brush herself against my forearm to steal a small scrap of sensation, but I was always a step ahead and kept her hungry -- and begging for mercy.

She tried several more times to touch herself, only to have her hand batted away again and again. She was utterly desperate now, writhing her body against the sheets, rubbing her thighs together, trying anything she could think of to get some stimulation.

Her hands were now pulling at the sheets, squeezing handfuls of fabric and then letting them go, repeating the process over and over. I continued to caress her bare, red-hot skin, up and down her body, randomly changing the path and being sure to never hit any of her sensitive spots; her breath was ragged, and I couldn't help but notice her jaw shaking as she kept her eyes closed, praying for stimulation.

Finally, as I ran my hands over her one more time, she held her breath, arched her back and stiffened; her hips twitched uncontrollably, and she eventually let a hot breath blast out of her mouth, and her body finally returned to a limp position.

“It worked,” I thought with a satisfied smirk.

She opened her eyes to look at me. The look I got was intense, like she could destroy a building with it. “I...I came…” she panted. “That was...amazing! You...you didn’t even touch me…down there.”

It loved hearing her say it. She looked completely unraveled; her body was quivering, and she wasn’t able to lay still, her level of desperation in her was off the charts.

I reached out and hooked my hand under her knee to pull it away from the other. She responded by parting her legs for me, and I laid down on my stomach between her legs, settling myself down in front of her sex. I took a deep breath through my nose, taking in the creamy, but slightly metallic scent of her arousal.

Looking at her glistening slit, just inches from my face; I could feel the heat coming off of it as I traced my eyes up her yellow, inner thighs, meeting at the apex where the open lips revealed her delicate pink folds, which reminded me of the pink butterflies on her skirt. I made sure to exhale directly on it, watching her hands quiver as she clenched the bed sheets again, driven mad by the sensation of cool air blowing against her arousal, aching to be touched.

I leaned in and placed my tongue at the bottom of the opening and ran it up the entire length of her slit, making sure to hit her clit with the tip of my tongue as I passed over it, causing her hips to jerk sharply. The tip of my tongue eventually emerged from the cleft and licked a few inches up her abdomen, almost to her navel.

By this point, her sensation was supercharged after the touch-torture I had put her through, and this single lick caused her entire body to tremble and twitch with intense pleasure as she finally received direct touch where she so desperately wanted it.

She moaned loudly, uttering some incoherent babble, followed by “Oh sweet mother of…!” before she trailed off again.

I spread her open with my thumbs, revealing the little red button, where the most intense sensations were about to come from. I leaned in to place my lips around it began to suck, which pulled her clit along with the tender, pink folds into my mouth, and then I released the suction, letting it pop back out.

Again, I drew it back into my mouth, this time holding it in place to flick it with my tongue, causing her hips to buck, jamming her throbbing crease harder into my mouth. I repeated this several times, sometimes punctuating it with some gentle licks in a circle around her soft folds; it wasn't long before her whole body seized, like she was possessed by a demon, trembling against the intensity of the orgasm.

Once she settled herself, breathing hard and moaning softly, I brought by fingers up to her entrance to slide my index finger between those wet. swollen lips, followed by my middle finger. I pumped them in and out, stroking her delicate interior while I leaned in and continued teasing her tender flesh with my mouth.

I have no idea how many orgasms she experienced during this session; with her pleasure at such high intensity the whole time, it was difficult to tell her climaxes apart from her plateaus. After her final finish, I let her rest a minute before the next stage.

I watched her lay there, breathing heavily as I undid my pants and quickly removed them.

Fluttershy was quick to lock her eyes on my length, eyes widening as she saw the little bead of clear fluid drip off of the head as I crawled over her, and she reached out to put her arms around my shoulders to welcome me into her.

I didn’t put it in her just yet; instead, I placed my length against her crease to stroke her with it, eliciting a series of cute squeaks and uncontrolled quivers from her. I continued until I could feel her body begin to stiffen, then I quickly positioned it between the petals of her entrance and pushed into her completely, soaking my erection in the heat and moisture of the shy girl's depths, bringing our bodies together so her clit could grind against my body.

It took only a few thrusts before Fluttershy tightened up completely, wrapping her arms and legs around me to hold herself steady as her whole body convulsed violently, her soaking wet heat clenching down on my length with sharp, little pulses of gratitude. She moaned loudly, reaching up with one hand to pull her hair in an attempt to dull the sensation overload, only to become flustered by the fact that she could no longer cause herself pain. I gave her a few more slow thrusts before I came to a stop, supporting myself over her with my arms.

She was still convulsing feverishly; her eyes trying to lock onto me, but they kept rolling back in her head. This continued on for half a minute, her jerking body creating more stimulation as it caused my hard length to move in and out of her slightly.

She finally tried to speak. “Haaa!…S-s-still…”

“Huh?” I asked, looking down at her.

“S-still…cu…cumming…” she stuttered, between ragged breaths.

“Oops, I think I broke her…” I thought to myself. “Are you stuck?” I asked her, laughing.

She still couldn’t lay still, nor could she keep her eyes open; I could still feel her squeezing me over and over again, and had been for over a minute now.

I watched her for a few moments longer, becoming concerned. “Are you OK?...Should I take it out?”

Her eyes snapped open at the suggestion, and she grabbed the sides of my head, her palms slapping my cheeks as her hands made contact. “NO!” she shouted, gritting her teeth. “Leave it in!”

“Yes ma’am,” I said as her convulsions finally started to gradually trail off, and so I laid over her, letting our bodies rest together. My head came to rest on the pillow next to hers as she stared at the ceiling, exhaling one hot breath after another, her body still quivering.

Suddenly, she snapped her face towards mine, startling me. The tips of our noses were just touching, and she was staring at me intensely with fire in her eyes.

“Why aren’t you fucking me?” she growled.

“Oh crap,” I said, sitting up. “I was giving you a break.”

“No breaks!” she panted. “Put my legs up.”

I complied, throwing her legs over my shoulders and I started thrusting back into her again, feeling waves of warm sensation roll through me every time it slid in and out of her hot tightness, which by then was a wet, sloppy, hot mess. She started to tighten up again before too long and I looked down at myself, gliding in and out of her pink flesh as her body began to jerk uncontrollably once again. She hollered out suddenly, which was quickly followed by a jet of clear liquid, squirting up from her slit, hitting my stomach and dribbling down onto hers.

I didn’t stop this time to see if she was climaxing continuously again; she told me to do my worst, so that’s what she was going to get.

I grabbed her ankles and held her feet apart at arms length, spreading her legs wide, so I could see everything: her delicate pink folds, wrapped around my length, spreading her glistening moisture onto my shaft as I pushed into her over and over again.

I kept going like this for quite a while, bringing her an unknown number of orgasms during the process, her body shaking uncontrollably each time a fresh wave of ecstasy slammed over her. Finally, she reached up for me, so I came down to her, leaning on the bed with my elbows as she wrapped her arms around my shoulders.

Fluttershy kissed me deeply, sweeping my mouth out with her tongue again while blowing her breath against my face through her nose. She broke the kiss to speak. “Oh…goodness!” she breathed. “I love it; I love you!”

I smiled and kissed her back gently. “And I love you,” I replied, “but I’m not done yet.”

She gasped, her eyes wide as I sat up and backed out of her. Without warning, I grabbed her by the hips and lifted her clear off the bed, spinning her in the air.

“WHAAA!?” she squealed in surprise, before landing on her stomach.

I placed my hands on her hips and pulled her backside towards me; bringing her up to her hands and knees, I placed myself against her opening and plunged my entire length back into her tight depths, filling her once again with my ridged girth.

Holding her hips fast, I gave her another series of long and powerful thrusts, withdrawing almost completely each time, then bottoming out against her over and over again, driving her mad with endless waves of unstoppable, tingling delight.

She pulled her pillow close and buried her face in it. The sound of her muffled squeals delighted me, and I had the pleasure of hearing them again and again, whenever she reached her peak, which must have been at least three more times; it was hard to keep track, honestly, using the 'no-touch' method of foreplay often had the effect of keeping orgasms just below the surface, ready to burst forth under even the slightest touch.

And I didn’t stop when she climaxed; I just kept going full steam ahead each time, and if she had pulled away, I would have let her. I wanted to her to enjoy it after all, but to my surprise, she actually shoved herself back against me every time she came.

At last, I could feel myself starting to get close, so I slowed down a bit. It wasn’t time, I didn’t want her to overtake me just yet.

After another climax took her, I withdrew, and she slowly rolled over onto her back, bringing me close to laughter when I saw her face: bright, glowing red cheeks, pink hair frazzled beyond recognition, gusts of hot breath blowing from her parted lips.

She laid down on her back and spread her legs again, coaxing me closer to return to her hot, welcoming flesh. I crawled over her, sliding back into her tight depths as she wrapped her arms around me, holding me tight. This is how I wanted it to end; after such a harsh go at her, I knew in the end she’d like a more intimate finish.

We kissed deeply as I continued to work her, her climaxes came in steady streams now; never really any space between them, just a variance in intensity. By then, I could feel the end coming fast; the tingle starting to intensify as her delicate flesh worked its magic on me.

Fluttershy could feel it coming, I saw the look of relief on her face, as well as the excitement of knowing that she was finally going to return some sexual power back onto me.

“You ready?” I asked her.

She gave an eager, but exhausted nod. “Yes…please…I want it!” she begged.

I accelerated my thrusts slightly, intensifying her pleasure while speeding up the arrival of my own finish.

She felt it swell inside her, signalling to her that it was time to receive another ”Ooh, yes! Fill me up!” she panted, eyes closed, shaking her head in desperation.

I felt the explosion hit, slowing myself to a steady pace as I let the shots fire into her one-by-one, continuing until I felt her arch her back and lock her body up one more time, quivering against me.

Fluttershy's eyes lit up when she felt the hot flood gush into her, which triggered the last orgasm to rack her poor, ragged body. She bit her bottom lip, giving me a look of satisfaction. “Aahhh, yeah...that’s it,” she sighed.

I came to a stop on her and leaned down to kiss her one more time before sitting up. I looked down at the connection between us; shiny and wet, glistening in the sunlight, still pulsating occasionally, lost in the euphoric aftermath. As I withdrew from the shy girl to lay down beside her, I caught a glimpse of the small white pearl at the center of her pink folds, slowly making its way downward before disappearing between the cheeks of her derrière .

She made no effort to stop it from getting onto the bedspread. Instead, she remained motionless, laying spread-eagle with her slender arms outstretched across the pillows.

I crawled up beside her and lifted one of her arms to lay down next to her, then set her arm back down on my chest.

Looking over at her, I couldn't help but smile as she stared incredulously at the ceiling, her breasts heaving as she continued to breathe heavily; I then noticed the bed was trembling, and I looked down to find her legs, twitching and shaking uncontrollably.

After a few minutes, she turned her hand over on my chest to scratch it gently with her fingernails as I watched her pretty face: her turquoise eyes shimmering, those cute eye lashes, protruding from the corners of her eyes; her rosy cheeks, her soft, beautiful lips, quivering in the aftermath of the assault her body had just endured.

She finally spoke. “Holy shit,” she said softly, with a tone of disbelief of what I’d just put her body through. She turned her face towards mine, smirking. “Nice hustle.”

I chuckled. “You asked for it.”

“True, true,” she replied, rolling her eyes and then pausing for a moment. “You practically destroyed me, Goldie.”

I laughed with her for a moment before we went quiet again.

She straightened her legs out, putting them together and running her hands down her thighs. “I c-can’t keep my legs still,” she said, giggling a bit, before rolling towards me to rest her temple on my shoulder.

“I love you,” she said quietly, after ruminating for a few minutes.

“I love you, too.”

We laid in silence for a few minutes, before she eventually got up and headed for the bathroom. She was quite a sight, walking naked across the room; her trembling legs caused her to walk bow-legged like an old cowboy with a bad back, and her hair was frazzled, sticking out in every direction.

Once she disappeared out of sight, I heard her laugh softly upon seeing herself in the mirror. “Oh my goodness, look at me!”

I smiled, staring at the ceiling, quite pleased with myself for giving her such a wild, satisfying ride.

Next, I could hear her brush being pulled through her hair. “I wonder what Rarity would look like,” she said.

I lifted my head off the pillow. “What’s that?”

“I mean,” she replied, “Her hair is always so perfect. I wonder what she would look like after you did that to her.”

“Oh,” I said. “I don’t know.”

“Oh what I wouldn’t give to see you do to her what you just did to me,” Fluttershy’s voice said, wafting softly from the bathroom.

“Yeah…” I mumbled, nodding. “She sure thinks about Rarity a lot,” I thought, raising an eyebrow.

After a few moments, I heard her set the brush down on the vanity, and then she emerged and stood at the bathroom door. Her hair was quite a bit neater now, but still not perfect.

She stood there, naked, stretching her body, reaching into the air and joining her hands above her head. Her breasts perked up with her arms raised like this, accentuated by her chest puffing up as her back arched, causing her rear end to stick out as well; her long, smooth legs were taut, and she rocked her hips side-to-side slightly to loosen herself up.

She really was the most amazingly beautiful thing on the planet.

And she was mine.

Forever.

Chapter 23: The Bar

Chapter 23

Fluttershy and I spent the rest of the day preparing for our return to work. Since I would be staying with her, I went to my place and brought back a bunch of my things. Some clothes, some personal items, hygiene products, etc. while she made sure she had enough laundry done to last her the week. It was kind of mundane, but I enjoyed doing it with her.

I felt free of the burden of knowing that she was going to age and eventually die in front of me. Instead, she will remain a gorgeous woman for all time.

“Finally…someone to be with who I don’t have to eventually give up.” I thought as I watched her scurry about the house, getting herself ready to try to return to a normal life…despite the fact that she was no longer normal.

I wondered how Rarity was doing. What were her and Sunset up to? My girlfriend and I both watched our phones all day to make sure Rarity wasn’t contacting us, needing help.

We spent the night in the backyard, sitting by the fire, talking about the future. What will it be like? What kind of things will happen? What are we going to live through? Is it possible that we might end up being the only two living things on this planet if something happened?…like a nuclear war or a meteor impact.
Actually…it would be the three of us.

The week started out fairly normal. We made small talk in the morning as we got ready to go after showering to get the smoke smell off of us. As she was slipping her feet into her green boots, I could see on the bottoms of the feet that the tread pattern had butterflies scattered around in it. I wondered where she got boots like these.

Monday night after work we made supper and ate together, followed by watching TV in the evening. She habitually went to go get ready for bed, still not used to the idea of just staying up all night every night…I figured it would take a while for her to get over that. We tried to watch TV a bit longer, but just ended up making love on the chaise lounge…three times.

We had a fire again on Tuesday night. I tried to sell her on the idea of having sex in the fire, but she didn’t want to because she was worried that the black ash might not wash off of her skin and then everyone at work would ask her about it. So we had sex in the adirondack chair in the backyard…and ended up breaking it. So we threw it in the fire and finished our session in the grass.

Wednesday she decided to go to bed around 1am and just lay there. She was admittedly missing the whole human habit of sleeping every night. I told her it was fine, she’ll get used to being up all the time and if she wants to go to bed until then, then she should. She wanted me to lay with her, which I did. We snuggled under the covers together until morning, loving the feelings and sounds of each other as we laid there, spooning together.

Thursday we were on the couch, watching TV. Fluttershy was watching some movie she really liked that I personally wasn’t really into, so I decided to text Rarity to see how she was doing.

RARITY: I'm doing just fine! How are you and Fluttershy? ME: She's doing great, but she's having a bit of trouble with wanting to go to bed still. RARITY: Oh, not me! I've been at the boutique every night this week! I must admit, this condition of ours allows me to be SO much more productive. And not just time wise...I don't get tired, I don't need to stop for meals, and I can move faster because I do not have to worry about sticking myself anymore. It is simply wonderful! ME: Just be careful that u don't let too many people know about it, like that Coco chick you have working there. Remember, there r people looking for me and they'll be just as interested in u if they realise what u r. RARITY: Duly noted. Thank you. ME: Everything else OK? RARITY: Yes. Mostly. ME: Mostly? RARITY: I wanted to apologise for being so dramatic about the hot tub incident on Saturday. I pride myself in being a proper lady, and I was worried that you two would no longer think of me as such. What a silly notion! I should never have been so worried about it, what a fool I've been! ME: It's fine. Like we said, we don't think any differently of u. Flutters loves you very much.

There was a pause for a few minutes. Then I got this:

RARITY: And what of you?

I didn’t know how to answer. Was she asking me if I loved her? I stared at the screen for a minute before deciding to show the messages to Fluttershy. I passed her the phone and watched her read the conversation as the light from the screen illuminated her pretty face in the dark. I saw one of her eyebrows go up when she got to the end and she looked at me.

“I told you she liked you,” she said smugly. Then she typed something into the phone before passing it back to me.

I looked at the screen and froze up when I saw that she had replied for me.

ME: Yes

I looked at my girlfriend. “Hey! Why’d you do that?”

She laughed at my reaction to what she’d done. “Don’t worry. She knows what you mean.”

I shook my head. “Let’s hope so,” I said. “Shit disturber.”

She giggled and snuggled up close to me. I watched my phone for the next while, but I never got anymore messages from Rarity that night.

My boss never asked at all about my week off. Aside from the girls, he’s the only person I currently know who is aware of my condition. As I told the girls, I had saved his life a few years back.

Before I worked there, I had stopped in at his shop to see if he could add some air to one of my truck’s tires. He was out front, writing down some information about a customer’s car when another car coming off of the street skidded sideways through his parking lot. The driver had fallen asleep, causing the car to go out of control, heading right towards him. It would have pinned him against the car he was looking at and killed him, without question. My instinct to help kicked in and I charged across the parking lot, shoulder-checking the out-of-control car so it took a different path and crashed into an old camper at the far end of the lot.

The driver survived, but was taken to the hospital when the ambulance arrived. The shop owner was shaken up pretty badly and had to close up for the day. Since the driver of the car was asleep, the shop owner was the only person to witness my abilities that day.

I took him to get a coffee so he could calm down for a bit. I told him my whole story, the same as I did with the girls. He offered me a job, paying me cash under-the-table when I told him I was in hiding and needed some cash flow. Although, I think that telling him I had been working on cars for the better part of a century also piqued his interest in me as an employee.

He has been great to me over the past few years. His gratefulness for me being there just at the right moment has led him to allow me time off whenever I need it. And he asks no questions. He also let me use the dealer plate on my truck, which is what I have been doing for a several years now. I can't actually register the vehicle myself since I'm technically off the grid...I don't even have a social insurance number, which is why he was paying me in cash. He was happy to see me return to work this week, knowing full well that if something was to happen -- like if I was discovered, I would have to leave him forever.

Friday night I got a text from Sunset.

SUNSET: Hey, I know its short notice, but I finished my finals this week and I've already got an apartment lined up in Canterlot. I've got everything pretty much packed into a U-Haul here, thanks to Twilight and her magic, but she's not coming down this weekend so do u think u could help me unload it at the new apartment? ME: Sure. When? SUNSET: Tomorrow? Sorry ME: Don't be sorry. I have to work til noon though so it'll have to be after that. SUNSET: That's perfect! I won't be in town until then anyway. ME: K sounds good. SUNSET: And after that, I was thinking we could all go hit the bars or something for our Saturday outing this week. The others are down with that, how about u and Flutters?

I asked my girlfriend what she thought.

“Oh,” she said a bit nervously. “I don’t really like that kind of thing, but if they’re all going then I guess I’ll go…for my friends.”

“It’s up to you.” I said. “I don’t really like bars either, but I’ll do whatever you want to.”

She nodded.

ME: We're in. But I'll have to come out here to change and get Flutters cuz I'll probs meet u at ur new place to unpack right after work. SUNSET: Awesome! C u then! ME: Later

The next morning I gave Fluttershy a kiss before I left for work. I worked the morning and we closed down at noon as always and I headed into Canterlot to the address that Sunset had sent me. The only other person there was Rainbow Dash, which proved to be helpful since she could zip up and down the halls like lightning, carrying boxes with her. There were about a dozen large items, a couch, a bed, some dressers and tables, most of which I brought up by myself.

We got it done pretty quick and Sunset ordered a couple of pizzas and we sat around Sunset’s small, round table and ate with cardboard boxes stacked all around us.

“So where’s this bar you want to go to, Sunset?” Dash asked.

“It’s off Hooffield St.” Sunset replied. “I don’t know how long it’s been open, but I heard through the grapevine that it’s a good time.”

“Well, even if it’s not, we’ll just go somewhere else.” Dash said. “No biggie.”

It was after 4pm, so I decided I’d better get going home to have enough time change and head back with Fluttershy.

Sunset thanked me for the help as I left. I wanted to ask her how last Sunday was with Rarity, but I couldn’t with Dash there. Eventually, we were going to have to tell the others about Rarity and Fluttershy.

Dash gave me a high-five after I had my boots on. I turned and went out and walked down the hall to take the elevator down to the parking lot.

After heading home, getting ready and driving back to town in Fluttershy’s vehicle, we met up with the other girls in the parking lot at the bar. It seemed like a rougher part of town. It put me a bit on edge.

I didn’t like bars. I have a tough time dealing with drunken behaviour, maybe it’s because I don’t know what it’s like to drink and actually feel the effect, but the last time I was in a bar there were a few broken bones that resulted. Hopefully this time will be different.

Sunset had texted everyone about twenty minutes earlier, telling us that she was already there and was inside.

“Should she be in there by herself?” I worried.

The building looked a bit drab on the outside, except for the neon sign above the front door. The parking lot was on the corner of an intersection with the bar beside it. It was a two storey building with a wide alley between it that had a chain-link fence connecting the bar to the next building.

We gathered in the parking lot. The sun had just gone down over the horizon and it was getting darker outside. All of us were there with the exception of Sunset, who was inside, and Twilight who was still in the city finishing her finals for another week. Fluttershy and I approached Rarity first, asking about her week. As she talked to Fluttershy, I could see her blue eyes darting up at me once in a while. Then I remembered the text that Fluttershy had sent her from my phone basically saying that I loved her. I figured I should probably talk to her about that tonight, just in case she had the wrong idea.

We started walking towards the front of the building, hearing the thumping of the subwoofers as they were playing whatever dance music was on inside.

When we got about ten feet from the bouncer at the front door, we heard a voice hollering. It sounded like Sunset. I looked around, trying to follow it.

I looked at Fluttershy. “Did you hear that?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yeah…where did it come from?”

Then we heard it again. This time, all of us heard it and stopped. “FUCK OFF!” the voice yelled. It was definitely Sunset.

“It sounded like it came from that alley!” Pinkie squealed in her usual tone, pointing at the fenced-off area between the bar and the next building. We walked past the bouncer at the front door and headed over to the alley. There was a small gate in the fence that was pad-locked on the inside. The alleyway was about forty feet deep, with a couple of dumpsters against the wall and some metal garbage bins were randomly placed along the side. There were some building materials stacked around as well from some recent renovations. There was a door on the right side of the alley, which presumably led into the bar.

We could see a man in there. Someone who looked like a bar patron, wearing the usual clothes that someone would wear to place like that. He also appeared to be visibly intoxicated as he was pacing around another person…

It was Sunset. She was yanking on the door to get back into the bar, but it seemed to be locked. She was yelling at him to leave her alone. As we approached the fence, we saw the drunk guy go over to the pile of building scrap and pick up a three foot long 2x4 and approach Sunset with it.

“LOOK OUT!” Dash screamed, just in time for Sunset to look over at us, then at the drunk guy as he swung the 2x4 at her. She ducked down quickly, the wood just missing the top of her head. She ran over to one of the metal garbage cans, staying crouched over slightly, worried about being hit as she grabbed the lid off of one of the cans to use as a shield just in time to block another swing of the 2x4.

The wood hit the metal lid with a loud crash.

“AAAAAAAAAHH!” Sunset cried as she dropped the lid and fell onto her back, clutching her wrist. The impact of the wood on the lid must have hit her wrist as she was holding it. “YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!” she yelled at the guy.

This all happened so fast, we barely had time to react before she was already down on the ground. When I saw him swing that piece of wood and hit her with such a loud crash, I could feel rage instantly boiling to the surface. I put my hand out, shoving on the gate, snapping the padlock off easily. Opening the gate, I walked through as the lock hit the ground with a clunk at my feet. I broke into a run and closed the thirty foot gap between me and the drunkard in only three or four steps.

He turned to me, looking surprised that I was standing in front of him so suddenly.

“Big mistake, bud.” I said, clenching my fists at my sides.

He bobbed his head stupidly before making a ‘pppft’ sound, then he raised the 2x4 again and swung it at me from his right. I leaned back slightly, letting it pass in front of my face. He looked at me for a second, caught off guard that his attack didn’t connect, then he swung again from his left. I leaned back, causing him to miss again. He didn’t hesitate to swing again from his right, but this time I brought my right fist up, delivering a right hook which caught the 2x4 in the middle, smashing it in half. Splinters of wood flew everywhere, along with the broken end of the piece of wood which spun through the air before landing with a clunk on the ground about ten feet away.

He stopped, staring with his mouth open at his weapon after he felt its weight reduce noticeably.

I wasted no time grabbing his shoulders and driving my knee into his midsection, causing him to grunt loudly as the air left his lungs from the impact. His whole body was now hurling upwards into the air. I quickly let go of his shoulders and placed one hand on the back of his head before he had flown out of my reach, shoving him downwards, driving his face towards the ground. His body hammered into the ground head-first like a javelin, leaving him in a crumpled up, motionless mess on the ground.

I stood there looking at him with my teeth gritted for a moment…then I realized I had lost my temper. Really bad.

I looked back at the girls, who were still on the outside of the fence, standing motionless. Their eyes were wide, their mouths all hanging open.

“Uh…” I said.

“Holy shit…” AJ muttered.

I stood there, worried that they might be upset or scared of me now after seeing that. Even though I had told them that I had a lot of power and was quite skilled in a fight, they were not prepared to see me display this level of violence.

I was reminded of Sunset when I heard her groaning on the ground behind me. I turned to her and squatted down. She hadn’t seen what I did to the guy since she had her eyes squeezed shut from the pain in her wrist, which she was still clutching with her other hand.

I reached out and touched her shoulder. “Hey…let me see that.”

Sunset opened her eyes, her aqua-coloured irises focusing on me right away, looking surprised to see me there so suddenly. She held out her wrist to me a bit. I could see that it was starting to swell up already. “He hit the trash can lid…” she grunted. “It jammed the lid into my arm and twisted my wrist.”

I nodded. “We saw it…that was good thinking, using the lid like a shield like that. He would have hurt you a lot worse if you hadn't been so quick to react.” I said with a reassuring smile.

She looked at me for second, then nodded, looking back down at her injury.

The other girls had gathered around by this point. Fluttershy kneeled down next to Sunset to look at her wrist a little closer.

“Uh, is that guy dead?” Dash asked, still standing behind me.

I turned and looked at the guy, laying motionless amongst the garbage in the alley. “I don’t know…” I said, looking back at Dash. “Maybe?”

I looked back at Sunset. “Why were you out here?”

Sunset shook her head. “Right after I’d gotten inside the bar, I texted you guys, and then that jerk over there started hitting on me. I didn’t want to talk to him and told him nicely to leave me alone, but he insisted and started getting aggressive. I went to the bouncer and told him what was going on, but he didn’t do anything.”

I Frowned. “He didn’t do anything? That’s his fuckin job…” I said, feeling my anger start to come back.

Sunset nodded. “Yeah, I know…I didn’t know what else to do so I tried to avoid him for a bit, but he kept following me around. I found this exit here so I came out of this door to try and get away from him, then I realized that fence was there so I tried to go back in, but that door locks from the outside. Then he came out after me…”

I shut my eyes and held my hand up. I was totally pissed now. “So wait…” I said loudly, "They have a door that you can go out, but can’t get back in…and it leads to a fenced-off alley? What the fuck kind of setup is that?” I looked at the other girls. “Is that even legal??”

They just shrugged and shook their heads…they could tell I was really upset. More upset than they’ve ever seen me...I don’t think they knew what to do.

I looked at the door that Sunset had come out of. “I’m going inside to have a chat with them. This is bullshit.” I said as I stood up and went toward the door.

Sunset looked over at me as I went. She tried to tell me: “It’s-“

I grabbed the handle and yanked the door open, ripping the metal latch-plate from the door frame. Fluttershy’s shoulders jumped as the metal plate hit the ground, sending a loud clang echoing through the alley. I stepped inside, disappearing from sight.

“…Locked.” Sunset finished, looking back at Fluttershy.

*****

Inside, I made my way through the tables and crowds. There were different coloured flood lights everywhere, as well as white strobe lights flashing all over the place. There was dance music playing so loud, you barely hear yourself think. The floor itself was moving under the weight of the bass line.

Near the back, to my immediate left was a staircase that headed up to a small landing with a door at the end. I decided to go up there to see who I was going to have a chat with. I didn’t’ even know what I was doing, or what I was going to do…all I know is that I was pissed off that Sunset was outside with an injured arm, only hours after I helped her move into her apartment as she began her summer.

As I ascended the staircase, I looked out over the dance floor from the higher view. There were lots of people, drunk, jumping around…knocking into each other. I saw one idiot run into a woman from behind, causing her to spill her drink down her front. Shaking my head, I looked around for the bouncers…I found only one, standing at the side doing nothing but watching the chaos.

“What kind of place is this?” I wondered as my temper reached new heights.

At the top of the stairs there was a bouncer standing by the door. He was a fairly large man, probably 250lbs and a few inches taller than me. He looked at me and took a few steps forward, putting his hand up signalling me to stop. “You can’t be up here!” He shouted over the deafening music.

I looked around quickly to see if anyone else was looking in our direction, not wanting anyone else in the place to see what I was about to do. After seeing that no one was watching, I quickly snapped my hand up, connecting my hand to the side of his head and he silently dropped unconscious to the floor amongst the loud music and lights.

I approached the wooden door, turned the knob and walked in, closing the door behind me. It was an office of sorts, but it seemed to double as a VIP room. There were a few small tables and a small bar on the left side. The only people in there were two extremely large men, sitting on each side of a large oak desk with a man sitting behind it. He had slicked back hair, a thin beard and was wearing a tacky suit. He looked to be of Persian descent, or maybe South American?

When I walked in he looked up to see who was entering, then his expression quickly changed when he saw me. Obviously he didn’t know me and I wasn’t supposed to be in here. The two large men stood up and walked to each side of the desk as I approached. They must have been twins because they looked pretty much identical, except one was shaved bald with no facial hair, and the other had a full head of brown hair about and a full beard. They towered over me, at least a foot taller which would put them north of seven feet. Their girth was also huge. They were chubby, but I could tell there was a lot of muscle under there.

As I walked up to the desk, I could see that the man at the desk had a plate in front of him with a steak dinner on it and he was sipping from a glass of red wine.

“HEY!” I shouted, stopping a couple feet from the desk. “What the fuck is going on here?” I said loudly. As I said this, I heard the door behind me open and close again.

“Did another bouncer just come in?” I wondered. It really didn’t matter anyway. Whoever it was, they posed no threat to me. I kept my eyes locked on the guy at the desk who looked like he was in charge.

I continued. “Your patrons down there who are getting way too rowdy and your bouncers aren’t doing jack shit! My friend just had her arm smashed up by some asshole outside in the alley. She said she asked one your guys for help and he didn’t do anything!”

I saw the slicked man at the desk stare at me in disbelief, but without fear as I talked belligerently at him.

I pointed my finger right at his face. “You’d better tell your guys to do their jobs and look after these rowdy assholes, or I’m gonna go down there myself and put every one of them, including your boys, through the fuckin wall!”

The man at the desk chuckled a bit as he wiped his mouth. I could see in my peripherals that his two towering bodyguards were closing in. They stopped at arm’s length from me.

The man at the desk leaned back in his chair casually. “Sir,” he said. “Do you not realize that I am the owner of this club?” It was obvious to me by his demeanor that he was accustomed to being in a position of power. He smugly raised his eyebrows before he continued: “Do you know what happens to guys who think they can waltz in here and talk to m-“

“HEY, DID YOU HEAR ME?” I cut in, raising my voice.

The man looked stunned for a second that I cut him off in the middle of his meaningless threat. He regained his pokerface after a second, then waved is finger towards the door, signalling his men to throw me out.

The large bald man reached out and grabbed my shirt collar with a hand the size of a ham. I grabbed his hand with mine and squeezed it hard. The feeling of the bones in his hand snapping one-by-one reminded me of squeezing a bag of pretzel sticks.

As he cried out in pain, the large bearded man on the other side of me swung his huge fist. Without letting go of the bald guy’s hand I caught the bearded man’s arm by the wrist and quickly thrusted it back upwards towards his head where his forearm smashed against his face. Both bones in his forearm snapped on impact, as well as his nose and he fell to the floor unconscious like a ton of bricks.

I brought my attention back to the bald man, who was on his knees now, making him the same height as me. Letting go of his hand, I put my hand on the side of his face and drove his head through the top of the oak desk, smashing the entire thing in half. The pieces of the desk tipped over, leaving the owner sitting there on a chair with broken wood all around him.

“How about now?” I asked the man in the chair. He had his hands up in defense, his fingers shaking like leaves in the fall breeze.

“U-u-uh…” he murmured in a shaky voice. His eyes suddenly darted over to something behind me and I remembered that someone had entered the room after me.

I turned around with fire in my eyes, ready for action, only to see a woman…a woman I recognised immediately from the picture on Sunset’s phone. She had a white zip-up jacket on with purple tights with a wavy pattern on them. Her shoulder-length hair was styled in a few different shades of blue and was spiked a little bit. She had a set of headphones around her neck and large round shades with red lenses. Her skin was pale, almost like Rarity’s. She stood there with a terrified look on her face…her fear was obvious even with those glasses blocking her eyes.

I started to feel remorseful knowing that I had frightened someone who was a friend of my friends. I was here because one of them was hurt, after all, and here I was scaring the daylights out of one of their own…someone who had a hand in helping them defeat one of their enemies no less.

I looked back at the carnage I just caused, realizing that maybe I had overreacted…slightly. I looked back at her with my expression softening as my rage continued to subside. I hadn’t been this angry in many years, but something about seeing that guy take a swing at Sunset with a 2x4 just set me off, but now that I had settled down a bit I really just wanted to leave.

I figured I’d better finish what I started, so I turned back to the owner. “Don’t make me come back here.” I said, pointing at him. It was an idle threat…I really had no intention of coming back to this shit hole. I doubted any of the girls would either.

I turned to leave, walking towards the door. I looked at the girl again, figuring she must work here as the DJ or something…she must have come into the office to talk to her boss about something when she found me tearing the place up. As I walked by her, she followed me with her eyes, hidden behind those glasses. I thought about saying ‘Hi’ or something to her, but she didn’t exactly look like she wanted to talk, so I just gave her a little smile as I passed by her. She was standing just beside the exit, so I was less than a foot away from her when I opened the door and walked out.

I texted my girlfriend on the way out to find out where they were. Paying no attention to my surroundings, I walked out of the noisy place, leaving from the front entrance as I walked over to the parking lot to meet the girls.

They immediately asked me what happened in the bar. I told them I had a chat with the manager about their bouncers not doing their duties…and that they need a bit of ‘persuasion’ in order to listen.

“How’s your arm, Sunset?” I asked.

She was sitting in the passenger front seat of Rarity’s car. “It’s pretty stiff, but I think it’ll be OK. It’s not broken or anything. Rainbow put a tensor bandage on it for me…it just sucks that my summer just started and I have to unpack all my stuff with a bad arm.”

“We can help you unpack, darling.” Rarity spoke up. “We could make a night of it, starting now!”

Sunset smiled. “You guys don’t have to do that….really.”

“Oh darling, I insist.” Rarity said, flipping her stylish purple bangs with her fingertips.

Sunset sighed. “OK…maybe a little bit tonight. I’ll order some more pizzas.”

“What about that guy in the alley?” Dash asked.

“What about him?” I asked. “Is he alive?”

Dash nodded. “Yeah, he had a pulse…but he’s still laying there. He might not make it if he doesn’t get help.”

I looked up at the night sky, rubbing the back of my neck. “OK,“ I said. “We’ll head over to Sunset’s and we’ll call him an ambulance after we leave. Sound good?”

“Sure.” Dash replied.

“You’ll have to look for a pay phone.” I said. “Pull over when you see one and call 911 from it. The dispatchers can trace your cell phone and the cops will end up finding you and they’ll ask questions about how he ended up injured like that.” I instructed.

“OK. Good thinking.” Dash said. “I’ll look after it.”

I figured the owner would look after the big guys upstairs so I didn’t mention them at all.

Everyone agreed with the plan and we headed out in our separate vehicles. Fluttershy and I went in her SUV, Rarity took Sunset with her in her car and Dash and AJ went in Pinkie’s car to look for a phone before heading to Sunset’s apartment.

Once we arrived at Sunset’s, we started unpacking her stuff and setting it up around her new place. She ordered some more pizzas and actually helped a bit with the work, picking things up with one hand and setting them out…despite Rarity’s insistence that Sunset should sit and relax.

AJ and I put Sunset’s bed frame together, then threw the mattresses on and made the bed, ready for her to use anytime she wanted. As it got later, Pinkie, Dash and AJ started to get tired and decided to call it a night. Each of them gave Sunset a hug as they left. Dash actually stuck around for another half hour since she lived fairly close. Pinkie and AJ usually left together because they lived out in the country close to each other and they would usually drive Pinkie’s car together.

After they left, Fluttershy, Rarity and I continued unpacking through the night after Sunset fell asleep in her bed. We finished up around 7:00am, wondering if Sunset would like where we put her stuff. Rarity was confident that her interior design skills had given Sunset the perfect setup, but when we told her that Sunset will probably move a few things around to her liking, Rarity stuck her nose up at us. Fluttershy and I had a chuckle at her typical over-dramatic reaction.

Sunset woke up at about 8:30am, shocked to find her place completely unpacked and set up. There were tears in her eyes as she walked around looking at everything when she found the three of us on her couch. I was sitting at the one end with my head leaned back staring at the ceiling with Fluttershy curled up beside me, eyes closed with her head on my shoulder and Rarity was leaning with her back against Fluttershy, her feet up on the armrest of the other end of the couch. Her arms were folded, resting on her knees as she stared at the floor.

Sunset grinned at the three of us. “What have you crazy immortals been up to all night?”

Chapter 24: River Field

Chapter 24

Sunset Shimmer, Rarity, Fluttershy and I decided to go out for breakfast at a little Mom-and-Pop restaurant close to Sunset’s new apartment. Rarity texted the other girls to see if they wanted to come, but only Rainbow Dash was able to make it. AJ was busy with some early morning farm duties and Pinkie didn’t respond…we made the assumption that she was still asleep.

We met Dash out front of the restaurant, after only a short wait. Sunset was happy to know that Dash actually lived only a couple blocks away. Inside, we found it to be a nice little place. It had an old-timey feel to it…not quite as gimmicky as the 50’s Diner that Fluttershy and I ate at, but it still had an atmosphere to it that made you feel like you were stepping back to a simpler time. There were old pictures on the walls of famous people, old record covers and a few different antique items mounted up here and there.

We sat at a booth next to a window together. The blinds were drawn since the morning sun was at the right angle to shine a little too harshly in our faces. There was a large, low hanging pot light right above the table. The space had a dark feel, but everyone’s faces had a warm glow once we were settled in…maybe it was just the time of day and some luck, but it seemed like the ambiance was very excellently crafted in this place.

Fluttershy slid into the right side of the booth, shifting herself all the way over to the wall. I sat next to her as Sunset sat on the other side, across from Fluttershy, then Dash sat down next to Sunset across from me. Rarity approached the table last, looking at the spot next to me first before looking over at Dash, who was sitting closer to the end of the bench than I was.

“Sunset needs a bit of room for her arm, Rare…” Dash said. “You should probably sit over there.” She finished, pointing at the empty spot beside me.

Rarity looked at me for half a second before sliding onto the bench next to me. Our side of the booth was pretty cramped, so the three of us were basically pressed arm-to-arm together.

“Pardon me, darling…” Rarity said, as she sat next to me. I could feel her hip and thigh pressing against mine as she shifted around a bit in a futile attempt to get comfortable. Almost half of her derriere was still hanging off the end of the bench. Fluttershy and I squeezed down toward the wall to make more room, letting Rarity have a full seat, but this resulted in having both of the girls pressing against either side of me. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like it.

Dash snorted. “You guys look like sardines…”

“Sorry, guys.” Sunset said.

“Oh no, it’s quite alright.” Rarity replied. “We can’t be jamming ourselves in against you with that arm the way it is.”

“How is that, by the way?” Dash asked Sunset, nodding to her bandaged arm which was resting on the table.

Sunset gently wrapped her fingers around her wrist, looking down at it for a moment before she answered. “It still hurts pretty bad.” She sighed. “Sorry about last night, guys. I just wanted to do something fun to celebrate being done school.”

“Meh,” Dash waved her off. “It wasn’t your fault. That place was a dive.” She looked at me for a second as she ran her little blue fingers through her rainbow-coloured bangs, clearing them from her face. “At least we know who NOT to piss off now…”

I was looking down at the table, but I could see all their eyes land on me. I wasn’t sure how to respond, so I just stayed still.

My girlfriend finally came to my rescue. “He was just upset when he saw what that guy did to Sunset…” she said in her sweet little voice.

I looked up at Sunset, who looked back at me with her big green eyes shining as she gave me a little smile of gratitude.

“Well if you ask me, that ruffian needed to be put in his place.” Rarity said as she turned and gave me a little nod of approval.

“Well,” Dash said, “he got put in his place, all right…I haven’t seen a beatdown like that since…well, ever!” She chuckled a bit then continued. “When you broke that 2x4 in half with your fist…WHAM! Holy shit, that was awesome…” she exclaimed, slamming her left fist into her right palm.

I nodded a bit at her compliment. “Sorry, I kind of lost my cool, guys. That hasn’t happened for a long time.”

“Think nothing of it, darling.” Rarity said. I felt her hand come down on my thigh and squeeze it gently as she spoke. I looked at her with a bit of surprise and she quickly withdrew her grip on me.

I felt kind of bad about making her pull back, but I didn’t know what to do. I felt the weight of Fluttershy’s head come to rest of my other shoulder just as the server came with the menus. We ordered our food and continued enjoying our time together at the place.

I liked it there. I enjoyed the mood created by the atmosphere in the place, not to mention being pressed between those two girls. I noticed Sunset was looking at the three of us a lot. Not in the way that she looked at us when she learned about the threesome…this was different. She seemed distant…

We ended up going back to Sunset’s place after breakfast and hung out there for the rest of the day. We mostly just spent time together chatting and what not, but also to give her a hand re-arranging some of her stuff, much to Rarity’s disappointment.

*****

We went back to work Monday, repeating our weeks much the same as the one before. This week, however, I was deep in thought about the incident at the bar…and I was thinking about the immortal lady-friends that I now knew.

It was about 10pm on Wednesday night when I texted Rarity.

ME: What r u doing tonight?

There was no answer for a few minutes. Then I finally got a response.

RARITY: Nothing really. I've caught up on my orders for this week so far. Why do you ask? ME: Can u come out to Flutters'? I wanted to talk to u too about something. RARITY: I Suppose I could. What time? ME: Now would be fine. RARITY: Alright, I suppose. I wasn't prepared to go anywhere right this minute, but I'll be there as soon as I can. What is this about? ME: I’ll tell u when u get here. RARITY: OK then. See you soon. RARITY: Ta ta!

Fluttershy was curious about what I wanted as well. I didn’t say anything to her about it either other than I wanted to go for a walk out to the clearing in the middle of the woods, the place with the river that we went to the day after the hot tub incident with Rarity.

Rarity finally showed up about an hour later. I was surprised by her appearance when she came through the door after a light knock. She was wearing tight, dark purple pants and a form-fitting, long-sleeved black shirt. The neck opening in the shirt was very large and showed off her collarbones and part of her shoulders and chest. As mentioned, it was very form fitting…her ample, yet perky bust was perched atop that slender waist of hers and the dark colours of her clothes contrasted with her smooth white skin. Her face was striking…she had her usually well-styled hair tightly pulled back into a surprisingly long pony tail that hung down her back, almost to her rear end…which was also quite visible through the tight pants. Not one part of her outfit left much to the imagination…it may as well have been painted on.

I looked over at Fluttershy, who was leaning with her back against the counter with her arms folded across her chest. I could see her biting her bottom lip in the dim light as her teal eyes were darting up and down her friend’s flawless body. Rarity continued unknowingly teasing us as she bent down to take off her shoes.

“Sorry about my appearance, darlings…I wasn’t expecting to be seeing anyone tonight.” Rarity said, standing back up straight and walking over toward us.

“Um…I think w-we can live w-with it…” my girlfriend stuttered.

As Rarity walked over to us, I could see her eyes darting over to me…probably wondering why I had asked her here. I realized at that moment that I had never cleared up the text that Fluttershy had sent her from my phone.

When she got close I could see her face was free of her usual makeup, her eye lashes looked smaller, her blue eye shadow was gone and her powdery-smooth complexion was replaced by very light freckles that were perched high on her cheeks. You would never see them from a few feet away like Applejack’s, but up close they were hard to miss.

Rarity was cute. She could easily get away with not wearing makeup and still be quite attractive, but it was a different kind of attractiveness…with her make-up on and her hair styled, she was hot, but intimidatingly hot…and I think that’s the look she goes for. Her natural face was easily just as beautiful, just different. She looked like a cute, young girl. I liked it. The only thing that reminded you that it was Rarity was her sapphire eyes, which at that moment were sparkling like diamonds in the dim light of Fluttershy’s house.

“You two are so cute, living out here together…” Rarity finally said. “It must be nice to have someone to spend these long nights with.” She looked at me for a second before turning her head down, looking at Fluttershy’s feet, her long indigo pony-tail swinging around behind her.

Fluttershy covered her mouth, suddenly feeling bad that her friend had been spending her nights all alone. “Oh Rarity, I’m sorry…I never thought of that…” she said. “You can come out here anytime during the night. I want you to know that.”

“Aww, why thank you, darling…” Rarity said, touching her fingertips to her chest. “And that’s a two-way street, darlings. You are more than welcome to visit me anytime.”

The two girls smiled at each other as I watched. After a minute, Rarity sighed and turned in my direction. “Well…” she asked, deliberately avoiding eye contact with me. “What did you want to discuss?”

I looked at both girls, then drew in a breath. “Let’s take a walk.” I said.

We went outside in the backyard and I asked Fluttershy to take us to the field with the river in it. Rarity was incredulous that we were going to venture into the woods in the dark so I had to remind her that nothing can hurt her, as well as the fact that Fluttershy knows where every living creature was while we were out there.

It took us about an hour like last time to get to the clearing…not without a bit of whining from a certain purple-haired girl. As we entered the field, I heard Rarity draw in a breath as she took in the surroundings. Fluttershy and I joined hands as we let our friend get her fill of the place.

“Oh my…” Rarity said, gazing out across the field, listening to the river babbling away endlessly, taking in the scenery illuminated under the moonlight. “It is simply breathtaking…”

I was hoping the moon would be bright enough here at night for us to see what we were going to be doing.

I let go of my girlfriend’s hand and walked out into the field, stepping away from them. They followed me, staying about ten feet behind. I finally stopped and turned to face them.

They stood there, waiting to see what I was going to say.

Fluttershy finally spoke up. “Um, so…why did you want to come out here?” she asked timidly.

I took a deep breath, looking up at the stars. “Do you guys ever wonder what would have happened if I was an actual threat?”

They stared at me with worried looks on their faces.

“I’m not…so don’t worry.” I chuckled, putting my hand out towards them.

They relaxed a little, but still seemed disturbed at the thought of my question.

“The night we had our little fight in the yard…” I said. “What if I was really trying to harm you? Do you guys think it would have ended well?”

They looked at each other for a second, then back at me.

Fluttershy shook her head. “I would be dead right now.” She said. The sound of her saying that with her soft voice was somewhat haunting.

“We would probably have had no chance of winning…” Rarity said flatly.

“But does it have to be that way?” I asked.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand, darling.” She replied.

I started walking around in the grass as I thought about what to say next. “You guys have a lot of potential.” I said. “If all of you, or even at least a couple of you learned how to work together as well as honed your individual skills, I see no reason that you could have all survived that night and driven me away...if I was actually trying to hurt you, that is.”

“Well darling, it had been a very long time since we saw any excitement…we were definitely out of practice.” Rarity stated.

“It was a mess.” I said, bluntly. “No plan, no communication, it was just every man for himself…and what happened? Fluttershy could have been killed.”

Rarity sighed, looking down at the grass. After a moment, she looked back up at me. “So what are you suggesting?”

“Well,” I said, “I wanted to train all of you to fight properly, but I was worried that might lead to some of you getting hurt.”

Fluttershy let her head droop when I said this.

“But now…you two are like me.” I said. “And I’m sorry that it happened without your permission, I didn’t mean for it to happen, but you guys are now the best candidates to be taught.”

“But why?” Fluttershy asked, looking back up at me. “Why is it so important to you?”

“When your fight with me happened…did you expect to be dealing with something like that when you woke up that morning?” I asked.

They shook their heads.

“Were you ready for it?” I asked.

“…No.” Fluttershy answered.

“When these things happen, they don’t wait for us to be ready. You have to BE ready.” I said, pointing at them.

“So, what are you going to teach us, darling? Karate?” Rarity said with a bit of a skeptical snicker.

“No.” I said. “I kind of have a fighting style of my own. It’s different than most others. It's very direct, nothing fancy. Very quick and efficient…the main difference is that I…and now you…don’t have to worry about defending yourself from harm. Your defence is more focused on others who can be killed. Not to mention a much more effective offense…we can execute attacks that would put a normal person’s own body at risk...like jumping into an attack from a fast-moving vehicle, for example.”

Rarity cocked her eyebrow. “Hm…”

“But, that’s not to say you can just stand there and get hit, you need to see everything that’s going on around you…which you can’t do if you’re getting knocked around.” I explained.

Fluttershy was nervously rubbing the back of her neck. “I don’t know…other people depending on me like that is…scary.”

“Well…at the end of the day, YOU will always be alive. Just remember that. You can’t save everyone, but you have to try.” I walked over to Fluttershy and put my finger under her chin, raising her face to look at me. “Where would you be if I didn’t try?”

Fluttershy looked at me, remembering that she wouldn’t be standing there if I hadn’t been able to save her from Pinkie's bomb that night. How could she refuse to learn to defend others after being in a position of helplessness herself?

“I still remember what you said on our first date…” I said to her. “You said you wanted to be like the heroes in those movies we were watching…well, now’s your chance.”

She paused for a moment, then smiled and nodded as she backed up a couple of steps. “OK. I’ll do it.”

Rarity looked at her shy friend with surprise. “Really Fluttershy? You?”

Fluttershy shrugged. “What have we got to lose? It’s not like we’re wasting our time…we literally have all the time in the world…”

Rarity thought for a second before crossing her arms on her chest. “Well, I’ve said it before…I have no interest in getting into any wars again. We had enough of that in high school and it was always murder on my wardrobe.” She said, sticking her nose up.

Fluttershy shook her head. “Rarity…you can’t be serious.”

I shook my head. “Think about what you’re saying…you can get new clo-“ I stopped, rubbing my fingertips on my temples . “That’s not even the point…if something bad comes here wanting to start a fight, they’re not going to stop just because you don’t want to mess up your clothes…they don’t give a shit about your clothes.”

Rarity rolled her eyes at me.

“Look,” I said. “If it happens, do you want to be able to do something about it or do you want be a victim?”

“A victim?” Rarity repeated. “Darling, I cannot die…”

“You think you can’t be taken away? Locked up? Buried? Have everyone you care about killed in front of you?” I said abruptly.

She blinked a few times, looking down at the grass.

“Come on, Rarity…" Fluttershy said to her friend. "You don’t want to be unable to help people when they need it…”

Rarity sighed, pinching the bridge of her hose with her thumb and forefinger. Then she put her hands on her hips. “Fine then. I’ll do it.”

Fluttershy ran over to her and gave her a hug.

“You’ll be glad you decided to do this. Trust me.” I said to her, as she smiled reluctantly at me with her lightly-freckled face. I couldn’t tell if the moon was lighting up her face at that moment…or if it was the other way around.

“OK OK, darling.” She said, patting Fluttershy’s back as she released her from the hug. “So,” she shrugged. “Where do we begin? Why did you bring us all the way out here to talk?”

I turned around with my arms in the air. “We have his place to train in… there’s plenty of space, but more importantly, it’s isolated. You can practice using your magic without anyone seeing. Speaking of which…” I said, turning back to Rarity.

“Speaking of what?” Rarity asked, tilting her head to the side, wondering what I was going to say.

“I wanted to ask you something…” I said, walking over to the indigo-haired girl. “You made a glass out of your diamonds…at your house, the night we told you about your new power.”

“Yes…and? You want me to serve drinks while you and Fluttershy fight?” she joked, getting a giggle out of the shy girl.

“Can you make other things?” I asked.

“Well, I can make a few different things, it just takes practice to learn to design and create them, then more practice to maintain them if they are more intricate…” she explained. “Why? What kind of things were you thinking?”

“Could you make blades?” I asked, watching to see her reaction.

Her eyebrows went up. “What do you mean?...Like a sword?”

I nodded. “Swords, knives…things like that.”

She stared at the ground…”Well, I don’t know…I suppose I could try…do you want me to try right now?”

I waved her off. “No, not right now. I can’t really help you with that since it’s your magic, so we can call that homework. Next time we’re out here, show me what you’ve come up with and we’ll go from there.”

“OK.” She said. “So what are we going to do tonight?”

I rubbed my hands together. “Well, first thing’s first…before I teach you any fighting techniques…we have to purge your self-preservation instincts.”

Both girls looked at me with confused faces.

I held my hands outwards. “You’ve spent your whole life learning to protect yourselves from harm…it’s programmed into your brains. But now you need to get it out if you want to be as effective as possible.”

“What sort of things do you mean?” Rarity asked.

“Like flinching.” I said. “When you’re flinching, you’re not being fully aware of what’s going on around you. You lose valuable time and it could mean the difference between life and death for someone else.”

“Um, that’s going to be hard to stop myself from doing…” Fluttershy mumbled, ashamed of her own nature.

“Don’t worry.” I said. “Once you program your brain to know that you can’t be hurt…it’ll come.”

“So how do we train for this?” Rarity asked.

I smiled at them, then said: “Start hitting each other.”

*Chapter 26: Unexpected Guest

Chapter 26

My truck rattled noisily down the road, its engine echoing noisily off the trees as I drove home through the woods. Normally, this was like music to my ears, but instead, my thoughts lingered on Rarity’s boutique and what had just happened there.

She had gone to the staff washroom to clean herself up while I gathered my stuff and got ready to head back to Fluttershy’s. She needed to get back to her work, especially after losing about an hour with me there, fixing her light and giving her some pleasure on the counter. I was standing in the showroom in the dark, waiting for her to return from the restroom.

Finally, she emerged from the back room and sauntered over to me, wrapping her arms around the back of my neck. “Thank you so much for tonight, Darling. I haven’t the slightest idea what I would have done without you,” she said, giving me a tight hug, resting her head on my shoulder.

“Anytime,” I said, catching another whiff of her sweet scent.

She went up on her tip toes to give me a small kiss on the cheek, followed by a smile. “As much as I would love to go another round with you, darling, I simply cannot spare the time.” She released me abruptly, then turned to head back to her work room. “So sorry to rush away, but I still have so much work to do, and I must return to my duties. Have a good night, darling; be sure to pass my gratitude onto Fluttershy,” she giggled, looking back once more to give me a wink. “Be a dear, and make sure you give her a long, hard ‘thank you’ from me. And do make sure you tell her that sunrise thing, hm?”

“OK, I will. Bye, Rare. Good luck,” I said as she disappeared into the bright room to return to work.

I pulled into Fluttershy’s driveway, replaying the sound of Rarity’s moans in my head, unable to stop them until I saw the front door of my girlfriend’s house, the sight of which snapped me back to reality, causing my mind to screech to a halt. “What if Flutters is pissed that I went through with it?” I wondered, my chest tightening as I began to worry a little bit.

I got out of my truck and closed the door, and then slowly made my way to the house, where I opened the front door and stepped inside. The light over the table was dimmed, making it difficult to see around the room. The only other source of brightness was the TV.

After letting my eyes adjust, I spotted the top of my girlfriend’s pink head, peeking over the back of the couch where the chaise lounge was.

“Hey Flutters,” I greeted, unsure of what else to say, or what to expect. She hadn’t sent any more texts since before Rarity and I got into each other, making it difficult to tell if her mood had changed during the two hours since our last contact.

“Hi Goldie,” she replied in a soft, sweet tone. “How did it go?”

“Her lights are all fixed up and she’s working away as we speak,” I answered.

I was still standing by the door, admittedly feeling a bit guilty about what I had done with Rarity now that I was in the same room with my girlfriend again.

After a minute, her pink head rotated around to face me, showing only her eyes above the back of the couch. “Why are you still over there, silly? Come sit with me,” she said. I was relieved to hear her voice sounding cheery, and I could tell by her eyes that she was smiling, even though I couldn’t see the rest of her face.

I took my boots off and walked around to sit in the middle of the couch, wondering if she had been thinking about me having sex with her best friend. I was still a bit nervous, and was reluctant to sit right next to her just yet.

She looked over at me, puzzled, most likely wondering why I sat so far away. “What’s wrong?” she asked softly.

Biting my lip, I decided to just get it out in the open. “Uh…Rarity and I…”

“Yeah…?” Fluttershy replied.

“We, uh…we banged,” I confessed.

“Um, yeah…I told you to, didn’t I?” she said, cocking an eyebrow. “So how was it?”

I was surprised by her reaction, and it suddenly dawned on me at that moment that she was actually being genuine in her texts. What had been worrying me in particular was that she might have been the type who says one thing, but means another, then gets upset about it. Add to that the fact that Fluttershy was quite sensitive, making this whole affair with Rarity a fairly risky venture.

“Uh…it was…nice,” I replied, relieved by her light-hearted demeanor.

She smiled. “I’m glad; Rarity needed you. I could see it in her eyes the last few times we were with her.”

I nodded in agreement. I knew exactly what she meant, but I was surprised to hear her actually say it.

“So did you make sure she had fun?” she asked, brushing her hair away from her eyes with her fingertips.

I nodded again. “Yeah, but holy shit, she talks a lot,” I said.

“Oh, I know,” Fluttershy replied, shaking her head. “She’s always been like that. She used to get in trouble during class all the time in high school.”

“What? No, I mean, like…when she’s gettin it on,” I explained.

Fluttershy giggled. “Oh! Really? Well, I guess that’s not surprising, although she was pretty quiet in the…um, hot tub.”

“Well, I think she was kind of…in shock in the hot tub; you know…because of you,” I said.

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” my girlfriend replied, turning to me as she curled her legs up under herself. She was wearing her usual white tank top and green skirt again tonight. “So…you guys went all the way?”

I nodded.

She smiled. “Where did you…um, finish?” she asked.

“Uh…inside,” I answered meekly, unable to look at her.

“Mmm, good boy,” she said with a smile, running her fingers through her hair again.

Her reaction comforted me, and after gaining a little courage, I decided to reveal a few more details to her. “She offered to let me shoot it anywhere I wanted.”

Fluttershy turned to me, eyes wide with surprise. “Really?” she asked, her interested piqued.

I nodded. “Yeah, she said I could go in her mouth...uh...and she even offered to let me do it in her, um…” -- I cleared my throat nervously -- “in her caboose.”

The shy girl’s mouth dropped open. “Oh boy, she must have really been into it!”

I let my head rest on the back of the couch, smiling at my girlfriend’s reaction. “She was on fire.”

“Hm,” she said, twirling a lock of hair around her finger. “I figured she would be.”

I looked at her again, watching her playing sweetly with her full, pink locks. “With you not there, I felt kind of weird at first, like I was cheating,” I confessed.

She shook her head. “Not if I told you to do it, silly,” she said with a giggle.

I let my head tilt to the side, looking at the TV. “Yeah, I guess.” Then I looked back at her. “You know I love you, right?”

“Of course,” she smiled, her eyes shimmering. “And I love you too, Goldie. And I told you that Rarity is one of us now, so we have to love her just the same.” She leaned forward next, getting onto her hands and knees. My eyes were immediately drawn to her cleavage, which was barely visible in the dark. “I only have one question…” she said, seductively.

“What’s that?” I asked as I looked at her, wondering what was on her mind.

“Did you save some for me?” she asked as she started to crawl slowly towards me like a cat, ready to pounce.

I looked at her for a few more seconds and then shook my head, chuckling. “You guys are lucky I don’t get tired.”

She giggled as she crawled over to me, placing her hand on my leg as she softly kissed my cheek. After a short pause, she dipped her head down to put her face against my chest and drew in a deep breath through her nose, then she ran her face up my chest to my neck, sniffing for evidence before she began to kiss my ear with her moist lips.

Fluttershy paused, then exhaled a hot breath onto my skin, shuddering against me with a soft moan emanating from her throat. “Oh goodness, I can smell her on you…doesn’t that vanilla stuff she wears just drive you crazy?”

I nodded, watching silently as my girlfriend practically became an animal right before my eyes, looking like she was sniffing out some prey for her next meal.

She suddenly grabbed my shoulders and jumped into my lap, straddling me with her long, graceful legs. “How did you guys start?” she asked, grinding her hips against me a couple of times. My manhood responded immediately, rising up inside my pants to poke her warm crotch.

I gently gripped her thighs, caressing her smooth skin as I ran my hands upward, venturing under her skirt until I found her hips. “Uh,” I began, clearing my throat as I massaged her curves, taking in the feel of her pelvis under her skin. “I was actually about to leave and I went to get my phone, which was on the bench right next to her, and she didn’t know I was right behind her...”

“Mm-hm,” she listened, pursing her lips as she slowly thrust her hips forward, pressing her mound against me.

“Uh, so she turned around and bumped into me,“ I continued, “We were really close…aaaaand she started kissing me…”

“Ooh, that’s so sweet,” she whispered, desperate to hear more.

“That was about when you texted me again,” I explained. “We had a little chat about everything, and I kind of thought that was gonna be it, but then, out-of-nowhere, she was like: ‘fuck it, let’s do it!’ and she locked us in the room with one of those diamond things, and it kind of got crazy from there.”

The shy girl let her head tip back, closing her eyes. “Mmm, she imprisoned you? Oh my goodness, that’s hot!” she gasped, licking her lips. “So you did it right there in her work room?”

“Uh yeah. That’s where it all went down,” -- I cleared my throat -- “I sat her on the counter and, uh…you know, took her underwear off…”

“Yeah…and?”

“I uh…” I paused, drumming my fingertips on her hips. I knew she wanted me to continue, but I found it a bit difficult telling my girlfriend the things I’d just done to her best friend. “I...I ate her out a little.”

Fluttershy’s eyes snapped open suddenly, and she glared at me for half a second before grabbing my face and smashing her lips against mine. Her tongue immediately swept in, twirling around mine as I tasted the intense sweetness in her saliva; she must have been drinking cola or some other sweet beverage just before I got home.

Her relaxing scent sedated me, and I let my eyes drift shut as I enjoyed her aggressive advances, which eventually turned from kissing to licking my lips, then my cheeks, chin and throat, leaving my skin soaked in her saliva.

Finally, she backed off, licking her lips with a slightly disappointed look on her face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I can’t really taste it,” she replied.

I raised an eyebrow, realising what the shy girl was after. “You mean, like…Rare’s juice?”

She nodded.

“Oh, well we kissed a lot after that, so I think she ended up getting most of it back,” I explained.

“Hm.” She slouched her shoulders for a moment, but then perked up again. “Did you touch her at all?” she asked, grabbing my arms to pull them out of her skirt, bringing my left hand to her nose for a sniff.

It wasn’t long before I remembered using that thumb to caress Rarity’s clit, and sure enough, Fluttershy found it almost immediately. Her eyes lit up with excitement when she smelled the unmistakable scent of female arousal on my thumb, and she hungrily plunged her mouth onto it, sucking up all the flavour she could find.

”Holy shit,” I thought, my eyelids fluttering as I savoured the feel of her hot mouth on my thumb.

Once satisfied that there was none left, she dropped the clean hand and brought my right arm up next, searching for more remnants of her friend’s alluring nectar. She didn’t find any, but instead noticed a much stronger scent: vanilla.

She locked her eyes onto mine, looking puzzled. “Did…did Rarity let you touch her hair?”

I nodded.

“Oh my,” she said, sniffing the sweet scent again. “She won’t let anyone touch her hair; she hates getting it messy.”

“Nah, it was already messy,” I replied. “By the end of it all, she looked like she’d been hit by a train.”

“Oh dear!” Fluttershy covered her mouth with her fingertips and began to giggle uncontrollably.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

“It’s just…” she paused, trying to hold back her snickering, “You made me picture that clip of the train going into the tunnel; you know, the one they always show on TV to symbolize, um…sex.”

I let out a chuckle. “Yeah, there was plenty of that going on for sure.”

“Yeah, I-“ she stopped giggling suddenly and looked down at my pants, realising that if leftover juices from Rarity was what she was after, then there must have been a veritable gold mine of it still left on my manhood.

A shaky exhale burst from her mouth suddenly, and her fingers began to scramble at my belt buckle, followed by my button and zipper. Within seconds, she had my sex-covered erection out; gripping it with her fingertips as she slid off my lap and kneeled on the floor so she could take in a deep whiff. “Oh goodness,” she whispered, her body shivering with arousal. “She’s still on you; you’re completely soaked in her!” A sharp breath hissed inward through her teeth, as she stood and reached under her dress to drop her plain, white panties to the floor. “Oohh that’s so fucking hot,” she whispered as she slinked over me, straddling my lap again.

Fluttershy squeezed my shoulders, biting her lip as she thrust her hips forward, pressing against my length with her wet crease under the green skirt, shuddering violently as she wrapped her arms around my head and squeezed my face into her cleavage. She brought her lips down to my ear, wafting a hot breath against me, followed by a gentle nibble on my earlobe before whispering softly. “I want you right now; you’re covered in her, and it drives me completely crazy! I want her inside me…I wanna mix up a hot cocktail of all three of us in there!”

“Whoa…” I thought, feeling a shot of excitement ring through me. “You scare the shit out of me sometimes, Flutters,” I said with a smirk.

She backed up and looked at me with seductive, teal eyes. “Good,” she said softly. “That means I’m doing my job.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What job?”

“Keeping the spark alive between us,”

I chuckled. “I really don’t think we need to worry about losing the spark.”

The shy girl reached past my shoulders, gripping the backrest of the couch as her body rose up, shoving her bust in my face while positioning her hips over me. I could feel her tender, wet flesh under her skirt, pressing on my length as she lowered herself down, wriggling her hips around until she found the sweet spot, and then quickly slipped me into her. Sliding herself down, Fluttershy let out a soft moan as she engulfed me with the wet, fiery heat inside her body.

Gasping, she brought her lips down and kissed me deeply before leaning back, grabbing the bottom of her tank top to peel it over her head, throwing it onto the couch beside us. Her plain, white bra held her beautiful breasts in place perfectly, creating superb, full cleavage right in front of my face.

I reached up and squeezed them together, accentuating the crease even more.

She giggled. “You like my boobies?” she asked.

I groaned in response, my mind swimming as intense pleasure washed over me, her tight flesh lovingly hugging my hard length. “Oh…they are just…the best,” I said, shaking my head in awe.

She wasted no time in moving things along. Her hips slowly began to rock, sliding me in and out of her wetness, wiping away what remained of Rarity’s moisture, harvesting it for herself as she soaked my shaft with her own slick fluids. She accelerated her thrusts as I let my hands rest on her thighs, watching her breasts bounce in front of me under the restraint of her bra.

She continued to escalate, her breaths becoming more rapid as she inched closer to her peak. I could feel her movements beginning to transition into the shorter, more disorganised thrusts that she would do when she was about to climax; just before she would seize up and explode on me.

This time, however, to my surprise, when the orgasm hit her, she forced herself to continue thrusting; causing her body to quiver uncontrollably as she mercilessly tortured herself into a breathless fit of ecstasy. Her eyes slammed shut and her brow furrowed as she moaned loudly, followed by an explosion of clear, warm fluid that gushed from between us.

Fluttershy finally stopped riding for a second to catch herself. She laughed softly, out of breath as she gazed at me, placing her hands on my shoulders again. “I…I squirted! Did you feel it?” she panted.

“Yeah, I felt it, Miss Fluttershy.”

Her breathing suddenly stopped, prompting me to look up at her slowly. “Oh crap,” I thought, realising what I’d just said.

She stared at me with a blank look on her face. “W-what did you call me?”

I cleared my throat. “Um…sorry. A little force of habit…that I picked up earlier tonight.”

Fluttershy cocked her eyebrow. “What habit?”

“Well,” I explained, feeling nervous that my girlfriend might finally have found something that made her jealous. “Uh, Rarity and I were playing a little game, where she was pretending I was the repair man -- you know, because of the light -- and she was the shop keeper, or whatever. So I had to call her Miss Rarity, because of, um…formalities, I guess.”

After finishing my explanation, I drew in a breath and held it, biting my lip.

“Really?” Fluttershy asked, after staring vacantly for a moment. Then, she snorted suddenly and began to laugh, holding her hand in front of her mouth. “Oh my goodness! That’s so cute,” she giggled, much to my relief, “and you actually played along?”

I shrugged. “She made a sad face.”

Fluttershy laughed harder, her body squeezing my length sharply. “Hahaha! She’s so adorable! I told you you’d have fun. People who, um…don’t know Rarity that well have no idea what a cutie she can be.”

“Yeah well, it was kind of an ongoing thing,” I explained. “She talks a lot, you know.”

“Yeah, you said that.” Fluttershy leaned forward, letting her forehead rest against mine, smiling contently as she thought about her best friend. “What did you guys talk about?”

“I don’t know…stuff,” I said. Then I remembered a promise I had made to Rarity. “Oh! I’m supposed to tell you something.”

“Oh? What?” she asked.

I cleared my throat, hoping I could remember exactly how I’d said it at the boutique, so I could repeat it back to her here. “Flutters: your soft, pink hair and beautiful, yellow skin is like the sunrise; and when I’m with you, I get to bask in the warm glow you cast over me, reminding me that even when the world feels dark and shitty, having you at my side will always brighten my day and make me feel like living again.” I knew it wasn’t exactly how I'd said it before, but it was close enough.

The smile suddenly disappeared from her face and she stared at me, completely expressionless.

I held my breath.

You’d never guess this about Fluttershy, but she could be quite frightening at times like this, when you couldn’t tell what she was thinking.

Finally, her fingertips gently came to rest on my cheeks, her eyes moistening as she kept her gaze locked onto me. “Do you really mean that?” she whispered.

“Of course I do,” I replied quietly.

“Oohhh my, that was so…so sweet!” She smiled warmly, her bottom lip trembling a bit. ”I should say thank you, um…to tell you how much that means to me, but I’m not going to,” she said, sitting up and gripping my shoulders tightly. “I’m going to show you.”

And with that, she began to ride me. Hard. Really hard. And fast. She could be a vigorous lover at times, but this…this was the most aggressively violent thrusting I had ever seen from her. She had an orgasm somewhere in the middle of it; I could feel her get tighter as she slid up and down my length for about half a minute while she was peaking, but even that did not stop her from keeping pace.

Fluttershy brought me to my finish faster than she ever had before; so fast, in fact, I barely had time to prepare for it, or even feel it approaching. Before I knew it, I was erupting like a volcano inside her, filling her up as she continued to fuck swiftly, eventually forcing me to grab her hips and hold her down to get her to stop.

“Whoa…OK…that’s good…settle down,” I panted, unable to withstand the post-orgasmic assault any longer.

Once she stopped, I wrapped my arms around the shy girl and pulled her close as she kissed me feverishly, stopping occasionally to catch her breath.

“I love you so much,” she panted.

“I love you too,” I replied, savouring the passionate moment that I just shared with this deceptively sweet girl. “That’s gotta be a new record,” I said, snickering into her ear as she giggled with pride of her performance. We then sat for a few minutes, listening to each other’s breathing.

After a moment of peaceful silence, something else entered my mind; something she’d said earlier, and on many other occasions during the previous weeks, and it forced me to raise the inevitable question that I felt needed to be asked. It was something that she mentioned a lot, and obviously thought about a lot.

“Why don’t you tell her?”

She looked up at me, confused. “Tell who what?”

“Rarity,” I replied. “Why don’t you tell her that you like her?”

She shook her head. “She knows I love her.”

“No,” I said. “I don’t mean as a friend.”

Fluttershy sat up straight and stared silently, her pink hair hanging in front of her face, rhythmically blowing outwards every time she exhaled through her nose. “W-what do you mean?” she finally asked.

I gave her a stern look. “Come on,” I said. “I’ve seen how you look at her, and I’ve heard the things you’ve said; I can tell you’re attracted to her. It was so obvious I actually thought you wanted me to know, and that that was your way of telling me.”

She looked at me for another minute before shaking her head. “But…Rare’s my best friend. If she didn’t feel the same, it might mess things up,” she said.

"It's OK." I reached up and put my hands on her shoulders. “Trust me; you have lots of time to figure it out. I’m not saying you have to do anything about it right now, I just wanted to bring it up because you obviously think about her a lot.”

“Um, f-for a long time, I…” she trailed off, then looked into my eyes again with a look of unsureness on her face. “But…what about you? I love you.”

I shrugged. “I don’t plan on going anywhere. You said it yourself, we’re three of a kind, right?”

She slowly put her fingertips to her mouth, tapping her lips gently. “I don’t know…”

I rubbed her arms gently, soothing her. “It’s OK. There’s no need to rush into anything. We have plenty to worry about right now, anyway.”

She nodded, and then brushed her hair from in front of her eye. “You mean, like our training?”

“Yeah, exactly,” I said, bringing her against me for a hug. “Don’t worry about it right now. Let’s just relax for the rest of tonight. I know I’ve had quite a night already.”

She giggled softly. “OK.”

We stayed on the couch, snuggling together for the rest of the night. When the sun started to come up, we got up and went about our days like normal people. We cleaned ourselves up, dressed, had breakfast and left for work, finishing out our week.

That night, we just relaxed. The weather channel was calling for a chance of rain so we decided not to make the long walk out to the Riverfield, even though I kind of wanted to see Rarity again, just to see how she was going to act around us.

Instead, Fluttershy and I went to bed and cuddled together, talking until about 3 am, then we got up to watch TV until the sun came up.

Fluttershy had been texting briefly with Rarity, asking if she got all of her work done, which she did, in fact; just in the nick of time. Nothing was mentioned about the sex, or anything romantic between the two of them. They did, however, agree on a time to go to the Riverfield to have another training session, which was going to be after the Saturday dinner with the others, the location of which had yet to be decided.

On Saturday morning, I left to go to work for my half day. Fluttershy was standing by the door with me as I put my boots on, and as always, we shared a kiss before I turned to go outside.

She stood there, arms folded, listening to the sound of my truck starting up, and then fading away into the distance.

Fluttershy decided to make herself a nice breakfast. The habit of eating hadn’t left her at all yet; even though she knew in her mind that she didn’t need to eat, it was still comforting to do it.

She finished eating and cleaned up the mess afterwards, then decided to settle down on the chaise lounge with Angel Bunny to watch TV. She had already fed the animals early on that morning, and there wasn’t much else to do until it was time for the dinner.

She thought about Rarity.

What would the fashionista say if Fluttershy told her she that she’d had crush her all these years? What would happen then? How would her relationship with me be affected? Is it possible to have a three-person relationship? After all, we were the only three of our kind on the entire planet…

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

“EEP!” Fluttershy jumped, yelping softly when she heard a knock at her door. “Who could that be?” she wondered. She got up from the couch and paused, naturally. After all, she was far too shy to simply shout ‘Who is it?’

Slowly, she tip-toed to the door, pausing for a moment as she stared nervously at the doorknob.

What if it was someone she didn’t know, like a salesman? She hated dealing with salesmen. She didn’t have the heart to say ‘no’ to them, and usually ended up buying something she didn’t need just to get rid of them. She had hoped that moving way out here into the woods would have solved that problem.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. ”Come on, Fluttershy! What are you scared of? You’re indestructible!”

Obviously, she didn’t need to be afraid of someone trying to hurt her, but as it turns out, being invincible hadn’t done anything to cure her social anxiety.

She balled her fists tightly to build some courage, then, clenching her jaw, quickly reached for the door to pull it open.

She was immediately relieved to see a familiar, yet unexpected face.

“Sunset?” Fluttershy said, surprised to see the red-head at her front door on a Saturday morning.

“Hey, Flutters. Can I come in?”

“Of course,” Fluttershy replied, standing aside to let her friend in the house, noticing the motorcycle in the driveway. “I didn’t even hear you come in!”

“Really?” Sunset asked, taking off her boots and leather jacket, under which she was wearing a light aqua-coloured shirt and a pair of black tights.

“I guess I must have been daydreaming a little too much,” Fluttershy said, unsure of how else to explain it.

“Yeah, it happens.” Sunset said, sighing. “Where’s Golds?”

“Oh, he’s at work ‘til noon,” the shy girl answered.

“Oh yeah, I forgot he works Saturdays,” Sunset replied, lacing her fingers together in front of her. She seemed fidgety.

“How’s your arm?” Fluttershy asked, noticing the tensor bandage was gone.

“Oh,” Sunset said, looking down at her wrist, rotating her fist around in a circle. “It’s OK; a lot better than last weekend.”

“That’s good,” Fluttershy replied. “Would you like something to drink or…anything?”

Sunset waved her off, shaking her head. “No thanks, Flutters. I’m good. Do you mind if we sit?”

“Sure,” Fluttershy replied, gesturing to the couch. “Why is she here?” the pink-haired girl wondered as they made their way to their seats.

After sitting on the couch, they spent a minute staring somewhat awkwardly at the TV together. Sunset was clearly uninterested in what was on; instead, she was chewing on her bottom lip, looking like she was thinking about something, holding her injured wrist with her other hand in her lap.

Fluttershy’s curiosity finally got the better of her and she broke the silence. “S-so, what brings you out here today?”

Sunset turned anxiously to her friend, like she had something on her chest that she wanted to get off, but was unsure of how to do it.

Finally, the red-head sighed. “Um, I’ve been thinking a lot this week.”

“About what?” Fluttershy asked in her soft voice, wondering what was going on in the red-head’s mind.

Sunset sat back on the couch, looking down at her hands. “Well, last week at the bar…I got hurt.”

“Uh-huh,” the shy girl replied.

Sunset turned to look at Fluttershy. “I’ve been thinking about my magic. I love it; I mean, it’s such a great gift…usually,” Sunset explained. She then shook her head, and continued to speak. ”But it’s not much use to me in a dangerous situation.”

Fluttersy nodded. “I know how you feel. Well, I knew, anyway.”

“Yeah. I figured you would understand, Flutters,” the red-head said, scratching her cheek with her index fingernail. “I’ve been thinking a lot about you and Rarity this week.”

Fluttershy was about to nod again, but stopped suddenly when she realised what Sunset was getting at. With a gasp, she covered her mouth with her slender, yellow fingers. “Sunset, are you saying you want to be like…us?”

Sunset nodded, folding her arms across her chest while looking at her friend. “I want in.”

Chapter 27: Unwelcome Guest

Chapter 27

Fluttershy stared wide-eyed at her friend. “Sunset…are you sure?”

Sunset nodded. “I’ve spent all week thinking about it. I want to be like you…no more pain, no more fear of death…” She stopped when she saw Fluttershy nervously rubbing her shoulder. “Oh, I mean…if it’s OK with you.”

Fluttershy looked her. “OK with me?” she asked.

Sunset put her eyebrows up, waiting her Fluttershy to clue in. “Um…you know, cuz I would have to…borrow your boyfriend…” she said. “That’s why I came to talk to you about it. I mean, it’s up to you. I don’t want you to be jealous and end up hating me…”

Fluttershy drew in a breath. “Oh no, Sunset…I’d be OK with that just once. I know it’s not for love. Besides, I hate the thought of you guys getting old and dying while I live on…”

“Exactly.” Sunset nodded. “We can just do like a ‘wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am’…it doesn’t have to be a big deal.”

“A quickie?” the shy girl asked.

“Yeah.” Sunset answered.

Fluttershy scowled, making Sunset feel nervous. “It’s OK, Flutters…you can say no if you’re not cool with it.” She said, putting her hand out.

Fluttershy smirked. “It’s not that, Sunset…it’s just…where’s the fun in a quickie?”

Sunset was stunned. “Huh?”

“Well, if we’re gonna do it, we might as well do it right and have some fun.” The pink-haired girl said.

“We?” Sunset repeated.

“Well, of course. I want to be there, too. He is my boyfriend after all.” Fluttershy answered.

“Oh…right. Yeah, I guess that’s fair…I can’t very well say you can’t be there.” Sunset agreed, starting to feel weird, but also a bit curious about what it was going to be like to see Fluttershy in action.

“My main concern,” Fluttershy continued, “is that…you are sure you want to do this?…there’s no going back once it’s done…you’re going to be alive forever. There’s no way out if the world goes to hell…”

Sunset nodded without hesitation. “Absolutely.”

Fluttershy shrugged. “Well I guess that’s it then. We can talk to Goldie when he gets home.”

Sunset fidgeted a bit.

“Don’t be nervous, Sunset. It’ll be fine, I promise. Just ask Rarity how much fun we can be.” Fluttershy said with a wink, then looking briefly over at her TV.

Sunset shook her head with a chuckle. She was surprised how easy that conversation turned out to be.

Fluttershy turned back to her friend. “Would you like to use my bathroom?”

Sunset cocked her eyebrow. “What? Why?”

“Well, you’re going to look the way you do now, well…forever. Is this how you want to look?” the shy girl asked.

Sunset looked down at herself, then back at Fluttershy. “What’s wrong with me?”

“Oh, nothing…I wanted to make sure you’re not stuck with picky legs or something…” Fluttershy answered.

“Ah…I see what you’re saying.” Sunset said, rubbing her chin.

“You can use my bathroom,” the shy girl answered. “Shave your legs, armpits, maybe pluck your eyebrows…maybe do some other trimming…” she said, pointing her finger at Sunset’s crotch.

Sunset looked down between her legs, then back at her friend before rolling her eyes. “Ugh, I don’t get you humans and your obsession with your pubes…”

Fluttershy giggled. “You don’t do anything with it?”

Sunset laughed. “No, haha…it’s like a ketchup and mustard coloured forest down there.”

Fluttershy cringed. “Are you sure you want to be stuck with it forever? Like, you might be OK with it now, but…”

Sunset rubbed her chin. “Well…maybe I should think about it. What did you do with yours?”

“Me?” Fluttershy asked, blushing a little. “I don’t have any. It’s gone. I had a shower just before me and Goldie did it the first time…and I shaved it all off, I guess to make myself more presentable for him. Who knew I’d never have to do it again?” she giggled.

Sunset raised her eyebrows. “Like, it’s totally gone?”

The pink-haired girl nodded.

“Hm.” Sunset mumbled, thinking to herself. “Maybe I should get back to you guys later. I honestly didn’t plan on doing it today anyway…I was just coming over to talk about it.”

Fluttershy nodded. “That’s a good idea. We don’t need to rush into it.”

Sunset nodded in agreement. They sat there for a minute, looking at each other somewhat awkwardly.

Fluttershy drew in a breath to ask if Sunset knew where the Saturday get-together was going to be, but she was interrupted by another knock at the door.

Both girls looked at the front door over the back of the couch in surprise.

“Another visitor? Way out here? Who wants to fuck my boyfriend now?” Fluttershy wondered.

She looked at Sunset, who also looked caught off guard by the visitor.

Both girls got up from the couch. Fluttershy headed to the door while Sunset leaned on the big table a few feet away, folding her arms.

Fluttershy looked at Sunset one more time as she grasped the doorknob, then pulled the door open.

It was a man in a black suit. He was wearing aviator sunglasses with gold frames that had blue accents across the top. He was only about an inch taller than Fluttershy, his light brown hair was short and gelled heavily in place. He had a chiseled face, appearing to be in his mid-thirties.

Fluttershy looked over his shoulder to the driveway where she saw a large black SUV parked. Her eyes then lowered to his right hand, where he was holding a briefcase. She looked nervously back at the man’s face as he spoke.

Sunset was trying to see who it was from the table, leaning over get a better view, noticing that he looked like somebody from the government.

“Hi there.” He started. “I’m Agent Cody.” He pulled out some ID from his suit jacket and flashed it quickly at Fluttershy, who only had time to make out the big blue letters ‘CIA’.

Fluttershy’s heart stopped. “No wonder Golds was so quick to clean up the yard...” She thought to herself.

Sunset managed to see him flash the ID over Fluttershy’s shoulder. “CIA? Here in Canada? Do they have permission to be here?” she thought, raising her eyebrow. Then a shot of worry ran through her as she realized what it must have been about. “He’s after Golds!” Sunset quickly scanned her eyes around the room to make sure none of my things were laying around in the open…clothes, watches, etc. She didn’t see anything in the room, but continued to worry about the agent possibly wanting to look around the whole house…he would be sure to find something in the bedroom or bathroom.

“May I come in? I just have a few questions.” he asked, glaring at Fluttershy through his shades.

Fluttershy struggled to answer. “Um…oh, sure. Come in.” she said softly, stepping aside and gesturing with her hand.

Cody stepped inside, taking off his glasses. He noticed Sunset standing there, looking at him skeptically. “Hi.” He said shortly, glaring at her with his intense blue eyes.

Sunset suddenly put a big smile on her face. “Hi there! How are ya?”

“Fine thanks.” He answered as he made his way to the table, sitting at the end closest to the couch , facing the counter. He gestured to the spot across from him. “Please have a seat.” He said to Fluttershy.

The shy girl nervously walked around the table, holding her hands together in front of her, keeping her head down as she sat facing him.

Sunset walked around the table, passing by them as she looked back at Cody with a ditzy look on her face. “Would you like something? Coffee? Tea?” she asked cheerily.

Fluttershy raised her eyebrow as she looked up at the red-head with her eyes while keeping her head down. “Why is Sunset acting like this?” she wondered nervously.

“Uh, sure. I’ll have a coffee, thanks.” Cody answered with a little nod as he placed his briefcase on the tabletop, flipping the latches open. He lifted the lid, blocking Fluttershy’s view of what was inside.

“Coming right up!” Sunset said, turning to head to the counter, briefly locking eyes with Fluttershy as she went. “Come on, Flutters…hold it together…” she thought, silently coaching the nervous girl.

As Sunset went about making the coffee, she asked Cody what he wanted in it.

“Uh, black is fine.” He answered flatly. He pulled a file folder out of the briefcase, setting it on the table. He didn’t open it…instead he just folded his hands and set them on top of it. “We are looking for a certain individual. We think he may be in the area.”

Fluttershy tilted her face up towards him.

Cody took in a breath before he continued. “We received a report of an assault at a bar in Canterlot last weekend. Three men were brutally attacked by an unknown individual at approximately 8:30pm, on May 28th. One was found in the alley by paramedics and two were upstairs in the manager’s office.”

Sunset turned to look at Cody. “Three??” She thought to herself. She turned back and watched the mug fill up with the hot, dark liquid, then she headed to the fridge.

Fluttershy remained motionless.

Cody continued. “The employee outside working the door reported seeing a man matching the description of our suspect with a group of women. One of whom matches your description, miss…?”

The shy girl hesitated before answering. “Um…Fluttershy.” She said quietly.

“I’m sorry?” Cody said, not hearing her.

“It’s Fluttershy…” she said, even quieter.

Cody sat back in the chair, sighing as he glared at her.

“She’s a super shy girl, aren’t you Flutters?” Sunset said, approaching Cody and setting the coffee down in front of him. He frowned as he looked at the coffee, which had a light cream-coloured hue to it. His eyes darted up at Sunset as she smiled back at him.

Sunset looked at him, then the coffee, then back at him…then she broke out in a ditzy laugh. “Oh, haha…how silly of me! Didn’t you say you wanted it black?”

He nodded as he continued to glare at the red-head.

“Let me fix you another one.” Sunset said, leaning down and letting her palm gently rest on his hands in a gesture of friendliness. She turned her face towards him and smiled. “I’ll be right back.” Sunset assured him, picking up the mug and taking it back to the counter.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened when she saw Sunset touch him, knowing exactly what she was up to now.

As Sunset went back to the counter, Cody shook his head slightly in frustration of the seemingly air-headed girl. He finally lifted his hands off of the folder, opening it up and pulling out a few papers. He slid a photograph across the table to Fluttershy, who looked down at it.

The image sent a tingle up her spine. It was a colour photo, but the colour was faded, leaving behind a reddish hue across the entire image. There were three men in the picture, wearing dark camouflage, standing beside a black helicopter. One of them was me.

Fluttershy did her best to keep a pokerface.

“Do you recognize this man?” Cody asked, using his pen to point at my face in the photo.

Fluttershy stared at it for a few seconds, then looked at him, shaking her head.

“Where were you on the evening of May 28th?” Cody asked her suddenly.

Fluttershy looked up at him. “Um, I was here at home, looking after my animal friends.” She gestured with a nod over to the floor in front of the couch, where Angel Bunny was crouched down, nibbling on a piece of carrot.

He glared at the animal for a minute, before he shook his head. “Right. I guess you really don’t seem like the type to be at a place like that. We have to ask, that’s all.” He said, putting his hands up with the pen laced between the fingers of his right hand as he spoke.

Sunset came back with the cup of black coffee, setting it on the table as Cody was writing something down on the papers in the folder. “Here you go. Sorry about that, hun.”

He ignored her. When he finished his writing, he looked back at the shy girl. “So you don’t recognize the man in the picture? Or any of the others?” he asked as he took a sip of the hot beverage.

Fluttershy played dumb. “No…um, w-wouldn’t he be a lot older? This p-picture looks like it was taken a long time go…”

“The photo was taken in 1981, however, the report from the bar last week states that he looks very much the same, based on eyewitness description. He should be easy to recognize from this picture.” Cody informed her, taking another sip.

Sunset went back to the counter to clean up, listening to the conversation.

“Hm…w-well, I’m sorry Mr. Cody, I don’t know who he is.” Fluttershy answered again.

Cody leaned back in the chair, folding his arms across his midsection, keeping one arm vertical, holding the pen to his mouth as he thought for a moment.

He finally put the pen down and started gathering up his papers, putting them back in the folder, then he put the folder back in the briefcase.

“OK then.” He started. “Thank you for your time. That’s all I needed.” He said, closing the briefcase. He took one more sip of his coffee.

Relief started to wash over Fluttershy for a second, until he spoke again.

“We’re going to remain in the area for a bit.” He stated. “Just to keep an eye out for the suspect. We don’t want to see anyone getting hurt around here…like you two ladies. So you might see me around sometimes, I might even be parked in your driveway at some point, however there is no need for alarm. Just pretend we’re not here.”

“OK…um, thank you.” Fluttershy said.

“Oh, and if you see anything, please don’t hesitate to contact me.” Cody said, reaching into the inside pocket of his suit jacket and pulling out a business card.

Fluttershy nodded. “Oh, um…sure thing. Thank you.” She replied as he set the card down on her table.

“No problem.” Cody said, turning for the door. “Thanks for the coffee.” He said, briefly looking at Sunset, thinking she was an idiot.

“Have a nice day!” Sunset said with a wave.

Cody forced a smile, then put on his sunglasses as he opened the door and walked out.

As soon as the door closed, Fluttershy looked at Sunset, sighing with her eyes wide.

Sunset started rubbing her chin as she thought.

Fluttershy shook her head with a confused look on her face. “Well that was a short-“

Sunset suddenly glared at Fluttershy with her eyes wide, putting her index finger to her lips, signalling the shy girl to stay quiet.

Fluttershy stopped, looking confused at the red-head.

Sunset pointed to her mouth, then at her ear, then at the door. Then she shook her head.

Fluttershy cocked her eyebrow.

Sunset rolled her eyes and silently walked over to the chair where Cody had been sitting. She bent down, pointing upwards at the bottom of the chair as she looked back at her friend.

Fluttershy frowned, sliding off of her chair. She squatted down, looking at the bottom of Cody’s chair. To her surprise, there was a little round, black object with a small red LED light in the middle of it stuck to the bottom of the seat. Fluttershy covered her mouth, standing back up to look at her friend.

Sunset thought for a second, then looked around for something to write on. She saw a sticky-note pad on Fluttershy’s fridge at the far end of the counter. She put her finger up in the air as she walked to the fridge.

“Well, that was weird, eh Flutters? Hopefully they find that guy.” Sunset said out loud, looking back at Fluttershy, waving her hand in a circle, signalling Fluttershy to respond.

“Um, oh…yeah. It’s scary knowing there are dangerous, um, people around.” The shy girl said back.

Sunset quietly came back to the table with the note pad and pen. “I’m sure they’ll find him. They know what they’re doing.” She said as she started writing.

“Um, so do you know where dinner is tonight?” Fluttershy asked, continuing their mock conversation.

Sunset held up the note so Fluttershy could read it.

‘We have to tell Golds not to come back here. That bug Cody planted can pick up our voices. He’ll be listening, probably even right now. It also picks up data going to and from your phone so DO NOT text Golds, even if you leave the house. Once the bug reads your phone, it is linked to it through the wireless network. Delete Golds’ contact and all conversations with him or anyone else who’s mentioned him.’

“I’m not sure, have you talked to Rarity?” Sunset replied to Fluttershy’s question as she started writing again.

“Um, no. I haven’t talked to her. Or any of the others.” Fluttershy said. “I don’t even know if they’re doing one this weekend, now that I think about it.”

“Well, there’s gotta be one as far as I know. They said we were doing it…” Sunset said, holding up another note.

Fluttershy read it.

‘He’s not supposed to be here. The CIA doesn’t know he’s doing this. That bug is stolen CIA property. He’s going to be watching this house for 2 weeks, then he has to report back to headquarters for another assignment. He’s obsessed with finding Golds and is hoping to find him here.’

“Um…” Fluttershy said, trying not to let her voice shake, “maybe I’ll call around after I shower and get groceries.”

Fluttershy took the note pad from Sunset and started writing with her fingers trembling.

“Good idea." Sunset said. “I’ve gotta head out myself pretty soon actually.”

Fluttershy held up her note.

‘How do we tell Golds not to come here if we can’t text or call? We need to get rid of this bug.’

“OK well, thanks for coming out today, Sunset. I had fun chatting with you.” Fluttershy said.

Sunset quickly shook her head when she read the note. She grabbed the pad out of Fluttershy’s hand and started writing frantically.

“Yeah Flutters…anytime…” Sunset spoke somewhat absent mindedly. It was proving to be difficult to keep up both of these conversations at once.

The shy girl was confused by Sunset’s flustered reaction. “OK, I’m going to get in the shower in a few minutes...” Fluttershy said as Sunset held up the next note.

‘DO NOT remove the bug! He’ll know that you found it and that you know he planted it. Then he’ll be more suspicious of you. Just leave it and be quiet about Golds and stay off your phone as much as possible. Play dumb and he won’t suspect you. I will handle telling Golds not to come here. But I have to do it NOW before he comes home from work or texts you. It’s too hard to talk like this, we’ll talk somewhere else later. Leave here, find out where dinner is, and find another phone to use.’

Fluttershy nodded.

“OK girl,” Sunset said, folding up all the notes and taking them with her to her boots and jacket. She put her things on and stuffed the notes into the inside pocket of her jacket. “I’ll see you later. Let me know about dinner.”

“OK.” Fluttershy said in a shaky voice.

Sunset put her hand on the doorknob, looking at her friend one more time, giving her a comforting smile.

Fluttershy smiled back, but was still visibly uncomfortable.

Sunset opened the door, looking out to see if Cody was still there. Sure enough, he was parked just around the bend of the driveway, half obscured by the trees.

Sunset walked out and got onto her bike, starting it up and letting the engine warm up while she put on her helmet.

She put the bike in gear and made a big circle in the driveway as she turned to leave. She gave a friendly wave at the black SUV as she rode by, unable to see if Cody waved back due to the sun glare on the windshield.

Sunset pulled onto the road and headed to the next closest place she could think of…the Apple Family farm.

Chapter 28: At the Farm

Chapter 28

Applejack was working away at her farm, carrying a couple baskets of apples over to the wagon. She was wearing dirty jeans with holes in the knees with a plaid button-up collared shirt. Her hat was on as usual, keeping the sun off of her already tanned face.

Her brother, Big Mac, was on the other side of the barn helping their younger sister move an old water tank which had rotted out and was starting to leak onto the ground.

They typically didn’t work too long on Saturdays and Sundays…usually they just tried to take care of a few things that needed to be looked after that there wasn’t time for during the week.

AJ was in somewhat of a bad mood after they day before. She had a run-in with a client called Filthy Rich, who was blaming them for a skid of product that had gotten damaged in shipping. AJ was shaking her head as she set the baskets on the back of the wagon, swearing under her breath.

She took a moment to look around the farm…the place she grew up at and now ran alongside her siblings. She looked around at the rolling hills, covered with apple trees as far as she could see. Every so often there was a path or a white fence in between the rows, separating the different varieties of apples that they grew there. In the yard, there was an old farm house, where they all lived together. It felt crowded at times, especially after Big Mac got married and his wife, Cheerilee moved in with them. She was a young teacher at the high school who had started fresh out of teacher’s college the year Big Mac graduated. She was a few years older than him, but they seemed to hit it off very well after Apple Bloom had her as a teacher during her freshman year and introduced the two of them.

There was also the big, old red barn…with its one wall just recently repaired after the tractor incident a few weeks ago. It was a pretty easy fix for Applejack, what with having magical super-strength and all, but it caused her to miss the Saturday dinner that week. It turned out to be for the better however, since Fluttershy managed to end up with a good boyfriend out of the ordeal.

AJ suddenly paused as she heard something with a loud engine running in the distance. It wasn’t one of their tractors; in fact, it sounded like it was coming from the road. She turned to look at the long driveway, squinting at a small object making its way along the path, appearing jiggly behind the heat waves in the late-morning sun with a trail of dust billowing up behind it. Whatever it was, it was moving pretty fast.

AJ watched as it got closer, until she was able to see that it was a motorcycle. “Who in tarnation is that?” she wondered. She took off her work gloves and slapped them together, then folded her arms across her chest, letting the gloves stick out under her right arm. She leaned on the wagon and crossed her feet, shaking her head as she saw the stranger park the bike next to the old Ford pickup.

She watched as the person got off of the bike and removed their helmet, revealing a large head of wavy red and yellow hair.

Applejack stood up suddenly. “Oh shit, it’s Sunset Shimmer…what’s she doin out here?” the farm girl wondered as she started walking towards her friend in the driveway.

Sunset appeared to be out of sorts…taking a few steps, looking around, then changing direction and taking a few more steps.

“What is she, on fuckin bath salts or some shit?” AJ mumbled to herself as she walked. “HEY SUNSET! OVER HERE!”

Sunset turned in her direction, scanning around with her eyes until she pinpointed AJ. She broke into a run as soon as she located the farm girl.

AJ watched as Sunset ran the whole way over to her position, finally stopping about ten feet in front of her. The out-of-breath red-head bent down, leaning on her knees with her hands as she tried to catch her breath.

“Sunset? What in the hell’s going on?” Applejack asked.

Sunset stood up, panting. Her wavy red locks were hanging across her sweaty face as she tried to speak. “Applejack…they’re…they’re onto him…agent…don’t text Fluttershy…this is so bad…” her nonsensical words were punctuated by heavy breaths.

Applejack stepped forward, putting her hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “Whoa there, slow down. Catch yer breath…”

Sunset nodded and let herself settle down for a minute or two. Once she caught her breath and collected her thoughts, she started explaining more coherently what had happened.

“Someone came to Fluttershy’s this morning…looking for Golds.” She started.

“Oh? Who?” AJ asked.

“He was CIA…” Sunset replied, looking at AJ.

Applejack’s eyes went wide. “No shit! Did they find him?” she asked loudly, taking off her hat and slapping her hand onto the top of her head.

Sunset shook her head. “Not yet, but the thing at the bar tipped them off…”

AJ chewed her bottom lip, looking around at the trees in the distance. “Shit…I knew no good would come of that…”

“It gets worse…” Sunset continued. “He bugged Fluttershy’s house. He can hear everything going on in there, plus he can intercept data from cell phones…even after you leave the house.” she said as she held up her phone. “So I can’t use this to warn anyone…I need your help.”

AJ took her phone out of her pocket. “Way ahead of ya, sugarcube.” She said, putting her hat back on and turning on her phone.

“I need you to text everyone, except me and Fluttershy.” Sunset instructed. “And we need to stop Golds from coming home from work at noon. The agent is staking out Fluttershy’s for the next two weeks. If Golds comes home, he’ll run right into this guy…it won’t be good…and neither me or Fluttershy can warn him not to come home because of the bug.”

AJ shrugged her shoulders. “How is it a trap? Won’t Golds just kick the livin shit out of this guy?”

“No…that’s a bad idea.” Sunset shook her head. “He’s supposed to report back to headquarters after the two weeks to go on another assignment, if he doesn’t show up, they’ll come looking for him.”

“How would they even know where to look?” AJ asked, looking at her phone as she spoke.

“He’s got someone on the inside who’s helping him. If he didn’t come back, that person would know exactly where to look.” Sunset answered.

“Why would he need someone on the inside of his own organization?” AJ asked, scrolling through her contacts.

“Because he’s acting alone…this isn’t a mission they sent him on. It doesn’t matter, anyway. We have to keep Golds away from Fluttershy’s, no matter what. If Agent Cody sees him and gets word back to his people, there’ll be more of them showing up…it’ll be bad.”

AJ shook her head in disbelief. “Wait…this fuckin guy told you all this?”

Sunset shut her eyes while shaking her head. “No no, I managed to get a read on his mind. I know everything he’s doing…he’s not supposed to be here. He’s obsessed with finding Golds. The CIA isn’t even actively looking for him. And that person he has on the inside is the one who got him the bug…”

AJ looked confused. “Wait, if the CIA isn’t looking for him, why would they send more people if this Cody guy finds Golds?”

“Because there is another organisation that IS looking for him. No one even knows they exist, but they use CIA people, like Agent Cody, to do some of their field work. They tell the CIA what they want done, then the CIA tells Agent Cody what to do. That’s how they keep themselves anonymous from the people working for them, in case they get captured and interrogated or something…”

AJ frowned. “So this Cody guy doesn’t even know who he’s actually working for?”

“No.” Sunset replied. “But he’s trying to get on their good side by finding Golds. He really wants to work for them directly so he won’t have to be out in the field anymore. That’s why he’s out here on his own right now.”

Applejack looked up at her friend, shaking her head. “This is big…” she mumbled.

“Yeah.” Sunset said, staring at the ground.

AJ smiled at her friend. “It’s a good thing you were there, Sunset. That was good thinking, using your magic on him. You really saved Fluttershy’s bacon.”

“Yeah, Flutters would have been caught by now if I hadn’t been there…” Sunset said, looking around the farm. “She wouldn’t have known about the bug and she would have texted Golds to warn him. This Agent is slick…I didn’t even see him plant the bug under the chair.”

Applejack looked at Sunset with a smirk. “Not slick enough to go up against a mind-reader…” she said, then she frowned. “Hey wait, if you know where that bug is, why don’t you just get rid of it?”

Sunset shook her head. “We can’t…it will look suspicious, he’ll know we found it if we take it down. Flutters needs to look innocent, like she doesn’t know anything about Golds.”

AJ shook her head. “Dang, you’re right.” She said, going through her phone, collecting the names to send a group text to. Then she looked up at Sunset. “What were you doing there so early on a Saturday?”

Sunset stopped for a second…her pupils shrank at the question. “Uh, I was just visiting Fluttershy…to see how she was doing.”

AJ stared at the red-head for a few seconds, then her eyes went wide when she thought of something else. “How did Fluttershy handle that agent being there in her house? She must have been scared shitless…”

Sunset looked at the farm girl. “She was, I honestly thought she might crack…that guy was intense…but she actually did OK.”

AJ looked back at her phone to continue what she was doing. “Fluttershy can be pretty tough sometimes… when she wants to be.” she said.

Sunset nodded, folding her arms as she looked at the barn in the distance. “Yeah…I’m really worried about her though…having that guy watching her house…if he finds out that she’s indestructible just like Golds he might try to take her too…”

AJ stopped, then looked up at Sunset. “What did you just say?” she asked, eyes wide.

Sunset froze. “Oh shit…” She turned slowly towards Applejack, eyes open wide with pupils like pinpoints. AJ was looking up from her phone at Sunset with a shocked look on her face.

“Uhh…” Sunset started.

“What was that about Fluttershy? Did you just say she’s just like Golds now?” AJ asked.

Sunset cringed. ”Um…yeah?”

AJ dropped her phone on the ground and slapped her hands on top of her hat, flattening it down. “Holy shit! When did that happen??”

“SHHHH! I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone yet!” Sunset cried, putting her hands out to AJ. “It happened a couple weeks ago…”

“How?” AJ shouted.

“APPLEJACK! I’ll tell you later!…You need to finish sending those messages right now!” Sunset pleaded, pointing at AJ’s phone on the ground.

“Aw shit…OK…” AJ bent down to pick up the phone, then finished sending the text to everyone. “OK, it’s sent.”

Sunset nodded. “Good, now send one to Golds. Tell him to stay at work and not to text Fluttershy.”

“I ain't got his number, d’you?” AJ said, looking at Sunset.

“Yeah, I’ve got it” Sunset said. She pulled her phone out and read my number off, then deleted my contact and her text conversations with me.

Sunset told AJ what to say in the text, telling me not to come home and that she was going to meet me at work to explain everything.

When AJ finished sending the text, Sunset spoke again. “OK, I just have to find out where he works…do you know where it is?”

AJ put her phone in her pocket. “Yeah, I know the place. But I told him I was going to see him.”

“What? Why did you do that??” Sunset asked frantically, pulling her hair.

“Cuz you’re pulling yer hair right now, Sunset. You need a break. Besides, you should get to town before the stores close so you can get yerself another phone.” AJ explained as she started walking towards the old Ford truck.

“Right…OK.” Sunset sighed as she followed AJ to the driveway.

The two of them made a few more plans as they walked. AJ decided to have the Saturday dinner at her farm…it had been a long time since she hosted anyway. It was obvious that they couldn’t do it at Fluttershy’s as usual. Once they were all there, they would explain the situation to everyone…and AJ insisted that Fluttershy told everyone her secret.

After a quick shout towards the house, telling her Granny that she had to head out, Applejack got in her truck and headed for my work. Sunset hopped on her bike and headed for town.

*****

I was at work, standing under a pickup truck that was raised into the air on the hoist, in the middle of replacing the clutch. I only had a couple more bolts to remove in order to take the transmission out. I hadn’t had time to check my phone, so I didn’t know about AJ’s text yet.

It was almost noon, I was just going to get the clutch out of the truck and call it a day. The flywheel would have to be sent out for machining anyway and the machine shop was closed, so it would have to wait for Monday.

“Hey Golds!” my boss shouted, walking into the shop. He was wearing his work pants and a black golf shirt with the shop name on the left side of the chest. He had a big stomach that hung over his belt, thin gray hair and walked with a waddle. His knees and back gave him a lot of trouble in his old age after years of working on cars. “There’s someone here to see you.”

I turned around to see someone walking with him I didn’t expect.

Applejack.

She looked like something was wrong.

“Hey, what’s up?” I said, using the impact wrench to remove the last bolt from the bell housing. I set the tool down on my service cart, keeping the other hand on the transmission to keep it in place. I reached up with my other hand, grabbed the bell housing and pulled the transmission out, bent down and gently set it down on the floor.

My boss looked nervously at the girl who just saw what I did. “Uh, hey shouldn’t you be using a tranny jack for that?” He said, trying in vain to cover it up.

I chuckled. “It’s OK, Gord. She knows.”

The old man’s bushy eyebrows went up. “Oh OK, carry on then, tough guy.”

“Hey there, sugarcube.” AJ finally said timidly.

I looked at her, getting a sense that something was definitely wrong. “Is everything alright?”

“Uh, well…” AJ rubbed the back of her neck. “You’d better not go home after work.”

My boss and I both stopped.

“Why?” I asked…thinking it had something to do with Rarity, even thought AJ shouldn’t know about any of that.

“Someone from the CIA was there today…” she explained.

My boss and I looked blankly at each other.

I let my hands down from what I was doing and shook my head. “Damn…” I whispered to myself.

“He planted a bug in Fluttershy’s house…it picks up voices in the house and cell phone messages…so you can’t text her neither. And don’t text Sunset…she was there with Fluttershy, so her phone got bugged too.” AJ explained.

I looked at AJ. “Sunset was there?”

She nodded. “It’s a darn good thing too, she managed to read him and figure out what he was doing. Don’t worry, she’s on top of it.”

“Did she tell you anything about this guy?” I asked, wiping my hands off with a shop rag.

“She said he’s there alone…apparently he’s got a big hard-on for finding you.” AJ replied.

I looked at Applejack, chewing my bottom lip as I thought. “Is it Cody?” I finally asked.

AJ looked surprised for a moment, then she nodded. “Yeah, that’s right. How'd you know?”

I shook my head, turning away from them. “That fucking guy…I knew I should have killed him.” I said aloud to myself.

Both AJ and my boss looked stunned by what I said.

I looked back at them, then sighed. “About ten years ago I had a run-in with a team of CIA agents who were trying to re-acquire me. They failed, obviously…but Cody was part of that team. He was just a rookie…I didn’t feel right about killing him, so I let him think he got away. I thought he seemed like a sensible guy and that he might just let it go, but he ended up becoming obsessed with me.”

“That sounds about right…Sunset said he’s there on his own. The good news is that he’s gone after two weeks. He’s expected back at the CIA headquarters, but he’s staking out Fluttershy’s until then.” AJ explained.

I shook my head. “Fuck…I let him live and this is how he re-pays me.” I looked at AJ as I continued. “Of course he’s alone, the CIA isn’t that interested in me anymore. There’s a new generation of guys in there these days, and they all think I’m just a myth. Except for Cody…he’s the only one who saw me that day and lived to tell about it.”

Applejack folded her arms, shaking her head. “Sunset says there’s another group looking for you…someone higher up and more secretive than the CIA…and this Cody guy is hoping to impress them.”

I looked at AJ for a minute, chewing the inside of my cheek. “Shit.” I finally said, looking down at the floor. This wasn’t something that I was aware of.

“So…” AJ started. “I take it this Agent Cody ain’t no rookie anymore?”

I shook my head. “No, he’d be a fully trained field agent by now. Not someone you guys wanna tangle with.”

“We’ve got our magic…” AJ said.

“No!’ I said quickly. “Don’t let him find out you guys have powers or they’ll be after all of you.”

AJ hung her head, wishing this situation hadn’t happened upon us. After a few moments of thought, she finally spoke. “Well anyway, Sunset wants Fluttershy to just stay there and keep quiet. She said not to take the bug down or that guy will be onto her.” she said.

I nodded. “Yeah…no, don’t take the bug down. It’s best if she just stays quiet and looks as inconspicuous as possible until he leaves.”

“Well, if anyone is good at staying quiet, it’s Fluttershy.” AJ chuckled.

“You got that right.” I said, smiling at AJ. “That Sunset Shimmer is sharp as a tack, eh?”

“Yeah,” AJ replied. “Thank god she was there or Fluttershy would have been screwed…I guarantee she would have texted you right away, warning you not to come home and that Cody guy woulda been all over it. We definitely don’t want her having a run-in with him…we can’t have him finding out that she’s like you…”

There was a jolt in my chest when AJ said this. I looked at her with wide-eyes.

She smiled. “Yeah, I know about her, sugarcube. Sunset accidently blabbed to me about it this morning.”

I sighed. “Yeah. It was kind of unexpected…that it happened.”

“It’s OK. I think it’s great.” She said, adjusting her hat. “Anyway…I just came to warn you not to go home and not to call or text anyone.”

I nodded to AJ, then looked at my boss. “Sorry Gord.“ I said, shaking my head. “Looks like I’ve gotta disappear for a while. I can’t be in the area with him around.”

He looked sombre as he nodded back. “It’s OK, tough guy. I can get Jim to look after this clutch on Monday. You go.” And with that, he turned and waddled back to the front office.

I felt bad for the old man. I’m sure at that moment he wasn’t expecting to see me ever again.

“Where are you gonna go?” AJ asked.

“Don’t worry. If there’s one thing I know, it’s how to disappear. And the less you know, the better.” I said, going to my tool box and getting my keys and phone out of the top drawer.

Applejack and I walked outside to our trucks. I put my stuff in the cab of mine and started it up to let the engine warm up for a minute.

I turned to AJ. “Can you tell Fluttershy that I love her?”

"You sure you don't wanna come do dinner before you go? It's at my place this weekend...then you can tell her yerself." AJ offered.

I shook my head. "It's too close to her place...believe me, I'd like to...but if he happens to see me in the area then it's going to cause a lot of shit for us. It's not worth the risk."

Applejack nodded. “OK. You got it then, sugarcube. I'll tell her for you. And don’t worry, we’ll take good care of her.” AJ said.

I nodded. “Thanks…for everything. All of you. You guys made my life liveable again.” I said.

She smiled, then stepped closer, wrapping her arms around me in a tight hug. I hugged her back, feeling the sadness well up in my chest at the thought that I wasn’t even going to see Fluttershy one more time before I left. No goodbyes, no nothing…she was going to be gone from my life for two weeks, maybe longer if things decided to go bad.

I got in my truck, giving AJ a final nod before I drove off towards Canterlot, intending to pass though the town and continue up north.

Chapter 30: Payback

Chapter 30

“Shit shit shit! What did you do Flutters?” Sunset cursed frantically as she paced back and forth in her bedroom. She was dying to know what happened…why would Fluttershy expose herself like this?

Her heart was racing as she thought about her friend, who was surely being either arrested or captured and being forced to expose her boyfriend at that moment…who knew what was really going on out at that house aside from the shy girl herself…

*****

It was just before noon. Fluttershy had just finished beating on her pillow and had finally decided to take matters into her own hands. She came back out to the main room, scowling at the chair with the bug under it.

“If I take it down, he’ll know I’m onto him…” she thought to herself, processing the situation again. What she really wanted to do was bend down next to the chair, put her mouth right up to the bug and scream ‘FUCK YOU, CODY!’ She snickered at the thought of him jumping out of his skin as he heard her scream in his earpiece after getting nothing but silence from the girl all week.

She continued to stare at the chair, tapping her middle and index fingers gently against her bottom lip as she thought.

Suddenly, a solution fired into her brain like a lightning bolt. She quietly scampered back to her bedroom, then opened the bedroom window that faced the backyard and leaned out, closing her eyes and listening. She was looking for a specific voice…out in the woods.

Her eyes suddenly popped open when she heard it. With a smile on her face, she leaned down, reaching out with her hand, waiting patiently.

Finally, an animal scampered out of the bushes towards her. It was a young wolf, only grown to slightly less than half size. It came over to her as she reached down and picked it up, hooking her hands behind its front legs to lift it up into her bedroom.

“Hi there little guy, how are you?” she whispered quietly to the animal, holding it like a baby, standing next her bed as she affectionately scratched its chin.

She bent down after a moment, setting the young wolf on the floor, silently staring into the animal’s eyes for a few moments as the wolf stared back motionless, with the exception of its ears occasionally twitching as it continued to listen to the sounds outside. Finally, a smile crept across Fluttershy’s face as she slowly stood up again.

The young wolf pup suddenly took off, scampering towards the front room.

*****

Cody was sitting in the SUV, listening to the silence in his earpiece. This girl had to be the most boring thing he’d ever had to observe. She didn’t talk, she never went out, she never even sang to herself…but worst of all, she gave him nothing to work with…not a single hint of the whereabouts of his target whatsoever. He had been so sure the pink-haired girl was the one described by the bouncer who was working outside the front door at the bar that night, the same bouncer who positively identified his target from the photograph…but this stakeout was starting to look like a dead-end, despite how promising the lead was. Cody was sure this was going to be his lucky shot…the target almost never surfaced, especially engaging in acts of violence in public. What could possibly have driven him to commit such a brash demonstration of his power?

It was getting hot in the sun, sitting there in the black vehicle, so he had rolled down all the windows to let some breeze in. He blew a gust of heat-exhausted air from his mouth as she loosened his tie and undid the top button of his white shirt.

Then he heard something new over the microphone. He placed his index finger onto his earpiece, frowning as he listened intently, trying to figure out what the sound was.

It sounded like the clatter of dog claws on a hardwood floor. It got louder very quickly…as though whatever it was was heading straight toward the bug. Suddenly he heard loud gusts of breath directly on the microphone, like the sound of a dog sniffing in your ear…followed by the deep, wet sounds of licking…then the scraping of teeth.

“Shit…” Cody thought as he shifted his eyes onto the quiet looking house through the windshield of his vehicle.

There was a loud pop, then the sound of crunching plastic followed the screech of feedback, then finally nothing but loud static colliding with his eardrum.

“AAH!” he shouted, cringing the loud noise. He pulled the earpiece from his head and threw it at the dash of the truck in anger. “Fuck!” he cursed. “Since when does she have a damn dog in there??” he said as he rested his head on the palm of his hand, leaning on the center console with his elbow.

His eyes shifted over to the laptop screen sitting on the passenger seat, noticing there was a new window that had popped up across the screen that read: ‘connection lost’

He closed his eyes, letting his head droop as he rubbed his brow with his fingertips. “Now what? The rest of this week’s gonna be a waste of time…” he muttered to himself.

He looked up to his left suddenly as he heard the loud chirping of a bird sitting on a branch a few feet from his open window. He watched the bird for a moment...it seemed look right back at him, then it suddenly flew away towards the house. Cody put his head back down, thinking about what he should do next…he’d lost his eyes and ears on the subject and now, sitting there in the truck, looking at the outside of her house was almost guaranteed to be a fruitless endeavour. Cody was now kicking himself for not bringing more equipment with him…although he had already pushed his luck, if the CIA knew that he’d stolen that bug from them, he would surely face a heavy penalty...a penalty that he felt was worth the risk, however…

*****

Fluttershy was sitting at her table, at the end closest to the front door, near the window. The bird that had just been perched on the branch next to Cody’s truck flew up and landed in the windowsill.

“Did he buy it?” she asked softly.

The bird chirped a couple times.

A smile grew across the shy girl’s face. “Good.” She then took a deep breath and turned her head toward the window, looking at the bird. “Now…” she said with a devilish look darkening her innocent features. “Time to bring down the rain on this mother-fucker…”

The bird chirped once more before suddenly fluttering away.

Fluttershy watched out the window for a few moments, looking out at the black SUV parked there, under the trees. Her eyes slowly climbed up through the branches above the truck, watching nefariously as a bird swooped in and landed, perching itself amongst the leaves…then another. And another. Then two more.

More and more birds started flocking to the tree, their chirping and the beating of their wings started to become audible to Fluttershy inside the house, sitting at her table as the grin on her face became wider.

*****

I was walking in the woods by myself. It was cooler where I was now; a few days drive north of Canterlot in the middle of the mountains. I had left my truck at a storage site, locked inside a bay which I had paid for in advance for two weeks. I knew it was overkill to come out this far, but I didn’t want to take any chances, being discovered now would ruin everything…I could lose the home I had grown into, as well as the seven lovely women who I was now sharing such a powerful connection with.

I had my phone with me, but the battery had long since died after leaving civilization and I had no way to charge it out here. Not that it mattered. I wouldn’t be hearing from anyone I cared about. I thought about my pink-haired princess…I wondered how she was doing there by herself, being watched by Cody while I was up here alone, walking around in the woods, helpless to do anything but wait. I wondered if it had been a mistake to come out this far…what if something happened she needed my help? No, that won’t happen…Sunset and the girls were there. They were smart, and I knew they could handle themselves.

I missed Fluttershy’s scent, her custard-toned skin, her body heat, her pink hair, soft voice, teal eyes…

And Rarity. I was surprised by how much my mind lingered on the indigo-haired beauty and her smooth, marshmallow-coloured skin. Whenever I saw a crystal-clear blue pond, a river or a sparkling waterfall, the image of her sapphire eyes would flash into my brain, hypnotising me, causing me to hear her sexy voice and her properly chosen words inside my mind.

I was worried that she might complicate things, but then I would remember that Fluttershy obviously thought about her a lot too, as well as the fact the she herself had encouraged me to engage in romantic acts with the fashionista on more than one occasion.

I really didn’t know what to make of it. I’d never been in a situation quite like this before.

I was walking along an old quiet road, singing Black Sabbath’s ‘Never Say Die’ out loud to myself as I watched the sun flicker down on me from between the tree leaves. I had always felt as though this song was written specifically about me…as though the members of the band knew my story and wanted to tell it to the world. I had sung my way through the song about forty times already, just finishing the last line one more time…

Then I saw something in the distance: a brown object on the side of the road.

I walked up to it, wondering what it was. As I approached the motionless form, I realized it was an animal…dead and bloodied from being hit by a car while trying to cross the road. It must have been an extremely unlucky creature, I hadn’t seen a single car that entire day on this road.

I stopped and bent down to look at it. I thought about what my girlfriend would have done if she was there with me. It was still fairly fresh looking, but there no was no heat left in it…I was surprised that nothing had carried it off yet as a free meal. I then noticed it was female, as evidenced by the engorged teets on its belly…it must have given birth to young ones recently.

I looked around the area, wondering if the young ones were close by. They shouldn’t have starved yet, the mother hadn’t been dead for that long…hopefully some other predator hadn’t made a meal out of them yet.

I decided to get up and try to find them…I had nothing else to do anyway. I left the side of the road, venturing into the woods in search of the helpless creatures.

*****

Dinner turned out to be at Rarity’s, or RAD, as Rainbow Dash had started calling it. After Dash had learned of her friends’ immortality and the fact that they don’t sleep anymore, she started calling the fashionista’s place ‘Rarity’s after dark’, or RAD for short.

Rarity hated it at first, but it was starting to grow on her a little bit after hearing it a few too many times.

Everyone was there, except for Fluttershy. Even Twilight Sparkle had made it down that afternoon and was brought up to speed on the situation by her friends…she was fascinated by the fact that my immortality had spread to others, and wished to learn more about why it happened.

Sunset was pacing around non-stop…wondering what had happened with Fluttershy since the text she’d gotten earlier. She hadn’t told the others yet, not wanting them to worry about the shy girl.

“Where is Fluttershy?” she wondered. “Hey Rarity, you sent Fluttershy a text telling her dinner was here tonight, right?” Sunset asked, stopping her pacing for a moment.

“Yes I did, darling.” Rarity replied. “What is the matter with you, Sunset? Please have a seat and relax.”

Sunset shook her head. “Did you ever hear back from her?”

Rarity shook her head. “No darling. I’m sure she’ll be along soon. Please don’t worry. She probably just wants to keep her texting to a minimum.”

Sunset continued pacing as the other girls started watching her more closely.

“Uh, Sunset?” Dash asked. “Is there something you’re not telling us?”

Sunset stopped and looked at them, suddenly noticing they were all staring at her intently with worried looks on their faces. She felt like she needed to tell them about Fluttershy…they had a right to know.

Sunset opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by the sound of Rarity’s front door opening. She turned around to see who it was.

It was Fluttershy. She had shown up after all, looking normal as always…wearing her white tank top, green skirt and green boots. She emerged from the front hallway with her pink hair covering one eye as usual.

“You see, darling? You were worried over nothing.” Rarity said, as Sunset stared at the shy girl with her aqua eyes open wide.

Everyone except for Sunset was sitting on the couch, and Rarity was relaxing in her big purple chair.

“Hi girls…sorry I’m late.” Fluttershy said softly.

“Hey, sugarcube.’ AJ said, sitting on the couch, leaning back with her feet crossed and her legs stretched out, her arms folded behind her head. “How was your-“

Sunset cut her off. “Fluttershy! What the hell happened??”

The other girls were shocked by the outburst, confused by Sunset’s frantic questioning.

“Oh,” Fluttershy said, idly playing with her hair. “Didn’t you get my text?”

“Yes!” Sunset shouted. “What were you thinking, getting rid of the bug??”

AJ sat up suddenly. “Whoa! You got rid of the bug?” she asked, suddenly showing concern of her own.

Fluttershy shrugged. “I had a little wolf friend come into the house through the back window and chew it up.” She explained with a proud grin.

Sunset cocked her eyebrows. “Huh?” She started, then she paused as she thought about it. Her eyes slowly lowered to the floor as she rubbed her chin, thinking it through out loud to herself. “Wait…so the wolf chews up the bug, severing the connection to the phones…Cody hears it, and thinks it was a pet that found it…” she turned to her shy friend. “And he thinks you had nothing to do with it?”

“Mm-hm.” Fluttershy nodded innocently.

Sunset looked up at the shy girl…after a moment, a grin slowly appeared on her face. She suddenly laughed out loud and charged at Fluttershy, giving her a hug, lifting her off the ground.

Sunset set her friend down, then ran her fingers through her own hair, holding it up in a fire-coloured pile over her head. “Flutters, that’s…you’re a fucking genius!”

“Why thank you, Sunset. But here’s more…” the shy girl replied.

“More?” Sunset answered, looking confused again as Fluttershy took out her cell phone and handed it to her friend.

Sunset looked at the screen. There was a picture on it. It looked like Fluttershy’s driveway. She could see what looked like Cody’s truck parked there, but it was covered in white dots…and there were more dots speckled on the ground all around the vehicle. Sunset tried to focus on it to see what was going on, but the phone screen was too small to make out any real detail.

“I don’t get it, Flutters…what is that all over his truck?” Sunset asked, looking up at the shy girl.

“Bird shit.” she replied.

Sunset stared at her for a few seconds before she snorted and covered her mouth as she started to laugh. “Haha, did you do that? With your magic?”

“Mm-hm.” Fluttershy nodded. “I got all the cute little birds in the area to land in that tree above his truck and unload their asses on him.” she said in her sweet voice.

The rest of the girls were sitting on the couch, their mouths gaping open…then after a few seconds, Dash rolled back, clutching her stomach with her arms as she laughed hysterically. “Hahaha! Oh my god, Flutters, that’s the funniest fucking thing I’ve ever seen you do!”

The other girls started laughing as well.

“Wait!” Fluttershy said to everyone. “You haven’t heard the best part…”

Sunset looked back at her. “What’s that?” she laughed.

Fluttershy leaned in closer. “His sunroof was open.”

*****

The Saturday get-together actually had a light-hearted feel to it. The girls all had a good time, laughing, sharing stories from the week, listening to Twilight’s stories about her finals and her time with her family…although she admitted that things had been much more interesting there in Canterlot.

The girls each hugged Fluttershy as they left for home that night. Everyone had a much better feeling about the upcoming week than they did the week before, knowing that Cody now had no way of keeping tabs on her, other than just sitting there in his truck outside her house. On her way out she gave Rarity a small nod, which was returned by the purple-haired girl signifying that she was impressed by the shy girl’s tactics that day, as well as giving a confirmation that she’d been practicing with her own magic as well.

Fluttershy drove home in the dark, waiting to see if the black SUV would still be there. As she pulled into her driveway, she saw that he was indeed still there, however she was relatively care-free about it compared to the week before. She had a small chuckle at the fact that he had obviously left to go wash his truck and had parked in a different spot.

She parked and went into the house, without even turning to look in Cody’s direction. She did have a small twinge of fear as she opened the door that he might actually be in the house waiting to ambush her, but she brushed that thought away since she knew he had no evidence against her to justify a direct attack. Not to mention he was out of his jurisdiction out here, as well as the fact that he was technically off duty, his entry in the house without invitation would have been highly illegal.

She stayed in bed all night again using her phone for entertainment, knowing the light from the TV would be visible out the front window to him outside.

In the morning when Fluttershy went outside to feed the animals, he was still parked there. She could see him through the windshield as he lifted his head up when he saw her come out, then become less interested when he realized it was one of the things she did everyday.

Once she was finished with that and got back into the house, she went to her bedroom window to meet the bird from the day before.

“Yes please.“ She said in response to the bird’s chirps. “Just keep a steady stream going on him. Not too much, we don’t want it to look too unusual or he might get suspicious.”

The bird chirped and flew away to continue its mission of tormenting the spy. It would have been too much to continue the barrage they gave him the day before…it was such an oppressive rain-down of white globs that happened so suddenly he didn’t even have time to turn on the key so he could close the windows and sunroof before there were white splatters all over the interior, on the door panels, the dash, the seats and all over his laptop and surveillance equipment.

Fluttershy busied herself for the rest of the Sunday doing laundry and looking after the typical things she needed to do to get ready for another work week. Later in the afternoon, she left for town to get groceries. As she left, she could see a few spots of white on the agent’s truck…upon her return, however, there was a significant spattering all over the black paint of the vehicle.

She giggled as she walked back into her house, bringing the groceries with her. She continued on with her day, finishing her chores and making herself some supper. She did feel lonely as she ate, sitting at her table alone, still wishing I was back there with her. She couldn’t wait for the week to be over. She hoped desperately that her plan to drive the spy away was going to work sooner than later, after all, he was doing nothing more than wasting his time now…just sitting there, staring at the outside of her house.

Monday passed by much the same way. The black SUV had accumulated a fair amount of shit splatter by the morning when she went outside to feed the animals.

She went to work, had a productive day and came home at her regular time. As she pulled in the driveway, she was shocked to see the black SUV gone.

“Maybe he went to wash it again…” she thought to herself.

She went through another night without seeing his return to the yard, cooking and eating supper alone, watching TV for a while, having a hot shower, then laying in bed playing on her phone all night.

On Tuesday morning when she got up and went outside, she was ecstatic to see the SUV still gone. She went into the back yard to feed the animals as usual, but this time she called for a Bald Eagle and a couple Peregrine Falcons to come and perch close to her in the yard so she could instruct them to search the area for the day while she was at work and report back to her when she returned home in the evening if they had seen the black truck anywhere.

When she returned home that night, she met the birds again in the backyard who gave her news that made her squeal with delight. There had been no sign of the agent or his truck all day…he hadn’t been spotted anywhere within a twelve mile radius of Fluttershy’s house by the birds while they were continually searching the area looking for him.

Just to be sure, she had the birds repeat the process the next day as well. When she got home from the shelter on Wednesday night to find her driveway still empty and receiving another positive report from the majestic birds, she thanked them with a few meaty treats, sent them on their way and rushed into the house.

The first thing she did was pull her phone out and send a text to the person she missed more than anything else in the world. She sat and watched her phone for a response with excitement in her heart. After a few moments passed, she thought about sending another, but decided not to, remembering that I could be anywhere…quite possibly in an area with no reception.

She decided to text the person she wanted to see the most after me.

FLUTTERSHY: Hey RARITY: Hello Fluttershy! How are things out there? FLUTTERSHY: Great! Mr. Cody seems to have left. I had the birds continue shitting on him the whole time he was here. Haven't seen him since Monday morning. I even had some birds circle the area for 2 days and they couldn't find him anywhere. RARITY: That is splendid news! I'm so proud of you! :) FLUTTERSHY: What r u doing tonight? R u working? RARITY: No. I’m well ahead of the orders this week. Unless something changes, I don't have any plans at all during the next few nights. FLUTTERSHY: Want to go out to Riverfield? RARITY: Are you certain Mr. Cody is gone? Suppose he's abandoned his vehicle and is sneaking around on foot? FLUTTERSHY: Don't worry, he can't hide from the forest. The woodland cuties will tell me if he's around. RARITY: Very true. Brilliant, Fluttershy! You can consider me there. I actually have somethings I wanted to show you. FLUTTERSHY: Neat! See you soon. Bye! RARITY: Ta-ta!

Author's Note

Never Say Die...this is actually a cover by Megadeth, it has a bit more grit to it, so I like it a little better than the original.

*Chapter 31: Fluttershy and Rarity

Chapter 31

It took about an hour for Rarity to arrive at Fluttershy’s house that night. They decided to skip the formality of supper and went straight out to the Riverfield.

Fluttershy knew right away that Rarity had been hard at work since the dinner at Applejack’s farm when she’d promised to step up her ‘homework’. Rarity certainly had a few tricks up her sleeve with her magic…she had done as I asked, working on some weapon designs as well being able to keep them materialized. It took just as much effort to maintain them as it did to conjure them up in the first place, so practicing that was just as important. On top of that, Rarity also came up with a few other ideas that Fluttershy was also very impressed with.

Rarity was also very impressed with Fluttershy’s use of her magic, utilizing the animals and birds around her home to trick and eventually drive away a well-trained CIA agent on her own. Her tactical use of the animals showed great potential as a warrior in the shy girl, although Fluttershy still insisted that she couldn’t have done it without Sunset and was eternally grateful that she just happened to be there that morning...which was true, but if she had followed Sunset’s orders completely, rather than thinking for herself for once, she would have lost her mind before the two weeks was over.

For the remainder of the night, which was fortunately clear with a bright, full moon, they decided to work on their flinching…as well as doing some sparring with each other, even though I wasn’t there to teach them any proper fighting techniques. Learning attacks wasn’t the objective anyway…they were more focused learning to let go of their intrinsic fear of pain, which had become a part of them throughout their lives, as it does with everyone.

Fluttershy was still having a hard time with keeping herself from flinching when Rarity would swing at her unexpectedly…although she was getting better at keeping herself steady while they were actively sparring.

Rarity was strong. Strong enough to surprise Fluttershy, who had obviously never fought with her like this before…they could wail on each other without hurting one another so they quickly started to learn a lot about each other as well as themselves.

Rarity, even though she came off as a posh and sometimes snobby fashion designer, at the core was a hard worker…most people didn’t realize the strength she’d built up over the years, carrying boxes of materials and finished products around, moving sewing machines and tables, display sets and cutting thick fabrics and leather by hand...she was by no means as strong as Rainbow Dash and certainly not Applejack, even without her magic strength, but she proved to be able to out-power her shy friend by a significant margin repeatedly.

One thing Fluttershy could consistently outperform Rarity on was her reflexes. Her reaction time, as long as she didn’t get scared and flinch, was remarkable. She had reflexes like a cat…to a point where Rarity suggested that it may even be another aspect of her magic, yet another connection to the animal world.

They felt very accomplished after spending the entire night tirelessly learning about themselves, their bodies, their abilities, their magic...and each other. They started to head back to the house when the sun began to come up, covering the beautiful field in the warm colours of the sunrise.

*****

On Thursday night Rarity came over again in the evening. It was still a bizarre feeling, spending an entire night with her friend out in the middle of nowhere, then going to work, then coming back to her friend’s house without ever going to sleep…it made it feel like the same long, never-ending day. In fact, to Rarity, life felt like just one long day now…it just continued on and on, sometimes it was dark and sometimes it was light outside.

That night, they decided to forego the training and spend some time together, like they used to when they were younger. They hadn’t had much time to spend alone together as best friends in recent years, especially in the past month or so with me around and with all the life-altering events that befell them.

Fluttershy cooked a nice supper for the both of them and they ate at the big table and talked back and forth to each other about work, family, the future, me, their training, their magic, their friends…and they both enjoyed each other’s company.

Fluttershy was especially happy after being alone for the full week with Cody outside watching and listening. What added to her happiness was Rarity, who was wearing the same thing as the first night that I took them out to the Riverfield…those skin-tight pants, that form-fitting, yet soft back shirt, showing off her petite frame and perky bust. Fluttershy loved the contrast of the dark clothing with Rarity’s powdery-white skin, and she loved her long purple hair, which was straight again tonight like the last time she looked like this, except this time she didn’t have it in a pony tail...instead, it just hung down both sides of her face and straight down her back. And her face, with no make-up again this time...her skin was still amazing with those subtle little freckles high up on her cheek bones…and her blue eyes always sparkled no matter how she was dressed.

As they visited, Fluttershy couldn’t stop hearing my voice in the back of her mind. “Why don’t you tell her how you feel?” The words repeated endlessly in the shy girl’s mind as she struggled to maintain concentration on what the fashionista was saying.

They moved over to the couch later in the evening after cleaning up the supper mess. It was after dark now, and the TV was now the only source of light in the house.

Fluttershy was on the chaise lounge with Rarity sitting a couple cushions down, sipping a hot tea.

Fluttershy snickered at her friend. “Why are you sipping that?”

Rarity looked at her. “It’s hot, dar-“ she stopped for a second. “Oh…well I still like to enjoy it.”

Fluttershy shook her fist at the indigo-haired girl. “Chug it!” she challenged with a playful giggle.

Rarity shook her head, about to refuse, wanting to say something about it not being lady-like, but then she shrugged her shoulders and downed the steaming beverage in a few gulps.

The pink-haired girl laughed softly, covering her mouth.

Rarity set the cup down on the floor by the couch. “I cannot believe I let you talk me into that, Fluttershy…” she said.

Fluttershy smiled. “We’re awesome.”

Rarity smiled back and nodded. “Indeed we are, darling. I cannot believe that man of yours has been living this way for so many years…just imagine some of the things he might have done…”

Fluttershy nodded as they both looked at the TV for a few minutes, thinking about the things they might see during their times ahead.

The shy girl sighed. “This TV is on all the time…and no one ever really watches it.”

“I’m not really interested in this show either, actually.” Rarity replied flatly. After a moment she turned to her friend. “Have you heard back from Golds yet?”

Fluttershy shook her head as she lit up her phone screen, looking at it, hoping to see a reply from me waiting for her.

“Don’t worry, darling. He’s probably just out somewhere with no service.” Rarity replied, trying to boost her friend’s outlook.

“Yeah.” Fluttershy said, putting her phone down again. “He wasn’t expecting to hear from us until the end of the week anyway, so…”

“Precisely, my dear.” was Rarity’s reply.

Both girls sat for a minute, then they both sighed simultaneously. They looked at each other, smiling back and forth.

“You must miss him so much.” Rarity said softly. “I can’t imagine how you must have felt last week, all alone out here.”

Fluttershy nodded. Then she looked at her purple-haired friend. “Do you miss him?” she asked. When Rarity turned to look at her, Fluttershy could see the rectangular glares of the TV shining in both of her big blue eyes, making the shy girl’s heart flutter at the sight of her lovely friend.

“Me?” Rarity asked, looking down at the couch cushions. “I suppose I do a bit.”

Fluttershy tilted her head, letting it rest on the back of the couch. “Come on, Rarity. Even after what happened the night he fixed the light in your boutique?”

Rarity smirked bashfully, reaching up with her fingertips to nervously flip her bangs, only to miss them, forgetting that her hair wasn’t styled with its usual bouncy swoops.

Fluttershy giggled at her friend’s obvious crush on her boyfriend.

Rarity sighed, sticking her nose up. “Fine. I do miss him. Very much. Are you happy?”

Fluttershy smiled at the sight of Rarity, doing her usual snobby nose-in-the-air routine without the fancy hair, make-up and clothes to go with it. “She’s so cute…” Fluttershy thought with a smile. “She acts like such a hoity-toity snob, but deep down I know she is just so adorable,” -- she drew in a slow exhale -- "and sexy..."

As Rarity blushed, Fluttershy’s instincts kicked in. She put her hand out, patting the cushion on the chaise lounge beside her. “You wanna sit here…um, w-with me?” she asked, hoping her friend would comply.

Rarity looked unsure for a second, not expecting such a request. Then she smiled lightly and shifted over next to the pink-haired girl. Fluttershy backed herself into the corner of the lounge to make room as the pale beauty snuggled in beside her.

As Fluttershy started to feel her friend’s warmth against her, she realized her prayers had been answered…even though Rarity had gone without her usual get-up, she still smelled the same. That sweet vanilla scent floated into the shy girl’s senses, causing her eyelids to flutter as she took in the luscious scent.

Fluttershy finally spoke. “Yes…actually. I…I am happy.”

“About what, darling?” Rarity asked, her eyes much closer to Fluttershy’s now.

“Um, that you miss him too.” She answered.

“Really? Why?” The purple girl asked.

Fluttershy turned her head down towards her feet. She looked at herself, wearing her usual green skirt and white tank top…she knew she was still the same person as she sat there, taking in her own details…but she felt like she was exploring a part of herself that she hadn’t seen before, nor did she know anything about. “I…I don’t actually know.” She answered, looking back at her friend. “But I am. I think you two are cute together.”

“Me and him?” Rarity replied, surprised by the statement. “But you two are…you know…”

Fluttershy nodded quickly. “I know, but…” she paused for a moment, steeling herself to continue. “I loved watching you two in the hot tub. You looked so…perfect together.”

Rarity blinked a couple times as she stared at her friend. A blush slowly crept up her face as the memory of that fateful night started coming back to her.

“You were so beautiful, Rare…” the shy girl said, quickly looking away as she blushed as well.

Rarity smirked as she cocked her eyebrows. “Really, darling? Me? You should have seen yourself…”

Fluttershy looked back in surprise. “Really?”

“Absolutely, darling. You were stunning. I wish I could pull off that kind of beautiful grace as effortlessly as you…” Rarity gushed.

“Rarity thinks I’m beautiful?” The shy girl thought to herself.

“It takes a lot of work to look the way I do…” Rarity said, looking down at herself. “I must look positively dreadful tonight…”

Fluttershy gasped softly. “Oh Rarity, no…I love the way you look when you’re like this.”

Rarity cocked an eyebrow. “You do?” she asked, as if she thought what her friend said was a cruel joke.

The shy girl nodded.

“Well, no matter…” Rarity started, “you hardly spend any time on yourself, darling…and you always look cute as a button…it drives me crazy!”

“I drive her crazy?”

Rarity continued, not really thinking about what she was saying. “In fact, when you were with him in the hot tub…I was watching the two of you…and…well, you were positively radiant! I found myself wishing I could be him…so I could have had y-“

She stopped suddenly as she noticed her friend staring at her, wide-eyed. Neither girl knew what to say.

Rarity cleared her throat. “Um, I…maybe shouldn’t have said that…”

Fluttershy drew in a breath as she regained her thoughts. “Oh, it’s OK…” Fluttershy reached for the TV remote. “Do you mind if I turn this off? It’s hurting my eyes.”

Both girls knew this couldn’t be true, but Rarity nodded anyway.

The TV went dark, leaving them in the pitch black silence. The only thing they could hear was each other’s breathing…they could both feel each other’s body heat as they remained snuggled together on the couch, neither one daring to move.

“W-well,” Fluttershy finally said. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t wish I was him too…”

Rarity searched in the dark for her friend, only knowing where she was now by feeling her breath blowing towards her cheek.

“Um, especially at the end…” the shy girl finished.

Rarity smiled in the dark. “Oh darling, it was you who worked him up to that…I only finished it…”

Fluttershy didn’t respond. Instead, Rarity could heard her friend’s soft breaths…which seemed to be getting closer to her face with every exhale. She could smell the shy girl’s hair now…its soft, floral scent made the fashionista want to take a deep breath through her nose to take in as much of it as she could.

Then she felt a gust of air on her cheek, right next to her nose…followed by the tip of Fluttershy’s nose softly touching her cheekbone just below her left eye. Rarity held her breath, closing her eyes when she realized the proximity of her friend’s lips, which finally made soft contact with her cheek.

Rarity was now very aware that her companion was searching for her lips in the dark…and she suddenly had goose bumps on her neck when she decided to help bring them together by turning her head to the left, feeling Fluttershy’s lips slowly slide across her cheek until they were against her own.

They held still for a moment, with their soft lips in contact.

Fluttershy’s heart almost leapt out of her chest. “I’m kissing Rarity…and…is she kissing me back?” The shy girl’s mind raced as a shiver went up her spine, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up.

The shy girl pushed forward slightly, pressing their mouths more firmly together. She puckered her lips against Rarity’s, then released their mouths from each other, causing a light pop sound to echo around the dark room as their lips separated.

Unexpectedly, but much to Fluttershy’s delight, Rarity came back…pressing her parted lips against the shy girl’s mouth again. Fluttershy’s heart rate started to increase immediately at her friend’s reciprocation. She took a deep breath through her nose as the vanilla scented girl massaged her lips against her own, eventually opening her mouth slightly…to which Fluttershy responded immediately, letting her lips part and feeling the fashionista’s warm breath gust into her mouth.

Fluttershy let her hand slide across Rarity’s lap, feeling the smooth material of her tight pants under her fingertips as she wrapped her hand around the far side of her friend’s thigh, then slid it up over her hip to her waist.

Rarity responded by sliding her dainty hand up the shy girl’s arm to her shoulder, finally ending with her palm on the side of her neck, lacing her fingers through the pink hair behind Fluttershy’s ear. The fashionista’s heart skipped a beat when she felt the tip of her friend’s tongue enter her mouth, slowly reaching in and touching her own tongue. She could taste the sweetness of Fluttershy’s saliva immediately, causing her tongue to reach back in search of more.

Their tongues started sliding around against one another, tickling and teasing, causing Rarity to smirk slightly, breaking the airtight seal at the corner of their mouths, letting a small gust of cool air into their connected mouths.

They finally broke the kiss, looking at each other in the dark, their eyes starting to adapt to the blackness by then.

Rarity could see the dim light from outside picking up the outline of her friend’s pink hair, which was hiding most of her face in shadow, rhythmically blowing out in front of her mouth as she breathed.

Fluttershy could see Rarity’s white face, almost glowing in the dark. Her hair flowed behind her, shining with a purple hue wherever the light danced off of the soft strands. Her blue eyes had tiny pinpoints of light glistening in them as she looked back at the shy girl.

Fluttershy finally pulled her friend in closer by her waist, kissing her lips a few more times before she started planting a line of kisses across Rarity’s soft cheeks. She leaned her head to the side, planting wet kisses on that tender white neck…just as she had thought about doing years ago when they were young teenagers. The vanilla scent was strong when the shy girl’s nose was so close to that purple hair, it intoxicated her as she nibbled on her friend’s ear lobe, earning her a giggle from the posh girl.

“Fluttershy…” Rarity whispered…not really looking for a response. It was more of a check on reality…confirming to herself that this was really happening. They had been friends for so many years...why was this happening now? And why did it feel so...right?

The shy girl continued planting kisses down Rarity’s neck, running her lips across the dainty collar bones under the pale skin. Fluttershy lowered her head more to reach her friend’s chest with her mouth, kissing the exposed skin that was left uncovered by the large neck opening of the tight black shirt.

Rarity could feel the pink hair draping against her bare skin, tickling lightly as she felt each kiss from the soft lips leave a little point of moisture wherever they landed, which would start to cool as soon as Fluttershy’s mouth left that spot. She let her head fall back against the couch back, breathing harder as the excitement heightened when she felt a gust of the shy girl’s breath blow down her shirt into her cleavage, causing goose bumps to pop up all over her skin.

Fluttershy got up onto her knees suddenly, turning to face Rarity. She gripped the fashionista by the hips, pulling her down on the cushion of the lounge so she was laying flat on her back.

“Oh! Darling…” Rarity breathed with surprise.

“Don’t worry…” Fluttershy replied quietly, as she straddled over her friend, putting one of knees in between Rarity’s legs, and the other knee to the left of her. The pink-haired girl then laid down on top of her friend…her taller, more graceful body covering Rarity up and hiding her from the rest of the room.

Their faces were surrounded by a curtain of pink hair, barely visible in the dark as the shy girl connected her lips to the pale beauty’s mouth once again, sharing their moisture, passing it back and forth with their tongues.

Rarity couldn’t believe the size of her friend’s bust once she was laying on top of her. She had never noticed how full and round they were until now, having them pressed down against her own chest. They were soft, but warm as they squeezed against her, pressing up in the tank top, creating very appealing cleavage that Rarity wished she could see more clearly in the dark of the room.

Fluttershy reached down and hiked up her green skirt to expose her leg, then slid her right thigh up, letting it press against the warmth between Rarity’s legs. She could feel the heat of her friend’s arousal on her skin through the purple tights as she slid herself upwards against the petite white body, letting her leg rub firmly against the warm mound.

Rarity couldn’t help but let out a moan when she felt the sudden stimulation, her face had a shocked expression at the sudden thought that Fluttershy, her best friend, was pleasuring her…and it felt wonderful, like the most natural thing that could have happened. It rendered her speechless, just wanting to lay back and take it all in.

Fluttershy was actually starting to wonder if I had been exaggerating about how much Rarity talked during sex, or if it was just because of who her partner was tonight that was keeping the fashionista silent.

The shy girl slid up on the pale beauty again, her elevated position with her thigh pressed between Rarity’s legs along with Fluttershy’s taller height put her face above the top of her friend’s head. This also put her bust level with Rarity’s chin as the pink-haired girl supported herself on her arms above her friend.

Rarity wrapped her arms around the small of Fluttershy’s back as she reached up with her mouth to kiss the shy girl’s cleavage, dangling just above her face, suspended there as the girl on top slid down and back up again, sending another jolt of pleasure from the fashionista’s moistening heat up through her body.

Fluttershy looked down at the pale, but lovely face of her friend, loving the way her purple eyebrows furrowed when she thrusted against her with her bare thigh, listening as her breath hitched every time she felt the wave of pleasure hit her. Fluttershy was starting to feel the dampness through the purple tights now against the skin of her leg, giving her encouragement to accelerate her action, knowing that she was showing Rarity a good time. She reached down with her lips to plant a kiss on the white forehead of her friend, who was now thrusting her hips upward into the shy girl’s leg every time she ground it against her body.

Fluttershy continued the assault on Rarity’s body as it radiated heat from her snowy-white skin, a contradiction of the usual freezing cold connected to the imagery of rolling white hills in the wintertime…all the while the indigo-haired girl thrusted her hips back against the now wet yellow thigh of her best friend. The fashionista’s breathing was reaching very high levels, Fluttershy could feel the hot breaths hitting her chest, blowing down between her breasts as they hung in place above Rarity’s mouth.

“Rarity…” Fluttershy whispered. “Are you OK?”

She could just barely see her white-skinned friend nod her head in the dark. “I’m…” she tried to speak as Fluttershy continued grinding against her. “I’m going to…”

“Shhhh…” Fluttershy shushed her quietly as she closed her eyes and leaned down, smelling the purple, vanilla-scented hair that was fanned all around her.

Rarity could feel the light tickle of Fluttershy’s fragrant pink hair drag across her face as she positioned her mouth at the side of the pale girl’s head. Then she heard the soft, shy voice breathe in her ear.

“Cum for me…”

Rarity’s eyes popped open at the sound of the demand made of her by her friend, and the intensity of her pleasure sky-rocketed with every thrust against the pool of juice between her legs as she pushed back with her hips, staying in synch with Flutterhy’s movements against her.

The orgasm hit Rarity suddenly, like a lightning strike…she used her arms to pull Fluttershy’s body down against hers, holding the shy girl tight as her hips jerked, rubbing her mound against the bare skin of the shy girl’s thigh.

As she came down from the pleasure, she looked up at her friend in the dark. She moved one hand up, grabbing the back of the pink haired girl’s head and pulling her in to kiss her deeply. Fluttershy had to act quickly, using her fingers to brush the hair clear of her face so it didn't get stuck between their lips before Rarity could connect their mouths in her haste.

As they locked their mouths together, swirling their tongues around one another, breathing on each other’s faces through their noses, letting out the occasional moan into the other person’s mouth, Rarity began to slide her dainty white hand under Fluttershy’s body. Fluttershy responded by lifting her rear end up, supporting herself on her knees again.

She could feel Rarity’s hand gently touch her inner thigh, sliding up higher until her fingers grazed the shy girl’s dampened panties.

Rarity cupped her hand over the center of the plain underwear, feeling the intense heat and wetness from her arousal soaking through the material onto her palm. She rubbed her hand against it briefly, before running her fingertips up to the elastic band at the top of the under garments and slipping her fingers inside, sliding them down the hairless mound and plunging her middle finger into the hot, wet slit.

She proceeded to rub circles around the shy girl’s delicate flesh, spreading the slick moisture around as Fluttershy nuzzled her face against the side of Rarity’s head, burying her nose into the sweet-smelling purple locks of hair as she breathed moans of enjoyment into her friend’s ear, each one coming out at a higher pitch than the last.

Rarity decided to take it further, reaching her two middle fingers down and sliding them inside Fluttershy’s wet opening with ease. She hooked her fingers deep into the hot flesh, stroking them in and out, listening to the shy girl’s breathing become broken, pausing between spasms as her orgasm approached quickly.

Fluttershy’s entire body locked up when it hit her. She trembled as Rarity continued to run her fingers in and out, letting her soft, white palm rub against her clit. The shy girl held her breath, keeping her face against the fashionista’s cheek, her face getting hot as the blood rushed to the surface. She held her eyes shut tightly, holding onto Rarity’s other cheek with her hand.

A sudden gust of hot air exploded from Fluttershy’s mouth as her orgasm subsided and she let her tall, slender body collapse onto the petite white frame of her friend below.

Rarity pulled her arm out from under the shy girl’s body, bringing her wet fingers up to her face. Fluttershy grabbed her hand and wrapped her lips around the white middle finger, cleaning the juice off as she slid it out of her mouth. Rarity shuddered at the feel of the warm mouth on her finger, watching as it emerged clean from her friend’s mouth.

Rarity decided to try to surprise her friend by putting her ring finger in her own mouth, tasting the juice of her friend as she licked it off, seeing Fluttershy’s eyes watching her in the dark at the unexpected deviousness of her friend.

Fluttershy leaned in to give Rarity a gentle kiss on her lips, then slid her body down a bit so she could rest her head on the purple-haired girl’s shoulder. She laid there for a moment, still breathing hard, smelling the vanilla fragrance mixed with the smell of their arousal in the air.

“Darling, that was…” Rarity started, then trailed off.

Fluttershy looked up at her, waiting for her to finish.

“Just…well,” Rarity stammered, then paused, followed by clearing her throat. “Thank you, Flut-…darling.”

Fluttershy smiled. “Um, did you like it?”

Rarity nodded. “It was perfect, darling, but…could we leave it there for a bit…if you please?”

“What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked, slightly concerned.

“It’s just a lot…right now. For me.” Rarity replied.

Fluttershy nodded after a short pause. “It’s OK, Rare. We’ll go as slow as you want.” She said. “We have lots of time.”

Both girls laid silently for a minute, listening to each other’s breathing, feeling each other’s warmth.

Fluttershy finally spoke again. “I actually have something else coming up that I have to deal with, too…something I promised.”

Rarity frowned, looking at the ceiling confused. “Something else? What do you mean, darling?”

“Sunset…” Fluttershy said in a dazed tone.

“Sunset Shimmer?” Rarity replied. “What about her?”

“She wants to become immortal…” the shy girl answered.

Rarity’s eyes went wide. “You’re kidding…”

“Nope.” Fluttershy continued. “She surprised me with it, too. She came out here to talk to me about it the day Mr. Cody showed up.”

Rarity laid there, staring at the ceiling in disbelief before she gasped. “That’s why Sunset was here that morning??”

Fluttershy nodded. “Mm-hm.”

After a moment, Rarity spoke again. “So,” she said, “are you going to let her?...you know, have sex with Golds?" Then the fashionista's eyes got wide as she thought of something else. "…Oh wait! Does he know?”

“No, he doesn’t know.” Fluttershy answered. “And yes, I’m going to let her do it with him. She wants to be like us, Rare. I think we should let her.”

“I understand.” Rarity said with a sigh, trying to avoid being territorial of me and Fluttershy.

“I’m not really sure how it will go…hopefully me and Goldie can have some fun with her,” Fluttershy said in a soft daze.

Rarity sighed. ”I’m sure you will, darling.”

*****

It was Saturday morning.

I turned the lock on the bay door and slid it up, coming face-to-face with the dark blue tailgate and chrome rear bumper of my truck. The storage bay had a tinge of diesel fuel smell in it now after housing the truck inside for almost two weeks, making it smell like an old bulldozer had been kept in there instead of a pickup truck.

I got in and set the cardboard box I was carrying with me on the passenger seat, then started the truck up. After a minute of idling to let it warm up, I put it in reverse and backed it out of the storage bay.

I stopped at the side of the laneway out of the storage lot to pull my long-dead cell phone out of my pocket and plug it into the power port in the dash. I set it on the seat beside me as I pulled out onto the road. As I accelerated to speed and set the cruise control, I finally heard my phone chime to life. I glanced down at it, seeing a notification for one single message, sent about three days earlier.

I reached down and tapped it to see what it was.

FLUTTERSHY: Come home to me.

Chapter 32: Homecoming

Chapter 32

I made way home hastily, giving my truck a good workout, maintaining a steady speed of about 145 km/h...weaving in and out of traffic, passing one car after another, listening to the whistle of the big turbo I took from the dump truck as it screamed out from under the hood at me.

It was a couple days drive from Canterlot, but I was determined to get back as quickly as possible. I wondered what must have happened, knowing now that my girlfriend had texted me a few days early. Did Cody get called away? Did the girls take care of him themselves? No, they wouldn’t have done that…

I saw the off ramp coming, I swung over across two lanes to reach it in time, slowing the truck down and taking the curve, eventually coming to a stop at the stop sign. I waited for a break in the traffic so I could make a right turn and continue on my way when I heard something loud behind me.

As I made the turn, I could see a ten year old Mustang appear in my mirror, revving its loud V-8 and following me around the corner. He immediately went to the inside lane and gunned it, trying to pass me.

“Does this idiot think I was racing him back there?” I wondered as I got mildly annoyed by the dickish look the guy gave me through his passenger side window. I kept steady for a second, not wanting to lower myself to his level, but then I thought about all the work I did to this truck…

“Fuck it…” I floored the accelerator and listened as the turbos started their song again, the high-pitched whistle increasing in volume as the car beside me pulled ahead about a car length…then the boost started to hit and I felt the old blue truck lunge forward as the clattery old diesel changed its tone to something that you’d expect to hear in a drag car…roaring loudly, making my teeth rattle in my head. The Mustang quickly lost ground, dipping back behind me, eventually ending up in my rear view mirror with the driver’s middle finger sticking out the window at me.

I couldn’t help but smirk at my handywork. “You shouldn’t do that, dude…you never know who you’re flipping off.” I said out loud to myself, watching my other mirror to make sure I wasn’t blacking out the highway with exhaust smoke…I had spent many months tuning the pump on this truck so it wouldn’t roll coal everywhere like some dumb-ass redneck’s truck.

I continued on, unable to be patient. I was excited to see Fluttershy again…but also a bit nervous about what might have happened. I never did text her back, by this point it had already been three days since she sent it and now I was driving rather aggressively to get home to her…I didn’t want to text while driving like this and end up causing and accident and killing someone, nor did I want to pull over or even slow down…so I just kept on going.

Plus, I liked the idea of just showing up and surprising her.

*****

The Saturday dinner was at Fluttershy’s that weekend, and she was happy to have her house filled with the sound of her friends’ voices again. The only thing missing was her boyfriend…who still hadn’t replied to her text from three days ago.

Rarity had spent the night after coming over Friday when she was done work. They both found comfort laying together in Fluttershy’s bed at night…Rarity especially enjoyed the company during the long nights, having spent much more time by herself than the shy girl since the whole immortality thing started. None of the other girls knew of this latest romantic development yet…Rarity, in fact, had to go home to make herself up and to pick up Dash as usual to bring her out to Fluttershy’s house for the dinner.

The two girls hadn’t engaged in any acts of intimacy since the first time on the couch, nor had they spoken much of it, but they didn’t feel any discomfort around each other since it happened. They exchanged glances every so often, reminding each other of what had they did together…which usually ended with a blush and turning away as they continued on with whatever they were doing at the time.

Dinner was enjoyable. Fluttershy hated to admit it, but it felt just like old times without me there…just the seven of them talking, playing games on the TV and enjoying themselves together as they had always done for the past seven years since high school. They were all proud of Fluttershy for standing up for herself and driving off the spy, and they were all eager to see me return home so things could return to the way they were.

Sunset talked with Fluttershy a little bit at some points, with Rarity watching from a distance, wondering if it was about the red-head’s request to become an immortal like the two of them. It still shocked the fashionista that Sunset had approached the shy girl to ask such a thing, but then again, Sunset did have a characteristic thirst for power…

Rarity shook her head at the thought. “No, Sunset isn’t like that anymore…”

*****

It was Monday night, or technically, Tuesday morning at about 3:30am when I pulled into Fluttershy’s driveway. It was raining heavily, but I still parked farther from the house, past the curve of the driveway so the noise of the truck wouldn’t disturb my girlfriend. I still wanted to surprise her by walking in unannounced.

I had already stopped at my old home to drop off the cardboard box that I was carrying when I picked up the truck from the storage lot, as well as to check that everything was OK there. I got out of the truck and kept my head down as I ran to the front door of her house, turning the knob quietly, slowly opening the door and finally stepping inside.

All the lights were out. “She must be laying in bed…” I thought to myself.

I quietly snuck down the hall to her room, the dim glow from the nightlight in her bathroom barely lit her mound of pink hair on the pillow at the right edge of the bed, where she usually slept. I was curious to see if I was still quiet enough to get right into the bed next to her before she noticed I was even there. I used to be pretty stealthy after spending time in Asia many centuries ago, studying with an ancient group of assassins there who were extremely well-trained in being silent and staying in the shadows, as well as being hyper-aware of what was going on around them, never allowing anyone to get the jump on them…although my skills had dulled after centuries of not practicing the craft, I wanted to see if I still had the knack for it.

I took off my shirt and pants, which had gotten damp from the rain, then went around to the other side of the bed, wearing only a pair of boxer shorts. I lifted the covers silently, sliding in with one foot then the other, slowly shifting over to her in the dark.

I felt myself come up against her sooner than I expected…I thought she was closer to her side of the bed, but I just figured that maybe I had misjudged her position because of the dark. I laid down, spooning against her, wrapping my arm around her waist, then let my head rest on the pillow, nuzzling in close to her neck. I buried my nose in her soft hair, sniffing in her scent…but something seemed off about it...

“Vanilla?”

Then I heard a voice whisper: “It’s me, darling…”

My eyes popped open and I sat up suddenly. “What the he-“

“Shh!” she cut me off quickly, but quietly. She then pointed with her slender white finger at the shy girl laying on the other side of her at the edge of the bed.

I looked, focusing in the dark at my girlfriend. She wasn’t moving, her breathing was slow and rhythmic…

I looked back at Rarity. “Is she asleep??” I whispered.

I could barely see her pale face nodding in the dark.

“Wow…I think that’s the first time, since…you know…” I whispered, shaking my head.

She nodded again. “It is.” She whispered. Then she patted the pillow. “Lay down.”

I hesitated for a second…I hadn’t been expecting Rarity to be here. I was expecting to surprise Fluttershy…not the other way around.

“I don’t bite, darling…” she whispered.

I smiled and laid down next to her as she slowly turned over under the covers to lie facing me in the dark. My eyes were starting to adjust a little more now, I could see Rarity’s beautiful face looking at me…after being out in the woods up north for two weeks, even with all the gorgeous scenery up there, nothing could prepare me for how amazingly pretty the indigo-haired girl was. I missed each and every one of the girls during my absence, but these two I wanted to see the most…so much it almost hurt, or what I imagined hurting would be like if I could feel it. I couldn’t wait to see Fluttershy’s face now…

“She missed you so much…” Rarity whispered.

“I missed her too.” I replied back in a whisper. “I missed all of you…”

She smiled at me. “I missed you too…I didn’t hear about what had happened until dinner that night…I was completely blind-sided by the news of your departure…”

“Sorry.” I whispered. “I wish none of these things had to happen…but it’s part of this life we live.”

She shook her head gently. “Don’t be sorry, darling.”

We looked at each other for a few moments.

“Can I ask what you’re doing in my girlfriend’s bed?” I asked quietly.

Rarity snickered. “I’ve spent a lot of time out here the past few nights with Fluttershy…we keep each other company.”

I nodded. “Um, I’m sorry I spooned you…I was trying to surprise her…”

She giggled quietly. “It’s quite alright. You and I have made love twice, darling. So I don’t think you spooning me is really anything to get excited about.”

I scratched my temple. “That’s true…” I whispered.

Rarity snickered a bit more about it, then her smile slowly faded as she started chewing her lip, looking like she had something on her mind.

I frowned a little. “Is something wrong?”

Her eyes focused on me. After a pause, she answered. “Fluttershy has revealed some…feelings…toward me,” she cringed a little, not knowing how I would react.

I was a little surprised, not by my girlfriend’s feelings about her friend, but by the fact that she actually went through with telling her.

“It’s about time…” I whispered.

Rarity’s eyebrows cocked. “You knew?”

“You didn’t?” I answered. “She talked about you a lot…and she gawked at you all the time when you were around…she was worse than a dude.”

She let a gust of air escape from her nose as she looked down at the sheets. A small half-grin appeared on her lips.

“I told her she should tell you…” I whispered. “I hope it was the right thing to do…like, I hope it didn’t put you off…”

She shook her head. “No no, darling. I’m here aren’t I?”

“I suppose.” I replied, still whispering.

“I appreciate you doing that…” she whispered. “Fluttershy really is a sweetheart.”

“I just figured, you know…” I whispered back. “We’ve got a lot of time ahead of us…might as well put it out there.”

She nodded. “I understand…I just don’t want to get in between you two. You really are wonderful together, you and her.”

Rarity’s words stirred up some emotion in me.

“Well…I’m not so sure that Flutters intends to choose just one of us…” I said quietly.

Rarity’s eyes darted up to meet mine. She looked at me silently for a moment before she finally spoke.

“Well, that certainly is…unorthodox…” she whispered with an awkward smile.

“So are we.” I replied.

She rolled her eyes at my response. “That’s your excuse for everything, darling.”

I smiled at her. I could hear her hand under the blanket, sliding across the sheets towards me. I felt her little fingers find my hand, lacing together with my fingers, then squeezing tightly.

She returned her smile to me as I squeezed her hand back.

“You want to get out of here and have some tea or coffee…And let her sleep?” I offered.

Rarity nodded. “That sounds wonderful, darling. And I have something I can’t wait to show you.”

We moved ourselves out to Fluttershy’s front room and started making the hot beverages.

As the water was coming to a boil, Rarity was looking out the front window into the rainy night. She turned to me suddenly. “How did you not know I was here? My car is right out front.”

“Really?” I said, walking up beside her at the window and looking out. Her car was indeed parked right next to Fluttershy’s. “Huh, so it is…” I said. “Well, it was raining…I kind of ran to the house with my head down. I probably ran right by it.”

She went over to the counter to pour the hot water into her cup, then started swirling the tea bag around, holding it by the string. “Well, I’m glad you didn’t run into the back of my car, darling. I’m not sure I could afford the repair bill.” She said with a soft laugh.

I snickered as I went to the counter to make a coffee.

“I would have fixed it for you.” I chuckled.

She sat at the table, sipping her tea while I stood at the end of the table with a cup of coffee. We listened to the rain for a bit, thinking about the past couple of weeks and the close call that we just had with the CIA agent. It could have been a bad situation if things didn’t go the way they did.

I looked at Rarity, sitting there staring into her cup of tea. The yard light from outside was shining in through the window, which had sheets of rain running down it, casting a projection onto the girl, making it look like the water was running down her face. I noticed at that moment that she wasn’t wearing her make-up again, along with the fact that her hair wasn’t styled. I hadn’t noticed it until now…without her having it in a pony tail, it was less obvious.

She took another sip of her tea as she looked across the table, staring into space.

“Why are you sipping that?” I asked her.

She groaned and rolled her eyes at the question.

“What did I say?” I asked, wondering why she’d reacted so strongly.

Rarity shook her head. “You and your girlfriend are a lot more alike than you think, darling.”

I tilted my head a bit, wondering what she meant.

“I’m not chugging this one…I’d like to enjoy it for once.” She said, following her response up with another sip.

I smiled a bit as I started to realize what had probably happened.

“So what was it that you wanted to show me?” I asked.

She had a mouthful of tea when I asked her the question. She put her finger up, furrowing her brow a bit. “Mm…” she set her cup and saucer down on the table and swallowed her tea. “Sorry,” she started. “I’ve been working on my magic as you requested. Would you like to see it?”

“Here?” I asked. “We should be careful of that…you saw what just happened.”

“Oh pish-posh, darling.” She said, dismissively waving her hand at me. “We’ve all done our magic here many times, and that Cody fellow seems to be long gone. Fluttershy would know if he was still sneaking around here anyway, the animals in the woods would tell her if they saw him. Besides, we’re obviously not going out to Riverfield tonight in this weather.”

I nodded. “OK fine. Let’s see it then.”

She cleared her throat as she got up from the table and walked around to the open area between the table and the far left wall. I stayed where I was, but turned to watch her, folding my arms on my chest.

Her mention of Riverfield had reminded me of their flinching training at our first session out there. I decided to give her a fake-out shot to scare her, just to get the point across that they need to be ready at anytime, not just during a fight.

She began to speak. “You see…” she was saying as I darted at her, snapping my fist out quickly at her face, stopping just before it hit her.

She didn’t move…not so much as a blink. I was completely stunned.

Rarity rolled her eyes at me. “Please pay attention, darling…” she scolded flatly.

I smirked as I slowly sat down in one of the table chairs. “Nice one…” I thought to myself, nodding with approval.

“Anyway,” she continued, ”I tried a few different styles…and I Googled a few different kinds, until I found one I liked, then I tried a few variations of it myself.” She said as she held her hand out.

There was a flash in the air at her eye level. It was a long, narrow source of light…a little over three feet long. I was very bright in the dark room, illuminating everything as if we were outside in the daylight. The light subsided, leaving a long, translucent blue sword hanging horizontally in the air.

Rarity reached up with her dainty little white hand, grasping the handle and plucking the weapon out of the air, holding it out in front of her. She slowly swung it around, showing it off to me. “Isn’t it stunning?” she gushed with pride.

I nodded. “That’s pretty good.“ I said. “How does it feel?”

“Would you like to hold it?” she asked, offering it to me.

“Other people can hold it?” I asked, looking back at her. “What if someone takes it from you?”

She shrugged. “Then I make it vanish and create a new one in my hand, darling. Simple as that.”

“Hm…makes sense.” I replied, reaching out to take the weapon.

I held it in my hand, studying it. It had a very simple, ribbed handle and a small hilt...I assumed the simplicity of it was probably to make it easier for her to conjure it up, not that style was important anyway. The blade was long and straight and it the entire thing looked like it was made of blue-tinted glass. I waved the sword around a bit, being careful not to hit anything in Fluttershy’s house with it. It had been a long time since I used a sword, but I could already see a couple glaring issues with it.

“It’s a little heavy on the far end.” I said, pointing at the tip. “Can you make it with a tapered blade so the weight is closer to the handle? It help you control it better and be able to wield it faster.”

She looked put off that her design went under my scrutiny and failed.

“Other than that, it’s great.” I said, patting her on the shoulder.

Rarity smiled a bit then put her hand out. The sword unexpectedly disappeared from my hand, making my arm raise up a bit with the sudden weight disappearance.

There was another flash. She reached up and plucked the new one out of the air, then handed it to me. The blade on this one was tapered too much.

I looked at her, cringing a little that I had to criticize her again. “This one is too narrow at the far end…I’d be worried about it breaking, plus you’ll lose too much power in your swings.”

She groaned, crossing her arms across her chest.

“Can you make one with a happy medium between this one and the first one?” I asked. “Oh, and make the handle longer so you can hold it with both hands.”

She sighed, then, keeping her arms folded, reached one hand up. The sword in my hand vanished again and there was another bright flash, followed by a third sword floating in the air.

Rarity stood there looking at me, keeping her arms crossed.

I looked back at her, wondering why she wasn’t taking it.

She nodded to me. “Go ahead, darling.”

“Oh. OK.” I said, reaching up and grabbing the weapon by the handle, which was longer now as I asked. The blade had a very slight taper now, and as I swung it around I could feel its balance was perfect. I could tell this was going to work well for her. “Now that’s what I’m talking about...” I said, raising an eyebrow at her.

“You haven’t seen the best part.” Rarity said, turning to the corner of the room and rummaging through the small cupboard in the corner with a bunch of Fluttershy’s old shoes in it. She finally came back with an old yellow croc. “I don’t think Fluttershy wears there anymore…” She came over to me. “Could you hold it out in front of you, please?”

I held the blade out in front of me. “Like this?” I asked.

“If you could just turn it, so the edges are pointed up and down…” she replied.

I turned the blade the way she asked, then she held the rubber shoe horizontally about a foot above the blade.

Rarity looked at me. “Ready?”

I nodded.

“Watch this.” she said as she let go of the shoe. It fell down onto the sword, but passed right through it. I didn’t even feel its weight hit the blade.

I frowned in confusion, wondering what had happened, until the shoe hit the floor and bounced apart in two pieces. My eyes went wide with amazement. “Holy shit! Are you kidding me?”

Rarity giggled excitedly, knocking her fists together in front of her chest as she hopped up and down. “Isn’t it amazing?”

“It is…” I said, running my fingertips gently down the blade. “No one’s gonna fuck with you when you have these around…that’s fuckin sharp.”

“Can I hold it?” she asked.

“Sure.” I said, passing it to her.

She took it and waved it around gracefully. ‘Oh yes, I can feel the difference…you were right, darling. I feel so much nimbler with it now.” She swung it more aggressively, then held it above her head, pointing the tip downwards at an imaginary foe. “You’re right, no one’s gonna mess with me…” she said.

“Nope…” I said, watching her.

She suddenly shook the sword aggressively at her imaginary opponent, her eyes going wide as she gritted her teeth. “DON’T FUCK WITH ME, CUNT!” She shouted in a raspy voice.

I stared at her in disbelief as she slowly turned to me, blushing. “Sorry, darling. I got a little, shall we say…carried away there.”

“Yes…you did.” I said, chuckling at her after her outburst. I couldn’t believe it didn’t wake Fluttershy up. I took a deep breath. “Well…I guess I’d better teach you how to use it, eh?”

Rarity took one more look at the sword for a moment. “I guess that would be the next step, darling. Yes.” she replied. She turned to me, but not before blatantly throwing the sword over the couch towards Fluttershy’s TV.

“Whoa!” I shouted, standing up. I cringed as I watched the sword fly towards the TV, waiting to see it crash through the screen. Instead, there was a sudden flash and the sword disappeared from sight, leaving the TV undamaged.

“Relax, darling. I am in complete control of it.” Rarity said, sitting down at the table and picking up her tea cup.

I looked at her sideways, grinning. “You did that on purpose…”

She giggled as she took a sip of her tea.

We sat for about an hour, drinking our beverages and chatting. I really liked Rarity. Her progress with the training so far was very impressive, she had a very cute personality under that posh façade, she was generous and friendly…and beautiful. Of course, having sex with her a couple times might have made me slightly biased…

It had stopped raining, so I decided to head to my shop to fetch the cardboard box that I had brought home with me.

“I have something for Fluttershy…it’s at my place.” I said to Rarity. “I wanted to make sure everything was OK before I brought it here, so I stopped to leave it there on my way over.”

Rarity nodded.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get you anything…I didn’t expect to find you here…” I said, feeling bad that I’d left her out.

She waved me off. “Oh think nothing of it, dear. You being back is gift enough for me.” She said with a smile.

I felt a flash of warmth in my chest at her sweet words as I smiled back. I went to put my boots on. “I’m gonna go now, while the rain is stopped. I might be a while, I have a few things to do. Don’t tell Fluttershy I was here, I’d still like to surprise her.” I said.

Rarity nodded, closing her eyes. “You have my word.”

I opened the front door to step outside, but Rarity quickly got up from the table and ran over to me. “Wait, darling!”

I turned back to her as she wrapped her arms around me, giving me a tight hug. “Thank you for coming home. We missed you so much.” She went up on her tip toes and planted a small kiss on my lips.

“It’s good to be home.” I said with a smile. “Send me a text when Flutters is awake?”

She nodded, then let me go and I walked out the door to my truck.

After the long drive away from home, and especially the hard drive back, I decided to change the oil in my truck while I was there. After doing that, I had a shower in the little corner stall and put on some of the few clothes that were left behind there.

It was getting light out now. I checked my phone and found a text from Rarity saying that my girlfriend was up, so I grabbed the cardboard box and brought it with me to the truck. I pulled back onto the road and headed back to Fluttershy's place.

I parked close to the road again so she wouldn’t hear the loud engine of my truck as I parked. I took her gift out of the box and got out of the truck, closing the door and walking to the house. I got to the front door, crouched down and slowly turned the knob, being as silent as possible. Once the door was open about half a foot, I reached in, setting her gift down on the floor just inside the house, then I closed the door.

Rarity and Fluttershy were sitting on the couch talking.

“I don’t know, Rarity…” my girlfriend was saying. “It’s Tuesday…we should have heard from him by now. Shouldn’t we be worried?”

“No no, darling. I’m sure he’ll be back soon.” Rarity tried to reassure her.

“I-I know, but –“ Fluttershy stopped talking as she turned to look over the back of the couch towards the door.

“What is it?” Rarity asked, noticing the sudden halt of her friend’s words.

“There’s something in here…” Fluttershy said in a low tone. “I can feel it.” They sat for a second, listening. Then the shy girl turned quickly, looking at the floor at the end of the couch.

Rarity followed her friend’s cue and looked as well. She saw something awkwardly step out around the end of the couch…

It was a kitten.

Rarity found it to be a particularly unusual kitten. It had large paws, long lanky hind legs and a short, stubby tail. It was mostly light brown, with black tips on its tufted ears and it had some extra fur around its jowls.

Fluttershy let out a loud gasp when she saw the kitten. Her eyes were gleaming as she bent down to pick up the animal, falling in love with it instantly. “Oh my goodness! Who’s this?? Where did you come from?” She nuzzled the kitten against her cheek for a moment as Rarity watched, knowing the animal had been my gift to the shy girl.

Fluttershy’s eyes suddenly popped open. She held the kitten in front of her, looking at it in shock. “Who brought you here??” she asked the little animal.

“I did.” She heard my voice say in her ear.

Fluttershy turned suddenly, looking at me with tears forming in her eyes. She gasped, set the kitten in Rarity’s lap then jumped over the back of the couch, wrapping her arms and legs around me, peppering kisses all over my face.

“GOLDIE! You’re back! I missed you so much!” she gushed. She held me tightly, hugging me as tears of joy began to stream down her cheeks.

“Do you like your present?” I asked her.

Her head nodded against my shoulder. “Oh, I love him…I love you!”

I looked at Rarity, who was looking at me with tears welling up in her own eyes. She gave me a small wave, silently mouthing the words ‘thank you’.

I gave her a nod, then carried my girlfriend around the couch with her attached to the front of me like I had her in a baby carrier. Rarity giggled as I sat down with the shy girl still on me.

Fluttershy turned her head so she could see the kitten again, sitting on her friend’s lap.

“He certainly is adorable,” Rarity said. “But he’s an odd looking fellow, isn’t he?”

Fluttershy sniffled a bit, wiping a tear off her cheek before she spoke. “He’s a Lynx, Rare.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow before she looked down again at the kitten, scratching it behind its ears. “Oh my, he is simply precious…” she looked up at me. “Where did you find him?”

“Up north.” I said. “I found his mother dead on the side of the road, hit by a car. It looked like she'd been feeding little ones so I looked around the area. I actually found the den, but a wolf had already made quick work of his siblings. I ran it off, thinking the kittens were all dead, but I found this little guy hiding in the back.”

I could feel Fluttershy’s face smile against my shoulder. “And you brought him home for me?” she asked.

I nodded. “Yeah.”

She tightened her grip on me again. “Thank you so much, Goldie. He’s perfect!”

Once I finally managed to get Fluttershy detached from me, the girls played with the kitten for a bit. Rarity eventually had to go to the boutique for the day, so she left before too long, making sure to give us both a hug on her way out.

Fluttershy reluctantly decided to stay home for the day. She hated missing the animals at her shelter, but she knew the place was in good hands when she wasn’t there, plus she had a new pet at home along with her boyfriend who she had missed so badly over the last couple weeks.

She and I spent the day together, playing with the kitten, introducing it to Angel Bunny and setting up some living arrangements for it, as well as a feeding routine…after all he still was quite young and needed full care until he grew a bit more.

Fluttershy and I spent a large chunk of the day lazily hanging out on the couch, with the TV on, but not paying attention as usual. I noticed she was on her phone a few times throughout the day, but I figured she was just letting the others know I was back. We chatted a lot about what happened with Cody, how she got rid of him, how her friends helped her through it, how she had fallen asleep…which I already knew about, but couldn't help but wonder how she managed to relax herself enough to do it. There was something that did seem off though, like she wanted to tell me something…

She didn’t initiate any sexual activity, which I found surprising, but maybe she just wanted to spend time with me first…although the thing with Rarity may have been a factor as well. In all honesty, I was happy just to be next to her again; feeling her body heat, smelling her scent, and hearing her voice.

We had a nice supper of…well, she made Kraft Dinner, but I didn’t care, everything she cooked was good. As the evening wore on, the sun went down and I started wondering what would come of the night ahead…I was staring to predict some good times in her bed after being apart for two weeks.

We were standing behind the couch at the end of the table. “Sooooo…” I said. “It’s almost bedtime.”

She smiled warmly at me. “It is, but the night is still young," she said with a wink as she wrapped her arms around me.

“What do you wanna do?” I asked, thinking I knew what the answer would be.

“Well…” she bit her lip for a second. “I’d really like to fuck your brains out and take all of your cum…”

“Holy shit…sounds like a plan.” I thought as my heartrate started to increase.

“But…” she said, with a pause.

“But?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“There’s, um…something else we have to do. Something I promised to someone…and I bet you and I might have some fun with it…” she explained softly. "I've kind of been looking forward to it, but I'm also a bit nervous about it..."

I stared at her, wondering what she could possibly be talking about. “And what would this 'something else' be?...”

“Well, you could think of it as a ‘welcome home’ present…I guess.” She said, shrugging her shoulders.

I raised an eyebrow. “Flutters…what did you promise? And to who?”

“One sec...” She took out her phone again and started typing out a text.

FLUTTERSHY: R u ready? SUNSET: Ready as I'll ever be :)

*Chapter 33: Doing Sunset a Favour

Chapter 33

It was about 9:00pm on Tuesday night. I was in the passenger seat of Fluttershy’s little SUV as she drove us into town through the deep, dark woods.

I was rubbing my brow, trying to process what my girlfriend had just told me.

“OK, just so I’m understanding this correctly,” I said, raising my hand as I looked over at her, “we’re going to Sunset’s apartment right now, aaaaaand... you want me to fuck her?”

“Mm-hm.”

“...Because she wants to become immortal; that right?”

“Yup, that’s right.” Fluttershy nodded quite matter-of-factly, watching the road through the windshield. Then she glanced over at me. “Um, well... actually, she wants you to fuck her. But not in a ‘lovey’ kind of way; more like a ‘she wants to live forever’ kind of, um, way.”

“Hm.” I furrowed my brows. “I didn’t know that ‘kind of way’ was a thing.”

“Oh... um, well, I guess it is.”

“Well it’s the first I’ve heard of it.”

She gave me a cute smirk and then took one hand from the wheel to hook her hair behind her ear. Then she brough her attention back to the road.

My eyes darted around the interior for a few seconds more, then I gave a quick shrug. “OK, well... I guess I can handle that,” I said, folding my arms across my chest. It wasn’t something really I needed my arm twisted into doing; Sunset was pretty attractive, after all. She wasn’t as girly as Fluttershy or Rarity, in fact she was actually quite intimidating by comparison, but still had a strong feminine beauty with smooth, olive skin and big, bright turquoise eyes—and that wildfire hair was definitely something to behold.

At last, we arrived at Sunset’s place, parked in the guest lot and entered the front foyer to buzz her suite.

As we waited, the phone’s ringing hummed from the intercom speaker, followed by a click, and then Sunset’s voice.

“Hey,” she said shortly as the inside door clicked, granting us access to the lobby.

Her voice sent a tingle up my spine. This is really happening; what the fuck. This is fuckin nuts, I thought, wondering what it was going to be like. Sunset’s demeanour was quite serious much of the time, and some of the things she said could be considered borderline dick-ish, so it was tough to imagine doing something as intimate having sex with her—plus, her being from another world might also make it something of an... interesting experience. Or maybe not.

I’d been wondering if she was even aroused by humans. Technically, one would think she should still be attracted to her own kind, even though she now existed in a human body. Wouldn’t her mind still be the same? I wasn’t quite sure how that worked; I honestly hadn’t given it much thought until just then.

We took the elevator up to her floor and made our way down that odd-smelling hall—always a prerequisite for any apartment building. Fluttershy stopped at Sunset’s door; I stood behind her. When my girlfriend knocked, I felt a pang of apprehension—and a small bit of shame in myself for the indulgence I was about to partake in, even though it was they who made the proposition to me. Even so, the anticipation built rapidly as I glanced down the hall, anxious about making eye contact with Sunset when she opened the door.

It seemed like an eternity before she answered. My skin became riddled with goosebumps when I heard the locks click one-by-one, followed by the sound of the door opening. I kept my eyes aimed down the hall, unable to face the red-head, even when I tasted her apartment’s inviting scent when it gushed silently into the hall.

Fluttershy spoke first. “Um, hi, Sunset. I didn’t know you still had those pyjamas.”

Eh? Overcome by curiously, I turned to look at Sunset, and my heart leapt when I saw her.

She was wearing faded and worn long-sleeved fuchsia PJs. A tribal sun was printed on the chest, with a red collar circling the neck; the top had slipped to the side a bit, exposing most of her left shoulder. The outfit wasn’t necessarily skintight, but it certainly hugged her form very well, showing off a surprisingly nice figure, to say nothing of the bulbous —and obviously braless— breasts she was sporting, which I was surprised could be hidden so well under that small leather jacket of hers.

Sunset chuckled at Fluttershy. “I didn’t know I still had them either; I just found them again after I moved in. They’re a little tighter in the ass than I remember though,” she said as she adjusted her waistband and stepped aside to let us in.

Fluttershy entered the apartment and then slipped her boots off. I stepped in after her, making brief contact with the turquoise eyes of Sunset as I followed my girlfriend’s lead and slid out of my own boots.

“It’s good to have you back, Golds,” Sunset said, smiling somewhat awkwardly.

“Oh, thanks,” I replied as she shut the door behind me. “It’s good to be back.”

Sunset leaned against the door and faced us, putting her hands behind her back. She chewed the inside of her cheek, like she wasn’t quite sure what to do.

“Um…” I said. “Thanks for being there for Fluttershy… when that asshole was there.”

Sunset locked eyes with me and took a short pause. “Oh... nah, it was nothing,” she said with a shrug, looking down at the floor.

“No, really… you saved our asses,” I insisted. “You have a gift, being able to think on your feet like that.”

Sunset’s cheeks darkened a tiny bit as she looked up at Fluttershy and me, then she smiled bashfully. After a tense few seconds, she gestured into her home. “You guys wanna sit?”

“Um, sure... OK,” Fluttershy replied, taking the suggestion for no reason other than not knowing what else to do.

Sunset’s apartment was pretty small, but it did the job of being a comfortable home for her.

Just past the foyer was a little round dinner table, and past that was the entrance to a small, but efficient-looking kitchen. Around the corner, to our immediate right was the bathroom. The main room, which started where the table sat, wrapped to the right and beyond, making the kitchen a self-contained booth on the left side of the apartment. A dark-coloured couch lived against the wall on the far right, facing the kitchen; there was a TV mounted on that wall, which provided the perfect viewing angle from the couch. If you were to sit on that couch and look to your left, you would see the doorway to Sunset’s bedroom, which was right next to the bathroom.

The place smelled nice, like it had just been cleaned. It was surprising actually; I’d always pictured Sunset as being one of those people who had a messy home—though it was entirely possible she’d just cleaned it in preparation for our visit.

The three of us sat on the couch. Fluttershy and I sat together at the left end, Sunset at the other. We were silent for a minute or two, finding ourselves at a loss for what to say. I had expected that my girlfriend, being the closet deviant that she is, would’ve had some kind of wild plan to get things rolling, but instead, she just looked like her usual shy self.

The whole situation was pretty damn awkward.

After a quiet cough, Sunset reached over her end of the couch, picked an acoustic guitar up from its stand and began to play it. Fluttershy and I listened as she played a shockingly fast riff—a skill that, frankly, I hadn’t expected her to possess. I watched her fingers dance around that fret board, her picking hand a blur as she stared unassumingly at the TV, like what she was doing was as second nature to her as breathing.

I recognized the riff immediately. “Is that ‘Master of Puppets?’” I asked, cocking a brow.

She stopped playing and turned to me with a vacant stare. “Oh… yeah.”

“That’s pretty amazing, Sunset. You were always such a good guitar player,” Fluttershy complimented.

Sunset smiled. “Thanks—although I could never be as good as Rainbow; she uses her magic to play super-fast,” she explained. “You should see it. There’s a reason she always played lead.”

“Hm.” I nodded. “I’m gonna have to get her to show me someday.”

Sunset nodded, raising her eyebrows. “You should.”

We sat for another minute, having let the conversation peter out. Finally, Sunset sighed and put the guitar down. “Alright, look: I’m sorry guys. I’m not really sure what I’m doing here.”

At last, she’d directly addressed the elephant in the room. I sat back and looked at the TV, feeling strangely relieved.

“What made you wanna do it, anyway?” I asked. “Why do you want to be like us?”

Sunset paused, chewing her lip. “Well, like... my mind-reading is great and all, but when shit hits the fan, I’m really not much help to the rest of you guys.”

I nodded, understanding her point; with the absence of physical enhancements, she would never be safe in an actual battle situation. “I see what you’re saying.”

“I’m just... not sure how to break the ice, is all—with... you know, this,” she confessed. “I’ve never really done anything like this before.”

Obviously, my girlfriend was having the same problem. Typically, once the ball was rolling, Fluttershy had an ‘everything goes’ attitude towards sex, but when she wasn’t aroused, she was just her normal demure self. Sunset didn’t even seem like the type who was interested in sex, but I really didn’t know her very well in that way, so I could have been wrong.

Sunset really hadn’t seen much intimacy in recent years. Her ex-boyfriend, Flash, had broken up with her for the second and final time while she was attending her first year of university, away in the big city. He had remained in Canterlot to work, and despite both of them intending to stay together after high school, the long-distance relationship proved to be too much and he finally decided to call it quits. In all honestly, it was a relief at that time, as it allowed her to focus on her studies.

The issue with this was that it left her physical needs unfulfilled, and she hadn’t realised how bad it was until she’d gotten hurt at the hands of that drunkard with the two-by-four, which eventually led to her idea of using me to become immortal so she wouldn’t have to worry about danger anymore. The more she thought about it, however, the more her thoughts shifted onto the act of sex itself, and it had became difficult to remember if the end goal was to become immortal, or to get laid.

But now here she was, with me, Fluttershy, and a means to an end. All she had to do was get it started and she could accomplish both goals at once.

Sunset put on a smile, resolving once and for all to get things moving. “Hey,” she said, “Too bad I don’t have a hot tub, eh? Heh…” she chuckled, reaching across the couch to nudge Fluttershy’s arm.

Fluttershy just blushed and looked down at the floor.

I glanced over at them, chewing the corner of my mouth. Yikes. Well, this is awkward, I thought to myself. Then my thoughts went back to those pyjamas, which she had obviously chosen to show her body off in hopes of getting the juices flowing; perhaps I could bring up how sexy she looked in a roundabout way...

“So, what’s with the PJs?” I asked. “It’s not bedtime, is it?”

She looked down at them. “Oh, I dunno. I thought they might help with… you know. Dudes love these things, apparently.” Her eyes came back to us. “It was probably a dumb idea though; they’re gettin kinda ratty, aren’t they?”

“I think they’re pretty nice, actually,” I disagreed. “What was it you saying about them being tight? Looks to me like they fit pretty good.”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “They’re kinda snug in the ass these days—and the tits, kinda... which isn’t the worst problem in the world, I guess.” She stood and twisted herself to look down at her derrière. “Meh. I guess that’s just part of getting older.” She sighed.

“Oh, Sunset!” Fluttershy waved dismissively. “There’s nothing wrong with you—or your bum.”

Sunset looked at Fluttershy and blushed. “Oh… um, thanks Flutters.”

Fluttershy turned to me. “What do you think, Goldie?”

“Me? Uhh...” I glanced at her and then Sunset, who was now watching me nervously.

“Come on, Sunset…” Fluttershy said. “Let’s see it.”

Sunset rolled her eyes and then turned her back to us. She put her hands on her hips and stuck her rear-end out, swinging her hips to give it a little shake.

It was a nice ass. One of the best asses I’d seen in a long while.

Sunset turned back to face us, laughing at the little display she’d just put on. “I feel like such an idiot doing that!” she chuckled, cheeks flushed.

I was about to smile when I felt a slender hand come to rest on my thigh, squeezing gently. I glanced at the shy girl and quickly noticed the fire stirring in those big, teal eyes; that same spark of arousal I’d seen many times before. Oh shit, here we go… I thought as a bolt of excitement shot through my lower regions.

“Why don’t you two just kiss already?” Fluttershy asked out-of-the-blue, catching the red-head and me off guard. “I’d kinda like to see where this goes.”

Stunned, I turned back to Sunset to see her reaction; unsurprisingly, she froze when she heard the question, but she also didn’t look repelled by it. So, after a deep inhale to boost my confidence, I stood and approached her. “Uh... OK, what do you think?” I asked.

Sunset chewed her lip, her body taking a very guarded stance, but then she nodded nervously. “Uhh… yeah. Gotta start somewhere, I guess,” she replied, her voice wavering slightly.

I looked down at Fluttershy, who smiled and gave me one of those ‘be gentle’ winks.

After making a mental note to send my girlfriend a ‘thank you’ card, I stepped closer to Sunset, who began to raise her arms —presumably to hold onto my shoulders when I approached— but then she stopped and looked at her hands. “Oh shit! Hang on…” She passed me and took off for the bedroom. “I gotta get some protection.”

Fluttershy and I looked at each other, confused.

Moments later, Sunset re-emerged, wearing a pair of thin, black leather gloves. She raised her hands and wiggled her fingers, raising a brow and smirking.

“Ohh…” I suddenly realised what she meant. “I didn’t even think about that.” Her magic had completely slipped my mind; clearly the gloves were to prevent an unintentional brain hemorrhage from touching me—but this raised another question. “Wait, what about the rest of you? Is it going to it bother you if I touch you anywhere else—with anything else?”

She shook her head. “Nope. I can only read minds through my hands. As long as these are on, it shouldn’t be a problem. The rest of me is yours to expl-” she stopped herself before she could finish, clearing her throat nervously.

I nodded. “I uh... I get it.”

Growing impatient, Fluttershy clapped her hands loudly, causing Sunset to jump. “OK, you two! Let’s see some shit.”

Sunset looked at the shy girl in surprise, blindsided by the aggression she showed when aroused.

I snickered and returned my eyes to Sunset. “She has a thing for watching. You kinda get used to it.”

Sunset nodded, smirked, and then drew a deep breath. “Right, so... where were we?” she asked as she stepped closer. She reached out with a pair of gloved hands, placing them cautiously on my shoulders. Our faces were only inches apart now, and her irises were sparkling in that vibrant turquoise as she licked her bottom lip, psyching herself up to lean in.

Finally, she closed her eyes and moved forward, holding her breath. Her trembling lips came against mine, touching soft as a cloud; they were warm and supple, causing my eyes to drift shut as I quickly began to crave a sample of her flavour—but then her scent hit me. The smoke smell was absent this time, but that sweet candy scent was still there. Granted, I was distracted by her soft lips on mine, but I had great difficulty figuring out what it was: root beer? Cola? Licorice? A combination of all three? Whatever it was, it was unusual, but pleasant.

She withdrew and paused, then she kissed me a few more times, keeping her lips pursed, but closed. Her grip on my shoulders tightened as the kisses intensified, her lips driving harder into mine, but still, they remained closed.

Just as I felt my heart rate begin to rise, she backed away completely, our lips making a little smack sound as they separated.

She looked worried. “Sorry… I’m not much of a kisser tonight; I’m just... kinda nervous is all,” she confessed.

Before I could respond, Fluttershy rose and stood next to us. “Well, Sunset… we’re just gonna have to get you to loosen up.”

Sunset blushed. “Uhh... who, you? Or Golds?”

“Probably both, silly,” the shy girl giggled. “That would probably be the most fun, don’t you think?”

Numb, and stuck on autopilot, Sunset turned slowly to face the bedroom doorway. “O... K?” she said, nodding into the room. “Um... so, you guys wanna take this in there?” She couldn’t believe she was asking this, but in some weird way, it felt wrong not to explore the shy girl’s suggestion. Deep down, there was a voice screaming at her to do it; to kiss a pretty girl, to kiss her friend, to kiss Fluttershy. Curiosity overtook her, and she suddenly found herself wondering what that quiet little mouth tasted like.

“I thought you’d never ask,” Fluttershy replied without hesitation, grabbing my hand and pulling me into Sunset’s room, passing Sunset on the way.

The red-head giggled, marveling at how strong-willed her friend became when she was turned on. It was rather cute, she thought—and quite unexpected, but in a way that she found exciting. This might turn out to be a good time after all, she smiled to herself as she followed us into her room.

“You lay down over there, big boy,” Fluttershy ordered, before trying to push me down onto the bed, but instead succeeded only in pushing herself away while I stayed still, like a statue.

Sunset laughed. “You forgot how strong he is, eh Flutters?”

Fluttershy blushed and grinned sheepishly as I climbed onto the bed and laid on the far side. “Sorry, Flutters. I kinda fucked that up,” I admitted, folding my hands behind my head.

“It’s OK,” Fluttershy said quietly as she joined me on the bed. She crawled over me to plant a kiss on my cheek, and then stood upright on her knees to face Sunset. She raised an index finger and coaxed Sunset to join her.

Sunset slid tentatively onto the bed, one knee at a time, keeping a pair of anxious eyes on her friend.

Fluttershy shuffled closer, reaching toward Sunset’s hips to grab and squeeze two fistfuls of those faded PJ’s, and I watched intently as my girlfriend leaned in and pressed her lips against the other girl’s.

Sunset’s eyes were wide for a second or two, but then they slowly drifted shut as Fluttershy proceeded to invade her. I knew exactly what it was like, having been there myself; their jaws moved as their mouths began to open, allowing their breath to pass from one mouth to the other, its warmth sealed inside by their tightly-locked lips.

Sunset found herself unprepared for the shy girl’s advances; it felt like she’d been thrown into some sort of bizarre reality, trapped in a moral freefall by kissing her long-time friend like this, whose boyfriend —a man she hardly knew that well— she was about to connect with in the most intimate and physical way possible. She could smell the fragrance of that silky, pink hair, and she could feel those soft, warm lips against her own. The profoundness of these sensations, along with the anticipation of what she would have inside her before the night was over, caused a warmth to awaken down below, a subtle stir that caused the red-head’s breath to elevate ever so slightly.

A sweet-tasting tongue slipped its way in next, twirling around Sunset’s to cover it in saliva that wasn’t her own, making her draw a sharp breath through her nose in response. Heartbeats elevated, and their arms wrapped around one another to bring their bodies together: bust-to-bust, belly-to belly, mons-to-mons.

Fluttershy’s body heat against hers quickly ignited a fire in Sunset; it started deep between her legs, then it quickly shot upward and spread throughout her body, her skin tingling with goosebumps as it heated up inside those old PJs. She pressed her body against my girlfriend, feeling an enticing tingle in her womanhood as her mound pressed firmly against Fluttershy’s. She kissed back with more vigor, pushing her tongue forward to invade the shy girl’s mouth, earning a soft moan from her.

They exchanged tongues and saliva for what felt like hours, despite never feeling like it would be enough. On the final kiss, however, Sunset bit Fluttershy’s bottom lip and pulled it gently, stretching it away from the shy girl’s teeth. Then Sunset let go, and Fluttershy's lip snapped back into place and returned to its normal shape. The pink-haired girl stared at her, panting heavily, her mouth hanging open in disbelief of what Sunset just did.

“It looks like you’re ready,” Fluttershy said, a devious smirk curling one side of her mouth.

With pursed lips, Sunset faced me, alerting me to the wildness in her eyes as soon as they locked into mine. Her skin was on fire and her nethers tingled; her mind raced, replaying over and over the act that she and Fluttershy had just played out. It felt naughty, wrong, and depraved to kiss her friend like that—and she fucking loved it. It excited her beyond the ability to control herself, and she was ready to take things a step further by indulging herself with someone else’s lover... while they watched.

She lowered herself to her hands and knees and then proceeded to crawl slowly and seductively past Fluttershy to position herself over me, then, without hesitating, lowered her head to kiss me with her soft, wet lips. That coarse, wavy hair of hers brushed my cheeks and neck, and I was granted a small sample of sweet moisture —a mixture of both girls’ saliva— as she slipped her tongue in to flick the tip of mine, her abdomen driving itself against the bulge in my pants, which led her voice to resonate in my mouth as a deep moan slipped from her throat.

I placed my hands on the small of her back, taking in that sweet, candy-like scent of her hair. Her saliva permeated my taste buds while the weight of her body pressed down against me; despite being the same height as Fluttershy, I was quick to notice that Sunset’s frame was much more solid and heavy—and stronger, which became evident when she started grinding herself against me.

I had become hyper-aware of that well-toned body, wrapped in that thin, faded fabric; those PJs were obviously quite old, and had done their duty well: keeping her warm over the years while countless dreams played out in her head. The wear on them was evident under my fingertips as I ran them along her body, her breathing intensifying while her tongue remained planted deep in my mouth, entangled in a tasty dance with mine.

When she withdrew at last, she glared into my eyes with an almost frightening intensity. I could see nothing but her face close to mine, her thick, wavy hair surrounding us, locking us in our own little space—though I never once forgot that Fluttershy was watching from somewhere beyond that wall of fire, no doubt waiting anxiously to see Sunset and me please one another.

Without warning, Sunset sat upright, her weight bearing down on my hips. Long inflated to full mast, my manhood pressed into the soft warmth between her legs, and just as I wondered if she could feel it, Sunset grabbed the collar of my shirt and coaxed me up to a sitting position with her. She clawed frantically at my shirt tail, tore it over my head and threw it away, then she drove her hand into my chest, signalling me to lay back down.

I did, and as I gazed up at her, I studied that form-hugging PJ top of hers. Stretched tight around her bust, it did its very best to keep it from jiggling about when she moved, while at the same time showcasing a pair of erect nipples that poked tantalizingly through that weathered material: delicious little peaks at the center of each of her breasts—which were abruptly mashed together when she leaned on my bare chest with her hands, her mind kept safe by the gloves.

I glanced over at Fluttershy, who was lying next to me, biting her lip and fondling herself while she watched the scene unfold.

Next —and unexpectedly— Sunset shifted backwards, inching herself towards my feet until she was sitting on my shins. Then she started undoing my belt, and a fluttering sensation was quickly drawn from the pit of my stomach when I watched her fingers begin to fiddle with my pants.

Once she was fired-up, Sunset meant business!

Fluttershy reached over to rake her fingertips across my chest as her friend pulled my pants down to my knees, unveiling my throbbing length to the both of them.

“Wow! Are you sure you’re not Equestrian?” Sunset joked, biting her lip as she looked upon it with hungry eyes. “That thing is... mmm. Boy.”

Running her fingers through her hair, Fluttershy giggled softly. “I know, right? Just you wait, Sunset...”

“Wait? Nah...”

Sunset came down suddenly; her hair draped across hips as she leaned on the mattress with her hands, positioning her face above my abdomen. Her wavy, red locks brushed my skin, hiding her face from Fluttershy and me, leaving us little choice but to imagine what she intended to do with me after closing herself into that little space with my erection.

Her head dipped slightly, causing my stomach to flutter when I felt her hot breath waft over my length —which was lying flat and pointed toward my navel— followed by a hot, moist tongue coming into contact with the underside of the shaft. Starting at the base, she dragged her tongue along its entire length, slowly and gently, leaving a trail of saliva that warmed at first, and then chilled when her breath drifted across it. Her hair shifted and teased my skin as she moved, her body tilting forward so her tongue could reach the tip. She paused briefly to let the warmth of her saliva soak into me, then she began to flick away at the underside of the head; her tongue fluttered against the frenulum, which sent a tingle of electricity through my length and up my spine to my brain, which reacted by commanding my eyelids to flutter uncontrollably.

As I drew a breath and enjoyed the sensations dealt by the red-head, I looked at Fluttershy, who was watching me with sly, intense eyes and a seductive smile. She leaned closer to say something, seemingly unaware that Sunset was simultaneously cocking her head so she could wrap her soft lips around my knob.

“Are you having fun yet?” the shy girl whispered, her warm breath hitting my ear as I felt my buzzing, swollen head being scooped up by that hot mouth, soft lips wrapping tight and then sliding down until they popped over the ridge, sealing me inside.

Unable to verbalize an answer, I nodded silently, trying to keep my eyes open as Sunset withdrew slowly. Her lips massaged that throbbing head and sent shivers throughout my body, which were amplified by her tongue as it flicked and poked the sensitive tip. Before long, the slippery presence of pre-ejaculate could be felt being smeared around my head by her tongue, drawing a moan of excitement from Sunset when my flavour quickly soaked her tastebuds.

The next thing I felt was her soft lips sliding down, dropping over the ridge and continuing their way along the shaft, bathing my length in the warmth of her mouth. I glanced down at her, watching those fiery locks piling up on my abdomen as her head descended, swallowing my length until it poked the back of her throat. Her spine arched in response to the inevitable gag reflex, but she held her position, keeping her lips wrapped tightly around the base of my trunk. Her body overrode her intention before too long, however, and a hard cough forced its way out, her cheeks puffing out as a blast of air hit my lap.

This prompted her to withdraw slowly, her tightly-wrapped lips sliding up my shaft until the ridge of my head just touched the insides of her lips. After pausing to caress the tip with her tongue, priming me for what was next by making my head spin with delight, Sunset’s head dropped a second time, her cheeks caving in as she drew a firm suction and withdrew yet again—only to move down once more, repeating the motion over and over.

My mind began to swim as her head bobbed with increased vigor, her hair billowing each time she shoved me into her mouth; lips caressing my length, tongue teasing my sensitive head.

“Oh my,” Fluttershy giggled as she leaned in to kiss me deeply, savouring the taste of my rapid breaths as Sunset continued the oral assault. Her tongue forced its way in to intertwine with my own, placing her hand on my chest while her pink hair gently tickled my cheek and throat, spreading its sweet scent around us.

The intoxicating flavour of Fluttershy’s saliva was distracting, so much so that I barely noticed the gloved hand gripping my length, just below the head. A warm breath hit my lap next, followed by a soft, moist bottom lip pressing against my knob; Sunset’s head began to oscillate, her lips tracing the tip of my length, her mouth wide as she mimicked the application of lipstick, using my manhood as a prop.

The sensation created by her delicious lips circling my head like a hoola-hoop set off a continuous crackle of sensation, causing my toes to curl as the pleasure sounded from my manhood and echoed through my body.

Fluttershy eventually separated her lips from mine, resting her head on my shoulder to watch her friend work, her mind filling in the blanks of what was happening behind that curtain of fiery hair.

Just as the lip massage began to cause my legs to quiver, Sunset closed her mouth around my head to give it a firm suck, her tongue lapping up the gush of pre-ejaculate that was drawn from the tip.

“Mmmmm...” she moaned as she retreated, her lips slipping off the tip with a soft smacking sound, not unlike that of a kiss. She sat upright again, her weight resting on my shins as she locked eyes with Fluttershy, licking her lips with her mouth open for that added sensual flare.

“Goodness, Sunset,” Fluttershy said, placing her fingertips to her cheek. “It doesn’t take you long to loosen up, does it? I didn’t think people from your would did that kind of thing.”

“Eh...” Sunset shrugged nonchalantly, wiping the corners of her mouth with her index finger and thumb. “We don’t, really; the mouth-to-dick size ratio there is... a little extreme.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “Oh!”

Sunset rolled her eyes and smirked. “It’s not as good as it sounds, Flutters. Trust me.”

“Hm.” The shy girl faced me, smiling. “Well you certainly seem well-practiced at it, especially for a girl who said she wasn’t much of a kisser. Right, Goldie?”

I said nothing, exhaling instead through pursed lips, Sunset’s saliva chilling my manhood as I felt a yellow fingertip stroked my cheek.

“Hey: I never said I was a bad dick-sucker,” Sunset replied, leaning down to flick my tip with her tongue once more, causing me to twitch. “But from the sounds of things, you’re probably a lot better at it than me.”

Fluttershy paused, looking down at the bed. “Um, actually… I-I’ve never done that before.”

Sunset paused. Then she raised a hand, eyes closed. “Wait… you’ve never given your boyfriend head?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Mm-mm.”

Sunset glanced at me, looking a bit sheepish, as though she felt she’d overstepped her bounds. After all, she’d just pleasured me with her mouth before my own girlfriend did.

I just shrugged my shoulders.

“It’s fine, Sunset,” Fluttershy said quietly. “I’ve just never tried it, mostly because I really just like to… um, fuck.”

I nodded at Sunset. “She really likes to fuck. It’s true.”

Sunset paused for a moment, brows furrowed. Then, after ruminating quietly to herself, her eyes narrowed and she raised her finger to coax Fluttershy closer. “You know what? I think tonight’s the night, Flutters,” she said with a devious smirk.

Fluttershy glanced at me, her deceptively innocent eyes full of nervousness, but also intrigue, surely wondering what it would be like, and what Sunset and I would think if she did it. “Um, what do you think, Goldie? Would you like it if I... um, i-if I-”

“That’s pretty much a no-brainer for me, but It’s totally up to you if wanna do it,” I replied, hoping like hell that she would.

Indecisive, Fluttershy paused and chewed her lip. Finally, a smile appeared on her lips, which she kissed me on the cheek with before sliding down the bed to settle in next to the red-head.

Sunset leaned forward and rolled onto her side to give the shy girl room, lying with her breasts squashed against my hip as Fluttershy positioned herself opposite her. She licked her lips and leaned over me, blocking my view with her noticeably softer hair draped across my abdomen. Her warm, delicate hand grasped my length by the base, and I felt her soft lips come into contact with the underside of the head for a gentle kiss.

A second one followed, landing farther down, then another yet as she made her way down my shaft, dotting it with sweet kisses until she met her hand, which she then used to stand my erection up, pointing it toward the ceiling.

Propping herself on her elbows to match its height, Fluttershy craned her neck to wrap her lips just around the tip to give a delicate little suck. She closed her eyes and furrowed her brows, letting the flavour of my juices flood her tongue.

“Mmm...” she cooed as her mouth slid away from the tip, sending a shiver up my spine.

After a quick lick of her lips, Fluttershy opened her mouth —wider this time— as she leaned over me again.

I was unable to see what was going on past that soft curtain of pink, but I could certainly feel it when the lovely Fluttershy’s lips sealed themselves around my shaft, roughly and inch past the ridge; her hot tongue pressed firmly against the head, deep inside her mouth.

Sunset obviously had a clear view from her position; her eyes widened as she watched her friend’s lips wrap around that hard shaft and then slide up and down its ample length, re-wetting it with her saliva after already being soaked in Sunset’s.

She bit her lip, feeling her nethers buzz with hunger as she drank in the sight of Fluttershy, whose brow was furrowed, her lips wrapped around that swollen head, her tongue thrashing around it, poking her cheeks from the inside as it teased, which Sunset could plainly see.

The red-head cocked a brow and looked up at me when she heard my breathing intensify. “Looks like she’s doing pretty good, eh?”

I nodded and gave a thumbs-up, not really wanting to speak right then. Forming words took too much brain power.

Next, I felt Fluttershy’s lips skip over the ridge and leave the tip, only to find themselves sliding up and down one side of my mast, followed by her hot breath as she opened her mouth to use her tongue, painting a sloppy, wet streak along the length of it.

This method left the opposite side of my erection exposed, and, unable to resist the opportunity, Sunset quickly leaned in, her lips pursed as she pressed them against the vacant side of my manhood, stroking it with a warm, wet kiss. It wasn’t long before her nose brushed the tip of Fluttershy’s, alerting her to Sunset’s participation, to which she —without stopping what she was doing— let out a playful, but sultry giggle.

Again, my view was obscured by a sea of red, yellow and light pink that swayed in and out of unison. Their hot, sloppy mouths, however, running all over my rock-hard length, were as vivid as can be.

I laced my hands together and placed them on top of my head, staring incredulously at the ceiling. Holy shit, it’s good to be home, I thought, my inner-self swimming in a sea of bliss as both sets of supple, wet lips massaged my tingling head, flanked by a pair of soft breasts that pressed against each of my hips, their warmth soaking through their clothes and into me.

Their movements gradually became more vigorous and passionate; air hissed into and out of their nostrils as their breathing elevated in tandem with their excitement, their mouths slipping wildly over my manhood, lapping at it with their tongues and hot breaths, making my eyelids flutter with endless delight. Occasionally, a tongue would snake around to the far side and graze another —or tickle a lip— and the recipient would return the favour by reaching back to give the other girl’s tongue a flick. This game of tag, of which I was caught in the middle, eventually transitioned into another make-out session between Fluttershy and Sunset, their lips wet and slick with pre-ejaculate, which was all but pouring out of me by that point.

Paying attention more to each other now than me, they rose slowly and left the tip my erection, their mouths locked in a sloppy, unbroken kiss that tasted of male arousal. Upright and kneeling on opposite sides of me, the girls remained joined at the mouths, making wet noises and soft moans as they wrapped each other in their arms, pressing their ample breasts together.

Fluttershy let her hands creep down Sunsets back, eventually finding the top of Sunset’s pajama pants, where she hooked her slender, yellow thumbs over the elastic and began to shimmy them down, panties and all.

Even as I craved the feel of their wet mouths on me again, I was entranced by the sight of my girlfriend slowly and teasingly working those faded pyjamas down to uncover the profile of a derrière that was round, luscious and smooth, yet impressively firm-looking. This wasn’t an ass I’d ever expected to see bare—though I certainly had no aversion to the idea— but now that it was being exposed to me by my wonderful lover, I was glad to see that Sunset’s figure was not one to disappoint.

The red-head helped when the pants reached her knees by lifting one leg at a time, allowing the shy girl to yank them off and toss them aside.

Fluttershy’s hands came up, poised to cup themselves over Sunset’s breasts as she closed in for another kiss, but, rather unexpectedly, the red-head suddenly grabbed the shy girl by the wrists and held her from coming any closer.

Surprised, Fluttershy’s eyes popped open to find Sunset glaring back at her.

“Do you know why I bullied you... back in high school?” Sunset asked sharply.

I furrowed my brow when I heard the question. Where was this coming from?

Fluttershy’s tiny pupils darted around frantically.”Um, n-n-no… why?” she squeaked.

Seeing this, it was plainly obvious that Sunset was able to bully the shy girl quite easily back then; Fluttershy was easy to intimidate and Sunset clearly knew how to put pressure on her… but why right now, of all times?

Sunset leaned in, nearly touching noses with Fluttershy to give her answer. “Because you were so fucking perfect,” she said with added emphasis on that last word.

Fluttershy held her breath, unsure of what to do.

Then, out of nowhere, Sunset forced the shy girl onto her back next to me, pinning her down by the wrists. She quickly straddled Fluttershy and leaned down to bring their faces close, her bare ass sticking shamelessly into the air. Wavy, red locks hung down and tickled that innocent face, surrounding it.

I was rather perturbed by the scene. What was Sunset doing? What was this all about? What if she did or said something she couldn’t take back? I didn’t know what to think.

What had come over her?

I started to sit up to intervene, but Fluttershy was quick to lock eyes through Sunset’s hair with me, shaking her head for me to stop. Then she tipped her head toward my spot on the bed, signalling me to lie down.

Sunset, meanwhile, continued the nasty tirade. “You. Every guy at CHS wanted you… but you were too sweet and shy and DUMB to do anything about it.”

Despite being stunned by this language, I obeyed the shy girl’s wish and watched reluctantly.

“You and your fucking perfect little body,” Sunset chided. “Your pretty little face; prettier than all the other girls who had to spend hours doing their make-up, and you just walked around like it was nothing. NOTHING!”

“I… I’m sorry, Sunset,” Fluttershy pleaded. “I didn’t mean to…”

Sunset’s voice sharpened even more. “But I knew you were weak… I knew I could keep you down at the bottom, where you belonged.”

“Ohh-h-h...” Fluttershy quivered.

“But I failed. And now…” Sunset continued. “You’re still fucking perfect, and so fucking gorgeous…”

I held my breath as I watched, ready to act if the red-head took things too far.

“A-are you going to bully me again, Sunset?” Fluttershy asked timidly.

“No,” Sunset said flatly. “I already tried that,” she turned suddenly and pointed directly at my face. “I think I’ll bully him instead.”

I stared at the finger that hovered just in front of my nose, eyes crossed. “What the...?” I whispered out loud.

Fluttershy cracked a little smile when she saw this, but was startled by Sunset’s hand when it grabbed her chin and forced her to face her aggressor.

“You think this is funny?” Sunset asked harshly.

Fluttershy shook her head, eyes wide.

“Good,” Sunset barked, after which she leaned down and planted her lips against the shy girl’s, their faces hidden as red and yellow locks draped over the bed, weaved with Fluttershy’s soft, pink hair, which had fanned out across the pillow.

After a moment of rather aggressive lip-lock, Sunset suddenly went upright once again to straddle the shy girl. I quickly seized the opportunity to drop my eyes below that pyjama shirt to observe her womanhood; just under the hem was a smooth, bare mound, coloured in the same bold, amber tone that graced the rest of her. Past that was a pair of soft, clean-shaven lips, divided slightly by her parted thighs, which allowed a fleshy hood peek out from between, its hue slightly pinker than the labia that framed it.

A surge of excitement coursed through my nether regions when I noticed the moisture glistening on it, and my eyes began to ascend that body of hers, anxious to see more. My sights crept up that faded shirt, stopping briefly at her breasts, marveling at how they stretched that worn material, her stiff nipples nearly cutting through it. Higher I went, studying her collarbones, then her stern, tight lips...

I froze suddenly when I reached her eyes, realising she was glaring intensely at me.

She pointed her finger again. “You and me… now.”

Oh shit...

My eyes widened as Sunset leaned toward me and swung her leg over Fluttershy, dropping to her hands to crawl over top of me. The warm skin of her abdomen landed on mine, her bare mound pressed against my erection, which laid with its tip aimed at my navel. Her weight squeezed a gush of pre-ejaculate from me, and its smoothness was quickly smeared between our bellies when her tall figure rose into position.

Heavy breasts rested on my collarbones, radiating their warmth through that worn shirt. She stared at the headboard above me, tongue protruding from between her lips as she wiggled her hips around, searching for my length.

It wasn’t long before Sunset found it, and she pressed downward; her soft labia rubbed my shaft, smearing it with the warm moisture from her slit before rising once again. She curled her hips downward this time, looking to find the tip of my manhood with her entrance.

As she pressed backward, I felt the warm pressure of her flesh come against my head. She swayed her hips, hoping to persuade me to slip between those slick folds; she’d missed, however, and my tip had become hung-up on the dry outer rim of her lip where her crotch met her thigh.

Undeterred, Sunset bit her lip and rose a third time. After resetting her position and aiming her hips down once again, she moved back and caught me dead-center between her lips, slathering me with her warm juices. Her belly came down against me and she pushed back, arching her rear-end upward as she went; my length quickly slipped to the rear of her slit, and my tip caught in the entrance to those warm depths, causing her to stop suddenly when she felt it poke into her.

Sunset looked down at me, her eyes giving away the mild apprehension she felt over what we were about to do together —even through the little act she was putting on— and she and I shared a fleeting moment, gazing at one another as we gathered our nerves.

After a short hesitation, she snapped out of it and appeared to steel herself by biting her lip and gently pressing her hips down, letting my manhood slowly and effortlessly slip into her tight, hot interior. Her flesh felt exquisite, pleasant; its soft, rippled texture slowly made its way down my length, her body swallowing me whole, warming me with her intense heat as I watched her eyes close, her lips parted to let a soft breath escape against my face.

By the time the red-head’s mound made contact with my lap, nearly every inch of me had been stuffed inside her, stretching her, filling her with that excitingly rigid girth.

Her eyes reopened, but she kept them narrowed as she brought her face closer to resume the role, a sly smirk finding one side of her mouth. “Ooooooh…” she moaned. “How does that pussy feel?”

I simply closed my eyes and exhaled, nodding.

After opening them again, I found her looking over at the far side of the bed, tipping her head toward the shy girl. “Is it better than hers?” she asked.

I glanced over at Fluttershy, only to find her looking back at me with that teal innocence, no doubt wondering how I was going to answer. This was a trick question, one that required a delicate answer: regardless of whether I answered yes or no, one of them was going to end up with some hurtful news.

My eyes returned to Sunset. “I, uh… to be honest…” I paused to think of a way to skirt around a direct answer—which was difficult, being distracted by the feel of her hot flesh wrapped so firmly around my erection. “I don’t think I’ve ever found one I didn’t like.”

Sunset raised a brow. “Wuss,” she replied, making me furrow my brow at her. “Fine, don’t answer me. You just lay there and let me fuck you like a little bitch, and we’ll see who’s got the best pussy.” She brought her face closer to mine. “And don’t even think about trying any fancy moves without my permission. Got it?”

I just shook my head and shrugged. “If you say so.”

“Good.” Sunset bit her lip and peered over her shoulder to focus on her hips, which promptly arched upwards, her flesh stroking my length when the motion caused me to withdraw slightly. Several exploratory thrusts established a slow, but steady rhythm, feeding us our first serving of pleasure as her hips rocked sensually, yet gracefully, our sex grinding together amongst a layer of our combined fluids.

Quiet whimpers began to emanate from her throat and her breathing intensified gradually, as did her motions; before long it wasn’t just her hips, but her entire body that moved above me, that wavy, red hair brushing my skin as her soft, hefty breasts dragged up and down my chest, our skin separated only by her shirt.

Her mouth widened and her eyes began to squeeze shut, brows furrowed as her thrusts gained yet more speed and power, her tight depths massaging my manhood with breathtaking vigor, intoxicating us both, letting our inhibitions melt away as we and our bodies grew more comfortable with one another.

It wasn’t long before I could feel her muscles stiffen, her thrusts rigid. Her face became strained and red, her expression intense as her breath suddenly caught in her throat. She rode further yet, coaxing that pressure to the surface until at last a loud cry burst forth; her interior clenched and began to pulse as her first orgasm released itself upon me, along with a noticeable increase in moisture that quickly soaked my shaft, right down to the base.

Sunset’s body trembled as she forced herself to continue, but quickly found that she was unable to withstand the intensity. Eyelids fluttering, she eventually gave in and let her body go limp on top of mine, she back heaving as she panted with exhaustion, her heartbeat hammering my chest.

“Shit…” she huffed against my neck, her body heat noticeably higher.

I brought my hands up and placed them on the small of her back while I enjoyed the break, reflecting on how wonderful it was to be ridden by a woman like Sunset. I had to admit, when I came home that day, this was the last thing I expected to happen. Naturally, I had presumed the first girl I’d find myself inside would be Fluttershy, not Sunset Shimmer.

But who was I to complain?

My thoughts were cut short when the shy girl’s soft voice drifted over from the other side of the bed.

“Oh dear, Sunset, you seem to be having a hard time,” she said facetiously. “Maybe you’re a bit out of practice when it comes to bullying?”

Sunset’s breathing stopped for a second, then she raised her head to glare at Fluttershy. Clearly, the shy girl was playing along with Sunset’s act; she’d obviously been enjoying the show, and the little jab she’d just delivered was a veiled attempt at getting Sunset to continue.

After taking a moment to process her friend’s gall, Sunset tightened her lips and scowled. “You better be quiet if you know what’s good for you,” she threatened, before rising up to prop herself over me. Without warning, she slapped a gloved hand over my chin, cupping it firmly. “And who the FUCK gave you permission to make me cum? Huh!?”

“I wasn’t even doing anything!” I protested, speaking through lips that were scrunched up by her grip.

Sunset turned away suddenly, snorting softly. Apparently, my reaction amused her enough to cause her to break character, and she had to face the other way to hide it.

After a quick respite, she returned her attention to me with intensity in her eyes. “I told you: you don’t do anything without my permission! Which fucking part of that did you not understand?”

I shook my head, restricted by her hold.

“You’re the only one who’s supposed to be getting off here. Understand?” she ordered. “And you don’t get to do it until I fucking tell you!”

I nodded quickly, saying nothing, after which she released me and leaned on the mattress, swirling her hips around in a circle. The motion gave away the obscene amount of moisture that had soaked our laps, making her look down between us to study her bare mound, pressed firmly against my abdomen.

She raised her hips slightly, making part of my shaft visible as it cut through the center of the space between our crotches. Propped up on her arms, she was now roughly halfway to an upright position; my hands remained on her waist, feeling her heat through that faded pajama shirt as her body began to slither once again. She rode firmly, making sure I was planted deep and secure in her tight heat as she ground her slit against me, which caused her breathing to rise quickly.

Her temperature rose as well, her body trembling slightly as it gyrated and slithered, creating a wet schlop each time her flesh stroked my stiff length, each time her soaked slit kissed my lap. As her speed increased, so did her vigor, displaying strength that was noticeably higher than Fluttershy’s —to say nothing of the weight of her muscular frame— and it wasn’t long before I noticed a glistening upon her brow, which in turn drew my attention to the moisture growing under my hands, dampening her shirt.

She huffed noisily and closed her eyes, moaning softly as she rode. As her moisture smeared farther across my abdomen, I held onto her waist to enjoy the feel of her movements, to swim in the sea of bliss she’d cast me into; it wasn’t long before some of her hair had become darkened and stuck to her temples, large beads of sweat looming on her forehead.

Sunset was working hard and clearly enjoying herself—the look on her face and the way her body quivered each time her hips forced me back into her slick depths made this very clear. Eventually, however, discomfort got the better of her and she paused for a brief second, panting through the messy hair that hung around her face.

“Fuck, it’s hot in here,” she huffed as she sat upright and hooked her fingers under the hem of her shirt. I watched intently, feeling the smooth, warm faces of her inner thighs as they rested on my hips, the weight of her backside on my legs, my erection projecting straight up into those hot depths of hers as she peeled the pyjama shirt upward without reservation.

The material caught her breasts as it went, lifting them and exposing their undersides first before slipping past, letting them drop free. They bounced on her chest, jiggling hypnotically as she tore the shirt over her head and then tossed it aside. Sunset had a lovely pair of breasts; just a touch smaller than Fluttershy’s, but matching that beautiful, bulbous shape. Her more imposing frame gave the illusion that they were smaller than they actually were, though it was easy to see that they were a good amount bigger than Rarity’s.

She reached up and gave them a quick squeeze with her gloved hands before coming forward to continue riding, leaning on my shoulders to steady herself. I watched that hefty bust sway along with her movements, her nipples hardening as the cool air soaked them; they were beautiful, like little candies, with slightly smaller areolas than the shy girl’s, but a shade darker to match Sunset’s complexion.

Refreshed by shedding that final layer, Sunset intensified her movements. Her slit ground against me, her interior causing a surge of warm pleasure to radiate from my throbbing head each time it was stroked by that soft, slick flesh. There was certainly no mincing around with this woman; she was on a mission to get me off, and it seemed that no amount of sweat or self-induced orgasms would stop her.

Speaking of which, not long after a visible patch of moisture materialized on her chest, Sunset began to tighten a second time. Her hands left my chest and she sat upright, combing her fingers into her hair to pull on it as she gyrated her hips vigorously, trying in vain to put me ahead of her in the race to ecstasy.

It was not to be, however; with eyelids squeezed tight, Sunset cocked her head and opened her mouth to release a loud moan, her body twitching rather than swaying as her interior tightened and throbbed, delivering a payload of bliss throughout her body.

“HAAAAHHHH!” she wailed, panting sharply. Finally giving in, she reclined and reached back to place her hands on my knees to support herself. Her head fell back and she huffed into the air, eyes closed.

An aftershock from the climax struck her unexpectedly, causing her breath to hitch when her body jerked in my lap, her breasts bouncing as a whimper slipped from her throat in response.

“Holy sh-sh…” he huffed, licking her lips as she looked down at Fluttershy. “Is this… is this normal? Are human pussies supposed to do this!?”

The shy girl smirked. “They do with Goldie.”

Sunset glanced at me for a second, then, after a loud exhale, she closed her eyes and shook her head before trying to wipe away the wet strands of hair that were stuck to her temples.

I studied her closely, noticing the tips of those wavy locks, wetted by perspiration as I let my eyes drop past her glistening breasts, down to her navel and beyond. With Sunset leaned back, this was my first chance to have a good look at her womanhood: between her thighs I could see only the first few inches of my glistening length, the rest of it hidden between those parted lips; her fleshy, pink hood projected down from the top of her crease, sheathing my length before splitting into a pair of soft wings that wrapped around my shaft like a warm cloak.

It was a lovely sight, and I could have stared at it for hours, but it was unfortunately cut short when she came forward and leaned on the center of my chest with one hand, jabbing a finger in my face with the other.

“You! What part of this are you not getting?” she chided. “You’re supposed to be the one getting off here, not me. That’s TWICE you’ve broken the rules; now quit being so stubborn and cum already!”

“Uh…” I glanced briefly at the shy girl as Sunset sat upright again. “I’m not trying to-“

“Shut-up!” she ordered as her hips began to sway once again, her thighs and backside slipping across my lap, lubricated by a layer of sweat and arousal. Again, the red-head took another run at me, riding hard and fast, her nipples hardening as the sweat cooled them, her hot interior pleasuring me with every thrust. Her body shined under the bedroom light as she fucked wildly, her skin covered in beads of moisture, called to the surface by the heat she was generating.

Sunset was giving it her all, hoping to gain control, to gain the upper hand by using her soft, tight flesh to get me off—which was working well, I might add; by that point I knew, I could feel myself venturing late into my plateau.

Not late enough, though. Sunset’s body was greedy and it soon claimed yet another climax, quivering and gushing all over my erection, which interrupted her rhythm and caused her to topple forward in a panting, twitching heap, her slippery skin pressed against me, breasts and all.

An open hand slapped the pillow next to my head, followed by a growl of frustration from the exhausted red-head. “Fuck! What is your deal!?” she panted, her face hovering over mine, damp locks grazing my face. “How can you-… fuck!” She turned to Fluttershy next, waving her over with an index finger. “Hey! Little help?”

The shy girl had been quietly enjoying the show from the sidelines, her hand cupped firmly over her mound through that green skirt of hers, massaging herself as she watched her friend’s efforts to make her boyfriend cum backfire again and again.

When she heard her name, she stopped what she was doing and focused her attention on the weary, turquoise eyes that she found locked on her. “Hm?” she asked innocently, pupils shrinking.

“You…“ Sunset huffed, “have a turn… need a break.” She rolled off and flopped down beside me, facing the ceiling as she tried in vain to fix her hair. “Not going... way I thought.”

Brows furrowed, Fluttershy leaned up on her elbow. ”What d’you mean?”

Sunset shook her head, keeping her eyes closed. “Had plan… not working… cumming too good…”

“Oh dear. You need me to get him close for you?” Fluttershy asked sweetly.

Sunset nodded. “Yeah… let’s see what you got.”

With a smirk, I looked over at my girlfriend, whose cheeks had darkened at the prospect of having sex in front of her friend. The arousal she’d built from watching Sunset and I outweighed her inhibition, however, and she quickly reached under her skirt and fiddled around in search of her panties. She slipped them down over those long, yellow legs, bringing her knees to her chest so she could slip the underwear over her feet—which would have been quite a sight if someone had been standing at the foot of the bed.

Fluttershy rolled towards me next, tossing her hair over her shoulder before slipping one knee across me, her cheeks rosy as a demure smile grew on her lips. “Um… hi.”

“Hey, Flutters,” I replied as she settled on top of me, using one hand to keep her skirt from getting between in the way.

“Oh nothing,” she said innocently, before glancing at her friend and then cupping one hand beside her mouth to whisper: “I think big bad Sunset needs some help.”

“I heard that,” came a stern voice from my left.

I chuckled and reached up to kiss the shy girl, tasting her saliva when her tongue surged into my mouth with surprising aggression, a light swath of soft, pink hair slipping down to graze my cheek. She broke the kiss with a noisy, wet smack, exhaling a warm breath against my face.

“Why don’t we show her what you’re made of then?” I asked, looking into those big teal eyes.

“That’s the plan,” she replied as she lifted her hips and slipped one hand under her skirt, the shift in position causing her soft, full bust to press against my chest through that white tank top. She found my erection with her middle fingertip and lifted it, holding it in place as she lowered herself against it.

My eyes remained locked with hers when I felt her warm, slick folds kiss the tip of my length, creating a wave of comforting pleasure when she traced the length of her crease with my head, spreading her moisture onto it to mix it with the juices left behind by Sunset.

Ready to indulge herself, Fluttershy pushed back gently, letting me slip into her hot depths. She was hotter than Hades inside, her moisture thick, smooth and fresh; an orgasm or two would change that in a hurry, but for now, her depths were unmolested and had been for two excruciating weeks. Thrilled by my presence, they welcomed me inside with a firm hug and a dose of warm sensation as her tight, delicate heat slid right down to the base of my mast, swallowing me whole.

A soft moan escaped her lips and she leaned in for another kiss, sending her tongue into my mouth as a row of slippery fingertips came up to stroke my cheek. She began to move, slowly at first, grinding her mound against my abdomen; gusts of her breath entered my mouth between kisses, the intoxicating scent of her hair filling my nostrils while her interior worked its magic on my manhood, filling my mind with eye-fluttering bliss that started from the growing sensitivity in my head and radiating outwards.

Returning her kisses, I slid my hands under her skirt to hold her backside. I squeezed those smooth, round cheeks as they gyrated in perfect rhythm, feeling the warmth of her fluids as they began to spread across my lap, mixing with Sunset’s.

It wasn’t long before she sat upright, letting her weight press my erection further into her; the difference in mass between Fluttershy and Sunset was surprising, as was the shy girl’s inexplicable ability to generate mind-numbing pleasure while doing so in a much gentler and more graceful fashion.

No longer able to reach her derrière, I ran my hands down her smooth thighs and then withdrew them from her skirt to run them up the waist of that thin, white top. I cupped her breasts through her shirt and bra, marveling at their soft weight; I squeezed them firmly, enjoying the cleavage created when they pushed up and out of her top: full and firm, coloured in that lovely shade of butter, making me want to run my lips along that delicious crease between them—if only I could reach it.

Fluttershy’s frame leaned against my hands for leverage, allowing her to grind her clit firmly against my lap, her slowly tightening depths sliding along my length, threatening at last to open the door to that satisfying conclusion.

Her flesh was overcome with excitement as well, and just as I felt that final tingle begin to grow, Fluttershy’s interior clenched tightly. Her body stiffened, interrupting the graceful swaying that made her soft, beautiful hair swing around her face and shoulders; her eyes slammed shut and her hips quivered, followed by a quiet squip from beneath her skirt, and then a hot gush that doused my lap and flowed down between my legs, soaking the bedspread below.

“Ahhhhh...” Fluttershy gasped, her eyes popping open as she leaned my chest with her hands and giggled breathlessly. “Goodness me, did you feel that? I squirted!”

I nodded, drawing a deep breath as I felt her soaking depths pulse around my erection, tingling with glee in the aftermath of climax. “Yeah, I felt that,” I replied, reaching up to hook my hand around the back of her neck to pull her down into a kiss.

She responded with passion, pressing her lips hard against mine. Her tongue entered with authority, licking everything inside my mouth before fluttering its tip against mine and then swirling it around in a loop, spreading her saliva throughout. She broke the kiss suddenly and pressed her forehead against mine, locking eyes with me. “Ohh... mmmm, it felt SO good! I missed you so much, Goldie; please… promise you’ll never leave me like that again!”

Her body resumed fucking while she spoke, more vigorous this time, her movements creating a sloppy racket as her hips reciprocated, taking my length into her soaked depths again and again. She gazed into my eyes as her face hovered above mine, her hot breath warming the air that’d been trapped inside the encircling veil of pink, fragrant hair.

By now, it was obvious to both me and the shy girl that we should have made love on our own as soon as I’d returned home, rather than giving the first session to Sunset. Neither of us realised how much we’d missed each other and how bad a physical reconnection was needed; it was wonderful being inside this lovely girl once again, and shocking how powerful she could be without actually being physically imposing.

The quiet moans emanating from her throat were like music to my ears, and the sensation of her tight, slick interior warming and massaging my erection caused every nerve ending to dance with delight, filling my mind with intoxicating bliss as that tall, slender body ground against me through those thin clothes. I had, in the meantime, slipped my hands inside her tank top to rub the small of her back while the pressure began to build deep inside, accompanied by a rising sensation in my manhood. Soon, I would release my load into this beauty for the first time to two weeks; the anticipation took hold of me and I bit my lip as I watched her face, waiting to see her expression when she felt that hot blast fill her from the opposite end.

That is, until my peripheries caught a glimpse of something moving beyond that pink wall, visible through a small gap between the shy girl’s locks.

It was Sunset’s arm, coming up to wipe her forehead. In my indulgence, I had forgotten the red-head was even there, and I turned slightly to peer through Fluttershy’s hair to see what she was doing.

She laid there motionless, her nude body glistening with sweat as she watched her friend go to town on her lover; this must have been quite a sight, because Sunset’s expression was one of awe: eyes wide, mouth open.

I was struck when I saw there, and I quickly remembered the reason we were here: to give Sunset my condition, at her request; and as much as I desired completing this soon-to-be messy reunion with my girlfriend, we had to set aside our desires and finish what we came here to do.

Luckily, the decision came just in time; my erection had become engorged and was ready to burst inside the shy girl when I reached down and frantically patted her hip to stop her.

“Wait… wait, Flutters… we can’t; stop!” I panted.

She slowed to a halt and looked down at me, breathing deeply as a befuddled look came across her features.

“We gotta… for Sunset…”

Her eyes widened when it hit her. “Oh! My… I forgot, I… I almost took your-“ Panting heavily, she used her hand to flip her hair over her shoulder and then faced the red-head. “I-I’m sorry, Sunset, I wasn’t thinking! I guess I got a little carried away there; this was supposed to be for you.”

It took a few seconds for Sunset snap out of it, still in shock after the caliber of fucking she’d just witnessed. She blinked a couple times and gave her head a shake. “Uh… that’s OK... I, uh… was just on that dick, so… I know what it’s like.”

“OK well, here…” Fluttershy rolled off and returned to her spot on my right, running her fingers through her hair to straighten it, out of breath, but not fatigued in the least—unlike Sunset, who had completely ravaged herself trying to draw an orgasm from me. “You wanted me to get him close for you,” she continued as she glanced down, noticing a wet patch on the front of her skirt. “He’s all yours, Sunset; he should be locked and loaded for you now.”

Sunset sat up partway, propped on one elbow. “Flutters... wow. I mean... holy shit, that was fucking amazing.”

Breathing through pursed lips, Fluttershy brought her attention from the ceiling to her friend. Then she closed her eyes and smirked, shrugging one shoulder as if to say: ‘no biggie.’

After a quick shake of her head, Sunset looked down at me, spying the glistening length that laid on my abdomen. She narrowed her eyes next, giving me an ominous look.

Knowing what this meant, I groaned quietly and turned away to roll my eyes at the ceiling. “Ugh… not this bully shit again.”

“I wasn’t done yet,” came a sharp reply. “So you’d better watch yourself or I’ll really make you sorry—actually... come to think of it, I was gonna do that anyway.”

I turned back and watched Sunset reach past me to drag her moist body over mine, her breasts slipping across my chest. During her break, the layer of perspiration that covered her skin had cooled considerably, and it sent a chill through me when she swung her leg over my hip and laid herself on top of me, smearing me with her moisture.

“Ooh! That’s cold,” I teased, closing my eyes when she reached down with a gloved hand to place my knob between her folds, which were quite warm in contrast to the rest of her.

“Not for long,” she replied, her voice laced with a sensual ring as she sank downward, impaling herself on my slick mast. I found it surprisingly hot when I slipped inside, contaminating her depths with the shy girl’s fluids.

She was right; it didn’t take long for our temperatures to unify, in fact hers rapidly rose above mine when she began to thrust, reminding me very quickly how much stronger she was than Fluttershy. It wasn’t difficult to imagine why she’d worn herself out so completely; she seemed to put everything she had into every thrust, which was great for me, but not so much for herself if she intended to hang in there for all twelve rounds.

Sunset’s brows furrowed as the sensation resumed and the juices began to flow, but now, since Fluttershy had given her the edge, my finish loomed close, waiting to pounce as that heavenly texture massaged me, causing my head to swell rapidly in preparation for release.

This was it. Sunset about to join our ranks; the elite, the everlasting, the indestructible. Except this time —for the first time— it was intentional. This beautiful, smart and strong woman was riding me with full intentions of finishing me inside her, to fill her most intimate space with my seed for the sole purpose of making herself infinitely more powerful.

I felt so used. It was great!

Also great was the rising sensation I felt down low, served to me by her soft, tight flesh; the pressure deep inside my loins quickly rose to the surface, ready to send a hot payload into the red-head’s depths.

After taking one last look at the face above me, disheveled and glistening, but beautiful, biting her lip as she closed her eyes and wondered who was going to cum first, her hair brushing my cheeks as it swayed to her movements, I closed my eyes and bit down on the inside of my cheek, awaiting with veiled excitement for that satisfying release, to shoot my hot volume deep inside Sunset Shimmer.

Ridged, swollen and tingling with pleasure, one last stroke was all that would have been needed, but to my surprise, just as I felt that hot, powerful surge begin to make its way through my length, Sunset stopped abruptly.

My breath caught in my throat when everything screeched to a halt: the pleasure, the bliss, the flow, all of it came to a painfully disappointing rest. Wondering why, I opened my eyes to find the red-head staring down at me.

“A-… are you OK?” I grunted, feeling my loins tremble under the pressure.

Sunset pursed her lips and shrugged, her eyes shifting up to the headboard. “Mm-hm. I’m fine,” she replied casually, looking at me again.

I licked my lip and then bit it, feeling the swelling in my erection recede as the climax slipped away—which I was positive she could feel as well. “But… why-… howcome you stopped?”

With a devious smirk, she brought her face close to mine, eyes narrowed. “Because I’m a bitch,” she replied, and then flicked the tip of my nose with her tongue.

“What?” I whispered, sneering at her.

“This is what you get for all your smart-mouthing,” she explained, running her tongue along the inside of her bottom lip. “Now I’m gonna mess with you—just because I can.”

I looked at her sideways, watching a smug grin grow across her lips. “You’re talkin a lotta game for someone who needed help getting me off.”

Her smirk quickly disappeared and she stared vacantly for a moment. Then, suddenly, she scrunched her nose and lips and slapped a hand over one side my face, turning my head to the side and shoving in into the pillow.

“When are you gonna learn, you fuck!?” she snarled against my cheek, teeth gritted. “Just keep talking, I dare you. I can do this aaaaall fucking night. I have absolutely zero reservations about edging you until you cry like a little baby; I’ll ride your fucking cock until you’re about to burst, and then I will DENY you… again, and again, and again. Make no mistake: your fucking balls will ache for a month by the time I’m done with you.” She backed away slightly. “Is any of this sinking in? Are you understanding me yet?”

I sighed and rolled my eyes, dreadfully aware of that leather glove against my face as well as that slick, hot body covering mine. It’s not like I couldn’t just move my own hips when she stopped, or grab her hips to move them myself —or even throw on her back and jam her full of my load— but this little game of Sunset’s seemed to bring her some kind of satisfaction or pleasure, and if this was the only time I would have to deal with it, then I guess I could handle it just this once.

Not only that, but if the subtle movements and soft coos from the other side of the bed were any indication of how much Fluttershy was enjoying Sunset’s display of power, then I figured I’d better be a good sport and just go along with it.

With a sigh, I nodded. “Fine,” I agreed quietly, to which she released me and leaned with her hands on the mattress, letting her breasts dangle just low enough that her stiff nipples grazed my chest.

“Good,” she chirped.

Sunset resumed riding once again, her hair and breasts swaying along with her movements. Her hips curled down at the top of each thrust, grinding her mound against me, which caused her brow to furrow with delight, suppressed moans escaping her throat. Her body heat rose, generating more perspiration as her womanhood wept more of its slick fluid into my lap, stroking my length back to the edge, ready for another round of delicious —for her— torture.

Indeed, even at rest, I hovered dangerously close to orgasm, and being inside a beauty like Sunset, feeling her interior pamper me like this made it a very short ride back to the finish. Within a minute, the sensation of those hot depths squeezing and massaging had drawn the pressure back to the surface, causing me to swell yet again, desperate to achieve that much needed release.

True to her word, when Sunset brought me to that tingling precipice, when I stood mere seconds from bliss, she abruptly decided that I was not yet worthy of using her body to get off and she stopped on a dime, watching me with wide eyes and parted lips, a devious smile pulling at the corners of her mouth as she savoured the feeling of that swollen head: throbbing and twitching with desperation, deep inside her.

“Ooooh, SO close,” she taunted, sticking her bottom lip out. “That must be so frustrating; I bet if gave my hips just one little twitch, you would probably explode all over in there, wouldn’t you? Ohh, that would feel sooooo good, wouldn’t it? Mmmmm…”

I closed my eyes. Resisting the temptation of moving my own hips to finish the job was one of the hardest things I’d had to endure in a very long time. Eventually, however, the pressure subsided, and I was left wondering —dreading— how many more times Sunset intended to do this to me.

Then she did something I didn’t quite expect: her hips resumed their movement. Her backside bounced relentlessly, teasing me again after not even letting me come down from the edge. I bit my lip, feeling the pressure skyrocket again, that mind-numbing sensation returning with a vengeance.

Why was she doing this? Was she close to cumming herself and couldn’t resist it? Or was she too hungry to resist having that hot filling pumped into her? I didn’t know, and I didn’t care. Hopefully this was it.

I pressed my head back, waiting for her to bring about my release; I knew it wouldn’t take long.

It happened so fast, and all of these thoughts rushed through my head as Sunset drove me to the edge once more… and then I learned that I shouldn’t have gotten so comfortable with the idea that she intended to finish it—because she didn’t.

Just as I’d swollen to the point of nearly tearing her open, Sunset stopped, and brought the entire train to a screeching halt yet again.

Stymied and frustrated, I turned my head to the side and grimaced. “Hnnnngh… fuck!” I grunted, eyelids squeezed tight as I my length twitched with desperation, wrapped in that heavenly yet torturous flesh, whose owner was clearly delighted by my frustration.

Her amusement announced itself with a gust of air against my cheek when she let out a devious cackle, tickled pink by the feel of my erection short-circuiting inside her. “Ohhhhh, you fool!” she laughed. “You didn’t really think I was gonna let you have it, did you?”

I huffed noisily, trying to ignore the backpressure twisted up in my loins, which were being heartlessly teased into destruction.

“Oh, Sunset… that’s so mean,” Fluttershy’s voice panted from my right. “But so hot!”

I opened my eyes and looked at her, surprised that she wasn’t more sympathetic than this.

She shrunk slightly when she saw the look she was getting. “But also very mean,“ she added quickly.

I brought my attention to the face above me and locked onto those intense turquoise eyes—those animalistic eyes, gleaming with delight and filled with arousal.

“You do know how this works, right?” I asked sharply. “This whole ‘becoming like me’ thing? It’s not gonna work if you keep stopping like this.”

Sunset’s grin disappeared and she cocked her head, letting it hang as she gave me a deadpanned look. “Yeah… I know how this works. You know I know how it works.” With a slow inhale, the red-head let her warm, slick body come down against mine, abdomen first, followed by her breasts pressing against my chest. She put her face only inches from mine, and continued speaking with an extremely sensual tone.

“I’m supposed to fuck you —without stopping— until you can’t take it anymore, and you lose control and start shooting your hot cum deeeeeep inside my tight… wet... pussy; right? You pump me right full, until it gushes out and runs down my leg—ooooohh… that would probably feel fucking amazing right about now, wouldn’t it?” She cocked her head and smirked. “I’m getting the vibe that you would really like that.”

I sighed. “Your vibe radar is on point,” I said, studying the perspiration on her face.

“Damn right it is,” she replied, licking her lip. “Tell you what: I think you’ve had just about enough torture, so next time, I’m not gonna stop. Sound good?”

I closed my eyes and sighed, praying that she was being truthful. “Sounds good to me.”

“K,” Sunset whispered as she sat up suddenly and flipped her hair over her shoulder, pausing to wipe away the more stubborn locks stuck to her temple. Then she leaned on my chest with her hands and thrust her hips forward, instantly re-awakening that intense sensation; this in turn summoned my loins to build pressure again, which had been sitting dormant just out of sight, ready to re-emerge at a second’s notice.

She closed her eyes and threw her head back while she rode, her breaths firing deep and hot as she ground her soaked crotch against my lap, savouring the rapidly swelling girth pointing straight up into her.

Pleasure poured over me, as did her interior, causing me to tense up as my manhood swelled so hard I thought it might literally explode inside her. It was heavenly, but simultaneously terrifying not knowing if she was going to follow through this time, to allow me that satisfying plunge into that warm sea of bliss, to finally grant me the wonderful release I so craved.

Throwing caution to the wind, my mind let me settle into the idea that my finish was coming, and I reached up to cup my hands over her breasts to hold onto them as she rode me over the edge. Squeezing them gently, their soft mass nearly slipped from between my fingers; the layer of sweat that coated them made them slippery, but I rather enjoyed the feel of it: that soft, warm weight filling my hands, her hard nipples poking my palms. I closed my eyes and gripped them tenaciously, biting my lip as her gyrating body teased my erection with its soft, wet interior, driving me ever closer to the edge.

Her hands left my chest and her leather-clad fingers wrapped around my wrists, squeezing tight. “Yes…” she whimpered between breaths, accelerating her thrusts. “Squeeze my tits; yes! It’s so good!”

I tightened my grip slightly, being careful not to hurt her. “You better not stop this time…” I warned, clenching my jaw as I felt the heat of my load begin to travel trough me, ready to make its way up my length to find its escape.

“N-no…” she squeaked, her voice elevated an entire octave, her face intense and glowing beet red. Unexpectedly, she pulled my wrists outward, prompting me to let go of her breasts so she could come down, letting her soaked body press against mine.

It was more than I could handle. My swollen length deep inside her, her breasts pressed against my chest, her distinctively hard nipples poking my skin, being soaked in her sweat and her slick juices; all of it was an exquisite form of torture, and I was beyond ready to give in to it.

That is, until her movements came to a stop.

“Gaahh!” I growled, gripping the small of her back. “You… you said you wouldn’t stop!”

“I know,” she said, her hips rising very slowly, letting my swollen length withdraw from her. “I’m not stopping; I’m just gonna go reeeeaaaaally sloooow.”

I let my head fall back, digging my fingertips into her back as her hips continued to rise until the ridge of my head was barely covered by her folds.

“Oh my goodness!” Fluttershy cooed from out of sight, breathless from pleasuring herself. “Sunset… that’s so fucking hot.”

The red-head, face-to-face with me, bit her lip and smiled when she heard the shy girl’s praise, and she began to drop her hips again—very slowly, like the minute hand of a clock, torturing me with just enough stimulation to keep me teetering on the ragged edge of climax.

Trapped in a heightened state of sensitivity, I could feel every hot, slick detail of her anatomy as it slowly swallowing me up again; every little bump, ripple, nook and cranny was as vivid as the clearest day when they slid over my tortured length, raking every nerve ending as they went.

Sunset no doubt felt the same: that flared, throbbing head, its sharp ridge forcing its way through that tight canal, every vein that ran the length of the shaft, engorged and ready to burst.

It was a mystery to me how she was able to do this so perfectly, how she knew the exact speed to attain this equilibrium, keeping me trapped in limbo, on the threshold of orgasm—fast enough to keep it from fading, but slow enough that I couldn’t advance to that explosive conclusion.

It was wonderful, but unbelievable hell all at once. She reached the bottom after what felt like an eternity, her lap touching mine once the last inch of me was at last wrapped in her womanhood. Then she started the whole thing over again, lifting her hips ever-so-slowly to let me creep out of her.

I have no idea how long this went on for; it could have been hours, or it could have been less than a minute. I had no idea. Time was difficult to judge when your mind is being torn apart by pleasure, anticipation, impatience and the need to release a massive amount of pressure—I couldn’t decide if I loved it or hated it. Probably both.

Finally, however, the universe threw me a bone.

Out of nowhere, a soft moan emerged from Sunset and her body began to quiver uncontrollably.

I opened my eyes to look at her; her brows were furrowed and her mouth was open, her breath ragged. Her flesh, which was in the midst of slowly taking me back inside, clenched down and began to pulse, squeezing me tightly as another, louder moan tore itself from her throat.

She was cumming.

Thank the stars above! Thank the lord for that tight squeeze and rapid throbbing! The sensation of it was enough —along with the very thought of her getting off to this, the idea of her mind being blinded by pleasure— to finally push me the rest of the way over the edge.

Gripping her waist firmly, I revelled in the sensation of that first hot blast as it rocketed through my length and fired straight into Sunset, soaking her depths with my thick, hot cum. My manhood throbbed violently as it fired the second, third and forth shots, pelting her insides with a vengeance after being stifled so many times, finally given the freedom to turn loose inside her without restraint.

Those turquoise eyes of hers were wide, her mouth hanging open as she felt that warm flood permeate her loins, pumped full of what seemed like a never-ending spray of thick, powerful shots. “Ooohhhhh… fuck,” she gasped. “I can feel it; that’s so fucking hot!”

My hands had moved down her to her backside, gripping her cheeks while I pressed her down to shove myself deep inside, injecting the rest of my load as deep as I could.

At last, after what felt like an eternity’s worth of satisfaction washed over me and I’d drained every ounce I had into her, I released her derrière and let my arms flop to the sides, totally relaxed. Sunset, covered in sweat, weary, and full of cum, also went limp, letting her body melt on top of mine. We laid together in silence, waiting for our breathing to level off and return to normal.

As I laid there, pinned beneath that frazzled, soaked young woman, I began to ruminate on what’d just happened. While her little roleplay seemed a bit odd to me, I could understand that it meant something to Sunset and Fluttershy; it was certainly an interesting way to take something negative from their past and turn it into something that they could enjoy together, and it made me wonder if they’d been planning it before hand.

Her treatment of me —the edging especially— seemed unpleasant in the heat of the moment, and I found myself frustrated by it for obvious reasons; it was beyond tempting to bypass it and take matters into my own hands because frankly, it was absolute torture. Now, however, I was glad I let her do her thing, because what began as utter torment turned into one of the most satisfying orgasms I’d ever experienced, and it was clear that Sunset’s scheme was more than just domination: it was a build up to something amazing. Realising this, I shook my head and smirked.

Sunset really was a genius.

“Wow, you two,” the shy girl said softly, from somewhere beyond the damp, red hair that draped across my eyes. “That was beautiful; it looked so amazing!”

Sunset drew a deep breath and then released it. “It felt amazing,” she droned, exhausted. “That was… fucking phenomenal. Like… seriously the best fuck I’ve ever had… by far.”

Hearing this at least made me feel better, knowing that even after Fluttershy had given her the edge, Sunset had still been taken to the limits of what she could handle.

She rose slightly, leaning on her elbows as she looked down at me, her breasts resting on my chest. “I came,” she announced with a smirk, “just before you did. Did you feel that?”

I looked up at her. “Yeah... I did. That’s the only reason I finally made it.”

“Ah, fuck…” She shook her head. “So hot. I gotta admit, Golds, that was way better than I expected. You’re the first dude I haven’t been able to tease like that on my own.”

“I’m honored.”

With a quick chuckle, she placed a hand on my chest and sat up suddenly. “Who’s hungry? You guys wanna get some nachos?”

Caught off-guard by the proposal, Fluttershy and I watched as she reached up and squeezed her own breasts, pinching and rolling her nipples between her thumbs and forefingers.

“Um… I’m sorry, what?” the shy girl asked, confused.

“Huh?” she replied, looking over at her friend. “Oh…”

I watched, feeling my manhood point straight up into those hot, gooey depths as Sunset dropped her hands to her thighs.

“Yeah. It’s this thing I have; I get really, super hungry after a good fuck like tha-“

She looked down at herself suddenly, and then cupped one hand over her mound as she shifted her eyes onto me. “Oops… I think some just leaked out.”

I nodded. I’d already felt the hot, thick gush soaking my crotch, so I was well aware.

“Eh, that’s OK,” she said, leaning on my chest again. “It feels like there’s lots left in there. That was a fucking big load you shot in me, dude.”

Chapter 34: Nachos!

Chapter 34

The three of us decided to go to that restaurant close to Sunset’s apartment...the one we had breakfast at the day after the bar incident. Sunset had put on some of her normal clothes, a pair of jeans and the red t-shirt with the sun on the chest…and of course, her leather jacket.

Fluttershy had brushed her hair to tidy herself up a little bit after our little session in Sunset’s bedroom.

We got seated quickly, even though the place was pretty busy. It was no surprise it was open surprisingly late on weeknights with this kind of traffic, which is the reason we went there…as well as the fact that they had nachos.

Sunset wanted us to stay with her so that we could see what happens when she turns. Neither Fluttershy or Rarity got to see what happened because they weren’t expecting it to happen, so they weren’t paying any attention.

They put us in a booth that was along one of the inner divider walls this time. The ambiance there at night was even nicer than during the day, the big pot lights with dark green shades that hung just over the table were dimly lit, lighting the two girls’ faces nicely, making their eyes sparkle.

They were both very beautiful in this light, even though the small amount of make-up that Sunset wore had run while she was sweating, then got wiped away thoughtlessly by her hands while she was in the heat of the action.

“You really should have showered, Sunset…” Fluttershy said, showing a bit of self-consciousness on her friend’s behalf.

“Bah…” Sunset waved her off. “I couldn’t wait. I’m fuckin starving…”

I chuckled at Sunset’s attitude. She was a lot of fun when she was loosened up. Her hair was still pretty messy around her face, some of it had that previously-wet look, like it had been stuck in sweat that had now dried. I’d be willing to bet she didn’t smell the greatest under her arms anymore either.

“I wonder how long it will take…” Fluttershy said softly.

“I dunno…” Sunset replied, chewing her lip as she started staring at the table top. She was probably getting tired, it was after 11pm after all. I was curious as well about what was going to happen when she changed. Would she just stop being tired? Would her hunger just disappear?...these thoughts made me realize why she was probably so antsy to go eat…it was likely going to be the last time she would experience the satisfaction of fulfilling a specific food craving while being really hungry.

Fluttershy had been on her phone off-and-on since we left Sunset’s place, making me wonder who she was texting…

Just as I was thinking about that, a familiar face appeared at the end of our table.

“Good evening, darlings…”

Sunset looked up, then smiled when she saw who it was. “Hey, Rare! What are you doing here?” She said, shifting over to let Rarity sit next to her.

Rarity slid onto the bench across from me, giving me and Fluttershy a little smile. She turned to answer Sunset’s question. “Fluttershy texted me, inviting me to join you guys for a late night dinner, which sounded delightful! How could I refuse?”

“Ah.” Sunset nodded.

Rarity stopped, looking more closely at Sunset’s face. “My word, Sunset! You look atrocious!” she said, putting on a half grin. ”I take it that means you enjoyed yourself…”

Sunset froze, then blushed a little. “What do you mean?” she said, trying in vain to hide what had happened, unaware that Rarity already knew everything.

Rarity looked at her with a smirk, then glanced at me for a second before returning her eyes to Sunset.

Sunset knew what that meant. She groaned, turning her face towards Fluttershy, who shrugged innocently.

“Sorry, Sunset. She was going to find out eventually anyway…” Fluttershy said timidly, hiding behind her hair.

Sunset shook her head. “It’s Ok…you’re right. Rarity should know anyway…I mean, it’s just the four of us who are like this, right?”

“Precisely, darling.” Rarity said. “So…” she said, nudging Sunset’s shoulder with her own.

Sunset looked her. “So…what?”

“Come on Sunset, surely you can spare some juicy details…” the gossipy fashionista said. “How was it?”

Sunset nodded. “It was, uh…pretty OK.”

Rarity cocked an eyebrow. “OK?”

Sunset looked awkwardly at Rarity for a second, then rolled her eyes. “OK, it was pretty good.” She said. “Better than I expected. Happy?”

Rarity put on a satisfied grin. “Now that sounds more like the Golden Arrow that I know,” she said, winking at me.

I smirked and shook my head, then turned to look up at the server who was approaching the table.

“Hi guys, how’s it going tonight?” she said in a friendly tone.

We all nodded, mumbling words like ‘good’ and so on, except for Rarity who perked her head up.

“Simply wonderful, darling!” she replied with a little flip of her bangs.

“Great.” The server replied. “Your server for this evening will be right with you, but until then, can I get you started with some drinks?”

“I will have a sparking Perrier with one lemon wedge and one-half lime wedge.” Rarity said, quite impressively.

“Wow, very specific.” The server laughed, then she looked at Sunset.

“I’ll have a Pepsi.” She said with a smile. I noticed right then how disheveled she actually looked. She probably should have showered…I should have as well, technically…since I had gotten covered in her sweat too. In fact I think I could smell it on me…

“Is coke OK?” the server asked Sunset as I pulled my shirt collar over my nose to take a whiff.

“Sure.” Sunset nodded.

The server looked at Fluttershy.

“Just a water.” She said quietly.

The server leaned forward, turning her head to bring her ear closer. “S-sorry?” she asked, squinting.

“Um, water…” Fluttershy said, even quieter.

“You-…water?” the server repeated, to which my girlfriend nodded as the rest of us snickered.

“Sure.” The server said, standing up straight again. She turned to me next.

“Pepsi, please.” I said.

“Is Co- hey!” the server laughed.

I smiled back. “OK, do you have Coke?”

The server smiled as shook her head. “Smarty. We’re gonna keep an eye on you.” She turned to the rest of us. “OK, coming right up.” she said as she turned to walk away.

Rarity folded her little white hands on the table. “OK then, darling. Let’s hear it.” She said to Sunset.

Sunset rolled her eyes. “I told you, it was good.”

Rarity shook her head. “No no, I need details.”

“Why?” Sunset asked, “You know what he’s like, you already had a turn with him.”

“Two, actually,” Rarity snapped back without thinking, before slapping her hand over her mouth.

Sunset looked wide-eyed at Rarity. “What?”

“Nevermind, darling. I…I must have miscounted,” Rarity quickly replied, struggling to come up with a decent recovery.

“Miss-“ Sunset shook her head, scowling. “How the fuck do you miscount between one and two?”

I had a good chuckle at the exchange. “Rare can say the dumbest shit when she’s flustered...”

Rarity put her nose up. “Just forget it, darling.”

I smiled at them for a few seconds, then I looked at Sunset. “Do you feel any different yet?”

Sunset sighed, then started fondling her wrist that was injured a few weeks ago with her other hand as she looked up at the ceiling. “It still hurts when I bend my wrist.” She said, looking disappointed.

“Don’t worry, darling. Just give it time.” Rarity assured her. “It should work as long as you, um…” Rarity tapped her chin, looking up at the pot light above us. “Hmmm, what was that you had to do again?” she teased.

Sunset groaned. “Fuck, Rarity…you wanna know? Fine.” she said, starting to raise her voice. “We were in my room, me and Flutters both gave him head, then I rode him…” Sunset pointed at Fluttershy, “Then she rode him…” she pointed back at herself, “Then I rode him til he popped.”

I was fairly certain that Sunset said that whole thing louder than she had intended, and I started looking around the restaurant as she and Rarity continued to talk. I met eyes with the people in the booth across the aisle from us, who were glaring over in our direction after hearing the entirety of Sunset’s recap of the evening.

I quickly turned back to Fluttershy, who had her head down, hiding her beet-red face behind her hair, then I looked back at Rarity and Sunset, who were still gossiping loudly with graphic detail.

“Hey! Guys, keep your fuckin voices down…” I whispered loudly.

The two girls looked at me, then over at the people in the other booth. Rarity blushed as she and Sunset looked back at each other, then snorted…snickering quietly at each other with embarrassment.

“OK.” Rarity composed herself, leaning her head down closer to the table. The rest of us followed suit, now speaking in closer quarters.

I was enjoying myself. I really liked these girls…and they were now all just like me...well, almost…Sunset wasn’t quite there yet. They will always be around with me now…I still had a hard time grasping this fact after being the only one for so many centuries. Spending time with them made me forget about my unusually long life. They made me feel normal…I couldn’t possibly love them more, just for that single reason.

“I’ll say this…” Sunset was saying. “Flutters is literally THE MOST FUN person to be in bed with…she was awesome.”

“Oh, I can imagine…” Rarity said, grinning at the shy girl, who was beaming with pride at the compliment, but still blushing at the fact that we were talking about sex in public. “What kind of things did she do this time?” Rarity asked.

Sunset chuckled. “Actually, it was me who kind of went a little crazy…” She nodded towards me, “I thought Golds was going to smash my face a couple times.” she laughed.

Rarity looked stunned as she glared at me, then back at Sunset. “I beg your pardon?” she asked with a high tone.

“Well…” Sunset started. “I got a little too deep into it and I kind of…started role playing.”

Rarity dipped her head as her eyebrows went up. “Really? What did you do?”

Sunset scratched her temple, looking down at the table. “Well…I bullied them. Like back in high school…”

Rarity snapped her head back. “You bullied both of them? Golds too?”

“Yeah, well…actually no.” Sunset said. “What I did to him…I never did in high school.”

“I hope not…” I chuckled as Rarity glanced at me.

“What did you do, Sunset?” Rarity demanded an answer.

“Well, I started talking mean to Flutters, just like in school...” Sunset said, turning to Fluttershy. “And she was great, she knew what I was doing right away and started playing along.”

Rarity looked at her shy friend in disbelief.

“It was kind of scary at first…” Fluttershy said softly, finally joining the conversation. “But once I knew she wasn’t serious, I thought it was kind of exciting…it was actually a lot of fun…”

“Hmm…” Rarity thought out loud, cocking an eyebrow.

Sunset tipped her head towards me next. “Then this guy ruined it…”

“What?” I scowled. “No I didn’t!”

Sunset chuckled. “Just kidding.” she said, turning to Rarity as she started to laugh. “You should have seen his face, Rare…when I said I was gonna bully him…” she started laughing harder, struggling to finish the sentence. “It was fucking priceless…haha…”

“It would be a bit out-of-the-blue, I would think.” Rarity chuckled, giving her hair a flip with her fingertips.

I spoke up. “I legitimately thought you’d lost your fuckin mind…” I said, folding my arms.

Sunset shook her head with a grin. “Whatever…as if you weren’t gonna fuck me anyway…”

“Oh…well, yeah, I was still gonna do it…” I admitted.

The red-head sighed…looking at me for a moment. Then she shook her head. “You sure made things difficult for me.”

Rarity scowled. “What do you mean by that, darling?”

Sunset glanced over at her friend. “My plan for how I was gonna bully wasn’t really working out…”

The purple-haired girl rolled her eyes. “Well, I should think not…he’s not exactly someone you can intimidate very easily.”

“No,” Sunset said, knowing that Rarity had misunderstood. “I didn’t bully him like I did Fluttershy…remember, I said it was something I never did in high school.”

Rarity cocked her eyebrow at Sunset. “Sunset Shimmer…what did you do to him? Or try to do, I should say.”

“Oh, I did eventually do it…” Sunset said, with a look of satisfaction on her face.

“Did what??” Rarity asked impatiently.

Sunset grinned. “I edged him.”

“You mean…?” Rarity leaned in closer.

“I wouldn’t let him cum…” Sunset said. “I kept stopping.”

Rarity gave me a sympathetic look. “You poor thing,” she whimpered, before turning back to Sunset. “Well, it’s no wonder he wanted to smash you, darling; you don’t withhold pleasure from someone like that!”

I shrugged. “Too bad she couldn’t do it by herself…”

“What?” Rarity looked back at me.

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Well…I had a little trouble getting him there…that’s when the role playing kind of got screwed up and I kept breaking character…”

“Why? What happened, darling?” Rarity asked.

Sunset tipped her head at me. “He kept making me cum first before I could get him there…I had to keep stopping.”

Rarity looked at me and smiled. She cocked an eyebrow as she turned back to Sunset. “Oh… well, I know all about that. I have had exactly the same problem with him…”

“Me too…” Fluttershy interjected.

Just then, we heard someone loudly clear their throat at the end of the table. All four of us quickly turned our heads to face the person standing there.

It was our official server. She was a petite girl, but she had obvious muscle tone, similar to Rainbow Dash. She was in her early twenties, with orange skin and fairly short, fuchsia hair. She had big eyes, with large pupils and violet irises.

She was standing there with the tray of drinks, her eyes wide open as she stared at us.

After an awkward pause, Rarity started laughing nervously. “Oh, uh…heh heh…Hi Scootaloo…I didn’t know you worked here…”

She nodded slowly. “Yup…this is my second week here.” She said, her eyes still darting around at the four of us.

I looked down at the table, unable to face her. I was positive she had heard everything we were saying.

After an awkward pause, Rarity suddenly pointed a finger at Scootaloo. “Not one word of this to Sweetie Belle! Understand?”

“Sure, whatever.” The girl said. “My lips are sealed, unlike yours…”

I quickly looked away from the young server to hide my reaction. “Wow, get some ointment for that burn! I like this chick.”

“Um, so here are your drinks, guys…Water?” she said, holding up the glass.

Fluttershy put her hand up, her face as red as a tomato. Scootaloo reached out to set the drink down in front of her.

“Perrier?...oh, that would be you, Rarity.” She said, setting the sparkling beverage down in front of the fashionista.

“Good guess, darling. Thank you.” Rarity replied.

“And two Cokes…” Scootaloo said, reaching out to set Sunset’s drink down, then she set mine down in front of me.

I looked up at her. “I ordered a Pepsi…”

“Nice try.” Scootaloo smiled at me as I raised an eyebrow at her. “Yeah, she told me all about you…”

I chuckled and picked up the drink to take a sip.

“Didn’t you guys get menus yet?” the young server asked, looking around the table.

We shook our heads.

She sighed. “Sorry guys, it’s just been crazy here tonight. I’ll get you some, one sec…”

“No, it’s OK!” Sunset stopped her. “We don’t need menus.”

“What desserts do you have?” Rarity asked.

Scootaloo pointed at the back of the booth with her pen. “There’s a dessert menu there.”

Fluttershy passed the small book to her friend while Sunset ordered.

“I’ll have the buffalo chicken nachos.” Sunset said.

“OK, sour cream and salsa on the side?” Scootaloo asked.

“I don’t care, just pile it on…I’m friggin starving…” Sunset replied.

“OK then,” Scootaloo chuckled. “You’re hungry, eh?”

“Oh yeah…” Sunset said, rubbing her hands together.

“Worked up an appetite, did ya?” Scootaloo asked again.

“Yea-“ Sunset stopped, realizing she’d been trapped.

Scootaloo chuckled, then pointed to the corner of her eye with the back of her pen. “Your make-up’s a little, uh…”

Sunset blushed, touching her fingertips to the corner of her eye, finally realizing how obvious it looked that she’d had a rough night. She then looked over at me.

“Don’t look at me!” I thought as I looked back at her for a second. I glanced up at the young server girl, who looked down at me with a raised eyebrow. I lowered my eyes again and took a sip of my drink, knowing that Scootaloo was fully aware that I was the one who banged the ass off of Sunset Shimmer that night.

Rarity, who missed the whole thing, suddenly perked up. “OOH! I’ll have that triple chocolate crunch sundae...doesn’t it look amazing, Fluttershy?” she said as she held up the picture to her friend.

Fluttershy nodded.

“Shall I make it two?” Rarity asked.

Fluttershy nodded again. “Sure, Rare.”

“Make it three.” I said, not really caring what I was going to have.

“OK. Great. I’ll get those out to you as soon as I can.” Scootaloo said as she turned to walk away.

The four of us looked at each other in silence for a moment, then at the same time we all started laughing together at what just happened.

“That girl is such a sass-pot…” Rarity snickered as she gave her hair another flip with her fingertips.

After the giggling died down, Fluttershy looked at the fashionista. “Um, does Sweetie Belle know?”

Rarity stopped, suddenly looking very serious. “No…she doesn’t. I haven’t told any of my family yet. I’m not sure how I would tell my little sister that she is going to get old and pass on while I stay this way forever…” Rarity said, starting to look remorseful.

“Oh…I’m sorry, Rarity.” Fluttershy said quietly. “I didn’t mean to bring that up…”

Rarity shook her head. “No no, darling. We will all have to face these things at some point. There’s simply no avoiding it.”

“What about you, Flutters?” Sunset asked.

Fluttershy shook her head. “I haven’t even talked to them.”

Fluttershy had a small falling-out with her family a few years back when her younger brother had been obsessed with becoming some kind of hair stylist in Paris. He had begged their parents for months to move to Europe with him so he could get his foot in the door there and despite Fluttershy’s advice not to go, they allowed her brother to convince them, like the pushovers that they were, to pack up and move to France. Then, not surprisingly, her brother gave up on it when he didn’t accomplish his dream within a week and now he’s still living in their parents’ flat, freeloading off of them as always. They could barely afford to keep living there, and didn’t have the money to move back home, so they’re stuck in Europe with their turd of a son.

They never would have done something like that for Fluttershy. She never understood why they did it for Zephyr…maybe because they thought Fluttershy was going to be fine on her own?

Fluttershy had grown tired of trying to convince her parents not to let her brother use them as doormats, and Paris was the last straw. Fluttershy knew the whole thing was ridiculous and that it was never going to work out, but they didn’t listen to her and went anyway. It frustrated Fluttershy to the point where she stopped talking to them…it broke her heart to do it, but they caused her too much unnecessary stress in her life that she didn’t need.

“It’s too bad we can’t make everyone we know immortal…” Sunset said.

Rarity glared at Sunset. “That’s my little sister!”

“Whoa!” Sunset put her hands up. “I mean, without having to have Golds fuck them.”

“Sweetie Belle doesn’t have magic anyway.” Fluttershy said quietly.

“Oh yeah…” Sunset said, rubbing her chin. “Good point. I guess the only people Golds can turn immortal is the seven of us…”

Rarity tapped her chin for a moment. “I wonder if Gloriosa has any magic left in her?”

Sunset laughed. “Gloriosa Daisy? Could you imagine fucking her? She’d be all like: ‘I GOT THIS!’… except you won’t be able understand her with Golds’ cock in her mouth.”

The three of them giggled together. I didn’t know who's mouth they were talking about so I had a look around the restaurant.

Eventually our food came and we ate while we talked. Sunset was still working on her nachos long after the three of us had finished our ice cream.

Rarity had her hands folded on the table, watching Sunset pick at the now cold and soggy chips.

“Um, Sunset?” Flutterhsy asked.

“Yeah, Flutters?” she responded.

“I noticed, um…that you took my advice…” Fluttershy said quietly.

Sunset frowned a bit with confusion as she put another chip in her mouth. “What advice?” she asked with her mouth full, which muffled her words.

“About, you know…down there.” Fluttershy replied, pointing down at her own crotch.

“Mm.” Sunset nodded, then swallowed her food. “Yup.” She said as she swiped her hand over the table in a slicing motion. “I took it all off. You were right, if feels so much better like this.”

Fluttershy giggled. “See? I told you…”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah.”

Rarity hadn’t been paying attention and was now looking at the both of them. “What are we talking about, darlings?”

“Fluttershy convinced me to shave my pussy.” Sunset said rather abruptly as she rifled through her plate, looking for a chip that was still crispy.

Rarity’s eyebrows went up. “Oh! Well, that was probably a good decision, darling. If you’re going to be stuck a certain way forever, that’s probably a good choice to go with.”

“How about you, Rare? What did you do with yours?” Sunset asked, picking up a chip.

“I have a lovely little landing strip.” Rarity bragged. “I happened to be trying it at the time…I feel that it adds a certain level of sophistication down there, especially given my colour scheme.”

Sunset looked at her sideways as she sipped her drink through the straw. Then she replied. “You don’t really like it, but you’re stuck with it now. Is that right?”

Rarity looked blankly down at the table. “Yes.”

Sunset chuckled as she picked up another soggy chip.

“I thought it looked good…” I said, trying to cheer up the fashionista.

Rarity gave me a half smile. “Why thank you, darling. It’s always lovely receiving compliments on one’s clam…” she said sarcastically as Sunset and Fluttershy giggled.

I shrugged. “I was just…ah, forget it.” I said, waving her off.

Rarity looked back at Sunset for a moment, then changed the subject. “So, how did you do it?” she asked.

“Do what?” Sunset asked with her mouth full as she quickly glanced at the indigo-haired girl.

“How did you get to edge him?” Rarity asked.

Sunset looked up with her eyes at the pot light, her mouth slightly open as she used her tongue to dig a piece of nacho chip from one of her molars. “Oh, yeah…” she said. “I had to get Flutters to take over until he got close.”

Rarity raised her chin at the realization. “Ahh…yes, that would do it. She clearly knows how to work him better than we do.”

“Well, it’s not just that…” Sunset said as she crammed another chip in her mouth, then continued to speak with her mouth full. “She doesn’t stop when she’s cumming…” Sunset turned to Fluttershy, pointing her finger at her. “Which, by the way Flutters, you owe me some new bedsheets…”

Fluttershy blushed while rubbing her right arm with the other. “Yeah…sorry about that.”

“My word…” Rarity said, looking back at Sunset. “Is she not the most stunning thing you’ve ever seen when she’s making love?”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah, totally.” She replied, looking at the shy girl. “You’ve got moves, Flutters. I’ll give ya that.”

I put my arm around Fluttershy as she smiled, but continued to blush. She rested her head on my shoulder as we listened to the conversation.

“So, anyway…” Sunset continued. “After Flutters got him close, I got back on and did my thing. It felt kind of lame getting back into the bully character after I had to get her to help me, but whatever. I just rolled with it. It was good times.”

“Well, that’s the main thing.” Rarity said.

Sunset chuckled. “It’s funny…now that I think about it. I was trying to bully him, and I couldn’t…so I had to get the girl that I actually used to bully to help me do it…” she shook her head. “Oh, the irony…”

“It’s all good, Sunset.” Fluttershy said quietly with a smile.

Sunset smiled back at her.

“Well…I, for one, am delighted to welcome you to our little club, darling.” Rarity said proudly. “Especially now that you’ve paid the small ‘entry fee’…” she said, snickering at her own double-entendre.

Sunset snorted. “There was nothing small about it, Rare.” She said, winking at me as she wiped her hands with a napkin.

“Oh, stop…get your fuckin minds out of the gutter.” I said, shaking my head as Fluttershy giggled against me.

Rarity giggled for a moment, before continuing. “Well Sunset, I suppose this means we’ll be seeing more of each other in the near future…you won’t believe all the extra time you will have on your hands when you don’t sleep.”

Sunset slid her plate away and folded her arms on the table. “I can’t wait.” She said with a smile.

We finished up at the restaurant, paid and left to go back to Sunset’s place. All four of us were curious to see how it happens now that we knew to watch for it, so we planned to hang out at Sunset’s to spend time with her and see what was going to happen.

We headed up the elevator to her floor. As we walked down the hall to Sunset’s door, Rarity and Fluttershy were chatting as I walked behind the two of them. Their conversation was suddenly cut off by Sunset’s voice behind us.

“Uh, guys…”

We stopped and turned around. Sunset was about forty feet behind us, obviously she'd stopped walking long before we noticed. She was holding her wrist, moving her fist back and forth as she stared at the floor with wide eyes.

We watched her as she slowly raised her eyes towards us to speak.

“My wrist doesn’t hurt anymore…”

Chapter 35: Dinner at Pinkie's

Chapter 35

Fluttershy, Rarity and I stayed with Sunset for a few hours. We did a few tests on her to confirm that it had happened, the usual hair and fingernail cutting…the results of which confirmed that it did work.

Sunset Shimmer was one of us now.

We eventually had to leave her there with Rarity, who stayed with her until morning. Fluttershy and I had to go home to look after and feed the Lynx kitten, then eventually head to work in the morning.

I thought Gord, my boss, was going to keel over when I walked in that morning. I don’t think I had ever seen him so glad to see anyone. As always, he didn’t ask about where I had been or what I had been doing, but I could tell he wanted to ask about the girls that I knew.

I went back to work as though nothing had happened, as did each of the girls.

Fluttershy had texted everyone to inform them of my return, the results of which ended up overloading my phone with text messages welcoming me home and telling me they were glad to have me back, and so on and so forth.

Fluttershy, Rarity and I went out to the Riverfield every night that week. I quite impressed by how much they progressed in the time I was gone. Fluttershy still needed some work on her flinching when she wasn’t ready for it…I had a feeling that would be difficult with her being such a jumpy person her whole life. I was starting to wonder what I could do about it. Rarity, however, had become quite steady…she had already surprised me with it the night I came home, when she showed me her swords in Fluttershy’s front room.

To my surprise, she had gotten creative with her diamond weapons beyond what I had expected.

“You need a rock, darling…like that one by the river…” she was saying. We walked over to the edge of the water in the moonlight, looking for just the right sized rock for her demonstration. I wasn’t sure what to expect from her as I reached for the rock that she was pointing at.

“Yes, that one.” She said, as I held up a round rock about the size of a cantaloupe. “Now, throw it at me…but not too hard.” she requested.

“OK…” I shrugged, underhand tossing the rock at the fashionista.

I watched as she raised her fist and swung at the rock as it approached. There was a flash from her fist and it suddenly had a solid blue diamond globe around it, which hit the rock with a loud clack, splitting it in two pieces, knocking it to the ground.

“Wow…” I said. “Not bad…”

“Diamond is one of the hardest things out there, darling.” She said. “What do you think?”

I sighed as I thought about it. “I’m sure you’ll find some good of uses for it...you could certainly bust some skulls with that.” I nodded.

Fluttershy cringed. “Oh my…please don’t do that, Rarity…”

“Don’t worry,” I said, putting my arm around her. “It’s much more efficient to just cut them apart…”

Fluttershy shuddered.

“Well, if you like that, then you’ll love this. Come.” Rarity said to me, waving me over.

Fluttershy and I watched as she held her hand out. There was a small flash just above our heads, then Rarity reached up to grab the object.

She handed it to me. It was a small, pointed object…about six inches long. It was teardrop shaped, one end had a sharp point, the other was round with a cylindrical shape to it. There was a little ridge that started at the point of the sharp end and wrapped around the length of the object, like a candy cane stripe.

I frowned. “Um, it’s OK…I guess. I’m not sure I understand it…”

I looked at Rarity as she raised an eyebrow at me.

I studied the object a little more, then shook my head. “I don’t know, it’s kind of small…and the handle isn’t very good…” I said, holding it by the round end.

Rarity rolled her eyes. “No no, it’s not a knife, darling…you throw it.”

I raised my eyebrows as I realized what type weapon this was. “I see, said the blind man…” I quipped.

“Try it out.” Rarity insisted.

I glanced at her for a second before I looked around the field, looking for a target. My eyes landed on the single tree that was in the middle of the opening, about a hundred and fifty feet away.

I tossed the little object up in the air, catching it by the point with my thumb and forefinger, then I raised my hand above my shoulder and launched the blue projectile towards the tree.

It flew swiftly through the air, straight as an arrow, then hit the tree with a loud thud.

Both girls’ eyebrows went up.

“Nice throw, darling!” Rarity exclaimed.

I turned to her. “That is excellent! Did you see how accurate that was? It went exactly where I meant for it to go.”

“Well, it took a few tries to get it right…” she gushed proudly. “The spirals made all the difference. Without them, the air doesn’t flow around it properly and it has a bit of a mind of its own.”

I nodded. “Let’s go see.”

We walked over to the tree and were surprised to see that it had buried itself completely into the trunk so the round end was flush with the bark on the outside of the trunk.

I nodded with approval. “That’s going to be a handy weapon.”

Rarity giggled with pride that her creation had impressed me.

“Can you throw it decently?” I asked her.

She stopped laughing. “Oh, well…I’ll need some practice. And when are you going to teach me how to use the sword?”

I shook my head. “Not yet. You need to know hand-to-hand first.”

Rarity groaned. “Oh, but I want to be an elegant sword fighter…not some ruffian who beats people with my fists!”

“You will, but it’s important for you to know how to handle yourself without resorting to using your magic.” I explained. “You can’t just pull out that sword in view of the public if you’re in a situation where you need to use force. If you can do it with your bare hands, then we don’t have guys like Mr. Cody seeing a girl with magical diamond swords on the news and deciding he wants to come and get to know you better.”

Rarity folded her arms. “Fine then. Let’s get started.” She said with a scowl.

“OK.” I said, putting my hand up and motioning towards myself. “You and Flutters come at me.”

*****

That week, the girls’ Saturday dinner was going to be at Pinkie Pie’s.

I had to work until noon as usual, so I was going to meet Fluttershy there afterwards. She and Rarity had gone to town to shop for some clothes, so I just hopped in the shower when I got home, then got ready to go to Pinkie’s.

I figured they would have been at Pinkie’s by the time I got there, but I quickly realized that wasn’t the case when I pulled up to the country house in my truck. I double checked the navigation on my phone to make sure that I was in the right place, then I saw Pinkie’s car parked at the side of the house, confirming that it was indeed her place…or her parents' place, rather.

It was a nice, but old house, surrounded by trees and a big yard. It was a country lot, but not a farm, with the two storey house standing in the middle. It was mostly white, with the clichéd shutters around the windows, a black front door and nicely kept hedges across the front. It would be a shame if Pinkie ever blew it up.

I decided to text Pinkie.

ME: Hey I'm out front. I'm a little early. PINKIE: NO PROB, BOB! THE FRONT DOOR’S OPEN, JUST MAKE URSELF AT HOME. I’M JUST GETTIN READY. ME: K

I got out of my truck and walked up the cement steps to the front door. I turned the knob, which opened the door as Pinkie had promised, and I stepped inside. From the front foyer, I could see a small closet directly ahead of me, with a large staircase beside it that had an old fashioned looking railing running along the length of it. The walls were white, as well as the stairs, but the top of the railing was black.

To the left, there was a living room full of out-of-date furniture and old looking wallpaper stretched all around the room. There was a fireplace with a large photo above it, featuring an old-school looking couple, a man with brown eyes and gray mutton chops and a woman with light skin and gray hair pulled up in a bun. She was wearing gold coloured glasses that sat low on her nose, with little gold chains attached to the corners of the frames that went around the back of her neck.

The room didn’t look very inviting. It looked like one of those rooms with no TV that old people sit in and visit with each other…talking about bullshit.

I turned to the right to see a nice looking kitchen. It looked like it had been renovated more recently, with nice modern-looking cabinets and appliances and a nice big island in the middle with stools all around it to sit at. There was lots of nice, dark wood finish in the room…it was actually quite beautiful and inviting, so I decided to go in there and have a seat at the island.

As I entered the room, I quickly noticed near the right corner there was a mannequin standing there with its hands at its sides, with a blue dress on. I stopped for a second when I saw it, then shook my head as I headed to the island to take a seat.

“God, that’s fucking creepy…” I whispered as I pulled the stool out to sit down. The mannequin was still in my right peripherals when I sat, so I twisted a bit to the left on the stool to get it out my vision.

On the left wall of the kitchen, above the cupboards there was one of those brass crucifixes, with the detailed, bloody figure of Jesus nailed to the cross. I looked at it for a second before I snorted and rolled my eyes. “Never happened…” I said to myself, shaking my head.

I sat there for about a minute, then I started quietly humming ‘Never Say Die’ to myself until I heard a pair of feet thumping down the stairs. I looked to my left at the doorway of the kitchen to see who was going to emerge at the bottom of the steps.

It was Pinkie, but I hardly recognised her. She had obviously just gotten out of the shower, so her hair was wet and straight, hanging down over her shoulders and back. She had beads of water on her shoulders and was holding a towel around her. Her cleavage was showing above the top of the light blue fabric as she turned the corner, her breasts too big to be able to tie the towel so it would stay on by itself, so she had to hold it together at the top with her right hand as she walked.

As she rounded the corner and came into the kitchen, she was moving fairly quickly which caused the split in the towel open up in the breeze. I could see the entire side of her light pink body. The slightly chubby curves on her hips and thighs were visible to me as she took another step…and as her leg went back during the stride I caught a glimpse of her well trimmed, pink triangular bush.

It happened so fast that all of the imagery was shoved into my eyes before I had a chance to turn away. I spun around on the stool, facing the mannequin again, causing me to scowl at the sight of it, then I turned back half way and looked down at the wood-finished island top.

“Sorry…” I said as Pinkie said ‘hi’ at the same time while she headed for the kitchen sink.

She giggled. “Oh, that’s OK! I just needed to get my rings out of the jewelry cleaner. It’s good to see you back in town, Goldie-Woldie!”

I nodded. “Yeah, it’s good to see all of you guys again.”

I had my doubts that Pinkie realized how much of her I saw.

“I just have to grab these, then I’ll be upstairs getting ready for a bit.” Pinkie said as she opened the red container that was sitting next to the sink. She slid the rings off the little peg in the middle, set the container down and rinsed the rings off under the tap.

“OK.” I said, keeping my head down.

“The others should be showing up soon, K?” she said cheerfully as she made her way back out of the room. The split side of the towel was on the other side of her as she left so I glanced up at her briefly when she walked by to go back upstairs.

“Yup.” I said.

I listened to the thumping of her footsteps as she ran back up the stairs, waiting until I heard them fade away completely before I looked up again.

I sighed, then shook my head as I let out a whistle. I put my thumb and forefinger up, holding them a few millimeters apart, putting them up to my eye and peering between them. “I was that close to seeing those fuckin big titties.” I muttered to myself. I turned to the mannequin with a smirk, then held up my thumb and forefinger to show it as well. “That close!”

I snickered as I turned to face forward again at the island. I looked at my phone, checking it to see if I had gotten any messages. I got up and casually walked out of the kitchen, through the foyer and into the living room. I was just having a look around to kill some time, but that living room was such an eyesore I decided to turn around and slowly make my way back to the kitchen.

I put my hands in my pockets as I sauntered back into the wood finished room, then I saw the mannequin again. I headed towards it, stopping about five feet away from of it.

“Why would they have this?” I wondered as I looked at it, shaking my head. For some reason, someone had taken the time to paint the eyeballs with some sort of shiny gloss, making it look extra creepy. I stood back up and sighed. “That’s fucked.” I said to myself.

I sighed and sat back down, taking my phone out. After another minute or two I heard the thumping of feet coming back down the stairs. I kept my head forward this time, in case she wasn’t dressed again.

Pinkie came back into the room, smiling as she saw me still sitting there. “The others haven’t shown up yet?” she asked in her screechy voice.

I shook my head. “Rarity and Fluttershy are clothes shopping.” I told her.” I don’t know about the others.”

Pinkie turned to me with her eyes wide. “Clothes shopping? With Rarity??” she giggled. “We probably won’t see them til next weekend!”

I chuckled and folded my arms, trying not to think about Pinkie’s bush.

She was wearing jean shorts now, and a tight white t-shirt with a big heart on the front. The shirt hugged her body tightly, showing off the little bit of pudge that she had. I had to admit, she pulled it off very well. Her waist still looked pretty small with those big cans hanging above it…they had to be about a double D. Her hair was a big curly poof again…I was wondering how she had gotten it to go from straight and flat to such a big pile of curls so quickly.

She was pulling out a large rectangular glass baking dish and setting it on the counter.

“What’s for supper?” I asked.

She looked back at me for a second with a big smile on her face. “Cheesy lasagne with extra cheese…did I mention there will be cheese?”

I smiled back. “Yeah I think heard something about some cheese…”

She giggled, then turned back to her work.

“You want some help?” I asked as I got up and started making my way around the right side of the island.

She shook her head. “No no, silly! You stay put.”

“Oh, OK.” I said, not expecting her to refuse the offer. “You sure?”

She looked at me again with that perpetual smile. “Mm-hm. I love cooking…I can’t have you stealing any of my fun!”

I put my hands up. “OK, fair enough.” I said. I stood there for a minute, looking around at the nice wood work above the cabinets. ”Nice kitchen.” I said.

“Oh thanks.” She said. “My dad did it. He just loves woodworking!”

I nodded. “He did a great job.” I said. Then I frowned, pointing over my shoulder with my thumb. “What’s with the mannequin?”

Pinkie stopped and turned to me with her eyebrows cocked, as if she didn’t know what I was talking about.

Then I heard a monotone female voice behind me. “I’m not a mannequin…”

My heart stopped for a moment as I slowly turned to look back at the mannequin, which now had its head turned to face me.

“I’m Maud.”

“Holy shit…it’s alive…”

“That’s my big sister Maud, silly!” Pinkie said, laughing hysterically. “You thought she was a mannequin?”

“I…” I started to say, turning back to Pinkie, who was clutching her stomach with laughter. “She didn’t move…” I tried to explain as I shrugged.

Pinkie started laughing harder. “You two were in the room together the whole time and you didn’t know??”

I stared at the floor, my eyes going wide as I started remembering all the things I said when I thought I was alone in there. “Oh fuck…”

I looked back at Maud, who was still in the same position. She opened her mouth again to speak in a monotone voice. “I like rocks.”

“Did she say like? Or smoke?” I thought.

I nodded to her, forcing a small smile. “Oh, that’s…that’s awesome.”

I slowly went back to my seat, wondering how this near-dead woman could possibly be Pinkie’s sister. She had gray skin and straight lavender hair and her eyes were an aqua colour…similar to Sunset’s, and she had simple eyelashes with purple eye shadow on. She was quite drab looking compared to her sister…not unattractive, just drab.

Pinkie was still getting ingredients out onto the counter as she continued to giggle about her sister and me.

Just then, the front door opened and Applejack and Rainbow Dash walked in. It was a relief to see them.

They both looked at me and smiled with excitement.

“Golds!” Dash hollered as she ran over and gave me a tight hug from the side.

“Hey, how’s it going, Rainbow?” I replied.

“Awesome, man.” She answered as she turned to Maud. “MAUD! How’s it goin??” she shouted, running over and playfully poking Maud’s belly with her index fingers.

Maud didn’t move. “Hi Rainbow Dash. How are you?” she said slowly, in a flat tone.

Dash recoiled and threw her hands up in the air. “Whoa! Slow down there, sister! What’s got you all worked up??”

Pinke spoke up. “Golds thought Maud was a mannequin!”

Dash looked at me.

I started shaking my head. “No, I…”

Rainbow Dash threw her head back, laughing so hard her voice had become a high-pitched screech…sounding more like a rusty gate being forced open. “That’s fuckin hilarious!”

AJ came and settled herself on the stool next me, chuckling as Dash continued laughing with tears in her eyes.

“Good to see ya again, sugarcube.” She said with a nod. “Looks like everythin worked out, eh?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Seems to be all back to normal.”

We turned as the front door opened again, and we saw Twilight and Sunset enter the house.

“Hey guys!” They said as they came into the kitchen and sat around the island. I wondered immediately if Twilight knew about Sunset’s new situation.

I turned to face them, trying to see if they might give me any clues, but Twilight was looking in the other direction. Sunset looked right at me immediately. She gave me a little smile, then looked away to listen to someone else talking.

Fluttershy and Rarity didn’t show up for another hour. Pinkie had the lasagne made up and put into the oven for almost forty minutes.

I almost fell off my stool when they walked in the door. Rarity was wearing a black knee-length skirt with a simple tight gray shirt that showed off her waist and nice bust. Her hair was the same style as always, which was never a bad thing.

Fluttershy was wearing tight blue jeans and a tight black v-neck shirt. The V in the neck went low…really low. It showed off a lot of cleavage…actually, more like all of it. I don’t understand how none of her bra was showing…it was a quite a sight.

I got off my stool and went over to them before they even had a chance to enter the kitchen. They both smiled at me when they saw me there, looking at them.

“Hello, darling.” Rarity greeted with a smile.

“Hey…” I said. “You two look amazing.”

I looked at Fluttershy, who had her hands folded in front of her, putting her arms in a V-shape. “You like it?” she asked quietly as she shrugged her shoulders timidly which brought her arms up, wedging her breasts together, practically squeezing them out of the shirt.

I must have been staring because Rarity’s little white hand appeared in front of my face. She was snapping her fingers at me, trying to get my attention.

“Up here, darling!” she said as Fluttershy giggled.

“Oh, right.” I said, blinking a few times. “Yeah, it’s nice.”

It wasn’t long before the lasagne was done cooking and got served up. We ate, talked and had a good time…I think. It was hard to tell with Maud. I kept an eye on her as she pulled a rock out of her pocket and set it on the table top, then set a piece of lasagne noodle in front of it. I decided to try talking to her about it to see if there was more to her than what I could see on the surface.

“Soooo, Maud…” I said slowly, trying to think of a polite way to ask her what the fuck she was doing.

“His name’s boulder.” She answered quickly, but flatly. “He’s my pet rock.”

The other girls had smiles on their faces as they watched me try to connect with the monotone woman.

“Oh,” I nodded. “So…”

“Yes, I’m feeding him.” She replied before I finished my question. Maud was surprisingly sharp for someone who seemed so brain-dead.

“Is he house broken?” I asked quickly, before she could cut me off again.

She turned and stared blankly at me. “Of course he’s house broken. I’m not a weirdo.”

I blinked a couple times, then shook my head and went back to staring at my girlfriend’s cleavage as the rest of the girls snickered.

A few minutes went by before AJ spoke. "You think there's enough fuckin cheese in this, Pinkie Pie?" she asked, stretching out a string of cheese with her fork to arm's length, then leaning forward and biting it off in the middle.

Pinkie was chewing on a mouthful of cheese like it was bubble gum. "I may have overdone it slightly..." she said with a scowl. "Sorry girls."

Dash waved her off. "Nah whatever. Being able to shit is overrated anyway." she said as AJ and Pinkie snickered.

Rarity dropped her fork onto the tabletop with a soft clang. "Oh my god, Rainbow Dash!" she cried, covering her face with both hands in disgust.

Dash covered her mouth as she laughed. "Oops, sorry Rare. Didn't mean to ruin your supper..."

Rarity sighed, then pushed her plate away then folded her arms on the table. "No no, that's OK, darling. I was just going to enjoy this." she said dryly, which made all of us laugh.

We finished up the lasagne and Pinkie brought out some of those amazing cupcakes that we had the first night I met the girls. Everyone had at least one, then settled themselves around the island, some standing, some seated on stools.

At the first pause in the chatter, Fluttershy committed the unusual act of speaking up in front of everyone. It was a rare thing to see, and everyone turned to pay attention to her.

“Um…OK, everyone…” she started, looking quite nervous. She was playing with her hair and looking down at the table.

We paused for a minute, then AJ spoke up. “You got somethin ya wanna say, Fluttershy?”

Fluttersy nodded, then took a deep breath. “Um, I’ve been thinking a lot about it…and…” she paused for a moment.

Dash finally shrugged. “Well? What’s the big fuckin news?”

“You should all become immortal!” Fluttershy blurted out, then squeezed her eyes shut.

There was utter silence in the room. She slowly opened one eye to look at everyone…what she saw was a room full of wide open mouths and eyes…except for Maud, or course.

“You…w-what?” Dash stuttered, then turned to look at me.

I was frozen in place…I couldn’t believe my girlfriend came out with such a proposal.

“Um…” Fluttershy continued… ”You all can be like m-me and Rarity…and Goldie. Then w-we’ll always be together...forever.”

Applejack rubbed the back of her neck. “Well, it’s a nice thought there, Fluttershy, but…I just don’t know about that…uh, I don’t know what to think.”

“W-what do you mean?” Fluttershy asked.

Twilight spoke up. “Well…maybe we don’t feel quite right about…you know…with your boyfriend…”

“Oh, I know…I’ve thought about that…” Fluttershy explained. “I’m OK w-with it. It’s just one time for each of you…then the reward is living forever…w-without pain or fear.”

I felt bad for my girlfriend. I knew what she was trying to do…and it was sweet, but I could tell it wasn’t going to go over very well with the group.

“Yeah but, Flutters…” Dash said. “It’s just fuckin weird. He’s your boyfriend. And I don’t know about you guys, but the 2500 year old thing kind of gets to me…”

Rarity scowled. “That has nothing to do with it! What about when I’m that old? Will that make me weird too?”

Dash raised her hand to say something, but then let it drop onto the table with a slap as she shook her head.

“It’s not a bad thing, Dashie.” Fluttershy said. “Sunset did it this week. Now, she’s got it done and over w-with and she’s set for life…”

Everyone suddenly turned to look at Sunset, who’s face was drained of its colour.

“Sunset?” AJ said, turning to the red-head. “So that’s why you‘ve been so quiet today!” the farm girl shouted, pointing at Sunset.

Sunset had her head down, with her fingers weaved into her hair, her elbows resting on the table top. “Thanks Flutters…” she mumbled, shaking her head. Then she lifted her head up to face everyone. “Yeah, I did it. After I got hurt at the bar the other week, I thought a lot about it and decided it was what I wanted. I don’t have magic that helps me fight like you guys do…”

“So, what…” Dash started. “You just texted Golds and said: ‘hey, cum in my snatch and I’ll be good to go???’”

“NO!” Sunset barked. “I went and talked to Fluttershy about it first. That was like three weeks ago…in fact, that’s why I was there when Agent Cody showed up…so technically, me doing that saved Golds and Fluttershy!”

AJ shook her head. “Sunset, him showin up that day was just a coincidence and you know it. I’m not saying you didn’t do good, but don’t use it as an excuse.”

Sunset folded her arms angrily. “An excuse for what exactly?”

“Uh, I don’t know…” Dash said sarcastically. “For sleeping around with other people’s boyfriends?”

Sunset pounded her fist on the table then pointed at Dash. “THAT’S NOT WHY I DID IT! FUCK YOU, DASH!”

“Calm down, Sunset…” AJ said, putting her hand out. She turned to Dash. “Now that’s not what I meant, so just put those kinds of thoughts aside, Rainbow…”

“GIRLS!” Fluttershy shouted, making everyone jump. She took a deep breath before she continued. “I’m not trying to be w-weird, and I know it makes you feel strange to think about it…but I wanted you to do it because I don’t want to see you all get old…and die…while I live on. I’ll really miss you guys.”

The rest of them paused, looking down at the table.

“Aw, I know what you’re sayin, sugarcube…” AJ said. “But what about my family? I don’t want to see them get old and die either...”

“B-but…” Fluttershy started.

“I know…” AJ said, closing her eyes and putting her hand up to stop the shy girl. “And it’s sweet of you to think of us, really, but I’ve already dealt with my parents passin on…I’m not keen on going through that kind of loss again. I’m afraid I’m out.”

Fluttershy had her hands over her mouth upon hearing the rejection.

“Yeah…me too.” Dash said quietly, staring down at the table top. “I can’t deal with the age thing...it's not natural. Plus, who knows where that dick has been?” she said, pointing at my crotch.

Twilight spoke up quietly. “Um, I’m not very comfortable with it either…to be honest.”

Everyone looked at Pinkie, half-expecting her to just get naked right there. She had her head low and was rubbing her arm. ”Actually, I’m with AJ…I have my sisters…I don’t want to leave them behind. I mean, Maud is sitting right there…” she pointed at her sister, who some of them turned to look at. “Sorry, Flutters.” Pinkie said, looking apologetically at her friend. It was strange for me to see her like this…it was the first time I had seen her actually being serious.

Fluttershy’s bottom lip was starting to tremble. She had put herself out there for her friends, thinking they would be grateful for the offer…and she never expected all of them to reject it. “B-but…you guys…don’t want to…?”

AJ put her head up to face her friend. “Look…it’s not that we don’t care about how you feel, sugarcube...”

The shy girl’s eyes started to tear up, and she quickly left the room sobbing. The rest of them looked remorseful as they sat around the island…except for Maud. Did nothing ever get to her?

AJ turned on her stool to look at me. “Sorry…”

I shook my head. “It’s OK. I’ll go talk to her.” I started walking out of the kitchen, then I stopped to look back at them. “Um, that wasn’t my idea…just so we’re clear.”

Dash rolled her eyes. “Yeah, whatevs.” She said in a snarky tone.

AJ scowled and backhand slapped Dash on the arm, making a loud thud that echoed around the room.

Dash started rubbing her arm with her other hand. “Ah! Fuck, AJ!” she said, looking at the farm girl with a scowl as AJ shook her head at her before looking back at me.

“We know.” She said with an understanding nod.

I left the room and looked around the house for my girlfriend. I went through the tacky living room, though a door on the far side which led to an office den of some sort. There was another door on the far side of that room which led to a back hall with two doors. One was closed, the other had a window in it, revealing the backyard beyond. As I stepped into the hall, the closed door suddenly opened and two gray skinned girls stepped out from what appeared to be a basement staircase.

One of them stayed in front of the other. She had more of a blue-ish hue to her skin and light gray hair, which hung down one side of her head and was spiked on the other. She had much anger in those dull green eyes as she stood there, looking me up and down for a moment before speaking.

“WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU AND WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE?” she growled.

I put my hands up. “Whoa! I’m, uh Pinkie’s friend…I was just looking for Fluttershy. Have you seen her?”

She raised an eyebrow while keeping her face in a threatening expression. “No, I haven’t seen her…she’s probably around here somewhere…just stay the FUCK out of the basement!” She growled again as she walked past me to the office room that I just came out of.

The other girl actually reminded me a lot of Fluttershy. She was still standing there, pulling her shoulders into herself timidly as she looked down at the floor; she had lighter gray skin and long, gray striped hair that covered half of her face, allowing me to see only one of her purple eyes.

“Uhh...hey,” I greeted awkwardly, unsure of what else to do.

“Mmmmmm-hm!” was literally the only sound she made.

She jumped suddenly as the angry girl’s voice rang out from the other room behind me. “MARBLE! Get the lead out!” she hollered, prompting the gray-skinned girl to scurry past me to join her sister.

I shook my head, thinking about how unusual Pinkie’s family was turning out to be. I found it odd that they were all at home, maybe they had a family thing going on later or something…Maud had to be about thirty, and the angry bitch must have been around the same age. Surely they didn’t all still live at home?

I resumed the search for my girlfriend, deciding it best that I stay out of the basement for the time being, based on the subtle hint I got from Pinkie’s sister. There had been no sign of Fluttershy yet, until I looked out through the window in the back door and found her alone in the backyard on a large bench swing. She was sitting here alone, looking off into the distance.

I went outside through the door and walked through the backyard, approaching the swing. I stood there and looked at her. She had shiny streaks on her cheeks where her tears had been running.

“You mind if I sit with you?” I asked.

She didn’t move.

I sighed, then slowly sat down beside her, folding my hands on my lap. “I’m sorry that didn’t go the way you thought it would.” I said.

She didn’t respond.

I sighed while I looked around the yard. There was a breeze that kicked up at that moment, rustling the trees up as I looked back at her. Some of her hair blew across her face and stuck to the wet tear tracks.

I reached over and cleared the hairs from her cheek. “Look, it’s a lot for them to think about. Just give it time and let them mull it over. Maybe they’ll come around.”

She turned and looked at me. “What if they don’t?” she asked with a sniffle.

I looked at the grass below us for a second, then back at her. “Then we have to respect their decision. We can’t force them into it.”

She turned away again with fresh tears going down her cheeks.

“I know it’s hard.” I said. “I’ve lost many good friends.” I sighed, looking off into the trees. “It’s just part of the game.”

We sat for a few minutes while she silently wept. She finally seemed to stop after a while, wiping her tears away.

I put my hand on her thigh over the tight jeans. “You look beautiful today…”

She slowly turned and looked blankly at me.

I took my hand off of her. “Sorry. Bad time.”

She sniffled. “It’s OK. Thank you.”

I ran my fingers through her hair for a few minutes. She finally turned to me again. “I’m not a good fighter…”

I was caught off guard by her statement. “What? Yes you are…”

She shook her head. “No…Rarity’s doing so much better than me…she’s stronger…she has her weapons…and she’s fearless. I can’t even stop myself from flinching…and that was supposed to be lesson one.”

I wasn’t sure what to say. It was true that Rarity was doing better, but Fluttershy had made some great progress as well.

“You’re doing very well. Don’t worry about how Rarity is doing. Just worry about you. Comparing yourself to others isn’t always a good thing…” I said. “Just keep doing what you’re doing. I’m proud of what you’ve done so far.”

“Can you go back into the house?” she asked suddenly.

I sat there, stunned that she told me to go away. She’d never done it before.

“I just wanna be alone.” She said, with another fresh tear streaming down her cheek.

I nodded and slowly got up to walk back to the house.

*****

Inside, some of the girls were sitting in the kitchen and some were in the tacky living room. Sunset was standing in the living room, looking at the picture over the fireplace.

Dash and AJ were sitting on the couch watching her.

I came in and sat on the couch next to Dash, still thinking about Fluttershy.

“How is she?” AJ asked me.

“She just needs a little time.” I replied, staring at the floor.

“Sorry about what I said in there.” Dash said. “About you being old and weird...”

I shook my head. “It’s fine. I get it.” Then I pointed at Sunset. “That’s who you really should be apologizing to.”

Sunset turned and looked at me.

Dash looked at her and sighed. “Yeah…” she rubbed the back of her neck. “I didn’t mean that, Sunset…I’m just a dick sometimes. Sorry.”

Sunset smiled faintly. “It’s OK.” She turned to face Rarity as she entered the room with a tea.

Sunset took a deep breath. “So Rare…are you guys gonna take me out to Riverfield?”

Rarity and I looked at each other with surprise.

“How did you know about that?” Rarity asked, turning back to the red-head. “Have you been reading our minds and not telling us?” she said, raising an eyebrow.

“No…” Sunset put her hands up. “Well, actually yeah…but it was an accident. At the restaurant…as we were leaving, you bumped into me on the way out the door.”

Rarity sighed, looking down at her tea, then at me.

I shrugged. “I guess.” I said. “Great, Sunset will almost certainly be a better fighter than Fluttershy too…that won’t help her confidence much...”

They were quiet for a moment, then Dash finally asked. “Uh…what’s Riverfield?”

Rarity smiled at Dash. “Well, Golds has been taking us out to an isolated spot in the woods behind Flutterhy’s…and he’s been teaching us how to fight.”

“What??” Dash chuckled. “You and Fluttershy?”

“I wanna see what goes on out there.” Sunset said. “I bet I can teach you guys a thing or two.”

Rarity tipped her head back. “HA!” she laughed as she pointed at me with the teacup that she had her index finger hooked through the handle of. “Do you have even the slightest idea of what this man is capable of?” she said, setting the teacup back onto the saucer that she was holding in her other hand.

“Oh, I can imagine,” Sunset started, “But-“

“But nothing, darling. I am positive there is nothing you can bring to the table. Golds is an excellent teacher. I’ve already learned so much.” Rarity said, taking another sip of her tea.

Sunset put her eyebrows up. “Oh yeah? Care to show me?”

“Oh god…” Dash put her face in her hand.

“Sunset! Stand down this instant!” Rarity scolded.

Sunset shrugged. “What? It’s not like we can hurt each other.”

“We’ll spill tea on Pinkie’s rug.” Rarity said as an excuse.

I pinched the bridge of my nose with my thumb and forefinger. “Pinkie’s rug…”

Sunset put her fists up and started hopping around.

When she was in high school, during the time that she was planning on taking over our world, she had met an old man not long after she arrived here, before she had anywhere to live. He owned the boxing club in Canterlot and had found Sunset behind his building, huddling up for warmth on all fours behind a dumpster. He felt bad for her and let her inside to keep warm.

He decided let her stay there on the condition that she cleaned the gym up when they closed, which she did for a few weeks until she started using the speed bags at night as well as the other training equipment. When there were athletes there, she would occasionally spar with them…and after a few months she got pretty tough.

Once she started going to Canterlot High School, she used what she’d learned there to bully the other students and had roughed up quite a few of the girls at the school, as well as a few of the boys. When the boxing club owner found out about what she was doing, he kicked her out. She wasn’t really cleaning up anymore anyway, which was part of the deal for her to stay there. All it really accomplished, however, was pissing her off even more…sending her right back to the school to continue her abuse of the other students.

It had been a few years since Sunset Shimmer had thrown her fists in a fight, but to her, it was like riding a bike. She was pretty sure she had never fought any of her current friends before, and she admittedly felt weird calling the fashionista on in Pinkie’s living room.

Like she said, she couldn’t hurt Rarity. Nor could Rarity hurt her. It was just harmless fun. Sunset was actually a bit excited to show her friends and especially me the skills she had taught herself in that boxing club night after night. She was confident she could easily get plenty of hits in on Rarity, who had only been training with me for a few weeks.

“Come on, Rarity. Just one round. Put the tea down.” Sunset taunted.

“I refuse.” Rarity said, taking another sip.

Sunset hopped closer and lunged a bit with her shoulder to fake out the fashionista, who didn’t react in the slightest. Sunset was a little caught off guard by the failed attempt at intimidation…Rarity must not have been paying attention, she figured.

“Now don’t break anything, you guys…” AJ cautioned.

Rarity was still holding the tea with one finger through the handle in her left hand and the saucer in the right hand. She was standing in front of the couch with me, AJ and Dash watching.

Sunset was on the left, facing the indigo-haired girl. She decided to let Rarity have it. She closed in and threw a jab with her left, then a hard right hook, followed by a left hook then an uppercut from the right.

Rarity leaned to the right, missing the jab…then she leaned back, letting the right hook pass by her face. She tossed the saucer to Dash to free up her right hand as he dodged the left hook then caught Sunset’s right wrist as she came in for the final swing. Rarity spun around on the right side of Sunset, twisting her arm behind her back, then used the heel of her left foot to sweep Sunset’s legs out from under her. The red-head went down face-first, landing flat on her stomach, rattling the whole house as she hit the floor. Rarity was standing over Sunset with her feet apart, bent down, still holding Sunset’s arm behind her back. She still had her left index finger looped through the teacup handle…and not one drop of tea ever got spilled.

Everyone heard an angry voice from upstairs and looked up to the ceiling as they listened to it. “WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT??”

Rarity answered back. “Sorry Limestone, darling! Sunset seems to have tripped herself…”

“Oh…” the growly voice answered back. “Well, just make sure you guys stay the FUCK out of the basement!”

I shook my head as Rarity took another sip of her tea, then swallowed it as she looked back down at Sunset. “Do you yield, darling?”

Sunset sighed against the floor. “Yeah, Rare…do I really have a choice?”

“I’m afraid not.” Rarity replied.

Dash and AJ were speechless as Rarity helped Sunset up to her feet. I had a grin on my face. “Nice moves, Rarity…”

“Uh, what the fuck just happened?” Dash asked, chuckling in disbelief, still holding the plate that Rarity had tossed to her during the fight.

Sunset looked at me with a red face. “I guess I’ll see you out there…looks like I’ve got some learning to do.”

I got up from the couch. “Yep, I’ll see you there.”

I went to the back door to check on my girlfriend, who was still sitting in the swing in the same spot. I sighed as I watched her. She had the ability to do what Rarity just did…she just needed the confidence. I knew she had it in her somewhere…

Just then, a pair of white hands grabbed me by the shoulders…I turned around to see Rarity. “Oh my goodness, darling! Did you see what I did?? That was so exhilarating!!” She brought her lips up to mine and kissed me hard…her tongue came into my mouth and swept around excitedly as she wrapped her arms around the back of my neck, pressing her body against mine.

She separated the kiss, excitedly breathing at what she’d just done. “I didn’t know I could do that!”

I nodded. “Yeah, you did really good. It was amazing.”

She turned for the door. “I have to tell Fluttershy…”

“No!” I grabbed her arm to stop her.

Rarity looked at me, stunned.

“She’s not feeling good…just give her some space.” I said quietly.

Rarity sighed. “The poor dear. She’s still upset about what happened in the kitchen?” she asked.

“Yeah, and she’s also down on herself about her training…she thinks she’s not doing as well as you.” I explained.

Rarity put her fingers over her mouth and looked outside at her friend. “But that’s nonsense…she’s making wonderful progress.”

I nodded. “I know, but she doesn’t think so.”

We both looked outside at the shy girl for a moment before Rarity turned to me. “Why don’t you take her home, darling?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I’ll see if she’ll go.”

I walked out to Fluttershy, asking her if she wanted to leave. She nodded quietly and got up to walk around the house to the front yard.

I went into the house again to say goodbye, to which I got a sombre farewell from everyone in return.

Out front, Fluttershy was leaning with her back against the passenger door of my truck. I walked over and unlocked it and we got in. After starting the engine, I looked over at her. She was looking out the passenger window.

“Hey,” I said.

She slowly turned to face me. Her eyes were wet and blank looking.

“It’s gonna be OK. We’ll get everything figured out. I promise.” I said, reaching across the seat to her. She looked at my hand and eventually reached out to hold it, lacing her fingers together with mine and squeezing gently.

Chapter 37: The Fundraiser

Chapter 37

A week had passed since the night with the two girls. Life went on as usual, going out to train in the middle of the night every few days and going to work during the day like other normal people. It was always a slow time at my work in the middle of the summer, so I was able to leave work early fairly often to go visit Fluttershy at the shelter before we headed home…and on occasion, I would even go see Rarity some days if I got out early enough.

They were always happy to see me when I showed up, and I enjoyed watching them struggle to maintain their professionalism in front of their co-workers and customers…it was obvious by the looks in their eyes that they wanted to wrap their arms around me and kiss me like there was no tomorrow when they saw me walk in their door.

They were no different with each other, sometimes one would visit the other after work before they headed home for the night…on one occasion, Fluttershy came home an hour later than usual, and after a bit of prying she finally told me that she’d gotten Rarity to close up a few minutes early so they could spend almost an hour in the back room getting hot and heavy with each other.

It didn’t bother me at all, in fact I thought it was cute that they were a bit like Fluttershy and me when we first got together…not that it was much different now anyway. That’s not to say, however, that I didn’t find it strange…not in a bad way, I just wasn’t sure what to make of a situation like this. The two of them being intimate without me around never made me jealous in any way, mostly because I knew very well that they both felt the same way about me as they did for each other, and they both knew how I felt about them. It was no secret that I loved Fluttershy as much as a person possibly could, but I also knew, even though I hadn’t said it to either of them yet, that I loved Rarity as well…and it didn’t take a mind reader like Sunset to know that she loved me back, just as she did Fluttershy.

It was now Thursday, and not a single car had rolled into the parking lot at the shop for hours and the old man finally told me I might as well call it a day, so I hopped into my truck and headed for the animal shelter to see my girlfriend. I didn’t bother to check my phone as I left, so I didn’t see the text she had sent me.

When I walked into the place, I met her business partner in the front room, examining a young kitten on the table that looked like it had been mauled by something out in the wild. He greeted me, then directed me to Fluttershy’s office when I asked where she was after he and I had some small talk with each other for a moment.

I walked along the back hall amongst the empty ages stacked along the walls to her office, then opened the door to find her seated behind her paper-covered desk, leaning on the desktop with her face in her hands.

I paused when I saw her, noticing that something seemed wrong. “Hey…you OK?” I asked, as I closed the door behind me.

She looked up suddenly, she had a look of worry in her eyes for a second before she realized I was there, then she got up and came around the desk to wrap me in her arms in a tight hug.

I hugged her back for a second, wondering why she looked so worried. “What’s up?” I asked her.

She didn’t move for a moment, then she finally loosened her grip on me and looked into my eyes. “Um, w-we’re doing a fundraiser…Jeff and I talked about it…to be able to pay for some new equipment that he needs and w-we’re going to renovate the back room into a proper O.R. so he can do more invasive medical interventions on the animals that n-need it.”

Fluttershy’s partner, Jeff, was a licensed veterinarian who had graduated a few years prior to buying the shelter in partnership with her. His love of animals, which was just as strong to hers, was the reason he decided to leave his previous position and take on the less lucrative job of caring for the homeless and injured animals of Canterlot.

The shelter was not equipped to handle major surgeries or interventions for animals that arrived in poor condition, and as a result, many had been lost due to the fact that they had to transport the animal to an actual veterinarian to be looked after. Jeff had high hopes to equip the shelter with the items necessary to avoid having to send out animals, reducing the risk of further unnecessary loss of life…something that always broke Fluttershy’s heart when it happened.

“Well, that’s great.” I replied. “You guys will be able to-“

She shook her head. “He suggested that my high school got involved to help with the f-fundraiser by having the students sell candy b-bars or something…and he called the school already, w-without me knowing…”

I nodded. “Uh-huh…”

“And they w-want us to do at presentation at an assembly…” she continued.

“Yeah, well that’s great that they’re willing to help.” I said, noticing her eyes getting wider.

“They w-want…me to do it.” She said quietly.

I looked at her for a minute before I realized what her problem was. “They want you?...to do a talk in front of the whole school?”

She nodded frantically, her pupils shrinking into little dots.

“Why can’t Jeff do it since it was his idea?” I asked, starting to feel nervous for her. I knew how shy she was…the thought of doing this must have had her petrified.

She shook her head. “Jeff wants me to do it because I w-went to school there…and Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna want me to do it too…”

I scowled at the name Celestia. “Isn’t that the name that Sunset mentioned while we were having sex with her? Why in the hell would she be talking about her old Principal during that?”

“I’m SO nervous…” she said, snapping me out of my thoughts. “I’ll b-be…in front of everyone…t-talking…” she whispered, her voice getting higher with each word. “Th-the very thought of standing up in front of all those students makes me so...so...EEP!”

I chewed my bottom lip as I thought about my girlfriend’s dilemma, looking at her desk as she rested her head on my shoulder again, noticing all of the papers that covered her workstation…it was so different seeing her here, at home she was such a light-hearted and kind individual, as well as a borderline sex addict behind the scenes, but here, she had so many responsibilities. It was unusual for me to see her at that desk, signing forms, paying bills, writing memos, reading legal documents…I knew I had to do something to help her calm down. She had so much on her plate here already without having to deal with something like standing in front of nine hundred students…all listening to her every word.

I needed help. I could teach her to be a killing machine like it was nothing, but things like this weren’t my forte. I pulled out my phone as I kissed her on the temple, looking down my side, typing with one hand.

ME: Hey, is it OK for me and Flutters to stop by in a bit? RARITY: Sure thing! Are you two up for another round again after last week? ME: No actually, Flutters has a problem. RARITY: What is the matter? ME: Too much for me to text. We'll talk when we get there. RARITY: OK, I will be home very soon. See you then! Ta-ta! ME: Later.

I started to put my phone in my pocket, then I paused for a moment as a smirk appeared on my face. Then I started typing again.

ME: Actually, stand-by on the sex...let's not rule anything out. RARITY: LOL, you devil. ;)

After wrapping up a few more things on her desk, Fluttershy and I hopped in my truck and headed for Rarity’s. She sat in the middle seat, resting her head on my shoulder, like we did that day we headed home from the beach…the same day the girls all found out about my long, long past. I was thinking about that day as we drove to Rarity’s, not even considering how the evening ahead was about to play out.

*****

Once we got to Rarity’s, we explained the situation to her. She listened intently, showing genuine concern for her friend’s worries. I knew Rarity would be the person to see; she could calm Fluttershy down better than I ever could. She’d known her longer and understood how the shy girl felt, and she seemed to be able to get her in a place of comfort with relative ease.

“When is this presentation, darling?” Rarity asked, sitting in her big purple chair in the front room.

Fluttershy and I were sitting on the couch. “Um, it’s the second week of school…”

Rarity daintily waved her hand. “Oh my, darling! That’s over a month from now, you’ll have plenty of time to prepare.”

Fluttershy rubbed her arm as she let her head hang down, her hair hiding her face. “How am I going to prepare for this? I can barely talk to a single stranger, let alone in front of the whole school…”

“Pish posh, darling! You are going to be brilliant! Think of it as part of your training, anything that you can learn to overcome will only make you stronger.” Rarity said, trying to bolster her friend’s confidence.

Fluttershy looked up at her.

Rarity shifted to one side of her chair, then patted the space next to her. “Come sit here.” She said.

Fluttershy slowly got up and squeezed into the chair next to the fashionista. Rarity wrapped her arms around the shy girl, planting a big kiss on her cheek, then nuzzling their cheeks together. Fluttershy giggled a bit as she closed her eyes, enjoying the embrace of her friend.

Rarity started whispering to Fluttershy. I had to lean in to hear what she was saying. “Just imagine, Fluttershy…all those young boys will be looking at a gorgeous lady like you up there…you’re going to have them all so hot and bothered…”

Fluttershy giggled more as Rarity continued. “They’ll be listening to your sweet voice…looking at your long legs…my goodness, there won’t be a soft cock in that entire gymnasium, darling… “

I shook my head. “Wow, what a tactic.”

"When that assembly is done," Rarity continued, "all those boys are gonna rush out of there to the bathrooms to bust one off into the toilets..."

Fluttershy let out a high pithed giggle like I've never heard her do before. She was blushing darkly now, too. “Oh Rare, you’re so crazy sometimes…”

“Do you feel better?” Rarity asked, to which Fluttershy nodded. “Would you like some of that raspberry lemon kombucha?”

Fluttershy looked excited. “Oh! You got some more?”

Rarity nodded, then turned to me. “Oh Golds, darling; could you be a dear and bring your lovely girlfriends each a glass of the pink kombucha that’s in my fridge, please?”

I smiled at her. “Sure…you got her calmed down. You’ve earned it.” I got up and headed up the stairway in the corner to the upper hall that led to her kitchen. As I walked, my eyebrows furrowed at bit as I thought about something she just said. “Did she just say girlfriends? As in plural?” I cocked an eyebrow as I rounded the corner into her kitchen. I got two glasses out of the cupboard and set them on the counter, then opened the fridge, looking for whatever-the-hell-that-shit-was-called.

I found a large plastic jug full of pink liquid with a twist-on top. I picked it up by the lid to take it out of the fridge, but as soon as I had it past the shelf, the lid -- which was only screwed on about half a turn -- came off, letting the jug fall to the tile floor.

“Damn it, Rare!” I whispered, as I bent down to pick up the jug and began to fill both of the glasses.

I could hear something splattering on the ground, so I turned to look, finding a steady stream of the juice dripping from the jug. I frowned and lifted it above my head to look at the bottom, and sure enough, it was cracked from the fall.

The liquid immediately started running down my arm, inside my shirt and down into my armpit before I could quickly lower the jug again. “Aw! Fuck sakes,” I cursed, setting the jug in the sink to continue leaking itself away.

I picked up the glasses and brought them back to the front room to the girls, already starting to feel my hands and arm getting sticky from the juice that had leaked all over me. I handed them the glasses when I got back to the chair.

Fluttershy started to sip the beverage as Rarity scowled at the feel of the sticky glass in her hand.

“Why is the glass so sticky, darling?” she asked, switching the glass to her other hand and brushing her fingertips together.

“That shit’s all over my hand, the jug started leaking after I dropped it on the floor.” I replied, starting to turn to go back to clean up the mess.

Rarity’s eyes went wide as she gasped. “You dropped it? How did you manage that?”

I turned back to her. “Next time, put the lid on tight! Don’t just set it on.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh darling, just be more careful next time,” she giggled.

I shrugged. “That’s fine. It’s your loss, not mine.”

Rarity paused. “What do you mean? How much is left?”

“Probably none.” I answered. “ Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to clean up your kitchen…then I gotta this crap outta my armpit.” I turned to head back to the kitchen.

Fluttershy started laughing softly at me as Rarity raised her eyebrows.

“There’s none left?? Darling, that stuff is very expensive!” she complained.

I turned back around, making a twisting motion with my wrist. “Put the lid on tight then! You're immortal, you should know better...”

“Don’t worry, Rare…I’ll get you some more.” Fluttershy promised, giving me a wink.

Rarity waved her off. “Oh it’s OK, sweetie…I was only kidding. I like giving him a hard time, since he likes giving them to me so much.” she said with a giggle and a wink as I looked back at her.

I turned back and headed back up the short staircase.

“Thanks for the drink…” Fluttershy called out softly.

“Yes, thank you darling!” Rarity followed.

“No problem.” I replied from the upper hall. “Except for the problem…”

I cleaned up the kitchen with some wet towels, then headed for Rarity’s bathroom, which was through the doorway just beside the kitchen area. I had to take my shirt off and use a wash cloth to clean the sticky substance off of me, which proved to be quite stubborn, especially in my armpit. I was half considering just hopping on the shower, but I figured all the grime from being at work would end up all over Rarity’s spotless tub, which would probably cause her to have a giant shit-fit, so I just continued with the wet cloth as the girls sat in the front room, giggling and enjoying their beverages.

It probably took me almost twenty minutes to get satisfactorily clean…if there’s one thing I hate, it’s being sticky. There’s no immortality against that. I was just putting my shirt back on, hoping it wouldn’t be too sticky when I got a message on my phone. I reached into my pocket to take the device out when I got a second message.

“Whoa, slow down…” I thought as I looked at the screen.

FLUTTERSHY: Do it.

I furrowed my eyebrows as I stared at the message. “What?” Then I looked at the other message.

RARITY: Go for it.

I tilted my head. “What the hell?” I whispered out loud as I grabbed the doorknob to open the door. “Those probably weren't supposed to be for me...” I thought as I opened the bathroom door to head back to the front room to ask them about the messages.

When I went to step out of the bathroom, I looked up from my phone and was caught off guard by one of the other girls standing in the hall. I looked at her for a second before I snapped myself out of the surprise of seeing her there.

“Uh…Hi.” I finally said. “I didn’t know you were here…”

She smiled somewhat nervously. “Yeah…I got here like fifteen minutes ago.” She explained.

I nodded, then I started wondering why she was standing by the door like that. I pointed with my thumb over my shoulder into the bathroom. “Did you need in here?”

Her eyebrows went up as she shook her head quickly. “Oh, uh…no. I’m actually here to see you.”

“Me?” I frowned in confusion.

She fidgeted with her fingers a bit as she spoke. “I was talking to Fluttershy just now…about what she said at dinner a few weeks ago.”

I shook my head. “Which dinner?”

She took a deep breath. “When she was talking about us all becoming immortal…and we all said no...”

I stared at her. “Right…”

She shrugged innocently. “I kind of…changed my mind…”

I suddenly felt butterflies in my stomach. “…You have GOT to be kidding me…”

*Chapter 38: You Want WHAT?

Chapter 38

I stood there in Rarity’s bathroom doorway, staring in shock at the girl. I finally blinked a couple of times before shaking my head. “You changed your mind?...”

She nodded. “Yeah, well…actually no, I didn’t.”

I raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“I wanted to do it then too…but I didn’t want to say it in front of everyone else…especially when they all were saying no.” she explained as she started walking into the bathroom towards me.

I backed up a few steps, allowing her to enter the room. She closed the door behind her, then leaned against it with her back.

“Um…” I said slowly, not knowing what to do.

“It’s OK. I talked to Fluttershy about it. She was happy to hear it…” she explained.

I suddenly thought about the strange messages I had just gotten on my phone. “Oh, yeah…that’s probably what the texts I just got from her and Rarity meant…telling me to do it.” I said, looking above her head at the door as I spoke, unable to make eye contact with her.

She tilter her head tilted slightly as she cocked her eyebrow. “Rarity??”

I stopped. “Oh, uh…”

She folded her arms. “What’s going on with you guys?” she asked in a serious tone. “I saw her kiss you that day by the back door when Fluttershy was outside…”

I sighed. “I’m not sure, to be honest.” I said, shaking my head. “Fluttershy and I love her…and she loves us…”

She sighed, chewing her lip. “Rarity and Fluttershy love each other too?”

I nodded.

“Hm…” she rubbed her chin. “I’ve always thought there was something going on between those two…even back in high school. I kind of thought it would finally blow over once you came along and hit it off with Fluttershy…but I guess it didn’t.” she mumbled to herself, then looked at me. “So, all three of you are…in love with each other?”

I shrugged. “I guess…I don’t really know what else to say about it. We haven’t really discussed it with each other…we’ve just been, kind of like, rolling with it…I’ve never really been involved in something like this before…whatever you wanna call it.” I confessed awkwardly, scratching my temple.

“Polyamory…” she said, using her index finger to push her glasses back up to the bridge of her nose.

“Huh?” I mumbled, caught off guard by the word.

“Polyamory.” She repeated. “The philosophy or state of being in love or romantically involved with more than one person at a time.”

I looked at her for a moment before giving her a small nod. “Right…yeah.”

She fidgeted a bit, wanting to bring the conversation back to her. “Well…I’m glad they’re both OK with me…you know…”

I drew in a breath, remembering again why we were there in the first place. “Oh, yeah…that.”

She put her hand up, blushing a bit. “I’m not interested in you romantically…just so you know.” She explained quickly. “But, I think you and your…um, condition?...are very fascinating. And your whole life…I mean, all the history that I’ve read about in school…you were there the whole time. That’s…amazing to me.”

“Yeah…” I nodded, then I tipped my head humbly to one side. “Well, not the whole time.” I said.

“You know what I mean.” She replied with a smile. “But anyway…I want to be like that. I want to see what the future has to hold. What technologies we’ll develop and the discoveries we’ll make, what races from other worlds we will eventually encounter…I want to be there for all of it.”

I shook my head, waving her off a bit. “Aw, this planet’s been getting visitors for as long as I can remember…”

Her eyes suddenly got wide. “What? Really??”

“Oh yeah.” I nodded. “But anyway, yeah, I see what you’re getting at.” I said, trying not to let the conversation stray too far.

“Hm…” she mumbled, rubbing her chin. “That’s interesting…” she said, still thinking about what I’d said earlier. Then she looked at me with her purple eyes, bringing herself back again to what she was there for. “OK, well anyway…I told Fluttershy that I wasn’t interested in any of her three-way shenanigans…I’m not here for pleasure or romance or sexual conquest, I just need you to leave a deposit of your ejaculate in my vagina so I can become immortal like you guys. She was OK with it. If it means I’m going to be around with you guys forever, she said she’s fine with whatever.”

I put my finger up. “They’re not shenanigans, first of all…” I informed her. “Secondly, there’s a little more to it than just ‘leaving a deposit’, like going to bank machine…”

She scowled a bit. “I know that…I’m not a virgin.”

I shook my head. “That’s not what I meant…” I said.

“It’s OK…” she said. “Look, we’re just going to have a quickie, OK? Nothing fancy, no romance, no kissing…nothing like that.”

“Well aren’t you just a barrel of monkeys…” I thought. “OK, quickie it is.” I said. “How do you want to do it?”

“Well…” she said, looking down at herself. “Jeez, what was I thinking, wearing these?”

She was wearing a dark green button up shirt that she had kept untucked from her blue-jeans. She adjusted her glasses again as she chewed her bottom lip, looking at her clothing. “I should have worn a skirt…it would have made for much easier access.”

“Yeah, probably. “ I nodded.

She took a deep breath, shrugging her shoulders. “Oh well…might as well just take these down.” She said, unbuttoning her jeans, then unzipping them, revealing a pair of light blue panties underneath.

She pulled the jeans…and the underwear…down to her knees suddenly, then leaned with her back against Rarity’s vanity. “I can lay on the vanity right here and we can use the Viennese oyster position. Your penis will be in preferential contact with the anterior wall of my vagina and will result in the ejaculate being deposited closer to the opening of the cervix...” she said, before turning around and bending over the vanity slightly, showing me her little round lavender ass, which was only half covered by her shirt. “Or, while in the rear-entry position, it’s in preferential contact with the posterior wall of the vagina and probably reaches the posterior fornix.”

I put both my hands on top of my head, lacing my fingers together. “I don’t even know what the hell you’re talking about right now…” I said, letting out a long exhale. “It sounds like English, but…” Then, after a pause, I put my hands out in front of me. “Look, you’ve already exposed yourself…quit fuckin around and just take your pants the rest of the way off so you can move around freely.”

She turned around to face me again, thinking for a second before she nodded. “OK, fine. Sorry, I was getting a bit carried away there…” she said, shoving her jeans down to her ankles, then bending her left knee up, letting her foot slip out of the pants, then lifting her right foot up to her left knee and bending down slightly, using her hands to pull the jeans off her other foot. She then stood up and folded the jeans up, neatly setting them on the toilet seat lid.

“OK…” she said, leaning with her back against the vanity, using her hands to boost herself up to sit her bare ass on the counter top. She gasped a bit as her skin touched the cold material. “Ooh! That’s cold…” she squeaked with a soft chuckle before she leaned back a bit and spread her thighs apart, completely exposing herself to me.

“Welp…” I thought to myself. “That’s what Twilight’s pussy looks like…”

She had dark blue hair above it. The edges weren’t trimmed, but it appeared to have been cut down to a short length, probably about a quarter inch at most. It didn’t look bad at all really…she didn’t appear to have had much hair to begin with so she had it pretty easy in that department. As she spread her legs apart, I could see her pink fleshy folds present themselves to me from in between those plump lavender lips…

I pointed at her crotch. “You know you can’t groom once you turn, right?”

She nodded. “Yeah, Sunset told me all about that. I have everything the way I want it. Thanks for checking, though.”

“No problem.” I replied.

She looked up at me for a second with somewhat of a sheepish look on her face. I was fairly surprised by her forwardness, she had struck me as being more of a bashful, prudish type of person…although she did seem to be treating this situation as if it was some kind of business exchange, so maybe that was a way to make it easier for her to proceed without being nervous.

“OK, come closer…” she said, reaching out with one of her hands.

I stepped closer to her, positioning myself between her legs as she reached down with her hand and started rubbing the front of my pants. My body responded quickly, rising to attention as it started to push back against the movement of her palm.

“Wow, that was easy.” She said with a satisfied smirk on her face. “Although I guess that would be the natural reaction to direct stimulation…”

I nodded. ‘Yep, happens every time.” I said in agreement.

She brought her other hand down to start undoing my pants, then she reached inside to pull it out. Her eyes widened when she saw it there, protruding out towards her, still not even completely hard yet. “Oh wow,” she said, adjusting her glasses with her thumb and forefinger. “That is…significant.”

I shrugged, scratching the back of my head bashfully. “It’s OK, I guess. I’ve been told it gets the job done.”

Twilight looked up at me for a moment with her mouth open a bit, then she blinked a couple of times as she gathered her thoughts again, then she took a deep breath before she spoke. “OK, let’s do this.”

“Sure.” I nodded. “Are you sure you’re ready?” I asked as I hooked my hands under her knees to hold her legs up at my sides.

She nodded. “Yes.” She replied as she unbuttoned the bottom half of her shirt so it would hang down at her sides rather than getting in the way and ending up with sex juices on it.

I moved myself towards her, pressing my tip against her soft, warm entrance. She reached down, grasping my erection and wiggling it around to find the sweet spot where it would slide into her…but it seemed to be a difficult proposition. I watched her face as she looked at the ceiling, concentrating hard with her tongue sticking out slightly as she continued to probe my tip around against her flesh.

I finally shook my head. “You’re not ready…”

She glared at me suddenly, presumably thinking I meant she wasn’t ready to become immortal.

“You need to, uh…pre-heat the oven a little more.” I said, backing away from her for a moment.

Twilight put her finger up. “I had considered the possibility of this happening.” She said. “So before I came over, I did some research on quickies…”

“You did what?” I asked, shaking my head at her.

“My original plan was to engage in sexual fantasy on my way over so I would be ready with adequate lubrication by the time I got here…” she said, blushing a bit while rubbing the back of her neck. “But I was kind of nervous and I forgot to do it.”

“It’s OK,” I started. “We can just-“

“There’s also cunnilingus…” she said, shrugging bashfully.

“Uh…” I said with a pause. “I…kind of have to be in the right head space for that…and you kind of blind-sided me with this whole thing…”

Her eyebrows went up as she nodded. “Oh…yeah, that’s fine. I understand…” she said. “That might be a bit too far on the affectionate side anyway…kind of like kissing.”

“Uh, it’s not quite like kissing.” I replied.

She cocked an eyebrow. “How do you mean?”

“Well,” I explained. “You would kiss your Grandmother, but…”

She stared at me for a second before she suddenly cringed. “Oh god! Why would you bring that up??”

I shook my head quickly. “I don’t know…you’re right. That wasn’t helpful…” I said. Then I shrugged. “We could just spit on it…”

Twilight scrunched her nose at me. “Spit on it?” she said before shaking her head. “No, that never came up in any of my research…”

I slapped my hand on my forehead and started to turn away.

She reached out and grabbed my shirt to stop me. “Wait! Look, it’s OK.” she said. “There’s always plan C...”

I closed my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose with my thumb and forefinger. “What is plan C?”

She hopped off the vanity top and stepped pants-less over to her jeans, rummaging through the pockets, then finally pulled out a small white tube and held it up for me. “Plan C.” she said, presenting the tube of KY Jelly to me.

I shrugged. “That’ll work.”

She smiled and went back to the vanity, hopping back up to her original position with her legs open. She twisted the lid off of the lube and squeezed a small bead into her slit, then spread it around with her finger. She looked up at me next. “Did you want some?”

“Sure, why not?” I said casually.

She proceeded to squeeze out a bead of the lubricant along the entire length of my semi-hard erection, then she frowned as she held the tube up beside her, looking down at her handy work. She blushed a bit as we locked eyes with each other for a moment, then we both snorted and started laughing.

“It’s not a fuckin hot dog…” I chuckled.

She was laughing hard with embarrassment, covering her mouth with her hand. “I don’t know why I did it like that!” she giggled, setting the tube down on the vanity beside her. “Here, let me fix it for you.”

She wrapped her hand around my erection, spreading the lube all over it, then she slowly stroked me with her hand, sending a wave of sensation through me as her fingers danced over the head, causing me to become fully hardened in her grasp.

“Oh wow, you responded well to that…” she said. “I think we’re ready for this.” She took her hand off of me then looked at it, unsure of what to do with the lube that was all over it.

“Here…” I said, handing her the wet wash cloth I’d used earlier.

She wiped her hand off, then set the cloth aside. “OK.” She said, leaning back on her hands as I lifted her legs up again, positioning myself between her thighs.

I was a lot harder this time, so I knew it was going to work well, especially with all the lube spread all over us both. I touched my tip between her fleshy pink creases, ready to push with butterflies starting in my stomach as I thought about the fact that I was about to be inside another one of these girls, then she stopped me again…

“Oh, wait!” She reached up and started taking off her glasses. “I’m just going to take these off…” she said, setting them down on the vanity beside her. “I just don’t want to see your face while we’re doing this.”

I scowled. “What’s wrong with my face??” I asked.

She quickly shook her head. “Nothing, it’s just…you’re with Fluttershy. Seeing who you are is going to keep reminding me of that.”

I looked up at the row of lights above Rarity’s mirror, realizing what she meant. “Right, makes sense.” I said as I looked back down at her.

I was struck very suddenly by how cute Twilight really was. She had a very pretty face hidden behind those big glasses, with nice, big purple eyes, pretty eye lashes and very smooth skin…coloured in that deep lavender hue. She was a small girl, too…more petite than Rarity, but a bit taller than Rainbow Dash…and she probably only weighed 110 lbs soaking wet. Her hair was in a pony tail again, hanging down her back with that pink stripe running down the length of it.

We locked eyes for a few seconds before she cleared her throat.

I chewed my bottom lip for a second. “OK, are we doin this or what?”

She took a deep breath, then nodded. “You may proceed.”

I pushed forward, letting the lube do its work as my hard erection slid all the way into her warm flesh.

“WHOA!” Her eyes were as big as saucers, both of her arms shot out from her sides as she grabbed Rarity’s towel rack with her right hand and the sink faucet with her left…I thought she might actually rip them right off of their mounts. “There it goes!” she said in a high tone.

“You OK?” I asked her.

Twilight nodded, biting her lip. “Yup…just go ahead…do your thing.”

I started pulling out, then pushed back in again, slowly at first to give her a chance to get used to it. Then I repeated the thrust once more, then again…before long I was moving along back and forth at a steady pace.

“Holy crap, Twilight is tight…” I thought to myself, feeling how tight she really was…noticeably more so than any of the others so far. She felt good sliding back and forth on my hardness, especially once I started to feel her natural wetness work its way in and take over for the lube.

“Oh boy…” she said.

I looked at her face, which was already starting to become flushed…her cheeks were getting red, as well as her throat and what I could see of her chest under the shirt she was wearing. Her breathing was becoming laboured now, her mouth was open and her eyes were starting to roll back in her head as I continued to give her more than she bargained for.

I could feel her thighs begin to twitch as I held them, then her eyebrows furrowed, her mouth opened wider, her breaths became deeper as the first orgasm crept up on her…then I felt her wetness increase very quickly as her body started violently trembling. She suddenly leaned forward against me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders, squeezing me tightly as she let out a long, high-pitched squeal, burying her face into my shoulder in an attempt to muffle it.

I looked at myself in the mirror with the little lavender girl with the straight pink stripe in her hair attached to me, her arms wrapped around me, breathing and twitching uncontrollably as the pleasure of the climax hit her relentlessly.

Then I felt something new…something hard and sharp on my shoulder, clamping down on my flesh…and it felt lot like two rows of teeth. I looked down at her open mouth against my left shoulder. “Is Twilight Sparkle biting me???”

She slowly loosened her grip on me, then turned her head to rest her cheek on my shoulder for a moment, then she leaned back onto her hands again. I noticed her hair was starting to become messed up as she leaned there for a moment, catching her breath.

“You’re lucky that didn’t hurt…” I said, referring to her bite.

She held her breath for a moment as her eyes went wide. “Oh…sorry.” She said timidly, rubbing the back of her neck with a bit of embarrassment.

“You always do that?” I asked.

“Um…well, sometimes.” She replied, pausing for a moment, then clearing her throat.

“You might want to…I don’t know…not bite people.” I advised.

She nodded. “Yeah, Timber hated that…”

I tilted my head. “Who the fuck is Timber?”

She shook her head, waving it off. “He’s an ex of mine…from a few years back.”

“Oh…” I replied. I should have figured as much.

She took a deep breath. “Jeez, Sunset really wasn’t kidding about you...”

I raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?”

“Oh…” Twilight said, unsure if she should be telling me this. “She said you gave her a really hard time.”

“Well,” I replied. “She was trying to do the same to me, just so we’re clear.”

She nodded. “I know, but she said she didn’t get you as good as you got her…she told me, and I quote: ‘Golds rocked the shit out of my pussy’…” Twilight said with her fingers up, doing quote marks.

“Sunset said that?” I asked, smirking with an eyebrow raised.

“Well,” Twilight said, scratching her temple. “That’s the cleaned-up version.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “Serves her right, I guess.”

The lavender girl giggled, then steadied herself again. “OK,” she said, taking a deep breath. “We should continue. This was supposed to be a quickie, Fluttershy and Rarity are probably wondering what’s taking so long.”

I nodded. “Yeah, let’s go.” I pushed all the way into her, touching our bodies together, letting my length penetrate so deep into her she let out a sharp gasp as I started thrusting rhythmically into her again. She was extremely wet now, making sloppy noises every time my body came up against hers when I bottomed out…I watched her face as the pleasure escalated slowly again. She shook her head in disbelief of the sensation, squeezing her eyes shut as it slowly started to overwhelm her body again.

“Oh boy…” she said quickly as I continued to work her, trying to let her get me there as well. She felt fantastic, I could hardly believe how tight she was, and the extra moisture present inside her made her glide along me like a well-oiled machine…maybe she could get me there pretty soon, before I put her through too much more…

Or maybe not.

“Oh boy…oh boy…oh boy...oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy ohboyohboyohboyohboyohboy!” she squealed faster and faster, her tone getting higher each time she repeated it.

She came close to me again, this time wrapping her arms and legs around me, spasming the entire time as she let her head hang down behind her back while her second climax took control of her. She kept her limbs clamped around me tightly until the pulsating ecstasy finally decided to leave her, then she let go of me, flopping back onto the vanity top, bumping her head on the mirror which prompted her to sit up again and rub the back of her head.

“Ow!” she cried, turning to look at the mirror with her hand on the back of her head.

“You OK?” I asked quickly.

Twilight nodded, taking her hand off of her head and looking at her palm. “Yeah, I’m fine.” She relaxed for a minute trying to catch her breath. She shook her head after a moment. “How does Fluttershy do this all the time?”

I shook my head. “That girl is a machine…like seriously, it’s fuckin unreal what she can do…”

“God bless her…” Twilight chuckled.

I smiled, thinking about my pink haired angel and how she had sent this girl in here to have a slice of what she’s been enjoying for the past few months, knowing full well that it was going to go way beyond Twilight's expectations...it was almost cruel in a way, catching the nerdy girl off guard like that. “Are you ready to keep going?” I asked.

“Pffft!” she spitted loudly with a roll of her eyes. “I guess…” she chuckled.

She leaned herself up onto her elbows once more as I started up my thrusts into her sloppy flesh again. She kept her eyes closed as she moaned, biting her lip as she tried her best to handle the pleasure I was giving her. She had really worked up a lot of wetness…I was starting to think that we didn’t really need lube in the first place. It probably wouldn’t have taken long to get her ready on her own with a bit of touching…

Her unbelievably tight flesh was working its magic on me now, and I knew it was going to be all over soon. The intensity heightened every time I plunged into her, and I watched her face as she started to feel me become more rigid inside her, her eyes widening as she realized it was coming soon.

She sat up a bit, grasping the back of my neck with her hand, bringing her face closer to mine. “Make sure you shoot it in really deep…” she said as her brows started to furrow at the approach of another orgasm.

I had half a mind to tell her that I knew what I was doing, but I decided not to, in case it ruined the moment…it was kind of hot, hearing her say that. Twilight was actually kind of sexy in her own nerdy way…I was particularly turned on by the fact that she had come here for a quick and easy sexual encounter, with the intention of having herself be turned into a different kind of being…but instead, she was now getting her brains completely fucked out of her head.

Her last orgasm hit her just before mine did, and just as I felt her body lose control of itself again, she leaned up to me and pressed her lips against mine…giving me the deep, hard kiss that she had promised she wouldn’t. Out of control, she sent her sweet little tongue into my mouth, flailing it about mindlessly against mine as she moaned out her pleasure down my throat.

All of these things, including the unexpected kiss, sent me over the edge finally as I swelled up, about to burst inside of her. Remembering her order, I let go of her legs and grabbed her hips, pulling her body hard against mine, pushing my length as far into her as I could, just in time for the first shots to fire deep down into her body. I held her there, fulfilling her request, keeping her body pressed tightly against me until I pumped my entire load as deep inside her as I possibly could.

She released her lips from mine, her purple eyes popping open wide when she felt what was happening inside her. “HOLY SHIT!” she cried out in shock with the only words her overloaded mind could muster up at that moment.

She buried her cheek into my shoulder, holding me tight with her arms around my shoulders as we both slowly came down from our orgasms…still giving off twitches of pleasure every few seconds as we waited for our heart rates to slowly return to normal.

I let my eyes drift closed as Twilight released her arms from me and let her body lay back on the vanity top with her head set gently against the mirror, letting her eyes close while her chest continued to rhythmically heave up and down.

I stared into the darkness behind my eyelids in a daze as I enjoyed the feel of her moist, hot flesh on my spent, but still hard length. I was letting the seconds pass by during the warm aftermath when I felt something cold and hard gently touch my cheek.

“What is that?” I wondered as I opened my eyes to see what she was doing, but I was shocked to see a light brown glass perfume bottle floating in front of my face. I looked around the bathroom, quickly noticing that everything in there was floating around in the air, slowly drifting past the lavender girl and me, occasionally bumping together…lip sticks, make-up cases, soap pumps, toothbrushes, lotion bottles, perfumes and so on, floating all around us.

I looked at Twilight, who was still laying there with her eyes shut, relaxing in the aftermath, her cheeks still flushed and her forehead lightly glistening with sweat, causing some of her bangs to stick to her temples.

Not knowing what else to do, I gently shook her shoulder with my hand to get her attention. “Hey!” I whispered. “Everything’s flying in here…”

Her eyes started to slowly open a bit. “Huh?” she mumbled, then her eyes popped open wide when she saw what was happening. She gasped, covering her mouth as she jumped back up to a seated position.

All of the objects in the room suddenly dropped, some landing on the vanity top and some landing on the floor with a loud smash as they all crashed down at once. One glass bottle of dark nail polish broke when it landed on the hard floor tiles, spilling out a pool of the red liquid in a round puddle.

I looked around us at the giant mess that was just created. “Aw man, Rarity’s gonna be pissed…” I said.

Twilight fumbled around with her hand, looking for her glasses. They hadn't strayed far, and she found them without too much trouble, picking them up and putting them on to survey the damage. “Oops…” she said sheepishly. “Looks like my magic got away from me there…that never happens…almost.” She looked at me, then froze up, now able to see my face clearly again. “Um, hi…” she said, awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck.

“Hi. Welcome back.” I said with a smirk.

She giggled a bit, blushing as the awareness of me still being inside her quickly came back into her mind. “Um…” she said, looking around again at the mess. “Don’t worry, I’ll get this…” she said, putting her hand out.

I could see the lavender-coloured energy emit from her hand as everything in the room lifted up into the air again, re-arranged themselves, then gently set back down into their original locations.

I nodded with approval. “That’s pretty handy.” I said. “There’s still that nail polish, but I’ll wipe it up after.”

I was about to back away to pull out of her, but she quickly grabbed the sleeves of my shirt. “Wait!...Could you…stay?” she asked quietly.

I looked at her for a second.

She tapped her fingers together bashfully, looking to the side with her eyes. “It’s kind of…nice.”

“Oh…sure.” I said. “No problem…” Then I gave her a little smirk. “I thought you were just after a quickie?”

“Well…” she said, twirling her hair with her finger, “It was…different…than I thought it would be.”

“Different how?” I asked.

“Um…like different…better….I guess.” She stammered.

I smirked. “Yeah, that seems to be happening a lot…”

“How many of us have you been with now? Four?” she asked.

“Yeah.” I answered.

“Do you think the others will eventually do it?” she asked, adjusting her glasses, then straightening her hair a bit.

I shrugged. “It’s hard to say…it’s up to them.” I replied. “Maybe something will convince them to change their minds...then again, maybe not.”

“Hmm.” Twilight thought out loud.

“Did you want to stick around here with us? You know, until you turn?” I offered.

“Oh…thanks,” she replied. “but Sunset and I had this all planned out…her and I are going to hang out tonight and wait for it to it happen.”

“Oh, OK. That’s cool.” I replied.

“And just so we’re clear, I’m not interested in training with you guys in the field.” She said suddenly.

“Oh…” I said, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m not interested in being a solider…” she explained. “I want to focus on science and technology…now that I’ll be alive forever, I can learn so much…maybe I’ll even change the world with some new discovery someday…”

“Flutters and Rarity aren’t soldiers, they are just ready for whatever might happen. But yeah, whatever you want to do…I guess you do have some pretty powerful magic, so you can hold your own no problem…” I said. “but my door is always open if you change your mind..if you decide to learn some better tactics.”

“What do you mean, better tactics?” she asked.

“Well,” I said. “You remember when you and Sunset followed me to my place and you tried holding me with your magic?”

“Uh-huh…” she said, looking at me sideways.

“I got out of it, right?”

“Yeah…”

“Because I was able to push on the ground with my feet…” I said, “You know, you could have just lifted me into the air…and I would have been helpless because there’d be nothing for me to push against.”

She frowned, looking down at the vanity top, rubbing her chin. “Hmmm…” then she looked back at me. “I didn’t even think of that.”

“You see what I mean? A little tactical training might do you some good…and being able to keep your magic from being seen by tons of people by using your fists is also a plus…” I said.

She smiled. “Thanks, Golds. I appreciate the offer. Maybe I’ll slide out for a lesson or two then…I do like learning, after all.” Then she furrowed her brows as she looked down between our legs. “Speaking of sliding out…I can’t believe you still have an erection…”

“Oh,” I said. “It’s probably just because you’re new…to me. A-and you’re really tight.” I couldn’t believe I just told her that.

“Oh, well…thanks.” she replied, blushing as she looked up at me again. “Am I really?”

I nodded. “Yeah…like, more so than the others.” I said, then I took deep breath and squinted at her. "Jeez man, of all the things to compliment her on..."

“OK, right…well, I just figured you would have receded by now…so um, you might as well go.” She said, sitting up a bit and getting her hand ready.

“Sure.” I said as I backed out of her.

She put her hand over her opening as she quickly slid off of the vanity and reached for the toilet paper, catching any juice that might fall out. She wiped herself off a bit, shaking her head as she looked up at me to speak. “Hardly anything’s coming out…you really buried it deep in there.”

I shrugged. “That’s what you wanted…”

Twilight giggled. “Yeah, I know…I just didn’t expect you to get it quite that deep…it’s probably going to start coming out half way back to Sunset’s.”

I nodded. “How are you getting there?”

“Bus.” She replied.

“Really?” I asked, surprised by her tenacity. “You’re gonna ride across town on public transit…with that possibly leaking out of you? Are you sure you don’t want a ride?”

She picked up her jeans, taking her panties out of them and sliding them up her legs, stretching them on over her hips, then adjusting the back of them to fit her ass properly. Then she slid into her jeans and fastened them up. “No, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.” She said, looking at herself in the mirror, adjusting her hair and glasses.

Then she turned to me. “OK, well...thanks. Uh...I’m gonna go…”

I nodded as I fastened up my pants. “Yeah…anytime.”

Twilight stood there for a moment looking at me, then stepped forward to wrap her arms around me in a tight hug. She released me for a moment to look into my eyes, then she leaned in to plant a small kiss on my lips before taking a step back. “I guess I owe you at least that much.” She said quietly.

I gave her a smile as she pushed her glasses up to the bridge of her nose again, then turned to leave.

“Bye.” She said, pausing to turn and look at me one last time.

I nodded back, then sighed after watching her leave my sight, then I looked down at the puddle of nail polish on the floor. I spent a few minutes cleaning it up with a wet towel, trying to get it out of the tile grout the best I could.

Once I was satisfied that it wasn't going to get any better, I headed back to the front room where Fluttershy and Rarity were sitting, waiting for me with grins and cocked eyebrows on their faces.

“Well?” Rarity asked after a pause.

I put my hands in my pockets. “It was OK…kind of a rocky start...” I looked towards the door. “Did she leave already?”

“Oh yes, darling. She was off like a shot.” Rarity replied, shaking her head. “She was looking quite disheveled…I take it she got a little more than she bargained for…"

I nodded. "Oh yeah."

"Were you a bit hard on her?” the fashionista asked.

I shook my head. “Just the usual.”

Rarity and Fluttershy both giggled.

“That’ll do it.” Fluttershy said softly. “We figured she was having a good time when we heard her yelling ‘holy shit’…”

“Oh, yeah…” I said as I stepped over to the couch. “I figured you guys probably heard that.” I smiled and sat on the couch next to the pink-haired girl, who leaned against me, resting her head on my shoulder.

Rarity smiled as she watched us from her chair for a moment, then she leaned forward, squinting her eyes. “Darling…what is that wet spot on your shoulder?”

I looked down at my shirt, remembering what Twilight did when she climaxed the first time. “Oh…yeah, she bit me.”

Rarity’s mouth dropped open and Fluttershy lifted her head to look at me, covering her mouth.

“Really???” Rarity exclaimed. “Twilight’s a biter?”

I shrugged. “Apparently.” I said as Fluttershy giggled.

Chapter 39: Return To Canterlot High

Chapter 39

It was Fluttershy’s big day. She was on her way to CHS for her fundraiser presentation, driving her little SUV down the streets of Canterlot, her knuckles turning white as she firmly gripped the steering wheel.

As she saw the school approaching on the right, she really wanted to just keep on driving rather than going through with what she had been essentially pushed into doing. She drove past the front entrance and turned into the rear lot to find a spot to park, feeling the bizarreness of it all, using the parking lot for the very first time. She had gone to this school for four years, but never had a vehicle at the time, so she came on foot everyday, unless one of the other girls gave her a ride. To come back to the place as an adult, driving her own vehicle felt so alien to her.

Fluttershy found a spot to park and turned her car off, then removed the keys from the ignition. She held onto her keys for a moment, nervously pondering on what she was going to be doing in less than an hour, until she noticed the keys making a jingling sound in her trembling hand.

She put the keys in her brown leather bag that she used as a briefcase, then looked up into her rear view mirror, reaching up to adjust it so she could see her own face in the reflection. She had decided to wear her usual green skirt and white tank top with the green boots, mostly for her own comfort, but she also decided to add her light gray business jacket over her top, the one that she could wear to job interviews or to the bank and so on. She felt that it made her look more professional, and today was as good a day as any to wear it.

“You can do this, Fluttershy…” she thought to herself as she looked into her own eyes…her teal, immortal eyes. She thought about how nothing could destroy them, not even firing a bullet directly at her pupil at point blank range would cause any damage, not even a scratch. “Nothing can hurt you. There’s nothing to be scared of…it’s just nine hundred pairs of eyes that’ll be watching you…” Her eyes started to get wider as she thought about standing up alone in front of a sea of faces watching and listening to her every word. “Oh my goodness…how am I going to get through this?”

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “What did Rarity say to do?” she thought to herself, staring into the black space of her mind. “Oh! I just have to think about all those teenage boys’ hard dicks…” She scowled suddenly then shook her head, scrunching her nose. “NO! That won’t help…What the heck was Rarity thinking??”

Fluttershy shook her head, deciding that sitting there in her car wasn’t going to help her. She picked up her brown bag and opened the door to step out, then walked to the back hatch to open it up and lift out an animal carrier.

She walked around the building from the parking lot, carrying her things with her to the front entrance of the school as she walked along the curved path that led to the front doors. She made a point of looking at the statue in the middle of the yard, thinking about the portal, wondering what was going on in the other world, what Princess Twilight might have been doing…

“Do you think it’ll ever open again?” a familiar voice asked…a voice that Fluttershy hadn’t heard in quite a few years.

The shy girl jumped slightly as she turned to see who it was. She smiled and greeted the woman, who was standing on the steps by the front doors of the school. “Oh! Hi Vice-Principal Luna, how are you?”

Luna smiled back. “I am well. It’s good to see you here, Fluttershy.” She gestured to the doors with her hand. “Come with me to my office, we have a few things to discuss before your presentation.” she said as she turned to enter the building, opening and holding the door so the shy girl could carry her things inside.

Fluttershy felt a strong sense of nostalgia as she entered the front lobby, seeing the same burgundy banners hanging from the second level walkway, now starting to look very sun-faded, the smooth blue marble floor, the trophy cases lined up in between the hallway entrances…it all brought the shy girl back to her days of being young, coming to school, being shy around the other students, attending class with her friends…and of course, the magical enemies they faced-off against. It all seemed like eons ago, especially now that her life had taken a new turn into the unknown, everlasting future.

As they walked down the hall to Luna’s office, Fluttershy noticed they still had the same green lockers lining the halls, which were starting to look pretty worn and beat up in their old age. Some things were different however, like the posters advertising different after-school events and various students’ artwork hung up on the walls, and some of the hallway walls had been painted a different colour to update the look of the place since she was last there.

The one thing that was exactly as she remembered was the smell. It reminded her of a hospital or a hotel lobby with a swimming pool, a clean smell that was renewed to its full strength every night as the janitors made their rounds, keeping the place sparkly clean with the impeccable shine that it always had.

It felt strange for the shy girl to be there again. Even though she knew it was the same old school that she had attended and spent countless hours at, coming back in her adulthood made it feel different, as if it wasn’t really the same place.

They finally arrived at Luna’s office. Fluttershy watched as the blue-haired woman unlocked the door, then opened it, gesturing the shy girl inside.

“Have a seat.” Luna offered as she sat behind her desk.

Fluttershy set her things down and sat in the little metal chair facing the desk. She looked at her former Vice-Principal, letting the memories of her time in the building start flooding back to her mind, triggered by the familiar surroundings from her youth.

Luna still dressed the same, wearing that light purple shirt with the big white collar and the belt around the waist, along with the dark blue pants. Her skin was a dark shade of blue, but it was softened by a pastel lightness, and she still had the same long, wavy hair with different shades of blue waving along its length.

When she saw Luna at the front door of the school, Fluttershy noticed right away that she was wearing a pair of thin framed glasses. Now up close, Fluttershy could see the age on the woman’s face that wasn’t there when she was a student. She had a few locks of white hair in her bangs and in front of her ears, and she had crows feet starting in the corners of her eyes, as well as lines starting around her mouth that traveled up her cheeks to the sides of her nose. She looked like a woman who had spent a lot of time smiling, despite the fact that she could be a tough character if you ever got on her bad side…something that always seemed to be a common trait for someone who was a Vice Principal.

Luna looked back at Fluttershy before putting on a smile of pride for the shy girl. “I must say, young lady, I was blown away when I learned that you co-own the animal shelter now.” She said. “When your partner called here to propose the fundraiser to us, and mentioned that you owned the place with him, my sister and I were so thrilled to hear it. We haven’t forgotten about you volunteering there and handing out those flyers every Wednesday out front by the statue. We always admired your dedication.”

“Oh, thank you, Vice-Principal Luna.” The shy girl replied, rubbing her arm nervously.

Luna chuckled. “Please, just call me Luna. I’m not your Principal anymore.”

“Oh, OK. Sorry.” Fluttershy replied.

Luna smiled again, then shook her head a little bit. “You’re still that same timid person, Fluttershy, but look at you…I can’t believe how you’ve sprouted in to such a lovely young woman.”

Fluttershy blushed. “Oh, thank you.”

“I mean, you’re just as tall as me now. I remember when all you girls were just petite little cuties.” Luna said, reminiscing on the time that the unusual group of girls attended her school. “Say, how are the other girls doing?”

“Good!” Fluttershy nodded. “Um, Rarity is running the Carousel Boutique now…”

“I heard…” Luna replied, nodding back. “Good for her, she is doing very well there from what I’ve heard.”

“Oh yes, she is.” She replied. “Um, Applejack is running the farm with her brother and sister…” the shy girl continued.

Luna chuckled. “I would expect nothing less from the Apple family.”

Fluttershy giggled a bit. “Rainbow Dash is working for Canterlot Expedited Delivery…she’s done very well there…you know, because of her speed…She’s already a senior supervisor there. She’s doing very well for herself. And she still plays sports on the side in some of the city leagues.”

Luna was leaning her chin on her fist, smiling as she listened about all of the girls’ lives now. “Good for her.” She said. “Ms. Dash could always excel at anything she put her mind to.”

“Um, Pinkie Pie still lives at home, but she works for a Catering company and does her own party planning on the side.”

Luna giggled. “Oh of course, Pinkie Pie.”

“Twilight just went back to school last week in the big city. She plans to go for…” she paused, scratching behind her ear as she thought about it. “Well, I actually don’t know how many more years…”

Luna waved her hand as she shook her head. “They’ll have to kick her out before she quits, I’m sure.”

The shy girl giggled. “Yeah, probably.”

“How is Sunset Shimmer?” Luna asked, suddenly showing great interest in the red-head’s progress in life.

Fluttershy took a deep breath, then smiled. “She’s great. She finished school last year and is looking for work now. She took law and forensic sciences…she wants to be an investigator.”

Luna smiled warmly. “Sunset Shimmer was always such a bright girl…especially after you girls got her set on the right path. Thank god all of you were there for her.”

Fluttershy nodded humbly. “We all still see each other almost every weekend.”

“That’s so wonderful to hear.” Luna replied with a smile. She then leaned back in her chair, folding her arms. “So, Fluttershy. Are you married? Have kids?”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened for a second at the unexpected question. “Oh, um…no. But I have been seeing a guy for the past five months.”

Luna’s eyebrows went up. “Oh, good for you!…is it serious?”

“Um, pretty serious, yeah. We live together.” The pink-haired girl answered.

“What does he do?” Luna asked.

“He’s a m-mechanic.” Fluttershy replied.

“Oh, nice! Is he a graduate of CHS as well?” Luna asked, adjusting her collar.

The shy girl’s eyebrows went up. “Oh, um…no. He’s not from around here. He’s…um…older,” she answered, rubbing the back of her neck nervously.

The VP nodded. “Very good. I’m glad to hear you’re happy…you were always so shy, good on you for not letting it hold you back. And he’s a lucky guy to have a young woman like you, I hope he knows it.”

Fluttershy smirked. “Hm. I make sure of that.”

Luna chuckled at the quip made by the shy girl, not expecting to hear such a thing from her. After a deep breath, she nodded to the small cage. “You have something in there?”

Fluttershy glanced down at the carrier. “Oh! Yes, this is Link…”

She bent down and opened the cage, letting the Lynx kitten out and lifting him onto her lap. He had nearly doubled in size since she first got him and he was doing very well by himself around the house now. “I was going to show him in the presentation…”

Luna’s eyes widened. “Is he from the shelter?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “No, he lives at home with me. My boyfriend found him in the woods up north…his family was killed in a tragedy and he was all alone.”

“So your boyfriend brought him home for you to look after him?” Luna asked with a smile. “That’s so sweet.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Yeah…he means the world to me. Well, actually…they both do.”

“So, is he a Bobcat, or…?” Luna asked.

“He’s a Lynx.” Fluttershy answered.

Luna’s eyebrows went up. “Ah…hence the name Link…makes sense. Well, he is just beautiful, Fluttershy.”

“Oh, thank you.” Flutterhsy smiled. As the kitten curled up on her lap, the shy girl lifted one eyebrow, looking back at Luna. “Where’s Principal Celestia?”

Luna leaned on her elbows on the desk again. “Well, unfortunately she will be busy with the Superintendant this afternoon, so she won’t be attending the assembly, but she asked me to make sure you come by her office after so she can see you before you go.”

Fluttershy smiled. “Oh, of course I will. Thank you, Vi-…um, Luna.”

Luna smiled, then took in a deep breath as she leaned back in the chair again. “OK, so what’s on the agenda for this presentation?”

Fluttershy’s heart skipped a beat as she was suddenly reminded of why she was there. Reminiscing with Luna these past few minutes had put her in a state of false relaxation, but now she was back to being jittery as ever.

“Um, w-well…I’ll be talking about our c-current budget, w-what equipment we’re looking to invest in, our fundraising goal…” Fluttershy started as she fidgeted with her hands on the kitten’s back.

Luna raised an eyebrow at her former student, who she was starting to remember now as being so painfully shy. “Are you going to be OK up there, Fluttershy? Are you nervous?”

Fluttershy quickly nodded, not wanting to appear weak in front of Luna. “Um, I’ll be OK.”

“OK, then.” Luna smiled back.

The two women discussed the presentation for about twenty minutes until it was nearing time for the assembly to begin.

“Well Fluttershy, it’s almost time. I’d better get the students moved into the gym.” Luna said, picking up the light gray microphone stand from her desktop. She held it to her mouth, pressing the button on the base. “Can I have your attention, teachers and students? The assembly will be beginning soon, if I could have all classes make their way to the gym and find their seats, it would be greatly appreciated.”

Fluttershy’s stomach started to twist up inside her as she thought about every person in that entire building gathering into that one room just to see her.

Luna set the microphone down and stood up from her desk. “OK, we’d better make our way to the gym too.”

Fluttershy took a deep breath, then placed Link back into his carrier, closing the wire-frame door and picking up her brown bag as she followed Luna out of the office.

As they walked down the hall, Fluttershy remembered exactly how to get to the gym, having gone there countless times for classes during her time at the school, even though she always hated phys-ed. There were many other students walking along with them in the hall, heading to the same destination as they were.

She looked ahead of her at Luna, who was walking slightly in front of her, now noticing that the blue-haired woman looked much smaller than she remembered. Fluttershy hadn’t realized how much taller she had gotten since those days, she remembered how the two Principals seemed to tower over everyone else in the school…almost like they were gods among men.

They entered the gym, which was already almost full. The seniors had taken their spots on the bleachers at the back and the sides, and were shouting brash remarks back and forth to one another, they way young teenagers always did. Fluttershy remembered Dash being exactly the same way. Most of the floor was also full, and was on its way to being completely packed in a few more minutes.

Fluttershy followed Luna to the front of the noisy room, where they stood slightly off to the side in front of the stage as they watched more and more students pile into the gym. The shy girl was glad that she wouldn’t have to do the presentation on the stage at least. She was looking at the same old purple curtains that still hung there, drawn closed at that moment as Fluttershy remembered playing tambourine with the Rainbooms on that very stage all those years ago. She remembered seeing the sirens up there, singing their evil songs, taking control of everyone’s mind as they executed their plan to get their hands on the girls’ magic.

The place was almost exactly as Fluttershy remembered, in fact. The big windows were the same, the light beige walls with the blue accents were the same, the hardwood floor was the same as well as the purple ceiling with the black, fancy metal rafters running along the top of the room.

The floor was eventually full, and the students entering the gym had slowed to a trickle. Luna finally stepped up to the center of the room in front of the stage. She held her hands out as she began to speak.

“Quiet down…can I have everyone’s attention, please?” she said loudly as the noise in the gym started to die down.

Once the room was quiet, with the exception of the odd cough, snicker and murmuring of voices in the back, Luna continued. “OK Wondercolts, we are having this assembly to learn about a fundraiser that is being held by the local animal shelter to expand their facilities, so they can properly care for more of the local animals that are in need of help. We have a very special guest here today who is going to speak to all of you about it. She is a former Wondercolt herself, and I would like you all to welcome her back and to pay close attention to her.”

Luna turned to Fluttershy, gesturing for her to join her at the front. The shy girl’s heart was beating like a jackhammer as she picked up the cage and walked up to join Luna’s side. Her fingers were shaking and her breath was elevated…she could feel her face warming up as she began to blush at the sight of 1800 eyes all locking onto her.

“Students, this is Fluttershy. Let’s give her a Wondercolts welcome.” Luna announced, which was followed by an applause of hands and shoes being patted against the floor to sound like hooves on cobblestone. This must have been a new thing that they did, Fluttershy didn’t remember them doing this when she went to the school.

The pink-haired girl stood in front of the sea of students, none of them looking familiar to her. It had been so many years since she attended the school that her entire generation had made its way through, leaving behind nothing but a swarm of young strangers…all staring at her right at that very moment.

Luna took a few steps back to the left of the shy girl, and stood to watch the presentation while keeping an eye on her students. She watched as Fluttershy stood there for a moment, staring motionless at the crowd. Luna started to wonder if the shy girl was going to be able to handle what she was about to do, after all she had always been extremely shy…in fact, it was starting to come back to Luna at that moment just how hopelessly timid this girl actually was, and was now realizing that she hadn’t grown out of it at all in her adulthood.

Starting to feel nervous for the girl, Luna crossed her arms on her chest, holding her index finger curled up in front of her mouth as she watched to see if Fluttershy was ever going to start speaking.

Just then, there was a loud shout from the left rear of the crowd from one of the senior boys who had evidently found Fluttershy quite attractive. “YYYeeeeoooowwwww!!!” he howled as his friends snickered around him.

Luna looked in his direction, rolled her eyes then pointed to the door. “Hennessey…office.”

The kid groaned as he got up and climbed down from the bleachers on the left side, then made his way to the door to leave the gym.

Fluttershy was secretly glad for the disruption since it took the attention off of her momentarily, but the sea of eyes slowly returned to her bit-by-bit as the snickering of the kid’s friends subsided.

She found herself standing there again, her heart racing in her chest, her jaw clenched as she fidgeted her fingers at her sides…wanting to just run out of that gym right then and there.

“Come on Fluttershy, say something…” she scolded herself.

She had to do it. She had to start talking and get it over with. It was only going to take…an hour? “Oh my goodness…”

She took a deep, shaky breath inwards, feeling like she was standing somewhere she shouldn’t have been, like the middle of the ocean…or the edge of a volcano.

She finally opened her mouth to speak.

“Um…”

Author's Note

No way was I going to write out that whole presentation, then make you guys read it. lol
I really enjoyed writing this chapter. It was cool bringing the story back to the roots of the show, being at school and Fluttershy being nervous like always. I tried to give it that sense of nostalgia as well, you know that feeling you get when you come back to a place from your youth as a adult and how it kind of feels the same, but different at the same time...

Chapter 40: Hangin' Out at the Sweet Shoppe

Chapter 40

It was Fluttershy’s big day. It was about 12:45pm and I was driving my truck from work to the Sweet Shoppe to meet the other girls for ice cream. In preparation for the day, I had texted everyone to get them to arrange taking that afternoon off from work to meet up for treats at the little shop.

I remembered the day Fluttershy and I went to town to visit Rarity, she had mentioned wanting to go to the Sweet Shoppe with her friends like they used to when they were in school. Since she was at the school today, and she still hadn’t been able to get the others together to do it yet…I figured I’d make it happen for her as a reward for her bravery.

She would leave from the school and meet us all there, just like old times, and we would celebrate her accomplishment of doing a presentation in front of the whole school and have some treats at their old hangout.

I pulled up into the parking spot and shut my truck off. As I got out, I saw Pinkie’s car parked there already.

I walked into the shop and met eyes with Mrs. Cake behind the counter, the lady I met when I came here with Fluttershy that day back in the spring. She recognised me right away and gave me a smile when I stepped in the door. I nodded with a smile in return, impressed that she remembered me after all those months after only meeting me once.

I started looking around for Pinkie, but she found me first.

“Over here, Goldie-Woldie!!!” she squealed.

Cringing with embarrassment, I looked to the right to see Pinkie sitting in a big corner booth, waving frantically at me with a huge smile on her face.

I walked over and slid onto the bench, sitting just around the corner from her. “How’s it goin?” I asked.

“Good! You??” she replied.

“Good. How’s Maud?” I asked, trying to be personable with Pinke, who I hadn’t spent a lot of time alone with yet.

“Oh, she’s good.” She giggled. “It still makes me laugh when I think about what happened in the kitchen at my place, hehehe.”

“Oh yeah.” I said, folding my hands on the table, suddenly remembering that Pinkie’s sister had heard me talking about her breasts. “Did she say anything to you about that?” I asked, trying to see if Maud had ratted me out to Pinkie.

“Yeah, she did actually.” Pinkie replied.

I got a tad nervous. “Oh?”

“Yeah, she said you were a funny guy. She really likes you.” Pinkie said, to my surprise.

I nodded, chewing my bottom lip. “Oh…well, that’s nice.” I said. “Hmm…Maud covered for me…she's actually kind of cool…”

“Look,” Pinkie started. “I know us coming here today is for Fluttershy, but I have someone meeting me here for a quick chat about a party that I’m hosting this weekend. I have her be my DJ sometimes if the party is big enough, but I just have to talk to her a bit, OK?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I don’t really care.”

“It’ll only be a few minutes…we just have to figure out a playlist and were she’s gonna set up.” Pinkie explained.

“Yep. No big deal.” I replied.

“She should be here any minute, then she’ll be on her way before you know it.” Pinkie said as she started sliding out of the other side of the booth. “I’m gonna go get a shake…you want anything?”

I took in a breath as I looked over my shoulder at the menu. “Um…I don’t know. I’ll just have whatever you get.”

“Sure!” she said as she headed over to the counter.

I sat at the booth alone for a minute, checking my phone to see if anyone had messaged. Everyone was expected to show up, except for Twilight, who had gone back to the big city to return to university. She left the weekend after we had sex in Rarity’s bathroom to attend a summer course for the rest of August, then she spent a week with her family before she started her next year at University. It struck me how she just showed up to Rarity’s to have me make her immortal, and then was gone just like that…she really meant it when she said she just needed me to turn her. I had spent very little time with Twilight before that, and things were no different now. Not that I think she didn’t appreciate it…

Pinkie came back to the table with two chocolate shakes and sat down, sliding one over to me.

“Thanks.” I said. “What do I owe you?”

“Don’t worry about it.” She said. “My treat. You got everyone together to come here today, which I’m super excited about! So anything you want is on me!”

“Oh OK. I appreciate that, Pinks.” I said.

She giggled. Haha, Pinks?”

“Is it OK if I call you that?” I asked.

“Sure thing!” she replied.

I smiled and took a sip of the shake as I heard a loud vehicle approach and park near the building outside. I looked out the window to see what it was and saw AJ’s old Ford pickup parked next to my truck. I watched as the dusty farm girl got out of the truck, put her hat on and walked towards the door. She looked up and saw me looking at her through the window, then gave a smile and a wave as I heard Pinkie start talking.

“Hey Scratchie! You made it!” she said as I felt someone sit in the booth beside me.

I turned to see who it was and came face-to-face with a pair of big red shades and spiky blue hair, smiling at Pinkie for a second before she realized who I was. A look of terror suddenly came over her face as she quickly tried to get up from the booth, banging her hips on the edge of the table, causing the napkin container and jars of candy sprinkles at the center of the table to rattle loudly. She slammed back down on the seat, then started trying to slide off the bench to get away from me.

“Whoa! Scratchie! What’s wrong??” Pinkie asked with her eyes wide upon seeing the DJ’s reaction. “Have you been into those mushrooms again?”

Vinyl slid off the end of the bench unexpectedly, landing with her back on the floor as AJ stepped up behind her.

“Hey gu-“ AJ started to say as she saw the DJ panicking on the floor. “Vinyl, what in tarnation is yer problem? You been into those mushrooms again?”

Pinkie held her hand up as she got up from her side of the booth. “That’s what I said!”

AJ helped Vinyl to her feet, holding her steady as she trembled, keeping her eyes locked on me with an expression of fear on her face. Her glasses had fallen off, revealing her maroon coloured eyes which I found surprisingly pretty.

AJ noticed that it was me she was looking at. She pointed at me as she talked to the DJ. “Is he what you’re worried about?”

Vinyl didn’t answer. Instead, she just kept her jaw clenched.

“He’s a friend silly!” Pinkie giggled. “The one I told you about…Fluttershy’s boyfriend!”

The DJ finally stopped staring at me, snapping out of her panic to look at Pinkie with disbelief on her face.

“What’s got you all worried?” AJ asked.

Vinyl looked slowly back at me, still not speaking.

I looked around the shop, noticing other people were starting to look over in our direction after the outburst.

Pinkie sat back down on her side of the booth and slid over to make room while patting the seat. “C’mon Scratchie! Sit with us! There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“Yup.” AJ said, guiding the DJ over to the bench across from me. “Let’s get this figured out, I’m sure there’s just been some kinda misunderstandin. Golds is not someone you need to be afraid of.”

I was sitting there with my eyes wide as they sat her down, and she remained nervous, keeping her eyes locked on me the whole time. I completely understood why she was so scared, after witnessing me smash those two big boys in the office at the bar…which was something that AJ and Pinkie were unaware of…I think anyone in their right mind wouldn’t want to share a room with me. I didn’t know what else to do, so I decided to just tell them what happened.

“She was there…” I said. All three of them looked at me suddenly. “At the bar…the night that guy hit Sunset.”

“She was where?” AJ asked, confused.

I sighed, rubbing my face with both hands. Then I looked back at them. “She was in the office…when I, uh…broke that guy’s arm with his face…”

AJ squinted at me. “You did what?” Then she shook her head a little. “Actually, nevermnd. I don’t wanna know.”

I pointed at Vinyl. “She was in the room…behind me. I didn’t know she was there.”

Pinkie and AJ both looked at the DJ. “What were you doing there?” Pinkie asked.

Vinyl looked at me for another moment, without answering Pinkie.

“Does this girl talk?” I wondered. I looked down at the ground at the end of the booth, noticing her glasses were still on the floor. I slid over on the bench, picked them up and held them out to her.

She looked at them for a moment then back at me before she slowly reached out and took them. “I was working there…” she finally said.

“What?” AJ asked loudly, making the DJ jump. “What were ya doin working in a shithole like that??”

“Uh…I’d just started there.” She said. “I’m not there anymore though…after he” (she pointed at me) “beat the twins up, a bunch of investigators came and found a bunch of fire code violations…the owner got a bunch of huge fines, plus he had to shut the bar down to fix a bunch of stuff to bring it up to code…it looked like he was going to be in money trouble, so I eventually quit.”

“Well, you made the right choice, sugarcube.” AJ said. She kept her eyes on Vinyl as she pointed at me. “D’you know why he was up there givin those guys the ‘what for’?”

Vinyl shook her head.

“Because some loser hit Sunset Shimmer in the alley with a 2x4.” Applejack explained. “We saw the whole thing.”

The DJ looked at me with a different expression. “You did that…for Sunset?” she asked me, to which I nodded.

“She got trapped in the alley with him and-“ Pinkie started to say.

The DJ cut her off. “The alley with the fence at the end?”

Pinkie nodded. “Yeah, we could hear Sunset yelling at the guy from the front door…she couldn’t get back inside the bar to get away from him.”

Vinyl groaned. She covered her eyes and shook her head. “I’m sorry, guys.”

“For what?” AJ frowned.

“I told the owner he had to fix that door…do you know how many people got stuck out there?” she said. “It was a fuckin stupid setup. Is Sunset OK?”

“Yeah, she’s fine, thanks to Golds here.” AJ said, nodding at me.

Vinyl looked at me again. Her expression softened as she finally put her glasses back on.

“Um, sorry if I scared you in there.” I said.

She finally gave me a small grin. “It’s OK. A friend of these ladies is a friend of mine.” She said as Pinkie started grinning from ear-to-ear. Then her expression became serious again. “You’re not a normal human, are you?”

I shook my head as AJ chuckled.

“It ain’t hard to figure out when you see the beatdown he can put on someone.” Applejack said.

“Well…” the DJ said. “A week after it happened, after all the cops were gone, some other weirdo showed up asking questions about you.” She said, nodding her head towards me.

AJ quickly glanced at me as Vinyl continued.

“He had a picture of you.” She said to me. “An old picture…you were with two other guys by a helicopter.”

I frowned, trying to remember when that could have been as I chewed the inside of my cheek..

“Who was this guy?” AJ asked.

“Um…I don’t know,” the DJ said, frowning as she looked down at the table. “He had a suit on…said his name was Corbin, or something.”

AJ’s eyebrows went up. “Cody???”

Vinyl nodded. “Yeah, that’s it. Wh-“

AJ pounded the table. “That mother fucker!”

The DJ looked around at us. “What?”

Applejack shook her head. “That asshole showed up at Fluttershy’s looking for Golds. He caused all kinds of shit: put a bug in her house to listen in on her, and Golds ended up havin to leave town for two weeks,” she explained, while pointing at me.

Vinyl covered her mouth. “I indentified you in that picture…” she confessed, looking at me. “Fuck...sorry guys. I led him right to you...”

“Nah,” AJ said. “The bouncer from the front door gave all our descriptions to Cody…that’s how he knew to go to Fluttershy’s.”

I shook my head. “Yeah, it’s not your fault.” I said, taking another sip of my milkshake. “Holy fuck, that’s delicious.”

Pinkie’s eyebrows went up. “I know, right??”

“Well, what did you guys do?” Vinyl asked.

AJ waved casually, shaking her head. “Sunset and Fluttershy were too quick for him…they got wise to his tricks and slipped right through his fingers. He’s gone long now, so don’t worry about it, Vinyl. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

The DJ sighed, just as I heard a new voice at the end of the table. “Well, if it isn’t Vinyl Scratch…how are you, darling?”

I looked up to see Rarity standing there. She smiled at me as she slid in the booth close to me, pressing her hip against mine. “Hello...” She quietly greeted me as she slid her hand on my lap, reaching for my hand to lace our fingers together.

I was surprised she did it in front of the others, even though it was out of sight under the table.

“I’m good, Rarity. How’s it hangin?” the DJ replied.

“Simply wonderful, darling.” Rarity answered.

“Well, Scratchie,” Pinkie said. “Should we go outside and talk party??”

“Yeah, let’s go.” Vinyl said. “I gotta get going soon.”

AJ got up to let Pinkie and Vinyl get up to head outside so they could discuss their business.

Applejack sat back down, folding her arms on the table, chewing her bottom lip as she looked at me and Rarity with her eyebrows cocked.

Rarity was now sensually whispering in my ear. “Have you heard from our girlfriend yet?”

I shook my head. “No.” I said, pulling out my phone to check the time. ”She’s probably just getting to the school now.”

“Do you think she’ll be OK? I’m so worried about her…she must be absolutely petrified.” Rarity said softly as I looked up at the farm girl, who was still looking at us.

“I know all about you guys.” AJ said suddenly.

We both stared at her.

“What do you mean, Applejack?” Rarity asked somewhat nervously, not knowing what AJ was thinking.

“You guys are doin some kinda…three person…thing. You guys and Fluttershy.” AJ stated.

“Oh…” Rarity trailed off, looking down at the table, trying to think of some way to explain it quickly.

“We’ve all noticed it.” AJ said bluntly.

Rarity took a deep breath, ready to stand her ground. “Well? What of it?” she said sternly.

Applejack put her hands up. “Just relax, sugarcube. No one’s judging you guys…it’ll just take a little bit for us to get used to…we’re all still tryin to wrap our heads around the whole immortality thing, then this on top of that...it's just a lot for us to take in all at once.”

Rarity paused. “Really? You are all OK with it?”

“Well, sure.” AJ said. “I don’t want to see any of you get hurt, but if you’re happy doin what you’re doin, then golly, just do it. If you guys wanna be polygons, then I think that’s great.”

Rarity looked at AJ with her eyebrows cocked as I chuckled. “You’ve been talking to Twilight about this, haven’t you?” I asked.

“Yeah, why?” she asked.

I shook my head. “No reason. Just something you said.”

Applejack scratched her cheek for a second before she continued. “Well, it was pretty obvious that something was going on when we found out you guys had that three-way…” she said as she started to chuckle. “Looks like you got more than you bargained for that night, eh Rarity? Heh heh…”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “You don’t need to remind me, Applejack. The fact that I haven’t slept in five months is reminder enough…”

AJ shook her head a bit. “When did you guys even do that anyway?”

Rarity cleared her throat. “It was the Wednesday after the night Fluttershy got hurt, when Golds spent the week at her house to look after her.”

AJ’s eyebrows went up. “That soon?”

Rarity nodded. “It was the very next day after she and Golds did it for the first time themselves.” She said, shaking her head. “She was absolutely out of her mind that week.”

I nodded in agreement. “It was like she was drunk on sex or something…”

AJ folded her arms, shaking her head. Then a small half-grin appeared on her face. “Fluttershy eh…who’d ‘ave thought?”

I chuckled back at her as Rarity started to speak.

“It took me ages to find those bikini bottoms after that night…I had forgotten that they ended up in the vines over the hot tub…” she said, with an exasperated sigh.

AJ shook her head idly for a minute, then her eyes suddenly got wide. “Whoa, hold the phone…you talkin about those purple bikini bottoms???”

Rarity looked back at the farm girl. “Yes…how did you know?”

“I found them!” AJ exclaimed. “That Saturday when you had the dinner…me and Sunset were having stogies out on the deck and I saw them hangin there.”

Rarity covered her mouth. “Oh my! That is so embarrassing!”

AJ leaned her chin on one of her hands. “How in the fuck did they end up in the rafters like that?”

I laughed. “Flutters threw them up there.”

The farm girl cocked her eyebrows. “Fluttershy? Why did she have them?”

“I was trying to get them back from her…” Rarity started to explain, then she leaned her face over the table to get closer to AJ and started whispering loudly. “That little devil snatched them right off my fucking ass! I just couldn’t believe it!”

AJ and I looked at each other and started laughing.

“Sounds like it was quite a night.” AJ said as she continued to chuckle. She stared at the table for moment, then she suddenly cocked an eyebrow at me. “Now wait just a cotton-pickin minute…you were sittin right there when I found them! You acted like you knew nothing about it, but you were the one who was fuckin her when they got thrown up there??”

My eyes went wide when she made the realization, but then I decided to play it cool and throw out the most general, catch-all response I could think of. “It wasn’t my fault.” I said with a shrug.

AJ furrowed her brows at my response. “It wasn’t yer fault?” she asked, putting her hand up as she shrugged. “...the fuck does that even mean??”

Rarity nodded. “He’s actually right, darling. He really did get caught in the middle that night…”

“Well, I’m sure he wasn’t complainin…” AJ replied, with a small shake of her head.

I shook my head. “Nope.” I said quickly, taking another sip of my shake.

AJ chuckled, then took a few moments to look out the window to see what was going on outside.

I looked at Rarity for a moment, taking in her features as she gave me a flirtatious smirk. The conversation we were having was obviously sparking her memories of that night in the hot tub.

Applejack finally spoke again. “Well anyway,” she continued. “I guess love and sex and all that stuff carries a different meaning for you guys now...I mean, you can’t reproduce…which makes sense. I mean, why would you need to if you’re gonna be alive forever anyway?”

Rarity nodded. “Yes, it’s hard to explain, darling…it just feels right…”

“Yeah…exactly.” AJ said, adjusting her hat as she leaned back in her seat. “So the three of you guys just like to fuck each other’s brains out. I see nothin wrong with that. Kinda sounds like fun, if I do say so myself.”

I rubbed my temple awkwardly as I turned to look out the window just in time to see Sunset pull up on her motorcycle with Rainbow Dash riding on the back.

I could feel the weight of Rarity’s head suddenly resting on my shoulder. I turned back to look at her, getting whiff of her vanilla scent in the process...then I looked at AJ, who smiled and winked at me.

Pinkie returned to the table, pausing as AJ got up to let her back into her spot.

Sunset and Dash walked in shortly after. Dash must have just come from work...she was wearing a beige uniform with C.E.D. on the patch on the left side of the chest. Her rainbow-coloured hair looked different as well, she had put gel in it at the top and styled it in a high arch at the front. I found it strange to see her dressed for work like this, I honestly didn’t even know what she did for a living.

Sunset looked the same as always with her black jacket, dark blue tights and light aqua-coloured t-shirt.

Rarity lifted her head again as we slid down the bench to let the others sit.

“Man,” Dash said, sitting at the end of the table. “It’s been a while since we’ve all been here together…well, except for Twilight.”

“How’s Flutters doing?” Sunset asked, leaning behind Rarity to look at me.

“I haven’t heard from her. I don’t think she’s even started yet though.” I answered, looking back at the red-head, watching as her green eyes lingered on me for a moment.

I leaned closer to her behind Rarity. “How’s Twilight doing?” I whispered. “I haven’t seen or heard from her since…you know…”

“Since you almost broke her?” she whispered, rising an eyebrow.

Rarity giggled, obviously listening to what we were saying.

I nodded. “Yeah, that. I assume everything worked out?”

Sunset nodded. “Yep. Oh, and if anyone asks, she’s wearing contacts now.”

I tilted my head. “Is she really?”

Sunset shook her head. “No, not really…her vision came back when she turned, so she’s not wearing her glasses anymore.”

Rarity turned her head to face Sunset with a gasp. “Really???” she exclaimed quietly.

“Yeah.” Sunset explained. “I was with her…we here hanging out that night, waiting for her turn. She thought she was getting tired or something cuz her vision went all blurry all-the-sudden, so she took her glasses of to rub her eyes and then everything was clear.”

“That’s crazy…” I said with a smirk. “I didn’t think it would fix her vision…I never even thought of it before, to be honest.”

Sunset chuckled as she shook her head a bit. “Yeah, she put her glasses back on and everything went blurry again…it all happened within a minute or so. It was crazy.”

“That is truly amazing…” Rarity said. “Does anyone else know she did it?”

“No.” Sunset replied. “She wants to keep it quiet for now, so shhh.”

“Not to worry, darling. Her secret is safe with us.” Rarity said, pretending to lock her mouth with an invisible key.

“OK, what’s everyone want? I’m buyin…” Dash announced as she stood up.

Pinkie and I passed since we already had our shakes, and Dash took the rest of the orders before heading up to the counter.

We made some small talk at the table as we waited for Dash to return with the treats. She finally came back, having to make two trips to bring everyone their ice cream.

As Dash sat down and started to have her first bite, Pinkie slurped up the last bit of her shake, then pushed the glass away. “Hey Dashie! Can you run up and get me a banana split??”

Dash dropped her spoon back down into the dish with a clang as she rolled her eyes. “Aw for fuck sakes, Pinkie Pie…”

Pinkie held out a five dollar bill. “I’ll pay for it!”

Dash knew that AJ and herself would have to get up anyway to let Pinkie out of the booth, so she took the bill, groaning as she got back up.

A couple of us snickered as Dash walked back to the counter to order the treat.

I looked at Pinkie. “So where’s this party that you’re doing?”

She shrugged. “Oh, just some frat party…beginning of the year type stuff.”

“Oh OK. You busy with parties this time of year?” I asked.

“Yeah, there’s always a few parties in the first few months of school.” She replied. “They usually die off after a bit when they run out of their parents’ money...” she giggled.

I nodded with a chuckle. “Sounds about right.”

Dash came back a minute later, sliding the banana split across the table to Pinkie. “There you go, Pinkie.” She said as she sat back down.

“Thanks Dashie!” Pinkie replied, quickly digging into her treat.

Between bites, Rarity pointed at Dash’s hair with her spoon. “I love what you’ve done with your hair, Rainbow Dash. The way you’ve woven the colours together is so striking!”

“Hey thanks, Rare.” Dash said with her mouth full.

I looked up to have a second look at Dash’s hair again as AJ started gesturing to her own hair with her hand.

“Yeah,” AJ said. “And you’ve got that nice little queef goin there.”

I put my hand over my mouth to hide that I was laughing at what she said.

Rarity shook her head. “Applejack, I think you meant to say ‘coif’.” She said as Dash snickered.

AJ nodded. “That’s what I said.”

Rarity shook her head. “No, it isn’t.”

AJ held her spoon out to the side, like she was shrugging with it. “OK, what did I say then?”

Rarity leaned in closer to AJ. “You said…queef.” she whispered.

Applejack chuckled out loud. “Yeah…same thing, isn’t it?”

Sunset, Pinkie and I started laughing as Rarity rubbed her forehead with frustration.

“No, Applejack. It most certainly is NOT the same thing…” Rarity said flatly, shaking her head. “Just…nevermind.”

We sat and ate our treats in relative silence for about ten minutes, enjoying each other’s company in the process. Rarity’s hand found its way to my thigh again, rubbing slowly up and down, making me wonder if anyone else was noticing.

“OK.” Dash said, taking a break from her sundae. “Who here thinks Flutters pissed herself up there in front of everyone?”

Rarity gasped in disgust at the blue girl. “Rainbow Dash! Don’t even say it!”

Dash shrugged. “I’m just sayin…has it even started yet?”

I took my phone out to look at the time. “It should have started by now, yeah.”

Sunset shook her head, digging into her ice cream with her spoon. “I can’t believe she actually went through with it.”

“I think it’ll do her good.” AJ said. “It’ll teach her to git over her fears.”

The rest of them nodded in agreement.

“Uh-huh! You GO, Flutters!” Pinkie squealed, taking another bite of her banana split as she glanced over to the far side of the shop.

“Absolutely!” Rarity agreed. “She’ll be all the better for it.”

I looked at Rarity as she glanced at me, giving me a wink with her pretty blue eyes.

I smiled, then turned back to face Pinkie, but was greeted by a strange sight. She still had her spoon in her mouth after her last bite…and she was completely frozen in place. Her eyes were wide, staring at something on the other side of the shop.

I turned to see what she was looking at, which was the TV on the wall…the one that always had local the news on. I leaned forward to see past Sunset and Rarity, trying to figure out what had caught Pinkie’s attention, figuring it was a candy bar commercial or something like that.

Instead, what I saw was an aerial view of the high school on the TV screen. My heart screeched to a halt when I saw the headline across the bottom:

‘SCHOOL SHOOTING AT CANTERLOT HIGH’

Chapter 41: The Saviour

Chapter 41

Fluttershy was in shock, so much so that she’d forgotten to be relieved about her presentation being interrupted before she’d spoken a single word.

Her eyes were wide as she looked around the gym, hearing the panicked screams of students as they ducked their heads, frightened by the sound of automatic gunfire.

Two men had emerged from behind the curtains on the stage wearing ski masks and dark, long-sleeved shirts, wearing black cargo pants. Each of them had a backpack on and were carrying a firearm; one had a twelve-gauge shotgun and the other had a small automatic weapon.

A third shooter had appeared at the side door of the gym with a nine-millimeter handgun, stopping anyone from being able to escape.

Fluttershy heard her name being called, and she turned to see Luna waving her over to join her at the side of the crowd. The shy girl snatched up the cage and kept her head down as she scampered over to the blue-haired woman while the shooter with the machine gun sprayed bullets into the rafters, frightening everyone in the gym into a panic.

The man with the shotgun jumped down from the stage and approached the crowd where Fluttershy had just been standing, stopping only a few feet in front of the students, just as the machine gun had finally stopped its deadly song. The students continued to whimper and squeal in the newfound silence as small bits of debris fell on them from the ceiling, which had been pulverised and riddled with bullets.

“Shut-up!” the shotgun-man shouted at the crowd, pacing back and forth. He sounded fairly young, probably in his early twenties.

His shout only succeeded in lowering the volume of noise to a very small degree. He lurked back and forth in front of the students, shaking his head as he glared into the sea of fearful eyes looking back at him. “This fucking place…” he growled.

Fluttershy felt something grasp her hand. She looked down to see Luna’s pastel hand squeezing hers, and she lifted her head to look through the woman’s glasses into her eyes.

Luna clenched her jaw as she looked back at the shy girl, giving her a reassuring look with her deep, green eyes. Fluttershy clenched her jaw, looking back at her former principal, wondering what was going to happen, and what she should do.

Unbeknownst to Fluttershy, her training had started to kick in as she gave a quick glance towards the man at the door, noticing he had tucked the pistol into his pants and was resting his palm on the handle.

Next, she turned to look at the man on the stage with the machine gun, watching him closely as he stood there, grinning smugly through the hole in the mask as he watched the man with the shotgun pace around in front of the crowd.

“This place is fucked!” he shouted suddenly, pointing his finger at Luna. “They don’t care about any of you!”

Fluttershy glanced at Luna, who shook her head at the accusation.

“Well, today they’re really gonna be fucked,” he continued.

The gym went silent quite promptly, aside from the soft chorus of shaky breathing, fueled by the fear of death and suffering.

“Young man,” Luna finally said, breaking the silence.

Fluttershy stared wide-eyed in disbelief, her mouth agape as she watched her former Vice-Principal speak defiantly into the face of intimidation.

“I don’t know what has driven you to believe these things, but this is no way to go about solving your problems,” she said sternly.

Fluttershy couldn’t believe the bravery of this woman. To speak up against these armed intruders, and in front of everyone in the gym to-boot; this was something the shy girl could never do herself, even as an immortal.

“And what are you going to do? HUH?” the shotgun-wielder demanded, unexpectedly marching towards Fluttershy and Luna. “You had your chance to do the right thing, and you blew it! Now, who’s it going to be?” he quizzed menacingly, shifting his eyes onto Fluttershy. “Maybe your teacher first?” he asked, mistaking the shy girl for a faculty member.

He promptly lifted the shotgun and pointed it directly at Fluttershy’s face. A collective gasp emanated from the crowd of students, many of them covering their eyes when they saw the innocent guest speaker become the target of this unhinged psychopath.

Fluttershy drew her head back, staring down the large barrel that hung a foot from her face. “Oh no! If he shoots me, everyone will know what I am!” She tensed up, waiting for it, wondering what it would feel like, and what she would do if it happened. Should she try to engage them? More innocent people might end up dead if she did; the man with the shotgun was close, but the other two men were too far from her reach, and would have plenty of time to bring harm to the students before she could stop them.

What happened next was the worst thing Fluttershy could have imagined.

Luna, with her arms outstretched to the side, stepped in front of the shy girl, using herself as a shield to protect her former student, glaring at the shooter with a stoic face.

“NO!!” Fluttershy gasped. “Luna can’t sacrifice herself for me!” Fluttershy's heart wrenched at the thought of the woman showing such bravery, unaware that the shy girl’s life was in no real danger at all.

Luna remained steeled as she stared into the eyes of the assailant. It was clear that he did not expect her brash move and he gave pause, considering what he should do as he held the gun to her face, forcing everyone to wait in tense panic as the seconds dragged by, each one an eternity of its own.

Fluttershy’s heart thumped in her chest, terrified that her former Principal could be dead at any second. “What should I do?” she thought. “He’s on the other side of her…I won’t be able to help her in time,” The shy girl stood motionless behind the VP, waiting hopelessly for the loud bang, her stomach turning at the thought of Luna’s face being blown apart and splattering all over her.

An eternity went by, and then the shooter turned away at last, lowering the shotgun as he faced the crowd of students once again. “No,” he said. “They need to see their students die first…WHO'S IT GONNA BE?”

Luna gasped when he raised the shotgun, aiming into the crowd of innocent, young faces, eliciting a sudden wave of panicked screams that filled the auditorium.

The tightness in Fluttershy’s stomach suddenly increased upon seeing the kids thrust back into danger; even though she was a bit relieved when she realised the blue-haired woman wouldn't be made to sacrifice herself in vain. She felt intense shame in herself for just standing there, doing nothing, while Luna was on the cusp of paying the ultimate price for her hesitation. She felt selfish for not acting, knowing that she might have had the power to do something about what was happening.

And now she was seeing the weapon being aimed at innocent students. She peered over Luna’s shoulder, watching as the young teenagers ducked their heads, putting their arms up in front of their faces to protect themselves; a pointless gesture, since the second he pulled that trigger, their flesh would be torn apart like soft bread.

“This can’t happen…come on Fluttershy! You HAVE to do something,” she urged herself, feeling her heart tearing itself in two when saw the fear in the eyes of the young students. “Oh, but…what if you make things worse?...Oohhh, I wish Rarity was here; she could just use her magic to make some shields to protect everyone from harm!”

“Please,” Luna spoke again, her voice noticeably more tense now. ”Obviously...you feel that someone has wronged you at some time...”

The shooter quickly turned his head to face her.

“But,” Luna continued, speaking shakily, “taking the lives of others is not going to fix anything. You are only going to make things worse for yourself, and you will not likely survive this once the police arrive...if you go through with it.”

He walked briskly toward Luna and swung his hand at her face, planting a fierce slap across her cheek, knocking her glasses off.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Fluttershy watched the eyewear gradually inch their way to the floor; her heart thumped relentlessly, watching them descend slowly, gasping as they landed on the hardwood and broke, popping a lens out and snapping off one of the side temples. Luna’s head was thrown to the side from the force of the strike and she staggered backwards, bumping into Fluttershy, who put her hands on the disoriented woman’s shoulders to catch her.

“Are you OK, Luna?” she whispered close to the VP’s ear, maintaining a gentle grip on her shoulders.

Luna turned her head part-way to face the shy girl and nodded, holding a hand to her cheek as the nasty sting rang across her skin.

Fluttershy scowled and looked up to make direct eye contact with the shooter, her anger beginning to spark inside her brain as she watched him arrogantly stare back, retreating a few steps before turning his attention to the students again. “I have to do something!” she decided, clenching her jaw.

Luna was now cupping her hands over her mouth, watching helplessly as the man pointed the weapon at the crowd of students, waving the barrel around, choosing which lives he would destroy first with a sickening level of casualness.

“But what if they are stronger than me?” Fluttershy's thoughts conflicted with themselves, once again doubting her own abilities. With a quick sigh, she squeezed her eyes shut and gave her head a shake. “NO! I already hesitated once, and Luna almost lost her life for it…I have to act!”

“Hmmmm…” the man thought out loud, his hands steadying as he chose his target.

“I’ve saved this school before, and I can do it again!” the shy girl reassured herself, only to have the voice in her head become timid again. “Oh, but…I had my friends with me those other times...”

Once the shooter had found on his target, he slowly, teasingly turned his head towards Luna. “This is your failure. You can’t protect them.”

Luna shook her head. “No…” she whimpered quietly, her voice elevated, cracking as she pleaded for him to spare their young lives.

Fluttershy heard it: Luna, the woman possessing such unwavering bravery was finally beaten; her emotion was showing through, watching helplessly as her students were about to be viciously murdered. Witnessing this was enough for the shy girl. Her rage hit full throttle and she clenched her fists tightly, finally resolving to put her skills into play; now was the time to act, before it was too late. “This is it, Fluttershy! They need YOU!” She slipped her jacket off so she could move freely, revealing her signature white tank top from underneath, along with the green skirt and boots that completed the ensemble as always.

“Nobody fucks with MY school!”

The shy girl placed her hand on Luna’s shoulder and quickly darted around her, drawing a gasp from the Vice-Principal as she tried to reach out and stop Fluttershy, who was now sprinting over to the man with the shotgun.

He was barely ten feet away from Luna, so it didn’t take Fluttershy long to close the gap between them. She swung her foot high and swift, kicking the gun upwards just as he squeezed the trigger, sending the shot into the rafters, causing another wave of debris to rain down onto the students. The BANG was deafening, causing the students and teachers to cover their ears, squeezing their eyes shut.

As Fluttershy brought her leg down after the kick, she thrust her heel into the side of the shooter’s knee, snapping the joint with a loud crack. He grunted loudly as his leg collapsed, and he leaned sideways to shift his weight onto his good leg, holding the shotgun out to balance himself as he went down onto his other knee.

Without hesitation, the shy girl grabbed the gun with both hands and shoved it back into his face, driving the butt-end of the stock into his temple, knocking him unconscious. She then yanked the weapon from his hand as he fell into a lifeless heap, and she spun around to aim the shotgun towards the man at the door, pumping the handle to reload the weapon.

The entire room was frozen in time, locked in that terrifying moment. Not a single breath was passed -- whether in or out -- and all eyes were set squarely on the shy girl, who had shocked everyone in the auditorium with actions so quick and precise, hardly anyone was able to keep up as she managed to catch her adversaries sorely off-guard, setting in motion a chain of events was sure to turn the tables on them. The only sound in the room was the hollow clunk of the smoking shell as it bounced on the floor after being expelled from the weapon, coming to rest at the feet of the wide-eyed students.

She stood motionless, aiming at the other shooter, who she had observed earlier with his pistol tucked into his pants. Now, he was caught with the gun only half-raised, with the shotgun pointing directly at him now. Fluttershy had taken down the leader so quickly that by the time he realised what was happening, it was too late for him to draw his pistol and aim at her in time, but...

There was still the matter of the shooter on the stage with the machine gun.

The entire room watched on in horror as the man on the stage aimed the machine gun at Fluttershy, grinning maliciously through the mask with an arrogant chuckle sounding from his throat.

The standoff went on for a few moments.

The room was dead silent.

Everyone waited for the next move.

But it was Fluttershy, and Fluttershy alone who knew that she was the one with the upper hand. Her mind was alive and her body was ready for action; her training was coming back to her, guiding her to save the students of CHS. She had seen everything that was going on without even realising it until now: she knew the man with the pistol would be too slow to draw the weapon by the time she had him in her sights, and she was certain that she had heard the machine gun completely empty its magazine after the assailants entered the gym and sprayed the ceiling with warning shots to frighten everyone into submission.

She also knew that in his brash overconfidence, the man with the machine gun didn’t bother to reload his weapon when it was empty, which was now something he had forgotten about as he stood in the left of her peripheries, aiming at her from the stage with an empty weapon like a fool.

Fluttershy kept the shotgun lined up with the man at the door and shifted her eyes to the left, watching and waiting as the man on the stage aimed at her and pulled the trigger, only to hear the dull click of the useless weapon.

“Shit!” he cried, suddenly realising his mistake.

As he frantically began pulling the clip from the gun to reload it, Fluttershy let a small grin creep across one side of her lips. “Check-mate…amateurs.”

She brought her eyes back to the man at the door, who was still frozen in place, his pistol half drawn. She closed one eye, putting him in her sights and then pulled the trigger, followed immediately by a deafening BANG that rang throughout the gym. The weapon violently kicked Fluttershy's slender figure backwards, causing her to stagger slightly as she struggled to maintain a firm grip on the cantankerous weapon.

The spread hit his right shoulder with a spray of crimson that painted the adjacent wall, causing him to spin around as he fell, landing on his front, facing out of the gym doors.

Without skipping a beat, Fluttershy turned to face the stage, letting the barrel of the shotgun point down at the floor as she pumped the handle, flinging another spent shell to the side, which landed at Luna’s feet with another hollow clunk.

The man on the stage was still scrambling to take a new magazine out of his pack as Fluttershy dropped to one knee to steady herself, aimed the weapon and fired without hesitation, hitting him dead-center in the chest. She was much closer to him than the other man; the blast therefore opened up a deep, red crater in his torso, spraying the stage with blood as he was blown off his feet and landed on his back, several feet away with a loud thud.

The shy girl stood and faced Luna, who was standing in the same spot with her hands over her mouth, eyes wide as saucers.

“Are you OK, Vice Prin-…um, Luna?” Fluttershy asked quietly.

Luna didn’t move, other than giving a small nod and a shaky exhale.

Fluttershy watched her for a moment, and was about to say something when she heard grunting from the gym door. She turned to see that the man with the pistol had gotten back up to his knees, his right side covered in a glistening, red coat of blood; he was trying in vain to lift his arm to point the gun at her, but the pain was too intense and he had become groggy after losing vast amounts of blood.

The sight of his persistence to commit violence sent Fluttershy over the edge, and she pumped the shotgun again, expelling the final shell to the side, leaving an arc of pale smoke in its wake. The shy girl angrily approached him, stomping her feet and holding the shotgun in both hands with a clenched jaw, scowling at him as he knelt there helplessly, breathing heavily.

“HOW DARE YOU!” she hollered, her soft voice gone, replaced by a frightening shriek; one that certainly caught everyone -- especially Luna -- off-guard. “YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD SHOOT UP CHS?”

She stopped a few feet in front of him and aimed the weapon at his face. She knew it was out of shells, but he didn’t, and she had no problem using it to intimidate him. “How many?” she asked from behind the barrel.

He squinted at her, breathing hard and grunting in pain before shaking his head.

“HOW MANY ARE THERE?” she repeated, louder this time.

“Fi…five," he answered, barely audible.

“WHERE ARE THE OTHER TWO?”

“…Pr…Principal…” he huffed.

Fluttershy’s eyes went wide with worry. “Principal Celestia…” she thought, realising this ordeal wasn’t over yet. She had one more objective to complete.

The shy girl snapped herself back to the moment, now more focused and ready than ever. She flipped the shotgun around so she was holding it by the barrel and then swung it at him like a baseball bat, connecting the wooden stock with his face and knocking him out cold.

Satisfied that he'd been effectively dealt with, she dropped the gun to the floor. It landed at her feet, clattering loudly as she stepped over her victim to leave the gym before she stopped to look at Luna one more time.

“Stay here,” Fluttershy ordered.

Luna stared in shock as the shy girl walked out of the room and out of everyone’s sight, leaving the entire auditorium in utter, stunned silence.

*****

Fluttershy crept quickly but quickly down the halls of CHS towards Principal Celestia’s office listening for any signs of gunfire, or possibly the sounds of voices; the halls were completely empty, and to her relief, there were no bodies or any other evidence that anyone innocent had been killed yet.

She entered the front lobby, where the halls intersected into the large, circular main foyer. Staying close to the wall, she approached the corner to the hall that led to the Principal’s office. She was about to peer around the corner to see if the hallway was clear when she heard voices, as well as the shuffling of feet. It sounded as though someone was being forced to walk down the hallway…

Principal Celestia was being led down the hall at gunpoint by two men, who were similarly dressed to the men who occupied the gym. One of them was on her right, holding her right arm with his left hand while reaching across himself with his right arm to hold a pistol to her chin. He dragged her along with him, her feet shuffling along the floor, stumbling every so often as her trembling legs tried to keep pace with his hasty stride. Her chin was high with the gun pressed against her jaw, her breaths hissing through her gritted teeth.

Like her sister, she was showing additional signs of age of her own. Her face wasn’t as tight as it once was and her eyes had slight wrinkles in the corners; her light blue, pink and green hair had been cut short and was styled simply at the sides and front, with the back of her neck exposed. There were small wisps of white hair along the sides of her bangs and around her ears, however, her large, purple eyes remained sparkling and youthful. She still wore the same yellow jacket over the purple v-neck shirt along with those purple slacks as always, with the large golden pin on the lapel of her jacket.

The other man followed behind them, holding a nine-millimeter handgun at his side as he walked. “I heard shots already,” he said, taunting the tall woman. “They must have started the party without us; I guess we’ll find out which students of yours are already dead when we get there, eh?”

As they approached the end of the hallway, they had begun to veer to the right to head through the main foyer, heading for the gym. Just when they were about to pass the end of the hall on the right side however, two slender yellow arms suddenly shot out from behind the corner; one gripped the crook of the right arm of the man who held Celestia, and the other grabbed his right hand, which was holding the gun to her jaw. His arm was yanked firmly to the right, placing the gun under his own chin as the little yellow fingers squeezed his finger against the trigger, firing a round upwards, through his chin and out the top of his head, spraying a red and gray mist onto the ceiling.

It happened quick as lighting, making Celestia jump with fright at the sudden movement, compounded with the loud BANG that echoed down the empty hall. Disoriented, she gasped sharply as a wave of cold pinpricks washed over her skin, wondering if it was her who'd been shot, until she felt the contrasting feel of his warm blood splattering on her face and neck. Her breath locked in place next, and she stood there shakily; unaware of what had just happened, gawking at the lifeless man laying on the floor with a steadily growing pool of crimson surrounding his head.

Fluttershy had emerged from behind the corner by then, charging swiftly towards the second man who was following behind; he was still trying to get a bearing on what had just happened when he looked up just in time to see the pink-haired girl approaching him with an alarming scowl on her face. In a panic, he raised his pistol and fired.

Without thinking, the shy girl quickly reached out and cupped her hand over the end of the gun, just as he pulled the trigger. The discharge collided with her palm, which had blocked the barrel and caused the weapon to backfire unexpectedly, sending a piece of shrapnel and a wisp of high pressure flame across his thumb and wrist from the rear of the gun, leaving a deep slice in his flesh and burning the skin of his hand and forearm.

Instinctively, he let go of the gun and screamed in pain as he clutched his injured hand with the other.

Fluttershy, still holding the pistol by the barrel, wasted no time in raising it above her head to swing it downwards, connecting the handle to his face, smashing his nose with a sickening crunch that echoed down the long, empty hall. Blinded by pain and tears, he cupped both hands over his face, blood immediately seeping between his fingers as the shy girl brought her leg up and drove the sole of her boot into the center of his chest, knocking him off his feet and onto his back. He landed like a ton of bricks, his head hitting the marble floor with a loud thud, after which he laid there, bloodied and motionless.

Fluttershy dropped the destroyed weapon to the floor with a sharp clack as she turned to look at her former Principal, who now stood before her, dumbfounded and trembling. She folded her hands and brought her knees together like she always did, being the shy girl that she was. “Um, hi Principal Celestia…I like your hair.”

Celestia stared wide-eyed at her former student, trying to decide whether or not she’d just imagined seeing the timid girl brutally incapacitate the assailants within a matter of seconds. “F-Flutter…sh…” she began, just as her eyes rolled back and her body began to collapse to the floor.

Fluttershy darted forward to catch the tall woman and brought her to the floor gently, sitting down with her to avoid letting her head hit the hard marble. She sat on the floor with her legs outstretched, letting the Principal faint against her, resting her head on the fragrant pink hair that padded the shy girl’s shoulder.

Fluttershy wrapped her arms around Celestia’s shoulders and held her safe and secure, waiting for her wake up, or better yet, for help to arrive.

Chapter 42: Aftermath

Chapter 42

Everyone was standing around the TV in the Sweet Shoppe now.

I was standing with Rarity beside me, squeezing my arm tightly as we watched the screen, hoping to find out more about what was happening at the school. The anchorman’s voice droned over the footage, showing only the outside of the school with police cars and officers surrounding it.

I glanced around at the other girls, who were all watching intently with wide-eyes and hands over their mouths.

“She’ll be fine, guys.” I said. Some of them looked at me when I spoke, others kept their eyes glued on the TV.

“Yeah, I know…” Dash said. “But still…this is crazy…”

I looked back at the TV as the screen changed to show a middle-aged man in a suit being interviewed. The headline across the bottom revealed that he was the School Superintendant.

“I was supposed to meet the Principal here this afternoon for our usual beginning of the year visit, but when I pulled up just a few minutes ago the place was surrounded by cop cars…I’ve never seen anything like this happen in an area like this, it’s a very unusual thing in such a quiet town. Let’s hope this ends with as few lives lost as possible, and my prayers go out to everyone inside who are being held by these men.” he said with a solemn tone. Halfway through his talk, the screen changed back to the overhead view of the school again.

I could smell the sweetness of root beer lingering suddenly as I heard Sunset whisper in my ear. “We should go…the school’s close, we could run there.”

I looked at her. “We can’t just run in there…we don’t know where the shooters are, how many there are, where they’re holding the hostages...we’d be putting more lives in danger if we set them off and they start shooting.” I whispered back. “Flutters has eyes and ears on the inside, she has the best chance to do something about this.”

Sunset nodded. “Fine, but Flutters isn’t exactly known for her assertiveness…”

Rarity looked harshly at Sunset. “Fluttershy will do what she must…I know she will!”

“Well, maybe…” Sunset said, rubbing her chin.

“Should we try texting her?” Rarity asked.

I shook my head quickly.

Sunset agreed. “No Rare…we might give her away if her phone makes noise and she happens to be sneaking around or something. We have no idea where she is right now…it’s not worth the risk.”

“I’m afraid she’s on her own for now.” I said, putting my arm around Rarity to hold her close.

“Shouldn’t we still go?” Sunset asked. “So we’re close if shit hits the fan…”

I looked at Rarity to see her reaction.

“I’d rather be there than here, darling…” she said, with her blue eyes sparkling at me.

I couldn’t say no…besides Sunset had a point. “OK, lets go.” I said.

We turned and started walking out when we heard AJ behind us. “Hey wait, you guys! Somethin’s happenin…”

We stopped and turned to look at the TV. The camera was zooming in on the front doors, which were now opened and what appeared to be students were emerging from the building, led by a taller woman with blue hair. A few of the police officers ran up to help escort them down, one of them appeared to be asking the blue-haired woman questions as they made their way down the steps.

“That’s Vice Principal Luna!” Pinkie cried out.

“Good, she’s OK at least.” AJ replied.

“Do you guys see Flutters? Or Principal Celestia?” Dash asked as her eyes darted around the TV screen, looking for them.

“We’re going.” Sunset said suddenly. “You guys coming?”

The rest of them looked at us as we stood near the door, then they started heading out the door after us.

As we got outside onto the sidewalk, we broke in to a jog, following Sunset to the school. I looked around at the rest of them, then suddenly noticed one of them was missing.

“Where the hell did Rainbow Dash go?” I asked.

“Heh, where d’you think?” AJ asked. “She’s probably there already.”

“Oh…fuck, yeah I keep forgetting about that…” I replied.

We ran along the sidewalk for a few minutes. It didn’t take long at all to get to CHS, I could see now why they went to the Sweet Shoppe so much when they went to school since it was so close.

Dash was waiting on the sidewalk out front. “What took you guys so long?” she asked with a shrug.

“Nevermind, Dash.” Sunset barked. “What’s going on?”

“I dunno.” Dash replied. “I can’t see anything through all the students…I was trying to find Vice-Principal Luna.”

“Let’s find her.” Sunset ordered with a nod.

We walked along the sidewalk, trying to see past the crowd of police cars, students and ambulances as we searched for the blue haired woman.

Pinkie suddenly pointed to the back of an ambulance. “There she is! VICE-PRINCIPAL LUNA!” she screeched, waving her hand.

As the rest of us joined Pinkie, I could see the blue-haired woman sitting at the back of an ambulance, holding an ice pack to her cheek as the paramedic was doing some checks on her. She raised her head to face our direction at the sound of the shrill, but familiar voice, squinting her eyes, struggling to see us without her glasses.

“Vice Principal Luna, it’s us! The girls!” Dash yelled, waving her hand.

Luna could barely make out the familiar distinctive hair colours of her former students in the distance. Realizing who they were, she gasped and put her hand up to wave them over.

As we started to walk in between a pair of police cruisers, a police officer stepped in front of us. “You guys can’t come in here.”

“Aw come on!” Dash yelled, putting her hands up. “We know them! And our friend is still inside the school!”

The cop turned to look at another cop who was close to Luna. We could see the blue-haired woman talking quietly to the officer, who nodded softly, then finally looked back at the cop near us. “Let them in.”

The cop close to us looked back in our direction, then shook his head as he stepped aside to let us pass. We made our way over to the back of the ambulance and gathered around the VP, leaving enough space for the officials to do their work.

The girls all said their hellos to their former Vice Principal as she forced a smile back at them, still visibly shaken by the events of the day.

“Hello girls.” Luna greeted. “I didn’t expect to be seeing all of you today.”

“That’s how we roll, eh guys?” Dash said, elbowing Sunset in the side.

“What happened in there?” AJ asked. “Where’s Principal Celestia? And Fluttershy?”

Luna seemed to lock up at the sound of the shy girl’s name. She stared at us for a moment before she shook her head and looked down at the grass. “Your friend went to look for my sister…” she said flatly. Then she looked back up at us. “I just can’t believe what she did in there…”

“Who? Fluttershy?” Sunset asked.

Luna nodded. “Yes, Sunset Shimmer.” She replied. “There were three of them in the gym…everyone was in there because of the assembly…one of them was about to fire into the crowd, and out-of-nowhere, Fluttershy ran up and took him down and shot the other two with his gun…they didn’t even get a single shot off…”

I could feel Rarity squeezing my hand. I looked over at the fashionista, who was looking at me with wide eyes and a smirk of pride in the shy girl.

“I just couldn’t believe it…” Luna continued. “She saved everybody.”

“That’s my girl…” I thought to myself as I glanced over at Sunset, who was looking back at me with a smirk of her own, her eyes sparkling as she looked back into mine.

Dash had her fingertips pressed against her temples, blinking her eyes as she tried to process the news. “Wait…Fluttershy…shot people?”

Luna nodded. “It was like…she was a trained assassin or something…where would she have learned to do something like that?”

The girls all slowly turned and looked at me.

I felt a little ‘on the spot’ as the blue-haired woman locked her eyes on mine, focusing hard as she tried to see who I was without her glasses on.

“Uh…hi.” I said to her. “I’m Golden Arrow.”

She stared blankly at me. I was suddenly quite struck by how intimidating this woman was.

“Fluttershy is my, uh, girlfriend.” I explained.

Luna’s eyes widened at the realization of who I was. “Ah, it is nice to meet you, Golden Arrow. Fluttershy told me all about you.”

I chuckled awkwardly. “Well, hopefully not all about me…”

“Well, clearly not. I thought she said you were a mechanic...you taught her to fight like that?” Luna asked as she adjusted her icepack.

“Well…” I started, but was cut off by Sunset, who was trying to change the subject so I wouldn’t have to come up with an explanation.

“So who were these guys?” Sunset asked. “Why did they do this?”

Luna shifted her eyes over to the red-haired girl, then she shook her head. “They had masks on…but one of them seemed familiar…” She briefly held up her icepack. “The one who did this to me…”

“He hit you?” Dash asked sternly.

Luna nodded. “Yes. And he broke my glasses.” she said, looking back down at the grass. “They seemed disgruntled about something…like things weren’t going well for them, but rather than accepting responsibility for their choices in life, they just wanted to blame the system…” she looked back up at us and shrugged. “…Just from the things he said.”

“That’s too bad.” AJ said, shaking her head. “Such a waste of life…some people really are their own worst enemies.”

Luna sighed. “We’ll know more soon enough I’m sure, he may have been the only one who survived…but he won’t be walking for awhile.”

The girls exchanged glances for a moment before Dash shook her head. “Jeez, remind me not to piss Flutters off anymore.”

Luna let out a small chuckle. “No, I wouldn’t recommend it, Ms. Dash. Not after what I just saw.”

Just then we heard shouting and a bit of cheering from the crowd of students gathered all over the front yard. “There they are! They’re OK!” they were shouting. We turned to see what was going on and saw two women emerging from the front doors of the school.

I recognised one of them as Fluttershy right away. She was with a tall woman with short pastel-coloured hair, who was wearing a yellow jacket and purple pants. Fluttershy was holding the woman’s right hand with her own right hand and had her left arm around the shoulders of the taller lady, holding her steady as they made their way down the steps.

A couple officers jogged over to them, helping the taller woman to walk over to the ambulances near us. I could see one of them trying to help Fluttershy, who was waving him off and shaking her head.

As they made their way over towards us, Luna stood up, trying to see. “Is that my sister?” she asked frantically. When Celestia was about ten feet away, they locked eyes on one another. Luna dropped her ice pack to the ground and ran over to embrace her sister.

The two of them hugged tightly, sobbing as their tears ran down their cheeks at the relief of knowing they were both safe. The girls all stood and watched in awe, having never seen these two highly respected women showing such emotion before.

Rarity’s hand quickly released mine as she ran over to wrap her arms around Fluttershy in a tight hug. The shy girl looked at me over the shoulder of her friend, gazing at me with her teal eyes.

I could see a look in her eyes, which had a new darkness in them. I felt a tingle go up my spine when I recognised it...the look I’d seen hundreds of times before, the look someone has when they’ve taken a life for the first time. I knew right then that whatever happened in that school was serious business.

I smiled and gave her a comforting nod. She smiled back then closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around Rarity in return.

One of the paramedics approached the sisters. “Sorry, ma’am. I have to check you out.”

Celestia released her sister to look at him. “I’m fine. Really.”

The medic shook his head. “Sorry ma’am. We have to do it.” He turned to Fluttershy next. “You too, miss.”

Fluttershy’s eyes popped open, looking at me with worry.

I waved my hand a bit to calm her down. “It’s OK, they’re just gonna look at you.”

Fluttershy and Rarity separated as she and Celestia went to the next closest ambulance to be checked over by the paramedics. All they really did was ask them a few questions, looked in their eyes with a light and checked them over quickly for visible injuries. They took a minute to wipe the small amounts of blood splatter from Celestia’s face and jacket the best they could before letting her get back to her sister.

Afterwards the two sister principals sat together at the back of the ambulance that Luna was sitting at when we arrived.

Fluttershy came over to me, wrapping her arms around me tightly as I ran my fingers through her hair for a few moments. Then she gasped suddenly and backed up to look at me.

“Oh my goodness!” she said in her soft voice.

“What’s wrong?” I asked as everyone else looked at her.

“Link!” she cried as she started to look around.

Luna gasped as she looked up at Fluttershy. “Oh! You left him in the gym...”

The officer who was close to us overheard the conversation. “Hold on, miss…you can’t go back in there. It’s a crime scene. What did you leave in there?”

“My cat…but he’s not in there. He’s out here.” She explained.

The cop cocked his eyebrows. “How do you know that?”

“I, uh…” she paused, obviously not wanting to tell him she had magical powers that let her talk to animals. “I thought I heard him…he must be close.”

Just then we heard a young female voice off to our left. “Um, M-Miss Fluttershy?”

We all turned to see a young freshman student standing there, holding the carrier with the Lynx kitten inside. Fluttershy quickly recognised her from the front row of the assembly.

“I saw that you left him in there when you went to look for the Principal…so I got him for you when we left.“ she explained timidly.

Fluttershy quickly walked over to the young girl, who gingerly handed over the carrier to her. She lifted it up to look inside at the animal to check that he was OK, then she held the carrier down at her side and looked back at the student. “Um, thank you so much f-for bringing him out to me.”

“Oh…you’re welcome…um, what his name?” the young girl asked timidly.

“Um, his name’s Link.” The shy girl answered. “Because…he’s a Lynx.”

The teenage girl awkwardly smiled and nodded, then paused for a moment before suddenly stepping forward and tightly wrapping her arms around Fluttershy's waist, pressing the side of her head into the shy girl’s chest. “Thank you for saving us…” she said quietly.

Fluttershy slowly wrapped her free arm around the little girl’s shoulders, then rested her cheek on top of her head. “You’re welcome.” she said softly, taking a deep breath as she turned towards us to see all of us smiling back at her, beaming with pride.

*****

We were all at the police station later on, waiting in the front for them to finish questioning Fluttershy about the school shooting. Some of us were sitting down in the chairs in the waiting area. I was sitting with Rarity leaning her head on my shoulder, checking her phone for messages. Sunset was sitting on the other side of me, playing with her fingernails, occasionally making small talk with me about the day.

Link was in the carrier on the floor at my feet.

AJ was sitting across from me with her feet stretched out, her arms folded on her chest and her hat pulled down over her face. Dash was pacing around the room impatiently and Pinkie was at the counter flirting with the male cop seated there. Evidently she was finding him quite attractive.

She was letting her breasts rest on the countertop, making sure they were pressing upward out of her shirt for him to see…no matter how many times he told her he was married and was expecting twins in the next couple of months.

“I’ve got a couple of twins for ya too…” she was saying, giggling like a school girl as Dash finally groaned and pulled her away by the arm.

“Jesus, Pinkie!” Dash growled. “He said he was married like ten times!”

Pinkie giggled, looking back at the cop as she walked away with Dash, letting her hips sway back and forth on purpose as she winked at him one more time.

“Sorry…” Dash said to the officer as they walked away.

The officer just forced a smile as he went back to his work.

I leaned over to Sunset with a smirk on my face. “Twins or not, that guy is totally gonna spank it to that ass in the shower tonight.”

Sunset put her hand in front of her mouth, laughing quietly. “Totally.”

“That’s enough, you two.” Rarity mumbled at my side. “However correct you may be…”

Sunset and I laughed a bit more at Rarity’s quip.

Just then we heard the front door open and a young lady cop walked in, carrying two big trays of coffees. She had light gray skin with blonde hair, and appeared to be about the same age as the girls.

“Here you go, Officer Perkins!” she said enthusiastically as she held one of the trays over the counter to the cop that Pinkie was just hitting on.

He smiled as he reached for the cup. “Thanks Derp.” He said as he took a coffee from the tray, letting a pistol fall out that had been wedged between the cups. The gun landed on the countertop with a loud clunk, causing the cop to recoil upon seeing the barrel aimed at himself as it landed.

“What the-??” Perkins shouted, looking at the gun, then the girl cop. “What’d we tell you about that, rookie? You keep your weapon in its holster at ALL TIMES!...unless you intend to fire it!”

“Sorry Officer Perkins, my bad!” she said. “It’s just, it pokes my leg when I’m riding my bicycle…”

Perkins pointed at her. “This is your second warning about that! Got it?”

She nodded. “Yes sir…”

Dash turned toward the counter with her eyes wide to look at the girl cop. “Derpy? You’re a cop??”

The gray skinned girl turned to look at who was talking to her as she slid the gun into her side holster. She smiled when she saw the girls there. “Oh, hi Rainbow Dash!” she said.

I immediately noticed her gold eyes, which were extremely crooked. One eye seemed to be looking directly at Dash, the other was looking for her. I cringed as soon as I saw her, wondering how they let her have a gun…

“Yeah,” Derpy continued. “I’m a police officer now, fresh out of the academy a month ago…”

“That’s awesome.” Dash replied. “I didn’t know you were interested in becoming a cop.”

“Yup, I wanna make the world a safer place!” Derpy said proudly.

I looked over at Sunset, who’s eyes went wide as she looked down at the floor and shook her head, unsure about what she had just heard.

“OK, Derp…” Perkins said. “Get the rest of those coffees handed out, then you can start cleaning the back rooms.”

“Sure thing, Officer Perkins!” she replied, heading through the swing door in the counter with the coffee trays.

Perkins had his head down for a second to return to his paperwork, then he suddenly turned back to the girl cop. “Hey!”

Derpy stopped and turned to look back. “Yes, Officer Perkins?”

“If you clean the evidence room again, don’t throw out anything that’s on the shelves his time, OK?” he said.

She paused for a second, then nodded. “Right! Sure thing, Officer Perkins.”

*****

Fluttershy was sitting across the desk from the officer who was in charge of the school shooting case. He was a middle-aged man who was slightly overweight, bald on top of his head, wore glasses and had a moustache. He was wearing black pants with a white shirt and dark blue tie. She was fidgeting nervously with her fingers as the cop quietly made notes in the case file.

The room was decorated with dark wood paneling on the walls, an off-white tile floor and a white drop-panel ceiling. There was a large plant in the corner, next to a small table with a Keurig coffee machine on it. His desk was black on the sides with skinny chrome legs and a fake wooden top.

He finally finished writing and set his pen down to look at her. “OK, so...five suspects...three dead and two still alive, one with a broken leg and a concussion, the other in critical condition with a smashed nose, a fractured skull and a lacerated hand…both in the hospital now. Charges will be laid, assuming they survive, of course…”

Fluttershy nodded silently, looking down at the floor.

The detective looked at her, dipping his head and tilting it to the side, wondering how this timid creature could have laid waste to five full grown, armed men the way she did. “If it wasn’t for almost a thousand eye witnesses, I would have a very hard time believing that you were able to defuse the situation they way you did.”

“Um, am I going to be in t-trouble for this?” she asked timidly.

He chuckled a bit and folded his hands on the desk. “Not likely, Miss. There is an outside chance that a family member of one of the perps might try to press charges for using excessive force or something like that, but it’ll get thrown out in court I’m sure, given the circumstances.”

“Oh OK, that’s good.” She said softly with a nod.

He leaned back in his chair, chewing on the end of his pen. “You have lots of eyewitnesses who will confirm that you acted in self-defense…as well as the defense of others. You had a shotgun pointed at your face, did you not?”

Her eyebrows went up. “Oh…yes, a Remington Model 31TC with pump ac-“ she stopped when she saw the detective looking at her with his eyebrows cocked. “I-I mean, yes.” She finished, clearing her throat.

He shook his head a bit, looking down at the desk. “Well,” he said, looking back at her. “In the meantime, I would recommend you get in contact with a lawyer, just as a precaution in case some legal action does come against you.”

Fluttershy nodded. “OK. That makes sense.” she said with a sigh.

He looked at her for a moment. “Are you feeling OK? We can provide you with a counsellor if you wanted…”

“Oh…” she shook her head quickly as she raised her eyebrows. “No, i-it’s OK.”

“You sure?” he confirmed.

“Mm-hm.” She replied. “It’s just…”

He dipped his head to look at her as she hung her head. “What is it?”

“I feel kind of bad.” She confessed.

He slowly raised his chin with his mouth open. “Ah. Well, that’s normal. You have to remember that you did what you had to do…”

Her eyes got wide when she realized he misunderstood her. “Oh, no…I meant I was supposed to do a presentation for a fundraiser at the school today. I’m worried that my partner’s going to be upset that I didn’t do it…”

The officer frowned in confusion. “Uh, I think he will understand…”

She looked at him for a moment. “M-maybe you’re right…”

He folded his arms. “What was the fundraiser for?”

“Um, for the animal shelter…I co-own it with my partner.” She replied.

His eyebrows went up. “You own the animal shelter?”

She nodded.

“Heh, my wife got a kitten from there for our niece about a year ago. He’s been a great cat…”

Fluttershy smiled. “That’s good to hear. It makes me happy to hear that the animals are finding happy homes.”

He smiled. “I wouldn’t worry about the fundraiser though, Miss. I think you’ll have no problems meeting your goal after what you did today. In fact, I bet you’ll double it at the very least.”

She gave him a surprised look. “Really?”

He furrowed his brows a bit as he leaned forward, folding his hands on the desk. “Miss…you don’t seem to understand…” he said, shaking his head. “You’re a god-damn hero. We don’t usually encourage the type of thing that you did today because we don’t want to see people getting hurt, but what’s done is done… and you took out five armed men without them firing a single shot at anyone. Not a single innocent life was lost today.”

Fluttershy shrugged. “Well, some of it was just…um, luck.”

He nodded sternly. “Like how that pistol backfired?” he said, with a serious look on his face. “The Principal was the only one to witness that…she said it happened too quick for her to see exactly what happened, but you really got off lucky there. I had my firearms expert take a look at it and he can't see why it failed the way it did, but regardless, someone ‘upstairs’ must have been looking out for you today.”

Fluttershy looked at the floor, pretending to look as though she had barely escaped with her life, but she was secretly glad that no one saw her stop the bullet with her hand. “Well, and…” she said, “Those guys really didn’t know what they were doing…that was lucky too.”

“Well that may be,” he continued. “but from what the eyewitnesses were saying, I don’t even think most of the guys on the force here could pull off some of the moves you did today…it was nothing short of incredible.” He leaned forward towards her to speak quieter. “Between you and me, every cop at this station loves you after what you did.” he chuckled.

A smile appeared on Fluttershy’s face.

He smiled back for a moment, then took in a breath as he looked down at his paperwork, scanning it over quickly before closing the folder and looking back at her. “OK, well I think I’ve got all I need from you. You’re free to go for now, if I need anything more from you, I’ve got your number.”

Fluttershy looked up at him. “I can go home?”

He nodded. “Yup. I see no reason to hold you here. Go get some rest, you’ve had a big day. And if you need anything, someone to talk to, we can have a counsellor come and talk to you whenever you need. OK?” He said, getting up from his desk and heading to the door.

She nodded. “Sure. Thank you.” she said as she stood up and straightened her skirt.

He opened the door for her to leave the office. “No Miss…thank you.”

Fluttershy smiled one more time at him and walked out of the room. She made her way to the front area where the rest of us were waiting. Those of us who were seated stood up as she came out through the swing gate.

Rarity made her way over to her, wrapping her arms around her tightly. “There’s my brave hero…” the fashionista cooed. “I’m so proud of you!”

“Um, thanks Rare.” She replied quietly.

Dash looked at her watch. “Hey Flutters, the Sweet Shoppe is open for another twenty minutes…you still wanna go with us like you wanted? For old times...”

Fluttershy rubbed her arm with her other hand. “I, um…actually I’ve had enough for one day. I’ve been around a lot of people…thanks Dashie…for the offer, but no. Sorry.”

Dash put her hands out towards Fluttershy. “Nah, it’s cool, Flutters. I totally get it.”

“Go home and take some time to settle, sugarcube.” AJ said to Fluttershy. “It’ll do ya good.”

I nodded in agreement with AJ, then looked at Rarity. “Are you coming out to Fluttershy’s with us?”

She looked back at me. “Actually darling, I have a large number of orders to fill that just came in earlier today, so I was going to go to the boutique tonight to get started on them…I wish it didn’t have to be tonight, but business is business.”

Fluttershy looked surprised. “You’re not coming?”

Rarity shook her head. “I’m afraid not, darling. You go with Golds and have some alone time together. I trust you’ll have lots to talk about, hm?” the sapphire-eyed fashionista said, sneaking a wink in my direction.

Fluttershy nodded, looking down at the floor. “OK, Rare.”

“Don’t worry darling. I shall see you tomorrow at the Riverfield, OK?” she said, placing her fingertips on Fluttershy’s cheeks and giving her a soft kiss right there, in front of everyone.

They were a bit caught off guard at first, even though they already pretty much knew that something was going on with the two of them, this was their first time witnessing and an act of intimacy between the two firsthand. Dash looked at me with her eyebrows awkwardly raised.

I looked back at her and shrugged casually.

Rarity released Fluttershy and walked over to me as the rest of the girls each gave the shy girl a hug one-by-one. “And thank you, darling.” She said, giving me a tight hug.

“For what?” I asked. “I can’t take credit for what she did today…”

Rarity looked at me again. “No no, if we had never met you, Fluttershy might have been killed today…”

She was right. I felt a jolt go through my stomach at the thought of the shy girl being dead right at that moment without her immortality. She would be gone, her friends would have been devastated…and it would have meant nothing to me since I wouldn’t have known she existed. I couldn’t imagine how it would have been possible.

“You have ensured her safety, darling…as well as mine, for all time.” She said, then she put her lips against mine and kissed me firmly, holding her body close. After breaking the kiss, she went up on her tip toes and put her mouth close to my ear. “And I’ll love you for it forever.” she whispered.

My heart skipped a beat when I heard the indigo-haired beauty say she loved me for the first time. I left like I should say it back, but I hesitated with Fluttershy now standing there watching us. The other girls were heading out the front door, with Sunset taking up the rear, who stopped and looked back at us once more.

“See you guys tomorrow night?” the red-head confirmed.

We nodded.

“We’ll see you there.” I said.

Sunset smiled briefly and was about to leave, but stopped once more. “Good job today, Flutters. I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks Sunset.” Fluttershy quietly said with a smile.

Rarity had separated from me by then, and I lost my chance to tell her I loved her back. She must not have been expecting it the way she left, however…it didn’t seem like it at least.

“OK darlings, I’m off.” Rarity said, spinning on her heel to head for the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Ta-ta!”

We each said our quiet goodbyes as the pale beauty left, then Fluttershy and I looked at each other for a moment before we both let out a long sigh. We gathered up our things, including the animal carrier and headed out to my truck.

Once we were driving, I asked her if she wanted to go back to the school to get her SUV.

“Um, no. Let’s come back for it later.” She replied.

“Won’t you need it to get to work tomorrow?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I’ll probably stay home tomorrow. I mean, I could go, but for the sake of trying to look like…you know...a normal person, I should take the rest of this week off. Plus I just want to go home…and I want to be with you. I don’t want to drive alone.” she said as she shifted over to sit in the middle seat and rest her head on my shoulder.

“Fair enough.” I said, putting my arm around her.

The whole drive home was silent, until we were about ten minutes from her house, driving through the woods in the dark.

“I love this truck…” she said.

“Really?” I asked.

She nodded against my shoulder. “The way it sounds…and it reminds me of you…”

I smirked. “I know what you mean.”

We pulled in her driveway, parked and went inside the house. She didn’t turn on any lights, leaving the front room completely dark, other than the light from outside. I stood by the end of the table, near the hallway entrance to the bedroom.

I could just barely see her pink hair floating towards me in the dark, the top of her head being picked up in the dim light from the window. I put my arms out to hug her as she came against me, hugging me back.

“How are you feeling?” I asked quietly.

“OK.” She whispered against my shoulder.

“Rarity was right…you are amazing.” I said.

She squeezed me tighter.

“You wanna talk about it anymore?” I asked.

She shook her head against my shoulder.

I nodded. “OK.”

We stood there, holding each other in the dark for another moment.

I took a deep breath. “You wanna sit and watch some TV and relax?”

She shook her head again.

“You wanna eat something? Have a fire in the backyard?” I asked again.

She shook her head to both.

I cleared my throat. “OK…why don’t you pick then?”

Fluttershy lifted her head from my shoulder. I couldn’t see her at all in the dark. I waited there in the silence with her arms around me, feeling her body pressed against mine.

Finally, I could feel her warm breath against my face, followed by her tongue slowly licking the tip of my nose…then another hot breath hit me.

She finally spoke quietly: “I wanna FUCK.”

*Chapter 43: In the Dark

Chapter 43

I headed down the pitch-black hallway to Fluttershy’s bed as she ordered, reaching out with my hands to feel for the edge of the bed. Once I found it, I climbed on and laid on my back, still unable to see a single thing in the blackness.

I looked over in the direction of her bathroom, wondering why the night light wasn’t on. “Hey, did your night light burn out?” I asked into the dark abyss of the room, unsure of where the shy girl actually was.

I could feel the bed start to lean down on my left side as she settled her weight down onto the mattress, then crawled overtop of me in the dark. I could feel her hair lightly brush across my nose and cheeks, wafting her scent past me before I felt her hot breath hit my face, followed by her wet lips being pressed against mine. Fluttershy’s mouth opened immediately, her hot tongue coming into my mouth, taking over as it wrestled my tongue into submission, leaving her sweet saliva everywhere it touched, as if it was marking its territory.

I had to admit to myself that it was kind of exciting being in the darkness like this, not knowing exactly where she was or what she was going to do…especially after today when she showed everyone, including herself, that she was far more unpredictable and deadly than any of us had realized. She made even me slightly nervous as she laid her body down on mine, continuing to kiss me furiously…her usual floral scent was now laced with a hint of gun powder, reminding me of what she had been through a few hours earlier.

I realized I had my eyes closed at that moment, and I opened to them to see her…only to be met with the same pitch-blackness again. I figured out right then that her night light, which I always thought was for her own comfort, was actually to have some light in the room at night. I couldn’t believe how impossibly dark it was in there without it.

I reached up to wrap my arms around her and was surprised to feel her hot, bare skin when I placed my hands on her back. I ran my hands along her smooth skin down to her ass, only to find it bare as well. How had she gotten out of her clothes so fast? I had only let her go for a few seconds to walk to the bed from the front room…she must have frantically torn everything off in the time it took for her to walk down the short hall to join me on the bed.

The feel of her nudity suddenly became more vivid through my clothes, her warm breasts pressing against me through my t-shirt, her slender body pressed against me…she started to press her hips down into me, grinding her bare mound against me through my pants as I continued to harden under her advances.

She separated her lips from mine and breathed her warm breath on my face and neck as she reached down to frantically pull my shirt up and over my head. Then I could feel her hot skin come against my bare chest, her soft breasts squeezing against me as she brought her lips back to mine, her warm breath wafting into my mouth just before our lips reconnected, sharing each other’s tongues and saliva again as her body slithered around against mine.

I decided to just keep my eyes closed from that point on since I couldn’t see anything in the pitch-black room anyway. Next, I felt her separate her lips from mine, moving them down to my neck, then my chest, leaving a dotted line of moisture in the wake if her kisses. I could feel her warm, soft breasts dragging down my stomach as she continued running her lips down my body, until they were over my pants where I couldn’t feel them anymore…for a bit.

I could feel her weight come to rest on my knees in the dark as she sat up to undo my pants with her hands, then pull them down, lifting herself off of me to slide them off past my feet.

Then I felt the mattress press down on both sides of my hips as she leaned with her hands over me, letting me feel her hair lightly brush across my stomach as she leaned down and let out a warm breath against my abdomen. I felt her hot tongue next, running along the length of my erection to the tip, where she picked it up with her lips and slid her warm mouth down on it, taking it deep and sucking her way up to the end again, then sliding her lips back down, repeating the process over and over again.

I laid there, letting her use her mouth to give me pleasure as I reminded myself not to forget to thank Sunset for getting Fluttershy into doing this kind of thing. I could feel her lips sealed around me with her tongue flicking my tip inside her mouth, sending shivers of sensation up my spine, but what I enjoyed just as much was the feeling of her hot, heavy breasts resting on my thighs, sliding back and forth slightly as she moved her head around.

It was becoming quite apparent that she was getting better at giving pleasure with her mouth each time she did it, and I enjoyed having it precede the actual sex now that she was ready and willing to do it each time. After a few minutes of being in her mouth, she let me pop out from between her lips and started crawling back up over me, laying kisses down on my skin as she made her way up my body. She stopped at my chest, letting her forehead rest against me for a moment…I could feel her breasts resting against my pelvis, with my erection pointing directly in between them.

I couldn’t help myself. I reached down with my hands and squeezed her soft breasts together, pinning my hardness between them.

She lifted her head off my chest and giggled in the darkness, hitting my skin with cold, rapid-fire gusts of air from her nose. “You like that?” she asked softly.

I nodded. “It’s pretty much impossible not to…”

She giggled softly as she started moving her body up and down, stroking me with her breasts as I held them together around my erection, feeling her soft skin gently slide up and down my length. The feeling was quite enjoyable, different from her mouth, but good in its own way…I knew if we did this for much longer I’d be finished. I relished the thought of exploding in between them, firing a few shots against her chin while the rest dripped out from her wonderful cleavage as they kept me squeezed warmly between them.

Fluttershy clearly had other plans. She let out a long breath as she crawled up onto me, letting her warm skin come against me in the dark. “We’ll do more of that another time…” she whispered. “Right now I need you inside me.”

I still couldn’t see her in the dark of the room, but I could feel her thighs settle against my hips as she straddled over me, setting my tip against her tender, wet opening, then sliding me completely inside of her tight flesh. She laid herself down against me, pressing her breasts against my chest to give me a deep, wet kiss one more time before she sat up part way, leaning on my chest with her hands.

She was quite gentle tonight. I started to wish I could see her, but the darkness had a thrilling element all its own, so I closed my eyes again as she rode me, gyrating her hips as she slid me in and out of her, hitting us both with waves of warm pleasure with each pass. I took a deep breath and enjoyed the feel of her warmth on me, spreading her wetness around every time she came back down to take the whole length inside her. Her hair was gently brushing up and down against my face as she swayed back and forth over me, her fragrant locks gently tickling my cheeks as she moved.

Her breaths started to get short and quick, and her fingertips were digging into my chest as I felt her tighten up around my hardness…trembling and moaning softly like she always did when she climaxed. She didn’t do anything crazy this time, no forcing herself to continue, no squirting, she just laid herself down against me and buried her face against my neck, breathing cool air through her nose onto my shoulder.

“Mmmmm…” she moaned. “I never get tired of that…of cumming on you.” she whispered.

I wrapped my arms around her back, rubbing my hands up and down, enjoying the feel of her content body against me.

“I wish I could make you cum over and over again…” she said softy, out of nowhere.

“Yeah?” I replied.

She nodded against my neck. “It’s not fair to you…that I can do it lots of times, but you can’t.”

I smiled and hugged her tighter against me.

“Plus, I love the feel of it…” she continued. “When that hot flood comes into me…”

“It’s OK.” I said. “Once is plenty for dudes…it’s just different. There’s a certain satisfaction knowing that a girl wants to let you do that in her…”

I could feel her smile against me. “You must be pretty satisfied then. More than half of us have let you do it…”

“Yeah…oh trust me, I haven’t forgotten.” I replied.

She was quiet for a moment. She still hadn’t moved. I started to wonder if she was OK, because usually by now she’s back to riding, on her way to the next orgasm.

“Are you OK, Flutters?” I asked, turning my head so my mouth was close to her ear.

She breathed against my neck for another moment, then spoke slowly. “I…killed people today…”

I took a deep breath and hugged her tightly again. “You did what you needed to do.”

She was quiet for a moment, then she took a deep breath. “It felt strange…I was kind of scared after I did it…”

I nodded. “It’s normal to feel unjustified sometimes…like you did something wrong, but remember, you saved people today too.”

She was still for a moment, then she finally spoke. “No…I wasn’t scared because of that…I mean…” she put her lips close to my ear and whispered: “It was exciting.”

I opened my eyes and stared into the pitch black, shocked at what the kind little shy girl that I thought I knew just said. “Oohhhhh shit…that’s probably not the best way to feel after killing people…”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked.

“Like…I was mad at those guys…when I saw him hit Vice-Principal Luna, I wanted to make him pay…” she said softly, sounding as if she was under some kind of mind control. “And I did it…I fuckin made him pay…I made them all pay.”

“Wow.” I said under my breath as I listened to her dark words.

“And everyone in that gym saw me do it…” she continued as she started moving her hips again, rubbing her bare, hot skin against me as she slid me in and out of her tight body. She brought her face up to mine and kissed me deeply before speaking again. “I enjoyed it…”

I could understand what she was getting at, I’ve been there myself a number of times…but I’m not sure if I ever found this much enjoyment from it. I thought I should talk to her about it, to remind her that killing isn’t something that she should enjoy, and that it’s imperative that she doesn’t let her power go to her head…but in that moment, she was on top of me, using her beautiful body to give me pleasure…and to be honest, I just wanted to lay there and let her do it.

She continued riding me in the pitch black, letting our bodies please each other…she had a few more orgasms like usual before I started to feel my own finish coming. It was always slow at first, but the intensity would grow exponentially every time she slid her tight, wet heat down onto me…drawing me closer and closer by the second with her tender flesh, which seemed to feel much more vivid in the darkness.

She always knew when it was about time. I could feel her breath hitting my face in the dark, her breasts pressing against my chest, rubbing up and down as her body moved, her hair gently caressing the sides of my face and neck. I could hear her draw in an excited breath, knowing that she was going to make me explode inside her again very soon.

“Give me your cum…” she demanded softly as I felt her sit straight up and continue to rock her hips, grabbing my hands and placing them on her breasts. I squeezed them firmly, reaching into the pitch blackness to hold them in place as she used her body to bring me over the edge, all the while being invisible to me in the dark.

I held her soft breasts tightly as I hit my peak and exploded inside her…shooting everything I had straight up into her body as she kept gyrating her hips, continuing to coax every drop of fluid out of me that she possibly could.

The feeling of the hot flood gushing into her from the pulsing hardness inside her sent the shy killer over the edge as well, causing her body to tense up and tremble from the waves of electric sensation that pulsed from her core up through her abdomen, clenching down firmly on my sensitive length as I squeezed the handfuls of soft warm flesh, feeling her nipples getting harder against my palms.

She finally flopped down against me, and we laid still for a moment as our bodies come down from the pleasure that we shared, as though we both had just had the same orgasm. It wasn’t the first time this happened, in fact, we had experienced mutual climaxes on many occasions, but it seemed different this time. She was a changed person, I could feel it in her presence, her body language…she was more like me now than ever before.

I couldn’t help but think about her range of behaviour that day. In that moment she was showing her gentle kindness, sharing the most intimate parts of her body with me to give us both physical pleasure…and only several hours earlier, she was ending lives. She broke bones, cracked skulls, destroyed a brain, opened up a chest cavity…and she did it in full view of over 900 people…and she just told me she liked it. But now I understood what she meant. It wasn’t the act of taking a life that she enjoyed…it was everyone seeing her doing it. It was liberating to her after not being able to even speak in front of them, standing there, petrified of their eyes on her. She felt weak then…but now she felt powerful, like the heroes in the movies that we watched together the day we fell in love. She had gotten her wish…she was like a superhero, and everyone knew it.

Her soft, winded voice brought me back to her warm presence. “I love it when you cum inside me…it makes me cum too…every time.” She panted.

I nodded, then kissed her on the cheek. I started running my fingers through her hair as she took a deep breath, then closed her eyes.

I finally spoke after a few moments. “Rarity was right.” I said.

“Hm?” she asked softly. “About what?”

“You really are amazing.” I replied.

Fluttershy giggled. “I love you.” She cooed. “Thank you for teaching me to do the things I did today…”

I smiled at her gratitude. “Well,” I started, “I don’t wanna say I told you so, but…”

She laughed softly, then planted another light kiss on my lips. “Oh stop…”

We laid together for a few minutes, thinking about the day. She liked to keep me inside her after sex, mostly to use me as a plug to keep the load from running out or her, but she also liked keeping me there in her warmth, as though it was some form of loving nurture.

I finally cleared my throat. “Hey…”

“Yeah?” she replied.

“Why does Rarity always say 'thank you' after she fucks?” I asked.

Fluttershy giggled. ”I don’t know…I think it’s part of her whole thing with being proper…”

I shook my head. “It’s so weird.”

“I think it’s cute.” She said. “I guess everyone had their little quirks…”

“Yeah…” I nodded. “Like Sunset and her damn nachos.”

“Oh yeah…that was crazy…” she replied with a laugh. “Did Twilight do anything weird?”

“Hmmm…” I hummed as I tried to remember. “You mean, aside from just showing up out-of-the-blue to have unprotected sex?”

Fluttershy giggled again. “I know, I was surprised that she wanted to do it too.”

I started rubbing my temple with my fingers. “Well…I’ve hardly spent any time with her…and she just showed up, and we did it…and then she was gone. And I haven’t seen her since. I feel so used.” I joked.

My girlfriend giggled. “She didn’t have any weird sexual things?...like aside from biting you…” She asked.

I took a deep breath as I thought about it, then I shook my head. ”Not really…well actually, at the beginning she was being really technical about it…like, she used this word…I think it was…fornix? I mean, I don’t even know what that is…”

My girlfriend laughed softly. “Yeah, that definitely sounds like Twilight.”

We laid together and talked for a few hours about our friends, about Rarity, immortality, the school…it seemed like it had been a long time since we spent time together just talking and enjoying each other’s body heat. That night reminded us why we fell in love in the first place, even though she seemed like a different person now after the day she had.

Eventually we got up and dressed ourselves. She just put on her panties and tank top without a bra underneath…oh, if only words could describe the way she looked in that outfit. I loved her long slender legs, those plain white panties with her perfect ass sticking out the bottom of them, and that bust inside that thin white top…it drove me crazy they way her breasts jiggled when she moved, and the way her nipples poked through the thin fabric. It made me wonder if Rarity had seen her in that outfit, and if so, what she thought of it.

We put on the light above the big table, leaving it on a dim setting while we curled up together on the chaise lounge, talking about what was in store for us in the next few days.

“Um, what do you think is gonna happen to me?” she asked, with her head resting in my chest.

“What do you mean?” I asked. “Like with the police?”

She nodded.

“I think you’ll be OK as far as that goes. If they thought you did something wrong you wouldn’t be at home right now.” I said. “But I’m sure this is far from being over. You’ll probably have to talk to them a bunch more times…I don’t know exactly what all they have to do, but something like what happened yesterday has to be investigated fully…you know how it is…and you probably should get a lawyer.”

“Yeah, that’s what the policeman said too…” she nodded, before letting out a groan. “Ugh! Why did I have to be there right then?”

I ran my hand through her soft hair, enjoying the silky feel of it sliding between my fingers. “It’s a good thing for those kids that you were there.”

Fluttershy let out a sigh. “You’re right. I keep forgetting that it was me who saved everyone…it doesn’t seem like it really happened.”

“You’re gonna go down in history as a hero. People will love you as long as they live for what you did.” I said.

She reached up to clear a lock of hair from her face. “How did you deal with this every time you saved people?…or killed people…”

“Well for starters,” I replied. “Back in the old days, they didn’t have all these laws and regulations and red tape, plus the investigations that have to happen…that is the biggest pain in the ass these days.”

She sighed. I could tell she was stressed about everything that she was going to have to get through in the next few weeks.

“My biggest concern right now is the media.” I said. “They’re gonna want to talk to you about the whole thing.”

Fluttershy locked up suddenly. “You mean…like on TV??” she asked in a shaky breath.

I nodded. “Probably yeah, but I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen.”

“OK…” she said. “Yeah, I don’t want to be on TV…I’d be so nervous.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about.” I said back to her.

She rolled over to face me, keeping her head on my chest with her brows furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean?” she asked.

I looked into her teal eyes in the dark as I rubbed her shoulder gently. “After what happened a few months ago with Cody here, I really don’t want your face on the TV, talking about how you man-handled five grown men…that’ll probably peak his interest, if you know what I mean.”

She gasped. “Oh crap…I never even thought about that…I did my best to hide my power at the school because I didn’t want everyone to know, but you’re right…he’ll be back here if he sees me on TV.”

“And I was thinking about getting your car tomorrow…” I said. “You should stay here. I’ll get someone else to bring it back. The police and the news will probably be at the school, so you should probably not go there.”

“Well, I think Rarity will be at work tomorrow...” Fluttershy replied. “So she can’t do it.”

“What’s Sunset doing tomorrow?” I asked.

“I don’t know…she could probably do it though,” she answered.

“I’ll text her,” I said, taking my phone out of my pocket.

ME: Hey, r u free tomorrow to drive Flutters car to her house?

We waited in silence for a moment for her to reply. Then it finally came.

SUNSET: I guess I can. Why can't she do it? ME: I don't want her at the school. The news might be there and I don't want her to end up on TV in case our CIA friend sees her and decides to pay another visit. SUNSET: Ah, good thinking. Yeah I can do it. When?

I looked at the time. It was already 6:30am. “Damn,” I said. “I didn’t think it was that late…I should go now and get it done before there’s fucking crowd there…there’s probably people there right now, actually.”

Fluttershy sat up. “OK. Yeah, go now and I’ll wait here for you.”

I stood up and went to put my boots on. She followed me over and stood close by. I could tell she didn’t want me to go.

“It’s OK, just stay here. If anyone you don’t know calls your phone, don’t answer it.” I instructed.

“OK.” She nodded, joining her hands in front of her.

“People might even show up here…maybe the news or just people who want to say thanks or something…so don’t answer the door if someone comes by.” I continued.

“Well,” she said. “Maybe I’ll just go to the Rvierfield…you can come out and meet me there when you get back.”

I nodded. “Sure. That’s a good idea.”

“OK.” She confirmed. “I’ll see you in a couple hours.” She said, reaching up to give me a tight hug, letting her body press firmly against mine. “I love you. And thank you.”

“Love you too.” I said as we separated, then shared a quick kiss before I opened the door to head out.

I took my phone out as I walked to my truck.

ME: How's right now sound? SUNSET: Sounds good. U coming to pick me up here? ME: Yep. See you in about an hour.

*Chapter 44: The Next Day

Chapter 44

I spent the next hour travelling along the road through the woods and into town, heading for Sunset Shimmer’s apartment. I got there at about 7:20am and texted her to let her know I was outside.

A few minutes later, I saw her come out of the front door of the building and headed over to my truck as it sat idling in its parking spot, the clatter of the big diesel echoing off of the buildings around us. She looked her usual self, wearing the leather jacket with blue tights and a light gray t-shirt.

She approached the passenger door and got in. “Hey, what’s goin on?” she greeted casually.

“Not much.” I replied. “Just gotta get my girlfriend’s car from the school after she murdered a bunch of people yesterday.”

Sunset chuckled. “You don’t say…”

We drove to the school and pulled into the parking lot at the back. Around front, there were some official vehicles parked, some police, some cleanup people…one news van was there already, but I couldn’t see any activity in the yard yet. We couldn’t see what was happening on the far side of the building, but we weren’t going to hang around too long to find out since we weren’t sure if anyone was aware that the little SUV belonged to Fluttershy yet.

I suddenly remembered Sunset’s education when I saw her looking across the lawn at the vehicles on the scene. “How’s the job search going?” I asked.

She looked at me for a moment, letting her aqua-green eyes linger on mine as they seemed to sparkle a bit at the sight of me. I noticed her doing this since the night we had sex…probably because she would think about that night whenever she was with me and felt a bit bashful about it, and maybe a bit turned on?

“Nothing yet.” she finally replied. “There’s not too many openings in that field in this town…I basically have to wait for someone to retire…”

I nodded. “I’m sure you’ll get in. Just stick with it.” I said, pulling out Fluttershy’s car keys and handing them to the red-head. “Here. I’ll meet you out there?”

She took the keys and smiled. “I’ll see you there.”

*****

After pulling into Fluttershy’s driveway and parking, Sunset and I met each other in the driveway.

“So, did you have plans for today?” I asked her.

She shook her head. “Not really. I didn't make any cuz I kind of figured I might see you guys again today after what happened yesterday.”

“She’s probably out at the field…did you want to come?” I asked.

Sunset shrugged. “Sure.” she replied. “A first ever daytime lesson?”

“Nah…we're mostly just hiding from anyone coming to the house…especially reporters.” I explained.

“Ah.” she nodded. “Yeah, the last person I ever wanna see again is that asshole Cody.”

“Well…” I said. “I wouldn’t mind bumping into him in a dark alley.”

“I bet.” Sunset replied. “I actually wouldn’t mind seeing that either.”

We laughed together as we entered the woods from the backyard and spent the next hour travelling through the thick underbrush of the forest.

“Why couldn’t that damn field be closer?” Sunset complained. “I hate making this walk every time.”

“I know…” I said. “but that’s what makes it so well hidden.”

“Yeah…” she replied absentmindedly.

We walked for a bit before I decided to keep talking to my fiery-haired friend. “So how are things with you?”

She stopped to look back at me for a second. “Good. Why?” she asked.

“Just wondering.” I shrugged.

She continued on. “I like living like this.” she confessed. “It gets lonely at night sometimes though. The last few months have just dragged by…I can’t believe how long it takes for a week to go by when you don’t sleep. ”

“Tell me about it.” I mumbled back.

“I can’t believe you’ve been living like this for centuries…” she said. “It’s just so crazy to think about…”

“Well, it hasn’t always been like this.” I said. “I’ve never had companions before who could become like me after fucking them…”

Sunset chuckled. “Yeah…now you’re gettin all the pussy you can handle, eh?”

I shook my head with a smirk. “Sure am.”

“You’ve been with four of us now…you think the other three will go for it eventually?” she asked.

“I don’t know.” I replied. “They all seemed pretty adamant about not doing it. I’m kind of relieved to be honest, even though it sucks that they won’t be with us forever.”

“Why would you be relieved?” she asked, stopping to look at me.

“I don’t know.” I answered, rubbing the back of my neck. ”I mean, I like them, but…like, Rainbow Dash isn’t really my type…and Applejack is like a sister to me…”

“What about Pinkie Pie?” Sunset asked.

I took in a deep breath. “Uh…she’s kind of cute, but I’m almost afraid of what she’ll do to me. So far, you guys have all had your share of interesting sexual quirks…”

Sunset chuckled. “You mean like my bullying?”

I nodded.

“Yeah, sorry about that.” she said as she continued to walk. “I won’t do that next time. I promise I’ll be nice.”

I felt some butterflies in my stomach at what she said. “Next time?”

She stopped and spun around to face me with her eyes wide. “Oh, I mean…uh…I just meant, like…IF”

I nodded slowly. “K…”

We continued on in relative silence for a few minutes.

I finally broke the silence again. “So how’s Twilight doing with it?”

Sunset shook her head. “She loves it. She keeps telling me about how much she’s learning now...” she replied. “Now that she doesn’t have to stop to eat or sleep, she just stays up all night and reads and does research constantly.”

“Wow.” I said with a chuckle. “And we thought she was a good student before…”

“No kidding…like she’s going to do something huge one day, once she learns enough. She’s going to make some discovery or invent something important…you know?” the red-head said.

I nodded, then smirked as I ducked under a low-hanging branch. “I’m not really surprised that she never came out here…”

“Nah, same here.” Sunset replied. “I told her she should. You’ve taught us so much…”

I smiled at Sunset as I watched her step awkwardly through some tall weeds and over a log.

She looked back at me. “It’s amazing, the things you can do…I’m really grateful for what you’ve taught us out here. I didn’t expect you to be so…good…at what you do.”

I shrugged. “I’ve had lots of time to practice.”

Sunset nodded after she turned to look at me. “Well, I’ve actually started to think of you the way I did about Princess Celestia…you know, like a mentor.”

I frowned as I thought about that name. “The Principal?”

“No,” she shook her head. “Remember how I said that the world that I’m from has a double of everyone from here?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, Princess Celestia is the ruler there.” she explained.

I chuckled. “The high school Principal from here is the ruler there? Of everything?”

“Yep.” she replied. “And she takes on pupils…like me and Princess Twilight.”

“Hmm…” I thought out loud. “So you think of me as a mentor…like her?”

“Yeah.” she smiled. “Except I don’t know if she’s as old as you…and she definitely never fucked the shit out of me the way you did.” she laughed.

“Ppffft…” I said, shaking my head. “She’s got nothing on me…”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Well, you don’t rule this world…”

I shook my head. “Nor do I want to. Ruling sucks.”

She looked at me with surprise. “How would you know? Have you ever ruled anything?”

I nodded. “I took over a large city in the middle east many centuries ago…” I explained. “It was a dark time for me. I had a bit of an iron fist approach, and the people didn’t really like me or want me as their leader, so they eventually revolted and drove me out.”

Sunset looked stunned. “Wow…I never would have expected you to be the type.”

I looked down at the ground as I continued to walk. It was a part of my life that I didn’t like to talk about, but I felt safe talking to Sunset about it. She was a good friend and ally, plus she knew what it was like to try gaining power the wrong way and being defeated.

“Yeah…” I said. “I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my life. More than you would believe.”

“How did they drive you out?” she asked, wondering how someone like me could have been defeated.

“It was a long time ago.” I said. “I wasn’t as strong back then…or experienced…or smart. I learned a lot from that whole experience.”

She looked at me with a twinkle in her green eyes. “You’re such an interesting guy, Golds. I feel like I could sit and talk to you forever.”

I chuckled. “Well, you literally could.”

Eventually, Sunset and I emerged from the trees into the field. We scanned the area, looking for the shy girl.

She was near the river, bent down, as if she was looking for something.

Sunset was about to step towards her when I grabbed her arm and ducked down, pulling her down with me.

“What? What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I just wanna see her when she thinks she’s alone.” I whispered, nodding towards my girlfriend. “I think having other people watching her is a huge weakness of hers. I think she is far more capable than we think, especially after what happened yesterday.”

“But, how did she manage to do that in front of the whole school if she’s worried about people watching her?” Sunset asked.

“I think if she gets pissed, it overrides her shyness.” I replied. “She was saying something last night about making those guys pay when the one of them hit the Vice-Principal…”

“Yeah…I think you’re right.” she replied. “It was the same thing with Cody. She finally had enough of his bullshit and she did what she needed to get rid of him.”

I nodded. “She needs to be able to act without being pissed off or alone though…”

We watched as Fluttershy stood up in the distance, holding what looked like a rock about the size of a tennis ball. She tossed it straight up in the air in front of her, then she jumped up, twirling her body around as she snapped her foot out, kicking the rock out of the air. Sunset and I were both stunned as we watched the rock land in the water with a splash.

“Holy shit, did you see that?” Sunset asked, looking at me with her eyebrows raised.

I nodded. “Yeah…that was pretty good. I knew there was more to her than we could see.”

She shook her head. “See, I could never do anything like that…Flutters is so precise and deliberate…and quick…”

I looked over at her. “You’re fucking great fighter, Sunny.” I said. “You’re just different…you’re more of a brawler, like a bull in a china shop.”

She smirked and rolled her eyes.

“Seriously…” I continued. “I would pay good money to see you get into a giant scrap with a bunch of bikers or something…that would be fucking awesome.”

She chuckled as she turned back to the shy girl, then her expression went blank.

I looked at Fluttershy to see her looking at us, waving happily.

“Fuck, how did she see us?” Sunset asked.

“I bet I know…” I replied, turning to look up into the tree behind us. Sure enough, there was a sparrow sitting on the branch, looking down at us. “Fuckin birds told her. She is SO hard to sneak up on out here…”

Sunset chuckled and shook her head as we stood up and walked over to meet Fluttershy.

We spent the day out there, doing a bit of training, which felt weird in the daylight. We told Fluttershy that we saw her doing that amazing kick, to which she blushed…then we had to tell her not to be embarrassed about it and that she needed to get used to being confident like that even with people watching.

We spent time just laying in the grass, staring at the sky and talking to one another…and I told some war stories, which Sunset really enjoyed. She hung on every word as I spoke, while Fluttershy cringed a lot…and Sunset and I teased her about it, reminding her that she just killed two guys the day before with a 12 gauge shotgun.

The day wore on, and eventually the evening came. We had been texting Rarity to let her know where we were and that she should come out when she was done at the boutique for the day. The sun was just setting when the pale beauty emerged from the trees, calling out her greetings to us.

Fluttershy, who hadn’t seen her since the police station, immediately got up and ran to her, wrapping her arms around her in a big hug, then started planting kisses all over her face and lips.

Sunset was smiling as she watched them, then she looked at me. “That doesn’t weird you out at all?” she asked.

I shook my head. “No, both of them are like that with me too. Me and Flutters screwed last night after we got home. It was actually kind of nice, she was a little more tame…you know...like, she was a bit different after what happened.”

“Hm.” She mumbled, looking at the grass. Then she looked at me again. “You bang Rare a lot?”

I shrugged. “Not as much as Flutters…mostly just because I don’t live with her, I guess.”

Sunset laughed, looking down at the grass, pulling out a weed.

“What?” I asked.

She shook her head. “You’re just so casual about it.”

“Yeah…I’m getting used to it now.” I replied. “But I never forget how lucky I am…”

She raised her eyebrows as she nodded. “Yeah, man. They are a couple of hotties…and they’re great people too.”

I nodded. “It’s not just them.”

She looked at me quickly.

“I got to have a crack at you too…that’s definitely nothing to sneer at.” I said.

Sunset blushed and looked at the ground, then she forced herself to look back at me with a smirk. “So, tell me that story again about the time you fought in the Colosseum.”

I rolled my eyes. “OK, well I was-” I stopped talking suddenly to reach out and catch the spike that Rarity had thrown at Sunset’s head.

The red-head jumped a bit at the thump sound made by the projectile impacting my hand, then she scowled at Rarity. “Hey! I told you to quit throwing those fucking things at me!”

“Go get her.” I taunted with a smirk.

Sunset quickly got up and charged at the fashionista, who shrieked and laughed playfully as she turned to run. The red-head chased Rarity around the field as Fluttershy watched and giggled at her two friends playing together.

As Rarity ran, she conjured up another projectile and quickly threw it back at Sunset, who swiftly caught it and launched it back at the indigo-haired girl. The weapon disappeared with a flash only halfway back, prompting Sunset to give up and drop from her run to a casual saunter as she made her way back to me.

“Not much sense trying to get her with her own weapons, I guess.” she said.

“Good catch though…” I complimented.

Just as Sunset turned to look back, Rarity was running backwards to face us, smiling as she taunted her red-headed friend. “Giving up so soo-“

Out of nowhere, Fluttershy did a baseball slide from the left of Rarity, tripping the legs out from under the fashionista, causing her to fall onto her back and almost do a backwards somersault. Neither Sunset nor I saw where the shy girl even came from, but it caused us both to laugh hard as Rarity’s legs pointed straight up into the air, her dress falling up and revealing her red panties to all three of us.

Sunset clapped her hands. “Good one Flutters!” she laughed.

Rarity quickly got back up with a dark red blush on her face and began chasing the shy girl, who let out an excited giggle and turned to run towards the river. The fashionista playfully chased her, catching up to her at the water’s edge and pushing the pink-haired girl into the water, but not before she turned and grabbed Rarity’s sleeve, pulling her into the water with her.

They both fell in with a splash as Sunset and I sat in the grass and laughed at them, watching them frolic around in the river.

“Oh Fluttershy! You got me all muddy!” Rarity screeched as she tried to stand up, but was knocked back down by the shy girl, who speared her from behind and knocked her face-first into the water. They wrestled around in the water for a few more minutes, eventually ending up on the bank of the river. Rarity was laying on top of Fluttershy, and they had started kissing each other passionately as they ran their hands all over each other’s bodies.

“Oh jeez, there they go.” I said with a snicker.

Sunset cringed a bit, putting her hand up in front of her eyes to block her own view as she turned to look at me. “Um, shouldn’t we, like, give them some privacy?”

I shook my head. “Fuck that, I’m watching.”

The red-head laughed a bit, then finally looked at them herself. She then glanced over at me with a smile. “They are kind of cute together, eh?”

I nodded. “Yep.”

The night continued on the same way. We laid in the grass and talked, enjoying each other’s company. We didn’t do any actual training that night…it seemed like our time was better used to celebrate the success of Fluttershy’s first real mission, even though it was an unexpected one…which many of them are and will continue to be.

The four of us all had a great time that night, but eventually decided to make the long walk back to the house.

We got in the front door at about 5:30am. Fluttershy and Rarity were still being very playful with each other, giggling and holding hands as they entered the house.

“We still covered in mud, darling…what a mess!” Rarity complained playfully, trying to run her fingers through her matted hair. “Should we get in the shower?”

“Sure, let’s go…” Fluttershy answered as she wrapped her arms around the back of Rarity’s neck. The fashionista picked the taller shy girl up by the ass, letting those long yellow legs wrap around her petite waist as she carried my girlfriend down the hall to the bathroom.

I glanced at Sunset as she shook her head in disbelief at the two, then I went to go sit down on the couch, hearing the sound of the shower turning on, punctuated by the girls talking and laughing as they cleaned themselves off together under the hot water.

“Wow.” Sunset said, walking around in front of the couch with her arms folded on her chest. “Are they always like this?”

I shook my head as I stared at the floor. “Not usually. But today is special, I think…after the whole thing yesterday…”

“Ah.” Sunset nodded. “Just a little excitement…”

“Yeah.” I replied. Usually Sunset went home by then after a night at the Riverfield, but today she didn’t have her bike with her so Rarity would have to take her home. “You OK to stick around until Rare can take you home? I can take you now if you want…” I offered.

Sunset nodded. “No, that’s fine. I’ll wait for Rare.” she said.

“OK.” I replied. Then I pulled out my phone to check for messages and emails.

The red-head paced around the floor in front of the couch for a few moments. She seemed to have something on her mind as she walked back and forth, biting her lip and glancing at me every so often.

I started to notice it myself, the feeling that Sunset needed something, but didn’t seem to know what.

The fire-haired girl finally paused directly in front of me, staring at me for a moment. She sighed, then unfolded her arms as she came towards me, slapped the phone out of my hand, then leaned over me, placing her hands on my shoulders. She climbed onto my lap, straddling me, being careful not to touch my skin with her hands as she pressed her body against mine and started rubbing herself against me.

“Uh…what’s going on?” I suddenly wondered to myself.

She held onto the back of the couch, pressing her breasts against my face as she continued to rub herself against my lap, letting me feel the heat radiating from between her legs through her tights as it absorbed itself into my body. I could feel her warm breaths beating on the top of my head, her hair brushing the sides of my face as her sweet, sugary scent surrounded me.

I cleared my throat as I frowned in confusion. “Uh, Sunny?”

“Yeah?” she whispered, her eyes closed, her breaths getting heavier.

“Um…well…” I wasn’t sure exactly how to ask her why she was doing what she was doing without making it weirder than it already was. “Here’s the thing…” I continued, “I was just wondering about something…”

“What’s that?” she panted as she picked up the pace of her thrusts.

I took a deep breath, smelling more of her candy scent as she kept her face close. “Well…”

“Is it about the school thing?” she suddenly asked.

I shook my head. “No, um…”

“Is it about how we didn’t really do any training tonight?” she asked again, her breaths becoming heavier.

“No…no, it’s not that…” I replied quietly.

“Is it about me grinding my pussy on your lap right now?” she asked.

My eyebrows went up as I nodded slowly. “Yes…” I said very clearly. “Yes, actually…it is…”

She shook her head frantically. “I just need to get off…so shut-up and let me do it please.”

I took a deep breath, listening for the other two girls to make sure they were still in the shower. I was fully hardened up inside my pants by now, and I could feel her warm crotch rubbing against my bulge as she continued thrusting her body against mine. I could tell she could feel it grinding against her sensitivity, and she was picking up the pace steadily as her breathing continued to heighten.

“Shit…what should I do? Should I throw her off? I don’t want to hurt her feelings…WHY THE FUCK IS SHE DRY HUMPING ME RIGHT NOW?”

To my relief, it seemed like she might have been almost finished…her breathing had stopped, and she was now wrapping her forearms around the back of my head, squeezing my face between her breasts as she pressed her mound against me, letting out a long, low moan of pleasure. She held herself taught as she trembled gently for a few seconds, then suddenly exhaled against my face and leaned in to briefly kiss me on the lips.

Sunset sat up on my lap and patted me on the shoulder. “Thanks man, I needed that.” she panted.

I nodded nervously. “Don’t mention it. Ever.”

She rolled off and sat next to me on the couch, running her fingers through her hair as she kept her eyes closed and slowly breathed out with satisfaction.

I pointed with my thumb over the back of the couch to the kitchen area. “I think there’s some nachos in the…uh, cupboard…”

She laughed, still breathing heavily. “Thanks, I’m OK though.”

I sat there for a moment, my eyes wide as I stared at the wall in disbelief.

Sunset seemed to settle down after a few moments, then she started chewing her bottom lip, looking a bit remorseful about what she’d just done. She took a deep breath. “I probably shouldn’t have done that…”

“Uh, yeah…maybe.” I replied in a daze.

She looked over at me. “Sorry…”

I glanced over at her, then quickly looked away again. “It’s OK.” I said quietly.

She chewed her index fingernail for a moment, then stood up from the couch. “I’m gonna go outside for a walk.” she said flatly.

Sunset went over to the door, put on her boots and jacket and opened the door to go outside, leaving me alone and confused, sitting on the couch with a rock-hard dick.

*Chapter 45: Sunset's Confession

Chapter 45

As soon as the front door closed, I leapt over the back of the couch and sprinted down the hall to the bathroom. Fluttershy was out of the shower by then, drying herself off with a towel when I busted into the room.

She looked up at me suddenly, knowing something was up as soon as she saw me. “What’s wrong?” she asked, standing up and scrubbing her pink hair dry with the towel.

“Uh…Sunset just…kind of…hit on me. A bit.” I confessed.

I could hear Rarity laughing in the shower. “Oh darling, you’re letting all this sex get to your head…”

I shook my head. “No…she was definitely into me.”

“What did she say?” Fluttershy asked softly, hanging her towel up and walking past me to pick up her hair dryer.

I had to speak up once she turned it on to start drying her hair. “It’s not so much what she said…” I explained. “It was more the fact that she…got on my lap and dry-humped me…”

Fluttershy looked surprised as she continued to dry her hair, her arms were up as she held the dryer in one hand and ran her fingers through her hair with the other. I couldn’t help but look at her breasts while she was doing this, her elevated arms gave them a lift, making them look more perky as they swayed back and forth with her movements.

Rarity’s voice suddenly snapped me back to reality. Her white fingers came out from behind the shower curtain, pulling it open enough for her to stick her head out. Her purple hair was soaked and hung down like a rope; being wet made it look almost black as the water dripped off of it onto the floor mat. “I beg your pardon? Did you say she humped you?” she asked with her eyebrows raised. I looked at her, seeing the little freckles on her cheekbones with her face completely clean from the shower.

I nodded. “Yeah, I was on the couch and she was talking to me, then the next thing I knew, she was on my lap and…uh…you know.”

Rarity’s eyes dropped down a bit. “Well darling, it doesn’t look like you were completely opposed to the idea.”

I looked down, realizing she could see the visible bulge in my pants. I looked back up at her. “Well I can’t help that!”

The hair dryer turned off. Fluttershy unplugged it and set it down on the shelf, then reached around me, grazing my erection through my pants with her hand. “Oh, look at what Sunset did; she’s got you all riled up!”

I turned to look at her, noticing the little smirk on her face. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s the real issue here,” I said.

“It is now,” the shy girl replied. “Rarity, are you done in there?”

Rarity nodded, her head still poking out of the shower.

“Can you take care of him please?” Futtershy ordered, with a smile. Then she left the bathroom to get dressed.

I looked at Rarity, whose eyes shifted onto me. She put a little smirk on her face. “With pleasure, darling,” she said as she went back behind the shower curtain.

“No, I’ll be fine. You don’t need to-” I started saying as the water turned off and the shower curtain was suddenly ripped open, revealing the fashionista’s naked body standing in the tub. Her little white figure stood there, covered in beads of water that ran down around her perfect breasts, down her toned belly to the purple strip of hair that resided just above the delicate ivory lips between her legs. She rang the excess water from her hair, then tossed it over her shoulder, followed by a wet slap as it hit her back.

“Are you sure about that?” she asked seductively.

“Uhhh…” I mumbled. “Actually, on second thought…we fuck now.”

Rarity giggled as she stepped out of the tub towards me. I grabbed her by the ass, picking her up and turning around to set her on the vanity as she frantically groped at my pants to get them unbuttoned.

Fluttershy was in the bedroom, selecting a fresh pair of underwear and bra as she listened to her lovers in the bathroom making some love of their own.

“Yes! Right there, darling," Rarity's voice said from the bathroom, followed by a short pause. "Ahhhh, there you go; now doesn’t that feel nice?" she continued as the pink-haired beauty listened, sliding the panties up her long, graceful legs.

The shy girl moved on, wrapping the bra around her body and then hooking it together at the front, spinning it around and pulling the straps up over her shoulders, then adjusting her breasts in the cups to get them to sit just right.

Fluttershy listened to the heavy breathing coming from the bathroom as she sat at her dresser and started brushing her hair, looking at herself in the mirror.

“Oh...my!” Rarity’s quivering voice sounded out from the steamy room. “You’re gonna make me…that’s, I-I’m gonna…”

Fluttershy smirked as she continued brushing her hair. “Three…two…one…” she counted down in her head, listening for the next sound to come out of the other room.

“Ooooooohhhhh!”

The shy girl snickered, shaking her head. “There’s one,” she thought.

“My goodness, darling; I don’t...I don’t know how you’re doing that, but please do not stop!”

Fluttershy set down her brush and opened her make-up case to start applying it to her face as she continued to listen to the activity in the bathroom.

After a few moments of quiet breathing, the shy girl jumped at the sound of a loud yelp.

“AAH!”

Her eyes were wide, pausing for a second before she went back to applying the pink shade to her eyelids. “That’s two…I think?”

“What is that?” she heard Rarity’s voice ask.

“That’s my dick,” my voice replied, making the shy girl snicker.

“I know it’s your dick, darling, but what is that thing that you’re doing?”

“What? This?” my voice asked.

“OOH! Yes that!” Rarity cried out. “Good god, that is fucking marvelous; keep doing that!”

Fluttershy shook her head as she moved on to applying mascara to the lashes in the outer corners of her eyes, waiting to hear the sound of the next orgasm to come out of the bathroom. She was pretty sure she knew what move I was doing on the fashionista, just by the way she was talking. “They might want to have a towel ready after number three,” she snickered to herself.

“NNNGAAAAH! HA...HAH! Holy shit, darling! That was...oh wow; my goodness, how in...? Ohhh my...”

There was a short, silent pause, then Fluttershy heard the porcelain girl mutter: “Oh dear…well, we’ll just have to clean that up after.”

“Told ya,” the shy girl thought to herself, smirking as she ran a thin layer of gloss onto her lips. She looked at herself in the mirror, wishing she had fuller lips like Rarity’s; hers were so thin by comparison. That was how she felt about them, anyway.

Fluttershy stood and went to her dresser to decide what to wear. Should she go with the tight blue jeans that she wore at Pinkie’s house? She nodded to herself as she picked them up and slid them up her legs, suddenly realising there was only silence coming from the bathroom. She stopped to listen, then heard the breathing of her lovers as they continued pleasuring each other.

“Oh, you’re getting close…I can feel it,” Rarity taunted seductively.

Fluttershy looked around for a suitable shirt, then finally decided to go with the white tank top. She thought it might look cute with the jeans instead of that green skirt.

“Yes…YYYES! DO IT, Golds! Cum inside me, darling!”

Fluttershy was smiling while she listened to the final stages of Rarity ‘looking after me,’ sliding the top over her head, then re-adjusting her hair. I never really made much noise during sex, but Fluttershy could tell I was at my finish when she heard Rarity’s voice again.

“Ahhhhh!” The fashionista sighed victoriously. “There you go. My my, what a good boy; did you enjoy that?”

Fluttershy sat down on the bed to put her socks on. She figured I must have nodded 'yes' to answer since she didn’t hear me say anything.

“I bet you did,” Rarity continued. “My goodness darling, that was like a fucking bazooka!”

Fluttershy giggled as she stood and went to the dresser to put a butterfly clip in her hair to keep it out of her face.

“You’re welcome,” my voice said quickly, intentionally beating her to her ‘thank-you,’ just to see how she’d react.

Rarity gasped. “I…I was just about to say it!”

“Well, I beat you to it! HA!” I teased.

“Oh stop it, you…you bellend!” she fired back.

“Hey now,” I replied defensively.

Fluttershy laughed out loud at the exchange.

“What’s so funny out there?” Rarity asked from the bathroom.

“Nothing, Rare. I was just listening to you guys,” the shy girl replied softly.

“Oh, well…I’m glad you’re amused, Fluttershy,” she replied.

After a moment, I emerged from the bathroom with the front of my shirt all wet from Rarity’s body. There was also a dark patch down the front of my pants. “I gotta change; she squirted all over my jeans.”

We could both hear the fashionista sigh loudly from inside the bathroom. “And who’s fault is that, darling?”

I shrugged and shook my head. “Guilty, guilty as charged,” I joked, putting my hand up. I started peeling my clothes off to put some fresh ones on.

Fluttershy approached the bathroom door and smiled widely at the sight of the fashionista sitting on the toilet, naked, with her hair still wet and hanging around her face. She waited patiently for my load to run out of her, sitting with her knees together and her feet apart, staring at the floor in a daze. Rarity then closed her eyes and gave her head a tiny shake before letting her face hang down over her lap. “Fuck…” she whispered to herself.

The shy girl turned back to me as I put a new shirt on. “She was supposed to take care of you, not the other way around,” she said as she walked up and wrapped her arms around the back of my neck, giving me a soft kiss on the lips.

I hugged her back. “She did...technically,” I replied. “You look nice.”

“Oh! Why thank you, Golds,” she giggled, giving me another kiss.

“Well,” Rarity said after she got up to look at herself in the mirror. “I look like an absolute train wreck!”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Oh Rarity, you just need to get yourself dried off and made-up, and then you’ll be beautiful as always.”

“Will do!” the fashionista replied as she closed the bathroom door.

Fluttershy and I made our way to the front room as the noise of the hair dryer rang out from the closed room.

We curled up together on the chaise lounge and waited for the indigo-haired girl to finish her routine of getting ready. We both knew it was going to be a good hour or so before she came out of the bathroom, so we decided get comfortable.

Fluttershy sighed, resting her head on me as I wrapped my arms around her shoulders, looking out the window at the steadily brightening morning. “Sunset’s gonna come back into the house in a few seconds.” she informed me.

I looked at her with an eyebrow raised just as I heard the front door open.

“You guys in here?” Sunset’s voice asked.

“On the couch.” Fluttershy answered, looking at me with a smile.

“Let me guess…” I said. “A little birdie told you she was coming?”

She shook her head. “Nope. It was a squirrel, actually.” she giggled as Sunset came around and sat awkwardly at the end of the couch.

Fluttershy and I watched her as she folded her arms and crossed her legs, chewing her bottom lip as she stared at the TV, which was off at that moment.

I watched Fluttershy as she watched the red-head, wondering if she was upset with her for what she did earlier.

“Are you OK, Sunset?” she asked softly.

Sunset looked at us suddenly, then she took a deep breath. “I was thinking I would host the dinner today…at my apartment.”

I frowned, not expecting her to avoid talking about what she did earlier, but also suddenly realizing what day it was. “Oh fuck, is it Saturday already?”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah.” she chuckled. “What? Did you guys have a crazy week or something?”

Fluttershy giggled. “Yeah…um, m-my presentation at the school was a total disaster…”

*****

Rarity finally emerged from the bathroom all made up with her hair styled as usual. She ended having to borrow some clothes from Fluttershy since her own clothes had gotten caked in mud. She ended up putting on the shy girl’s black yoga pants, which were a bit too long for her little porcelain legs and were bunched up at her ankles a bit. She chose a pink t-shirt to go with it, which was a tad loose on her, but fit Fluttershy nicely.

She came out to the front room, carrying her dirty clothes in a plastic bag. I could tell she didn’t have a bra on by the way her breasts jiggled as she walked, which was very nice to watch indeed…the way she swayed her hips with each stride made the whole scene very sexy.

“Are you coming back to town with me?” Rarity asked Sunset.

Sunset nodded.

They got ready over the next few minutes to leave for town. Rarity made sure to give me and Fluttershy each a kiss before she turned to head out the door.

“OK, let’s get going, you bad girl.” she said to Sunset, who’s eyes got wide as she glanced at me for a moment, then shook her head and finished slipping her boots on and followed the fashionista out the door.

Fluttershy and I looked at each other and shook our heads after the door closed.

*****

The dinner was at Sunset’s as planned. My girlfriend and I arrived just after 3pm and walked in to find Sunset in the kitchen preparing some salads and side dishes. Fluttershy went in to give her a hand after a quick greeting and an awkward glance from the red-head, and I went around to the living room, noticing Dash and AJ were outside on the balcony.

Dash was standing in front of an open barbecue flipping burger patties, hot dogs, steaks and chicken breasts as she looked down into the white smoke that was floating up around her rainbow coloured hair. She didn’t have it in a pony tail that day like usual, and it made her look a lot different having it hanging free all around her face...she reminded me of a member of an ‘80s glam-rock band with her hair like that. She was wearing a dark aqua-coloured hooded sweater and light beige cargo pants.

AJ was facing me, leaning her back against the railing with her feet crossed and her elbows resting on the tops of the rails at her sides. She had her head down, so I could only see the top of her hat. She had on a worn-out pair of jeans and a red golf shirt that was quite form-fitting. I was surprised actually by how nice it looked on her, it was the first time she actually looked somewhat feminine to me. As I was thinking that, there was a puff of smoke that came out around her head, then her hand reached up under the hat and took a cigar, which had been hidden from my view, out from her mouth.

I took a deep breath and slid the balcony door open to step out. They both looked up at me, then smiled.

“Hey Golds.” they said in unison.

I nodded back, taking a breath through my nose, smelling the combination of cigar smoke and meat cooking on the grill.

“How’s Flutters doin?” Dash asked, turning back to the barbecue.

“She’s OK.” I replied.

“Is she coping alright with everythin that happened the other day?” AJ asked, putting the cigar back in her mouth.

I nodded. “Seems to be. She was a little off the first night, but Sunset and Rarity and I spent yesterday with her and she seemed fine. There’s just the possible legal hurtles to get over now…and we’re hoping to keep her face off the news if it’s possible.”

AJ nodded. “Cody?”

I looked at her, surprised as always at her ability to put things together by herself. AJ had a good level of common sense in these matters, even though she came off as a bit of a hillbilly.

“Yeah.” I replied.

“Who cares if he comes back??” Dash asked loudly. “Flutters will just kill him now that she’s basically fuckin Rambo…”

AJ shook her head. “Come on, Rainbow! You know we can’t just take out a CIA agent and expect no consequences from it…”

Dash groaned and shook her head. “Why does this shit have to be so complicated?”

“It may not be so easy for her to kill him anyway.” I interjected. “Those school shooters were just young and angry…from what Flutters was saying, they had no idea what they were doing. They were easy targets.” I folded my arms on my chest. “Taking on Cody is a whole different ball game.”

AJ took the cigar out her mouth, exhaling a cloud of smoke as she chewed her bottom lip. “Well, let’s just hope he never catches wind of what happened at CHS.” she concluded.

I nodded in agreement.

I looked at Dash, who was flipping a burger patty. She slid the metal flipper under it, then flicked it up in the air, watching it spin twice before she caught it again.

“HA! Did you guys see that?” she bragged. “I bet I could do three flips…”

AJ looked at her, then shook her head. “Now don’t go droppin the fuckin thing on the ground…”

“Whatever, AJ. I won’t.” Dash replied arrogantly. “Watch.”

She tossed the patty into the air, higher this time, watching it flip three times before catching it on the flipper again. “HA! That’s three!”

AJ rolled her eyes. “Big fuckin deal.”

“Oh really?” Dash turned to look at AJ with an eyebrow raised. “You wanna see me do five?”

AJ shook her head. “Rainbow, quit fuckin around with the food.”

“Care to make it interesting?” Dash offered. “I betcha twenty bucks I can do five.”

“Not interested.” AJ replied, rubbing her forehead.

“Fine, but I’m doing it anyway.” Dash informed us as she steadied herself, getting ready to try the manoeuvre.

AJ put the cigar in her mouth and looked at me, shaking her head in disbelief of her friend’s stubbornness. “Fuck sakes…” she whispered under her breath.

Dash raised the flipper up a couple of times, gauging the weight of the meat, figuring how high she would have to toss it…

She finally threw it in the air. I could tell immediately that it was out of control, spinning so fast there was no way she was going to be able to count the flips. “Shit!” she cursed at she tried to catch it on the flipper, but it was moving too fast and bounced off, falling onto the side shelf of the barbecue, rolling on its side like a wheel right over the edge, which was above the balcony railing.

“Fuck!” Dash yelled as she reached for the burger patty, but she was too late and it took the twelve storey plunge to the sidewalk.

“Dammit, now didn’t I just fuckin tell ya?” AJ scolded her friend as she turned around and put her hands on the railing, leaning over and looking down to see if she could locate the lost meat. After a few seconds, she straightened back up and turned around to lean her back on the railing again. “Well that one’s gone like a fart in the wind…” she said with the cigar still in her mouth, muffling her speech a bit.

I smirked as Dash closed the barbecue lid in defeat and turned to face us, folding her arms on her chest. “There’s still lots left, no biggie.”

“That’s not the point.” AJ replied.

“Whatever, Dad.” Dash rolled her eyes.

We stood there is silence for a moment, listening to the muffled sound of the meat sizzling inside the barbecue.

“So…” I said, breaking the silence, fully aware that Fluttershy’s proposition at Pinkie’s house was still fresh in these girls’ minds even though it had been over a month since it happened. These two in particular had been a bit more awkward around me since then. “What’s been goin on with you guys lately? How’s life been treating you?”

I looked at Dash first. She just shrugged and shook her head. “Fuck all.”

I shifted my eyes over to AJ, who was taking a drag of her cigar. She started to talk with it still in her mouth, letting puffs of smoke come out around the corners of her mouth as she spoke. “Same here.” She took the cigar from her mouth and blew a jet of smoke upwards into the air. “Thumbs in bums.” she concluded.

I smiled at the expression for a moment before Dash spoke again.

“Sounds like you’ve got lots going on there, Mr. Two Girlfriends…“ she teased.

I returned a smirk to her. “Yup. I got it goin on.”

Dash rolled her eyes as she chuckled. “I don’t know how you think you’re gonna deal with two girlfriends nagging at you once the honeymoon’s over…but hey, whatever floats your boat.”

“Yep.” AJ chuckled. “Girls can be pretty demanding sometimes. You sure you can handle two of them?...Especially Rarity?”

I shrugged. “It’s not as bad as you’d think. They look after each other quite a bit, which is nice.”

Dash shook her head. “I wondered if Flutters and Rare would ever get together…I thought maybe they would one day, but I definitely didn’t expect them to share a dude on top of it all…”

AJ shook her head. “Plus there’s Sunset.” she said, looking at me.

Dash’s eyebrows went up. “Oh yeah! You hit that too…jeez man, you really get around.”

I smirked again, knowing that these two didn’t know about Twilight yet.

“It’s cool though…” Dash continued. “As long as you keep that old dick away from me, it’s all good.”

I rolled my eyes at the remark, then glanced at the farm girl, who didn’t seem to be paying much attention to what Dash was saying.

Applejack was glaring through the sliding door glass into the apartment, then she looked at me. “Did you guys do it here? You and Sunset?”

I nodded. “Yeah, in her bed.…Flutters was there too.”

AJ chuckled as Dash shook her head in disbelief. “Whoa whoa…so you’ve had a three-way with Rare and Flutters, AND Flutters and Sunset??”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“Man, you really do get around.” Dash replied.

I looked out into the distance from the balcony, watching the cars busily running around the streets as I thought about everything that had happened in my sex life during the last few months. “Well, it was Flutters who made it all happen.” I finally said.

AJ chuckled. “I still can’t believe that girl.”

Dash’s eyes got wider. “Oh I can. Didn’t I ever tell you about that night she stayed over at my house to study for finals?”

AJ shook her head. “When? In high school?”

“Yeah…” Dash replied. “So get this…I was having a fuck of a time in biology, so I asked Flutters to come over one night for a study sleepover…you know, cuz she was good in that class.”

AJ nodded as Dash continued, brushing her multi-coloured bangs aside with her blue fingertips as she spoke.

“So she comes over, right? And we’re studying…and you know me, I love a good prank. So, I decided to embarrass Flutters by putting on a porn DVD on the TV in my room…” Dash explained.

AJ took one last drag of the cigar and flicked the nub off the balcony into the city below, then let a final stream of smoke blow out from her mouth as she listened to her friend’s story.

“And of course, she was all red-faced at first…but after a while she seemed to actually start watching it…even though I could tell she was tryin to hide it…”

I smiled, picturing my girlfriend watching the dirty movie with her rainbow-haired friend being completely unaware of how sexual the shy girl could be.

“I finally turned it off,” Dash continued, “cuz it was just gettin weird, plus it was distracting us from studying…but when I turned the TV off she looked at me like she was gonna rip my fuckin head off, and I was like ‘what the fuck’?”

I shook my head. “Yeah, you get her turned on, you’re fucked…”

Dash shook her head. “Fuck, no kiddin…so anyway, she slept over and we had to share my bed, and she kept me up half the fuckin night because…” she stopped and looked into the apartment through the glass to make sure the shy girl wasn’t nearby. Then she looked back at AJ and I. “Cuz she was flickin it! I know she was!”

AJ cocked her eyebrow. “How could ya tell?”

“I could feel her moving…” Dash replied. “It was so fuckin awkward…I wanted to tell her to stop so I could get to sleep, but how the fuck was I supposed to do that?”

AJ was starting to laugh. “Fuck, you never told me that story before…so Fluttershy masturbated in bed right next to you?? Man, that’s a dilly of a pickle…”

“I couldn’t believe it…” Dash said. “I never invited her over for sleepovers anymore after that.”

“Well I don’t blame ya, sugarcube.”

Dash shook her head, unable to help herself from thinking about that night.

“Where’s Pinkie Pie today?” I asked, noticing the wacky girl wasn’t there.

“She’s doing a party later today with Vinyl Scratch so she’s not coming.” Dash answered flatly.

“Oh that’s right.” I mumbled, remembering their meeting at the Sweet Shoppe.

“Looks like Rarity’s here.” AJ said, waving through the glass at someone.

I looked though the door glass to the see the pale beauty waving at us from Sunset’s living room.

I waved back at her as Dash started chuckling. “We got her good the other day, eh AJ?” the rainbow-haired girl said.

Applejack chuckled back. “Heh heh, yeah. That was a great idea.”

“It was totally worth looking like an idiot all day…” Dash continued.

I was looking at them in confusion.

Dash could see it on my face, so she started explaining what they were talking about. “Remember that queef thing that AJ was doing at the Sweet Shoppe?”

I nodded. “Yeah…”

“We set that up on purpose!” she laughed.

“What?” I replied in disbelief. “Why?”

AJ chuckled. “Cuz getting Rarity riled up is fun…and easy. We do it all the time.”

I had to admit she was right…I had just done it that morning when I blocked her from saying thank-you after having sex with her in Fluttershy’s bathroom. I shook my head, chuckling quietly at the two girls.

“You don’t think I did my hair like that all the time, did you?” Dash asked me. “I got made fun of at work all fuckin day…”

“You were right, though.” AJ said to Dash. “Rarity did like it…”

“Oh, I knew she would…she loves all that weird looking modern shit.” Dash replied.

“So,” I said to AJ. “you actually do know what a queef is?”

AJ nodded. “Yeah, man. Pussyfart.”

I laughed at the directness of her answer. “Wow,” I chuckled. “You guys have a lot of time on your hands…”

Dash waved me off. “Oh fuck, says the guy who’s like 2500 years old…”

I smirked back at her. “Touché…” I said.

“Besides,” Dash continued. “I really just wanted to hear Rarity say ‘queef’.”

I laughed at the blue-skinned girl. "I honestly can't blame you there." I said as I looked through the door glass again to see Sunset heading towards us, carrying a large platter with her. She approached the door and slid it open, handing the platter to Dash.

“Here, use this to put the meat on when it’s done.” Sunset instructed.

“No problem, Sunny.” Dash replied. I watched as she took the dish and set it on the side shelf of the barbecue.

“Hey, Golds?” I heard Sunset say. I turned my head to find her big aqua eyes locked on mine.

“Yeah?” I answered.

“I’ve been having some problems with my bike…d’you think you could come downstairs to look at it?” she asked.

I unfolded my arms. “Uh, sure.”

“We’ve got a few minutes.” she said. “Rare and Flutters are looking after the kitchen for a bit.”

“OK.” I said, following her inside, shutting the sliding door behind me, which bounced back open slightly. I tried closing it a second time before Sunset turned around and said: “Oh, the latch is broken…it doesn’t close. You have to just push it all the way over.”

I slid the door shut, then made my way across the apartment as I followed the red-head, stopping briefly to hug Rarity, who had changed into her usual purple skirt and loose, light-coloured top since leaving Fluttershy’s that morning.

“Afternoon, darling.” she greeted quietly as I smiled back at her.

Sunset and I put our boots on and opened the door to head out into the hall. I looked into the kitchen one more time to see Fluttershy still busy getting things ready. I gave her a little wave. She smiled and waved back.

“Be back in a few minutes.” Sunset informed them.

We walked silently down the hall together. The ride down in the elevator was silent too. We both felt the uneasiness, remembering what had happened on Fluttershy’s couch that morning.

Sunset and I walked out the back door to the tenant parking lot, which was out of view of her balcony. We walked up to her motorcycle, parked in a middle row, leaning on its kickstand.

I squatted down to look closer at it, not noticing anything obviously wrong with it. “So what’s the problem with this thing?” I asked.

“Nothing.” she replied.

I looked up at her, confused. “Nothing?...Then what are we doing down here?”

She folded her arms. “I wanted to talk about this morning.”

I took a deep breath and stood up. “Hmmm…” I rubbed my chin, being coy with her. “What happened this morning?”

She smirked and rolled her eyes. “Don’t start being a smart-ass…I’m taking about what I did on the couch…”

“Oh. You mean when you violated me?” I asked.

She chuckled and lightly punched my shoulder as she shook her head. Then she took a deep breath. “But seriously, I’m sorry about that. I couldn’t help it…”

“You couldn’t help it? You might wanna get a handle on that…” I joked.

She scowled a bit. “Hey! I’ve got a way better handle on it than you think…”

I was slightly taken aback by her response. “You OK?” I asked in a more serious tone.

Sunset sighed. “I have a slight problem…”

I dipped my head a bit to look into her eyes. “And that is…?”

Sunset looked at me for a moment. She seemed to have a look of helplessness on her face when she finally spoke. “I’ve noticed a slight side-effect with the power you gave me…”

I frowned. “What side-effect?”

She shook her head and looked off into the distance, studying the row of stores in the strip mall across the street from her apartment. “This is so embarrassing…” she said, looking down at the pavement.

”What is?” I asked, genuinely confused by this point.

She sighed. “I…I get turned on.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Turned on? Like sexually aroused?”

She nodded.

“Why? By what?” I asked.

She looked me dead in the eyes. “You.”

I was stunned by the response. I looked down at the pavement, remembering how I had previously been worried about this happening after she and I had sex. “Shit…she got attached.”

She shrugged. “I can’t help it…”

I put my hand out. “Look, you know I’m with Flutters…and Rare. I know it’s kind of fucked up that there’s two of them, but that doesn’t mean it’s an open house…”

Sunset groaned suddenly. “Ugh! No, it’s not like that! I’m not in love with you. I like you a lot, but it’s not like that.”

I frowned in confusion. “What the fuck, Sunny…you’re kind of all-over-the-place here…”

She shook her head. “No, I’m not. I told you this is a side-effect of the power you gave me…”

I stared at her, not knowing at all what she was talking about.

She took a deep breath. “OK…I’ll start from the top. I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and I talked about it with Twi…and I think I know what’s causing it.”

“You mean…causing you to get aroused?” I asked.

Sunset nodded, then clasped her hands together in front of her chest as she thought about how to start explaining the situation. “OK, um…well, anyway…so it’s not very often that Equestrian magic bonds successfully with other types of power…right?”

“Right...” I nodded.

“Like yours…whatever it is…” she continued. “But…apparently my magic really seems to…like…your power.”

I cocked my eyebrows, looking at her sideways. “What are you saying?”

“I think it wants more.” she explained.

I frowned, shaking my head. “But, you’re already immortal…you can’t be, like…double immortal…”

She shrugged. “Well, try explaining that to my Equestrian magic, cuz it’s doesn’t seem to understand that little detail.”

I closed my eyes and put my finger up. “So, wait…let me get this straight. Your magic wants more of my magic, so it’s making you horny why?”

“Not horny for just anyone…only you. And only when I’m around you.” she replied.

“I don’t get it…” I shrugged.

She rolled her eyes. “Think about it…my magic is attracted to your power…YOU are obviously the source of that power…”

“Right…” I said blankly.

Sunset groaned as her frustration with me grew.

I put my hands up. “Hey, you’re the magic expert here, not me.”

She sighed loudly, then glared at me. “How did I get your power in the first place??”

I stopped. My eyes got wide as I realized what she meant. “Shit…we had sex.”

“Are you understanding me now?” she asked, seeing the blank expression on my face.

I nodded, then slowly started to summarize what was happening with her. “So...your magic is trying to get more of my power…so it’s making you horny for me…to get us to fuck again…to get another dose of it?” I said slowly, before looking back at her.

Sunset nodded.

”...But it only happens when I’m around you?” I asked.

She folded her arms. “Yeah, thank fuck…when I’m not around you, I’m fine. But as soon as I’m near you, it starts up again. It’s like it can sense you.”

“How long has this been happening?” I asked.

“Since I turned…”

My eyebrows went up in surprise. “The whole time??”

Sunset nodded.

I sighed, thinking as I looked into the distance. “Wait, what about Flutters and Rare? Why isn’t it happening with them?”

She shrugged. “It might be, but on a very low level. They probably just haven’t noticed it.”

“Why isn’t theirs as bad as yours?” I asked.

“Because they’re not actually Equestrian. I am. My magic is more deeply rooted, so this attraction to your power is much more…intense.”

I took a deep breath, trying to process all of this new information.

She looked at the ground, kicking a pebble and watching it skip across the asphalt. “Do you know how hard it’s been to be around you these past few months? Being horny as fuck and having to just stomach it?”

I looked her in the eyes, realizing that she’d been forced to go through something very difficult and confusing during the time since she turned. It really did seem like a cruel joke being played on her by the universe. “So…like when we were training out in the field…you were…?”

“Yeah…” she replied. “Do you how much of a pain in the ass it is learning to fight with soaked panties?”

I scratched the back of my neck, feeling nervous and somewhat guilty about what had happened to the fiery-haired girl. “Wow…I feel bad about this.”

She shook her head. “It’s OK, Golds. It’s not your fault.”

“How is this not my fault?” I asked.

“I wanted to do it. I came to you. I didn’t know what might happen messing around with these powers and I took the risk myself.” she explained.

“Well still, I had a hand in it…” I said.

“It was your dick, actually.” she quipped. “I am actually getting pretty good at ignoring it lately…”

I frowned a bit. “Uh, except for this morning…what happened there?”

“Oh…” she shrugged while blushing a bit. “It was just…I mean, you and I talked a lot that day. I had a great time, and we spent all day together, plus Rare and Flutters were all over each other…there was sex in the air…and I kind of lost control of myself.”

I looked up into the sky, having a completely different outlook on what happened that morning now that I understood Sunset’s dilemma. She’d been dealing with that kind of arousal for months, and that morning was the first time she let it get out of control…I had to applaud her will-power in that moment, the need to seek pleasure when one is aroused is a very difficult thing to resist. I started thinking about all the things she’d said to me in the past few months, the looks she had been giving me…it all made perfect sense now.

I looked at her again and asked something I knew I shouldn’t have. “What about right now?”

She looked at me with her eyes open wide.

“Like…what are you feeling like right now?” I clarified.

Sunset took a deep breath and looked into the distance across the street. She stared for a few seconds, chewing her bottom lip. Then she glanced at me. “Right now?” she stalled.

I closed my eyes, shaking my head. “No, next week…YES right now!”

She looked at the ground for a moment, then directly into my eyes. “I want to fuck you so bad right now.”

My stomach jumped a bit at the answer.

She sighed, then continued. “I wanna jump on your dick and ride it until we both cum a million times and then start all over again.”

I looked off into the distance where she had been looking, chewing my own lip as I processed what she just said. “Shit…” I mumbled.

“My pussy is so wet I cou-“

I put my hands up. “I get it…please…stop.” I said, closing my eyes tightly.

She stopped and looked at the ground. “Was that turning you on?”

“If you had kept going, probably...yes.” I replied.

She looked at me with her green eyes sparkling a bit, seemingly against her will. “That’s what it's like the whole time I’m around you.”

I paused for a moment considering the way she must have felt. “I’m sorry.” I said, then I leaned in closer. “But maybe that’s karma for edging me…you big bully.”

“Oh fuck you!” she laughed, slapping me on the shoulder. “You’re such an ass…”

Chapter 46: Alarm

Chapter 46

Sunset and I went back upstairs to her apartment where everyone else was waiting for us, finishing up the supper preparation and setting it all up in the kitchen and on her table so everyone could go around and serve themselves. We used paper plates and plastic silverware, sitting on the couch or anywhere else we wanted as we ate.

It was fairly quiet with Pinkie Pie not there. Sunset was a bit quiet too, as was I, after hearing the news of her condition downstairs in the parking lot. AJ and Dash carried most of the conversations, and Fluttershy and Rarity seemed to be in their own little world.

As I watched my two lovers talk to each other, both of them would glance at me at different times, giving me a little smirk or even a wink, which normally I would enjoy and I would feel the need to sneak off with one or both of them for a little secret action…but that day I wasn’t really paying the same attention to them that I should have been.

My mind was stuck on Sunset’s issue. I felt responsible for sending her up shit-creek without a paddle…I couldn’t help but see it in her face now as she sat there, trying to eat and pay attention to the other girls’ conversations while she sat on the floor by the couch, squirming restlessly, trying not to drop the food off her plate as she tried to inconspicuously rub herself against the carpet out of desperation. I couldn’t believe no one else noticed it…now that I knew what was going on with her, it was hard to miss.

I knew I was going to have to tell Rarity and Fluttershy about it. I really wasn’t sure what to do about Sunset, maybe they would have some ideas?

At the end of the night, after saying our goodbyes, Fluttershy, Rarity and I left Sunset’s apartment to head home. I didn’t know what their plans were, but I knew I needed to make some time to talk to them about the red-head.

The girls were walking hand-in-hand down the hall from Sunset’s door. I came up behind them, putting my face between their heads and resting my forearms on their shoulders. “So what’s the plan for tonight? Is it OK if we go to your place?” I asked Rarity.

“Why, darling? Did you not get enough this morning?” Rarity giggled.

“Actually, we need to talk about this morning…” I said.

“What about it?” Futtershy asked, reaching up to hold my hand above her shoulder.

“About Sunset…” I replied.

They got quiet for a few steps before they both looked at me.

I took a deep breath. “She told me something this afternoon.” I continued. “It seems there’s a slight error with her immortality…”

*****

At Rarity’s place, I sat them down in the front room to explain everything. They were surprised at first, but it settled with them fairly quickly. Evidently, they had gotten used to hearing strange things like this…well, maybe not quite like this.

“Poor Sunset…” Fluttershy said softly. “What can we do for her?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know if there’s a way to fix it…unless I stay away from her from now on.”

Rarity quickly shook her head. “That is absolutely out of the question.” she said adamantly. “We will not be excluding anyone from the group over something like this. And how is she supposed to continue her training if she cannot be around you?”

I paced around the floor in front of them, trying to think of a way to help our friend.

Fluttershy took a deep breath. “Maybe…we could arrange something for her?” she said, looking at me. “With you?”

I stopped to look at her. I noticed Rarity glaring at her as well, not looking very receptive to that idea.

“I don’t know if that will help…” I said. “If I have sex with her again…who’s to say it won’t just come back next time I’m near her? Or make it worse?”

Fluttershy gave a sigh of defeat.

Rarity spoke up. “I’m not sure I like the idea of you running around with her…”

Fluttershy looked at Rarity with surprise. “Rare…does that make you jealous?”

We both looked at the fashionista, waiting for her response.

She took a deep breath. “I’ve become…quite fond of you two…”

“But Rarity…” Fluttershy started. “We brought Sunset into this…it’s not fair to ignore the problem she’s having because of it.”

“I didn’t bring her into this.” Rarity quickly replied.

“Guys…” I tried to interject.

“But what about the first time? And what about Twilight? Why were you OK with that?” Fluttershy asked her girlfriend.

“That was different.” Rarity folded her arms and stuck her nose up.

Fluttershy scowled and shook her head. “How?”

“Because…” Rarity replied. “They were just doing it to become one of us. I could set my feelings aside to allow them the chance at eternal life…but now they have it, and there’s no reason to come back for more.”

Fluttershy looked at the floor for a moment. “Oh Rare…I understand how you feel, but Sunset needs our help.”

“Guys…” I said again.

“It just how I feel, Fluttershy. I’ve grown protective of you two lately.” Rarity said, before pointing at me. “He is ours…just like we are his…and I am yours…”

“Oh, but Rare…“ Fluttershy started. “Sunset’s our friend-”

“I’m sorry Fluttershy, but I’m not the sexual deviant that you are…” Rarity cut in. “I can’t sit idly by and watch one of you be with another just for fun…”

“It’s not for fun, Rare…Sunset can’t help it.” Fluttershy replied, starting to sound upset. “And do you really think I enjoyed sharing him with Sunset? Why do you think I wanted to be there??”

“Didn’t you?” Rarity returned, with a stern look on her face. “It sounded to me like you guys had fun…”

“Guys…”

“I was just making the best of it…” Fluttershy said. “But Rare…when we did it with you…in the hot tub…it was because I wanted to.”

Rarity’s expression softened when she heard those words.

“I’ve always loved you Rare…” the pink-haired girl confessed. “And when Goldie came along, I fell head over heels for him too, but I still loved you…” She reached out to grasp the fashionista’s hand. “And I wanted to share him with you.”

Rarity put her fingertips over her mouth. “Oh Fluttershy…I love you too…”

The two girls leaned in to hug each other tightly, rubbing each other’s backs with their hands.

“I always suspected that you had feelings for me, Fluttershy…” Rarity continued, still holding tightly onto her friend. “I felt like maybe I did too…but I also knew that I enjoyed the company of gentlemen very much…so I denied my feelings for you, thinking they must have been wrong…that maybe I was confused…”

“Oh Rare…I understand.” the shy girl responded.

“I’m so sorry, Fluttershy…for ignoring your feelings all these years…” the fashionista said quietly.

“It’s OK, Rare…we have lots of time ahead of us now…” Fluttershy smiled.

Rarity released the shy girl to look into her eyes. “You’re absolutely right, darling. We do.” she whispered, turning to me with a smirk on her face. “…thanks to him.” she said as she turned back to her friend. “Thank you for sharing, by the way.”

Fluttershy giggled. “I knew you had the hots for him anyway…”

Rarity blushed for a moment, then sighed blissfully, turning to face me. “I must confess, darling…” she said to me, “When my car was broken down in the woods that day and you pulled over in your truck to help…I felt my heart flutter in my chest when I approached your window and saw your face for the first time…”

“Same here,” I said. “but guys-”

“So did being there with him and Sunset make it easier?” Rarity asked, turning back to the shy girl.

Fluttershy nodded. “Mm-hm, but I liked doing it with you more.”

Rarity smiled for a moment, then paused before letting out a sigh. “You’re right, Fluttershy. Sunset is our friend…she’s one of us. And we need to take care of our own.”

Fluttershy perked up. “Hey Rare, you could do it with Goldie and Sunset…”

Rarity’s eyes got wide. “Me? But what about you? Won’t that bother you?”

Fluttershy’s brows furrowed as she thought about it. “Well, then maybe we could both be there…”

Rarity gasped then put her fingertips in front of her mouth. “A foursome??? Oh Fluttershy, that’s too much!”

“Uh guys, whoa…”

“Oh my goodness…” Fluttershy giggled. “What ab-“

“HEY!!!” I yelled, finally snapping their attention to me.

They both sat there in shock as I shrugged, holding my arms out to my sides.

“Aren’t you forgetting about someone? Have you considered how they might feel? Or what they might want??” I asked.

Rarity tilted her head with a bit of remorse. “Oh my darling, I’m so sorry…here we were only thinking of ourselves…”

“Oh…” Fluttershy gasped. “I’m sorry, Goldie...we never stopped to ask what you wanted.”

I shook my head. “No, actually I was talking about Sunny.”

“Huh?” they replied in unison.

“Have you guys thought about the fact that maybe she doesn’t want to do it?” I asked.

The girls both looked confused.

“But darling, you said-“

“I said she’s getting aroused because of her magic…not because she wants me. This is happening against her will…” I explained.

I could see the wheels turning in their heads as they thought about it.

“You think she wouldn’t want to do it?” Fluttershy finally asked.

“Maybe…” I said. “It might not help her anyway, like I said. She might be stuck like this forever, no matter how many times I fuck her.”

Rarity gave a deep sigh, then chewed her bottom lip. “Oh my…the poor thing.”

“She’s kept this to herself for months…” I continued. “The only reason she told me about it today is because of what happened this morning. She’s a strong person, and I think she wants to handle it herself.”

“But…she lost control this morning, darling…what if it happens again?” Rarity asked.

I took a deep breath, rubbing the back of my neck as I thought for a moment. Then I looked at the girls. “Well, can you blame her?”

Rarity huffed and waved me off. “Oh, get over yourself!”

I shook my head. “No, I mean…what time did I pick her up to go get your car, Flutters?”

“Umm…you left at like 6:30…” Fluttershy answered.

“Yesterday morning…” I clarified. “And when did you take her home Rare?”

“About 7 this morning…I think?” Rarity replied.

“So Sunset was with me for about 24 hours straight.” I explained. “Imagine being completely turned on for that long…like soaked panties, aching bad for someone to touch you, ready to cum as soon as someone does touch you, wanting to 'jump on the first dick you see' kind of turned on…”

Fluttershy cupped both hands over her mouth for a second before she spoke. “Oh my goodness…I would have lost my shit!”

“And I had no idea…” I said. “Her and I were talking all day, having a great time…there was only a few times when I noticed her looking at me weird, but I didn’t think much of it.”

Rarity was staring at the floor, chewing her thumbnail. “How did she deal with that all day?” she asked rhetorically before turning back to me. “You were right…we really can’t blame her for what happened…”

“I think…” Fluttershy started, “We can’t hold it against her…if it happens again. She can’t help it.”

“Well,” I said. “From now on I should minimize my time with her…like no more 24 hour straight hang-outs. When we train in the field at night it’s usually only about six or seven hours…she’s been handling that fine…and the Saturday dinners are only a few hours…what do you guys think?”

They nodded with approval.

“That’s how it’s normally been anyway…I think that’s fine.” Rarity agreed.

“But…” Fluttershy interjected. “If she needs to…I mean, if she loses control, I think we should let her…let her do what she needs to do.”

“What??” Rarity and I both exclaimed together.

“I mean…all she did was dry-hump you for a couple of minutes…right?” the shy girl said to me. “Think of how hard this must be for her to deal with…”

“Well darling…” Rarity said. “Let’s hope it doesn’t have to come to that…”

I pressed my palm to my cheek as I exhaled slowly, staring off into space. Then I closed my eyes and shook my head. “I’m not sure how I feel about being some kind of ‘pussy scratching post’ for her...” I opened my eyes again to look at the girls. “Hopefully if I properly manage my time with her, this won’t be an issue anymore.”

*****

A week had passed since the incident at the high school. Fluttershy was driven half-mad by the constant attention from the police and the media, as well as the potential victims and their families…who Fluttershy had a harder time ignoring since all they wanted was to express their gratitude for what she had done for them.

The police investigation was fairly straight forward. The sheer number of eye witnesses, plus the interviews with the Principals and her business partner made it easy to prove that Fluttershy’s actions were not pre-meditated or malicious, and it was obvious to everyone that she was acting to protect herself and the students of Canterlot high. What made the cops uneasy, however, was the level of precision and skill that she had displayed that day, but after looking into the shy girl’s history and finding a lack of any criminal record or signs of aggression, they had no choice but to conclude that she was very unlikely to initiate any acts of violence on her own in the future.

The man with the shotgun who seemed to be leading the attack turned out to be a former student at CHS. He had been expelled from the school a few years back after being caught multiple times selling drugs on school grounds, as well as assaulting other students. When he finally threatened a teacher, they made the decision to get him out of the school for good. His life since then didn’t improve, which was no one’s fault but his own. He had been in and out of jail several times and was unable to hold a job due to his poor attitude and angry behaviour. He became increasingly agitated as time went on, unable to look inwards and see the error of his ways, and decided instead to blame the high school for robbing him of his future, deeming to necessary to return to the school and exact his revenge by inflicting violence on them with the help of his friends.

Little did he know, making mistakes seemed to be in his very nature, since he chose to invade the school on the same day there would be an immortal girl present who had been personally trained for combat by a man who was quite possibly the best killer on the planet.

The guy with the machine gun was the one who supplied most of the weapons. His father was in the military for many years, and had a fairly extensive collection of guns in his home, including the automatic weapon that was used at the school. For most people, weapons like these were prohibited here, however, the shooter’s father had maintained ‘grandfather’ privileges in order to be allowed to own weapons like these in his home. His son, the shooter who wielded the weapon in the gym that day, had stolen his keys to unlock the weapons from their displays, and he also knew the passcode to get into the safe where the bolt for the machine gun was kept, as required by law in order to keep such a weapon in a residence. In all, he had taken the machine gun, which was a C7A2, used as the standard personal weapon in the Canadian Armed forces, and three Browning 9mm pistols…which was also widely used by the Canadian military. The only weapon not supplied by him was the old shotgun, which was supplied by the leader, who brought it after stealing it from his grandfather’s home.

The father, who’s weapons ended up being used in the attack on the school, was devastated by the fact that his son had attempted to commit such an act of violence, only to end up being killed by a young heroic woman, who stood up to protect the students in the school that day. He ended up being interviewed on the news, showing his conflicting emotions as he acknowledged that his son had committed a heinous act, yet felt anger towards the killer of his offspring.

“I feel ashamed by the actions of my son…” he said to the interviewer, sitting in a padded chair on the news set. “I served for many years in the military to protect my country and my family, only to have one of my own inflict violence upon others…but he was still my son. And to the woman who acted that day to protect the innocent,” he looked directly into the camera before he continued. “I know what she had to do…I know that I would have done the same thing. But at the end of the day…she killed my boy. And I’ll never forgive her for it.”

Fluttershy and I happened to see that interview together on her TV the night it aired. She was sitting on the chaise lounge with her feet outstretched, her arms folded across her stomach as she stared blankly at the TV, listening to the words that entered her mind like a shot of poison in her veins. I could tell it really bothered her…Fluttershy was not the type who liked hearing that someone was upset with her, and it made her feel trapped to know that she had to either kill someone’s child or allow them to kill an unknown number of others…it was obvious that she had done the right thing, but sometimes in life, you just can’t make everyone happy.

The media was relentless towards Fluttershy. They began showing up at her house, knocking on the door, trying to get an interview with the big ‘CHS hero’. She never answered the door though, as per my instructions, to avoid attracting unwanted attention, not to mention the thought of being on TV terrified her. This mostly happened in the evenings, and surprisingly, they didn’t show up to the animal shelter very often, but when they did, she stayed in her office and her partner took care of getting rid of them for her.

I got fed up with them one night and finally answered the door, only opening it a crack so just my voice could be heard to avoid having my own face end up on TV, telling them: “We don’t want to be on TV, so get the fuck out of here or I’ll call the cops on you for trespassing on our property.” This helped to a certain extent, but she and I both knew that we were going to have to just deal with them until some time passed and everyone’s interest in the incident eventually died down on its own.

On top of all that, she was finding bouquets of flowers, fruit baskets and thank-you cards being left at the front door of her house when she came home in the evenings, as well as having similar items delivered to her at the shelter during the day while she was working. While she did appreciate the gestures of gratitude, and found it heartwarming that she had touched so many lives, all the attention was starting to wear on her and she longed for the return of her usual quiet life.

It was now Sunday, and I was at my shop working on my truck.

The dinner that weekend had been at Rarity’s. Sunset was there as well, and I couldn’t help but keep one eye on her throughout the evening to make sure she was OK, but in all honesty, she seemed fine. I was starting to think that it might work out OK like this, limiting my time with her to keep her hormones to a minimum.

Fluttershy and I ended up spending the night at the Fashionista’s, which proved to be a good choice for the three of us, since there were plenty of ways to keep each other occupied in Rarity’s bed while we let another complete night drift by us into our ever-growing memories.

Earlier that week, I had received the new turbocharger for my truck at work, which is where I had it sent when I ordered it from an online dealer. Now that it was Sunday, I was using the quiet day to get it installed, which was proving to be a time consuming process, due to the fact that this new unit was larger and had different flanges to connect to the intake plumbing that was already in the truck.

I had driven out there just after dawn to get a head start, leaving Fluttershy at the fashionista’s place with her own vehicle. We had driven there separately, knowing ahead of time that I would be heading out early to work on my truck.

It was mid-afternoon now. I had spent most of the day on this task, having to custom machine a couple adapter flanges for the turbine and compressor outlets and make some adjustments to the intake plumbing, and I was now running the engine with the new turbo for the first time. I was standing in front of the truck checking for oil leaks at the turbo fittings, listening as the old diesel chattered away at me, not unlike my purple-haired girlfriend, who could be quite the chatterbox herself at times. I was just wondering about how the new turbo was going to perform when I felt my phone buzz in my pocket.

I pulled it out and held it in both hands, leaning my forearms on the rad support of the truck as I read the message.

UNKNOWN: I heard all about what happened at the school last week. Good for Fluttershy for doing what she did, but is this really a good thing to have on the internet???

The last part of the message was a link. I frowned, not knowing who sent the message, or what it meant. I was reluctant to reply without knowing who it was, nor did I really want to click on the link. Then another message popped up.

UNKNOWN: This is Twilight, by the way.

I exhaled a sigh of relief, rendered silent under the clatter of the engine right in front of me.

ME: Oh hi. How's it going? TWILIGHT: Good, thanks. Did u watch the video yet???

“Video?” I wondered. I realized she must have meant the link she sent me.

I clicked the link, prompting my phone to immediately switch to the browser app and I could see a video window with the little pinwheel in the middle, spinning around endlessly as the content loaded. I suddenly felt a twinge of uneasiness in my stomach when I saw the title:

‘Hot chick PWNS school shooters! WARNING: GRAPHIC!’

The video started next, and I could see what looked like a school gymnasium being filmed on a cell phone. The image was shaky, and I thought I could hear quivering breaths under the noise of my truck idling, being exhaled by the person behind the camera as they tried to keep it steady, aiming at the front of the room where a masked man with what looked like a shotgun was standing. He was a good distance away from the camera, I would have to guess whoever was filming must have been more than halfway back in the crowd.

I walked around to the driver’s door of my truck and reached in through the open window to shut the engine off so I could hear what was happening in the video, watching intently as the man at the front aimed the gun at the crowd, causing screams of panic…then from the right of the screen I saw a familiar figure run towards him.

It was Fluttershy. My heart stopped upon seeing her, realizing this footage had been on the world-wide web for anyone to see…possibly for a week by that time. I had been so focused on keeping her off the news that I didn’t even think about every kid in that school having a cell phone, and now here it was…out there for everyone to see.

I watched as she ran up to the masked man from the right and kicked the shotgun up as he fired, the loud bang causing the person filming to get scared and move the camera around, resulting in a screen full of dark blurs and random shapes…then it finally focused back on the front of the room. I could see Fluttershy in possession of the weapon now, aiming it at someone to the right, off the screen. She fired, then the camera quickly panned to the right, trying in vain to catch the person being shot at, then returned back to focus on her as she turned her back to the camera to fire at someone up on the stage at the front of the gym. He was blown off his feet, visibly bleeding all over the place as he landed on his back, which drew a quivering whisper from the kid behind the camera. “Holy shit…” he quivered, trying to keep the camera steady as other kids audibly whimpered and cried around him.

The video ended there. I was left standing next to my truck, holding my phone, staring at the blank screen with the replay icon sitting in the middle, waiting for the next command from my fingertip. I had my other hand over my mouth, my eyes were open wide, thinking about the fact that anyone could have seen this footage…including Agent Cody.

I texted Twilight back.

ME: Thank for bringing this to my attention.

I looked at the new turbo quickly, just to make sure there were no visible oil leaks before closing the hood and quickly backing the truck outside, then closing the bay door. I left all my tools out, knowing I would have to clean up later, but I needed to get to Fluttershy’s house to make sure everything was OK before she got home. I wasn’t sure where she was at this point in the day, she hadn’t texted me at all since I left Rarity’s that morning.

I got into my truck and headed out onto the road, putting my phone to my ear as it dialed my girlfriend’s number so I could let her know what I had just seen. It continued to ring…and ring…and ring. There was no answer.

I held my phone in front of me, cancelling the call. I texted my indigo-haired girlfriend next.

ME: Is Flutters still there?

“Pease say yes, please say yes, please say yes…” I whispered as I waited for a response from the fashionista.

Then my answer came.

RARITY: No, she left for home about an hour ago.

I slammed my phone down on the seat next to me. “FUCK!” I accelerated the truck to a higher speed as I headed for my girlfriend’s house, hoping…praying that I was just being paranoid.

Chapter 47: The Return of Cody

Chapter 47

Fluttershy was driving home through the woods in her small SUV, playing a song that had come on the radio. It was a song that she particularly liked, so she had the volume turned up very loud so the invigorating music filled her ears, merging with the joy that filled her mood that day. She had spent the previous night making love to her two companions over and over again, then spent the day shopping with one of them while the other one went off to his shop to do his cute ‘guy stuff’.

There hadn’t been anyone from the news out at her house on the weekend that she knew of, but the awareness was still in the back of her mind that she had to approach slowly to avoid being caught off guard by them and end up with her face on TV.

She slowed down to turn into her driveway, rounding the bend, watching to see her house come into view from behind the trees. She thought she could see my truck through the trees parked by the house, thinking that maybe I had finished whatever I was doing and was home already. Once she was out from behind the trees and had a clear view of the vehicle, her heart seized up in her chest when she recognised it as the black SUV that had been parked there back in the spring…the one that was driven by Agent Cody of the CIA.

She pulled up slowly, stopping about twenty feet from the black vehicle. She suddenly realized the music was still blaring, its happy tune now becoming irritating to her with its sudden irony in this new situation, so she reached down to turn off the radio. Then she returned both her hands to the steering wheel as she glared at the other vehicle, which had been backed up to her house and was facing her, ready to give chase quickly if the situation required. She could faintly see a man in the driver’s seat through the windshield, someone she didn’t recognise. He had black shades on and what looked like a black suit.

Fluttershy waited for what felt like an eternity to see something happen, wondering what she should do, watching the vehicle sit there like a predator waiting to pounce. She started to wonder if maybe she was just letting her imagination get the better of her…maybe it was just a family that came out to thank her for saving their child, or maybe a news vehicle…large black SUVs weren’t reserved only for government officials after all…

As if the universe was listening to her thoughts and realized she was trying to make herself feel better, the driver’s side rear door of the truck suddenly opened and another man in a black suit stepped out. He looked in her direction as he patiently reached his hands in front of him to button up his suit jacket, then he walked over to her vehicle. She immediately recognised the aviator glasses with the gold and blue frames that adorned his face as he approached.

It was indeed Agent Cody.

“Oh…not good.” she thought to herself in a panic. “Why is he here??”

She turned her head slowly, following him with her gaze as he approached her door, then put his hand up, waving his finger in a circular pattern, signalling her to roll the window down.

She complied, bringing the window down most of the way, then putting her hands back on the steering wheel.

“Afternoon, Miss Fluttershy.” Cody greeted, somewhat smugly.

“Um, he-hello Mr. Cody.” she replied quietly.

He gave her a small smile.

She felt like she should try to look casual and put on the innocent act like before. She should speak. “Um, w-what brings you out here today?”

Cody took a deep breath, looking over her vehicle into the woods for a moment, then he locked his eyes on hers. “I heard about your heroics at the local high school…”

Her face went blank, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

“Pretty impressive.” he said. “There’s a cell phone video online that an associate of mine brought to my attention…it clearly shows you disarming and putting down three full grown men with very little difficulty.”

Fluttershy let out a breath and closed her eyes. She hadn’t been aware of any videos taken of her that day, but now she was face-to-face with her worst nightmare again because of it. She remained silent as he continued to speak.

“Very admirable, saving those kids like that.” he said. “I guess that makes you a hero.” Cody stepped closer and rested his arm on the roof of her vehicle, putting his other hand on his hip as he continued. “I’m curious though…” he said, dipping his head to look into the window at her. “Who taught you to fight like that?”

She sat motionless for a moment, then shrugged. “I, um-”

“Cuz you know…” he cut her off as he looked over at her house again. “There’s only one guy I’ve ever seen who uses a technique like that…I would recognise it anywhere. The simplicity of it…the precision…it’s the most efficient fighting style I’ve ever seen…” Cody looked down at his foot as he scuffed it in the gravel a couple of times, then he looked at her again. “And now you’re using it…where did you learn it?”

Fluttershy’s eyes got wider at the mention of me. Cody had made the connection, and there was no way to talk him out of it now…she knew he was going to cling to this lead until the bitter end. The shy girl took one hand off the wheel and slowly reached down to grasp the shifter, ready to attempt an escape. She glanced in the rearview mirror to gauge her vehicle’s position and ready herself, but her heart sank at the sight of a second black SUV pulling the driveway behind her, blocking her in.

“I wouldn’t do that.” Cody said flatly.

Fluttershy closed her eyes and took a deep breath…then, feeling defeated, pushed the shifter ahead into park.

“Step out of the vehicle please.” Cody ordered as he took a step back to let her open the door.

She shut the car off and removed the keys, then opened the door to step out. She closed the door again and stood next to her vehicle, glancing over at the second SUV to see two men in black suits emerge from the back doors. One was a skinny blonde man who was of average height, the other had dark hair and a goatee and was quite tall and large…he was somewhat overweight, but it was obvious that he had a lot of muscle underneath.

Fluttershy’s chest tightened up at the sight of him. “Oh my…I’d better try not to go toe-to-toe with him…”

She looked back at Cody as he spoke again, now standing right in front of her. “I’m going to ask that you go with those gentlemen over there.” he said.

Fluttershy frowned as she looked at the two men a second time, the back at Cody. “Why?” she asked. “W-what have I done wrong?”

Cody took his sunglasses off and glared at her. “You’ve been aiding and harbouring a fugitive. You did a very good job of hiding it last time, but now you’ve shown your true colours in that video.”

“I don’t know any fugitives. Or anyone dangerous…” Fluttershy replied, summoning her courage to stand her ground. “Um, y-you have no right to take me from my property. This i-isn’t even your country.”

“That man is a threat to my country!” Cody fired back with an authoritative voice.

She stared back at him in surprise at his outburst, her jaw trembling as the other two men approached.

“Look, Miss Fluttershy…” he said, bringing his tone back down.”There’s no reason for you to worry. Just help us and you’re free to go…and everything will go back to normal for you.” Cody said as she glanced over at the two men again.

She noticed the big guy had his suit jacket unbuttoned, revealing the straps of his holster which carried his handgun under his right arm. She made the assumption that the skinny guy was armed similarly, as well as Cody himself…not that it was any threat to her, but perhaps she could use their own weapons against them…if she could get her hands on one, that is. These men were trained professionals after all, and they would not be as easy to handle as the men at the school.

“I’m not gonna ask you again…” Cody ordered after a few moments. “We have full co-operation of the local police. They’ve agreed to let us view their records over the past several years. You’re going to come with us and answer some questions, and you will help us find him. The sooner you co-operate with us, the sooner you’ll be back here, and life will go on. It’s that simple.”

Fluttershy didn’t know what to do. She took a deep breath as she looked at the second SUV. She knew she couldn’t give me up, but these guys weren’t going to leave her alone either…and engaging with them right there in the driveway would likely end in her revealing her own power to them, which would only make things worse for herself. Much worse.

She nodded, looking down at the gravel in defeat. “OK. I-I’ll co-operate.” she reluctantly agreed, not knowing what else to do. Perhaps the police records would reveal little or nothing about her boyfriend, and she could just continue to feign ignorance until Cody gave up again.

She walked between the two suited men to the side door of the SUV. The big man got in first, sitting in the back seat, then the skinny guy helped the shy girl get in, placing his hand on top of her head so she wouldn’t hit it on the top of the door opening as she sat in the middle row, then the thin man got in and sat next to her and closed the door.

There was an additional two men in the vehicle, a driver and another man with a shaved head in the passenger front seat, both of them wearing the same dark suits. All of them had a small white coiled wire coming from one of their ears, lust like in the movies.

Fluttershy was terrified. She was seated in the middle of the second row, with the skinny man sitting to her left, directly behind the driver. The big guy was in the back seat on the passenger side, sitting behind and to the right of the shy girl.

As Cody watched them get into the SUV and close the doors, he opened the front door of Fluttershy’s little SUV and took out her bag. He rummaged through it, finding her wallet and ID…then her cell phone. He paused to look at it briefly, then smiled as he threw the phone back into the bag and carried it back to his own vehicle with him.

The second SUV slowly backed its way out of the driveway and onto the road, then accelerated to speed towards Canterlot, where fluttershy had just came from. Cody’s SUV drove away from the house, steering around the shy girl’s SUV, then exited the driveway onto the road to follow the other black truck with the shy girl held captive inside.

They had been heading down the winding road for about ten minutes, and Fluttershy’s nerves were starting to tingle as she wondered to herself what was going to happen next. Something didn’t seem right…why would they need her to identify me if Cody had a photo of me already, and saw me in person himself ten years ago? What records would the police have had that would indicate me? All I did for the past several years was live in the woods and work in a shop on the outskirts of town. There should be nothing on file about me, other than the bar incident in the springtime, which Cody had already known about and had proven it to be a fruitless lead, thanks to Sunset Shimmer.

It was very quiet in the vehicle, other than a few voices coming out from the radio up front, mostly speaking in codes and acronyms, making it impossible for her to understand any of what they were saying. The vehicle had been fitted with a custom radio and computer system to allow efficient communication and information gathering, similar to what you see in the front of a police car, but this system looked far more streamlined and advanced. There were many additional cabinets in the vehicle, housing different items and gadgets that they must have used regularly, although the shy girl didn’t know what many of them actually were.

Fluttershy was still thinking about why they needed so badly for her to come with them to the police station, then telling her that she would be free to go just like that…it didn't make sense, and she was starting to think it was just a trick to get her into the vehicle without a skirmish, which would have left evidence in her driveway if she had been taken against her will. The way things were left, with her vehicle parked there, it would appear that she literally vanished into thin air. No one would have known where she had gone.

She squeezed her eyes shut at the realization of this, instantly regretting her mistake. Where could they really be taking her? She thought about where she was right at that moment, then realized that if she could get away from them, she could escape into the woods and use the animals to ambush the men and distract them while she made her escape.

She slowly let her hand slide down to her seatbelt buckle, used her thumb to slowly and silently press the button to release the belt, then held it in place with her hand. She was now unrestrained and free to attempt her escape.

Fluttershy was holding her breath, looking at the right side door, rehearsing in her mind how she would reach over, quickly unlock it, open it and make a jump for freedom…but just then, she heard a distinctive sound from the back seat behind her…the faint click of handcuffs being readied by the big man in the back seat.

Her eyes went wide as she realized what they were planning to do, as well as realizing that her theory about them getting her into the vehicles peacefully was correct. “Cody, you lying mother fucker…” she thought angrily to herself. “Where are you taking me??”

Her heart rate ramped up very quickly as her eyes darted to the left towards the skinny blonde agent sitting right beside her. He was sitting with his body partially turned towards her, and was turning his head to face the man in the back. She kept an eye on him as he looked at the big man for a short moment, then nodded.

She took this as the signal for the big man to make his move to restrain her. She decided right then and there she wasn’t going to go down without a fight, and just when she heard the seat behind her creak as the big guy leaned forward to grab her, she flung the seatbelt off of her lap and put her elbows on top of the seat back, quickly lifting herself up off the seat, arching her back as she kicked both her feet against the front seats, launching herself into the back seat next to the big guy.

He put his arm out to try to catch her, but she had raised her arm and quickly slammed her elbow into his nose, causing a loud crunch to echo through his head. His eyes were instantly flooded with tears as he covered his face with both hands, unable to act now that his vision was clouded by the moisture, brought on by the stinging in his sinuses.

Fluttershy looked ahead of her at the skinny man who she had just been sitting beside a few seconds ago. He had already pulled his pistol out and was bringing it around to aim at her. She kicked upwards with her foot, knocking his arm up and pinning his hand with the gun against the roof of the vehicle. She locked her knee to keep him trapped like this as she turned and reached inside the suit jacket of the big man, pulling his gun out from the holster under his right arm and quickly aiming it at the skinny guy’s head.

She pulled the trigger, sending a round through the skinny agent’s temple, painting the side window of the SUV with a large red splatter. His dead arm went limp under the restraint of her leg, so she let her foot down, releasing his hand from the roof. As the pistol fell from his grip, she reached out and caught it in her other hand.

Now armed with two guns, she brought her attention to the men in the front. The bald man in the passenger seat had turned around by now and was just bringing up his weapon to aim at her as she raised both of her guns, firing them both simultaneously at their heads.

One bullet tore through the driver’s head rest, entering the his brain, causing him to slouch forward over the steering wheel…as well as letting his heavy foot press its lifeless weight on the gas pedal, making the vehicle suddenly accelerate out of control.

The other bullet penetrated the bald man’s forehead, leaving a small red hole just above his left eye, snapping his head back against the dash board and he came to rest, slouched sideways in his seat. The entire windshield was instantly painted red, blocking the view from inside the vehicle of where it was going.

Fluttershy quickly turned her head to the right to look at the big man beside her, noticing he was wiping his eyes and slowly getting his vision back. She swung the pistol in her right hand up over her shoulder, connecting the top of the barrel to his brow, splitting it wide open, sending a stream of red blood down his cheek. He grunted as he clutched his forehead with his left hand, wincing in pain. The shy girl looked down at his lap, noticing how he had dropped the hand cuffs on his leg after she hit him with her elbow when she leapt into the seat beside him. She then noticed that there was a grab handle just ahead of the rear side window that he was seated at, so she set one pistol down on the seat, then grabbed the cuffs, locking one end on his wrist, then yanked his arm up, closing the other end of the cuff around the handle, tying him to the now out-of-control vehicle.

“Enjoy the ride…” she said to him in a sarcastic tone as she picked the pistol up again. She leapt over the middle seat back, looking out the passenger side window, noticing how it appeared that the vehicle had veered over to the oncoming lane, making Fluttershy wonder what was coming up ahead of them. She didn’t want any innocent drivers on the road to get hurt, so she reached up past the driver, noticing that they were now travelling well over 100km/h as she used her forearm to wipe a clean streak across the windshield to see what was coming their way.

Her heart stopped when she saw that the SUV was entering a right-hand curve in the road, and was barreling directly for the end of the steel guard rail, which started just before the curve.

“Oh dear…” she squeaked as she crossed the guns in front of her face to cover it and squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the impact.

The sound was deafening. Fluttershy was violently thrown forward into the windshield, her head slamming against the glass, soaking her hair and tank top in the agents’ blood as she remained pressed against the cracked windshield. If felt like she was now laying there…then she realized that the rear of the vehicle had come up into the air after the impact and the entire truck was flipping end-over-end into the wooded gully below.

The SUV flipped, then came down on its roof, sliding down the hill for a bit before it flipped again, bouncing off a tree as it went, knocking it into a sideways roll as it flipped a third time. It sounded like a war zone inside, banging and crashing like thunder as the shy girl was thrown around the interior of the truck. She had lost all sense of direction…feeling her head, back, legs and arms bounce off of seat cushions, windows, door handles, the dash board, dead bodies…she had dropped the guns in the process, trying her best to grab onto something to hold herself steady as she waited for the violent crashing to come to an end.

*****

The driver of Cody’s SUV rounded the bend, expecting to see the other vehicle ahead of them come back into view during the next straightaway, but was instead greeted with an empty road. He frowned, knowing that they hadn’t been travelling fast enough to be around the next bend yet…where had they gone?

Cody was in the middle row, sitting next to one other agent, going through Fluttershy’s phone after using a device to unlock it without the password, looking for my contact, which he was unable to find. I had instructed her to keep my contact deleted, and if she needed to call or text me to just enter my phone number every time. If I sent her a text or called her, it would just show up as my number, with ‘unknown caller’ above it. Cody, however, could easily look up all the numbers in her recent calls list, or even call them himself…if there were any there. Fluttershy religiously cleared all the histories in her phone everyday in case of a situation like this.

Agent Cody suddenly felt the vehicle braking, then heard the voice of the driver speaking back to him. “Sir, we have a situation…”

Cody looked up through the windshield, furrowing his brow as he wondered what the driver was referring to. “What is it?” he asked.

“The other vehicle is gone. Look there…” the driver pointed as their vehicle came to a complete stop about fifty feet from the guard rail at the next bend.

Cody looked in the direction of the driver’s finger, seeing the bent end of the guard rail, then a broken tree branch just off the side of the road, beyond the edge of the hill. There was some dust floating in the air as well, emanating from the brush down the hill in the trees to the left.

“It looks like they crashed, and went over the edge to the left…right there.” the driver pointed to the trail of damage as he analyzed the scene.

Cody put Fluttershy’s phone back in her bag and set it on the floor behind the front seats. “Looks like our tough little lady-friend decided to put up a fight.” he said as he pulled his gun out from inside his suit jacket. “Secure the area. Check the other vehicle…see how many survivors there are. Hopefully she’s one of them.” he ordered the driver, who opened the door and got out, then closed the door again before walking over to the area where the other SUV had left the road.

Cody listened to his earpiece as the agent who was driving described the wreckage. “Vehicle is overturned, it’s quite a ways down the hill. It will take me a minute to get down there.”

“Understood.” Cody returned, looking at the agent in the seat next to him as he waited to hear more. “Hopefully she’s not dead…” he mumbled as the other agent nodded his head.

“OK…” the driver continued. “Vehicle is heavily damaged…” there was a pause as he looked inside the overturned SUV. “Uh, all four men are dead, three by gunshot…Sims looks like he died in the crash…”

Cody frowned as he put his fingertips up to his earpiece. “Where’s the girl?”

After a pause, the driver replied: “Target is gone.”

“Dammit.” Agent Cody cursed as he turned to the man beside him. “Sweep the area. She can’t be far…she’s probably injured from the crash.”

The agent nodded as he opened the rear passenger door and stepped out, pulling out his gun as he shut the door and started walking to the back of the SUV. He was headed the opposite way from the crash to start a wide sweep, hopefully getting ahead of the girl before she got too far.

He was holding the weapon up to his right side as he passed the back corner of the SUV when the pink-haired girl, with red splotches of blood soaked into her hair and white tank top, suddenly lunged out at him. She had been crouched down behind the vehicle so she wouldn’t be seen through the back window by the men inside, waiting to make her move.

Fluttershy had decided to alter her escape plan, deciding that simply running away wasn't going to solve her problems in the long run. She would be unable to go home since they would just go back and look for her there, so she made the decision to get rid of them right here, right now. If more agents were sent to investigate their deaths, she knew the local police would have her back after she had just saved an entire school the week before and became a local hero.

She drove her open palm into the agent's face, crushing his nose, causing his head to snap back, then she grabbed his right wrist with both hands, yanked his arm downward to point his gun at the ground and squeezed the trigger, firing a round into his own foot. He cried out as he let go of the weapon and staggered back while Fluttershy spun on her heel, facing herself away from the side of the SUV, bringing her leg up to deliver a straight kick, connecting her foot to the side of the agent’s head, driving it into the side of the truck. His body crumpled lifelessly to the ground as she looked into the side window of the truck…seeing Cody’s silhouette behind the dark tinted glass.

She raised the pistol and fired several shots at Cody’s head through the window.

He saw her just in time, and dove down in the seat, instinctually covering his head as the bullets ricocheted off the bulletproof glass. “Jensen, get back here now!” he yelled in a panic over his comms band. ”She’s here, on the right side of the vehicle! She is armed…use any force necessary to subdue, but keep her alive!”

Fluttershy emptied the entire clip only to see a spread of chip marks on the glass. “Damn...” she cursed softly to herself. Then she suddenly perked up, listening to a shrill chirping coming from the trees near the crash site of the other vehicle. She dropped the empty gun to the ground and took off running, heading to the guard rail where the first vehicle had crashed.

Agent Jensen, the driver of Cody’s vehicle, was climbing back up the hill from the other vehicle as ordered. The hill was steep, and he had to bend forward to use his hands to help make his way up to the top. As he reached level ground at the shoulder of the road, he quickly pulled out his gun and stood up, looking ahead just in time to see the pink-haired girl sprinting at him. She jumped up, leaning her shoulders back and bringing her legs up, driving both her green boots into his chest.

Jensen was knocked off his feet and sent soaring over the edge of the hill. He flew almost forty feet before landing on a downed tree branch with the small of his back, causing him to flip backwards and land on his head, breaking his neck instantly, followed by his limp body rolling down the hill another ten feet.

Cody had decided to slowly sit up in the vehicle, looking to the right again to see the shy girl not there anymore. He looked forward through the windshield just in time to see Fluttershy running from the right side of the road to the left, then he saw Jensen stand up at the edge of the road only to have the girl leap up and kangaroo-kick him back down into the ravine.

“Fuck!” he cursed as he watched her land with her back on the ground after delivering the attack. “This ends now…”

He reached over to roll down the window beside him, then opened the door to use the window sill as a tripod to steady his gun. He aimed at her as she quickly stood up again, still facing over the edge of the hill…giving him a clear shot at her shoulder. He intended to wound her so he could get the girl back into the vehicle without having her fighting back anymore.

He took aim at the fleshy upper half of her arm, just below the top of her shoulder, then fired.

Fluttershy was just about to turn her attention back to Cody, the last agent left standing when she heard the shot ring out…followed by the sudden hard jolt against her shoulder, causing her to stagger to the side one step, then slowly look back at Cody’s SUV.

The Agent’s eyes went wide was he saw the girl’s shoulder jerk under the impact of the bullet, but fail to bleed, or knock her down. The hairs stood up on the back of his neck as she slowly turned her head in his direction, scowling at him with a sharp look in her eyes.

Cody’s eyes widened as the realization of what he was dealing with came over him. “Holy shit…he’s not the only one…she’s one of them too…” he thought as a feeling of amazement combined with terror came over him.

They stood for a moment staring at each other, not knowing what to do.

Cody finally broke the silence. “Well, Miss Fluttershy…you just became a lot more interesting…” he said smugly.

Fluttershy turned so she was facing him. Her eyes were wide, her heart racing as she realized that her tormentor now knew what she really was. ”Oh boy, this is bad…he knows…” she thought to herself, wondering if she would be able to handle going toe-to-toe with the agent. She’d managed to get the jump on the others, taking them out with relative ease, but being face-to-face with Cody might be a different story. “Only one way to find out…” she thought as she took a couple steps towards him, which progressed into a jog, then a full-out run.

Cody quickly steadied himself as he watched the slender girl charge at him. He knew there was only one way to make it out of this alive…

He raised his gun and emptied the rest of his rounds at the shy girl…watching in amazement as she jerked back after each impact, but still kept coming. She had bullet holes in her white tank top now, which was also stained red with the blood of his comrades, like her hair.

Realizing his pistol was useless to him, he dropped it and charged towards her, hoping he would be able to successfully execute his plan.

They rushed at each other at full speed, and when they were about five feet away from impact, she leaned down and speared him in the midsection with her shoulder, knocking the wind out of him, as well as the sunglasses off his face. They were stopped dead in their tracks on impact as the shy girl, who was still leaned forward with her head tucked at his side under his left arm after her attack, started swinging her fist around his back, hammering his kidneys relentlessly as he grunted…but her punches weren’t strong enough, and he was able to gather his strength enough to hook his arms around her stomach, picking her up so her legs swung upward into the air.

She was upside down now, with her back against his face, and she was then thrown down to the pavement head first, slamming down on the back of her neck and shoulders with a jarring crack as her skull hit the road.

Not feeling any pain from it, she immediately responded by thrusting her feet up and connecting both of her boots to his chest, knocking him back towards the front of the SUV. Cody stumbled and fell, hitting his back against the front bumper of the truck, which sent sharp waves of pain up his spine.

He sat for a second, gritting his teeth as he waited for the hurting in his back to die down. It was short lived however, when he looked up and saw the girl coming at him, ready to swing her foot at his face. He countered by thrusting his foot out as she took the next step, kicking her foot out from under her, causing her to fall forward towards him. He swung his left fist across in front of him, connecting a left hook to Fluttershy’s cheek just before she landed on him, which knocked her off to his right side.

Cody rolled to his left to get away from her, giving himself the time to stand up, using his left hand on the truck bumper to pull himself up quicker. He turned to face her, surprised to see that she was already back to her feet and coming at him again. He swung his foot up to kick her, hoping to stop her next attack, but she quickly dropped under it, spinning on her heel as she swept her right leg around in a circle on the ground, knocking his other leg out from under him.

Cody landed on his back on the pavement, feeing the air get knocked from his lungs yet again. He knew at that moment that he was fighting a losing battle…even though she wasn’t very strong, or even as experienced a fighter as him, she just couldn’t be hurt. He could hit her with the most devastating attack he could and she would be back to her feet again in an instant. He was already in a lot of pain, which was slowing him down quickly…and it wouldn’t be too long before she would be able to finish him off with little effort. His only hope was to continue on with his plan...to restrain her.

Fluttershy had stepped to the side of him, and lifted her foot up to stomp on his face. He quickly swung his arm at the back of the knee that she was still standing on, causing it to bend unexpectedly, collapsing under her weight as she fell backwards to the ground.

Cody forced himself through the pain to get to his feet as fast as he could, then made his way to the side of the truck, reaching into the open door to grab two pairs of hand cuffs. He turned around to see where she was, and recoiled when he found her right in his face again. He quickly grabbed her by the throat before she could attack, then picked her up off the ground…running across the left lane of the road and slamming her down to the ground next to the gravel shoulder.

He approached the shy girl to grab her arm as she got back up to her hands and knees, but she kicked one foot out to the side, burying her heel in his stomach. Cody hunched over, squeezing his eyes shut as the pain in his stomach rendered him helpless for a moment. She had gotten back to her feet and was approaching him yet again, just as he looked up at her to see her swing her right fist at his head.

He quickly brought his arm up, holding the open cuffs, letting the one end catch her wrist and snap shut. He straightened himself up, fighting against his pain and spun himself around her, stepping behind and twisting her arm around her back by the cuff. She responded by swinging her left elbow back at him to try and hit him hard enough to let her go, but he was able to swiftly catch her arm with his hand, then twist it down behind her back so he could snap the other end of the cuff onto her other wrist.

He didn’t give her time to think once her hands were cuffed behind her back. He hooked his right leg around her feet and swept her legs out from under her, making her go down, landing face-first in the dirt at the side of the road. The wind was knocked from her lungs, puffing up a cloud of dust around her head and she hit the dirt with her face. She lifted her head to look behind her, a layer of fine dust and small stones stuck to her mouth and cheeks…then she felt the weight of his knees coming down on the backs of her thighs, pinning her down as he yanked her boots off and slapped the second set of cuffs around her ankles.

“No…no no no…” Fluttershy panicked in her head as she realized she’d been beaten. She couldn’t move freely anymore, and was now at the agent’s mercy.

Cody stood up and grabbed the chain of the cuffs that were on her hands, violently hoisting her up to her feet. Then he hooked one hand under her arm and dragged her back to the open side door of the SUV.

“Where are you taking me??” she squealed frantically. “You can’t do this…I never did anything to you! LET ME GO!!”

“You just killed six of my men…you’re a threat.” he replied flatly, throwing her into the truck across the middle seat. He leaned in, but was taken aback when she suddenly sat up, glaring intensely with her eyes out of the truck…but not at him. She was staring past him, into the woods.

The agent furrowed his brows, wondering what she was looking at, looking over his shoulder into the woods for a moment. After seeing nothing of interest in the trees, he put his hand on her face and shoved her back down into a laying position, then reached down to the storage bin under the seat to pull out another pair of cuffs. He locked one end around the chain of the cuffs tying her wrists together, then pulled her legs up behind her back and locked the other end to the chain that was holding her feet together, essentially leaving her in a hog-tied position on the seat. Then he closed the door.

Cody went to the driver’s door of the truck, opened it and activated the rear interior locks so she couldn’t have a chance of opening the doors to escape. He sat in the driver’s seat, gripping the steering wheel as he reflected on what he had just accomplished…he didn’t catch his original target, the ancient immortal man who had become nothing more than a mere legend amongst his peers, but instead, he caught a different immortal…a girl. One that no one knew about. This was big. Cody knew he would become a legend for bringing one of these beings into headquarters. What were they? Where did they come from? Why didn’t anyone know about this girl?

He reached out to the comms screen in the dash, sending a notice to his peers on the other end. “This is Cody…” he breathed, wincing through the pain that the girl in the back seat had caused him. “I have six men down, and one vehicle damaged. Send a clean-up crew to these co-ordinates…on-the-double. Over.”

He turned one more time to look at the restrained girl in the back seat, who was now weeping in defeat. Tears were running down her face, mixing with the dirt on her cheeks, creating a muddy mess as her pink, blood-soaked hair stuck to her face.

He took a deep breath, then faced forward again to put the SUV in gear and continue to drive to his destination, the location of which was a mystery to the shy girl.

She began to cry harder as she laid in the back seat with her arms cuffed behind her back, her feet tied together, feeling the motion of the vehicle as it took her away from her happy life. “I couldn’t beat him…” she thought to herself as she sobbed softly. “Now he’s taking me away…and I don’t know where. How is anyone going to find me?”

Just then, she heard her phone vibrating inside her bag on the floor next to the seat. She held her breath, looking at Cody to see if he heard it, which he didn’t. He just kept his eyes on the road.

Fluttershy rolled over a bit, looking down at her bag. It was open slightly at the top, and she could see the light from the phone screen inside, showing part of the number that was calling her. She could only see the last four numbers, but it was enough for her to recognise it as her boyfriend’s number. She frantically yanked her hands against the hand cuffs, trying to get free…but she couldn’t do it. She rolled off the seat onto her back so she could get her fingers close to the phone so she could at least try to answer it, even if she couldn’t talk. Unfortunately however, the way she landed on the bag folded it shut, separating her from the phone…and she laid there, feeling it vibrate through the bag against her back a few more times before it finally stopped.

She squeezed her eyes shut, sending streams of tears down her face at the realization that her only chance at getting help had now passed her by. She was on her own now. The life she knew was gone.

She was now regretting her mistakes as she thought more about how she'd handled the situation. She should have gone home, or to my shop. I might have been there to help her...or she could have used nearby animals to help her fight Cody on the road, rather than being so overconfident in her abilities. But now it was too late, and she was his prisoner.

No one will know where she went…it will be like she just vanished into thin air. She thought about her friends, picturing their faces as they worried about her, wondering where she had disappeared to. She thought about me…and she thought about Rarity, both of whom she loved with all her heart and couldn’t bear the thought of losing. Would they figure out what had happened? Or would they think she chose to leave them behind to start a new life for reasons they wouldn’t understand?

The pain of her sadness finally erupted in her chest as she sobbed loudly on the floor of the SUV that was now taking her somewhere unknown.

Her only hope now was that someone might receive her message…

Chapter 48: The Search

Chapter 48

I pulled into Fluttershy’s driveway with my truck and quickly hopped out to go look inside her small SUV which was strangely parked in the middle of the yard. It was unusual to see it like this, she had always parked close to the front door religiously every time she got home.

When I didn’t see anything inside the vehicle, I decided to go inside to see if she was in the house. I opened the door and called out her name, listening for a response…

Silence.

I walked in and looked around, walking down the hall to check the bedroom and bathroom.

Nothing.

I came back to the front room, stopping at the end of the table, wondering where she could have been. “Her car is here…but where the fuck is she?”

I looked at the couch to see Link laying on the chaise lounge, something he never did when Fluttershy was home. He knew it was her spot…

I went back outside, looking at her vehicle for a moment. “She wouldn’t have gone out to Riverfield…it’s not a training night…” I thought, staring at the SUV. “How long has this been here?” I wondered as I walked up and placed my hand on the hood of the vehicle. It was still warm, but not hot. It hadn’t been that long then…but where was the shy girl?

My nerves started bother me as I thought about the video of her on the internet…what were the odds of me seeing that video at the exact moment that Cody would show up here? It was highly unlikely, but stranger things have happened…

I started looking around the yard for wheel tracks. Her driveway had a fairly course gravel in it which made it difficult to see tire marks…then I remembered the pothole near the bend that almost always had damp mud in it. I walked over to the bend, past my idling truck, taking in the strong smell of diesel exhaust as I passed the rear corner to close the gap between myself and the pothole.

I paused when I reached the spot. My eyebrows cocked when I saw the unfamiliar tread pattern imprinted into the stiff mud. “Michelin LTX…” I thought to myself, recognising the light truck tire tread that I had seen thousands of times during my career as a mechanic. I knew it wasn’t one of ours, I ran different tires on my truck and my girlfriend had a more car-like tire on her little vehicle…it could have been a news van, or a grateful visitor though…

“Maybe I should take a drive down the road…” I thought. “Whoever this was, they couldn’t have gone right…I just came from that way…maybe they went towards town. Although, I don’t even know how old this track is…”

I took a deep breath, looking back at the peaceful looking house, thinking about what I should do. “Ah, fuck it.” I shrugged. “Not much here to see anyway…it can’t hurt to take a look down the road.”

I hopped in my truck and headed towards Canterlot, wondering if I might see something of interest. I knew something wasn’t right…they way her vehicle was parked, her purse missing, and obviously no sign of her anywhere.

I headed down the road for about five minutes, then pulled over and stopped to think. What did I really expect to find out here?

I took a deep breath, wondering what I should do next. It had been years since I tracked anyone, and my skills had dulled over time…but the fear of losing my perfect shy girlfriend made me put my truck in gear and continue on. I had to figure out where she was, even if she turned out to be fine and I was just letting my imagination run wild. The chances of Cody taking her were slim, but I couldn’t take the chance…and it wasn’t just losing my pink-haired princess that worried me, it was also the devastation that my indigo-haired lover would go through if she learned that her lover and best friend had been taken away. I couldn’t stand the thought of either of them suffering like that.

I was half daydreaming as I thought of having to console the fashionista after telling her that the shy girl had been taken when I rounded the bend, then hit the brakes at the sight of a deer standing in the middle of the road, staring directly at me as though it had been waiting for my arrival.

I stopped the truck, staring back at the animal, wondering why it was standing in the middle of the road like that…then I remembered something I’ve learned in the past five months. If an animal is doing something unusual, it’s probably got something to do with Fluttershy and her magic. This had to be it. I was onto something…

I shut the engine off and got out to approach the deer. It stood there, keeping it black eyes locked on me as it twitched its ears at the sounds of the forest around it.

I stood about ten feet from it, placing my hands on my hips. “What?” I said to the deer, feeling somewhat ridiculous about talking to an animal. When Fluttershy did it, it made sense…but for me, it was absurd. This creature and I couldn’t understand each other.

Just as I was about to say something else, the deer turned and gracefully walked away from me, headed towards the curve in the road just ahead. I watched it as it walked about seventy feet before it suddenly made a left turn and walked across the road to the left shoulder, stopping next to the guard rail and looking back at me again.

I frowned, wondering what this meant. Was this animal trying to tell me something? I decided to walk closer, keeping my eyes on the deer, expecting it to suddenly run away like they usually do in the wild. I got about twenty feet from the animal when I noticed the end of the guard rail it was standing next to…it was bent, as if something hit it hard.

I made this drive everyday to work, and I know this road like the back of my hand…I knew that bend wasn’t there yesterday on the way to dinner at Rarity’s. I walked up to the rail, noticing that the deer let me get within less than five feet of it and it still didn’t run. I ran my hand over the metal, seeing the cracks in the galvanized coating…the absence of rust confirmed that this damage was fresh.

I then noticed a broken tree branch a few feet past the edge of the road, which drew my eyes over the edge of the hill where I saw a large trail of flattened brush, skid marks and broken tree limbs for more than fifty feet down into the gully. But there was nothing there that would have caused such damage.

“Something serious happened here…” I thought to myself as I looked around at the clear evidence of a crash in front of me. I rubbed my chin, letting the scenario play out in my head. “A vehicle hit this rail and went over the hill…but why? Out of control? Driver asleep at the wheel?...Or something else?”

As I was thinking this, I heard the clopping of the deer’s hooves behind me as it started walking along the left shoulder of the road, moving away from the guard rail, back towards my truck. I watched as it slowly walked about forty feet from me, then stopped and turned to look at me again.

What was it showing me now?

I followed the animal to its new position, then looked around, but wasn’t able to see anything of interest. It was just standing there at the edge of the pavement, looking at me as if I was supposed to know what it wanted.

I stared at the deer as it returned its gaze to me, occasionally twitching its ear impatiently. I sighed, looking around the road, then my eyes caught site of something on the other side of the pavement about twenty feet from me…a dark spot, about a foot across, with a reddish hue to it. I walked over and bent down to look at it.

I could tell right away it was blood. Something definitely happened here.

My attention was brought back to the deer when I heard it scuffing its hoof in the dirt at the side of the road. I looked back at it, noticing the urgency in its body language as it pawed at the dirt incessantly. I shook my head and went back to the animal, looking down at the dirt…then I saw it.

My heart stopped when I noticed the print, right next to the streaks in the dirt that the deer had just made…a clear footprint, with a tread pattern that I would recognise anywhere…one with butterflies scattered throughout the design.

“No…no no no…” I started shakily mumbling worriedly as I walked along the shoulder of the road, looking for more of my girlfriend’s boot prints, which I found, along with some scuff marks in the dirt…clear signs of a struggle. “Fuck…” I whispered to myself, covering my mouth as I looked around the area. This had to be Cody…who else would it have been?

Just then, I heard a rustling in the tall weeds a few feet from the deer’s position. I looked in the direction of the noise, watching to see what it was…and finally a little fox came scampering out of the vegetation with something in its mouth.

I could tell what it was immediately as the fox trotted over to me and dropped the pair of blue and gold aviators on the ground next to my foot. I knew who’s sunglasses they were. Sunset had told me all about them after the last visit from the CIA agent.

As I bent to pick them up, the fox suddenly darted away, flicking up dirt and small stones behind it as it made its departure. The deer also took its cue at that point, suddenly rearing up as though it just noticed me there, then it silently and gracefully ran off into the woods on the right side of the road after crossing the pavement once more. I took this as meaning that the animals’ jobs were complete…I had gotten the message.

Cody took my girlfriend…and now I was standing in the middle of the road in the woods, just a few miles from her deserted house, holding the evidence of her captor in my hand, with only one thought going through my mind:

“Game on…”

I jogged back to my truck and got in, started the engine and drove off swiftly towards Canterlot. I needed help, and I knew exactly who I wanted it from.

*****

It was Sunday evening. The sky was full of warm colours while the sun was setting, just as another Sunset entered her apartment with two armfuls of groceries, awkwardly closing the door with her hip, then making her way to the kitchen, being careful not to knock anything over as she went. She set the bags on the kitchen floor, then leaned back against the counter beside her fridge to take a break from her work.

Sunset Shimmer hated getting groceries. She groaned at the sight of all the bags on the floor that she was now going to have to unpack, then chuckled to herself at the absurdity of an immortal human being who was going to live forever having to engage in the minutia of these aspects of life. Especially since she didn’t actually need to eat, but she liked to eat…her favourite flavours still enticed her and she still enjoyed the textures and the satisfaction of a tasty meal.

There might come a time soon, however, where she may have to forego the act of getting groceries…her job search was still ongoing and her financial status was getting worse by the day. She was starting to regret spending so much over the last few months, now wishing she had conserved money to cover her rent for a couple more months. She had decided that she was going to start looking for more of an entry level job the next morning, even if it was at a coffee shop or something like that. As much as she didn’t like the idea of it, she knew she needed some cash flow to be able to keep living in her apartment, which she had grown to love since she had moved in a few months ago. It was in a decent part of town, and she enjoyed having all the stores and restaurants close by, as well as Rainbow Dash living barely two blocks away to hang out with at a moment’s notice.

She would go find a job tomorrow, and keep gunning for the career she wanted in the meantime.

Perhaps…a roommate would be helpful? But she only had one bedroom. Maybe finding a boyfriend was in order…someone to share the rent with, as long as she could find someone she could trust her secrets with.

Just as Sunset thought of this, she felt a tingle ring out between her legs. She closed her eyes and let her head tilt back at the feeling, realizing that the very thought of a boyfriend had sent her hormones into a frenzy. When was the last time she had any action? After thinking about it briefly, she remembered that her last sexual encounter was the threesome with Fluttershy and Golden Arrow...

“Man, what a night that was…” she thought to herself. “Flutters is so lucky, having that amazing cock to jump on whenever she wants, and Rare too...lucky cunts…”

The heat continued to build in the crotch of her jeans as she thought about the orgasms she had that night, but it wasn’t just the pleasure she got from me that night that had stuck with her…she kissed Fluttershy, the cutest, prettiest and most innocent of the group. Sunset thought she was innocent anyway…until she watched the shy girl tear her own clothes off and ride her boyfriend cowgirl style on the bed right next to her like there was no tomorrow, almost finishing the session right there inside of her. It was, without question, the hottest thing Sunset had ever witnessed.

Sunset ran her hand down her stomach, over her jeans and rubbed herself firmly between her legs. She shivered at the feeling that ran up through her body as she pursed her lips, furrowing her brows at the electric sensation she was giving herself right there in the kitchen.

“Mmmmmm…” she moaned softly to herself, taking a deep breath as she slipped her fingers inside her jeans, running her fingertips inside her panties, over her smooth mound, then letting her middle finger plunge itself between the warm lips into the deep crease, which was already flooded with her slick juices. She gently ran her fingertip over her sensitive clit, sending lightning bolts through her loins, causing her ab muscles to spasm, making her body tremble against the counter.

“Holy fuck, I’m wet…” she thought as she kept her eyes closed, running her fingers through her fiery hair, continuing to pleasure herself in the kitchen, surrounded by the bags of groceries. “Oh fuck, that’s good…I’m almost as hot as when-“

Sunset stopped suddenly, her eyes popping open when she realized that something wasn’t right. “Why am I so fucking turned on all of the sudden?” she wondered as she pulled her hand from her pants and sucked the juice off of her middle finger. “I usually only get this wet when…” she paused, then turned her head, looking out of the kitchen. “Wait a minute…” she thought to herself as she slowly stepped out of the little room and peered around the corner to the couch.

Her suspicion was confirmed…I was there, sitting on the couch with a blank stare on my face.

Sunset put her hand on the corner of the kitchen wall, resting her cheek against the corner as she rolled her eyes. “I had a feeling you were here…” she joked.

I didn’t move, except to shift my eyes up to her.

My lack of reaction got Sunset’s attention. “Is something wrong?” she asked with sudden concern.

“I need your help.” I said flatly.

She cocked an eyebrow as she stood up again and folded her arms on her chest. “With what?” she asked, before suddenly shaking her head. “Wait, how did you get in here??”

I tuned my head to face the balcony door. “Your sliding door doesn’t latch, remember?”

“Yeah, but…we’re twelve floors up…” she replied.

I looked back at her. “Yeah…and I jumped up here, one balcony at a time…”

Her eyes got wide. “Wow…” then she frowned and shook her head. “Next time, just buzz up, K?”

“I did,” I replied. “You didn’t answer.”

“Well, I was just getting groceries and-“ Sunset stopped and closed her eyes, bringing her hands to the sides of her head. “Look, it doesn’t matter. What do you need help with?”

I took a deep breath “Flutters…”

Sunset paused, furrowing her brows, not understanding what I meant. “Please say they wanna have another threesome…” she thought to herself as she continued to become more aroused by my presence. “Mm-hmmmm…” she hummed, pursing her lips as she nodded. “What about her?”

“She’s gone.” I said bluntly.

Sunset was stunned by the response. She shook her head in disbelief. “Gone? What do you mean gone?”

I shrugged. “Like, she’s not here anymore…”

“Is everything OK with you guys? You all seemed fine yesterday,” she asked.

I shook my head. “No, it’s not about that.” I said as I leaned to the side to pull something from my pocket and toss it to her.

She caught the object with both hands, then looked down at it and froze at the sight of the gold and blue aviators. After a moment of shock, she looked at me with her aqua-green eyes full of worry. “Oh no…” she said softly. “There’s only one piece of shit who would wear these dick-ish things...”

I nodded. “Cody. He took her.”

Sunset squeezed her eyes shut. “Mother fucker,” she cursed. She looked at me again. “But why? Why now?”

I took a deep breath. “There was a cell phone video circulating the internet of her taking down the school shooters.”

She exhaled loudly, letting her head droop. “I take it one of the students took the video.”

I nodded.

“Fuck…thanks kid.” she cursed. “Nice payback for saving your life.”

“It’s not their fault.” I said, rubbing the back of my neck.

Sunset sighed. “I know. You’re right.” she said as she walked over and sat next to me on the couch, feeling the moisture that had soaked into her underwear rub against her crotch as she let her rear-end come to rest on the cushion. “So…do do you think they know that she’s…you know…immortal?”

I turned my head to face her. “Most likely. There were signs of a struggle down the road from her house. I think she put up a fight…and I’m sure if they took her on, they probably figured it out pretty quick.”

Sunset let her head flop back against the couch. “Damn.”

We sat for a moment, feeling the hopelessness of the situation.

“So…what did you need my help for?” Sunset asked me.

I took a breath, then paused as I thought for a moment. “They’ll be long gone pretty soon, if not already. They probably took a private jet out of the area…so catching them early on is out of the question.”

“Right…” Sunset said as she listened.

“I know you’re not from here, but do you have your Canadian citizenship?” I asked.

She frowned. “Yeah...I got it a few years ago. Why?”

“So you have a passport too?” I asked again.

Sunset cocked an eyebrow. “Yeah…” she replied, sounding like she didn’t want to know what I was thinking. “Why?”

I took a deep breath. “You and I are going to Virginia.”

Sunset frowned in confusion. “What’s in Vir-“ she stopped suddenly, then put her hands up at me. “Oh no…no-no-no…”

“Yes…” I said. “We’re gonna get you inside CIA headquarters…and you’re gonna read some minds and find out where that asshole took her.”

Sunset looked at me with wide eyes. “You…you can’t be serious.” she said in disbelief. “What makes you think I can do that?”

I shrugged. “Because of how you handled Cody at Flutters’ house. With that level of cunning, combined with your mind-reading, I know damn well we’ll track that piece of shit down in no time.”

“Ugh!” She pressed the heels of her hands to her forehead. “OK...you know I’m not a spy, right?” she replied, moving her hands to look at me. “I don’t know anything about interrogating people; they don’t teach you that in forensic science—they teach you SCIENCE! Those are two totally different skills!”

I furrowed my brows at her. “Sunny, you’re conflating interrogation with espionage; those are also two different things. I understand you’re not a spy, but you can read minds, and that gives us a HUGE advantage.”

After a short stare, Sunset sighed and rubbed her face. “You have got to be kidding me with this.”

I glared at her. “Do I look like I’m kidding?”

She stared back at me as I stood up from the couch. “Are you going in with me?” she asked with a nervous tone.

I frowned and shook my head. “I can’t go in there; are you nuts?”

“But…” Sunset argued. “I thought they weren’t interested in you anymore?”

“If I walked in there and served myself up on a silver platter for them, then yeah…they’ll be interested.” I explained.

Sunset covered her face with her hands. “Oh, sweet Celestia. You seriously want me, Sunset Shimmer, to break into THE FUCKING C-I-A???”

I nodded. “Yep.”

She stood up, pausing for a moment before frowning as if she thought of something.

I tilted my head as I watched her. “What is it?”

She bit her lip as she looked back at me. “What if she’s not at the CIA?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Like…” Sunset said, pressing her palms together as she paced in front of me, “You remember what I said about there being another organization that was more interested in you?”

I nodded. “Yeah…”

“What if Cody took her there?” The red-head proposed.

I took a deep breath. She had a point. “OK,” I started, “do you know where this other organisation is?”

Sunset paused for a moment as she stared at the floor, then she shook her head. “I have no idea. No one does.”

I shrugged. “Then we have no choice but to go to the CIA either way. Maybe we can figure it out and go from there.”

She frowned at me in disbelief. “Go from there??”

“Yeah Sunny, don’t worry…it’s gonna be lots of fun. We’ve gotta hurry though.” I said. “We have to pack what we need, rent a car…I need to make a stop in Richmond, then we head straight to Langley from there. But first, we’ve gotta go tell Rare. She doesn’t know yet.”

Sunset stood there, dumbfounded...and helplessly aroused. She then shook her head when she thought of something else. “Wait, whoa whoa. You want me to be in a car with you…for how many days?”

“Three or four…depending on traffic.” I answered.

“Oh…” Sunset replied blankly. “You remember my little…um…problem though, right?” she said, pointing at her crotch.

I nodded. “Yeah, I know.” I said. “I’m sorry, but this is Flutters we’re talking about.”

Sunset sighed and looked at the floor. “I know, but…”

“Do you realize what kind of tests and experiments they’re gonna do to her?” I asked. “She’s gonna be hating life…we can’t leave her there.”

Sunset closed her eyes for a moment. She took a deep breath, shaking her head…then she opened her eyes to look at me again. “OK, fine. I’ll do it. For Fluttershy.”

I brought my fist up to my chest, shaking it victoriously, knowing that my fiery-haired friend was on board. “Awesome! This is gonna be-“

I stopped speaking when I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket. I looked at Sunset for a moment, watching her face change expression as she also heard the quiet humming, muffled by the material of my jeans.

I pulled it out and looked at the screen, my eyes wide with disbelief when I saw the caller ID:

‘FLUTTERSHY’

I let my thumb hover over the answer button, but I hesitated.

“Aren’t you gonna answer it?” Sunset asked.

I turned the phone to her so she could see who was calling. “I don’t know…” I said. “It could be a trick…to track my location or something.”

Sunset agreed. “I wouldn’t do it…”

I watched the phone, feeling it vibrate in my hand until it finally ceased and the screen went dark. I broke my heart not to answer it, never before have I had that name come up on my phone and not answered. She was my princess, and I would do anything to hear her soft, sweet voice…but I knew it probably wasn’t her, and answering my phone could have led them to me, possibly allowing them to track my phone even after hanging up, and it would put Sunset and the others in danger as well.

“I need a new phone.” I said, as I squeezed my hand around the device, crushing it like a cracker, sending little bits of glass and plastic to the floor.

Sunset watched in shock, covering her mouth with her hands as I severed my ties to my girlfriend’s phone, as well as everyone else’s.

“I couldn’t take the chance of them tracking that phone.” I said. Then I raised an eyebrow at Sunset. “You wanna go find a pay phone so we can all those fuckers back?”

She smiled devilishly. “Sure. Let’s go.” She turned to head to the door, but I grabbed her arm, causing her to look back at me, wondering why I was stopping her.

“I know a faster way down.” I said, turning to head for the balcony, dragging Sunset with me.

She was leaning back, hopelessly trying to fight against my pull. “Whoa…you’re not gonna…”

I slid the balcony door open, pulled Sunset out with me by the arm, then I wrapped my left arm around her waist and pulled her close to the side of me. “Hang on.” I said as I grabbed the railing and leapt over the edge of the balcony, taking her with me.

“NO NO! Wait Golds!” she wailed, feeling the weight in her stomach rise up as we accelerated downward, the other balconies below hers were whipping past us faster and faster as the ground rushed up towards us. “FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!” Sunset shrieked the entire way down.

We landed in the lawn that surrounded her building, right next to the guest parking lot where my truck was waiting for us. My heels sank into the ground about six inches when I landed, squatting down under the force of the impact while Sunset landed beside me and went down, rolling onto her side, then getting back up to glare at me with fire in her eyes.

“What the…” she said in a fluster as she stood there trembling, then she angrily pointed her finger at me. “Don’t you EVER do that again!!”

“Shh!...Let’s go.” I took off running towards my truck as she followed, unable to keep up with my pace since she didn’t have the leg power yet to propel herself to the speeds I could reach.

“Wait!” Sunset shouted from behind me. “There’s a pay phone across the street in the strip mall…”

“No…” I said, stopping at the door of my truck to unlock it. “They can still trace it, which won’t really matter for me, but I don’t want to lead them so close to where you live. We’ll find one somewhere else.”

She got in the passenger door as I started the engine. “OK, good idea.”

We drove a few blocks until we got into the downtown shopping district. None of the girls lived near here, so I figured it was a safe spot to use. I grabbed some quarters out of the ash tray of my truck and Sunset and I walked briskly into the mall foyer towards the row of old payphones that looked like they hadn’t been touched in years.

*****

Agent Cody was seated on the small jet with a few of his comrades, sipping on a glass of scotch to help dull the pain from his battle with the innocent looking, but deadly shy girl earlier that day. They had just taken off from a small private airport a few hours outside of town to take their new prisoner back to headquarters.

It was an exciting time for the agent. He hadn’t captured his target, but instead found a new one, which was just as interesting because her existence was not previously known…in fact, nobody had even considered the fact that more than one on these beings could be living in plain sight among normal people. None of Cody’s peers believed in me to begin with, even though I was taught about in theory classes during CIA new recruitment training…but now, after all these years of ridicule, he not only discovered, but actually captured and brought in a new one. Or old one? Her age would be impossible to determine, unless they could get her to tell them…

“Sir?”

Cody opened his eyes to see who was speaking to him. “What is it?” he chided, not wanting to be bothered after the day he had, seeing six of his peers being violently ended by the slender woman.

The younger agent was holding the girl’s cell phone. “There’s been a call on the subject’s phone…” he explained. “From him…”

Cody perked up. “Him who? Him as in…the target??”

The other man nodded.

“Did you trace it?” Cody asked.

“We did…he called from a pay phone in downtown Canterlot.” he replied. “Should we send someone to intercept?”

Cody shook his head. “No…he’ll be long gone before anyone can get there.” he said as he looked down at his glass of booze, thinking about the situation.”I knew that bitch knew him. I fucking knew it.” he said as he took another sip.

As Cody let a sly grin slip across his face, the younger agent kept holding the phone and stared nervously as his superior. “Are you gonna take it?”

Cody frowned. “Huh?”

“He’s still on the line, sir.” The young agent said. “He asked to talk to you.”

Agent Cody’s stomach turned as he looked at the phone with wide eyes. He looked back at the younger man, then slowly took the phone, not wanting to look scared in front of anyone. He held the phone to his ear and tried to speak in a steady voice. He wasn’t just intimidated by me physically, he was also nervous just to be speaking to the ancient warrior that he’d been chasing for over a decade now. “Cody here…”

“What’s goin on, dicklips?” my voice came out of the phone speaker.

Cody paused, surprised by the rude greeting. “Who is this?”

“It’s your old buddy, Golden Arrow.” I replied.

Cody took a deep breath. “Golden Arrow, eh? Is that the name you’re going by these days? Doesn’t really suit you…”

“Gotta stay current, right?” I said.

The agent shook his head in surprise, as well as slight disappointment at the unexpected attitude of this legendary individual. “Why have you broken your silence so suddenly?”

“You’ve taken a friend of mine. That wasn’t very smart.” I replied in a more serious tone.

Cody felt goosebumps when he heard my disapproval. “Where did she come from? Why didn’t anyone know about her?”

“It doesn’t matter.” I said. “We weren’t bothering anybody.”

“Tell that to the guys at the bar in Canterlot…” Cody fired back.

“They got what they deserved. That’s none of your business anyway.” I replied.

“It actually IS my business…you’re an international threat.” The agent said, using the ‘threat’ excuse once again, which we both knew was bullshit.

“You’re such an idiot, Cody. Quit it with that ‘threat’ nonsense…” I scolded. “You leave me alone, I leave you alone...that's how this works. Also, what do you think will happen if you ever find me anyway? Have you ever thought that through?”

Cody didn’t have an answer.

“Besides, “ I continued. “We both know it’s got nothing to do with me being a threat. You guys just want me for your own self-interests…and YOU want to further your own career…maybe get a new job at a super secret agency?”

Cody was speechless. “How does he know about that? Most people in the CIA don’t even know of the existence of the ‘other’ agency…” He cleared his throat. “Your lady-friend is a similar threat, she put down six of my men today and destroyed CIA property…”

I chuckled over the phone. “Good for her.” I said. “You realize you brought that on yourself, right? When you came and took her from her home…” I took a deep breath to let him think for a moment before I continued. “Tell me, jerkoff…have you ever heard the expression ‘just let sleeping dogs lie’?”

Cody rolled his eyes. “She has become of great interest for us now that we know about her…’abilities’. I didn’t know there were others like you out there. Ask me how I figured it out…”

“You better not have laid a finger on her…” I threatened.

The agent snorted. “Now now, Mr. Arrow; we both know she can’t be hurt.”

“That’s not the point…” I said. “It’s the act of hitting her that counts…you do NOT disrespect her, or you will pay dearly for it.”

“That is of little consequence to me. You will never find me.” Cody jabbed.

“You’d better hope I don’t.” my voice said through the phone. “You know what'll happen if I get my hands on you?”

“What?” he asked in a snarky tone.

“I’m gonna pull your bones out. One by one. Starting with your fuckin toes.”

The hair on Cody’s neck stood up upon hearing these words through the girl’s phone. His stomach turned, knowing that if I actually did catch him, I would almost certainly make that threat a reality. He took a deep, shaky breath to speak again. “Well, you gotta catch me first.”

“Count on it, Cody. Don't forget: every time you stop to eat, sleep or shit, I'll still be coming. I don't need to do those things. My body isn't frail and weak like yours; a fact that you seem to need reminding of, but don't worry; when I get my hands on you, I'll show exactly how fragile you are. I think you'll be 'pleasantly' surprised. I’ve been squashing bugs like you since you were a twinkle in your dad’s dad’s dad’s dad’s dad’s eye.” This was the last thing he heard before hearing a click, followed by the steady hum of the dial tone.

*****

As I hung up the phone, I turned to see Sunset standing there, cringing hard as she stared at me.

“What?” I asked.

“If you actually plan on doing that, please don’t do it in front of me…” she requested.

“What, pull his bones out?” I asked. “I’m not doing that…do you have any idea how long that takes?” I turned to head back to the truck. “Plus it’s gross…now, let’s go see Rarity.”

Chapter 49: Makeover!

Chapter 49

I wasn’t looking forward to having this conversation with the fashionista, nor was Sunset. We showed up at her place, knocking at the door to announce our presence before entering.

Rarity came down the stairs in the right corner of the front room, and paused suddenly when she saw me and the red-head standing there. “Um…hello…” she said, looking confused.

I took a deep breath. “Hey Rare. Um…I have some bad news about Flutters…”

Sunset and I explained everything that had happened up until that point in the day, and Rarity was devastated, as expected. She paced around in front of the couch, fidgeting with her fingers as we talked, her eyes getting moist as the realization that her best friend had been stolen from her started to sink in.

“They took my darling Fluttershy??” she hissed, starting to become upset.

I nodded. “Cody took her. And he knows about her power.”

Rarity put her hand over her mouth as she continued to pace around, her eyes full of worry and grief. Then she looked at Sunset and me. “How can you know for certain it was Agent Cody who took her?”

I took the aviators out of my pocket and handed them to her. “For one thing, he was just talking to me from Flutters’ phone.” I explained. “And these are his. He was wearing them when he showed up last time too.”

Rarity took the sunglasses, studying them for a couple seconds before she looked back at us with shock on her face. “He wore these with a black suit? Is he out of his fucking mind??”

I shook my head at her. “Look, Rare…bad fashion sense aside, he’s a piece of shit, and we will make him pay for what he’s done.”

“You’re absolutely right, darling.” she said, puffing up her chest. “We must leave at once! No one takes my girlfriend away and keeps his balls attached…”

“Rare…” I said, stopping her from getting too excited. “I’m taking Sunset. I want you to stay here.”

Rarity was dumbfounded. “B-but darling…” she blubbered, clearly hurt that I was excluding her from going to rescue the shy girl. “I can help you…I-I’m ready for this.”

I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I know you’re ready, Rare. You are amazing at what you do, and I’m very proud of you, but for this job, we don’t…need…your particular talents.”

She stood still, giving me and empty stare. Her bottom lip was starting to tremble.

I stood up from the couch and put my hands on her shoulders. “Look,” I said, gazing into her sapphire eyes. “We need Sunny’s mind-reading to find out where Flutters is, and how to get her out. She needs to be inside the CIA for that, and it’s going to be risky getting her in there. I’m not even sure how we’re going to do it yet. There’s no need for you to be there too, your abilities are no use for what we’re doing, and I don’t want to risk you getting caught. I won’t be going in there either...just Sunny.”

Sunset snorted. “Yeah, you’ll risk me getting caught, but not your girlfriend?” she said sarcastically, folding her arms across her chest.

“For what you can accomplish with your mind reading…It’s worth the risk.” I said, turning back to Rarity, who was starting to sniffle a bit.

“But darling…why can’t I at least go with-“

“No.” I said bluntly. “I’m sorry, but you’re too attached to Flutters…I don’t want your emotions to get in the way and jeopardize us…”

She scowled at me. “What about you? Aren’t you attached?? Why do you get to go and not me?”

“Listen, over-manning the mission is wasteful , plus I have to go because I have the most experience with this kind of thing, plus I have connections in the states, which we will need. I’m sorry, Rare.”

“But Golds-“ she started again, before I stopped her.

“I don’t want you there! OK?” I said sternly, looking sharply into her eyes to show her I was serious.

I could see her scowl fade away, followed by the corners of her mouth curling down as she started to cry. “They took her…and now you don’t want my help…” she sobbed. “What am I to do then?”

I hugged her close to me, letting her rest her face on my chest as her vanilla scent wafted up to my nose. I knew how she felt, and I couldn’t help but feel bad for doing this to her, but then I suddenly got an idea to help placate her self-esteem. “It’s not a rejection, Rare.” I said. “I still have an important job for you. Well, two…actually.”

She leaned back, wiping the tears from one eye, leaving a dark streak from her wet makeup across her cheek. “You do?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“And w-what is it?” she sniffled.

“You need to look after Canterlot while we’re gone.” I said.

She furrowed her brows. “Canterlot?”

I nodded. “If you see something bad going on…fix it. Do what Flutters did at the school, and what I did at the bar.”

She turned her head, staring at the wall, unsure of what to think.

“I think you’re ready.” I said. “So I’m leaving you in charge. I’m counting on you to watch over this entire city…can you do it?”

Rarity drew in a breath. “Do you think I can do it?”

“I know you can do it. Rare, you are as powerful and intelligent as you are beautiful…and you’re pretty fucking beautiful.” I said, running my fingers through her hair.

She smirked a little bit at me, then rested her head on my shoulder again, letting out a long sigh in the process. “OK, darling. I’ll do it. And you bring my Fluttershy back to me. Promise?”

I smiled. “We’ll have her back before you know it. That’s where Sunset comes in. She can learn so much so quickly if we can get her inside…”

I looked at Sunset, who was standing there somewhat awkwardly.

Then I turned back at my ivory-coloured girlfriend. “Now, Sunset met Cody face-to-face, remember?”

Rarity nodded her head.

“She’s got a pretty distinctive look, does she not?” I said.

Rarity turned her head to look at her fiery-haired friend.

“What if she runs into him there?” I queried.

“He’ll recognize her…” Rarity said quietly.

I nodded. “What can we do about that?” I asked. “That’s the other job I have for you.”

The fashionista looked back at me with a smirk on her lips. “Well darling, makeovers my specialty.”

*****

I sat on the couch for well over an hour while Rarity took charge in giving Sunset a new look for her upcoming mission. I thought about how things would go while we were gone, wondering what kind of trouble Rarity might get herself into while looking after the town. I wasn’t sure if anything worth her time would actually happen, after all this was a pretty quiet town…maybe that was a good thing? I figured I would find out once we got back with Fluttershy.

I turned towards my right when I heard footsteps coming down the stairs to see Rarity emerge with a proud look on her face. She put her hands together in front of her chest and bounced up and down a little, evidently quite excited about the results of Sunset’s new look.

“Well darling…” she started, “obviously I wasn’t able to cut her hair, but I did manage to style it to give her a more ‘professional’ look…and they dye seemed to take very well. I wasn’t sure if it would work, you know….because of her condition…but it did. Plus, as a bonus, she’ll never have to worry about getting roots.”

I nodded. “OK, sounds good.”

“And I found her a very smart looking ladies business suit…” Rarity bragged as she flipped her hair with her nose up. “I’m telling you darling, she’s going to fit right in with all those dick-weeds.”

I laughed at Rarity’s one-liner as she walked towards me. “Why don’t tell me how you really feel?” I chuckled.

She giggled as she came up to me and wrapped her arms around the back of my neck, placing a brief kiss on my lips before turning back to the staircase. “Come on, Sunset, Let’s see you…”

I could hear Sunset groan form the hall at the top of the short staircase. “I look like a fucking dweeb.”

Rarity huffed as she rolled her eyes. “Oh Sunset, don’t be ridiculous. You look just perfect for the job.”

“Fine…” the fire-haired girl’s voice said as it drifted down the stairs towards us.

I watched intently as Sunset Shimmer slowly came down the stairs and came in to view. My jaw dropped when I saw her, she was hardly recognisable as the red-headed friend that I had gotten know over the past half year.

She was wearing a charcoal gray ladies suit jacket with a fairly short pencil skirt of the same colour. Under the jacket was an off-white silk blouse, and for footwear she had on tall, narrow black boots with heels built into them.

Her face and hair was striking. Rarity had done her makeup in a very understated way, not to try to look particularly pretty, but clean and professional. Her hair was done up on the back of her head in a loose, yet stylish bun. The biggest change was the colour. Rarity had dyed it a dark brunette…gone were the wild red and yellow locks, replaced by the plainness of your average business woman.

“Hey…” I said.

Sunset locked her eyes with mine, making me notice how her aqua-coloured irises were the only thing left of the once rebellious looking woman that I knew.

I shrugged. “Where’s Sunset? She can’t be here…cuz I don’t see her anywhere.”

The new brunette snorted and shook her head, looking to the side as she folded her arms. “Whatever.” was all she said.

Rarity grabbed my hand and shook it excitedly. “Do you like it, darling? How did I do?”

I smiled at her. “You are a woman of many talents, Rare.” I said, leaning down to kiss her forehead as she giggled with pride. I looked again at Sunset, then cocked my brows a bit. “What’s with the boots? Why not high heels?”

Rarity waved me off. “Oh darling, tall boots with a business dress are in right now.”

I looked at Sunset, wondering what she thought.

“I actually kind of like them…” the brunette said. “It’s the only part of this crap that actually looks good…” She locked eyes with Rarity. “I mean…it’s just not my style…”

Rarity stuck her nose up. “It’s perfectly alright, dear. I understand.”

I pointed at Sunset while looking at Rarity. “That outfit is how she’s gonna get in there and blend in…and how she’s gonna find out where Flutters is. You made it happen, Rare. Just remember that, OK? We couldn’t have done it without you.”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah, Rare. You did great. Really.”

Rarity blushed. “Aww, thank you, you two.” she said, turning to hook her arms around the back of my neck again, squeezing me tightly against her. “Are you two going to leave right away?”

I nodded. “Yeah…well, no actually. We have to wait until morning to rent a car…but there’s a lot of shit to do before then. We’ve gotta pack our bags, figure out where we’re leaving our vehicles, find someone to watch Angel and Link…”

Rarity took a deep breath. “I can watch her animals…I absolutely love that precious kitty. The bunny I’m not so sure of though…”

I nodded. “OK. We’ll bring them here after we get back to town.”

She squeezed me tighter. “I wish you didn’t have to go, darling…”

“I know.” I said, taking a deep breath. “But we have to…”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come too?” she asked softly, planting soft kisses around my cheeks and jawline, giving me goosebumps as she pulled herself up against me and brought her legs up, wrapping them around my waist, hooking her feet together behind my back.

“Oooohh…why do you have to do this, Rare?” I said in a low tone. “You know, this is exactly why I can’t take you…we’ll be dealing with the damn CIA. I need to be on my A-game…I can’t have your sexy ass there distracting me.”

She giggled, then kissed me hard on the lips, holding it there for a few moments as she tried to enjoy our final moments together before I left.

After breaking the kiss, she ran her fingers through my hair, gazing into my eyes with those sparkling sapphires of hers. She took a deep breath then said: “I’m going to miss you so much, darling…please don’t be gone long.”

I shook my head. “I won’t be. And I‘ll have Flutters back here before you know it…but until then, I’m gonna miss you too, Rare.”

She rested the side of her head on my shoulder with a sigh, wishing that none of this had to happen. “I love you, darling.”

I closed my eyes, then ran my fingers through her silky purple hair. “I love you too.”

We stayed like this for a moment, then she finally unwrapped her legs from around me and stood on the floor once again. She backed up a bit, keeping her hands on my shoulders as she stared at my chest for a moment, then she quickly looked at Sunset with sudden concern in her eyes. “Wait a minute…you’re going to be alone with Sunset for how long??”

I looked at the brunette, who was looking nervously back at me. “Uh…” I said. “Maybe a week? It depends on how things go…”

Rarity gasped. “A week??...But darling, what about-“ she paused, then came closer to me, turning her face away from Sunset to talk quieter. “What about her little, ahem…condition?”

I sighed. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure it out.”

“Rare…” Sunset said suddenly, causing us both to look at her. “Don’t worry about me. I can handle it…this is for Flutters. We’ve gotta get her back. Besides…I think I might have a plan for dealing with my…issues.”

“And…” Rarity asked. “Are you having this issue…right now?”

Sunset glanced at me, then blushed through her make-up as she looked back at Rarity. “Uh, yeah…I’m actually super-soaked right now.”

Rarity slowly turned her head back to me with her eyebrows cocked. “Sooo strange…”

*****

We finally were able to tear away from Rarity’s to go back to Sunset’s to pack her bags. Before we left, we gave the fashionista a third and final job…the responsibility of informing the rest of the group about the situation.

Sunset changed back into her normal clothes and let her hair down again once she was back in her apartment. Like this, she started to look like the old Sunset again. The brunette hair looked good on her when it was down, and it struck me how beautiful she was even without her signature fire-coloured locks.

We went down to the parking lot to my truck. She expressed some concerns about leaving her motorcycle unattended in that parking lot for so long, so I offered to take it to my shop and lock it inside. She agreed, so I lifted her bike into the back of my truck, much to her surprise, and strapped it down for the long drive out to my place. We stopped off at my shop and dropped the bike off, locking it inside before continuing on to Fluttershy’s house. I packed what I needed, then checked the time.

It was 6:30am by then, so we gathered up the two pets, along with their food and things and headed back to Rarity’s to drop them off. It was difficult to get away from her again, and it made Sunset and I wish we’d just told her to go get the animals on her own. I could understand Rarity’s clinginess, and I found it difficult to leave her there alone, but I was driven to go get my girlfriend back. My other girlfriend, that is…

Once the car rental office was open, Sunset and I rented a large white sedan to take on our road trip. I didn’t want to take my truck in case things got heavy…it’s not immortal like me, and I didn’t want it getting damaged. Not only that, but the car would make us harder to recognise.

I drove my truck back out to Fluttershy’s to leave it there with her little SUV, then brought the keys inside the house and locked it. Rarity had a set of keys to the house as well, in case she needed in to get something for the animals.

Sunset picked me up in the rental car at Fluttershy’s, and we left from there to head to our first destination in Richmond, British Columbia.

*****

The black bag was yanked violently off of Fluttershy’s head, exposing her eyes to a pitch-black room, with the exception of a single blinding white light, which was aimed directly into her eyes.

The shy girl squinted, trying in vain to see anything other than the bright glare in front of her. The room was quiet and cold. She was sitting on a hard chair with her arms resting on a metal table.

She tried to move her arms to timidly join her hands on her lap, a habit she had formed when she was nervous after a lifetime of shyness, but after only a few inches, he hands were stopped from moving any further.

She looked down at her wrists, realizing that the chain of her cuffs was looped through a ring in the table. She could see the silhouette of the metal links with the bright light in the background, joining her hands to each other, and to the table. She moved her feet to see if they were free, only to be disappointed to find out that they were chained down as well. She wasn’t sure how they did this…she remembered being led into the room with the bag over her head, where she was forcefully sat down in the chair. She already had the cuffs on…the loop in the table must have had some sort of quick release so they could tie her down without having to remove her cuffs…

Suddenly, a loud voice rang out in the room over a speaker. It was altered to sound deeper, like some sort of demon, which frightened the shy girl, causing her to jump when she heard it bellow out of the darkness at her.

“What is your name, date and location of birth?”

Fluttershy’s heart was racing now, her breath elevated slightly as she looked around, trying to see if she could find the source of the terrible voice.

It repeated itself after a few seconds.

“What is your name, date and location for birth??”

She pulled on the chains with her hands a little bit, deciding that she really wasn’t liking this place. She gritted her teeth as she twisted her wrists around, trying to finagle her hands free, but to no avail.

She jumped when the voice rang out a third time. “What is your name, date and location of birth???”

She froze, realizing she had no way out. She was going to have to answer. “Um…” she started quietly. “F-Fluttershy…um, Cloudsdale…F-February 18, 1996.”

There was a pause from the voice…leaving her staring into the intense light in the cold silence.

Her heart raced as she waited for what was next.

“What is your relationship with the being known as Golden Arrow?” the voice bellowed out again, making her jump, causing the chains attached to her wrists to rattle.

She struggled to answer quickly to avoid having to hear that terrible voice any more than she needed to. “U-um…I don’t know an-nyone by that name…”

There was a short pause before the voice returned to the room, pounding on her eardrums again. “Do not lie to us, we know you have connections to him. He has contacted us on your phone, confirming that he knows you.”

Fluttershy locked up. “They talked to Goldie? Oh no…they know that I know him…” she thought, then she suddenly felt relief, realizing that meant that I must have known where she was and was coming for her. She took a deep breath, feeling a new confidence come over her. “He will be coming for me…and when he finds me, you guys will be in BIG trouble.”

“He will never find us. I assure you.”

Fluttershy gritted her teeth when she heard the response spit back at her. “You can’t do this to me…I’m a human being.”

“You are NOT human.”

Her eyes furrowed at the sudden response. “W-what? Of course I am…”

“You are now property of us, and you will be processed and conditioned immediately. When you are ready, you will be deployed.”

Her heart stopped when she heard this breakdown of her future. “No…this is what Goldie was talking about…they just want to use us a weapons…and keep us prisoners…” She started shaking her head in a panic. “No…no, you can’t do this to me…I’m a person, just like anyone else…”

The voice cut her off. “Your handler will be Agent Stubz. Processing will begin as soon as he is available.”

She squinted into the light. “Stubz?” she murmured. “Where is Mr. Cody?”

“Agent Cody’s contribution to this project is complete.”

“B-but…” she started to say in a shaky voice, feeling her emotions boiling up as the tears welled up in her eyes.

“Processing will begin at 0600.” the unnaturally deep voice concluded, followed by the bright spotlight suddenly going dark, leaving Fluttershy sobbing alone in the cold, pitch black room.

It was then that she noticed the silence in her head. She had gotten so used to being in the woods, close to all the animals and being able to hear their voices constantly in her head…here, her mind was silent. Wherever this place was, it was far away from any wilderness…which meant she wasn’t going to have any help from any of her animal comrades to get out of here.

Fluttershy sighed, thinking about her fight on the side of the road with Cody. Out there in the woods, she was surrounded by countless creatures who could have helped her…but she took them for granted, and now they were gone.

She closed her eyes, thinking about her mistake… ”Oh Fluttershy…” she thought to herself. “Why did you have to be so brash?”

She already knew the answer. She liked feeling powerful…to finally be independent, not having to need protection from her friends or the animals. She could look after herself for the first time in her life.

After being a hero at the school, then taking down six agents on her own, she felt indestructible…which she was, but her inexperience and overconfidence led her to fighting Cody alone, ignoring her animal friends and not considering the fact that he could end up restraining her the way he did. It was a hard lesson that she was now learning, and a mistake that she vowed never to repeat.

She closed her eyes, and continued to kick herself for her bad decisions.

“I should have known better than to think I could take care of myself…” she thought to herself in despair. “This is what Goldie was saying about not letting my power go to my head. I have magic, and I should have used it to get help from the woodland creatures to fight him. But I didn’t…and NOW look where I am.”

Chapter 51: The Cell

Chapter 51

The lights in the cold dark room suddenly turned on.

Fluttershy had her head down on the table, having been left in the dark silence after the conversation with the deep voice for an unknown number of hours.

The shy girl slowly lifted her head, her messy pink hair hanging across her face as she looked around the room with her eyes, taking in the details of her surroundings. The room was fairly small, with walls of plain steel and a floor of concrete. The steel table was a permanent fixture, with the single loop at her end that the hand cuff chain was hooked through. There was an empty chair seated at the other end of the table, making her wonder who was going to be seated there…and what they were going to say or do to her.

She looked up at the ceiling, which appeared to be made of concrete as well, with two banks of fluorescent lights mounted directly over the table.

Directly ahead of her, past the opposite end of the table was a steel door with one little eye-height window with a cage over it, and a sliding shield to cover it from the outside.

The shy girl sat up in the chair, taking a deep breath as she waited to see what was going to happen. Her hair still felt crusty where the blood from the windshield had soaked into her once-innocent pink locks. She looked down at herself, realizing she was still wearing her blood stained top, complete with the bullet holes from when Cody shot her. She still had her dirty green skirt on, but her boots were gone from when she’d been cuffed around the ankles, leaving her feet bare against the cold floor.

After a moment, there was a faint beep from outside of the room, and a loud click from the door, followed by the sound of the latch being released…then finally, the door swung open and a man in an off-white shirt and tie under a sweater vest casually walked into the room.

He closed the door behind him, carrying a binder that he was looking down at as he pulled the other chair out and sat down, setting the binder on the table and opening it up, taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly as he scanned the pages of the documents, looking as though he was filing out his tax return or something mundane like that.

Fluttershy’s heart rate was elevated slightly as she wondered what he was going to say. She looked closely at him as he read. He had a round face, although he wasn’t an overweight person…his hair was short and very dark, and he had thick eyebrows with a dark mole on his left cheek.

After reading for a few moments, he shook his head and looked up at her. He watched her for a moment and sighed, looking as if he was disappointed with his new assignment. “So…” he finally said. “You’re the new weapon they’ve been talking about…”

The shy girl looked down at the table, her heart sinking when she heard herself referred to as some kind of inanimate object.

He suddenly closed the binder and slid it to the side, then folded his hands on the table. “I might as well introduce myself. I am Agent Stubz, I’ll be your handler for the duration of this project.”

She continued to stare blankly at the table.

He waited a moment to see if the pink-haired girl would respond, then he continued to speak. “Do you have any questions about what we’ll be doing before we begin?”

She slowly looked up at him, pausing for a moment before opening her mouth to speak quietly. “Why are you doing this to me?”

He shrugged and shook his head. “I honestly don’t know. The guys upstairs seem to think you’re gonna be the next big thing…but to me, you just look like a skinny little girl. I personally think we’re wasting our time here.”

She scowled for a second, insulted by his assessment of her…then she saw an opportunity to try to talk her way to freedom. “Well then, Mr. Stubz…um, do you think you could tell them I’m a waste of their time…and maybe convince them to let me go home?”

He shook his head immediately, sending a shot of disappointment through her. “No. I’m afraid their minds are made up. Besides, no one leaves this place…”

“But…” she insisted. “You said it’s a waste of time to-“

He slid the binder in front of himself again and opened it before speaking again, cutting the shy girl off in mid-sentence. “It says here you single-handedly thwarted a school shooting…you took down five armed shooters without any loss of innocent life…” He looked at her and nodded. “Commendable.” Then he looked back at the pages in front of him. “But then it says here you killed six highly-trained CIA agents…and you gave poor Agent Cody quite a run for his money, along with lots of cuts and bruises…no easy task, I must say…Agent Cody isn’t exactly a pushover.”

“He kidnapped me from my home…” she said flatly.

Stubz shook his head. “He was just doing his job.”

Fluttershy shook her head in disagreement.

He looked at her briefly, then closed the binder again. “Well, regardless of how you feel, you belong here now…and they want you trained and conditioned as soon as possible, so we might as well get started.” He leaned back in his chair before continuing. “First order of business will be testing. We’re going to observe your basic functions…physical strength, reaction time, problem-solving, stamina…and so on. And of course, we will be doing extensive testing to figure out what the limits are of your supposed indestructibility.

She sank down in her seat when she heard this. “Oh boy…I don’t like the sound of that…”

Stubz got up from his chair suddenly and walked around to her end of the table. Fluttershy kept her eyes on him as he approached her, holding a brown leather belt with a chain attached to it. She shifted nervously as she reached around her and wrapped the belt around her waist, clasping it behind her back which placed the chain at the front.

“Stand up.” He ordered.

She complied, slowly standing up, bringing her waist closer to the table. He lifted the chain on the front of her belt, which had a little locking clasp on the end, like a miniature hand cuff. He latched the chain on the belt to the chain binding her hands together, keeping her hands tied close to her waist.

Stubz then walked back to the other end and inserted a white card into a slot at his end of the table. There was an electronic beep that sounded out, then the loops that were holding her hand and foot cuffs down suddenly receded into the table, freeing her from the spot. She was far from free however, her hands were trapped in front of her, and her bare feet could only move about six inches from one another, making it difficult to walk, much less run.

“Let’s go.” Stubz said sternly, turning to walk to the door.

She paused for a moment, wondering if he expected her to walk in her current state of imprisonment. “Um…I can’t wa-”

“COME ON!” he shouted after opening the door and looking back at her, causing her to jump at the sudden order.

Fluttershy started shuffling her feet, looking almost comical in her haste as she tried to appease the impatient agent.

Stubz held the door for her as she shuffled into the dark hallway, which was lined with steel doors similar to hers. Each door had a number on it, as well as a small tag on the wall beside it, all of which too small for her to read as she shuffled down the hall after the agent.

“This way.” He said, indicating her to a door at the end of the hall.

The shy girl looked ahead at the door, trying to keep up as she shuffled along as fast as she could when she mis-stepped and fell forward onto her face, unable to stop herself with her hands.

Stubz turned around when her heard her fall, then groaned when he saw her laying there, face-down on the ground, helpless to get herself back up onto her feet. “Fuck sakes…” he growled as he walked back to her. “We don’t have time for this…” Stubz hooked his hand under her arm and violently hoisted her up again, then started dragging her along the hall towards the door.

Fluttershy struggled to stay on her feet, trying not to be dragged by the man as he took her to the end of the hall. She tried hopping with both feet to keep pace for a bit, causing him to look over at her and roll his eyes.

“God dammit,” he mumbled. “How did I get stuck with this project? What a fucking joke…”

Fluttershy’s chest tightened up when she heard his cruel words. “I’m a joke?” she thought to herself as tears started welling up her eyes. She felt worthless in that moment, confused by the fact that they were keeping her there if they thought she was good for nothing…”If they don’t think I’m any good, then why are they keeping me here? Why is this Stubz guy so mean to me?...” she wondered as she began to sob, blurring her view of the door that they were now approaching.

All she wanted in that moment was to go home…to be curled up on her chaise lounge with Angel Bunny at her side, and Link on her lap. She yearned for the feeling of my arms around her…to smell the vanilla scent of Rarity’s hair…to hear the sound of her friends’ laughter…

But it was all gone now, taken away by Cody. Now she lived here, in this cold steel prison with her hands and feet tied up, being shoved down this dark hall by an angry man who already didn’t like her…who treated her like a failed student, or a defective VCR…

“Stop it!” he said to her when he saw the tears on her face. He swiped the card in the slot on the box beside the door, then pulled the door open for her. “In there…” he ordered.

She began shuffling her feet to get through the doorway. Evidently, Stubz felt she was moving too slow, so he put his hand on her back and shoved her forward into the room. It was a tiny room, only the size of a phone booth with a door on the other side. She fell forward into the room under the force of his push, hitting her face against the other door, landing with her front against the floor, unable to stop herself with her hands.

Stubz kicked her feet inside the little room so he could close the door behind her...trapping her inside, crumpled up on the floor, unable to move. She laid there, sobbing with her face against the cold steel door, the tears wetting her cheeks and spreading the salty moisture against the metal that imprisoned her.

There was a beep in the room, which caused her crying to pause as her eyes popped open to listen. She felt her cuffs all click simultaneously, then go loose on her wrists and ankles. She looked down, wondering if she was actually free, then pulled her hands out and kicked her feet to get the chains off. She quickly stood up, wondering what was happening…was he setting her free? She reached behind her back to unclasp the belt and dropped it to the floor.

Fluttershy then noticed that the light on the second door was green, which meant to her that it was unlocked…with her heart racing, she reached out and pulled the metal handle, slowly opening the door and peering around into the new room with the same dark steel walls and concrete floor with three rows of fluorescent lights on the ceiling. One thing that was different was the shape of the room…instead of a square, it had six walls and was noticeably larger.

She timidly stepped in to get a full view of the room, looking around briefly before freezing up at the sight of three large men standing there, looking at her with sadistic anticipation on their faces. They were large and muscular, wearing cargo pants and tight black t-shirts, all three of them were clean shaven with buzz cuts.

“Oh…” she said quietly. “Hi th-“ she was cut off by the door suddenly slamming shut by itself, then locking. Fluttershy jumped at the sound of the metal clanging, covering her mouth as she gasped.

One of the men put his hand out towards her with a confused look on his face. “Hey Stubz…is this some kind of joke?”

Stubz’s voice replied over a speaker in the room. “No it isn’t, unfortunately. Just do your thing and let’s get this over with.”

One of them huffed and shook his head. “They brought us here for this?” he shrugged.

Fluttershy stood there, staring at the big men, wondering what they were talking about. “What’s going on here?”

“Girl!” Stubz’s voice shouted over the speaker. “This is your first exercise. We will be observing your basic functions and skills in combat to make an assessment of your abilities, then we will move on from there.”

“COMBAT?” Fluttershy thought to herself in a panic.

“These men,” Stubz continued. “Are former Navy Seals. They have been recruited here by us because they were the top of their units. They are unmatched in hand-to-hand combat and will be testing your skills through the duration of your processing.”

“Oh…” she said, looking at them. “Just a test? Th-that doesn’t sound so bad…”

One of them smirked and looked at the others.

“Let’s just get this over with.” Stubz said, followed by a click as the microphone turned off.

The three men stood there awkwardly, watching the shy girl as she folded her hands in front of her, timidly bringing her knees together as she looked down at the floor. Her hair draped over one eye as she looked back up at them. “So…um, who’s going first?” she asked quietly.

They chuckled as all three of them approached her, fanning out to surround her as they closed in slowly.

“All three at once???” she panicked in her mind. “How am I supposed to fight three of these big guys?”

The man to the right of her suddenly stepped forward, throwing a left hook at her face. She leaned back, missing it as it passed right in front of her nose, then she ducked and scampered to the left of the one who was directly in front of her. He swung his arm out to try catching her, but she spun on her heel as she passed by him, then fired her heel into the back of his knee from behind.

He grunted a bit and staggered forward, but caught himself quickly and turned to face her. She gasped at the ineffectiveness of her counter-attack, then turned to the right to see the third one swinging his fist at her.

She ducked again, missing his fist by mere inches, then moved in to swing her slender arm at him, connecting the biggest left hook she could muster with his cheek…only to have her arm jarred to a stop when her fist hit his face. His head didn’t budge at all, and he looked at her for a second before he started laughing at her pitiful strength.

Her eyes went wide as she helplessly looked back at him…then she backed up a step to jump up in the air, twirling around to deliver a spin-kick to his face, but she had only gotten half way through her spin when she was shoulder-checked by one of the other guys.

She fell hard to the floor, rolling a couple of times before getting up to her hands and knees to look in their direction. She didn’t even have time to look when one of them came up and swung his boot up into her stomach, flipping her over onto her back.

Fluttershy blinked a couple of times, looking around the room to get her bearings, when she saw the one who kicked her approaching her again. She quickly rolled away and got to her feet, then tried to run past him, but he caught her by the throat with his hand and picked her slender frame up off the floor.

She gripped his wrist with both of her hands as he carried her to the middle of the room again, then lifted her up higher and thrusted her down to the cement, slamming her down on the back of her head and shoulders so hard her body crumpled up and her feet touched the floor above her head.

The shy girl unraveled flat again, laying on the floor on her back. She didn’t feel any pain, but it was not a pleasant experience being jarred like that…the sound of her head colliding with the concrete frightened her, knowing that she, even though invincible, was at the mercy of these three brutes.

One of them was laughing as he bent down to pick her up by the arm, then whipped her around in a circle so one of the other men could swing his arm across her shoulders, clothes-lining her so hard she flipped over backwards, landing on her stomach on the concrete again.

“S-stop…” she begged quietly, the tears coming back to her eyes again as she wished for the unfair barrage to stop.

“Oh…the little girl is crying…” one of them teased, pretending to be sad for her, placing his fingertips over his mouth. She got up to her hands and knees, turning her head to look up at him just in time to see him swing his fist down at her, connecting his knuckles across her temple and forcing her face to snap down against the floor, bouncing off the concrete once again.

“Why would he do that??? I’m already crying…” she thought, curling up into a ball, hoping they would leave her alone if she stayed down.

Just then, she felt a pair of hands grab her right ankle and drag her in a circle across the floor, then they started to spin her around so fast she came up into the air. He swung her slender body around by the ankle a couple of times before letting her go, sending her head-first into the wall, where she collided with the cold steel and slid down to the floor. She stayed still, laying face-down as she started sobbing harder as the men approached her again.

To her relief, Stubz’s voice sounded out from the speaker again. “OK, that’s enough for now. She’s not even trying anymore.”

They stopped, then turned towards the door.

One of them waved her off, dismissing her as a lost cause. “Better send this one back to the lab…” he quipped as the metal door unlocked and swung open again, allowing them to make their exit.

The others were chuckling as they left the room, then Fluttershy distinctly heard one of them say: “She’s cute though…we could keep her around for sucking dick…”

The others roared with laughter, which was quickly silenced by the door swinging shut and locking again.

Fluttershy slowly brought herself up to a seated position, leaning back against the wall as she brought her knees up to her chest and hugged her legs with her arms. She rested her head on her knees and cried quietly to herself in the cold steel room. She wondered if this was going to be her life now…stuck in this cold, ugly place with these sick people, not knowing what they might do to her next. She missed her friends, her house in the woods, her lovers, her animal shelter…all of it had been stripped from her, leaving her in a prison of cold dark violence.

“You might as well stay in here.” Stubz said over the speaker. “I don’t feel like putting all your restraints back on just to have you sit in a different empty room. You’ll be back in here again before you know it anyway.”

She lifted her head, slightly relieved that she wasn’t going to be chained up again, but then her sorrow was amplified again by the sound of a heavy switch being flipped, which plunged the room in total darkness.

Fluttershy put her head back down to her knees and proceeded to fill the darkness with the sound of her soft voice wailing as she cried out loud to herself, hoping that one day she might be free from this place…to see the light of day once again.

Author's Note

I hated writing this chapter, just so y'all know. Yes, it's dark, but hang in there...I promise the payoff will be fucking tremendous.

*Chapter 52: Washington DC

Author's Note

Hype!

*Chapter 52: Washington DC

Chapter 52

Sunset and I were now almost through Montana, nearing the state border to North Dakota in the next couple of hours. Sunset had returned to the front seat by then, but she still had a fairly sombre attitude towards the whole mission.

I reached down to turn the radio up when a song by Rammstein came on. “Here’s some crazy shit for you, Sunny.” I said, grinning at her.

She raised an eyebrow as she looked at the radio, listening to the guttural growl of the lead vocalist. “What the fuck is this shit?” she asked.

I chuckled. “It’s a band from Germany.”

She shook her head. “Can you actually understand what they’re saying?”

I nodded. “Of course.”

Sunset shrugged. “So what are they saying?” she asked.

I listened to the line that was playing right then, then looked at her. “You probably don’t wanna know.”

“Hm.” she mumbled, looking out the other window.

I continued to drive, letting my head bob slightly to the music. Sunset turned back to look at me after a moment, her stare visible in my peripheries, making me wonder what she was thinking.

She finally spoke. “How are you so calm right now??” she asked, somewhat flustered.

I looked at her, wondering what her problem was.

After a moment, she huffed and shook her head. “You know they’re probably watching us right now? They saw my passport in the system at the border…yours is fake, which is great, but now they know I just crossed with some dude…we’re probably walking right into a trap…” she covered her face, stressfully rubbing her hands up and down her cheeks. “I don’t know how you think were gonna get there and break into the CIA…”

I shook my head in confusion. “Sunny, what are you going on about?”

She looked back at me completely stunned. “Uh, gee, I don’t know…the CIA? Cody? Whoever the fuck these ‘other’ people are…?”

I glanced over at her for a second, then looked back at the road. “No one’s watching us. Not if my hunch is right.”

Sunset was frozen in place, staring at me blankly.

I took a deep breath, trying to think of how to explain everything. “Listen, you gotta look at the big picture. Think of things from their perspective.” I said, gesturing into the air with my hand as I spoke. “Now, who are we up against?”

She blinked a couple of times, thinking about it. “Uh, Agent Cody…the CIA…and possibly some other super-secret organisation…”

I nodded. “OK, so what do we know about them?”

Sunset frowned. “Uh, well Cody is obsessed with finding you…the CIA, well I guess they aren’t really interested in you, other than Cody…and the ‘others’ are also interested in you…”

“Right.” I said. “Remember, the CIA isn’t after me anymore. They called it quits years ago, right? So right now, they aren’t looking for me, and they’re not looking for you. They’ve probably never even heard of you.”

“OK…” she said, sounding somewhat doubtful. “But what about Cody? You told him you were coming for him…”

I shook my head. “He just hit paydirt by nabbing Flutters. It’s fuckin Christmas at the Cody house right now. He’ll be busy with her, and I really doubt he gives a shit about you or me or the other girls at the moment. He actually said on the phone that he didn’t care that I was coming because I’d never find him. And like we said, no one else at the CIA is going to be watching us for him. Our passports may have been scanned at the border, but if no one’s watching for them it doesn’t mean jack-shit.”

She rubbed her brow thoughtfully with her fingers. “But what about the ‘others’?”

I shrugged. “What about them? They might be watching us, but are they gonna do about it?”

“I…” Sunset stopped talking as she thought about it.

“Remember, you said yourself they don’t like to use their own field agents.” I explained. “They use people from the CIA who don’t know anything about them, like where their headquarters are. That way, if they get caught and interrogated, they can’t give away any info cuz they don’t know anything about who they’re working for.” I looked at her with a smirk. “They wouldn’t dare send their own man after me…cuz they know I’ll catch him and make him squeal.”

She smirked back, but her smile disappeared quickly. “But if they’re watching us, won’t they get some CIA guys to come after us for them?”

I shook my head. “Doubtful after what happened on Sunday.”

“What do you mean?” Sunset asked.

I took a deep breath. “OK. What does CIA stand for?”

“Central Intelligence Agency…” she answered.

“Bingo.” I said, putting my finger up. “Their sole purpose is to gather intelligence. They are not a policing agency, meaning they do not arrest people. They are spies, that is all.” I glanced over at the brunette. “When they took Flutters, that was not a CIA mission. It was an arrest, or a capture, whatever you want to call it. That is not something the CIA normally does, and either Cody put them up to it, or the ‘others’ put Cody up to it.”

Sunset shook her head. “Yeah OK, but I don’t understand what you mean about them not helping the ‘others’ anymore…”

“Well, I’m sure they have a mutually beneficial relationship with each other…” I explained. “The CIA loans man-power to the ’others’, and the ‘others’ probably pay them back with intelligence information.”

She rubbed her chin. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

“Sunny,” I started, “do you know how many people have died serving the CIA for the past seventy-five years?”

She shook her head.

“About a hundred and twenty-five.” I answered. “That’s less than two per year…but on Sunday, they lost six in one day. That’s a huge loss…and they were doing something they shouldn’t have been doing. It was a gross misuse of CIA operatives that led to their deaths and the CIA had nothing to gain from it. Remember, they don’t really care about finding me, or people like me…and do you know what happens when a relationship is no longer mutually beneficial?”

“It ends…” Sunset answered, chewing the inside of her cheek as she thought. “So…you think the CIA is pissed at the ‘others’ about it?”

I nodded. “When you read Cody’s mind, did you happen to find out if the CIA is obligated to lend field agents to the ‘others’?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yeah I did, actually. The CIA can refuse to lend agents anytime they want.” she replied.

“Ah-ha!” I said, putting my finger up again. “After what happened Sunday, if the ‘others’ ask the CIA for more agents, I’m pretty sure the CIA is going to tell them to go fuck themselves.”

Sunset rubbed her chin, thinking about it some more. “So…you think the CIA isn’t watching out for us, and the ‘others’ probably are, but can’t do anything about it cuz they don’t want to send their own guys after us?”

“Yup. And Cody’s off in his own little world, patting himself on the back and jerkin off into his own mouth…that’s the kind of dickhead he is.” I said. “But the possibility of 'others' watching is part of why I wanted Rare to stay home…so her and the rest of the girls carry on with life as usual and look innocent. I didn’t want Rare’s name popping up when we crossed the border.”

“But you told Rare to look after the city…what if something happens that she gets involved with?” she asked.

“I doubt anything will happen. Canterlot is a quiet town.” I said. “Before the school shooting, what the last big thing that happened there?”

Sunset thought for a moment, then she shrugged. “I don’t know…probably our stuff, which was like eight years ago.”

I nodded. “Exactly. I just told her that so she wouldn’t feel left out. I seriously doubt anything will go down while we’re gone.”

Sunset frowned suddenly. “What about me? I left town and crossed the border…”

I shrugged. “Yeah, so? You said Cody had the report from the bouncer at the bar who saw us out front…but you weren’t with us. You were already inside…or in the alley, rather.”

“Yeah,” she replied. “But I met Cody in person later at Flutters’ house…”

I looked at her. “And what did he think about you?”

She paused before answering. “...He thinks I’m an idiot.”

I nodded. “Exactly. He thinks you’re too stupid to even make a coffee right. I doubt he gave you a second thought, and I seriously doubt he mentioned you to the ‘others’…so they wouldn’t have taken notice of your name at the border.”

“How can you be so sure?” she asked.

“That was four months ago, Sunny.” I replied. “He would have been back to visit you by now if he suspected that you had any ‘special talents’.”

She took a deep breath. “Maybe you’re right…” she said, before looking back at me. “But what if you’re wrong?”

I shook my head. “Listen Sunny…” I said sternly. “When you’re alive as long as me, there are certain things you just know. OK? Times change, technology changes, but people will always be exactly the same.” I looked over at the brunette. “I have met the same predictable fuckin idiots century after century, and eventually you learn to read between the lines, and you can see the mistakes they’re gonna make before they make them. Trust me Sunny, if I didn’t think we'd be able to sneak in there, we wouldn’t be doing this right now…I would have brought Rare, and maybe even Twilight and we would just go in there steamroll the bastards.”

Sunset took a deep breath, nodding her head. “But obviously quiet is better, right?”

“Right.” I replied. “I’m really not keen on killing any more people than we need to.”

She let her head rest against the back of the seat. “I wish I could see things like you do. I get what you’re saying...and it makes sense, but I don’t understand how you could be so sure…what if you’re wrong and they are letting us walk into a trap?”

“So what if they catch us?” I shrugged. “What are they gonna do, kill us?”

She scoffed at my response.

“Look Sunny,” I said, putting my hand out. “We’re gonna win. I always win. The only thing I’m not sure about is actually getting you into the CIA under the radar to find out where he took Flutters. But we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

Sunset shook her head.

“You feel better?” I asked.

“Maybe a little, but…” she hesitated.

“But what?” I asked.

“I still really wanna fuck.”

*****

After two more full days of travel, Sunset and I were approaching our destination near McLean, Virginia. We were still in Maryland, ready to cross the state border within the next few hours. Sunset and I were chatting back and forth, trying to formulate a plan for how we were going to get her inside the CIA headquarters undetected.

“So, when was the last time you were there?” she asked, with one foot up on the seat cushion, resting her arm on her knee.

I shook my head. “Long time…” I replied. “Long fuckin time. Long before the new building, which they added in the late eighties.”

The brunette shook her head. “What the fuck, man…how are we going to do this?”

“I don’t know,” I replied. “Do you still have that webpage open on your phone?”

She took her phone out again to look at it. “Yeah…but it’s not giving me much to go on…”

Sunset had brought up an overhead view of the CIA headquarters on Google Maps, the image of the building and parking lot was surprisingly clear, so we could at least see how the place was laid out, but it didn’t offer us any real clues as to how to get in the place without proper security clearance, which obviously neither of us had.

“Fuck man, having my data on here is gonna be murder on my phone bill.” she complained.

“I’ll pay you back, Sunny.” I said, rolling my eyes. “So what do you see?”

She sighed, looking hopelessly at the image. “There’s a road that goes in, but there’s a little building only part way to the main building…looks like a security station…like where they take our IDs, and possibly search the car…I’m guessing?”

“So we obviously can’t just drive in and park…” I surmised.

Sunset shook her head. Then she cocked an eyebrow. “There’s a lot of trees around the place…do you think we could sneak in through the woods?”

“Hmm…” I said. “I wouldn’t try it. I’m sure they got fences and cameras in there…and god knows what else. I doubt you could just walk through the woods and knock on the back door…”

She sighed, setting her phone down on her lap. “I don’t know then.”

“We’ll get a motel in McLean first, before we even try getting close to it.” I instructed.

She nodded in agreement. “I can’t wait to get out of this fucking car…” she said, running her right hand down her stomach to her abdomen, feeling the ever-present tingling burn of arousal between her legs…still torturing her through every mile of the journey.

“Have you ever been this far into our world?” I asked, causing her to snap her attention back to me.

Sunset shook her head. “No…I’ve never been more than a few hours from the portal. It’s pretty crazy how expansive this world is…and beautiful.” she said, giving me a smile. “I never thought I’d find myself travelling across this world with you…”

I glanced over at her for a moment to take in her expression, then looked back at the road. “This is just a small fraction of this planet…there is so much more across the oceans.”

She nodded. “Yeah, I know…I’ve seen the maps…but you don’t really get how big it is until you drive across it.”

I nodded. “Yup.”

“You must have seen every inch of this world by now…after being alive so long, eh?” the brunette said, resting her head on the seatback and letting her foot slide down to the floor.

I shook my head. “No way…not even close.”

She frowned. “Really?”

I glanced at her for a second before replying. “This planet is far bigger than people realize.” I explained. “We’ve lost sight of the scale because of technology…like, we can hop and a jet and be anywhere in the world within a day, day and a half…it makes it feel smaller, but try travelling on horseback…or on foot. You’ll have a different appreciation for how big this world really is.”

Sunset sighed, looking up at the headliner, trying to imagine all the mysteries this world had to offer. “Do you think there’s still a lot to learn here…that we haven’t seen yet?”

“Absolutely.” I replied. “There’s so many places that man hasn’t set foot…who knows what’s out there…and someone like Flutters is the key to discovering new species, since she can feel their presence.”

Sunset’s expression changed when she was reminded of the shy girl. She looked down at the seat for a moment, then asked: “How do you think she’s doing?”

I took a deep breath, not wanting to think about it. “I don’t know. Hopefully not as bad as I remember it being…all the testing they tried on me back in the fifties…”

She closed her eyes, unsure if she wanted to know any more, but forced herself to ask anyway. “What testing?”

I looked over at her. “They’re gonna try their best to try to find out if she can be destroyed…”

The brunette shook her head, covering her mouth at the thought of what they might be doing to her meek, timid friend.

“It’s best not to think about that.” I said. “We need to focus on our job. We’re gonna get her out of there, and we’re gonna make Cody pay dearly for taking her away from us.”

Sunset looked at me, a small half-grin sliding up one side of her mouth. “Promise?”

I smiled as I looked over at her. “Hell yeah.”

She grinned, picking up her phone again. She flipped to her other browser window where she had opened the official CIA website. She browsed around briefly, noticing that most of what the website did was brag about their wonderful building, and their mission statement of supplying the US government with the information needed to make proper decisions on foreign affairs.

Then something caught her eye at the top of the page: ‘Careers & Internships’

“Hey,” she said, glancing at me. “What about a job?”

“Huh?” I mumbled, frowning as I watched the road.

“At the CIA…I could apply for a job…to get inside…I mean, I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Forensic Science…I can apply for an internship or something, get into the building to meet a few people, then I can shake a few hands and voila! We find out where Fluttershy is.” she said, her voice finally showing a glimmer of hope at our chances of success.

I looked over at her. “That’s actually not a bad idea…but how does that work? I doubt you can just walk in there and leave a resume at the front desk…”

Sunset sighed…”I don’t know…but I think it’s an angle we can use…it’s worth a shot, right?”

I nodded. “Yeah, we’ll have to think about it and try to learn more about how the process works.” I said, checking my blind spot to change lanes to pass a slow moving car. “But before we get too excited, I think we need to talk to someone first.”

She looked at me suddenly.”Who?”

“An old friend.” I said. “Last I heard, he still lives in DC…maybe he can talk us through the process.”

Sunset scowled. “You know a guy? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

I shrugged. “I said at Rarity’s that I have connections…remember?”

She shook her head. “Well I thought you were using that as an excuse for going without her. It would have taken a lot of stress off of me this whole time if I knew you actually had friends who could help...”

I put my hand up to her. “Now just wait,” I said. “I never said he could help us for sure, but he’s the best guy to see before we try anything.”

“Who is he? How does he know about the CIA?” she asked.

“He used to work for them.” I said. “And he was one of the few who was on my side when I left, something that they didn’t know about, and they let him continue to work for them until he retired…”

“Wow…” she said. “So you think he’ll help us? He’s not loyal to them?”

“He is, but he’s more loyal to me. He’s helped a few times before.” I said. “How do you think I knew that team was coming after me a decade ago?”

“Hmm…” she rubbed her chin. “You mean the time you first met Cody?”

“Bingo.” I said.

“This guy warned you they were coming?” she asked.

“Yep.”

“What was he? A spy? A field agent?” she asked enthusiastically.

I shook my head. “No, he was in the science and technology department…as well as security and communication. He designed all the new systems when they built the new headquarters in the eighties…”

“WHAT?” Sunset asked, sitting up straight in her seat, shocked by the revelation. “He can totally help us get in…”

“Well, no…not entirely.” I said, shaking my head. “His systems would be over thirty years old now…a lot of them have been replaced by new technology that isn’t his by now.”

She sank back down in her seat. “Hm. So much for that.”

I stayed silent, watching forward through the windshield as we continued to drive to our destination. It was just getting dark out. I looked at the horizon off to the left, taking in the bright, warm colours of the sky, the yellow and orange closest to the bright orb of the sun as it sat half-sunk into the earth. Higher up, the sky faded into dark reds and purples and eventually blues and blacks directly above us.

“Hey,” I smirked, turning to the brunette. “It’s not very often I get to see two beautiful Sunsets at once…”

She turned to me suddenly, cocking her eyebrows. Then after a moment, she smirked and blushed, turning away to look out her window.

I looked forward again. “Sorry.” I couldn’t help myself. I thought it was a good line…”

She snickered, turning back to face me timidly. “It’s OK. It was pretty sweet, actually.”

I glanced back at her for a second, then continued concentrating on the drive.

She sat for a moment, then took in a deep breath as she let her eyes close, arching her back up, rubbing her rear-end down into the seat.

I looked at her, noticing her body language smacking of sensuality as she loudly breathed outwards, running her hands firmly down over her thighs to her knees.

“How are you holding up?” I asked.

Sunset took another breath, then looked at me, biting her lip. “I got the ‘itch’…” she said in a low voice. “Pretty bad.”

I sighed, looking down at the clock on the dash. “Just a few more hours, then we’ll be out of this car.”

Sunset pursed her lips, then shook her head after a moment. “I can’t wait that long…”

“Uhh…” I mumbled in response, wondering what she was going to do.

She sat for another moment, then mumbled under her breath. “Fuck it…” she whispered as she lifted her right leg up and set her sock foot on the dash, letting her toes press against the windshield.

I glanced over at her as she reclined the seat halfway down, then closed her eyes as she slipped her hand inside her tights.

She let her fingertips slide down over her bare mound, eventually letting her middle finger slip into the slick, soaking wet slit between her thighs. She stroked her finger down over the soft, delicate hood, then continued onward to the soft, warm opening between the folds of her sensitive flesh, letting her fingertip dip inside her soaking wetness. She stroked her finger in and out a few times, swirling it around, trying to give every part of herself equal attention, then she let her finger drag out and upwards, letting it gently peel back the layers of flesh before dragging directly across her clit.

Sunset's breath rushed into her lungs sharply as soon as she felt it, the sudden jolt of electric pleasure that fired up through her body…so fulfilling after the past three days of intense arousal from being trapped close to the man that her own magic was mindlessly drawing her to.

“Fuck…” she whispered, as she dared to stroke the ever-sensitive button a second time, causing her legs to spasm as she started circling her finger around it, barely able to keep herself still in the seat as she continued pleasuring herself in front of me.

She knew it wouldn’t be long before she would set off an explosion within herself…after days of feel this tingling wetness, the heat, her clit practically buzzing as if it was a cell phone getting call after call on silent mode…

She brought her index finger in to join her middle finger, sliding them both down together into her tender opening, using the side of her thumb to caress her clit as she stroked her fingers in and out of herself…the pleasure began to build rapidly with each caress of her seemingly infinitely talented fingers. The pressure was beginning to build inside her loins, boiling rapidly to the surface of her moisture to meet her relentless digits, greeting them with more and more elevated sensations…

Sunset’s eyes suddenly popped open as the rough sound of gravel started radiating through the vehicle, punctuated by the loud pinging of stones hitting the rocker panel on her side of the car. She looked over at me as I yanked the steering wheel to the left, swerving the car back onto the smooth, paved surface of the road.

“Shit!” I cursed, looking back through the windshield. I glanced back at her for a split second. “Sorry…”

She giggled warmly, biting her lip as she continued to pleasure herself…desperate to reach that release that she desired so badly. “Eyes on the road, b-buster…” she panted.

I nodded, keeping my eyes forward as I listened to the brunette from another world breath heavily in the seat beside me.

She brought herself back, using the two fingers inside to her to draw the orgasm out of herself, rubbing her thumb on her unbearably sensitive red button, causing her hips to squirm up and down as she leaned her head back, moaning as the climax teetered on the edge, ready to take the plunge all over her writhing body.

One more stroke, two more…then a third was all it took. Sunset Shimmer arched her back up, moaning loudly, her voice almost deafening inside the confinement of the car. The explosion started from under her hand, sending shockwaves out from the center of her arousal-soaked slit all the way out to her limbs, causing her to reach up with her free hand and grip the backrest of her seat as she let her body spasm with excitement.

I could only see it out of the corner of my eye as I watched the road. I wanted to look at her, to see her face…to see if it was the same face she made when she climaxed with me inside her that night I made her the indestructible being she is today.

“Oh Ffffff….” she shouted, shocking me with the words that came from her mouth next. “FUCK ME, GOLDS!”

My heart stopped when I heard it, my eyes peeled themselves open wide as I kept them locked through the windshield. It wasn’t hard to figure out what she was fantasizing about…

I listened to her moans as they died down during her aftermath, feeling fidgety after what she said, unaware if she had realized that she said it…I reached down with my hand to the combination switch on the steering column and activated the windshield washers, spraying the glass with the blue liquid, then watching as the wipers swept it aside over and over again. The reason I did this was unknown to me, and probably Sunset as well…the windshield was clean and dry after all, and it was a clear day. Not a drop of rain or snow to be seen…evidently I was just nervous now and was acting like an idiot.

“Ahhhh…” she breathed out beside me, withdrawing her arm from her tights, letting the elastic of her pants snap against her toned belly as her hand was pulled clear. She put her index and middle fingers in her mouth, licking off the smooth, flavourful juice with her tongue and lips, making a loud, wet smacking sound as she glanced back over at me.

I could feel her gaze burning holes in my skin, and I quickly glanced over at her for a second before returning my eyes to the road.

She sat up in the seat again, taking her foot off the dash, leaving a set of clear toe prints surrounded by a light fog on the windshield. She felt a bit more spritely, her spirits lifted now that she’d finally found some satisfaction…hoping that it might last more than a few minutes.

“Well…” she said, seductively. “Did you enjoy the show??”

I glanced at her…relieved that she was returning back to her normal self…slowly. I nodded. “Uh…yeah. It was pretty good.” I said.

I watched her close her eyes as she ran her fingers through her brunette hair, then look back at me with her sparkling aqua eyes. “Pretty good? That’s all?”

I shrugged, looking back at the road. “Well…let’s just say I gave it three thumbs up.”

*****

We finally arrived in McLean during the wee hours of the morning. We checked into a cheap, dumpy motel on the edge of town, barely three kilometers away from the CIA headquarters. The place was pretty sketchy, and I managed to talk them into letting us check-in anonymously by slipping them a few extra bills from the gym bag.

It felt strange for me to be there, so close to the place that has tormented me for the past sixty years…and now I was barking right at their doorstep.

Both of us were glad to be out of that car. It felt like we had memorised every nook and cranny of that interior and heard every metal song the satellite radio had to offer.

Sunset dropped her bag on the floor and flopped down on the bed onto her back. “Ahhh…fuck that car, man.”

“Yeah, heard that.” I replied, setting my bag down and turning on the lamp. We had gotten a room with two twin-sized beds…not that we needed to sleep, but at least we could lie down…away from each other. I had offered to get Sunset her own room, but she said she didn’t want me to waste my money…although I think in truth, she was worried about being so close to CIA headquarters and wanted to be close to me just in case, even though I told her repeatedly it will be fine. I was 99% sure nothing would happen, but I decided to cater to her desires anyway...besides, I liked spending time with her.

I sat down on the other bed, feeling like I had nothing to do. I wanted to take my phone out to check it for messages, but alas, it was long gone. I chuckled to myself about the addictiveness of smartphones, even for a guy like me who lived without them for over two millennia, I was hooked on them just as much as everyone else.

“What’s so funny?” she asked, staring at the ceiling.

“Nothing.” I replied. “Just wish I had my phone.”

“Ah.” She said. “Did you really have to smash it like that?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know…I was worried they might have had a lock on it after they called it…maybe I was being a bit overcautious…”

She shook her head. “Nah…”

I sighed. “Yeah…”

We paused for a moment, wondering where Fluttershy was right then…thinking about how close we might be to her, yet so far away…

“So,” Sunset began. “What’s the plan, boss?”

I snorted, looking at her with a half-grin on my face. “I’m not your boss, Sunny…”

“You are right now.” she replied. “This is your rescue mission.”

“It’s our mission.” I said. “Flutters is a friend to us both.”

She rolled her eyes. “OK, whatever then. So what’s the plan?”

I sighed, chewing my bottom lip as I thought. “Well, there’s not much we can do until morning. We'll wait until then, and we’ll make our way into DC to go see the Doc.”

She looked at me. “The Doc?”

I waved my hand in a circle as I spoke. “You know, the guy who’s gonna help us…” I said. “Hopefully.” I added.

She stared back at the ceiling for a moment, casually playing with her brunette locks. Then she stood up suddenly from the bed. “Well, I’m gonna hop in the shower. I gotta clean myself up a bit…down there. Three days worth of horniness, plus cumming once has made me a bit…er, messy.”

“Right…” I replied, watching as she picked up her bag and headed into the bathroom and closed the door.

After half a second, she opened the door again and stuck her head out. ”Oh, and if you hear me making noises, don’t worry about it…I’m probably gonna be taking care of business again.”

I turned on the bed to face her. “Really? You’re feeling it again?”

She rolled her eyes and nodded. “Yeah…it came back after like, ten minutes.” she confessed.

I let my head droop. “Damn. Sorry Sunny…”

Sunset shrugged. “Meh…at least I can make the most of it…”

I smirked, looking at her sideways. “OK, well…have fun, I guess.”

*****

At about 9am the next morning I put on a baseball cap and a pair of sunglasses to try to hide myself a bit, but for the cherry on top, I wrapped my left hand in a tensor bandage to simulate an injury. Why would someone who can’t get hurt be wearing a bandage?

Next we headed across the river into Washington DC to track down my associate. I had Sunset look up his name on her phone and use the navigation app to figure out where he was living now. Luckily, he was still in DC…I think the CIA prefers it’s retirees to be close so they can keep an eye on them…

I drove us from McLean, right past the CIA, along the river to Washington DC. I liked watching Sunset as her eyes stayed glued to the windows, looking at the different landmarks of our world as we crossed the bridge into DC, passing the Lincoln memorial first, then making a right, followed by a left onto Independence Avenue, continuing on to pass by the Washington monument.

She dipped her head as we drove past the huge obelisk, looking upward to see the top of it under the roof of the car.

I smirked and leaned over to her, whispering loudly. “That’s my cock…”

Sunset snorted and glanced at me briefly, laughing at my immaturity as we continued on past the Smithsonian, as well as a bunch of other important buildings along the same stretch. We finally made a turn to the left, passing by the Capitol Building, which Sunset glared at with her mouth open as its huge domed peak passed by in the distance.

I leaned over to her. “This place was built by cultists…”

She turned to me suddenly, her eyebrows cocked in confusion. “Cultists?”

I nodded. “Do you realize we just drove through a giant owl sitting on top of a pyramid?”

She looked around outside of the car, then back at me. “Where?”

“You can’t see it from here. It’s made up of the streets…” I said. “Look at the map on your phone again…that big building we just drove past is on the chest of the owl.”

Sunset furrowed her eyebrows, looking at me like I was crazy as she picked up her phone and studied the webpage with the map of DC on it. She finally shook her head and glanced at me. “I don’t see it…”

“The pyramid points east…” I said. “Look at it sideways.”

She looked back at her phone, frowning as she tilted her head…then after a few seconds her eyes opened wide as she gasped. “I see it! You’re right…”

“See?” I gloated. “And if you scroll over to the White House, there’s a huge pentagram in the streets pointing right at it.”

The brunette scrolled around the map for a few moments, locating the residence of the Commander-in-Chief. She couldn’t see it at first, until she zoomed out a bit to see more of the area, then she saw the huge, upside-down star pointed right that the front yard of the White House. “Holy shit…why? How did you know?”

I looked at her. “Because I was here when they built this city…fucking nut-case cults were running the show. Freemasons, Illuminati…you name it, they were all involved.”

“That’s…amazing. I never knew this world could have such an interesting history without magic.” she said, looking at me. “Were the Presidents in these cults?”

“Some of them…” I replied. “A bunch of the Founding Fathers were in these groups…as well as rich business owners, and a bunch of people from the old world.”

“Old world?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Europe.” I replied.

“Ah.” She nodded, looking back out the window to see more of the sights.

Eventually, we made our way to the destination shown on her phone and pulled up in front of an older house on a rough looking street, located in a less-than-perfect part of town.

“Is this it?” I asked, looking at the house before glancing at her.

Sunset raised her eyebrows as she inhaled, looking down at her phone again. “According to this…yeah.”

I took a deep breath, then opened the car door. “Well, let’s go see then. Flutters isn’t gonna rescue herself.”

“Let’s do it.” she nodded in agreement.

We got out and walked to the front door of the house. The siding was made of wood, with the paint peeling badly from years of neglect, similar to the wooden screen door that stood directly in front of us as we stepped up onto the front porch.

We looked at each other slowly, then I reached up and gently knocked on the rickety old door.

We waited a moment, and I was about to try knocking again, when we heard the locks clicking loudly, followed by the inside door slowly opening about four inches. We could see the edge of an old wrinkly face peer out at us, only showing us one eye through one side of a pair of thick bi-focal glasses.

“Hello?” the old man’s voice sounded out, muffled a bit from being behind the door. “How can I be of assistance?”

I leaned forward, pulling my sunglasses down so he could see my face.“Hey…don’t you recognise me, old man?” I said through the screen door.

There was a pause, then old eye suddenly got wider as the man behind the door drew in a shaky breath. “By Joe! What the devil are you doing in DC???” he asked as he whipped the inside door open. “Get inside, before someone sees you!”

I opened the screen door and gestured Sunset inside, holding it open for her, then stepping inside myself. Once inside, we got a good look at the old man, who appeared to be in his mid-eighties by now.

He and was wearing dark pants, with a white shirt and blue tie under a burgundy V-neck sweater. He had thick glasses on, which framed his bright blue eyes. His hair was wild, brushed back loosely, but sticking up a bit, pointing backwards. The last time I saw this man, his hair was dark brown, but now it was a light gray colour.

By the door there was a long brown coat hanging on a hook, with a dark brown fedora hanging next to it, sharing a hook with a long scarf with wide stripes of assorted colours along its length. As I looked back at the old man, I noticed the hourglass-shaped gold pin on the left breast of his sweater, something that the man wore in his youth, even back when I first knew him.

“How are you doing old man?” I said, reaching out to shake his hand. “Long time, no see.”

“Yes yes, quite so, old chap. You’d better watch who you’re calling old, however…lest I accuse you of being the pot that called the kettle black.” he said back to me.

He and I shared a friendly chuckle while Sunset, unfamiliar with our world’s old English, stared at us in confusion.

“What the fuck are they talking about?” she wondered to herself as she looked around his house. It was dark, with most of the curtains drawn, creating beams of light that picked up the dusty air, seemingly dividing the room into sections. It was cluttered, with books stacked everywhere…on shelves, end tables, on top of the old floor model TV he had sitting in front of his out-of-date, worn out couch. Upon closer inspection, she realized most of the books were technical manuals...electrical engineering, computer science and security system books, as well as many others of similar topics.

“So, my dear boy…” the old man said, wandering over to his couch and sitting down slowly. “What on Earth has brought you out of the shadows and right into the lion’s den, hm?”

I sat down next to him on the couch, while Sunset remained standing in front of us.

“The CIA…” I said. “They took my…uh, girlfriend.”

He leaned his head back suddenly. “HA!” he laughed. “Girlfriend! I thought you were done with the fairer sex since they kept…you know…dying.” he said, stumbling over his words. “You haven’t had a girlfriend in all the years I’ve known you…”

I looked at Sunset, then back at him, leaning forward with my elbows on my knees. I clapped my hands once, then laced my fingers together before speaking again. “Well this girlfriend of mine doesn’t die.”

He leaned his head forward, cocking an eyebrow. “I say, my boy…it sounded to me like you said ‘she doesn’t die’, if I’m correctly mistaken…”

“No, you heard right, Doc.” I said. “He found out where I’ve been living and came after me, but he found her instead…and he took her from me.”

“He who?” the old man asked.

“Cody.” I replied.

He scowled, waving his hand in disgust at the name. “BAH!” he jeered. “I don’t know why they still employ that jackass…he is a completely arrogant, belligerent, untalented windbag, stuck in his own delusions of grandeur, hoping someone will notice his unremarkable achievements and put him on a pedestal for all the world to cheer his name from on high!” the old man huffed. “Well, I will never applaud him. He is a complete loser!”

“Yeah, that’s the guy.” I chuckled.

The old man smiled at my response. “You know, my boy…I always knew if you ever had a lady in your life that you would be a hopeless romantic…” he chuckled. “So now you’ve come here to rescue her? Does she not have your excessive strength to rescue herself?”

I shook my head. “No, she doesn’t. I’m here to ask you for help to get into the headquarters to find out where she is and get her out.”

He chuckled hard, causing himself to go into a couching fit. “OH… *cough cough* my boy…you know as well as I that *cough cough* you can’t set foot in there…” he trailed off as he continued to cough for another moment.

I shook my head as I waited for him to finish coughing. “I’m not going in there.” I pointed at Sunset. “She is.”

He covered his mouth after the last cough with a handkerchief and held it there as he looked at the tall, leather-clad brunette, letting his eyes travel up her figure, taking in her details. “And you, my lady, are?”

“I’m Sunset Shimmer.” she replied, introducing herself with an awkward smile.

“Well,” he said, looking back at me. “Your plan is to send some biker broad into the CIA for you?”

Sunset scowled at him, opening her mouth to say something.

I looked at her and shook my head, signalling her to back down.

She stopped, then folded her arms, letting out a frustrated exhale as she looked to the side of us.

“Listen,” I explained. “Sunny here is the best at what she does. She has a certain…talent…that will allow us to gain a LOT of information…as long as we can get her inside the headquarters safely and quietly.”

The old man cocked an eyebrow. “What talent?”

I nodded to her. “Well, Doc…you haven’t introduced yourself to her yet. Why don’t you shake her hand?”

He furrowed his bushy old brows at me for a moment, then turned to her and reached his hand up. “Dr. Whooves…at your service, madam.” he said with a nod and a smile.

Sunset reached out and shook his hand briefly, then let go, folding her arms again.

I watched as a smile crawled across her face.

“So, my lady…what is this talent you possess?” the old man asked.

Sunset glanced at me first, then nodded towards the wall near the front door. “You have a stash of cash, weapons and surveillance equipment sealed up behind that wall.” she said flatly. “And you haven’t been taking your blood pressure medication…shame on you.”

Whooves was speechless. He looked at me with his eyes and mouth wide open, then back at her. “It…well it makes me light headed…” he started saying before shaking his head. “I say…how did you…?”

“She can read minds.” I explained. “When she touches people with her hands.”

He looked back at me for a moment, trying to process what he just witnessed.

“So when she shook your hand, she just learned and awful lot about you.” I finished.

He looked at her again and nodded. “Yes…I see now why you want her to go in there for you…”

I slowly nodded one time, then continued. “And that is where you come in…you know the place inside and out.”

Whooves put his hands up. “Ah, my boy…that is to say I knew the place inside and out. They’ve replaced and updated so many of my systems, hardly any of my original work remains. I wouldn’t have the first clue how to beat their security now…I mean, they've got cameras, thermal and infrared I might add…retina scanners, lasers, many, many security guards…and that’s just scratching the surface, my boy…”

I shook my head. “No no, we knew it was going to be too hard to get past their security, especially with our limited resources.” I looked up at the brunette. “Sunny here actually had a different plan…”

She looked nervous suddenly as she was put on the spot with both of us watching her. “Oh…um, I was thinking I could apply for a job there…I have a degree in Forensic Sci-“

“Are you an American citizen, my lady?” he asked, cutting her off.

Sunset paused. “Uh, no…actually.”

He shook his head. “It won’t work then.”

“Why not?” she argued. “I don’t actually need to get the job, I just need to get in to talk to some of them…shake a few hands, and get some information from them…”

“No, my lady, I’m sorry, but it doesn’t work like that.” he replied. “You don’t apply in person…you do it through their website, then you wait for a reply…and when you apply, you grant them your consent to investigate everything about you to make sure they aren’t letting in a potential threat or spy, and that’s just to get in for an interview, which involves a polygraph test and mental and physical exams.”

Sunset sighed. “Well, couldn’t I just lie in the online application so I could at least get into the building…then we’ll figure it out from there…”

Whooves groaned, shaking his head. “No no, they’ll know your lying, firstly. Secondly, they get well over ten thousand applications every month…it’s usually a minimum of forty-five days before you hear back from them…IF you hear back from them. I’m sorry, my lady, but it’s just a terrible idea.”

The brunette’s shoulders drooped. She turned to me with a defeated look on her face.

Whooves saw her expression, and felt some remorse for his bluntness. “My apologies, my dear…please allow me to rephrase that.” he said. “It was good thinking, but a bad idea.”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Gee, thanks.” she said flatly as she folded her arms again.

I watched her for a moment, then leaned back against the couch, letting my head rest on the back, looking up at the ceiling. We sat in awkward silence for a few moments.

I finally lifted my head again. “So what else is there?”

Whooves shrugged, shaking his head slowly as he stared at the floor. “I don’t know, my boy. Unfortunately the place was well designed to keep intruders like you out.” he said, turning to look at me. “The only real possibility is to have help from the inside…”

I took a deep breath, looking around the dark and dusty room at all the books stacked up everywhere as I thought to myself.

“But good luck with that…” the old man continued. “All of those CIA folks are quite loyal, thanks to the stringent recruitment process that we discussed earlier.”

“What about you?” I asked. “You were CIA and you’re helping me right now…”

Whooves closed his eyes and shook his head a bit. “That’s different,” he explained. “I knew you back in the day…many of us from then were quite unhappy with how they treated you. You had more sympathizers than you realise...however, that whole generation is gone from there now…”

I glanced at Sunset, who was giving me that intrigued look that she always did when she learned something about my past. I chewed my bottom lip as she and I locked eyes with each other, gazing absentmindedly for a moment until Whooves suddenly clapped his hands together loudly.

I looked at him to find both of this index fingers pointed at me, his eyebrows raised high on his forehead. “By Joe, I’ve got it! I know just the guy for you!”

I raised one eyebrow in return. “Oh? Who?”

“He works in the headquarters, in Human Resources…” he said, looking at Sunset. “He deals with helping the other Agency managers in recruitment, retention, training, deployment…things of that nature…which goes back to your idea, my lady.”

“I’m listening…” I said, leaning in closer to him.

He looked at me as he continued. “He has become very…shall we say…disillusioned with the Agency as of late…”

“Why?” I asked.

“I’m quite positive you will find out soon enough if you meet him, my boy.” he replied.

“Can we trust him?” I asked again.

“All I can tell you,” he started, “is that he has a bone to pick with your Agent Cody…if you mention his name, I’d be willing to bet he’ll help you out.”

“Where do we find him?” I said, standing up from the couch to join Sunset.

“Here in DC.” he replied, nodding his head toward the front door to the city. “He spends his evenings at the same damn bar every night these days.”

I frowned, tilting my head. “How do you know all this?”

He chuckled. “Well…retirement is a boring prospect, old chap. You don’t think that I wouldn’t leave myself a good many back doors in that system that I designed there, do you?”

I raised my eyebrow. “You can monitor the CIA headquarters from here?”

Whooves drooped his head a bit. “Well…sort of. Many of my systems have been replaced, as mentioned, so those ‘back doors’ that I put in are gone…but there’s a few left.” he grinned. “Enough for me to take in a little gossip now and again…”

Chapter 53: The Great Carousel Robbery

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 54: The Plan

Chapter 54

Agent Daniels worked for the CIA.

Well, to be fair, he wasn’t really an agent. Not the ‘spy’ type of agent anyway, just the type of agent who could call himself an agent because he worked for an ‘agency.’

And he hated the CIA. He hated it with a passion. He wanted to leave it in the worst way...but why? The first reason was because of one man…a man who had made his life a living hell…

Agent Cody.

Not that he ever saw Cody every often since he was out on field work a lot of the time, but the few instances that he was face-to-face with him were never enjoyable. And what could Daniels do about it? It’s not like he could tell Cody to ‘fuck off’ or punch him out…after all, he worked in HR. He wasn’t tough.

Agent Cody was tough. He had accomplished some great things in his ambitious career, even though he was an asshole…and maybe even a little weird. There was talk amongst the other field agents that Cody was into some ‘supernatural’ stuff, but most everyone else thought he was just a bit on the superstitious side.

Regardless of all that, Agent Daniels and Agent Cody most certainly had a bitter feud going between them. And Cody seemed to be the clear winner at every turn so far.

Daniels sat on the tall stool, staring through the bottom of his empty beer mug, looking at the wood-grain of the bar top, magnified and distorted by the glass bottom of the mug. He was an average sized man in his late thirties, with black hair that was kept at a length of a few inches and brushed back with gel while allowing some of the bangs to hang around the sides of his forehead in thick, pointed strands. He wasn’t a bad looking man by any means…he kept himself well looked after and ate healthy, keeping himself in shape and dressing well. It is necessary to do so with his trophy wife…at least it was necessary, up until a year ago when she became the second reason he hated the CIA.

She was also an Agent there. About a year ago they had separated, her reasoning being that he just didn’t give her that spark of excitement anymore…and that she needed to move on. Then he found out later that she already had moved on…

He took a deep breath, looking up at the TV before holding the empty mug up and jiggling it at the bartender, who shook his head as he took it to refill it again from the tap.

“Don’t you have a place to live for cryin out loud?” the bartender asked irritably.

Daniels ignored the comment, looking back at the TV as he waited for his refill. Admittedly, he did spend too much time at this bar. He first started coming here after his wife left him to drink his pain away...only once or twice a week at first, but over time he started coming more and more frequently, until the last few months when he started spending every minute that he could here, sitting at the bar in endless pursuit of the bottom of that mug.

He looked around the bar as the sweaty mug was set in front of him one more time. It was the same as always…the same faces, with the same problems, presumably all seeking the same goal as him…to while away their remaining worthless years until they could have the luxury of retirement or an early death.

Then something caught his eye…the front entrance opened and someone walked in. Someone new...someone he’d never seen in there before.

She captivated him instantly with her big aqua-green eyes and untamed, wavy brunette hair. Her face was beautiful, but not without a sense of power and confidence...her skin was deeply toned and smooth, and her attire was quite alluring as well. She had on a leather jacket with orange chevrons on the upper sleeves, with a dark gray shirt that had a frilly hem than covered part of the dark red miniskirt she was wearing that topped off her tall, black boots.

She stopped and looked around the place, almost as if she was looking for someone. She set her sights on everyone there for a second or two before finally settling her gaze directly on him.

He looked back down at the bar top quickly, trying to avoid being accused of ogling some female stranger, even though she was looking back at him. Actually...to be fair, she looked at everyone else too. It was nothing for Daniels to get excited about. She wasn’t looking at him for any real reason.

He looked back at the TV, watching the highlights of a football game from earlier in the day, not really paying attention to it since he wasn’t much of a sports fan.

Just then he heard the bar stool skid on the floor beside him as it was pulled out, and he glanced over to see the brunette woman sitting down right next to him.

She glanced at him, giving him a friendly smile before turning to the bartender. “What’s on tap tonight?”

The bartender flatly rattled off the short list of beers available, none of which the brunette seemed to be very interested in.

“OK…” she mumbled, thinking for a second. “I‘ll just have a rum and Coke.”

The bartender nodded and went to work making her drink.

Daniels tried to ignore the woman, tipping back his mug and proceeding to down half of the latest refill.

“Rough day?” the woman asked him.

He stopped suddenly as he was bringing the mug down to set it on the bar, then turned his head towards her. She was looking right in his eyes.

He looked back down into the mug, shaking it so the golden beverage swirled around in a circle at the bottom. The finally decided to respond with a small nod and a short answer. “Rough year.”

She gave him a flirtatious look of disbelief, then folded her arms on the bar top. “Oh come on. It can’t be that bad.”

He raised his eyebrows briefly. “I guess you would know better than me…”

The brunette cocked an eyebrow at him. “Well, do you wanna drink your face off or do you wanna talk about it with a total stranger?”

He frowned. “That’s not much of a choice…”

“Well how about I make it for you?” she asked, reaching up suddenly and gently patting the back of his neck with her hand. “Come on. Let’s hear it.”

Daniels jumped at bit at the feeling of physical contact. He looked at her suddenly, about to tell her off, but the sour look on her face stopped him in his tracks. He watched her for a second as she slowly shook it off and brought the pretty smile back to her lips.

“So what’s bugging you? Work?” she asked. “Family? Health?”

He sighed, lifting the mug to hold it an inch from his lips. “Not health…” he said, before taking another swig.

Her eyebrows went up. “Work and family?? Wow, a double doosey, eh?”

He nodded as he swallowed his drink. “They’re kind of the same thing.”

“Oh? How do you mean?” she asked, leaning her chin on her hand as she looked at him intently.

He sighed, not really wanting to talk about it…but there was something about this girl that made him continue to indulge in the conversation with her. “My wife works with me…and we’re not together anymore.”

She cringed. “Ooh, that’s rough… what kind of work do you do?”

“I can’t really say…” he replied flatly.

She raised her eyebrows as she slowly looked down at the bar, watching her dark fizzy drink being set down in front of her. “Usually in this town when someone says that, it means they work for the government.”

He stared forward, hoping she wouldn’t be persistent about it, but his hopes went unnoticed by the powers that be.

“So, what are you, like CIA?” she asked quietly.

He looked at her, scowling a bit, starting to think he shouldn’t be talking about this with her while intoxicated…he was having a dilemma within himself for the past little while already about his drinking, which is something the CIA doesn’t take lightly in their members.

His expression obviously tipped her off.

“You are CIA!” she said excitedly.

“SHHHH!” he whispered sloppily. “I could get into trouble…”

She covered her mouth, ducking her head as she looked around the place. “Oops, sorry!” she replied with embarrassment. Then she looked at him again. “So your wife….er, sorry, ex-wife is CIA too?” she asked quietly.

Daniels looked around the place before nodding.

She took a sip of her drink, then set the glass down. “So why’d you guys break up?”

“She cheated on me.” he said flatly, surprising himself with how easily he blurted it out. “With someone else at work…someone I really don’t like.”

To his surprise, the brunette leaned over, putting her face very close to him. Then she smirked as she spoke quietly. “That someone you don’t like wouldn’t happen to be Agent Cody, would it?”

He leaned away from her, spinning his face to face hers in shock. “How…?”

“How did I know?” she asked, to which he nodded. She took another sip of the drinking before replying. “I’ve had my own little run-in with him…and I don’t really like him either.”

Daniels shook his head. “That don’t make it a small world. Cody's an asshole. Everyone knows it.”

The woman took something out of her pocket and set it on the bar in front of Daniels. His skin scrawled when he saw it…a pair of gold and blue aviators. He knew exactly who they belonged to.

“Where did you get those?” he asked, looking at her with narrow eyes.

Her tone was much darker now. “We found them near a friend’s house…a friend who Cody kidnapped. My friend.”

Daniels’ eyes got wider. “Cody kidnapped someone? Why?” he looked back up at her, noticing the seriousness in her face now.

“I want you to help me find him…” she said. “And I’ll make him disappear.”

Daniels was stunned by the sudden proposal. “Disappear? Is she serious?” He had to admit in his half-drunken stupor that no more Agent Cody would be a godsend. He looked at the nearby bartender, then back at her. “I could get into a lot of trouble for helping you…not to mention being an accessory to murder.” he said quietly.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “I’ll make it worth your while.”

He clenched his jaw, looking down at his glass as he considered the offer. He finally took a deep breath and set the glass down. “I hate that piece of shit. I’ll hear you out, but we have to go somewhere else first.”

She smirked devilishly. “Good. Come with me.”

*****

Daniels had indulged in too much of the drink to be able to drive, which didn’t matter on most nights since his apartment was within walking distance of the bar. That was actually how he found this particular watering hole, because of its proximity to the place he had to move into once he and his wife separated.

The brunette, however, offered to take him to her motel, which was outside of DC in McLean, Virginia. After driving him there, she parked the white car in its designated parking spot, then got out and walked to the row of doors along the front of the building.

They finally stopped at one of the doors, and she pulled out a white door card and swiped it through the electronic lock on the door as Daniels turned and looked around the parking lot, paranoid about being followed by someone from the CIA, as if anyone could actually know that he was possibly planning something against them with this woman. As he looked around at the parked cars, he could hear her trying to open the door, rattling it back and forth against the latch with frustration.

“Come on, you FUCKIN THING…” she cursed.

Daniels looked back in time to see her swipe the card again, which made the LED on the lock turn green this time and she opened the door, stepping inside and holding it open for him to follow.

Once inside she closed the door, then took her jacket off and tossed it on the table next to the TV. Daniels stood by the door, looking at her bare shoulders now that the jacket was off. As it turned out, the dark gray shirt was actually a tank top, and she was quite attractive looking in it.

She sat on the bed farthest from the door, watching him as she stood there by the door, wondering what he was doing there.

She gestured towards the other bed with her hand. “Have a seat.”

Daniels glanced at the small bed, then walked around to sit down, facing the brunette. He took a deep breath. “So…in what way do you want me to help you?” he asked plainly.

She folded her arms. “I want you to take inside the CIA headquarters.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Hm…” he said as he stood up. “Welp, I’m gonna go now…”

The woman shook her head in frustration. “Sit down.” she said sternly.

He stopped to look at her in surprised of her tone.

“I said I would make it worth your while, didn’t I?” she reminded him. “At least hear me out.”

He stopped, wondering what her proposal would be, then he slowly made his way back to his seat. “Fine, I’ll listen.” He said. “But sneaking someone into HQ is a bad idea. I would get raked over the fucking coals if we got caught…and I don’t even know what would happen to you.”

“Nothing will happen to me.” she replied confidently. “Not in the long run, anyway.”

“How do you know that?” he asked.

“I just do. I can know anything I want.” she said. “Which is why I need in there. I need to find out what Cody did with my friend.”

“How are you going to do that?” Daniels asked, scratching his cheek.

“You don’t need to worry about that. That’s my department.” the brunette replied. “I just need to get into the place and look like I’m supposed to be there…maybe meet a few people, shake a few hands…”

He looked at her sideways. “You just want to get inside…to meet people?”

“Like I said, what I do once I’m inside is my business.” she said.

Daniels sighed, looking at the floor for a moment. Then he found himself letting his eyes drift up her long, smooth, yet toned legs. He finally chuckled, wondering what her ridiculous plan was. “So why do you think that I could get you in?”

“You and me walk in there together.” she said, very matter-of-factly.

He raised one eyebrow. “Together?” he laughed. “Listen honey, they don’t have ‘take our kids to work day’ at the CIA…”

The brunette reached back with her hands, leaning back on the bed while crossing her legs, almost giving him a brief view of what resided up that short skirt of hers. “I was thinking about a job…” she said in a sly tone.

He straightened up a bit, caught off guard by the statement. “A job?” he replied in confusion.

Just then, something changed in the woman…her face seemed to flush, her breathing changed, becoming deeper and a bit shaky.

Sunset felt it suddenly. She was making progress with Daniels. He was listening to her, and actually entertaining the idea of helping her break into the CIA. The old man, Whooves, was right. This guy had a major bone-to-pick with Cody, and playing that angle was paying off. She had found out his whole situation in the bar...about his wife, his job, about Cody. Sunset cringed at the thought of any woman wanting to sleep with that sleaze-ball, especially since this Daniels guys was much better looking, in Sunset’s opinion.

She felt bad for him, but his situation was actually a good thing because it meant that he was more likely to help her. He would do anything to get back at Cody, and she knew that he knew this was his chance. Daniels hated him with a passion. Cody was a condescending asshole to him whenever he saw him at headquarters, and he would gloat about taking his trophy wife away from him every chance he got. Sometimes, when Cody was in a really aggressive mood, he would even threaten Daniels physically when he had him cornered somewhere in the building with no one else around. And then there was Daniels’ knowledge of the fact that he had to surrender his home to his wife when they separated, as well as their daughter…and when Cody was in town he would stay there, at Daniels’ house, with Daniels’ kid, fucking Daniels’ wife in Daniels’ own bed.

Sunset saw it all when she read him in the bar while she patted him on the back of the neck. She witnessed Cody’s abuse firsthand through Daniels’ thoughts and memories, and it fuelled the brunette’s anger toward the spy who kidnapped Fluttershy even more.

This was it. This guy was going to help Sunset get inside the headquarters as long as she played her cards right. She was supposed to be alone with him here in our motel room so she could do her thing and talk him into it, and I was supposed to be gone out somewhere to avoid ‘distracting’ her…but just as she felt like she was making progress with him, she felt it.

The little spark between her legs, the warm tingle that started to spread through her body, causing her breaths to become shallow after becoming unaccustomed to the constant arousal while being away from me for a few hours.

“Fuck,” she thought, “he’s here…Golds is here! WHY?” Admittedly, she did say she was only going to be gone a couple of hours to accomplish this part of the mission. It should have been easy, go find Daniels, get his attention with the idea of getting rid of Cody, then bring him back here to formulate a plan to get into the CIA with him. Then figure out a deal to pay him back for his help.

The problem was that Whooves had given us the name of the wrong bar, so Sunset had actually spent closer to six hours roaming around the shitty parts of DC, going from one bar to another looking for Daniels while, getting ogled by a half dozen drunken douchebags in the process. It was quite late at night now, almost 1am, in fact…and we were lucky that Daniels was even out still.

I had promised to go out and let her work undistracted, but after so many hours I figured she must have been done by then so I came back to the motel room, tired of wandering around the town of Mclean with nothing to do but worry about being spotted by someone who may have known who I was, even though that scenario was highly unlikely.

I returned to the room to find it empty, wondering where she still could have been…maybe driving him back to DC still…or captured?

I was just wondering those very things when I heard them at the door and ran to find hiding spot. Daniels was CIA after all, and I didn’t want him see me, just in case...

Sunset took a deep breath, trying to relax as she felt the moisture building in the heat of her crease. She tried hard to remember what she had been talking about, then she noticed Daniels looking at her strangely.

“Fuck, where was I?” she thought for a moment, then remembered. “Oh! A job…”

Sunset sat up straight again, trying not to let herself relax too much to avoid becoming even more turned on. “Yeah, a job.” she said, trying to stall a bit as she collected her thoughts so she could get her plan back on track. “Originally, I was just going to apply for a job there, but the process was going to take too long.” she explained.

This was Daniels’ department. He knew all the ins-and-outs of getting a job at HQ. He shook his head in response to hearing her plan. “No, you don’t want to apply for a job…unless you want to get caught. They will investigate you when they receive your application, and judging by how you’re talking, you don’t want them doing that. PLUS, if they reply to you to have you come in, the first thing they do is have you take a polygraph…”

Sunset nodded, closing her eyes. “Yes, I know all that…that’s why I’m not doing it.” she explained. “That’s why I need your help.”

Daniels leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, listening to Sunset as she continued.

“Can you get me a security pass? Like, so I can get in as though I’ve applied and you’ve responded to me and are bringing me in for the next part of the hiring process?” she proposed.

He frowned, then shook his head slowly as he looked back up at her. “No, I can’t do that…but…” he thought for a moment, considering the options that he had available to him. Then he got an idea. ”There are thousands of applicants every week…most of which we don’t even respond to…I could use one of them to make you a security pass in their name, and you’ll have to pretend to be them while you’re there…”

Sunset rubbed her chin. “Don’t they have ways of confirming who I am? Like eye scanners or whatever…”

“Well, no…” he said. “You won’t have to worry about any of that stuff. Applicants are restricted to the main halls and the examination area. The high tech scanners are required to get into the high security areas, like the labs, and so on…so you don’t need to worry about that anyway because you won’t be allowed anywhere near anything that’s restricted.”

She frowned, biting her bottom lip.

Daniels saw her hesitation. “That’s how it is with all applicants.” he shrugged. “You’ll get a basic security pass to get in the doors, and you’ll have to be escorted by me the whole time. Obviously they don’t give applicants high level clearance, so the main halls are less heavily secured to make it possible to let them come in.”

The brunette frowned as she thought about how little movement she would be allowed to have in the building.

Daniels tipped his head, furrowing his brow in confusion. “But I still don’t get what you plan on doing when you get in…obviously you don’t want to take the polygraph…”

She shook her head, waving her hand at him. “No! No, that would be bad…” she replied. “Listen, I just need inside. Like I said, I’ll take care of the rest, but I need to be able to meet people. Can you introduce me to people…like casually?”

He chewed the inside of his cheek. “Maybe a few. You mean like saying: ‘hey, this is so-and-so, she's here for the intern position’ or something like that?”

“Yeah.” she nodded. “Can you do that?”

He took a deep breath, raising his eyebrows and shaking his head at the unlikelihood of her accomplishing anything with this plan. “I guess I could stall for a bit, and take you around the long way, but like I said, you’re basically limited to travelling the halls with me. I can’t take you anywhere restricted…so you’ve basically gotta hope you happen to see whoever you need to see in the main halls…”

She nodded. “That’s the best chance I’ve got so far. Hopefully I can learn what I need to, there’s really no other option for me at this point.”

Daniels pointed at her. “You’re only going to have a small window of time to do this…I can’t walk around the place with you all day…people will get suspicious.”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah I know...but like I said, this is the best plan I have so far.”

“I still don’t get it,” he started saying as he rubbed the back of his neck. “What do you expect to do? You can’t just start asking them about your missing friend…”

Sunset sighed. She knew it would be easier to just tell him that she could read minds, but that was something she wasn’t willing to share with him, not yet anyway. “Look,” she said, trying to think of something to tell him to appease his curiosity. “I have ways of getting information…just…you’ll have to trust me on this.”

He sat for a moment, thinking about the plan. Finally, he looked her in the eyes. “You said you’d make it worth my while. How?”

She took a deep breath, hoping he wouldn’t notice her flushed chest and shoulders. “I can offer you fifty thousand dollars cash…if we pull it off.”

“IF?” he asked. “What if we fail?”

She shrugged. “Then it won’t matter.”

He suddenly sneered at the offer, catching Sunset off-guard. “I make more than that every year. I need more.”

She sighed. “OK. Seventy.” she said. “And I’ll give you twenty tonight, just for coming here and talking to me.”

Daniels sighed, rubbing his chin. Then he looked back at her. “No deal. It’s not worth it to me.”

“Fuck.” Sunset thought, wishing she could think clearer like before. “I wish I wasn’t so fucking turned on right now…where is Golds, anyway? I swear, I’m gonna kick his ass when I find him!”

Then Sunset got an idea. “Wait, my pussy's fucking soaked…I can use this.”

She looked back up at Daniels, lowering her eyelids. “No deal, eh?” she said, standing up slowly. “So when was the last time you got any action?”

His eyes suddenly widened as she approached him. “Uh…” he murmured. “Long t-time…”

She leaned down and put her hands on his shoulders, slowly pushing him down onto his back, then climbed overtop of him. “Maybe, I can add a little bonus on top of the cash…” she offered.

“Bonus?” he squeaked.

She rubbed her hands up and down his chest a few times, then leaned down and gently touched his lips with hers. They both closed their eyes as she let the kiss linger for a moment, then she pulled back and put her nose in against is neck and sniffed one long inhale up to his ear, making him shudder at the feeling of her face and hair drifting over him.

Sunset sat up suddenly, then reached down and hiked her skirt up a bit. She grabbed his hand and placed it against her inner thigh, then slowly ran it up to her crotch.

He could feel the intense heat between her legs on his hand before he was even close to touching it. She brought his hand right up to the top, then used his finger to pull her moist panties to one side.

Daniels gasped when she plunged his finger into her soaking wet crease. His own body responded very quickly, realizing that there was a beautiful woman right on top of him who was ready for action. “Oh baby, you are fucking wet…” he gasped.

“You like that?” she asked.

“Uh…uh huh…” he stammered.

“So…” Sunset said. “Seventy grand…twenty tonight…and if we pull it off, this is all yours.” she pushed his hand harder into her to get the point across. “Now do we have a deal?”

Daniels was unable to do anything but nod. “OK…” he said quietly. “I’ll do it.”

She suddenly stood up, letting go of his hand as she put her feet back onto the floor. “Good.” she said.

He laid there for another moment, staring at the ceiling. He lifted his hand, looking at his glistening finger, feeling the slick juice as it rapidly cooled in the climate-controlled air of the motel room.

“We’d better get you home.” she said, picking up her jacket to put it back on. “It’s late, and you’ve got a job to do tomorrow.” she stopped for a moment, looking at him as he continued to lay there, unsure of what to think. “Plus, you’re pitching a tent big time.” she smirked.

“Huh?” he mumbled quickly, lifting his head to look down at the bulge in his pants. “Shit…”

“Let’s go.” she said one more time.

Sunset and Daniels left the motel room and got into the car to begin driving back to DC. They drove in relative silence until they arrived in the parking lot of Daniels’ apartment and stopped near the front doors.

“Look in the glove box.” Sunset said.

Daniels complied, opening the compartment to find a brown paper bag. He pulled it out and looked inside, finding a few thick stacks of hundred-dollar bills. He took one out to inspect it as she spoke.

“Twenty up front.” she summarised yet again. She had stashed the money in the glove box ahead of time after rehearsing the deal in her head numerous times, figuring he might not take the first offer. She wasn’t keen on the idea of just pulling out the gym bag full of money in front of him to count out twenty grand, so she opted to set things up this way. “You get the other fifty when the job is done. I have it in a safe place, waiting for you.” she paused for a moment, then looked at him with a sensual smirk. “Plus you’ll get your bonus.” she said with a wink.

He nodded, blushing a little bit as he dropped the bundle of cash back into the bag and rolled it closed. “OK so, tomorrow I’ll go in and find an applicant that suits you, then I’ll make you a security pass so you can get in, and I’ll come back here tomorrow evening and let you know what the exact plan is.” he explained.

Sunset shook her head. “Tomorrow’s Friday.” she scowled. “Do you work weekends?”

He shook his head. “No…well I’m on call, but I don’t usually deal with applicants on weekends…it’ll look weird if I bring you in on a Saturday…”

“It has to be tomorrow then.” she said sternly. “I can’t wait until next week.”

“What??” he protested. “That’s not enough time. I can’t-“

“You find an applicant in the morning, make me an ID, then pick me up at my motel at noon. Can you do that?” Sunset ordered.

He shrugged. “I don’t know…I’m not even-“

She cut him off again. “Well if you can’t, then no money, and no pussy.”

Daniels scowled at her, then looked out the passenger window, rubbing his temple. He finally turned back to face her. “I don’t even care about that stuff. All I really want is to see Cody go down…and my ex-wife.”

Sunset shook her head. “I can’t promise to deliver on that.” she said. “I mean, Cody is going down for sure if we pull this off...you can count on that. But your wife…I don’t even know her. There just isn’t time for that.”

He sighed again. “Fine. If you can promise to deal with Cody, plus give me the money and the, uh…bonus, then I’ll see what I can do tomorrow.

“Good.” Sunset nodded. “I’ll be ready for you tomorrow at noon. At my room.”

Daniels opened the car door and put one foot out onto the ground, then he stopped for a moment. “Damn!” he cursed suddenly, leaning back into the seat again, staring at the headliner of the car.

Sunset frowned. “What? What’s the matter?”

He shook his head. “It won’t work…” he said, bringing his foot back inside the car and shutting the door.

Sunset’s heart jumped when she heard the news. “What?” she scowled. “Why not?”

“I forgot about the scanner at the door…” he said flatly as she stared at him. “When you go in the front doors, there’s a scanner that you pass through that looks for weapons, wires or transmitters, and…” he trailed off.

She leaned her face forward towards him. “And?” she forced.

He sighed. “There’s a face scan…to match the applicant to the image in the file that we built from the investigation after they apply.”

Sunset closed her eyes. “Fuck.” she swore, leaning her head on her hand with her elbow on the window sill. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?” she asked, suddenly glaring back at him. “Were you just waiting until you got the money?...Don’t think I can’t just kick your ass and take it back…”

Daniels put his hands up, shaking his head. “No…I forgot about it, I swear.”

Sunset scoffed. “You forgot??”

“Sorry…” he defended. “I’ve got like, eight beers in me…”

She shook her head. “So what now? I can’t go in there under someone else’s identity if they’re gonna scan my face.”

Daniels tipped his head, pursing his lips a bit as he thought about it. “Well, it has been known to be wrong…from time-to-time.”

“From time-to-time?” she repeated. “How often?”

He squinted, holding his hand palm-down and waving it side -to-side. “Ehh…not too too often…but sometimes, because of age or weight changes, facial hair…small factors like that…it occasionally misidentifies people.”

She scowled at him sharply. “How often??” she impatiently asked again.

“Like maybe…four percent of the time…five tops.” he confessed.

Sunset sighed hopelessly. “Five percent…”

Daniels nodded quietly.

Sunset held her hand out. “Give me the money.” she said sternly.

He scowled back at her. “You said I get this just for talking to you!”

Sunset groaned, knowing he was right. She squeezed the bridge of her nose. “Just get the fuck out. No more money, and no pussy for you.”

Daniels shook his head, huffing as he reached for the door handle again.

“And have fun dealing with Cody until you retire…or die.” Sunset jabbed angrily.

This made Daniels pause. He stared out the windshield for a moment before looking back at her with fresh determination in his eyes. “Give me until noon tomorrow.” he said, making Sunset look back at him. “Let me try to figure out something. If I can’t, we’ll figure something out over the weekend…I know you don’t want to wait until Monday, but you might have to if I can’t think of another way to get you in tomorrow. I’ll be at your motel at noon tomorrow like we planned if I come up with something. OK?”

Sunset looked at him despondently. “Fine.” she said, looking down at her lap while shaking her head.

*****

After Sunset dropped him off at his apartment, twenty thousand dollars richer, she turned the car around and headed back out of the city to the motel room in McLean.

When she got back and finished parking the car, she walked hastily to the door of our room, swiped the card and opened the door effortlessly to find me laying on the far bed watching TV.

She shut the door quickly, took her jacket off and threw it onto the table again before turning to face me. “Where the fuck were you?”

I shifted my eyes off of the TV onto the angry brunette. “Under the bed.”

She slapped her hands on top of her head. “Under the-“ she started with a high toned voice. “Which one??”

“That one.” I replied, pointing to the other bed that Daniels had been sitting on. “The one you guys made-out on.”

She let her head droop, rubbing her brows with her fingertips in frustration. “We didn’t really make-out…that was your fault, by the way.”

I scowled at her. “My fault?”

“You weren’t supposed to be here…” she explained angrily.

“I was only here for like fifteen minutes when you guys showed up…I thought you would have been done by then.” I replied before shrugging my shoulders. “What the fuck took you so long anyway??”

She had started to head over to sit on the other bed, but suddenly turned and pointed at me. “The old man gave us the wrong bar.” she said. “I ended up going to like, six places before I found him.”

I groaned, rubbing the side of my face with my hand. “Fuckin old geezer…” I muttered, pausing for a second before looking at the brunette again. “So…are you actually gonna fuck him?”

She rolled her eyes as she sat on the bed. “Ugh…I don’t know.” she said, shaking her head. “I can’t believe I did that…although I probably wouldn’t have if I wasn’t so FUCKING HORNY!” she yelled, glaring at me. “Why the fuck were you under the bed anyway?”

I put my hands behind my head and looked back at the TV. “It was the closest hiding spot I could find. I was right here when you rattled the door…” I said, before pointing at Sunset. “Good thinking by the way, pretending you couldn’t open the door to let me know you were here without having to say anything. Genius.”

She shrugged. “I only did that just in case…I didn’t think you’d actually be here. Then when I was just getting somewhere with him, I could to feel it starting…”

“Sorry.” I said, looking back at the TV.

“Sorry??” she snapped. “Do you know how hard it is to work like that?”

“Hey,” I shrugged. “You got the job done.” I said. “You did awesome, Sunny. Now tomorrow’s the big day, and I know you’re going to do awesome again.”

Sunset smirked at me. “You really think so?”

I nodded. “I know so. You always think you’re not going to be able to do it, but when you’re in the moment, you always rock it.”

She blushed a little bit, then shifted herself up on the bed, leaning her back on the headboard while stretching her legs out. “Well…actually,” she said, folding her arms. “The plan changed a bit after we left here…”

I turned my head to face her. “Huh?”

“Well,” she cringed a bit, not wanting to tell me. “He kind of forgot about the face recognition…”

I exhaled slowly as I stared up at the ceiling. “Wonderful.”

“Well, he did say he was going to try to think of something for tomorrow…and if he does, he’ll be here at noon to take me there.” she explained.

I shook my head. “He is SO not coming.” I said. “And he’s got my twenty grand. We’re wasting our time with this fucking clown, Sunny.”

She shook her head. “Well, either way, I’m going to be ready. Just in case he shows up…”

I shook my head in frustration.

Sunset shrugged. “Well, what then? You got any better ideas?”

I looked over at her, realizing she had a point. “Fine,” I said. “but if he pulls a no-show, I’m going to get my money back.”

“Fine.” Sunset agreed.

We laid in silence for a few moments, then I shrugged. ”Can we trust this guy not to fuck us over?”

She looked at me with a blank stare for a second, then looked down at her feet. “Right now?…yes. I made sure to sneak a read on him once more before he got out of the car. He’s not planning on screwing me over…I mean, he fucking hates Cody with a passion…” she said. “Hopefully he doesn’t change his mind between now and then.”

I nodded. “Hopefully.” I said as I looked over at her again. “This guy doesn’t know who you really are, right?”

She shook her head. “No, of course not.”

“You sure?” I asked.

“I never told him my name…and I don’t know how he’d find out.” she replied.

“I wouldn’t be so sure.” I said. “They have their ways of learning things…”

She took a deep breath. “OK, how about this?” she asked. “Tomorrow, if he comes to pick me up, I’ll read him again to make sure he’s not gonna try anything. If he is, I’ll call it off.”

“Sounds like a plan.” I agreed. “As long as he doesn’t show up here with the fucking cavalry or something…”

Sunset stopped, then turned to look at me with wide eyes.

I looked back at her. “There’s a few different ways tomorrow could play out. Let’s just keep our fingers crossed that it goes well.”

Chapter 55: PARIBT!

Chapter 55

Rainbow Dash was woken up by the sound of her phone ringing. She rolled over slowly, seeing nothing but the colour spectrum with her hair covering her face as she sat up slowly, looking at her phone on the nightstand next to her bed. She cleared the hair from her face and picked the phone up to see who it was.

‘Front Door’

“Ugh…” she groaned. “Who the fuck is here so early?” she wondered, looking at her clock. It was 7:20am. “It’s my fuckin day off…” she groaned, pressing the green icon on the screen to answer it. “Yeah?”

“OH! It’s Rarity, darling.” the voice over the phone replied cheerfully. “Are you off today?”

Dash groaned. “Yeah, Rare…last Friday of every month. You know that.”

“Splendid! May I come up and have a word?” the fashionista asked.

Dash paused for a second, looking at the floor. “Is this about Fluttershy? Have you heard back from Golds and Sunset yet?”

“Uh…no, unfortunately. They have chosen to remain silent during their trip unless they have something very important to pass on.” Rarity replied. “May I please come up?”

Dash sighed, rolling her eyes. “Fine.” she said before holding her phone down and hitting the number six key to buzz the front door to her apartment building open. She ended the call as she got up from her bed, stretching her small, yet toned arms in the air.

“OOHH…” she groaned, feeling a persistent ache in her back and arms as she walked out of her bedroom. She was wearing a small pair of shorts and a white t-shirt with a multi-coloured lightning bolt on it that was coming out of a cloud.

She could tell pretty quickly that she didn’t feel right, her stomach was turning as she crossed her messy living room, heading for the front door to meet her pale-skinned friend. She stopped next to the multitude of trophies that adorned the large shelf next to the hall that led to her bedroom, feeling her stomach turn even harder as she looked at the evidence of the previous night’s supper…a large, brown paper bag with a pair of golden arches on it.

“Oohh…” she groaned softly, crossing her little blue arms across her stomach. “I guess this is what I get for having McDick’s three nights in a row…” she thought as she felt her gag reflex kicking in, then turned and ran to her bathroom.

Dash rammed the door open with her shoulder and dove over the toilet, putting her head down and emptying her stomach into the porcelain bowl. She heaved like this for a few minutes, then when it finally seemed to stop she sat up and grabbed some toilet paper to wipe her face off.

Then she heard a knock at the door.

“Aww fuck, Rarity…” she whispered, spitting some stray chunks into the toilet before getting back up to check herself in the mirror. Her entire body ached now, but at least her stomach had settled a bit for the moment.

There was another knock at the door. “Rainbow Dash? Did you fall asleep again??” Rarity’s voice called out from the hall.

“Hang on!” Dash yelled back weakly, glancing at herself in the mirror one more time before heading out to answer the door.

When she opened the door, Rarity came walking in at full place and began to speak immediately. “Good morning, darling. I’m sorry to bother you so early, but I have a-“

The fashionista stopped suddenly when she noticed how messy Dash’s apartment was.

“What a complete pig sty!” the indigo-haired girl huffed, looking around the place.

Dash shrugged. “I haven’t had time to clean…” she said, lazily rubbing the side of her aching head.

Rarity gave her a dubious look. “You know you have super speed, right darling?”

Dash cringed a little, rubbing the back of her neck. “Oh, yeah…well actually, the thing about that is, uh fuck you.”

Rarity huffed, rolling her eyes. “Real mature, Rainb-“ she stopped when she turned to look at her blue-skinned friend, who was a much paler shade of blue than usual. “My goodness! Are you feeling OK?” she asked.

Dash shrugged. “A bit under the weather…”

Rarity wrinkled her nose when Dash spoke, smelling the putrid breath that came from the blue-skinned girl’s mouth. ”Did you get sick to your stomach??”

Dash nodded. “Yeah…just now.”

Rarity tilted her head, looking at her friend with concern. “Oh my, darling. This is no good…you need to get yourself to bed. I can find someone else to come with me today.”

Dash looked up at her friend. “Come with you? Where are you going?”

“Oh, I have to go to the city to pick up an order of materials for my latest line.” Rarity explained. “My supplier had to get it from a special manufacturer, but now they’re refusing to ship it to me unless it’s sent special courier with full insurance…which is dreadfully expensive. So, I’m going myself to pick it up.”

“So what did you need me for?” Dash asked, rubbing her face with her hands.

“I was looking for someone to help me load and unload the truck…” the fashionista replied.

Dash looked back at Rarity with an eyebrow raised. “Truck?”

“Why yes, darling.” Rarity replied, giving her hair a flip with her fingertips. “I can’t fit it all in my car, so I was going to take Golds' truck.”

Dash snorted. “Are you serious?”

Rarity scowled. “Why not? He’s obviously not using it right now…”

“Yeah, but Rarity…” Dash started. “If I know Golds like I think I do, and you fuck up his truck…it won’t matter if you’re immortal, he will find a way to kill you.”

Rarity stuck her nose up. “Nonsense, darling. The truck will be just fine. Besides, he would never lay a hand on me. I have him wrapped around my little finger.”

The blue girl shook her head. “Oh yeah? That’s why he left you here and took Sunset with him to go get Fluttershy?”

Rarity instantly had a look of hurt in her eyes, making Dash feel bad right away for her statement.

“Sorry, Rare. I didn’t mean that.” she apologized.

Rarity took a deep breath and forced a smile. “It’s quite alright. Now you mustn’t worry about it, you need to get to bed this instant! Would you like me to bring you something to drink?”

Dash shook her head. “No. I doubt I can keep anything down right now anyway. I’m just gonna go lay down.” she replied, slowly heading back to her bedroom. “Sorry Rare, I would totally come with you today, but I feel like major shit.” she said, turning back to her friend.

“OK then, darling.” Rarity concluded. “Feel better!” she said as she turned to head for the door.

“Later, Rare.” Dash’s weak voice came out from her bedroom as she crawled back into her bed.

*****

Once outside in the parking lot, Rarity got back into her car to think about what she was going to do. She was expecting to have Rainbow Dash with her today to help out, but now that the athlete was sick, she was going to have to go alone. It wasn’t so much that she actually needed help to load the truck, she could do it by herself...and truth be told, there were probably some guys at the supplier’s loading dock who would help her, but Rarity had been feeling very alone that week spending her nights all alone, and she really just longed for the company of a good friend during the seemingly endless drive to the city.

She sat in her car, looking down at her phone to check the time. “7:35…” she thought. “Who else is there? Twilight is away at school…Applejack will almost certainly be busy at the farm…”

Rarity looked out at the street after hearing a car honk, then back down at her lap, straightening out her purple skirt with her hands. “That leaves only Pinkie Pie…who is probably still in bed.”

She took a deep breath, resting her index finger thoughtfully on her chin as she stared out of the windshield. Pinkie wasn’t the best person to be stuck in a vehicle with for hours on end, but at that point Rarity was desperate to have company, no matter who it was. She hadn’t spent as much time alone with Pinkie during the past couple years since the bubbly girl had moved out to the country with her parents, not to mention the fashionista being so busy with running the boutique full time.

Rarity finally nodded to herself. “Pinkie Pie it is.” she thought to herself as she started her car and headed out of the parking lot to make the drive to the Pie residence.

*****

An hour later, Rarity pulled up and parked in front of the big white country house where the Pie family lived. She got out of her car and headed for the front door.

She knocked gently when she reached the door, then waited for someone to answer. After a moment, there was a click, followed by the door opening to reveal Pinkie’s father. His eyes lit up at the sight of the fashionista when he saw her standing there on his front step.

“Ah, Miss Rarity.” he greeted, scratching his mutton chop. “I am pleased to see you once again at our humble dwelling, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company on this fine morning?”

Rarity smiled in return. “It is good to see you again, Igneous. It has been too long.” she replied. “Is Pinkie Pie home?”

He nodded slowly. “She slumbers as we speak, however you are free to wake her if you wish to try.” he answered, stepping aside to let Rarity enter.

“Thank you, sir.” she said, slipping her boots off and heading up the stairs.

“Good morning, darling!” Rarity greeted loudly as she entered Pinkie’s room, causing the curly-haired girl to sit up suddenly in her bed, frantically shouting:

“NODON’TPUTTHATDIDGERIDOOINMYASSCAPTAINCRUNCH!!!”

Rarity paused, glaring at the pink girl in shock. “My goodness, darling! What an earth were you dreaming about??”

Pinkie blinked a few times, trying to focus on who had busted in her room so early in the morning. “Rarity??” she said in a scratchy voice, rubbing her eyes first, followed by a stretch.

“In the flesh, darling.” the fashionista replied.

“What are you doing here?” Pinkie asked, shaking her head to wake herself up, followed by her eyes suddenly opening wide. “Did you hear something about Fluttershy???”

Rarity paused. “Unfortunately no, Pinkie Pie. Nothing yet.”

Pinkie’s head drooped down. “Ohh…” she moaned sadly.

“Not to worry,” Rarity reassured her. “We’ve got the best in the world on the case. They’ll have her back before you know it.”

Pinkie hugged her legs against her chest, resting her chin on her knees. “Poor Fluttershy…” she mumbled, rocking back and forth gently.

“Now then,” Rarity started. “We need to get you ready for our trip today. You didn’t have plans, did you?”

Pinkie shook her head. “Only to sleep in…”

“Well, get up and get dressed! We’re going to the city!” Rarity said cheerfully.

Pinkie perked up. “Road trip??? Are we going to visit Twilight at school?” she asked, throwing the covers off and kicking her feet over the side of the bed.

“Not exactly,” Rarity replied, “I would think Twilight is busy at school today anyway. I have to pick up a material order from my supplier, one that they refused to ship through the usual delivery system.”

Pinkie yawned. “Why do you need me to come then?”

“It’s a rather large order.” Rarity answered. “We’ll be going in Golds' truck and I need an extra hand to load the boxes into the back.”

Pinkie stopped suddenly, raising an eyebrow . “Did he say you could take his truck?”

“Well, not exactly…” Rarity replied, rubbing the back of her neck, giggling nervously.

Pinkie stood up as she continued. “Cuz if you mess it up, it won’t matter if you’re immortal, he-“

Rarity cut her off. “Yes I know, darling. He’ll find a way to kill me.” she said flatly, spinning on her heel. “Let’s go!”

Pinkie gave a big stretch next to the bed, then followed the fashionista to her closet to get dressed for the day. She put on her usual pink skirt and white shirt with the heart on it, covered by the little blue jacket. She took a few minutes to puff up her hair, then headed downstairs with her purple-haired friend.

Pinkie took a few moments to make herself a coffee…one that consisted of only half a mug of black coffee, then seven spoons of sugar, followed by half a cup of cream, then a pile of whipped cream on top, followed by chocolate sprinkles, then a dash of cinnamon…then a brownie…and finally, an Oreo cookie to top it off.

Rarity sat at the large island in the wooden kitchen, shaking her head as she watched her understandably pudgy friend eat the treat rather quickly. Then they headed out the door to Rarity’s car, got in and drove to Fluttershy’s house where the truck was parked.

When they pulled in the driveway, Rarity parked beside the big blue Dodge, then went to unlock the front door of the house to go inside to find my keys. She found them on the nightstand beside the bed and grabbed them up to head outside.

She paused at the door just before the stepped out, looking sadly into the quiet house…abandoned and empty looking with its owner missing, taken somewhere by a man who had no business in this country kidnapping young, innocent women. Rarity forced herself to leave before the lump in her throat became too strong…her heart wanted to believe that the shy girl was there, waving and saying hello in her soft, sweet voice, but it just wasn’t so. Rarity knew the truth in her mind. The house was quiet and empty.

She went back outside to unlock the truck so both girls could climb in. They shut the doors, then buckled up their seatbelts in silence as they stared at their friend’s house.

Pinkie looked at the fashionista with a heavy heart. “Is it super-duper sad in there?” she said in an uncharacteristically quiet voice.

Rarity looked back at her for a moment, then nodded. “Yes…it is, darling.” she replied quietly. “I miss her, Pinkie Pie.”

Pinkie stuck her bottom lip out. “Me too.”

They sat for a moment, then Rarity suddenly shook her head. “Well, Pinkie Pie…we mustn’t dwell on that…Fluttershy would not want us to be despondent like this. It’s already after 9:30 and we must get going.”

Pinkie giggled. “Okie-dokie-lokie!” she said with a fresh dose of excitement. “This is so exciting! A road trip with Paribt!”

Rarity glanced at the pink girl as she slid the key into the ignition. “Paribt? Whatever does that mean?

“Paribt!” Pinkie repeated. “Pinkie Pie and Rarity in the big truck!”

Rarity raised her eyebrows when she realized the acronym. “Ah yes. Quite so, darling.” she said as she turned the key, cranking over the big diesel until it fired up, shaking the whole truck as a black puff floated out from the tailpipe and flew off into the trees.

“Whoa! Haha!” Pinkie giggled at the sudden noise. “B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b…” Her lips were flapping as she imitated the sound of the loud engine.

“Pinkie Pie!” Rarity scolded. “You’re spraying his dash board!”

The pink girl gasped. “Oops!” she said, reaching out to wipe her spit droplets off the glove box.

Rarity reached for the column shifter, pulling it down to reverse. Since that truck had been modified for extra power, the transmission was built to withstand it, which means certain comforts had to be sacrificed…like a smooth engagement into gear for example.

The blue machine slammed into reverse, causing Rarity’s eyes to pop open wide. “Ooh!” she squeaked as she looked over her shoulder to do a three-point turn to leave the driveway. She dropped the shifter into drive, which prompted the truck to hammer into forward gear, and she steered the noisy blue hulk to the end of Fluttershy’s driveway. She stopped to look both ways, then lightly pressed the throttle to accelerate towards Canterlot, which they had to pass through before continuing onto the freeway to the big city.

The engine clattered noisily as they came up to speed, the gentle whistle of the turbo barely audible as Rarity accelerated cautiously, not being used to driving such a big machine.

“My goodness!” she huffed. “How does Golds drive this monstrosity everyday??” She had trouble keeping it centered in the lane, due to the old solid front axle design, a sloppy and outdated system that had been abandoned for the most part on modern vehicles.

“Hey look!” Pinkie shouted suddenly. “He’s got a Bluetooth stereo in here!” she said, pulling out her phone, then turning on the radio. She put on some of the music that she had on her phone, listening with the volume fairly high to drown out the noise of the engine.

After a few songs, Rarity turned the radio down a bit to talk to her friend. “So Pinkie Pie, how have things been lately? It’s been a while since just you and I have spent time together…”

Pinkie shrugged. “Meh…just working, doing parties…you know. You? What’s it like not sleeping?”

Rarity shook her head, keeping her eyes on the road. “You get used to it, darling…but time sure does slow down. The last five months have gone by so dreadfully slow…”

Pinkie nodded. “I can’t imagine it…I love to sleep in…”

“Yes, I can tell…” Rarity said flatly. “Oh, how I miss my beauty sleep…”

The pink girl rolled her eyes. “Oh Rarity…you’re the last person who needs beauty sleep…you always look amazing!”

“Oh, why thank you.” Rarity said, glancing at Pinkie with a smirk. “So, how have you been doing with your magic? Are you able to control it fairly well these days?”

Pinkie nodded. “Yeah, pretty good.” she replied, holding up her phone. “This is the longest I’ve ever had the same phone…”

The fashionista raised her eyebrows. “That’s excellent to hear, Pinkie Pie. Good for you.”

Pinkie put her phone down, pausing for a moment before she suddenly lowered her eyelids, smirking slightly, making Rarity worry about what she was thinking.

“Hey Rare…” she said in a sneaky tone.

“Yes?” Rarity replied cautiously.

“You wanna hear my invention idea?” Pinkie asked.

“Invention, Darling? I’d love to hear about it.” the fashionista replied.

“Well…” Pinkie continued. “I like to take long shits, right?”

Rarity’s expression changed very suddenly. “Oh...uh-huh…”

“But sometimes I get lonely being in there for so long…so I was thinking…” Pinkie explained.

Rarity kept her eyes planted on the road, nervous about where this story was going.

“What if I had, like…a double toilet!” the pink-skinned girl shouted excitedly, throwing her hands in the air.

Rarity glanced at her with her nose scrunched. “I beg your pardon, darling…did you say double toilet? As in…a two seater?”

Pinkie nodded excitedly. “Yeah! Then we could sit a take shits together and talk n stuff...” she paused for a moment, looking at Rarity with an eyebrow raised. “You still take shits, don’t you Rare?”

Rarity ducked her head a bit at the question. “Well…” she replied reluctantly. “I still eat, so…what goes in must come out, I suppose.”

Pinkie giggled with delight at her answer. “Yay! When I get the prototype built, you and me can try it out!”

Rarity cringed. “Uhh..maybe something like that would be a bit more suited to uh, Applejack’s tastes…”

The curly-haired girl shook her head. “No…I already asked her. She told me to go piss up a rope…which I tried, but it turns out pissing up a rope is REALLY hard!”

Rarity cocked an eyebrow at her friend. “Pinkie Pie…that’s just an expression. You can’t really expect to pee up a length of rope…what would you be expecting to accomplish? How would you even know if it was working??”

Pinkie shrugged. “I dunno…”

They sat in silence for a few seconds, then Pinkie’s eyes suddenly became wide with excitement as she let out a loud gasp. She reached across the cab to grab Rarity’s shoulder and shake it wildly.

“Hey!” she shouted. “What about…” she shifted her eyes side-to-side in a shady manner. “…a toilet couch?”

“What??”

“Yeah! Then we could ALL sit together, take shits and hang out!” Pinkie proclaimed. “What do you think??”

The fashionista grimaced as she glanced at the pink girl. “I think that’s disgusting, darling.” she said flatly.

*****

After passing through Canterlot in the noisy truck, they continued onward to the north, heading for the freeway that leads to the big city. Pinkie was still talking up a storm as Rarity continued to struggle with handling the big old machine.

“So anyway…” Pinkie was saying, “There are three main ingredients to a Michael Bay movie…One: Explosions…Two: American flags…Three: Statutory rape…” she chattered on, putting her fingers up as she counted.

“Yes yes that’s nice, darling.” Rarity mumbled absent-mindedly as she slowed down to enter the on-ramp to the freeway.

She slowly headed around the ramp, watching the oncoming traffic as she merged into the outer lane. Just as she crossed the line, she saw a car coming up on their tail quite quickly in the rearview mirror.

“Oh shoot!” Rarity cursed. “That car was a lot closer than I thought…” She decided to accelerate as quickly as she could to avoid holding up traffic, so she floored the accelerator, cringing as the car behind them crept up closer.

Both girls were caught well off-guard when the big turbo suddenly screamed in anger from under the hood and both rear tires erupted in a cloud of white tire smoke, spinning hard as the loud engine became its own version of Mr. Hyde, causing the old truck to spin around, facing the way it came. Both girls screamed in panic as they skidded sideways across four lanes of traffic, making other cars swerve and honk as Rarity stepped on the brake, locking up all four wheels, finally bringing the truck to rest on the far shoulder, facing the opposite direction of traffic.

Rarity was breathing hard as the shock of what just happened set in. The engine clattered innocently as they sat idling on the shoulder as other cars drove by, the drivers glaring at her as they passed.

“Uh, sorry!” she said, waving through the window at them. “Oh, they can’t hear me…” she mumbled to herself. Rarity rubbed her face, then started to speak again. “My goodness, darling! What on earth was-“

She stopped when she saw Pinkie, who’s face was now the same colour as Rarity’s…with eyes as big as saucers, her hands clenched to the seat and the grab handle above the door.

Rarity gasped. “Oh Pinkie Pie! Are you OK? I’m so sorry…I didn’t mean to scare you. I was not expecting that to happen…”

Pinkie shifted her eyes to look at Rarity. “I’m gonna need that double toilet now…” she said quietly.

Rarity rolled her eyes with a smirk. “Oh Pinkie Pie…always the joker, aren’t you?”

The colour started to return to the curly-haired girl as she slowly let go of her grip on the handles.

“Shall we continue?” Rarity asked.

Pinkie nodded. “Y-yeah…” she said with a nervous giggle.

When there was a clearing in the traffic, Rarity pulled a U-turn and continued on down the road. She had been fairly timid with driving this truck during the whole drive so far, up until just a minute ago when she floored it and lost control, and she was now being cautious again as she gently accelerated to speed.

“Hmmm…” she thought. “Obviously Golds has done something to this machine to give it a little bounce in its step…I wonder what would happen if I try it with a little more control?”

Pinkie was starting to drone on again about something as Rarity glanced down at the speedometer, then slowly pushed the throttle down more, letting the machine pick up speed slowly…then she gave it a little more…then a little more…and before she knew it, the turbo was whistling loudly again, the engine roaring as she changed lanes non-stop, weaving in and out of traffic, passing other cars left and right.

“Oh my! This is exhilarating!” she howled as Pinkie stopped talking to grab onto the handles for safety again.

“Rarity…Rarity…slow down…” Pinkie stuttered nervously. “RARITY! LOOK OUT!”

Rarity suddenly yanked the wheel to swerve around another car as she floored the throttle again, lunging them forward.

“Oh, Pinkie Pie!” Rarity complained. “You of all people, trying to put a stop to the fun!”

Pinkie shook her head frantically, gritting her teeth. “Not fun…I’m not immortal…please don’t kill me!”

Rarity waved her off. “Oh pish-posh, darling! I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun!”

“RARITY! PLEASE SLOW THE FUCK DOWN!”

*****

They finally arrived in the big city…in one piece…and they pulled into the large warehouse lot with the fancy clothing store in front. The place was very clean and classy looking, with a large red tapestries around the front, and even the back of the warehouse where the loading doors were had nice paint and trim work. This place was quite prestigious, the owner of which ran the store in front, as well as the material supply warehouse out back. On top of that, he published his own magazine and was a well respected columnist and fashion reviewer.

Rarity pulled up alongside the loading bay as the owner came out of the back door to meet them, not looking very impressed.

He was a tall slender man, with grayish-blue skin and white hair, which was styled in somewhat of a bee-hive with two hooked-shaped locks hanging down the left side of his face. He was wearing purple aviator sunglasses with a white dress shirt and a black vest, topped off with a red ascot.

He walked out toward the noisy blue truck as it sat there idling, slapping the hood angrily as he approached. “Now see here! What is the meaning of this??” he shouted over the noise if the engine. “Get this monstrosity out of here! This is not a McGillacuddy’s!”

The engine suddenly stopped, shaking the whole truck as it came to rest. Then the driver’s door opened, and out stepped the indigo-haired fashionista. “Good day to you, Hoity-Toity!”

He stopped suddenly, gasping as he gave a slight bow when he realized he'd just scolded one of his best customers. “Oh! Uh, Miss Rarity! My apologies, I did not expect to see you in such a…contraption.”

“This truck has been loaned to me by a very dear friend of mine, darling. I’ve come for the order I placed yesterday, and I needed something large enough to bring it all back in one trip.” she explained.

He bowed his head. “Yes, I understand. Excellent choice, Miss Rarity.” he said, clearing his throat.

She put her finger up as she turned to head for the door of the warehouse. “Oh, and I don’t think the owner of this vehicle would be very appreciative of you slapping his hood…”

He paused. “Yes. Quite so. My apologies.” he replied as he heard the other truck door open. He turned to see the pink girl walk around the back of the vehicle, then lean on the tailgate. “Ah, Miss Pie. So happy to see you again.” he greeted.

“Yeah you are.” she replied with a grin. “What’s goin on, Toits?”

He had his arms folded behind his back as he stepped closer to her. “Oh, a little of this, a little of that…now if you’ll excuse me, I must go help Miss Rarity.”

“Sure thing!” Pinkie replied with a playful wink.

Hoity-Toity entered the back door of the warehouse to find Rarity inspecting the stack of large boxes that were waiting for her. “I don’t usually ask this, Miss Rarity…but what on earth are you placing an order like this for?”

Rarity continued to check over the boxes, replying to him without looking in his direction. “It’s for a new project, darling.”

Hoity-Toity nodded. “I see, well I won’t presume that you will be giving away any of your secrets before your big reveal, so I won’t ask for any more details, however I will say that having to deal with the manufacturer of these materials is most unpleasant…”

Rarity smiled as she gave him a quick glance. “And it is most appreciated, I assure you.” she said, moving on to check another one of the boxes. “Did you get the thread as well?”

He gestured to one of the other boxes. “Most definitely, Miss Rarity. It is all here, everything you asked for. I believe the thread is in that one there.”

Rarity stood up, taking one last look at the boxes before heading to the door to call for Pinkie to come help carry the boxes out to the truck. Then she turned back to her supplier one more time. “I thank you, Hoity-Toity. This is quite excellent.”

He bowed his head at the fashionista. “Anything for the very best of customers.”

It took Pinkie and Rarity about fifteen minutes to load up all the boxes, then Rarity settled up the hefty bill in the office with Hoity-Toity before she and Pinkie climbed back into the truck to begin their return trip to Canterlot.

Hoity-Toity pinched his nostrils shut as the noisy truck started up again, pouring its strong smelling exhaust into the yard as the girls drove out to the edge of the parking lot. He watched as the blue truck turned right onto the street, then suddenly began to roar loudly, accompanied by the loud whistle of the turbo and the screeching of tires as it sped away, leaving a cloud of white tire smoke in its wake.

He turned to his assistant, furrowing his eyebrows. “Did Miss Rarity seem…different to you today??” he asked, inquisitively.

The assistant simply shook his head in response.

Author's Note

*Chapter 56: Sunset's Mission

Chapter 56

It was now Friday, September 30th, in McLean, Virginia.

Sunset Shimmer was looking at herself in the mirror of our motel bathroom. She had gotten herself ready in case of the unlikely event that Agent Daniels would actually show up with a plan of some sort.

Her brunette hair was done up in a loose bun like Rarity had shown her. She had on the dark gray business suit jacket with the silky white blouse underneath and the short, dark pencil skirt finishing it off. She looked like she belonged at the CIA. She gave herself a little nod of approval, trying not to let on to me that she was nervous about what she might be about to undertake if Daniels actually came up with a plan and came to pick her up.

That is, if he didn’t end up screwing us over instead.

I was in the main room, watching out the window, waiting to see if Daniels was actually going to show up. I glanced over at the clock radio next to the bed to check the time. “12:27.” I shook my head. “I knew this guy was going to be a dead end.”

Just as I was thinking that, a dark gray car pulled into the parking lot. I watched it closely as it parked and sat for a moment, then finally a dark-haired man in a suit got out and started heading towards our room.

“Well suck my dick and call me happy…” I said in disbelief. “He actually showed.” I turned around and headed for the bathroom to tell Sunset. “Hey Sunny, you’re not gonna believe this, but he’s here.”

“WHAT??” she cried, coming out of the bathroom one step to look at me with her eyes peeled wide open. After becoming used to the idea of him not showing up, she was now very nervous about what his plan might be, and what he might have her doing.

“It’s OK,” I reassured her, “This is good…”

She huffed frantically and went back into the bathroom to check her appearance once more.

I stepped up behind her, looking at her in the mirror, brushing a bit of lint off her shoulders. “You look good, Sunny. You’re gonna rock it today, I know it.”

She looked at me in the mirror with her beautiful aqua eyes, forcing a smile as she let out a shaky exhale. “I hope so. I’ll do my best.” she said softly. “For Flutters.”

I nodded and smiled back at her. Admittedly, I was nervous for her. I was, after all, sending her into the lion’s den…a place I desperately wanted to go with her to, but I just couldn’t. If someone recognised me, the whole thing would be blown.

Just then, were heard a knock at the door.

I turned to the brunette spy. “OK Sunny, you’re up. Good luck.” I said, giving her a small hug.

She smiled back, then nervously went to the door to answer it while I closed myself in the bathroom.

She opened the door, revealing Daniels standing there, looking pretty much the same as he did the night before.

She frowned a bit, looking at him sideways. “You good?”

He nodded. “Yup. We’re a go. If you have a cell phone, leave it here.” he said, turning quickly to head back to his car as she took her phone from her pocket and tossed it on the bed. He moved away so quickly she didn’t get a chance to touch him to see if he was planning a betrayal, and now she was walking behind him, trying to catch up. He was still walking too fast, and Sunset would have to actually run to be able to get close enough to reach out and touch him, which she knew would have looked suspicious, so she decided she would have to wait until they were in the car.

Once inside, he gave her a quick glance, then a little smirk.

She sat in the passenger seat of his car and closed the door, looking back at him, waiting for him to speak. “So?” she asked, wondering what he was thinking.

“I got something.” he said, looking a bit smug.

She nodded. “OK. Good. Let’s hear it.”

He reached into a leather case full of documents in the middle seat between them and started sifting through it. “I looked through a few files early this morning and I found one that was pretty interesting…”

“Oh?” she listened.

“Oh yes, Miss Sunset Shimmer.” he said, glancing up at her.

Sunset’s entire body seized up. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and her heart started thumping like a hammer in her chest. “Oh fuck…I am SO busted…how did they know about me? Did Cody spy on me??”

Without taking her eyes off of Daniels, she slowly reached for the door handle to try and make her escape as he spoke again.

“At least, that’s what we’re calling you for today.” he said. “So you’ll have to get used to it.”

She stopped, her brows furrowed in confusion.

He continued rummaging through the case of files as he spoke. “She applied about a month ago, we weren’t going to consider her because she’s still quite young, and we generally like to see people with more experience, but her resume is quite impressive. Graduated high school with honors, valedictorian of her class…some post secondary education…” he continued. “She has a pilot’s license, spent a few years with the US Air Force working with new recruits, training, counselling…she seems to display a very high level of aptitude in everything that she does…it’s a shame that she didn’t have more experience, like I said.”

Sunset was staring at him, not knowing what to think, or who he was talking about.

“But,” he continued. “You wouldn’t believe how similar she looks to you. It’s almost scary.” He finally found the file he was looking for, pulled it out and opened it. He flipped through a few pages, then paused when he found what he was after. “Ah.” he said, lifting up the sheet of paper to show it to her.

Sunset thought her head was going to explode when she saw the photo of the applicant. She instinctively lifted her hand to cover her mouth, but stopped herself so as not to give away to Daniels that she was so shocked, which was proving to be difficult with her eyes bugging out of her head the way they were.

The woman in the picture was very pretty, like Sunset. With big, aqua coloured eyes, and long wavy hair tied up in a bun, coloured in bright red with streaks of yellow all through it.

“Holy sweet mother-fucking Celestia…” she thought. “She’s ME…er, the other me…you have GOT to be kidding…”

Daniels smiled as he turned the photo to look at it himself again. “She literally looks exactly like you, except her hair is a different colour than yours…” he said. “But that’s no big deal…hair dye is a common thing these days.”

Sunset reached up absentmindedly, gently touching her hair with her palm. “Oh, yeah…hair dye…” she repeated in a daze.

He continued. “The next part is up to you, if you want to take the chance…”

She snapped out of her zombie state to focus on the agent again. “Uh, what chance?”

“The facial scan…” he replied. “I know I said it’s only wrong about four or five percent of the time, but I think you have a pretty good chance of beating it with this face on file…but I’ll let you make that decision.”

“Yes!” she shouted more enthusiastically than she meant to, then backed down a bit, not wanting to look so sure of herself and risking him figuring out that she was a perfect double of this girl, or possibly thinking she was her and was pulling some kind of trick on him...

Sunset knew that the plan would work now. Daniels hadn’t learned who she was, it was her human counterpart who applied and Daniels had unknowingly chosen her to take her own place. What were the odds of such a thing? Now she was legitimately going in as herself…almost.

“Are you sure?” he confirmed. “If it doesn’t work, you’re gonna be up shit creek without a paddle in there…”

“I’ll take the chance.” she said, getting her thoughts back in order again. “Shit…I need to read him to be sure this is the real deal…” she thought. “Did you make me an ID?” she asked him.

“Oh,” he replied, closing the file and slipping it back into his bag. “Yeah…right here.” He took out a name tag with a clip on it. “This has your temporary code key in it. You clip it on your jacket and wear it as a name tag. Nice suit by the way.”

He held it out to her. Sunset looked it over as she slowly reached her hand out to take it. It had her name on it, with a couple smaller numbers underneath that she didn’t know the meaning of, and there was a small photo on the left side, showing her with the brown hair.

“I modified the photo we have on file so the hair is the same colour as yours, so no one who sees you today will ask questions about it.” he explained. “The image in the system still has her red hair, but it won’t matter as long as the facial scan passes.”

Sunset nodded, taking the tag from him, making sure her fingers touched his briefly as he passed it to her. She felt a wave of relief wash over her when she saw his thoughts and realized the entire thing was legitimate. They were going in, she was going as herself, and there was almost no way she could be discovered as someone she wasn't claiming to be.

She clipped it on the lapel of her jacket as he handed her a piece of paper with a number on it.

“Memorize that number.” he instructed. “That’s her social security number. You’ll need it to know it.”

She nodded. “Got it.”

They drove from McLean to the headquarters, taking the left turn from the highway onto the road leading up to the main building. They had to stop at a small building about two-thirds of the way along, where a guard came to the window and looked over their IDs.

“Afternoon, Daniels…” the guard said. “Who do you have with you today?” he asked, looking at Sunset.

“Uh, this is Sunset Shimmer…” Daniels replied. “She applied for the internship, I’m just taking her in to do her exams and getting her security clearance done up.”

“Social security number please, ma'am?” the guard asked, looking at Sunset.

Sunset recited the number she had just learned to him, and he turned to face the screen at his work station.

The guard nodded, then looked at Sunset. “Excellent. Thank you. We’re always looking for good people. Hopefully we’ll be seeing you around on a more permanent basis.”

“Absolutely.” Sunset nodded with a confident smile.

“OK. You’re clear to go ahead.“ the guard said, waving them along. “Have a good afternoon, guys.”

“You too.” Daniels nodded as he drove away towards the main parking lot.

Sunset slowly exhaled as she watched the huge building come into view after Daniels made a left turn to go find a parking spot. They found a space in the middle of the ocean of shiny cars and got out to start walking towards the main building. The property was huge, almost the size of McLean itself and therefore took a very long time to walk to the front of the building. Sunset was focused on the front entrance as they walked towards the building along the brick path with other paths intersecting it, surrounded by grass and flower beds. There was a huge white archway perched atop the two large, square pillars that were erected on either side of the wide, multi-door entrance with a grid of tall, bluish-coloured windows above, filling up the archway.

She was instinctively starting head towards the doors, following along the path surrounded by flower gardens when Daniels spoke up.

“Not there.” he said in a low tone. ”We’ll go around to the old entrance, take the long way so we can cross paths with as many people as we can for you to meet. That’s what you wanted, right?”

Sunset nodded. “OK, yeah. Good idea.”

They turned right, following along the sidewalk along to the south side of the building. The place was huge, and it seemed to take an eternity to walk around it. As they passed the piece of the Berlin Wall, which was kept in the yard on the south side of the building, they finally crossed paths with someone.

Daniels nodded to the man. “Casey, how’s it going?”

“Afternoon Daniels, I’m good.” he replied.

“Uh, this is Sunset Shimmer…” Daniels said somewhat hastily. “She’s here for the intern position.”

“Nice to meet you, Miss Shimmer. Welcome aboard.” Casey said as he walked past them.

Sunset smiled, then looked awkwardly at Daniels once Casey was out of sight.

“How was that? Is that what you’re after?” Daniels asked, looking at her, wondering why she was looking at him weird.

Sunset shook her head. “No, no…that’s no good. I have to touch them…”

Daniels cocked his eyebrows. “What? Why?”

Sunset rubbed her temples. “Look, I can’t do what I need to do unless I can touch them…even something as small as a handshake will do.”

He shook his head. “I don’t get it.”

“Just…listen, Daniels.” she said, rolling her eyes. “This is what I need to do…to find out what I need to know.”

He looked at her sideways. “Is it some sort of device that you’re using?”

She paused, then looked at him. “Yeah…it gathers information for me…” she lied while nodding slowly.

Daniels shook his head. “The scanners will pick it up…you didn’t tell me you were going to sneak some kind of device in here. We might have to call this off….”

Sunset shook her head frantically. “No! It’s been, uhh…extensively tested…it’s undetectable by every scanning technology we…I mean, I tried…” she explained, knowing full well that no such device would be detected since she was actually using her magic.

Daniels looked uneasy. “Are you sure?”

Sunset closed her eyes. “Just…please. Do you really think I would have come this far if I wasn’t sure? It’s going to be fine. OK?”

He paused for a moment, then shook his head. “OK. But if shit starts going down, you’re on your own.”

She nodded. “It’ll be fine.” she said as they started walking again.

“You don’t plan on broadcasting anything from inside do you?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No. Why?”

“Because every door and window in that place is electromagnetically shielded,” he replied, “which is meant to prevent internal communications from being intercepted from the outside, but that also means that anything you try to send out will be kept inside. That’s why I told you to leave your phone at the motel…not to mention they can hack it while it’s still in your pocket once you’re inside, so you really don’t want it in there if you have anything on it that you don’t want anyone to see.”

“OK. Fair enough.” Sunset answered.

They rounded the final corner to the front of the original building, which looked much more dated by comparison. The front was a dull yellowish colour, rectangular shaped in the higher section of floors, with straight rows of windows along the entire length of it.

The only compelling part of the structure was the large T-shaped canopy in front of the main doors, which was held up by tapered pillars, and the angular shape of it gave it somewhat of a geometric, yet efficient quality. As they headed under the structure into the shade, they saw another man leaning on one of the pillars holding a coffee in a paper cup.

Daniels veered them towards the man. “Felix, how’s it going?”

The man, who had light gray skin and dark, charcoal gray hair with brown eyes, wearing a shirt and tie with black pants looked back at the pair, then smiled half-heartedly.

“Not bad, Daniels. TGIF, am I right?” he replied.

Daniels nodded in agreement before looking at Sunset. “Uh, this is Sunset Shimmer…she’s here for the intern position in HR.”

“Hi, nice to meet you.” Sunset greeted, holding out her hand for a shake. “It’s so exciting to be here finally!”

Felix switched the coffee to his other hand so he could shake hers. She could feel the heat from the coffee in his grip as she read his thoughts, but was disappointed to find nothing useful about Cody or Fluttershy.

“So what kind of work were you into before?” Felix asked.

“Uh, US Air Force.” Sunset replied. “I was a pilot-slash-instructor, trainer…you know…”

His eyebrows went up as he took a sip of his coffee. He nodded, then swallowed the drink. “Oh, good. You’ll do well here. Military folks always fit in well.”

Sunset nodded as Daniels spoke.

“She’ll do great here.” he said, turning to Sunset. “We’d better get on with it. See ya, Felix.”

The man with the coffee nodded to them both as they continued heading for the door.

“How was that?” Daniels asked quietly.

“Perfect.” Sunset replied. “That guy didn’t have what I needed though. But that was good. We’ll find what I’m looking for if we keep going like that.”

Daniels furrowed his brows. “So…you don’t know who you’re looking for? You’re just shooting in the dark?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” the brunette replied, reaching back to adjust her hair, still unaccustomed to wearing it up in a bun like this.

The agent shook his head as they approached the front doors of the original headquarters entrance. He held the door for her as she stepped inside the front lobby of the building, where she paused and drew in a deep breath of awe at her new surroundings.

She was greeted by a shiny white and dark gray lobby, with two rows of square pillars on either side of the hall with white sides facing inwards and dark gray sides facing towards them. There were rows of bright lights in the ceiling, which reflected on the nearly mirror-like finish of the marble floor. The floor itself had a large white and dark gray checkered pattern to it, and there was a dark statue of a human figure along each of the outer walls with American flags standing next to them.

The hair on the back of Sunset’s neck stood up as she looked down at the large, circular CIA seal, which was embedded in the floor just a few feet inside the door. It was a large, sixteen foot wide dark granite circle with the words ‘Central Intelligence Agency’ around the top, and ‘United States of America’ around the bottom. In the middle was a large white shield, with a sixteen-point compass star in the middle and the left-facing head of an Eagle sticking out of the top.

She looked down at the symbol as she walked across it alongside Daniels, the heels of her boots clopping along, echoing around the large room as she stepped. “Holy shit!” she thought to herself with her eyes open wide as the reality of where she was dawned on her. "Sunset Shimmer, you did it…you are inside the CIA! This is so fucking intense…”

She realized she must have been making a face when Daniels leaned over to her and spoke quietly. “You might want to try to look like you’re supposed to be here…”

She cleared her throat and nodded. “Right…sorry.”

They walked a little further until they approached a row of gates, similar to what you find in a subway station, with three bars protruding out the side of each pillar. At the right hand side of the room, there was a desk with a man seated behind it, who nodded at Daniels as he approached.

Daniels held out his right arm, on which he was wearing a white wristband, which had his code key embedded in it, as well as a watch, small computer, communicator, etc. He swiped it over the little window on the gate pillar, prompting it to beep, allowing him to push through the gate, letting the bars rotate in a circle around him as he walked through.

Sunset was right on his tail, assuming she was free to follow, but was stopped short when she ran into the locked bars with her hips.

The sound of her grunting caused Daniels to take notice and turn around to face her.

She looked up at him, caught off guard by the fact that she was being stopped.

He calmly pointed to the lapel of his jacket.

Sunset looked down at the tag that Daniels had given her, which was clipped on her own jacket. She took it off, realizing she had to swipe it to get through the gate, which she did…prompting the gate to beep and allow her to proceed, the bars rotating around her now as she pushed through and stepped forward to join Daniels. Her face was red with embarrassment as she clipped the tag back to the lapel of her jacket while Daniels chuckled at the man behind the desk.

“First day…” he said with a shrug.

Sunset glanced over at the man, who was smirking as he looked back down at what he was doing behind the desk.

“Let’s go.” Daniels said quietly as he started walking again, going up a wide set of stairs, then taking a left down a large hallway as Sunset followed.

Daniels leaned over to speak quietly to her. “Looks like luck is on your side.”

She glanced back at him with her eyebrow raised. “Huh?”

“Those gates…” he said. “You just got scanned six ways from Sunday when you went through them.”

“Really?” she asked, surprised. “They just look like old-school gates.”

He nodded. “That’s the trick of it…”

She shook her head, realizing how secure this place really was. She knew her and I never would have stood a chance getting in on our own. “So it worked? The face thing?”

He nodded. “Yup. And your other little thing made it through too. You were right about it.”

This was no surprise to the brunette since she knew there really was no device on her.

Someone was coming towards them now, walking in a bit of a rush. “Hi Fredrickson, how are-“

“Hey Daniels.” the man said quickly in return without stopping, causing a breeze to hit Sunset and Daniels as he walked by hastily.

Daniels sighed, looking at Sunset. “Sorry…some people around here are always in a rush like that.”

Sunset shook her head. “It’s OK…we’ll get lots of chances I’m sure.”

He nodded in reply. “Yeah, there’s a lot of ground to cover between here and my department, so we’ll see lots of people. That’s why we came this way.” he turned to continue walking, looking back at her as he went. “Just try to realize it’s Friday afternoon and people are going into weekend mode, so they’re just trying to get the fuck out of here. The weeks here are long…eighty hours is not uncommon.”

Sunset shook her head. “Jeez…”

They continued on, walking through the hallways, making turns to the left and to the right, causing Sunset to quickly get disoriented in the maze that made up the CIA headquarters. The twisty-turny nature of the hall layout was not done by mistake, it is a trick they call ‘the wave’, which is designed to choke off radio frequencies while allowing people and ventilation to move around freely.

They met a few people on the way, some just gave a quick greeting as they passed while others stopped to have a short chat similar to Felix, the man outside with the coffee. Sunset was able to shake hands with several people, reading their thoughts and learning more about the inner workings of the CIA than she was originally prepared for, but nothing about Fluttershy’s whereabouts...or Cody’s, for that matter.

She was starting to get a hopeless feeling in her chest as she got the sense that they were closing in on Daniels’ work area. She could tell when they left the old building and entered the new section, the architecture was vastly different, as well as the more modern décor and finish. On the bright side, it did seem to be a little more densely populated, giving them extra chances to meet people and shake more hands, but still to no avail. Sunset had yet to learn a single thing about where Fluttershy was…no one here seemed to know that she even existed.

Sunset’s heart was starting to sink, knowing that her chances of finding the right person were starting to run dry as she followed Daniels down the hallway. There was an entrance to another hall on their left, just past a set of washroom doors. Daniels started to make the turn to walk down that hall when he was stopped in his tracks by another agent just past the corner.

“Daniels! There you are...” he said quickly. “I need to talk to you.”

Daniels nodded in reply. “Sure, what’s up, Marx?” he said, then he turned to Sunset. “Oh, uh…this is Sunset Shimmer.” he began introducing her, trying to get her another handshake. “She’s here for the internsh-“

“Yeah yeah, that’s great.” the man cut in abruptly. “Listen Daniels, I’ve got a problem with the new guy they put me with…”

Sunset sighed, rolling her eyes as Marx rattled off a whole story about not being able to get along with his new co-worker. Daniels was in human resources after all, so he was obligated to do his job while she stood there and waited. “Fuck…this plan sucked…” she thought to herself. “I’m just not finding the right people…the ones who know about Flutters are probably high level, or field agents…neither of whom probably roam the halls very much…”

Daniels and Marx were just a few feet down the new hall, which ended where it met the hall they just left, creating a T-shaped space where she was standing. She could see in all three directions down the halls, watching people moving to and from different rooms as they went about their business. Sunset folded her arms, listening to the background murmur of Daniels and Marx’s voices when she turned to the left and saw a blonde woman approaching her position. She was wearing thick-framed glasses and had on a business suit like Sunset’s, except it was a lighter brown colour with a pink blouse, and she was wearing high heel shoes instead of boots.

Sunset was the only one who could see her with Daniels further down the other hall, listening to Marx drone on about his problems. She watched as the woman turned at the last second to enter the ladies washroom that they had just passed before turning the corner.

“I don’t know how long Daniels is going to be with this guy…maybe I should go in there and try to read this lady…” Sunset thought to herself. She stepped over to Daniels, timidly tapping his arm.

He turned his head to face her as the other guy paused.

“Sorry to interrupt…” she said. “I’m just gonna use the washroom right there.” she said, pointing to the door around the corner a few feet away.

Daniels looked at her for a second, then nodded. “Sure. I’ll be right here.” he replied, turning back to Marx. “Sorry, go on…”

As Marx continued to talk, Sunset walked around the corner, approaching the washroom door. She paused for a moment, taking a deep breath as she prepared to go in without her escort. Her heart rate elevated slightly as she placed her forearm on the door and pushed it open.

She entered the washroom, which was very clean and brightly lit. Upon entering the door, she could see the main room was around the corner to the left. There was a long marble countertop along the right side with a row of sinks in it, with automatic, motion-detect faucets and soap dispensers installed at each sink. There was also a huge mirror on the wall that ran the entire length of the counter for checking one’s appearance before they returned to work.

Beyond the countertop was a row of stalls, painted a light blue with the typical locking doors on each one. The left wall was mostly just painted brick, save for a couple of blow dryers mounted on the wall.

The blonde woman was out of sight, most likely in a stall, so Sunset decided to approach the sink and check herself out to see how she was looking. She stared at her own aqua-green eyes in the mirror, wondering how she had ever found herself in this place…and how she ended up looking like this. She let her eyes drift down over her reflection, taking in the details of the stiff-looking suit that Rarity had given her to wear, and her alien-looking dark brown hair that was tied up in that loose bun...

Sunset barely recognised herself. “What the fuck am I doing here, looking like this?” she thought to herself. “I’m not even from this world…”

She then heard the private noise of the blonde woman in the far stall, relieving herself as Sunset listened at the counter, preparing herself for what she would say when the woman came out of the stall.

“You can do this, Sunset.” she coached herself, steadying herself in the mirror.

The sound of the toilet flushing followed next, then after a moment the door clicked open and the blonde woman emerged from the stall.

Sunset busied herself, adjusting her hair as she looked at herself in the mirror, waiting for the woman to come into view.

She could hear the clopping of high heels getting louder, followed by the woman’s figure emerging from behind the last stall as she approached the sink. She glanced at Sunset through her glasses for a moment, not realizing that anyone was in there until she saw her at the counter fixing her hair.

“Oh, hi.” the blonde greeted in a friendly tone.

“Hey.” Sunset replied.

The woman looked at Sunset for another moment. “I don’t recognise you, are you new here?”

“Uh, yeah.” Sunset said, turning to her. “I’m Sunset Shimmer, I applied here for an intern position…they brought me in today to get my security clearance and all that good stuff.” As Sunset introduced herself, she held her hand out to offer a handshake.

The blonde stared at her hand blankly for a moment, then walked past her to approach the sink.

Sunset pulled her hand back. “Ah, right…better wash up first, eh?” she said, trying to recover from the faux-pas. “Nice one, Sunset…way to try shaking her hand right after she pissed…”

“Why are you in here by yourself?” the woman asked suddenly.

Sunset froze. “Uh, well I just needed to freshen up a bit…the guy who’s helping me is out in the hall…” she chuckled. “He can’t very well come into the ladies washroom, can he?”

The woman smirked. “No, I guess not.” she said flatly. “So…” she continued as she reached under the faucet, waiting for the water to turn on. “Did you hear somebody finally solved the fourth message on Kryptos?”

Sunset wasn’t sure what she was talking about, so all she could do was just play along and try to generalize her response. “Oh yeah, I heard about that…that’s so amazing…”

The woman had a blank look on her face as she glared at the sink, letting the water finally wash over hands after it began to run from the faucet.

Sunset felt a twinge of uneasiness when she saw the woman’s reaction to her answer. Her heart rate went up as she tried to think of what to do, then she spotted the soap dispenser. “I gotta read her before I get in too deep over my head…”

The blonde spoke again, to Sunset’s surprise. “So…Miss Shimmer, is it?” she asked. “What was your previous job?”

“Oh…” Sunset replied, shrugging as she reached under the faucet in the adjacent sink to wet her own hands. “I was US Air Force…you know…pilot… all that good stuff.”

The blonde nodded. “Oh yeah? Good for you…” She turned her head to look at Sunset. “What do you think of those new Apaches? I think the rotor design is much more efficient, but the turbines are slightly underpowered…have you flown one yet? What do you think of the new navigation design in them?”

Sunset stared into the sink, unsure of how to respond. “Fuck, I’m screwed!” she panicked. “I don’t even know what an Apache is…is that some kind of aircraft?” Her eyes were wide as her heart rate increased even more, and her face was starting to heat up as she looked down at the woman’s hands just in time to see her reach for the soap.

Sunset made her move.

She quickly, but casually reached for the same soap dispenser, letting her hand ‘accidently’ bump into the blonde woman’s hand, instantly downloading her thoughts.

The woman recoiled a bit, looking awkwardly at Sunset, unaware that she’d just given away more information than she could possibly imagine.

“Oops, sorry!” Sunset said, pulling her hand back. “Go ahead.”

After a short pause and a glare, the blonde reached again for the soap as Sunset turned her head to face the other way with her eyes wide in shock at what she had just seen in the woman’s mind.

“FUCK! She’s onto me…” Sunset thought, chewing her bottom lip. “That Kryptos thing was a trap…no one has solved the fourth encryption…that bitch tricked me! And the questions about the helicopter were more tricks to draw me out…”

Kryptos is a sculpture in the courtyard of the new building, which was created by artist Jim Sanborn. It consists of a vertical stone, standing upright with a large sheet of copper bent into and S-shape coming out of the side of it, resembling a sheet of paper coming out of a printer. There are letters punched through the copper sheet which almost cover the entire surface. There were four messages hidden in the seemingly random array of letters, put there by the artist for people to try to solve...which still carry much allure to many cryptanalysts around the country to this day. So far, only three of the encryptions have been solved, and the fourth still remains a mystery. This was an unknown fact to Sunset just a minute ago when she said she did indeed hear that someone had solved the fourth message, exposing herself to the blonde as a liar.

Sunset was no longer worried about answering the questions about the helicopter. Now that she knew the woman was already highly suspicious of her being an intruder, she had bigger problems to worry about. She looked around the room towards the ceiling, confirming for herself what she saw in the blonde woman’s mind, which was that there were no security cameras installed in this particular washroom, which was why the female agent didn’t like Sunset being in there alone. She turned back to face the woman, who was rinsing the soap from her hands while giving Sunset a sharp look.

The blonde moved her hands out of the stream, flicked the excess water off into the sink, then stood to face Sunset, who's jaw was clenching up in anger towards the woman…partly for tricking her, but also for the other things she saw in her thoughts…things that involved Fluttershy.

The two women stood facing each other...blonde versus brunette...each waiting for the other to make the next move. The blonde looked nervous, even through her attempt at portraying an air of confidence…while Sunset was starting to scowl openly at her, clenching her fists at her sides as her old bullying tendencies started to come out again.

The blonde agent finally raised her hand, attempting to put her white wrist communicator to her mouth to call for security. Sunset, who knew the woman’s plan, quickly reached up and grabbed her arm, stopping the call. She skillfully used her thumb to unclasp the wristband and yanked it off, sliding it over the woman’s slender hand, then tossed it to the side, where it landed and slid across the counter to the far end, next to the stalls.

“I wouldn’t do that…” Sunset threatened.

The woman took a small step back, sizing up Sunset as she looked at her sideways. She was slightly smaller than the brunette, but not by much…maybe a bit taller that Rarity, but being trained by the CIA assured her that she could hold her own in a fight against the intruder, who surely didn’t have the same level of training…

“You’ll never make it out of here…” the woman said. “Whoever you are.”

“Oh yes I will.” Sunset replied. “You’re gonna let me out…unless you want your superiors to know that you’ve been stealing equipment from this place…”

The blonde agent froze. “What? That’s ridiculous…”

Sunset shook her head. “No, it isn’t. You took a surveillance bug from the equipment lab…one that broadcasts audio and cell phone data…and you gave it to someone, didn’t you?”

The woman shook her head. “No…you don’t know what you’re talking about…”

Sunset stepped towards her. “Do you know where that bug ended up?” she asked sternly. “In MY friend’s house…where one of your spies used it to make her life a living hell…”

The woman stood her ground, albeit nervously, glaring back at her adversary. “You can’t possibly know all this…” she replied dubiously.

“There’s something you need to know…about my friends.” Sunset informed her. She leaned in close, putting her nose only inches from the blonde woman’s face. “You fuck with my friends, you fuck with ME.”

The agent held her breath, her eyes wide as she slowly backed up a step…then paused again before making her move. She quickly swung her fist at the brunette, who leaned to the left to dodge the punch. Sunset reached up, grabbing the blonde by the wrist, then twisted her arm down, applying painful tension to her shoulder.

“Too slow, bitch.” Sunset uttered, then leaned forward, head-butting the blonde in the forehead, sending a dull clunk echoing through the bathroom after the skull-on-skull impact.

The agent staggered back, disoriented by the attack as her glasses slid down low on her nose. Sunset closed in on her, delivering a quick left jab to her mouth, followed by a hard right hook, snapping her head to the side, her glasses flying off as she was sent sprawling over the counter. The blonde shook her head and turned back to see Sunset coming at her, grabbing her by the lapels of her brown jacket, then pulling her up and swinging her around so hard her feet came up off the floor. She was thrown against the brick wall across from the counter, where she hit with her shoulder and slid down to her knees.

The blonde agent looked up to see the brunette coming at her again, appearing blurry with her glasses now missing. She knew it was time to fight back against the intruder and she leapt up, charging towards Sunset, spearing her in the stomach with her shoulder. She expected to catch the brunette off guard and knock her back, but the attack barely slowed Sunset down as she dug her heels into the floor to push back against the blonde’s attack. It was almost as though the brunette had anticipated it…

The agent backed out again quickly, then stepped forward to swing her fist at Sunset’s face, who put her hand up to effortlessly catch the blonde woman’s punch against her palm, wrapping her fingers around the agent’s little fist as she downloaded even more thoughts from her.

Sunset snickered at the woman, who was now staring back at her in terror. “Weak.” she said bluntly as she drove her knee into the blonde’s stomach causing her to bend over, gasping for air. The brunette then put her hand on top of the blonde’s head and shoved her back against the wall again.

“Pathetic.” Sunset taunted, throwing another punch at the woman’s face, snapping her head back, bouncing it off the brick wall with a thud.

The blonde, who was turning out to be tougher than she looked, squeezed her eyes shut as she felt the pain ring through her skull, then she made another valiant attempt to fight back, swinging a left hook at Sunset, who leaned back to miss it.

“Missed me again, you whore-house clown…” Sunset growled as she hammered her fist into the side of the woman’s ribs.

The blonde grunted, bending down as she tried to catch her breath. There was blood in her mouth now, her lips split open by Sunset’s knuckles as they were smashed against her own teeth. There was a cut on the bridge of her nose as well, plus a bruise already starting on her cheekbone.

Sunset reached out with her hand and grabbed the blonde by the throat, squeezing hard on her windpipe as she dragged her over to the second toilet stall then shoved her through the door, where she fell into a seated position onto the toilet.

Sunset grabbed her by the shoulders, picked her back up and put her hand on the side of her blonde head and drove it to the right, smashing her skull into the side of the stall with a crash. As the agent bounced back, she held her hand to the side of her head, squinting her eyes shut in pain.

This didn’t slow Sunset down one bit. She wound up and delivered the biggest right hook she could muster, connecting it to the cheek of the blonde agent, whose head flew to the left and bounced off the other side of the stall with a second sharp crash…and she finally crumpled up on the floor in an unconscious heap.

“Sweet dreams, you filthy bitch.” Sunset muttered as she picked the blonde up and set her on the toilet, propping her up so it half-assed appeared from the outside of the stall that she was using the toilet.

The brunette exited the stall, bringing a few squares of toilet paper with her as she went to the mirror to straighten out her hair and check her suit for any rips or tears. She paused for a moment to marvel at herself…even after striving to be a good person for so many years, she still had the natural ability to be quite a nasty bully when she lost her temper, although she certainly never expected to be tough enough to lay down a beating like that on a trained government agent, especially while being inside the CIA headquarters…she suddenly snapped out of her trance when she remembered where she was, and she knew she needed to distance herself from this situation very quickly.

Sunset picked up the agent’s glasses with the toilet paper and took them into the stall to slip them into the blonde’s front suit pocket. Then she went back out and grabbed the wristband communicator with the toilet paper, wiping it off and tossing it in the garbage can on the way to the door, which she opened with the toilet paper wrapped around her hand. Sunset had a degree in forensic science after all, so she knew a thing or two about not leaving fingerprints…

She re-entered the hall, looking around for cameras, quickly seeing that there were at least two that had caught her entering the washroom after the other woman. She then met up with Daniels in the hall, who was just wrapping up his conversation with Marx.

“OK. Thanks, Daniels. I owe you one.” the man said as he turned to walk away.

“No problem.” Daniels replied as he turned to Sunset, intending to apologise for the hold-up, but he was cut off before he could speak.

“We need to go.” Sunset said quickly.

Daniels paused, stunned by what he thought was her impatience. “Sorry about that…it took a little longer than I mea-“

She cut him off again. “No no, you don’t understand. I need to get the fuck out of this building.” she whispered loudly. “Right now!”

Daniels looked at her, then glanced at the washroom door. “What happened?” he whispered, leaning in closer to her.

“I’ll explain on the way.” Sunset informed. “But right now, we have to go.”

Daniels nodded. “OK. We’ll leave through the front of the new building. Follow me.”

They started walking hastily to make their escape.

“So Daniels…” she said as they walked.

“Yeah?” he answered, looking around for anyone watching him as he led her.

“You said you wanted to get back at your wife?” she asked.

“Yeah…why?” he replied.

“Well…I just met her in the bathroom…”

Daniels looked back at her with surprise as he kept walking.

Sunset continued. “There’s something you might want to know about her…”

*****

I was laying on the far bed in the motel room watching Family Feud on TV, thinking about how my friend was busy breaking into the CIA headquarters.

I watched as the host had two contestants at the podium, asking the question again. “What is something you bring to the beach?”

The two contestants hit their buzzers, and the one who was faster got to answer. “iPad?”

I winced, shaking my head in frustration. “Seriously…” I groaned in disgust. “You…WHAT? How fucking stupid can you be??”

The host looked across the crowd in shock, getting a few laughs and groans before turning to the board. “OK…we asked a hundred people: what is one thing you bring to the beach…you said ‘iPad’. Survey says?”

The TV screen showed the board with a few things already listed, like a towel and sunscreen…things that actually made sense. There were suddenly three big red letter X’s flashing across the screen, accompanied by a loud buzzer.

The next thing it showed was the contestant shrugging in disbelief as they wandered back to the podium with their family, who were clapping in support, although it was obvious that they were not impressed.

“Yeah, you lost. No shit…you fuckin idiot…” I cursed to myself, shaking my head at the TV.

Just then, I heard footsteps outside the door, followed by the swipe of the card and the lock beeping. The door swung open and Sunset barged in.

I almost didn’t recognise her at first. I’d forgotten about how she put her hair up and dressed in that business skirt and jacket for the mission.

I watched as she slammed the door shut, then leaned on it with her back as if she was holding it shut against the wind. Her eyes were wide as they darted around the room frantically.

“Hey Sunny…” I greeted. “How’d it go?”

She glared at me suddenly. “Uh…”

“Calm down.” I said. “Come over here.”

She walked quickly between the beds, standing over me as she spoke. “That was…crazy! That place is so fucking intense…” she babbled.

“Did you find out where Flutters is?” I asked.

Sunset didn’t listen. “It’s huge…there’s so many cameras, scanners, things you gotta swipe your card into…tons of people…like, TONS of people…”

“You OK?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Then there was…the washroom…” she mumbled, slowing down a bit as she stared at the wall. “I beat that bitch senseless…”

My eyes got wide as I sat up on the bed.”WHOA! You did what?”

She shook her head frantically. “She knew…she was-“

Sunset froze suddenly, staring at me for a moment…then she looked down at herself. “Oh damn…not this now…” she muttered, slowly looking back up at me with lust in her eyes as her mandatory arousal lit a fire between her legs. “Aw fuck it!” she panted, shaking her head.

Sunset dove on top of me, breathing on my face as she searched for my mouth with her lips. She pressed her body against me, rubbing herself up and down until her mouth found its target. She connected her wet lips with mine, digging through my barrier with her tongue and sliding it deep into my mouth, bringing a payload of her sweet saliva in with it. She kept her hands planted on the mattress on either side of me as she pressed her hips down on mine, grinding herself against me with unrestrained aggression.

I was caught off guard by the sudden barrage of sexual contact from the brunette, who still had her business suit on and her hair up as she slithered around on top of me. I put my hands up around either side of her, intending to protest her actions against me…but her aggressively passionate, yet loving advances intoxicated me like some kind of potent venom.

I eventually put my hands on the small of Sunset’s back, pulling her closer to me as I returned her kisses, fighting her tongue with mine for domination, drawing a low moan out of her that resonated down my throat.

Sunset suddenly pulled back, breaking the kiss with a loud, wet smack sound as she sat up on me, letting the weight of her body sit on the erection still enclosed inside my pants. She unbuttoned the suit jacket and tossed it to the side, then frantically peeled the silky blouse up over her head, exposing her skin-toned bra underneath.

She came back down to me, kissing my cheek, nibbling my ear, then running her lips and tongue down my neck, sucking gently on my collarbone as I reached around her back and unhooked her bra. She exhaled excitedly against my throat when she felt me commit to exposing her body and sat up again to yank the bra from her shoulders and throw it to the side.

Sunset’s breasts were freed, jiggling around as she threw the garment away. I reached up quickly to place my hands over them, feeling their warm softness against my palms as I squeezed them gently, the contrasting hardness of her nipples tickling my palms as I gently massaged the fleshy mounds.

Her eyes were closed, her head tipping back as she breathed heavily from her mouth, rocking her hips as she ground the heat between her legs against me. I shifted my hands to the sides of her breasts, gently pinching and rolling her nipples between my thumbs and forefingers as I watched her reach up and undo the clip that was holding her hair in place, letting her wavy brunette locks fall free. She shook her head wildly, whipping her hair outwards, bringing it back to its usual untamed, rebellious style.

Oh, how I missed her fiery coloured locks…those insanity-inducing reds and yellows that I always found so alluring…

Sunset came down to me again, planting her soft, wet lips against mine as we traded tongues and saliva once again. Her frantic breathing was blowing against my face through her nose, her soft breasts squeezing against my chest, their warmth soaking through my t-shirt.

Then she crawled upwards over me, letting her breasts dangle over my face as she straddled my midsection so the heat from under her skirt was blasting against my stomach now. I put my hands on her waist as I took one of her nipples in my mouth, sucking it gently while flicking it with my tongue, listening to her moans of satisfaction as I stimulated her into a frenzy. I squeezed the other breast while I played with her nipple, moistening it with my tongue, pinching it gently between my lips, tasting her smooth skin…

I switched sides next, giving the same attention to her other nipple, her breath drawing inwards sharply at the fresh sensation, followed by a low moan from deep in her throat. I swirled my tongue around the firm bud, keeping a light suction on it while at the same time I gently tweaked her other nipple, letting it slide between my fingers with the moisture from my mouth.

I heard the sound of a zipper next, followed by Sunset sitting up again, allowing me to see her undoing the side of the skirt. She climbed off the bed, standing on the floor as she let the garment fall down around her legs to her feet, revealing a skimpy pair of red panties to me, drawing my eyes to the dark spot in the crotch where her undoubtedly fully-aroused womanhood had soaked them with her juices.

Sunset stood in front of me, naked except for the tiny red thong that barely covered what was left to my imagination. She swung her hips to one side, groping her own breasts, staring seductively at me with her aqua eyes as she bit her bottom lip…

She then came back onto the bed, crawling past me to the far side and laying face-down, crossing her arms in front of her and resting her head on her forearms. Her bare back was visible to me now, along with her bare ass-cheeks with only the thin red string of the thong threaded between them.

I could see the red crotch of her panties, soaked in warm, slick fluid, peeking out from between her thighs when I sat up to look down at her. I reached down in between her cheeks with my hand, rubbing my fingertips over the moist material nestled between her heated thighs, prompting her to arch her back, sticking her ass up into the air to give me better access.

I rubbed her soft, full lips through the wet material a few times with my fingers, feeling the intense heat radiating from inside her before cupping my hand over one of her ass-cheeks, slapping it gently to see it jiggle, then squeezing it firmly a second time.

“Holy fuck, Sunny has a nice ass…”

I leaned down and planted my lips on her ass, kissing one side, then the other. I then ran my mouth down to the little crease where her cheek transitioned into her thigh, running my tongue towards her moist core as the earthy, metallic scent of her arousal hit my nostrils, causing my jaw to quiver a bit.

She gasped and giggled at the tickle of my mouth on her rarely-explored parts when I nibbled on the inner bottom edge of her cheek with my teeth, taking in the scent of her arousal with my nose practically buried in her crotch from behind, then I ran my tongue upwards along her ass, tracing a wet line just beside her crack, then past the underwear, up the small of her back. She trembled at the sensation...the tickle of my tongue running along her skin, followed by the cooling sensation as the air hit the trail of moisture that I left in my wake.

I sat back up and pulled on her hip with my hand so she would turn over onto her back. She complied, turning herself over and laying down with her beasts and toned belly exposed, as well as her smooth shapely thighs, showing me the small triangle of red material between them at the top.

She groped her breast with one hand while resting the back of her other hand on her forehead. I squeezed her free breast, then ran my hand down her belly to the top of the red garment, lifting it with my fingertips to slide my hand inside them.

What I found beyond was a warm, slick mess of juice as my fingers practically splashed between the soft lips into her super-heated crease. It soaked my hand, completely coating my fingers, creating webs between them when I pulled them apart as I stroked her sensitive flesh, studying her soft, delicate folds with my fingertips. She arched her back up, gasping sharply as she finally got some stimulation from the person she desired so badly.

“Holy fuck, Sunny…” I chuckled. “You’ve got a swimming pool going on down there.”

She bit her lip, opening her eyes to look at me for a moment to speak. “You can take a dip in me anytime…”

I slid two fingers inside her, plunging them deep into the hot flood at her core, feeling her tight, yet delicate flesh as I stoked in and out of her slowly, drawing a loud moan from her mouth as she tilted her head back and arched her body up.

I laid down on my side next to her as I continued to work my fingers inside her, sending waves of intensity through her quivering body. She took her hand from her forehead and reached down to grab a handful of the bedspread, squeezing it tightly as she gritted her teeth, letting her breath hiss out of her mouth, feeling the pleasure from between her legs bring her closer to explosion.

I leaned in and kissed Sunset, surprising her with the feel of my lips against hers, causing her to let go of her breast and slide her arm around my shoulders, keeping her hand over my shirt as she kissed me back. Her tongue returned to my mouth, flailing around wildly as my fingers drove her closer to the edge.

It finally hit her like a lightning bolt. Her body quivered, her back arching up off the bed, causing her breasts to jiggle with her convulsions as her rock-hard nipples pointed straight up at the ceiling. She squealed into my mouth uncontrollably, furrowing her brows as the sensation exploded from her delicate flesh while my fingers continued sending jolts of tingling delight through every nerve in her body.

Her thighs suddenly slammed together, pinning my hand in place in an attempt to get me to ease up my stimulation of her delicacy. I slowed down a little to give her a break, letting just my fingertips continue to give her insides gentle strokes as she slowly came down from the orgasm…her body settling slowly, but twitching hard every five seconds or so, causing her eyes to roll back in her head whenever she convulsed. Her breath was heavy, but steadily leveling out, save for the sharp gasps every time she quivered against my hand.

I leaned down again, pressing my lips to hers for another soft kiss, then we separated to look into each other’s eyes for a moment. I ran my fingers through her wavy brown hair, watching her satisfied face as she breathed softly between her lips.

She held her breath suddenly, her eyes opening wide as she realized what we were doing. Both of us looked down at my hand, still nestled inside her red panties, my fingers still buried inside her body.

Sunset let go of the sheets and put her hand on her forehead, closing her eyes as she spoke. “Damn, Golds...what are we doing?” she breathed.

I swallowed. “Um…I don’t know, Sunny…”

She laid for a moment, continuing to pant as she stared blankly at the ceiling. “We’re supposed to be here for Flutters…” she finally said, leaning up on her elbows.

I withdrew my hand from her underpants, rubbing my thumb back and forth across my fingertips, feeling the slick wetness that she had soaked into my skin. “Yeah…” I said slowly, turning my head to look at her, taking in the sight of her topless body next to mine. “Sorry…I mean, you can’t help it, but I have no excuse...”

She shook her head. “Don’t be sorry to me…I’m really sorry about this whole thing. I really should send a message to the Princess when I get home…maybe she knows a way to break this arousal curse.”

“Curse?” I asked, somewhat put off by the choice of words.

Sunset shook her head. “No…sorry, I didn’t mean it like that…it’s just…Rare and Flutters…”

I sighed, then nodded my head, staring at the wall.

“You OK?” she asked, looking at me.

I looked back at her. “Yeah. You?”

Sunset nodded. She looked down at her naked self, then slowly got up of off the bed. “I’m gonna shower…” she said in a daze, heading around the corner to the right past the beds. I watched the muscle tone on her bare back as she walked away…her smooth, round ass with the red thong strung between her cheeks, swaying with each alluring step. When she rounded the corner, I could see the side of her right breast, jiggling as she stepped, just before she disappeared behind the wall out of my sight.

I let my head flop back onto the pillow and closed my eyes. “Dang…”

*****

Sunset emerged from the bathroom over an hour later, wrapped in a towel and running a brush through her hair. I watched her set the brush down and open her travel bag, pulling out a fresh pair of underwear and a bra. I was expecting her to pull the panties up inside the towel to avoid me seeing her nude, but surprisingly, she just let the towel drop to the floor and turned to face me.

As I sat on the bed, leaning my back against the headboard, I couldn’t help but let my eyes dance all over her. Her breasts were beautiful, nicely sized with a cute roundness to them…sort of a contrast to the rest of her powerful-looking body. She had a nice figure, not quite as narrow as Fluttershy, more of a solid build while still maintaining a lovely feminine quality. My eyes fell to her hips where her thighs transitioned into her body, where the small slit was nestled front and center, hairless and perfect.

I blinked a couple of times, then finally looked back at her green eyes. “Hey Sunny…you’re naked.”

“Thanks for the FYI, Einstein.” she said with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes as she bent down to slide the underwear up her legs.

“So…” I said, changing the subject to ask about her mission. “Obviously he found a way to get you in?

“Yeah.” she said, her breasts jiggling as she adjusted her panties to fit her rear-end just right. “We actually went back to the original plan…using another applicant for me to go in as.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “Really? What about the face scan thing?”

“Uhh…” she said, her eyes darting around the room. “He found someone who looked a lot like me…”

“That much like you??” I asked in surprise.

She nodded, pursing her lips. “Yeah…”

I got the distinct feeling that there was something she was keeping from me, but I decided not to persist because it seemed like she was pretty overwhelmed with everything that had happened already. I decided to move onto the next question. “So what happened in there, anyway?”

She looked at me for a moment as she put her bra on. “Well…I read quite a few people, but no one seemed to know anything about Flutters.”

“Right…” I said with a sigh.

“But…” she paused. “There was a woman in the washroom, who I read…and…”

“Yeah?” I urged.

“She knew about Flutters…” she said before she paused, seemingly reluctant to finish.

“Sunny…? What aren’t you telling me?” I asked, looking her sideways.

“Um…”she pursed her lips, standing there now wearing a black bra and panties. “She’s not at the CIA…she’s at the other place. Cody too.”

I shrugged. “OK. So where is it?”

Sunset stared at me blankly.

“What?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I have no idea.”

My eyebrows went up. “You…what?? What do you mean, you have no idea?”

“I don’t know where it is. Neither did the woman that I read. I don’t think anyone there knows where it is unless they’re getting recruited…like Cody.” she said.

I put my hands on top of my head. “You’re kidding me, right?”

Sunset shook her head. “I’m sorry…”

I let out a loud exhale, then chewed the corner of my mouth as I thought to myself. “Who was this woman that you read?”

Sunset slid a pair of dark blue tights on as she spoke. “She was Daniels’ ex-wife. She cheated on him with Cody, and she’s the one who stole the bug for him that he used in Fluttershy’s house back in the spring.”

I shook my head. “No shit…wow.”

“She knew about the school shooting and that Cody was going back to look for you and that he got Flutters instead…but now she’s kind of pissed at him cuz he got into that other agency and he’s not allowed to talk to her, or anyone else anymore for that matter. It runs under total anonymity…as far as society is concerned, Cody doesn’t exist anymore…and neither does Flutters.” Sunset explained.

I sighed as I processed the new information.

“And I…kind of…beat the living shit out of her in the bathroom…” she said, cringing a bit, worried that I would be upset at her for pulling such a stunt inside the CIA headquarters. “It’s just…I was so pissed at her for helping Cody fuck over Flutters…plus…she slept with Cody. I saw it…you know what that’s like?” she said, grimacing at the memory she’d received from the blonde. “I could see it…and feel it…”

I scrunched my nose at her. “Ew, gross…”

Sunset shook her head to try to wipe the memory from her brain. “So…after I left her in the bathroom, I told Daniels to get me out of there, and I told him about his wife stealing the bug…I don’t know what he’s going to do about it, but he’s supposed to come back here after he’s done there today…to get his money, and…” she stopped, then covered her face with her hands.

I remembered her deal with him right then. “Oh yeah…you’re supposed to bang him. That’s…cool…” I said slowly. I was admittedly feeling a bit put off about it.

“Yeah…” she nodded slowly, slipping a black t-shirt on over her head. “I don’t really want to though…even though I’m getting turned on again already.”

I sighed, then shrugged. “Well, might as well use it, I guess.”

She scowled. “He smelled like beer when I kissed him…it’s gonna be gross.”

“Plus I’m supposed to pay him fifty grand…” I sighed. “All this and we still don’t know where Flutters is. We’re pretty much back to square one.”

Sunset nodded slowly. She took a step forward towards me, then paused again. “Can I sit with you?” she asked in an uncharacteristically timid tone.

I glanced at her in surprise for a moment, then nodded. “Of course you can, Sunny.”

She came over to the bed and sat beside me, curling her legs up and resting her head on my shoulder, folding her arms to keep her hands hidden from me as she sighed hopelessly. “I’m sorry, Golds. I don’t know what to do.”

“Same here.” I replied, letting my cheek rest on the top of her head.

*****

We waited for the rest of the afternoon for Agent Daniels to show up to collect his compensation for getting us inside the headquarters. It was tempting to just leave town and stiff him on the deal, especially since we were really no further ahead in our search for the shy girl. Plus I knew Sunset wasn’t keen on having to sleep with him, even though she was viciously aroused again after spending the afternoon in the motel room alone with me. The problem with stiffing him on the deal was that he works for the CIA…and he could cause us trouble if he was pissed at Sunset.

Not only that, but she was worried about the fact that they had her on camera following Daniels’ wife into the washroom, and they were sure to find the battered woman on the toilet sooner or later.

The afternoon passed us by, and it was now evening. The sky was dark, and Sunset and I were starting to wonder what was going on with our insider.

Sunset was now pacing around the room, nervously hooking her fingers together and pulling them apart as she kept looking at the door, wondering what was going to happen. “Ugh! Where the fuck is he??” she groaned impatiently.

“Just relax, Sunny.” I said, sitting on the edge of one of the beds.

She stopped and looked at me with worried eyes. “My stunt in the washroom may have fucked us over huge…do you think he might have gotten caught for sneaking me in??”

I tilted my head and shrugged. “I don’t know, but if he did, we should probably get the fuck out of Dodge in case he gives you up…I don’t wanna have to kill a bunch CIA people if they show up here.”

She chewed her lip, continuing to pace around in front of me. “I don’t know if he’d give me up…”

“How do you know?” I asked.

She stopped pacing to glare at me impatiently. “I can read minds…?”

I looked down at the floor, remembering that Daniels couldn’t possibly plan on betraying Sunset without her knowing…at least up until the last time she saw him. “Fair enough.” I said. “But things might have changed since you got here…you haven’t seen him since then…”

She nodded. “Yeah…I know.”

We both waited there for a few minutes, staring around the room, wondering what was in store for us. It would have been very unfortunate if we’d stirred up a hornet’s nest at the CIA after sneaking in there, especially since the two people we were looking for weren’t even there. Having the CIA come after us was an extra aggravation that we certainly didn’t need.

Sunset sighed. “You know…” she started, making me look up at her. “Most of the people I met in there today were actually…pretty cool.”

I raised an eyebrow at her.

“Most of them just wanna do their jobs and keep the country safe…” she continued. “No one in there was thinking about you…I think Cody was the only one who was like that…”

I rubbed my hands together as I thought for a minute, looking at the floor.

Sunset spoke again. “I kind of think that if Cody is gone from the CIA, then you really don’t need to worry about them anymore. If fact, after what I learned in there today, I bet you could walk in there and tell them who you are, and they would actually be excited to meet you.”

I frowned as I looked up at her. “Yeah…let’s not and say we did. How about that?”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’m just sayin…”

There was a loud, rapid knock at the door.

Sunset and I both turned to look at the door, then at each other.

I nodded to her, letting her know she should answer.

She went to the door, putting her head close so she could hear. “Who is it?”

“It’s Daniels.” the agent’s muffled voice came back.

She paused, looking back at me.

“Sorry I’m late…a lot has happened since you left there today…” he said.

I started heading towards the bathroom to hide.

“Where are you going?” Sunset whispered frantically. “What if it’s a trap?”

I shook my head. “Let him in. If he’s got the cavalry out there, just give me a shout and I’ll come out and fuck ‘em up.”

I went into the bathroom and closed the door.

Sunset took a deep breath, then turned back to the door. She opened it slowly, looking out to see Daniels standing there by himself. She couldn’t see anyone else around, although it was dark out.

He suddenly stepped forward, pushing the door open as he came into the room. This put Sunset on edge, who looked around outside one more time to check for anyone else who might be watching, then she slowly shut the door.

When Sunset turned to face Daniels again, she was perplexed by the sight of him pacing around the room with a slight bounce in his step. He was different than the night before, he seemed…excited?

“Oh my god…” he whispered, turning around again to pace back the other way.

Sunset cocked her eyebrow at him. “What’s going on?”

He stopped suddenly to look at her. His eyes were wide as he spoke. “I can’t believe this is happening…this is amazing!”

“What’s amazing?” Sunset asked, unsure of what to think of his newfound lightheartedness.

“You…you were right…” he said. “How did you know?”

She shook her head. “Know what?”

“About my wife...stealing that transmitter.” he explained. “You were right. When I went back to HQ this afternoon after bringing you back here, I consulted the inventory history with the guys in the lab…and we found a miscount claim filed back in May…so I talked to the guys in security and we looked at the camera footage from around the same date, and we found it…”

“Found what?” Sunset asked slowly, looking at him sideways.

“You can see her take it…” he replied. “She was very quick about it…very smooth, and if you’re not looking for it, you’d never catch it…but we saw it today because we knew what to look for.”

Sunset nodded. “Oh, yeah. She made an inventory correction to cover up the fact that one was missing.” She smirked a bit at Daniels. “So you found proof of it, eh?”

He nodded excitedly. “And it was me who brought it to their attention…because you brought it to my attention.”

“So what’s gonna happen to her?” Sunset asked.

He shook his head. “I don’t know, but it won’t be good…” he said before pausing to look at the brunette with a bit of strange look. “They found her, by the way.”

Sunset looked up at him suddenly. “In the bathroom?”

He nodded. “She looked like she was in a train wreck. What the hell did you do to her?”

“Oh…” she said, looking at the floor and shrugging a little. “I used to box…”

Daniels chuckled a bit. “Man…you worked her over pretty good…”

Sunset chewed the inside of her cheek. “Are they looking for me now? I’m sure they caught me on camera going in there after her…”

He rubbed his forehead with his index knuckle. “Well…kind of. They want to ask you questions about it.”

Sunset frowned in confusion. “Questions?”

“Well, I...kind of…embellished the truth for you.” he said. “I told them that you were there for the intern position and you went in to use the washroom while I waited in the hall, and she threatened you.”

Sunset stared at him, blinking a couple times. “Threatened me?”

He nodded. “And that she attacked you, so you had to defend yourself.”

She shook her head. “So…wait, they believed you?”

“Of course they did…” he replied. “We had already caught her red-handed on film stealing the transmitter by then. They knew she was untrustworthy…so why wouldn’t they believe me? Didn’t you say she swung at you first anyway?”

Sunset nodded.

Daniels shrugged. “Then it’s not a lie, is it?”

“I guess not.” she replied with a smirk.

“It was lucky for you that you were in one of the few washrooms without a camera…” he said with a chuckle. “That HR wing is pretty low security because of all the applicants that have to be allowed in, but I’m sure after today there will be a camera installed to watch the sink area at the very least.”

Sunset agreed. “Yeah...”

“But anyway, back on topic.” he continued. “They saw you on camera when you asked to leave in a hurry, and I told them you were upset about what happened in the washroom…cuz that’s what it looked like, you were really flustered and wanted to go…”

“Hm…” she mumbled, rubbing her chin.

“But they want to talk to you about what happened, so if I were you I would get out of town…and maybe change your appearance.” he instructed.

“Are they gonna be after me?” she asked in a worried tone.

“I don’t think they want to have you arrested or anything, in fact I think they feel somewhat apologetic for what happened…but you were in there pretending to be someone else, so it’s probably not a good idea to go back to talk to them about it…if they figured out that you were actually an imposter, it would be bad for both of us.” he explained. “Just get out of town. They’ll have a hard time finding you since they’ll be looking for that Shimmer person, that'll keep them confused for a bit. I’ll make sure to keep them tied up dealing with that to buy you lots of time to get out.”

Sunset nodded. “OK. I’ll leave town tonight.

Daniels paused for a moment, then me smirked a bit. “You didn’t think you could do it, but you did.”

“Do what?” she asked.

“Help me get back at my wife. You did it though…you have no idea what this means to me.” he replied.

Sunset shrugged, looking away from him. “Glad I could help.” she said as she turned, intending to go get his money, but he stopped her again.

“No…you don’t understand.” he said. “They’re gonna give me a commendation…and a promotion…”

Sunset’s eyes went wide at the news. “Oh...wow, that’s great…good for you, Daniels.”

“It was because of you…” he said. “I don’t know who you really are, but you’ve changed my life.”

She paused, smiling awkwardly for a moment, then was surprised when he suddenly approached her and wrapped her up in a tight hug.

“Thank you.” he said quietly.

Sunset stared at the wall over his shoulder, realizing what this must have meant to him. She slowly brought her hands up and placed them gently on his back, returning the embrace.

“I uh…have your money…” she said, bracing herself to keep the rest of her end of the bargain. “And your bonus…”

He shook his head against hers. “I don’t want the money… you’ve already done enough for me.”

She furrowed her brows in surprise. “Really?”

He nodded. “And I don’t want the bonus…”

She pulled her head back. “You don’t?” she asked, feeling instant relief.

He broke the hug to stand back and look at her…”Well, I mean…it’s not like…I mean, you are very beautiful, but I don’t want it like this…I can’t treat you like that after what you’ve done for me.”

Sunset smiled as a blush crept across her face.

“I’ll even give the twenty grand back…” he offered.

Sunset shook her head, waving her hands at him. “No! No, I don’t want it back…you earned it.”

He paused, then nodded when he realized she wasn’t going to accept the refund. “I don’t know who you are,” he said, “but you’ve given me a reason to try again…I might even get my daughter back, depending on what happens with my wife. Is there something I can call you? Even a nickname at least?”

Sunset smiled, then took a deep breath. “Just call me…” she paused as she thought of a name. “Trixie.”

He smiled. “Trixie…” he repeated, patting her on the shoulder. “Well Trixie, you’ve made a friend and ally in the CIA today. If there’s anything you need, you contact me and I’ll help you any way I can.”

She stared blankly at the floor. “Well actually…” she said. “The whole reason I needed in there today was to find out where my friend is…and I didn’t find what I was looking for.”

His expression dropped. “Damn…sorry about that. I wish there was something I could do to help...”

She shook her head. “Not unless you happen to know where the super-secret organisation that Agent Cody took her to is…”

He cocked his eyebrow. “The super-secret what now?”

She chuckled while folding her arms. “Didn’t think so…”

“It doesn’t sound real…” he said. “Like something out of a movie, or some kind of fanfiction…”

She nodded. “It’s real. Trust me.”

He sighed, staring off into space for a moment as if he was deep in thought. Then he suddenly perked up. “Hey wait…” he said, looking at her again. “I might actually know someone you could talk to…if he’s still alive, that is.”

Author's Note

https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/headquarters-tour
Pretty cool website, check it out!

Chapter 57: I'll Get Even

Chapter 57

The lights in the steel hexagon-shaped room suddenly clicked on.

Fluttershy was laying on her side on the cement floor, facing the wall. She opened her eyes slowly, turning over to look towards the steel door to see if it was going to open, and if so, who was coming in.

She wasn’t kept in suspense for long. The door beeped, then swung open on its own, allowing the three big men from before to walk in again, smiling maliciously when they saw her curled up on the floor.

She watched as they entered, her heart sinking as she realized what she was in for again. She sighed, then sat up and leaned her back against the wall, scowling at the men as they lined up to face her, cracking their knuckles and swinging their heads around to loosen themselves up.

Fluttershy scowled at the sight of them, feeling her fear turn into frustration as she glanced up at the little black dome on the wall above the door, which was obviously Stubz’ camera that he could see into the room with. “Why?” she asked softly, shaking her head.

Stubz’ voice rang back loudly into the room. “The first session was a control sample. We will continue these exercises on a regular basis to see how well you develop your technique and learn problem solving skills to overcome challenges.”

She scowled at the camera. “I’m not going to do it. I want to go home.”

One of the big men stepped forward with his bottom lip sticking out, tracing a line down his cheek with his index finger, signifying a tear running down his cheek. “Ooh, she wants to go home…” he teased, much to the delight of the other two men.

“You can’t go home.” Stubz said. "Begin." he finished quickly, causing a sudden panic in the shy girl as the men came towards her.

She put her hands up in defence. “No no! Leave me alone!” she cried as one of them bent down and grabbed her arms to violently hoist her to her feet, then turned and pushed her towards the other guys. One of them raised his foot, kicking her hard in the chest as she was shoved towards him, knocking her down onto her back onto the hard, unforgiving floor.

Tears started building up in her eyes as she felt one of them grab her by the throat with one hand, and by the top of her skirt with the other. She was lifted up into the air, held above the man’s head horizontally for a moment as the other two laughed at her. She was held up there for a moment, then the one who was holding her suddenly let his arms go limp as she stepped back and let her fall all the way back down to the floor, colliding face-first with the concrete yet again.

The crack sound echoed through her head as the concrete impacted her forehead. She did nothing afterwards, except lay still and curl up into a ball with the men surrounding her.

They stood for a moment, looking down at her, until finally one of them shook his head and looked up at the camera. “Stubz, seriously…this is a waste of time. This chick is worthless.”

“Not my decision.” Stubz’ voice echoed back over the speaker.

The soldier put his hand out towards the shy girl. “She’s useless…weak…the only good thing about her is that she’s tough. Why don’t we just get to her to run around the firing range and we can use her for target practice?”

Fluttershy’s eyes popped open, staring at the floor right in front of her face. Her emotions started to boil in her brain as she listened to these terrible people make these sickening decisions about her life.

One of the other men leaned over closer to the soldier who was talking. “Yeah, and she can give us head, right? Whenever we want?” he quipped as the other two laughed.

Stubz sighed over the speaker. “That’s probably not going to happen…” he chuckled.

Fluttershy listened as they spoke about her with such blatant disrespect…no one was going to treat her like this and get away with it. She was now completely enraged, but managed to keep it hidden as she slowly slid her arms up, placing her palms on the floor and lifting herself up to sitting position, with her legs out to the side. “These guys think I’m a joke? They want a real fight? I’ll teach them a thing or two about the real Fluttershy!”

She slowly got to her feet, then straightened herself up as the three men all quieted their laughter and watched her bring herself to a sturdy position, surrounded by the three of them. “OK Fluttershy,” she thought, “remember what Goldie taught you; fight smart, use their own strength against them, use leverage, not power…fight dirty!”

She was now standing straight up, facing the man who imitated her crying when they first came in. The one who had just dropped her on the floor was directly behind her, and the perverted one was off to the side now, having backed away to lean lazily against the wall, ready to watch the upcoming violence against her.

The shy girl folded her hands in front of her tattered and dirty green skirt, looking like her same old shy self, save for the invisible fire that was now burning in her eyes.

“Um, I’m really sorry…” she said, ever so softly. “But, I only suck big dicks. So, I’m afraid you guys are, um…shit out of luck.”

She looked up at the big guy in front of her, who had a stunned look on his face. After a short moment, he blinked a couple of times, then shook his head as a frown appeared on his face. “What the fuck did you just say, bitch?”

“Um, I just said you have little dicks. Also, I’m about to seriously fuck up all three of you…so get ready to learn a few things,” she said, innocently.

He gritted his teeth. “Oh, ho-ho...you bitch; you’d better be ready for another fucking beatdown!”

Fluttershy’s eyes went wide with pretend fear, and she backed up a step, narrowing the gap between her and the man behind her. Then she gently placed her fingertips against her cheeks. “Oh my goodness, be careful! You might cut yourself on all that edge.”

The man in front of her, who was a couple steps away, snorted, then stepped forward and wound his arm up to deliver a fast right hook.

She waited patiently, watching closely as he stepped into the attack; when his fist flung through the air, Fluttershy —quick as lightning— leaned to the side and brought her hands up, deflecting the blow just enough to miss her. It sailed past her and headed directly towards the thug on her six.

The devastating blow shattered his nose, causing his head to bounce back from the impact. He cupped his hands over his nose when it started pouring blood, then he turned around and bent forward, facing away from them, trying to get his bearings and recover from the pain.

The man who threw the punch was still holding his fist out, stunned that he’d accidently delivered the blow to the wrong face.

“I’ll teach you something!” Fluttershy squealed, seizing the opportunity to grab his outstretched arm by the wrist, then turned to step her feet up onto the small of the back of the broken-nosed man who had turned away and bent over. She jumped off of his back, flipping clear over the man who threw the punch while still holding onto his wrist.

As she came down behind him, she held his arm tightly, yanking it down behind his back. He shrieked in pain as she curled her legs up, keeping her feet up off the floor, applying her full weight to his arm as it remained bent over his shoulder, his elbow pointed up at the ceiling, putting an extreme amount of tension on his shoulder socket.

Fluttershy let go of his arm with her right hand, keeping her left hand clamped on his wrist to keep her weight hanging onto his arm as she hammered her right fist into his shoulder blade, which finally knocked his arm out of the socket with a loud POP.

He hollered even louder and dropped to his knees, clutching his shoulder with his other hand as the shy girl let his dislocated arm flop down to his side.

She stepped to the side of him, then leaned in close to his face with a maniacal smile on hers. “See how that just pops right out?” she said sweetly.

The man with the broken nose had turned around by then, gritting his teeth in anger at Fluttershy after her tricky stunt. These guys were tough after all, some of the toughest on the planet…and it would take more than a broken nose and a dislocated shoulder to subdue them.

He stepped towards Fluttershy to grab her arm as she swung her fist at him, but just before he caught her, she suddenly changed direction…bringing her arm down, missing his grasp and grabbing his shirt with both hands, then she pulled herself towards him as she leaped at his face with the crown of her head. She let her skull collide with his already-smashed nose as hard as she could, thrusting up with her legs as she delivered the massive head-butt, destroying what was left of his nose completely.

As tough as these men were, the body can only take so much, and his finally succumbed to the damage he had taken to his face and he lost consciousness as he barrelled backwards and smacked the back of his head against the wall.

Just then, the third man grabbed her by the shoulders from behind and tossed her to the floor. She kicked her legs up, flipping herself back up onto her feet, then stood and turned to face the last man standing. To her delight, it was the man who was so hard-up for a blowjob, and she had something extra-special in mind for him.

“You like head??” she snarled at him. “You wanna see how to take a really big dick in your mouth??”

He had his fists up, ready to fight. As she approached him, he threw a hard jab, catching Fluttershy square on the nose. Her head snapped back…and then she glared back at him as she let out an evil giggle.

“Is that all you got??” she sneered. “Even my little bunny hits harder than that…”

He wound up harder and threw a second punch, which she dodged to the side to miss, then reached up and grabbed his forearm with both hands. She hung from his arm, swinging herself upside down to reach up with her foot, jamming her bare heel into his face.

Next, she let go of his arm with one hand, jamming her four fingers into his mouth and hooking her thumb under his chin, grabbing tightly onto his bottom jaw. She let go of his arm with her other hand and grabbed onto his jaw with it as well, letting her whole body weight hang from his face. She then set her heel against his top teeth, pushing his head upwards and she gritted her teeth and yanked downwards on his lower jaw with her hands…

“Open wiiiide!” she snarled as she squeezed her eyes shut and pulled with all her might, listening to the guttural scream from the man as his jaw finally disengaged from the rest of his face, tearing the skin in the corners of his mouth as the slender little girl pulled his face apart. The sudden movement caused her to lose her grip on his jaw, and she slipped off of him and fell onto her back on the floor.

He floundered around wildly, hollering in pain with his eyes shut tightly as his chin flopped around like jello. He kept frantically groping at it with his hands to try and set it back into place as he instinctively headed for the door to escape. Unfortunately for him, he had lost his sense of direction during his wild flailing so he forced himself to open his watering eyes to find his way out.

The only thing he saw, however, was her bare yellow foot rocketing at his face, her heel driving like a battering ram into the bridge of his nose. There was a loud crunch, then he fell to the floor, knocked out cold with his slack-jaw flopping around as he came to rest on the concrete.

Fluttershy heard footsteps running up behind her. She turned her head quickly to see guy with the dislocated arm charging at her with his good shoulder forward in an attempt to ram her off her feet. She dove out of the way just in time, hooking her foot between his legs as he ran, tripping him up, causing him to fall forward, face-first onto the floor.

She immediately jumped on his back, kneeling on his good arm just above the elbow and grabbing him by the wrist to pull his arm back, wrenching against the pressure of his elbow until it finally snapped and bent in a direction it was never meant to. He began to holler, holding his head up off the floor as she walked around to the front of him, then raised her leg and stomped mercilessly on the back of his head, smashing his face repeatedly against the floor, finally rendering the final combatant in the room silent.

The shy girl quickly looked up at the camera above the door, hissing through her gritted teeth as the rage continued to boil out of her.

“Hey STUBZ!!” she snarled, putting her arms out and gesturing around the room. “You still think I’m a joke?”

The only response was silence.

Fluttershy put her hand to her ear as she looked round the room with her eyebrows raised, pretending to be listening for something. Then she stopped and shrugged while shaking her head. “I don’t hear anyone laughing…do you??”

*****

Agent Cody folded his hands on top of his new desk. He had a smile on his face as he looked around his new office. Bringing in the immortal girl had gotten him the new position he desired, out of the field and into a nice safe office. From now on, he would be working either here, or in the control room downstairs, where he would plan, organise and manage field missions, where other men would go out into the danger zones.

This organization certainly had some decent funding, and he did enjoy the idea of living off the grid from this day forward…no more taxes, no more rent or mortgage, and his living expenses were all looked after from now on. He would be receiving a new house as part of his employment here…anywhere in the world he wanted. He had been thinking of a nice place in southern France…

And all he had to do was find the immortal.

He was worried when he brought her in that they wouldn’t except her since she wasn’t the man that they’d been after all this time, but they did finally agree to take her after they’d found out the things she’d done in the past few weeks.

He snickered as he looked around his office, the one wall to the right of his desk was comprised of all windows that provided a view into the adjacent hall with blinds mounted inside them, made of bulletproof glass of course, just in case. This facility was loaded with bulletproof glass everywhere…no expense was spared when the place was built.

His desk was a large, dark wooden unit, with nice big drawers and a holster underneath the middle where his legs go when he’s sitting down. In the middle of the large office, there was a glass coffee table with four chairs around it, for small meetings or just for sitting and having a coffee break.

Along the left side wall was a cabinet with a glass front, loaded with Cody’s credentials, commendations, awards and any other trophies he might have collected over the years.

He was looking at the backlit pictures of nature scenes on the wall on either side of the trophy case, thinking about how there were no actual windows in the office when there was a buzz at his door. The door was on the far end of the office on the right, on the same wall as all of the windows.

He leaned forward and pushed the button to switch on the intercom. “Yes?”

“It’s Stubz. I need to speak with you.”

“About what?” Cody asked.

“FS1.”

Cody scowled a bit at the code name they’d given the immortal girl. He paused for a moment, then hit the button to unlock the door.

Stubz entered the office and approached Cody, slamming the file folder with all of the girl’s information inside down on the desktop. “What the fuck did you bring in here?” he growled.

Cody shook his head. “What?”

“That girl…” Stubz said, pointing downward behind him, indicating that she was on a lower level of the facility. “I just watched her literally tear apart three Navy Seals!”

Cody shrugged. “I told you she was good…” he smirked.

Stubz pointed angrily at him. “This isn’t funny.” he growled. “She’s in the sparring room right now with three men who need medical attention, and she’s unrestrained.”

Cody rolled his eyes. “Well that’s your problem, not mine. You got yourself into that mess…”

Stubz pounded the desk with his fist, making Cody scowl at him. “How the hell did you get her here? I can’t have her in there with those guys, but I’m also not fucking going in there with her…”

Cody chuckled casually at him, standing up from his desk. “I figured something like this would eventually happen.” he said, walking around the desk towards the door. “I noticed something about her when I observed her the first time…so I had them bring in some ‘items’ that I thought would come in useful to help keep her…compliant. Follow me.”

*****

Fluttershy was sitting in the hexagon-shaped room, leaning against the wall, looking around at the carnage she had caused earlier, wondering if maybe she’d overreacted slightly.

Just then, she heard a voice inside her head. She furrowed her brows, tipping her head a bit as she listened to it…it was a familiar type of voice, and it seemed to be getting closer fairly quickly. She stood up, nervously watching the door, wondering what she might see when it opened.

She watched as the door finally beeped, then swung open, revealing a face she didn’t expect to see.

“M-Mr. Cody?” she stuttered, clenching her jaw in anger.

He gave her a sadistic grin as she looked down to see what he was holding in his hand.

“Oh!” she thought as her eyes lit up. ”It’s a little kitten! He’s so-“

She stopped suddenly, watching the little creature sitting in Cody’s hand as it looked around the room curiously. “W-why do you have a kitten?” she asked nervously.

Cody kicked the handcuffs and belt across the floor to her. “Put your cuffs on.” he ordered.

She looked down at them, then back at her captor. “I don’t like them.” she said. “I promise I won’t hurt anyone if we leave them off, as long as they’re nice to me.”

“Put them on!” Cody demanded louder. “Or else…” He reached up with his other hand and placed his thumb and forefinger around the little animal’s neck.

Fluttershy’s eyes opened wide with fear for the little creature, feeling its distress in her mind. “No! No, don’t hurt him…” she begged, putting her hand out. “I’ll do it. I’ll put them on…just please, Mr. Cody. Don’t hurt him.”

He smiled as he watched her put the belt on first, then the foot cuffs, followed by the hand cuffs. She finished up by hooking the hand cuff chains to the belt chain, then looked back at him. “See? I did what you asked…now please don’t hurt him.” she said desperately.

Cody looked at her for a moment, then smirked as he grabbed the little animals head and violently twisted it around more than half a turn, snapping its neck, killing it almost instantly.

Fluttershy felt it in her mind…the sudden pop, followed by the young creature’s mind quickly fading into silence as she fell to her knees in shock. Tears ran down her face as he coldly tossed the small furry body to the floor in front of her.

“You...you…killed him…” she sobbed. “W-why? I did w-what you asked…”

“I had to ask twice.” he replied flatly. “There’s a whole litter of these cats here…so next time, do what you’re told the first time, or more of them will end up like this guy.”

The shy girl was bent forward on her knees, devastated by the cruelty she just witnessed. Tears were streaming down her grief-distorted face as she tried to put her hands over her mouth, only to be stopped by the short chains holding her hands down at her front.

Without another word, Cody turned and walked away, down the dark metal hall...leaving Stubz in the doorway, staring at her in surprise of how effective Cody’s method was.

Fluttershy watched as the cruel agent walked away, her jaw clenching tighter and tighter as she started breathing heavily through her nose, her rage starting to boil over, causing her body to begin to tremble.

“CODY!!!” she suddenly screamed after him. He ignored her, walking away without turning back to look as she continued to scream at him. “First chance I get…FIRST CHANCE…you’re DEAD!!”

Her shrill growl echoed endlessly down the hall at a deafening volume, causing Stubz to flinch as he watched the chained-up girl grit her teeth, seething with demonic rage…a shocking sight, coming from an individual who started out so meek and quiet.

But she still wasn’t finished...

“DO YOU HEAR ME??” her snarl filled the long hallway again as Cody continued to walk away. “THERE’LL BE NO MORE STUPIDITY FROM YOU WHEN I RIP YOUR TONGUE OUT AND BEAT YOU DOWN LIKE A PUNK!!! I'M GONNA SLICE OPEN YOUR GUTS, STUFF YOU FULL OF ROCKS AND THROW YOU IN THE FUCKING RIVER, AND YOU’LL BE SLEEPING WITH THE FISHES FOREVER!!!”

*Chapter 58: The 'Fallout'

Chapter 58

“Sunny, can you not kick my seat?” I asked, looking in the rearview mirror into the darkness of the back seat.

“Sorry…” she panted in reply. “I was cumming again…”

“Damn man…” I said, shaking my head. “You’re a machine…you’ve been at it non-stop for the last two states…”

“It’s fucking amazing…” she replied breathlessly from the darkness. “I’m so turned on, it feels SO damn good, and it never goes away no matter how much I cum…“ she chuckled. “So much for saving my batteries…”

“You should have brought one that plugs into the power port.” I suggested.

She laughed back. “Yeah well, live and learn.“ she replied, sitting up in the back seat. I could see her eyes shining from the light in the dash board as she leaned forward, putting her mouth closer to my ear. “Where are we?” she asked.

I took a deep breath. “We’ll be in Nevada within the hour.”

“Holy shit! Already?” she exclaimed.

“Yeah. Time flies when you’re having fun, eh?” I said, turning to glance at her.

Sunset chuckled as she climbed into the front seat. She sat down, stretching her legs out while brushing her messy hair out of her face. “I wonder if I did it with Daniels if it would have made any difference…”

“I don’t know.” I replied. “Just count yourself lucky that you got out of that deal.”

“I guess, but still…” she said. “I wonder if taking a load would have helped it…”

I scowled a bit, shaking my head. “Hey Sunny, can we not talk about this?”

She started glaring at me, then a smirk crept across her face. “Golds...does that make you jealous?”

I glanced at her in surprise, then looked back at the road. “No.”

Sunset’s eyebrows went up. “You are jealous…”

I shook my head. “Of course I’m not. You’re crazy.”

She sat up and leaned over to me, pressing her cheek against my shoulder. “Aww…you’re so sweet…”

“I… Sunny, did you figure out a way to get drunk or something?” I asked, making her laugh.

“No…” she chuckled. “It’s nice though…that you’re protective of me. You always were…like at the bar…”

I sighed then looked down at her. “Well…I like you.” I confessed. “And…I think you’re special.” I shook my head. “I don’t know what it is...maybe because you’re from some other world, but sometimes I feel like this world belongs to me, I guess because I’ve spent more time on it than anyone else...and when that guy hit you at the bar, I felt like my world was mistreating a guest…”

Sunset lifted her head to look at me, surprised by my sincerity.

I glanced back at her, then shook my head. “Nevermind. That made no sense…it’s stupid.”

“No!” she said, shaking her head. “I get it…and thank you.”

We drove in silence for a few moments, watching the road rush by us in the headlights.

I looked down at the clock. “When we get to Vegas, I think we should talk to Rare. She needs to know what’s up. We’re gonna be gone longer than we thought.”

She nodded in agreement. “Yeah…do you think anyone will be listening in?”

I shook my head. “Definitely not the CIA…maybe the ‘others’, but I doubt it. We’ll use a pay phone and call her at the boutique later tonight.”

“OK.” Sunset replied, sitting back in the passenger seat. She stared out of the windshield for a few moments. “Fuck, I hate being stuck in this car for so long…”

“Yeah, I know.” I said with a sigh. “So, who is this guy that Daniels sent us to see?”

“Umm…” she mumbled, trying to recall the info. “Retired former FBI and DEA…he’s of Mexican descent, so he did a lot of undercover in South America for the DEA. He snuck into quite a few of the cartels down there, and word has it he was into a lot of secretive shit…which is why Daniels recommended him…he thinks he might know about the ‘others’.”

“Are you sure Daniels knew where we could find him?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yeah. I read his mind before he left…Daniels knew exactly where to find him, and now so do I. He’s spending his retirement in Vegas now, keeping a low profile and gambling his pension away.” the brunette looked at me with a little smirk. “I saw the guy’s face in Daniels’ mind. I know exactly what he looks like.”

I smiled. “And that is exactly why I brought you, Sunny.”

*****

Sunset and I arrived in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sunday evening, a few hours past a full week after the capture of Fluttershy.

We talked about what we should do while in town, deciding whether we should just hang out in the car or get a hotel. After talking about it for a bit, we decided to spring for a modest hotel room, although Sunset was quite insistent on getting a room with a Jacuzzi. As far as our actions being traceable, we knew at this point that Daniels was keeping the CIA off our backs now. The ‘others’ might have been watching, but we knew they shouldn’t come after us with their own people…although, I was now hoping that they actually would send one of their own after us so I could get my hands on them and force a location out of them.

Sunset had insisted in stopping at a drug store before we checked in to our hotel room. After running in quickly to pick something up, we got our room and went up to decide what to do the next day.

I laid on the bed and stared at the ceiling, thinking about my poor lost princess…thinking about the first time I saw her come scampering out of that hallway, looking so timid and innocent, too shy to even look at me. I felt guilty now for involving such a sweet creature in my kind of life…and now she was someplace terrible because of me.

Sunset went into the bathroom to use the shower for quite a while, then remained in there long after the shower had stopped running.

After what felt like hours of staring at the dirty ceiling, I heard the sound of the Jacuzzi pump running, followed a few minutes later by Sunset’s voice.

“Hey Golds! Why don’t you come in here and hang out?”

“Oh boy…” I thought as I sat up slowly to get off of the bed and walk to the bathroom.

I opened the door into the steamy room to find her stretched out in the bubbly water, laying back with a relaxed face, naked under the water.

I noticed right away what she had been up to, and what she’d gone to the drug store for. Her hair wasn’t brunette anymore…not entirely anyway. She had purchased some hair dye remover and evidently put it to use on herself, but it was obviously not completely effective since her hair still had a darker shade to it…the red was more of a dark copper colour, and the yellows had more of a bronze hue to them.

That’s not to say it wasn’t a welcome sight to see her back in her signature colours, even if they were off a shade. The fact that it was wet made it look different as well, her face looked different with her hair flattened down against her head and shoulders as she smiled at me when I entered the room.

Her mood had lifted a lot ever since her job in the CIA was finished. Having that task ahead of her while we were driving across the country to DC obviously put her on edge the whole time, but now, she was much more light-hearted after completing her task…especially after she knocked it out of the park, and gained a useful ally in the process.

I leaned with my back on the counter, folding my arms. “Nice hair…”

She locked her aqua eyes with mine, then smiled with satisfaction. “It’s nice to finally feel like myself again.”

“Yeah…you look good, Sunny.” I nodded, still thinking about Fluttershy, wondering if this guy that Daniels had sent us to see would be able to help us find her…that is, until Sunset hit me with an unexpected question.

“What do you think about pussies?”

I looked at her for a second, then smirked a bit. “I guess I think they’re pretty nifty…why?”

She closed her eyes and leaned her head back on the edge of the tub while taking a deep breath. “Human pussies are weird…”

“Oh?” I replied.

“It took me a while to get used to mine…” she continued absentmindedly.

“Hm…” I nodded, looking at her. “What’s wrong with it?”

“Nothing really…” she explained. “It’s just…different. There’s more flaps n’ stuff…”

I smirked a bit. “That’s all just part of the ensemble…” I said, trying to contribute to the conversation any way I could.

“I know,” she said, “But…well, look.” she suddenly sat up out of the water and stood in full view of me. I was caught off guard by this, but I couldn’t peel my eyes off of her body…watching the water run down her skin, dripping off of her breasts as she shifted forward to sit on the edge of the tub.

Sunset leaned back, holding herself up with one arm as she spread her legs apart as wide as she could, then she slid her free hand down to her slit, using her index and middle fingers to pull her lips apart, exposing every part of her female anatomy to me.

I looked for a second, taking in the details of her full lips held apart by her fingers, exposing the pink inner layer, complete with the more delicate frills of flesh that connected at the top, surrounding the little red bud that resided above the dark shadow of her opening just below. I quickly diverted my eyes to the floor, feeling self-conscious about looking at her like that, even though my own anatomy was lifting its head to up have a peek of its own.

She was looking down at her crotch, shifting her fingers around to manipulate it as she appraised herself. “See? There’s like…these little flaps, and the-“ she stopped when she glanced up at me. “Hey…you’re not looking…”

I scratched the back of my head, forcing myself to look back up at her.

She smirked, then asked me: “Does it look OK? Is this how they’re supposed to look?”

I nodded. “Uh yeah, Sunny. It looks fine.”

Sunset bit her lip for a moment as her cheeks flushed, then she let her eyelids drop halfway, looking at me seductively. “But…did it feel good?”

Hey eyes were locked on mine as I glared at her in surprise. “You mean…the night we did it?...Yeah, of course it did.”

She raised an eyebrow, making me notice again how little she looked like herself right then...the way her normally wavy hair was now wet and stuck against her head and neck, making her somehow look smaller, along with the new shade of colour that she was now sporting after I was just getting used to her as a brunette.

“Do you…wanna taste it?” she asked, quite brashly out of the blue.

My heart almost jumped out of my chest when she made the offer, and I stared dumbfounded at her, watching as she continued to present her body to me. “Not helpful Sunny...not helpful...”

I finally sighed, closing my eyes and covering my face with my hands. “Look Sunny…” I said slowly. “You know that I would like nothing more than to…uh, do stuff with you…”

Her expression went slightly blank as she listened to me talk.

“But,” I continued. “I was thinking about Flutters a lot for the last hour…and I can’t help but feel like she is where she is because of me…”

Sunset suddenly sat up on the edge of the tub, closing her legs as she folded her arms across her midsection, looking slightly embarrassed by her recent behaviour.

“I just, uh…” I said, rubbing the back of my head. “I can’t do this…when she’s in there on her own.”

Sunset closed her eyes and nodded, seeming to finally snap out of her sexual conquest. “I know…it’s OK, Golds.” she replied as she turned to step back down into the water. “I’m sorry about that…what I just did there.” she continued as she laid back again. “You know that’s not really me talking when that’s happening, right?”

I nodded. “Yeah. It’s OK. Don’t’ worry about it.”

“It’s just…now that we’re done with the CIA and I’m not nervous about it anymore, my mind isn’t as occupied as it was…and I’m losing control more and more…” she explained.

I put my hands on my hips as I looked at her, thinking about the situation. Here we were, in Las Vegas, looking for a stranger that we were referred to by someone who was also basically stranger, to ask about a super-secret agency where my girlfriend was being held…and now my partner was losing her mind to a sexual arousal that she couldn’t control. I didn’t know what to do to help her, giving her what she desired might help…or maybe it wouldn’t.

Or what if it made it worse?

I shook my head as I looked at the floor. “Sorry. I just don’t want to be that guy…” I said. “You know, who cheats on his girlfriends…especially when one of them is in trouble.”

Sunset nodded back. “I know…and I don’t want to be that slutty douchebag who sleeps with her friends' boyfriend…” she sighed, looking down at the swirling water. “I’m trying my hardest to control myself…”

“I know you are. And it’s hard for you…I can tell.” I said, before taking a deep breath and turning to leave the room. “It’s 10:30, I wanna talk to Rarity pretty soon. Like I said, I want to tell her what’s going on…plus I just wanna hear her voice.”

“I actually wanna talk to her too…” she said.

“OK, I’ll wait for you to be done.” I said.

She suddenly pressed the button, turning off the pump and then pulled the plug in the tub. “I’m done now, just let me dry off.” she said as she stepped out of the tub, grabbing a towel to dry herself with.

We were down in the lobby about ten minutes later. Sunset was dressed in her usual jeans and long aqua t-shirt, but she had left her jacket upstairs this time. Her hair was still wet, and she had simply brushed it back to let it dry on its own.

We found a few payphones in the lobby, so we put one of them to use to call the fashionista.

*****

Rarity was in the work room of her boutique, working on another garment when the store phone rang. She looked up briefly, glaring over her red magnifying glasses out of the room at the customer service counter where the phone sat.

She watched as the line on the phone flashed as the phone rang again and again…until finally it went quiet. She rolled her eyes as she looked up at the clock in her work room. “Who on earth would be calling at ten-to-eleven on a Sunday night?” she wondered as she lowered her head to go back to work, only to hear the phone ring a second time.

She scowled as she looked at the phone, noticing the same line flashing again. “What the devil?” she said to herself as she stood up and set the garment down on the work counter. She walked out to the main counter in the show room, standing over the phone, biting her lips as she thought about what to do. “Could it be a trap?” she wondered. “Someone from one of these agencies?”

She bit her index fingernail as the phone kept ringing. “It could be Golds...maybe he found Fluttershy!…or maybe he needs help…?”

She hesitated for a moment, then reached out to put her hand on the phone, clenching her jaw. “So what if it’s a trap? Let them come! I can look after myself…”

She picked the phone up, straightening her posture as she answered like a professional. “Carousel Boutique…Rarity speaking.”

“Hey, it’s me…” I replied through the phone.

Rarity let out a sigh of relief, putting her hand to her chest as her heart fluttered at the sound of my voice. “Oh darling…how I’ve missed-“

“No names or specifics, OK?” I cut her off.

She paused for a moment, somewhat shocked by my sternness. “Yes, of course.” she nodded.

“Sorry about that.” I said. “So how’s it going there?”

“Oh, pretty uneventful, darling. Just work and…well, that’s about it.” she explained. “How is it going on your end? Have you found…her?”

There was a pause before I answered. “No…not really.”

She frowned a bit, feeling a wave of disappointment go through her. “What do you mean, not really? Didn’t you get into the…uh, place?”

“Yeah, she did it. She did an amazing job, you would’ve been proud of her…but unfortunately the information we needed just wasn’t there, and neither was our friend.” I replied.

Rarity covered her mouth. “So…is she…?”

“Yeah…” I replied. “She’s at the ‘other’ place.”

The fashionista closed her eyes, shaking her head as she realized that she wasn’t going to be seeing her lovers for longer than expected. She then took in a deep breath, opening her eyes to speak again. “So, do you know where this ‘other’ place is?”

“Nope. Not a fucking clue.” I replied, making her heart sink into her stomach.

“B-but…darling…what are you going to do??” she stuttered.

“Don’t worry.” I replied. “We were sent to talk to someone who might know where to look…but we had to go across the country again…”

“Oh my goodness…” she mumbled, her mind blank, yet overwhelmed at the same time.

“Don’t worry.” I repeated. “We’re gonna make it. You hear me?”

Rarity nodded. “Yes…I heard you, darling…I’m just…I’m so worried about her...” her voice was starting to crack under the weight of her emotion. “And I miss you so much…”

“I miss you too…trust me, not a day goes by that I don’t think of that beautiful, little white ass of yours.” I said.

She smiled a bit, even while sniffling as her eyes continued to moisten up. “Oh stop...don’t be so lewd…” she forced a giggle. “How is your partner doing?”

“Oh, well….like I said,” I began, “She did great…she’s serious about finding her too…”

Rarity nodded a bit. “Well, actually…I was asking about her, uh…little condition…”

“Oh…” I replied with a pause. “She’s managing, but it’s been hard for her to deal with…”

“Could I talk to her please?” she asked.

“…Sure.”

Rarity listened as she heard the murmur of Sunset and I talking in the background, then the muffled rattle as the phone was passed to the copper-haired girl.

“Hey.” Sunset greeted.

“Hello darling…how are you doing?” Rarity asked.

“Uh…” Sunset replied somewhat timidly. “It’s been pretty crazy. I got in...to…you know…that big place. That was pretty amazing, but it turned out to be a waste of time.”

“Nonsense! He said you did very well.” Rarity replied. “I very much appreciate you putting yourself at risk for us. You truly are a good friend, darling.”

“Oh…well…I’ll do what it takes to get her back, you know that. We’re not coming home empty-handed.” the copper-headed girl replied.

“It will not go overlooked, I assure you. I will forever be in your debt.” the fashionista said with sincerity. “What about your little…issue?”

There was a short pause before Sunset answered. “Well…it’s been happening non-stop this whole time.”

Rarity gave a small gasp of shock. “The entire time? Oh goodness…” she said. “Didn’t your little plan work?”

“Uh, it works for like ten minutes, but then it just comes back…” Sunset replied.

The purple-haired girl shook her head. “You poor thing…I’m so sorry! This must be so hard for you to deal with…”

“Well, I’ve been managing so far,” Sunset said. “But it’s been worse the last few days…we kind of had a close call on Friday…”

“A close call?”

“Like…we maybe accidently started doing stuff…” she answered. “I don’t want to do that to you guys, and I’m trying my best to control it…but I thought I should be up front and tell you what happened…”

Rarity felt a small pang of jealousy in her chest, but she swallowed it down, knowing that Sunset couldn’t help it, and was being a good friend by being honest about it. “What kind of stuff did you do?”

“Oh…like some kissing…and touching…”

Rarity tilted her head. “Oh that’s not so bad…" she thought. "Poor thing, she must be absolutely losing her mind…it must be terrible going through this. She’s just trying to help after all…and after all she’s done it’s not fair for her to suffer this way…”

Sunset continued, nervously filling the space of the silent pause created by Rarity’s thoughts, not knowing what the fashionista was thinking about. “You’ve got a good man, though. He sure has some strong-ass will power…some of the things he’s refused to give in to…things I’ve said or done when I’m…losing control…”

“Darling…” Rarity finally said. “Go ahead…if you need to.”

“Huh?”

“It is simply not fair that you have to go through this, especially after all you’ve done for us.” Rarity explained. “I give you full permission to indulge yourself when you feel the need.”

Sunset was silent.

Rarity frowned. “Are you still there?”

“Y-yeah…sorry. I’m here…I’m just…” Sunset stammered. “I…no. I can’t. He’s YOUR boyfriend…I can’t…especially with, you know…our friend missing.”

“I know darling, but I’m afraid I must insist.” Rarity replied. “With her gone, that leaves me in charge of this relationship…and I cannot bear the thought of you to suffering any longer, plus you need to be thinking clearly if we want to be successful in bringing our friend home.”

“I appreciate the offer, but I can handle this on my own.” the copper-haired girl lied.

“Suit yourself, darling. But my offer stands indefinitely, should you decide to change your mind.” Rarity informed her.

“Fine.”

“OK, then. Good luck, darling. Now, could you be a dear and put him back on, please?” Rarity asked.

“Sure thing.” Sunset answered.

“Thank you, darling. For everything.” Rarity said softly.

“…no problem.” was the reply after a short pause.

There was a silence for a moment, followed by the sound of the phone passing hands again.

“Yep?” my voice said.

“Darling…” Rarity started. “Please do not allow your partner to suffer. If she is out of control, you have my permission to fuck her brains out. Do you understand me?”

There was a pause.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Do I sound unsure?” she asked back.

“No, not really.” I said with a chuckle. “But don’t worry, it won’t come to that.”

“Well, consider it a standing order, should the need arise.” Rarity replied sternly. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, darling…as much as I hate to let you go, I must return to my work, post-haste.”

I sighed into the phone. “OK. You’ll hear from us as soon as we find her, or figure something out…OK?”

“Much appreciated.” the fashionista replied. “Thank you for letting me know what is happening…and it was good to hear your voice again.”

“You too.”

“I love you, darling…”

“Love you too.”

After finishing our farewells, Rarity slowly and reluctantly hung up the phone. She stood by the counter for a moment, staring blankly at the device that had just delivered to her the voice of her lover, who she missed more than anything else in the world at that moment…aside from her other lover.

After a moment, the fashionista snapped out of her trance with a couple of blinks. She raised her right arm, turning her head to look at it as she closed her hand into a fist, studying the long, shiny black glove that ran up the length of her arm, almost to her shoulder…

*****

The next morning, Sunset and I set out to travel the Vegas strip in search of our target. We decided to start at the Bellagio and work our way from there. Luckily, Sunset would be able to recognise him after reading Agent Daniels’ mind, which was good since I didn’t know who this guy was…

We circled the first casino a couple times, taking in the surroundings of the place…the constant dinging and chiming of the slot machines, the flashing colours, people of all different shades and walks of life, all scurrying about, looking to hit the jackpot and win big time.

After coming up empty-handed, we moved onto the next casino, then after not finding the target there, we moved on to the next one, and so on.

Sunset and I spent the better part of the day looking around in the casinos on the Vegas strip, until we finally ended up at the MGM Grand around 5:00pm as we made our way back along the other side of the strip. I could tell she was starting to lose her mind after hearing the sounds of the machines all day, more or less the same constant chiming in every casino that we went into rang ruthlessly against her eardrums over and over again.

I knew the exact moment that she saw him. She was rubbing her temples, trying to tune out the racket when I saw her eyes suddenly lock onto someone at the craps tables.

Sunset nudged my arm, not realizing I already knew she was onto something. “There he is…” she pointed discreetly in the direction of his location, where I followed with my eyes, trying to locate him myself.

As I scanned the craps tables however, a large group of businessmen in suits walked in front of us, obscuring my view.

“Fucking dicks…” Sunset cursed as she grabbed my shirt to coax me to walk around them, getting another clear view for me to see the man we were looking for. As we found another clearing in the crowd, Sunset started to gesture to his location again. “Right th-“ she stopped suddenly, cocking her eyebrows in confusion. “What the fuck?”

“What?” I asked, wondering what she was seeing now.

“He’s gone…” she replied, frowning as she shook her head.

I looked over at the table that she had gestured to, noticing that there was one empty seat at the head of the table. I smirked, looking back at my copper-haired partner. “Are you losing it? You’re starting to see things…”

Sunset scowled at me. “No! I’m telling you, he was right there at that table.”

I raised my eyebrows, giving my head a little shake. “If you insist. So which way could he have gone?”

“I don’t know,” she replied. “He really only could have gone that way, or else I would have seen him.” She pointed directly past the table, where there was a walkway that went between a bunch of Black-Jack tables, eventually leading to a hallway to the washrooms, and the hotel elevator beyond that.

We decided to follow the path that Sunset had pointed out, weaving in between the tables as we walked until we reached the entrance to the hallway, which was fairly quiet compared to the rest of the place. We walked about ten feet down the hall, then stopped.

I put my hand on my hips, looking down the empty hall for a moment, wondering what Sunset thought she saw. “You’ve got us on a wild goose chase, Sunny.”

She shrugged. “I don’t know…this is the only way he could have gone…” she said. “He was at the table one minute, then he was gone. He couldn’t have gone too far…he looks pretty old.”

Just then, we both heard a voice at the entrance of the hall behind us. It was a rough sounding voice that spoke with a Latino accent. “I thought I recognised you, you old gringo…” the voice said, rolling its R’s as it spoke.

I frowned, recognising the voice as being one from my past, albeit older sounding now. Sunset and I both turned around to face the man…and yes, I knew who he was when I saw him…although he did look a lot different.

He was a short man, quite pudgy in build, with a bald head and a dark, wrinkly face, with flabby jowls that hung above his droopy neck. He was wearing an orange golf shirt and light gray dress pants with brown leather loafers.

I leaned my head over towards Sunset. “Is that who we’re looking for?”

She nodded silently.

I shook my head slowly. “Un-fucking-believable.”

I had met this man back in the 1980s in Texas, just above the Mexican border. He had been unknowingly ratted out by someone on the inside of the cartels, and was heading back to the DEA headquarters after an undercover investigation when he was ambushed by the same particular group that he had infiltrated.

Lucky for him, I happened to be passing by, test driving a ‘67 Mercury Cougar…

“You know this guy?” Sunset asked me, snapping me out of my surprise.

I nodded with a small chuckle. “Yeah…” I said as I stared walking towards him. “Jorge-“

“SHHH!” he shushed as he stepped forward, walking with an obvious limp from the bullet he took in his leg that day he was attacked…and he had me to thank for the fact that that was the only bullet he took that day. “Don’t call me that, muchacho…”

“Muchacho?” I smirked.

He snickered back. “I go by Chupacabra now…that was my code name during the last decade of my career…”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “Chupacabra? That’s fucking lame…”

He scowled at me. “Why you gotta break balls, hombre?”

I chuckled at his response.

“What are you going by these days?” he asked.

“Golden Arrow.” I answered.

“Pffft…” he spat, waving me off.

We stared at each other for a moment, before he let out a hearty laugh and put his arms out, wrapping me in a tight hug, patting me firmly on the back as he continued to chuckle.

Once he released me from the embrace, he backed up a step and looked at me again. “So, what brings you here, old man? I thought you had disappeared off the face of the planet…”

I took a deep breath. “I’m looking for a friend. Someone very close to me, who was taken…” I paused. “By a secret agency.”

He turned his head, looking at me sideways. “What secret agency?”

“Well, that’s what I was sent here to ask you…” I replied.

He frowned. “By who?”

“The CIA.” I replied.

The chupacabra shook his head in confusion. “CIA? I thought you and them didn’t see eye-to-eye?”

I glanced over at Sunset, who was watching the conversation unfold with interest. She always seemed to enjoy learning more about me and my past. I looked back at the old Mexican. “It’s a long story…but I guess me and them are cool now…kind of.”

I could see him glance at Sunset as well, somehow figuring that it had something to do with her. “Let’s get out of here to talk.”

“Sure.” I replied as we started walking out of the casino. We exited the building and made our way to the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue, looking at the large, blue glass T-shaped hotel behind us with the square gray building in front of it, adorned with golden cups on the roof. In front of that was a large, round fountain with a huge golden lion perched on top.

It took a while to get out there. The old man’s pace was slow in his old age, especially with his previous leg injury. As we walked, he gestured to Sunset. “Así que, quién es la chica?” he asked.

I glanced at the copper-headed girl, who was following a few feet behind us. “Ella es una amiga... ella me está ayudando a encontrar a nuestro amigo que falta.” I replied, looking back at him.

“Ella es caliente, puedo follarla?” he asked with a chuckle.

I laughed. “Tal vez, pero ella tiene herpes, usted probablemente no quiere nada de eso...”

Chupacabra chuckled back. “No me importa una mierda, todavía voy a joder. Nunca me detuvo antes.”

I cringed. “Ooooohhh, demasiado, hombre...”

Once we actually made it to the corner, we stood and quietly continued our conversation about the agency as random tourists passed us by.

“So, what is this agency you’re looking for?” the old man asked.

I put my hands on my hips. “They run in total secrecy…but they use CIA field agents, which is how they took our friend.”

He put his finger up, shaking it as he thought. “Hang on…I think I know who you’re talking about.” He started rubbing his chin. “‘Us’.” he finished, looking me in the eye as he spoke.

“Us?” I said.

“That’s what they call themselves, amigo.” he explained. “Good luck, if you’re trying to find them.”

“Well, we are looking for them, Chupie.” I replied.

He shook his head. “It’s Chupacabr-r-ra.” he corrected, rolling his R.

“Whatever.” I said with a sarcastic wink. “So do you know where they-”

I stopped talking suddenly when I saw a small red glowing dot floating around on the old man’s forehead. I quickly put my hand up next to his head, placing the laser dot in my palm, and not a moment too soon…

There was a thump as the bullet struck my hand and fell to the ground.

The old man backed up a step, his eyes wide with sudden fear. “What the fuck was that??”

“Someone’s shooting at you. They’re here…and they don’t want you talking to me about them.” I pulled him behind me, then I turned to Sunset. “Get on the other side of him, keep him covered.”

Sunset complied, and we started making our way off the street, keeping Chupacabra shielded the best we could. I could tell the shot came from a fair distance, from the direction of the MGM Grand rooftop…which was too far to see with the naked eye where the sniper might have been.

I put my middle finger up in that direction, knowing they could probably see it…especially after I looked down and saw the laser dot on the center of my chest. Only a second or two went by before I felt the impact of the round ping off my chest, leaving a small hole in my shirt.

Sunset and Chupacabra both heard it.

“Did they just shoot you??” The old man chuckled.

“Yeah…” I laughed. “Can’t blame a guy for trying…”

Then a thought struck me…I had Sunset covering the old man. If they shot her and she didn’t die, then she could become another target of theirs. She was essential to this rescue mission, and I couldn’t have gotten this far without her. I could not afford to lose her, nor did I have time to protect her constantly.

“Sunny!” I shouted, turning to her. “Run!”

She glared at me. “What about him?” she asked, referring to Chupacabra.

“I have him, just go! Don’t get shot or they’ll know…” I said back in a quieter voice.

Her eyes went wide, realizing the implication I was making, then she turned to run back towards our hotel dodging tourists as they sauntered around the sidewalk, not realizing there was a firefight going on right then.

I grabbed the old man under my arm, not really wanting to expose my abilities in public, but knowing there was no other way, and I carried him with me as I ran down the sidewalk, running after Sunset and out of sight of the shooter…assuming there was only one, of course.

*****

We made it safely back to our hotel. I had been hit twice, but the old man was safe. Sunset couldn’t find any bullet holes in her clothes at first, until she took her leather jacket off to inspect it and found a small hole in the back…one shot must have missed her, but went through the tail of her jacket as she ran.

“Fuck!” she cursed. “They put a fucking hole in my jacket! Dicks...”

“It’s OK, Sunny. At least you didn’t get hit.” I said.

We entered the parking garage under the hotel and headed for the rental car. Sunset and I had purposely brought our stuff down from the room and put it in the car, just in case we needed to leave in a hurry like we were now.

“Stay back.” I ordered as I approached our vehicle. “I’m gonna make sure they didn’t put a bomb in the car…” They hung back, hiding behind a cement support column as I casually got into the car and started the engine. Nothing happened, so I put it in gear and drove to their position to let them climb in.

“We’re gettin out of town.” I said sternly. “And you’re coming with us, Chupes.”

“It’s Chupacabr-r-ra!” he corrected, rolling his R again this time.

“I don’t care!” I shouted. “It’s fuckin stupid.”

As we pulled onto the road and left the city, Sunset, who was in the front seat leaned over to say something. Evidently she had touched the old man while she was protecting him and had picked up a few of his thoughts.

“So you told him I have herpes??” she said, glaring angrily at me.

I glanced back at her as the old man laid down in the back seat. “Is that what I said?” I asked. “I guess my Spanish is getting a little rusty…” I lied.

She groaned, pressing her fingertips to her temples. “Nevermind…” she said, turning back to me. “What the fuck happened back there?”

“Obviously, these ‘Us’ guys have been following us…but keeping their distance.” I surmised. “They don’t want to try to engage cuz they know if I get my hands on them, I’ll make them tell us where their headquarters is. That is probably their main goal right now…preventing me from knowing their location. And where Flutters is.”

She turned to look in the back seat at the old man, then turned back to me. “And I take it they didn’t like this guy talking to you…?”

I nodded at the copper-headed beauty. “You got it.” I replied, looking in the rearview mirror into the back seat. “So spill it old man, before they shoot this car up or some shit…where are they located? Do you know?”

He sighed, sitting up part way. “Not exactly…”

I groaned, rubbing my face. I glanced over at Sunset, who was looking down at the dash, shaking her head. “That’s great…” I said flatly. “So you can’t help us?”

“Well, I can’t tell you exactly where it is…but I can tell you where it isn’t…” he answered.

I frowned in confusion as I looked up into the mirror at him. “OK…? So where don’t we look?”

“On land…” he said flatly.

Sunset and I both stared through the windshield in surprise.

“Supposedly,” he continued. “It’s somewhere in the Pacific…built under an old oil rig.”

I shook my head. “Are you fucking kidding me??”

He put his hands up. “Hey, don’t shoot the messenger, amigo.”

“So, do you know where this oil rig is?” I asked with a sigh.

He shook his head. “No…and there are a bunch of them out there…maybe if you found one that is still running…”

“Huh? What does that mean?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

He rubbed the top of his head with his palm. “Well, word has it, they found one oil rig with a well that still had some oil in it…not enough to be viable to the market, but there’s enough to run generators to power the facility that they built down there for a couple hundred years…”

Sunset and I looked at each other. I shook my head. “This is like some James Bond shit…”

“It’s the real thing, hermano.” Chupacabra interjected. “Listen, I’ve worked for the Feds, DEA…I even worked at Area 51, and I ain’t never seen a fuckin place like this…”

“So how can we find it?” I asked. “Helicopter? Boat? Deep sea diver?” I started thinking in my head about how much hiring these things might cost. “I might have to go get some more money…”

He shook his head. “That won’t work…a large radius of the air space around it is heavily restricted…if they shoot you down, whether in a chopper or a boat and you get swept away by the current..."

"We accomplish fuck-all in the big picture." I finished for him, shaking my head

"Right, and under the water it just looks like rock on the outside, and it has blockers in place to avoid detection by sonar and what not…” he finished.

“So what the fuck are we supposed to do?” I asked, getting frustrated.

“Well,” he began. “Their secrecy is their biggest advantage, but it is also their biggest weakness…”

“Like how they can’t use their own field agents to come after me…” I said flatly.

“That’s true…for you.” he said, raising his eyebrows, thinking about how he he'd almost been murdered not too long ago. “Or how their headquarters is in a location that cannot be self-sustaining…”

I tilted my head. “I’m listening…”

He took a deep breath. “Well, since they live under the water, they obviously can’t just go to the grocery store, or the hardware store whenever they need something…”

“Right…” I listened.

“So there is a shipment of supplies that is sent out there every few weeks…things like food, toiletries, filters for the air and water systems, maintenance items…all that stuff…” he explained.

“Who sends it? And from where?” I asked with new determination.

The old man shrugged. “That’s the part I’m not sure of…I assume it’s sent by helicopter so they can land on the top of the rig…but beyond that, it’s kept pretty secret. Supposedly, they randomize the schedule, as well as the takeoff location. The supplies are gathered in a truck by a shipping company, the orders are placed anonymously and it goes out to pre-determined coordinates out in the desert where they meet the aircraft, then it flies out to the rig from there. The meeting location coordinates are randomly selected ahead of time…this is so there is less chance of anyone noticing them taking off repeatedly from the same place.”

I was rubbing my chin as I thought. “Any chance we can find the guy making that schedule?”

Chupacabra shook his head. “I seriously doubt it.”

“Hmm.” I thought out loud. “If we can catch them when they meet the truck, we could hijack the aircraft and have it take us to the rig…”

“Maybe, amigo…but you have to find out where it’s going to be.” he replied.

“Well, how big of an area do they choose their coordinates from?” I asked, glancing up at him.

“I don’t know…” he rubbed his flappy old cheek. “Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona…”

My eyes went wide when I realized the scope of this search. “That big??”

He nodded. “I told you, It’s a serious fuckin operation.”

“Is it government controlled?” I asked.

The old man shook his head. “No…it’s privately owned.”

“What??” I asked in shock. “By who?”

He shook his head. “Many people…rich families, banks, oil companies…”

“Why?”

“Control…power…you name it…” he replied. “Tom Ogle is one example of their influence…”

I frowned, thinking about the name, which seemed vaguely familiar. “Isn’t that they guy who supposedly invented the 100 MPG carburetor in the early eighties?”

Chupacabra nodded. “Si.” he replied. “And then he and his partner both ended up dead not long after. You think that’s a coincidence, amigo?”

I chewed my bottom lip as the conspiracy story came back to me. “Yeah…the fuckin oil companies didn’t like his invention.” I mumbled. “So that was the work of ‘Us’?”

“Si, senior. They do that kind of bullshit all the time. That’s why they want someone like you…imagine if they had a field agent who was unkillable and had your level of skills?”

I glanced at Sunset.

“Flutters…” she mumbled flatly.

I looked back at Chupacabra. “Our friend that they took…I think they took her because she’s like me…and they want to use her.“

“Hold on, hermano…” the old man said, sitting up a bit higher. “There’s more people like you out there?”

I looked at Sunset, watching her green eyes looking back at me. “There is now.” I said, before changing back to an earlier topic. “So how do we find this supply helicopter?”

“I told you, I don’t know.” he replied. “Unless you plan on just roaming the desert and hoping you see it…”

I shrugged. “That’s the best we have right now…”

The old man scowled. “You can’t be serious, amigo. You could be out there for a hundred years…”

Sunset spoke up. “But if these ‘Us’ guys are watching us, and they know we’re looking for the helicopter, won’t they just tell their people to keep the location away from where we are?”

I stared out the windshield for a moment. “Shit…you’re right.” I said, looking at her as I thought about something. “Just let me think for a bit. Don’t talk.”

We drove until we were quite a few miles out of Vegas, then I pulled over when we were sure there was no one close on our tail. I got out of the car, signalling them both to get out with me. We walked out into the desert from the side of the road for about 100 feet.

“We need to lose them.” I said. “I didn’t want to talk about it in the car…in case there’s a bug or something in there.” I didn’t know if there was a bug, in fact it was doubtful since there wasn't a bomb either, but I didn’t want to take the chance in trying to formulate a new plan with them listening.

They both nodded.

“How are we supposed to lose them? They’re watching us like hawks…” Sunset asked.

I pursed my lips, thinking as I looked at the rental car. “First of all, we need to get rid of the car…it has a GPS in it for the navigation system.” I explained, before pointing at Sunset’s pocket. “So does your phone…they are probably able to track us pretty easy.”

Her eyes suddenly went wide. “You want me to get rid of my phone??”

“We have to Sunny…we need to go stone age, which is my specialty. They’re using all these electronics against us, and I didn’t care before, but now it’s gonna stop us from searching for that supply chopper…” I explained.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket to look at it.“So, what? You wanna crush my phone like yours?” she asked, rolling her eyes.

I shook my head. “No, I think we can use it against them…” I said, looking at Chupacabra.

He was looking at me with his eyebrows cocked. “You’re not seriously gonna walk around the desert hoping to find that chopper, are you? It’s never gonna happen, amigo.”

I nodded. “Until we come up with something better…yeah, that’s what we’re doing. Do you still have any connections to the Feds or DEA?”

He nodded. “Always…why?”

“I have an idea.” I answered.

Author's Note

I used Google translate for the Spanish, so if it's all fucked up, don't blame me. lol

Chapter 59: The Tests

Chapter 59

It was cold. Extremely cold.

How long had it been? Eight hours? Ten?

Fluttershy wondered this as she sat in the pitch darkness, covered in ice and frost. She hadn’t been able to open her eyes for a few hours now, the moisture from her tear ducts had frozen and spread across her eyes, dealing them completely shut.

Her mouth was frozen shut as well, after a layer of ice had built up from the moist air that came from her nose every time she exhaled, creating something of an ice-beard that covered the bottom half of her face. It had been probably an hour or so since her nostrils had frozen shut as well, cutting off her airway completely, which sent her into a panic when it first happened.

While she knew intellectually that she wouldn’t die of suffocation, but the comfort of breathing wasn’t something that she was prepared to have taken away from her, so having her airways blocked agitated her greatly at first…but eventually she grew accustomed to it and was able to calm herself down again.

Despite all this, and feeling the incredible cold on her skin, still wearing only her skirt and tank top, she felt OK. The cold did not hurt, but it was still uncomfortable. She would much rather be snuggled up in a blanket in her warm bed…or in Rarity’s hot tub.

Finally, after what seemed like weeks, there was a loud clang as the heavy door unlocked and swung open on its own, chucks of ice falling off of it as it broke away, falling onto the floor.

She faced in the direction of the sound, wondering if this torture test was finally over when she felt two sets of padded hands grab her by the arms, hoist her up and drag her out of the room.

She felt the warmth in the adjacent room once she was in there, but was still unable to breathe or see what was going on.

Then she heard Stubz’s voice.

“Clean her face off.” he ordered.

She suddenly felt someone holding the back of her head, followed by the blunt strike of a hammer hitting her in the eyes, repeatedly chipping the ice away until she was able to open her eyes slightly, just enough to see through the blurry chips hanging from her eyelashes.

She could see Stubz standing in front of her with a binder, writing down some notes while wearing a thick coat.

She started to scowl at him when the hammer was swing again, this time hitting her in the nose and mouth, chipping away the glacier from her chin, allowing her to finally take a deep breath when the airways were opened again.

Fluttershy looked back at stubs again to see him pull a laser thermometer from his pocket and aim it at her skin. After a short moment, he put the thermometer back into his pocket then tilted his head as he wrote more notes down.

“Skin temperature…minus sixty-five Celsius…sixteen hours in there will do that.” he mumbled to himself as he wrote. “B-r-r-r-r-r-r!” he shivered as he looked back up at her. “I can feel the cold coming off you even through my coat.” he smirked. “How do you feel?”

She shifted her eyes up to meet his, giving him a blank stare. After a moment, she shook her head to flick some of the ice from her face. “Pretty fucking cold, Stubz. What the hell does it look like?” she answered quietly.

Stubz snapped his binder shut and held it down to his side. “I see your attitude hasn’t improved. I thought the maybe this test might cool you down a bit.”

Fluttershy stood there, taking a deep breath…still cuffed around the ankles with her hands still tied close to her hips as white vapours emanated from her body while she stood in the warm room absorbing the heat into her body.

“Well, not to worry.” Stubz continued. “You’ll be nice and warm after the next test.”

She glanced up at him. “When?”

“Right now.” he replied abruptly, turning to point at an open door on the opposite end of the room. “In there.”

Fluttershy didn’t want to do it, but the ever-present voice of the next innocent kitten was echoing around in her mind…forcing her to comply with his orders, unable to doom another one of the furry creatures to an early death.

She shuffled her feet in the short cuffs across the room, and eventually through the door into the next room. It was a larger room, where she found a few metal tables with what looked like restraint loops on them with large machines mounted above…a variety of different machines. Machines that she didn’t like the look of…

“Stand there…” Stubz ordered from behind, pointing at four vertical bars, arranged in a circle with the inward facing sides lined with rows of holes.

Fluttershy shuffled into the apparatus, standing in the middle of the circle of bars as Stubz bent down and locked her foot-cuff chain to a hook on the floor.

She stood there, surrounded by the bars, noticing how the metal had blue splotches all over it, indicating that they had been very hot at some point…

“Oh no…” she thought as the ice was starting to drip from the tip of her nose.

Stubz pulled out a flint striker from his pocket, then flipped a switch on the wall before walking back to the bars as Fluttershy picked up the scent of gas surrounding her.

He flicked the striker at the top of each of the metal bars, which sent a small blue flame traveling down the length of each one. Stubz then quickly left the room, closing the metal door behind him.

She was left alone in there, standing in the middle of the circle of flaming bars…he breath starting to elevate as she anticipated the horribleness she was about to endure. The ice was now starting to drip off of her quite a bit now…

Suddenly, four large fireballs burst out of the bars, engulfing her completely in orange flame. She screamed as she felt the cold leave her body rapidly, the ice steaming off of her, her clothes setting on fire as she continued to be blasted by the blinding fire.

She closed her eyes, feeling the fire change to a white flame, then a blue flame, which blasted her with tremendous pressure. The sound was deafening, the heat was intense, but not painful…and the shy girl couldn’t believe it was possible, even after months of living as an immortal.

She stood there, shrugging her body into itself as the intense fire blasted her for over two minutes straight until the flame suddenly subsided, reducing back down to the little blue trickles on the bars for a few seconds, before puffing out of existence with a little whoosh sound.

Fluttershy looked around the room, then down at herself after realizing her hands were covering her face. The waist belt that her handcuffs were tied to was burnt off, and to her horror, so were her clothes…her green skirt, panties, tank top and bra were all gone, burnt to ashes after being blasted by the blue flames.

As she looked at her naked body, now completely dry with all the ice gone, blackened by the soot of unburnt fuel, she noticed her handcuffs were glowing bright orange…and were softened by the heat. She frantically wrenched her hands around, stretching the metal cuffs and slipping her right hand out, then using it to pull her left hand free. The dropped the glowing metal restraints to the floor as she hugged one arm around her breasts to cover them, then covered her crotch with her other hand, looking down at the foot cuffs to see if they were also hot.

They were, and she pulled one foot free, stretching the glowing orange metal as her foot yanked through, followed by the other foot.

She scampered over to the metal door that Stubz had just walked out of. “STUBZ!” she hollered. “Give me some clothes!”

There was a pause for a moment, then to her surprise the little slot in the window opened, and a gray pair of pants and T-shirt were shoved through to her. She quickly grabbed them without thinking, and they instantly burst into flames against the heat of her skin.

The shy girl squealed as she dropped them to the floor, her heart sinking as she helplessly watched the cure to her embarrassment be consumed by fire on the floor.

She looked back at the door, gritting her teeth in frustration. She removed her hand from her crotch to bang on the door with her fist. “HEY! They’re on fire! I need more!”

The sound of Stubz’s laughter came through the door at her. “You should have waited for the water, FS1.”

She froze for a moment, shocked by the brash response, then her face contorted in anger as she hammered the door with her fist again. “Don’t call me that, Stubz! Now get me more clothes!”

“Too bad,” he replied, “I would have to go all the way back to the linens room to get some. You should have waited for the water, like I said.”

“What water??” she asked angrily, just as a sprinkler nozzle came on just above her on the ceiling. She couldn’t even feel the water touching her at first…it was flash boiling from the heat on her skin, surrounding her with crackling steam and a deafening hiss as the entire room started fogging up while she was slowly cooled off again by the water.

Eventually, the water seemed to be beading on her dirty skin, indicating that she was cooled to a somewhat normal temperature.

Then Stubz’s voice returned. “Get on that table on the left.”

“No.” she muttered, not thinking clearly.

“You want another dead furball?” he asked, reminding her of the presence in her mind.

She sighed in defeat, still wrapping her arms around herself to cover her nudity. “Fine…” she said quietly. “But can I at least have some clothes?”

“I gave you clothes already…” Stubz replied. “You destroyed them.”

Fluttershy closed her eyes, clenching her jaw in anger at her handler, listening to the sound of a large fan start up as it drew the hot steam from the room.

“Now get on the table and put your wrists and ankles through the loops.” he ordered again.

She reluctantly walked over to the table, pausing for a moment before she exposed her body again in order to climb up and lay down, putting her limbs through the loops as instructed. The restraints promptly clamped down tightly, holding her from moving as she laid there, her naked body covered in soot and beads of water, a small amount of steam still trailing off as the last bit of heat left her.

The door to the room opened and Stubz walked in, casually walking over to her as he finished up a few notes. “Maximum temperature detected…3167 degrees Celsius.” he raised his eyebrows. “That’s pretty impressive.”

He looked at the shy girl, who was staring at the large machine directly above her forehead.

“Ah,” he continued. “We’re gonna try some cutting next. We’ll start with carbide first, then laser…and so on.”

Fluttershy shook her head with a scowl on her face. “How do you not realize by now that I can’t be killed? How stupid are you?”

“Pretty stupid, I guess.” he replied, making some adjustments to the machine, before wrapping a strap around her forehead to keep her still. She could see him glancing at her body over and over again, causing her face to get warm as the humiliation of what was happening to her set in.

She closed her eyes as he cinched down the strap across her forehead.

“Why are you doing this to me?” she asked again, just like she had countless times before.

He groaned. “I’ve told you a million times, you will be tested, conditioned, trained and deployed.”

She rolled her eyes. “What does that even mean?” she asked angrily. “I’ll never agree to work for you guys…why don’t you just send me home?”

Stubz leaned down closer to her. “I’ll let you in on a little secret…” he whispered. “You are going home.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “What? I am?”

“For your deployment…when you’re ready.” he answered.

She frowned. “What?…”

“We suspect there are more like you in that town…” he explained. “When you are ready, and follow our orders unconditionally, you will be sent there to bring them to us.”

Fluttershy gasped softly, her eyes shrinking down to little dots as she realized what they were planning on doing with her. “They want to use me to…capture my friends?? Oh no…I can’t…I just can’t…”

“You know…” Stubz said, snapping her out of her shock. “I kind of hope you’re right about not being able to kill you…it would be a shame to damage this lovely body of yours...”

She clenched her jaw, squeezing her eyes shut. She waited in silence for him to do whatever it was that he was supposed to be doing, then she felt something that made her stomach turn…

His fingertip was lightly dragging over her right breast, then stopped on her nipple, where he held it there, like he was pushing a button. She squirmed her hands and feet around, wishing she could get away, squeezing her eyes shut tightly as she pursed her lips.

“Hm…” he chuckled, before continuing to run his fingertip down past the bottom of her breast, then down her belly, where he finally stopped just below her navel.

She prayed that he wouldn’t go any further as her discomfort slowly turned to rage, feeling that sick man touching her like this. She forced herself to open her eyes and look over at him. “You’d better smarten up…” she growled in a low tone.

He looked down at her grimly, followed by a smug half-grin as he lifted his finger from her.

She looked away from him, studying the utensils hanging on the wall, wondering what some of them were for when she felt something pressing against her forearm at the edge of the table. She shifted her eyes to see what it was, and was mortified to see his hips against the edge of the table…with a bulge in the front of his pants that was pressing against her arm.

She clenched her teeth tightly, glaring up at him with fire in her dark teal eyes.

He saw the look, and responded with a casual chuckle as she turned away. “Let’s begin.” he said as he started to open a box of utensils on the other table.

“Um, Mr. Stubz?” Fluttershy said softly.

He turned to look at her, somewhat caught off guard by her tone.

She kept her eyes locked on him in a blank stare. “You’re gonna lose that little cock…” she said, adding a bit of sternness to her voice as she narrowed her eyes at him. “I Pinkie promise.”

*****

Fluttershy didn’t know how long it had been since they put her in this latest room. She didn’t know how long it had been since she was brought to this facility in the first place…Days? Weeks? It felt like years already to her…

She had clothes on now, a pair of light gray pants and a dark gray T-shirt, neither of which fit her very well. She was unrestrained, but that didn’t mean she hated it any less in this place. It was a small booth, with an opening on one side that faced out to a long shooting range with a paper target at the far end. Along the bottom of the opening was a conveyer belt that would move from right to left, carrying a firearm of some type in front of her where it would stop.

She would then be instructed to disassemble the weapon, inspect it, then put it back together and fire it at the target. It was a different type of gun every time, although there were some models that had come a few times and she was starting to get fairly proficient at getting through those ones.

She had no idea that the actual time she had been forced to do this was now over 72 hours…non stop. It was starting to drive her mad, the tediousness of it, the repetition…she wanted to stop in the worst way.

Fluttershy stood there, watching the belt bring another weapon in front of her. She rolled her eyes when she saw it. “Beretta again??” she thought to herself, shaking her head.

She stared at it for a moment, feeling the frustration boiling up inside her…then she finally burst, grabbing the pistol and firing it into the room behind her.

The bullets ricocheted around the space as she hollered, emptying the weapon until one of the stray shots bounced off of her temple, causing her to stumble to the side. She touched the side of her head with her fingertips, looking down at the empty weapon in her hand.

She was panting heavily, her anger still just below the surface…and she finally stood up and hurled the weapon through the opening, into the shooting range.

“FUCK YOU!!!” she screamed, balling her fists up at her sides…not caring about anything else but getting out of that room. “I DON”T WANNA DO THIS ANY M-”

She stopped suddenly when she heard the distressed animal voice in her head, something that was always there, but in her rage had forgotten about. She flinched when she felt the sudden harsh crack in her mind, followed by the mind of the animal disappearing into silence. She covered her mouth as she froze in place, then a moment later as small panel on the door slid open and a furry little corpse was stuffed through the hole where it fell to the floor in front of her with a soft thump.

Fluttershy covered her face with both hands, a lump forming in her throat suddenly as she dropped to her knees and wept. “What have I done?” she cried to herself, curling up into a ball on the floor.

*****

She finally did get out of the shooting room, but things didn’t get any better for the shy girl. The next thing they did to her was even worse.

She was mindful this time of the third little kitten’s voice in her head as she tried to keep her temper under control so she wouldn’t be responsible for another innocent death.

How did she get like this? She was supposed to be the kind, sweet, gentle shy girl…now she was full of rage every minute of every day. Why would they do this? Why would they want her to hate them so much if they expected her to obey and even work for them? It just didn’t make sense to her...

This time, she found herself in an auditorium, chained up on the stage by one ankle. It was dark in the room, but it didn’t take long for her eyes to adjust, allowing her to see what appeared to be well over two-hundred people. Every single person who worked in that facility must have been in that room.

Her heart almost leapt out of her chest. She stared at all of them with pinpoints-for-eyes, wondering what she was doing on a stage in front of everyone.

Stubz’s voice rang out over a loud speaker, making her jump. “Grab the microphone from the stand in front of you…and you will sing for us.”

He heart started racing as she shook her head frantically. “No… I can’t…I-“

“You’ll do it, shy girl. It’s time to get over your fears.” Stubz said, cutting her off. “You will sing ‘I will Always Love You’ by Whitney Houston. You will sing it a-capella, and you will sing it loudly and clearly. If you don't do it the way I've asked, then you will do it again.”

“I…” she started.

“Do you want another dead furball on your conscience??” Stubz asked harshly.

Fluttershy could feel the animal’s sudden distress in her mind, making her stomach twist inside of her. “They’re hurting him…”

She either had to do something she couldn’t even dream of, singing in front of a huge crowd of strangers…or let another innocent little creature die. She knew that having to sing, even though it was going to be awful for her, wouldn’t kill her, so she put her hand out to reach for the microphone and pluck it off the stand. “OK…OK.” she pleaded. “I’ll do it, just…please don’t hurt him anymore…”

“A wise choice…” Stubz replied as she raised the microphone to her mouth, drawing in a shaky breath…but then she was cut off by him again. “Oh, I almost forgot…” he said with a coy expression. “There’s one other thing…”

“W-what?” she asked in a quivering voice.

“Take you clothes off too.”

Author's Note

I hate doing these chapters, but on the bright side, this is the last one. No more are needed...I think I've got the point across that this place sucks.

Chapter 60: Lyra and Bonbon's WACKY Night Out!

Chapter 60

There was a knock at the door.

“Be right there!” Bonbon called out from her downstairs bathroom.

It had been weeks since she had gone out for a night on the town. She wished it could be a Friday night so she could let loose a little more, but Wednesday was going to have to do. Thanksgiving was coming up that weekend and she would be far too busy with her family to be able to have the time to go out with her old friend, Lyra.

Both she and Lyra had gotten married since college, had careers, homes and two children each. Even after so many years since high school, they still did so many things the same as each another, but these days they were admittedly struggling to find time to spend with one another.

Bonbon was wearing a simple black dress with a wide, diagonal white stripe across the midsection and black high heels. Her hair was the same as always, styled in thick-rolled curls on each side of her forehead and down her back, pink on one side and blue on the other. She had minimal make-up on her pale skin, and a conservative set of fake eyelashes to give her blue eyes some extra pop.

She went to the door to open it up, then smiled brightly at the sight of her long-time best friend standing there, smiling back at her. “Hey yoooou!” she greeted excitedly, hugging her friend as she stepped inside the front door of her house.

Lyra was wearing a long, white frilly long-sleeved shirt, with a pair of purple Capri pants and a set of small, brown boots. It seemed to compliment well with her mint-coloured skin and matching hair, which she still kept styled in that same spiky fashion with a few white highlights in it. Her dark orange eyes seemed to stand out more and more as she matured in life, giving her a more striking gaze every time Bonbon saw her.

“You are you ready?” Lyra asked, closing the door behind her.

“Almost,” Bonbon replied. “Is it cold out?”

“Yeah, kind of. I would bring a sweater.” Lyra nodded.

“OK, just a sec.” Bonbon replied as she went to the laundry room to get something to wear over the dress.

Lyra waited patiently by the door, folding her arms while looking around at her friend’s house. It seemed unfamiliar to her, which was a strange feeling compared to when they were in high school and they both knew every inch of each other’s homes since they practically lived together. Being married and having kids and jobs certainly did a number on the amount of time spent together as friends, however their bond was still as strong as ever.

As she thought about this, a shy little three-year-old boy came around the corner, wearing his pajamas and carrying a sippy cup. He had pale skin and half-blue, half-pink hair, just like his mother.

Lyra smiled at him as he stood there timidly, watching her closely as she waited by the door.

Bonbon came back with a small, fuzzy pink sweater over the dress, about ready to say something to Lyra when the sight of her son stopped her in her tracks. “Hey buddy! Whatcha doin?”

“Aw you goin away, mama?” he asked timidly, clutching his cup tightly.

Bonbon squatted down to his level. “No buddy, mama’s just going out with Auntie Lyra for a few hours. K?”

He shifted his eyes onto the mint-coloured woman. “Auntie Wywa?” he repeated, which drew a giggle from Lyra.

“Yeah!” Bonbon continued in a cheerful tone. “And you’re gonna stay here with dada, K?”

The little boy bit his bottom lip, appearing to consider it as though it was a major business deal of some sort.

“Now you go find dada, OK? Mama will be home in a few hours, but you’ll be asleep by then, so I’ll see you in the morning!”

Lyra waved at the little boy when he turned and ran around the corner to find his father, his little feet pitter-pattering on the tile floor as he went.

“He’s soooo adorable…” Lyra cooed, tilting her head as she opened the door to leave.

“Haha, usually, yeah…” Bonbon quipped as they stepped outside.

Once in the car, they started discussing which bar or night club they are going to hit.

Lyra was driving. “So where do you want to go, Bonnie?”

“I don’t know,” Bonbon replied. “Nothing too crazy…it is Wednesday night after all.”

“Karaoke?” Lyra suggested.

Bonbon scrunched her nose then shook her head. “Not tonight…”

“What about the ‘Fiddler on the Hoof’?” Lyra said, perking up slightly.

Bonbon tapped her finger to her chin as she tried to remember the significance of the place, then she drew in quick breath. “Oh! Is that the place we went to during our first year of college when we-“

Lyra joined in and they both finished the rest of the sentence in unison. “-cleared the dance floor by having the DJ put on ‘I was made for Lovin You Baby’ by Kiss and busted a move up there all by ourselves??”

“Yeah! That’s it!” Lyra said with an excited laugh…then the girls quickly quieted down as they both wondered why they should be proud of such a thing. Apparently what they thought was cool in college didn’t quite have the same appeal now in their current stage of maturity.

Bonbon cleared her throat. “I’m not sure about that one, actually…”

“Yeah…same here.” Lyra agreed as she made a right turn.

“How about we just go to our usual place?” Bonbon finally suggested.

Lyra nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

They drove the rest of the way to their usual bar and got out of the car to head inside. It was located in the heart of Canterlot, so the bar itself was on the ground floor of a fifteen story building, which had equally tall buildings on either side of it. There was a small alley on either side of the bar, created by the spaces between the adjacent buildings.

Once inside, they got their drinks at the bar and went to sit at table to catch up a bit with each other and what was going on with their lives. There were quite a few people in there for a Wednesday night, although it was a fairly popular spot in that part of town, so it was to be somewhat expected that the place would be packed almost every night of the week.

They were giggling back and forth over the loud music, talking about their families and about some of their past adventures as friends, and eventually they started talking about some of the other friends they had in high school, wondering where some of them had ended up, and where their lives had taken them. Bonbon decided to have a peek around the bar to see if anyone that they might have known happened to be there.

She stood up to look around the place, scanning for a familiar face or two.

To her surprise, she did in fact lock onto a familiar-looking head of hair. It had been several years since high school, so it was getting hard to put a name to a face after all this time, but she knew she definitely recognised this person. Bonbon squinted at the girl, trying to remember exactly who she was…it wasn’t someone who spent very much time at CHS, but there was something very familiar about those two purple pony tails with the bright green stripes running along the length of each one…

She was wearing a green vest over a white shirt, with tight purple pants and purple boots, as well as a black belt with a white star on the buckle. Bonbon could see the lavender coloured face and dark eye shadow when the girl turned to lock eyes with her, holding a cold stare for a moment, which gave Bonbon a chill when she started remembering that there was something off about this girl.

The purple-haired girl suddenly turned to the woman at the bar next to her, tapping her on the shoulder, which prompted her to turn her massive head of curly orange locks to see what she wanted. Bonbon watched as the purple girl said something to the orange-haired girl, then pointed her finger directly at Bonbon, followed by the mound of orange hair turning around to face her.

Bonbon’s heart skipped a beat as soon as she saw the face of the curly-haired girl, recognising her immediately as Adagio Dazzle. She quickly turned and ducked down into her seat again…luckily there was a large group of men standing behind her and Lyra’s table, so they would be hidden for the time being.

“O…M…Goodness…” Bonbon said slowly with her eyes wide as she looked at Lyra, who was contently sipping her drink.

“What?” Lyra asked, frowning at her friend in confusion.

Bonbon looked around for the nearest exit. “We should get out of here…”

Lyra recoiled a bit. “Huh? Why?”

“The Dazzlings are here…they saw me!” Bonbon explained, starting to panic a bit. “They looked right at me!”

“The who?” Lyra asked, her memory a few seconds behind Bonbon’s, who already had time to figure out who they were sharing the bar with.

Bonbon shook her hands at Lyra frantically. “Remember? Those three girls who came to our high school and took everyone over with their singing??”

Lyra had to think for a moment, then her eyes suddenly widened when she herself finally remembered the evil girls who invaded their school. “Oh shit! From the Battle of the Bands? They’re here??” she asked in a panic, ducking her head down as she started looking around. “I thought they were…you know…gone?”

Bonbon shook her head. “I don’t know, but they saw me, and I think they recognised me. We gotta go.”

“Where are they?”Lyra asked.

“At the bar,” Bonbon replied. “Well, two of them were, anyway. I didn’t see the third one…”

“Let’s just go out the front doors.” Lyra said, getting up from her seat and scurrying away, keeping herself slightly hunched over while Bonbon followed close behind. They headed for the same front door that they came in through, turning the corner around a row of booths and were stopped in their tracks by the third girl, Sonata, who was standing at the front doors, blocking their escape.

She stood before them, looking down at her cell phone, her light blue face lit up by the screen as she slowly raised her eyes to stare blankly at the two girls. She still looked the same as well, other than the fact that she appeared to have aged a few years, which Bonbon was able to see more clearly since they were so much closer to her than the other two. Her light blue bangs and ponytail with the two dark blue stripes down the middle were kept in the same way, and she was still wearing the maroon jacket with three blue ties down the front with a short pink skirt underneath.

Bonbon and Lyra’s hearts were both stuck in their throats as they stood there, frozen in place, their eyes locked with the third siren, wondering what they should do next.

Sonata let a dark half-grin drag up one side of her mouth. “Leaving so soon?”

Lyra started pushing Bonbon by the arm to the right, prompting her to head over to the other front exit. They quickly walked away from the blue-haired Dazzle, heading around the cluster of booths that lined the front wall of the bar in between the two sets of front doors.

The girls were stopped again before they even got past the booths, however, their paths being blocked by the purple-haired Aria who stepped out in front of them, folding her arms with a nasty scowl on her face.

The two friends gulped as they stared at the siren who was standing in their path for a short moment, then they turned around and headed deeper into the bar again. They made their way towards the back, figuring none of them were left at the bar, where maybe they could ask the bartender for help, or to call the police...or a bouncer at the very least.

They were only ten feet from the bar when a giant poof of orange hair emerged on their left, appearing from behind a dividing wall with a row of booths running along it. Both girls screeched to a halt, their eyes wide as they came face-to-face with the sly sneer of Adagio, who lowered her brow as she stared them down.

After snapping out of her surprise, Lyra pushed Bonbon again to the right. “Go!”

They headed to the right of the bar, wondering how they were going to escape, knowing the exits were blocked now as their panic started to set in.

Then Bonbon saw it. Relief washed over her as she pointed to the small side exit, signalling to Lyra that this was going to be their only escape. They practically ran to the door, flung it open and stepped outside into the alley on the right side of the building.

Their high-heels clopped on the pavement as they turned to the right and ran towards the street, but were soon brought to a halt again by the blue-haired Sonata, who was now standing in the middle of the ten-foot gap between the buildings. They were so close to escaping, they could feel the outdoor breeze on their faces, cooling the sweat that they had worked up while trying to escape bar, feeling the freedom that just a second ago was so tantalizingly close…and now they were trapped again. How did she get out here? She must have gone out the front doors and came around outside to block the alley…

The two friends quickly turned around to try going back inside, but froze again when they saw the door open to let Aria and Adagio step outside after them. They backed away from the sirens, slowly making their way across the alley until eventually they were stopped against the wall of the building that stood next to the bar, which made up the opposite wall of the alley.

The three intruders closed in on them, cornering them in the alley, which had a brick wall across the back that connected the two buildings. Both Lyra and Bonbon’s hearts were thumping in their chests as they pressed their backs against the wall, nervously wondering what these three evil witches were going to do to them. They knew they were now at the mercy of the three women, and no one was around to help them.

It was then that they realized their mistake, and how they’d been skillfully lured here by the 1000 year old sirens. Living a life that long had given them the experience and tactical knowledge to lead the young women into a false sense of security, allowing them to think they were going to make their escape, letting them have that fleeting moment of relief…when in reality, they’d been funneled into a trap, exactly where the sirens wanted them…cornered in an alley with no one else around to witness what was about to happen.

The two friends grasped each other’s hands and held on tightly as the Dazzlings slowly closed in.

“Well well…” Adagio finally said in her sly voice. “Looks like we’ve found ourselves a couple of worthless Wondercolts…I told you coming back to this shithole of a town would be worth it.” she grinned, turning to the other two sirens.

Lyra and Bonbon remained silent as the aggressors continued to stalk them.

Adagio stuck her bottom lip out as she shook her head a bit. “Oh no! Don’t you remember us?” she asked coyly, putting her hands on her hips. “How could you forget about the Dazzlings?”

Lyra started to laugh nervously. “Oh…heh heh…uh, yeah…you guys…”

“Shut up!” Adagio ordered, to which Lyra complied immediately. “Every time I’m reminded of that school, I think of how those seven bitches killed us…”

The two friends were stunned by the statement. “What do you mean, killed? You’re standing right here…holding us hostage…” Bonbon said timidly, hoping the sirens might show mercy if she worded her feelings to them just right.

“When they destroyed our pendants, they took away our powers and our eternal life…” Adagio explained in an aggressive tone. “And now we’re aging, just like you pathetic humans…which means we’re going to die of old age someday instead of living on forever…” She clenched her jaw, glaring at the two friends. “So you see, they’ve already delivered the killing stroke, we just haven’t succumbed to it yet.”

Aria cut in. “But make no mistake…before we’re gone, we're SO gonna get even with them…”

“Who’s them?” Bonbon asked. “Are you talking about the Rainbooms?”

Lyra quickly elbowed her friend in the side, wishing she hadn’t spoken of the siren’s tormentors.

“Ow! What?” Bonbon asked, scowling at her friend as she rubbed her side.

Adagio pointed her finger at Bonbon. “DON’T say that name around me…EVER!” she growled. “Just hearing that name makes my blood boil…”

Sonata suddenly looked very confused. “Wait…” she said, rubbing her temple. “I thought these two were in the Rainbooms??”

Adagio slapped her hand over her forehead in frustration. “No, Sonata!” she growled, before gesturing to the two friends. “These two are the ones who did that douchey piano duet…”

“Hey! It wasn’t douchey…” Lyra scowled.

Adagio turned back to the mint-coloured girl. “Shut up!” she ordered.

Lyra flinched when Adagio yelled at her, ducking her head nervously after having the gall to talk back to the lead siren.

Sonata had her index finger pressed to her bottom lip, her eyes looking upwards as she thought for a moment, then she gasped with a smile. “Oh yeah! I thought that duet was really good…”

Adagio groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose while shaking her head as Aria looked over at Sonata.

“Sonata, will you shut the fuck up??” Aria growled through gritted teeth.

Sonata grinned, clueless of the fact that she was, yet again, frustrating her sister sirens to no end.

Adagio took a deep breath, choosing to ignore the blue-haired siren as she turned back to Bonbon and Lyra. “You may not be the Rainbooms, but anyone from that stupid high school is the next best thing…and I have no problem making an example of you two to send a message to them…”

“W-what do you mean by that?” Bonbon asked, shrinking into herself.

Adagio turned to Aria and nodded, prompting the purple siren to pull a long, black object out of her pocket, which she then held up so they could see it. She pressed a little release on the side, followed by the sharp snap of a shiny blade flicking out from the end of the handle.

Both of the friends gasped at the sight of it, feeling their stomachs wrench in horror as Aria took a step towards them with a menacing grin on her face.

Bonbon looked back at Adagio with terror in her eyes. “No!” she cried. “We don’t even know the Rainbooms anymore! We haven’t seen them for years…hurting us won’t help you get to them!”

Lyra continued for her. “Yeah! The last I heard, one of them was involved in that thing at the school a few weeks ago…but that’s all we’ve seen of them for years!”

“You think I give a shit?” Adagio hissed. “As far as I’m concerned, anyone from that fucking school is fair game.”

Aria took another step towards them, stalking them like a wild predator about to pounce.

The two friends huddled closer together. “You can’t do this!” Lyra pleaded. “We have families! Kids! we can’t-”

Adagio cut her off. “I don’t ca-“ then she stopped herself. “Wait a second, what?” she said in confusion. “I thought you two were…you know…a thing?”

Bonbon and Lyra both glanced at each other with sour looks on their faces.

“Ugh!” Lyra groaned, rolling her eyes. “Why does everybody think we’re gay??”

Bonbon cringed as she looked back at her friend. “I don’t know…” she said with a shake of her head.

“Alright, shut up!” Adagio bellowed, turning to Aria, pointing her finger at the purple girl, then swinging it towards the two friends. “Cut these bitches!”

As Aria took another step towards her prey, they pressed their backs against the brick wall behind them, whimpering softly as their eyes stayed locked on the knife blade.

Lyra watched as the siren closed in on her and her friend. As this was happening, a sudden wave of bravery swept over the mint-coloured girl. She didn’t know where it came from...maybe from the simple fact that the three witches were going to inflict pain on them, regardless of whether or not they’d done anything to deserve it.

Lyra clenched her jaw as Aria stepped closer still. “Man, fuck you cunts!” she suddenly shouted.

All four of the other girls froze in shock.

Lyra held a scowl on her face as she glared at Adagio. “We had nothing to do with what happened to you!” she continued. “If you have a problem with the Rainbooms, then quit being a bunch of cowards and take it up with them!”

Adagio lowered her brow towards the mint-coloured girl with a look of intense anger spreading across her face.

“And you three wouldn’t be here right now without your powers if you hadn’t been going around acting like assholes to everyone…” Lyra continued angrily.

“Uh, Ly…you should probably stop…” Bonbon warned quietly out the corner of her mouth.

“THAT’S why the Rainbooms beat you down…” Lyra continued. “Cuz you guys were being cunts and trying to control everyone…maybe if you had the common sense to fuck off and mind your own business, you’d be better off!”

“SHUT UP!” Adagio screamed suddenly. “The Rainbooms didn’t beat us down…it took seven of them to beat the three of us…and now there are only two if you against the three of US, so you’d better watch your fuckin mouth!”

“They already beat you once…” Lyra shot back. “And now you don’t even have your powers…what chance do you think you have against them now?? You’d think you’d have learned your lesson after the last time…”

Adagio stepped closer to Lyra with a dark scowl on her face. “The only thing the Rainbooms taught us is that when we have our revenge, it's going to be extra sweet…” she growled as a dark grin spread across her face.

Out of nowhere, a new female voice joined the conversation.

“Then perhaps the Rainbooms should have taught you a little harder.”

It came from above, a fair distance away from the group. All five women craned their necks to look up, trying to locate the source of the new voice.

They all saw it at the same time. On the building adjacent to the bar, there was a set of fire escapes that went up the side of the building near the front of the alley, directly above the sidewalk. About ten stories up, there was a female figure dressed in a shiny, form-fitting, black outfit. She was leaned against the railing with her hands, looking down at the group of girls in the alley, casually watching as they stared up at her with their mouths hanging open, wondering who she was…and where she had come from.

Suddenly, the black figure leapt over the railing and dropped all the way to the ground with her arms outstretched and one knee slightly raised as she hurdled down towards the sidewalk. She landed with a thunderous impact, dropping to one knee as she hit the sidewalk, splitting the concrete under her feet, cracking the entire slab in half as a thin cloud of dust floated up around her from the impact of the landing.

“Whoa…” Sonata mumbled in awe of what they just witnessed.

The group of women watched with their eyes wide as saucers as the dark figure stood up slowly while the thin could of dust began floating away from her in the breeze.

Her outfit was mostly black, and very tight. It was all one piece, starting from the ground with a tall pair of black boots with thick high heels, followed by tights that hugged her body firmly…from her thighs, all the way up past her hips and waist, continuing up the rest of the way to her shoulders and arms. The top consisted of a deep V-neck, showing her chest and collar bones, with plentiful cleavage at the bottom of the V, accentuated by the tightness of the outfit squeezing her breasts upward. At the sides of the neck opening were wide, pointed collars that aimed outwards towards her shoulders, and there were thin white stripes starting on top of the shoulders from under the collar, running down the outsides of her arms, stopping at the tips of her baby fingers.

The most striking feature of the suit were the symbols on the outer sides of both of her thighs, just below the hips…a grouping of three blue diamonds that contrasted brightly against the black material covering her body. The only parts of her snowy-white skin that were actually showing was her chest, cleavage, neck and the lower half of her face. She was wearing a black mask across her eyes, similar to a raccoon mask, only wider. The top of the mask met her hairline above the eyes, but dipped down in the middle, letting a small triangle of white skin show in the center of her forehead. The bottom of the mask only covered the bridge of her nose between her eyes, then it dipped down over her cheekbones below each eye, stopping about level with the bottom of her nose.

Her hair was dark purple, pulled back tightly into a bun on the back of her head, held in place by a thick band of shiny, black ribbon-like material.

Glaring at the group of women through the mask was a pair of sparkling sapphire eyes, which shone brightly in the dark as she started walking towards them with a quick, dainty stride…her hips swinging side-to-side with each step.

“Well well,” the dark mistress said as she approached, throwing Adagio’s own words from earlier back in her face. “Looks like I’ve found myself a trio of washed-up, helpless old Dazzlings.”

Adagio gritted her teeth. “What the fuck are you supposed to be?”

“Well, I’ll tell you what I’m not…” the masked girl replied.

The orange-haired siren rolled her eyes. “And what is that?”

“I am not a group of three spineless hags, outnumbering and cornering two unarmed young ladies…” the girl in black quipped.

Adagio was stunned by the insult for a moment, then she took a deep breath as she scowled intensely at the stranger. “Why don’t you get lost before I drop you?”

Sonata interrupted. “Uh, Dagie? Didn’t you see her jump-“

“Shut up!” Adago shouted, waving her hand behind her to dismiss the blue-haired siren.

“Tisk tisk…” the dark mistress interjected. “That’s not a very pleasant way to talk to your subordinates…”

“Pfft!” the lead siren spat. “Like I’m gonna take life lessons from some slut in a Halloween costume…”

“Well, what are you going to do then?” the masked girl inquired. “What’s the big plan that you have for me, oh wicked one?”

Adagio turned to Aria, who was still armed with the knife, to give her a little nod. Both of the sirens proceeded to approach the woman in black, surrounding her on both sides while Sonata and the two friends hung back and watched.

The masked woman calmly looked to her left at Adagio, then to her right at Aria, who suddenly lunged at her to swipe the knife at her throat.

The dark mistress swung her hand up, slapping the knife out of Aria’s hand, sending it flying towards Sonata, who quickly ducked to her left to avoid being struck by the weapon. Before Aria realized what had happened, the girl in black put her hand on the side of the purple siren’s head and forcefully shoved her away, sending her staggering and eventually stopping herself against the opposite wall of the alley.

While this was happening, Adagio had stepped forward to swing her fist at the dark stranger, who ducked under the attack and threw a jab at the lead siren’s midsection. Adagio jumped to the side, avoiding the hit while swinging her other fist at the dark woman’s face, catching her hard across the jaw with her knuckles. The siren quickly followed up with a sharp kick to the woman’s stomach, then she turned to step away, confident that her attack was plenty effective…after all, Adagio was a dangerous combatant who had roughed up countless people during her centuries in this world.

“I warned you, didn’t I?” the lead siren said arrogantly as she turned back to the woman. “We’ve been around the block a few-“ the smug grin soon disappeared from her face when she realized the dark mistress was completely unfazed by the attack, and was now glaring at her with those sapphire eyes blazing through that black mask.

“Cunning...but pointless.” the woman said flatly.

Adagio growled in frustration, gritting her teeth as she balled her fists up and swung another right hook at the dark mistress, who swiftly reached up with her left hand to catch the siren by the wrist and twisted her arm around so her palm and elbow were facing upward. The siren grunted under the pain, squeezing her eyes shut as the dark mistress suddenly hammered her forearm down onto Adagio’s elbow, forcing it towards a hyper-extension.

The orange-haired siren yelped as she quickly dropped to her knees, trying to get away from the pressure being applied to her elbow, not realizing that this put her face exactly where the masked girl wanted it. Before Adagio knew it, there was a shiny black knee colliding with her nose, knocking her head backwards from the impact as a loud crunch rang through her head. The siren squeezed her eyes shut as they filled with moisture, leaving her helpless and unable to see the woman in black raising her balled-up fist above her head to drop it down upon Adagio’s brow like a hammer, knocking her unconscious as she fell flat on her back.

By this time, Aria was back on the charge, swinging a fist of her own, which was quickly slapped downwards by the dark mistress, who then drove the back of her fist into the purple siren’s mouth, causing her to stagger backwards, stunned by the swift counter attack.

“My my,” the mysterious woman said. “This is quite disappointing, I must say. I would have thought at your age, you three would have at least given me somewhat of a challenge…” she teased. “Perhaps you should have spent a bit less time singing and more time learning to use your fists…?”

Aria took a quick moment to gently touch her lips with her fingers, looking at the little bit of blood on them after having her mouth split open. She looked back at the masked girl with her teeth gritted, then swung her right foot up to try kicking her in the chest, yet another attack that quickly ended up being nothing more than a futile gesture. The girl in black caught Aria’s foot and lifted it up high above their heads as she turned around, placing the back of the siren’s knee on her shoulder. She then leaned forward and pulled hard, hurling Aria clear over top of her.

As Aria was helplessly thrown leg-first over the masked girl and flipped forward, she could see the ground rushing up at her, but before her face collided with the asphalt, the dark mistress swung her right foot upwards to the left, kicking Aria in the head as she came down. The purple siren was sent into a mid-air cartwheel, spinning twice before she landed hard on the pavement and remained motionless from then on.

The woman in black quickly turned to face Sonata, the only one of the three left standing. She was greeted by the sight of the blue-haired siren holding the knife, looking very unsure of what she should do.

“Don’t try it…” the masked woman said, shaking her head as she turned to face Sonata head on.

Sonata hesitated for a moment, looking down at her sisters as they laid motionless on the floor of the alley. This seemed to give her motivation, and she steeled herself, ready to avenge the other two sirens.

Sonata charged suddenly. Her long, blue pony tail trailed behind her as she ran towards the dark stranger, winding up her arm to swing the small blade at her opponent’s throat. The dark mistress stood motionless until Sonata was only a step away, then she suddenly stepped to the side and the alley was briefly flooded by a flash of light.

Lyra and Bonbon watched in awe as a sword appeared in the woman’s hand next to her hip, which she quickly swung upwards after she dodged Sonata’s attack. The blade passed behind the blue-haired siren’s head, missing her by mere inches as she charged past the mysterious girl.

Sonata skidded to a halt and quickly turned to face the woman, caught off guard that her attack had missed its mark…but then she noticed something didn’t feel right. Something was missing. Usually when she turned quickly like that, her pony tail would swing around and bat her on the arms, but this time it didn’t happen. She reached up with her hand to feel her hair, her eyes opening wide when she couldn’t feel her long pony tail, but instead only short strands on the back of her head.

Sonata’s eyes dropped to the ground, followed by her letting out a gasp when she saw the blue pony tail laying on the asphalt like a dead animal. She brought her gaze back to the dark mistress to see her holding a translucent, sparking blue sword…which she suddenly raised and pointed at the siren, placing the tip just barely half a foot from her throat.

Sonata dropped the knife quickly, letting out a little ‘eep!’ sound as she put her hands up in surrender, realizing she was now out-gunned.

“D’you yield?” the woman asked sternly. “Or shall I remove something that won’t grow back?”

Sonata shook her head frantically, keeping her hands in the air as the mysterious woman turned to face Lyra and Bonbon, who were still huddled against the wall in fear.

“Go.” she ordered.

They both nodded quickly and started nervously shuffling past the dark mistress to leave the alley, but were stopped in their tracks when she pointed her gloved finger at them.

“Tell no one of what you saw here tonight. Understand?” the woman ordered.

The two friends nodded. “O-OK…” they muttered nervously in unison, then continued to make their way out of the alley. After about ten more steps, Bonbon stopped once more to turn around and look at the mysterious stranger.

“Thank-you…” she said quietly, with a look of gratitude on her face.

The dark mistress gave her a little smile in return before turning back to look down the blade of her sword at Sonata. After glaring at the siren for a minute, she spoke.

“Would you be so kind as to deliver a message to your comrades when they regain consciousness?” she asked.

Sonata nodded, letting out a shaky breath as she kept her eyes on the tip of the blade pointed at her throat.

“Get out. Leave Canterlot at once.” the woman commanded. “And if I catch you three in this town again, it will be your burial ground. Do I make myself clear?”

Sonata nodded again. “Y-yes…”

The woman lowered the sword and took a couple steps back. She stood for a moment, letting the tip of the blade point at the ground in front of her as she gazed thoughtfully at the blue-haired girl.

“Why do you remain with those two?” she finally asked.

Sonata, who was caught off-guard by the question, and could only shrug and shake her head in response.

“There is sweetness in you…” the dark stranger continued. “but it has been soured by the influence of those nasty companions of yours.”

Sonata responded quietly. “I…they’re like sisters to me…” she said in a voice barely above a whisper. “I’ve been with them for so long…I can’t turn my back on them now, not in our last years together…”

The masked woman glared at her for a moment before replying. “Suit yourself.” she said with a scowl.

She suddenly raised the sword above her head and flung it at Sonata, who’s heart seized up in panic as she ducked her head, putting her arms up in front of her face in defence.

The siren could see a bright flash through her closed eyelids, rendering the light a reddish hue as she braced for the weapon to strike her…but it never happened. She opened her eyes slowly to see what had happened, and to her surprise, all she saw was an empty alley. The sword was gone, and so was the dark mistress.

Sonata let out a sigh of relief as her eyes rolled back in their sockets. “I gotta lay off the weed tacos…” she muttered to herself, looking down at her fallen sisters as she stepped towards them to see if they were OK.

Chapter 61: Back to Basics

Chapter 61

Sunset, Chupacabra and I had driven about eight hours away from Las Vegas, headed south towards Mexico.

The old man insisted that he would be safe if he could get into that country, insisting that he had connections there and could find shelter from ‘Us’; although at that point I assumed the organisation understood that he had told me everything he knew about them after riding in the car with Sunset and I for so long, so we weren’t sure if they would continue to pursue him since they had already failed to take him out before it was too late.

We had formulated a plan for me and Sunset to lose them so we could try searching for one of the supply runs to the ‘Us’ base. We knew it was a flimsy idea to try conducting such a search, but at that point, we honestly had nothing else to try.

It turned out that Chupacabra still had connections in the US government, and he would be able to access a secure line to them once he reached his destination, which was necessary if our plan to lose our ‘Us’ followers was to be successful. We were now less than a half hour away from the Mexican border, discussing what we were going to do when we got there.

“No, we can’t take you across the border.” I was saying. “I don’t want our passports showing up any more than they need to.”

The old man groaned and waved me off. “I don’t even have mine…”

I looked at him in the rearview mirror for a moment before shaking my head. “You fucking guy…”

“What?” he shrugged. “I did leave town a bit unexpected there, amigo…you know, after some payaso shot at me…”

I nodded. “OK, OK.” I said. “You’re welcome, by the way.”

The old man shook his head as Sunset turned to me with bright eyes.

“I gotta admit, that was pretty a sweet catch.” she said with a smile of admiration.

I grinned back at her, then looked in the mirror again. “So how are you going to cross?…You just gonna sneak through?”

The old man snickered. “Si…that’s what everyone else does…”

“Hm.” I mumbled to myself. “Fine then.” I said as I smirked back at him. “It’s a good thing they didn’t build that fuckin wall, eh?”

Chupacabra rolled his eyes.

It wasn’t much longer before he told me to pull over to the side of the road. I did as he asked, and once we were stopped, he got out of the car and stepped up beside Sunset’s window to say a few more things.

“So, you know what to do?” I asked him.

He nodded. “Yeah. You?”

I scowled a bit and shrugged. “Of course I do, it was my idea.”

He chuckled a bit. “Alright. Just relax, hombre.”

“You sure you’ll be OK?” I asked after a small chuckle of my own. “Once I drive away, you’re on your own…”

“Yeah. I’ve got people close. Don’t worry.” he replied as he took a few steps back before pausing again. “Hey…”

“Yeah?” I answered.

“Thanks, hermano.” he said. “For saving me again.”

Sunset turned to look at me with a glint in her eye, clearly thinking the exchange between these two old, battle-hardened men was kind of sweet.

I nodded. “Well, now it’s your turn.” I said.

He nodded back. “Don’t worry, amigo. Just follow the plan, go to the place we discussed and it will work out, no problem.”

“OK then.” I said, glancing at Sunset for a second before looking back at the old Mexican to give my farewell. “See ya, scrotum-face.” I quipped.

Sunset rolled her eyes as he shook his fists at me. “It’s Chupa…ah, nevermind.” he growled, waving me off as he turned and walked off into some random bushes.

The copper-haired girl turned to me with one of her brows raised. “Where’s he gonna go?”

I shrugged. “He says he knows what he’s doing. He’ll be fine.” I said as I turned the car round and headed back the way we just came from.

We drove for about an hour before we arrived in Tucson, Arizona, then decided to take a break from travelling and got a motel room on the outskirts of town.

It was about 4:30am, and Sunset and I were glad to be out of that car again. We sighed in relief as we entered the room, shutting the door and looking at each other with exasperation, knowing that we were still a long way from finishing our rescue mission.

A few hours went by, and at about 7:30am we were about to execute our plan to lose our escorts from ‘Us’ so we could move freely without them knowing exactly where we were all the time.

She and I were standing in the motel room a few feet from the door, looking at each other as we psyched ourselves up for what we were about to do.

I took a deep breath, watching her bright green eyes glare at me with nervousness. “Are you ready?” I asked.

She nodded reluctantly. “Yeah. Let’s do it.”

*****

There was indeed a nameless ‘Us’ agent watching our motel room from a store roof across the large parking lot of a strip mall. It was light out now, so he had switched off his night vision goggles and was using the daylight setting, which also had a magnify feature. It was proving to be useful at that moment since he wasn’t able to find a vantage point any closer than this where he could remain hidden.

He was watching the motel room closely for movement. It was obvious to him that this guy and his lady friend must have learned everything that the old Mexican knew about the headquarters after spending several hours travelling in the car together.

The agent sighed as he thought about his failure in Vegas. His mission was to keep HQ advised on the whereabouts of the immortal man and his partner to make sure they weren’t making any headway into finding information on the organisation.

It should have been easy. The way they were standing right out in the open with the old man on the street corner in Vegas...the agent had such a clear view through the scope of his rifle, and the shot needed to keep the Mexican silent was right at his fingertips.

He couldn’t believe how effortless it was for the man to just reach up and stop the shot with his hand. He really was a force to be reckoned with…it’s no wonder the agent was given strict orders not to engage, but to observe only.

Just as he was thinking this, he saw the motel room door open, and the targets both stepped out.

“I have movement…” he said, placing his fingertips on his earpiece.

“Understood…stay in pursuit, but as always, do not engage. Keep us advised.” the voice returned to his ear.

“Copy that.” he replied as he watched the two leave the room and head towards the car. They had their heads down in an attempt to hide their faces, but the distinctive two-tone hair of the woman gave them away quick as lightning. The man was a little more difficult to track…his short brown hair was a common thing, as well as his average build, but as long as he had the woman at his side, he was easy to keep track of.

“Why would he bring her along?” the agent wondered. “What’s so special about her?”

He also wondered why they had been so nonchalant about being tracked thus far during their trip…perhaps they knew none of ‘Us’ would have the authorisation to engage directly with him, and this agent could certainly see why such an order was given. Even so, tracking them had been a breeze…she used her phone fairly regularly, not to mention the GPS in the car they had so obviously rented for their trip as well as the one in her phone, which basically given them both homing beacons for him to zero in on, and he had been able to follow them easily since the start of his pursuit when they left Washington DC.

The pair got into the car and quickly drove off, prompting the agent to speak into his communicator again. “They’re leaving in the vehicle. I will pursue and continue to observe.”

“Understood. Keep us advised.”

“Ten four.” he confirmed as he stood up, picking up his supplies and calmly walking off toward the door to exit the roof, intending to simply follow the GPS signals to keep tabs on them while keeping a watchful eye from a distance.

*****

I listened to Sunset breathing beside me in the dark, wondering how long it had been since we had set our plan in motion.

I finally decided to whisper to her. “What do you think?” I asked.

I heard the sound of her taking a deep breath beside me. “I dunno…how long has it been?”

I shook my head. “A few hours.” I replied. “It must be about noon…”

“Do you think it worked?” she whispered.

“Hopefully…” I replied. “It’s hard to tell since they’re pretty much invisible to us, but I don’t see how they wouldn’t have bought it. They’ll be following the car and your phone anyway…they’ve gotten lazy and like to rely on technology too much. They’re not using their heads to think outside the box.”

“What about…like, thermal cameras or whatever?” she asked quietly. “Do you think they could see that there were four of us in here?”

“No.” I replied with a shake of my head. “Thermals can’t see through walls, only the heat that is being reflected off of the surfaces of whatever you’re looking at.”

She was silent for a moment.

“I’m telling you, Sunny…they followed the car. That girl got your hair colour perfect…plus, like I said, they’ll follow the car and the phone.”

She sighed. “I can’t believe I gave my jacket away…and my fucking phone. How are we supposed to contact anyone or get information?”

“We’ve got all the info we need.” I said. “Besides, those things made it too easy for them to find us. With all the electronics gone, they’ll have to rely on old-school tracking to find us.”

“What about satellites n’ stuff?” she asked.

“It’ll be tough for them without any type of signal to zero in on…it’ll be like finding a needle in a haystack.” I explained. “And when we get into the desert, we they won’t even be able to track us on foot.”

“Why not?” she asked.

“Because they won’t be able to survive.” I replied. “Not without vehicles to carry enough water and supplies to stay out there for days on end…all of which will make them more visible to us. That’s assuming that they even figure out that we’re in the desert at all. By the time they realize it’s not us in the rental car, we’ll be long gone.”

She paused in the darkness for a moment. “So do you think we should go now?” she asked.

I thought for a moment, then took a deep breath. “Yeah. Let’s do it. We can’t lay here forever.”

“OK.” she replied.

We crawled out from under the bed in the motel room, where we had been hiding for about four hours after the two associates of Chupacabra’s had taken our car and Sunset’s phone to lead the ‘Us’ watcher away. He had called them on the secure line that he had available to him once he’d gotten to his destination in Mexico…having such a thing was one of the perks of being a retired officer of the US government. The two people he called were waiting for Sunset and I at the motel room in Tucson, which is where we had planned to meet them during the drive to Mexico with the old man.

They spent a couple of hours dying the girl’s hair to match Sunset’s, and we discussed where they would go to lead the spy away from us while we made our escape into the desert. We gave them Sunset’s phone and our rental car, as well as a set of our clothes and her leather jacket to wear so they would look as much like us as possible.

After a few hours of planning and having them practice Sunset’s and my own body language, how we walk and move, as so on, we had them hastily go out and take off in the car, making sure it was light outside so he wouldn’t be relying on night vision…that way the colour of Sunset’s imitator’s hair would show up in the natural light.

Now four hours later, Sunset and I were ready to disappear into the desert and try our luck on finding the supply chopper…which we both knew was a major stretch, especially since they would likely keep the pickup location far away from our last known location.

This wasn’t our only plan however…traveling on foot was going to be slow going, and we had planned to find some form of older transportation that couldn’t be tracked once we crossed the Sonoran desert, which would have us emerge in California fairly close to San Diego…as long as I still had my keen sense of direction, that is.

Sunset was very apprehensive of crossing such a large area on foot with no means of navigation, but she was forgetting that she was with someone who had travelled this way for centuries, not to mention the fact that I knew how to cover our tracks to keep anyone off our trail.

We quickly picked up our stuff…or what was left of it, rather, from the motel room as we got ready to leave.

“Aw shit…” Sunset cursed, suddenly realizing something.

“What’s up?” I asked, doing another quick count of the money in the gym bag, coming up with a total of just under seventy thousand remaining.

“I left my, uh…’toy’ in the car…along with all the batteries.” she said, stopping to rub her face with both hands.

“Damn, that sucks…” I said, glancing over at her. That poor girl…she’d been through so much during the past couple of weeks, having to deal with her little sexual curse most of the time, and now she’d lost her only means of fleeting relief. I honestly did feel bad for her at this point, especially now that the main job I brought her for had already been completed, and now she was basically stuck tagging along with me…although an unkillable mind-reader is never a bad thing to have around, I suppose.

She put her hands up on either side of her head, giving it a shake in frustration. “Let’s just go.” she said shortly. “Let’s go walk across the desert for some fucking reason.”

I stopped what I was doing to watch her angrily pick up her things and pack them in her bag. Between the two of us we had a couple changes of clothes, the money, and our IDs and passports, save for the one credit card I gave our imitators to use as another part of the diversion.

“Are you OK, Sunny?” I asked with concern.

“I can’t believe we’re actually going to try to search for that supply transport. We’re never going to find it, you know that right?” she said sternly to me.

This was the first time she was putting up a real argument to my plans, but I could see why. The plan was flimsy, but until we had something better, what else were we supposed to do?

“Do you have a better idea?” I asked her back.

Sunset closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. After a pause and a long sigh, she replied. “No. I guess not. Let’s just go before we get found again…which you know is also eventually going to happen too, right?”

“I know.” I replied.

“And this little trick we just pulled isn’t going to work twice...” she continued.

“Yeah, Sunny. I get it.” I replied a little more sternly, hoping she would back off a little. This was the only problem with Sunset Shimmer…she was very strong minded, and if she didn’t agree with you or didn’t want to do something, she wasn’t going to give in very easily, and she made damn sure you knew about it.

We finished gathering up our things and hastily made our way out to the road. We walked along on the side of the pavement for about a mile outside of town, then I stopped and turned to face the desert to the right of the road.

“OK.” I said. “Here goes nothing. We’ll cross here to the other side of this desert. We’ll avoid the towns along the way, like Yuma…and when we get into California, we’ll get our hands on something old to drive.”

She stood next to me with her arms crossed. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.” she said, about to take a step off of the pavement into the dirt.

I reached out to stop her, causing her to look at me with confusion.

“Our tracks are hidden so far…” I explained, nodding to the pavement behind us. “And they’ll be looking for two of us.”

Sunset frowned. “So?”

“Get on my back.” I said, turning around to face away from her.

“What?” she exclaimed with a scowl. “Why?”

I sighed with frustration. “They’ll be looking for two tracks…if they send trackers after us, leaving only one foot trail will throw them off…which is also the reason I switched shoes with my imitator, because they probably know I had boots on before.”

She looked at me for a moment, chewing the inside of her cheek. Finally, she shook her head and took my bag to sling over her shoulder, then she wrapped her arms around my shoulders from behind, being careful not to touch my skin with her hands, and jumped up on my back. I hooked my hands behind her knees to hold her up, then started walking off into the sweltering wilderness.

We travelled for the rest of the day, not saying very much to each other as we went. The sun eventually went down, and the cooler air started to surround us as I continued carrying the copper-haired girl through the desert.

I didn’t care for her attitude much since we left the motel. It wasn’t that I couldn’t see why she was being miserable, it was more the fact that I knew there was no use in being like this. I finally decided to say something after it was completely dark out, and the stars were shining brilliantly in the night sky. Being out in the wilderness, away from the electric lights of civilization had left the view of the universe un-obscured to me and the other-worlder on my back.

“Sunny?”

“What?” she replied flatly. She was still riding on my back, with her arms slung over my shoulders, and she had been resting the side of her head on my right shoulder for the past couple of hours.

“I know this is a shitty plan…” I continued. “But I need you to have your head in the game.”

She sighed loudly, which sounded to me like a way of saying: ‘fuck off, Golds.’

“Look,” I continued. “I know you’ve got problems of your own, and I’m really sorry about that…and I know that you and I are kind in over our heads here, but if you do nothing else, just please stay positive…because without you backing me up, it's hard for me to keep my motivation going…”

She remained silent.

“We’re not going to be doing this forever, Sunny. It’s just until we find something better. Once we have another car, things will be better.” I said.

Still no response from her.

“And…” I kept talking. “I don’t like it when you’re mad at me.”

She finally responded by lifting her head off of my shoulder, although I couldn’t see her expression.

I took the cue to keep talking. “Out here, these last couple weeks…even though I wish we weren’t out here under these circumstances…I’ve really enjoyed spending all this time with you. I like you…a lot.”

She slowly let her forehead come to rest on the back of my neck as she listened.

“I mean, it’s different than how I feel about Flutters and Rare…but still, I think of you as a great friend. You’ll do anything for us, including torturing yourself by being with me all this time to help Flutters…and I’ll never be able to express how much I appreciate that.” I paused. “You know what?”

“Mhm?” she mumbled.

“I think you’re my best friend.” I confessed. “When I’m not around my girlfriends, you’re always the first person I wanna hang out with.”

I could feel a small exhale on my back from her nostrils as she smiled a bit. “I like you, too…” she replied. “I’m not sure about best friend, cuz me and Twi have been best friends for years…but since you came around, and I’m not going to school with her anymore…I do think about you a lot, too.”

I smiled at the ground as I listened to her speak.

“Like I told you in the woods at Flutters’…” she continued quietly. “I think of you almost like a mentor, but mostly a good friend. And I like that you care about me…you watch over me and protect me when I need it.”

I nodded, satisfied by her heartfelt words.

“I know this whole thing with my magic has made things a little…weird,” she said. “but I still think of you as a friend, and that’s all. I don’t want to get in between you and the girls…I think what the three of you have together is amazing, and sweet…and I don’t want to ruin it.”

I took a couple more steps. “I know that when you come on to me it’s not really you, Sunny. Don’t worry about it.” I reassured her. “It's not weird either…I’d rather you be like that than be mad at me.”

“Of course you would.” she snickered, shaking her head. “How often does a regular friend sit on the edge of the tub and spread her pussy open for you to see?” She sighed with embarrassment. “I can’t believe I did that…I was really bad that night.”

“It’s OK.” I replied. “Actually, do you know what Rare said to me on the phone that night?”

“What?” she asked, nuzzling her nose against my neck.

“She said she wanted me to do it with you if you needed me to.” I confessed.

Sunset paused for a minute, then nodded. “She told me the same thing.” she admitted. “I guess that’s the generosity in her coming out again…”

“Yeah…” I chuckled.

I carried the copper-haired girl for a few minutes more in silence.

“I’ll try to be more positive.” she finally said. “It’s just hard…you know, with everything. I don’t wanna be out here, looking for something we’ll never find, feeling horny non-stop…and the heat is weird…like, I can feel it, but it doesn’t bother me.”

I nodded. “I know what you mean. Extreme temperatures are something you never really get used to.”

“Should we stop now that it’s night?” Sunset asked suddenly.

I shook my head in response.

“Don’t you need the sun to be able to tell where you’re going?” she asked.

“No.” I replied. “I mean, I do use it during the day to tell what time it is, and what direction I’m headed, but at night…” I craned my neck to look at the sky. “...I can use Polaris.”

She looked up into the sky with me. “You mean the North Star?”

“Yeah.” I replied. “It’s directly above the North Pole, so it doesn’t appear to move, but all the other stars rotate counter clockwise around it as the planet rotates. Just use the two stars at the cup-end of the big dipper, count their distance five times in the direction that they are oriented, and BAM! There’s Polaris, and therefore, true north.”

I pointed upwards to our right and slightly ahead of us to show her where it was.

“See it? If we keep it there, we’ll keep heading westward, and slightly to the north; although we’ll have to modify it slightly to deal with the terrain and to avoid towns.”

She nodded, but responded disparagingly. “I can’t see it, but I trust you. You’ve done this once or twice before, haven’t you?” she asked with a smirk.

“Yeah. A few times.” I replied. “Although this is the first time I’ve done it while carrying someone who keeps rubbing their snatch on my back.”

Sunset giggled. “I can’t help it. It feels kind of good. I just thi-”

She stopped talking as I suddenly turned around to look behind us for a moment. She had noticed me doing this every so often and it was starting to make her nervous.

“Why do you keep doing that?” she asked.

“What?” I asked, noticing her apprehensiveness.

“You keep turning to look behind us,” she answered. “Do you think someone's following us?”

I snorted. “No Sunny. Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you nervous,” I said, turning my head over my shoulder to her. “We’ve been going for quite a while; you can probably walk now if you want.”

“Oh…yeah, sure,” she said, sliding off my back to the ground as I let go of her thighs. Her hand accidently brushed my neck as she let herself down, and she gasped sharply in response to the surge of memories that rumbled into her mind.

I knew what had happened, and turned to hold her by the arm. “You OK?”

Sunset took a deep breath, holding her fingertips to her temple. “Yeah…actually. That wasn’t too bad…it didn’t really hurt my head they way it did before.”

“Have you read me since you turned?” I asked.

“No…” she replied, shaking her head. “That was the first time.” She looked up at me. “It’s fine. I’m OK. Don’t worry.”

I stood there for a moment, watching her to make sure she was alright, then I looked behind us again for a second before I turned and kept going. “OK.”

She started walking beside me. “If no one’s following us, then what were you looking at?”

“Oh,” I said, glancing over at her. “When travelling like this, people often get lost if they have to backtrack because the terrain looks a lot different when you’re looking at it from the opposite direction, so it’s a good idea to look back every so often and take a mental picture in your mind of what it looks like, just in case you have to go back for any reason.”

Sunset was walking beside me, looking at the ground as she stuck her bottom lip out. “Hm, that’s actually pretty smart.” she nodded.

“Nah.” I replied. “Just experience.”

*****

After travelling most of the night on foot, Sunset and I decided to take some time to sit down in time to watch the sunrise. It’s not that we were tired, we couldn’t be, but we still got mentally sick of walking and just wanted to relax for a few moments.

We sat at the base of a large boulder with a mesquite bush growing beside it, letting our heads rest against the smooth rock as we watched the horizon to the east start to change colour. I had seen sunrises like these in the past many times, but there was something different about seeing them in the desert. I was willing to bet that my companion hadn’t seen one quite like this before.

We continued to watch the colours brighten and change. I found myself wishing Rarity and Fluttershy were there to see it with me, and I wondered if maybe one day we would make a point of coming back out to do just that.

I glanced over at the copper-haired girl, watching her as she gently tapped her index finger to her bottom lip, clearly mesmerised by the sight.

At its most colourful point, she turned to look at me with a gleam in her pretty aqua eyes. “That is completely fucking gorgeous.” she said with a smile.

I smiled back as she turned away to look at the sky again.

“Yeah…” I started. “But it’s nothing compared to the Sunset I have sitting right next to me.”

She quickly snapped her head back to me, looking stunned for a moment, then she rolled her eyes. “Enough with the sunset lines…” she said with a blush on her cheeks. “And that’s not really something you say to someone you say is just your friend.”

I shrugged. “Can’t a guy tell his friend she’s hot?”

She looked off into the dark sky behind me, letting out a sigh as she smiled. “I guess…”

She turned back to watch the sunrise in silence as it finished its concert of colours. Once it was completely up and the sky was mostly blue and the heat of the day was starting to creep in on us, I was about to suggest we kept moving…but Sunset caught me off guard with an unexpected question.

“Golds?”

“Yeah?” I said, looking at her.

“Would it be OK with you if…I read you?” she asked timidly.

I blinked a couple times as I stared at her. “Are you sure?”

She nodded. “After what happened earlier, I don’t think it’ll hurt me like before, and…” she paused. “I just want to see if I can learn to control it better.”

“What did you see earlier?” I asked.

“Just flashes…images…” she replied. “It was coming in too fast and I couldn’t sort out what most of it was…I wasn’t touching you long enough to have a chance.”

I bit my bottom lip as I looked at the rocks and stones around us, wondering if she might see something she wouldn’t like in there…but she wanted to do it, so I looked up at her and nodded.

“If you really want to.” I answered.

She nodded, then shifted herself closer to me, holding her hand out for me to take it. I hesitated at first…after being so used to avoiding contact with her because of how much it hurt her the first time, touching her hand now felt like some sort of taboo.

After glancing at her eyes once more and seeing the obvious curiousness in her expression, I reached up and let my fingers graze hers, starting out gently at first to try to ease her into it.

Sunset shuddered as her eyes squeezed shut, and she inadvertently pulled her hand back, her breathing increasing quickly. She gave her head a little shake before looking at me again with a shocked expression.

“Sorry…” she said with her breathing laboured. “It’s just…so much at once. Let me see if I can try to…I don’t know…’throttle’ it back.”

I nodded. “OK…just don’t hurt yourself, Sunny.”

She smirked a bit at me. “I can’t…”

“I know…” I replied.

She paused, then took a deep breath…steadying herself before she quickly reached for my hand again, this time lacing her fingers together with mine, pressing our palms firmly together.

This was the first time I ever held Sunset’s hand, and I honestly kind of liked it. He skin was soft, and her touch was warm. Her fingers felt more delicate than I would have expected, especially when the rest of her body looked so powerful by comparison, and I actually enjoyed the feel of her squeezing my hand as she took in the massive wave of thoughts from my mind.

Her eyes were shut tightly, her teeth gritted, and I couldn’t help but notice her wriggling her feet, rubbing them against each other, digging her heels into the ground as she struggled to control the flow into her brain.

It felt like an eternity, holding her hand like this, but at the same time, it was only a few seconds before she suddenly let me go, gasping loudly as her eyes popped open wide. She frantically crawled backwards away from me with her face full of emotion. It was impossible to figure out which emotions in particular she was displaying; it appeared to be all of them at once.

As soon as the tears started streaming down her face, I knew she must have seen something she didn’t like. It worried me…after all, I’ve done a few bad things in my past, some of which I told her about in the woods at Fluttershy’s…but I was purposefully vague with the details that day. Hopefully she didn’t see something that would make her hate me…

“Are you OK?” I asked.

She didn’t answer. Instead, she just covered her mouth with her hand.

I took a deep breath as I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly. “Oh boy…what did she see?” I thought. I chewed my bottom lip as I stared at the ground beside me, waiting for her to tell me what terrible things she must have seen.

After a minute or two of silence, she finally spoke. “I…I’m so sorry…”

It was a response I didn’t expect, and it prompted me to look at her with surprise. “For what?” I asked.

She slowly shook her head. “You…you’ve been through so much…lost so many people who were close to you.”

I gave a small nod of confirmation. She was right.

“Like…ninety-nine percent of everyone you’ve ever known…is dead.” she said slowly.

I let my eyes fall to the ground. “Yeah.”

She brought her knees up to hug them against her chest. “A normal person’s life,” she began. “It’s like an eye blink to you; even mine, and Flutters, and the others.”

I remained silent, knowing there wasn’t much to say, so I just let her process it and say what she needed to say.

“You’ve lost so many…” she said sympathetically, then she paused for a moment. I looked at her as her expression changed to more of a look of fear. “I saw what happened, when you ruled that city long ago.”

This was what I was afraid of. All I could do was I hope she didn’t see too much.

“You were bad,” she continued. “You were a tyrant. You kept the people fearful of you. You destroyed their homes…you killed kids.”

I closed my eyes and looked away from her, feeling ashamed for the things I’d done; some of the things she was now telling me were things I’d forgotten about, and now I was starting to remember how bad I actually was because of it.

I took a deep breath, trying to think of something to say to redeem myself. “It was a long time ago.” I said. “It’s not something I like to talk about.” I turned to look at her to find her staring at me with moist eyes, and it broke my heart to see her with wet streaks down her face like this because of me and the things I’d done. “Sorry…if I upset you.”

Unexpectedly, she shook her head. “It’s not what you did that upsets me…”

I frowned a bit, confused by her statement. “Hm?”

“You told me they drove you away…” she replied. “You never told me they buried you.”

I didn’t’ tell her about that because I honestly hate admitting when I’ve been defeated, not to mention that was an extremely shitty time for me.

“I could feel it.” she continued. “It was like I was you…I could see the pitch black all around, and I could feel the weight of everything on top of you. I could feel how you felt. Angry…scared that you would be stuck there forever…and sad that no one cared that you were down there…it must have been horrible.”

I swallowed. “Yeah…” I looked up at the sky, taking a deep breath as I remembered the feeling of panic I had to endure while I was under there…and for such a long time. I continued to speak. “When you’re buried like that…in the dark…and all the weight is pressing on you from every angle, you can’t even tell which way is up…”

“How did they do it?” Sunset asked.

I looked at her. “Didn’t you see it?”

She took her head. “I couldn’t get every detail…it was too much all at once.”

I sighed. “I was in the palace, which was where I lived…and the people attacked one day…when they finally decided to get rid of me.”

I glanced at her as she listened intently.

“They used catapults, battering rams, primitive explosives…” I continued. “They hit hard all at once, and the part of the castle I was in collapsed. I was buried under tons of rubble…blocks, marble, mortar…you know…”

She nodded. “And you couldn’t get out?”

“No.“ I said with a headshake. “And they just left me there.”

Sunset shook her head. “That’s horrible.” she replied in a soft voice. “How long were you stuck there?”

“Eighty-seven years.” I said flatly.

Sunset was silent. She stared at me like I had two heads, not even breathing for a full minute.

Finally, she blinked a couple times, snapping herself out of the shock of what I just told her. “That’s...that’s…awful! I mean, that’s like…a whole lifetime, wasted in the dark…” she stammered in a voice barely above a whisper. “How did you manage to get through that?”

“Well...I didn’t.” I said as I tried to look at her, but was unable to muster up the courage to make eye contact. “It was a long fuckin time, and I was pretty upset some of the time…and other times not so much. Sometimes I was just stagnant. It was...I don't even know how to explain it, but…really, what choice did I have? I couldn’t get out, and I couldn’t die…I was just…there.”

“I would have lost my fucking mind,” she said, resting her forehead on her palms.

I shook my head. “You can’t.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, looking back up at me suddenly.

“Our minds are like our bodies.” I explained. “They can’t be broken…we can’t go crazy.” I took a deep breath, then kicked a small rock that was sitting near my feet. “Which is good, obviously…but sometimes it can be a bad thing, too.”

Sunset frowned. “I don’t understand…”

“Sometimes the mind blocks out traumatic events, to protect people from them…and so they don’t have to remember them...” I shook my head. “But us…we’ll always remember the bad things…that is, until enough time goes by before they finally just fade away.”

“Hm.” she mumbled, rubbing her chin before looking back at me. “So how did you get out?” she asked.

I leaned my head back against the rock we were sitting beside. “Eventually, the city was invaded by an army from another land…they came in and conquered, then started tearing the city down to rebuild it to their liking. When they cleared away the rubble from my castle, they uncovered me.”

Sunset wiped her face dry with her hand. “I bet they were surprised to find you under there…” she said with a slight smirk showing through.

“Yeah…” I replied. “It gave them quite a scare…they all thought I was a demon or something…although I didn’t stick around, so they didn't have to deal with me for too long.”

“Where did you go?” she asked.

“Asia.” I answered. “I spent many years there.”

Sunset paused for a moment, reflecting on all the things she had just learned about her friend.

“Sunny?” I asked, getting her attention. “That’s not a part of my life I like to think about…of all the things I thought you’d find in my mind, I didn’t think that would be one that you would find so quickly.”

“It’s obviously a bigger part of you than you realise,” she replied.

I put my hand up to her. “Just…I don’t think Flutters or the others would like it…I’d prefer if we kept it between us. It’s bad enough that you know about it.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “Why is it bad that I know about it?” she asked. “Don’t forget, I was bad too. I tried to turn everyone in this world into a mindless zombie and use them to take over my own world…”

I sighed. “Yeah, that’s pretty bad…”

“And I got beat, too.” she continued. “So I know how you feel. I would be a pretty big hypocrite if I judged you over that.”

I nodded in agreement.

“But if you don’t want the others to know, I get that.” she said. “I promise it’ll stay between us.”

I gave her a little smile. “Thanks, Sunny.”

We paused for a moment. As we sat, I looked over at her, noticing she looked like she was thinking about something as she stared at me, chewing the inside of her cheek.

She finally spoke up. “There’s more to the story, isn’t there?”

I closed my eyes, feeling my heart wrench in my chest. I had hoped she didn’t pick up on it, but she did. “Damn it.” I thought. “I don’t wanna talk about it anymore.”

She could tell it was something big. “Come on, Golds. Something else happened in that city…what was it? You might feel better if you tell someone about it. You can tell me…” she said. “I’m your best friend, aren’t I?”

I glared sharply at her for a moment, hoping she might back down…but the opposite happened. The look of genuine care in her green eyes took hold of me and eventually, I lowered my defenses.

“Come on,” she insisted. “I know there was something else going on there…I just couldn’t pick up what it was.”

I closed my eyes as I rubbed my forehead, and I ran my fingers through my hair, then I finally looked at her.

“I had a wife.”

Her eyes got wide. “Oh…” realizing this story was going to take a dark turn, she suddenly felt regret for asking about it.

I cleared my throat, trying to muster up the strength to tell her the rest. “She was in the palace with me when the people attacked…she was right next to me when it collapsed, and I grabbed her when the floor gave out...to try and protect her.”

Sunset listened closely with wide eyes as I told her the story.

“But I couldn’t protect her.” I continued. “We were buried, and she was crushed to death…and I was still holding her in my arms from when we fell. I couldn’t move because of the weight of the debris on us, so I was trapped in place with my arms around her…and…I had to listen to her choke to death on her own blood. She died right there in front of me...in the dark.” I stopped for a moment to take a breath before I could continue. “As the days, and eventually weeks went by, she started to smell…and I was stuck holding onto her while she decomposed right next to me.”

Sunset put her hand over her mouth as fresh tears ran down her cheeks. She looked like she wanted to say something, but instead, after a moment she shuffled closer to me on her knees and wrapped her arms around my shoulders, squeezing me tightly. “That’s horrible,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry that happened.”

I looked away from her at the ground. “Well hey, it's OK...you know? I mean, I deserved it. You said it yourself: I killed kids.”

She shook her head. “Nobody deserves that. Especially the ‘you’ that I know…”

I sighed, knowing that she wasn’t going to understand the full scope of the things I actually did.

“You couldn’t have been truly bad…” she continued. “Something must have happened to make you do those things…but then you changed, didn’t you?”

I looked at Sunset as she lifted her head to look at me, her eyes only inches from mine now. “Yeah…after I got out, I realized how I made others suffer by taking away their loved ones…like I said in the woods, I learned a lot from that experience.”

“You see?” she said. “You are a good dude…even if you did bad things.”

“I don’t know…” I replied, shaking my head.

“Yes!” she insisted. “You’re a stronger person than me…When I changed my ways, it was because the Princess asked the other girls take care of me and teach me how to be a good person, and a good friend. But you…” she shook her head. “You had every reason to be angry when you were freed…you could have set this whole fucking planet on fire, but you didn’t. You took it upon yourself to learn the error of your ways…and now, you’re one of the best people I know.”

I cleared my throat, feeling slightly ‘on the spot’ after being put on such a high pedestal. “Uh…thanks.” was all I could come up with.

Sunset paused for a moment, biting her lip as she mustered up the next difficult question. “You were close to her?” she asked. “Your wife?”

I sighed, then nodded slowly. “Yeah. Really close…just like with Flutters. After what happened with her, I never let myself get that close to anyone…not until I met Flutters…and the rest of you guys.”

She smiled. “And now she’s become like you…so what happened to your wife can’t happen again.”

“Yeah…” I said. “You can’t imagine how happy it made me…I thought I could never lose her…”

Sunset’s smile disappeared. “Then Cody took her…”

I nodded slowly, staring at the ground.

She sighed as she let me go from the hug and leaned back next to me on the rock. “That’s why we’re out here…looking for a random helicopter. You feel the same way about Flutters being gone as you felt when you lost your wife…and you’ll do anything to get her back. Even following a plan as unlikely as this…”

I turned my head to look at her. “Yeah…I know it’s a huge stretch, but I’m never gonna give up.”

Sunset pursed her lips as she looked up at the sky. “I’m really sorry, Golds...for how I acted earlier. I didn’t realize what this meant to you...and I never considered that what happened in your past might be driving you to do this.”

“It’s OK, Sunny. How could you know?” I replied, looking down at my feet, which were stretched out in front of me.

She turned her head towards me, staring for a moment…then she leaned over and placed a small kiss on my cheek, followed by resting her head on my shoulder. “Well…” she said softly. “I’m here for you. And no matter what you want to do, even if you want to circle the globe a hundred times, or chase Cody and Flutters around the rings of Saturn, I won’t leave your side. Ever. Not until we find her and bring her home. I promise.”

I turned to look down at her, but was only able to see the top of her head in this position. I leaned down and placed a kiss her crown and then let my cheek rest on her head, letting her wavy hair act as a cushion while I smelled her sweet candy scent drifting up in the hot sun, which was steadily getting hotter as the morning moved forward.

*****

We spent numerous days and nights walking through the desert, seeing several beautiful sunrises and sunsets, marvelling at the terrain, the plant life, the creatures…although Sunset was not really a fan of the large spiders and scorpions…and especially the snakes.

We avoided all the towns, and followed the sun and the stars until we finally made our way through a farmer’s field, noticing the surrounding desert wasn’t really a desert anymore…and we knew we had gotten through it.

But where were we?

We both felt some relief, although I was mildly disappointed that we didn’t find the supply transport. Not that I was surprised…after all, finding something that could potentially show up in an area covering five states, once every two weeks to a month was next to impossible. I knew it was, but as long as my pink-haired princess was being held in that underwater dungeon, it was going to continue searching.

As we approached the edge of the field, we could see a dirt road going across in front of us. Past that and to the left, there appeared to be an old ranch of some sort.

I glanced at Sunset, wondering what she might have been thinking when I was suddenly struck by the way her hair looked. I hadn’t noticed it until now, but after spending so much time in the intense sun of the desert, the hair on top of her head and some of the outer layers down the sides had bleached out the last bit of the dark brown dye. What remained was her natural fiery red and yellow colour layered on top of the darker copper and bronze hues where traces of the dye remained underneath.

I smirked at her. “You’re starting to look like Rainbow Dash…” I joked.

She looked back at me in confusion. “Huh?”

“Nevermind.” I shook my head. “We’ll find you a mirror sometime.”

She frowned, glancing up with her eyes, looking at the single curly lock that hung over her forehead, realizing it was a lighter colour of red than before…then something caught our attention.

It was a man yelling. The sound was coming from the ranch down the road.

We both turned to look in that direction to see a fairly old man, hobbling as quickly as he could down the long driveway towards the road, waving his hand frantically at something. He was, presumably, he owner of the ranch, but it took us a minute to see what it was that had him in such a panic.

It wasn’t us being in his field, if it even was his field…I knew from experience how anal some farmers were about their land, but this didn’t seem to be the case.

I looked further down the dirt road and noticed a large transport truck barrelling along, kicking up dust and leaving a light brown trail in its wake…then finally, I saw what the old man was freaking out about.

At the end of the driveway, there was a young kid, maybe three years old, playing on a plastic tricycle in the middle of the road. As the old man was making his way toward the kid, he continued to yell, trying to get the kid’s attention to get out of the way of the truck.

The little boy finally heard the old man calling to him, then noticed the big truck headed right for him which sent him into and panic, causing him to try to turn his tricycle around to leave the road. Instead, he fell over, tipping the bike with him, causing his legs to get tangled up in the pedals of the toy as he started screaming in panic and reaching for the old man.

“Oh damn…” I muttered as I heard Sunset gasp behind me. I took off running as fast as I could toward the road, hearing Sunset start to say something, but her voice faded quickly behind me as I sprinted towards the boy.

My heart was in my throat as I saw the truck come within only twenty feet of the helpless child, and I started to wonder if I was going to make it. By this time, the wheels had locked up on the truck as the driver hit the brakes to try to stop, which did buy me just enough time to reach down and scoop up the kid…just as the truck skidded past, clipping my trailing foot with the fender, which shattered a few pieces of the fibreglass body around the road.

I carried the kid to the end of the driveway as the truck finally came to a halt on the road behind me and the kid, leaving a gigantic cloud of dust all around us.

I knelt down as the old man finally emerged out of the dust and hobbled toward us, clearly showing signs of a bad leg from some kind of past injury as he walked.

The little boy was shaken up pretty badly. I could feel his heart beating in his chest as he looked up at me with his innocent brown eyes, wondering who I was. The rancher came up close to us, then slowed down when he saw me holding the kid, who turned and looked to see the old man standing there.

“Grampa!” he cried, reaching his hands out for his relative.

I held the boy up as the old man took him and hugged him tightly. “I wondered where you ran off to, boy…” the old rancher said, out of breath from his run. “You gave me quite a fright!”

He looked at me suddenly, then set the kid down beside him and held his hand. “Where did you come from?” he asked me. “You just came out of nowhere…”

I rubbed the back of my head. “Uh…well, I was passing through here…on foot. I saw what was happening and I came over to help…”

He looked at me for a moment, then shook his head as he gave a little sigh of relief. “Well…thanks. You saved my Grandson…”

I could tell he was normally a fairly gruff old man who usually didn’t put his emotions on display, but after seeing his young grandson almost get mangled by a truck, he was clearly a bit stirred up, not to mention I think he felt guilty for not watching the kid closely enough and letting him get into harm’s way.

I waved him off. “Don’t mention it.”

I heard another male voice off to our right. “Is everyone OK?” We turned to see the truck driver’s silhouette emerge from the dust as he ran up to us.

I nodded as the old man answered him. “Yeah, we’re all fine here.” he said.

“Are you sure?” the driver asked. “There’s some damage on the fender of the truck…”

My eyes darted from the driver to the old man, then down to the kid as I tried to think of a cover story. Then I noticed the kid’s tricycle was nowhere to be seen. “It must have been the kid’s bike…” I said.

“Really?” the trucker said. “That’s a lot of damage for a toy to cause.”

“Well you were going pretty fast…” I said, glaring at him sharply.

He cringed a bit, and backed off a few steps. “I, uh…I’m a bit behind today…I didn’t see the kid out there, honest!”

“We’re fine.” I said. “Just go.” I waved him away as I spoke.

“You sure?” he asked, taking another step back.

The old rancher nodded. “Yeah, we’ll be fine…” he said. “You better get back to it…and thanks for stopping to check on us.”

“OK then…” the trucker said, turning slowly, obviously feeling obligated to try to help after almost killing a youngster. “Be seein ya…” he said as he climbed up into his cab. The airbrakes hissed suddenly, making the kid jump, and the truck slowly started to roll away as the dust continued to clear.

I turned to face the old man, who looked at me for a moment.

He had on a pair of dirty brown pants and a plaid shirt with suspenders over his shoulders. It was obvious that he was wearing a hat at some point, as evidenced by the way his light gray hair was pressed down in a flat ring just above his ears, but it must have fallen off when he was chasing the little boy. He had brown eyes just like his grandchild, and a light gray moustache, which was well suited for his narrow, bony face.

I was about to give a small farewell to him when I noticed him frowning a bit, tipping his head to look over my shoulder. “Who the hell’s this now?”

“Huh?” I turned to see what he was looking at, and saw Sunset across the road. She had been revealed to the old man as the truck drove away and was now walking towards us. “Oh, she’s with me.” I said, turning back to him.

“Ah…” the rancher said, looking at me again. “I don’t know how to repay you, son. What you’ve done is-“

I put my hand up to stop him. “It’s fine, really.”

Sunset joined us, standing next to me, holding the smashed tricycle which she had picked up as she crossed the road. “Sorry about your bike, kid…” she said to the little boy, who timidly buried his face against the old man’s leg.

“That’s OK, ma’am…” the rancher said. “We’ll get him a new one…” he stopped to look down at the kid. “Or maybe not…how about a swing for the backyard, huh boy?”

Sunset and I smiled at each other over the old man’s levity.

“So, what are you two doing, anyway?” he asked. “Just walking along the countryside? Pretty hot out for that…how about some lemonade or something to drink?”

I shook my head. “No, we should get moving.”

“It’s the least I could do…” he insisted.

“I could go for some lemonade.” Sunset said with a smile. “My mouth is getting dry, and my…yeah.” she rubbed the back of her neck as she stopped herself.

I looked at her for a moment, wondering what she was going to say, then rolled my eyes. “OK. Fine.”

We walked up to the house with the old man and the kid, following the long driveway as it snaked around to the back door of the house. The yard surrounding the home was full of barns and old farm equipment, and there was a fenced-off pasture that had some horses and ponies in it…which I couldn’t help but notice Sunset staring intently at as we passed.

We got to the back of the house, where there was a picnic table under a large oak tree.

“Have a seat.” the rancher said, gesturing to the table as he led the kid to the back door of the house, where an old woman came out to greet them with a smile on her face…that is, until she saw him carrying the smashed up tricycle in his hand.

“Papa…what happened?” she asked in a high tone.

“He got away from me, ma…” he explained. “He got out onto the road, and a truck almost hit him…”

The old lady gasped deeply, then reached out to pull the kid inside the house. “What did I tell you about playing on the road??”

“It’s OK, ma.” the rancher said, pointing to me with his thumb. “This young fella grabbed him up…”

The old lady didn’t acknowledge me at all, but instead started bitching at the old man. “I told you, you have to keep an eye on him!”

“I’m sorry, ma. I got busy fixin that old 35 Deluxe, and before I knew it, he was gone…” they continued arguing as they went into the house and shut the door behind them.

Sunset and I sat at the table, our eyes darting around the yard awkwardly as we heard the old lady yell at the rancher for the next few minutes. Finally, the old man came back out carrying a pitcher full of pink lemonade with ice floating around in it. He set two glasses on the table and poured us each a glass. “Sorry about that, folks.”

Sunset and I shook our heads, excusing the argument as we each took a glass of the cold beverage.

We sipped the lemonade under the shade of the tree in silence for a few minutes before the old man finally spoke again.

“I really can’t thank you enough…” he said.

I shook my head. “It’s fine, really.” I said, looking back at him. “What’s the date today?”

He looked at me a little weird, then answered. “October 11th…”

Sunset and I looked at each other in surprise.

“That took six days??” she exclaimed, realizing she’d grossly miscounted how many nights had passed during our walk across the desert.

I sighed. “We missed thanksgiving…” I mumbled, staring down at the glass of lemonade.

The rancher looked confused. “Thanksgiving’s next month, folks…”

I shook my head, looking at him. “We’re from Canada.”

His eyebrows went up. “Ah…” he replied as I turned to look around the yard.

“What’s wrong with your 35?” I asked, nodding to the old red and yellow tractor parked next to the barn with tools on the ground beside it. “Won’t start?”

He glanced over at the tractor. “Oh, no…it runs fine, it just revs up like crazy…” he rubbed his chin as he gazed at the old machine. “I think something might be wrong with the governor…”

I gave him a confirming nod. “You’re right. The pin on the upper governor race wears off and misses the throttle lever. You just have to take it off and weld it up, then grind it back down to its original size.”

He furrowed his eyebrows at me. “What part is that?”

“The tapered cup that the ball weights ride in.” I said. “There’s a pin on the front that wears off…well, you’ll see what I mean when you get it apart.”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “How do you know this?”

“I’ve seen it happen on those old Hercules engines…” I replied. “It’s a semi-common problem with them.”

“Oh…OK. I’ll have to look into that.” he said with a nod. “Thanks again, son.”

I smiled back and looked around the yard. Then something caught my eye. Something that I normally wouldn’t care much about, but today it was a godsend. I could almost see the beam of light coming from heaven and shining down on it, accompanied by the church choir singing its praises.

I quickly looked at the old man. “Do you still drive that old Diplomat?”

He raised his eyebrows at me for a moment, then turned slowly to look at the car parked beside a rickety old garage. “The Dodge?” he repeated. “Not too much anymore…it does a lot of sittin.”

“Are those plates still valid?” I asked.

He nodded. “Yeah…but I’ve been meaning to get rid of it…I just haven’t done it yet cuz the old bugger still runs like a top.”

“When did you drive it last?” I asked.

He looked up as he thought about it. “Hmm…’bout a month ago?”

My eyes got wide. “This is perfect!” I thought to myself. “You willing to sell it?”

“You wanna buy it?” he asked. “Well, sure, I guess.”

I put my finger up. “The only stipulation is that we leave your plates on it.”

“Whoa!” he said, leaning back with his hands up. “I don’t think so…”

“Come on, I saved your boy…” I insisted. “You said you wanted to thank me…this is how you’re gonna do it.”

“Yeah, but…” the old man paused, then suddenly narrowed his eyes. “You in some kind of trouble, son?”

I shook my head. “Not exactly…more like someone else is gonna be in trouble if I find him…” I explained. “Someone who kidnapped a friend of mine.”

He shook his head. “I’m sorry, I don’t want no part of this…I can’t afford to have some illegal shit coming back to me if the police run those plates.”

“Just listen,” I said. “The whole point of an old car is that they can’t track me like they can with the newer ones…plus your plates will throw them off even more, aside from the fact that I can’t register it here myself. The reason for me taking it with your plates is to stay hidden, not to cause trouble. And if something does happen, you can just say it was stolen.”

He sighed, shaking his head. “I don’t know. I wanna help you out, son. But I don’t want to bring any trouble onto myself.”

“I promise no trouble on you, sir.” I said. “Come on, I saved your grandson, I told you how to fix your tractor…and now…” I paused, biting my lip for a second. “I’ll give you ten grand for that car, plates and all.”

He looked like he was going to have a heart attack. “Ten thousand?? The thing’s only worth two hundred…”

“OK, two hundred for the car…and ninety-eight hundred for your trouble.” I said with a smirk as I pulled out a few stacks of money from the gym bag and set them on the table.

His eyes went wide as he locked his sights on the money.

“Is that OK, or do you want fifteen?” I asked, watching him look at me again with shock.

*****

I got into the car as the rancher stood beside it, resting his arm on the roof.

“Two pumps, then start it.” he instructed.

I rolled my eyes. I knew full-well how to handle a carbureted engine, but I did what he said anyway, just to appease him. The car fired up after a few seconds of cranking and actually idled quite nicely.

“Sounds good.” I said, giving it a rev. “Three-eighteen?”

“Three-sixty.” he replied. “Lots of power.”

My eyebrows went up. “Nice…” I said with a nod.

“OK, then.” the rancher said. “I’ll let you take it with my plates for fifteen…but only cuz you saved the boy…and because I’ve got a good feeling about you, son.”

I nodded. “Don’t worry, sir. I’ll keep out of trouble with it.”

“I hope so…” he said, glancing at the house where the old lady was. “Otherwise that old bitch’ll have my ass…”

I laughed as Sunset got into the passenger seat and closed the door.

“OK, then.” I said, rolling down the window as I shut the door, then I reached out to shake his hand.

“Thanks again, son.” he said. “And good luck with your friend.”

I nodded. “Thanks. See ya around.”

I put the car in gear and drove it out of it's resting spot onto his driveway, hoping it wasn’t going to turn out to be a total piece of shit.

We pulled out onto the road and accelerated up to speed. The car actually drove quite well, which I figured it would…why else would the old guy still have it? It wasn’t worth putting money into if it was a turd.

“Nice…” Sunset said, looking around at the faded interior. She closed her eyes and slowly ran her fingers through her hair, which was continuously blowing around in the breeze with the windows down.

“It beats walking…” I said.

I looked over at her to say something else, but was surprised to see her coming towards me with her eyes closed and her mouth open.

Sunset planted her lips on the side of my neck as I struggled to keep my eyes on the road. She started licking my skin with her tongue, running her soft lips up to my ear to give it a gentle nibble while reaching down and rubbing her hand over my pants, grabbing at my manhood as it quickly started to harden in response to her touch.

She backed her face away from my neck and looked at me, biting her bottom lip with intense lust in her eyes.

“What was that for?” I asked.

She placed another wet kiss on my cheek, then panted out her response. "You…catching the bullet in Vegas…finding our way through the desert…saving the kid…getting the car…everything!” she said frantically. “I know we’re just supposed to be friends, but sometimes you are so fucking hot…”

Chapter 62: The Tour

Chapter 62

Who was Agent Ingram?

A spy?

No…not really. Maybe a little. He did have some experience in the field, but he never really saw any serious action. He was fully trained to be a field agent, but his greater strengths lie elsewhere.

Was he a counsellor?

Not entirely…he did have a PhD in psychology, which he put to use while working for the FBI, but he never ran his own practice.

Was he an engineer?

Technically yes, but…no, not officially. Even though he had his masters in chemical, electrical and structural engineering, he never really put his skills to use, other than reading schematics to formulate plans to infiltrate enemy buildings while planning missions and occasionally building some device to burn through a specific lock, or decode a security key; something that someone in the field would put to use.

Let’s not forget his other degrees, like in thermodynamic engineering, history, physiology, philosophy…but what was he?

And why was this super-secret organisation so interested in hiring him?

These are the things he wondered as he rode in the helicopter over the Pacific Ocean, which was the only way to this mysterious place. The obvious answer was: he is everything. A jack-of-all-trades, so to speak. And the obvious fact was that this agency wanted him for his extreme level of education, after all, he was a very useful person to have around, but for what? What did they have in mind for him?

After being hounded by a scout for several months to join the organisation, Ingram finally decided to take the plunge and see what it was all about. The perks seemed to be well worth it, although it took him some time to get over the fact that he would no longer be a member of society, which, at the end of the day, was really no big deal since he’d lost his wife to cancer two years earlier. His career hadn’t allowed them the chance to have children, plus he himself was an only child. Add that to the fact that his parents had both passed on, and it was easy to see why he finally chose to join the organisation. He had no one else in his life to care about, nor was there anyone to care about him.

All he could do now was hope this move was the right one for him, since they had been explicitly clear that once he joined and saw their facility, there was no going back to regular society. It was an all or nothing kind of deal. Once you’re in, it’s for life.

The helicopter finally touched down on a dirty old oil rig, and Ingram was quickly met by two men in unusual security uniforms, who escorted him to the lower levels of the rig, and eventually to an elevator that looked vastly out of place due to its clean, and obviously far more advanced design.

He rode down in the elevator in silence with the two men, wondering what was waiting for him down there, and how far into the ocean depths it went. It must have been significant, given how long it was taking for the elevator to make the voyage to the bottom.

Finally, the elevator stopped and the doors slid open to reveal a very friendly looking blonde man in a suit.

“Mr. Ingram?” the blonde greeted. “Come on in.” He held his hands out to present the place as Ingram stepped into the room and turned to look back as the elevator doors closed behind him. “Welcome to ‘Us’. My name is Stevenson, I’ll be taking you around for a quick tour of the facility, then I’ll be passing you along to the person you’ll be shadowing for the remainder of your orientation, after which you will be sent out to view the new home you have selected…” Stevenson paused for a moment. “I’m sorry, where was it you said you chose to have your home purchased?”

“Uh, Australia…in Queensland,” he replied. “Nice to meet you, by the way, Stevenson.” He held out his hand for a shake.

“Ah!” Stevenson said, “Where are my manners?” As he shook Ingram’s hand, he continued talking. “But, yeah…Australia. Great choice! The last new recruit we got just recently chose a place in southern France. Absolutely gorgeous countryside there.”

Ingram tilted his head. “So, that is all paid for…by the organisation?”

“Yes,” Stevenson replied before putting his hands up. “Any questions you have that are more detailed however, you’ll have to save for the finance department. I don’t know all the ins and outs of that process,” he chuckled.

Ingram nodded. “Of course,” he said, looking down at himself to check his appearance.

He wasn’t a tall man, about five foot, seven inches with an average build. This was one reason he never went far with being a field agent, his lack of size put him at somewhat of a disadvantage to most opponents in a hand-to-hand combat situation. Although, what he lacked in size, he certainly made up for in brain power. He wore glasses over his blue eyes, had a small moustache and dark, thinning hair; a symptom of his age, being in his early forties hadn’t exactly treated him splendidly.

He followed Stevenson down a long hall with red carpet and dark wooden walls, where there were rows of doors along each side that looked quite out-of-place compared to the rich colour scheme everywhere else. Each door was made of heavy-looking stainless steel and had a keypad lock as well as a slot for swiping a key card.

“These are the offices of the top dogs of ‘Us’,” Stevenson explained, turning around to look back at the new recruit. “They aren’t actually here very often. Most of them are very wealthy and live in secret elsewhere while they run their other operations, but they do regularly check in to inspect the facility and read through the data logs, things like that.”

“Hm,” Ingram mumbled, seemingly not too impressed.

They left that hall and entered a large room that resembled an office building floor, save for the bizarre red carpet that continued throughout the place, as well as the wooden walls around the outside of the room. There were dividing walls and cubicles everywhere, with walkways heading between them, where workers were walking to and from their work stations, carrying papers and electronic tablets with them.

“These folks are the brains of the operation,” Stevenson explained, continuing the tour. “They look after expenses, maintenance schedules, payroll, data collection and allocation…all the fun stuff,” he said with a chuckle, causing Ingram to roll his eyes slightly at the overly friendly and slightly Magoo tour guide.

They continued following along the left wall of the large room, passing a hall on their left that lead away from the office space, then they rounded a corner to the right and headed along that wall until they encountered a second hallway entrance. Ingram followed the guide when he turned to head down the hall, which had sections of glass walls with blinds built into them, along with glass doors and intercoms at the right end of each set of windows.

Stevenson stopped at one of the offices and pressed the button on the intercom at the door. “This is our other new guy. I think he just started about two weeks ago?”

Ingram nodded, then looked at the door, reading the short, simple name adorning the black rectangular plate mounted in the glass.

‘Cody’

They waited for a response on the intercom. Stevenson fidgeted awkwardly, tapping on his hips with his hands as he listened for an answer from the speaker.

He finally gave up and started heading back the way they came, back to the big office room. “He must be in the control room. Let’s head on down there…that was going to be our next stop anyway.”

Ingram and Stevenson turned right from the hallway and headed back to the first hall that they had passed on the way to Cody’s office. They turned down that hall, which had the same glass offices along both sides, and finally, at the end to the right, there was a fairly large lobby with a single elevator on the opposite wall. The lobby was about thirty feet deep, and aside from the elevator, the only way out was down the hall they just came through. The only things residing in the lobby were a pair of vending machines along the left wall, as well as a couple of small plants.

After riding down in the elevator, in which they made innocent small talk back and forth, Stevenson and Ingram stepped out of the doors once they slid open. They entered a huge room full of long tables lined with computers and chairs, arranged in rows that were built onto the downward slope from left to right, all facing an enormous monitor on the right side of the room.

It was easily the size of a movie theatre screen. There were multiple panels within it, showing a digital map of the world in the background, with many of the smaller windows showing camera footage of random street corners or parking lots, while others were displaying a profile with a photo of someone’s face above it. The entire screen seemed to move constantly, almost like staring at an anthill, and it could be quite nauseating to a person if they were not used to it watching it for very long.

As they entered deeper into the room, they passed two security guards and came out of the little hall that surrounded the elevator doors. Ingram was surprised to see how high the ceiling in this room was; he would have to guess it was close to eighty feet to the ceiling, which was lined with lights that were dimmed so the computer screens were easier on to read. Between the rows of lights, there were large exhaust fans, which were presumably used to remove smoke if there was a fire or other similar emergency happening in the room.

At the far end of the room was a metal staircase that ascended to the right, with a guard standing next to the bottom step. Ingram followed the stairs with his eyes up to a metal catwalk with simple metal bar railings that ran from the top of the stairs at the far end of the room towards their position near the elevator, disappearing from sight to the left above the elevator door. The catwalk itself appeared to be about thirty-five to forty feet up in the air.

Beyond the catwalk, along the top of the wall on the left of the room was a row of large windows that peered into another wide room with a row computers in it with people sitting behind them, looking out over the massive control room as they worked.

“Ah!” Stevenson said, pointing up to a man on the catwalk who was leaning on the railing as he watched the large screen. “There’s the other new guy.”

They walked across the room, saying a few quick hellos to the people at the computers as they made their way down the long walkway between the tables. They eventually reached the stairs and made their ascent, the metal steps clanging as their feet came down over and over until they reached the top, where they passed another guard.

Ingram and Stevenson made their way to the middle of the catwalk, where the other man was standing with his eyes still glued to the screen.

“Agent Cody!” Stevenson said cheerfully as he and Ingram stopped next to him. “How are you today?”

“Just peachy,” Cody replied without looking away from the screen.

Stevenson awkwardly cleared his throat. “Uh, this is the latest new recruit, Mr. Ingram.”

Ingram held his hand out to the Agent for a shake.

After a few seconds, Cody slowly turned his head to look at Ingram. “OK…?” was the only thing he said as he gave the two men an annoyed look.

Ingram finally retracted his hand, closing his fingers into a ball as he awkwardly put his hand back to his side, feeling quite unimpressed by this Cody fellow.

Cody finally turned back to the screen and shouted at the people working at the computers below. “Come on, People! Get a clue! We need some leads!”

“You still keeping tabs on that guy you’ve been watching?” Stevenson asked Cody.

This question seemed to arouse Cody’s interest, and he turned to answer the perky tour guide. “He’s been making some bizarre moves in the past 24 hours…we’re keeping an eye on him and his lady-friend, but we’re really not sure what would have made them head towards Florida now, nor do I understand why he would bring that red-headed bimbo with him in the first place. There must be more to her than I thought.”

“Hey,” Stevenson chucked. “As long as he’s moving away from us, am I right?”

Cody stared blankly at him for a moment, then turned back to the screen.

Ingram glanced at Stevenson with an eyebrow raised, hoping they would move on with the tour soon. Stevenson cleared his throat, then gestured past Cody to continue walking along the catwalk to the other end, which Ingram could now see lead to another elevator that had two armed guards standing on each side of it.

“We’ll be going down to the lower levels next, and we’ll be meeting the man who you’ll be shadowing for the next couple of days until you get on your feet around here,” Stevenson explained.

Ingram pointed at the elevator ahead of them. “Does that take us down there?” he asked.

“You are correct, sir,” Stevenson replied. “If you’re wondering why we don’t have one elevator that goes from top to bottom, that’s because-“

“Water pressure.” Ingram cut him off.

Stevenson paused. “Uh, yes that’s right,” he replied. “That engineering degree serves you well. So as you know, we are underwater. And since this facility spans so far vertically, the water pressure on the top floor is vastly different than at the bottom. This elevator shaft, as well as the rest of the structure had to be significantly beefed up below this point in order to ensure ample resistance to collapse under the weight of the ocean.”

“Yes, I understand,” Ingram muttered, sounding bored of the engineering in the place.

“They figured this control room was the best place to have the two elevators converge, since it is the heart of the facility and our operations,” Stevenson concluded.

“What’s with the guards?” Ingram asked.

The tour guide looked at the two armed men at the elevator door. “Oh…well, the lower levels are a bit more restricted. There are some items down there that require the hands of experts only…as well as the occasional live subject, which sometimes require special care.”

Ingram quickly looked with interest at Stevenson. “Live subject?”

Stevenson nodded. “Yes, we’ve had a number of live subjects with special abilities in this facility over the past twenty years…genetically modified and/or bionic soldiers, previously undiscovered species, extra terrestrials…”

Ingram put his finger up. “Ah, see I’ve heard rumours that Area 51 wasn’t the only place holding E.T.s…will I have a chance to see it sometime?”

Stevenson looked sheepish suddenly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well, unfortunately…” he began. “It died just a few months ago. They discovered that it needed a certain type of nutrition that this planet cannot provide, and it eventually got very sick…”

Ingram look surprised. “So…they just held it here, knowing it was dying? Couldn’t they let it go?”

Stevenson shook his head. “No, sir. The big people upstairs wouldn’t authorise it.”

Ingram scowled a bit. “That hardly seems…ethical,” he said, with a small shake of his head.

The tour guide shrugged. “Sometimes, in this line of work, there just isn’t room for ethics. Fortunately, we were able to keep the alien’s weapons, and some of its technology…some of which we have managed to back-engineer our own technology from.”

Ingram sighed. “Fortunately, eh…maybe for YOU people.” After a moment, he spoke again. “What other subjects do you have here?”

Stevenson turned to answer Ingram as they reached the elevator door. “Actually, we only have one live subject on hand right now…but from what I’ve heard, it’s been quite a doozy. We just picked it up barely two weeks ago. No one’s seen anything quite like it before.”

“Oh?” Ingram replied. “Why is that?”

“All in good time, my friend,” Stevenson replied rather cryptically. “You’ll be meeting the man you’ll be shadowing here in a minute. I’m sure he’ll tell you all about FS1.”

“FS1?” Ingram repeated.

“That’s the code name for the subject. Agent Stubz has been handling it since it arrived,” Stevenson explained.

Ingram raised an eyebrow just as the elevator doors opened unexpectedly. Both of the men turned their heads to see a slightly larger man in a sweater-vest, with dark hair and a mole on the left side of his face. Ingram looked to down at the man’s side, noticing he was holding a file folder inside a binder.

Stevenson put his hand out. “Ah, speak of the devil!” he said brightly. “Mr. Ingram, this is Agent Stubz.”

Stubz stepped off of the elevator, giving Ingram a quick handshake along with a small, half-hearted smile. “Good to meet you,” he said quickly.

“Likewise,” Ingram replied, clearing his throat.

“Agent Stubz will be your mentor until you get on your feet, which should only take a few days. He’ll finish your tour from this point on as well, so unfortunately, that concludes your time with me,” Stevenson explained.

“Yes…unfortunately,” Ingram replied, holding his hand out for a final shake.

Stevenson responded with an enthusiastic handshake. “It was very nice to meet you, Mr. Ingram. If you need anything or have any questions, my call number is one-hundred. Very easy to remember.”

Ingram nodded. “OK. Thanks,” he said with a nod.

With that, Stevenson turned and walked away, leaving Ingram awkwardly standing with Agent Stubz, who had turned around and stepped back onto the elevator.

“Let’s go,” Stubz said flatly, prompting Ingram to step onto the elevator with him.

As they rode down into the lower depths of the facility, Stubz finally broke the uneasy silence in the elevator. “Um, so…” he started, then cleared his throat. “You’ll be shadowing me for the next couple days, I guess. I’ll be honest, there’s not much going on down here these days, so it should be pretty easy to get used to things.”

Ingram nodded. “What kind of things do we do down here?”

Stubz sighed. “Well, we deal with weapons development and testing…I don’t know if Stevenson mentioned anything to you about the live subjects?”

Ingram nodded. “Yeah, he said there’s one here…what do we do with them?”

Stubz yawned loudly as he rubbed his forehead. “Sorry about that…we uh, deal with training and conditioning them, things like that.”

“Training them for what?” Ingram asked.

“Field missions,” Stubz replied. “They essentially are meant to be super-soldiers, although…”

“Although what?” Ingram asked, after Stubz trailed off.

“This one that we have right now…” Stubz said, shaking his head. “It’s just been an utter failure.”

“You’re referring to FS1?” Ingram asked.

Stubz glanced at him. “Oh, Stevenson told you about her, eh?”

“Her?” Ingram asked, raising an eyebrow.

Stubz nodded. “She’s been nothing but a hassle ever since she got here…and, of course, I’m the one who got stuck with her.” He turned to Ingram with a grin. “But once you’re done your orientation, she’ll be your problem from now on.”

Ingram had a surprised look on his face while staring at Stubz after the blunt remark.

“Don’t worry, with your credentials, I’m sure you’ll handle it just fine.”

Ingram looked back at the wall of the elevator. “So why is she such a failure? Not training very well?”

Stubz shook his head. “Oh no, she would be a very effective weapon as is, the problem is her attitude. She hasn’t taken to the conditioning at all so far and I guarantee she would never obey commands in her current state.”

“What type of conditioning?” Ingram asked.

Stubz took a deep breath, rubbing his neck as he spoke. “Back in the 1960s, they developed a program were they would create D.I.D. in subjects, by putting them through traumatic events, such as multiple different forms of torture, sleep deprivation, making them eat their own feces and so on…”

Ingram nodded. “Yes, I’ve heard of this…the trauma will be shut away by the brain, to protect the person from stress brought on by the memory of the event, and in some cases this creates a second personality within the person’s mind.”

“That’s right,” Stubz agreed before continuing. “What they’ve done is create spies and assassins who don’t actually know what they are, which is done by using the second personality created by the traumatic event. You’ve seen cases where people occasionally switch back and forth between the personalities, right?”

Ingram nodded. “Yeah, multiple personalities. A fairly common condition.”

“Well, they’ve developed a method where they train one of the personalities, while keeping the other one unaware of what is going on,” Stubz explained. “Once ready, they can be sent out, completely unaware of their mission, and be programmed with the objective in their hidden personality. Once ready, we can use a certain code word, sound, or even a colour to trigger the other personality to come out and fulfill the mission.”

“Hm,” Ingram thought to himself.

Stubz grinned a bit. “There’s one case of a man who was sent out, and he remained in his dominant personality for almost fifteen years. He even got a job, got married and had kids…then one day, he was triggered and his programmed side came out, and he completed a successful assassination. Fifteen years after he was sent out. It’s just amazing, the things we can do these days.”

“Impressive,” Ingram replied, rubbing his chin. “But what about this FS1? What’s the problem with her?”

“It’s not working,” Stubz replied. “We don’t know why, but none of the trauma we’ve exposed her to seems to work. We also integrated her training into the trauma to kill two birds with one stone, and so she wouldn’t realize what we were doing, but none of it has worked yet. We think it may have to do with her indestructibility.”

The elevator stopped suddenly and the doors slid open. Stubz stepped out and headed down the hall as Ingram stood in the elevator for a moment, stunned at what he’d just heard.

He finally jogged out of the elevator to catch up to Stubz. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you…it sounded like you said she’s indestructible?”

“You heard me right,” Stubs replied, as he stopped walking to face Ingram. “We have tried everything we can get access to, trying to cause damage to her body, but nothing has worked as of yet.”

“She can’t be hurt? At all?” Ingram asked incredulously.

Stubz shook his head. “I personally put her between three oxy-acetylene burners for over a minute straight…over three-thousand degrees directly on her bare skin. Absolutely zero damage.”

Ingram blinked a few times as the stared at Stubz in disbelief.

“So anyway,” Stubz continued. “I’m beginning to think her mind is the same way. It can’t be broken, which means she is pretty much worthless to us. All the trauma we put her through really only succeeded in pissing her off immensely…and now she fucking hates us all.”

“So that’s why you want to stick her with me,” Ingram said with a chuckle. “What was the plan for her after she was ready?”

Stubz continued to walk down the dark hall, which was lined with steel doors. “They think there are more beings like her in that town we found her in, but generally speaking, it’s dangerous work for our field agents to try to capture them. I mean, it’s do-able…we got her in here after all, but it would be nice to be able to send out someone who can’t be killed.” Stubz paused for a moment to scratch the side of his nose. “So…we were going to program her, and send her home. When she was in the right position, we would trigger her, and get her to capture one or more of the others.”

“What makes you think there are others?” Ingram asked.

“We know there’s at least one,” Stubz replied. “After Cody captured FS1, he got a phone call from a certain indestructible man who said he was coming to get her out. And there might be even more of them yet.”

“Cody?” Ingram repeated. “You mean that textbook sociopath upstairs in the control room?”

Stubz chuckled. “That’s the one.”

“He captured her?”

“Yup,” Stubz answered. “He got her handcuffed before she managed to kill him. He was lucky…he was part of a team of seven and he was the only one who survived.”

“Jesus…” Ingram mumbled.

Stubz laughed. “Well, that might be who called Cody on the phone…supposedly he’s been around for centuries. Cody’s been hunting him for years…and so were we, until we found FS1. She isn’t nearly as dangerous as he is, and if there are more out there like her, we’ll be able to bring them in and forget about him rather than lose more lives trying to capture him.”

Ingram frowned as he thought. “Wait, I’ve heard of that. The immortal man…I thought that was just a story?”

“Not according to Agent Cody,” Stubz replied.

“Is FS1 just as old?” ingram asked.

Ingram’s mentor shook his head. “She claims she was born in 1996. But there’s no way to prove it. Why don’t you ask her yourself? We’re here.”

Ingram paused, looking at Stubz as he stopped and gestured to the door in front of them with a little tag next to it, which simply read:

‘FS1’

Ingram pointed at the door as the hair stood up on the back of his neck.”She’s in there?”

Stubz nodded. “Yup. You might as well meet her if you’re gonna be her handler,” he said as he swiped his card in the door, drawing a beep from it before he pushed it open and walked into the dimly lit room. Ingram followed Stubz inside, fascinated to see this fearsome creature, wondering what it was going to be like.

There was a steel table in the small, square room. Other than that, it was empty, save for the mass of scraggly, dirty pink hair piled up at the far end of the table with two dirty yellow hands, which were handcuffed, sticking out from under it.

“Look alive, FS1!” Stubz said sternly as he sat in the chair at the closer end of the table, leaving Ingram to stand to the side of him.

A few seconds passed by before the hair moved, then slowly lifted up off the table, revealing a young girl with a surprisingly pretty, but dirty face.

Ingram noticed right away that her wrists were bound to the table as she shifted back in her chair, scowling harshly at Stubz with her dark teal eyes. She was quite slender and weak looking, and Ingram was staring if they had the wrong room, or if this whole ‘live subject’ thing was a practical joke for the new guy.

Just then, she became aware of him, and her eyes shifted up to meet his. His body to tensed up with primal nervousness, the same feeling one gets in the woods when they realise there is a predator watching them. Then, to Ingram’s surprise, she looked back down at the table and slouched into herself a bit, and then...her cheeks reddened.

Ingram watched her curiously. She actually seemed to look nervous about his presence; a very unexpected trait for a prospective field agent. “She looks…shy?” he thought to himself as Stubz went about his business.

The agent sat at the table, setting his folder down and opening it up to make a few log entries while Ingram watched to see what he was writing.

The girl finally spoke, which caught Ingram’s attention, bringing his eyes back onto her. She was looking at Stubz now, glaring with those dark eyes at him again. It quickly became obvious to Ingram that there was a strong animosity between these two.

“Hello Mr. Stubz,” she said in a surprisingly soft, sweet voice which caught the new recruit off guard.

“Hey,” Stubz replied flatly as he wrote.

She tilted her head a bit, her hair falling away to one side, revealing more of her face to Ingram. She was indeed very pretty. “How’s your shoulder today?” she asked softly.

Stubz stopped writing for a moment to put his left hand on his right shoulder as he rotated his right arm around in the joint. “It’s uhh…kind of stiff,” he replied with a small nod.

The girl chewed her bottom lip for a second before she responded. “I bet it is…you were really wailing on me with that sledge hammer yesterday.”

Ingram's thoughts were shattered by the remark, and all he could do was stare at her in shock.

Stubz went back to his writing. “It’ll be fine.”

“It’s really not fair that they make you work so hard like that,” she continued softly. “You should complain to your supervisor.”

Stubz put his hand up to signal her to stop. “I said it’s fine, OK?” he said sternly before he looked back down at the notes in the folder. “OK…first order of business today,” he mumbled mindlessly. “Oh…uh, there will be no more sparring from now on, unless something else changes.”

Her shoulders dropped with disappointment. “Oh my…and I was just starting to have fun.”

Stubz started writing again. “Well, we feel you’ve reached a satisfactory level of skill in that regard, not to mention you’re being too hard on those three new guys we got in here.”

She scowled. “I was hard on them?”

“You killed one of them last time," Stubz raised his voice as he wrote, while Ingram looked on in shock at the bizarre exchange between the two.

She rolled her eyes, huffing like a spoiled teenager who just got grounded. “It was an accident.”

Stubz stopped writing suddenly to look up at her. “It was NOT an accident. You stabbed him in the throat with his own compound fracture.”

“He touched my boob,” she fired back flatly, glaring at Stubz with her eyes narrowed.

Ingram couldn’t believe his ears.

“It doesn’t matter,” Stubz insisted. “No more. We’re done with that.”

She sighed, staring down at the table with a defeated look on her face.

“Second order of business for today,” Stubz continued. “We have a new guy.” He gestured to Ingram. “Mr. Ingram here will be your handler from now on, after a couple days of training with me, of course.”

Ingram, who was admittedly a bit nervous, greeted her with a smile.

She stared at him for a moment, then, to Ingram’s and Stubz’ surprise, she gave a little smile back.

It was the first time she’d smiled in a very long time.

She held up one hand, and held it out to him for a handshake, albeit with a very short reach due to her cuffs.

Ingram took a step forward to reach for her hand.

“WHOA!” Stubz shouted, quickly reaching out to grab Ingram’s arm.

“What?” Ingram asked, confused.

“Are you nuts? Do you like having ten fingers?” Stubz scolded.

The girl let her hand drop to the table and huffed at Stubz. “I wasn’t going to hurt him!”

“I’ve seen your tricks before,” Stubz replied, looking once again at his notes.

“Oh fuck you!” she blurted out suddenly, then ducked her head in shame, looking back at Ingram. “Oh...I’m so sorry, Mr. Ingram…I didn’t mean to act like that,” she said softly.

Ingram nodded. “Oh, it’s uh…OK.”

“It’s just…I have a hard time being nice in this place,” she continued as her dark stare found its mark on Stubz again. “Especially when I have to spend all my time dealing with block-headed fuck-heads.”

Stubz shook his head. “OK, I think we’re done here.” He closed the binder and stood from the table to turn and unlock the door, then left the room without saying another word.

Ingram paused for a moment before he left, looking back at the girl. She looked up at him innocently as she sat there, chained up at the table; her skin dirty, her pink hair scraggly and straw-like, her eyes like empty voids. Ingram couldn’t help but feel like something was wrong here. Like she didn’t belong in this place.

He gave her a little wave, to which she responded with a half-hearted wave in return, and a little smile.

“Bye…” she said softly as he stepped out of the room.

After he and Stubz were in the hall again, Stubz closed the door to her room and made sure it was locked securely.

They started walking back towards the elevator together as Ingram thought about what he’d just seen.

“I don’t get it,” Ingram mumbled.

“Neither do I,” Stubz responded quickly. “But they want to continue on with her even though I keep telling them she can’t be conditioned. It’s a waste of time. Complete bullshit. We’re basically stuck babysitting a psychopath now.”

“And they want to capture more of them? Why?” Ingram asked. “If you can’t even get them to do what you want, then what’s the point?”

“I told them that!” Stubz replied. “They actually said that the others might be different, and we won’t know unless we try.”

Ingram frowned with disagreement. “That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”

“Well hey,” Stubz began in reply, “they’ve got their eyes on the prize. They’re like spoiled, rich wives; they see something they want, they have to have it, and they don’t care what it takes to get it. And what they want is invincible spies. Simple as that.”

Ingram shook his head. “Yeah but, again, if they don’t work, then what?”

“I know,” Stubz nodded. “We’ve already got one of them locked up in here for nothing, just taking up space. We certainly can’t turn her loose and send her out for duty they way she is right now, and the last thing we need is a second one.”

“Well…that, and she’s being held against her will,” Ingram replied. “Why don’t you just let her go?”

Stubz laughed, although it didn’t sound like a real laugh to Ingram. “We can’t let her go.”

Ingram shrugged. “Have you at least tried to talk to the big-wigs about freeing her?”

“No no, you don’t understand,” Stubz said, turning to face Ingram. “If we freed her, there’s no telling what kinds of shit she’ll do,” he said quietly, chewing his bottom lip. “Like I said, we can’t send her out for missions in her current state, so logically we can’t set her free either. She’s dangerous. The safest thing we can do is just keep her chained up and locked away.”

Ingram stood there in disbelief, staring blankly at Stubz. “But…that’s not right.”

“It’s the safest option, unfortunately.” Stubz shrugged.

"There has to be some other way-" Ingram insisted, but Stubz, with a frustrated look on his face, put both of his hands up to stop him.

“Listen, if that girl ever gets fucking loose in here, we’re dead. Every one of us. Do you understand me? She would go through this place like a wildfire, and there would be nothing we could do to stop her.”

“Why aren’t you nicer to her?” Ingram asked suddenly.

Stubz looked at the new recruit with an eyebrow raised. “Nice? Are you kidding me? It’s too late for that, after everything we’ve done to her…”

Ingram shook his head. “I offered a handshake to her, and she looked like she was pleased by the gesture-”

“Don’t fall for that,” Stubz cut in. “It’s a trick…I’ve seen guys get drawn into a false sense of security by her ‘kindness’,” he said, doing quote marks with his fingers.

“And were they being nice to her?” Ingram asked, shaking his head, clearly disagreeing with his mentor. He had a degree in psychology, and was well-versed in reading body language and facial expressions, and to him the girl looked genuinely pleased to shake his hand.

Stubz could see that Ingram didn’t agree with him. “Look, Mr. Ingram…you need to be very careful with her. One wrong move, or put a little too much trust in her…and she’ll end you, just like that. I know the sweet little innocent routine is very alluring, but trust me…when that girl is full-throttle pissed off, she is the stuff of nightmares.” Stubz paused, closing his eyes as he rubbed his forehead. “That one day when Cody came down here…man, she lost it. Bad. I didn’t sleep a wink that night after seeing that.”

Ingram paused to think for a moment, then a small smirk crept across his face. “Well maybe it’s time for a fresh approach.”

Author's Note

*Chapter 63: Mission Hiatus

Chapter 63

Sunset and I drove north until the next morning, trying to decide what our next move should be. She wasn’t keen on going back into the desert just yet, and to be honest, neither was I.

Her sexual episode after leaving the ranch had died down by then, much to my relief. It was getting harder on both of us having to deal with her constant arousal, and she had been losing her composure more often over the last few days. Not only that, leaving her vibrator, the only form of temporary relief, in the other car had proven to be a devastating blow to her morale.

We spent the next day driving around back roads, trying to find any place that might look like a good spot to secretly ship supplies to an underwater base in the middle of the ocean. We both couldn’t help but feel like we were hopelessly in above our heads, because our plan sounded absolutely ridiculous.

It was late afternoon before we finally found a small town with a very seedy looking motel on the outskirts. We decided to check it out, hoping the person working the desk would allow us to check in without ID, as long as we offered him a stack of other IDs with Ben Franklin on them, which he happily agreed to accept in exchange for our anonymity.

Once we got into the room, Sunset showered immediately. She was disgusted by the feeling of dust and sand all over her face and in her hair, not to mention her nether regions needed a rinsing after a almost a week of wetness in the hot desert. She did inform me that she hadn’t been wet the entire time, the last few days in the desert with nothing to drink had sapped a lot of moisture from her body, and although the dehydration didn’t bother her, her mouth had gotten dry as well as her crotch, which was a strange feeling with her arousal still present. She informed me later that was why she was so quick to accept the lemonade from the old rancher.

After she was done, I decided to take a shower myself to get the dust out of my own hair and face, and to have at least somewhat of a feeling of freshness again.

This room only had one queen-sized bed, something that we obviously didn’t really care about since sleep was not a thing we had to deal with. After drying off and getting dressed, I sat on the bed and leaned against the headboard to collect my thoughts, and to relax with my friend for a moment.

Sunset was sitting on the other side in a similar fashion, except she was hugging her knees to her chest, staring down at the blankets.

She was wearing her dark blue tights and the gray tank top that she’d worn the night she met Daniels. I had on a T-shirt and a pair of jeans. We were both low on clothes, especially after each of us gave an outfit away to our imitators in Tucson. I could tell that Sunset was still quite sour about having to give away her leather jacket, and I could see why: she just didn’t look complete without it.

I looked over at her, wondering what she was thinking.

She noticed me looking in her direction, and turned to look back at me with weary green eyes. “So, what are we doing now?” she asked out-of-the-blue.

I shrugged. “I’m not sure. We need to get a map before we search anymore,” I replied, glancing down at the bed with a sigh.

She leaned her head back, letting it rest on the headboard. “This plan is hopeless,” she mumbled.

I snapped my eyes back at her, feeling a bit put off by her negativity. “Sunny, it’s all we have.”

She shook her head, looking as though she wanted to say something.

“What?” I asked.

“I think we should stop,” she said flatly.

I was stunned. “What??” I asked in surprise. “No, I’m not quitting. This is Flutters we’re talking about here.”

Sunset rolled her eyes in frustration. “No, Golds. I don’t mean we should give up and go home,” she said. “We just need a break.”

“We don’t need a break,” I said, shaking my head in disagreement.

“Yes we do,” she insisted. “Golds, you’ve been at this 24/7 since she was taken. You seriously need to stop and collect your thoughts.”

I bit my tongue, trying to contain my frustration of her. “Sunny, I told you in the desert, you can’t be like this. I need you on my side.”

She looked at me sternly. “I AM on your side! But you need a break.”

I folded my arms and looked away from her.

“OK,” she said, putting her fingers up count the points she was about to make. “We don’t have our phones, we can’t call anyone or use the internet, we just spent a week crossing the desert for nothing, we’re driving a forty year old car, we have a hopeless plan…”

“Sunny, stop!” I said loudly.

“NO!” she shouted. “You’ve been at this too long. We’re all fucked up, and we’ve painted ourselves into a corner.”

I glared at her, wishing she wasn’t so strong willed. “Why does she have to be like this?”

“You need a break. Even if it’s just a day or two, because right now, I don’t think you can see the forest for the trees,” she said.

I‘d heard enough. I knew what I was doing, and I wasn’t about to be told otherwise by someone who’s life was an eyeblink compared to mine. “I thought you were gonna stick with me on this until we get her back?” I asked her.

“I am,” she replied. “And this is what we need to do. You’re no good to Flutters like this.”

I clenched my jaw as I looked away from her again, trying to suppress my urge to yell or hit something.

“Trust me,” she continued. “I would get like this too. When I was working on a project for school, or solving some kind of magic problem, I got caught up in the details, and when I eventually took a break and came back to it…the answer just fell right in my lap. Every time.”

I shook my head. “That’s not much to go on,” I mumbled. “And every hour we waste is another hour that she’s in there.”

“Waste??” she exclaimed, pointing at the door. “Six fucking days in the desert!”

I scowled at her, feeling her loud voice grind into my brain. I usually liked Sunset’s voice, but not like this. I knew the conversation was taking us nowhere, so I finally got off the bed.

“Fuck,” I muttered as I headed for the door.

She sighed. “Golds...what are you doing?”

“Taking a walk,” I said flatly. I didn’t actually know what I was going to do, all I really wanted was for the conversation to end.

Sunset tilted her head. “Come on, don’t go,” she said quietly. “We need to talk about this.”

I didn’t want to talk. I didn’t even want look at her. Instead, I kept heading for the door.

Sunset got up from the bed and ran in front of me, put her hands on my chest and dug her heels into the carpet, trying in vain to stop me from leaving.

I continued pushing forward without slowing, causing her feet to skid backwards on the floor. “Fuck man!” she grunted. “You’re like a fucking bulldozer…STOP!”

For some reason, I decided to listen to her. Maybe because I knew she was my friend and was just trying to help, although the argument we just had really got under my skin. To say that I didn’t have my wits about me, and suggesting that we leave my girlfriend in her prison longer than needed was not something I was willing to consider.

I stopped walking, leaving Sunset leaned against me with her hands on my chest. She looked up into my eyes for a moment, waiting to see if I was going to say anything before she spoke.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you, Golds...but it’s the truth. We need to stop, even if it's just for a day or two, then we’ll start again fresh,” she said. “And I’m not to trying to point fingers here, I’m in no better shape than you. My mind is completely spun, and I need a break too.” She waited a moment to give me another chance to speak. When I remained silent, she continued. “Look, I’m not saying you’ve done anything wrong, or that you don’t know what you’re doing, OK? I trust you, Golds. You’ve done amazing things these past couple weeks, and you’ve gotten us this far…but eventually, everyone needs to stop and unravel. It doesn’t matter how tough you are.”

I inhaled deeply through my nose, chewing on the corner of my mouth as I listened to her.

“It’ll help,” she insisted. “Look, I want to get her back and go home just as much as you do, but to do that, we need clear heads and a better plan.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose with my thumb and forefinger. “What are we supposed to do then?”

She shook her head. “Anything. Anything but this. It's not working anymore.”

I stood still, staring at the door, considering whether or not I should shove her aside and leave.

“What if we go see a movie?” she suggested out of nowhere.

I glared at her in surprise. “I’m pretty sure there’s no theatre in this town,” I said, shaking my head at the suggestion.

Sunset sighed, turning her head towards the little television in the room. “How about we just watch something on TV then? Or go somewhere for supper? When was the last time we ate? Like two weeks ago?”

I looked up at the ceiling, unsure of what to do. Sunset was my best friend, especially right then, after all the things she’d done for me…should I listen to her? It sounded like she wanted nothing more than to spend time with me without having to worry about our mission, and in all honesty, it was not an unattractive prospect.

But how could we relax with Fluttershy still locked up?

Then I noticed that she had stepped forward with her feet and was no longer leaning against me, but her warm hands were still resting against my chest.

She waited for me to answer for a moment, then sighed with a shake of her head. “Come on. I’m doing this for you,” she said. “I meant what I said in the desert. I’m not giving up on her either.”

I looked into her eyes, contemplating what she was saying, wondering if she may have been right. I may have been around for many, many years, but I still had the tendency to be irrational sometimes, especially when faced with the loss of someone like Fluttershy.

Maybe I had gotten in a little too deep and needed to come up for air…

“I feel…more connected to you now,” she continued, “since I read you. I know how you feel about finding her. I felt it myself…and I get it. I know how much you love her, and you just want her back.”

I nodded finally, showing a sign of agreement with her.

Sunset smiled a little bit, stepping a little closer to me, keeping her hands planted on my chest. “Maybe,” she paused to bite her lip, ”we can help each other out, to take our minds off of her for a bit.”

I looked at her sideways. “What do you mean by that?”

She took a deep breath, rolling her shoulders around slowly as she pursed her lips. “I was thinking,” she said, looking down at my chest as a long exhale escaped from her nose. “We were both bad at one time…in the past…”

“Yeah,” I replied, not understanding why she would bring that up, “but not anymore.”

She nodded. “I know, but maybe…just for tonight, I was thinking…we could be bad again…together.”

“Oh damn,” I thought. “She’s losing it again.”

She saw my expression and knew I was pulling back again. “Rarity said we could…remember?” she continued, desperate to persuade me to give in. “She gave us the green light.” Her fingertips started digging into me as she scrunched a handful of my T-shirt up in her fists.

I closed my eyes, shaking my head in a feeble attempt to clear the images of Sunset’s bare skin from my mind. It was becoming very difficult having to deal with her like this. She had been coming onto me more and more, and I was having less and less control over my own self trying to stay loyal to my girlfriends. Sunset was, after all, very beautiful. I had been alone with her non-stop for over two weeks now, and her eyes, her hair, her skin, her body, and especially her behaviour…all of it was wearing on me.

“Sunny…this is not helpful,” I said quietly.

Sunset swallowed, then licked her bottom lip as she leaned closer and rested her left temple on my right shoulder, closing her eyes as she spoke. “Come on,” she whispered, “Let me take your mind off her. You don’t want to disobey Rare, do you?”

I closed my eyes as goosebumps started popping up all over my skin, sending a tingling sensation across my shoulders and down my back. Her warm breath brushed against my neck as she let her hands slide down my chest and around my sides to the small of my back, followed by her body gently coming up against mine. I couldn’t help but exhale slowly when I felt her soft lips touch my neck, then slide slowly upwards to my ear, where I could hear her shaky breath blow against me from her nostrils.

I could smell it. That sweet, root beer scented stuff that she’d obviously brought with her on our trip, the allure of it was starting to grab hold of me as I was reminded of the night that I turned her.

I mustered up one last ounce of will power and grabbed her by the elbows to stop her. “Sunny, please…”

She stopped and leaned back to look at me, and I could see that look in her aqua-green eyes again, that look of endless desire and desperation that had plagued her with every moment she'd spent with me. She usually caught herself at this point and walked away, at which point she would follow up with an apology, as well as a reminder that it wasn’t really her talking. But this time, instead of backing away, she slid her hands up my back to my shoulder blades and pulled herself against me even harder.

Sunset leaned over to my right and put her mouth to my ear again. I felt her tongue gently flick my earlobe, leaving a little wet spot that immediately started cooling in the air of the motel room, giving me a slight chill that ran down my neck and through my body.

She knew exactly what she was doing. Her advances were so quick and persuasive, with almost surgical precision. I clenched my jaw, wondering how much longer I could resist, until my thoughts were shattered by her next sentence.

“I can’t take it anymore,” she whimpered. “I need you. Right now.”

My heart leapt with excitement. I couldn’t help it. I tried to think about Fluttershy to steady myself, but then Rarity’s voice suddenly popped into my head.

“Don’t let her suffer…fuck her brains out, darling…” I furrowed my brows and closed my eyes tightly, trying to shake the fashionista's voice from my head. "God damn it, Rare!"

“I’ve never needed anything so bad,” Sunset continued. “And I know you want me too. All those sweet things you’ve been saying to me; I loved it. Every word of it.”

I remained silent, but was unable to stop my hands from moving to her waist, feeling her warm, solid, yet feminine frame under her shirt as I enjoyed the soft tickle of her lips on my neck, her teeth gently nibbling on my ear, her hot breath becoming elevated as she gently ran the tip of her nose along my jaw line towards my chin.

Sunset retreated slightly to let her hands slide off my back, then she dragged her fingernails up my chest to my shoulders as she looked me in the eyes. “I want you to bury your cock so deep inside me, no one will ever find it again.”

These words were the straw that broke the camel’s back. I slid my hands around to the small of her back and pulled her against me, then connected our lips in a passionate kiss.

Sunset was surprised at first. “Mm!” She opened her eyes wide for a second or two, then they slowly closed again as a wave of excitement rang through her entire body upon realising I was finally reciprocating. It had been over two weeks of battling with such a strong desire, a strange form of torture that she had to carry around with her during the entire trip alone with me. She had struggled with it all along, wishing she could just take the plunge and indulge herself, but she knew that it was wrong to sleep with her friends’ boyfriend, especially knowing how loyal he was to them.

The beginning of her downfall was Rarity giving Sunset her blessing to go for it if she needed to, then losing her vibrator was the last straw.

And now, after all of this torture, she was free at last to unleash herself onto me, completely unrestrained.

I had finally given in, and it was a fucking miracle.

She wrapped her arms tightly around the back of my neck and squeezed herself against me, kissing me frantically, driving her tongue between my lips into my mouth and rubbing it against mine, playfully twirling them around with each other as we enjoyed each other’s sweet flavour. “Mmmmmm,” she moaned deeply. The satisfaction of finally having me washed over her, followed by the excitement of anticipating the pleasure we were about to give each other.

She started breathing hard and fast through her nose, breaking the kisses to pant excitedly in my face. “Yes…” she breathed, before frantically planting another kiss on my lips. “YES!” she gasped again as she closed her eyes and tilted her head to let me kiss her neck and shoulder.

I ran my lips up and down her neck, stopping to nibble on her earlobe briefly, then I ran my lips down to her collarbone, leaving a cluster of wet kisses all over her skin, drawing a quiet giggle from her throat as she threw her head back in delight.

She turned her face back to me after a moment of enjoying my mouth on her neck to reconnect our lips and resume passing our saliva back and forth into each other’s mouths. Our tongues danced together in harmony as she used her arms around my neck to pull herself harder against me, thrusting her hips against my now raging erection, enjoying the feel of it poking into her abdomen.

The soft tenderness of Sunset caught me off guard every time I kissed her. In Virginia, when we had that heavy make-out session in the motel room, I was surprised then as well by the softness of her lips, the sweetness of her saliva, the delicious scent of her hair, whether it was red or brunette, it didn’t matter. It was too enticing to ignore.

I ran my hand from her waist down past her hips to her ass, squeezing it firmly as I picked her up off the floor, feeling the perfect firmness of it through her thin, tight pants as she wrapped her legs tightly around my waist and hooked her feet together behind my back.

“Hhmmmm…” Sunset moaned into my mouth as I carried her over to the side of the bed and laid her down on her back. I climbed over her and continued to kiss her deeply, invading her mouth with my tongue as she tried valiantly to fend me off with her own.

I put my right hand on her bare shoulder and kissed her cheek, then ran my mouth across her jaw to her throat, lightly kissing her collarbones as I ran my hand down her chest, over her gray tank top to her left breast.

I squeezed it gently, rolling the soft tissue around between my fingers as I brought my lips back to hers so I could have a taste of her sweet saliva again. She squeezed my shoulders with her hands as her tongue shot back into my mouth and flicked the tip of mine, teasing it with small playful licks while I ran my hand the rest of the way to the bottom of her shirt.

My fingers fumbled around a bit, looking for the bottom of the garment, forgetting that it was longer than most shirts. She broke her lips away from mine, breathing against my face as she panted with excitement. “Just rip it,” she ordered hastily.

I looked at her with surprise as she pursed her lips with anticipation.

“Really?” I asked.

She quickly nodded, furrowing her brows as her body burned out of control with lust. “Yeah,” she breathed. “I don’t give a shit, rip my fucking clothes off!”

I paused for a second, then reached my hand towards her chest and grabbed the top of the shirt in the middle of her chest, making sure I had a grip on her bra as well. I yanked hard, tearing the tank top and bra right off of her body. She gasped when the cold air in the room suddenly shocked her hot skin while her bare breasts jiggled around from the sudden movement.

She gazed at me, her eyes wide with excitement as I leaned over her and cupped one hand over her right breast and squeezed it gently. Her mouth was still open, her breathing heavy as she spoke again. “All of them!” she gasped.

I took my hand away from her bare breast, then hooked my fingers over the top of her pants and placed my other hand on her midsection just below her bust to hold her in place, then I yanked hard, shredding her pants apart, leaving her in nothing but a pair of soaked black panties.

Sunset gasped as her legs were yanked up with the force of the pull, then she laughed excitedly in awe of my strength. “Oh fuck, that was hot!” she whispered loudly.

I took her cue to continue and grabbed the top of her panties to rip them off too, exposing her hairless slit to me. The alluring scent of her arousal hit my nose, causing my eyelids to quiver as my hormones suddenly kicked into overdrive.

I looked down at Sunset’s naked body laid out in from of me, her breasts rising and falling with each deep breath, her green eyes locking on me as they sparkled in the evening light coming in through the windows.

I shook my head. “Damn, Sunny.”

She giggled, biting her lip as she reached up with her hands, inviting me to come back down to her. I complied, leaning forward over her as she grabbed my shirt and pulled me down for another wet kiss. I could feel the intense heat of her bare skin through my T-shirt as her tongue swept around the inside of my mouth again, mixing our saliva together some more.

I broke my lips away from Sunset’s, then ran my mouth across her cheek to her neck, then down to her chest. I crawled downwards over her to plant several kisses between her breasts while I cupped them from the outsides, squeezing them together to pin my face between them. They weren’t quite as full as Fluttershy’s breasts, but they were still plenty big enough to have fun playing with, and they were so very beautiful to look at.

As I ran my tongue over her left breast to her nipple to circle the hard bud with my tongue, she quietly spoke to me.

“Golds?” she said.

“Mm-hm?” I mumbled as I closed my lips around her nipple first, then took as much of her soft breast in my mouth as I could fit.

“Did you like it?” she asked. “In Vegas, when I spread my pussy open for you?”

I let her breast pop out of my mouth and looked up at her for a moment before nodding. “Yeah.”

“Does it look good?” she asked, biting her lip and closing her eyes as I wrapped my lips around her other nipple and started flicking it with my tongue inside my mouth.

I pulled back, letting the suction stretch her breast until her nipple popped out of my mouth. “It’s fuckin beautiful,” I replied before circling her areola again with the tip of my tongue while squeezing her other breast with my hand.

She pursed her lips. “You’re really good at foreplay, you know that?” she panted.

“Yeah,” I replied with my mouth full of her soft flesh.

She laughed softly, then stopped when her breath hitched from the sensation of me licking her firm, sensitive nipple. “You know, the offer still stands,” she informed me. “If you still wanna taste it.”

I looked up at her for a second, smirking slightly as I watched her bite her lip, staring invitingly at me, letting me know that she wanted my mouth between her legs.

I placed my lips between her breasts again, and gently dragged them down her belly to her navel, where I stood up and knelt down on the floor beside the bed, hooking my arms under her thighs so her open crease was just in front of my face.

After looking at it for a few seconds, I turned my head to kiss her inner thigh about halfway down, followed by another kiss about an inch closer to her body. I continued to leave a row of soft kisses along her thigh, teasing her with the anticipation of the pleasure I was going to give her once I reached the center. I was still about four inches away from her crotch when my mouth landed on a slick, wet surface on her thigh, causing my lips to slide across her skin towards her crease.

I felt the heat coming off of it as I backed up and looked more closely at her, noticing the glistening moisture all around her aroused core, spread above her slit and down her thighs and even on the bottoms of her ass-cheeks.

“Jeez Sunny,” I said. “Is it always wet all over the place like this?”

She lifted her head to look down at herself, then she brought her eyes up to meet mine. “Uh, yeah…pretty much,” she said sheepishly.

I bit my lip, looking for a moment at what was laid before me. He legs spread wide, the full outer lips opened, letting the more delicate folds inside protrude out for me to see them.

“How about I clean you up a bit?” I asked.

She smiled as she laid her head back down on the bed and stared at the ceiling, waiting for whatever I had in store for her.

I leaned in and licked her thigh where I unexpectedly kissed the moisture first, drawing a loud giggle from her.

“That tickles!” she laughed as she played with her own breasts.

I licked the other thigh, right where her leg transitioned into her body, letting the side of my tongue brush her outer lip. She twitched, laughing a little more, then I ran my tongue across her mound, just above the top of her slit, mopping up another streak of her moisture.

It was tasteless for the most part, not sweet or salty in any way; the only flavour was a clean, metallic taste, which I actually found somewhat enjoyable.

“Is it good?” she asked with a giggle.

“Yeah, actually,” I replied, looking back at her opening, ready to dive in after giving her plenty of teasing. “You ready?”

She drew in a breath of excitement. “Yeah! It’s been marinating to perfection in those juices all this time…just for you.”

I was leaning in with the tip of my tongue out to probe her opening just as she said this, and I laughed suddenly, unable to help myself.

She shuddered as my breath hit her moist flesh, then she felt me rest my forehead on her thigh. “What’s so funny??” she asked impatiently, lifting her head to look at me.

“Sorry,” I chuckled. “You just…you sounded like one of those guys from the steakhouse commercials.”

Sunset rolled her eyes, then gave me a little smirk.

I faced her again, making an effort to stop snickering as I started to lean in again, then she unexpectedly grabbed my shoulders and pulled me into her while arching her hips up at the same time. My face came into full contact with her wet core, pressing me against her warm softness, unexpectedly covering my mouth, nose and cheeks with her slippery juices.

“Aw Sunny!” I said, pulling back a bit. “You got my face all-“

“Shut up and eat my pussy!” she shouted suddenly.

I chuckled at her frenzied impatience, then leaned in again, placing my tongue at the base of her crease and slowly dragging it upwards to the top, feeling every soft nook and cranny pass over my tongue as I slid it along her wet folds. Her hips bucked with excitement when I finally licked her directly where she needed it, the sensation spreading over her like a wildfire as I went back a second time and dug my tongue in between her delicate, tasty folds, wriggling upwards to her clit, where I circled it several times before dragging directly across it, which drew another sharp gasp from her lips.

“Ah fuck, that’s…OHH!” she moaned, arching her neck to tip her head back as I took her folds between my lips and sucked gently on them before going back in with my tongue to flick her little red button some more.

Next, I ran my tongue down to her opening and poked into her as deep as I could, swirling it around inside of her, tasting her insides while she squirmed around on the bed, showing signs of an orgasm quickly approaching.

“That didn’t take long.” I thought, although I really wasn’t surprised, given the circumstances.

I let my tongue slide upwards out of her, back up to her clit, and I sealed my lips against her, applying suction to her crease while I mercilessly flicked my tongue between her folds, stimulating her clit mercilessly. She arched back, her whole body going stiff as her legs twitched on either side of my head while I worked her closer to ecstasy, which was just around the corner now.

Sunset held her breath as she approached her climax, feeling her muscles tense up as I sent waves of electric bliss through her entire body. Then, the orgasm finally hit her like a bolt of lightning.

She tried her best to hold her breath as the pleasure exploded inside her, but it was too much for her to endure, and her mouth opened to let out a loud howl of enjoyment.

I continued to pleasure her, although I did back off a bit so it wouldn’t be too much all at once. The sound of her voice echoing around the room was heavenly, and I enjoyed listening to it as I circled her clit for another half a minute, steadily slowing down as I went.

Once her body stopped twitching and her moans died down to nothing more than loud breaths, I finally stopped. Before I pulled away, I planted one more firm kiss on her delicate folds, savouring the feel and taste against my lips one last time before I went back to see her face.

As I stood up to climb over Sunset again, she grabbed my shirt and pulled me down close to her.

Her teeth were gritted as she brought my face close to hers. “Fuck Golds, that was incredible,” she hissed, before pressing her lips against mine, which were wet and slippery with her fluids. Her tongue shot into my mouth briefly, playing with my tongue as she tasted her own flavour in me before pulling back to look at me again. “You’re face is all wet,” she panted.

“I told you,” I replied as she frantically licked my cheeks, then my chin and lips, trying to clean herself off of my face. I closed my eyes, feeling the hair stand up on the back of my neck as I enjoyed the feel of her hot breath and tongue all over my face.

“Stand up,” she said suddenly, “I wanna suck your dick.”

“If you insist,” I replied, chucking silently to myself as I climbed off her and planted my feet on the floor, standing beside the bed to face her.

Sunset sat up on the edge of the bed, biting her lip as she quickly unbuttoned my jeans and yanked the zipper down, then she paused with a look of unsureness.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

She looked up at me for a moment before she spoke sheepishly. “I don’t have any gloves here.”

“Oh,” I replied. “Can’t you touch me? I thought you had a better handle on it now?”

“I do,” Sunset nodded, “but it’s still too much to deal with when I’m…uh, working.”

“Jeez,” I said, I reaching into my pants to pull out my erection for her. "Do I have to do everything around here?" I joked.

"Shut it," she replied flatly, but not without a little smirk and a glance into my eyes.

Some of my own clear juice had leaked out on my finger, which I held out to her, offering a taste in return for the generous sampling she gave me.

Her eyes got wide when she saw it, and she reached for it with her hand instinctively before stopping herself. “Damn it!” she cursed, deciding instead to grab the sides of my jeans for something to hold on to as she closed her lips around my finger and sucked the small smudge of fluid off. My heart skipped a beat when I realised how good her hot mouth felt, raising my anticipation of how it was going to feel on my hard length.

My heart rate elevated slightly as I watched her lean in next, remembering how she was the first of the girls to take me in her mouth, not to mention being responsible for getting Fluttershy into doing this for me as well.

She slowly licked the tip, sending a shiver up my spine as her tongue sparked a sudden pleasure in me. As she pulled back, she kept her mouth open and we both watched the long, clear string of fluid stretch from the tip of my erection to her tongue, glistening like a spider web in the evening light. She finally closed her mouth, cutting it off, followed by a lick of her lips and a giggle as she wiped her chin with her fingers.

Sunset looked up at me and smiled briefly before she opened her mouth again and suddenly came forward, hungrily plunging as much of my length in her mouth as she could before sealing her lips tightly around me. I shivered with pleasure as her mouth slowly slid back off, the sudden moisture felt nice along with the warmth of her mouth, especially when her lips slid over the sensitive head, where she stopped to change direction, sliding me back into her mouth again.

She circled my head with her tongue inside her mouth, sending shots of electricity into my brain with each stroke.

She repeated this process over and over again, aggressively sliding her mouth all over me, applying gentle suction while flicking me with her tongue. I was starting to feel myself really get into the swing of it, the pleasure increasing with each movement, knowing that if she continued like this, I would eventually end up reaching my own climax in her mouth.

I was just about to imagine what it would be like to unleash my load in her mouth, wondering whether or not she would like the taste of it, but my fantasy was cut short when she suddenly let my head pop out of her mouth to look up at me. “Sorry Golds, but I need this fucking thing inside me, right now.”

“Don’t be sorry for that, Sunny,” I chuckled. “There are way worse things you could say to a guy.”

She giggled, crawling up the bed on her back, laying her head on the pillow as she bit her lip, watching me drop my jeans to step out of them. When I grabbed the bottom of my shirt to lift it over my head, she reached out with her hand to stop me.

“Wait! Leave your shirt on,” she instructed.

I stopped what I was doing to look at her, unsure of why she would want that. “Why?” I asked.

“So I can hold on to you,” she replied timidly, bringing her hand up to touch her bottom lip with her curled up index finger, “without touching your skin.”

“Oh OK,” I said, realising what she meant.

She brought her knees up and spread her legs for me as I crawled over her, reaching up with her arms to wrap them around my shoulders, welcoming me with a tight embrace. We connected our lips again, passing our tongues back and forth as I positioned myself over her, letting my tip come up against her wetness, causing her to inhale sharply through her nose as we continued kissing each other deeply.

Sunset arched her hips towards me, silently begging me to get inside her while I slid the tip up and down along the wet folds of her tender flesh. She broke the kiss and touched our foreheads together, looking into my eyes as she panted desperately. “Come on. Do it,” she ordered.

I pushed forward a bit, letting the head slide effortlessly into her. Her soft folds easily gave way to let me come in, allowing me to feel her tightness and the intense heat inside her. Her eyes opened wide as she drew in a quick breath, excited by the sensation of finally being penetrated as well as the anticipation of what was coming next. “Give me the whole thing,” she begged in a shaky voice.

I slowly pushed into her a bit deeper, but didn’t get much further before she suddenly wrapped her legs around my waist and squeezed me tight, arching her hips upward, plunging my entire length inside her.

I held myself steady above Sunset, letting her cling to me as she moaned with joy, then started kissing my lips again. The feeling of finally being inside her was glorious after all the time we spent together, trying to resist the urge to indulge ourselves; it was no easy task with her being so beautiful, not to mention making such strong advances towards me over and over again.

Her hot insides squeezed tightly on my erection as I reached deep into her, her slick moisture completely soaking every inch of me. I kissed her again, feeling her hold herself firmly against me for a moment, then she suddenly pulled our mouths apart to tip her head back, pressing it into the pillow as she held her breath and closed her eyes tightly.

Sunset let out a loud moan suddenly and arched her back up even higher, pressing her belly against me as she quivered uncontrollably. I could feel her insides pulsating, applying sharp, firm squeezes to my erection while the orgasm unexpectedly hit her with a wave of satisfying pleasure.

She relaxed suddenly after the intense moment, her breath heaving her chest up and down as she took one hand from my shoulder and pressed the heel of her palm against her forehead. “Holy shit!” she panted, closing her eyes.

“Jeez Sunny,” I said with a half grin, “I didn’t even start fuckin you yet.”

She shook her head in disbelief of what she just experienced. “Don’t judge me,” she panted. “You have no idea how amazing this feels.”

I leaned down to kiss her on the cheek, to which she reacted by quickly turning her face to plant several quick kisses on my mouth, then she stopped to look at me while licking her bottom lip.

“Now,” she said quietly. “Fuck me.” She gritted her teeth a bit before she repeated herself. “I want you to fuck me ‘til I break.”

Following her command, I backed out of her almost completely, then pushed my entire length back inside her, watching her eyebrows furrow as her mouth opened wide, firing her hot breath against my face while I pushed into her again, then again, finding a nice steady rhythm to pleasure her with. I was thoroughly enjoying the feel of her tight heat sliding back and forth over me when she suddenly moaned loudly again.

“Oh, my Celestia…fuck that’s amazing!” she panted as her eyes rolled back in her head, her legs twitching as they remained wrapped around me.

I looked at her pretty face, watching it contort uncontrollably as I decided to tease her a little. “See…again with the Principal.”

“Wha…?” she moaned, looking back into my eyes. “She’s not the Principal.”

“It’s weird,” I said, trying to keep my own breathing under control. She was feeling pretty good already…

“I…” she shook her head, then gave up arguing. “Fine, I’ll think of s-some…something…” she trailed off as another climax boiled up within her, then exploded in a wave of relentless pleasure and tight, pulsating flesh. He body quivered uncontrollably under me as she hollered loudly, her voice filling the room like a pipe organ in a large cathedral.

She locked her green eyes on me again as the orgasm subsided, leaving her in an opened-mouthed panting mess. “Sh-shit, man…you’re even better than I remembered.”

I chuckled. “I’m just getting started.”

Her face looked half-worried as I sat up, unhooking her legs from behind me and slinging them over my shoulders.

“Check this out,” I said with a smirk.

“Oh fuck…what are you gonna do to me?” she asked apprehensively about what was coming next. “I can only take so much.”

“You said you wanted me to break you,” I reminded her.

“Oh shit…I did, didn’t I?” she giggled, then yelped suddenly as I thrust myself deep into her again.

The new angle allowed me to reach new depths inside her, causing her to holler out in awe of my invasion of her body, each thrust impaling her with ecstasy that hammered her entire body into submission.

I watched my length, glistening with her moisture, slide in and out of her swiftly, her delicate folds wrapped tightly around me, her wetness spreading all over her abdomen as she reached up with her hands to grab her hair and pull it firmly downwards around her face.

“I…I can feel it in my throat,” she whimpered, her eyes rolling back in her head. “It’s so fucking deep!”

“Open your mouth, maybe I can see it,” I joked, dipping my head a bit for a better angle to see into her mouth from.

She laughed, causing her body to squeeze down on my erection as I continued using it to drive her mad with delight. She opened her mouth for a second to say ‘ahh’ like being at the doctor’s, but she started laughing again and covered her mouth with her hand, her bright green eyes gazing at me, sparkling with blissful pleasure.

Her expression changed suddenly as I felt her body stiffen up again. Another orgasm was on its way, rushing towards her swiftly, gaining momentum before it finally slammed into her like a meteor, first hitting her between the legs, followed by the shockwave that spread across her trembling body.

“OH, HOLY FUCKING CELES-“ Surprisingly, she still had the presence of mind to stop herself. “Uh…Jes…” she stopped again, her body distracting her with its spasms of electric sensation, which eventually slowed down as the orgasm subsided, allowing her to think somewhat clearly again. “Wait…” she panted, trying to think about the name she was after. “W-what’s the name of that guy, on the big T…it’s Jesus, right?”

I laughed at her cuteness while giving a nod. “Yeah Sunny, that’s Jesus.”

She nodded. “OK,” she breathed. “Next time.”

“Well here,” I said. “We can try it again right now.” I reached down and slid my thumb over her wet folds, rubbing her clit firmly as I continued to thrust into her moist heat.

Sunset arched her back up immediately and drew in the deepest gasp I’ve ever seen, reaching her hands under the pillow to wrap it around her head. It wasn’t long before another, much more powerful orgasm hit her. “OH JESUS!!!” her muffled voice screamed out from inside the pillow. “HOLY FUCK! JEEEESUS!!”

“Don’t forget about God,” I reminded her as I pressed down in her clit, trying to extend her climax even longer.

Sunset felt like she was being electrocuted with pleasure now, struggling to stutter her next words out. “AAH! OH MY G-GOD!! FUCK!!” she cried, her bottom jaw shaking uncontrollably as she hollered into the pillow. It took her a full minute to calm down after the pleasure I had forced upon her, something I enjoyed seeing no matter how many times it happened.

Her body continued to quiver, causing her breasts to jiggle as she laid there, breathing heavily with her hair strewn across her face, blowing away from her mouth every time she exhaled.

Her legs were jumping as they rested on my shoulders, so I ran my hand up and down her left thigh to try to sooth her, giving her a chance to relax for a moment before I stuffed her full of even more pleasure.

She suddenly waved her hand towards herself, motioning me to come down close to her again. I complied, slipping her legs off my shoulders and laying back down on her warm body. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and squeezed me tightly against her while pressing her lips on mine once again.

She seemed to have far less control of her motor skills by then. Her mouth was sliding all over my lips, smearing saliva every which way as her tongue bumbled around inside my mouth like a drunk person trying to make their way to bed before passing out on the floor.

She broke the kiss and breathed against my face before she spoke again. “Get off.”

I recoiled a bit. “Huh?”

”Get off me,” she repeated.

“Too much?” I asked, wondering why she would want to stop now.

She shook her head. “NO! That was fucking incredible,” she said quickly, “but I wanna be on top.”

"Oh." I was relieved as I rolled off, my length slipping out of her as I backed up and laid beside her on the bed. I adjusted the pillow to my liking while she reached across me with an arm and a leg, straddling herself on top of my body and burying her face in my neck, kissing and licking my throat as her body came to rest on me.

She brought her lips up to mine again briefly, giving me another dose of her saliva before pulling away to speak. “You know what’s kind of nice?” she asked.

“What’s that?” I answered.

“The fact that I don’t sweat like a fucking pig anymore,” she said with a chuckle.

“Oh…” I smiled back. “Yeah, I guess. I didn’t think it was bad. I thought it was kinda hot actually.”

Sunset raised her eyebrows in response. “Really?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “I liked knowing I was covered in your sweat and bodily fluids when we were at the restaurant after.”

She smiled at me, her eyes dancing around as she looked at my face. “Hm,” she mumbled, before kissing me on the cheek once more. “You know, your cum was leaking out of me the whole time we were there."

I snickered at her. “Really?”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “That was a massive fucking load you shot in me that night, dude. ”

“That’s what friends are for,” I joked.

“Mmmmm…” she hummed in reply, rolling her eyes. "I felt so naughty sitting right next to Rare in the booth with your cum soaking into my panties."

"Yeah, and your hair and makeup was all fucked up," I replied. "Everyone who saw you could tell that you'd been rode hard and put away wet."

Sunset giggled, then put her head down on my shoulder to hide the redness creeping across her cheeks. After a moment, she inhaled deeply through her nose, then lifted her head to say something that caught me off guard. “You wanna pretend I’m Flutters?”

I cocked an eyebrow at her. “Uh…why?”

She leaned her head to one side with a shrug. “I don’t know, cuz you miss her.” Then she came closer to me, putting an innocent look on her face. “Um, excuse me?” Sunset said in a soft sweet voice, obviously trying to imitate Fluttershy’s persona. “I would really like it if I could, um…ride your big dick until you, um…explode inside me…i-if that’s OK with you.”

“Hahaha, what the fuck, Sunny…” I laughed, rubbing my forehead.

Sunset laughed with me. “How was that?” she asked in her normal voice. “Did I sound like her?”

I shook my head. “Not overly.”

She slapped me on the shoulder. “Oh come on!” she fired back. “It was pretty good.”

I sighed. “OK, it was decent, I guess,” I replied with a smile.

She looked at me for a moment, then rolled her eyes as she began to slide her body up against mine. She tilted her hips, positioning her saturated opening against my tip, her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth while she fiddled with putting our bodies back together without using her hands. She got me into position and wasted no time in bringing herself down, letting me slip back into her hot body, pressing herself down firmly to take all of me inside her.

Sunset looked down at me, leaning with her elbows on the mattress, letting me feel the weight of her hips and waist on my belly and her breasts on my chest. I found myself wishing I had my shirt off so they would be pressing directly on my skin, but I knew it was too much for her to deal with if she was accidently reading me while trying to have sex.

She began to move herself up and down, rocking her hips to slide my length in and out of her, slowly stroking us both, increasing the pleasure with each pass. I shuddered at the feeling of her sweet-smelling hair brushing against my face, ticking my nose and cheeks as she rhythmically moved up and down. She kissed me briefly on the lips once, then spoke.

“If I don’t sound like her, then at least let me try to ride like her,” she whispered as she closed her eyes, her breaths increasing again from pleasuring herself on me.

“Ride like her?” I repeated, pursing my lips, enjoying her flesh sliding up and down my length.

“Yeahhhh…” she panted, her level of excitement elevating steadily as she rode. “Remember that night? When she got on top of you after I came all those times…fuck, she was hot!”

“Mm-hm,” I replied. “She is awesome at riding, I’ll give her that.”

Sunset started thrusting against me more vigorously. “Yeah, I loved watching her. She almost made you cum,” she said, breathing hard against my face. “I kind of wanted to see her do it…that’s one thing I never expected to see in my whole life.”

“What?” I asked.

“Watching Flutteshy take a load in her pussy…she’s so quiet and shy, but so hot,” Sunset whispered.

“She’s a pro at taking loads. Trust me,” I smirked.

“Yeah…” Sunset bit her lip as she closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of the hard occupant working itself in and out of her. “But tonight it’s just you and me. She’s not here to help, so it’s just gonna be my pussy that gets you off this time.”

“You’ll do fine,” I said, running my hands down the small of her back, gently caressing her smooth, hot skin as she gyrated her hips on top of me. “You already are.”

“How does it feel?” she panted. “Is my pussy good?”

I let out a long exhale before answering. “It’s SO good.”

“Ooohhh…” she moaned, her brows furrowing as she looked into my eyes. “You are so fucking amazing.”

“You too, Sunny,” I replied quietly, running my hands down to squeeze her ass, which was moving vigorously up and down now as she stoked me with her hot flesh, making my whole body tingle with pleasure.

“I’m gonna c-cum aga…again,” she squeaked after a few minutes of riding, gritting her teeth and squeezing her eyes shut as she sat up partway, leaning on the mattress with her hands on both sides of me. Her breasts were in front of me now, tempting me to play with them as they swung with her movements.

I reached up and took one of her nipples in my mouth to suck on it, circling the firm bud with my tongue as she continued riding herself off the edge.

Her loins finally exploded again, sending shockwaves through her whole body, intensified even more by the stimulation on her breast from my playful teasing. She quivered as the sensation washed over her, then collapsed back down onto me to rest for a bit, her back heaving up and down as she breathed heavily. I could feel her heart beating against me as she rested her head on my shoulder and stared in to space.

“Wow…” she panted. “It’s all coming back to me now.”

“Our first time?” I asked.

She nodded her head against me. “Yeah,” she paused to take a couple more breaths, then swallowed. “That was really good, you sucking on my tits when I came…fucking amazing.”

“I try.”

“I can’t believe Twi thought she was just going to have a quick little bang with you,” she said quietly, changing the subject again. “I tried to tell her it wasn’t going to be that easy.”

I nodded. “Yeah, uh…it was definitely more than she planned for.”

Sunset started laughing. “You should have seen her when she walked into my apartment after. As soon as I saw her I was like ‘yup, they did it’.”

“Did she say anything about it?” I asked as I started running my fingers through Sunset’s multi-coloured hair.

“No,” she replied quietly, “she said she didn’t want to talk about it.” She sighed, enjoying the feel of me playing with her wavy locks. “What was she like?”

I chuckled a little bit. “She was fine. She pretty much just sat on the vanity and let me feed it to her.”

“Hm,” Sunset mumbled.

“It was funny, at the end she made a huge mess in Rare’s bathroom,” I told her.

“Oh? What, did she squirt everywhere?” Sunset asked.

I shook my head. “No, her magic went awry and all of Rare’s things were floating around.”

Sunset started laughing suddenly, her body bouncing against mine as she lifted her head to look at me. “Are you serious? She never told me that.”

“Yeah, those were some pretty crazy times,” I chuckled.

She smiled at me for a moment, then drew in a breath as she sat upright, her eyes wide with awe as she put all of her weight on my hips to let me fully penetrate straight up into her.

“What do ya say we finish this?” she said with a devilish smile.

“Sounds like a plan, Sunny,” I replied, sliding my hands up her thighs to rest them on her hips.

“I’m gonna ride you ‘Fluttershy style’ until you cum.” she said with a little wink. “And this time, no, I’m not gonna stop.”

“That’s right,” I said playfully. “You promised me in the woods that if we ever did it again, you’d be nice.”

Sunset started rocking her hips again, bouncing her body on mine, leaning on my chest with her hands and closing her eyes as she bit her lip, enjoying the sensation as it slowly started to elevate her to heaven again. “I’ll be nice. I’ll be very nice.”

I watched as the beautiful red-head sitting on top of me swayed her hips forward and back, grinding herself against me with increasing aggressiveness. I looked down at her bare mound as it rocked up and down with her movements, then my eyes ran up her body to her breasts, which were bouncing along for the ride. I ran my hands up her toned belly to cup them, squeezing them gently as I enjoyed the feel of her hot insides massaging me relentlessly, bringing me to the point where I knew she was going to end me soon.

She reached up with her hands to put them on top of mine, but stopped herself in time. Instead, she reached up to run her fingers through her hair while she continued to ride me, rocking her hips ever harder with a sexy slither as she kicked herself into overdrive, increasing the speed and intensity to a point that no man could handle without reaching his climax in short order.

I could feel the first signs of my own orgasm sparking up, and I watched her body sitting upright on mine, working me closer to it like a well-oiled machine. “She’s gonna do it…” I thought as my anticipation heightened, imagining in my mind the moment when she drives me to unloading myself straight up into her.

To my surprise, she became even more aggressive. Her hips were rocking so hard she was causing the head board to hammer against the wall, making it apparent that she was in fact quite a bit stronger than Fluttershy. “Holy shit, she’s gonna snap the bed in two!” I thought to myself as I held onto her breasts for dear life.

But just then, her fast-paced rhythm was suddenly sabotaged when her body betrayed her once more, causing her flesh to clench down on my erection tightly as another climax snuck up and swiftly jolted her into another uncontrolled fit of screaming ecstasy. She crashed down onto me again, her hot breath blowing onto my neck from her open mouth.

She suddenly pounded her fist on the mattress beside us. “Fuck!” she cursed. “I thought I had you that time.”

“Me too Sunny," I gasped, trying to subdue her frustration while I twitched inside her from the proximity of my own orgasm.

She lifted her head to look at me sharply. “I knew you were getting close,” she panted. “I could feel you getting harder.” She then leaned up with her elbows on the mattress. “I’m gonna get you there, one way or another,” she growled with determination.

Sunset forced herself to continue rocking her hips again, sliding her body up and down, spreading the moisture from our sex around our bodies even more than it already was. She grunted loudly, still feeling the sensitivity from the last orgasm as she pushed herself through it so he could finally have her victory over me.

“Fuck you Golds, you’re gonna cum for me!” she growled, before slamming her lips against mine, jamming her tongue down halfway down my throat, her breath hissing from her nose at a deafening volume as she breathed with frantic excitement.

“Whoa…” I thought as my borderline abusive partner hammered me harder and harder until I could feel the end getting close; that familiar tingle that starts at the tip, then slowly envelops my whole body.

Sunset could feel it happening. The increase in size and rigidity within her was the telltale sign that she was about to get flooded with the fluid that her body had been craving so badly now for weeks on end. She brought her face down and pressed her cheek against mine, placing her lips close to my ear as her hair draped across my face, and she softly spoke to me while delivering the final strokes to finish me off.

“You’re close,” she whispered through her gritted teeth, letting her breath blow against my ear. “Come on…shoot your fucking load in me, big guy.”

I placed my hands on her hips, feeling the curves of her body as I held my breath, preparing to inject it with my warm payload.

“You’re mine.” she said with authority, gritting her teeth next to my ear.

That was my limit. The sensation suddenly hit new levels as I started pumping, shooting large volumes of my boiling hot fluid inside Sunset’s aching flesh, finally giving her the gift she’d been dreaming of non-stop for weeks on end.

Sunset responded right away, bringing her mouth back to mine to kiss me deeply for a second, then she opened her mouth, keeping our lips pressed together while she breathed down my throat. “Yeah…yeahhh…” she cooed in a high-pitched, yet quiet tone of satisfaction. “Give me all of it…”

She hadn’t slowed down at all, however, in fact she was still riding just as vigorously, and my sensitivity was at its peak still, where it would eventually transition into that torturous phase if she didn’t stop soon. I still had my hands on her hips, so I started holding her down against me to stop her from continuing.

She reacted very sharply. “NO!” she shouted suddenly, glaring at me with her green eyes. “I’m gonna cum again, let me do it!”

“Alright, Sunny…but make it quick,” I grunted, releasing her hips.

She went full steam ahead, moaning loudly as her hips bounced frantically on me, her flesh stroking my oversensitive hardness, tightening around me slowly as she reached her final orgasm.

“Fuck sakes, Sunny, you crazy bitch…” I thought as I pursed my lips tightly, squeezing my eyes shut, trying cope with the borderline uncomfortable sensation that was ringing through my body.

I finally felt relief when her body suddenly locked up and trembled violently.

“O-O-O-HHH!” she groaned shakily, her naked body quivering against me while slowly coming down from her pleasure. She soon came to rest on me with her head on my shoulder, tickling my cheek with her two-toned locks of hair as she breathed gently against my neck. Our bodies were pressed together, skin-on-skin, save for her breasts on my chest where my T-shirt was keeping us separated. Our bellies were touching together though, after my shirt had ridden up halfway to my chest from Sunset rubbing herself against me.

I listened to my friend pant for a few seconds, feeling her heart beat against me, then I decided to speak to her. “Was it worth the wait?”

“Yeah,” she nodded. ”I could do that all damn night,” she said as she suddenly picked herself up onto her hands and knees, letting me slip out of her as she hovered over me. I looked down at her breasts to watch them dangling above me, but something beyond them caught my eye…a long, thick stream of white fluid dribbling down from between her legs, splattering down onto my stomach in a cluster of pearl-coloured pools.

“Uh, Sunny…” I said. “You dropped something.”

“Huh?” she replied, looking down at my stomach, blocking my view as her fiery hair hung down and tickled my face. She laughed in disbelief when she saw it. “Holy shit, look at all that!”

“I saw…” I said flatly, half worried that she might lay down again and smear it all over the place.

Instead, she flipped her hair up onto her back and crawled down so her face was over my stomach. I watched in shock as she dipped her head down and stuck her warm tongue out to lap up the first puddle, tickling me in the process, then brought it back into her mouth to swallow. She then moved on to the next bunch, which had ran together by then, so she placed her lips gently against my belly and sucked it up into her mouth like a vacuum, making a loud slurping noise as she hovered along. Once it was all picked up, she lifted her head up and swallowed, licking her lips afterwards, followed by a loud ‘Ahhhhh.’

"Oh my god, Sunny, that's nasty. You're nasty." I chuckled.

She let out a gusty laugh, then briefly dipped her head back down to lick my stomach with her hot tongue one more time to clean up any small remnants left behind, then crawled back up over me, bringing her mouth closer to my face as she closed her eyes.

I saw her coming in for the kiss. Now, I’m not the type of guy who likes semen in or near my mouth, whether it’s my own or anyone else’s, so when she came at me right after cleaning my load up with her tongue, I instinctively turned my head away to avoid her mouth touching mine.

She tried to follow me with her lips, so I turned my head the other way.

Sunset paused for a second, then started laughing when she realised what my problem was. “Oh Jesus, or whoever…it’s just cum. And I swallowed it all. it’s not like I was gonna spit it into your mouth.”

I shook my head. “Not my cup of tea,” I explained.

Sunset snorted. “It wasn’t bad actually…and, holy shit, there was a lot of it.”

She leaned in to kiss my neck instead, leaving a few moist pecks behind before rolling over onto the bed on my left side to enjoy the afterglow, running her fingers through her hair to try to straighten it up a bit.

“Wow Golds,” she chortled, “that was probably the craziest shit I’ve ever put this body through.” Then she stopped to rub her chin for a second. “Come to think of it, probably my other body too.”

I nodded in response, staring at the ceiling, thinking about how that was something you don’t hear everyday.

Sunset giggled as she lifted her legs up over her chest to pull the covers back on the bed so she could slip under them. I couldn’t help but look at her ass with her legs lifted up in the air, loving how her glistening lips were showing between her thighs as she moved the covers out of the way.

“You coming under with me?” she asked as she put her legs down and slid them under the covers.

“Sure,” I said, rolling to my side and pulling the blankets out from under me. I slipped myself under the blankets next to her, looking over to her as I got comfortable on the pillow. I watched her as she rolled onto her side to face me, gazing at me with her beautiful eyes glistening.

“Thanks Golds ,” she said softly. “For fucking me within an inch of my life.”

I smiled back at her. “Glad you liked it Sunny, but, um…you’re immortal. You’d be surprised what I could put you through.”

She shook her head. “Baby steps, Golds.”

I took a deep breath and turned to look at the ceiling, thinking about the much-needed sex that Sunset Shimmer and I just had. I chewed the inside of my cheek as it dawned on me that she, although mostly a genuinely nice person, was a natural-born bully. A tough chick.

I was thinking about how she finished me off just a few minutes ago, using forceful language and then putting me through some post-orgasm torture after she had just promised to be nice.

I’m not trying to say I didn’t like it. None of it really bothered me, but I could see how it could bother other guys. I don’t think she was ever being intentionally malicious, even the first time we had sex when she kept edging me, because after it was all said and done, the experience turned out to be quite enjoyable once she finally let me have that slow release.

I think she finds it arousing to be mean in a playful way, which, as her partner, is something you either get, or you don’t. Maybe that was why her old boyfriend…what was his name? Flash? Maybe that was why he left her. He couldn’t handle the heat, so he got out of the kitchen. Some guys just aren’t into being treated rough, even if it is a form of affection…

Or maybe bait?

The thought struck me like a baseball bat over the cranium. “Hmm…” I thought as I looked over to Sunset again. “Why DOES she do the whole ‘mean girl’ routine?” I wondered as I watched her breathe quietly with her eyes shut, looking more relaxed than I think I’ve ever seen her.

Does she secretly want to be on the receiving end? Is that why she does what she does, to provoke her partner into giving it back?

I ran my thumb back and forth along my bottom lip as I watched her while an idea formulated in my mind. “I just gave her a pretty good romp…but after all she’s been through, and for how long she waited for it, was it good enough? Could I do better?... Let’s see…”

“Sunny!” I said loudly, causing her eyes to pop open suddenly.

“What??”

“You did it again,” I said.

“What did I do?” she asked.

I shook my head. “You broke your promise.”

She scowled a bit. “About being nice?”

I nodded.

She leaned up onto her elbows, letting the blanket fall down, exposing her breasts again. “Are you serious? I didn’t stop. I made you cum.”

“Yeah, that’s right. You didn’t stop,” I said sternly. “You kept going after I was done.”

Sunset shrugged. “So?”

“It was sensitive!” I said, raising my voice.

She looked stunned or a second, then her eyes slowly narrowed as a smirk crept across her face. She then changed her expression quite suddenly, her nose scrunched as she stuck her bottom lip out. “Waaaahhh!...It wath thnethitive!” she pretended to cry, imitating me with a lisp.

I glared at her with a blank face, pretending to be pissed at her, but inside, I felt my heart leap with excitement. “She’s playing along…green light!”

Sunset started laughing, pointing at me as she covered her mouth. “Hahaha! Your face…haha!”

I took a deep breath and turned to face the ceiling, touching my fingertips together, making a steeple-shape with them as I waited for her laughter to die down.

“You’re fucking hilarious sometimes, Golds,” she said after a moment, tousling her bangs a bit, her eyes crossing slightly as she looked up at what she was doing.

“Do you know what happened to the last girl who lipped off to me about sex?” I said suddenly.

She stopped what she was doing to look at me again for a moment. “OK,” she said, folding her arms across her bare breasts. “I’ll bite. What’d you do?” she asked, then her eyes got wider before I could answer. “WAIT! Lemme guess…it was Flutters.”

I nodded.

“And I suppose you fucked her silly…right?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

I looked back at her, struggling to keep a straight face. “I fucked her so hard, I’m pretty sure I made the bed cum.”

She snorted suddenly. “Wow! OK…” she laughed.

“You broke your promise, Sunny,” I continued. “You bullied me again.”

Sunset rolled her eyes.

“And as soon as I recover, I’m turning the tables on you.”

This got Sunset’s attention. “Is that so?” she said, shifting quickly to a more sensual tone.

I nodded.

“And um, just how long until you recover?” she asked, her eyes lidding as she gave me a sexy smirk. “Do I have time to run away before you punish me?”

I leaned closer to her, putting my nose an inch from hers. “Nope.”

Her eyes went wide at the unexpected answer as I threw the covers off to the foot of the bed. I grabbed her by her left arm and leg and threw her up into the air, spinning her around a few times before she landed with her stomach on the bed.

“WHOA! Holy shit!” she screamed as she landed on the mattress.

I put my hand on the small of her back when she landed so she wouldn’t bounce, then I laid face-down on her back and grabbed her forearms, forcing her hands under the pillows, past her head.

She knew what was coming, and I knew that she knew what was coming. And I could tell by her voice and her body language that it excited her beyond belief, with just a hint of fear for added thrill.

“Oh fuck…YES!” Sunset shouted, now fully aware of the game I was playing. “Punish me, Golds! I'm such a fucking bitch, make me pay!”

Her words gave me extra motivation, although I admittedly felt kind of bad for throwing her, I did it because I thought that’s what she would like. And I was correct.

I leaned down, still pinning her arms above her head, and started kissing her shoulder blades, then biting them gently. I let go of one of her arms, which she kept in place above her head, taking the hint from me to keep them there.

I brushed the wavy locks of red hair from the back of her neck and started kissing her along her spine, running my tongue along the bumps of her vertebrae as my erection started to return to its ready state, pressing itself between the cheeks of her ass as it grew.

Sunset gasped as she felt it growing between us as I laid with my abdomen pinned against her ass. “Ooohhh shit, are you gonna fuck me again?”

I didn’t say anything. Instead, I used my knees to drive her legs apart and poke the tip of my length down between her cheeks, sliding it down into her slick, moist crease. I pushed forward, sliding as deep inside her as I could until my hips pressed up against her ass, using it as a cushion when I laid down on her again. She was still very hot inside, and it felt very sloppy in there with the remnants of my first load still remaining inside her.

Sunset gasped sharply when she felt me re-renter her from behind. Excitement washed over her, not knowing what I was going to do next. “Ooohh…yes, make me your bitch!” she growled through her teeth. “My pussy is yours! Abuse me, pound me right through the fucking b- MMPH!”

Her words were cut off when I put my hand on the back of her head and shoved her face hard into the pillow and began thrusting into her with ruthless aggression. I knew this position put me at the perfect angle to hit her G-spot…and hit it, I did. I’d never made Sunset squirt as of yet, but right then, it was my mission. It was going to happen tonight.

Her muffled non-stop squeals were coming from the pillow as I hammered her relentlessly, my hips smacking against her firm, yet comfortable ass. It was only a minute or two before I could feel her starting to tense up, her flesh tightening around me more and more with each thrust.

Finally, she started trembling violently, her hips spasming, pushing her ass up against me every time she jerked, her high-pitched squeal barely audible from inside the pillow where I was still holding her head.

I listened as her voice went from a squeal, to a low, guttural groan. Her legs bent up at the knees, her feet coming up and gently touching my back as they flailed mindlessly, far from being under the influence of anything resembling control from her brain.

I continued burying my erection into her repeatedly, giving her one hard jab of pleasure after another, until her moans got quieter again and her convulsions started to level off. I started to worry about her for a moment, wondering if I was going too far. “Should I check on her?”

I released my hand from the back of her neck and laid down on her, putting my mouth close to her ear.

“You good, Sunny?” I whispered.

Sunset turned her head to look back at me with one eye. Her face was red, her hair frazzled, her body heaving with each deep breath.

“YES! I LOVE IT!” she gasped. “DON’T FUCKING STOP!!”

“You got it,” I replied.

“And if I tell you to stop,” she continued breathlessly, “don’t fucking listen.”

I pursed my lips for a second, then put my eyebrows up, making one of those ‘it’s your funeral’ expressions at her. “Ooooo-K,” I said in a high tone. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

I leaned above her with my arms, resting my hands on the mattress on either side of her waist. I pushed into her again, drawing a sudden shriek from her mouth as her eyes slammed shut, the pleasure from each thrust contorting her face more and more.

I hammered Sunset ruthlessly like this for another minute or two, listening to her voice ring out into the motel room as she perpetually lost control of her mind, her brain quickly emptying itself of all logical thoughts and replacing them with the fireworks of another intense orgasm that rocked her entire body to its core.

I took a short break for a moment, leaning over her, using her ass as a cushion for my hips once again, keeping myself perfectly still so I could enjoy the feel of her insides pulsating on my length as the latest orgasm slowly dissipated from her loins.

“How was that?” I asked her.

The answer I got didn’t make much sense, in fact it didn’t even sound like English, so I decided to proceed to the next step of my aggressive loving.

I sat up and grabbed her hips, pulling her up to her knees. She kept her head on the pillow as I held her by the waist and began to drill her again from behind, slamming our bodies together every time I bottomed myself out in her. She buried her face in the pillow again, giving herself the freedom to howl as loud as she wanted as she was brought to the ragged edge of her limits another time.

I loved listening to Sunset’s muffled voice coming from inside the pillow. The ecstatic squeals emanating from her were far higher in pitch than I thought she was capable of, and just as I was thinking about that, she lifted her head suddenly to let a full volume holler ring out into the room, causing me to recoil slightly at the sudden noise.

Unexpectedly, she lifted herself up and leaned on her hands, throwing her head backwards, flipping her hair over onto her back as she panted into the air while I continued hammering her from the rear. She turned her head to look at me with one eye, watching me ream out her tender flesh.

I could see her brows start to furrow again, accompanied by her body tightening around me, causing me to thrust harder to overcome the added resistance.

“Golds...I’m gonna…” she panted, “you’re gonna make me…” she trailed off when her eyes squeezed shut and she turned to let her head hang down to touch the pillow just in time for the next climax to ring through her quivering body. She moaned loudly again, spilling profanities from her mouth as she struggled with the almost unbearable sensation yet again.

Once she was finished with the latest peak, she shook her head in disbelief. “Damn, Golds,” she panted. “If this is what I get for being mean, then where the hell were you when I was trying to take over CHS?”

“I could always give ‘back punishments’,” I replied. “With interest…”

“Ooh…I like the sound of that,” she chuckled breathlessly.

“You’re not supposed to like it,” I scolded. “Bad girl!” I wound my arm up and swung my open hand at her right ass-cheek with an unnatural amount of force, spanking her hard, causing a circular wave to spread out on her skin from the center of impact.

The sound of it was like someone lighting a firecracker off in the room, causing Sunset to turn and look at me with her eyes wide as saucers before she started laughing in disbelief. “Holy shit, that was loud!” she chuckled, letting her head droop down to rest on the pillow again. ”Is it weird that I wish you could hurt me a little?”

I inhaled to steady myself. The sensation of being inside her again was quite enjoyable, and I was having a difficult time concentrating on staying in character. “Weird?” I replied. “Coming from, say…Rarity? Yeah. Coming from you…not so much.”

“You can try if you want to,” she said in a sultry tone.

I gave my head a shake, trying to remember what I was going to do next.

Then I remembered.

Reaching forward with my right hand, I grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her towards me into an upright position. Her head was yanked back until her shoulder blades came against my chest so she was kneeling in front of me with her ass arched back, allowing me to remain inside her. I let go of her hair and reached around to her front with both hands, running them up her firm body until I reached her breasts.

I cupped my hands over them, squeezing and kneading them with my fingers, teasing her nipples with my fingertips as I used my nose to sweep her neck free of hair so I could kiss her shoulder first, then make my way up her soft, fragrant neck to her ear. I nibbled on it gently, drawing a giggle from the red-head, who turned her head to face me in response, offering her lips so I could kiss her deeply again.

I took her offer, pressing my lips against hers, touching my tongue against her lips until they parted, allowing me to invade her mouth the way I was invading her loins, with aggressive, relentless domination.

After tasting her sweet saliva and enjoying the caress of her tongue against mine, I decided she’d had enough of a break. I broke the kiss and gently pushed her forward a bit, just enough to grab her by the elbows and pull her arms behind her. I then hooked my right forearm through the crook of both of her elbows, locking her arms behind her back, leaving her vulnerable to another barrage of thrusts.

While holding her arms back with my right, I placed my left hand on her shoulder to lean her forward a bit, then I resumed thrusting into her hot flesh with even more power. Her whimpers started out low, but escalated quickly to uncontrolled, high-pitched howls of ecstasy with each impact. Her head hung down in front of her, her arms pulled behind her back, pinned in place by my impossibly strong grip.

Her legs trembled uncontrollably with each thrust, the depth and angle that I was hitting her at was just right for stimulating her beyond what she thought was possible, robbing her of the ability to think or speak clearly. The red-head's howls had subsided for a just moment, her breath caught in her throat as she tried to endure the electric jolts running through her.

I took the opportunity to speak during the short silence. “Well?”

She turned her head slightly. “Well wha…?”

“You like this?” I asked.

She tilted her head back, closing her eyes, her hair swaying against her back with our movements, wafting her sweet scent into my nostrils. “I…what the fu…” she panted. “My legs won’t s-stop moving…I c-can hardly stand it. How…how the f-fuck are you doing this?”

“It’s all about the angle, Sunny,” I teased.

She let her head drop again, her chin almost touching her chest. “It’s…it’s so fucking…” she shook her head a bit, “Wow…”

“Hm,” I mumbled as I thought for a moment. “Should I make you cum like this?”

Her head snapped up again, drawing in a sharp gasp. “NO! No don’t...” she pleaded, shaking her head wildly. “It’s too much, I can’t…”

Her arms started pulling feebly against my grip, trying to get free, but it was hopeless. I smacked my lips at her as I spoke again. “Well Sunny, I hate to break it to ya, but unfortunately you are in no position to argue.”

She shook her heard again, squeezing her eyes shut as she whimpered in desperation. “Oh god…fuck,” she squeaked. “I fucking hate you right now.”

“No you don’t,” I fired back.

She exhaled suddenly, knowing I was right. “Yeah, no…I don’t.”

Sunset knew she was helpless right then. She was restrained, completely at the mercy of this unnaturally powerful man, who was taking her pleasure beyond what she ever thought she could possibly handle…and she’d never been more excited in her life. This was the way she always wanted to be taken, but no one had ever done it before. She would always try to initiate it herself by being aggressive with her partners, dropping subtle hints for them so she wouldn’t have to ask -- which would ruin the effect -- inviting them to take and abuse her, but they were always intimidated and would shy away.

Not today though. This time, her partner had figured it out. She was finally getting her wish, and it was every bit the enjoyment that she could have hoped for, especially being sexually dominated by this man in particular, who she was completely helpless against, having only a fraction of the strength necessary to be able to fend him off. She was helpless to do anything but let him continue to invade her body until he was finished with her.

And she couldn’t think of anything else in the world at that moment that she would rather have.

Her thoughts were suddenly split wide open when the orgasm found her and ravaged her mercilessly. It took her, mauling her like a vicious predator, shattering her thoughts with each deep thrust, drawing loud shrieks of torturous joy from her gaping mouth. I held Sunset's arms behind her as her body shook out of control, her ass trembling against my hips while her insides hugged my erection again and again, sending a massive gush of clear fluid down both of our legs as a token of thanks from her body.

Or perhaps it was a cry for mercy?

Whatever it was, it drove me crazy. I could tell she was in heaven, and I knew she loved every second of the forceful pleasure I was making her endure, and it turned me on beyond belief. I wanted to finish myself off again in the worst way as soon as possible.

I finally let her arms go and laid her down on her stomach, laying myself back on top of her, letting my hips rest on her ass again as I started jack-hammering into her, hitting that same angle as before that drove her mental with ecstasy. I could feel the pressure building up behind each thrust, rising to the surface quickly, giving me the signal to brace myself to prepare for another release into Sunset’s body.

Evidently, she knew it was coming too. She turned her head to look over her shoulder at me with one eye, the turquoise iris sparkling as it focused on me, while a smirk of anticipation spread across her cheek.

“Ooh…you gonna give me some more?” she asked quietly as her eyes went wide with excitement.

I didn’t respond. Even though I enjoyed hearing the question from her, I was too concentrated on reaching my peak at that moment, focusing on the sensation of her hot, tender insides caressing my hardness closer to the point of tipping me over the edge with each thrust.

Her body decided to help me get there faster, hitting me with another wave of moisture as she tightened once more time, coaxing the second orgasm from me as we climaxed together, both of us locking up and holding our breath, revelling in the mutual pleasure we were giving each other.

Sunset buried her face in the pillow again and squealed with delight as she felt her loins pulsate with pleasure, while simultaneously feeling the hard intruder inside pulsate along with her, bursting forth with another hot flood, filling her to the brim for the second time that night.

I leaned over her, enjoying the satisfaction of the release as I breathed heavily onto her back, watching her breathe deeply in the same way, having just experienced her thirteenth orgasm that night.

I lifted myself off of Sunset, backing up so I could see her. I looked down between her ass-cheeks, between her thighs at her slit, where there was a white stream pouring out of her already, her ass and legs twitching and jittering in the aftermath of my punishment.

Then I got one more idea. I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea, however. “Should I do it? It might be too much…then again, she might like actually like it.”

I decided to just do it quick, like pulling off a bandaid…not that I know what that’s like.

I reached across her with my right hand and placed it on her left hip, then I swept of her off the bed onto the floor, where she landed in an exhausted heap with a dull thump.

“Whoa!” she exclaimed as she disappeared over the edge of the bed. I waited for a moment, listening to see how she’d react, hoping I hadn’t crossed the line.

Turns out I hadn’t.

I heard the sound of her surprised laugher coming from the floor next to the bed. “Nice touch, Golds.”

Relieved, I started to lay down on the mattress, but I stopped suddenly when my hands touched the soaking wet sheets. I looked down at the mattress and noticed a huge wet spot about three feet across in the middle of the bed where she had been laying.

“Holy shit, Sunny! I take it you squirted a couple times?” I chuckled.

“Uh, yeah,” she replied from the floor. “Like, a few times. I, uh...can’t remember how many.”

“Wow,” I said as I pulled the blankets up again, covering the wet spot so I could lay down.

I stared at the ceiling as I lay alone on the bed. Then I rolled onto my left shoulder to face the side of the bed where she was laying on the floor out of my sight. “So it wasn’t’ too much?” I asked. “Me throwing you off at the end?”

“No,” she replied. “That was fucking hot.”

“Really?” I chuckled.

“Yeah, how you just tossed me aside when you were done with me,” she said. “That was genius. You’re genius. A genius, sorry.”

I smiled, feeling pride in myself for pleasing a girl like Sunset as much as I did. I shifted over to the edge of the bed to look down at her.

She was laying on her back with one hand on her forehead and the other cupping one of her breasts, staring at the ceiling in a daze. Her eyes shifted over to me when she saw me peering over the edge at her, and she responded by biting her lip while giving a little smile, her eyes twinkling with playful satisfaction as she gazed up at me.

I smiled back at her for a second, taking in the perfection of her naked body. Her beautiful smile, sparkling eyes, fiery hair, smooth skin, her feminine, yet solid curves, the glistening moisture all around her abdomen. In that moment, I realised I wanted her close to me again. Feeling the urge to show her some affection, I reached down and hooked my arm under her waist and effortlessly lifted her up onto the bed with me.

Sunset hummed happily as she came to rest beside me, nuzzling her face into my shoulder as she curled her naked body up against mine. She let out a deep sigh of contentment as I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and held her close.

“Mmmm…” she mumbled against me. “That was…something else. You sir have officially ruined me for every other guy on the planet.”

I let out a small chuckle. “I thought you might like that.”

Sunset put her hand on my chest and began fidgeting with my T-shirt. “No one’s ever done anything like that for me before,” she said quietly. “It was sweet of you to do it, even though it made you uncomfortable to be rough on me.”

I frowned slightly, staring up at the ceiling. “Uncomfortable?” I asked. “How could you tell?”

“Because you checked in on me that one time,” she replied, drawing a circle on my chest with her fingertip.

“Oh. Yeah,” I said. “I hope I didn’t ruin the ‘ambiance’ when I did that.”

She giggled a bit. “No, it’s OK. You did great. Even though it’s not really your thing, you did it because you knew I would like it, and that means a lot to me.”

I leaned closer to her, resting my cheek on the top of her head. “Well hey, what are friends for, right?”

She let out a long, relaxed sigh. “In this case? One hell of a benefits package.”

“Hm,” I chuckled.

After enjoying each other’s body heat for a moment, I opened my mouth again to speak.

“Alright, Sunny. You win. We’ll stop for a day or two. Then we’ll get back to it. OK?” I said, finally taking her advice.

She didn’t respond.

I frowned a bit as I heard an unfamiliar noise from her. I tilted my head so I could see her face, only to find her eyes shut. She was perfectly still, her breathing was slow, and she was snoring very quietly.

I snickered a bit, looking at the ceiling as I rubbed my forehead. “That was unexpected,” I thought to myself.

Chapter 64: Girls Night Out

Chapter 64

“How much further is it, Twily?”

Twilight looked up from her phone, scanning the scenery through the windshield from the back seat of her brother’s car. She watched as the trees passed by on both sides of the road, trying to recognise where exactly they were.

“Umm…” she replied, then she saw the familiar curve in the road that she always used as a memory hook when she was headed out to Fluttershy’s house. “Oh! It’s just a few more minutes from here. The driveway is on the left, but it’s fairly well hidden, so I’ll let you know where to turn.”

“OK,” her older brother, Shining Armor, said from the driver’s seat.

Twilight’s sister-in-law, Cadance, who was also the Dean at Twilight’s former high school, turned around in the passenger front seat to face the lavender-skinned girl. “So your friends have this gathering every single Saturday?”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah,” she replied with a smile, “although not everyone makes it every time. Like me.”

“Well, Thanksgiving weekend is a great time to go,” Cadance said with a smile. “You’ve been so busy with school since August, it’ll do you good to spend time with your CHS friends again.”

Twilight smiled. “Yeah, it’s been a while. Thanks for driving me out here, by the way. I know it’s a long way,” she said, reaching up to adjust her glasses. As always, she just ended up fumbling around with her fingers when she couldn’t find them, forgetting yet again that she'd gotten perfect 20/20 vision after becoming one of the immortals.

“Anytime, Twily,” Shining Armor said, smiling in the rearview mirror at her.

It was Saturday, October 8th, Thanksgiving weekend. Being that it was the first holiday of the school year, Twilight had decided to come back to Canterlot to visit her friends to see how they were all handling the loss of Fluttershy, and to find out if there was any news of her rescue yet.

In a text conversation with AJ, she learned that the group had decided to have the Saturday dinner at Fluttershy’s house to keep the memory of their friend strong, and to bolster their hope for her return.

Twilight was excited to see her friends again, but also a bit apprehensive. Would the atmosphere there be bad with the shy girl missing? Did the others know that Twilight had become an immortal yet? The only person there who knew about Twilight’s change was Rarity, who was also the only other immortal in town at the moment.

As they pulled into Fluttershy’s driveway, Twilight looked around the yard to see who was there. She saw Pinkie’s car, as well as AJ’s old Ford pickup, and Fluttershy’s little SUV parked in the middle, unable to be moved since the keys had been taken along with the shy girl.

She didn’t see Rarity’s car anywhere. “Maybe she’s on the way. It IS only 2pm,” Twilight thought.

“OK, here you are, Twily,” Shining Armor said, turning around in his seat to look at her after putting the car in park.

“Thanks again for the ride,” Twilight replied with a smile as she opened the car door to get out. When she placed her foot on the ground, she stopped for a moment, smelling the distinctive aroma of burning wood, which prompted her to lean back into the car. “Hey, do you guys want to join us for a while? It smells like they’ve got a fire going.”

Shining Armor and Cadance looked at each other for a moment. They were somewhat caught off guard by the offer, but after a short moment they both looked at her again with smiles on their faces.

“Sure!” Cadance replied. “It’ll be nice to see those girls again. It’s been a few years since I’ve seen them, aside from Sunset Shimmer. I remember all of them being such cute little sweethearts.”

Shining Armor shut his car off and he and Cadance got out, following Twilight around the right side of the house to the backyard, where there was a fire pit which had been dug by her boyfriend the first week he stayed at the house with her.

As they rounded the corner to the backyard, the smell of smoke got stronger, and they could hear the murmur of the girls’ voices as they chatted back and forth together. Twilight and her family rounded the rear corner of the house to find the campfire burning brightly in the middle of the yard as three of the girls sat in lawn chairs, facing the trees, watching the orange flames slowly consume the logs piled up in the pit.

The girls were sitting with their backs to the house, as well as the new arrivals as they approached, leaving Dash, Pinkie and AJ unaware that anyone was behind them.

“I just don’t see what the big deal is?” Pinkie Pie was saying from her seat on the left, shaking her head.

Dash, who was sitting in the middle, put her hand up as she replied to the pink girl. “Look, Pinkie Pie…now, I like chillaxing on the shitter as much as the next gal, but it’s something that I kind of like to do…you know…alone.”

Pinkie shook her head again in response.

AJ, who was on the right, holding a bottle of some kind of fizzy apple drink in her right hand, spoke next. “I just don’t think it’s a concept that’s gonna catch on for most folks,” she said, using the top of the bottle to tip her hat up a bit before taking a sip.

Twilight cringed a bit as she looked back at her sibling and his wife, who were looking back at her with stunned looks on their faces, unsure if they were hearing the conversation correctly.

“Aww,” Pinkie whined, hanging her head in defeat. “I just love spending time with you guys so much. I was just trying to find a way to spend even more time together.”

“And there’s nothing wrong with that, sugarcube,” AJ replied, tipping the bottle back for another swig before continuing. “I’ll tell you what, the next time you’re having a dump, and you feel lonely, shoot me a text! I would have no problem with that, whatsoever.”

“Aw, it’s just not the same.” Pinke sunk down into her chair. “I just thought it would be nice to be together, chat and…maybe have snacks.”

“WWWWWHAT?” Dash screeched in disgust as AJ suddenly yanked the bottle from her lips and sprayed the drink into the fire from her mouth, resulting in a quiet hiss as the beverage evaporated on the hot coals.

“SNACKS???” AJ hollered, quickly wiping her chin with the back of her hand. “ARE YOU OUTTA YER FUCKIN MIND??”

Twilight, hoping to prevent her family from seeing anymore of the conversation, put her hand to her mouth and loudly cleared her throat to get the girls’ attention. All three of them turned and looked blankly at the three newcomers, then their eyes lit up after a second when they realised who was there.

“Twilight!” they all shouted together, standing up and walking around their chairs to greet them, all chattering at once so nothing could be understood.

“It’s good to see you too, guys,” Twilight said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck.

“You look awesome without your glasses, Twilight!” Dash complimented, reaching out to adjust Twilight’s bangs for her. “You look just like the-“ she stopped herself, wondering if it was appropriate to talk about Twilight’s princess counterpart in front of her family. “Uh…” she trailed off, then cleared her throat.

“Um…” Twilight shifted the conversation. “You’ve met my brother, Shining Armor?” she asked, motioning to her tall, white skinned brother, who had a shaggy head of multi-toned blue hair.

The girls nodded. AJ reached her hand out to shake his, giving him a good squeeze, causing him to wince a bit. “Howdy!” she greeted casually.

“And you remember Cadance?” Twilight continued, gesturing to the pink skinned woman with the long flowing hair, coloured in purple, pink and yellow hues.

“Oh yeah! Dean Cadance!” Pinkie squealed, suddenly wrapping her arms around Twilight’s sister-in-law.

“Hi…uh, Pinkie Pie, is it?” Cadance replied, chuckling nervously.

“Uh-huh!” Pinkie giggled as she squeezed Cadance even tighter.

“Is it OK if they hang out with us for a bit?” Twilight asked.

AJ headed to the back of the house where there were more chairs stacked up out of the way. “Of course they can! What kinda folks would we be if we said no?” she said, grabbing a few chairs to set the around the fire. “The more the merrier!”

They sat down around the fire, feeling the mild awkwardness that usually accompanies people who haven’t seen each other for a while, who have unexpectedly been thrown into a social situation together.

Cadance was rubbing her hands together as she looked around the yard. “This is a beautiful place, which one of you lives here?”

“Oh…uh, this is Fluttershy’s house,” Dash answered, forcing a smile.

Cadance tilted her head. “Oh, right! She’s the one who loves animals. It only makes sense that she would buy a place out here,” she said, putting her fingertips to her chest. “My gosh, she is such a sweetheart.”

AJ nodded. “Yeah.”

“Where is she?” Cadance asked, looking at the house. “In the house?”

There was a silence around the fire as she girls stared at the ground, looking somewhat despondent, making Cadance wonder if she’d said something wrong.

Twilight, not wanting to be the bearer of bad news, took a breath and turned to her sister-in-law. “Um, she’s…missing.”

The unexpected words were like the sound of shattering glass to Cadance and Shining Armor, sending pangs of shock through their chests.

“You’re kidding?” Cadance gasped, covering her mouth.

“No. I wish, but no,” Dash said quietly, worriedly rubbing the back of her neck. “She’s been gone for two weeks now.”

“Oh man,” Shining Armor said with concern. “The police are looking for her, I assume?”

“Well, actually…no,” Dash explained. “Golds went to look for her.”

Both Shining Armor and Cadance’s faces went blank.

“He’s Fluttershy’s boyfriend,” AJ finished.

“Oh...” Cadance replied. “Is he an investigator or…?”

“Um, not exactly,” Dash said slowly.

“O…K?” Cadance replied, cocking an eyebrow.

Pinkie interjected. “If real life was the movie ‘Taken’, Golds would be Liam Neeson.”

Dash nodded in agreement. “Yeah, only a hundred times more badass.”

Shining Armor’s eyebrows went up. “Wow, than Liam Neeson??”

Cadance shook her head, trying to wrap her mind around the situation. “So…but, I don’t understand why you guys wouldn’t have called the police?”

“Cuz we know Fluttershy is outta the country,” AJ replied, “and the police can’t help her anyway. Golds can.”

Shining Armor and Cadance looked at each other, unsure of what to think.

“Well, I hope she’s OK,” Cadance said with a reassuring smile. “I’m sure it’ll all work out in the end. You just have to stay positive.”

The girls all nodded in agreement.

“We know she’ll be fine,” Dash said. “It’s just finding her and bringing her home that’s the problem.”

The group sat for a moment, unsure of what to talk about next. Twilight, feeling like a moderator between her friends and her family, decided to break the silence.

“So…is Rarity on her way out, or…?”

AJ nodded. “Should be around any minute.”

“So Twilight,” Dash started saying as a smirk spread across her face. “Looks like you’re on cooking duty tonight.”

Twilight’s eyebrows went up. “Me? Why?”

AJ chuckled. “Heh heh, we’re roasting hot dogs n’ smores n’ marshmallows n’ shit, and no one does it better than you, cuz you can do it without poking holes in them.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Fine,” she said flatly at first, then she followed it up with a giggle at AJ’s enthusiasm.

They brought the food out and let Twilight work her magic.

Literally.

She sat in her chair, holding her hand out as she controlled a ring of half a dozen marshmallows that were circling above the fire, roasting to perfection without any holes jammed through them.

AJ had to yell at Pinkie periodically, who kept leaning over the fire, trying to catch a marshmallow in her mouth as they flew by, making chomping noises every time she bit down. The others, including Twilight’s brother and sister-in-law were laughing at her antics as Twilight passed some of the other perfectly toasted treats out to those who wanted them; through the air, of course.

Roughly half an hour later, everyone heard a loud rumble growing in the front yard. It was the unmistakable sound of a heavy, chattering diesel engine that got louder as it approached the house and stopped, idling for another moment before shutting down with a squawk.

“Isn’t that Golds’ truck?” AJ asked.

“It’s probably Rarity,” Pinkie answered with her mouth full of marshmallow. Her eyebrows suddenly perked up as she raised her index finger. “Oh! And DO NOT ride with her in that thing. She is craaazyyyy!”

They watched the side of the house for someone to appear from around the corner, and sure enough, the fashionista herself trotted proudly into the backyard as if she was a movie star on the red carpet at the Oscars.

“Hello darlings!” Rarity greeted before noticing their new guests. She let out an excited gasp, clasping her hands together. “Well, if it isn’t the lovely Dean Cadance! How are you, darling?” she gushed, reaching down to give the Dean a one-armed hug around the shoulders.

Cadance recoiled slightly as Rarity’s cheek affectionately pressed against her temple, the odd combination of vanilla and diesel exhaust filling her senses as it wafted from the smooth indigo hair. “Oh, just Cadance is fine,” she said, turning her head to see the other girls giggling at the situation.

As Rarity joined the party, Twilight started floating some hot dogs over the fire to cook them while Dash and AJ got the buns and condiments ready on a little patio table by the house. They conversed with Cadance and Shining Armor about the Friendship Games and the two high schools. As it turned out, Cadance had heard all about the school shooting at CHS, but was unaware that Fluttershy was the one who thwarted it. The girls decided not to bring it up, figuring that they'd already told enough strange stories about the shy girl that afternoon.

“So, how is Sunset Shimmer doing in Canterlot now that she’s done school?” Cadance asked.

“She’s pretty good,” Dash answered. “She got an apartment like two blocks from mine, which is awesome cuz she comes over all the time to play video games and watch movies.”

“She’s got a degree in Forensic Science, right?” Shining Armor asked.

The girls nodded.

He rubbed his chin. “Does she have a job yet?”

“Nah,” Dash answered. “She’s been having a tough time finding an opening.”

Cadance tilted her head a bit. “Oh, that’s too bad.”

Shining Armor reached out to touch Cadance’s arm. “Hold on, once I get the papers for the office, I might be looking for someone.”

AJ raised an eyebrow. “What kind of office?”

“I just wrote by bar exam,” he replied. “I passed, and I rented some office space to open my own firm. Once I have all the permits and all that, I’ll be good to go.”

“Wow,” AJ exclaimed. “You’re a lawyer? Good for you, partner.”

“Yeah, that’s awesome, man!” Dash agreed.

“Heh…thanks,” he said humbly, rubbing the back of his neck. “But anyway, I might have a use for someone like Sunset to do some occasional digging for me.” He dipped his head a bit and spoke a little quieter. “She still has the, uh…you know…mind thing, right?”

The girls gave a confirming nod as Twilight smiled at her brother. “You would hire Sunset Shimmer? That’s so great of you.”

“Well,” he shrugged, “it would only be part time, like a once in a while kind of thing. Just when I need her, but at least she’ll get some experience, and she would be perfect for the job, what with her, uh… ’abilities’ and all.”

AJ nodded, then adjusted her hat. “She sure would. Sunset’s a smart cookie,” she said. “That’s great that you’d take her on. We’ll be sure to let her know as soon as she gets back.”

Shining Armor and Cadance both looked confused.

“Gets back? Is she not going to be here tonight?” Cadance asked.

Dash shook her head. “Nah, she went with Golds to go find Fluttershy, for the same reason you want to hire her. We don’t know when they’ll be back.”

“Oh…” Cadance said in surprise, looking at Shining Armor as he returned the same look back to her.

Rarity, mistakenly believing that Twilight’s family was unaware of the situation with Fluttershy, decided to change the subject to ease the uneasiness brought on by the mention of their missing friend.

“Ooh!” she squealed, “You won’t believe who I saw the other night!”

“Who’s that?” AJ replied.

“Do you remember Lyra and Bonbon?” Rarity asked, to which the others nodded after a moment of thought. “Well, I saw them at the bar downtown Wednesday night. They’re both still looking quite lovely, I must say. Good on them!”

“Hm,” AJ nodded idly as she stared at the fire.

“And,” Rarity continued, “I happened to overhear that they are both married and have some very lovely children.”

This obviously hooked the attention of Dash and AJ, who both had their eyes open wide as they looked at Rarity for a moment, then at each other. Dash suddenly groaned and squeezed her eyes shut, covering her face with both hands as AJ let out a victorious chuckle.

“HA! Pay up, Rainbow Dash! You lose!” AJ gloated.

“No way!” Dash squealed. “The bet’s been off for years!”

AJ scowled and shook her head. “What? Since when?”

“Oh, I don’t know, since we made that bet like, eight years ago?” Dash shrugged.

“That don’t mean shit!” AJ argued. “A bet’s a bet.”

Dash rolled her eyes, then slouched down in her chair in defeat. “Fine,” she groaned. “I don’t have any cash here though. I'll give it to you later.”

“Twenty bucks!” AJ shouted, pointing her finger at Dash.

“Yes AJ,” Dash sighed.

The farm girl stood up and patted Dash on the shoulder. “No hard feelin’s, sugarcube. You want another hot dog?”

“Uh…” Dash thought, patting her stomach. “Nah. I’m good. Thanks.”

Some time went by, and the group enjoyed the fire, the marshmallows and hot dogs -- which were all perfectly roasted by Twilight -- and of course, each other’s company. It felt good to bring a sense of togetherness back to the shy girl’s empty house, and it gave them all a fresh hope that she would be returned to her home very soon.

The sun was starting to set, and Shining Armor and Cadance had to head back home before it got too late. They thanked the girls for the food and the good time, as well as leaving their best wishes for their missing friend to be returned home safely.

After they left, the remaining girls sat around the fire. It was quieter now without their guests present; they had been putting on a cheerful front with Twilight’s family there, but in reality they were more worried about their friend than ever, wherever she might have been at that moment.

Just as the sun disappeared behind the trees, Twilight had gotten up from her seat to look at a picture on Pinkie’s phone that everyone had gathered around to see. As she stepped forward in the dark, she clumsily tripped on a piece of wood that was sitting next to the fire and fell forward, landing with her hand right in a pile of glowing red embers at the edge of the fire.

The others looked up from the phone when they heard her fall, which was followed by a spray of sparks that flew up into the air when her hand stirred up the coals.

“TWILIGHT!” they shouted in unison, except for Rarity, who’s eyes went wide, realizing the blunder could expose the lavender girl’s immortality, which Twilight still wished to keep a secret.

“Oh dear…” Rarity thought to herself as she quickly walked towards Twilight to help her up. “Oh my goodness, darling! Are you OK?”

Twilight nodded, putting her hand under her other arm to hide it, smearing dark ashes on her light blue golf shirt in the process.

“Let’s go inside, quickly!” Rarity said, putting on a show as the others stood and watched with concern. “I know where Fluttershy keeps all of her creams on ointments for just such a thing.”

Inside, they discussed what they should do, eventually deciding to wrap her hand up and leave for town after telling the others that they were going to a walk-in clinic. They returned to the backyard briefly to tell the other three girls what they were doing, to which they all voiced their disappointment. After all, it was the first time they got to see Twilight in two months, and now she had to leave again.

“You want us to come with?” Dash offered.

“No no, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity replied. “There’s no sense in all of you sitting in a boring waiting room. I’ll take her. It’s not like I’ll get tired anyway.”

“You sure?” AJ confirmed.

“Absolutely. You ladies stay here and put some laughter in this place,” Rarity said, giving her hair a flip.

“Aye-aye, Captain!” Pinkie saluted with a giggle. “Were gonna go inside in a bit and play some games, maybe watch a movie and sleep over here.”

Rarity smiled at her friends. “That’s so sweet of you, darlings. I know this poor house longs for the sound of happiness again,” she said, spinning on her heel to leave. “Come now, Twilight. We simply must get you looked after.”

Twilight, who had her hand wrapped in a bandage and was clutching it to her chest, pretending to nurse it, gave a little smile and a nod. “Sorry guys,” she said sheepishly.

AJ waved her off. “Don’t be sorry, sugarcube. Accidents happen. I just hope you didn’t get burned too badly.”

“Yeah,” Dash agreed, “that would suck, especially on a holiday weekend. Hopefully it’ll be fine. Send us a text when you know, K?”

Twilight nodded. “OK,” she said, turning to leave. “Bye guys. It was good to see you again, and thanks for having Cadance and Shining Armour over.”

“No problem!” Pinkie squealed cheerfully. “Bye-bye! Good luck!”

Twilight opened the passenger door of the big blue Dodge and got in as Rarity started the noisy engine, then drove to the end of the driveway.

“Whew! That was close. Thanks for covering for me, Rarity,” Twilight said as she unwrapped the bandage from her uninjured hand while Rarity pulled the truck onto the road and accelerated briskly toward town.

“T’was the least I could do, darling,” Rarity replied. “I trust you are OK?”

“Yeah,” Twilight said as she studied her hand, incredulous of the fact that it was completely fine after being slammed into a pile of hot embers. “This is actually the first time I’ve really seen the indestructibility in action.”

Rarity glanced over at the lavender girl with her eyebrow cocked. “Really? I would have thought that you, of all people, would have been performing a plethora of experiments on yourself, studying every aspect of your new existence to learn every bit possible about this power.”

Twilight rubbed her ear sheepishly. “Well…actually, no,” she replied. “I’ve mostly been spending tons of time at school, and reading anything I can get my hands on every night.”

“Hm,” Rarity mumbled, looking back at the road.

“Maybe someday I’ll start looking into that,” Twilight continued. “To be honest, I didn’t choose to become this way to be tough and indestructible like you guys did.”

Rarity glanced at her friend with a blank expression.

“Um, I really just wanted more time; to see what the future brings. You know?” the lavender girl finished.

Rarity was quiet for a moment. “I wasn’t given the choice, darling,” she finally said.

Twilight, realising what she’d just implied, looked down at her feet. “Sorry. I didn’t mean-”

“It’s quite alright,” Rarity said, reaching over to pat Twilight’s slender arm. “To tell you the truth, I am simply thrilled to have you here tonight. It’s been so dreadfully lonely at night with the others gone away.”

Twilight nodded. “I know what you mean. The nights alone are long. Although, I have my books, but sometimes they’re not enough.”

Rarity smiled at her friend. “Well, I would love it if you would spend tonight with me.”

Twilight smiled. “Sure. What do you want to do?”

Rarity put her finger up. “We’ll paint the town!”

Twilight looked down at herself. “I have ashes all over my shirt,” she said. “I know this is probably a dumb question, but do you have something I could wear?”

“As a matter of fact,” Rarity replied, leaning over towards Twilight, “I do.”

The lavender-skinned girl smiled back at her friend, knowing that she would have plenty for her to wear.

“You look cute as a button without your glasses.” Rarity said, out-of-the-blue.

“Oh…thanks.” Twilight said, blushing. “It’s doesn’t make me look too much like the Princess, does it?”

“It does,” Rarity confessed, “but I could never mix the two of you up. You may be the ‘same’, with the same quirks and interests, but the lives you’ve both lead have molded you into two people who are vastly different in many ways. You are as much an individual from her as you are from me, and I want you to always remember that.”

Twilight twirled her hair around her finger. “Thanks Rarity,” she said with a smile. “You’re a great friend. I’m glad to be spending tonight with you. This is going to be so much fun.”

Rarity gave her a sly grin. “Indeed, darling…”

*****

“I don’t know, Rarity. I don’t get it,” Twilight said, looking down at herself. “Halloween’s not for a few weeks.”

They were in the back room of Rarity’s boutique, standing across from one other, looking each other’s outfits over. Rarity was wearing a tight, shiny black outfit with tall black boots. At the top was a wide V-neck which showed off her ample white cleavage, with a large, pointed collar suspended over each of her shoulders. There were three diamonds on the outsides of the thighs, and white pinstripes down the outside of the arms. Topping it off was a mask that covered the upper half of her face, along with a ribbon that held her indigo hair up in a tight bun.

Twilight was wearing a nearly identical outfit, except on her thighs there was a large, six-pointed fuchsia star with five smaller white stars circled around it. The other difference with Twilight’s outfit was the pinstripe on the arms, which was a lavender colour, rather than white.

Her hair was slightly different as well. Twilight’s bangs were too short to be tied into the bun on the back of her head, so they hung across her forehead as usual, covering the top of the black mask.

Rarity giggled. “This is not for Halloween, darling. It’s for tonight.”

Twilight turned her head slightly, bringing one ear closer to her friend. “I’m sorry, tonight? Where are we going tonight that we’ll be wearing these?”

“I’m not sure yet, darling,” Rarity replied, picking up a belt that was made of the same shiny black material to put it on around her waist. On the buckle, there was a thin, rigid black box, which was just the size and shape to slide a smartphone inside; which the fashionista did, followed by her putting a set of wireless earphones in her ears.

Twilight looked down at herself for a moment, then back at Rarity before cocking her eyebrows. “Your boobs look better.”

Rarity turned suddenly to look at Twilight as she adjusted the small speaker in her ear. “Nonsense, darling! You have lovely breasts.”

Twilight sighed. “But yours are…popping out more.”

Rarity shook her head, rolling her eyes. “Well, size isn’t everything. Everyone is different. I thought I did a good job of accentuating your body, did I not?”

Twilight turned to look at herself in the mirror. She had to admit, she did look good. It wasn’t very often that she dressed sexy like this, and she had a tendency to forget how nice of a body she really had. “Hm,” she mumbled, studying herself closely. She turned from one side to the other, even going so far as to stick her hip out to see how her ass would pop. “Hm!” she said again with a higher, more satisfied tone, along with a smirk.

She then found herself looking at the material that the outfits were made of. She touched the forearm of the sleeve to her cheek, feeling the strange, smooth texture. The material was fairly thick, about an eighth of an inch, which added roughly a quarter inch to each of the girls’ silhouettes. However, even with such a thick layer of material it didn’t feel hot to wear -- not that it would bother them anyway -- but there was definitely some form of breathing going on through this material.

“Hey Rarity?” Twilight asked, turning to the fashionista. “What is this stuff?”

Rarity was listening to her headphones, staring off into space.

“Rarity!” Twilight said louder so the indigo-haired girl would hear her.

This got Rarity’s attention. “Hm?” she said, turning her focus on Twilight. “I’m sorry darling?”

Twilight tugged on the material on her arm. “What is this stuff?”

Rarity took one headphone out. “Oh, that’s a special high-strength material. Very expensive, but I feel it was well worth the investment.”

“Well, can you be more specific? What kind of high-strength material?” Twilight insisted.

“It is a flexible, breathable material, consisting of a Kevlar weave on the outside with a thin graphene core.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide. “Graphene?? Where did you find material like this?”

“I have connections, my dear Twilight. My supplier has people in all the right places,” Rarity replied with a sly wink.

Twilight shook her head. “But, this stuff is essentially indestructible. How did you work with it? How did you make these suits out of it?”

“Well there are special cutting utensils,” Rarity explained, “but they were dreadfully expensive, so I made my own with my magic.”

“Hm,” Twilight thought as she rubbed her chin. “How are they stitched together? Surely you didn’t just use regular thread?”

“Clearly not,” Rarity stuck her nose up. “Are you familiar with carbyne?”

Twilight furrowed her brows, touching her index finger to her chin as she thought. “Carbyne…” She nodded. “Yeah, actually. Back in 2016, they were able to string together over 6400 carbon atoms inside of two graphene nanotubes to keep it stable, but it was too small to even be seen with the naked eye,” she said, shrugging her shoulders as she looked back at her friend. “But that’s obviously way too small to be viable for, well, any use, really. Where did you find this stuff?”

“Well, as it turns out they have learned how to mass produce it since then.” Rarity informed her friend.

Twilight nodded. “I was just about to say, I thought I’d heard they were producing larger amounts of it. So, is that what you used as your thread?”

Rarity nodded. “Yes indeed. Triple stitched on every seam. These suits should be able to handle almost everything that we can. I would certainly hate to end up showing everyone my bottom if I ever get hit with a flamethrower or something…how embarrassing!” she giggled.

“I’ll say,” Twilight replied. “I read all about these materials in class. Graphene, if stretched out like plastic wrap, can support the weight of a car if placed on a point the size of the tip of a pencil; and carbyne is twice as strong as that.” Twilight cocked an eyebrow. “But why do you need such an outfit? And why did you make one for m-“ she stopped suddenly, looking wide-eyed at the fashionista. “Wait a minute…what are you planning on doing tonight???”

Rarity was looking up at the ceiling with her eyes, touching her headphone with her fingertips, listening closely to whatever was playing on her phone. She suddenly looked at Twilight with excitement. “I think we’ve got something!” she gasped.

“What are you listening to?” Twilight asked.

“I have several police scanner apps on my phone, darling,” Rarity replied.

Twilight shook her head in disbelief. “What are you doing, Rarity? This is crazy!”

Rarity let her arms fall to her sides as she glared sternly at her friend. “Golds has charged me with looking after Canterlot, so that’s what I’m doing. And tonight, you’re coming with me.”

*****

The two masked girls were perched atop the roof of a variety store across the street from a car dealership called ‘Lexus of Canterlot’.

Twilight had no idea what Rarity was planning, or why they were there. All she could do was watch as Rarity seemed to be scoping out the fenced compound where all the new cars were parked.

“Rarity…” Twilight finally whispered, to which the fashionista shushed back sharply.

“SHHH! No names!” Rarity whispered loudly.

“Oh!” Twilight whispered back, ducking her head as she put her fingertips to her mouth. “Sorry, but why are we here?”

Rarity was looking at the yard full of cars for a moment before she turned to her friend. “I got a report on the police scanner of a bunch of keys that went missing from this dealership today.”

Twilight nodded. “OK, so why are we here now?”

“It’s a simple, but effective form of grand theft auto, darling,” Rarity explained. “The thieves go into the dealership during business hours posing as customers, and they blend in, looking as though they belong there, shopping for a car or having service done in the shop. If they see any tagged keys that happen to be lying around on a sales desk, or the service counter, they pocket them. After gathering a few sets of keys, they leave. Then late at night, they come back and use the keys to take the cars.”

“Hm,” Twilight thought as she rubbed her chin. “That’s clever. How did you know about that?”

“Golds,” Rarity replied. “He told me about it once. He said he’s seen it happen before.”

Twilight nodded. “I should have guessed. And you just said Golds’ name.”

Rarity gasped. “Oh! I did, didn’t I,” she replied, then she scowled and backhand slapped Twilight on the shoulder. “Hey, so did you!”

It was Twilight’s turn to gasp this time. “Oh crap! Sorry.”

Rarity paused as she looked back at the yard again. “No matter, darling,” she whispered. “I need to get inside that compound.” Rarity shook her head suddenly. “I need to stop saying ‘darling’, too.”

Twilight smiled.

“OK Twilight,” Rarity said, rubbing her hands together, “could you be a dear and put me inside that compound, please?”

“Hey!” Twilight whispered. “You just said my name!”

Rarity gasped, looking at Twilight with her eyes wide again. “Shit! Sorry, dar-“ she stopped herself and shook her head. “SHIT! Just put me in there, please.”

Twilight sighed. “Fine,” she said, but what am I going to be doing?”

“You will watch for them. Once they enter the compound, you stay by the gate and DO NOT let them leave. Understand?” Rarity ordered.

“Um…OK. I’ll try,” Twilight said, reaching her hand out towards her friend.

“You won’t try, you will succeed,” Rarity replied. She looked down at herself as the lavender aura of Twilight’s magic enveloped her, curling her legs up and hugging her knees to her chest as she was lifted from the rooftop, then floated across the street quickly, eventually arriving above the dealership compound.

Twilight kept an eye on the street, watching out for any late night strollers who might be watching. Unsurprisingly, the street was deserted. It was, after all, 1:30 in the morning, so she brought her eyes back to Rarity so she could start to gently lower the fashionista into the yard.

When Rarity was about twenty feet above the ground, Twilight caught some movement in her peripheries. She shifted her gaze to the right end of the street, where a dark blue full-size van had turned the corner unusually slowly, then made its way down the quiet street with it’s headlights off.

Twilight had to guess that it must have been the thieves. She panicked and released Rarity without thinking; then covered her mouth, realising her blunder too late as she watched her masked friend fall the remaining twenty feet to the ground inside the compound.

“Aaaah!” Rarity’s voice could be heard in the distance as she went down and disappeared out of sight amongst the cars and SUVs.

Twilight hissed inward through her teeth, cringing as she watched to see if Rarity’s landing was going to set off any car alarms. “Sorry Rarity…” she whispered to herself as she brought her attention back to the van, which had pulled up and stopped on the road at the dealership driveway.

Six men piled out of the passenger side, one from the front seat, who stayed to talk to the driver for a moment. The van pulled away after some short words, presumably to wherever they had planned to meet after they’d taken the cars. The man from the front seat turned to walk towards the large fence where the other five guys were gathered. One of them had a pair of bolt cutters, which he used to cut the padlock and toss it on the ground.

They rolled the large panel of fence to the side, opening the compound so they could drive the cars out. One of them had a bunch of key fobs in his pocket, which he handed out to the other five guys, each of whom would be driving one of the cars. They started walking around the lot, pressing the buttons on the remotes to find out which cars they went with.

As a few of the cars’ lights started to flash, Twilight realised it was time to head over there to block them from escaping, as ordered by Rarity. She turned to the service ladder that they had used to climb onto the roof with, but then she stopped for a moment. Why did she need to climb down? Jumping would be so much faster.

After taking a deep breath, she looked over the edge of the store roof, clenching her fists as she psyched herself up to make the leap. “You can do this, Twi,“ she coached herself. “It won’t hurt. It CAN’T. Remember the coals, remember the coals…”

Twilight stepped back a few feet, then held her breath as she put herself into a running position. She hesitated for a moment, taking a few more breaths and exhaling them through her puckered lips, and finally, she took off towards the edge. She watched it get closer and closer, but just as the edge was another step away, she screeched to a halt, teetering with her arms held outstretched as she caught her balance, then pulled herself back.

Her heart was racing inside her chest, each beat thumping in her ears, drowning out her thoughts. “Why did I stop?” she wondered. “Come on, Twi, don’t be a wuss!” She closed her eyes as she gently bumped her fist against her forehead, trying to understand why her legs seemed to stop her on their own accord.

She stood there with her fists together in front of her chest, tapping her knuckles together nervously as she noticed that the men across the street had dispersed and were nearing their vehicles.

“Damn it!” Twilight cursed. “Just jump…just jump…” She egged herself on for a moment, but realised that she couldn’t force herself to jump. A lifetime of learning not to hurt oneself, as well as the fear of pain was inhibiting her control of her own body. “Is this one of the things Golds trained Fluttershy and Rarity to overcome?” she wondered as she looked down one more time, then straightened up and closed her eyes.

“I can do this.” she whispered, realising that it might be easier with her eyes shut. Perhaps if she couldn’t see how high up it was, then she might be able to do it. Twilight squatted down at the edge of the roof, ready to jump.

Then she stood up straight again. “Damn it!” she cursed again. “It would have been faster to just use the damn ladder!”

Her heart was still thumping in her chest. “Remember the coals,” she coached herself as she bit her lip, still squeezing her eyes shut. “Just do it quick…like a band aid!”

She finally worked up the nerve to do it. All she had to do was stop thinking and just do it fast so her mind wouldn’t have time to stop her. Holding her breath as though she was jumping into a pool, Twilight put one foot forward and leapt blindly from the roof.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t close enough to the edge, which she would have known if she’d kept her eyes open, and she caught her trailing foot on the corner of the building and she flipped forward as she fell.

After what seemed like an eternity of silence, with nothing but a gentle breeze against the exposed portion of her face Twilight hit the asphalt face first with tremendous momentum, her body crumpling up in a pile behind her as she came to rest in the crack-filled parking lot. She winced instinctively, keeping her eyes squeezed shut, expecting the pain to set in as it always would after a fall like that, but it never came. The impact was there, the jarring cease of motion, the noise of the collision ringing through her head; but there was no pain.

Her eyes popped open suddenly in disbelief. She knew in her mind that she was indestructible, she'd already experienced it when her hand unexpectedly got buried in the hot coals, but nothing prepares a person for a twenty foot face-dive into hard, gritty asphalt without any fear of pain whatsoever. It was something that she had to learn by doing.

She jumped to her feet, her eyes wide as saucers as she ran her fingertips along her cheeks, checking to make sure she hadn’t lost all sensation, and not just pain. “This is amazing!” she thought to herself, before bringing her focus back to her task across the street. She took off towards the dealership, suddenly becoming aware of the fact that she was running around in public in the middle of the night, wearing a near indestructible superhero costume, about to help stop a robbery with her friend who makes dresses for a living.

The absurdity of it hit her as her boots clopped across the street, then the parking lot of the Lexus dealership, until she slowed to a stop at the open gate of the compound.

Then she froze.

“What do I do now?” she wondered, realizing Rarity hadn’t been very specific with her about what exactly she was supposed to do. One of those thieves was going to come through that gate at any second now…

***

As one of the thieves walked through the parking lot, he repeatedly pressed the button on his fob to get the car he was about to steal to chirp for him, signalling its location. It was distracting with the others doing the same thing. He kept thinking he’d found his car, only to realise that it was someone else’s.

When he finally found it in the middle of the back row, he pushed the lock button on the remote one more time to confirm that it was his, then he hit the unlock button, causing the lights to silently flash twice. He then quickly walked the remaining fifty feet to the car, taking a quick look around the parking lot to see the other thieves’ progress. Once he got to the car, he opened the door, got in and was about to start it when a woman’s voice spoke to him from the back seat.

“Nice car. Are you taking me out to dinner and a movie?”

He was startled by her voice, and turned to look into the back seat to see a pair of sapphire eyes just inches from his face, glaring at him through a shiny black mask.

“What the f-“

CRACK!

***

“Hey!” One the men shouted. “This one’s blocked in by another car, but that one’s stick shift. Bring the bolt cutters and we’ll just break the window, put it in neutral and we’ll push it out of the way so I can get mine out.”

“OK,” one of the others said from the other side of the lot. “Be right there.” He started walking, letting the long-handled cutters swing at his side with each step.

The man whose car was blocked in watched as his partner approached. He was passing by the front of another car when he saw a dark shape come into view from the left, sliding across the hood of the car he just walked by. The man with the bolt cutters recoiled at what was coming at him, and he swung the heavy tool at what he could now see was a female figure dressed in black, but she dodged the attack with ease.

She kicked his forearm, knocking the bolt cutters into the air where she caught them in her hand, then quickly hooked the handle around the back of his neck and pulled his head downward to drive her knee into his face. He bounced back, stumbling a few steps away from her as he covered his nose with his hands, trying to recover from the pain, only to have a high-heeled boot driven into his stomach. The blow knocked him down, hitting his head on the rearview mirror of the adjacent car on the way, rendering him unconscious.

The man whose car was blocked was frozen in shock, having just witnessed his partner getting thrashed when the black figure quickly turned her head to face him, revealing to him a black mask over a white face. She charged at him suddenly, causing the hair to stand up on the back of his neck in fear.

He turned around, intending to retreat to his car so he could get inside and lock the doors to protect himself from the intruder. He made his way along the side of the car that was blocking his, but was stopped when he realised it was parked too close to another car to get past. In a panic, he turned and ran around to the other side of the car, too frightened to look back to see where the woman was as he reached his car and opened the door to get in.

Just then, the dark mistress leapt over the car next to his, somersaulting across the trunk lid then kicking his car door with both feet before she landed on the ground.

He had one leg in the car by then, and when she kicked the door, it slammed shut, pinching his leg in between the door and the car body. He hollered out in pain as he fell onto his back beside the car, turning his head to see where she was, only to see a black boot coming towards his face, followed by a loud crack, then sudden darkness.

***

Twilight heard the holler about halfway back in the compound, her heart rate rising again as she became nervous about what was happening out of sight amongst the sea of cars. She thought she saw Rarity run across the lot a few seconds earlier, but now she’d lost sight of her again.

She was startled when one of the men appeared from between two SUVs fairly close to her, but he was facing the other way, walking in the direction of the scream.

“Hey! What the hell was that?” he shouted as he walked quickly to investigate what had happened. He didn’t make it far.

Twilight watched in awe as the masked Rarity leapt over the hood of one of the cars that he was approaching and drove her foot into his stomach, then his head, followed by her violently hooking her arm around the back of his neck, putting him in a headlock. She bent him forward and yanked him ahead, driving his head into the grille of a nearby car, then slammed her knee into his face. She released him from the headlock next and pulled his hair to bring him back to an upright position to deliver a half-circled right hook, knocking him to the ground for good.

“Whoa…” Twilight mumbled in a daze as she watched her friend disappear from sight again. She was then startled back to reality when a large man got out of a car that was only ten feet from the gate.

“Hey! There’s another one over here!” he shouted, pointing directly at the lavender-skinned vigilante.

Twilight’s heart leapt into her throat when she saw him start walking menacingly towards her. “Hey!” she shouted, putting her hand out as she backed up. “Stay away!”

He continued to advance, forcing Twilight to retreat a number of steps until she was almost thirty feet outside of the gate. He broke into a run when he was about fifteen feet from her, provoking her to using her magic, raising her open hand at him. He was flung backwards by the invisible force, then slammed into the end of the fence, knocking him out cold when his head hit the thick metal pole.

Twilight was frozen in place as she stared at the large man she’d just incapacitated, who was now laying motionless, face down on the ground at the entrance to the compound.

Her mind was racing as she stood there with her knees trembling, wondering how she’d found herself in such an intense situation. It was just that morning that she was reading in her dorm room when she made the decision to go visit her friends from Canterlot for the weekend, asking her brother to drive her out to Fluttershy’s house for a nice campfire and hang out, and she ate hot dogs and roasted marshmallows without a care in the world.

But now, she was at a car dealership in the middle of the night, wearing a superhero suit with her fashion bug friend, who was running around knocking people out like a UFC fighter.

She decided to head back into the compound, keeping her hands nervously clutched to her chest as she stepped a few feet inside the gate, looking for Rarity while keeping an eye out for any thieves who might still be on their feet.

She heard a sudden thump on the roof a vehicle to her left, and turned to see Rarity flipping with her hands off the roof of a gold SUV. As the masked fashionista landed, she conjured up a sharp looking object in her hand with a white flash and swiftly threw it directly at Twilight, who ducked her head and covered her face with her arms as she let out a frightened squeal.

Nothing hit Twilight, however, and she heard a male voice grunt behind her, prompting her to uncover her face and turn to see who it was. To her surprise, it was the last car thief, laying on the ground, clutching his bloody shoulder.

She looked back at Rarity, who was standing next to the gold SUV with a sly smirk on her face. “That’s all of them,” she said with a casual finality that baffled Twilight.

Twilight drew in a deep breath. “Rar-...uh, wow! That was…WOW! You were amazing!”

Rarity shrugged. “T'was nothing. Now let’s get these boys packed up,” she said as she walked past Twilight towards the man she’d just put down, then laid her high heel into his face to silence him.

“Wait!” Twilight cried, causing Rarity to stop and look at her. “You…you were like a ninja, or Batman, or…something! Is that what, um…he taught you? You learned all that out in the field??”

Rarity nodded. “Of course,” she said. “You, on the other hand, need some serious work.” Rarity pointed at her friend. “Look at how you’re standing. You look like a victim. Like prey. Even with that amazing outfit on.”

Twilight looked down at herself, realising that she still had her hands clutched together against her chest and was standing with her knees together.

“You are powerful. Act like it,” the fashionista commanded. “And be fearless. You cannot be hurt.”

Twilight stood more up right, bringing her shoulders back a bit, but she still looked fairly awkward. “Well, I did jump off the roof of the store.”

Rarity shook her head. “You fell off.”

Twilight’s head dipped down in embarrassment. Her face was flushed, creating a buildup of heat under her black mask. “Oh…you saw that, huh?”

“Unfortunately,” the fashionista said. “And you saw what just happened here.”

The lavender-skinned girl was confused. “Huh? What just happened?

“You thought I was throwing that spike at you,” Rarity said.

Twilight sighed. “I know. I should have trusted you.”

“Well, it’s not so much that,” Rarity explained. “It’s that you flinched.”

“Flinched?”

“Yes,” the fashionista continued as she started to pace around. “Suppose a different scenario. What if that man wasn’t an assailant, and you were in fact protecting him? You have the ability to stop my attack, either by catching it or using your magic, but instead, you flinched. And you would have failed your objective.”

Twilight rubbed her chin as she looked at the ground. “I couldn’t help it. It’s just human instinct to fear pain, even though I know intellectually that I can’t be hurt anymore.”

“You must train yourself not to have fear. It was the first thing I was taught, and it is one of the most important things you need to know in these new lives of ours,” Rarity explained.

Twilight looked up at her friend, still somewhat in shock of what she had just participated in. She turned to point at the man by the fence. “I did get one though, did you see?”

Rarity smirked a bit. “I suppose I’ll give you that one. But you did look pretty frightened while it was happening,” she said. “You have a great power. You took down the biggest man in the group, and you’ve had no training whatsoever. Just imagine if you had proper training like me. You would be a god.”

“Hm,” Twilight mumbled as Rarity walked over to the fence and conjured up a sword with a bright flash, which she used to cut the wire-mesh section out of the fence. She then dragged it over to the middle of the lot.

Rarity then instructed Twilight to use her magic to move all the unconscious men onto the sheet of wire-mesh, then wrap them up in it like a burrito, hooking the ends together to keep them contained in case they woke up. To top it off, they left the key fobs and the bolt cutters next to the package of thieves for the police to find in the morning.

“All wrapped up in a nice little package,” Rarity said proudly, dusting her hands off as she admired a job well done. “Well then, what now? Should we see what else is on the police scanner?”

They walked out of the dealership parking lot together as Twilight thought to herself. “You know,” she said to Rarity, “We kind of destroyed their property when you cut that fence up to tie them together with.”

“I’m aware, “ Rarity replied, “but it’s still cheaper than losing six eighty-thousand dollar vehicles.”

Twilight nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I guess so,” she said. “What if the guy in the van comes back when they don’t show up with the stolen cars? He’ll find them tied up, and we left the bolt cutters there for him to cut them free with.”

“Not to worry,” Rarity replied, sticking her nose up. ”If he suspects they were caught, then he would also suspect a police presence here, and it find it doubtful that he would put himself at risk by coming back to check on them.”

“Right.” Twilight nodded as they entered a dark alley to stop and reflect on the evening for a moment.

After a several minutes of rumination, Rarity broke the silence. “Well, what do you want to do now? You never answered me before.”

“I don’t know,” Twilight replied. “I’m still thinking about all those amazing things you just did.”

Rarity smirked. “And…?”

Twilight clenched her jaw and looked Rarity straight in the eyes. “Teach me.”

Chapter 65: Nachos 2.0

Chapter 65

I let Sunset sleep on me for a few hours, enjoying the heat that was radiating off of her naked body as it remained pressed tightly against mine. I stared at the ceiling, taking in the sounds of her quiet breathing, as well as the occasional soft snore, which would make me look down at her face to try memorising her features as she slept.

She looked like a different person when she was like this. She always had a beautiful face, but when she was awake, there was always that look of confidence and power, making her a bit intimidating for most people to look at, despite the fact that she was very friendly most of the time.

But while she was asleep, her face was completely relaxed and that ‘tough girl’ persona had faded away, leaving behind a vulnerable innocence that, if it weren’t for her fiery red hair, would have made her unrecognisable to me.

There was a single copper-coloured lock draped across her face, which I gently brushed away so I could see her more clearly. I ran the back of my index finger down her cheek, giving it a gentle stroke, eliciting a light smirk from the corner of her mouth for a few seconds before it slowly faded back into a neutral state again.

The surprisingly delicate appearance of the red-head reminded me of Fluttershy, and I found it ironic that Sunset used to bully her simply because she was an easy target; so meek and innocent, and such a stark contrast to Sunset’s tough persona. And now, here she was, looking just as vulnerable and timid as the shy girl herself. It was truly amazing how the personality of someone can change their outward appearance so much.

My thoughts drifted more to the shy girl. Where was she right at that moment? What they were doing to her? How she was feeling and was she able to deal with it on her own? Of all the people for this to happen to, why did it have to be her? Her shyness was so profound, the first time I met her she couldn’t even handle with being in the same room as me. How was she supposed to deal with being locked up with all of those assholes doing god-knows-what to her?

I sighed as I worried what this would do to her. What if it changes her forever? What if they make a monster out of her, irreparably destroying the sweet, shy girl that I fell in love with? Even if she can’t be killed, if she comes back to me a changed person, then in a way I still would have lost her.

I could feel a lump forming in my throat as I laid there ruminating over it, so I decided to get up and do something to take my mind off of my missing princess.

I carefully slid my shoulder out from under Sunset’s cheek and let her head settle onto the pillow. I wanted to let her sleep, after all it was something that our kind rarely gets to do, and even though it isn’t needed, having that jump ahead in time can be a godsend. Being forced to witness every minute of every 24 hour day can wear on the nerves after a while.

Plus, she needed a break. She deserved it.

I got dressed and was about to go outside, but I stopped when I had my hand on the doorknob when I saw her sleeping naked on the bed in plain sight. I didn’t think it was right to leave her on display like that, so I picked up and unrolled the blanket that had been set on the foot of the bed, which had fallen onto the floor during our sex, and I covered her up with it.

Before I walked away, I looked at her once more, noticing her hand sticking out from under the blanket just in front of her face.

A thought suddenly hit me. "What if she wakes up while I’m gone and gets scared wondering where I am?"

I rubbed my chin for a moment, thinking about her being here alone, then I had an idea. I closed my eyes and concentrated, then reached out and held her hand with mine for a few moments as I watched her face closely to see if she would react. She didn’t, so I eventually let go of her hand and headed out the door.

I got into the Diplomat and looked at the fuel gauge, noticing it was quite low. This was one problem with that old car, it went through fuel like crazy. Having that four-barrel carburetor on top of that big engine was like flushing a toilet every time I hit the gas pedal.

I remembered seeing a gas station a few miles outside of town, so I decided to go and fuel up for something to do.

I arrived there only a few minutes later, noticing that there was a ‘cash only’ sign in the window of the small, ramshackle store next to the fuel pumps. I pulled up beside one of the pumps and shut the car off, then got out to walk towards the door. I stopped a few feet away from the building once I could see the man behind the counter, who didn’t exactly convey the appearance of being ultimate story of success.

“Hey,” I called out to get his attention.

He leaned forward, furrowing his brows a bit as he looked out through the door at me. “Whut?”

“Why is it cash only?” I asked.

“We ain’t got no inner-net,” he relied in a thick southern accent that was even worse than Applejack's.

“Seriously?” I asked. “You can’t get it from the phone lines?”

“No phone lines either,” he muttered as he held up an old flip-phone.

“Wow. You use a cell phone for your business line?” I asked, shaking my head incredulously.

“Yeah. Why not?”

I wasn’t actually worried about the lack of up-to-date tech in this place, it was simply my way of learning if there might be some security cameras inside the store that ‘Us’ could be hacking into, which may trigger an alert with them if their computers picked up my face on camera. The fact that this gas station was so out-of-touch with the current year was actually a good thing. I could go in and make my purchase and not have to worry about being noticed since the place was so isolated from the world.

“OK,” I said, heading back to the pump. "Whatever works for you."

I started filling the car up, leaning on the fender as I thought about the secret organisation that was holding my girlfriend hostage. I thought about Vegas and how they surprised us by trying to kill Chupacabra, a brash move that smacked of desperation since it revealed their presence to Sunset and me.

I started to think about how they caught onto our trail. How did they do it? I didn’t think they were onto us on our way to Virginia, and not in Washington either. If they had been there, I would imagine they would have given us trouble when talking to Dr. Hooves and Agent Daniels, the same way they did with Chupacabra in Vegas. It must have been after we left DC. Did something about our break-in at the CIA alert them?

Probably not. I think the CIA was unaware that anyone broke in at all, thanks to Sunset’s new ally, Agent Daniels. I felt a sense of pride in my friend and pupil after her first real mission, which she'd handled amazingly well, despite her reluctance to go through with it. What made me smile a bit was her allegiance with Agent Daniels. I had allies all around the world that I had accumulated over the years, and now, Sunset had found her first. The first of many yet to come, I’m sure.

I shook my head, shifting my thoughts to think about Cody. He caused all this trouble for me, just because he wanted into the organisation. Oh, how I wished I could be on the phone with him again, so I could give him a piece of my-

I stopped my train of thought immediately. ”DAMN!” I thought. “Flutters’ phone! I was talking to Cody on it. I bet she had Sunny’s contact on there, and they would have eventually made the connection when they saw that her passport had been scanned at the border.”

I shook my head. “Dammit.” Then I thought of something else: the picture. Fluttershy had secretly taken that picture of Sunset and me having sex with her phone. Granted, our faces weren’t showing, but if Cody had seen the image, her fire-coloured hair made it easy to figure out who she was. I shook my head when I remembered that Sunset’s breast was visible in the photo as well.

“Oh, I am so NOT telling Sunny about that,” I thought as another car pulled up into the parking lot. I wasn’t paying much attention to the person who got out of the vehicle and quickly walked into the store.

“Shit,” my thoughts continued. “They have Flutters’ phone with all her contacts on it. Except for mine, not that it really matters since I went and called the cock-sucker myself and gave myself away.” It had me on edge for a moment, thinking about them having access to the contacts of all the other girls on her phone. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realised it didn’t really prove a whole lot.

Fluttershy did, after all, have over thirty contacts on her phone, only a few of which actually belonged to people who had noteworthy abilities. And it wasn’t like her contact list was separated in groups, consisting of immortals and mortals with magic powers or not. There were just names with numbers, like Jeff, her business partner at the shelter, or Rarity, her friend who runs the local boutique.

For all ‘Us’ knew, none of her contacts were immortals. Who says all immortals have to know each other?

The only contact on her phone who they knew was involved with immortals was Sunset. They’d obviously seen her cross the border and knew she was travelling with me, but even this didn’t prove that Sunset herself was immortal. Just because she was hanging out with one, trying to find another, doesn’t necessarily mean that she had to be one as well.

None of it was relevant right then anyway, since ‘Us’ had no idea where Sunset and I were. It had been about a week since we sent our doubles out in the rental car, and even if our stalker had realised that he was no longer following us, he would have to find us in an area potentially spanning seven states, and that’s just on foot. With a car, we could have been anywhere in the country by then. Adding to their difficulty is the fact that their technology can’t help them, since Sunset and I had abandoned such things, and stayed out of the cities and away from cameras.

I suddenly thought about Sunset at that moment. If, by some chance, they actually knew where we were, she was extremely vulnerable right then, alone in that motel room. Would they try to take her while I was gone? I would have been pretty easy, she was asleep after all. “Dang it Golds, get your head in the game!” I scolded to myself. Sunset was right, I did need a break to get my thoughts in line.

The pump kicked off right then, indicating that the tank was full, so I hung the nozzle up on the pump and put the cap on the car. I took out my wallet as I walked towards the store and counted out some cash to pay for the fuel.

As I approached the door, I could hear some harsh words being spoken at the counter. I looked up to see what was going on, and there was a man at the counter with pantyhose pulled over his face to disguise himself, and he had a knife pointed at the redneck behind the counter.

I rolled my eyes, realising this was the person who pulled up in the other car while I was pumping my fuel, and he was now robbing the store. “For fuck’s sake, is this fuckin dick robbing this place with a knife?” I thought to myself while walking nonchalantly into the store.

As I approached the counter, the robber turned his head to see me walking towards them, and he quickly turned the knife on me, shaking it wildly as he shouted frantically.

“Stop right there, motherfucker!” he screamed. “Give me your cash and lay down on the floor!”

I didn’t bother to look at him as I put my wallet away in my back pocket with my right hand, then switched the cash from my left hand to my right as I stepped closer to him.

“Get the fu-“ he started to say, but was cut off when I grabbed his forearm with my left hand and snapped both of the bones in half, causing him to drop the knife to the floor while letting out a scream of agony. I let go of his arm and quickly swung the back of my left hand up, catching him square on the chin. The force of the blow lifted his feet off the floor, flipping him over backwards before landing on his stomach against the cold tiles with a heavy thud. Once he was silent, I turned to the man behind the counter and held the cash out to him.

“Uh, fifty bucks on pump two,” I said in a somewhat blasé tone.

The cashier wasn’t listening, but was instead staring at the unconscious man on the floor.

I looked down at the robber for a moment, then back at the redneck. “He was robbing you, right?”

The redneck shifted his eyes onto me, his mouth hanging open in shock of what he just saw. “Uh...oh, yeah. He was.”

I snickered. “Oh, whew…” I said. “You had me worried for a second. The way you were looking at him, I thought maybe you guys were rehearsing for a play or something.”

He blinked a couple of times, then gave his head a shake. “No, yeah he was robbin me, man. We get robbed here all the time.”

I shook my head. “That’s cuz you need better security; an alarm system, a proper phone line…” I pointed up at the phony camera that was screwed to the wall up in the corner behind him, “and those fake-ass cameras aren’t doing shit for you, bud.”

He turned around briefly to look at the phony camera, then brought his eyes back to me. “I’ll talk to the owner ‘bout it,” he replied, finally taking the cash from me. “Thanks man, by the way.”

I shook my head. “No worries,” I said as I reached down and adjusted my pants. The moisture from having sex with Sunset was still soaked into my nether region, and was causing my boxers to stick to me and bunch up a bit.

“You OK, man?” the redneck asked, watching me fidget with my package.

I looked at him, then nodded. “Yeah. I just fucked the shit out of my friend, that’s all.”

He nodded slowly. “Oh…uh, good job.”

“Speaking of which,” I said, turning around to look at the snack selection in the store. There were some shelves full of snack food just like in a variety store, plus there was a small fridge and freezer section along the opposite wall. “How old is the food here?”

“Truck just came Tuesday,” he replied.

I nodded with approval. “Oh, that’s not too bad then. I’m gonna have a look around.”

I had an idea for when I got back to the motel room, but after taking a quick around I realised right away that the selection was rather poor. I hummed and hawed at what was available, then finally picked up a few things and carried them to the front counter, stepping over the unconscious robber as I went.

“Is that everything, man?” the cashier asked.

“Yeah,” I said, getting my wallet out again before glancing up at him. “Listen, bud. You didn’t see me here, OK?”

He stopped for a second, then nodded. “Sure thing, man.”

“If you call the cops on this guy, just tell them you kicked his ass,” I instructed as I handed him the cash.

He chuckled a bit at my casual attitude about everything as he took the cash from my hand.

“Keep the change,” I said as I grabbed the plastic bag full of food and walked out.

“Later, man,” I heard him say flatly as I walked to the old car and got in to drive away.

Once I was back at the motel, I quickly went to the room and opened the door a crack to check on Sunset. She was still there, sleeping soundly under the covers, so I closed the door and headed to the front office.

“I guess that means they haven’t found us yet.” I thought to myself as I walked along the row of doors on my way to the front office, where they had a small coffee and breakfast station, as well as a large microwave that I had noticed earlier when we checked in.

I walked into the reception office, shaking my head at my own lack of common sense for leaving my friend here, alone and defenceless.

I nodded to the middle-aged lady at the desk as I headed to the food station. On the way past, I noticed the tacky red LCD sign on the wall behind the counter.

‘Thursday, October 13
12:18 AM’

At the small counter, I set the bag down and unloaded the food items I found at the gas station and set them out on the counter. I leaned over them, shaking my head, wondering if I was going to be able to make this work.

I took a deep breath as I took inventory of what I had. “Two bottles of cola, a bag of frozen onion rings, a bottle of BBQ sauce, a bag of cheese strings, a bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos and one pack of hot dogs,” I whispered to myself. “What the fuck.”

I clapped my hands together. “OK, here goes nothing,” I said to myself. I grabbed a few paper towels and lined the bottom of the big microwave with them. Then I ripped open the onion rings and piled them on top of the towels and turned to microwave on for a couple minutes.

Just then, a man in a Coke uniform came in the front door with a cart full of cases of pop. He rolled up to the vending machine that stood by the end of the reception counter and opened it up to start re-stocking it.

I watched him for a minute, noticing how the pop cans were packaged in those cardboard trays with the plastic wrap on top.

After a moment of mindless staring, I went back to what I was doing. I opened the cheese strings and unwrapped the first one, then started peeling the little strips off the side of it and piled them up on a paper towel. Once that one was done, I took out the second cheese string and repeated the process. I continued this way for about fifteen minutes until I had all of them peeled, then I took a plastic spoon from the breakfast counter and started cutting the thin strings of cheese into one inch pieces.

After I finished that, I walked away from the counter to the guy who was filling the pop machine. I bent down and put my hand on one of the empty trays and looked at him. “Hey, you mind if I take one of these?”

He looked over his shoulder at me, then nodded. “Yeah, go ahead.”

“Thanks bud,” I said as I headed back to the counter, peeling the plastic off of the cardboard tray and setting it on the counter.

I took the hot dogs out of the package next and cut them into small pieces with the spoon, then put them all in a paper coffee cup from the station beside me. I cooked the onion rings a second time since they had cooled off while I was ‘shredding’ the cheese, then I took them out to set them on a paper towel. They were sizzling when I picked them up in my hands, and I happened to look over at the lady at the counter who was watching me with a perplexed look on her face.

“Oh…uh, ouchie!” I said, dropping the hot food onto the paper towel. “Or whatever,” I finished under my breath.

I proceeded to cut the onion rings up into little bits, then grabbed another coffee cup to put them into.

I turned the cardboard tray over and tapped it a couple of times to make sure it didn’t have any dust or paper fibres in it, then set it down on the counter. I then opened the bag of Doritos and dumped them in the tray in a big pile. Then I sprinkled the ‘shredded’ cheese on top, followed by the hot dog bits and finally, the crispy onion bits. To top it off, I opened the BBQ sauce and drizzled a few ribbons in a cross-hatch pattern over the pile of shit that I just made, then I put the whole thing in the microwave and turned it on for a few minutes while I cleaned up the mess I made.

Once it was done, I took the steaming tray of food out of the microwave, picked up the two drinks in the plastic bag and walked out of the office, giving the lady at the counter another nod as I left.

When I opened the door to the room, Sunset was awake and sitting up on the bed with the blanket wrapped around her chest like a towel. She turned to look at me quickly when I came in, holding the tray behind my back so she couldn’t see it.

She looked a bit worried at first, then her expression softened when she saw me standing there. “Hey,” she said quietly. “So I feel asleep, huh?”

I nodded. “Yeah, you did. Are you OK? I was hoping to get back before you woke up.”

“Yeah I’m fine,” she replied. “I was kind of worried, but somehow…I knew where you were.” She scratched her temple as she looked down at the bed. “You were thinking about Flutters, so you went to put gas in the car to occupy your mind.”

I nodded. “That’s right,” I said with a chuckle. “Heh, it worked.”

Sunset gave me with a confused look. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” I said, taking a deep breath. “Before I left, I concentrated on where I was going and what I was doing, and I touched your hand.”

She raised an eyebrow. “While I was sleeping??”

“Yup,” I said with a nod. “And it looks like you got the message. That’s pretty cool.”

She lifted her hands up to look at them, then closed them into fists as she looked up at me with a smile. “I didn’t know that would happen,” she said. “Thanks though, for letting me know where you were going.”

“No problem Sunny,” I said. “I put gas in the car, so it’s got a full tank, but that’s not all that happened. I also stopped a robbery, AND…” I took the tray from behind my back to show her what I had made. “I got you nachoooooos!”

Sunset laughed, covering her mouth at the sight of the grease-soaked cardboard tray. “Ghahaha! What the fuck is that?”

“Hey! This was all I could find. The selection was extremely limited,” I explained in defence of my gift.

She shook her head. “Jeez, you didn’t have to do this,” she said, her cheeks glowing. “You’re such a sweetheart, Golds.”

I shrugged. “Anything for you, Sunny.”

She smiled at me once more, then looked back at the tray before cocking an eyebrow. “Are those hot dogs on there?”

I sighed. “Yeah.”

Sunset shook her head as she timidly reached for a chip with a smile on her face. “I’ll give you points for creativity at least.” She picked up a chip, making sure to get one with a bit of every ingredient on it, then looked at me as she held it to her mouth. “Here goes nothing.”

She put it in her mouth a chewed a few times, then she froze, glaring at me with blank eyes.

I hung my head in shame. “Sorry. It was the best I could come up with.”

She chewed slowly one more time, then spoke with her mouth full. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

I chuckled at her and glanced across the room, looking for the garbage can.

“This is delicious!”

I snapped my head back to her. “Huh?”

She nodded. “This is-” she swallowed the mouthful before continuing. “You’re a genius! Try one.”

I frowned as I picked one up, making sure I got a fully loaded one like hers. I put it in my mouth and tested it while she picked up another.

She was right, it was pretty good. The salty smokiness of the hot dogs complimented well with the zesty, crispy onions, which contrasted nicely with the sweet tanginess of the BBQ sauce and, well, cheese is cheese, so…

“It’s a little soggy, but oh well,” she said. “If you cooked this in an oven, it would be really good.” She opened her mouth to bite the second chip, but then she paused. “Wait,” she frowned. “What was that other thing you said you did?”

I looked at her, then swallowed my food. “I put gas in the car.”

Sunset shook her head. “No, there was something else.”

I let my eyes dart around the room for a few seconds, then shrugged. “I don’t know. I can’t remember.”

She looked at me for a brief moment, then shrugged and continued to eat.

We enjoyed the nachos for a bit, snickering back and forth about the absurdity of how I managed to produce such a bizarre meal, only to have it turn out to be pretty good.

I had something on my mind, so I wiped my hands together and swallowed my food so I could ask her. “So what’s the deal with you and Flutters?”

She glared at me for a second. “Me and Flutters??”

“Yeah,” I replied. “When we were fuckin, you were talkin her up, sayin she was hot n’ stuff.”

Sunset cleared her throat. “She is hot. Can’t a girl say her friend is hot?”

I nodded. “Yeah, it’s just…you seemed to really like watching her ride me.”

Her eyes went wide with sarcasm. “Uh-huh…cuz it was amazing.”

“How?” I asked.

She paused, the shook her head as she picked a chip from her teeth. “I don’t know, she was just…she’s got such a perfect body, and the way she used it was just like…wow,” she continued. “Plus, it’s Fluttershy! Who would have thought she could come out of her shell like that?”

I nodded, agreeing with her fully.

“I still wanna see her finish you off though,” Sunset continued. “It’s just…it's one of those things I’d have to see to believe…you know?”

“Hm,” I mumbled. “Trust me, it happens.”

She shook her head. “You lucky bastard. You get to see it whenever you want. In fact, you get to experience it. I won’t lie, I’m a little jealous of that.”

“Really?” I asked. “Do you have a thing for girls?”

Sunset shook her head. “Not…really? It’s hard to explain.” She sounded unsure.

“What is?”

She took a deep breath as she thought about how to say it. “It’s like…I think some girls are hot, and they turn me on physically, but I don’t really have feelings for them.”

“You made out with Flutters though. Like, a lot,” I reminded her.

“I know,” she replied, scratching her neck somewhat frustratingly. “I just…that’s the most I’ve dabbled with a girl. I don’t really know where I stand, plus not really being born human muddies the waters even more.”

“Yeah, true.” I nodded.

“I think that’s one of the reasons I haven’t fallen in love with anyone here,” she continued.

I looked at her, somewhat surprised by the statement.

“Take you for example,” she said. “You’re a great friend, but I just don’t have the type of feelings for you that Flutters and Rare do. Think of it this way, you’ve had pets before right? Like a dog?”

I shrugged. “Yeah. Lots.”

“Well, you love the dog, right?” she said. “Like, as a companion, but you’re not in love with it…like, romantically.”

“Right.” I nodded. “I’m pretty sure that’s illegal anyway.”

Sunset snickered before continuing. “That’s because you’re not a dog.”

“Yeah, only dogs are supposed to fuck dogs,” I chuckled.

She sighed, bringing her fingertips to the bridge of her nose. “No, I meant that’s why you don’t fall in love with them. Cuz you’re not their kind.”

“OK,” I said, “but I don’t remember ever fucking any of my dogs.”

Sunset shook her head. “That’s because you never lived as a dog.”

I picked up another chip to take a bite. “No Sunny,” I said with my mouth full of food and sarcasm. “I’ve never been a dog. You got me there.”

She rolled her eyes. “Well anyway, it’s the same with me. I’m not really human, so I don’t fall in love with humans, but I do have the body of a human. And that body has needs.”

“Yeah, no shit,” I joked, opening my eyes wide and darting them back and forth.

“Yeah, yeah…shut up. You like it,” she fired back.

We both picked up another chip to have a bite, enjoying the soggy blast of flavour in silence.

I swallowed my bite so I could speak. “Don’t you get lonely?”

She cocked and eyebrow at me for a second, then swallowed her food to answer. “What do you mean?”

“Like, I mean if you can’t love anyone,” I said, “don’t you feel the need for companionship or anything?”

Sunset swept her mouth out with her tongue, looking up at the ceiling as she thought about her answer. “Um, I do think about going back to my world sometimes. You know, to find a mate and start over, but…”

I watched her closely, waiting in silence for her to finish.

“I don’t know,” she said, looking back down at the food with a shake of her head.

“Why won’t you go?” I asked.

She sighed deeply. “Well, at first it was because I was scared. You know, of facing everyone. The Princess especially, after all the things I did.”

“It’s been a long time though,” I said. “I’m sure they’re over it by now.”

She nodded. “Yeah, I know. I’m not worried about that anymore. It’s just…now, when I think about going back, I think about leaving the girls behind, and it breaks my heart.”

I nodded in reply, understanding her reasoning perfectly.

“And now there’s you, too,” she continued, which made my heart flutter when I heard it.

I smiled at her. “I wouldn’t want you to leave, Sunny.”

Sunset’s cheeks darkened a little bit, and she looked away for a moment to hide it.

I decided to ask her something I’d always wanted to know. “What are you?”

She turned back to face me, her expression one of surprise.

“Like, what are you for real?” I clarified.

She took a deep breath and held it for a moment, then she gave me her answer. “I’m a unicorn.”

I stared blankly at her for a moment, then started laughing out loud.

She scowled a bit; unsure of what I thought was so amusing. “What’s so funny?”

“Just forget it,” I replied, shaking my head.

“What?” she shrugged.

I slowed my laughter, then cleared my throat. “Look, if you can’t be serious for two seconds to answer a simple question, then just forget about it.”

Sunset looked a bit put off by the comment, then shook her head and opened her drink to take a sip.

While she was doing that, I looked at the far wall of the room, pretending to be talking to someone else. “Hey, I just fucked a unicorn, then made it nachos,” I said, followed by a smarmy smile and a wink.

She snorted suddenly, laughing at my expression, causing a spurt of brown cola to emit from her nose. She brought her hand up to her face as I looked over at her, watching the pop dribble from between her fingers.

Sunset reached over to slap me on the shoulder. “You fucker!” she laughed. “You’re lucky that doesn’t burn.”

“Haha, you’re welcome for that.” I chuckled, reaching to the nightstand to grab some tissues for her.

“Sorry about that, Sunny,” I said as I watched her wipe herself off.

“Well,” she giggled, “I guess I can see you’re point, when you put it like that. It does sound pretty ridiculous.”

I was still smiling as I looked down at the floor. “It’s not something you hear everyday.”

“I guess not,” she said, crumpling up the tissues and dropping them to the floor. “Um, so anyway, like I was saying before…”

“What’s that?” I replied.

“All this magic arousal stuff that’s been going on…I don’t know,” she continued.

“What?” I asked, dipping my head to look into her eyes.

“That sex we had today,” she stopped to close her eyes for a second. “It was fucking incredible. Like I said, even though I’m not really human, I do have a human body, and it has its own set of needs. I don’t know about you, but as long as we’re friends, I’d be totally OK with keeping our benefits as long as Rare and Flutters are cool with it.”

I felt my heart leap with excitement at the prospect. “You sure about that?” I asked. “You wouldn’t get jealous of the other girls?”

“No.” She shook her head. “They’re your girlfriends. I’m not. And I want nothing more than to get you back together with them. All I need is a good release every now and then.”

“Hm,” I thought as I rubbed my chin. “Well, I’m sure that the other two will be OK with it if you’re little magic curse thing keeps up. I mean, they’ve already let us do it.” I looked at her suddenly. “How is that, by the way?”

“My arousal? It’s gone right now. I’m totally fine,” she replied, then put her index finger in her mouth to lick off some BBQ sauce.

I shrugged. “Well, that’s good.”

Sunset smiled at me, then wiped her hands on the blanket. She then leaned closer to me, putting her lips a few inches from mine as she looked into my eyes. “Thanks for the nachos, Golds. You’re the best friend a girl could have.”

“My god, Sunny,” I said.

“Yeah?” she replied with a seductive smirk.

“Your breath is fucking atrocious.”

“Pffft!” she rolled her eyes.

I shrugged. “What? You’re curse is cured anyway, at least for tonight, so you don’t need to have anymore sex for now, right?”

Sunset quickly looked back at me with a scowl on her face. “Says who?”

*****

The next day, Sunset and I were in the front office at the breakfast counter, the same place I made the Nachos for her the night before. It was almost noon now, and we had decided to leave the room for some fresh air and a nice cup of hot coffee each.

The motel looked like it used to be a very nice one, but the current owners, although nice, seemed to be letting it go downhill pretty badly. There was an outdoor patio with weeds growing under the tables from between the stones, which was behind the office and could be accessed through a back door that we noticed next to the vending machine.

Sunset was wearing her red T-shirt with the sun on it, and a pair of tight jeans to go along with her boots. She looked good as usual, but incomplete without the leather jacket. I watched her look around at the wilderness as the breeze blew a lock of hair across her cheek, which she cleared away with her finger before taking another sip of coffee.

“How many times?” I asked, after which she looked at me.

“Including the first two?” she asked back, to which I nodded. “Five, I think.”

“That’s what I thought,” I said, taking a sip of my coffee. I watched Sunset as she rested her chin on the heel of her hand with her elbow resting on the table.

She stared off into space for a moment while I tried to think of something to say that would bring her attention back to me.

“I love watching you shake after,” I said.

This got her attention. Her eyes shifted onto me, followed by a bashful smile that spread across her face. “I love it when you make me shake,” she said back.

I chuckled. “I’m gonna have to start calling you Sunset Shiver.”

She snorted and dropped her forehead down, resting it on the heel of her hand where her chin had been a second before. “Please don’t,” she mumbled. “At least not around the others.”

“Deal,” I replied, followed by another sip of coffee. I took a moment to look around at the beautiful scenery. The area we were in was still fairly hot, and looked very much like the desert that we’d spent all those days in, except there was far more vegetation here.

“Hey Sunny?” I said, looking back at her.

“Mm-hm?” she mumbled back.

“I was thinking about something, about the thing with you and Flutters.”

She lifted her head to look at me, wondering what I was going to say.

“Not that you and her should get into it with each other,” I explained quickly so she wouldn’t get the wrong idea.

She sat back in the chair and folded her arms. “OK. What then?”

“I was thinking about how you said you were jealous that I get to ‘experience’ her, and you can’t,” I continued.

Sunset raised an eyebrow.”Right…”

“When you read someone’s mind,” I started, then I paused, chewing my bottom lips as I thought about how to word it. “You can do different things, right? Like access different parts of their memory?”

She nodded. “Yeah, kind of. Why?”

“Can you tap into what they’re experiencing right at that moment? Like a live feed?” I asked.

Sunset rubbed her chin a bit, looking up with her eyes as she thought. “Um…yeah, but it’s hard to do. I kind of have to, like…follow it, you know? Cuz it’s constantly moving along.”

“Hm,” I replied.

“Why?” she asked. “What does this have to do with Flutters?”

“Um…” I paused for a second. “Can you…I don’t know, feel everything that person feels when you do that?”

“Yeah, usually,” she replied, brushing her hair from her face again.

I took another sip of the coffee. “So, if you practiced, and got good at tapping into my mind in real time…”

Sunset looked at me sideways. “Uh-huh…”

I continued, “Maybe next time me and Flutters hook up, would you care to-“

She put her hand up to stop me. “Whoa whoa, hold on,” she said, closing her eyes. “Are you about to say what I think you’re gonna say?”

I nodded. “You can feel what it’s like to have sex with Flutters. Through me.”

Her eyes were darting around as the wheels started to turn in her head. Finally, she brought her hand up to rub her chin again. “That’s an interesting idea,” she finally said, before looking back at me. “I won’t lie, I am intrigued. I have, on occasion, wondered what it feels like to cum inside a girl…you know…as a guy.”

“Well Sunny, you’re not gonna believe this…but it’s actually pretty awesome,” I joked with a smirk on my face.

She giggled a bit, looking down at the table. “Is it awesome with me?” she asked, keeping her head down, avoiding eye contact.

I frowned. “Of course. What kind of question is that?” I replied with a shake of my head.

Sunset shrugged. “I dunno.”

“Hm,” I mumbled, then I decided to steer the conversation back to my proposal. “So would you be interested in trying that? The mind reading sex-thing? You don’t have to make a decision right now or anything,” I said.

She smirked as she reached for her coffee again. “We’ll have to fuck on it.”

I laughed as I watched her take another sip. “Whatever works for you, Sunny.”

“Do you think Flutters would let me do that?” she asked, cocking her eyebrow over the cup as she took her next sip.

“If there’s one thing I know about Flutters, it’s that she’s pretty much down for anything,” I replied.

Her eyebrows went up. “That is true,” she said, tilting her head a bit as she set the cup down on the table.

“We’ll ask her what she thinks when we see her,” I said, looking down at my reflection in the dark coffee.

Sunset swept another lock of hair from her face before replying. “Yeah, but not right away, Golds. She might need some time first…you know, after what she’s been through.”

I nodded, then gave her another smirk. “Yeah, we should probably ask her if she’s OK first, eh?”

Sunset snorted. “Well, yeah.”

I gave her a little smirk before taking a pause to think about the previous evening. “You know, Flutters isn’t the only one who knows how to ride.”

She looked at me for a moment, then blushed a bit at the compliment. “Heh,” she chuckled. “You mean the first time we did it last night?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “You rode me like a boss.”

Sunset chuckled. “Haha, like a bauss,” she repeated, changing the pronunciation to sound more animated. “Yeah, I was kind of on a roll there.”

“You were, how they say: ’on point’,” I chuckled. “But, I guess it was understandable after how long you put up with that horn-dog magic.”

She sighed, leaning her chin on her hand again as she looked into my eyes. “Well, there’s plenty more where that came from, big fella.”

I smiled back to her, then took a deep breath as I thought about the rescue mission for a moment. “Well Sunny,” I said after a pause. “Got any ideas yet?”

Her face became more serious. “You mean about finding the base? Not really. It’s only been half a day. Don’t worry, Golds; a solution is going to present itself eventually. I promise.”

“I know, I know.” I nodded, rubbing my face with my hand, before looking at her again. “You know what I’d like to do?”

She shook her head.

“Talk to Rare,” I said. “Let her know what’s up.”

“Mm,” Sunset moaned flatly, looking down at the table. “Is that a good idea?”

“No,” I replied. “Their system might be triggered by voice recognition if I called her, and I’d rather stay hidden as long as we can.”

“Yeah,” she agreed.

I leaned back in the chair and stared into the sky, thinking about how we were ever going to get into the underwater base. It was frustrating to me, knowing that there was something I couldn’t do.

As I was thinking this, Sunset stood up from the table suddenly and headed back to the office. “I have an idea,” she said, turning back to me. “Come on!”

I followed her into the reception office, where there was a middle-aged man sitting behind the desk with a teenage goth girl sitting on the end of the counter next to him.

Sunset walked up to the girl and crossed her arms. “Hey kid,” she said, prompting the goth girl to look up at her. “You wanna make five-hundred bucks? All you gotta do is make a phone call.”

*****

“OK kid,” I said, reviewing the plan. “Just like we rehearsed. You’re having a conversation that sounds like a different conversation, OK? They’ll be looking for key words or names, so you can’t say anything too specific, got it?”

The goth girl rolled her eyes as she chewed her gum. “Yeah dude, I got it…for like the hundredth time.”

I nodded. “OK. Let’s do it.”

The girl picked up the phone on the reception desk and held it to her ear as I dialed the number for the Carousel Boutique. She held the phone to her ear, letting her eyes dart around the room as she listened to it ring.

I glanced up to the LCD sign above the desk.

‘Thursday, October 13
1:21 PM’

Her eyes seemed to focus suddenly, then she spoke. “Oh hi, could I speak with the owner, please?” she asked, then nodded after a short pause. “Thank you.”

She fidgeted for a moment as she waited, then she paused again as she listened. “Oh hi," she paused for a second, "uh, I’m good, how are you?”

I looked at Sunset, who was watching the girl nervously.

“Good. Um, I was trying to place a web order for a dress for the school dance, but it wouldn’t let me calculate the shipping because you’re in Canada, and…” The girl paused for a moment. “Yes. Yes, I just figured I would call instead.” The girl paused again. “The name on the order?” she asked, looking at me.

I nodded to give her the go ahead.

“The name is Rari-shy,” the girl said. After a moment, her eyes began to dart around the room, then she looked at me and shrugged, holding the phone away from her ear as she shook her head.

I glanced at Sunset as the girl put the phone to her ear again. “Hello? Are you still there?” she asked, then her eyebrows cocked suddenly. “How old am I? Fifteen.”

Sunset rubbed her forehead. “Come on, Rare,” she whispered.

“I have to be eighteen or older place an order?” the girl said suddenly. “Oh…parent’s permission?” she looked at me.

I shook my fist victoriously. “Yes! She gets it!” I nodded to the girl, waving my index finger in a circle, signalling her to continue.

“Yeah, they’re here,” she said. “You think my mom is a previous customer? What does she look like?” she asked, looking at Sunset.

“She’s pretty tall, red hair with highlights,” she continued, then she suddenly pulled the phone away from her ear and cringed as Rarity’s voice started screeching out of the phone.

Sunset and I could both hear her voice from where we were standing.

“Sounds like you’re in shit for something,” Sunset teased as she folder her arms and headed over to a small magazine stand in the corner.

I sighed and looked back at the girl, who was trying to bring the phone closer to her ear. “O…OK,” she said. “Uh, hang on, I’ll get a pen and paper.” The girl turned to her dad, who was sitting at the desk. She snapped her fingers and pointed to a notepad with a pen sitting on it, signalling him to hand it to her, which he did.

“OK, go ahead,” she said, then she started writing. “Uh-huh…uh-huh…yup. Got it.”

I was scratching my forehead, wondering what Rarity was having her write down.

The girl was nodding continuously. “OK…OK…uh-huh,” she repeated, letting her head hang back with an exasperated look on her face. “OK I’ll tell them,” she nodded once more. “But, um, actually, I was supposed to tell you some-“ she stopped suddenly, then held the phone out in front of her for a second before finally hanging it up.

I had my hands out to my sides. “What the fuck? She hung up?”

“Hey, watch your mouth around my daughter,” her father warned.

“Oh,” I replied. “I’m truly sorry about that.” I turned back to the girl. “So what the fuck happened? What were you writing down?”

She tore the piece of paper out of the note pad and handed it to me. “She said this is the price of the dress, that is the shipping cost, and expected delivery to your house is on this date,” the girl explained as she pointed to the different numbers. “And she told me to tell you that the dress has been ready for a couple of days, and she’s been trying to get a hold of you about it.”

I glanced over at Sunset. “We don’t have a phone anymore,” I explained.

Sunset rubbed her face in frustration, remembering that she’d wanted to keep her phone, but also knew that we wouldn’t have been able to lose the ‘Us’ spy if we kept it.

I shook my head, then furrowed my brows when I looked at the paper. “Has she lost her fuckin mind?” I wondered.

“Well that was a waste of time,” Sunset muttered, crossing her arms on her chest.

I shook my head again as I continued staring at the paper. “Something’s not right. Rarity knew it was us. She’s trying to tell us something”.

“Hey sunny?” I called out, “Come look at this.”

The red-head rolled her eyes and walked over to me with her arms still folded. “Yeah?” she asked, looking down at the paper.

I pointed at one of the numbers. “I’m no expert, but isn’t that cheap for a dress?”

Sunset looked closer at the paper. “$106.16? Yeah, that’s on the low side. Especially for one of Rarity’s pieces.”

I was tapping my bottom lip with my index finger as I scowled at the paper. "Maybe these numbers are supposed mean something else..."

“Uh, so can I have my five-hundred bucks now?” the goth girl asked.

I looked back at her for a second. “Hang on kid, one more thing. Do you have a smartphone?”

The girl groaned. “Ugh! Yeah,” she groaned, pulling it out with a roll of her eyes.

“Can you Google ‘32.92 by 106.16, then type in ‘coordinates’?” I instructed. “Just for shits and giggles,” I said, glancing over at Sunset.

She typed into her phone for a minute, then frowned, shaking her head. "That's in China or something."

I rubbed my thumb over my brows, trying to remember how coordinates worked. It had been a while since I'd used them. "Eastern hemisphere..." I mumbled to myself. "Shit, that's positive, the western hemisphere is negative." I looked at the goth girl again. "Hey kid, try 32.92 by negative 106.16."

She went back into the search bar and made the changes as instructed. “That’s close to Tularosa, New Mexico, kind of just out in the desert.”

Sunset and I each exchanged a look of shock.

“Holy shit!” the red-head exclaimed. “That’s gotta be coordinates for the chopper, and a date!”

I looked at the piece of paper, then back at Sunset, then at the girl, then back at Sunset, then the girl, then the paper, then Sunset, then the girl, then the paper, then Sunset, then the girl…

“WILL YOU STOP THAT!??!” Sunset screamed.

I let out a hearty laugh at her reaction, then glanced down to read the numbers on the paper again with a smile on my face. “I can’t believe that worked,” I chuckled to myself.

Sunset shook her head, then she started smiling at me. “I told you.”

“Huh?” I asked, looking up at her with a cocked eyebrow.

“That if we stop, the answer will just fall into our laps,” she replied smugly.

I shook my head. “Uh, actually, I meant…” I started to say, before stopping myself. “On second thought, nevermind.”

The goth girl cleared her throat, signalling that she was expecting her money. I looked at her for a second, then reached into my back pocket to pull out a wad of cash. “Here kid, have a thousand. All I need you to do is bring this location up on a computer and print me a map with directions on paper. K?”

She nodded and went to sit behind the desk to find the coordinates on the desktop computer.

Once we had the printout, Sunset and I ran outside then wrapped each other up in a tight hug. I picked her up and spun her around as we laughed happily over our newfound progress. I stopped suddenly and set her down to look into her eyes for a moment, her arms remaining around my shoulders as I spoke again.

“Wait, this date is October 20th. That’s a full week from today,” I said slowly. “What are we supposed to do until then?”

Sunset leaned in, closing her eyes as she pressed her lips against mine. It was a gentle kiss, not invasive or overly sexual, just enough to drop a subtle hint of what she was thinking.

We separated our mouths after a short moment. I licked my lips, watching her eyes become lidded as she let a sensual smirk invade her face. Sunset leaned in and gently rubbed the tip of her nose against mine from side-to-side for a few seconds before finally vocalizing her answer.

“We’ll figure something out,” she whispered.

Chapter 66: Die, Die, Die, My Darling

Chapter 66

Rarity could see it already, the bright orange fire raging from the upper floors of an apartment building just outside of downtown Canterlot. The smoke billowing up into the night sky carried the dark orange light from the blaze with it, making it appear that a massive demon was standing over the city, stalking it like a feverish nightmare.

Rarity was alone again that night. It was Tuesday, October 11th, just before 12:30am. Twilight Sparkle had returned to the city to continue with her schooling, but not before making the commitment to start her training, which Rarity was happy to hear. There was only so much she could teach her, however; lesson one, as always, was to learn to purge the intrinsic fear that each of us has as a vulnerable mortal. Twilight had been given ‘homework’ in a sense, which was to do her best to learn to avoid flinching, and to stand her ground.

Once Golden Arrow was home, her real training would begin.

The masked fashionista heard about the fire on the police scanner app, and decided to make her way over to watch from out of sight to see if she could be of any assistance. She made her way to the buildings by way of the rooftops, using her magic to create platforms of diamond so she could run across the alleys and streets from one roof to the next.

When she finally reached the building adjacent to the one that was on fire, she crouched down at the edge to look down at the fire trucks in the street. They had a ladder truck with the crane raised, spraying water into the windows on the front side of the building, however, it seemed a futile effort by that point. The entirety of the top five floors had every window glowing with the hungry orange blaze, consuming every hard-earned possession and precious memory of the unfortunate inhabitants of the doomed building.

Rarity sighed as she scanned the building, a pang of sadness echoing through her chest as she watched dozens of homes being destroyed simultaneously.

She cocked her head suddenly to listen to another radio transmission from the firefighters over the scanner.

“There’s people on the top floor still…we can’t get up there, there’s too much damage to the floors below.”

Rarity looked closely into the windows on the top floor, but all of them were full of fire. “Maybe on the other side?” she wondered as she stood up and sprinted to the left edge of the building she was on, then conjured up a sparkling, blue platform to bridge the gap between the rooftop she was leaving and the one she was headed for, which faced the next side of the burning building.

Once she able to see the next side, she saw three windows at the far end that weren’t completely lit up by fire, but rather a dull haze created by thick smoke and a few small flames.

“That must be it,” she thought, reaching her hand forward to erect another sparkling bridge across the alley that led directly to the center of the dark windows. She quickly ran across the platform, then dove fists-first through the window and into the apartment, reaching back immediately to fill the opening with a sheet of diamond to avoid a backdraft, which would cause the small amount of fire in the room to burst forth when fed a fresh dose of air from outside.

Rarity somersaulted when she hit the floor and was back on her feet in an instant, looking around the hot, hazy room for the people mentioned over the radio. Sure enough, she found them near the opposite wall, coughing and disoriented, lost in the thick, airborne soot that filled the room. It appeared to be a mother with two pre-teen daughters, huddled up together with watering eyes when Rarity approached them and placed her hand on the mother’s arm.

The woman looked up and promptly recoiled when she saw the masked girl standing above her, unsure if she should be afraid of the sudden intruder in her home or whether the smoke inhalation was causing her to hallucinate.

“Not to worry, darling,” Rarity reassured her, raising her voice over the roar of the fire in the next room. “Is this everyone?”

The woman hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

“You must come with me right now,” Rarity continued as she brought the woman and her children to their feet, then helped them make their way across the room towards the window.

“Come in close to me,” the masked fashionista instructed. She reached around their shoulders with her arms to gather them up close to the window, then she then waved her hand around, creating a curved, blue wall that sealed them off from the rest of the apartment. Next, she let the sheet vanish from the window, allowing a gust of cool, fresh air inside the small enclosure that she had created for them.

“Go!” Rarity ordered the mother, motioning for her to head towards the window. When she approached the window, the woman was shocked to see a sparkling blue bridge outside, complete with simple railings, stretching from the window to the roof of the next building.

“W-what is that?” the woman croaked, her voice barely working after all the smoke she had drawn into her lungs. “Where’d it come from?”

“It’s your path to safety,” Rarity replied. “Please go, and I will bring your daughters across behind you.”

The mother looked at the two young girls for a moment, then nodded at Rarity. She climbed out of the window and tentatively let her foot rest on the blue surface to test its solidity, then stepped out with her other foot. She stiffened up suddenly once she saw the alley far below them, making her even dizzier when the vertigo combined with the lack of oxygen in her lungs, and she quickly reached out to grab the railings with both hands to steady herself.

“Don’t look down,” Rarity called out to her. “Take a deep breath. I’ll be right behind you. One step at a time!”

The woman did what was told and breathed deeply, then looked ahead while she held the smooth, sparkling railings as she started taking small steps across the bridge.

Rarity sent the first young girl out onto the bridge, then held her hand as she reached back to grasp the other child and pull her along through the window.

They crossed the diamond bridge slowly, but surely; the mother leading the way, followed by the first daughter, who was reaching back to hold Rarity’s hand, who was reaching back herself to hold the hand of the young girl at the rear.

Once they reached the roof of the adjacent building, the bridge suddenly flashed out of existence, as did the curved enclosure just inside the window, causing bright flames to erupt suddenly inside the apartment.

The three victims collapsed on the roof together, coughing uncontrollably and hugging each other close as their home was consumed by fire right before their eyes. Rarity sighed as she watched them weep together, until the mother finally looked up at her, prompting the daughters to follow suit.

After the family stared at the masked hero with blackened faces for a moment, the mother finally spoke in a hoarse voice. “Thank you…for helping us.”

Rarity felt the warmth of the mother’s words, as well as the looks of gratitude the she was receiving from the daughters, but she still couldn’t help but feel saddened by the fact that this family, as well as many others, were now homeless.

“Oh…t’was nothing, my dear,” she said flatly, trying not to look affected by the scene before her. “I am…sorry,” she continued, letting her shoulders drop when her defenses went down.

“But you saved us,” the mother coughed. “What do you have to be sorry for?”

“For the loss of your home,” Rarity explained. “I am…truly sorry.”

“Oh…” the woman replied, slowly turning her head to look across at the burning building.

Rarity could feel a lump beginning to form in her throat, but she knew it wasn’t solely caused by the situation that lay before her. She took in a deep breath to speak in a more authoritative tone, not wanting to appear weak in her bold outfit.

“Here,” she said as she approached the door to exit the roof. She created a small dagger with her magic and used it to cut the lock out of the wooden door, then kicked it open. “You can make your way downstairs from here. Once outside, the fire department will look after you,” she instructed quickly, turning away and walking towards the edge of the roof that faced opposite the burning building.

The mother had started to speak when Rarity stepped off the edge, watching the bottom of the dark alley rushing up towards her, the voice of the mother fading quickly as the roof rocketed into the sky above Rarity’s head.

After landing with a hard thud, sending up a thin cloud of dust around her, she made her way out of the alley to the street that ran along behind the building. She walked along the dark street alone, heading towards a more run-down and abandoned part of town, eventually ending up in the fenced-off loading yard of an old warehouse.

Rarity picked out a spot in the dark to lean against the wall of the old building, then took a long, deep breath to try to clear her head. “I almost cried in front of those people,” she thought to herself. “What is wrong with me?”

She shook her head, pondering the reasons why she was doing this. Was it because Golden Arrow asked her to? Because it made her feel good to help people? Because it was fun? Or because she was trying to fill the space in her soul where something was now missing…

Fluttershy.

Rarity knew that’s what it was. Her best friend was missing, and there was nothing she could do to help. Even with all this power she possessed, she was as helpless as the shy girl herself. She was just as helpless as her boyfriend and Sunset, who were, the last she heard, trying to locate an impossibly secret organisation where Fluttershy was being held at that very moment.

The masked girl's back slid down the wall as she crouched into a sitting position, bringing her knees to her chest and hugging them as the tears started streaming down her shiny, black mask. As she tried her best to hold in her sobbing, her shoulders quaked gently; each sharp breath inward felt like a stab to her heart, causing her bottom lip to tremble uncontrollably as she sat there in the dark, weeping for her long lost companion.

“F-Fluttershy...” she cried quietly to herself. “Why?” She put her head down, letting her forehead rest on her knees while shaking her head in despair. “Just when things seemed perfect, why did they have to take you away?”

No answer came back to her. Instead, she heard only the sounds of the city in the distance, surrounding her with the complacency of all the other people in Canterlot who had someone to hold close when they felt alone.

Rarity continued to weep in the dark, feeling utterly alone with unbearable misery wrenching her heart into a knot. The cool October air kissed her chest, with the tears adding an extra chill to her skin where they had landed then ran down inside the tight black outfit.

After spending what seemed like hours in despair, surrounded by the empty yard, Rarity’s breath suddenly caught in her throat when she heard a male voice somewhere close by.

“Target acquired.”

Rarity lifted her head quickly to look around the place, her heart thumping in her chest, searching the shadows beyond the moonlit parking lot. Finally, she saw several black figures silhouetted against the night sky at the far end of the yard.

With a quivering jaw, she took a deep breath to gather herself, trying to suppress her emotions. Something was about to happen, and she needed her wits about her to deal with whatever it was going to be.

She quickly wiped the moisture from her mask and face, then stood up to make her way into the yard where the moonlight was at its brightest, which would put her on display for whoever was out there. This is the way Rarity had always preferred to conduct herself, to be the center of attention, and tonight was no different.

“Show yourselves!” she commanded.

It was only a few seconds before the same male voice returned an answer to her. “You will come with us peacefully, or you will be restrained.”

Rarity stood for a moment, her eyes darting around, scanning the darkness for more of the dark figures. “No,” she replied flatly.

She waited for a response, wondering how many intruders were actually hiding in the darkness. “Night vision, I assume?” she wondered.

“Don’t make this difficult for everyone,” the male voice replied.

“I asked you to show yourselves,” she insisted.

She was met with only silence.

Rarity let out a frustrated sigh. “Very well.”

She reached up above her head and created the largest cluster of small diamonds she could muster, accompanied as always by the bright white flash that occurred every time she conjured up the magic.

The yard was bathed in light, and she immediately saw a large group of men in dark uniforms with weapons and equipment attached to their person. She wasn’t able to take in much more detail in the short amount of time that the light lasted, other than the fact that there were far more of them than she originally thought.

She heard the majority of them groan as the unexpected bright light was amplified through their night-vision goggles and beamed directly into their eyes, rendering them unable to see anything but a flood of bright light through their visors.

The light faded away as quickly as it came, leaving the masked fashionista standing in the moonlit yard once again. “I can do this all night!” she sang. “Come into the light and take those silly goggles off, or I will continue to flash your eyes out of their sockets until you do.”

She could hear the shuffling of feet all around her, along with the clicking of equipment and weapons. Finally, two of the figures emerged into the pale light of the moon directly in front of her from where the voice had been coming from a minute earlier. They were dressed in black outfits, with belts and harnesses that held a plethora of items clipped onto them; guns, magazines, what appeared to be flash or smoke bombs, hand cuffs, and so on. On their heads they were wearing something like ski masks to cover their faces, except these were thinner, and over their eyes they were wearing very elaborate looking goggles, with a multitude of lenses that probably served many different uses in many different conditions, none of which Rarity knew or cared about at that particular moment.

“Oh dear,” she teased. “All dressed up and no place to go?”

“Whether you cooperate or we have to restrain you, you will be coming with us,” the leader repeated.

Rarity rolled her eyes, then turned to look around. More and more team members were appearing from the shadows, surrounding her completely as they formed a circle, most of them aiming small machine guns fitted with silencers at her. Finally, she was left no choice but to assume they were all visible once the formation they had created seemed complete and even.

“My my,” she quipped. “One, two, three, four…” she began to count the men as the leader spoke again.

“I’m giving you to the count of three. We can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way,” he warned. “It’s your decision.”

Rarity looked back at him after a moment with a smirk on her lips. “I’m afraid whatever we choose is going to be the hard way, darling…for you.”

The leader turned to face the guy beside him, who was holding a strange looking rifle. That man stepped forward and raised the weapon, pointing it towards Rarity, but then paused once more.

“One,“ the leader counted.

“I don’t suppose you would be the same pack of ruffians who have taken my dear Fluttershy?” Rarity asked suddenly.

The man with the gun turned to look at the leader. Rarity couldn’t see his face behind that hood and goggles, but she could tell by his reaction and his body language that he knew who Fluttershy was.

“These ARE the ones who have her,” Rarity thought, her heart rate elevating in anticipation of what was about to happen.

“Irrelevant,” the leader replied sternly. “You will be removed from society, processed, trained and deployed. You belong to ‘Us’ now. Two.”

Rarity slowly shook her head. “You did take her. That was your first mistake,” she said, cocking her head to the side as she spoke. “And you haven’t yet realised your second mistake.”

The leader snorted arrogantly in response. “And that is?”

Rarity began to pace around in the center of the large circle of intruders, letting her hips sway seductively with each stride, displaying an air of confidence, appearing unconcerned of the threat that surrounded her. “It is bluntly obvious that you boys are unaware of the can of worms you are about to open,” she said as she turned her head to face the leader again. “Sad really, if you weren’t so ignorant to the fact that you are about to bite off far more than you can chew, I assure you, you would have brought much more than these fifteen unfortunate men.”

The leader shook his head in disgust at the masked girl’s defiance. “You’re pretty brash, darlin’,” he said, “But rest assured, you WILL be coming with us. And if push comes to shove, we will drag you away in chains, just like we did with your little friend.”

Rarity’s jaw clenched when she heard these words. Her mind filled itself with the image of the innocent pink-haired girl, the love of her life, being dragged off into the shadows, reaching out with her hand as she cried for help.

What was left of the sorrow in Rarity’s heart quickly turned to rage, and she balled her fists tightly, preparing to reap a terrible vengeance on these men.

“How about a counter offer?” she proposed. “You return my friend to me, and everyone walks away. No one gets hurt. And DON’T call me darling, darling.”

The leader paused for a moment, then raised his hand to the man with the large rifle.

“Choose wisely,” Rarity warned, “for it will NOT be a simple ass-kicking that you men will receive.”

The leader shook his head. “Three!” he shouted, signalling the man next to him to take action.

Without hesitation, the second man aimed the long weapon at the masked girl and fired.

A large bundle fired out from the end of the gun, spreading wide as it flew through the air to reveal a large net with metal weights on each corner, meant to carry it effectively through the air towards its target.

Rarity casually put her hand up to create a large, flat wall of diamond in front of her to stop the net, which hit the sparkling barrier and slid harmlessly to the ground.

She then raised her right hand above her shoulder, then dissolved the blue wall before her just as she flung one of her projectiles at the man with the rifle, where it buried itself deep into his forehead with a dull thud. The weapon dropped to the ground as his arms fell limp to his sides, then he tipped backward slowly and landed on the asphalt with a heavy crash.

The leader looked down at the dead man, then back at Rarity, who was grinning smugly at him.

“Let the countdown begin,” she said playfully. “That’s fourteen…”

The leader grabbed his machine gun, which was hanging by the shoulder strap ay his side, aimed it at the masked girl and fired.

She was still a step ahead, however; just before he pulled the trigger, there was a flash of light at the end of the barrel, leaving a large ball of diamond blocking the discharge, causing the weapon to backfire out the side with a loud bang.

He dropped the gun, startled by the noise, but was luckily uninjured. He looked back up at the girl to see her wave her hand around above her head, sending a row of flashes around the circle of soldiers, covering the barrel of each of their guns with a ball of blue diamond, rendering all of their weapons plugged and worthless.

The masked girl then held her right arm out to the side, and with a quick flash, a sparkling blue sword appeared in her hand. Holding it pointed towards the ground on her right, she charged forward suddenly, bringing the blade up as she approached the leader, who, in a panic, put both his arms up in front of his face to shield himself.

She swiped the weapon across him with grace and elegance, swiftly and efficiently slicing both of his arms off just above the elbows, as well as his head. The blade passed though his flesh and bone with such ease as she followed through the swing that she wasn't sure if she'd even hit him at first. Once she felt the warm sprinkle of blood on her cheek, she was positive she'd hit her mark.

The rest of him collapsed to the ground as she turned to her left, facing the next soldier about to meet his fate. She swung the sword up the center of his torso, incising a large opening all the way up his body, spilling his intestines onto the ground as she brought her foot up and planted her boot in the center of his bloody chest, knocking him onto his back with a tremendous kick. A warm splash was felt on her bare chest, prompting her to look down to see a spattering of crimson on her pure white cleavage, making her cringe as she looked back up to continue the fight.

“Thirteen, twelve…” Rarity called out as she turned around to see another soldier with his gun wound up, ready to swing the butt-end at her face. As he thrust the weapon at her, she ducked under it and spun around behind him to wrap her arm around his throat. She peered over his shoulder, noticing several of the others closing in, so she raised the sword up and flung it towards the nearest one.

With both her hands now free, Rarity reached around the soldier she was holding, grabbed his chin with both hands and yanked his head to the side, snapping his neck, then dropped him to the ground in a lifeless heap. As his body fell at her feet like a pile of rocks, she looked ahead in time to see the sword she had thrown bury itself into the chest of one of the other men. He was knocked backward as blood gurgled up in his mouth behind the mask, but before he hit the ground, the sword disappeared from his body and a fresh one appeared in Rarity’s hand as she stepped over the dead man at her feet to approach the next victim.

“Eleven, ten…”

Rarity quickly turned to the left to meet her next combatant. Without hesitation, she thrust the sword through his chest, then quickly withdrew it, twirling around to the right in a full circle -- making sure to see where the next closest soldier was as she spun -- then swung the blade at the man’s neck as she came back around. His head was cleanly separated from his body and rolled off his left shoulder, but was caught mid-fall by Rarity, who thrust the blade through the disembodied skull, skewering it like a piece of meat as she turned towards her next opponent.

She swung the sword upwards, letting the head slide off the tip of the blade to fling it into the air as she gauged the distance of the next charging soldier. Rarity leapt off the ground next, spinning around quickly as her foot snapped up, kicking the head out of the air with the toe of her boot. The severed skull rocketed towards the next victim, smacking against his forehead, which caught him by surprise and knocked him off his feet in mid step. Rarity’s feet came down to earth again as the soldier fell backwards, and she reached her hand out, creating a large, jagged diamond spike that protruded from the ground behind him.

He landed with his full weight on it, arching his spine as it impaled him between the shoulder blades, bursting through his chest when his back slammed against the asphalt. As she listened to the final breath bubbling from his throat, Rarity quickly looked down at her thigh.

Her eyes opened wide, shocked at the sight of the red splatter across the three light blue diamonds adorning her right thigh. The sight of it thrilled her, sending a tingle down her spine as she relished in the ruthless punishment she was giving these men; the people involved in taking her shy lover away, the unfortunate souls who were about to regret they were ever born.

“Nine, eight…” the masked fashionista called out, feeling a tingling spark of arousal begin to smolder between her legs when she was reminded of the man who had given her the ability to bring down this level of revenge onto her enemies.

Rarity turned back to her right in time to see the next soldier charging ahead, holding his diamond-plugged gun by the barrel with both hands as he wound up to swing the butt-end at her. She calmly tucked the sword behind her back, holding it with the handle close to her rear-end so the tip of the blade was showing just above the back of her head. She waited patiently for her opponent to swing the gun at her, then reached out with her free hand to catch the weapon by the handle, stopping his attack.

Now holding the gun with her finger on the trigger, she let the diamond disappear from the end of the barrel, which was now pointed at the soldier as he maintained his grip on it after the swing. Rarity fired, letting his own weapon betray him as it violently rattled her arm, each bullet tearing a ragged hole in his body, rendering him lifeless within seconds.

She released her grip on the machine gun, letting him fall with it to his final resting place as she turned to her right to face the next soldier, who was charging at her with a large serrated knife.

She spun herself around and stepped to the side, gracefully swinging the blade from behind her back in a circle, then crouching down to swipe it across the back of his legs, slicing them off at the knees as he ran past her. As he quickly toppled face-first to the ground like a ton of bricks, screaming in agony from the pain of his missing legs, Rarity calmly walked up behind him to thrust the tip of the sword into the back of his skull. The tip of the blade protruded from his open mouth and jabbed into the asphalt, allowing her to pry forward, using the ground as a fulcrum as she pushed the blade ahead until it sliced its way out the top of his head, splitting it in half.

“That’s seven and six!” she counted gleefully, glancing around at the rest of the group, who were now appearing reluctant to approach her. “Who wants to be number five?” she asked with a diabolical giggle. “Any volunteers? Or shall I choose for you?”

The masked killer suddenly turned her attention to the next closest pair of soldiers, both of whom her backing away nervously. She twirled her elegant, crimson-coated blade in circle and began walking quickly towards them, prompting one of them to pull a smoke bomb from his belt in a panic and throw it towards her, hoping it would obscure her vision enough to allow them to retreat. It landed a few feet ahead of where she was walking, but she simply held her free hand out and created a small blue dome over the bomb, under which it popped harmlessly, the cloud of smoke contained within as she stepped past.

Rarity broke into a full run as a second sword appeared in her other hand, causing the two men to flee in panic. They ran into each other first, almost knocking themselves over before they turned to run in opposite directions, but it was too late by then. Rarity leapt between them, spinning through the air with her blades outstretched like a helicopter, lopping both of their heads off with the utmost grace and precision.

She landed on one knee after the attack, then looked up to see who her next victim would be, only to see the rest of them turning to flee the yard in retreat.

This irritated the fashionista. She proceeded to reach out with her arms, holding the blades into the air as she gritted her teeth, summoning all of the magic she could muster to create a large, then-foot diamond wall around the perimeter of the yard, trapping the remainder of the men inside.

“Ah, ah, aaah!” Rarity scolded, wagging her index finger at them as they were stopped by the wall, then turned to face her. “Don’t start something if you can’t finish it!” she sang.

The four remaining men put the backs against the wall, trying to keep their distances from her as she approached. This was no longer an ambush, a capture, or even a battle; it was now a full-on massacre, and unfortunately for them, they were on the receiving end of it.

Just then, one of the soldiers seemed to have a sudden rush of adrenaline; figuring he was doomed anyway, he decided he might as well go down swinging. He hollered out a shrill war cry as he ran towards the masked girl as fast as he could, pulled a knife from his belt and held it above his head, ready to use it once he was within stabbing range.

Rarity’s eyes got wide with excitement when she saw him coming, and with a smile spreading across her face, she said: “Ooh, feisty. I like that.”

Before he even got close however, she erected a monolith of diamond directly in his path, which he slammed into face-first at full speed. He bounced back, staggering and disoriented, pain ringing through his skull after hearing it crack against the hard surface that had sprung up out of thin air.

Rarity gave him no time to recover. The monolith vanished as quickly as it arrived, allowing her to step towards him, winding both swords up over her left shoulder, ready to strike as she closed in on his position. He looked up just in time to see her swing both blades from left to right, one passing through his neck, the other through his abdomen, slicing him to pieces, resulting in his body falling apart onto the ground before her.

Rarity grimaced as a wave of hot blood splashed over her face and kept her lips pressed tightly together as she spat, trying to prevent any of it from seeping into her mouth. “Who'd have thought murder could be so bloody disgusting?” she thought with a giggle as she wiped her face with the back of her hand.

“Three!” she called out, realising then that she’d missed five and four. “Well, so much for a perfect performance,” she joked to herself in silence.

It was then that she felt something cold splash onto her chest. One little pinpoint, then another, and another…

She looked up to the sky as the heavy raindrops began drumming all around her, pelting the steel roof of the nearby warehouse, drowning out the panicked murmurs of the remaining soldiers trapped within Rarity’s thunderdome of shimmering blue diamond.

She looked down at herself, watching as the water began to rinse the blood away from her skin, creating dark red beads that ran down the length of her shiny black outfit. Each raindrop poked a white hole in the layer of crimson on her chest, creating a translucent pool of diluted blood in her cleavage as red-tinted drops of water fell from her chin and the tip of her nose.

Two of the men were to her right against the wall. The third was alone on the opposite side with his back to the wall, watching her, too frightened to try crossing the yard past her to join his comrades.

Rarity brought her attention to the two men on the right, one of which had climbed onto the shoulders of the other and was about to make his escape over the wall. She was still, observing them like a predator watching over its prey, keeping tabs on them as they desperately clamoured to their freedom.

Suddenly, something occurred to her. Something that drove the temperature up inside her outfit, radiating heat from between her legs; heat that spread across her lily-white skin as the raindrops tried in vain to keep her cool.

“This is why Golds told me stay home,” she thought as a lustful smirk crept across her half-hidden face. “He knew they might come for me, and that I would easily have them at my mercy, which lends me the opportunity to get my hooks in them to learn the location their little institution.” The fashionista shook her head at the realisation. “Oh Golds; you little devil, you.”

The masked girl shook her head, bringing herself back to reality. She glanced up at the man who was about to grab the top of the wall to make his escape, then quickly wound up with her right arm to fling one of the swords at the man on the bottom, who was giving the escapee a boost.

The sword hurtled through the air, spinning end-over-end as it flew on an angle, creating a spiral of water droplets around it as the rain was flung from each end. It found its mark on the bottom soldier’s back, diagonally slicing through his torso. His upper half slid off to one side and landed on the wet asphalt, followed by the man on top, whose fingers were tantalizingly close to reaching the top just a few seconds earlier, but was now landing on his back in a puddle of crimson-dyed water.

He tried to stand and run, but was overcome by pain after he'd landed on a chunk of asphalt with his hip, and was unable to get to his feet. Instead, he settled for crawling on his hands and knees in a hopeless attempt to distance himself from the deadly fashionista.

Rarity walked calmly, but with purpose, easily catching up to the injured man. Raising the sword above her head with both hands, she spoke loudly so her voice would be heard over the pitter-patter of the loud rainstorm.

“What’s on your mind, number two? Let’s have a look, shall we?” she joked, before dropping the sword down on him like an axe. The blade passed effortlessly through the back of his skull, just above his ears, and the top of his head slipped away from the lower half, rolling along the ground a few feet before falling onto the flat, sliced side with a sloppy splat sound.

She then swung her foot up and connected her boot with his nose, kicking what was left of his head and flipping him over onto his back. The soldier’s body came to rest on the wet ground, raindrops beating gently on his chest as a river of blood flowed from the top of his head and across the pavement. Rarity turned toward the final victim, who stood frozen, looking at her for a moment before turning to run.

To his surprise, the large wall that encompassed the yard suddenly disappeared. Relieved and desperate for an escape, he adjusted his course to head for the closest shadow to make his retreat.

Rarity watched as he went, her dripping wet face free of emotion as she stood still, waiting for the right moment to deny the last soldier his freedom.

Without warning, she raised her right hand, and with a flash, gripped the spike from the air and launched it towards the fleeing survivor.

It sunk into his calf from behind, causing him to misstep wildly as he staggered for a few more feet, then fell onto his side and rolled over twice before he came to rest in a pool of mud at the edge of the yard. He sat up and clutched his leg, breathing frantically as he looked up to see the woman approaching, her petite frame wrapped in that shiny black material, beading with water in the darkness, her hips swinging as she sauntered closer.

There was a sudden flash in the sky behind her as a bolt of lightning touched down, silhouetting the dark mistress as she continued to slink along, followed by the loud roar of thunder that shook the ground, frightening the poor man out of his mind.

His heart pounded in his chest as she quietly squatted down to her left knee beside him, resting her forearm across her right knee as she looked him over. Up close, he could see that she still had cloudy stains of crimson across the blue diamonds on her thigh, and there was still a tint of red on her white chest and face that had yet to be washed away from the rain.

Evidently she noticed it too, lowering her head to look at herself, then bringing her sapphire eyes back up to meet his. “That was becoming quite icky,” she giggled. “I do hate making messes so very much, thank god for this lovely cleansing shower.”

He grunted in response, trembling with fear as he stared back through his water-beaded goggles at the deadly vixen.

“No sense of humor I see,” she said with a smirk, to which he remained silent.

Rarity pursed her lips and looked around the yard for a moment, scanning the dead bodies that were strewn about, making sure none of them were moving. Unsurprisingly, they were all motionless.

She finally looked back at her captive, taking a deep breath as she watched the trembling fear in his movements, revelling in the satisfaction of dealing such a blow to the people who were keeping her dear friend away from her. She was reminded again where she had learned the skills she’d just put to use on these men, who had taught her to use her magic effectively, who had given her the gift of inextinguishable life, and who had the foresight to put her in this position, where she was able to make a real contribution to rescuing Fluttershy. She felt an overwhelming gratitude, endless love and insatiable desire towards her boyfriend in that moment.

Rarity closed her eyes, shaking her head briefly. “Mmm,” she hummed. “When Golds gets home, I am going to fuck him senseless all night long.”

The soldier’s breathing slowed when she spoke, his body language displaying a look of confusion, obviously not expecting her to say such a thing at that moment. His expression snapped her back to reality, and she giggled bashfully at him.

“Oh goodness, I suppose that wasn’t very lady-like,” she said, before taking a deep breath and putting a more serious look on her face. “Now then, number one, shall we get to know one another a bit better?”

The solider continued to remain silent.

“Hm,” she mumbled, rubbing her chin, which resulted in her inadvertently smearing a bit of fresh blood along her jaw line. “Perhaps you would like to tell me a little bit about your employer?”

Chapter 67: Ingram and FS1

Chapter 67

Stubz made his way down the same dark hall that he did every day, listening to the familiar sounds of the facility as he walked along the hard concrete floor. His loafers clopped along with each step, echoing off the cold walls as he passed one steel door after another.

Just before passing a security guard on the left, he looked to his right as he passed the room of his former project, FS1. He smirked, thinking about how the dead-end obligation he had with her was no longer his to deal with, but was in fact the responsibility of the new guy, Mr. Ingram.

“I wonder how he’s making out with her?” Stubz wondered as he let his eyes drop back to the floor ahead of him, about to carry on with his normal day, which now consisted of inventory counts and logging weapons tests. Tedious and boring work, but it was a welcome change after being frightened day-in and day-out by that pink-haired psychopath.

A new sound suddenly echoed through the hall, a sound that stopped the agent dead in his tracks. He listened carefully, waiting to see if he would hear it again.

He did. It was…soft giggling?

It sounded like it was coming from FS1’s room. Stubz turned and headed back to the door, putting his ear up close so he could listen. The girl was indeed giggling happily. Stubz had never heard her laugh before. It was a sweet sound, like enchanting music to his ears.

“Jesus, what’s she gotten up to?” he wondered, “Did Ingram fall for her tricks and get killed, and now she’s eating his intestines or something and laughing about it?”

Stubz decided to have a peek just be sure, so he slid the little window on the door open and peered into the room. What he saw shocked him.

The girl was sitting at her usual spot at the table, and she was playing with one of the kittens that they had brought in to use as a control tactic for her. The little animal was rolling around on the tabletop, pawing and batting at her fingers as she playfully tickled its belly with a look of bliss on her face. She was hardly recognisable.

Stubz shifted his eyes to the end of the table where he used to sit, and saw Ingram sitting back with one ankle crossed over his knee, resting his binder on top of his legs as he wrote down some notes.

“What the hell?” Stubz whispered to himself, looking down to grab his access card to open the door and set things right. Ingram had certainly crossed the line by allowing her to have the animals to play with. They were for keeping her in line, not entertainment.

He had the card positioned to swipe it through the slot, but just before doing so he looked through the window again. Stubz froze when he saw her raise her hand above her head, pointing her slender finger down at the kitten’s belly before bringing it down to playfully poke the animal again.

She was unrestrained.

“Ingram!” Stubz shouted through the window, which prompted the scraggly-haired girl to look up suddenly in response. When her eyes locked onto his, she seemed to shape-shift before him; her features quickly darkened as the familiar scowl that Stubz had grown to know returned to her face.

“The fuck do you want, Stubz?” she growled, her voice impossibly different than it was a few seconds ago.

Ingram had turned his head to look at Stubz by then. “Can I help you, Agent Stubz?”

“What the hell are you doing, Ingram?” Stubz asked frantically. “She could kill you!”

Ingram shrugged. “But she’s not…”

Stubz shook his head. “Ingram, you’re putting us all in danger! She could kill you and use your card to escape.”

“Nah,” Ingram replied, turning back to his notes as he pointed over his shoulder with his pen. “The guard has my access card.”

Stubz frowned, turning his head to look at the guard who was standing across the hall. He nodded and picked up the card off his chest to show Stubz. It was attached to a lanyard, which the guard was wearing around his neck while Ingram was in the girl’s room.

The agent looked back into the room, only to be startled half to death by a loud slam against the door, accompanied by the girl’s dark eyes right up close to the opening, only inches from his own.

“BOO!”

Stubz yelped with fright, stumbling back and falling on his rear-end on the floor.

The hallway was filled with her satisfied giggling, causing Stubz to scowl with embarrassment as he used his left arm to bring himself back to his feet, brushing the dirt from his pants while a glancing in the guard’s direction, who Stubz noticed was hiding a smirk after seeing the girl scare the daylights out of the gruff agent.

“Why don’t you go jerk-off somewhere, Stubz?” the soft voice asked from behind the steel door, prompting the agent to clench his jaw in anger, then shake his head as he continued on his way down the hall to return to his previous task.

Inside the room, Fluttershy returned to her seat and resumed playing with the little dark-gray kitten. Her face became sweet and pleasant-looking again as Ingram brought her back to the conversation they were having.

“So,” Ingram was saying, “why do you think I don’t trust you?”

“Because you left your card outside, silly,” she replied softly, giving him a friendly smile.

“Are you saying you wouldn’t take it from me so you can get free?” Ingram asked, scratching his earlobe with the end of his pen.

“I wouldn’t hurt you,” she replied. “You’re the first person here who’s been nice to me, plus you let me play with this cute little guy!” She leaned down and nuzzled her face into the furry little kitten’s side.

Ingram nodded. “Well I appreciate that,” he said, “but you understand I have to do it. Like Stubz said, I would be putting a lot of people here in danger if I had my card in here with you unlocked.”

She nodded quickly. “Mm-hm. I understand. And yes, you would be putting everyone else in danger, but I still wouldn’t hurt you.”

This statement surprised Ingram. “Do you want to hurt the people here?”

She paused for a moment, considering how she should answer. “I don’t like anyone here, except you,” she replied. “They hurt me, so…yes, I guess I do want to hurt them.”

“But you can’t be hurt.”

“I know,” she nodded, “but they were awful to me, and they’ve been killing these little cuties right in front of me,” she said, referring to the kittens.

Ingram’s stomach turned at the thought of the people here, like Stubz, who had such a disconnected state of mind to be able to mercilessly kill an innocent creature simply to gain control of a girl, who by all counts seemed like a very kind person at heart.

“You don’t like Agent Stubz very much, do you?” he asked, furrowing his brow as he chewed on the tip of his pen, waiting for her response.

Fluttershy shook her head. “No, um…I don’t like him very much.”

“Hm,” Ingram mumbled as he thought. “Other than me, do you like anyone here?”

She shook her head again. “No. I don’t like anybody here. I really don’t like being in this place at all.”

“You feel as though you don’t belong here?” Ingram asked. “You were brought here against your will, but was it justified?”

“NO!” she replied loudly, catching him off guard. “I saved a school!” she huffed, and then shook her head. “Everyone must be wondering where I went…”

Ingram sighed. He knew the whole story as it was told by the report, which stated that she was dangerous because she killed those CIA agents, but something about it didn’t sit right with him. He could smell a lie, like they were covering up what was actually a kidnapping. At the same time though, he felt that it was important to heed the warnings he was getting from his co-workers; if they were right, and she really was as vicious as they said, it could be a fatal mistake for him to put too much trust in her. If he forgot to give his access card to the guard and came into the room with her unrestrained, what would she do?

He drew in a breath as he thought about his next question before he asked it. “So, the man who brought you here, Cody, he was wrong to do so?”

Fluttershy’s face went blank when she heard the name. Her eyes darkened when they met Ingram’s, peering out from under her furrowed brows, causing the skin to crawl on the back of his neck.

“You dislike Agent Cody a lot, I take it?” he asked.

Fluttershy clenched her jaw, grinding her teeth together before she answered. “I’ve never hated anyone before, Mr. Ingram,” she said flatly, “But I hate Mr. Cody. He ruined my life.”

Ingram nodded. “What would you say to him if he was here right now?”

“Nothing,” she said with a small shake of her head.

“Would you hurt him if given the chance?” he asked.

She glanced down at the kitten, tickling it’s soft underbelly for a moment before bringing her eyes up to meet his with a deep inhale. “If I ever get my hands on him, there won’t be anything left to bury.”

Ingram’s thoughts screeched to a halt when he heard the answer. There she was before him, playing lovingly with a small animal, yet the answer she gave him was so deliberately dark, calculated and utterly frightening. How could it be that one person can have such contradictory traits?

“Is he the thing you hate the most about this place?” he asked, to which she responded without hesitation, giving a quick shake of her head. He was puzzled by the answer, and asked the next obvious question: “Then what do you hate the most about this place?”

She sat quietly, staring blankly at his tie. Ingram watched her, wondering if she had heard him, or if she didn’t care to answer anymore of his questions, but his mind went quiet when he saw the single tear well up and roll down her left cheek.

“Me,” she answered.

*****

Ingram had finished his orientation at ‘Us’ and was now on a private jet on its way to Australia, heading to his new, all-expenses-paid home in Queensland.

The plane landed at a small airport, where a limousine was waiting to take him the rest of the way to the house. He had only minimal luggage to bring with him, and he was told that there would be a long-distance moving company hired to bring the stuff he wanted from his old home in the USA to the new place in Australia.

It was Wednesday, October 12th. He had the rest of the week to set up what he could in the new house, as long as the moving company was successful in getting his belongings there in time for him to be able to unpack it all. He was scheduled to be back to the underwater base on the following Monday, which would be the 17th.

Once he arrived at the house, he marveled at the beauty of it, as well as the rich, isolated surrounding countryside, but he failed to use any of his time for the remainder of that first day to unpack. His mind was stuck on the facility, and how much time they were actually going to allow for him to be here in this new house in the coming years.

They had given him a private phone, one that was linked to a private service that only ‘Us’ had access to, making it impossible for anyone with a regular cell phone to call him on it. The tech officer who set Ingram’s phone up had informed him that the bean counters determined that it was cheaper and less work to establish their own network for the phones. With a public network, members of ‘Us’ could call or be called by anyone, which created the need for massive amounts of call monitoring to ensure the security of the establishment. With the private network, ‘Us’ agents could only talk to other ‘Us’ agents, which eliminated the need for countless hours of call monitoring. Calls on the internal network could be monitored, however the agents generally policed each other, a product of the high level of loyalty demanded from each team member.

He wondered if they were going to pester him on the phone while he was here, and was hoping they wouldn’t since he felt he deserved at least a week to himself to process the life choice he had made. Whether or not it was a good choice was irrelevant at this point since he would not be allowed to leave now that he had seen their base, but he still felt the need to get accustomed to the type of organisation ‘Us’ was.

He already knew it wasn’t what he was expecting. When the scout pitched it to him, there was very little detail given, but it was let-on that ‘Us’ strived to maintain order and justice in the world, and would do anything to achieve its goals. However, this already seemed not to be the case in Ingram’s eyes. The leaders came off as imperialistic, having too much power and money for their own good, and the organisation in general came off as being rather self-serving, unethical and quite frankly, corrupt.

Then his thought’s led him to the girl. He was only there for his orientation for six days, so it really wasn’t enough time for him to get a good impression of her true intentions, but what he did see was a major difference between how she acted around him compared to Agent Stubz. It was like night and day, but then again, Stubz and the others were quite adamant that she could not be trusted and was simply laying a trap with her sweetness for him to fall into.

In time, Ingram knew he would have the truth. He had a psychology degree after all, and if she was not genuinely nice, she would slip up sooner or later and reveal her true intentions to him.

One thing that lingered in his mind, however, was her answer to his question: what did the she hate the most about the place? She said it was herself. Why would she say this? The only explanation must have been her occasionally violent and aggressive nature, which she surely saw as a contradiction to her usual gentle presence. This would indicate to Ingram that her true nature was, in fact, sweet and kind.

And then there was Agent Cody, who was a bit of a di-

Ingram’s thoughts were interrupted by his new phone ringing in his pocket. He sighed and shook his head, annoyed that they were already bothering him during what should have been his own private time.

He pulled the phone out to look at it, making sure to read the time first. “5:31pm.”

Then he looked at the number of who was calling him. To his surprise, the number belonged to a field agent, who doubled as a mission planner and specialist from the base, who he had only met briefly on his fourth day of orientation, along with fourteen others who were gearing up for a mission in western Canada.

They had been sent to investigate multiple sightings of a masked vigilante in the same town that FS1 was captured in, and if it turned out to be another one of these immortal beings, they were to capture it and bring it in. The identity of this person was unknown due to the disguise, so it was impossible to determine without on-sight research if this person was affiliated with FS1.

Why would this agent be calling? Ingram was just the new guy. Perhaps the agent needed some advice, and knew that Ingram had a degree in psychology?

He took a deep breath, readying himself to be as quick and efficient as possible so he could get off the phone and back to his time alone.

Ingram pressed the answer icon. “Ingram here.”

He was shocked to hear a female voice answer him. “Oh, hello darling!”

Ingram looked out into the distant wilderness around his home, confused by the greeting he received. “Uh…can you identify yourself?”

The woman replied, but her voice was obscured by the loud roar of thunder in the background.

“I’m sorry?”

“My apologies. I said I’m afraid not, at least not until I know I can trust you.”

Ingram held the phone to his ear as he turned to walk deeper into the house, trying to listen to the background noise on the other end of the line. It sounded like rain. “This is a private line, and that’s a private phone that you’re using. How did you get it?”

“I would consider it a gift,” she replied. “Besides, I suspect the owner of this phone, who I’ve assigned the loneliest of numbers, will not be needing it anymore.”

Ingram paused as the hair stood up on the back of his neck. “Did you kill him?”

The woman scoffed. “Well of course, darling, but only because he and his band of intrepid boy scouts decided it would be a good idea to try kidnapping me while I was out for a pleasant stroll. Now, let’s make this quick. I am soaking wet and covered in blood, and I simply MUST get home to clean up before I get sticky.”

Ingram’s heart had begun pounding by this point. Who was this woman, and what did she want with him? Was she nearby? “No,” he thought to himself. “Where did that team go? Western Canada, that’s right…wait, what time is it there? It must be about 3:30 in the morning.” He felt some relief, knowing now that her intention was probably not to harm him if she was currently on the opposite side of the world.

“What do you want?”

“I was told by your associate here that you are new to the organisation, and that you deal directly with my dear friend Fluttershy.”

He frowned. “Fluttershy?” he repeated. “What does that mean?” he wondered, then he was struck by the realisation that the ‘FS’ in FS1 must have been the acronym for Fluttershy. What else would it mean? And who else would she be referring to that he ‘deals directly’ with?

“Her name is Fluttershy?”

“That’s right, darling,” the woman replied. “And I’m told you have a bit of a ‘soft spot’ for her, which really doesn’t surprise me one bit. She is such a sweetie, after all.”

“OK,” Ingram said, “and what is it that you want with me?”

“She is the love of my life, and I will not rest until she is returned to me. When your associate here mentioned you were keen on her -- after some ‘persuasion’ of course -- I had to take the opportunity to ask you for your help.”

“What kind of persuasion?” Ingram asked.

“Well, I shan’t go into much detail, but I will say that I was astounded to see how much weight a human shin bone can withstand before it shatters.”

Ingram’s stomach turned when he heard her answer. It seemed out of place coming from such a well spoken individual, however, there was a familiarity about it. “Why would I help you?”

“Because I am willing to bet that you know she does not belong in that place. Am I correct in my assumption?”

He wasn’t listening to her at that moment. Instead, he was focused on something this woman had said earlier. “Who is this woman?” He decided to ask her some questions.

“Why were they kidnapping you?” he asked.

She huffed into the phone. “Darling, please stay on topic!”

“If you don’t give me some answers, then I can’t help you,” he threatened.

He could hear a long, exasperated sigh on the other end of the line. “Fine. I assume they wanted me for the same reasons they took her.”

Ingram’s chest locked up when he realised what she was saying. “This woman, she’s the target! The vigilante they were sent to find…” He reached up to adjust his glasses with shaky fingers. “A-and they failed?”

“But of course, darling. I presume since that nasty Agent Cody took Fluttershy with a team of seven men in suits with basic handguns -- which was their first mistake -- then I assume they thought a larger, more well-equipped team could easily take me, which has led them to their second mistake…”

“Which is?”

“I’m not Fluttershy.”

Ingram was confused. “What does that mean? That she’s even more dangerous than FS1- er…Fluttershy?” he wondered. “Are you saying you fought them off by yourself? Are you even more dangerous than she is?”

“Pshh!” she scoffed. “Please, those fifteen men were no more threat to me than fifteen fruit flies! And yes, my abilities do surpass hers in battle, but please don’t mention that around her, she can be QUITE sensitive about it.”

“Is she dangerous?” Ingram asked suddenly.

“Fluttershy? Absolutely not! She is an absolute sweetheart.”

Ingram bit the inside of his cheek, thinking about how his suspicions of the girl’s innocence were now being confirmed. But he needed to be careful. “The other people I work with say it’s a trick, to lure me close so she can harm me.”

“Preposterous. Are you nice to her?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Then she will never harm you. Show her a little kindness, and she will return it to you tenfold.”

He stopped pacing through his house to lift his glasses and rub his eyes. The long trip to Australia had left him run down and feeling tired, and he was having trouble processing what was going on. Was his new employer really this bad? Did they do wrong by these two women?

“I don’t know…” he mumbled.

“Please, darling. She means the world to me, and I miss her dearly. Every night I long for that sweet, cotton-candy hair, her smooth, buttery skin, those gorgeous teal eyes, her lovely smile, her soft voice…I simply must have her at my side again. I love her with all my heart, and every day without her proves my immortality wrong, because I die a little more each time I watch the sunrise alone.”

Ingram took a moment to reflect as he stared down at the smooth, wooden floor. He could feel her words tugging at his heartstrings, and he couldn’t deny that it felt wrong not to help reunite these two exceptional women.

After a moment, she quietly spoke to him through the phone again. “Please. Search your heart, darling.”

*****

The helicopter that brought Ingram back to the ocean base touched down on the morning of Monday, October 17th.

He busied himself immediately, not even taking an opportunity to visit the girl, but instead using his time to decide what he was going to do with her. He was nervous about the whole thing, after all, betraying an organisation like this would surely end with him underground, and he had only been with them for just over a week, which made it difficult to turn on them after they had bought him a new home and shown him great hospitality and gratitude in exchange for his services thus far.

All the while however, the thought of the two women being separated grated at his nerves, and he found himself feeling guilty for playing a part in their broken hearts.

He kept to himself for the next two days as he took the time to learn more about the facility. He was interested to know more about its security systems, safety systems to control water flooding if there was ever a leak, where their mainframe was held, the fuel system for the generators, and so on.

Eventually, his duties demanded that he carry out his job as the girl’s handler, and he was forced to visit her room after Stubz’ insistence, who was left to temporarily watch over her in Ingram’s absence.

Ingram entered her room in the wee hours of the morning of the 20th to find her chained up at the far end of the table as usual, her head tilted to one side, staring blankly downwards at the cold, shiny surface that was sprawled out before her.

He closed the door behind him just as her eyes slowly rose to meet his, and her mouth began to curl up in the smallest of smiles, but was stalled when she noticed the lanyard around his neck, carrying his access card against his chest.

Why hadn’t he left it outside with the guard this time?

He stood at his end of the table, holding the file folder under his arm as he chewed his bottom lip, contemplating on how the following conversation was about to play out.

At last, he sighed deeply and decided to take the plunge. Once he set himself on this path, there would be no going back.

He pulled a small device from his suit pocket and carried it over to the corner of the room where the camera was mounted on the wall near the ceiling. Reaching up, he let the device latch itself onto the side of the camera, then he turned back to the table and pulled the chair out to sit down.

Fluttershy’s eyes were locked on the camera for a moment, then they slowly drifted down to Ingram, who had opened the file folder on the tabletop and was casually scanning the pages.

“Um, long time no see, Mr. Ingram,” she said quietly, prompting him to return his gaze to her.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” he replied. “I was out setting up my new home. I’m not sure why though; I’ll probably never set foot there again. Not after what I’m going to do today.”

She cocked her head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

He paused, then slowly closed the file and folded his hands together, resting them on top of it. He seemed to be deep in thought about something.

Fluttershy could plainly see that something was off with his behaviour, and her attention was brought back to the device he’d attached to the camera in the corner. She nodded up towards it.

“What’s that thing you put on there?” she asked.

He didn’t answer for a second, but then snapped out of his trance when he realised she’d asked him a question. “Oh,” he replied, glancing back at the camera. “That’s a scrambler. It garbles the footage so the guys watching on the other end can’t see or hear what is happening, but it just looks as though the camera is malfunctioning.”

This captured Fluttershy’s interest. “Why did you put it there?”

Ingram leaned back in the chair and folded his arms. “Look,” he said, “I’m just gonna cut to the chase. I fucking hate this place, and so do you.”

The girl was still, unsure if she had heard him correctly.

He continued. “What do you say you and I get out of here? If we work together, I think we can pull it off.”

She blinked a couple of times, shaking her head slightly to shed the disbelief from her thoughts. “B-but, Mr. Ingram, won’t that be dangerous for you? What if you get caught?”

He shook his head. “If we work together and follow the plan, then we’ll be fine. It’s a risk I’m willing to take to get you back home…with her.”

Fluttershy looked at him sideways. “With who?”

Ingram took a deep breath, then explained what had transpired in his absence. “I received a call while I was away, on my private line. It was a woman. She claimed she knew you. She spoke clearly, and was very poised, and had a habit of calling me ‘darling’ a lot.”

The shy girl’s eyes widened suddenly. “Rarity??”

This was the last thing Ingram needed to see, which was the girl’s reaction to hearing the news of her companion. He purposefully avoided using her name, so he could see if Fluttershy knew it on her own, which she did.

“Yes. That’s right, Fluttershy,” he said, adjusting his glasses.

She suddenly looked very different to him. It was the first time anyone had called her by her real name for what felt like eons, and she had a look of longing on her face, a vulnerability that could only be cured by the reunion with her lover.

Her stomach was full of butterflies. The thought of Rarity coming to her rescue excited her, and for the first time since she got here, she had real hopefulness of seeing her friends again. “You know my real name?” she asked.

He nodded. “Yes. And today, I’m going to get you home.”

She sat forward nervously, laying over the table on her forearms with her chained-up wrists just below her chin. “OK. What’s the plan?” she asked softly.

Ingram followed suit and sat forward to lean in closer. “I am going to destroy this facility, but it needs to be set up so it can be executed once we are clear. I need to plant some explosives in key areas, then I can remote detonate it once we are on the chopper.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Chopper?”

Ingram rubbed the tip of his nose. “Are you aware that we are at the bottom of the ocean under an oil rig?”

Fluttershy recoiled. “Oh my goodness! Really?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“So, are you gonna blow a hole in one of the walls and let the place flood?” she asked.

“No,” he answered, “there are too many flood doors in here, which are triggered by sensors when too much water comes in. There’s just not enough explosives on-hand here to outnumber the flood doors.”

“So what are you gonna do?”

“Well, this place is powered by turbine-engine generators,” he explained. “And the fuel is processed from crude oil, which is pumped into the engine room. I can split the pipe at the pressure regulator, which will leak fuel into the room. It won’t be enough to trigger any flood doors, and the fumes will spread through the facility, and by the time we detonate the explosives, this whole place will be full of vapours and will go up like a firebomb once ignited.”

“Oh my! That sounds like fun,” the shy girl said with a giggle.

He put his finger up. “Just wait though, that will be part of your job. See, the elevators are the only things that connect the levels here, and they are hermetically sealed for flood control, so the doors at each end need to be rigged open or blown so the fumes can spread throughout the entire facility.”

“OK. I should be able to, um…do that,” she replied.

“Good,” he nodded. “But that’s not all. There is a mainframe that I need to destroy.”

“Mainframe?”

“That’s right,” he replied. “There is a large data storage mainframe in the lowest level. The room that contains it is under the ocean floor, to eliminate the chance of a leaky or blown wall, and the access to it has a heavy flood door that will be triggered when we blow this place. This will keep it protected and theoretically recoverable to them even after the rest of the place is destroyed. I need to set up a charge to blow that room, as well as the flood door so we can be sure that the mainframe is lost.”

Fluttershy shrugged. “What is on this mainframe?”

“Everything,” Ingram replied. “Every piece of information since the inception of ‘Us’. Every assassination, recovered alien weapon, every person who’s ever served here, every pay stub, you…EVERYTHING. It is not linked to any network or internet, which makes it unhackable, and it is stored down there, in the safest place possible.”

“And if they lose it?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Then they lose everything,” he answered. “They’ll be back to square one. It is the heart of the operation, and the loss of it would be devastating to them.”

Fluttershy nodded in approval. “OK. Let’s do it,” she said enthusiastically, but then her expression dropped a bit. “But,” she continued, her brows furrowing as she asked the next question. “Is that all you want me to do? Just blow the elevator doors? Can’t I be of more help to you than that?”

“Oh yes,” he nodded. “I have lots for you to do, in fact, you get to do all the fun stuff.”

Her eyebrows went up. “Oh?”

“It’s going to take me a while to set up these explosives,” he said, “and I haven’t done any of it yet, because the security here is too tight. I need a distraction.”

A devilish smirk crept across Fluttershy’s pretty, yet dirty face. “I’m listening…”

“I’m going to unlock you and turn you loose in this place. I want you to create the biggest diversion you can, which will allow me to set up the explosives,” Ingram instructed. A smile then crept across his face before he continued. “And if you feel the need to settle a few scores along the way, feel free to indulge yourself.”

Fluttershy licked her lips, feeling a sudden hunger for violence as all the faces she wished to destroy started flashing through her mind. “I can do that.”

“Oh,” Ingram said as he was reminded of something else. He fidgeted through his suit pockets, then finally produced a small card with some numbers on it. “Here,” he said, sliding the card across the table to her. “Do your best to memorise those coordinates.”

She frowned, looking down at the card. “Coordinates? For what?”

Ingram stood up and took something out of his pants pocket next. “There’s a supply chopper due to arrive tomorrow. We’ll hijack it, and have the pilot take us to those coordinates, which I have chosen at random. I want you to know them too, in case I don’t make it.”

She looked up at him with wide eyes. “Oh, Mr. Ingram! Don’t say that. You’re gonna make it.”

He smiled and shook his head. “Either way, you need to know them. You have to get to those exact coordinates. Your friend Rarity has arranged for someone to meet you there who will take you home.” He then held out the object that he took from his pants pocket and set it on the table in front of her.

It was a simple black cylinder. On one end, there was a clear, dome-shaped cap with what appeared to be a button protected underneath.

Fluttershy studied it for a moment, then returned her gaze to Ingram. “What is that?”

“It’s a remote detonator. For you.”

She frowned, shaking her head in confusion. “But…I thought you were taking care of that part?”

“I am,” he replied, “but, same as the coordinates, if I don’t make it, you need to make sure those explosives go off.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Don’t say that! I told you you’re gonna make it.”

Ingram chuckled. “Look, it’s not like I intend to not make it,” he joked, “But if I don’t, then you have to be the one to do it. It’s too important to leave it to chance. This place has to go down.”

Fluttershy nodded. She understood her mission, and was ready for action. “OK. When do we start?”

Ingram took the lanyard off and held his card up, shaking it smugly in the air. “Right now,” he replied. “Now, I’m gonna set you free, but I need my access card, however I’m sure one of the other guys around here will loan you theirs with the right ‘persuasion’.”

She grinned. “I can be very persuasive.”

He snickered as he bent down and slid the card into the table, which prompted a beep to sound, followed by the handcuffs falling free from her hands and ankles. She rubbed her wrists with her hands, then looked back at him for a moment.

“Good luck, Fluttershy,” he said as he unlocked the door to open it.

She put one hand out towards him. “Wait!”

He stopped to look at her after opening the door.

“Um…thank you,” she said, her cheeks flushing darkly as she let her eyes drop to the tabletop.

He smiled, feeling his heart warm up at the adorable display of gratitude. “No, thank you.” And with that, he left the room, leaving the door wide open behind him.

It was a sight for sore eyes. Fluttershy was at the table, unchained, looking at an open door.

This was it.

Before getting up from the table, she held her hand up and began poking her right palm with her left index finger, pretending to dial a cell phone. She then held the invisible phone to her ear, letting her eyes drift up to the lights on the ceiling as she listened to the imaginary ringing.

Her eyes went wide with excitement when someone ‘answered’, and she drew in a small gasp. “Oh! Hello, Angel of Death? Hi, it’s Fluttershy. Um, how would you like to take the day off?”

Chapter 68: The Wrath of Fluttershy - Part 1

Chapter 68

As always, Stubz was making his way down the same dark hall that he did everyday. There was only silence surrounding him, save for the tired scuffing of his footsteps on the concrete floor as he walked along, thinking about his day.

He decided to check his watch.

‘Thursday, October 20th, 2022

2:13 am’

Stubz let his arm fall back to his side as he continued on, yawning deeply as he dragged his feet along the hard floor. He was up especially late that night, hoping to finish his data logs a day ahead of schedule so he could have Friday, Saturday and Sunday off to spend alone in his quarters.

He had been looking forward to it all week. It had been ages since he’d had that much time to himself, and now he was so close to finishing his work, it was only a matter of time before he would be enjoying himself in his room with a glass of scotch and a good book. Nothing could stop that glorious moment from coming now.

Just as he was deciding what novel he might read, he got a page in his ear piece.

“Agent Stubz?”

He exhaled loudly, squinting his eyes shut as he shook his head. “So close…what the hell do they want now?” He placed his fingertip to his ear. “What is it?” he answered flatly.

“We’ve got a situation on level twenty-one. Dobbs isn’t at his post.”

Stubz’ pace slowed as he listened, knowing full well which level his comrade was referring to. “That’s FS1’s level,” he thought as he heard the next sentence, which was one he hoped he’d never hear.

“And FS1’s not in her room.”

The news made Stubz freeze in his tracks. “Oh dear sweet fuck...” He could feel the hairs stand up on the back of his neck and his heart began pounding in his chest, followed by him frantically replying over the intercom. “Call for backup. Find her as soon as you can. Restrain her by any means necessary. I’m heading up there now.”

“Copy that," the voice on the other end replied as Stubz turned around to head back to the elevator.

He didn’t get far. When he turned around, he bumped directly into the shy girl, who had been silently following behind him for an unknown length of time.

Stubz’ heart nearly leapt from his throat when he came face-to-face with her dirty yellow complexion, her big, dark teal eyes, her stringy, frazzled pink hair, and her angry scowl. All Stubz could do was stand and stare back, trembling in his shoes, knowing by the look on the fugitive girl’s face that it was futile to expect much, if any mercy after the things he’d done to her. He was frightened into a daze, so much so that he didn’t even notice the hard object pressing against his crotch.

The two enemies kept their eyes locked onto one another as gunfire rang out in the quiet hallway, leaving a ringing in Stubz’ ears, unsure if the sound had happened inside his head or if it was part of reality.

His answer came before too long, in the form of intense numbness combined with unbearable stinging emanating from his crotch, followed by the trickle of warm blood running down the inner sides of his legs. When he slowly looked down, his breath quivered as his knees gave out beneath him, dumping him onto his back on the cement floor with a large crimson stain in the crotch of his pants.

Fluttershy stood over him, still barefoot, wearing the baggy gray pants and shirt that didn’t fit her properly, holding a pistol in her hand, positioned where his crotch had just been.

She finally moved, casually pointing down at his injury with the weapon. “There. You see?” she said in her soft voice.

Stubz placed his hand over his crotch, then whimpered when the horrifying truth struck him: his genitals were gone; blown off by the pistol at point-blank range. He watched in terror as she came down onto one knee beside him, letting her forearm rest on her raised knee with the pistol dangling lazily from her fingertips as she quietly looked him over.

“I told you,” she continued. ”No one breaks a Pinkie promise.”

“Y-you…you bi-“ he tried to curse, but was stopped by Fluttershy.

“Oh Mr. Stubz, we haven’t been very nice to each other all this time, have we?” she said, shaking her head. “We could have at least tried to be friends, couldn’t we?”

Stubz simply glared at her in silence while she spoke, gritting his teeth as he felt a light-headed chill come over him.

“Now,“ she continued, shifting her eyes up to the ceiling. “I can’t leave it be like that. I mean, being kind is my specialty, so here it goes.”

Fluttershy held the gun up, twirling it around on her index finger by the trigger loop and catching it so the handle was facing towards Stubz. She spoke again as she offered the weapon to him. “Here.”

Stubz didn’t move. Instead, he just looked at the gun in confusion, then back at her.

“You see,” she explained, “when I shot your little dick off, I made sure to also hit your femoral artery, which means that, um…you’re going to bleed to death, I’m afraid. Sorry.”

She held the gun closer to him, insisting that he take it.

“Take this, Mr. Stubz,” she continued. “Consider it my first, and last act of kindness between us. I left one round in the chamber, just for you, in case the pain becomes too much and you want to end it sooner.”

He looked at the weapon again, then slowly reached with his weakening arm to grasp it in his hand, holding onto it weakly as the shy girl smiled at him.

“There,” she said sweetly. “Now I feel better, don’t you?”

Stubz glared at her, his anger growing at what she’d done to him as he shifted his eyes onto the weapon, considering what he should do. After a short moment, his emotions overwhelmed him and he pointed the gun directly at her face and fired.

Fluttershy didn’t flinch, nor did she even close her eyes. She watched her ill-fated victim take his anger out on her, firing a point-blank shot in between her eyes. Her head bounced backwards from the impact, but as usual, she was unharmed.

After his arm fell limp again, she rolled her eyes and shook her head, looking around the empty hall for a moment before bringing her sight back to him. “You’re such an idiot, Stubz.”

She reached out with her hand to pluck the access card from his sweater pocket to study it for a moment, then stuffed it in her own pants pocket before looking down at the pool of blood that was growing around Stubz’ body. “Well, maybe you won’t have to wait that long after all,” she said with a little smirk.

Stubz’ face was already drained of its colour. She prepared herself to stand up again, watching her former master’s eyelids began to flutter as he teetered on the brink of unconsciousness. “Well,” she began, “um, as much as I’d like to stay and watch you fuck off into the next life, I really have to get going.”

Fluttershy stood up again, looking down the hall behind her, then forward, the way Stubz had been headed. After a moment, she looked down at him once more with an innocent smile. “I just can’t wait to get started. This is so exciting!” She clasped her hands together in front of her chest, like a teenage girl thinking about her latest crush.

“I’ve got so much to do, and I’m ready to attack the day!”

She then stepped over him, continuing on her way to exact her revenge on the facility. “Goodbye, Mr. Stubz. Have fun bleeding to death.”

*****

It was quiet in the main control room. The guards stood at their usual posts, two at each set of elevator doors, and one at the top and bottom of the metal stairs leading up to the catwalk. The mission specialists were busy moving from one computer to another, talking amongst themselves and typing madly at their keyboards, anxiously waiting for their shift to come to an end so they could go to their quarters and get some much needed rest.

As all of this was going on, the elevator that came from the upper levels opened and a dozen security soldiers stepped out, heading for the catwalk staircase to make their way to the elevator that led to the lower levels of the facility.

As they passed the rows of computers, some of the specialists stopped what they were doing to watch the unusually large security team pass through.

“What’s all this?” a specialist asked as one of the security men passed.

“There was a breach downstairs; live subject on the loose,” was he answer he got.

“Oh,” the specialist replied nonchalantly, turning back to his console to continue his task. “Well, good luck.”

The security team steadily made their way up the stairs, and then along the catwalk to the next set of elevator doors.

This was the moment their day went downhill rather quickly.

When the team was about halfway across the catwalk, the light above the elevator that they were headed for lit up, accompanied by a quiet BING sound, followed by the doors opening.

Fluttershy darted out from the elevator, running barefoot with her arms crossed in front of her chest, holding a pistol in each hand. She released a round from each gun as she passed between the elevator guards, catching them both in the temples, sending a spray of crimson from the opposite sides of their heads, after which they both to dropped to the ground in dead heaps.

She still had on the loose fitting light gray pants with the dark gray shirt, but now she was carrying some extra accessories along with her. She had taken the belts from two guards in the lower levels and was now wearing them herself, one slung over each shoulder, wrapped under each arm, creating an X-pattern across her chest. The belts had been equipped with one pistol each, and there was an extra magazine on one of them, along with a few other items that could prove useful, given the right situation.

On her back, hanging by a strap over her right shoulder, was a large, black weapon with a sizeable revolving cartridge mounted just ahead of the trigger.

The security team on the catwalk halted when they saw her charging towards them, prompting the man in front pull his gun from its holster to aim, however, the other eleven men behind him were helpless to act. Being caught on a narrow walkway had put them in a position where only the first one or possibly two men could fire, making their numbers useless.

Fluttershy aimed both guns forward as she charged, firing a round from the right hand gun first, putting a round through the team leader’s forehead. She fired a round from the left hand next, putting down the second team member in the lineup after the leader dropped to the steel grate of the catwalk floor.

She continued this murderous process; firing from the right, then the left, and then the right again, ruthlessly mowing down the helpless team members one-by-one. Each of them were unable to fire with a team member in front of them, and as soon as the one in front who was blocking the next man’s view dropped dead, there was no time to react before the pink-haired demon would send the next round through his skull, followed by whoever was behind him, and so on.

She had stopped running by then and was standing her ground just short of halfway across the catwalk with the huge screen to her right, which cast a green glow onto everyone as she continued filling the huge room with the echo of deafening gunfire. The lineup of soldiers continued to shorten one-by-one as the mission specialists on the floor covered their heads and ducked down behind their consoles.

Fluttershy’s attention was suddenly brought to the floor under the catwalk behind her. She could feel bullets hitting her right hip and shoulder, prompting her to turn her head quickly, causing her scraggly pink hair to swing around her shoulders as she looked down to see the two lower-level elevator guards firing at her, having run about ten feet from their posts to lend a hand.

With a blank face, Fluttershy swung her right arm down, aiming the pistol behind her through the railing to fire at the elevator guards while keeping her left arm forward, continually mowing down the remaining security team members on the catwalk.

She glanced forward for a moment to keep her aim steady, then turned back to finish off the elevator guards, accurately placing a round in the forehead of each. Next, she brought her right arm forward and aimed at the guard at the bottom of the stairs to plant a round in his forehead as well, which was the last round from that gun, signalled by the slide locking itself back. She dropped the empty weapon onto the floor of the catwalk, looking ahead to hold the left pistol with both hands to finish off the remaining team members ahead of her.

There were only four of them left, including the upper stairway guard. By that point they’d turned to run back to the stairs so they could get into a more effective position. She fired a round, catching the one closest to her in the back of the skull, dropping him immediately. The slide on the left pistol was locked back, signalling that this gun was now empty as well. Fluttershy released the magazine from the weapon without hesitation while grabbing the full one from her belt, and just as the spent clip slid from the handle of the pistol, she jammed the new magazine in and quickly cocked the barrel, then aimed the gun to fire at the next team member.

There was a bullet plugged into his brain before the empty magazine even hit the catwalk, and Fluttershy continued on, firing at the two remaining men, the last of which was already halfway down the metal staircase. She caught him in the temple, painting the wall next to the stairs with a large, red splatter as his dead body tumbled down the rest of the steps like a pile of dirty laundry.

She lowered the weapon slightly to survey the room, noticing the dozens of people below the catwalk, hiding amongst the rows of computer consoles. A voice caught her attention, and she quickly zeroed in on the source to find a bald, overweight man leaning over the table with a phone to his ear.

“Call for the weapon! Get it down here, now!” he shouted into the phone while looking up towards the windows near the ceiling on the right side of the room.

Fluttershy quickly aimed at the bald man and fired, silencing him for eternity before turning her attention to the control room above the catwalk.

“What weapon was he talking about?” she wondered as she looked into the windows above her, unable to see much in the room due to its elevated position.

Figuring the people in that room were the ones with the authority to call down the ‘weapon’ that the bald man was referring to -- which Fluttershy had no interesting in dealing with -- she decided it was time to silence the people in that room as well.

She aimed the pistol up and fired several shots at the glass. It proved to be ineffective however, since the windows were bullet proof, as most of them were in the facility.

Her pistol was empty now. The slide locked back again, signalling that it had performed its duty and was ready to be cast aside, which Fluttershy did.

It was time now to move onto something with a little more punch. She reached back and slid the strap that belonged to the large weapon off her shoulder and down her arm. While holding it with the barrel aiming down at the catwalk, she rotated the large cartridge counter-clockwise, then locked it in place before lifting the big weapon to aim up at the center window.

As Fluttershy took aim, she heard one of the specialists on the floor down below shout in panic.

“SHE’S GOT A GRENADE LAUNCHER! EVERYBODY DOWN!”

She pulled the trigger.

THP!

The weapon lobbed a projectile into the air, kicking back against Fluttershy’s shoulder, causing her to stagger back and bump against the railing of the catwalk. The round flew towards the window in an arc, leaving a curved trail of white smoke behind it.

It hit the glass in the center panel and bounced off, then detonated about a foot away from the window, emitting a quick, but dull flash of light, shaking the whole room with a loud boom as it shattered the window pane, blowing shards of glass into the control room.

She smirked when she heard to the sounds of panicked shouting emitting through the opening, then lifted the weapon again, aiming at the broken window before pulling the trigger again, this time using the railing against the small of her back to hold herself steady.

THP!... THP!... THP!

Three rounds were lobbed into the open window, each one leaving its own trial of smoke as they disappeared into the room, prompting a series of shrieks followed by three loud explosions.

Smoke, chunks of furniture, computers and bodies were blown from the room, smashing through the other two panels of glass before making their descent to the floor of the main room. The debris showered down out of the control room, bringing out more screams of panic from below as the specialists covered their heads with their arms to protect themselves.

Fluttershy let the weapon point down at the catwalk as she turned back to the big screen, looking down at the rows of consoles with people ducking between them, cowering in fear of what she might do next.

With all of those eyes on her, Fluttershy’s base personality kicked in, sending a tight nervousness through her chest. “Oh my! Everyone’s looking at me,” she thought as she scanned the room, noticing everyone had their attention firmly placed on her.

She glanced up at the giant screen again, noticing the digital world map sprawled across the background with images of people’s faces and profiles peppered around the display, reminding Fluttershy that these people had taken her from her home and placed her in this terrible prison, locking her up and torturing her, abusing her for no reason other than their own personal gain.

She couldn’t let it happen to anyone else. Her anger returned quickly, boiling the blood in her veins as she returned her eyes to the group of cowering specialists.

“You like looking at people?” she thought to herself, scowling darkly at them. “And you like looking at me? Well, I’ll fix that!”

She lifted the grenade launcher to aim into the center of the group of computer banks and fired without hesitation.

THP!

The specialists tried to scatter, but they were given no time before the round touched down and detonated, shaking the floor with a loud BOOM, sending debris and dismembered bodies hurling into the air.

Fluttershy then brought her eyes back to the big screen. With a scowl on her face, she lifted the grenade launcher to let loose the last shell from the cartridge.

THP!

The final projectile lobbed toward the huge monitor in an arc, then exploded just after impacting the center of the screen, blowing a large hole in it.

The shy girl grinned as she admired her handy work, watching large bursts of yellow sparks pour from the gaping hole in the screen, which was now completely black and lifeless.

Somehow, whether by sensors or human intervention, the lights in the ceiling brightened by a few points to compensate for the darkness caused by the dead screen. She looked around the room again, which was now bathed in a soft white light. It was no brighter than before, but the absence of the green glow from the monitor had changed the appearance of the room to a more vivid hue. The remaining specialists were still cowering in and around their consoles, some of them covering their heads for protection, some of them staring up at her in panic.

“They still see me,” Fluttershy thought to herself, “but not for long.”

She reached up and plucked a cylinder-shaped object with each hand from the belts that hung across her chest, held them up and flipped the releases from the tops of them. They immediately started emitting thick white smoke, after which she threw them down to the floor, one on each side of the catwalk.

She grabbed two more of the smoke bombs as the room started filling up with thick fog, released them and threw them in opposite directions to let them finish filling the room, making it impossible for anyone to see where she was.

Fluttershy had intended to leave in the middle of the catwalk, but paused when she heard a pair of feet clanging up the staircase to the catwalk. She turned to see who it was, but could only see a few feet into the thick fog.

It was a woman. A field agent to be exact, who had been hiding safely out of sight since the attack began. With the fog filling the room now, she decided to seize the opportunity to try and neutralize the threat.

She was wearing a black tank top with black cargo pants and boots, her light brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she had a slender, yet powerful build. Once at the top of the stairs, she turned the corner to make her way along the catwalk to the shy girl’s last known location. Keeping her hand on the handle of the large knife that she kept in a pouch on her belt, she quietly slunk along, stepping over the bodies of the security team who hadn’t fallen off the walkway after being shot dead by the shy girl.

She cautiously made her way past the group of bodies, then continued along the catwalk. The shy girl was nowhere to be found. The agent was at least halfway down the walkway by then, and was starting to realise that something was wrong.

Where was the girl?

The feeling of the catwalk jiggling alerted the woman. She then heard the sound of soft hands grabbing onto the railing behind her where she had just passed, followed by bare feet hitting the metal floor of the walkway.

Fluttershy, who'd predicted that someone would attempt to get the jump on her in the fog, had climbed over the railing and hung underneath the catwalk, allowing her assailant to pass her by, unaware that she was now the one being stalked by the shy girl.

The pink-haired girl had leapt back onto the walkway right behind the agent to take her by surprise. The woman quickly drew the knife from her belt to swipe it at Fluttershy, but was unsuccessful in her attack.

The shy girl swung both hands up, hitting the woman’s hand from below with her right hand while bringing her left hand down onto the woman’s forearm, breaking her wrist, which sent the knife flipping out of her hand.

Fluttershy reached up and snatched the knife out of the air, catching it in her right hand with the blade pointed away from her thumb before spinning to the left in a full circle, slicing the agents’ throat as she came around. She stopped her spin, then changed direction as her shirt was sprayed with hot blood, spinning to the right and burying the blade of the knife between the woman’s shoulder blades right up to the handle.

The agent arched her shoulders back in agony, her eyes wide with shock as Fluttershy drove her knee into her stomach, sending her back against the railing, followed by a hard clothesline that flipped the woman backwards over the rail.

The shy girl watched her take the fall and disappear out of sight into the fog. A second later, there was a loud crash from below as the female agent’s body smashed through one of the tables, where a pile of broken computers and wood splinters became her impromptu resting place.

Fluttershy leaned with both hands on the railing, surrounded by a sea of white fog as she took a quick moment to reflect on the deaths she had already caused, and how many more people in the facility were going to meet their doom at her hands before the day was done. There was one person in particular that stuck in her mind, one who’s death she knew she would relish with the utmost satisfaction.

Agent Cody.

The shy girl closed her eyes, imagining his stupid face with blood gushing from his eye sockets and his mouth, his skull spli-

BING!

The sound of the elevator on the floor level opening caught Fluttershy’s attention, and her eyes popped open to see who had arrived. “Oh boy,” she thought, “Could it be Agent Cody coming to find me? Oh my goodness, that would be a dream come true!”

She listened quietly for the sound of footsteps on the floor while hearing the remaining specialists whimpering amongst the rows of consoles, obscuring the noise she was trying to concentrate on.

There was a loud crackle from the direction of the large screen as a large gush of sparks suddenly burst from the hole blown open by the grenade a moment ago, creating a momentary yellow glow in the thick fog.

Fluttershy turned her attention back to the floor after the light died down, listening for who or what had entered the room from the elevator.

Finally, there was a sound.

Whistling.

“Who could this be?” she wondered. She listened intently as the cheerful music made its way across the floor below her from right to left, presumably headed for the stairs to join her on the catwalk.

A voice suddenly called out to her. “Pretty clever, little lady.”

Fluttershy scowled. It wasn’t Agent Cody, however the voice did seem vaguely familiar.

“Using the smoke bombs like that,” the voice continued, “but I can still see you.”

Fluttershy remained silent as she listened to the sound of footsteps coming up the metal stairs towards her. She did her best to remain calm and waited to see who was lurking in the fog, but the anticipation was driving her heart rate up, despite her attempts to keep herself unflustered.

Finally, the slow, heavy steps made their way to the top and began making their way towards her position in the middle of the catwalk.

Fluttershy used the opportunity to remove the two belts from her shoulders, the contents of which had been spent and now served only as handles for her opponents to grab onto.

A dull thump from ahead caught her attention, followed by a crash on the floor below the catwalk. It took the shy girl a second to realise that whoever was coming for her was kicking the dead security team members off of the platform to clear a path to walk through.

She steeled herself, facing the direction of her stalker, clenching her fists at her sides as she waited for the war to begin.

Finally, she could make out a silhouette about ten feet in front of her.

It was a large man.

She squinted as he approached, noticing something odd about his shape; his left arm looked bigger, as if he was wearing a cast on it, or a…

Fluttershy’s eyes gaped open when he stepped close enough to be seen clearly. She recognised him finally, and his voice was now matched to a face, a face that she was not overly happy to see.

He was one of the first three Navy Seals she had sparred with soon after she arrived at the facility, when she was thrown unsuspecting into the steel hexagon room and forced to fight. Specifically, this was the man who had imitated her crying, which subsequently earned him a dislocated right shoulder and a broken left elbow, courtesy of the shy girl.

There was something new about him now, however, other than the thermal goggles he was wearing, which had allowed him to see her clearly through the fog when he entered the room.

His left limb, which had been hyper-extended and snapped at the elbow, was now fitted with a mechanical apparatus, which was precision built around his arm. There were small hydraulic hoses entering his skin at the joints, where internal parts had been installed, allowing the arm to have ten times the strength of an ordinary man.

Fluttershy cringed at the sight of it. The surgery involved to make this addition was still quite fresh, and there were bandages wrapped around most of his arm, and stitches around the spots where the machine penetrated his skin. It was swollen, bloody, and quite frankly, grotesque. To manage the pain, he was also fitted with a nerve block. On his shoulder was a small cylinder filled with a numbing drug, which was periodically pumped into his spine to prevent him from being crippled with agony.

Evidently, he was not expecting to be thrown into battle so soon after his procedure, but the shy girl’s escape had forced their hand, and he was sent into action early.

“This must be the weapon they called for,” she figured.

He grinned at her from under the goggles, and then opened his mouth to speak again. “You think you had a hard time with me before, little lady?”

“No,” Fluttershy replied flatly.

“Well,” he continued, ignoring her brash response, “Wait until you get a load of me now. You better hope I don’t get a hold of you, cuz I won’t let go until you’re back in your room, and I’ll weld the fucking door shut myself and you can fucking stay in there forever!”

“Well, um…actually,” Fluttershy said quietly, rubbing the back of her neck timidly. “I just wanted to ask one question, if that’s OK.”

He nodded, letting another smug grin smear itself across his face. “Shoot.”

“Um, after I kill you, is that ridiculous-looking arm of yours going to keep moving on its own?” she asked, returning a sly grin to him.

The grin disappeared from his face quickly, followed by a growl as he gritted his teeth and stepped towards her to attack.

He swung his metal arm at her, its power quickly becoming apparent as it whipped through the air with an audible whoosh sound. Fluttershy was already a step back by then however, missing the mighty left hook. She leapt forward in retaliation, grasping both railings with her hands as she swung her feet up, slamming her heels into his face.

His thermal goggles flew off when his head snapped back, and she dropped down to the walkway again to drive her left foot into his crotch.

He grunted, slouching forward for a moment. As she came forward again, he thrust his metal forearm up quickly, catching her across the chest with it.

Fluttershy was airborne for about twenty feet before finally landing on her shoulders and rolling over backwards on the walkway. She shook her head to get her bearings, then looked in the direction of her opponent when she heard his heavy footsteps on the catwalk. He charged out of the fog, his mechanical arm raised, poised to deliver another devastating blow.

The shy girl hesitated for a second, unsure of what to do.

She needed a weapon.

Fluttershy turned to look back towards the elevator where she had shot the two guards on her way into the room. She was sure they were armed, but it was impossible to tell how far away the elevator was with the room so full of fog.

The soldier was upon her by then, and she returned her attention to him with hopes of attempting a counter attack. There wasn’t time for her to gauge his advance however, and he brought his metal fist down onto her shoulder with alarming force.

She was slammed to the steel-grated floor, causing the catwalk to shake violently across its entire length, rattling loudly from one end of the room to the other.

With a grunt, she looked up at him with a frustrated scowl on her face. He reached down to grab her ankle, which she could not allow; if he got a good grip on her with that mechanical arm, she would be helpless to get free of his grasp.

Fluttershy took the only escape route she could think of, and rolled off the side of the catwalk. She caught the edge with her hands and let her feet swing around to grab the catwalk with her toes a few feet farther away from the soldier, pulling herself back onto the walkway before returning to her feet and sprinting in the direction of the elevator to find a weapon.

The end of the walkway came into sight before too long, and she saw the platform where the elevator door was. The dead guards would be laying there, waiting to offer up their pistols for her to use.

“Time to drop this fucker for good,” she thought as she approached the end of the catwalk.

BING!

Fluttershy stopped in her tracks when the elevator door opened. She was still fifteen feet from her goal, and only about three feet from the end of the catwalk.

There were three men wearing dark uniforms standing in the elevator, carrying a large, black object that resembled a tadpole. On the front of the ‘head’ of the device, there was a large hole with a dull red light emitting from it.

It took all three men to carry it. The man in the front, who was fairly tall with a full head and beard of red hair, was holding the large, round head of the object. The second man had dark hair and was wearing thick-framed glasses. He was carrying the middle-section of the object, just behind the head. The third man’s head was shaved bald, and as one would have guessed, he was carrying the rear of the tail.

As they emerged from the elevator with the strange-looking object, walking in single file towards the shy girl, she noticed dark silver markings along the length of it. They looked foreign to her, but not the kind of foreign that comes from the across the sea; these writings, as well as the object itself, looked to be not of this world.

“Oh dear,” she thought, “Maybe THAT was the weapon they were calling for?”

This time, she was correct. This was in fact one of the pieces of alien technology left behind by the creature when it succumbed to malnutrition in the facility, and now, they intended to use it on the shy girl.

She turned around to see where the metal-armed soldier was.

Her heart leapt out of her chest when she saw him only a few feet behind her, charging full speed with his metal shoulder forward. Quick as a cat, she leapt over the railing on her left, grabbing it with her hands to swing herself along the outside of the catwalk as he ran past.

Fluttershy swung her feet over the railing, landing back onto the walkway as the soldier skidded to a halt behind her and spun around, still only a couple feet away when she turned to look over her shoulder at him. She kicked her foot back into his stomach to try to slow him down, but was quickly reminded of why she had to get creative when she first fought and eventually beat him in the sparring room.

Her foot merely bounced off his abs, and he quickly swung his mechanical arm up at her in retaliation. The back of his fist caught her chin with a sharp crack that rang through her skull, sending her light frame over twenty feet into the air.

Fluttershy hurtled through the thick haze, looking down at the room below her. The catwalk appeared to be miles away, barely visible through the smoke. The rest of the room was completely obscured by the fog that she had created, making her feel in that moment like she was suspended in limbo, floating for all eternity in a sea of nothing, with the exception of a small section of steel catwalk floating below her.

At the apex of her arc, time seemed to slow down, giving her a moment to reflect on her situation.

Her adversaries were overwhelming her. She was being bombarded by opponents who’s physical power surpassed her own; and if she wasn’t careful, she would end up captured and locked up in that room again, being driven into madness chained to that table for what would feel like eons.

She closed her eyes to look into the blackness behind her eyelids.

What did she see?

She saw her house, her car, her backyard. She saw the animals at the shelter, along with Jeff, working lovingly on an injured puppy on the table. She saw Pinkie Pie, pulling a tray of cupcakes from the oven with icing smeared all around her mouth. She saw Rainbow Dash, winding up to kick the winning goal in the final game of her work league’s tournament. She saw Applejack carrying a basket of freshly-picked Royal Galas over to the back of a wagon and setting them down to pick one up for a bite, savouring the sweet juice that ran down her chin as she sank her teeth into the perfectly grown fruit.

She saw Sunset Shimmer with that confident smile, revving her noisy motorcycle up and riding off into the distance with her leather jacket flapping behind her in the wind. She saw Twilight Sparkle, stretched out on the couch with a book on her lap, listening to classical music as she absorbed the words from the pages into her hungry mind. She saw Angel Bunny and Link, curled up on the chaise lounge in her living room, enjoying the heat of each other’s bodies as they waited patiently for the return of their master.

Finally, she saw her lovers.

Rarity, with her perfect skin, smooth as silk and paler than the moon. Fluttershy could almost feel her girlfriend's satin-soft indigo hair hanging around their faces like a fragrant curtain whenever they would kiss, filling her senses with that intoxicating vanilla aroma. She saw those sparkling sapphire eyes, the same eyes that made her heart melt every time she lost herself gazing into them. And she saw Golden Arrow, the love of her life. So powerful and wise, yet gentle and loving as any man could ever be. He was the person who gave her the power, the knowledge and the skills to do what she was doing right at that moment, which was fighting with all her might to reclaim her freedom.

“This is your only chance, Fluttershy…” her voice called to her inside her head. “Don’t let them take you again…don’t let them lock you up…don’t let them win! Today is the day you go home!”

Time returned to its normal rate suddenly, quickly sending the shy girl back down to the catwalk. She clenched her jaw tightly as a new determination washed over her, a new level of aggression rising in her mind, causing her to see more clearly in that moment.

She knew what to do.

As the catwalk rushed towards her, she reached out with both hands and grabbed the railing, bringing her knees up to her chest as she swung herself under the railing to the outside of the walkway like an acrobat, swinging her body around and coming back up over top of the rail. She kicked both feet forward, slamming her heels into the side of the soldier’s head with every ounce of momentum she had, drawing a sharp grunt from his throat and knocking him sideways against the opposite railing with such force that he flipped over the rail and fell into the fog below.

Fluttershy landed on the catwalk and dropped to one knee, smirking with satisfaction when she heard the big man’s body crash into a tabletop below the catwalk.

She looked up, bringing her attention to the three men with the alien weapon next. They were approaching her on the catwalk, walking single-file as they carried the strange looking weapon along. The red light in the hole on the front appeared to be much brighter now, which she presumed must have been an indicator that it was ready for use.

Not intending to see what the weapon was capable of, Fluttershy quickly stood and grabbed the railing again, about to jump to the floor below to escape their sights.

But then she stopped.

“Wait,” she thought, “I should take it from them. I have no idea what that thing is capable of, and if I leave it in their hands, there’s no telling what they might be able to do with it.”

She turned back to them, her new goal to take them out before they could use the weapon.

“Weapon charged and ready to fire,” the second man said as Fluttershy sprinted towards them. He turned a small handle, releasing the tail from the weapon, leaving the bearded man in front to step forward and hold the head of the weapon up.

Fluttershy was only ten feet away when he fired.

There was a bright red flash from the front of the weapon, followed by a long, red bolt of energy that emitted from the opening on the front. The kickback from the discharge knocked the user off his feet, as well as the other two men when he flew back and collided with them.

The bolt of red energy tore through the air at a staggering speed, leaving a crackling trail of shimmering white sparks in its wake.

Fluttershy had no time to react. The blast hit her right between the eyes with a blinding flash, knocking her off her feet and sending her across the room at a blistering speed. The impact created a circular shockwave when it hit her, resulting in a expanding ring of red energy that spread across the room, rattling the catwalk as it passed through, bowing the metal railings outwards from the force created by the explosive energy.

The three men sat up to assess the impact. The shy girl had been blown back and slammed into the wall with a force that shook the room, and all they could see now was a bright red glow through the fog at the far end of the catwalk as the weapon’s energy continued to envelop her.

The light seemed to grow, increasing in brightness as the men stood up to watch.

“Did it work?” the bald man at the rear asked.

The light continued to increase, now slowly turning to a fiery orange colour.

The bearded man holding the weapon had a smirk appearing on his face. “I think so,” he nodded. “Looks like she’s burning up.”

“Yeah!” the guy with the glasses cheered. “Look at that! This thing is crazy!”

The red-bearded man held the weapon up and patted its smooth, black surface affectionately as he turned to look at his comrades. “I told you it would work.”

The orange light continued to brighten as it glowed through the fog, eventually turning to a bright yellow that lit up the entire room.

The three men put their hands in front of their faces to shield their eyes from the bright yellow haze, its center emanating from the end of the catwalk, too bright for them to look at.

“Holy shit,” one of them said, “Is it supposed to do that?”

“Fuck yeah!” the second guy said. “Burn, bitch! Burn!” he laughed maniacally as he turned to high-five the bald guy behind him.

“Strange that I can’t feel any heat with a blaze like that,” the bearded man in front said, rubbing his chin.

Without warning, the light suddenly faded away. The room was left in dim silence, aside from the murmurs of the survivors on the floor below.

The three men looked at each other in confusion.

“That’s it?” the bald guy shrugged. “Just like that, it’s gone?”

The bearded man bit his lip as he thought, staring out into the haze. “I’ll go check it out,” he finally announced, turning back to them.

They nodded in agreement as he turned and cautiously made his way along the catwalk, carrying the weapon with him even though it was of no use to him at that point, due to being discharged. It would have to be hooked back up to the tail to be ‘reloaded’ before firing again.

There was a sudden loud click that startled the two men as they waited for their comrade to search for the shy girl. The deep whirring sound of a motor became audible, rising in pitch and volume, causing the two men took at each other when they realised what it was.

“Ah, the exhaust fans are coming on.”

The glasses-wearing man sneered. “It’s about time. Took them long enough.”

They waited for another moment as the bearded man searched; watching below the catwalk as the floor slowly became visible again.

The second guy put his hands around his mouth to shout over the noise of the huge exhaust fans. “What do you see, boss?”

“Uh,” his voice returned from the fog, “There’s a big crack in the wall where she hit, but I don’t see her anywhere.”

“Any burn marks??” the second guy laughed.

“No, I don’t see any,” the front man’s voice chuckled through the haze.

The fog was lifting from the room fairly quickly now, and the far end of the catwalk was starting to come into view. Everything below the walkway at that point was crystal clear; soon the entire room would be visible again as the ceiling of fog continued to rise.

They could see the man with the weapon walking back to them, his head and shoulders still obscured by the fog as he approached.

“Well?” they asked.

He shook his head and shrugged, letting out a confused sigh. “I don’t know. She’s not on the catwalk, and she not on the floor below.”

The bald man rubbed the top of his head. “Vaporised?”

The bearded man turned to look back at the far end of the catwalk, then glanced back at them before looking down at the weapon. “Maybe,” he replied. “Everything’s gotta have a weakness, right? Maybe this puppy had just the right kind of power.”

The second guy let out a victorious laugh. “That’s it then! She’s dead!”

“Hm,” the bearded man smirked. “I guess we finally killed the bit-“

Before he could finish, a sudden gust of air from above blew down a cloud of fog that engulfed them, obscuring their vision once again.

Without warning, the bearded man was violently yanked off his feet and hoisted straight into the air where he disappeared into the fog above.

“AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”

The other two staggered back in disbelief, their eyes wide with shock as they heard their comrade screaming bloody murder, his voice becoming more distant as the unknown force carried him up into the depths of the huge room.

“What the fuck? Where’d he go?” the remaining two men blubbered in terror. “What the fuck was that?

To their horror, they suddenly heard a loud, distinctive snap, followed by their comrade’s voice going silent.

They stood together, frozen with fear on the catwalk, watching the ceiling of fog continue to rise as the fans cleared the room. The air was clear up to about ten feet above the catwalk by then, and all they could do was wait for the room to clear out completely so they could see what had happened.

Then something caught their eye. A round, black object fell from the fog, silently passing by the left side of the walkway as it continued on until it hit the floor and smashed to pieces.

It was the alien weapon.

The two men looked at each other, dumbfounded, confused and wondering where their friend was.

They got their answer shortly after. The corpse of their missing comrade suddenly fell from the fog, face up, landing with the small of his back on the railing. He bent in half under the impact, and then bounced off and fell the rest of the way to the floor, finishing his time on this world with a loud crash below.

“Oh fuck,” the man with the glasses said, peering over the railing to look at the body.

Their attention was grabbed by a loud whoosh next, and they both looked ahead on the catwalk to witness something that their eyes couldn’t believe.

The shy girl re-appeared, dropping from the fog like a hammer at an unnatural speed, landing on the catwalk about forty feet ahead of the two survivors. She went down to one knee on impact, bending the catwalk downwards a few feet in the middle, causing it to shake so violently that the two men had to grab the railing to keep their balance.

Once they steadied themselves, they turned to look at her again. The hair on the back of their necks stood on end as she rose slowly, then opened her eyes to glare at them.

Fluttershy stood on the catwalk, unaware of how she’d gotten there. The last thing she remembered was charging towards the men with the alien weapon, and there was a red flash, followed by a surge of energy and overwhelming emotion that ran through her body like a bolt of lightning.

She opened her eyes and looked ahead to see that only two of the men remained on the catwalk, scared out of their wits at the sight that lay before them.

Then Fluttershy noticed something. She felt different. Her body was light as air. She was tingling. Her awareness was heightened.

The room sounded different.

She reached up to touch her ear, but it wasn’t there. Her heart rate heightened quickly as she drew in a gasp, and she continued to run her fingers slowly upwards into her hair.

She was shocked when she found it; a pointed ear, protruding from the top of her head alongside a second one just like it.

“Oh my goodness!” she thought, drawing in a deep gasp.

She quickly turned her head to look over her shoulder and down her back. Her pink, straw-like hair didn’t stop at the small of her back like before; it was now hanging all the way down to her ankles.

Fluttershy looked ahead again, covering her mouth with her hands in shock. Her eyes were wide as saucers, her heart beating in her chest like a jack-hammer. “I’ve…I’ve ponied up!” she exclaimed to herself. “This hasn’t happened to any of us in years! Not since Camp Everfree…”

She stopped again when she remembered that only she and Rainbow Dash both had a certain unique feature when they ponied up. This was when she noticed the extra mass on her back, as well as the holes torn in the back of the gray shirt, which was already quite tattered after being hit by the alien weapon.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then spread her wings.

Her ears picked up the voice of one of the men in front of her. “Ho...lee…shit…” he uttered, completely in awe of the girl before them, who was standing there with the wings of a Pegasus spread open across her back.

Fluttershy opened her eyes and slowly turned her head to the right to look at her wing, and was shocked beyond description when she saw it.

It was huge. In the past, when she ponied up, her wings were fairly small. So were Dash’s.

But these…

She turned to her left to see the other wing, the sight of which gave her goosebumps all over again when she saw the size of it.

Her wing span must have been almost nine feet.

“How is this possible?” she wondered, furrowing her brow as she stared down at the catwalk. “Something about that weapon hitting me triggered my pony-up…”

She didn’t know why it happened. Was it the energy from the weapon? Was it triggered from her emotion? Being hit by the weapon in the face did upset her quite a bit, even though it didn’t hurt, but regardless of what caused it, where did the huge wings come from?

“I don’t understand,” she pondered, “Why are my wings so much bigger now? The only other difference between now and the last time I ponied up is that I wasn’t immort-“

Fluttershy froze. Her mind suddenly locked up, broken with disbelief when she remembered that Equestrian magic wasn’t the only power she possessed anymore.

“Wait a minute…did Goldie’s power combine with my pony-up?”

She was suddenly reminded of her weightlessness, which was something she didn’t recall happening when she’d ponied up all those years ago. The shy girl looked down at her hands, ruminating for another moment before balling them up into tight fists. The pressure that she applied to her own hands felt immense, like she had a stronger grip…

“Oh my goodness!” she gasped. “Don’t tell me…”

Fluttershy glanced over at the steel railing next to her, then slowly reached out to grab it. She paused for a moment, pursing her lips as she prepared herself for what she thought might happen next.

She took a deep breath, then yanked.

TING!

To her amazement, she plucked the one inch thick steel bar off of the catwalk just as easily as picking a dandelion. She stared at the length of metal in her hand, her eyes wide with shock, her skin tingling with excitement.

“Oh my gracious me, I have Goldie’s strength, too! His power has somehow…enhanced my Equestrian magic!”

Just to double check that she wasn’t going crazy, Fluttershy gripped the piece of pipe with both hands, and promptly bent it in half. It was just as easy as bending an empty paper towel roll.

The shy girl giggled as she dropped the bent pipe at her feet, causing a loud clang to ring out as it hit the metal walkway, then she returned her eyes to the two men in front of her, who were still frozen in place.

“Uh, this is bad,” the glasses guy mumbled flatly.

Fluttershy suddenly charged towards them at an unholy speed, rattling the catwalk with each step as her victims stood frozen in fear, staring at their attacker in awe.

The bald man snapped out of his daze first, and then frantically slapped his partner on the shoulder to get his attention. “Come on! We gotta get to the elevator!”

The other man blinked a couple of times, then turned to his comrade to reply, but both men were out of time.

The shy girl leapt into the air, flapping her wings to become airborne, flying over their heads while reaching down to wrap her hands around their throats as she passed over.

They were both hoisted into the air as Fluttershy pulled up and rapidly flapped her powerful wings, swiftly carrying the two men by their throats to the top of the room. She spun around as she ascended, twirling her long hair and the bodies of her victims in a corkscrew formation as they trailed behind her. Stopping near the ceiling where the fog was still fairly thick, the shy girl held both men by the throats with each hand as she flapped her wings idly to maintain a constant hover.

“What do you say for shooting a little girl like me with such an awful weapon?” she asked with a coy tone, raising her voice over the noise of the huge exhaust fan running just above their heads.

“We’re sorry!” they both croaked, their breath barely able to escape through her hydraulic grip. “We won’t do it again! We swear!”

“TOO FUCKING LATE!!” she screamed as she lifted one of them above her head and turned to the broken windows of the upper control room, which was now right next to them at the height they were hovering at.

She wound her arm up and hurled the guy with the glasses by the throat towards the burning control room. Her aim was a bit off however, and his head smacked against the post between the left and middle window, sending him into a tailspin as he crashed into the room.

Fluttershy turned back to face the bald man, scowling darkly at him as he stared back; petrified by the angelic demon that was holding him by the throat seventy feet in the air.

She slowly glanced up towards the huge, eight foot wide fan just above their heads as it drew the last bit of smoke from the room.

A smirk crossed her face when she glanced back at him for a moment before releasing her grip on his throat. She swung her foot up, kicking him hard in the crotch, sending him rocketing upwards, where he slammed into the grate that covered the exhaust fan, denting the bars inward to the point where they contacted the spinning fan blades.

TCH! TCH! TCH! TCH! TCH! TCH! TCH! TCH! TCH! TCH!

The blades made a terrible, deafening racket as they hammered into the bent shield, sending a sea of sparks down into the room, following the bald guy’s broken body as it fell to the floor.

As the fan slowed to a permanent stop, filling the room with silence once again, Fluttershy let herself glide gracefully down to the upper elevator platform. Her long, pink hair trailed behind her as she made a nice, soft landing, spreading her wings wide to act as parachutes so she could land gracefully.

She was amazed by how small she could fold them up behind her back. Looking over her shoulder at them, she giggled at her long, scraggly hair was it waved around behind her, almost concealing the wings completely.

“Oh…it’s too bad my hair wasn’t clean for this,” she whispered to herself with a sigh.

After a moment to reflect, she suddenly snapped herself back to reality. “The mission!” she said out loud, turning to look at the elevator doors. “Oh darn,” she flutter-cursed quietly. “I used up all the grenades.”

She turned to the floor below, noticing lots of objects that she could use to hold the door open. “That’s what I’ll do,” she said with a nod of accomplishment as she pulled Stubz’ access card out of her pocket to study it. Surprisingly, it appeared to be undamaged.

Before she could get any farther, a gruff, but familiar voice came from the bottom of the stairway. Fluttershy looked to see who it was, then sighed with disappointment when she saw the Navy Seal with the bionic arm limping up the stairs towards her again.

“You bitch!” he hollered. “Enough! This ends now!”

Fluttershy calmly walked to the center of the catwalk and waited for him to approach her.

He was bloodied; his face bruised from her kick and the subsequent fall, and his leg was clearly injured, as evidenced by how he hobbled his way up the steps. He finally got to the top of the stairs, then proceeded to make his way along the walkway towards her.

“Agent Stubz’ card is locked out, bitch. Those elevator doors ain’t gonna open for you, so you’re stuck in here with me! I’m gonna catch you, drag you down to that room of yours, lock you up inside and weld the doors shut! Then I’m gonna pump that room full of fire and let you burn in hell until we run out of fuel!”

Fluttershy stood still with nothing but a slight scowl on her face, watching patiently as he approached. He pounded on the railing with his metal arm after each step, bending the steel with every blow to display the strength of his upgraded arm.

It didn’t intimidate the shy girl, however. She could see the rough condition he was in when he got closer, and evidently he must have been briefly knocked out after his fall, because he didn’t seem to be aware of her transformation.

His eyes were swollen half shut, his gait was unstable, and his mouth was on fire with vulgar insults directed solely at her.

“This is not going to end well for him…” she thought to herself as the scowl grew deeper on her face.

“I’ve had it with you and your little fucking tricks, you little fucking princess bitch! I can’t wait to watch you roast! You stupid, weak, fucking little whore!!” When he was finally at arm’s length from her, he wound up his metal fist up and swung the hardest right hook that his mechanical enhancements could produce.

Fluttershy calmly put her right hand up and caught his fist, stopping the attack with a loud clang as his arm was brought to a sudden halt. She glanced over at his metallic limb for a moment, then narrowed her eyes as she retuned her gaze to his face.

“I love you too,” she said sweetly, with a little smirk for good measure.

The soldier had a look of pure shock in his eyes as she placed her left hand on his chest to hold him in place, and then proceeded to tear the metal enhancements from his arm.

He let out a blood-curdling screech as she slowly yanked the apparatus from his flesh, tearing skin, muscle and tendons in the process. As the metal parts tore themselves free from his bones, the hydraulic hoses popped off and sprayed a dark, slippery fluid in every direction while Fluttershy kept a sinister grin on her lips. Once the last piece of sinew snapped free, she dismissively dropped the apparatus onto the catwalk at her feet with a loud clang.

He stood before her screaming, reaching across himself with his other arm to feel what was left, only to find nothing but torn, ragged, bloody skin and muscle hanging at his side.

Fluttershy smirked at his frantic screams of pain, covering her mouth with her fingertips as she glanced down at the blood-covered tangle of metal lying next to her feet. “I hope you didn’t spend a lot of money on that,” she taunted.

Then, the smile suddenly disappeared from her sweet face. Without warning, she slapped her hand on the top of his head and curled her fingertips inward, poking them through his skull to get a secure grip. He recoiled in pain even harder, reaching up with his only good arm in a futile act to pry her powerful grasp from his head.

The shy girl spread her magnificent wings again and leapt into the air, flying swiftly to the top of the room with him in tow. Once at the ceiling, she held the soldier’s entire weight by the top of his head as she hovered in the air, holding his pain-stricken face close to hers.

“Goodbye, um…whatever your name is,” she said sternly before releasing her grip from his skull to watch him fall back down to the bottom of the room.

Unexpectedly, he landed on the catwalk again, flat on his back on the steel grate.

Fluttershy looked down at his mangled corpse for a moment, flapping her wings quietly as he hovered near the ceiling. She noticed the movement of the mission specialists on the floor beyond the catwalk, and decided it was time to finish her job in this room.

She leaned back suddenly and flipped herself over so she was face-down, then flapped her wings hard, rocketing herself head-first towards the floor at an alarming speed. She brought her wings in close to her body, accelerating her descent even faster as she put her fists forward and gritted her teeth, preparing herself for the impact. The wind blew against her face and around her body, causing her pink hair to trail behind her like a streamer as the catwalk rushed closer and closer.

The shy girl hit the one-armed soldier’s body with her fists, cutting him as well as the metal catwalk in half, passing straight through and continuing on at the same speed towards the floor. Her trajectory was aimed dead-center in the middle of the computer consoles, where the few surviving mission specialists still sought shelter under and between the tables. She slammed into the floor like a missile, sending up a massive wave of tables, computer monitors, chairs, keyboards and bodies twenty feet into the air in all directions, where they smashed against the walls and piled up around the impact crater she just created.

The catwalk, now broken in half and unsupported in the center, began to collapse. It pulled away from the walls at each end, tearing the anchors from the concrete as it came crashing down on top of the pile of smashed debris created by the shy girl’s explosive impact with the floor.

The sound was deafening. The entire facility shook. The room was completely destroyed.

Fluttershy's day was off to a good start.

A stray table flew through the air suddenly, thrown away by the shy girl as she got up from her landing spot to quietly walk out of the debris field towards the elevator.

She folded her wings up behind her back while sauntering over to the floor-level elevator, which led up to the office levels, where she intended to complete her next objective: find and decimate Agent Cody.

She stopped in front of the stainless steel doors of the elevator and pulled Stubz’ access card from her pocket, only to find it cracked into several pieces. She sighed, remembering what the soldier had said about the card being locked out, so it really didn’t matter anyway. She was trapped in this room until some-

Fluttershy shook her head suddenly, then smacked herself on the temple. “What am I thinking?” she said to herself, before slamming her fist into the elevator door, crumpling it like a sheet of tin foil. She then gripped the edge of the door and yanked it out of the wall, taking part of the door frame with it before tossing it on the floor behind her. The heavy door clanged, then screeched along the floor after being tossed aside like a dirty shirt.

She peered into the elevator shaft for a moment, then stopped when she remembered that she had to blow both elevator doors so the fumes from the fuel could spread through the entire facility.

Fluttershy glanced quickly at the catwalk, which was now sprawled across the floor in a twisted heap. She giggled at her own handywork. “Oh Fluttershy, what did you go and do?”

No matter, she didn’t need the catwalk to get up to the second set of doors. She spread her wings and ran toward the far side of the room to take flight, ascending upwards along the wall above the metal staircase, flapping her powerful wings until she was about two-thirds of the way to the ceiling.

She swung around suddenly, aiming herself at the upper set of doors that the catwalk led to before it was destroyed. She brought her wings in tight to her back to increase her speed and dive-bombed straight through the doors, smashing them into the back of the elevator shaft, sending shockwaves throughout the facility with the powerful impact.

The shy girl hopped out of the shaft and walked to the edge of the platform, leaping down to the floor with ease, using her wings to slow her fall as she touched down and turned to the elevator that led upstairs.

Half of that door was still left in her way, so she tore it out of the opening with one hand, pulling some more of the wall with it as she tossed it aside with the other half of the door.

“Oh my goodness, this is so much fun!” she giggled to herself. “I don’t know how Goldie doesn’t go around destroying everything he touches. It’s so liberating!”

Fluttershy leaned into the elevator shaft to see what was above her. It was dark, making it hard for her to see where the elevator was.

“Oh well, I’ll just fly up,” she shrugged.

The shy girl backed up about twenty feet, then charged towards the door and leapt into the shaft. She kept her wings close, flapping them rapidly to avoid becoming entangled in the cables that hung down the middle of the passage as she made her ascent. Eventually, she got the hang of flying this way and started gaining upward momentum, increasing her speed to deadly levels.

By the time Fluttershy reached the elevator car, she was travelling fast enough to smash through the floor, and then through the ceiling before she continued upwards, giggling uncontrollably at the glimpses of shocked faces that she caught when she passed through the elevator like a bullet through a skull.

Author's Note

Chapter 69: The Wrath of Fluttershy - Part 2

Chapter 69

On the top floor of the underwater facility, the office workers were busy with their duties, weaving in and around the cubicles, blissfully unaware of the massacre that was going on downstairs. Evidently, they weren’t told about it in order to avoid panic, and since the fugitive was locked downstairs with no useable access card, it was impossible for her to make her way upstairs so there was no need to alarm anyone up here.

Down the hall from the office space, a few workers were waiting by the elevator doors.

Another employee from the office came trotting down the hall, passing by his waiting co-workers as he went to the vending machine to get a snack. “Holy shit, Roberts,” he exclaimed as he counted out some change in his hand. “You still waiting for that damn elevator?”

The overweight, bearded man holding a briefcase turned to reply. “Yeah,” he replied, checking his watch. “It’s been stuck on level twelve for a few minutes now. I don’t know what the hell’s going on with it.”

The guy at the vending machine shook his head. “I wonder if maybe they’re just doing some maint-“

BLAM!!!

The elevator doors suddenly burst open and were sent flying across the lobby, crushing the overweight man against the wall as the dirty, yellow winged girl soared out of the doors like a jet, her long stream of pink hair trailing behind in her wake.

The small lobby caught Fluttershy off-guard when she crashed through the doors. There was the sharp turn into the hall on the left, but it was quite close and she was travelling much too fast to make the turn in time. She reacted quickly and folded her wings in close to her shoulders, leaning to her right into a barrel roll to try to sharpen the turn, but even with the fancy manoeuvre, she knew that she was quickly running out of space.

Just before she spiralled into the far side of the hallway, she put her feet out and slammed them into the wall to stop herself from hitting with her body. She quickly ran a few steps along the wall, leaving deep footprints in the wood paneling before flapping her wings again to soar down the hall towards the office area.

She quickly emerged from the hallway into the large office, catching everyone in the room off guard as she soared above their heads like a missile before suddenly dive-bombing into the sea of cubicles, plowing up a wave of smashed dividing walls, desks, computers, papers and people as she tore through the room like a runaway locomotive.

Security arrived in short order, having been alerted by the sudden eruption of screams and smashing furniture. Two of them entered from the hall on the right with automatic weapons in hand just as the winged girl touched down in the walkway that cut through the center of the room. Debris continued to fly past her after being stirred up in her wake, and she spun around to face them, causing her stringy pink hair to fan out widely around her as she locked eyes with her new opponents.

“Everyone get down!” the guards shouted, raising their guns without hesitation to fire at Fluttershy.

As they pelted her with hot lead, she put her hand up in front of her face, squinting her eyes and turning away, irritated by the bullets that were bouncing off her face and tearing holes in her shirt. Frustrated by the onslaught, the shy girl brought her wings forward and folded them in front of her face to shield herself, then charged at full speed towards the guards.

She was upon them quickly, with bullets continuously ricocheting off her wings as she swung her open hand down, slapping the gun out of the first guard’s hands. He looked down at his weapon as it hit the floor, then back at her just in time to see her hand wing up, connecting a hard backhand to his cheek. He was sent flipping though the air, spinning sideways as he bounced off the wood-finished wall, leaving behind a deep crack from the impact of his body colliding with the panelling.

The second guard had stepped a few feet into the office past Fluttershy and was busy reloading his gun when she turned her attention to him. He snapped the magazine in place, cocked the weapon and brought it up to fire at her.

She lunged forward suddenly, swinging a powerful right hook at his face, to which the guard reacted quickly; ducking under her attack and then standing up again to fire his weapon, only to be clotheslined off his feet by her wing.

He landed on his shoulders on the floor in front of her, grimacing in pain as he tried to get some air back into his lungs.

Fluttershy stepped forward and drove her foot into his midsection, sending him hurtling upward through the air and eventually crashing into the drop ceiling at the far end of the room, causing shower of debris and sparks to fall down into the cubicles below.

The office workers cowered behind their desks, staring breathlessly at the filthy girl as she tucked her wings up neatly on her back. Her long hair flowed behind her as she walked gracefully amongst the partially destroyed cubicles, surveying the damage she had already caused during the search for her primary target.

Fluttershy stopped in the center of the room, holding her fists at her sides as she scanned the sea of wide eyes and shocked faces scattered around the astonishingly silent office. Nervousness crept over her, her cheeks reddening at the thought of being the center of attention like this, but she knew she needed to gather her bravery in order to complete her objective.

“Come on, Fluttershy! All of these people saw you naked, singing all by yourself on that awful stage…what do you have to be scared of? YOU’RE in control!”

The shy girl finally drew in a breath to speak. “Um, excuse me everyone,” she asked softly. “I’m looking for someone. Could you help me find him?”

*****

Agent Cody was sitting behind the desk in his office, sweating bullets, having already heard everything that was happening over the communication feed up to that point. It started with guards disappearing in the lower levels, followed by Agent Stubz, whose access card started popping up all over the place before it was last seen activating the elevator to the main control room. It was locked out in short order afterwards, however there had been a massive commotion in the control room, from which there were countless distress calls all at once, followed by silence not long after.

It had to be the girl. Cody knew it in his gut.

What would happen if he had to face her again? He could barely handle her the last time they fought, on the side of the road in the middle of the woods; in fact, she would have surely killed him if he hadn’t gotten those hand cuffs on her when he did.

But now, she’d been through some very rigorous hand-to-hand combat and weapons training, as well as the torture of the conditioning process, and if she was now roaming the halls full of piss and vinegar, it could spell disaster for everyone in the facility.

She would surely be looking for him, and if she found him, he knew he wouldn’t stand a chance of surviving if he had to go toe-to-toe with her again.

Cody took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his palms against his forehead, trying to ease the tension in his mind that had been brought on by the situation. He let his head fall back to stare at the ceiling as he thought about the conundrum to himself.

“If they locked Stubz’ card down, or possibly ALL of the cards, then she’ll be stuck in the control room, which is good. Unless she kills everyone in there…” He stared at the ceiling for another moment before shrugging. “Oh well, better them than me.”

His chair creaked when he was suddenly startled upright, feeling a deep rumble that shook the floor from nearby.

“What the fuck was that?”

He had his hands on the desk in front of him, his pulse pounding harder with every second that passed as he listened intently for more noise.

It wasn’t long before the dreadful silence was shattered once more, with the source even closer this time.

There was a loud crash just down the hall from the office area, followed by automatic gunfire, then another crash, and finally…silence.

The hair on Cody’s neck quickly stood on end. His skin tingled as the goosebumps popped up on his arms and neck when he realised how close the danger was.

“She’s on this floor…” he thought in a panic, glancing over to the bank of windows on the right side of his office. The blinds were shut as usual, which was how he always liked them, but at that moment, they made it impossible to see what might have been going on in the hallway.

A cold, deadly silence hung in the air.

Cody’s breaths got heavier with each inhale, his heart pounding like a pile-driver, his ears alert to any sound that he might hear next.

He nearly jumped out of his shoes when his intercom suddenly buzzed, seemingly much louder than normal with his attention so sharp, focusing on the perfectly still quietness in the building…

Or more accurately, the calm before the storm.

He stared at the intercom speaker on his desk. “She can’t get in here unless I let her in…if that’s even her,” he reassured himself. “She’s far too weak to break in, and those windows are bullet proof. She can't get in…unless she has some explosives or something on her.”

“Shit,” he whispered nervously, knowing he was going to have to answer the call sooner or later. He slowly reached out to push the button on his intercom, praying that it was just one of his co-workers coming to let him know that the situation had been resolved and everyone was safe.

He pressed the button with a trembling finger. “Who is it?” he asked in an unsteady voice.

“Oh, um…hi Mr. Cody. It’s Fluttershy.”

He instantly felt the cold spread throughout his chest when his heart froze in place. He remained silent, sitting motionless in his chair, holding his finger on the button.

How could such a soft, innocent voice be so utterly frightening?

“Um, do you have a minute?” she continued. “I’m here to kill you, i-if that’s alright.”

Cody gulped; feeling a sensation similar to a knife being rammed through his stomach when a surge of fear hit him, and he took his finger away from the button to avoid hearing anymore of that nightmare-ish voice.

He shook his head and quickly snapped out of his terror-induced trance, letting his training quickly take over, which would allow him to think clearly and assess the situation. “I’m not sunk yet,” he thought with resolve, reaching down under his desk to pick something up. “She’s not coming in here if I don’t let her in, but I’ll be ready…just in case she has some kind of trick up her sleeve.”

What happened next seemed to happen in slow motion right in front of the agent's eyes.

With a deafening crash that made Cody nearly jump out of his skin, the door to his office was knocked off of the frame and sent flying across the room, where it slammed against the opposite wall.

He covered his face to protect himself from the flying glass and then looked up again to see the girl stumble into the room shoulder-first. His eyes widened when he saw her, noticing she had at some point undergone some strange physical changes. Her hair was much longer now, and she appeared to have a pair of pointed ears perched on the top of her head, making it look like she was turning into an animal of some sort.

Her hair trailed in a graceful arc behind her, obscuring the bundle of feathers nestled up tightly on her back, preventing Cody from noticing them as she stopped on the far side of the office and began to search for him.

Fluttershy found him in seconds, seated in his desk chair, his eyes wide with terror. She lowered her brow, pointing her finger at him with an intense scowl on her face.

“YOU!” she bellowed, before she began to move towards him.

Agent Cody, sly as a fox to the bitter end, put his hand up. “Ah-ah! Wait a minute, Miss Fluttershy,” he warned.

Fluttershy stopped in her tracks when she saw what he was holding in his other hand.

It was one of the small kittens.

“Put him down, you coward,” she ordered with gritted teeth, unwilling to witness the loss of another innocent animal's life. “Oh dear,” she thought. “I didn’t hear that little guy in here with all the commotion I was making out there, and now I've walked right into a trap…”

“I don’t think so,” Cody replied. “He’s gonna stay right here with me until you’re back in your cell.”

The shy girl shook her head slowly, clenching her jaw in frustration.

She watched as Cody reached into his desk and produced a pair of handcuffs. He held them up and jiggled them to deliberately tease her, reminding her of her capture on the side of the road in the woods near her home.

“You’re gonna put these on, am I right?” he said smugly. “Or the little guy gets it.”

She balled her fists up at her sides, cocking her head to the side as she glared at the Agent with fire in her eyes.

“You’d better listen to me,” Cody threatened. “You remember what happened last time?”

Fluttershy let her eyes shift from the shiny cuffs over to the kitten squirming in the agent’s tight grip.

“Here,” he said, tossing the handcuffs across the room to her.

She reached out to catch the shackles, scowling at the sight of them. These were the same objects that doomed her to this dark prison in the first place, and she suddenly realised at that moment that she had no idea how long she’d been imprisoned there.

She was bound and determined to complete her escape; to see the light of day once again, but ultimately, she couldn’t allow another innocent creature’s life come to an end, so she complied with Cody’s orders.

She slapped the cuffs onto one wrist, then the other, knowing full well that she could easily break out of them at anytime. This gesture was simply to allow Cody to have a false sense of security while she followed through with her improvised plan.

The cuffs reminded her of her failure on the side of the road, how she fought bravely, but one-dimensionally, ignoring the fact that she had magic at her disposal; magic that she could have used to defeat Cody, preventing her from being locked up in this cold, steel hell-hole, being tortured by these sick people.

Never again would she forget who she was, and what she was truly capable of.

The agent grinned smugly as she shackled herself, letting out an arrogant chuckle as he held the kitten up. “You’re tough, little lady. I’ll give you that. But at the end of the day, your weaknesses are too predictable and obvious, and your naïveté makes you easy to control.”

Fluttershy sighed, letting her bound hands hang down in front of her. “What weaknesses?” she asked, intentionally baiting her narcissistic foe.

Cody snorted. “Uh, that would be your fondness for these furry little fuckers,” he replied in a condescending tone. He chuckled again and held the kitten up to his face to snuggle it against his nose, mocking the shy girl’s affection for the animal. He had his hand wrapped around the animal’s torso, letting its rear legs hang down with its belly facing him. “And she falls for it every time, doesn’t she? Doesn’t she?” he schmoozed the kitten, imitating Fluttershy's friendly, playful voice.

A small grin crept across the shy girl’s face. “My love for animals isn’t all you need to know about me,” she said.

As she spoke, a yellow stream of urine emitted from the kitten’s abdomen in an arc, dribbling down Cody’s puckered lips and chin.

“Oh god! PPPFFFTT!” he cried, turning his head away to spit out the foul smelling substance while dropping the kitten on the desk. “Ugh it’s in my mouth!” he gagged, wiping his face with the sleeve of his suit before turning back to see where the animal was.

“I can control them too,” he heard the shy girl say from the other end of the room.

Cody froze when he looked at his desktop and realised the kitten was gone. It had hopped off and hid somewhere in the office, leaving him without his last line of defence, and without any leverage over his foe. That kitten was the ace up his sleeve, and now it was gone.

“What did she just say?” he thought as he slowly brought his eyes up to look at Fluttershy.

Agent Cody watched in horror as the shy girl snarled, raised her hands and pulled her arms apart, snapping the handcuffs effortlessly, sending little bits of metal chain flying around the room. She then locked her dark gaze on him as she spread her massive wings, spanning the width of the office with them, proudly presenting herself to Cody as the deliverer of his imminent doom.

“Holy shit,” he muttered, staring at the creature before him.

The tension in the room was palpable. The two foes stood at the opposite walls, their eyes locked intently on one another, each one waiting for the other to make their move.

After a short standoff, Cody lunged down suddenly to reach under his desk to retrieve the pistol that he always kept handy, just for a case like this where he might unexpectedly need to defend himself. In the back of his mind, however, he knew this was a futile gesture, but he was short on options at that point and he knew that his escape from this situation was unlikely.

Fluttershy charged with limitless aggression, her toes tearing strips out of the carpet as she leapt over the glass coffee table, using her wings to boost her speed, depriving him of the time to try any more of his cowardly tricks. She landed on the agent’s desk, her bare feet thumping down on the wooden surface right in front of him.

Cody’s fingertips were just inches away from the weapon when she bent down and latched her powerful grip onto his throat, then violently yanked him off the floor. She stood upright on his desk, holding him in the air with one arm, choking off his air supply as his feet dangled above the chair.

She glared into his eyes, enjoying the feel of his pitifully weak hands clawing at her wrist, trying to free himself from her grip with a level of futility that thrilled her to the core; a thrill that was amplified even more by his seemingly weightless body dangling from her powerful arm.

Fluttershy decided that she would finally reveal the truth to the agent; to hand over the information he’d asked for the very first time he appeared at her doorstep. “To answer your question, Mr. Cody, yes. I do know Golden Arrow. He fucked my brains out and gave me this power, which I'm going to put to good use right now. After all the trouble you’ve caused, I’m going to do both him and me a favour by getting rid of you for good,” she said with a scowl on her face, which was quickly replaced by a cute smirk. “It’s what a good, um...girlfriend would do.”

And with that, she spun around on the desk and choke-slammed the agent down onto the glass coffee table. His back pounded against the thick glass table top, knocking the wind out of him as the impact shattered it to pieces.

Cody fell through the metal table frame and collided with the floor. His arms and legs were pointed into the air, the table frame holding him in place like a bundle of sticks, his lungs struggling to refill with air as warm blood slowly soaked into his suit, gushing from the countless cuts created by the shattered glass.

He shook his head in an attempt to shed the bits of glass from his face so he could open his eyes, but before he had a chance to do so, she gripped his ankle tightly and yanked him out of the table frame. He was tossed like a rag doll over his desk again, where he slammed into the wall and slid down to the floor. The force of the impact cracked the drywall and left a crimson streak all the way to the floor where he slid down.

Now behind his desk again, crumpled up on the floor against the wall, Cody opened his eyes to peer under the desk at his pistol, hanging there in its holster, tantalisingly urging him to reach for it. He grunted through his pain and lunged forward to reach for the gun.

Fluttershy leapt back on top of the desk just as he pulled out the irrelevant weapon and aimed. She quickly reached down and grabbed his forearm just as a single round fired from the barrel, which passed by her head and continued onward to find its home in a ceiling tile.

The shy girl hoisted him into the air, suspending him by his arm with the gun pointed helplessly at the ceiling. With her other hand, she gripped the front of his suit jacket and pulled him over the desk, letting his feet come to rest on the wooden surface so they were standing face to face.

Without hesitation, Fluttershy yanked his shoulder from the socket, drawing a grunt from Cody's mouth while she proceeded to squeeze his forearm with immense force, bending it until both bones snapped and tore through the skin, poking out through the sleeve of his suit jacket.

The agent cried out in pain, helpless to fight against her strength as she treated him like a puppet, bringing his broken arm around to press the barrel of the gun against his cheek. She pulled the trigger without a second thought, firing a single round that tore through his mouth, bursting out of his other cheek with a spray of blood and teeth trailing behind it.

She released her grip on his arm, letting it flop down to his side; the gun slipped from his fingers and landed on the desk with a heavy clunk. They stood for a moment facing each other, Fluttershy with a dark, yet satisfied scowl on her face…and Cody, who was barely conscious, unable to stand on his own, having to be held up by the lapel of his suit jacket.

She slowly leaned in close to his glassy eyes. “Do you remember what you did to that poor little kitty right in front of me?” she whispered, waiting a few seconds until his eyes opened wide; signalling to her that he knew what was coming.

She clamped onto the sides of his head with both hands and violently twisted it around with a sickening pop, leaving the agent to face directly behind himself, unable to breathe with this throat twisted shut.

Without hesitation, Fluttershy gritted her teeth as she grabbed the lapels of his jacket and launched Cody across the room. He flipped upside down as he rocketed through the air, slamming into the opposite wall with his back, collapsing the drywall inward, wedging his body in place, upside down and dead as a door nail.

This wasn’t enough for Fluttershy.

She let out a shrill cry of rage and leapt off the desk to charge across the office towards the corpse, colliding with it shoulder-first and smashing through the wall into the adjacent office. The next room was quickly filled with concrete dust, obscuring her vision as she looked around the room to survey the carnage. Debris covered the floor; chunks of cement, pieces of rebar, drywall…and blood.

There was not much left of the agent after being driven through the wall. Fluttershy scanned the rubble, finding only fragments of bone, scraps of black suit and blood soaked into some of the cement pieces that had been distributed around the room.

Looking back at the hole she’d created in the wall, Fluttershy was shocked to realise that it was over a foot thick, with two layers of rebar strewn through the middle, protruding in twisted barbs from the concrete around the perimeter of the hole. The offices were clearly designed to be heavily protected from one another in the event of an explosion or fire, but unfortunately for the inhabitants of this place, nothing and no one was safe from Fluttershy.

She stood in the center of it all, finally satisfied that she’d utterly destroyed her tormentor.

Agent Cody was no more.

Fluttershy straightened herself up as she stretched her wings out, shaking them rapidly to shed the dust and bits of concrete from her feathers, after which she calmly folded them up behind her back. She took a deep breath for a moment, reflecting on what had transpired that day, but it wasn’t over yet. There were still a couple of things left for her to do.

After taking a moment to bend down and pick up a small object from the rubble on the floor, she leapt forward without warning, crashing head-first through the bulletproof windows into the hallway, then took off running back towards the office area.

*****

“OB1, OB1, this is supply run number three-four-seven on approach. Request permission to land?”

A soft female voice returned an answer over the radio. “Sure. I mean, permission granted.”

The pilot was too preoccupied to notice the unfamiliar voice. There was a large storm moving in quickly from the north, which was already causing high wind speeds and blowing rain around the oil rig base.

“Roger that,” the pilot replied over the radio. “This storm’s gonna be on us soon so we need to be quick about it.”

“Oh OK, well, you’re free to make your, um…approach.”

*****

Fluttershy hid behind a junction box as she watched the chopper come in for its landing.

While it was good to breathe fresh outside air again, she was mildly disappointed after being met with dark clouds and strong, misty winds rather than warm, sunny skies and a gentle breeze.

The ocean surrounding the rig was heaving up and down as if it was alive, breathing heavily like a giant creature that encompassed the entire surface of the planet. The wind rattled the large tower on the platform, causing heavy metallic rattles and clanks to echo between the structures that dotted the rig’s upper levels.

There was no sign of Ingram anywhere. This worried the shy girl, who had kept an eye open for him since she’d completed everything she needed to do inside. There hadn’t been any mention of a specific place to meet, but none was really needed since the platform outside was not very expansive.

Fluttershy’s pony-up had subsided by then, and her wet hair whipped behind her along with her clothes, which flapped wildly against her slender frame in the harsh wind. Her gray shirt was tattered, torn, pummeled with bullet holes and stained with blood. On the back of the shirt were two large holes where the wings had torn through, which were now empty again, exposing only the dirty yellow skin of her back. Her ears were back in their normal position on the side of her head, and her messy hair was back to its usual length.

Fluttershy already missed the feeling of power she possessed during the enhanced state. Those massive wings had given her amazing mobility, and having the physical strength of her boyfriend was nothing short of amazing. She felt light as a feather, and was given the ability to move about freely without the need for using doors or worrying about anyone overpowering and capturing her, or chaining her up again.

It was exhilarating.

She had gained a new respect for her ancient lover after the whole experience. How it was possible for him to exercise such restraint with that much power on tap was something she could not fathom; let alone how he ever led anything even close to a normal life while trying to hide such abilities from the people who were interested in them.

Fluttershy craved more of it. Returning to her normal state had left her feeling heavy as she stood outside in the wind, trying to keep her balance against the powerful gusts of wind, holding tightly to the large cardboard box that she was holding under one arm.

The chopper had touched down by then, which was her cue to take on the last obstacle before earning her freedom for good.

The worker in the back of the chopper opened the side door, allowing the aircraft to be quickly filled with wind and salty mist.

He scanned the platform for a moment, then turned back to the pilot as he slid a clipboard from one of the slots on the wall. “Where the hell is everybody?”

The pilot shook his head. “Probably inside because of the weather.”

“This is bullshit!” the delivery worker cursed. “We’ve got a fuckin job to do!”

“Just get it done so we can get out of here before that storm is on top of us. Did you log the touchdown time?” the pilot asked.

“Yeah, 9:45 am.”

“OK then. Get to it,” the pilot ordered.

“Fine.” The delivery man jumped out of the side door to the deck, holding his head down against his shoulder in a vain attempt to stop water droplets from blowing against his face. He held his hand over the paper on the clipboard so it wouldn’t flip over in the wind while he read the list, then spoke to the pilot once more. “OK, I’m gonna head to the door to see anyone one’s in there to give us a hand.”

He turned to walk across the platform, but was stopped in his tracks by a dirty yellow-skinned girl wearing tattered clothes, standing in his path. With a scowl on her face, she quickly raised a pistol and fired, relieving him of the responsibility of completing his delivery duties.

The pilot heard the bang and turned to look behind him to see what was happening when the girl suddenly appeared beside him, holding the gun to the side of his helmet.

“What the fuck?” he shouted in surprise.

She said something in reply, but he couldn’t hear her voice over the noise of the chopper.

Fluttershy sighed, realising this and turned to the empty seat beside the pilot. She spotted a headset hanging on the armrest, so she quickly grabbed it and put it on.

“You’re gonna take me out of here,” she instructed in a soft, yet firm voice.

“But-”

“But first, we have to wait for someone,” she continued.

“Who?”

“A friend. He should be along soon.”

“How soon?” the pilot asked. “We’ve got a bad storm bearing down on us fast, and we have to be outta here before it hits us.”

“He shouldn’t be long,” she replied with an irritated scowl. “He’s probably on his way up the elev-“

Fluttershy stopped suddenly when she realised her mistake. “Oh no!” she gasped. “I destroyed the elevator! How is he going to get up here??”

“I have to go find him,” she informed the pilot. “Wait for me here.”

The pilot shook his head. “Seriously? You know I’m just going to take off as soon as you get out of this chopper, right?”

Fluttershy gritted her teeth in frustration of the situation. Of course he was going to leave after she pulled a gun on him. She looked at the pilot again. “OK, you’re coming with me then.”

“Listen,” the pilot insisted, “you don’t understand. If that storm hits, we’re not going anywhere.”

She shoved the barrel harder against the side of his helmet. “You’re gonna do what I say!”

“If we do what you say, then none of us are getting out of here. I can promise you that,” he replied, putting his hands up. “We have to go. There’s no time to go looking for your friend.”

The shy girl bit her lip, considering her options. She had to get home. There was no way she was going to spend another second here. But how could she leave the person who granted her the freedom to escape behind to die?

Deep down however, she knew the pilot was right. It had to be now or never.

Ingram may already be dead. She might go in there to look for him, and it could be a total waste of time. Was it really worth sacrificing her chance to go home?

It didn’t feel good, regardless of the facts. He set her free, how could she repay him like this?

She closed her eyes for a moment and tapped the barrel of the pistol to her forehead in frustration. Finally, she forced herself to swallow the lump that was growing in her throat and reached out to slide the side door shut.

“Fine. Go.”

They slowly lifted off of the platform, the chopper’s trajectory slightly askew as the horrendous wind relentlessly tried to hammer them out of the air. Fluttershy watched the oil rig get smaller and smaller as they began to put distance between it and them, remembering that she had one more objective to complete.

She pulled the black cylinder out of her pocket and held it in her hand, sighing as she thought about Mr. Ingram, who was still trapped inside the lower depths of the facility. She was horrified at the thought of pushing that button and putting an end to such a good man’s life, but on the same token, she’d been ordered by Ingram himself to push that button if he didn’t make it.

And he didn’t make it.

With sorrow in her heart, she hung her head and let out a long sigh. She knew she had to do it. The facility could not be allowed to survive. Fluttershy could not let anyone else suffer the way she did, and the power to stop it was sitting in the palm of her hand right at that very moment.

She flipped the clear cap open, feeling the lump forming in her throat again as she let her thumb hover just above the button, hesitating for a moment while she thought of her new friend; who she was about to doom to death…if he wasn’t dead already.

Fluttershy took in a deep breath, then closed her eyes. “Thank you Mr. Ingram. And…I’m sorry,” she whispered.

She brought her thumb down and pressed the button.

Nothing happened.

She opened her eyes to look out the window at the rig, which appeared to be unchanged. Furrowing her brows, she pushed the button again.

Still nothing.

“Hmm,” she thought. “Well, it was pretty deep under the water. Maybe the fire won’t be visible from up-“

Her thoughts stopped when she saw the water around the rig swell up with a huge white pocket of air from within, bursting into the sky with a massive spray of seawater mixed with white steam and black smoke that billowed out from the churning depths, obscuring the rusty, red oil rig in the distance.

Fluttershy dropped the detonator and covered her mouth in shock of what she'd just done, falling onto her rear-end on the floor next to the cardboard box she’d brought with her. Tears streamed down her face as the guilt overcame her, twisting her chest into a tight knot as she thought of her liberator and the gift he had given her; freeing her from that terrible place, which had now become his tomb.

She became angry at herself for not thinking clearly in the heat of the moment. She never should have destroyed that elevator. It might have been her fault that he didn’t make it.

The aircraft bucked suddenly in the turbulence, bringing her attention back to the pilot. “Where is he going?” she wondered as she pulled the card from her pocket. There wasn’t much left of it, but luckily, as per Ingram’s instructions, she had memorised the numbers and knew them off by heart.

Fluttershy, angered by the loss of her friend, stood quickly and stepped up beside the pilot to jam the pistol firmly against the side of his helmet.

“Take me to 32.92 North by 106.16 West or I’ll blow your fuckin head off!”

*Chapter 70: 32.92 North by 106.16 West

Chapter 70

I sat quietly in the driver’s seat of the old Diplomat, peering out through the windshield at the expanse of desert that lay before us. I chewed my bottom lip, wondering if these coordinates were right, after all it was just our interpretation of Rarity’s message that we were going on, and to be honest, I really didn’t know what else it could have meant.

Hopefully it wasn’t a trap. Hopefully they didn’t already realise we knew their next pickup location and decided to pull a fast one and move it, leaving Sunset and I sitting out here in the middle of nowhere like a couple of assholes.

“What time is it?” I wondered, turning my head to look out the side window. “Looks like about noon-ish.” I concluded, after checking the length of the shadow at the base of a dead stump nearby.

I inhaled sharply as a jolt of electricity shot up my spine, causing me to let my head rest on the back of my seat. “Holy shit, Sunny.”

I heard a muffled giggle from in front of me, and I looked down to see the mound of red and yellow bobbing up and down above my lap.

Sunset was lying across the front seat, using her mouth to pleasure me while we waited to see if the chopper was going to show up. She was holding my erection at the base with her bare hand as she slid her lips up and down my length while tapping into my thoughts, feeling herself bringing me closer to orgasm in her mouth with each pass of her soft, wet lips over my head.

She had practiced this method with me over the course of the past week, during most of which we spent naked in the hotel room, draining each other of our fluids using several enjoyable methods. Her mind reading started off a little rocky, but once she learned how to stave off the tidal wave of information that would come into her mind when she touched me, she was able to quickly zero in on my real-time thoughts and feel what I was feeling.

This is exactly what she was doing right at that moment. Having my thoughts and sensations at her fingertips had given her an edge in the pleasure department, using my mind as a real-time feedback loop to adjust her methods and give me the best experience possible. She was essentially pleasuring herself, except it was actually me…or…something. To be honest, I had a hard time wrapping my head around it, but I was in no position to complain.

She was drawing me close to the end by that point, her lips tightly wrapped around me, sliding up and down my length as her tongue swirled around my head inside her mouth, flicking it in just the right spots, knowing exactly how good it felt, then continuing to concentrate on that same spot until she drove me over the edge.

And that, she did. It wasn’t long before I was biting my bottom lip as the sensation overwhelmed me, and I exploded into her throat while she relentlessly sucked one blast after another out of me until her mouth was full and I was empty.

“Mmmmm,” she moaned as I ran my hand up and down between her shoulder blades, waiting for her lips to slide off of my over-sensitive tip, hopefully without dropping any of my contribution to her mind-reading practice on my jeans as she sat up.

Sunset straightened herself up in the passenger seat, keeping her mouth closed as she ducked her head slightly with her brows furrowed, savouring the taste and texture while swallowing it down. She then turned to face me with her mouth open, sticking her tongue out while making an ‘Ahhhhh’ sound, which made me chuckle at her showmanship.

“You don’t have to show me, Sunny. I believe that you swallowed it.”

She laughed in response, wiping the corner of her mouth with her hand. “I know,” she replied. “It’s just part of the show, like a display of a job well done. Like stickin’ the landing.”

“Stickin the landing…” I nodded with a breathless chuckle. “Could you feel it?” I asked, looking at her again.

“Yeah, I felt it,” she nodded. “And hot damn, I’m good.”

“Agreed.”

Once my heart rate had slowed to a somewhat normal pace, I began tucking myself back into my pants so I could button them up as I spoke again. “How vivid is it? Like, does it feel like it’s happening to you?”

She sat back in the seat and stared out the windshield. “No…” she sighed. “I can tell it’s not me. It’s weird; it’s like an out-of-body experience or something.”

“Is it good though?”

She nodded. “Oh yeah. I’d rather be doing it than not doing it.”

“You’d probably rather have real sex though, right?” I chuckled.

She shrugged. “Depends on who it’s with.”

“Me.”

“Uh, that’d be a yes then,” she replied with a smirk

I took a moment to scan the sky one more time, and then glanced back at Sunset to speak. “You think you’re ready to do it with Flutters?”

She nodded in reply. “Yeah, I’m game. It’ll be nice when I can just lay there and feel it without having to do the work myself,” she replied.

“The story of my life,” I joked.

Sunset snorted. “Oh shut up,” she scoffed playfully. “Seriously though, it’s kind of a pain to suck you off and concentrate on the mind reading at the same time.”

“Yeah, I could see that,” I nodded, before clearing my throat. “You know I can totally see Flutters getting right into this. We might be opening a huge can of worms with this.”

“Meh,” Sunset shrugged. “She’ll be your problem if that happens.”

I sighed, taking another quick look around. “Hm. I guess.”

“What the fuck is under this seat?” I heard the red-head ask suddenly.

I looked over at her to find her bent down, pulling a plastic box out from under the seat and setting it on her lap. There was a pile of dusty old cartridges piled up in the box with different coloured labels on them. She picked one up and blew the dust off it, then stared at the label as I started laughing.

“What?” she asked, looking over at me. “What are these?”

“Eight-Track tapes,” I answered. “I can’t believe those are in here.” I reached over and picked one up to study it. “These were popular in the 60’s and 70’s, everyone and their dog had one back in the day.”

“What is it, music?” she asked.

I nodded towards the big, rectangular hole in the middle of the dash. “You put it in there and it plays music…poorly.”

She turned the one she was holding over to look at the back. “These things are huge! They must hold like, a billion songs.”

I chuckled. “More like about twelve.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow at me. “Twelve?? Are you fucked?”

“Depending on the tape.”

“Wow,” she said, looking at the front of the tape again. “That sucks,” she said, before reading the label out loud. “Led Zeppelin, Houses of the Holy.”

“Nice,” I replied, letting the tape I was holding rest on my lap, staring blankly into the desert again.

A scowl came over her face suddenly as she continued to read. “Dyer…do yer…maker…make her? What the fuck?”

I chuckled at her confusion. “It’s pronounced ‘Jamaica’.”

She looked over at me with a disgusted look on her face. “That makes no sense.”

I shrugged. “What else do you expect from a bunch of stoned Brits?”

Sunset shook her head. “I have never heard of that song.”

“I’m sure you’ve heard it. It’s that one that sounds like reggae, and the first line goes like this:” I sang the line for her.

Her eyebrows went up when she realised what song it was. “Oh shit, that’s a good song, actually. I didn’t know that’s what it was called, though,” she said, looking back at the label with a cocked eyebrow.

I laughed out loud at her reaction as I picked one of the other tapes from the box. “Here, let’s see if it works...probably not, these were pretty unreliable.”

I turned the ignition key to the accessory position and shoved the massive tape into the slot on the dash. There was a heavy clunk as the tape engaged with the mechanism in the player, making Sunset recoil in surprise, then raise an eyebrow in response as we heard an old song start to play through the speakers.

“Aw man…” I said with a dreamy smile on my face. “This song takes me back.”

Sunset was shaking her head. “I can barely hear it,” she complained, reaching out to turn it up. The hiss of white noise grew in volume along with the music, preventing her from hearing the song any better. “It sounds like shit,” she grumbled.

I wasn’t listening to her. My head was swaying along with the beat as I stared through the windshield into the sky.

Sunset was glaring at me incredulously. “Are you fucking kidding me with this?”

“What?” I replied, snapping out of my trance.

“This sucks. The sound sucks, and the song sucks.”

“Should you be saying that?” I fired back. “I mean, you literally just sucked me off.”

Sunset narrowed her eyes. “You know what I mean.”

I shook my head as I rested my arm on across the front seat-back. “This shit was pretty jammin back in the day,” I joked.

“Must have been a shitty day,” she replied, folding her arms.

I laughed again, then closed my eyes. “Damn, I wish we had this on when you were blowing me.”

Sunset scrunched her nose up. “That’s fucking weird.”

I opened my eyes to look at her with an enthusiastic smile. “You wanna do it again?”

The red-head scowled. “What? No! I just gave you a blowjob like two minutes ago.”

I sighed. “Fine then.”

We sat for a moment, listening to the song. I could see Sunset in my peripheries start to sway her knee along with the song, which made me smile, knowing she was getting into it now too.

“You like it,” I teased.

She frowned at me suddenly while chewing her bottom lip, then rolled her eyes. After rotating her body in the seat to face me, she then turned her head and looked into the back seat.

After a short pause, she spoke. “I’ll fuck you to this song.”

“Seriously?” I laughed, looking directly at her.

She nodded, letting out a snicker.

I looked at her for a moment, then at the tape sticking out of the dash, and finally at the back seat. “Aw, it’s tempting, Sunny,” I said, shaking my head, “but we should be paying attention for the helicopter.”

She sunk back down into the seat. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

I sighed. “I just don’t think Rare would be very happy if she found out that we missed our only chance to rescue Fluttershy because were in the back seat of an ’81 Dodge Diplomat, fucking each other’s brains out to Anne Murray’s ‘Snowbird’.”

She couldn’t help but smile at the synopsis.

We both looked at the dash suddenly when we heard the music slow down and become garbled, followed by a series of rustling noises coming from the player, then finally…silence.

I sighed, then turned the ignition off. “Well, that’s the end of that, I guess.”

Sunset snickered. “Too bad, really wanted to hear that song again.”

“Really?” I asked.

“No.”

I quickly opened the car door after hearing her response, then walked around to sit on the front fender.

Sunset got out of her side, laughing at my response as she slid her body over the hood and laid with her back on the windshield, folding her arms behind her head to let it rest on them while crossing her feet on the hood.

She had her eyes closed when I turned to look at her. The sun was beating down on her face and body, and she looked content, like she had spent the past month in the Bahamas.

“You’re lookin pretty relaxed there, Sunny.”

A small grin appeared on her face. “Yeah well, a week of solid fucking will do that to a girl.”

I chuckled a bit, then looked up into the sky as she spoke again.

“Man, I’ve never seen so much cum in all my life.”

I let my eyes drop to the ground as I thought about the week I had spent with the red-head.

She wasn’t kidding. She’d drawn the stuff out of me more times than I could remember during the six days we spent in that room. The seventh day we had spent travelling to our current location in the desert, but not without stopping to continue certain activities, like the one we had just finished.

I chewed the inside of my cheek, picturing her naked body in front of me; her skin slathered in endless pearl-coloured dots and thick strands of my man-fluid. At different points in the week, she’d had it strewn across her back, her ass, her breasts and her belly; and that’s not including the few times she took it in her mouth, not to mention the countless times I released it inside of her.

Yes, Sunset Shimmer and I got to know each other very well that week.

I was still staring at the ground when she suddenly changed the subject.

“So when were you gonna tell me about Rare?”

“Hm?” I replied, turning to face her again. “What about Rare?”

“How you set her up, and you lied to me about it,” she replied.

“It was strategic planning,” I explained. “And I was gonna tell you eventually, but I couldn’t until after your CIA break-in, in case you got caught and interrogated. Then you started reading my mind, which I wasn’t expecting, so I figured I didn’t need to tell you.”

“I wouldn’t have said anything to the CIA,” she replied, keeping her eyes shut. “They can’t torture me, remember?”

I shook my head. “Pain isn’t the only way to get someone to do what you want. I’m sure Flutters will tell you the same thing when she gets back. Besides,” I continued,” it made no difference to you whether or not you knew about it.”

Sunset shook her head, keeping her eyes closed.

I didn’t get the impression that she was upset with me, after all, she must have known about this for at least few days by now.

“I thought it was weird that you were making her stay home,” she said. “I figured we would all go and kick some ass together and bring Fluttershy home.”

“And what did you learn?” I asked.

“That it’s not like that at all,” she replied.

I nodded. “Which I knew, which is why I kept her at home. She‘s no good to us out here.”

“We were no good out here either, just so you know,” Sunset quipped.

“Well, we didn’t know that when we started,” I replied, “which was even more reason to leave Rare at home, because if we hadn’t, we wouldn’t have gotten the coordinates to this location.”

“So you think ‘Us’ tried to capture her?”

I nodded. “Yeah,“ I replied, folding my arms. “When Cody was able to take Flutters so easily, it got me thinking. Now, you remember how on the way to Virginia, I said they won’t send regular agents after me because I’ll catch ‘em and squeeze ‘em?”

She finally opened her eyes to look at me. “Yeah.”

“Well,” I continued, “I was thinking that if they could be led into a trap, like say…thinking the others were just as easy to capture as Flutters, that they might try to go after Rare, not realising she’s just as dangerous as me, and voila! She fucks ‘em up, puts some pressure on ‘em and then gets the information we need.”

Sunset scowled and shook her head in confusion. “Wait, how did you know we would need coordinates to find a supply chopper? We didn’t even know the place was out in the ocean when we left.”

“I didn’t know what we needed either,” I replied. “But it doesn’t matter. Whoever Rarity interrogates will tell us what we need to know. Why do you think I kept insisting on calling her every so often; even when we were supposed to be hiding?”

“Hm,” Sunset said as she sat up and rubbed her chin. “Wait…so, you’re telling me that you and I have been driving around the country, wasting time, waiting for Rare to do our job for us?”

“No, of course not,” I replied. “Our mission was real. I wouldn’t have sent you into the CIA for no reason. Do you remember the other thing I said on the way to Virginia?”

She shook her head. “Which thing?”

“That I always win,” I answered. “And one of the first rules to winning is that you never put all your eggs in one basket.”

Sunset let out a sigh, followed by a little smirk. “You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?”

“It’s called experience, Sunny.”

She bit her lip, appearing to be deep in thought about something.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“Wasn’t that kind of a stretch? I mean, just hoping that they might come for her so she can catch and interrogate them?”

I shook my head. “I honestly wasn’t even thinking about it most of the time. It’s like fishing. You set the bait, cast the line, and hope the little bastards bite.”

“But, what if no one ever came for her?” Sunset asked.

I shrugged my shoulders.

“Wow, that’s not much of an answer, Golds,” she said.

“To be honest, this whole mission has been a stretch if you think about it,” I replied. “We’ve been flying by the seat of our pants the whole time. If we weren’t immortal, we’d totally be dead by now.”

“True. And look at all the things you and I have accomplished,” Sunset said. She gave me a little smirk, then continued to speak. “It was smart, you telling her to look after Canterlot. That way, she goes out gallivanting around, which I’m sure is what piqued their interest. That was the bait, wasn’t it?””

“Yup.” I said. “And she must have gotten herself into some kind of crazy shenanigans that got their attention.”

“But you said there’d be nothing for her to get into; that Canterlot was a quiet town,” Sunset continued, before pausing to think. “Or did you just say that because you didn’t want me to know yet?”

“Bingo.” I smiled. “I didn’t want you in the CIA knowing that. If they caught you and got that info, then ‘Us’ might have found out what they learned, and would know to stay away from Rare.”

She sighed. “Yeah.”

I watched her ruminate for a moment, noticing a sly grin creeping across her face.

“What are you smiling at?” I asked.

She chuckled a bit before answering. “I wish I could have been there, when they tried to take her. I’ll bet they were in for quite a surprise.”

I smiled back. “Oh yeah, those guys must have been shitting in their pants by the time they realised they were barking up the wrong tree.”

Sunset lied back down on the windshield and closed her eyes again. “Slice and dice, motherfuckers. You don’t mess with Rare.”

I let out a hearty chuckle, shaking my head. “No-ho-ho…you don’t. She’s the fuckin heavy artillery. She was the best person for that job, just like you were the best person for your job. Like I said, it was strategic planning. Like in chess, if you put your pieces in their most effective positions, then you win.”

All Sunset did was smile while letting out a deep sigh.

I turned to face her again. “So when did you find out? In the desert?”

“No,” she answered. “I couldn’t control the inflow very well that day, all I kept seeing was you being buried. Which, by the way, I don’t get how you’re so casual about.”

I shrugged. “It was a long time go.”

She snorted. “OK well…anyway, I found out about Rare during this past week when we were ‘practicing’.”

“Ah,” I nodded. “Practicing was fun.”

“Hell yeah, I love practicing.”

I glanced at her once more, then stood up to walk around the front of the car. I put my hands in my pockets as I sauntered along, kicking at random stones as I thought to myself. “I hope we don’t spend all day out here for nothing. I don’t know what we’ll do if this turns out to be a dead end.” I cleared my throat as I turned and paced back across the front of the car. “If this IS the chopper location, and we end up hijacking it and taking it to the base, is Sunny gonna be up for the fight? She has yet to be in a major battle, nor has she killed anyone yet, as far as I know.”

I looked at her again, lying on top of the car in a totally relaxed state, as if nothing in the entire world could go wrong. Admittedly, this was a time when I wished I could switch her out with Rarity. In battle, Rarity and I would be a devastating combination.

Sunset, while tough and tactically brilliant, was only a few notches above Fluttershy in hand-to-hand combat effectiveness, and most of that was due to having much greater physical strength than the shy girl. Although that wouldn’t include Fluttershy’s ability to use animals in battle, which she had voiced to me in the past that she didn’t like doing, but there was also the skills with firearms that I had taught her. And who knows what they’ve been teaching her in that base. “Maybe I should teach Sunny how to shoot…”

“Hey Sunny, what would you think abou-“

When I started speaking, Sunset’s eyes popped open wide. She sat up suddenly and looked around the sky. “SHHHH!!!”

I stopped talking, then after a few seconds of silence, I heard it too.

It was a helicopter.

I looked around the sky in a full circle until I located it in the distance, straight ahead of the car to the east.

“OK, we’re on, Sunny. This is it,” I said, pointing at her as she quickly slid off the hood of the car and stood next to me. We waited patiently for a moment to see where it would land before we went anywhere. It was hard to tell exactly where in the area the coordinates would be, but I did my best to try to park further away amongst some dead trees and bushes so they wouldn’t see us before they even landed. We didn’t want to be too far away, of course, or we would miss our chance entirely.

Then Sunset asked an interesting question. “Where’s the truck?”

I glanced at her for a second, and then looked around the area. She was right, Chupacabra said there would be a truck that would meet the chopper and load the supplies on board. But there was no truck in sight.

“Maybe it’s not here yet,” I replied, chewing my bottom lip as I pondered the question.

The helicopter was getting closer now. Dangerously close.

”Fuck, I hope they don’t see us.” I thought as my pulse started to pound harder.

Finally, the chopper stopped about a hundred yards from us, then began its descent to the ground.

I sighed with relief. “OK, let’s go Sunny,” I said, looking over in her direction.

She looked nervous.

“Are you up for this?” I asked.

She seemed to snap out of it, then turned towards me. “Oh…yeah. Let’s go.”

“OK,” I said, unsure if she was being truthful. It was time to find out.

We crouched down and darted back and forth between large rocks and dead bushes, slowly making our way towards the chopper. Once we got about two-thirds of the way there, Sunset and I hid behind a big rock and scanned the area to see of the truck had shown up.

It was nowhere to be seen, so we brought our eyes back the chopper for a moment, waiting patiently to make our move.

To our surprise, the side door opened and a lone person stepped out.

It was a girl. A tall, slender girl, with dirty, yellow skin and pink hair, wearing tattered gray pants and a loose shirt. She was unloading something from a cardboard box that was sitting on the floor of the chopper, setting the little dark objects on the ground at her feet, five of them in total, all of which started to move around on their own after she set them down.

She shut the door promptly, and then turned away from the chopper to look around, her hair flying around wildly in the wind created by the rotors above her head.

The whole scene was surreal; like I was dreaming, or watching a movie. There was no way I was seeing what I was seeing. It was impossible.

Sunset and I looked at each other, both of us numb with shock as the helicopter slowly lifted off, leaving the girl alone in the desert.

“Is that who I think it is?” she asked.

“Looks like it,” I replied in a daze. “Huh. Well, that was easy.”

We stood up from behind the rock to head towards the girl. She had started to move in our general direction, heading slightly to the left of us. I raised my arm to get her attention with a wave of my hand, unsure if she was noticing it as she was constantly turning around to check on the little black things that were now following her.

Sunset and I started to jog in her direction to meet her sooner. I had to restrain myself so as not to leave the red-head in my dust, but it was difficult with the excitement building up in my chest as each step brought me closer to the reunion with my girlfriend.

When we got closer, I finally realised that the little things following her were dark gray kittens. As we jogged, I turned to Sunset with a perplexed look on my face.

“Where the hell’d she get the cats?” I shook my head.

Sunset snickered. “Who cares? It’s Fluttershy!”

When I looked forward again, she had stopped in her tracks and was staring in our direction.

Sunset and I continued to jog until we were only ten feet from the pink-haired girl before we slowed to a halt. The three of us stood in silence for a moment. Not one of us was able to comprehend the fact that we were standing across from each other.

I barely recognised her. The teal in her eyes had gone dark, and her eyelashes looked shorter than before, robbing her of that cute, innocent look that she had when I first met her. Her custard-coloured skin was covered with smudges and dirt, and her clothes were practically destroyed. The gray shirt and pants she was wearing were filthy, full of bullet holes and rips, splattered with what appeared to be blood and were hanging loosely off of her slender frame.

It broke my heart to see the condition of her hair, which was normally my favourite feature of hers. It was frazzled, stringy and fluffed up all around her head, bearing more resemblance to a pink haystack than a pretty girl’s hair.

The kittens circled around her feet as she stared blankly into my eyes, looking as though she didn’t believe that the red-head and I were really standing there. I quickly glanced at Sunset, who had her hands over her mouth in shock of the shy girl’s appearance, then I returned my eyes to Fluttershy to double-check that I myself wasn’t imagining what I was seeing.

Without warning, her eyes welled up with tears and she quickly stepped forward, reaching out with her arms to wrap them round me in a tight hug. I returned the embrace, wrapping my arms around the small of her back, immediately noticing the delicateness of her stature. I had forgotten how slender she was compared to Sunset, who's body I’d become quite accustomed to after having my arms around her so many times in the past week.

Fluttershy rested her cheek on my shoulder, trying her best, but failing to hold in her joyful sobs. I closed my eyes, keeping control of my own emotions as her alien scent hit my nose suddenly. She smelled of smoke, cutting oil, gun powder, acetylene…and death.

I drew in a breath to whisper in her ear. “What have they done to you?”

She remained silent with the exception of a small sniffle, then shook her head.

I squeezed her tighter. “I’ll kill them all.”

Fluttershy lifted her head to look at me, her hollow eyes haunting me as she finally spoke. “You don’t need to.”

Her soft voice sent shivers down my spine. I had forgotten how sweet she sounded, even when saying something like this.

“God, I missed you,” I said, kissing her on the cheek, then holding her tight once again. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Goldie. I missed you so much it hurt,” she whispered. “I can’t believe I’m here with you right now; I was afraid I was never going to see you again.”

I sighed deeply, letting my elation show to the two girls. “I was never gonna stop until I had you in my arms again. Sunny and I left home the day after Cody took you, and we’ve been on the road trying to find you ever since.”

Fluttershy pulled back from me to face Sunset, who had tears in her eyes as well. “Oh Sunset…” she sobbed, letting go of me to turn and wrap her arms around the red-head.

I smiled, watching the two friends embrace tightly as tears of jubilation streamed down their cheeks. Facing me over Fluttershy's shoulder, Sunset grimaced suddenly when the smell hit her, causing me to snicker a bit at her reaction.

“Thank you,” Fluttershy said softly into her friend’s ear, “I love you, Sunset.”

The shy girl’s words visibly warmed the red-head’s heart, and she could do nothing but close her eyes and smile. “I love you too, Flutters. We were never gonna give up on you.”

After squeezing each other tightly for a moment, Sunset opened her eyes to look at me, then reached out with one arm and grabbed me by the shoulder, inviting me in to join the hug. I put an arm around each of them, feeling one of each of their arms coming to rest across my shoulders in return.

“Thank you both,” Fluttershy sniffled as we let our foreheads all rest together in a circle.

“It was the least we could do,” Sunset replied, snickering quietly.

“So, um…are you guys here to take me home?”

“Yeah, Flutters. We’re going home,” I answered, feeling like I should have been overwhelmed by emotion at the point, but the shock of meeting her here so unexpectedly had left me slightly numb.

We separated the hug and stood in a circle, facing each other with wide smiles on our faces.

Sunset finally cleared her throat, then folded her arms. “Uh, so I have a spare shirt you could wear.”

“Oh,” Fluttershy replied, looking down at herself. “Hm, I guess this one’s been through quite an adventure.”

“And uh, we should get you cleaned up,” Sunset continued. “You kind of smell like an industrial accident.”

“I know, I probably look just awful,” Fluttershy said, trying in vain to run her fingers through her hair. “I like what you did with your hair, Sunset. Did you do highlights?”

Sunset scratched her temple. “Eh, it’s a long story. We have a lot of long stories to tell, and we’ll have lots of time to tell them on the drive home.”

“Where are we?” the shy girl asked me.

I didn’t respond at first. My attention was on the helicopter that was still flying off into the distance. “Hm? Oh, uh…New Mexico.”

Fluttershy’s eyes got wide. “Oh my goodness! That’s a long way from home.”

I nodded. “Yeah,” I replied, looking down at the kittens. “So Flutters, I have to ask, where did these guys come from?”

“Oh, they were using the poor babies to control me,” she replied. “If I didn’t do what they wanted, they would kill them in front of me. They were just awful in there.”

I looked at Sunset, who I could tell was having an epiphany about what I was saying earlier about pain not being the only form of torture.

“Those fucking bastards,” Sunset cursed, shaking her head.

“It’s OK. Like I said, they’re gone,” the shy girl replied innocently. “I blew the whole place up.”

Sunset and I raised our eyebrows in surprise at the news.

“Really? So what happened? You escaped?" I asked.

"Mm-hm." Fluttershy nodded.

"How?” Sunset asked.

“I had help, but…” she looked at the ground, a look of remorse suddenly appearing on her face. “He didn’t make it.”

“Who was he? An insider?” I asked.

She nodded. “He was new there. He was…different, and he was nice to me.” Her eyes came up again to meet mine. “He set me free.”

I rubbed her arm to comfort her. It was obvious to Sunset and I that she was upset about losing her comrade, and although I wanted to ask more about it, I thought it best not to pry. “Sorry to hear that. It sounds like he was a good guy.”

She sighed, then after a moment her smile reappeared as one of the kittens rubbed against her ankle.

The red-head scowled when she noticed Fluttershy’s dirty feet. “Have you been barefoot the whole time?”

The shy girl nodded.

Sunset shook her head. “What kind of fucking people would treat someone like this?”

“Awful people,” Fluttershy replied.

I reached out to take her by the hand. “Come on, let’s get to the car,” I said. “It’s about time we head home.”

The three of us walked together towards the old Diplomat. After about twenty feet, Fluttershy pulled something from her pocket and tossed it to Sunset.

“Here, Sunset. A souvenir for you.”

The red-head studied the object; a black cylinder with a clear cap that covered a button underneath. As she flipped it open, I turned to my girlfriend to ask her a question.

“So, where’s Cody?”

Fluttershy’s face went blank. Finally, she turned to me after a moment. “Gone.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

Her eyes went wide. “Yeah. Pretty sure. In fact, I wa-“

The shy girl’s sentence was cut off when we heard a loud explosion behind us. We turned around quickly as the shockwave thumped against our chests, and were shocked to see the helicopter in the distance falling to the Earth, completely engulfed in flames.

“HOLY SHIT! DID I JUST KILL THAT GUY???” Sunset cried as she covered her mouth, her eyes wide as saucers.

Fluttershy looked at Sunset with an eyebrow raised. “Did you push that button?”

Sunset nodded.

The shy girl faced the burning chopper again. “Oh dear, I guess the transponder did synch.”

“Synch to what?” I asked.

“Oh, I had some explosives in that, um…cardboard box with the kitties.”

I looked back at Sunset, then let out a hearty laugh.

Fluttershy giggled with me as Sunset turned to face us. “That’s not funny, you guys!”

“Oh man,” I said as my laughter continued. “I wish I had you on video there. You’re face was fuckin priceless!”

Sunset looked back at the trail of black smoke that was now rising from the burning wreckage. “I can’t believe that just happened,” she muttered, shaking her head.

The shy girl waved her off. “Oh, fuck that guy,” she said dismissively as we continued heading for the car.

Sunset held back for a moment to reflect, then ran to catch up to us.

“Was that your first kill, Sunset?” Fluttershy asked in a sweet tone.

Sunset nodded as she stared blankly at the ground.

“Ooooh, Sunny popped her cherry!” I teased, making the shy girl giggle with delight.

“I’m so glad to be with you guys again,” Fluttershy said. Her face suddenly went blank after a moment, then she looked at me with furrowed brows. “Where’s Rarity?”

“Home,” I replied.

“Really? She didn’t come?”

“It’s another one of them long stories,” I explained.

“Oh…”

“But we have her to thank for you being here right now,” I said.

My girlfriend looked up at me and smiled. “I have all of you to thank.”

The three of us finally approached the car with the kittens in tow, and a sour look immediately appeared on Fluttershy’s face.

“Who’s piece of shit is this?” she asked quietly, shocking both Sunset and I with her bluntness.

“It’s mine,” I replied. “Got a sweet deal on it. Fifteen G’s.”

Fluttershy recoiled. “Really? Where’d you get that kind of money?”

“Long story, no time,” Sunset answered flatly from the other side of the car. “Here Flutters,” she said, tossing the shy girl her red T-shirt that she’d gotten out of the back seat.

“Thanks, Sunset.” Fluttershy grabbed the bottom of the tattered gray shirt to pull it off, but paused unexpectedly. “Is anyone else around here?”

I shook my head. “No, just us.”

“OK.” She promptly lifted her shirt over her head, exposing her dirty, but beautiful breasts to me.

“Holy shit, I forgot how nice those are…”

She slipped Sunset’s red shirt over her head and pulled it down, adjusting the bottom around her waist as I stared at her nipples poking through the snug-fitting material.

I folded my arms and put my palm against my chin, placing my thumb and forefinger on both sides of my mouth. “It’s good to have you back, Flutters.”

She giggled. “Did you miss me?”

I nodded. “I missed you a LOT.”

“Here Flutters,” Sunset said, holding her hand up. “Toss me that old shirt. I’ll get rid of it for you.”

Fluttershy threw the dirty gray shirt to Sunset, who caught it and was about to throw it in the back seat, but she stopped when something caught her eye. She held the shirt up to look at the back of it, noticing two large holes had been ripped, right about where the shy girl’s shoulder blades would have been. While chewing the inside of her cheek, the red-head suspiciously shifted her eyes over to Fluttershy, who was smiling and talking quietly to me on the other side of the car.

“What happened in there?”

Author's Note

Chapter 71: The Road

Chapter 71

About two hours had passed since we picked up Fluttershy and headed for home. Santa Fe was a little over an hour away still, and the atmosphere in the old car was quite upbeat.

“So Sunny,” I was saying, “If you had to pick the best thing about living in this world, what would it be?”

Sunset was sitting in the middle of the back seat, leaned forward with her forearms on the backrest of the front seat. “Hmm,” she thought, chewing her lip as she considered her options. Finally, she came to a decision and shook her head. “I gotta go with brown sugar bacon,” she said, slapping the seat with her hand.

“Ooh, yeah that’s a good one,” I nodded.

“People say my hair looks like bacon,” Sunset blurted.

I looked at her in the rear view mirror, meeting her big turquoise eyes in the reflection as she smiled playfully at me. “Yeah, I could see that,” I replied with a nod.

“I never used to eat meat when I first came here. Remember that, Flutters?” she said, turning to Fluttershy and giving her a light tap on the shoulder with the back of her hand.

Fluttershy was sitting in the passenger front seat, watching the desert slide by through the open window. She turned her head to face Sunset with somewhat of a blank look, then gave a small smile and a nod in response. “Oh, um…yeah. I remember,” she replied quietly as a lock of matted, pink hair blew across her face in the wind.

I glanced at my girlfriend, noticing her distant response. She had become much quieter since we started our trip home, which was starting to make me wonder if something was bothering her. It wouldn't have been surprising, considering what she'd just been through. “Probably just processing everything,” I figured.

Sunset continued jawing on in a euphoric trance, clearly excited about the fact that we were finally going home. “The girls used to bug me like crazy to try it, like chicken and steak ‘n stuff, and I refused for the loooongest time," she said, with her eyes rolled back in the sockets. "Finally, they talked me into trying some buffalo chicken, and ho-lee shit! It was sooo good! I fucking love it now.”

I nodded as I listened to her child-like rambling, smiling at how elated she was to be on our way back to Canterlot. “Crazy,” I replied. “OK, so what is the worst thing about this world? The thing you hate the most?”

The red-head stared blankly through the windshield for a moment, then turned to me with her answer. “People who say: ‘Hit the ground running.’”

I scrunched my nose up. “Ugh! Yeah, I hate that.”

“I know, right?” she shouted, holding her hands up in front of her. “Like, it makes NO sense whatsoever.”

I smirked a bit as I glanced over at the shy girl, who was still looking out her window. It hit me right then that Sunset and I probably shouldn’t have been talking about first-world problems, given the horrible nightmare she’d just been through.

Sunset noticed my smile fading, then also looked at the shy girl, quickly realising the same thing as me. She put her hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder to give it a gentle rub. “Sorry Flutters, we’re being a bit insensitive, aren’t we? Talking about things people say as if they’re the worst thing ever, when you’ve just been through a terrible ordeal.”

The shy girl turned her head to look at Sunset. “Hm? Oh, that’s OK,” she said softly, looking back out the side window. “I don’t like it when people say that either.”

Sunset and I briefly looked at each other in the rear view mirror. Both of us were noticing how stoic the shy girl had become, especially compared to her abnormally outgoing self when we first met her in the desert. She must have been on the tail-end of an adrenaline rush when she got out of the helicopter, which was perfectly understandable for me, given that it was something I’ve had personal experience with many times in the past. Going to war is something that riles up the blood, no matter who you are.

The red-head brought her enthusiasm down a notch in light of my girlfriend’s mood. “So Golds,” she said, turning back to me, ”How long ‘til we get home? Like two or three days?”

I shook my head, then took a moment to glance in the side mirror. “No. We’ll be closer to a week, actually.”

Both girls glared at me with surprise.

“What?” Sunset asked. “What’s going on now?”

I glanced over at Fluttershy. “I don’t suppose Cody let you go into the house to get your passport when he was capturing you, did he?”

The shy girl shook her head, prompting Sunset to slam her forehead down on the back of the seat.

“Shit!” the red-head cursed. “I didn’t even think about that. So we can’t go back across the border the way we came then?”

I shook my head.

“Hm,” Sunset mumbled as she scratched her ear. “I was wondering if we were gonna have that same guy again…you know, the one who thought we were fighting?”

“Probably not,” I replied, “but we don’t wanna see him anyway. I can’t remember how long we said we were gonna be in the country, but I’m pretty sure we went way over. Plus, you’re hair isn’t brunette anymore, although I guess that doesn’t really matter.”

Fluttershy turned her head to look at Sunset again, now realising why the lower layers of her fiery hair had that darker tone. She didn’t seem interested to ask about it though; instead, she turned away from us to look out the window again.

“OK so, what’s the plan then, boss?” Sunset asked. “Where are we going that’s gonna take so much longer?”

I inhaled deeply, glancing in the mirror at her. “There’s a place I know where Flutters and I can cross without her passport pretty easily, relatively speaking. It’s pretty far out of the way though, which is why it’ll take so much longer. I’m sure there are more convenient spots that we can get across, but this place also happens to be kind of a resort type of thing, and I thought I’d treat you ladies to a bit of fun on the way home…unless you just wanna get home asap?”

Sunset and Fluttershy glanced at each other for a moment.

“OK. Sure,” Sunset replied, resting her cheek on her forearm.

I looked at Fluttershy to hear her answer. She simply nodded and looked out the window again.

“After we cross the border, we’ll get a hotel for a night and unwind before we make the final stretch home,” I said. “Unless you wanna stop somewhere sooner to clean up, Flutters?”

She shook her head.

Sunset, who’s head was still resting on her arm, had her eyes on the shy girl for a few seconds before shifting her sights back onto me.

“So what’s the plan to get across the border?” the red-head asked, lifting her head again.

“You’ll take the car across with your passport, Sunny,” I explained, glancing in the side mirror again. “And they’re probably gonna ask about the car, since the plates are still registered to the old man. Uh...just tell them you borrowed it or something; I don't know, we’ll figure that part out later. Flutters and I will sneak across with the cash and all the other weird stuff in case they search the car.”

Sunset looked down at the floor. “What about all these cats?”

“You’ll have to keep them in here cuz they won't like they way Flutters and I are gonna be going. They might ask about them at the border, though. Just tell them you’re a young adult, you’re single, and thing’s aren’t really workin out.”

“Fuck that!” she scowled, to which I laughed.

“No seriously though, the cats shouldn’t be a big deal," I continued. "To tell you the truth, I think they’ll ask more questions about the car not being yours.”

“So where are we going anyway?”

I smiled. “Don’t worry. You’ll like it.”

Sunset clicked her teeth. “Sounds like a plan,” she said, sitting back in the seat.

We drove in silence for a few minutes, listening to the wind blowing through the car with all the windows down, accented by the rumble of the big V-8 under the hood.

After a few minutes alone with my thoughts, I heard Sunset’s voice from the back seat.

“Uh, guys…I think we have company.”

I looked in the rear view mirror and saw her turned around, facing out the back window.

“I know,” I replied, turning my head to look in the side mirror again. “They’ve been following us for a while.”

Fluttershy had turned around by then to look as well.

A few hundred yards behind us was a large, silver SUV with several men in black uniforms on Japanese sport bikes, riding in a loose formation around the truck.

“What do they want? A-are they trying to take me back?” Fluttershy asked with a worried tone.

I looked over to her and reached my hand out to take hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I don’t think so. If you destroyed their base, there’s nowhere to take you to anyway.” I paused to look in the mirror again. “After what you did today, the remnants of the organisation are probably in panic mode and are running around like chickens with their heads cut off."

Fluttershy scowled, looking me dead in they eyes.

I cringed, realising my faux-pas. "Sorry about that, it was just a figure if speech."

Her expression softened, to my relief, and she began gently stroking the back of my hand with her thumb as I continued.

"Anyway, this attack here is probably a last act of desperation on their part.”

Sunset sat forward in the seat again to face Fluttershy. “Don’t worry, Flutters. We’ve got your back. If they think they’re gonna go up against three of us, then they’ve got a fucking death wish.”

“I hope they do attack us,” I said, smirking at them.

Both of them stared blankly at me in response.

”What?” I shrugged. “This’ll be the first time this whole trip they’ve come directly after me, and I've got a hankering for some head busting." I glanced at Fluttershy first, then at Sunset. "Why should you ladies get to have all the fun?”

Sunset shook her head slowly at first, but I could see a smile forming on her face as she stared through the windshield. “Let’s do this, buddy,” she said, slapping me on the shoulder.

I released the accelerator pedal slightly, letting the car slow down so the attacking caravan would catch up. “I’ll bet they followed the chopper’s signal to the meeting place, then when they found it destroyed, they probably tracked us here,” I surmised as I reached up to open the sunroof. I looked at my girlfriend next. “Flutters, take the wheel.”

Her eyebrows went up in surprise. “Me? Where are you going?”

“I’m gonna take out that truck. You and Sunny look after those bikes. Can you handle that?”

A sweet smile appeared on her face out of nowhere. “Mm-hm,” she replied as she slid over to take the wheel while I got up and stood on the seat with my head sticking out of the sunroof.

The wind hit my face hard, roaring in my ears as my head and shoulders emerged above the car. We were still travelling about seventy miles per hour, even after slowing the car down at bit. I pulled myself up on to the roof, then shouted down through the sunroof once more.

“Keep it steady, Flutters. And don’t destroy this car, it’s our ticket home. Now, let that truck get close, K?”

I felt the car decelerate more, and looked back to watch the silver SUV approach us. After sliding down the rear window, I was sitting on the trunk of the Diplomat, waiting to make my move as the truck edged closer. “I should probably aim for the rear in case that dickhead hits the brakes. I’ll look like an idiot if I end up on the pavement…”

When the SUV was within twenty feet of our car, the front passenger side window rolled down and a machine gun emerged from the opening. Deciding it was time to make my move, I stood up suddenly and leapt across the road towards the rear of the truck, holding my hands out to grab on once I landed. Sure enough, the driver hit the brakes, prompting the vehicle to retreat suddenly. He was too slow however, and I landed across the hood on my stomach with a tight grip on the cowl. I looked through the windshield at the driver, who was staring back at me with a shocked expression on his face.

After giving him a sly smirk, I quickly crawled up the windshield to the roof and drove my fist through the sunroof glass, then dropped into the truck, head first. There were several men inside, all of whom started shouting frantically with the exception of the agent beside me in the second row seat, who quickly pulled his handgun out as I turned myself upright after landing inside the truck.

I slapped the gun downwards just as he fired, then laughed at him when the round went through his own thigh. As he cried out in pain, I reached forward to grab his head and drive it through the bulletproof door glass, shattering it into small pebbles as his skull collapsed under the force of my thrust. It clearly wasn’t his head that broke the window; rather it was my hand after it pushed its way through his fragile head.

I glanced into the back seats, where the rest of the men were frozen in place, petrified by my presence in the vehicle. Instead of attacking them head-on, I turned my attention to the driver, knowing a more efficient way to extinguish their lives. As I stepped up beside the driver's seat, I quickly broke his shoulder by dropping my fist onto it, then reached for the steering wheel and cranked it all the way to the right.

The truck turned suddenly, entering into skid for a few seconds before rolling onto its side and violently flipping over and over again. The men in the rear seats bounced around and frantically cried out in pain as I grabbed the front seatbacks to hold myself steady, casually whistling ‘Soldiers of the Wasteland’ by Dragonforce while I waited for the out-of-control vehicle to come to rest.

In the Diplomat, Sunset was watching out the back window as the big SUV rolled end-over-end down the road behind them, flinging pieces of trim, glass and twisted metal every which way.

She snickered as she turned back to face Fluttershy, who was now driving the old car. “Well, it didn’t take long for him to look after those guys.”

“Mm-hm,” the shy girl answered as she drove with her hands on the steering wheel at ten and two, just like she learned in driver training back when she was a teenager, which was still the way she drove right up to the present day…like an old lady.

“We’ll have to go back and pick Golds up after we take out the bikers,” Sunset continued as one of the motorcyclists rode up alongside the driver’s door of the Diplomat. Two more bikes lead the way about ten feet in front of the car in the oncoming lane, and two more rode behind the car, also in the oncoming lane, straight back from the leaders. Three more bikes were trailing another fifty feet behind the car, waiting to spring into action if necessary.

The road we were driving on cut through the middle of the desert and was quite desolate. Not a single vehicle, other than the current invaders had been seen since we began our journey home. This was a good thing however, since it gave us a clear playing field without attracting too much attention.

Sunset gave Fluttershy a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “It’s OK, Flutters. We’ll figure this out, it’s gonna be fine.”

The shy girl glanced at Sunset in the rear-view mirror with an eyebrow raised. “Of course, Sunset,” she said, barely loud enough for the red-head to hear. “Don’t worry, I’ll look after you. You just make sure the kitties are OK.”

“Huh?” Sunset asked, cocking her head at the unexpected response.

Fluttershy glanced over towards the biker, who was riding several feet from the driver’s window. He reached down with his right hand to pull a pistol from the holster that was mounted on the side of the bike, then he held his arm out, pointing the gun at Fluttershy’s temple.

Without warning, the shy girl cranked the steering wheel to the left, swerving the car towards the biker. The motorcycle banged against the car door as his outstretched arm came in through the open window in front of Fluttershy, allowing her to firmly grab his wrist with her right hand and twist it around, preventing his finger from reaching the trigger. She then swerved the car to the right, yanking him off of the bike, which tipped over and skidded off the far side of the road.

The biker clung to the window sill of the Diplomat, his boots dragging on the road as Fluttershy pried the gun from his fingers, then pressed the barrel against the front of his helmet. She fired a round through the visor, causing his lifeless body to fall from the car, violently rolling along the pavement behind them before coming to rest in a bloody, broken heap.

Fluttershy switched the gun to her left hand and held it out the window while steering with her right. She fired at the bikers who were riding ahead of them, catching one of them in the back, causing him to tense up and eventually tip over, crashing off of the far shoulder and plowing up a large cloud of dust in his wake. She then shot the other lead rider in the back of the neck, just under his helmet. He responded by falling off the bike immediately and then flipped along the rough pavement as his bike tipped over and kidded on its side to a stop.

The shy girl looked in the rear view mirror next; noticing one of the trailing bikers was now directly behind them. She slammed her foot on the brake pedal suddenly, throwing Sunset into the front seat as the biker collided with the rear bumper with such momentum that he flew off the bike and landed on the roof of the car.

Fluttershy tossed the pistol from her left hand to her right, then pointed it up, aiming towards the helmet of the agent who was now peering into the car from above as he hung onto the sunroof opening for dear life. She fired a single round through his visor and into his brain, then swerved sharply to the left, forcing his body to shed itself from the passenger side of the vehicle. The dispatched biker landed on the gravel shoulder, kicking up another cloud of dust as he collided with the gravel at seventy miles per hour.

Hitting the brakes had allowed the other tailing biker to come up beside the car, placing him right beside the shy girl’s window. He was leaned forward on the handlebars in such a way that exposed his vital areas to her, and she wasted no time in aiming the gun across the front of herself with her right hand, firing a round out of the driver’s window into the side of his ribs, just below his arm. He quickly curled up and fell off, rolling head over feet alongside the bike, which was also flipping end-over-end, sending broken pieces of plastic and metal every which way.

Sunset was now lying face-up on the floor ahead of the front seat on the passenger side, staring in awe of the Fluttershy’s ruthless, yet graceful methods of dispatching their opponents. “Holy shit, Flutters! That was fuckin amazing!”

Fluttershy’s response was to toss the pistol on Sunset’s stomach. “There’s three more of them behind us,” she ordered softly. “I um, need you to stick your head out of the sunroof and take them out.”

Sunset picked the weapon up and studied it for a moment before looking up at to the pink-haired girl with her eyes wide. “But Flutters, I’m not really good with these. Why don’t you let me drive?”

Fluttershy scowled at Sunset. “I’ll slow down and let them get closer, then you take them out, OK?”

Sunset huffed as she picked herself up off the floor and sat on the front seat. “Magic I can do…” she thought to herself as she stared down at the gun in her hand. “But this…this is not magic.”

The shy girl glanced over, then brought her attention back to the road. “You can do it, Sunset.” She reached out and gave the red-head a reassuring nudge on the arm. “If I can do it, then I know you can do it too. You’re amazing, Sunset.”

Sunset felt her face heat up, her cheeks flushing after hearing the compliment. “Thanks, Flutters. You’re right, I can do this,” she said as she kneeled upon the seat and peeked out of the sunroof. The wind immediately blew her hair around her face as she scanned the road behind the car for the three cyclists.

They were about thirty feet back, and were still gaining ground on the two girls.

Sunset glanced down into the car again. “OK, I see them. I’m going to let them get a bit closer.”

“OK,” Fluttershy replied. “Don’t let them get too close though, and um, make sure you take them out quickly before they shoot the tires out.”

“Got it,” Sunset nodded. She was about to stand up through the sunroof, but stopped once more to look at her friend. “Hey,” she said.

Fluttershy turned to give Sunset an inquisitive look.

“We’re fuckin going home!” the red-head grinned.

The shy girl smiled back, letting out a giggle as she returned her attention to the road, making Sunset giggle along with her as she stood up through the sunroof.

With her head above the car, Sunset held the pistol with both hands and aimed toward the closest biker. The car was bouncing a bit, making it difficult to keep the sights lined up steadily with the bike rider’s chest. Remembering Fluttershy’s advice to take them out quickly, she hastily squeezed the trigger and fired a round, but missed.

After being fired at, the three bikers began to weave back and forth and sped up their pursuit to engage the car, hoping to bring it to a stop sooner.

“Shit,” Sunset cursed as she tried aiming again. The car was still swaying too much however, so she looked downward into the sunroof again. “Hold it steady, Flutters!”

“I’m sorry,” the shy girl replied. “This road is really rough; this is the best I can do!”

Sunset brought her eyes back up to the bikers as they came within a dozen feet of the old Diplomat. “Fuck,” she swore under her breath, then aimed the gun again and fired at the nearest rider.

She missed again, prompting the rider to veer to the far side of the road. She tried to follow him with her sights as she fired again, but failed to hit her target yet again. The slide locked back on the pistol, signalling that the weapon was out of bullets.

“Flutters, I’m out!” she shouted, dropping the spent pistol into the car.

“Oh!” the shy girl replied from the driver’s seat. “How many are left?”

Sunset bit her lip while tapping the roof of the car with her fingertips, reluctant to answer the question. “Uh…all of them,” she finally said after leaning her head down to speak into the car.

“Oh dear,” Fluttershy replied.

“Sorry, Flutters!” Sunset pleaded, “I told you I’m not good at-“

She stopped suddenly when she saw the nearest biker had pulled his gun out and was aiming down low at the side of the car.

“Shit,” Sunset cursed again, “He’s gonna shoot the tires!”

The red-head’s instincts took over, prompting her to clamber out of the sunroof opening then stand up on the top of the car. Without hesitation, Sunset ran down the rear window onto the trunk lid and dove off the rear of the car, soaring through the air with her arms outstretched...but her heroism was in vain.

As she flew through the air towards the biker, he fired a round into the driver’s side rear tire, blowing it to pieces, resulting in the loud, violent flapping of shredded rubber against the road as it whipped around in the wheel well.

Fluttershy gritted her teeth, gripping the steering wheel firmly as she tried to keep the car from losing control. She was left no choice but to hit the brakes and slowly bring the car to a stop on the side of the road.

Sunset, meanwhile, collided with the biker after diving off the car, knocking him off the bike and onto the road, where they both rolled and flipped along the rough asphalt.

“YOU MOTHER FUCKER!” the red-head yelled as she stood up immediately after coming to a stop. She walked directly towards the downed biker, who was on his back, writhing in the middle of the road after having multiple bones broken during the fall.

Sunset approached him, bent down to yank his helmet off then placed her bare hand on his cheek for a moment, after which she gave a sly smirk and stood back up again. She then raised the helmet above her head and swung it down like a club, slamming it into his temple and knocking him out cold. She looked ahead towards the old car, which was now stopped on the side of the road with the two remaining bikes slowing to a stop beside it.

“Shit! Flutters!” Sunset whispered as she ran over to the downed bike to pick it up. She kept her eyes on the car while starting engine up again, then gave it a rev as she kicked it into gear and took off to help her friend.

By that time, she could see that Fluttershy had opened the door and stepped out of the car. Sunset watched in disbelief as the shy girl approached the first biker and swung her arm up towards his throat, after which he promptly fell off the bike and came to rest on the pavement. She then grabbed the gun from the bike’s holster and quickly raised it to aim at the other biker, who had his gun raised by then as well.

They fired simultaneously, but naturally, the biker fell backwards off his bike while Fluttershy remained standing. After a quick moment, the shy girl turned around and got back into the car.

“Well, I guess she’s fine…” Sunset shook her head as she slowed the bike down, eventually coming to a stop next to the Diplomat. “You OK?” she asked the shy girl through the window.

Fluttershy glanced up, looking at her friend through a curtain of scraggly pink hair. “Mm-hm,” she nodded.

The red-head looked at what was left of the rear tire. It was shredded to pieces, and was quite obviously not going to allow them to proceed until it was replaced. She let out a sigh as she turned back to Fluttershy. “That tire’s fucked.”

The shy girl nodded.

“Sorry I wasn’t quick enough,” Sunset said, humbly scuffing the ground with her foot.

Fluttershy looked at her friend, her dark eyes squinting in the hot desert sun. “It’s OK Sunset. I should have let you do it your way from the start.”

Sunset shook her head. “Don’t worry about it, Flutters. I think there’s a spare in the trunk anyway.”

Fluttershy looked down into her lap again.

The red-head watched her for a moment, then shut the bike off. “Are the kittens OK?”

The shy girl nodded.

“Um…those were some nice moves back there,” Sunset complimented.

“Thanks,” Fluttershy replied quietly.

Sunset frowned, wondering why her friend was so distant, and she tried to think of something to say to break the awkward silence. “So, how did you drop that first guy so fast?”

“I stabbed him in the throat,” the pink-haired girl replied without looking up from her lap.

The red-head cocked an eyebrow. “With what?”

“This.” Fluttershy held up a blood-covered splinter, about four inches long.

Sunset squinted at the object. “What is that?”

“It’s a piece of one of Mr. Cody’s bones. I don’t know which one,” she replied, rolling the splinter back and forth between her fingertips as she stared at it thoughtfully.

The red-head cringed. “Ew...uh, why are you carrying that around with you?”

“It’s a reminder,” Fluttershy replied, shifting her eyes up to meet Sunset’s, “that, um...even though I can’t be hurt, bad things can still happen.”

Sunset sighed as she looked around the desert with a pang of sympathy ringing in her chest over the shy girl’s recent plight. No one deserves to have something like that happen to them, but no one deserved it less than Fluttershy.

“It should also be a reminder of your victory, Flutters,” she said, turning back to her soft-spoken friend.

Fluttershy sighed. “It was because I had someone who helped me,” she replied quietly as moisture began to build up in her eyes. “And I left him behind to die.”

Sunset chewed her bottom lip as she looked at the ground. “Listen, sometimes things work out a certain way, and there’s just nothing we can do about it.”

“But it might have been my fault,” the shy girl said, turning to look at her friend as a tear streamed down her cheek. “I wasn’t thinking, and I might have trapped him in there because of what I did.”

Sunset rubbed the back of her neck, unsure of what to say. “Look…” she paused. “I know you wouldn’t have done it on purpose, and you can’t go back and change it, so you shouldn’t beat yourself up over it so much.”

Fluttershy shook her head, then wiped her cheek with her hand, looking back down into her lap.

Sunset swallowed, then let a long exhale from her nostrils. “I’m sorry about what happened, Flutters,” she said, leaning on the roof of the car with her hand. “But I’ll bet he gave his life to save you because he knows how special you are. He knew the risks of betraying the organisation and he took them anyway because he obviously felt it was worth it. It’s not your fault he’s gone, and I’m sure he didn’t make that sacrifice just so you could spend the rest of your days sad and forlorn about losing him.”

Fluttershy didn’t move.

After a long moment, Sunset sighed. “OK look, you can keep that gross bone if you want, but if you’re gonna keep that, then we’re gonna keep this old car too; as a reminder to you that there are lots of people who care about you, and will do anything to keep you safe.”

The shy girl slowly turned to look at her friend.

Sunset affectionately patted the roof of the car and smiled at the dirty, yellow-skinned girl, who finally cracked a smile for a brief moment.

“Thanks, Sunset,” she said, after which the smile quickly faded again.

“Is there something else bothering you?” Sunset asked. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

Fluttershy drew in a breath. “I…I’m not-“

She stopped when the sound of distant gunfire rang out down the road behind them. Both girls looked back into the distance, unable to see more than a mile due to the heat waves obscuring their vision.

Sunset sighed and gave Fluttershy a little smirk. “Sounds like Golds is finally having some fun.”

The shy girl returned her eyes to her lap, responding with little more than a small nod.

“Will you be OK here by yourself for a bit?” Sunset asked as she started the bike up again.

Fluttershy lifted her head and stared at her friend with a confused look. “W-where are you going?”

“I’m gonna go help Golds,” the red-head replied. “Not that he needs it, but there’s something else I have to do.”

Fluttershy blinked silently a few times, then nodded. “OK. I’ll stay here with the kitties.”

Sunset nodded, then turned the bike around to head towards the distant noise.

The crashed SUV was about a mile and a half back from where the Diplomat was parked. Sunset slowed the bike down to come to a stop about a hundred yards away, putting her feet down on the road and stood still as she watched the scene unfold.

The SUV that had rolled was sitting on its wheels again, but was completely mangled from the crash. There were a couple bikers stopped on the side of the road with machine guns, plus a second SUV that had shown up and parked cross-ways on the road. The side doors were opening with four men getting out with weapons in hand.

I was in the middle of the road, getting pelted by bullets from the two bikers as I calmly walked towards the smashed truck. I reached down and grabbed the passenger end of the rear bumper, then drove my foot into the side of the truck, tearing the bumper off in my hand while the truck slid off the shoulder from the impact of my foot, where it rolled over off the sandy down-slope beside the road.

With bumper in hand, I marched across the road towards the bikers as they continued unloading their weapons on me. When I got in range of the first guy, I swung the bumper up like a golf club, catching him square on the chin with it.

From a distance, Sunset could hear the heavy metallic BONG sound of the impact, and then she craned her neck up slightly as she watched him come off the bike and soar upwards about forty feet into the air. She chuckled quietly, and then shook her head. “Well, he’s dead,” she quipped.

I turned my attention to the other biker, who had stopped firing and was putting his gun away so he could put the bike in gear to make his retreat. He was too slow however, and I was upon him in a half second, swinging the bumper like a baseball bat. He was knocked off the bike and sent skipping along the side of the road into the distance like a stone skipping across a pond.

I then turned my attention to two of the men from the second SUV, who were reluctantly approaching side-by-side with their own automatic weapons ready. I tossed the bumper at them with one hand, where it collided with both of their heads, knocking them off their feet and sending them through the air about ten feet. They eventually ended up motionless on their backs; their faces smashed in, the bumper landing next to them on the pavement with a loud clang.

“Shit,” Sunset mumbled as she put the bike in gear. “I’d better get over there while there are still some alive…plus, why should Golds get to have all the fun?”

She revved the bike up and dumped the clutch, spinning the rear wheel in a cloud of tire smoke as she took off towards the last two men. One of them was standing next to the SUV ahead of me on the right, and the other was behind the truck slightly to my left.

I was quickly approaching them when I heard the high-revving engine of one of the motorcycles coming up fast from behind, and I turned around just in time to see an unmanned bike zip past my left side at top speed before hitting the man behind the SUV. His limbs wrapped around the motorcycle when it struck him like a missile, sending both him and the bike tumbling down the road with metal pieces and limbs flying this way and that.

At the same time, Sunset, who had evidently dove off the bike, flew past me on my right side with her arms outstretched like Superman, tackling the other guy head-on with her body. She smashed into him like a battering ram, shoving him into the side of the truck, collapsing the side doors inwards and causing the vehicle to skid sideways about two feet.

I started laughing as she stood up and shook her head. “What the fuck, Sunny?”

She turned towards me with her turquoise eyes open wide. “Holy shit, what a rush!”

“What are you doing here? Where’s Flutters?”

“She’s fine,” Sunset replied absentmindedly as she reached down towards the man who was mashed into the side of the truck. She placed her hand on his temple for a second, then shook her head, straightening up again. “Shit. I didn’t think he’d die that fast.”

I shrugged at her. “Well what the fuck do you expect when you tackle someone at a hundred mile-an-hour?”

Sunset was scratching her forehead as she looked around at the carnage. “Is there anyone else in this truck?” she asked, looking through the dark-tinted windows.

“There’s a driver in there,” I replied. “I think he’s the only one left.”

The red-head peered through the passenger front window, her eyes suddenly widening when she saw the driver fidgeting with the ignition key. “Shit! He’s trying to get away!”

She sprinted around to the driver’s side as I followed casually. “He’s not going anywhere, Sunny. This truck is a hybrid. You probably triggered the crash sensors when you smashed into the passenger side, which means the high-voltage system will be offline.”

“How do you know that?” she asked, pulling the driver’s door handle repeatedly, only to find it locked.

“Just relax, Sunny,” I replied. “The high-voltage system shuts down after a collision in case a dented body panel cuts into one of the big power lines and shorts out. That way, anyone on the scene of the accident won’t get zapped if they walk up and lean on the vehicle with their hands.”

“OK fine,” she said, clearing a lock of hair from her face. “Just get him out of there, please.”

I politely bowed my head to her. “As you wish, my lady.” Then I drove my fist through the driver's window, spraying him with tempered pebbles of glass, prompting him to raise his arms to cover his face. I reached in and snapped the seatbelt with my hands, then grabbed his tie, pulled him out through the window and threw him on the pavement.

“Hold him down,” Sunset ordered.

I put my hands on his shoulders to keep him place while the red-head placed her hand on his brow. I watched her face as she absorbed the secrets of his mind with a smirk steadily growing on her lips, and finally she took her hand away. “Oh yeah,” she cheered smugly. “Bingo!”

Sunset started rooting through his pockets until she produced a cell phone. “Private network,” she explained, holding the phone up to me. “We can talk to the fat-cats on this thing.”

“You mean the owners of ‘Us’?” I asked in surprise.

“That’s right,” she replied, turning the phone on, then navigating through the menus.

I looked back down at the driver, who was panting nervously as he looked back and forth between me and the red-head. “Are we done with this guy?” I asked as she stood up and walked away, studying the contents of the phone.

“Yeah, I’m done with him,” she replied.

“OK,” I said, grabbing the driver by the throat and slamming him into the side of the truck. I stood up to join Sunset, leaving the driver with his head collapsed in, lying dead beside the vehicle.

Sunset stopped and scowled as she looked at the body, and then at me. “Was that really necessary?” she shrugged.

I nodded. “No one lives. The last time I let someone go, they turned around and fucked me over.”

She brought her eyes back to the phone. “Well, I don’t think you need to worry about Cody anymore.”

“Oh?” I replied, looking up just in time to see a huge brute of a man suddenly emerge from behind the SUV.

He appeared from nowhere, wearing black cargo pants, boots and a dark green T-shirt that hugged tightly to his muscle bound frame. He must have been close to 6’ 10” in height and had blonde, spiked hair, along with a large scar on his left temple, and was snarling like a wolf as he lunged forward to grab Sunset by the hair.

He picked her up from the ground with one of his hulking arms, which was shaking slightly as Sunset kicked her feet back and forth while reaching up to pry his fingers open, trying in vain to get free of his grip. It happened so fast, I barely had time to see the large combat knife in his other hand, which he promptly drove into Sunset’s stomach with such force that she was launched several feet away, landing on her shoulders on the dusty gravel beside the road.

This pissed me off.

“Sunny!” I shouted to her, despite the fact that she was obviously fine. She was up on her hands and knees immediately, scrambling around in the dirt, searching for the phone that she’d dropped during her fall.

I shifted my sights onto the big soldier as he simultaneously locked eyes with me.

“Just what in the hell do you think you’re doing, you fuckin walking cliché?” I shouted as I quickly stepped towards him. “GIMME THAT!” I grabbed the knife by the blade and yanked it from his grip, causing him to stagger forward, prompting me to put my free hand on his chest and shove him back a few steps.

He paused, looking surprised that someone so much smaller than he was could overpower him with so little effort.

I held the knife up. “You could hurt yourself with this!”

He grunted and swung a big right hook at me, which I responded to with a quick jab. My knuckles collided with his fist, causing it to collapse into itself, popping his radius and ulna out the back of his elbow.

His face contorted with pain as he cried out and gripped his smashed arm, while I quickly stepped forward and drove my heel into his knee, snapping the joint backwards, after which he collapsed onto his other knee, bringing his head down below my level.

Next, I tossed the knife into the air and caught it by the handle, then quickly and effortlessly buried it up to the handle in the top of his skull, after which his body locked up and his eyes popped open in blank shock.

I backed up a few steps as he knelt in the middle of the road, twitching occasionally as his body rapidly began shutting down. Before he had a chance to leave this world, however, I ran forward suddenly and drove my foot into his chest like I was kicking a field goal in an NFL game, sending his massive frame into the air, flying out into the desert where he landed in the distance, kicking up a cloud of dust upon impact.

I grinned and turned to face Sunset with my hands in the air like a referee. “It’s good!”

She scowled and shook her head, standing up to brush herself off.

I let my arms fall back to my sides. "You watch football, Sunny?"

"No," she replied. "But I knew what you were doing."

"But you didn't laugh," I complained.

Sunset rolled her eyes. "It was funny, Golds. It's just..." she stopped for a moment, gripping the bottom of her shirt to stretch it out so she could appraise the large slice in the front, left by the big man’s knife. “That dickhead put a hole in my shirt!” she cursed.

“We'll get you another one. Are you OK?” I asked, dusting my hands off.

She rolled her eyes. “Of course I am.”

I put my hands up and shrugged at her response. “OK OK, just checking. Force of habit.”

Sunset smirked. “It’s fine," she replied. Her eyebrows then went up as she shook her head. "Jeez, that guy was strong.”

I stepped closer to the red-head. “Yeah, I guess. So what were we talking about before we were so rudely interrupted?”

She had turned the phone on again, but paused to bite the inside of her cheek as she tried to remember our previous conversation. “Oh!” she said, raising her eyebrows. “I was talking about not having to worry about Cody anymore.”

“Oh right,” I said as I stood beside her with my hands on my hips to watch what she was doing on the phone. “Why do you say that?”

“Uh, because Flutters has a piece of one of his bones with her,” Sunset explained, raising an eyebrow at me. “Kinda fucked up.”

“Good for her,” I chuckled. “How did you guys handle those bikers?”

“PFFFTT!” she replied, shaking her head. “I only got one of them. Flutters did the rest.”

My eyebrows went up in surprise. “Really?”

“Yeah,” the red-head replied, glancing up from the phone for a second. “She was doing like, some crazy Jason Bourne shit. It was pretty fucking awesome, actually.”

“Hm,” I mumbled as I rubbed my chin. “So what is it that you’re-“

Sunset cut me off by raising her index finger as she put the phone to her ear. “Hang on, I gotta be on my game for this.” She slowly began to pace around the road while listening for an answer.

As she had turned back to pace towards me, her toned belly showing through the large gash in her T-shirt, she stopped suddenly to listen when someone answered her call. They must have said something that didn’t impress her, because her brows furrowed suddenly, followed by her finger coming up again.

“Uh…no, bitch. They did not successfully capture us!” she said in a very aggressive tone. “Seriously, are you retarded? There’s THREE of us here!”

I was shocked by her demeanor. Back when Sunset was a bully, she must have been a damn good one. It was no wonder Fluttershy was so scared of her back then.

“Who is this??” she continued, pacing back and forth with the phone to her ear. “It doesn’t matter who I am. What matters is what I’m about to say, so you’d better clean your ears out and listen good, bitch; cuz I’m only gonna say this once.

“Stay the fuck out of Canterlot. Stop trying to get us to work for you. We don’t want to do it, and you can’t make us. You should have learned your lesson ten years ago with Golden Arrow, but you didn’t, and now you’ve REALLY stirred up a hornet’s nest.”

She paused for a moment to listen, after which, her face turned bright red and she started pointing her finger at the ground. “No. NO! YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP!”

I recoiled in surprise at Sunset’s reaction to whatever was said over the phone. “Whoa Sunny…”

“What are we going to do? Really? You’re gonna ask me that after it only took one of us to destroy your underwater base? I’m sure you already know about that, AND we’ve fucking massacred every person you’ve sent after us. You have practically nothing left. Your organisation is defunct, and fucking obsolete!

“The only thing left of it is you and your partners. And I know EXACTLY where to find you. I know all about you, every last one of you.”

Sunset paused briefly. “That’s right, Madam Chrysalis: founder and lifetime treasurer of The Horseshoe Global Banking Corporation. I know you co-own ‘Us’; a former terror organisation, now just a massive turd floating in the Pacific toilet after my friend fucking DECIMATED your base.

“Or how about Mr. Sombra, President and CEO of The Globetrotter Oil Company? Shall I continue? Make no mistake, I know who all of you fuckers are. And I’m telling you right now, if I see ONE mother-fucking ‘Us’ agent in MY town again, I will personally come for you. So unless you want me to feed your heart to my friend’s cat, I would seriously stay the fuck out. Do you understand me, bitch?”

Sunset listened for a few seconds before shaking her head and putting her finger up again. “No. No, it’s not going to end -- SHUT UP! -- it’s not going to end there. Killing you won’t be all I do. Don’t forget, I’ll still be walking this Earth five-hundred years from now, and I promise you, I will take pleasure in tormenting your descendants, generation after generation, century after century. I will make their lives a living hell! Is that what you want for your great-grandchildren? And their great-grandchildren?? Because that’s how it’s gonna go down; that is, until your family lineage disappears from the human race when they finally realise the only escape from me is suicide!”

A satisfied, evil grin crept across Sunset’s face after pausing to listen for a moment. She closed her eyes and nodded, then turned around to pace the other way again. “OH! Oh that’s brilliant! How did you come up with that, huh?” she taunted, with a shake of her head. “It’s crazy enough, it just might work; we leave you alone, you leave us alone, and I don’t have to come find you and cut your fucking heart out. Sounds like a plan.”

She turned to me suddenly and gave a sly wink. “Fine,” she continued. “But there are more of us than you realise, and we are getting stronger every fucking day. And if you people ever fuck with us again, I promise you, we will hunt you down and wipe every last one of you from the face of the planet! GOT IT??”

Without even ending the call, Sunset wound her arm up and hurled the phone to the pavement, smashing it to pieces.

She tipped her head back and howled into the sky, triumphantly holding her fists up in the air in celebration. “WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” She brought her head forward suddenly, then ran her fingers through her hair to clear it from her face. “Oh MAN, that felt good!”

I was speechless.

Sunset turned to me with a bright smile on her face, her green eyes sparkling with pride.

When I was finally able to collect my thoughts enough to speak, all I could say was: “Wow…I, uh…”

As she walked towards me, I could see the glint of arousal in her eyes when she got close, and her arms were suddenly wrapped around me in a tight hug, catching me off guard and snapping me back to reality.

I hugged her back tightly, feeling her body trembling against mine as the adrenaline surged through her.

We released each other after a moment. “Holy shit, Sunny,” I nodded, placing my hands on her shoulders. “That is why I brought you along on this mission.”

She let out an excited laugh and then bit her lip, staring into my eyes.

“You went like, full-on bitch mode there. That was awesome,” I chuckled.

“Well, I’m a fucking professional. You never lose a skill like that,” she bragged.

“You don’t think they’ll actually leave us alone, do you?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” she replied, followed by a long exhale. “But, they’d have to be extremely stupid to try anything again. That underwater base was their hub; everything they did was tracked and coordinated through there, and with it gone, they’re no further ahead than you, me and Flutters in that old piece-of-shit car.”

I rubbed my chin. "Yeah, but as long as the founders are alive, there's always a chance that they'll rebuild. They need to be taken out."

Sunset shook her head. "That's a job for another day, Golds. They're of no concern to us right now. They ain't got shit! This here:" she held her hands out, gesturing to the wreckage around us. "This was all they had left. It's over, at least for now."

I nodded in agreement. “Yeah..."

"And I'm not going after them right now," she continued. "I'm going the fuck home, and so is Flutters, and so are you."

A smile of pride spread across my face as I looked into Sunset's eyes. "OK Sunny," I said, taking my hands off her shoulders. “I guess we should head back to the car and get moving.”

Sunset suddenly cringed a little. “Uh, actually, there’s a slight problem with the car.”

I stopped and let my shoulders drop while letting out a sigh. “What happened?” I asked, turning back to her.

“They…kind of shot out the back tire.”

I shrugged. “Is that all?”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah, pretty much,” she replied, appearing relieved by my reaction. “Well, there’s a couple dings in the front door, but it’s fine for the most part.”

“No broken windows or bullet holes in the body?” I asked as we headed towards the bikes that I had knocked the riders off of with the truck bumper.

“No, it looks fine,” she replied as I picked the bike up for her.

“Good,” I replied as she swung her leg over the motorcycle and sat down on it. “You don’t wanna be crossing the border in something that looks like it went through a war.”

She smiled at me as I picked up the other bike and mounted it. “OK then,” I continued as I started the engine. “Let’s get the spare tire on that thing and get our asses to the border.”

Sunset started her bike. “You never told me where we’re going, by the way.”

I revved my motorcycle a couple times. “I’ll give you a hint. There’s a big horseshoe, and a LOT of water.”

And with that, Sunset and I took off on the bikes, riding side-by-side back to the car where Fluttershy was waiting for us.

Author's Note

The lyrics in this song reminded me of this chapter, and the mission in general, really; which is why I decided to have Golds whistling it while the truck was flipping over.

Chapter 72: The Return to Canada

Chapter 72

“OK Sunny, so here’s the plan,” I said, sitting in the front seat of the Diplomat with my body turned so I could face Sunset in the back seat. “Flutters and I are gonna get out here, and we’ll take the cash and all the weird stuff in case they search the car when you cross. You take the car across the bridge with your passport, then meet us at the Oakes Hotel down at the far end of the strip.”

Sunset nodded, signalling that she understood her part. “How are you guys crossing?”

I grinned. “We’re gonna cross the river.”

It was mid-afternoon on Saturday, October 22. The remainder of our drive to New York State was uneventful after the attack on the desert road in New Mexico, and Fluttershy was still a mess, having refused to stop anywhere during the drive to get a motel so she could shower. She had continued to become more withdrawn and stoic as time went on, to the point where she hadn't said a word for the past 24 hours, which had Sunset and I becoming fairly worried about her. Even when Sunset and I told her about the phone call to one of the owners of ‘Us’, she responded only with utter indifference and simply turned her head to look out the window.

My girlfriend and I had exited the car and were now crossing the bridge to Goat Island on foot, carrying the bags of items with us that we didn’t want to leave in the car. I held her hand as we walked, thinking about how I’d always wanted to bring her here: the honeymoon capital of the world, Niagara Falls. Unfortunately, the circumstances that led us here were not what I would have preferred, and we still had a job to do, which was to get Fluttershy back into Canada without her passport.

The place wasn’t overly busy, even for the time of year -- which was advantageous for us -- but there were still plenty of tourists around who seemed to have no problem with gawking at the shy girl’s dishevelled appearance as we made our way to the edge of the Horseshoe Falls. She had Sunset’s red T-shirt on still, as well as a pair of spare shoes that the red-head had brought, which was an improvement, however she was still wearing those rough-looking gray pants from the facility, and her skin and hair was still smudged with dark filth.

“This is why I wanted to stop and clean you up,” I said, leaning over to whisper to her over the roar of the falls. “You stick out like a sore thumb. People are looking at us.”

She silently glanced up, noticing a middle-aged couple who were leaning against the fence along the edge, looking over their shoulders at us as we passed. Her face became flushed immediately, and she looked back down to the ground.

“It doesn’t really matter anyway,” I continued, “we’re here now, but when we get into the hotel room you have to have a shower and clean up.”

Fluttershy glared at me for a moment as though she was going to protest, but she seemed to give up quickly and returned to eyes to the ground.

“I know you just want to get home,” I said, giving her hand a squeeze. “But the drive to BC from here is another three or four days, and you look and smell like shit.”

She huffed quietly.

“Relatively speaking, of course,” I pointed out as we stopped at the fence at the outermost point of the island. “I mean, you’re still prettier than everyone else here, even after being locked up and tortured at the bottom of the ocean for almost a month.”

I leaned on the fence next to the shy girl and put my arm around her, giving her shoulder a gentle rub as we gazed out over the scene before us. I always forgot how colossal these falls were until I was right next to them.

Even Fluttershy’s attention was roused by the massive curve of flowing water stretching out before us, continuously dumping it's shimmering blue contents into the deep river below; literally millions of gallons per minute, sending a massive cloud of mist into the air, the ground perpetually vibrating under our feet with the constant roar of water crashing down at the bottom.

“Maybe the water will wash some of the dirt off,” I said in a half daze.

She looked at me suddenly. “Y-you mean that water?” she quietly asked, pointing to the waterfall.

I gave her a frank nod.

She furrowed her brows as she looked across the water, then back to me. “Goldie, are we gonna…?”

“Yup,” I replied with a smirk. “We’re gonna do what quite a few of people have done, but only a handful have survived.”

Her eyes widened. “We’re gonna go over the falls? Why?”

“Not quite,” I replied. “We’re gonna jump down into the gorge in front of the falls.” I pointed across the river to a small platform. “You see that landing there?” I asked, to which she nodded. “That’s part of a tour called ‘Journey Behind the Falls’. They’ve basically tunneled out that rock so you can walk under the falls and see them from behind, and that platform is there so you can view them from the bottom. Now, there’s an elevator that takes you up to that building right there.” I raised my finger to the street at the top of the cliff, beyond which there was a large building. “The entrance to the tour is in that building, as well as the exit.”

“Wait,” she interrupted. “Won’t they think it’s weird that two people just showed up out of nowhere?”

“Doubtful. The tour isn’t really monitored,” I explained. “All the tour guide does is run the elevator. They’re not gonna suspect anyone to try sneaking into the country that way, mostly because people tend to die when they go over THAT.” I pointed to the massive waterfall in front of us.

The shy girl stared inattentively into the massive white cloud of mist that loomed over us, and I watched her for a second before continuing to explain the plan.

“OK so, this is what we’re going to do. You’re gonna get on my back, and I’m going to jump as far across as I can, then we’ll have to swim the rest of the way. Now, the current’s gonna carry us past that platform pretty quickly, but we can still make it to the other side, so we’ll have to backtrack once we get over there. I’m actually going to jump into the crook of the waterfall to the left of the platform, that way we won’t lose as much ground to the current before we get across.”

I pointed my index finger down into the river, moving it along slowly as I showed her the flow of the current. “See that? Because of the slight curve in the gorge, the current will carry us along the far side, so it will take us more-or-less where we want to go, even if it is a bit too far downstream.”

She looked down silently into the gorge for a moment, then reached up to clear some frazzled hair from her face as she turned to me.

Seeing the gesture made my heart flutter. It had been so long since I saw her do it, and even though her hair was so unkempt and her face dirty, seeing her sweep her it aside reminded me of the innocence she possessed when I first met her. It’s funny how the little things are what you miss the most about a person when they’re gone, and you don’t even realise it until you have them back.

“Um,” she had started to say while I daydreamed, “have you done this before?”

I snapped out of my Fluttershy-induced daze and brought myself to reality. “Uh, what? Oh! No, I haven’t.” I nodded towards the Rainbow Bridge further down river, past the Bridal Veil Falls. “Usually, I would take that across. It’s a bit easier,” I said with a chuckle.

She glanced at the bridge for a moment, then gave me a blank expression.

My smile faded when I saw her reaction, and I let out a defeated sigh. “Listen,” I said, pulling her close so I could rest my cheek on the side of her head. “I’m sorry I said you smell like shit. If it makes you feel better, even though you look the worst I’ve ever seen you, you’re still a solid drunk-nine.”

She pulled back a bit and glared at me with her brows furrowed for a few seconds, then sighed slowly as she returned her eyes to the waterfall. “Um…thanks.”

“Nice one…” I scolded myself. After taking a deep breath, I apologised. “Sorry, Flutters. I’m not trying to be mean to you, it’s just that I’m used to hanging around with Sunny after these past few weeks, and she and I tease each other a lot. It’s just for fun. I’m just trying to be playful with you, but I guess I forgot you’re not like Sunny.”

She remained silent for a minute or two before finally saying something in return. “It’s…it’s OK. I know I’m not my usual self either.”

“What’s bothering you?” I asked. “Is it your friend that helped you out of the base?”

She nodded in response. “But...i-it’s not just that.”

I could sense that she wasn’t ready to open up about her experience yet, so I reluctantly decided to let it go. “Whenever you’re ready, Flutters, we’ll talk. And I get that you’re a little off after what happened. I’ve been through sucky things before that made me super-fucked up, so I know how you feel.”

Fluttershy paused for a moment as if she wanted to say something, but instead she rested her head on my shoulder, much to my relief.

I cleared my throat. “So, going back to what I was saying before: no. I haven’t jumped off these falls before. I’ve been here lots of times over the years, and It’s something I’ve always wanted to try, but to tell you the truth, I didn’t want to do it alone. I always thought such an experience is something that should be shared, but making someone come with me for something like that would be considered…uh, cruel?” I chuckled. “But now I have you here, and there’s no one else the world I’d rather have take the plunge with me.”

She didn’t say anything, and I couldn’t see her face, so all I could do was hope she smiled or responded positively in some way to my remark.

She finally decided to speak after a few moments. “So what are we waiting for?” she finally asked.

“Uh…” I looked around the area. There were a few couples and a family of four quietly walking around, enjoying the scenery. “I’d rather wait until these people clear out of here. I don’t want to freak them out, you know?”

She nodded.

I looked down river towards the bridge again. “It’ll probably take Sunny a while to get across anyway. Because that old car doesn’t belong to her, I can pretty much guarantee they’ll search it.”

Fluttershy looked at me with sudden concern. “Do you think they’ll take the kitties?”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “They won’t care about that. We have all the questionable stuff here with us, and we made sure there was no blood left on the car, so Sunny should be fine.”

“You think, um…she’ll handle it OK?”

I nodded. “Oh yeah. She’s handled plenty in the past month. She’ll just make sure she touches the customs officer’s hand when she hands over her passport, and she’ll tell him exactly what he wants to hear.”

The shy girl nodded as I looked around again, hoping everyone else was going to clear out and give us a chance to make the jump without any witnesses.

***

“OK Flutters, they’re gone. Now’s our chance!”

After close to an hour of patient waiting, the last lingering couple we were watching had finally left sight of the observation deck, so Fluttershy and I wasted no time in making our move before anymore people showed up.

“You have the bags?” I asked quickly, to which she nodded as she slung them over her shoulder. “OK. Get on my back and hang on tight.”

Fluttershy silently went behind me and wrapped her slender arms around my shoulders, pulling herself up onto my back. She wrapped her legs around my waist, and I hooked an arm under one of her knees while grasping one of her arms with my other hand to ensure I wouldn’t lose her in the violently churning water at the bottom.

Before starting the run, I turned my head to look at her. “Ready?”

She paused for a second, then planted a tiny kiss on my cheek before giving a small nod of approval.

“Here it goes.”

I took a quick breath, aiming myself towards the space in the middle of the falls, then I took off running. We had been holding our position about fifty feet from the fence at the edge of the cliff, which gave me plenty of space to accelerate to a speed that would gain us plenty of distance once I leapt over the edge. As I approached the fence, I brought one foot up and leapt onto the fence rail, then launched myself and the shy girl over the edge and into the roaring abyss below.

We were suddenly weightless as we soared over the edge of the waterfall, which met with the shoreline next to where we had just departed from. It wasn’t long before were we below the brink of the falls; continuing our descent downwards, the air around us getting colder, the mist quickly dampening our clothes as we disappeared into the giant cloud of mist that rose from the bottom.

We found ourselves in the dark soon, surrounded by the roaring water, unable to see below us as we plunged unreservedly into the unknown. Fluttershy held onto me tightly, undoubtedly nervous about the deafening roar that pounded our eardrums, which only got louder as we advanced deeper and deeper into the gorge.

I wasn’t sure how far across we had made it by that point, and even though I had worked up a good momentum before the launch, this was a very expansive stretch of water to cross, and the cloud of mist was now serving only to hide our progress.

We were prepared for the cold shock of soon plunging into the water at the bottom, and we had our breath held in anticipation of the impact, unsure of what it was going to be like, how violent the current would be, or how far across we had gotten. The mist was so thick that both Fluttershy and I were practically soaked already, and the roar of the water splashing down at the bottom had reached a volume that neither of us could fathom, indicating that we must be close to impact.

It wasn’t happening, however. I would brace myself every few seconds, using the sound of the water around us, as well as the increasing splash-back as a guide to judge when our imminent touch down would be, but it never came.

“Holy shit, where the hell is the bottom?” I wondered, perplexed by how it could have been possible for our surroundings to become any louder, wetter or colder. I turned my head to look at my girlfriend, who was clutching me tightly; keeping her face nuzzled into my shoulder, her eyes squeezed shut with anticipation.

Perpetually weightless, Fluttershy and I descended for an endless period of time into what I was starting to suspect was nothing more than a portal into a dimension of deafening nothingness. Evidently, we as humans had forgotten yet again how small we are in the face of nature, not realising how deep the gorge actually was until we experienced the fall for ourselves.

Finally, after bracing for impact several times, having been faked out by the intensity of our surroundings repeatedly, our bodies splashed into the churning depths at the base of the falls. The water was heavily aerated, which reduced our buoyancy and caused us to plunge deep into the water like a rock, making our return to the surface a very slow one.

It was even louder below the surface. The sound of hundreds of thousands of gallons impacting all around us hammered our eardrums relentlessly, and the water itself cavitated and vibrated against our skin, tickling and numbing our bodies as we clambered upwards toward the surface, which was having the same time delay effect that we experienced on the way down; each time I anticipated breaking through and taking in a breath of air, it didn’t happen.

I could feel the current pulling us along by that time, and without being able to see where we were or which way we were facing, all I could do was pray that it was taking us in the direction that we wanted. The last thing Fluttershy and I needed was to get trapped against the rocks behind the massive sheet of falling water.

Without warning, we were bathed in sunlight again, signalling to me that we were heading in the right direction, away from the falls. I turned by head to see where the current was taking us, and as we finally broke through the final layer of mist I could see the Canadian rock-face to our left. The old generator plant was a little way ahead yet, and I turned back to look for the tour platform. Finding it quickly, I realised that we had already passed it.

The roar of the water was rapidly fading in volume as the current took us swiftly down river, prompting me to begin frantically swimming towards the rocks on our left. Luckily, the current did help as I had hoped, pushing us towards the Canadian side, giving me a boost of speed so we could reach the shore quickly.

I grabbed onto a rock on the shoreline no more than fifty feet from the power plant and pulled myself and my girlfriend and onto solid ground once again. We sat facing each other on the shoreline with the rock cliff towering above us, our hearts racing after the experience, staring at each other in disbelief of what we had just done together.

Of course, I was the first to speak. “That was…WAY more intense than I expected,” I chuckled between breaths.

Fluttershy's face was almost completely hidden by her soaking wet hair. Only one of her eyes was showing through a single opening in her locks as she watched me in a silent daze; her mouth open, breathing heavily from the excitement of it all.

I reached out to hook her hair with my index finger and peel it to the side, revealing her dirty, yet beautiful face. “You OK?” I asked, to which she nodded. “Do you think anyone saw us?”

Fluttershy shook her head and shrugged, signalling that she wasn't sure. I chewed my bottom lip, taking a moment to reflect as I listened to the roar of the falls behind me, and just as I looked up at her again, she suddenly lunged forward to wrap her arms around me.

It caught me off guard, given how distant she’d been since the attack on the road, but it was nonetheless a welcome sign of affection from her. She buried her face into my shoulder and squeezed me tight, letting her cold, slender body press against mine. Her heart pounded in her chest against me, and I realised then that the experience was probably much more intense for her as it was for me, given that she most certainly hadn't been through some of the things I had in my past.

“That was pretty crazy wasn’t it?” I said, wrapping her up in my arms to return the embrace. She nodded against me in reply, without saying a word.

After a few moments, we released each other, and I turned around to face the way we came, locating the observation deck that was part of the tour we were planning on sneaking into. It was well-over four hundred feet behind where we had landed, barely a hundred feet from the edge of the waterfall.

We began our backtracking, clambering over rocks and rough terrain along the bottom of the gorge, hoping to reach the platform before the next ‘Maid of the Mist’ passed by, the passengers of which would almost certainly see us as we made our way over the rocks toward our goal. While it was unlikely that they would suspect us of sneaking into the country, having made it across the river from the American side already, we certainly didn’t need the publicity or the demand of coming up with the reasonable excuse for how we ended up where we were.

We also had to be extra careful as we approached the observation deck so as not to be seen by tourists, but luckily most of them were looking in the other direction, towards the falling water. There were a few rocks for us to hide behind, as well as a hill with some light vegetation which led right up to the small metal fence that surrounded the platform, allowing us to get right up close without being noticed. We ducked down just beyond the fence and waited for the tourists to clear the deck, however the emptiest it would get was a pair of couples who leaned on the far side of the fence, watching the falling water hand-in-hand.

We seized the opportunity and jumped over the fence quickly, landing on the observation deck, the floor of which was soaked by the mist that perpetually floated all around. It worked out well actually, given the fact that we were completely soaked after the jump. I quickly noticed that everyone else on the tour was wearing yellow plastic hooded-ponchos, which were provided at the start of the tour to keep their clothes protected from the mist.

Luckily, the water seemed to have washed away some of the dirt from Fluttershy’s skin and hair, and what was left was obscured by the water that was still on her. Fluttershy and I stood quickly, holding hands, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible just as the one the couples turned around and headed for the stairs, intending to return to the tunnels inside the cliff.

They were an older couple, likely close to retirement age, and the man locked his eyes on my girlfriend and me quickly, cocking an eyebrow as he looked us over.

“Oh man, you two look terrible! Didn’t you get a poncho to wear? They hand them out at the entrance for free, you know,” he informed us, after which he glanced suspiciously at the churning river beyond the railing.

To my surprise, Fluttershy spoke up. “Oh noo, we didna think t’was going to be this wet dewn here,” she said in a perfect Irish accent, turning to me before continuing. “Could we please head up, luv? I need to go to the loo for a wee bit.”

It shocked the shit out of me at first, but it quickly made sense to me why she did it; if the old couple thought we'd come here on a plane from somewhere else, then surely we didn't just cross the river. Why would we do that when our flight would just take us where we wanted to go in the first place?

The man’s eyebrows rose suddenly, and he and his wife looked at us in surprise. “Ah, you two aren’t from around here, eh?” he chuckled.

Fluttershy and I shook our heads and gave them a friendly smile in return.

“Well,” he continued as he gave us a quick wave, “we’d better let you go, little lady. I hope you two enjoy your visit here, and next time, remember to get a poncho.”

“We will! Thank ya kindly, luv,” she said with a quick nod, after which, she and I quickly headed hand-in-hand towards the stairs that headed into the tunnels, listening to the sound of the old couple giggling together behind us.

“Ooh! She was soooo cute!” I heard the wife say as we entered the dark tunnel and left their sight.

Once inside, we were met with cold, damp walls and dim florescent lights mounted on the low ceilings. The walls rumbled constantly, resonating with the roar of the falls from outside as we made our way through the passage, the floor of which had a steady incline as it headed towards the elevator.

I turned to speak to my girlfriend, who was glancing at the plaques mounted on the walls with little informative bits for tourists to read. “Hey, where the hell did that come from? That was perfect!”

She simply shrugged and shook her head before looking back to the posters on the wall.

"Feel free to talk like that anytime," I continued, while giving her hand a squeeze. “That was fuckin sexy!”

She glanced at me only for a second, then forced the tiniest of smiles before turning away again.

“What is the matter with her?” I wondered, shaking my head. “Does she know about Sunny and I getting it on? Could she be pissed about it?”

We finally reached a fork in the tunnel. Straight ahead lead to the elevator, and to the left lead to two openings in the rock-face where you could see a small section of the waterfall from behind.

I stopped her to ask if she wanted to go have a look. She seemed reluctant at first, but I was able to talk her into it by reminding her that we were right there, and that we might not have a chance to come back for a long time. She fidgeted nervously with the bag that was slung over her shoulder; which was filled with roughly fifty-thousand American dollars and the pistol from one of the bikers that had approached Fluttershy in the car after the tire was shot out.

After spending only a few minutes at each of the port holes, which really didn’t offer a whole lot of visibility due to the mist, we made our way back to the elevator. Once inside, we were greeted by the operator, another couple and a family of three.

As the elevator made its ascent, the operator was looking inquisitively at the shy girl and me. “You guys didn’t get ponchos?”

I shook my head quickly. “No. We wanted to tough it, you know? It’s part of the adventure, right?”

The operator chuckled. “Haha, yup. We get you adventurous types here all the time,” she said, before speaking to everyone in the elevator. “I hope you all enjoyed the tour and hope you return to ‘Journey Behind the Falls’ again soon.”

You could tell by how the operator spoke that she had to go through that little spiel a hundred times a day, which made me smile a bit as I thought about someone living and working so close to such an amazing landmark, but were completely bored to tears by the shitty work created by it.

I shifted my thoughts to the next step in the plan, which was to meet up with Sunset in the hotel parking lot. I was just beginning to wonder how she made out with crossing the border when I noticed the young kid in the family beside us. He was probably fourteen or so, wearing a pair of thick glasses and had some unfortunate acne issues.

What really caught my attention however, was the size of his eyes. He was perfectly still, staring intently at something next to me, piquing my interest. I dropped my eyes to find out what he was looking at, then I almost laughed out loud.

I should have known. Fluttershy was still wearing Sunset’s red T-shirt with no bra underneath, which was soaking wet and stuck to her skin, showing off her breasts with stunning clarity, complete with hard nipples from the cold water.

I watched with amusement as the kid gaped at the shy girl, unbeknownst to her and his parents as well, surprisingly. When he finally realised I was watching him, he made eye contact with me, clearly nervous about how I might react.

I gave him a free pass, just because he was young and it was probably the best thing he’d seen all day, so I gave him a quick wink, along with a little smirk.

After reaching the top, we exited the elevator and walked out of the building away from the falls, heading up the hill to the row of hotels that lined Fallsview Boulevard. I pointed to the small, silver hotel that stood between the larger Embassy Suites and the Fallsview Casino Resort while turning to Fluttershy to speak.

“That’s the hotel I told Sunny to meet us at. We just have to walk around that way and up the hill,” I explained as we started to make our way to our destination. We walked for a few minutes in silence along Niagara Parkway, passing by the large bank of spotlights that shine onto the falls at night, before turning left to head up the hill.

Unexpectedly, my girlfriend decided to speak to me. “I take it I made that boy’s day?”

I laughed out loud at her unexpected quip and turned to say something in return, only to find her staring blankly at the sidewalk, watching as it passed by under our feet. Her inconsistency frustrated me slightly; every time I thought she was finally coming out of this funk she was in, it seemed like she would suddenly get worse instead.

I sighed as the smile disappeared from my face. “You know, Flutters, we’re gonna have to talk about whatever it is that’s bothering you eventually. It’s not going to go away on its own.”

She didn’t respond.

“I don’t want to force it,” I continued, “We can talk about it when you’re ready, but it’s gotta happen sooner or later. Sunny and I are here for you whenever you’re ready, OK?”

This elicited no more than a small nod from her.

“You know,” I said after a short pause. “I’m glad we’re here together. I wish the circumstances for us ending up here were different, but I’m glad you’re back safe with me, and I’m happy to be with you here in this city.”

It took her a few seconds to respond, during which I was worried she would be silent yet again, but to my relief, she did finally reply. “I’m glad too.”

At the top of the hill, we turned left again and headed along the strip to meet Sunset.

Hopefully.

Our destination was on the left, just past an Applebee’s that was attached to the hotel that I had planned on staying at with the girls for the night, after which we would take on the last long leg of our journey home across Canada.

As we rounded the corner, I was relieved to see the Diplomat parked out front as the parking lot came into view with the distant roar of the falls still audible in the background.

Evidently, Sunset saw us coming, and she quickly got out of the car to walk around to the trunk so she could meet us sooner, her face plastered with a look of amazement. “Holy shit, you guys! Did you see those big fucking waterfalls??”

I chuckled back to her. “Yeah Sunny, we got a pretty good look at them.”

“Now I see why you wanted to bring us here,” the red-head continued.

"Haven't you ever heard of this place?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Well yeah, I mean, I've read about it, but I never really thought about how fucking crazy-big those things actually are," Sunset said excitedly. “This place is amazing! There’s so much to do and see, I wanna go and-“

“Hang on,” I said, “We’ll get to that, but we’ve got some things to look after first.” As I spoke, I tilted my head to gesture towards Fluttershy, indicating to Sunset that we needed to get her cleaned up and looked after.

“Right,” Sunset nodded, trying not to look disappointed by the reality check.

I opened the trunk and took the bag from the shy girl to lock it inside. “They’re not going to let us bring those cats into the hotel,” I said to Fluttershy. “Will they be OK in the car?”

She glared at me for a moment before speaking. “Why do we have to stay here? Can’t we just go home?”

Sunset answered for me. “You seriously need to have a shower, Flutters. Like, seriously. Plus, I need a break from riding in the car. You have no idea how much time we’ve spent driving over the past month.”

I nodded in agreement. “Yeah Flutters. I’m pretty sure we both smell like fish now, too. Now will these cats be OK in the car or not?”

She sighed, and then nodded reluctantly. "Just leave the windows down a smidge."

We entered the lobby of the hotel, noticing the smell of chlorine immediately as we approached the counter, indicating the presence of a swimming pool nearby. I checked us in, asking for a specific room that I knew had a great view of the falls so Sunset would be able to see them whenever she wanted.

The receptionist was giving me and Fluttershy strange looks because of our soaked clothes, so I came up with a half-assed cover story. “Damn water pipe broke in our house and the basement’s flooded.”

The receptionist cocked an eyebrow. “Oh...well, thank you for choosing us for your…um, emergency housing needs…”

I nodded and waved her off. “I know, I know. There are cheaper places to stay at, but...” I pointed to Sunset with my thumb, “our friend here is visiting from out of town, so I figured a room with a nice view would be cool.”

“Ah,” the receptionist nodded, looking at Sunset. “Where are you visiting us from, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Uh, BC,” Sunset replied, with an awkward nod.

The receptionist’s eyebrows went up with interest. “Oh nice! You’re a long way from home, eh?”

The red-head cleared her throat. “Yup.”

“OK,” the receptionist continued after a minute of typing on the computer and going through some papers. As she began her spiel, she stood up, sliding some papers and three cards across the counter to me. “Here are your room cards. The fallsview room includes a king size bed, living area, Jacuzzi tub and a TV with basic cable and pay-per-view movies. The package also includes a dinner and breakfast voucher for the Applebee’s next door. Parking is around the south side of the building; just use your room card to get through the gate, which is located at the far end of the restaurant parking lot. Enjoy your stay and thank you for choosing the Oakes Hotel.”

“Thanks,” I replied, smiling as I took the cards and headed towards the elevators to the right of the reception desk with the two girls following behind.

I sent them up to the room while I went outside to move the car to the parking lot, after which I came back inside through the back door and headed up to join the girls in the room. The elevator had one glass wall through which one could see outside, giving a great view of the city as ascended to our floor.

After making my way down the hall to the room and swiping my card to get in, I was met by Sunset as soon as I opened the door.

“Holy shit, dude! The view…fucking AMAZING!”

I smiled. “You’re welcome, Sunny.”

“Thanks for all this,” she said. “It’ll do us all good to take a little vacation on the way home.”

“No problem. Anything for you," I said with a smile, before looking around the corner to the main part of the room. "Where’s Flutters?” I asked.

The red-head looked down the hall towards one of the two large bay windows. “She’s at the table by the window. Hasn’t said a word, either.”

I scratched my head, letting out a long sigh as I ruminated about what to do with my girlfriend.

“There’s something else,” Sunset said in a quieter voice.

“What’s that?” I asked as looked at her again.

She inhaled deeply. “It’s back.”

I groaned. “Damn. You mean your magical sexy-time?”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah. It’s been a few days now since you and I…you know, did the deed. I think your stuff is all gone from me now and my magic is looking for more.”

I shook my head and looked down at the carpet. “Was it gone while you were alone in the car? How’d that go by the way?”

“I was fine in the car,” she replied. “No wet pussy syndrome whatsoever. And they searched the car at the border because it wasn’t mine, just like you said.”

“What’d you tell them?”

“I said I had a rental that broke down, and my friend’s grandpa loaned me the old car,” she explained. “They actually found his number through the license plate and they called him to confirm my story.”

“Really? Did he answer?” I asked.

“He did, as a matter of fact,” she nodded. “And he knew who it was, and he covered for us.”

I grinned, thinking about the old rancher. “I knew that old fella was a good shit.”

"You're a good old fella too, Golds," Sunset replied, returning the smile. “They didn’t care about the cats at all, by the way.”

I shook my head. “Yeah, no they probably wouldn’t. It would be different if it was something that doesn’t belong in our ecosystem, but cats; not so much.”

“Yeah,” she mumbled, folding her arms across her chest.

It was then that noticed her body language, and it quickly became obvious that she was back to her aroused state once again. We'd earned ourselves over a week of freedom after she and I decided to relieve ourselves of it, but now that it was back, I recognised the symptoms immediately.

“Hey,” I said, coming up with an idea, “how about you do us favour? You can get away from me and give yourself a break from your curse; that way you can-“ I stopped to see if Fluttershy happened to be close by, which she wasn’t, so I continued: “-kill two birds with one stone.” I always had to be cautious using that metaphor around the shy girl; it was an expression that she wasn’t particularly fond of.

“Sure.”

“Take some cash from the trunk of the car and go buy us all some clothes. Flutters especially. That way you can go out and see the sights and you’ll be away from me for a bit so you can cool down. I’ll stay here and get her cleaned up.”

Sunset rubbed her chin for a second before nodding her approval. “Good idea. Will they take American money here though?”

“They should,” I replied. “There’s lots of tourism here so I think most places will take both.”

“OK.” Sunset opened the door to leave, but turned back once more. “Good luck with her,” she said with a hopeful smile.

“We’ll be fine, Sunny. Now go have fun.”

*Chapter 73: Clean Body; Dirty Mind

Chapter 73

After leaving the hotel lobby, Sunset stopped at the car to get some cash, and then made her way across the parking lot past the Applebee’s, heading back the way Fluttershy and Golden Arrow came from when they met her after crossing the border. As she walked along the sidewalk, making a mental checklist of all the things she needed to get, she passed by a little shop that she noticed had some cheap digital cameras in the display case.

She had been unable to take any pictures ever since giving her phone and leather jacket away to the decoys back in Arizona. At the current point in the trip however, she figured it would be easiest to wait until she was home to get a new phone, so an inexpensive camera would have to work for what she was planning.

With new camera in-hand, Sunset made her way down the sidewalk to the casino, which she decided to cut through so she could have a look at the inside. Upon entering the front doors, she was met by a large water fountain, above which was a large domed ceiling, vividly illuminated by an array of coloured flood lights.

The red-head stopped briefly, taking a few pictures before continuing onward.

She made her way through the lobby and into a mall corridor, checking out a few of the shops for a few minutes before making her way back to the lobby and down a large set of steps that led to a large, quiet carpeted hall lined with auditorium doors on both sides. Between the doors were pictures of famous singers, magicians and performers who had been at the hotel in the past, some of which Sunset recognised, and some she didn’t.

Before this mission, the red-haired Equestrian thought she had a pretty good knowledge of the pop-culture in this world, but after spending a month with Golden Arrow, she realised how little she knew about famous musicians and actors from as recently as even twenty years ago. It struck Sunset as odd that Golden Arrow and Pinkie Pie hadn’t become best buds already, since the pink party-animal was known within the group as being a serious movie buff.

At the end of the hall was an exit that led to a suspended walkway above the street to a plethora of other attractions, as well as a staircase that led down to the sidewalk below, which is the path Sunset chose. She had full intentions of seeing that massive waterfall up close, and it was not a difficult task to locate it with the inescapable rumble that droned on endlessly throughout the area. She followed the roar of falling water like a beacon, walking down the sloped sidewalk, unaware that Fluttershy and Golden Arrow had just made their way up that very stretch barely half an hour ago.

She continued straight ahead, eventually crossing Niagara Parkway to the railing that lined the edge of the gorge. She lifted the camera and snapped a few shots of the Bridal Veil Falls on the American side before continuing to the right, heading for the larger Horseshoe Falls.

It was a fair walk, taking about ten minutes before she neared the large waterfall. The sidewalk was soaking wet before she even got close to the railing, and she closed her eyes as she stepped along, enjoying the tingling feel of the cool mist on her face. When she made it to the edge at last, she marveled at how quiet it was; given the fact that the rumble of falling water could be heard throughout the area, Sunset was incredulous of how eerily quiet it was right next to the brink as she leaned on the fence with her forearms, gazing down into the rushing water.

It hypnotised her to watch the smooth, blue fluid, slithering over the edge in near silence. A minute or two had passed before she snapped out of it, finally remembering to raise the camera and snap a few shots of the curved edge of falling water sprawled out before her.

She turned her back to the railing and aimed the camera at herself to take a few selfies with the falls only a few feet behind her, wishing in her mind that there was a way to send pictures through her book for Princess Twilight to see.

It wasn’t all she wished for, however.

“Too bad Flutters and Golds weren’t down here with me,” she thought to herself as she turned back to face the water, putting her camera down to rest her chin on her forearms after folding them on top of the railing. “Hopefully she pulls through this funk that she’s in…this would be really cool if I had them around to enjoy it with.”

The thought of her friends made Sunset think about home, and she found herself longing to be in her apartment at that moment, playing Grand Theft Auto with Rainbow Dash. It was fun living so close to the rainbow-haired girl; having someone who could come over and just hang out at a moment’s notice had been a life saver during the past few difficult months of trying to find work.

Work.

“Ugh…” Sunset groaned, wondering how she was going to return to a normal life after spending a month on the road with a 2500 year old commando, looking for her friend who was being held at the bottom of the ocean in a secret facility belonging to a super-secret organisation owned by the world’s elite. It seemed all too ridiculous to think about now, and Sunset had to remind herself that yes, it actually happened.

She suddenly remembered her last night at home when she'd bought groceries, deciding that it was time to set out the next day to find an entry-level job to make ends meet while she watched for an opening in the field that she’d gotten her degree in. She shook her head while keeping her eyes on the water slinking past, disappearing over the edge while she ruminated on the life that was waiting for her back in Canterlot. “How the fuck am I supposed to work in a coffee shop after breaking into the CIA?”

Sunset reflected on some of the things she’d seen and learned during the rescue mission. Some of it was stressful and even scary, but there were also times that she learned valuable skills and lessons, and admittedly, she enjoyed spending time with Golden Arrow; especially during the last week of endless sex. She sighed deeply when she was suddenly reminded of the warm glow between her legs that still hadn’t completely faded yet.

“Damn, I wish it would go away faster when I get away from him,” she complained to herself. “Oh, what I wouldn’t do to have him shoot another load of his cum in me…”

Sunset snickered to herself, shaking her head as she thought about her unusual problem. “Fuck, that stuff is like crack,” she thought. “The problem is now that Flutters is back, it’s gonna be impossible to get him to take me somewhere for a quickie. I'm just gonna have to deal with this on my own from now on.”

She raised an eyebrow suddenly, turning around to look up the hill behind her, scanning the skyline for their hotel. “Maybe with a little luck, he’ll get her cheered up and they’ll be getting it on when I go back to the room, and maybe they’ll invite me over for a little three-way action and voila! I get a free dose of relief.” She grinned as she pictured it in her mind. “Golds will be on top of Flutters, and when he sees me come in, he’ll wave me over and be like: ‘come on over and join us, Sunny!’”

Sunset snorted at the sitcom-like imagery and turned back to lean on the railing, staring lazily at the softly trickling water while listening to the quiet roar from below, muffled by the cliff in front of her. She rested her chin on her forearms again, sighing deeply as she stared longingly into the endless blue flow.

“I love it when he calls me Sunny…”

The mist had made her hair and clothes damp by then, but she paid little attention to it. Her mind was elsewhere; thinking about that week alone with him, having amazing sex non-stop for six days straight, and how she needed even more.

It had become an addiction.

After a moment of quiet observation, she mentally slapped herself. ”Fat chance of getting Flutters into any action tonight,” she thought. “That girl is in a bad way. I wonder what’s wrong with her? There has to be more to it than just losing her friend…”

Sunset’s thoughts were brought back to the chase on the road, when she watched in awe as the shy girl took out seven of the eight bikers with a casual precision that was both frightening and admirable, and the red-head couldn’t help but shake her head at the irony of how she used to bully such a fearsome warrior. It was nothing short of absurd how helpless Fluttershy once was; weak, unconfident and perpetually frightened, although she was always sweet and loveable, but now look at her…

“Man, Flutters just wiped those guys out like it was nothing,” she thought, chewing her lip as she watched the scene replay in her head. “The whole thing was so precisely calculated and effortlessly deliberate. It was…” --she paused for a moment when she realised something else -- “…it was fucking hot.”

Sunset closed her eyes when she realised the truth.

Fluttershy turned her on. Very much so, in fact; especially after seeing the pink-haired girl put on such a display of deadly skills. Her thoughts returned to that night at the motel in California, when Golden Arrow held her down and fucked the daylights out of her from behind, and she began to imagine the shy girl giving her a similar treatment.

Her thoughts traveled even further back in time next, to the night she became an immortal, when she tasted the shy girl’s saliva in her mouth and held her down while putting on her mean bully routine. What if Fluttershy turned the tables on her and gave her some payback?

“I wonder if Flutters is strong enough to hold me down? She could straddle my bare ass and fingerbang my puss-“

Sunset shook her head frantically when she felt the tingling heat rapidly returning to her loins. “Damn it, Sunset! What re you doing? You came down here to cool off, not make yourself even wetter thinking about being raped by your friends!”

She struggled to think of something else, but her depraved mind only brought her thoughts to the proposal given by Golden Arrow, a proposal that involved her reading his thoughts while he was having sex with Fluttershy. The idea of it was bizarre to Sunset, but at the same time it was far too intriguing to walk away from, and she had eventually become borderline obsessed with the idea of Golden Arrow sharing the experience of having Fluttershy bring him to climax inside her.

Sunset closed her eyes and shook her head again to clear her thoughts, and then rubbed her eyelids firmly with her fingertips. There was no escape however, in the blackness of her mind she saw Fluttershy and Golden Arrow appear from the behind the Applebee’s when they met her in the Oakes Hotel parking lot. All she could see was that image of the shy girl wearing Sunset’s own red shirt with the sun on it; soaking wet and stuck to her skin, leaving almost nothing to the imagination as she approached with a sexy grace that could never be matched by anyone. The absence of a bra had put her breasts on display, jiggling with each step, her hard nipples completely visible through the shrink-wrapped shirt, her slender waist below emphasizing her beautiful bust even more.

“Damn, I NEVER looked that fucking good in that shirt…” Sunset thought as she drew in a deep breath. Her arousal had almost returned to full force again, but this time it couldn’t be blamed on the magic. Her panties were flooded, and she regretted having such intimate thoughts right there at the edge of the majestic waterfall, since she would now have to run her errands with the discomforting nuisance of wet fabric rubbing against her slit.

The sun was quite low by then, and it would be dark soon, so Sunset took one more look at the waterfall. After a deep sigh, she decided it was time to busy herself by finding a store to get some clothes, hoping to keep her mind off of her friends, waiting upstairs in the hotel room.

*****

“Look Flutters, they have a pretty damn decent Jacuzzi in here,” I called out from the bathroom to my girlfriend, who was still perched at the window watching the falls. She turned away from the scenery, giving me a blank stare as I stepped out of the bathroom door into the hallway that led to the front door.

I waved her over. “Come on. It’s time to clean you up before you get skin cancer from all that shit on you.”

Fluttershy scowled a bit, and although I couldn’t tell if it was a real scowl or if she was being playful, I found the look adorable nonetheless.

I rolled my eyes and started nodding, waving my hand around in a circle to motion her to come over. “Yeah yeah, I know, you can’t get cancer. It was just a joke, Flutters. Come on.”

She stood and slowly made her way over to join me in the bathroom, where there was a large counter with a sink on the left side, and a stand-up shower stall with glass doors on the right. Next to the shower was a large, L-shaped Jacuzzi tub with mirrors mounted on the surrounding walls.

I reached into the shower and turned the water on, then adjusted the temperature to a comfortable setting. After turning back to Fluttershy, I saw her standing motionless with her hands folded in front of her lap, her clothes still damp, her dull eyes locked on me.

I gave her a reassuring smile. "You'll feel a hundred times better once you're all cleaned up, Flutters. I promise."

She shifted her eyes downward, studying the backs of her hands as if she hadn't noticed before how filthy they were. After a moment of silent observation, she looked back at me with a blank stare.

"Look," I said, taking a step closer to her. "I'm sorry. I know you didn't really want to stop, but you need this. It's just for one night, then we'll be on our way home. That's what you wanted, right?"

Fluttershy shrugged, catching me off guard.

"Didn't you say in the parking lot that you didn't want to stay here? " I asked, raising an eyebrow. "You wanted to go straight home, I thought?"

She paused for a moment, and her eyes began to dart around the room before she finally gave a reluctant-looking nod.

I cocked my head, confused by her answer. "You didn't look too sure about that, are you worried about going home?"

She quickly shook her head in response.

Fluttershy's contradictory replies had me somewhat worried. What could be going through her mind to make her act so strangely?

I took a deep breath and turned to look back at the shower stall. "Wow, she is messed up," I then noticed the glass walls had already become clouded by the hot steam, so I decided I should try to get her inside. "OK, um..." I started, unsure of how to handle her. “You want me to leave you alone while you have a shower?” I asked.

She hesitated for a moment before shaking her head, to my surprise. And relief.

“OK then,” I continued, trying to get her moving without being too forceful. “The shower’s ready to go. It's all nice and steamy, just for you. It's gonna feel amazing, trust me.”

Fluttershy sighed, and then hooked her fingers under the bottom of Sunset’s shirt to peel it off of her moist skin. While the shirt was over her face, I was given a prime view of her breasts when her arms went up over her head to pull the shirt the rest of the way off.

Her skin was still dirty, covered in grayish-black blotches, making me wonder about the shit they must have put her through as she dropped the shirt to the floor. Her hair fell around her, still damp and stringy, tinged a darker colour due to the toxic contaminants that stained the normally beautiful pink locks.

She hooked her thumbs over the elastic of the gray pants next and pulled them down over her hips, letting them drop to the floor, revealing the fact that she hadn’t been wearing any underwear whatsoever under her clothes.

I had forgotten what lovely figure she had. It was as though she was sculpted by a god; a god who happened to have a profound understanding of what would drive a man like me completely crazy. Even while covered in all of that filth, her true, natural beauty could not be hidden, and I was determined to free it once again.

I suddenly snapped out of my daze when I realised she’d walked past me and stepped into the shower. She tipped her head back as the warm water sprayed and trickled down her skin, and I was left realising that she almost certainly hadn’t felt anything as soothing as this for almost a month. It was plainly obvious that they hadn’t allowed her to shower while she was imprisoned, and the feeling of the warm water on her skin must have been as close to heaven as she’ll ever get.

After a moment of soaking in the sprinkling water, she rested forehead against the glass wall and stood in motionless silence, letting the water pelt her shoulder blades with its soothing warmth.

“Poor thing,” I thought, trying to think of a way to get her to start cleaning herself.

Then, an idea sprang forth. “You want some help? Like, with your back and stuff?” I asked, to which she gave me a glance, followed by a small nod.

I quickly peeled my own clothes off and stepped into the warm shower with her. The room was becoming steamy already, and the hot water felt amazing on my skin. I couldn’t imagine how it must have felt for her.

I decided to start with her hair. “Just relax, OK? I’ll look after you.”

All that was provided were those little tiny shampoo bottles that hotels always had, so I poured the entire thing over her head, hoping it would be enough to get all the crap out of her surprisingly full head of hair. As I began to run my fingers through her pink locks, I was heart-broken to see how bad of a state she was actually in; I was constantly hitting snags and knots, stopping me from being able to run my fingers through her hair as I tried in vain to straighten out and organise it a bit. Eventually, I gave up and resorted to simply picking the entire mass up and massaging the shampoo into it.

It was gritty. I started pulling out little bits of what looked like concrete pebbles, making me wonder what kind of war she must have gone through when she fought her way out of that place. After working at it for a bit, there was finally a lather beginning to build up and I was eventually able to run my fingers through her long hair, working the cleanser in deeper to bring out the sugary pink hue that was her natural colour.

When I glanced down at the floor of the shower, I shook my head at the sight of the dark gray water swirling around the drain as the filth was washed away from her.

After aiming the shower head to rinse out the shampoo and grime, I swung her hair around to her front, then picked up the bar of soap and began to wash her back and shoulders. With a thick lather worked up on my hands, I set to the soap down and ran my fingers around her neck and throat, then down her arms to her hands, wiping away the greasy darkness, erasing the evidence of her imprisonment forever.

I stopped to re-lather, and then I reached around to run my hands along her slender belly, cleaning the grime off of her soft skin, eventually working my way up to her breasts. I cupped them gently, feeling the full, slick masses slip between my fingers, massaging the soap into her soft flesh. The hot water had made her nipples soft and supple, and I could barely feel them sliding under my fingers as I gently rubbed her clean.

I rinsed her off again, marvelling at how vibrant her custard-toned skin had become already. I decided to take a break and see how she was doing, so I wrapped my arms around her midsection and hugged her, pressing her back against my chest as I rested my chin on her shoulder.

“Does that feel better?” I asked.

She nodded silently.

“Do you wanna talk at all? Like, about what’s keeping you so quiet?”

She shook her head.

I sighed, disappointed by her answer, knowing I couldn’t force her to talk about it until she was ready. The last thing I wanted was to drive her away.

“Do you want me to leave you alone?” I asked. “Am I bothering you with all this touching?”

She shook her head again, which gave me at least some relief. After stepping back and looking down at her slender body, I realised what was next to be cleaned when I saw the round little cheeks of her ass waiting to be treated.

“I’ve gotta do your, uh…” I stopped to clear my throat, “nether regions next. Did you want to do them yourself, or…?”

She turned slowly to glance at me with one eye for a moment, and then she faced forward again and brought her hands up to place her fingertips on the glass. She slowly shifted her left foot outward, followed by her right, positioning herself to allow my hands access to every nook and cranny of her anatomy.

“Well, that’s a pretty clear response…” I thought to myself, smirking as Fluttershy presented herself to me, leaning forward on the glass with her feet apart.

I took a deep breath as I lathered my hands up again, looking down at her waiting body, thinking about how I was going to go about starting this stage of the cleaning process. I set the soap down and paused for a few seconds before cupping my hands over the cheeks of her ass, gently massaging the soap into her soft, smooth skin. Once I was satisfied with that, I slid my hands around her hips to her front, running my fingertips down over her mound to her slit, where I cupped my left palm over her soft lips to rub the fragrant cleanser into her flesh.

It became clear to me very quickly that although she was very despondent and had obviously been deeply affected by the recent events in her life, her ability to become aroused had certainly not been inhibited.

Her breathing deepened and her hips swayed gently, responding fervently to my touch as I massaged her slit with my left palm while trying to decide what to do with my right. Eventually, I slipped my other hand under the bottom of her ass, dipping my fingers into her crease from the rear, meeting the fingertips of my left hand in the process before trailing my right hand upward between her cheeks. I made sure to run my fingers all the way up the crack of her ass, working the soap into every detail, making sure there was no filthy residue remaining anywhere on her body.

She let her head lean back suddenly, resting it on my right shoulder as she enjoyed the feel of my fingers caressing her most intimate areas, bestowing her with a feeling of freshness that she hadn’t felt for what seemed like an eternity. Cleanliness wasn’t all she felt however; there was a steadily increasing heat building in her loins, sparking her desire with increased fervor every time my fingers passed through her sensitive folds.

With the back of her head still on my shoulder, she turned slightly and began to gently caress my jawline with her lips, planting slow, loving kisses on my wet skin as she worked her way toward my ear. Satisfied that she was clean, I held my right hand up to rinse the water off before reaching around to her front to hold her right breast.

I tilted my head down to meet her lips with mine, feeling butterflies in my stomach as I was reminded of what it was like to kiss Fluttershy passionately for the first time in over a month. I knew she was just as excited about it, judging by how hard her nipples had gotten since the last time I had my hands on her breasts, accompanied by the rhythmic swaying of her hips that seemed to be happening without any conscious input from her.

My body had mind of its own by then as well, commanding my length to harden rapidly and rise up to poke her ass cheek, prompting her to instinctively push against it in response, sending a shiver up my spine from the sensation of her soft, smooth skin firmly rubbing against the tip of my erection.

Temptation got the better of me after realising that her arousal had set in. With my fingers still nestled between her folds, and after the water had washed away much of the soap from her, I took the initiative and plunged my middle and ring fingers inside her.

I let them sink in deeply, feeling the details of her hot interior as her hips jerked in response, accompanied by a soft moan emanating from her throat. Her tongue crept into my mouth; slowly, but with intention, sliding it gently alongside mine, where they slowly began to tangle and spiral around one another. It was an unusually tame sort of kiss for her, but she was in an unusual mood, so I didn’t think much of it. My right hand massaged her breast gently while I drove my fingers in and out of her, stroking her tight interior as my palm rubbed itself against her swollen folds, grinding her hood against the sensitive clit underneath.

She broke the kiss to exhale her enjoyment against my cheek, followed by a sudden lunge of her hips in response to the jolts of ecstasy she was receiving from my strong, yet nimble digits. I increased my aggressiveness as a reward for her passionate response, knowing that she was ready to receive it with wanton hunger. With my fingers remaining inside her, I squeezed them toward my palm, mashing her clit into the heel of my hand while my fingers pressed firmly against her G-spot, and I gyrated my hand around in a circular motion, drawing a sudden, sharp gasp from the shy girl in response.

Her hand quickly found itself on my abdomen, sliding downwards until her slender fingers wrapped themselves around my fully-charged erection. She stroked the entire length of it, stopping briefly to squeeze down on the sensitive head with her thumb and forefinger, extruding a bead of clear, slick fluid from the tip. She promptly used her thumb to spread it around before the shower washed it away, delivering quick, circular caresses to the tip, causing my knees to buckle when the intense sensations radiated up my spine.

Now fully slicked with my juice, Fluttershy stroked her fist up and down my length, pumping the head vigorously in her tight grip, shocking me with wave after wave of mind-numbing bliss. I repaid her service with extra vigor in my own thrusts, driving my fingers into her with such force that her feet lifted off the floor of the shower stall, keeping her steady by holding onto her breast as I stimulated her aggressively in mid-air.

Overwhelmed, she threw her head back, crying out a soft howl of delight before turning her head to breathe against my neck, using her hand to continue stroking me with a moderate, steady rhythm. She gasped sharply once again, reaching out with her free hand to plant it against the wall to steady herself, her head swimming with euphoria as she brought her right leg up and pressed her trembling foot against the glass wall.

Our assaults on each other were intense, our bodies both quaking under the effects of the heavenly sensations, savouring the warmth of our ragged breaths hitting each other’s faces, accentuated by the warm water trickling down our sensitive skin.

I was the first to capture her orgasm as usual, and her body convulsed violently as it remained suspended above the floor of the shower stall, held up by my one of my hands between her legs, the other by my arm wrapped around her, holding onto her right breast.

“Ooooohhhh…” her soft voice moaning next to my ear was like a beautiful piece of music, and the supple flesh of her interior clenched tightly on my fingers in sharp pulses; an intimate deed that I always considered to be a gesture of gratitude, communicated directly to me by her satisfied womanhood.

After coming down from the peak of her pleasure, I let her feet touch the floor again and she spun around suddenly to wrap her arms around the back of my neck, pressing her naked, wet body tightly against mine while kissing me deeper, dipping her tongue in between my lips in search of mine. She found my tongue quickly and latched onto it, wrapping it in hers as she mixed our saliva together in each other’s mouths.

As the shy girl pushed her abdomen forward, tightly pinning my erection between us, she separated our lips and began planting rapid kisses all over my face, showing me a new level of affection every time her soft lips came into contact with my skin again.

Suddenly, just as our bodies had reached complete arousal, she stopped her barrage of kisses to stare into my eyes. Something seemed to spark within her, reminding her of her imprisonment, or possibly the loss of her friend; whatever it was, I could see the desire in her eyes give way to worry and hopelessness, bringing our romantic encounter to a screeching halt, and she silently let her head rest on my shoulder with a deep sigh.

I wrapped my arms around her, trying my best to avoid feeling dejected by the unexpected cessation of sexual advance from the shy girl. “What’s the matter?” I asked.

I didn’t expect an answer, but to my surprise, I got one. “I…I’m sorry.”

I couldn’t help but feel bad for her. What must she have been put through to have her spirits be so beaten down? I hugged Fluttershy tightly and rocked her gently from side-to-side, trying to bring some comfort to her. “It’s OK, Flutters,” I replied. “We should finish cleaning you up anyway.”

I released her from the embrace and dropped to one knee, grabbing the soap to lather my hands up again. I ran my hands up and down both sides of her thighs, then her calves and feet, rubbing the soap into her skin to remove the last remaining grime from her body.

Her slit was at eye level with me in my kneeling position, and I wanted badly to lean forward to kiss it, but I knew after she’d put the brakes on once already that I should just leave it be.

Instead, I stood up and re-lathered once more.

“Close your eyes,” I instructed quietly.

She complied, and I proceeded to clean her face by rubbing her cheeks and forehead with my fingertips, followed by gently running my fingers along her eyelids and down the sides of her nose. I worked away with my hands and fingertips, cleaning off every intricate detail of her pretty face before finally rinsing her off one last time with the hot water from the shower head.

After she was completely clean, we held each other under the hot water for what felt like hours, thinking to ourselves about where we were and how we'd gotten there, what had happened already, and what might be coming our way next.

*****

Sunset returned to the room some time later, carrying several bags with her as she rounded the corner to find me sitting on the bed in nothing but a pair of boxer shorts.

I stood quickly when I saw her enter the room. “Hey Sunny, did you have fun?”

“It was pretty cool,” she replied. “Would have been better with you guys though.”

I nodded, understanding her sentiment.

After we stared awkwardly at each other for a moment, Sunset looked down at the bags she’d carried in with her. “Um…so, I got you a couple T-shirts and jeans. I know you don’t really wear anything too fancy, so…”

She held one of the bags out to me.

“Yeah, no problem. Thanks,” I replied, taking the bag from her. I rooted through its contents, looking for my new clothes when I pulled out a tiny, lacy white thong.

I briefly held the garment up to study it, then looked at Sunset with a cocked eyebrow. “This for me?”

She snorted, setting the other bags down before folding her arms. “If you want,” she chuckled. “No, those are for Flutters.”

“Seriously?” I asked. “She doesn’t usually wear stuff like this.”

“I know,” Sunset replied, shaking her head. “I don’t really know what I was thinking.”

As she spoke, I pulled a matching white bra out of the bag. “Wow. Where the hell were you shopping at?”

“That’s uh…” Sunset mumbled, pursing her lips nervously, “…a push-up bra. Again, not really sure what I was thinking. Sorry Golds, Flutters probably won’t even wear this stuff.”

“Well, we’ll see what happens,” I replied, stuffing the underwear back into the bag after pulling out my new T-shirt and pants.

I heard Sunset draw in a shaky breath, then I noticed her staring at my shirtless chest while she hungrily bit her lower lip.

“Is your sexy time kicking in already?” I asked.

She snapped out of her trance and nervously locked her big green eyes on me. “Yeah,” she answered, shaking her head as she turned away. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” I said, slipping the shirt on over my head. “Jeez, I forgot how fast it happens.”

She nodded. “And how slowly it goes away when I leave.”

“Really?”

“Yeah well, the problem is once I’m turned on, I keep thinking about sex and I can’t stop,” she replied. “It’s not the magic keeping me horny at that point; it’s my dirty mind, and just keeps me going and going if I don’t have anything to distract me from it.”

I stopped for a moment to look at the bag again, thinking about the racy underwear she’d bought for my girlfriend. “Is that why she bought that stuff? Cuz she was horny?...Wait, she wants to see Flutters wearing those things?”

I shook my head of the thought and stepped into my new jeans. “These fit good, Sunny. Good job, thanks. ”

The red-head smiled at me in response.

“If Flutters won’t wear that underwear, then you can have it,” I teased.

Sunset snorted. “What? Those won’t fit me right. My boobs are too small.”

I shook my head in disagreement. “No they’re not,” I frowned. “Your tits are almost as big a Flutters’.”

“Really?” she replied, looking down at her bust.

“Yeah, pretty much,” I replied with a smile. “You could pull-off that bra easily.”

She blushed a little, letting out a long exhale as she ran her fingers through her hair. “Is she still in the bathroom?”

I nodded. “Yeah, she just finished blow drying her hair right before you came in. Speaking of which…” I picked up the bag and took it to the bathroom, opening the door just enough to pass the bag to Fluttershy.

I came back to the main room to find Sunset at the windows, looking at the falls.

“What do you think?” I asked.

She smirked. “I can’t believe you can hear them all the way up here.”

I nodded. “You can feel them.”

Sunset snickered a little, turning to me. “Did you feel anything else?”

I raised an eyebrow at her. ”What do you mean?”

She pointed at my hair. “You obviously showered with her; your hair’s wet.”

“Oh,” I replied, shifting my eyes upward for a second, acknowledging her observation. “Are you asking if we got into it in the shower?”

“Duh.”

I shook my head. “No, we didn’t.” I tilted my head her way slightly. “Well…I mean, we started to, but something happened, and she just stopped.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “She stopped?” she repeated, rubbing her chin. “That’s an unusual move for Fluttershy.”

I nodded, running my tongue along the inside of my bottom lip as I stared out the window. “Yeah. She uh, kinda got me going, then put the brakes on.”

The red-head sighed, shaking her head. “Jeez, she must really down if she walked away from a romp, especially with you. Poor thing. I’m really worried about her.”

I glanced at the bathroom door for a quick second, then leaned closer to Sunset, speaking quietly so only she could hear. “If she wasn’t in the next room, I would totally use you to get off.”

She snorted. “And I would totally let you.”

I smirked, once again enjoying this dynamic of the relationship that Sunset and I shared, where we could make these kinds of comments to each other and have a carefree chuckle over it.

After a moment of silent rumination about the shy girl, I asked Sunset about her excursion. “Well, did you get a close look at the falls?”

“Yeah,” she replied, perking up a bit. “I was right at the edge, right there by the railing.” She pointed to the spot right by the edge of the brink where she had been standing, taking pictures. “It’s a good thing I went down there first,” she continued. “You can’t really see them in the dark very well.”

I glanced at her, smirking at her state of trance as she stared at the dark water. “You know they put spot lights on them every night, right? With different colours n’ shit.”

She looked at me suddenly with wide eyes. “Do they really??” she shook her fists with excitement. “I have to get pictures of that!”

“Pictures?”

“Oh,” she replied. “I bought a cheap digital camera while I was out.” She pulled the camera out of one of the bags and turned it on. “Here, look at what I got so far.”

I scrolled through the pictures. There were some shots of the American falls, then a bunch of the Horseshoe Falls, taken right from the edge where she’d just indicated, near the building that Fluttershy and I exited the tour from. After that, there were a few selfies that she’d taken with the falls in the background.

“Who’s the hottie?” I chuckled.

She looked at the camera, wondering who I was talking about, then giggled when she realised it was her. “Oh stop,” she blushed, giving my arm a flirtatious elbow. “You’d better be careful saying stuff like that now that your girlfriend’s back.”

“Yeah,” I chuckled in reply.

Sunset folded her arms and looked out the window again, chewing her bottom lip. After a moment, she looked back at me. “What do you think about us doing that mind thing…you know, with Flutters?” she asked timidly.

I looked at her, surprised that she’d brought it up right then. “Uh…” I started, unsure of how to respond. “I’m uh, still game for it, but I haven’t asked her yet, obviously.”

Her eyebrows went up after a moment, then she nodded quickly. “Oh, right. Of course. She needs time, you know…to get over all this. I-I was just asking, is all.”

I nodded. “Don’t worry, Sunny. We’ll do it sometime, but it’ll have to wait.” I looked down at the floor, awkwardly shoving my hands in my pockets. “I didn’t realise you were so interested in that.”

She sighed, feeling slightly embarrassed now for bringing it up. “I, uh…I was thinking about it while I was out; when I was still turned on.”

My mind instantly jumped back to the underwear. “She totally bought that stuff on purpose.”
“It’s fine, Flutters comes first,” she said, giving me a little smile of reassurance. “We should be concentrating on figuring out what’s got her so depressed.”

I agreed. “We’ll figure it out. She’ll come around eventually, I’m sure. Hopefully the shower and maybe some dinner and relaxing for a night might do her some good, then tomorrow morning we’ll head for home.”

My red-headed friend nodded, then she and I stood together for a few moments, watching the dark scenery outside.

Sunset finally spoke up again. “Imagine how weird it would be for the people who’ve lived here their whole lives if that water ever stopped. It would be so fucking quiet.”

“It’s happened,” I replied.

“Really?” she asked, turning to look at me again.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “In the winter of 1848. It was like minus forty degrees out and a bunch of ice chunks floated here from up river and plugged the brink and stopped the flow…for the most part, anyway.”

“And I suppose you were here for that?” She smiled at me.

I cleared my throat, reaching up to rub the back of my neck somewhat sheepishly. “Um, no actually. I uh…Googled it.”

She began to laugh softly at my answer, but was cut off by the sound of the bathroom door opening.

We both turned to see the shy girl.

“Oh…my…god…” I thought, taking in the sight of her.

Sunset had bought her a pair of dark, teal coloured tights that literally looked like they were painted on. Her top was a light blue, long-tailed shirt with a large, square neck opening, showing off most of her chest. The bra that the red-head provided certainly did serve its intended purpose; heaving Fluttershy’s breasts upward, almost to the point where I thought they were going to spill out of the lacy-collared shirt.

Her skin was clean now, practically emitting a visible glow compared to its pervious state, and her hair was back to its vibrant pink hue, along with those natural hooked curls at the ends. She had no make-up on, but this didn’t stop her from being one of the most beautiful things I’d ever laid eyes on.

I glanced over at Sunset for a second, looking back at Fluttershy afterwards; but then I quickly looked at Sunset again when I noticed she was furiously chewing her thumbnail, watching intently as the shy girl slowly stepped towards us with a pair of dark red cheeks.

I shook my head as I turned back to my girlfriend with a smile. “You look like a million bucks.”

Sunset snapped out of her daze and quickly removed her thumbnail from her mouth. “Uh yeah...damn Flutters, you look good enough to eat!”

I paused again, raising an eyebrow as I looked inquisitively at the red-head.

“Um…thanks,” she replied softly, dipping her head, letting some of her hair fail over her right eye.

“THERE she is,” I thought to myself, falling in love at the sight of the shy girl all over again. “God damn, I missed her.”

Our excitement was short-lived however. Fluttershy quietly walked over to the bed and crawled up to the head board to sit quietly by herself. Obviously, she still felt the same way, even though her outward appearance was more or less back to normal.

“I know you’re still not feeling right, Flutters,” I said as I sat on the edge of the bed. “But hopefully looking like yourself again will help you feel like yourself before too long.”

“Yeah,” Sunset nodded. “We should do something together. There’s lots of cool things to do here. There’s the Ripley’s Museum, the waterpark, the ferris wheel, some place called Nightmares Fear Factory…”

Fluttershy looked up at Sunset suddenly, stopping the red-head in her tracks.

“Oh, yeah. Well, maybe that’s not really your thing,” she said with a little cringe. “Wait, didn’t we get vouchers for the Applebee’s next door with the hotel room package?”

I nodded. “Yeah. You wanna go have something to eat?” I asked the shy girl.

She quietly brought her legs up to her chest and hugged them, resting her chin on her knees as she stared down at the bed. “I don’t know,” she mumbled.

Sunset shrugged. “It’s up to you, Flutters. Whatever you want, you’re the boss.”

We watched the shy girl for a moment. Her brows furrowed as she reluctantly gave her answer. “I’d rather not go out anywhere, if that’s OK. You guys should go though, and um…have fun.”

I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck. “We’re not doing that,” I said, shaking my head as my hand flopped back down to my side.

Sunset shook her head as well. “We’re not leaving you alone up here.”

“I-it’s OK,” Fluttershy insisted. “I’ll be fine.”

Sunset and I wondered what to do as we looked helplessly at each other. After a short moment, the red-head finally looked back at Fluttershy and sat on the edge of the bed. “Do you want to talk about what’s bothering you?”

Fluttershy shook her head.

“OK well,” Sunset continued. “How about you let me read you? That way I can get an understanding of why you feel the way you feel, and you won’t have to say a word. Once we know what’s wrong, then maybe we can help you through this. I know you’ve been through a lot, but we’re here for you, and we wanna help anyway we can.”

Fluttershy remained silent.

Sunset was unsure of what to make of the lack of response, so she decided to take a chance on reaching out to touch the shy girl.

When Fluttershy saw Sunset’s had coming towards her, she quickly shifted sideways on the bed to put distance between them. “NO!” she scolded loudly, making both Sunset and I recoil in surprise. “Don’t touch me, Sunset!”

The red-head put her hands up in retreat. “OK...sorry Flutters,” she said calmly. “If you don’t want me to see, then I understand.”

Fluttershy slowly settled into herself again.

“But you have to let us help you,” Sunset tried to continue, until I put my hand on her knee to stop her.

“It’s OK, Sunny. She just needs more time.”

Sunset reluctantly nodded after a moment. “You’re right,” she said, returning her eyes to the shy girl. “Take all the time you need, Flutters. We’ll be here.”

There was no response from Fluttershy as I turned my head to look outside through the large window. “Hey Sunny,” I said, getting the red-head’s attention. “They have the lights on the falls.”

Sunset turned quickly to see, then jumped off the bed to grab her camera and started snapping pictures. I smiled at Fluttershy, trying to bring her attention to our friend’s excitement, but all I got was a blank stare back.

“Hey you guys,” Sunset called to us. “How about a picture of the three of us with the falls lit up in the back ground?”

I looked at the redhead for a second, then back at Fluttershy, who was looking over toward the windows where her friend was standing with a hopeful look on her face.

“Come on, Flutters,” Sunset pleaded. “You don’t have to say anything. You don’t even have to smile, just come over here and be a part of the memories. This is a good thing; we’re here together, and tomorrow, we’re going home!”

The shy girl took a deep breath and slid off the bed, then took my hand as we went to join Sunset at the window. We turned our backs to the glass so the falls -- which were illuminated in red, yellow and green lights at the time -- were behind us in the picture. Fluttershy was in the middle, and Sunset and I snuggled in close to her, pressing our cheeks against hers as the red-head held the camera up in front of us.

“Say cheese!” Sunset sang, with a smile.

CLICK!

Author's Note

That photo of the dome in the casino was taken by me in January of 2012; Niagara Falls is the only location in the story that I've personally been to myself.

Chpater 74: The Sweet Shoppe

Chapter 74

Thursday, October 27th, 2022.

It hurt just as much as the day before.

Rarity sighed deeply as she stared down into her half-melted chocolate shake, poking at it with the straw.

It was 6:55 in the evening and the remaining group of friends, consisting of Applejack, Pinkie, Dash and Rarity had decided to gather at the Sweet Shoppe for some treats to try lifting their spirits. They were sitting in the booth in silence, listening absent-mindedly to the news on the TV on the far side of the shop.

“Generosity knows no bounds as a local boutique donates a whopping ten-thousand dollars to the victims of this month’s downtown tenement fire; all this and more coming up on the seven o’clock news.”

AJ perked up when she heard the news anchor’s introduction. “Was that you, Rarity?”

Rarity, who was not paying attention to the question, continued idly jabbing at her shake.

“Rarity!” AJ repeated sharply, causing the fashionista to suddenly look up at the farm girl.

“Hm?”

AJ nodded to the TV. “That donation to the fire victims, did you do that?”

Rarity blinked a couple times as she turned to look blankly at the TV. “Oh…” she replied flatly, turning back to her friend. “Yes, darling. That was me.”

AJ gave a nod of approval. “Well, that was mighty fine of ya, sugarcube. What made ya wanna do it?”

Rarity paused, staring blankly at the table as her thoughts dwelled on the now homeless mother and two daughters she’d rescued from the fire and left on the rooftop of the neighbouring building. “I, uh…” she mumbled. “I just wanted to…help.”

AJ chewed her bottom lip, watching the despondent fashionista for a moment before giving up on the conversation to take a sip of her shake.

It had been over a month since Fluttershy was taken, and by that point, the four girls’ hope of seeing their quiet friend again was at an all-time low.

The others were still unaware of Rarity’s activities at night, as well as Twilight’s single outing with the fashionista on Thanksgiving weekend after leaving the campfire cookout at Fluttershy’s house. They were also kept in the dark about the attempted capture of Rarity, during which she butchered her fifteen attackers with ease, but not before obtaining some critical information about the organisation that was holding her girlfriend.

It had been two weeks since she’d last talked to her boyfriend and Sunset, which was when she’d handed over the coordinates for the meeting place with the chopper that Fluttershy was meant to escape on. She’d hoped they had figured out that the numbers she had given them were actually coordinates, and although she would have preferred to just tell them outright rather than leave it to chance, the fact that they’d used a young girl to talk for them told her that someone may have been eavesdropping, so she was left no choice but to give the information to them in secret and hope they would figure it out.

Now, two weeks later, she was worried sick that they hadn’t figured out what the numbers meant after all. For whatever reason, she was unable to contact them to make sure that they’d figured everything out, and she couldn’t help but wonder if poor Fluttershy was lost in the middle of nowhere, having no one there to meet her and bring her home.

That is, if her escape was even successful.

Rarity had a lengthy conversation with Ingram on the phone the night of the attack, and they had put together a fairly solid plan to set Fluttershy free and allow her to fight her way out while he set the place up for demolition. It wasn’t a fool-proof plan by any means, but it stood a good chance of being successful, as long as Fluttershy was on top of her game.

“That Mr. Ingram certainly was a sweet man,” she thought to herself. “I am sure everything went as planned…but why haven’t I heard from them like he promised?”

Her attention was momentarily drawn back to the TV by something the news anchor was saying.

“…leaving the whole town wondering: what happened to the hero of CHS?

“Which leads investigators to the nest question: does Canterlot have a copycat hero? Or a deranged lunatic? Sightings of the alleged ‘Dark Mistress’ have been scant as of late, however, the CPD has been on the case full-time, and are determined to ascertain the true intentions of the masked vigilante that has been stalking Canterlot over the past few weeks.

"In other news, the investigation continues into the massacre of fifteen unidentified men in the old industrial park just beyond the city limits…”

Rarity cocked an eyebrow, insulted by the anchor’s description of her. “Deranged lunatic?? I ought to slice his balls off and feed them to Link!”

Applejack was intently watching the TV, occasionally glancing at Rarity with her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Rarity noticed this, and forced herself to take a sip of her shake. “Damn that Applejack sometimes…for such a simple-looking redneck, she can be so inconveniently perceptive.”

Pinkie Pie shifted over and wrapped her arm around Rarity’s shoulder. “Aw, come on, Rarity! Cheer up! Do you not like your milkshake? Do you want another one??”

Rarity gave her energetic friend a half-smirk. “No, thank you darling. That’s quite alright.”

“Are you sure, Rare-bear?” Pinkie asked, sliding back to her spot on the bench, around the corner from Rarity. “It’ll make you feel better!”

“It’s fine, Pinkie Pie,” Rarity insisted, before nudging her shake towards her friend. “In fact, you can finish it, if you like.”

Pinkie drew in a small gasp of excitement, and then reached into the depths of her curly hair to produce a stack of connectible straws, after which she quickly began to assemble them. The other three girls watched in half-interest with blank faces, having gotten accustomed to her hyperactive disposition and wacky behaviour after so many years of spending time together.

“Darling…what on Earth are you doing?” Rarity asked flatly.

“If I have a milkshake…” Pinkie said, in an unusually low tone as she snapped the last piece of the long straw together. “And you have a milkshake…” she continued, pointing to Rarity. “And I have a straw; there it is, that’s the straw…you see?” Pinkie whispered, holding up the straw as her eyes suspiciously darted around at the other girls, “...and my straw reaches acrooooooooooooosssss the room, and starts to drink your milkshake…” Pinkie reached across the table with the long, arched straw, plunging the far end into Rarity’s shake.

The other three girls rolled their eyes, shaking their heads at Pinkie’s theatrics.

After glaring into Rarity’s eyes for a brief moment, Pinkie began to speak more aggressively. “I…drink…your…MILKSHAKE!”

With a loud slurp, the pink-skinned girl sucked back the fashionista’s shake, emptying the tall glass within seconds.

“I DRINK IT UP!” she roared, standing up and pounding her fists on the table, attracting the attention of nearly everyone in the shop.

AJ huffed, rubbing her forehead in embarrassment. “Pinkie Pie, will you sit yer ass down and be quiet?”

Pinkie sat, giggling to herself with delight as she shifted her eyes onto Rainbow Dash, who was slouched back in the booth next to AJ with her arms folded, staring blankly at her untouched and melted shake. “What about you Dashie? You’ve barely touched your Fudgie Kaboom!”

Dash’s maroon eyes slowly shifted onto the pink girl, and she drew in a slow breath to respond. “Oh, uh…I’m not really hungry,” she mumbled in reply. “I can’t stop thinking about Fluttershy.”

The smile disappeared from Pinkie’s face and she lowered her head, resting her chin on the table as she pushed her own empty dish aside. “Oh. Yeah…me too.”

AJ looked over at Dash and reached out to wrap her arm around the blue girl’s shoulders, pulling her in close. “Aw, I know it’s hard Rainbow, but we’ve gotta stay positive. I mean, hey! For all we know, Fluttershy could walk through that door at any minute,” she said, pointing to the front door of the snack shop as Dash let her head rest on AJ’s shoulder.

“Yeah right,” Dash tried to joke, but was unable to push herself to put a smile on her face.

AJ sighed and shook her head, looking down at the table while adjusting her hat.

“It’s just…” Dash continued, “me and Flutters are from the same hometown, and we’ve known each other since we were practically babies. She was always so quiet and scared of things, and I always protected her from bullies n’ stuff…but this…I feel so helpless. I couldn’t protect her. It’s like…for the first time, I’ve let her down.” Her voice cracked as she spoke, which captured the attention of everyone else at the table. “I don’t get it. Why would they do this to her? She’s the last person in the world who deserves it.”

Rarity pursed her lips as she looked up from her shake just in time to see a single tear run down Dash’s cheek. It surprised the fashionista to see it happen, since Dash was always such a tough nut to crack, and it was extremely rare to see her cry, especially in public.

Upon seeing her friend upset, Rarity’s chest instantly tightened up, forming a lump in her own throat as the corners of her mouth began to tremble and curl downward. She did her best not to weep, but she was unable to hide it from AJ, who took in a breath to speak.

“Look, I-I know this is hard on you, Dash. It’s hard on all of us, especially Rarity,” she said, giving the fashionista a comforting smile.

“Sorry guys,” Dash sobbed, wiping her cheek. “I’m not trying to be wuss or anything. I just…I don’t feel good. I’m scared.”

Rarity forced herself to hold in her emotions, and gave a smile to Dash, inadvertently causing a tear that had pooled up in her eye to run down her cheek, leaving a dark line in its wake. “It’s perfectly alright, darling,” she said as the door to the Sweet Shoppe opened behind them, sending in a cool October breeze that chilled the black streak of moisture on her cheek. “You’d have to be made of stone not to have a heartache for that dear sweetheart who was so cruelly taken from us.”

Since AJ wasn’t crying, she decided to lighten the mood by joking around a bit, feigning offence to Rarity’s comment. “Now just hold on a cotton pic-“

Rarity didn’t notice that AJ had stopped suddenly. Instead, Pinkie noticed it first, and had lifted her chin from the table to turn and look across the shop, after which she drew in a deep gasp.

The curly-haired girl’s reaction prompted the fashionista to look across the table at Dash and AJ, who were frozen in place, each with a look of shock on their faces. She raised an eyebrow in curiosity as she glanced over at Pinkie, who had the same look on her face as well, staring at something in the store behind them.

Rarity was reminded of the door opening a few seconds earlier, and wondered who or what had come in that would make her companions react in such a way. She turned around slowly on the bench to look into the isle near the front door, and like her friends, she froze in place when she saw a familiar person standing there.

It was a girl, facing in the other direction, who bore a striking resemblance to the shy girl they were just talking about.

“Is that…who I think it is?” she wondered to herself in disbelief.

She looked like Fluttershy, but she wasn’t dressed like Fluttershy. She wore a pair of dark teal tights and a long, light-blue shirt with a large, lacy neck opening. Her skin colour was the correct soft, yellow tone, and her hair was long and pink, with gentle curls at the ends, and her stature was a perfect match to the shy girl’s; tall and slender, with a timid grace that could only be duplicated by the animal lover herself.

The four girls watched, holding their breath in anticipation as the visitor turned around to scan the shop, seemingly moving in slow motion right before their eyes. Her hair seemed to float weightlessly around her shoulders when her face slowly came into view, natural and free of make-up, yet it was the most stunningly gorgeous sight the fashionista had ever witnessed.

The hair of the back of Rarity’s neck stood up suddenly as her heart leapt with excitement, her chest feeling like it was about to explode with every positive emotion possible; joy, surprise, gratitude, thrill, desire…

She darted from the booth while letting out a high-pitched squeal, and then quickly sprinted towards the girl, who had yet to move after seeing her friends, with a blank expression still on her face.

Rarity slammed into Fluttershy, causing her to stagger back as the fashionista wrapped her arms around her, pinning the shy girl’s arms against her body and squeezing as tight as she could. “My darling Fluttershy!” she sobbed, “I was beginning to think I was never going to see you again!”

Dash, AJ and Pinkie were still sitting in the booth, completely paralysed by the shock of what just transpired.

“Uh, how did you do that, AJ?” Dash asked as she lifted her head from AJ’s shoulder. “Did you see that? Fluttershy walked in here just now, literally right after you said she might walk in here!”

AJ slowly shook her head, dumbfounded by the chain of events. “I…I ain’t got no fuckin clue, Sugarcube.”

Pinkie turned to AJ suddenly, her eyes bugging out with excitement. “APPLEJACK! SAY: ‘I RECKON THE WORLD’S BIGGEST CAKE IS GONNA WALK THROUGH THAT DOOR AT ANY MINUTE!!” she screeched, imitating AJ’s drawl.

Not even two seconds later, the door to the Sweet Shoppe opened again, prompting Pinkie to pull her hair and leap up with excitement. “NO…FRIGGIN…WAY!!!”

What walked into the store next was not a cake. What the girls saw instead were the wavy red and yellow locks of Sunset Shimmer, bouncing gently against her shoulders with each step as she entered the store with a proud smirk on her face.

Pinkie gasped. “EVEN BETTER!” she giggled with joy.

The three girls finally achieved the presence of mind to move, and they piled out of the booth to join their friends in the middle of the floor.

Rarity still had her long-lost girlfriend in her clutches, with her face buried in the side of Fluttershy’s neck, soaking her soft, yellow skin with tears of joy.

Pinkie, Dash and AJ approached Sunset, who had stopped a few feet behind Fluttershy and had her arms folded, smirking at her friends as they fanned out around her.

Dash scowled at Sunset, shaking her head slowly. “You smug little bitch…” she growled, then suddenly threw her arms in the air with an excited laugh. “You are SO AWESOME!” she shouted, before throwing her arms around the much taller red-head.

“It’s good to see you too, Dash,” Sunset chuckled, hugging the rainbow-haired girl in return.

Meanwhile, Rarity had backed away slightly to plant little wet kisses all over Fluttershy’s soft, smooth face, leaving small bits of moisture on her cheeks, her jaw, the tip of her nose, her chin and finally, her lips. The fashionista backed up to gaze into her lovers eyes, but found her happiness screeching to a halt upon realising that she hadn’t actually noticed the shy girl’s demeanor yet.

This was not the girl who disappeared from her life over a month ago.

Instead, this girl appeared to be nothing more than an empty shell of her former sweet, kind, demure self. Gone was the beautiful lustre of the teal ribbons that used to reside around her pupils, now replaced by dark, hollow emptiness. Her face remained blank, and even the presence of her friends failed to bring any emotion to the surface of her delicate features.

The sight of it tore Rarity’s heart in two, and she couldn’t help but begin to weep sadly as she cupped her palms over Fluttershy’s cheeks. “Oh goodness, darling,” she whimpered, her bottom lip quivering uncontrollably, “w-what have they done to you?”

AJ tipped her hat to the red-head. “Good to see ya, Sunset. We’re real proud of ya fer bringin Fluttershy back.”

“Thanks Applejack. It’s good to be back,” Sunset replied. “It was one hell of a trip, let me tell ya.”

Two pink arms suddenly wrapped themselves around the red-head, and she found a pile of curly pink locks of hair tickling her face.

“SUNSET SHIMMER!” Pinkie screeched with glee, releasing her friend from the hug to hold onto her shoulders as a more serious tone came over her. “Now Sunset, this is very important…”

Sunset cocked her head. “What is it, Pinkie?”

“When you were outside, did you happen to notice any super-duper large cakes headed this way??” Pinkie asked.

The red-head raised an eyebrow. “Huh?”

“Just nevermind, Sunset,” AJ chuckled, waving Pinkie off.

Sunset smirked. “Actually Pinkie, come to think of it, there was something pretty sweet headed this way.”

Pinkie stopped to stare at Sunset after hearing the unexpected remark, just as the door to the shop unexpectedly opened a third time.

I pushed the door open and stepped inside to find the girls staring back at me with sparkling eyes.

“Hey guys,” I said casually, as if we’d just left five minutes ago.

“I told you they’d be here.” Sunset smirked at me.

I shrugged, shaking my head. “You were right, Sunny. As always.”

“GOLDS!!!” They cried out in unison. Dash sprinted over and leapt onto me, wrapping her arms around the back of my neck and her legs around my waist. It surprised me; not just the act of it, but also the fact that she was so much lighter than I expected. She was emitting a strange combination of giggles and sobs, burying her face in my shoulder as her colour-streaked hair brushed my cheek, wafting the smell of Fruit Loops into my nose.

“Makes sense…” I chuckled to myself as I felt two large, soft objects press against my back, followed by a pair of pink arms wrapping around both me and Dash from behind. I turned my head towards the opposite shoulder that Dash’s head was on, and was greeted with curly, pink locks tickling my cheek, filling my nose with the smell of strawberries.

Sunset watched with a smile as I was bombarded by hugs, and then turned around to find a less jubilant sight. Rarity was tightly holding onto a motionless Fluttershy with dark streaks down her lily-white cheeks, weeping combined tears of elation and sadness; happiness for Fluttershy's long-overdue return home, and sadness for the unusual lifelessness that she’d brought with her.

The red-head sighed, disappointed by Fluttershy’s failure to return to her normal self. Since leaving Niagara Falls, Sunset and I had been banking on the reunion with Rarity and the rest of the group to cheer the shy girl up and bring her back to her usual sweet demeanor, but already, this didn’t seem to be the case.

Sunset stepped up beside the couple and gently placed her hand on Rarity’s back to comfort her. “Hey, Rare.”

The fashionista quickly lifted her head to look up at Sunset, her sapphire eyes glistening with moisture as she laid eyes on her friend, causing even more tears to stream down her make-up stained cheeks. “Oh Sunset,” she sobbed, removing one arm from Fluttershy to wrap it around the red-head. “Thank you, darling. I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”

“Nah,” Sunset replied, hugging the fashionista back, “it should be us thanking you. You’re the one who is responsible for us being together again.”

Rarity shook her head quickly. “Shush! The others don’t know about what I’ve been up to since you left.”

Sunset cocked her head in confusion. “What do you mean? What have you been up to?”

Rarity slid her other arm off of Fluttershy to wrap it around Sunset, finally giving her a full hug of gratitude. “I’ll tell you later, darling,” she answered quietly.

AJ stood beside me, giving me a little smile as she graciously tipped her hat. “Howdy partner.”

I smiled back, then glanced at the two colourful girls latched onto me. “Sorry, I’m out of room,” I smirked.

AJ chuckled. “That’s OK, sugarcube,” she replied, taking in a deep breath with a look of triumph on her face. “I’m real glad Fluttershy’s back here finally. With you on the case, I knew it was only a matter of time.”

Dash finally released me and dropped her feet to the floor, wiping her face with her hand as she smiled up at me. “Yeah, I totally knew you would kick their sorry asses!”

“Whoa, I can’t take all the credit. I would never have been able to do it alone. Everyone had a hand in it, even Flutters,” I explained, raising my hands up.

“Really?” Dash asked, turning around to look at the shy girl, who had been released from Rarity’s grip and was now facing us. “Fluttershy!” Dash's voice cracked as she ran over and wrapped her arms around her childhood friend.

I smiled at the sight of the reunion. Watching the little tough girl sobbing and embracing her much taller friend was heartwarming to see, and I couldn’t help but snicker as Pinkie nuzzled her cheek into my back, hooking her hands together in front of my chest to squeeze me tighter.

I shifted my eyes over to Sunset and Rarity, who were in the midst of disconnecting from their hug to watch Dash embracing Fluttershy.

Rarity had her back to me, and I had yet to see her face since entering the shop. I kept my eyes on her bouncy, purple loops of hair, waiting intently for her face to come into view.

It was almost as though she knew what I was thinking. After a moment of watching her friends' reunion, the fashionista seemed to know that I was watching her, waiting to see her face, and her head finally turned in my direction.

When our eyes locked onto one another, it was as if everything else in the room came to a halt and went dark. All I could do was marvel at the way her perfect, blue eyes sparkled like diamonds, and even though her make-up had been washed down over her cheeks, she was still just as beautiful as I remembered, and I wanted nothing more than to hold her in my arms as soon as possible.

I stepped forward to go to her, forgetting that Pinkie was attached my back still.

“Whoa!” Pinkie squealed as she was yanked forward suddenly, causing me to stop again to look over my shoulder at her.

“Shit, sorry Pinks,” I said, drawing a giggle from her as she finally let go to head over to join Dash and Fluttershy. When I looked ahead again, Rarity was headed my way with her arms outstretched, desperate to finally have them wrapped around me once again.

She exhaled loudly when our bodies collided, pressing firmly against each other as we hugged tightly. She backed up after a few seconds to begin planting kisses all over my face, followed by one long, wet kiss on my lips.

It wasn’t until that vanilla aroma hit me that I realised how much I missed her. I ran my fingers through her silky indigo hair, then down her back to her waist, shocking me with how dainty and small her stature was compared to Sunset’s, and even Fluttershy’s.

“Oh darling, how I missed you!” she sobbed as I picked her up off the floor, hugging her even tighter. “Thank you, thank you, thank you for bringing her back to me! I love you so much, I don’t know what I would have done if I had to wait even one more day!”

“I love you too, Rare,” I replied as she rested her head on my shoulder. “But it’s because of you that we’re here right now. You saved our asses.”

She let out a sob combined with an elated exhale, shaking her head.

“I knew you could do it,” I continued. “Didn’t I tell you, you were ready?”

She backed up and smiled humbly, wiping a tear from her face with her hand, succeeding only in creating a long, black smear across her cheek. “Oh, t’was nothing, really. I was only trying to help.”

I rolled my eyes at her. “Come on, Rare! Seriously?” I said, drawing a giggle of pride from the fashionista. “What you did; it meant everything. It turned the whole mission around.”

“It was all by your design though, darling.”

I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter. You’re the one who pulled it off. YOU saved Flutters, Rare, and I am SO fuckin proud of you right now.”

“Aww,” Rarity gushed, pursing her lips as her eyes filled with moisture once again. She ran her fingers up the back of my head through my hair, her breath quivering slightly as her eyes became more intense, staring deeply into mine. “You drive me completely mad sometimes,” she whispered, her body beginning to radiate heat from below her purple skirt. “You’d better fucking kiss me right now, before I explode!”

I smiled as we leaned in and brought our lips together. Her tongue found its way into my mouth almost instantly, flicking the tip of mine a few times first before engaging in full contact, feeding me a dose of her chocolate-flavoured saliva, a by-product of the shake she had been nursing earlier. A wave of tingling warmth was starting to wash over the two of us when we were suddenly interrupted.

“Get a room, you two!” Sunset’s voice called out from a few feet away, causing Rarity to giggle into my mouth, her lips curling up into a smile against mine.

We reluctantly pulled our mouths apart, and I let her feet return to the floor.

“I suppose we’re probably causing quite a scene in here,” Rarity smirked, looking around the shop.

She was correct. When I looked around, every single eyeball in the place was locked squarely on the seven of us. I glanced at Fluttershy to make sure she was OK with all the attention, but she hadn’t reacted, nor did she even seem to notice.

The quiet comments of people could be heard around us once we started paying attention to them.

“Isn’t that the girl from the school shooting?”

“They were just talking about her on the TV!”

“She’s back! Where do you think she was?”

Dash’s voice suddenly caught mine and Rarity’s attention.

“Hey Flutters! What’s up with you? Snap out of it!”

Rarity looked at me with worry in her eyes upon hearing Dash’s concern for the shy girl. “What’s happened to her?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know.”

“She doesn’t look herself at all,” the fashionista replied, placing her fingertips over her mouth as she watched her girlfriend stand there, like a statue.

“Pfft,” I replied, raising my eye brows. “You think this is bad? You should have seen her when we first picked her up. She was having quite the bad hair day, to put it lightly.”

Rarity closed her eyes, shaking her head. “How awful it must have been for her, the poor dear. Has she been like this the whole time?”

“No,” I replied. “When we met her at the chopper, she was actually pretty outgoing; like, more so than usual. But once we got on the road, she got really quiet, and it just kept getting worse.”

Rarity anxiously tapped her bottom lip with her index finger. “Poor thing,” she groaned. “What do you suppose is bothering her so much?”

“Um,” I began, rubbing my eyebrow with my index finger, “she mentioned losing a friend. Some guy who helped her escape.”

This information caused Rarity to gasp suddenly and cup her hand over her mouth. “Mr. Ingram! He didn’t make it?”

I could see the shock on Rarity’s face. “What is it?”

“He…” she paused. “Mr. Ingram. I spoke to him on one of the phones I took from my would-be abductors. He and I came up with the plan to get her out and meet you and Sunset in the desert.” She shook her head in despair. “How unfortunate that he didn’t make it, he really was a nice fellow.”

“Well, I think there’s more to it than that,” I explained. “On the way home, Sunny offered to read her so she could have a better understanding of how she was feeling, and Flutters wouldn’t allow it.”

Rarity shook her head. “Hm...from what Mr. Ingram told me over the phone, she’s been subjected to some terribly dreadful abuse. There’s no telling what she may have been through that she doesn’t want us to know about.”

I sighed deeply as I looked around the shop, noticing everyone else in the place still gawking at us. “We should go.”

Rarity looked at me suddenly, then noticed the same thing I was seeing all around us. “You’re right, darling. This probably isn’t the best thing for her right now.”

“We should take her home,” I said.

Rarity stopped for a moment, then raised her index finger. “Actually, her animals are at my place, and it is closer. Perhaps we should go there first? That way she can spend a bit of time with her friends a little sooner, and then we can bring her pets home with her afterwards.”

I rubbed my chin for a moment, staring at Fluttershy as I thought about Rarity’s proposal. “Yeah, OK.” I nodded. “Let’s do that.”

With a glint of excitement in her eye, the fashionista turned to the group. “OK darlings, we’re going to head to my place to spend some time together. Fluttershy doesn’t need to be out in the middle of a crowd right now.”

Dash excitedly put her arm around the shy girl’s shoulders. “You hear that, Flutters? We’re going to RAD’s! Come on!”

*****

“Gah!” Rarity gagged. “Where did you get this monstrosity?”

“We picked it up in California,” I replied. “It’s been a fucking great car, actually; other than being a gas guzzler.”

“I think it’s awesome!” Dash shouted, just to spite Rarity.

Pinkie and AJ approached next.

“It’s a Dodge Diplomat!” Pinkie gasped, pressing the heels of her hands into her cheeks with excitement. “Like the cop cars from ‘Police Academy 5’ and ‘Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain!’”

Dash rolled her eyes. “Whatever, Pinkie Pie.”

Pinkie folded her arms and scowled at the rainbow-haired girl.

“No, she’s right,” I said. “Well, I’m not sure about those movies, but they did use these as cop cars in some states.”

“It looks like it’s in great shape,” AJ said, walking up to kick the front tire, causing the whole vehicle to rattle.

“Hey!” I warned. “Don’t break the fuckin thing!”

“I’m not gonna break it!” AJ defended, spinning around on her boot to face me. “Just relax, sugarcube.”

“Well as much as I’d like to stand here and stare at this overgrown tin can, we really should head over to my place,” Rarity insisted.

“OK then,” I said. “Who’s coming with me?”

“Shotgun!” Sunset quickly called out.

“Dammit!” Dash cursed. “Well, I guess I’ll ride in the back.”

“I’ll go with Pinkie,” AJ said.

We all stopped to look at Fluttershy, who was still standing by the door of the Sweet Shoppe. Rarity inhaled deeply, held her shoulders high, and put on her bravest smile before walking over to the shy girl. “You can come with me, darling,” she said quietly as she reached out and laced her fingers together with the shy girl’s, and they walked together towards Rarity’s car while the rest of us piled into our own vehicles.

*****

“Hahaha! Leave it to Fluttershy to get captured by spies, and then come home with five cats!” Dash laughed, flopping down on Rarity’s couch next to Pinkie, who was also giggling with delight as the kittens ran back and forth across her lap.

Sunset was shaking her head, pacing back and forth in front of the TV. “You don’t know the half of it, Dash. This whole thing was absolutely fucking crazy.”

As the girls talked up a whirlwind of conversation, Rarity and Fluttershy had moved off to the side, near the small staircase on the right side of the main room. The fashionista was quietly grooming the shy girl, adjusting her pink hair with her fingertips while talking quietly in hopes of eliciting some kind of response from her girlfriend’s empty persona.

I sighed as I watched the indigo-haired girl fight a losing battle, feeling a sharp pang of sympathy in my heart for the two of them; reunited at last, but still not truly together.

Rarity had gotten a tiny taste of happiness when she finally saw her girlfriend again, only to have it squashed when she found a bottomless pit of emptiness in the shy girl’s eyes, tainting the sweetness of their long awaited reunion. It broke my heart when I saw Rarity finally glance over at me with desperation in her eyes, having no idea what to do about the absence of her long-lost lover’s personality.

I heard AJ’s voice close to my ear next. “Is Fluttershy gonna be alright?”

I turned my head to face the farm girl, who was worriedly chewing her bottom lip. “She’s been through a lot,” I replied, after taking in a deep breath.

AJ’s eyes dropped to the floor while she let out a disappointed exhale through her nose. “Will she ever be the same again?”

“I don’t know. Hopefully,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck as the sound of Pinkie’s voice drew my attention to the couch.

“We should have a party!” she was squealing. “THE BIGGEST DAMN PARTY EVER!!!”

AJ quickly interjected. “Uh, PInkie Pie, that might not be the best thing just yet. Fluttershy’s not really herself.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “We’re just having a little visit here for now, but we’re gonna head for home pretty soon so she can get settled in.”

“Oooooh,” Pinkie moaned, leaning back on the couch, disappointed by the news. “OK.”

“Don’t worry,” I continued. “There’s always the Saturday thing, which I actually had an idea for.”

The girls all stopped to listen, except for Fluttershy.

“Um,” I was a bit nervous about my proposal, ”I was thinking…I wanted to do the Saturday dinner.”

They were silent for a moment, clearly surprised by my offer.

Dash was the first to react. “That’s cool,” she said with a nod and a smirk.

“Are you sure?” AJ asked. “You just got back from such a big trip. We don’t expect ya to-“

“It's OK,” I said, cutting her off. “I want to. Really.”

After a short moment, AJ nodded. “OK then. Saturday it is. But, if you need any help, just say the word and I’m there.”

“Actually,” I said. “I was planning on something a bit different.”

“Oh?” AJ replied, placing her hands on her hips.

“Yeah…wait, what day is it?” I asked.

“Thursday. Why?”

“Really?” I asked, before rubbing my chin thoughtfully. ”That’s doesn’t give me as much time as I thought.”

“For what?” Dash asked. “You still have two days.”

“Not really,” I replied. “I was actually thinking about doing breakfast instead of supper.”

AJ’s eyebrow went up. “Breakfast?”

Pinkie groaned. “Ohh does that mean we have to get up early?”

I shook my head. “No, actually I was wondering if you guys wanted to sleep over at Flutters’ on Friday night.”

All of their eyebrows went up, and they took a moment to look back and forth at one another as they thought about the proposition.

Dash finally slapped her knee. “Sounds awesome. I’m there.”

“Count me in,” AJ said, placing her hand on my shoulder to give it a shake. A hard shake.

Pinkie giggled. “Hehe, yup!”

I looked at Sunset, who had a small grin forming on her lips. “How about you, Sunny?”

“I’ll be there,” she nodded, “and so will Twi.”

“Sweet,” I said, shaking my fist excitedly.

AJ adjusted her hat. “So what’s on the menu, sugarcube?”

“Uh,” I rubbed my chin, thinking about all the things I’d been planning on making. “I was gonna do steak and eggs, and biscuits n’ stuff.”

AJ nodded her approval. “Sounds good to me.”

I smiled at the farm girl. “Just you wait,” I replied. “I’m gonna cook it over the fire in Flutters’ backyard. Old-school, like I used to do in the wild west.”

Dash sat up suddenly. “What?? You were in the wild west?”

“Yeah, of course,” I said with a shrug. “Where do you think I learned to shoot?”

AJ chuckled. “Heh-heh, now why am I not surprised? That must have been a crazy time to live in, eh?”

I let my head fall back, rolling my eyes back in the sockets. “Ooohh! The wild west was SO much fun, you have no idea. I mean, everyone else there was scared shitless, but I fucking loved it.”

After discussing the weekend for a bit, the conversations continued on between me and the girls. Eventually, Sunset and I ended up talking quietly in the corner with each other.

“How are you holding up, Sunny?”

She shrugged. “OK. I’m still…you know, wet, but whatever.”

“Hm,” I mumbled. “I wish I could help you out, but I’m pretty sure the others would be put-off if we disappeared for a quickie. And with Rare and Flutters the way they are, it just doesn’t feel right.”

Sunset quickly glanced over at the couple, then returned her eyes to me with her brows raised. “Oh! No, I’ll be fine. Dash is getting a ride home with Pinkie and AJ in a bit; I’ll just hitch a ride with them to my apartment, and once I’m away from you, it’ll go away.” She paused for a second, and then victoriously raised one of her fists. “Finally!” she laughed.

I nodded, smiling as I stared into her big green eyes, wondering to myself what life was going to be like without Sunset Shimmer at my side.

“Yeah…” I sighed, looking down at the floor.

*****

“OK Sunset, are you coming or what?” Dash called from the doorway. “We’re leaving now!”

“Hold your horses!” Sunset replied, turning back to Rarity and I, who were sitting side-by-side on the couch. Fluttershy was sitting alone in the overstuffed rocking chair with Link and Angel sitting on the floor on each side of her, standing guard by their master with fierce loyalty, unwilling to allow her disappearance from their lives again.

“I gotta go guys. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow night?” Sunset continued.

Rarity, who had said very little for the past hour, looked up at the red-head suddenly, her cheeks still stained with black streaks from her eyes. “You’re leaving?”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah, Rare. I gotta get home to my apartment so I can get away from this guy,” -- she pointed at me with her thumb -- “so I can have a chance to actually dry up for once, if you catch my drift.”

Rarity looked disappointed. “Oh…OK, darling. Go if you must.”

Sunset paused for a moment to watch her friend, helpless and broken with despair. She shook her head, unable to ignore the feeling of obligation to stay and lend her support, so she turned back to face the others at the door. “Go ahead, you guys.”

“Yer sure?” AJ confirmed.

Sunset nodded, turning back to me and Rarity. “Yeah. I’ll get a ride home later.”

I spoke up. “We’ll be heading out to Flutters’ soon. I can take Sunny out to get her bike from my shop. Then at least she’ll have her own way around.”

Sunset nodded, scratching her forehead. “Yeah…actually, that works out a little better for me.” She turned to AJ. “You guys go ahead.”

“Ok then, sugarcube. I’ll see ya tomorrow night.”

The front door closed, leaving me, Rarity and Sunset alone with what was left of Fluttershy.

Chapter 75: Return to Grace

Chapter 75

Sunset sighed, prompting me to pat the couch cushion beside me as an invitation for her to sit next to us, which she did.

“Hey,” I said, breaking the silence, “remember the last time the three of us were alone in this room?”

Rarity and Sunset looked at me.

“We were telling you about your immortality,” I said to Rarity.

“Oh yeah,” Sunset nodded. “Man, we were so friggin nervous about that! Remember that night, Flutters?”

Fluttershy glanced up at the red-head briefly, but then let her head drop back down, her hair falling from behind her ear and covering most of her face.

I sighed, shaking my head as I looked at the black, silent TV in front of us.

Rarity let out a quiet groan and looked down at her hands, folded on her lap. After a moment, she drew in a breath and pursed her lips, turning her head to look at me with hopeless despair in her eyes. It was a heartbreaking sight to behold, and I couldn’t help but reach out to lace my fingers with hers, squeezing her little white hand to try comforting her.

Unable to withstand the heavy silence, Sunset spoke up again. “Hey Rare, what was it you were saying at the Sweet Shoppe, something about what you were up to while we were gone?”

The question seemed to brighten the fashionista’s eyes a bit, and she perked up, looking at Sunset. “I was…” she stopped suddenly to look at Fluttershy. “I’ve got it!” she gasped. “I know what will cheer you up, darling!”

Rarity stood and took Fluttershy’s hands in her own, pulling her up from the big, purple chair.

I watched, wondering what tricks the fashionista might have had up her sleeve.

“Come now, Fluttershy,” she coaxed, pulling the shy girl onto her feet to lead her by the hand towards the stairs. “I know how much you love trying on new outfits; and I know you will just love these.” Rarity glanced at Sunset as they passed her on the couch. “You too, darling.”

Sunset jabbed her index finger into her chest. “Me?”

“Yes you!”

“OK…?” Sunset stood slowly and reluctantly followed the couple up the stairs. “But, I don’t usually do this dress-up shit with you guys.”

“You will tonight, darling,” Rarity replied excitedly. “You stay there, Golds. We’ll be back in a few.”

I nodded, having not moved a muscle. “Mm-hm.”

*****

About twenty minutes passed and I had gotten up by then, pacing back and forth in front of the couch with Link following behind my every step. I snickered, thinking about what Rarity had said earlier about having to keep Angel in a cage while we were gone. As it turns out, in Fluttershy’s absence, her influence over them had been diminished, and Link had promptly decided to try making a meal out of Angel.

Unfortunately, the only solution for Rarity was to keep Angel fettered away in a small cage, protected from the quickly-maturing Linx.

“Meh,” I thought, “That fuckin rabbit’s a jerk anyway.”

It was then that I heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and I turned to see something that I didn’t quite expect.

I held my hand out, shrugging with confusion. “What the fuck is this?”

Rarity giggled, her sapphire eyes shining brightly through the black mask that adorned her face as I looked her over, taking in the details of the shiny, back outfit, seemingly shrink-wrapped to her dainty frame. The boots were tall, the legs and body tight, and the neck-line low; showing off her surprisingly ample cleavage, topped off by her pretty face, partially hidden behind the mask. Her hair was pulled tightly into a bun of the back of her head, and the only decorations on the outfit was a white stripe that ran from each shoulder, down her arm to her baby fingers, along with a group of three diamonds that were perched on her upper thighs.

“Well darling, you told me to look after the city, so that’s what I did.”

“Uh yeah,” I replied, “I told you to look after Canterlot, not become a masked fucking vigilante.”

She cocked her head, putting a hand on her hip as she shifted her weight to one leg. “Don’t you like it, darling?”

I inhaled deeply, and then held my breath as I looked her over again.

She did look good. Amazing. Sexy, even. The tight black material hugged to her curves, and her milky-white breasts looked as though they might pop right out of that deep, wide V-neck, surrounded by the large, pointed collar. It wasn’t long before I noticed the scuff marks distributed around the suit; on her knees, her elbows, and her hands, among a few other random places, and I quickly realised that she had seen some real action in this outfit.

“I do like it,” I replied, bringing my index finger up to coax her over to me.

She stepped closer, keeping both hands on her hips, swinging them seductively with each stride as she approached me. “I thought you might like it,” she said with a sultry smirk, before reaching around the back of my neck with her forearms to hug me tightly. Up close, it looked as though she’d washed her face to remove the make-up runs from her cheeks, judging from the small amount of clean skin that wasn’t covered by the mask.

I reached around her to grip her ass, held taut under the tight material, making her feel extra firm against my fingertips. She responded with a small kiss on my lips, followed by a giggle.

“Do you think maybe you…I don’t know, took it a little too far?” I asked.

“Nonsense, darling!” she replied, “It was part of your plan anyway, wasn’t it? To get their attention?”

I sighed, followed by an agreeing nod. “Yeah, I suppose. I just didn’t expect this.”

“Me either, to be honest,” she explained. “When you and Sunset first left, I was quite agitated that you’d left me behind and charged me with watching over Canterlot, and I hadn’t planned on doing any such thing; that is, until my boutique was broken into one night while I was there.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “I bet they regretted that.”

“Indeed, darling,” she replied with a smirk. “However, I noticed something that night that left me quite miffed. The two men who broke into my shop were not afraid of me, not until I gave them a swift lesson in physicality, that is. But before doing so, I gave them several ultimatums to leave, and they simply refused to listen.”

“Why would they listen?” I said, smirking. “You’re just a pretty girl.”

“Pshh!” she scoffed. “Well, that’s where I got the idea for the suit, so I would look a bit more fearsome, in hopes that my future enemies would take heed to my warnings.”

“Did it work?” I asked.

“To a point,” she shrugged. “It would depend on who I was facing.”

“Hm,” I replied quietly, keeping her close.

“The mask, however, was a last minute addition. Something I thought of later,” she continued. “To keep the people around me safe, of course. I can’t have loved ones being used as leverage against me.”

I nodded. “Good thinking.”

“Especially when I started showing up on the local news. Without the disguise, everyone would have known who I was,” she explained.

I raised my eyebrows, surprised by how far she’d taken her responsibilities. “You made the news? Wow, no wonder you got ‘Us’s attention.”

“Indeed, darling. And the rest is history, isn’t it?”

I smiled, and began to drum my fingertips against her ass, enjoying the feel of the tightly-packed flesh of her cheeks under the thin material. “So you were wearing this when you fought those agents?”

She nodded excitedly. “YES!” she squealed. “I felt alive! Powerful! In control!”

“Fuck, I wish I was there for that,” I sighed, shaking my head as I looked up at the ceiling. " Who'd have thought a posh little princess like you could end up being such a fucking bad-ass?”

“You don’t know the half of it, darling. It started to thunderstorm partway through the fight, so I ended up massacring them in the rain, with lightning flashing all around…” Rarity bounced against me, giddy with excitement of her theatrics. “I was like a god to them. Those poor men were scared out of their wits, so much so, I almost felt bad for butchering them like cattle.” She paused, and then let out a small giggle. “Almost.”

I shook my head, marvelling at the imagery she’d placed in my mind. “Awesome. Like I said before, I knew you were up for it. You’re fuckin amazing, Rare.”

She responded with a cute smile of pride, sticking her bottom lip out. “Aww, thank you darling, but it’s because of you that I was able to do all these things.” She raised her chin, bringing her lips to mine again; this time kissing me deeply, giving me a taste of her tongue in the process.

I let my hands squeeze her ass as we made-out, drawing a high-pitched giggle from her when we pulled our lips apart.

We looked into each other’s eyes for a short moment before I let out a small laugh. “Hm,” I said, drumming my fingertips on her ass some more. “God, I missed that little white dumper of yours.”

Rarity recoiled slightly, rolling her eyes with a chagrined smirk. “My goodness darling, you sure know how to sweep a lady off her feet.”

“I know it,” I replied.

“Mm-hm-hm,” she chuckled, as she moved to my side, intending to face the stairs. “While I do appreciate the compliment, you needn’t be so curt about it. I'd say you’ve been spending too much time with that Sunset Shimmer. She is a sweetheart, but she can be quite vulgar at times.”

“Well, “ I said, “what would you prefer? What if I actually did sweep you off your feet?”

“Well i- AAHHH!” she squealed as I put one arm around her shoulders and reached down to hook my arm behind her knees, scooping her up into a bridal lift.

Rarity tipped her head back in playful laughter, hooking one hand around the back of my neck as she pointed the toes of one of her feet towards the ceiling. “Hehehe, oh darling! Now that’s more like it! I knew you had a little romance in you somewhere.”

“Of course I do,” I said, “and now I’ve got my little super-hero chickie-poo in my arms, so where do you want me to take you?”

She giggled once more, and then tapped my chest lightly with her free hand. “Another time perhaps, right now I have something more to show you.”

“Oh?” I replied, letting her down to the floor again.

She nodded. “I know how much Fluttershy likes trying on new outfits that I make, and I just happened to have something new and exciting for her to try on, which is sure to rouse her excitement and start her on the path to recovery. She’ll be her old self in no time!”

I cocked my head, raising my eyebrows in hopes that she was right. “Here’s hoping, Rare. I can’t stand seeing Flutters like this.”

Rarity folded her arms across her chest. “Me too, darling. It’s heartbreaking to imagine what they must have done to her to make her so…dead inside.”

“Yeah.” I reached out, taking her hand to comfort her. “Is that what she and Sunny are doing right now?”

“Yes well, they should have been ready ages ago,” she replied, putting her hand to the side of her mouth. “Oh Fluttershy! Sunset! Are you ready? You can come out now!” she called.

I turned my attention to the stairs after hearing Sunset say something from around the corner, muffled by the wall. My eyes widened when I saw the red-head emerge, letting out a chuckle as I covered my mouth at the sight of her.

She was wearing a suit nearly identical to Rarity’s, other than the size difference and the small decorations on the arms and thighs. Sunset’s larger, more toned frame filled out the shiny black material nicely, showing off her powerful curves while maintaining a feminine beauty that would make any man quiver at the sight of her, myself included.

She had the identical mask on, and her fiery-coloured locks were pulled back into the same tight bun as the fashionista, except for that one short, wavy lock that hung down the middle of her forehead, covering part of the mask. The stripes running from her shoulders and down her arms were red, rather than white and she had a large, red and yellow sun adorning each thigh, instead of the diamonds.

With the suit being as tight as it was, it only stood to reason that her olive-toned cleavage was practically pouring out of the V-neck, even more so that Rarity’s.

“Wow Sunny! looking good,” I said, giving her a thumbs-up.

“Thanks Golds,” she replied, her cheeks flushing as she looked down at herself. “These are awesome, Rare. I love how yours looks on you.”

“And I you, darling.” the fashionista replied. “Did you notice a difference with yours?”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah actually, with the hands.”

“Why don’t you show us?” Rarity asked.

Sunset brought her arms up and tugged on the fingers of one glove, which slid off easily, revealing her bare hand.

I looked at Rarity, who was practically bouncing with giddiness, noticing how her gloves were attached to the sleeves, and not removable.

“You made it so Sunny’s gloves can come off?” I asked. “I take it that’s so she can do her mind reading?”

“You’re very perceptive, darling.”

“It’s a great idea, Rare. I love it,” Sunset complimented.

“I know!” Rarity giggled, pressing the heels of her hands into her cheeks. “Just don’t lose the gloves, OK sweetie?”

Sunset roller her eyes as she slid the glove back on. “Sure thing, snookums.”

I chuckled at the girls.

Looking closer at Sunset’s suit, I quickly noticed the difference in lustre between hers and the fashionista’s, indicating that the red-head’s suit was still brand new, unlike Rarity’s, which had obviously seen more action than I’d originally been led to realise.

I nodded towards Sunset before turning to my indigo-haired girlfriend. “So what’s the material you used for these? It’s kind of unusual looking.”

“Ah,” Rarity clasped her hands together. “It is a special blend of very high-density materials, meant to withstand the…ahem, experiences we will surely be putting them through.”

“Hm, where’d you get it?”

The fashionista smirked at me. “I have connections through my regular supplier. He was able to get me more than enough to make multiple suits, with extra material left over in case something ever damages them.”

I shook my head. “You need to be careful,” I said. “The whole idea of the mask is hide your identity, but ordering something unusual like that through your business can be pretty easy to track.”

Rarity scoffed, waving me off. “Nonsense. I had it ordered through a nameless cash account, so it has been untraceable since leaving my supplier’s warehouse. Plus, I picked it up myself in order to avoid possible tracking through a delivery service. The only person who knows I have it is my supplier himself, and he and I go back many years, so I trust him implicitly. He would never rat me out, that is, if he’s even realised what I’ve used this material for.”

“That’s good thinking, Rare,” Sunset nodded.

I glanced at Sunset, stealing a peek at her cleavage before turning back to Rarity. “So what can damage them?”

“Well, my magic, for starters,” the fashionista replied. “My diamond blades were the only thing that I could cut this stuff with.”

“What about bullets?”

“It depends on the weapon, I suppose,” she replied. “They can withstand a great deal, I assure you, darling.”

“Hey, I believe you,” I said, smiling as I scratched the back of my head. “So I take it Flutters has one of these as well?”

“Obviously, darling!”

“What about me?” I asked. “Did you make me a cool suit?”

“Uh,” Rarity cringed, her eyes darting around. “Actually…no.”

I shook my head, giving her a disappointed scowl. “What?” I complained, pulling on the bottom of my T-shirt, stretching it out to show it to Rarity. “You guys get cool, indestructible super-hero suits and I get to wear this dog shit??”

“Hey! I bought you those clothes!” Sunset chided, folding her arms.

“I-I’m sorry, Golds,” Rarity defended. “I know all of the girls’ sizes off by heart, but I had no idea what you are, nor did I even come up with a design for a male suit.”

I glared at her for a short moment, but then let out a playful laugh as I gently punched her shoulder. “I’m just fuckin with you, Rare. I don’t really need a suit. Hell, I’ve gone this long without it, why would I need one now?”

Rarity huffed, giving me a frustrated slap on the arm. “You devil! That wasn’t nice!”

“Sorry Rare, I was just teasing,” I replied, wrapping my arm around her shoulders.

“Like I said, You’ve been spending too much time with her,” Rarity huffed, pointing a finger at Sunset, who bit her lip nervously and looked down at the floor.

I shook my head. “It was just a joke. I’m sorry,” I said, planting an apologetic kiss on her temple.

Letting her head sway to the side, Rarity allowed a smirk to spread across her lips. “Ohh, how could I stay mad at you?” she gushed, perking up again. “Now let’s see how Fluttershy’s suit fits. Where is she, Sunset?”

Sunset turned her head towards the stairwell. “She was right behind me,” she started. “Hey Flutters! Let’s see you!”

I removed my arm from Rarity’s shoulders to instead hold her hand as the three of us waited in anticipation to see the shy girl’s outfit, listening with exiguous impatience as her soft footsteps made their way down the stairs.

She emerged, a sight to behold. Her suit had the same details as the others: the wide collar, the deep V-neck, the curve-hugging tightness, the tall boots, and of course, the same fresh, shiny surface as Sunset’s virgin suit.

Her arm stripes were different yet again; yellow this time, and on each of her thighs were three pink butterflies with little green antennae on their heads. Her hair, like the others, was pulled back into a tight bun, held in place with a wide, back ribbon. As if Rarity’s and Sunset’s cleavage wasn’t enough, Fluttershy’s suit took her generous bust to a whole new level, shoving her breasts upwards with enough pressure to make one think they were going to burst like balloons.

I leaned my head closer to Rarity, who was gripping my hand tightly, giddy with excitement. “I gotta ask, Rare, and I’m not complaining, but what’s the deal with the titties?”

“Ah! I thought you might notice that,” she giggled.

“You thought I might notice?” I shrugged. “How would I not notice? Flutters’ tits look like they’re gonna fly out and knock something over.”

“It was quite deliberate, I assure you,” Rarity explained. “I had three good reasons for it; one: It has proven useful for distracting male opponents. Two: the neck needed to be large enough to get in and out of the suit. Unfortunately, the market isn’t exactly flooded with indestructible zippers, so I was forced to make the suits without any fasten-able openings. And three: it’s Fluttershy. Need I say more?”

I shook my head. “Say no more. Number three is reason enough.”

Sunset was facing Fluttershy by that point, staring down at her yellow, tightly-packed cleavage as she gave a lusty bite to her bottom lip. “Looking good, Flutters,” she chuckled, trying to play off her comment as casual, rather than a product of her mandatory arousal.

Rarity gave a limp-wristed wave towards the shy girl. “Agreed, darling. You look absolutely smashing! What do you think? How does it feel? Does it fit OK?”

Fluttershy slowly brought her gaze up to meet Rarity’s, instantly creating a twinge of uneasiness in my stomach when I saw her dark, brooding eyes through that black mask. “Um, why do we need these?” she asked softy, but coldly.

The fashionista was caught off-guard by the question. I felt her grip tighten on my hand as she prepared a response, her light-hearted demeanor fading quickly as she drew in a shaky breath to speak. “W-well darling, I just-“

“We don’t need masks to do what we do,” Fluttershy cut in. “It gets in the way, and it’s annoying to wear.” She reached up to peel the mask from her face, and then reached behind her head to yank the ribbon from her hair, letting her pink locks flow down around the shoulders of the dark suit. Without a care, she tossed the items onto the couch and folded her arms, staring at the floor with a cold, unnecessary cruelty in her eyes. “It’s stupid.”

The three of us were blindsided by the comment, especially Rarity, whose grip on my hand instantly went limp upon hearing the insult.

Flabbergasted, I shifted my eyes onto Rarity to find a heart-breaking sight; her eyes were moist, her lips parted slightly as her jaw hung loose, devastated by the sharp, piercing indignity dealt to her by the last person she should have expected it from.

It was plain on Rarity’s face how it made her feel, and it twisted my insides into a tight knot to see it happen. Of anyone, she was the least deserving of such a nasty jab, especially after all the heartache she’d endured. She’d spent the past month alone, worrying about her missing lover, single-handedly defeating a group of kidnapping spies while obtaining the means necessary to free Fluttershy, who was now standing in that very room because of Rarity’s actions.

She had been overcome with joy when she laid eyes on the shy girl at the shop, only to have her elation crushed by the zombie-like state that Fluttershy was in, so what did she do? She pulled out these outfits that she’d put her own time an effort into creating in a last-ditch effort to try bringing her girlfriend’s spirits up, hoping to finally have her true lover come back so they could be reunited at last…

All to have it spit back in her face.

Fluttershy had sliced Rarity to the core, and I could hardly stand the sight of it.

I glanced over to Sunset, who was chewing on her thumbnail, completely dumbfounded by the scene. Her posture had changed to a less confident one, and she appeared to feel somewhat foolish about her suit after the shy girl’s ruthless attack.

Next, I shifted my sights onto Fluttershy, finding myself in a headspace I never thought I’d find myself in.

I was angry with her. She’d intentionally used her poisonous words to hurt Rarity, and in that moment, not even her pretty face, her soft hair, her graceful stature or her quiet voice could stem the tsunami of fiery-hot blood that had begun coursing through my veins.

I completely understood her demeanor after all she’d been through; the darkness in her eyes, her utter silence and her complete lack of emotion. It to be was expected after such an experience, and I supported her completely and was ready to let her recover at her own pace.

But this…this was not OK. I was unwilling to stand by and let her use it as a excuse to hurt others, especially Rarity. I’ve been around long enough to have seen this type of downfall before, and I wasn’t about to let it happen between these two girls, both of whom I loved fiercely.

I let go of Rarity’s hand to step forward, swiftly making my way towards Fluttershy. “That’s it,” I growled, shaking my head. “Enough is enough.”

Rarity and Sunset watched in shocked silence as I took the shy girl by the arm and hauled her to the stairs, pulling her upwards as she stumbled along behind me, her feet dragging up the steps to the hallway at the top, where I headed to the bathroom on the right with her in tow. I shoved her through the doorway, and then closed it firmly behind me as she stumbled across the room, barely catching herself before falling into the tub.

I stepped towards her, just as she turned to face me with an irate scowl on her brow. I placed my index finger just in front of her nose as I spoke.

“You and I are gonna have a talk.”

Her dark, bottomless eyes glared back at me as I stepped back and shrugged, putting my hands in the air.

“What the hell was that all about??” I asked loudly.

Fluttershy didn’t answer, but instead kept a stiff upper lip and folded her arms.

I backed up another step and put my hands on my hips. “How could you say that to Rare?”

Her eyes dropped to the floor for a moment, then she locked them back onto mine, maintaining the dark scowl.

I stared back at her for a moment, waiting to see if she might respond.

She didn’t.

I let out a sigh and shook my head, pacing around the small room, replaying in my mind the awful scene she’d just created in the front room. After rubbing my forehead in frustration, I locked eyes with her again.

“You don’t wanna do this,” I said firmly. “You don’t wanna alienate the people who love you, cuz they’re the reason you’re here right now, instead of being locked up at the bottom of the ocean.”

She sighed, then turned her head to the left, defiantly breaking eye contact with me to stare at the wall.

“I’m telling you,” I continued, “if you keep acting like this, the next time you need them, they won’t be there to help you. You’ll be alone. What then?”

She was motionless.

“Trust me on this, Flutters. I know how people work, and I’ve seen it many times.” I pointed my finger at her. “Rare had the biggest hand getting you out of there, and you had no right to talk to her like that. All the way home you’ve been quiet, short-tempered and dismissive every time Sunny and I tried to help you, and there’s no reason for it.”

Fluttershy suddenly turned her face towards me, giving me a sharp glare as her jaw clenched tightly. “No reason?” she fired back. “No reason?? Do you have any idea what I’ve been through?”

I scoffed, shaking my head. “OK. Let’s think about this. First of all, how would we know what you’ve been through if you refuse to talk to us?”

She responded by folding her arms tighter.

“And secondly,” I continued, “I am the last person you wanna pull that card on. You can’t even fathom the shit that I’ve been through; the things I’ve seen. Now, I’m not trying to say that whatever you went though wasn’t horrible, or that you need to pretend everything’s A-OK, but you don’t see me going around, putting down the people I care about, so there’s no reason you should be doing it either. They don’t deserve it.”

“This just happened to me,” she replied. “What bad things have you been through lately? You can’t preach to me anyway; like you said, Rare is the one who saved me. All you did was pick me up and drive me home.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. “I…WHAT??” I asked loudly, scowling at her in response. “Are you kidding? Do you know what Sunny and I went through to try getting you back? I came out of hiding! Sunny broke into the CIA! THE MOTHER-FUCKING C-I-A! And she offered to fuck a guy to get him to help her get in, and that’s after she dyed her amazing hair that shitty brown colour to disguise herself. She also beat the shit out of the woman who stole that bug for Cody, the same bug that ended up in YOUR HOUSE! Sunny did that in the bathroom inside the CIA headquarters, FOR YOU! Do you understand what kind of a risk she took by doing that??”

Fluttershy fidgeted with her feet, scowling down at the floor as I continued.

“You know what else she did for you? She gave away her clothes, her phone and her jacket, of all things! We walked across the desert for SIX DAYS; from Tucson, Arizona to some fucking back-country shit-hole in Southern California, where I saved a kid from getting smeared all over the road by a speeding transport truck, then bought a fifty dollar car for fifteen grand! Actually, now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure I spent well over sixty grand on this whole damn mission! FOR YOU! WITHOUT HESITATION!”

I paused for a moment to catch my breath and to glance at Fluttershy, who was just now hearing all of these things for the first time. She stood next to the bathtub, her soft, light hair draped around the shiny, black shoulders of the suit that her girlfriend had made her.

Her defenses seemed to be lowering.

“Oh, that’s not all, Flutters. I forgot to mention that I caught a bullet in Las Vegas to protect an informant; a man who I hadn’t seen in over twenty years, who was telling us where to find the base that you were being held at. His life was on the line, and he’s never even fucking met you!”

The shy girl’s scowl had faded by then, and she was finally starting to look remorseful for her behaviour, but I wasn’t done. I needed to get her to open up to me, and for that to happen, she needed to be cracked.

“And yes, Rare had a major part in getting you out, but I was the one who set it up. Even still, she performed amazingly, and she was so proud of herself; as she should be. She deserves it. That poor girl’s been stuck here at home, worrying her head off about you, spending her nights alone, probably feeling completely hopeless until one night: BAM! She gets attacked by fifteen heavily armed agents, who she took out herself and was able to use the information she got from them to set up a way to get you out. She was wearing her ‘stupid’ outfit during that, by the way. And the mask isn’t for looks; it’s to hide who she is, so the agents can’t go after the other girls, or her family, or even come here to kill your animals, who she’s been looking after the whole time you were gone.”

I paused for a minute to see what she would say.

“I…I didn’t know,” she said, rather meekly.

“She was so happy to see you at the Sweet Shoppe,” I continued. "Sunny and I got you home, hoping like hell that getting you back with her would cheer you up; but instead, you stonewalled her. You knocked her right back down into the gutter by acting like a friggin zombie the whole time.”

“N-not the whole time…I…”

“Everything she did was for you, even after I made her stay behind, which I knew she didn’t like. But she was still able to make a real contribution toward getting you home, and she made you this beautiful suit, but when she finally had you back, what did you do?”

She was frozen in place, praying that I wouldn’t say it.

I said it. I felt horrible and I didn’t want to say it, but it had to be done. I forced myself to swallow the pangs of guilt boiling up in my chest, and then I continued. “You turned around and insulted her. You insulted her work. You called it stupid. You acted distant, and you made her worry about you; acting like a damn vegetable. She didn’t know what to do with you, so she got that suit out, hoping it would cheer you up, and you show your gratitude by shattering her to pieces?”

Her mouth dropped open slightly, and she gave a small shake of her head. “No…I…”

“You made her cry. After all these years of having feelings for her, pining for her, you finally have her, AND after she saves your life, and that’s how you repay her? I never thought I’d see something so venomous from you, but there it was. I couldn’t fucking believe it!

“She loves you, Flutters. More than anything else in the world, and she didn’t deserve to be treated like that. Not in a million years. All she wanted was to have you back at her side, and when she finally had you, you were dead-in-the-water. So then, all she wanted was to make you happy again.”

By that point, the shy girl’s eyes were moist and her brows were beginning to furrow.

“You cut her. Deep. And you know what? I’m the one who had to see that look on her face. I’m the one who felt her hand go limp when you said those things. You might as well have just stabbed her in the heart, cuz that’s pretty much how you made her feel after everything she did for you.”

I finally stopped. My heart was hammering in my chest, and I felt terrible for saying these things to Fluttershy. She was the love of my life, and I would never want to hurt her, but sometimes a little pain is necessary to push someone to make a change.

All I could do now was hope I pushed her in the right direction.

Holding my breath, I watched the anguish come over her as her expression sank into remorse and despair. I pushed down the lump forming in my throat when I saw the look on her face at the very moment that her heart broke; the exact moment of her epiphany, when she realised the pain she’d caused her girlfriend.

Her brows furrowed deeply, and her bottom lip trembled as the corners of her mouth curled downwards, prompting her to bring her hands up to cover her face. Her eyes slammed shut, squeezing out rivers of tears that began flowing down her cheeks.

She leaned forward suddenly, burying her face in my shoulder.

“I…I’m s-sorry!” she sobbed, soaking my shirt with her tears in short order.

I’d seen Fluttershy cry a number of times at that point, but never like this. She was wailing loudly, like a child who’d stubbed their toe. Her voice was loud and guttural; foreign and unfamiliar to me, muffled against my chest as she slowly wrapped her arms around my shoulders, squeezing herself into me as she let loose all of the suppressed emotion she’d been keeping bottled up ever since we met her in the desert.

I wrapped my arms around her in return, rubbing her back for comfort, feeling every sharp inhale that accompanied each sob, and all I could do was look up to the ceiling while doing my best to ignore the guilt I felt for doing this to her.

She wailed into my shirt for what felt like hours, saturating it with her tears as I lovingly rubbed her back, waiting for her to get it all out, hoping after which she might open up to me about why she’d been so out-of-sorts.

Finally, she spoke.

“You’re r-right, I’m a m-monster!”

Her words caught me off guard. I frowned, staring at the ceiling as I listened to her continue to speak between sobs.

“I n-never should have b-been set free! I’m a horrible freak; a m-murder machine!”

“Murder machine?” My eyes darted around the room, realising her issue may not have been quite what I expected. “What are you talking about?” I asked, taking her by the shoulders to pull her back so we could face each other.

She tried to open her eyes, but her emotions prevented her from doing so, and she continued dumping buckets of endless tears down her soft, wet cheeks. Her teeth were gritted, her bottom lip quivering, her face contorted with anguish, all stemming from the horrific events of the past month.

“Flutters, what do you mean, you shouldn’t have been set free?”

She shook her head, sobbing continuously as she answered. “They turned me into a…a beast! A horrible monster! I killed all of those p-people in that base…I blew it up with th-them inside; hundreds of people, all d-dead because of me!”

My heart ache worsened when I heard the explanation, and the revelation hit me: she was remorseful for the things she’d done, and felt like she was out of control, not herself.

“Flutters, no. You’re not a monster. Those people deserved it.”

“No…” she sobbed, “I didn’t even know most of them…they were just there, doing their jobs, AND NOW THEY’RE DEAD!”

I shook my head. “They knew what they were a part of. They knew things that were happening to you, and they didn’t care. You've done nothing wrong.”

“You d-don’t understand,” she blubbered, “I didn’t just blow the b-base up…I tore people apart…like p-paper.”

I stopped again to listen to her, raising an eyebrow as she revealed more details of her breakout.

“I ripped people apart, limb-from-limb; like a horrible beast…” she paused for a moment, holding her breath as she stared fearfully into my eyes. “A-and…I liked it…”

The hair on the back of my neck stood up. “How did she do these things? She doesn't have the strength to do that kind of shit...”

“I’m supposed to be n-nice…not a killer! I’ve become something awful…you m-must think I’m terrible! I know you and Rare wanted the old Fluttershy back…not me!”

I glanced down at the toilet on my right to make sure the lid was down, then I brought her over to sit down on it. Kneeling on the floor in front of her, I rested my hands on her thighs, feeling their smooth firmness inside the tight, black material. Her bountiful cleavage was still popping out of the V-neck, soaked in her salty tears that continued to rain down from her dark, shadowy eyes.

“Listen,” I said softly. “You’re not a monster. You did what you had to do. They’re the monsters for what they did to you. Do you understand?”

She didn’t say anything. As her sobbing continued, she wiped the dripping moisture from her eyes with the back of her gloved hand while looking at me with overwhelming remorse in her eyes.

I raised an eyebrow, wondering about what she’d said earlier. “What do you mean, you ripped people apart?”

A few sharp inhales racked her body suddenly, showing no indication that her crying was going to stop anytime soon. Her bottom lip continued to quiver uncontrollably as I reached up to wiper her cheek with my thumb.

“I…I don’t wanna talk about it…” she answered.

“Ok,” I nodded.

Then a realisation hit me. It wasn’t the things she’d done that bothered her; it was what she thought we would think of her for doing them.

I looked her in the eyes. “Is that what all this was about? Why you were so quiet? Because you were ashamed of what you did, and you were worried about what we would think of you?”

Fluttershy looked at me for a moment, and then nodded.

I felt relieved to finally understand what had caused her to be so distant, so down on herself, and now that it was out in the open, it was time for us to fix it.

“I w-was scared that you and the girls would think I was a wicked m-monster…that you wouldn’t want to be with me anymore…c-cuz I’m not the same girl I was before." She paused momentarily, as though something else had occurred to her. "Or maybe...th-this was the real me all along, waiting to come out. Maybe I n-never should have been friends with any of you!”

I shook my head. “That's not true," I replied softly. "Just like being painfully shy isn't all there is to you, the same goes for this. You've become a fierce warrior, and that's not a bad thing because that's not all you are. We know you’re not a monster. You still are, and will always be our shy little sweetheart. You did tons of sweet things on the way home; rescuing the kittens, the way you sweep your hair aside, they way you talk…I love everything that you do. Even as tough as I am, you’ve always had no trouble melting me like butter.”

She sniffled loudly. “Y-you still think I’m sweet?”

I gave her thigh a light squeeze. “Yeah, of course I do. You don’t need to feel bad about what you did. They took you from your home, and they took you from me and Rare. They deserved what they got, and I’m proud of you for making a stand and fighting your way out. Trust me, I would have done the same thing. In fact, they’re lucky it wasn’t me who got in there to break you out.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” she said under her breath.

“Hm?” I asked, unable to hear her reply.

“Nothing.”

I drew in another breath to speak. “Anyway, you did exactly what anyone else would have done. And it sounds like you did it well. You’re amazing, Fluttershy. Don’t forget it.”

“Ooh…” she pursed her lips, then reached over to grab some toilet paper and proceeded to blow her nose.

I waited for her to finish before continuing. “You’re not a monster, you know how I know?”

She paused, then slowly shook her head.

“Because real monsters don’t care that they’re monsters,” I said. “Trust me. I know a thing or two about being a real monster, and you’re not a monster. The fact that you’ve been so concerned about this tells me that you’re not a monster.”

She balled the soaked toilet paper up in her fist and clutched it to her chest, staring into my eyes as she drew in a deep, shaky gasp.

“So, that’s why you wouldn’t let Sunny read you in Niagara Falls?” I asked. “Not because you didn’t want us know what they did to you, but because you didn’t want us to know what you did to them?”

She nodded slowly, then sniffled again. Her eyes were still moist, however it appeared as though her crying had subsided.

Or so I thought.

A sudden wave of tears trickled down her cheeks once again, and she pursed her lips tightly, looking down at her lap, sniffling some more.

“What is it?” I asked, bemused by the sudden resurgence of emotion.

“It’s just…didn’t you hear what Rare said?”

I frowned, confused. “No, when?”

“A-at the Sweet Shoppe. When she saw me, she started to cry,” Fluttershy explained, sobbing through her words. “She asked what they did to me; like there was something wrong with me…like I w-was damaged goods.”

I sighed and shook my head. “No, I don’t think that’s what she-“

I was cut off when the bathroom door burst open and Rarity, who’d obviously been eavesdropping on our conversation, stepped swiftly into the room with a hand over her mouth.

“Oh darling, no! That’s not what I meant at all!”

I quickly noticed that she’d removed her mask and had taken her hair out of the bun, which was now flowing behind her in a silky, purple trail as she came down to kneel in front of the toilet, where Fluttershy was still seated.

Rarity still had the black suit on, and with her dark, unstyled hair hanging straight down around her pale face and chest, she reminded me a bit of Morticia Addams. With her mask off, I could see that she had indeed washed her face after her makeup had run, leaving her with those beautiful, light freckles on her cheekbones and her soft, natural skin exposed. It was evident that she’d been crying, due to the tears gathered in her eyes and the moisture that trailed down both sides of her nose.

I moved out of the way and sat on the edge of the tub so Rarity could take my place in front of the shy girl, who had started weeping profusely yet again upon seeing her girlfriend.

“Oh Rare,” she sobbed, wrapping her arm around the fashionista’s shoulders to hug her tightly. “I’m so sorry I said those awful things to you! I’m such an awful p-person!”

Rarity hugged her back, shaking her head. “Sh-sh-shhh. All is forgiven, darling. I know you didn’t mean it.”

“I didn’t mean to scare you either,” Fluttershy continued. “I shouldn’t have b-been so quiet. I was just worried that you would think I was a m-monster if you found out all the things I did.”

“I know, Fluttershy. I heard everything. Not to worry, no one thinks you’re a monster. You needn't worry about being rejected by us,” Rarity replied softly.

“I feel so b-bad about what I said to you,” Fluttershy sobbed. “I don’t even know why I said it. I guess m-maybe I was trying to distance myself from you so it wouldn’t hurt so bad if you found out about the things I did and didn’t want to b-be with me anymore.”

Rarity released Fluttershy from the hug to cup her palms over the shy girl’s wet cheeks. “Oh Fluttershy! How could I not want you around anymore? I love you dearly, and I couldn’t imagine my life without you.”

The two girls leaned forward, letting their foreheads rest together as they stared into each other’s eyes.

“I love you too, Rare,” the shy girl whispered.

Rarity smiled, letting a fresh tear roll down her snowy-white cheek. “And I already told you, darling; you are forgiven.”

“I know,” the shy girl whispered, “It’s just…I don’t know if I could forgive myself.”

I interjected, reaching out to rub Fluttershy’s shoulder. “Don’t beat yourself up over it, Flutters. It’s just an imperfection of human nature. We become what we fear the most, and that’s what was happening with you. You were scared of ending up alone because we might have thought you were a monster, but if you’d kept going the way you were, it would have happened eventually. Not because of what you did in the base, but because of how you were acting towards us. I’ve seen many people make the same mistake over the years; they fear something, and it almost always comes true, one way or another.”

Rarity glanced at me briefly, then nodded a she looked back towards Fluttershy. ”He’s right, darling. We mustn’t let fear guide our paths, it will always lead to darkness and despair.”

Fluttershy straightened up a bit, wiping her eyes with her fingers.

“Oh dear, let me get that for you,” Rarity offered, unravelling a length of toilet paper and tearing it off to wipe the shy girl’s face dry. “You don’t want to get your uniform all salty, do you?”

“S-sorry…”

“That’s alright.”

“Um, so…Rare?” Fluttershy started, pausing to sniffle again.

“Yes, dear?”

“Y-you heard everything that we were saying in here?”

“Yes, darling.”

“Like…even the part about how I tore people up?”

“Oh…yes. Well, I’m sure it wasn’t as bad as all that. It takes a lot of strength to do such things.”

“Oh, um…y-yeah.” Fluttershy said, somewhat nervously. “So…you don’t think I’m a monster even after hearing that?”

Rarity chuckled. “To be honest, I was somewhat worried about what you would think of me after slicing all those men to pieces.”

“Oh…” Flutterhsy replied, fidgeting her hands on her lap as Rarity finished drying her face, then threw the toilet paper into the garbage. “I didn’t know you did that, Rarity…I don’t think we can see each other anymore.”

Rarity froze.

I sat in silence, watching them stare blankly at each other, nervously holding my own breath.

After a tense moment, Fluttershy snickered softly. “Um, I’m just kidding, Rare.”

The fashionista let out a long exhale, then wagged her gloved finger at her girlfriend. “You…” she giggled, “You almost had me there.”

I was rubbing the side of my face by then, relieved that it was just a joke; a poorly timed joke, but a joke nonetheless.

Rarity turned to face me. “That’s the first sign of humour she’s shown since she got home, and now I have to hurt her for it,” she quipped, drawing a sweet giggle from Fluttershy.

The levity was nice.

After a moment of silent gazing, Rarity took Fluttershy’s hands in each of her own, resting them on her lap. “Listen to me, Fluttershy…”

Fluttershy nodded.

“You’re beautiful. You know that,” Rarity began.

“Um…OK?”

“Do you know how beautiful you are?”

The shy girl shrugged, then shook her head slowly.

Rarity drew in a deep breath before continuing. “You are so beautiful, the only thing I could find in your absence that came even close to matching you…was the sunrise.”

Fluttershy pursed her lips in response, and I could see a bit of moisture quickly forming in her eyes again.

“And,” Rarity continued, “every morning, every single morning, I would watch the sunrise, and imagine I had you at my side, because the colours of the sky and the steady brightening of the morning sun was the one thing that reminded me of you the most.”

I could almost see a visible glow from Fluttershy’s skin as Rarity’s words moved her, causing her heart to overflow with so much love it almost hurt. “Oh Rare…that’s so…so…”

It was a beautiful moment, but Rarity wasn’t finished.

“But listen, darling,” she continued. “The beauty you possess pales in comparison to what lies in here,” -- the fashionista placed her hand over Fluttershy’s heart -- “and in here,” she finished, moving her index finger up to the shy girl’s temple.

Fluttershy was speechless. She remained motionless, aside from the single tear rolling down her cheek; not of sadness, however, this time, it was a tear of joy.

“But, unlike the sunrise,” the fashionista said, “which would always come to an end, your beauty, thanks to him,” -- she turned to me briefly -- ”will live on forever; unwavering and perfect, throughout the ages.” She gently placed her hand over Fluttershy’s heart again. “And what lies inside is no different. You will forever be my sweet Fluttershy, no matter what happens to you, or the things you are forced to do to protect yourself or others. Standing up for yourself does not make you a monster, it makes you a hero. My hero.”

Fluttershy’s hand was covering her mouth by that point, and she had tears streaming down her face again. “Oh my goodness, I love you so much, Rare!”

“I love you too, darling!” Rarity replied as tears gushed from her own eyes, and they quickly came together in a tight embrace, sobbing happily together.

“Damn, Rare’s good at this,” I thought as I took in the sight of the two girls. It was a lovely scene; a cluster of intertwined limbs, adorned with that shiny blackness, topped off by a pile of silky, soft hair, one half indigo, and the other half pink.

Fluttershy’s face was visible to me, resting on Rarity’s shoulder. Her eyes were closed and lined with moisture, with an expression of contentment on her face. I watched her, enjoying the tender moment she and her girlfriend were having together.

Then her eyes opened.

It seemed to happen in slow motion right in front of me. Her eyelids rose, revealing a pair of vibrant teal irises, sparkling with radiance as they locked themselves onto me, causing a tingle to radiate up my spine when I saw her old self re-emerge, revealing herself to me. Gone was that dull colour, hollow darkness and lifeless expression. All that remained was fresh, energetic happiness and undying love for both Rarity and me.

Finally, Fluttershy was truly home.

I couldn’t help but smile at her. My body felt light as air knowing that the shy girl was happy at last, and as I kept my eyes locked on her, my heart suddenly leapt when a wide, beautiful smile spread across her lips. Her sparkling eyes slowly blinked once more, causing my heart to melt instantly when I saw her adorable expression, and she reached out with one arm to grasp my shoulder, gathering up a ball of my T-shirt in her clutches to pull me in to join the embrace.

I wrapped my arms around both girls, squeezing them tightly as I took in the scent of their soft, shimmering hair.

“I love you guys so much,” Fluttershy whispered. “Thank you for rescuing me. Again.”

*****

”Seriously, could my pussy be any wetter?”

Sunset lay on Rarity’s couch, staring at the ceiling. Her mask was off, and she’d let her hair loose during the time she spent waiting nervously to find out what was happening with Fluttershy.

What was going on? What were they talking about?

Sunset shook her head, replaying the image of the shy girl being dragged up the stairs like a ragdoll, still shocked by how livid I had become after hearing her blistering comment towards Rarity.

Her thoughts stalled out when she felt another wave of hot, tingling pulses emanating from between her legs.

It was worse than ever.

She groaned, cupping her hands over her eyes in frustration. “Uuuugh! I should not have gone commando in this thing, it’s going to be a fucking mess insi-”

Sunset silenced herself when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. She leapt to her feet to see who it was, and was greeted with the sight of me coming down the steps with a satisfied look on my face.

“What happened? Where is she? Is she alright?” Sunset asked frantically, unloading question after question onto me.

I put my hands up. “She’s fine, Sunny. Don’t worry.”

“She’s fine? How?”

“We had a chat. I got her to open up, and we worked it out,” I explained.

“What do you mean you ‘worked it out’?” she asked, before suddenly perking up. “Wait, Flutters is back to normal??”

I nodded. “Pretty much. I’m sure she’ll still be a bit off for a while, but she’s not acting like a zombie anymore.”

“Well that’s great!” she cheered, clapping her hands together, then shaking her fists.

“Yup,” I said, looking down at the floor.

“How’d you do it?” she asked. “How’d you get her to open up?”

“Uh, I had to upset her," I explained, "I basically bitched at her about a bunch of things until she cried.”

Sunset paused, clearly caught off-guard by the explanation. “You made her cry?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “I’ve found that when people are upset or emotional, they tend to open up and say what’s on their minds a little more, so that’s what I did.”

“Wow. I bet that was fun.”

I shook my head, chewing on the inside of my cheek as I pictured the look on Fluttershy’s face when I told her she’d stabbed Rarity in the heart. “No. It’s wasn’t very much fun.”

Sunset folded her arms. “That was pretty risky wasn’t it? I mean, that could have seriously backfired if Flutters decided to put up a fight.”

“I know,” I said, “but nothing else was working, and I was pretty pissed off about what she said to Rare.”

Her eyebrows went up. ”Yeah, that was pretty shocking. It just came out of nowhere…I couldn’t believe she said it.”

I paced round the room, rubbing the back of my neck. “I mean, I was willing to deal with her depression for as long as it took, but I had to draw the line when she started acting like that. I couldn’t let it continue, and I wasn’t gonna stand by and let Rare get hurt.”

“Yeah,” Sunset mumbled, staring down at the floor for a moment before looking back at me. “So what are we doing now?”

“We’re gonna take Flutters home,” I replied. “Rare’s coming out too, so she and Flutters are probably gonna drive together, and you and I will go in the Diplomat. I’ll take you to my shop so you can get your bike and head home so you can have a little down time.”

Sunset’s eyes rolled back in her head. “Holy fuuuuck, I need down time in the worst way.”

I cocked my head to the side. “Is it bad?”

“It’s like…really bad right now.”

“Really?” I asked, reaching out to cup my hand over Sunset’s crotch to feel her heat, blazing through the material of the suit.

“Hey, FUCK OFF!” she growled, batting my hand away before pointing her finger in my face. “Do NOT get me riled up. I swear to Celestia, I will fuck you to death!”

I put my hands up in retreat, backing away from her. “OK OK, sorry!” I chuckled as I took the car keys out of my pocket.

“Are we going soon?” Sunset asked impatiently as she feverishly ran her hands down her shiny, black thighs. “I really just wanna fucking go home so I can cool down.”

“No, Sorry. Not yet,” I replied. “Before we head out, I have to go put gas in the Diplomat AGAIN, so I might as well do that now while you guys get changed out of those suits.”

Sunset groaned. “Ugh! Fine.”

I turned to head for the door. “I’ll be back in a few.”

“See ya,” Sunset waved, and then slowly turned towards the stairs as she looked down at the suit. ”How the fuck do I get out of this thing?”

She pulled at the collar, trying to slip her shoulders free, but the material was too tight and stiff to move. Unable to get her fingers under it to peel it off, she decided to head up the stairs in search of help.

*Chapter 77: It's Gonna Be A Long Night - Part 2

Chapter 77

I leaned quietly against the side of the old Diplomat, holding onto the fuel nozzle with one hand as I pumped even more fuel in to its seemingly bottomless tank. I sighed absentmindedly, watching a dog in the park across the street taking a shit in the grass as I ruminated about what I’d just done to Fluttershy.

The guilt of making her sob with such profound intemperance was still fresh in my mind, and I hoped that it wouldn’t have a lasting effect on how she was going to feel about me in the future. As much as I wished it didn’t have to happen, it did set things in motion and it got her talking to me about why she was acting the way she was.

Time will tell. Maybe I was just being dramatic. After all, it was a very dramatic night, and all I could do at that point was wait until I got back to Rarity’s to see how she would act around me.

“Hopefully the girls are ready to go when I get back,” I thought to myself as I looked down at the ground, kicking a bottle cap that was sitting next to my feet. “They’d better not have been fuckin around this whole time.”

The fuel nozzle kicked off just then, signalling that the Diplomat’s tank was full once again…for another five miles. I hung the nozzle up and tore the receipt from the pump before walking to the driver’s door, where I paused with my hand on the door handle, looking at the dollar store in the strip mall next to the gas station. Knowing that Halloween was just around the corner, a sly smirk came across my face as I got an idea for a little joke for the girls, as well as some sweet treats for them.

*****

Upon my return to Rarity’s place, I found the front room empty, aside from Link and Angel sitting calmly by the couch.

“Hm,” I mumbled, figuring they must be in the back getting ready to head out to Fluttershy’s house.

I headed toward the stairs, dollar store bag in hand, making my way up the steps to the hallway. There was silence in the place, making me wonder where the girls were, if anywhere. Surely they hadn’t left already? Rarity’s car was out front still, although them leaving wouldn’t have been a surprise by any means, given how eager Sunset was to leave so she could stop being so…well, eager.

Just as I passed the bathroom, I heard a voice loudly and frantically screaming something that stopped me in my tracks.

It was Sunset.

“Ooh shit, you guys, don't stop! I’m gonna…I’m gonna cum!”

I stood, frozen in the hall, struggling to think of some way that I might be misinterpreting what she was saying, but I was unable to come up with anything else that it could possibly have meant. Whatever was happening must have been exactly what it sounded like.

“What the fuck…”

Unsure of what else to do, I slowly continued along the hall towards Rarity’s room, which was waiting for me down the stairs at the far end. I was still a few feet from the top step when I heard Sunset’s voice again.

“AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!”

I stopped again, caught off-guard by the scream.

“I would recognise that howl anywhere,” I thought. “That’s the sound of Sunny cumming…who the hell is making her cum?”

I didn’t know if I should continue on. The last thing I wanted was to walk in on Sunset having sex with someone, but the curiosity of who it could have been made it impossible to walk away.

“My my, darling…what a mess! I shall have to wash these sheets posthaste!”

I was blown away after hearing Rarity’s voice, realising that she was there as well. Now I had to know what was going on.

I quickly made my way down the steps, my eyes going wide as the bed came into view. I was stopped in my tracks again when I reached the bottom of the stairs, and my nostrils were hit with the strong scent of female arousal.

On the bed was Sunset, completely naked except for one of the gloves from the suit on her right hand, lying with her arms wrapped around a pillow that she was holding tightly to her chest. Her legs were spread wide, and between her thighs were Rarity and Fluttershy, lying side-by-side on their bellies, their pink and purple hair hovering over Sunset’s crotch, bringing her down from what was quite obviously very a significant orgasm.

Fluttershy was still wearing the black outfit, but Rarity was completely naked, showing off her cute, white ass to the room.

“Ah, look who’s back,” Sunset panted, snapping me out of my shock.

“Uh…” I replied in a daze as Rarity and Fluttershy turned to look at me, giggling with each other when they saw the look on my face. “So…I take it you guys aren’t ready to go?”

Sunset burst out laughing immediately and pointed her finger at the other girls. “HA! I told you! That’s a hundred bucks; hand it over!”

Rarity shook her head, causing her straight, shiny hair to swing in elegant waves. “I don’t think so, darling. He was just asking, not complaining.”

I closed my eyes and shook my head a bit, raising my free hand to finally speak. “Wait, wait…I, uh…can’t help but feel like I’ve missed something here.”

“Actually, lucky for you, you haven’t missed out, darling.”

“Uh OK, well…I would appreciate it if you guys could…I don’t know, bring me up to speed?” I said. “What the fuck's going on? I mean, I just left like fifteen - not even that, like, ten minutes ago, and I come back and find you two chowing-down on poor Sunny here.”

Fluttershy and Rarity giggled, nuzzling their faces close together in an odd combination for pride and embarrassment.

Sunset’s eyes darted around the room a few times, and after biting her lip for a moment, she finally answered. “Well, as you know, the whole thing with my magical sexy-time was still going, and I came back here to get help from these guys to take the suit off. One thing led to another, aaaaaand here we are.”

“One thing led to an- WHAT?” I replied, perturbed by the explanation. “How does one thing lead to this?”

“Ppfff,” Sunset spat, rolling her eyes as she sat up slightly to put the pillow back under her head. “You see me complaining?”

I raised an eyebrow at the red-head, looking up and down her naked, satisfied body. The sight of her, along with Rarity’s naked, moonlight-coloured backside was beginning to turn me on, but I was quickly snapped out of my stare when I heard a soft voice.

“What’s in the bag, big boy?”

I locked eyes with the shy girl, who was smiling at me with that same familiar warmth in those dazzling eyes of teal, and I immediately felt relief from the worry of her being upset with me after what had happened.

Fluttershy giggled after a moment of watching me go into another daze, bringing my attention back to her question. Looking down at the bag in my hand, I finally responded by reaching in to fish out a pack of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

“I uh, got you guys some candy…but it kinda looks like you already ate,” I joked flatly, to which I was rewarded with a few soft giggles from Rarity and Fluttershy.

Sunset rolled her eyes.

Dropping the treat back into the bag, I looked at the bed again to see Rarity planting her feet on the floor and standing up to face me, placing one hand on her hip, looking as though she was waiting for something. I noticed immediately the glistening moisture surrounding her slit, indicating that Sunset wasn’t the only one who had gotten off in my absence. This is when it struck me: Fluttershy was still wearing the suit.

”I bet those two were ‘performing’ for Flutters,” I thought, knowing full-well how much the shy girl loved watching others get it on, not to mention how she had a certain knack for getting others to obey her in sexual situations. “Looks like she’s definitely back to her old self.”

I bent slightly to set the bag on the floor, and then rubbed my forehead with my thumb. “OK, so,” I said, pausing to take breath, “are we or are we not going to Flutters’ house?”

Sunset face-palmed and Rarity huffed, rolling her eyes in exasperation.

“Really darling, what would you prefer?” Rarity began. “To get into that dingy old car and drive for another hour, or come over here and have the three of us fuck you senseless until the sun comes up?”

I let my eyes drop to the floor, rubbing my chin as I thought for a moment. Finally, I returned my eyes to Rarity. “What was the first option again?”

“Ugh!” Sunset groaned. “Golds! Quit being a douche and get the fuck over here!”

I shook my head frantically. “No!” I teased. “You guys have that crazy look in your eyes; you look like…like you’re gonna hurt me. I’m scared!”

Fluttershy giggled, but Rarity, in contrast, growled and began marching towards me, her perky breasts bouncing proudly with each stomp of her little, white feet. She grabbed the front of my shirt with her fist and pulled our faces close together, narrowing her eyes as she glared at me in a threatening manner.

“You don’t seem to be listening very well, darling,” she growled, flooding my nostrils with the scent of Sunset’s womanhood. “You’re not leaving this room with a dry dick, do you understand me? Now, here’s now this evening’s going to go: you’re going to take your clothes off and lay on the bed. Then, I’m going to suck your cock and then ride the living daylights out of you until you cum. And that’s just to start things off.”

I nodded quickly. “Understood, Miss Rarity.”

She smirked, then stood on her tiptoes to lick my lips, leaving a wet streak across them. “There’s a good boy.”

I licked my lips in response, sampling the slick flavour she’d left behind. “Tastes like Sunny,” I said.

“Well it’s no surprise, darling,” Rarity replied, grabbing me by the hand to lead me to the bed. “Fluttershy and I were just about up to our tonsils in her pussy.”

I heard Sunset laugh as Rarity began peeling my shirt over my head.

“Haha! Rare said ‘pussy’!” the red-head giggled, “I love it!”

“Oh I assure you, my darling Sunset,” Rarity replied, dropping my shirt on the floor. “This is going to be a very fun night.” She quickly wrapped her arms around the back of my neck after finishing the sentence and put her lips to mine, kissing me deeply with a hungry aggression that was quite unexpected compared to her usual playful methods. Her warm, white skin pressed against mine, her breasts squashed against my chest and her slippery tongue snaked its way between my lips, spreading the flavour of Sunset’s juice all over the inside of my mouth.

I leaned back, letting both of us fall onto the bed together. Her naked, snowy-white body landed on top of mine and we crawled upwards together towards the pillows, keeping our mouths connected the whole way. Finally, I came to rest next to Sunset while the fashionista’s body writhed and ground against mine in a heated fit of arousal, eventually breaking the kiss to crawl further upwards, letting her breasts dangle above my mouth, tempting me to play with them.

Sunset and Fluttershy watched intently as I took Rarity’s nipple between my lips to suck on it gently, causing her to arch her spine up as she let out a soft moan of excitement. She was straddling my stomach is this position, slathering my skin with her moisture as she rubbed her warm crease against me, letting her long, dark hair hang down around us, hiding our faces from the other two girls.

Sunset had begun to stroke herself idly as she watched, grazing her clit just enough to maintain a low level of heat while occasionally glancing at Fluttershy, who was now sitting cross-legged near the foot of the bed, watching her lovers warm up for what was surely going to be a very enjoyable and undoubtedly messy night.

When Sunset laid eyes on the shy girl’s plump, yellow cleavage again, she felt a sharp tingle shoot through her loins, enticing her to stroke herself faster and more aggressively than before.

Rarity pulled back suddenly, letting her breast pop out of my mouth to bring her lips back to mine, and she quickly shoved her tongue into my mouth to briefly swirl it around, just long enough to show that she’d done it before she crawled downwards, leaving a row of kisses down my chest and stomach as she went. After making her way down to my pants, she began to claw at them with her dainty fingers, frantically unfastening them and then yanking them down, exposing my erection to the three of them.

“Ah, just who I wanted to see,” the fashionista quipped as she used her hand to flip her hair over the back of her head, then wrapped her delicate white fingers around my length to hold it up so she could plunge her hungry mouth onto it.

She took it surprisingly deep, causing herself to wretch a tiny bit as she sealed her lips around the base and slowly dragged it out, inch-by-inch, sending waves of warm pleasure up my spine as she teased me with her hot, hungry mouth, applying a gentle suction as she left a glistening trail of saliva along my entire length.

“Mmmmmmm…” she moaned as the enticing flavour of pre-ejaculate was drawn from my head onto her tongue, and she proceeded to swallow the entirety of my erection a second time to repeat the wonderful process over again.

I covered my eyes with the heels of my hands, enjoying the feel of her hot mouth wrapped around me. What really drove me crazy was when she reached the tip and began massaging my head with her taut lips, applying circular strokes with her tongue inside her mouth, sending shivers of delightful, tingling warmth throughout my body as her fine, delicious-smelling hair hung from her head and tickled my abdomen with her movements.

Sunset’s eyebrows raised at the sight of it, especially when Rarity’s head began to quickly bob up and down, sliding her lips vigorously along the entire length, overloading my senses with intense pleasure after each swift pass of her soft, full lips.

The red-head glanced at Fluttershy again, raising an eyebrow as she spoke. “There’s something I never thought I’d see,” she said, drawing the shy girl’s attention away from her lovers.

“Hm?” she replied innocently, turning her head to look at Sunset.

Sunset nodded towards Rarity and me. “Rare sucking a dick like that…I could never picture it before,” she said, pressing firmly on her clit with her index finger and jiggling it rapidly to give herself another blast of pleasure. “It looks…mmm, amazing.”

Fluttershy’s eyebrows went up. “Oh!” she replied, “Yes, um…Rare is very good at what she does. I love watching her do it.”

Sunset giggled and bit her lip, gazing at the sweet, demure girl, taking in her details; her long, light pink hair, draped over the dark collar and shoulders of the suit, her full breasts squeezing out of the V-neck, the shiny, black material hugging the curves of her waist, hips and thighs…

“Fuck, she looks fucking sexy in black,” Sunset thought as she began quickly circling her clit with her fingertip, ramping up her self-pleasure yet again.

I stared vacantly at the ceiling as Rarity continued working her magic on me, loving the feel of her soft lips and energetic tongue sliding up and down my length, along with her warm, soft breasts gently resting on my thighs as her body hovered over mine. Changing gears, she cradled my length in her hand and began slowly running her tongue from the base all the way to the tip, stopping at the head each time to drill little holes of pleasure with the tip of her tongue at the end of each long, electrifying lick.

Without warning, the fashionista released my erection after tightly wrapping her lips around the head once more, letting it pop loudly out of her mouth before crawling over me again, resting her naked body on top of mine while pinning my hard length between me and her moisture-covered slit. “I can’t wait any longer, darling; I need you inside me this instant,” she panted, as she raised herself slightly and then reached between us to grasp my erection with her slender fingers.

She impatiently set the tip against her entrance and pushed herself down without hesitation, burying my entire length inside her hot, arousal-flooded depths. Her brows furrowed immediately as she forced her body to accommodate me, exhaling a hot breath against my face, followed by her soft lips dropping noisy, wet kisses all over my cheeks and mouth.

God, how I missed her.

I didn’t realise it until then, not until I felt what it was like to be inside her again. Over the past month, having sex with only Sunset had gotten me used to how her body felt; her heavier, more muscular frame, her strength, her height, her face, her breasts, and of course, what she felt like inside.

Rarity, however, was different. I had forgotten how light and delicate her body felt in comparison, as well as her smooth, pale skin and her soft, delicious-smelling hair. She was a very classy, and ever so lush young woman, striking ones senses with the stark contrast of her colours; her dark, yet vibrant hair that felt like it was spun from the finest silk, with its bold indigo colour that played so well off of her radiant white skin, smooth and sweet, like fine vanilla ice cream.

Being inside her, however, was pure bliss; like having my erection tightly wrapped in hot velvet. That’s not to say that Sunset wasn’t an absolute joy to penetrate, but Rarity was like a lavish treat. The heat that smoldered within her loins was comforting, yet enticing, and her moisture was slick and smooth, like a top-of-the-line brand of lotion, allowing me to slide within her depths with a pleasureful ease that made my body relax and melt into itself.

“Ooohh fuck, my sweet darling…how I missed you!”

I smirked at her vulgar, yet passionate words while gazing into those beautiful, sapphire eyes of hers. Her dark, vanilla-scented hair fell lazily around our faces, surrounding us in a silky, indigo curtain that swayed gracefully, tickling my cheeks, neck and shoulders as she began gyrating briskly against my body, repeatedly welcoming me deep into her tight, sloppy flesh.

“I missed you too, Ra-“

Her lips cut my words short when they connected with mine again, followed by her delicious, wet tongue practically slithering down my throat, passing a series of quick, staccato moans that grew in volume with each thrust as her soft breasts rubbed against my chest in a rhythm that matched her movements.

“Mm! MM! MM! MM!!"

Sunset shook her head, biting her lip as she watched the fashionista thoroughly enjoy every inch, as well as every second of being penetrated by me, knowing all-to-well herself what it felt like to have me bottomed-out inside her. “Damn, I bet that feels fucking amazing,” she thought, shifting her eyes onto the shy girl once again.

No longer satisfied with pleasuring herself, the red-head decided it was time to make a move on Fluttershy.

She removed the finger from her slit and leaned forward to crawl on her hands and knees towards the black-tights clad girl, letting her wavy, fiery hair and her hefty breasts swing beneath her as she approached the shy one, who was still watching her lovers, entranced by the motion of their vigorous love-making.

Sunset placed her hand on Flutttershy’s knee, letting a shaky exhale escape between her lips at the sensation of her friend's yellow skin wrapped tightly beneath the unique material. She proceeded to slowly and seductively run her hand up the shy girl’s thigh, then cupped her hand over her crotch, feeling the heat of Fluttershy’s womanhood radiating through the shiny, black layer of material against her hand.

Sunset was forced to make a conscious effort not to pounce on the shy girl when she felt the heat of Fluttershy’s arousal; a smoldering libido that was so well hidden by her seemingly calm presence, a feat that drove the red-head into a frenzy of dripping wet desire that she desperately needed to fulfill with something other than her own fingers.

After collecting herself, she watched the shy girl’s face as she took her eyes from the show to look at Sunset.

“Hey Flutters,” Sunset greeted, putting on a coy smile.

“Um, hi Sunset,” Fluttershy replied, suddenly becoming aware that the red-head’s hand had a firm grip on her crotch.

Sunset nickered. “What do ya say we get you out of this suit?”

The pink-haired girl’s shiny, teal eyes seemed to light up, and she gave Sunset an enthusiastic smile. “Sure!”

The red-head’s heart leapt with excitement, and she was about to stand beside the bed when the shy girl raised a finger. “But um…could you put your glove back on?” she requested.

Sunset briefly looked at her uncovered left hand, then back at the shy girl.

“Um, I just…I don’t want you to see anything…in my mind. Not yet, anyway. Not until I’m ready.”

Sunset nodded. “Sure thing, Flutters,” she replied, rummaging around the bed sheets to find the glove, after which she quickly slid it onto her hand.

The two girls stood beside the bed and feverishly peeled the suit away from Fluttershy’s slender, yellow frame. It seemed to come off much easier than Sunset’s outfit; whether it was because it didn’t fit as snugly as Sunset’s, or because the shape of the shy girl’s shoulders made it easier to slip off, or simply because Sunset was stronger, they were unsure. Whatever the reason, only half a minute had passed before there was a shiny, black pile of material lying on the floor around Fluttershy’s feet.

The two girls wasted no time in bringing their naked bodies together; feeling the heat radiating from one another’s soft, smooth skin as they tightly wrapped their arms around each other to share a deep, wet kiss.

Sunset’s desires were finally coming true. Her bare breasts were pressed tightly against Fluttershy’s beautiful bust, their hard nipples poking into one another as they locked their mouths together, resulting in Sunset tasting her own fluids on the shy girl’s lips and tongue, even further stimulating the red-head’s fierce arousal.

Kissing each other was easy for these two, given that they were the same height, and they enjoyed sampling one another’s flavours, each passing her own unique sweetness back and forth from tongue-to-tongue. Sunset slid her gloved hands down Fluttershy’s back towards her ass to give her cheeks a firm squeeze, before pulling the shy girl’s abdomen against hers, pressing their hairless mounds together.

Fluttershy giggled softly into the red-head's mouth as tingling waves of sensation passed through their bodies, then she placed her hands on Sunset’s shoulders to gently push her down onto the bed. Sunset laid herself onto her back, returning her head to the pillow as the shy girl’s slender frame slinked over top of her, straddling the red-head’s waist with her thighs, smearing her wetness onto Sunset’s belly as she let her full, butter-coloured breasts dangle above her friend’s face.

“Here Sunset,” Fluttershy offered softly, “you’ve been staring at these since Niagara Falls, you poor, horny girl. Why don’t you help yourself?”

The red-head stared wide-eyed at the gifts that hung above her for a moment, her elation preventing her from acting right away, which prompted Fluttershy to rock her shoulders gently, swinging her breasts side-to-side to entice her friend into action.

It worked. Sunset snapped out of her daze and reached up to cup her hands over the heavy, pendulous masses of soft flesh, marvelling at their perfection as she looked into the teal eyes of their owner.

“I swear Flutters, you have the most fucking spectacular tits on the entire planet.”

The shy girl bit her lip as her cheeks flushed at the compliment, but was suddenly rocked by a sudden gasp when she felt Sunset’s lips wrap around her left nipple, sucking gently on the hard nub with her hungry mouth, her tongue augmenting the sensation as it moistened, circled and flicked the erect bud.

Fluttershy’s body responded by sending a wave of tingles across her smooth skin, and her hips began gyrating impulsively, rubbing her swollen and yet-to-be-serviced slit against Sunset’s abs, spreading an ever-growing pool of slick moisture on her friend’s skin as she closed her eyes and sang out her soft coos of enjoyment.

On the other side of the bed, Rarity had worked herself into a frenzy on my length, using it to swiftly ride her way to her next orgasm. I felt her body gradually stiffen above me, her breaths becoming short and ragged as the pleasure climbed higher and higher with each thrust of her hips.

Her brows furrowed as the peak drew near, and she did her best to keep her sapphire eyes locked onto me, but her fluttering eyelids would not allow it.

Finally giving up, Rarity let her eyes slam shut. “Ooohh…darling, here it comes! You haven’t a clue how much I’ve missed this; how many nights I imagined making myself cum all over this tremendous cock of yours, and I…I…aaaaahhh...”

Rarity trailed off suddenly, gritting her teeth when her body spasmed hard, clenching tightly in quick, sharp pulses on my erection with her hot interior as she tried to hold in a sharp squeal. I had my hands on the small of her back, holding her petite, trembling frame against me as the orgasm washed through her.

“OOHHHHHH!!” she finally exhaled a fiery-hot breath against my face, letting her frazzled body go limp against me to lay motionless, save for her deep panting against my neck. “Simply…fucking…divine,” she gasped.

I nodded in agreement, staring at the ceiling with her delicious-smelling hair tickling my skin as I felt myself twitching with pleasure inside of her hot, wet flesh.

After a moment, she sat upright unexpectedly, putting her beautiful, white body on display for me; letting my length pointing straight up into her as she gazed at me with hungry eyes.

“Again!” she announced.

“Oohhh my, Sunset…”

The red-head continued feasting on her friend’s breasts, switching from one side to the other at random intervals, enjoying the feeling of Fluttershy rubbing her slick, wet flesh against her belly. As much as she enjoyed having the shy girl’s sensational breasts in her mouth however, Sunset suddenly felt the desire to kiss Fluttershy’s lips once again.

Letting the nipple slip from her mouth, she reached up to grip Fluttershy’s shoulders, pulling gently to signal her to come back down. The shy girl complied, sliding her slender body downward against the red-head’s, letting her breasts come to rest against Sunset’s own bust while straddling her hips with her thighs.

They connected their lips firmly, firing their tongues back and forth between their mouths, licking up each other’s saliva while Fluttershy incessantly thrust her hips downward, rubbing her smooth, hairless mound against Sunset’s, desperate to achieve some stimulation on her eager, dripping wet crease.

After a moment, they broke the kiss and briefly stared into each other’s eyes, after which Sunset reached up to run her fingers through a lock of pink hair that was hanging down and ticking her face. She smirked, using her fingertips to hook the hair behind Fluttershy’s ear while Fluttershy bit her lip, closing her eyes as she enjoyed her friend’s surprisingly loving touch.

“Um, Sunset?”

“Yeah?”

“Um…” Fluttershy looked nervous, and was looking to the side as she forced herself to speak. “D-did you really give your jacket away for me?”

The question found Sunset unprepared. “Oh, uh…yeah. I did. We had to, to lose the guy that was tailing us; who we eventually killed on the side of the road, by the way.”

“Oh…” Fluttershy looked remorseful. “I…I’m really sorry you had to do that. I know how much you care for that jacket…it means a lot to you.”

Sunset wrapped her arms around the shy girl to give her a tight, reassuring hug. “It’s OK, Flutters,” she replied. “You’re worth it.”

“Mmm…” Fluttershy hummed. “It’s just…I feel so bad that you had to give up something so special because of me.”

“Hey, Listen,” Sunset said, placing her thumb and forefinger on the shy girl’s chin to hold her steady, then gazed confidently in her sparkly, teal eyes. “For you, I would do it again in a heartbeat. Understand?”

Fluttershy smiled, and her eyes appeared to moisten slightly. “Aww,” she gushed. “Thank you...that’s so nice.” She leaned in and kissed her friend on the lips softly, then backed away for a moment. “Don’t worry, Sunset,” she said, leaning down to put her mouth close to the red-head’s ear. “I’ll make it worth your while,” she whispered.

The statement thrilled Sunset, causing goosebumps to pop up all over her skin as she wondered what the shy girl was going to do to her.

Fluttershy brought herself onto her knees to raise her hips, then swung her left leg over Sunset’s right leg, letting her knee come to rest between the red-head's thighs. Now straddling Sunset’s left leg, the shy girl placed her moist crease against the red-head’s thigh while pressing her own thigh against Sunset’s crotch.

“Oh boy, Flutters,” Sunset giggled, biting her lip. “You’re getting fancy here.”

Without hesitation, the shy girl thrust her thigh against Sunset’s slit, grinding her smooth, yellow skin into the tender wetness, eliciting a sudden moan from the red-head, who threw her head back into the pillow when she was hit by a sudden blast of pleasure.

“Oh fuck!” Sunset gasped, instinctively raising her own thigh to press it against Fluttershy’s slit in return.

“Ooohh,” the shy girl moaned in reply, rewarding her friend by increasing the aggressiveness of her thrusts.

As Fluttershy rode her friend, they connected their lips again, moaning their enjoyment into one another’s mouths with each blissful stroke. Both of their thighs became soaked and slippery in short order, and the feel of each other’s slick flesh sliding along their skin served only to increase their arousal even more, bringing their peaks rapidly closer with each passing second.

Fluttershy separated their lips and panted against Sunset’s face, letting their foreheads rest together. “Are you gonna cum, Sunset?”

Sunset nodded quickly. “Y-yeah…”

The shy girl smirked. “Me t-too,” she replied. “Um, do you wanna cum with me?”

“Together?”

“Mm-hm,” Fluttershy answered. “I want us to cum all over each other, that would be so hot!” she panted, ramping up her speed again, swiftly driving both of them to their goal.

The pressure quickly built up of their loins; doubling the pleasure with each pass of their wet skin over their delicate, sensitive folds until eventually Fluttershy couldn’t hold out any longer and once again dove into Sunset’s mouth with her tongue.

The two girls moaned loudly in unison when the same climax seemed to hit them both, their quivering flesh rubbing against each other's thighs as their bodies trembled, succumbing to the waves of pure bliss that washed over them. As their breasts pressed together, poking one another’s soft mounds with their hard nipples; the pressure that had built up within them was finally released, bursting forth from their slits with a massive gush of clear fluid that washed down over each other’s thighs.

Lying on a saturated bedspread, their skin soaked in the juices of their orgasmic pleasure, Sunset and Fluttershy broke their kiss to stare at each other with wide eyes.

“Holy shit!” Sunset gasped.

“Oh my goddness,” Fluttershy panted at the same time, “That was w-wild!”

“Yeah it was,” Sunset chuckled breathlessly as the shy girl rested her head on her shoulder, waiting to cool down from their mutual climax.

Rarity was having another orgasm.

I watched her gyrate her hips on top of me, remaining in an upright position with her hair gently flowing in waves around her face as it followed her steady, rhythmic movements. I had reached up, maintaining a secure grip on her breasts as she stiffened and her eyes squeezed shut, crying out in ecstasy as she savoured the feel of her body pulsating inside, squeezing me tightly with each jolt of intense pleasure that passed through her.
When it finally left her, she relaxed herself a bit, but remained upright. “My god, darling,” she panted, shaking her head in disbelief. “I can’t believe I went a whole month without this.”

“You do seem a bit…” I paused for a moment to think of the right word, “…ravenous.“

She let out a soft giggle between breaths, then reached up to remove my hands from her breasts, lacing our fingers together to hold my hands at her sides, resting them on her hips.

“You must have been getting close,” she said, “I thought I could feel it.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I’m not too far away.”

She took a deep breath to prepare herself. “Then we simply must continue onward! Remember how I said this evening was going to go?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “You said you wer-“

“First, I suck your cock,” she continued, cutting me off in the process. “Which I did; quite splendidly, I might add.”

“Well of course,” I replied, “You alwa-“

“Then, I said I was going to fuck you until you cum,” she said, cutting me off again. “Which I am in the process of doing this very minute; quite splendidly if I do say so myself, yet again.”

“Right,” I said, keeping my response short, predicting that she would cut me off again.

Aside from the heavy breathing that filled the room, there was nothing but silence for a moment or two. She continued holding my hands at her sides, staring lovingly into my eyes as her perky, white breasts rose and fell with each of her deep, satisfied breaths. I marveled at her elegance, which fully remained even without her make-up; her face in its beautiful, natural state was as stunning as any clear, moonlit night, and I couldn’t help but stare in awe as I ran my eyes down her long, straight indigo hair, loving every soft, silky strand.

I smiled at her. “God Rare, you’re so beau-“

“It is high time for us to bring this love-making to its conclusion, wouldn’t you agree, darling?”

I rolled my eyes after being cut off for the third time. “K.”

I heard a soft giggle from beside me as Rarity once again resumed using her tight body to please us both. Keeping our fingers laced, she brought my hands up to lean against my arms for leverage, forcing herself to bottom-out on my length while grinding her clit against my body, repeatedly jolting herself with almost unbearable sensation.

“How close are you?” the fashionista panted, squeezing her eyes shut.

I swallowed, feeling the twinge of orgasm beginning to build up in the head of my erection, deep inside of her warmth. “Pretty damn close, Rare. You want it?”

“YES!” she cried, gritting her teeth as she ground herself against me with alarming force. “Give poor Miss Rarity her medicine!”

“Her what?”

“Oooohh, my poor little body has been aching for you in your absence,” she moaned, “and I’m afraid there is only one cure.”

“Let me guess,” I smirked, feeling my climax nearing each time her tight moisture slid down my length. “It involves an injection?”

“Ooohh yes!” the fashionista panted, “I need my fix! I need it BAD!” She sped up her pace, grinding her sensitive flesh against me while keeping my entire length buried inside her, vigorously massaging it with her tender, wet warmth.

The pressure built fast, and she knew it was coming. There was no mistaking it. She let her head tip back, closing her eyes as she squeezed my hands tightly, bracing herself to receive my imminent explosion. “Give it to me, darling! Give me what I need to soothe my poor, aching pussy; I want it so fucking bad!”

The feel of her soaked, tight heat became too much for me and I hit my peak quite suddenly, surprising Rarity and I both. The feeling was all too vivid within her heavenly depths; the sudden growth, followed by a sharp spike of sensation, accompanied by repeated blasts of my hot, thick fluid, delivered by the violently pulsating erection that pumped it into her, filling every detail of her delicate interior.

Evidently, it proved too much for Rarity to handle. With her head still leaned back, she struggled to hold her breath, biting her lip in an attempt to hold in what little control she had left, but her efforts were easily defeated and her body gave in to the onslaught of unrelenting ecstasy. As the sensation of my climax split her loins open, her voice suddenly filled the room with her wild howling, releasing her own explosion of orgasmic bliss, along with a warm gush of fluid that poured from her slit and washed over my abdomen, soaking it completely.

Shocked, Rarity’s eyes popped open and she released my hand to cover her mouth, looking down at me with wide eyes, even as the orgasm still ravaged her. “Oh my f-fucking goodness, daaaahhh…! WOW!”

She came down suddenly to press her lips to mine, breathing frantically through her nose as her insides hugged me and my load with every pulse of her sensitive flesh. “Ooohh…I…um,” the fashionista mumbled nonsensically after breaking the kiss. Panting hard, she let her forehead rest against mine, staring into my eyes as her dark hair slowly fell around our faces again, trapping us together inside the purple enclosure.

“Damn Rare, that was something else,” I said, listening to my heart thumping in my chest, enjoying the feel of her warm body on mine with my spent, but still hard erection buried inside her flooded depths.

“I’ll say,” she replied. “Thank you, darling, that was outstanding! I thought you were going to blast me clear across the room…I don’t recall ever feeling you cum that hard before!”

“Yeah, no shit!” Sunset’s voice sounded from beside us, catching us off guard. “Hot damn, Rare, that was fucking phenomenal!”

When we turned to face Sunset, Rarity used her fingertips to hook an obscuring lock of hair behind her ear as we shifted our attention onto the other two girls. Fluttershy was lying on top of the red-head, resting her head on her shoulder while Sunset was reaching across towards me, letting her bare hand rest on my arm.

I hadn’t even noticed she’d place it there, and it dawned on me quickly that she had just experienced a male orgasm inside another woman.

Rarity was confused. “I beg your pardon?” she panted, still out of breath from her completion.

“I read him just now,” Sunset explained, “and I just felt what it was like to be him shooting his cum inside you.”

Fluttershy lifted her head from Sunset’s shoulder. “Really? Doesn’t it bother you to read him?”

Sunset removed her hand from me. “Well it doesn’t hurt anymore, obviously, but I still had to learn how to control the in-flow, which we practiced quite a bit while we were on the road.”

Rarity had begun to blush a bit, dipping her head sheepishly. “I…didn’t realise I had an ‘audience’,” she said, sounding slightly embarrassed. “Was I…good?”

“Don’t worry, Rare. You were incredible,” Sunset complimented, smirking at her friend. “I really enjoyed that.” She turned to glance at me next. “You’re right, Golds. It is SO completely satisfying.”

“I told ya, Sunny. It’s satisfying all right,” I said, kissing Rarity on the temple before she nuzzled her cheek into my shoulder, deep in contemplation about what her friend had just experienced with her.

“Hmmmmmmmm…” Fluttershy sighed happily, resting her chin on the heel of her hand as she aimlessly traced circles around Sunset’s areola.

Sunset stared at the ceiling, as did I.

Rarity remained still, keeping my erection and load inside her as she rested her head on me, contently watching her pink-haired girlfriend play with her friend’s hardening nipple.

There was silence in the sex-scented room for several minutes, until Rarity finally sighed deeply, displaying a level of contentment that was rarely reached by anyone.

“I wouldn’t get too comfortable, darling.”

The statement caught me off guard. “Who, me?” I replied.

“Yes you,” the fashionista replied, pointing her little, white finger at the other two girls. “You’ve still got plenty of 'work' ahead of you.”

I glanced at each of the green-eyed girls, receiving a look of lust in return from both of them.

“Oh boy,” I sighed, “It’s gonna be a loooong night.”

*Chapter 78: It's Gonna Be A Long Night - Part 3

Chapter 78

“Scootch, darling!”

“How much further?” I asked, shifting sideways with Rarity on top of me. My stale erection was still inserted in her, and I had been asked to be careful not to let it slip out as we made our way to the right side of her bed.

“Careful, we mustn’t spill!” the fashionista insisted. “This is my good designer bedspread!”

“Uh, Rare?” Sunset interjected. “I think it’s a little late for that.”

Rarity glanced back towards the red-head, noticing the dark patch of fabric that she and Fluttershy were lying together on.

“I realise that, darling, but I would still prefer to at least minimize the mess as best we can.”

I rolled my eyes and shifted my body sideways once more, after which Rarity leaned to the side, reaching over the edge of the bed towards the cubby-hole in the lower portion of her nightstand, her breasts sliding off the side of my chest in the process.

“I kind of agree with Sunny, Rare,” I said. “This is pretty much a wasted effort at this point.”

Finally, she gripped the Kleenex box she was after and took it from the compartment where it normally sat. “Ah-ha!” Her victory was short-lived, however, and she stared blankly into the box for a moment before tossing it away in frustration.

“Rats! I forgot that box is empty,” she growled as the box hit the wall with a hollow clunk.

I let out an exasperated sigh, realising the effort we'd just went to was for nothing. “For crying out loud!” I shouted, grabbing her shapely, white hip to peel her off of me.

My length slipped out of her as she was rolled off, releasing a long, white ribbon of thick fluid from her slit, resulting in a warm, messy dribbling all over my hip, down her inner thigh and all over the bedspread between us.

“GAAAH!” Rarity shrieked, frantically cupping a hand over her crotch in a pitiful attempt to occlude the escape of the sizeable gift that had been deposited within her. “Look at this mess, darling! All over my des-“

“Rare!” Sunset shouted. “Don’t worry about the bed! You’d be further ahead to just burn it after we’re done. Just roll with it!”

The fashionista lay on her side, staring remorsefully at her beloved bedspread with her hand pinned between her thighs, holding back what was left of the mess inside her. Finally, she rolled her eyes and flopped down on her back, next to me. “Pppff! Fine then, we’ll play it your way,” she sighed. “Someone else have a turn now; I’m just going to lie here and drain for a moment or two.”

Sunset snorted, accented by the sound of Fluttershy’s giggle. “Jeez Rare, I didn’t know you could be so…graphic.”

“Nonsense,” Rarity replied, “Ooh! Almost forgot,” she said, rolling towards me, just as I was turning to face her.

I was met with a quick smooch on the lips.

*Mwa!* "Love you!” Rarity sang as she returned to her back. She then removed her hand from her crotch to hold it above her chest while spreading her fingers wide, watching the translucent webs of white goo stretch between her slender digits, shaking her head in disbelief. “My goodness, darling! You must have been saving that one up for quite a while.”

I rubbed my temple as I watched the substance hang from her hand, surprised by my own level of production. “Uh…yeah, it’s been a few days, at least.”

Sunset’s voice could be heard from my left. “This guy is like a fucking cum factory. Like, seriously.”

I faced straight ahead in response, nodding sarcastically as I stared at the ceiling. “Uh, yeah Sunny, I’m a dude. That is literally what I am.”

Sunset and the shy girl shared a laugh together, prompting me to glance over towards them, noticing that Fluttershy was still lying comfortably on top of Sunset, burying her face in the red-head’s chest as she giggled softly.

Smiling at the lovely scene, I turned back towards Rarity to find a slightly more disturbing sight.

She was holding her hand above her open mouth, suspending a long, think string of the load from her fingertips above the tip of her protruding tongue.

“Right,” I said, “So you don’t want the stuff on your bedspread, but you’re OK with eating it in the most grotesque way possible?”

She let out a throaty laugh, keeping her mouth open as she waited for the thick substance to fall. Finally, her impatience got the better of her and she lowered her hand to close her lips around her thumb, gulping down the stubborn material. She then proceeded to insert her index and middle fingers into her mouth to suck them clean, followed by her ring finger and finally, her baby finger; filling the room with the echo of her lips smacking each time she pulled a digit from between them.

”If I was seeing this out of context, I would swear she just ate chicken wings or something,” I thought, watching the fashionista noisily lick her hand clean.

The sensation of a slender, timid hand sliding across my chest caught my attention next. I peeled my eyes off of Rarity to see Fluttershy's naked body sliding on top of mine with a friendly smile on her face.

I smiled back, wrapping my arms around her slender waist to welcome her on top of me.

“Hey there, big boy,” she said in her trademark soft, sweet tone.

“Hey Flutters,“ I replied, glancing over at Sunset. “You jumping ship?”

She giggled. “I’m all done motorboating; now I need something, um…with a bigger mast.”

Sunset threw her head back in laugher, clapping her hands as she brought her legs up and rolled onto her side, facing her back to us. “Hahaha, wow Flutters, that was a good one!”

Fluttershy smirked, letting her thighs settle around my hips as she let a wisp of breath from her nose caress my throat, her teal eyes gazing into mine.

I had forgotten how beautiful her eyes were, and I was quickly reminded of the darkness they possessed ever since we met her in the desert, a darkness that remained until only half an hour ago. The reminder sparked my guilt of making her cry once again, motivating me to come clean about how I felt after what I had happened in Rarity’s bathroom.

“I, uh…I’m really sorry about earlier,” I said, pausing to chew my bottom lip humbly. “I just wanted you to know that. It felt horrible to make you cry, Flutters. I hated it.”

Her expression flattened quickly, and she shook her head in response. “Oh Goldie, it’s OK. I’m not upset with you. I know why you did it, and I…kind of deserved it.”

“No no,” I replied quickly, reaching up to run my index finger through a lock of pink hair that had fallen alongside her face. “I didn’t do it because I thought you deserved it. I did it because I love you, and I didn’t want to see you mess things up with Rare.”

Her pupils immediately grew when she heard my words, and a bead of glistening moisture gathered along her lower eyelids. “Aww,” she gushed, pushing her bottom lip out. “I love you too, Goldie. I’m so lucky to have you to look after me,” she continued, glancing back and forth at the other two girls. “All of you.”

“We all have each other, darling,” Rarity replied.

“That’s right,” I said, turning to look at Rarity before continuing. “That’s the most important thing, which is why we always need to treat each other well.” I brought my eyes back to Fluttershy. “You have cum on your lip, Rare; by the way,” I said, prompting the fashionista to wipe her mouth with her palm.

Sunset was silent, watching us with a content smile on her face.

In the meantime, Fluttershy had locked her eyes onto me, gazing dreamily. After a moment of taking in one another’s details, she closed her eyes and lowered her lips to mine, serving me a full, wet kiss. It was delicate and delicious; her lips soft and gentle as always, yet that undertone of aggressive loving was, as always, hidden just below the surface, ready to break through and bring new levels of passion to our love-making sessions, no matter when, where or with who they happened to be taking place.

She broke the kiss slowly, backing her face up so she could look into my eyes again. Her hips squirmed slightly, making it apparent how messy we both were; our abdomens were both soaked and slippery, as well as her left thigh, along with my right hip, where Rarity had dropped part of her earnings.

Our bodies sliding against one another prompted the shy girl to look down between us to see the mess, however her breasts drooped below her, resting gently against my chest, blocking her view of our lower regions.

“Pretty messy,” I said, catching her gaze again as she looked back into my eyes with a sultry smirk on her face.

“We sure are,” Fluttershy replied, “and I promise it’s gonna get worse before it gets better.”

“Oh?” I said, raising an eyebrow to give her a sly look. “Why do you say that?”

She let out a playful giggle. “Cuz I’m gonna fuck you, silly.”

“Fair enough,” I chuckled, receiving another kiss that she had brought to my lips after finishing her statement.

Keeping our lips pressed together, we opened our mouths to share our breaths as I pulled her tightly against me. She responded by thrusting her hips downward, grinding her slippery, wet mound against my body, signalling my length to begin hardening again, ready for round two.

I was just about to reach into her mouth with my tongue, sneaking it between her parted lips when she pulled back, breaking the kiss.

“Ooh!” She giggled when she felt my erection growing between our bodies. “Someone’s waking up again!”

“Well I can’t imagine why,” I replied, smirking as she reconnected our mouths, receiving her tongue full force this time. It fired into my mouth like a serpent, meeting the tip of mine first before twirling around in a circle a few times, then retreated quickly as she let out a soft moan, exhaling through her nostrils against my face.

Again, Fluttershy broke the kiss and sat up slightly, leaning on my shoulders with her palms while repositioning herself over me to sit on my erection, pinning it against my body. She brought her hips forward, rubbing her slit along the entirety of my length, lubricated by a mixture of hers and Rarity’s fluids; stopping only when her clit grazed my throbbing head, sending a jolt of wondrous pleasure through her hungry body.

“Aahhhh,” she sighed, “that feels nice.”

She slid back again, stroking her warm, moist crease along the length of my erection a second time, followed by a third, after which she wiggled her hips, grinding her clit firmly against my head, causing us both to shiver unabashedly.

Fluttershy resumed running her slit along my length over and over again, closing her eyes as her body tingled with delight, heightening her pleasure with each pass. I watched her graceful, yellow body move back and forth above me, enjoying the sight of her long, pink hair swinging with her movements, along with her pendulous breasts, each topped with a pointed, erect nipple.

Her breathing became elevated, as did the speed of her thrusts; and she lowered herself to me, kissing my lips frantically as her warm, full bust came down and pressed against my chest, rubbing together between us.

“Oh, I’m gonna cu…cum soon,” she gasped, closing her eyes and keeping her cheek pressed against mine as she continued to caress my erection between her wet, swollen lips, her breath hitching every time her clit collided with my head at the apex of each stroke.

Just before she peaked, however, her body slid further ahead during one particular thrust, letting my erection slip out from between us. It sprang up between her legs, aiming directly at her entrance so when she came back down, my tip unexpectedly poked against her opening.

She stopped immediately, staring at me with wide eyes. “Hey! Where are you going?” she giggled.

“I didn’t do that on purpose,” I replied quickly, chuckling at her surprise after feeling the most intimate place of her body getting probed.

Fluttershy’s eyes narrowed suddenly, and a seductive grin spread across her face as she forced herself down to take me inside, letting me slip between her moist, delicate folds, stretching her flesh open with my rigid girth.

It had been over a month since the shy girl let her body be occupied like this; and especially after bringing herself so close to climax already, it wasn’t long before she achieved her first peak. All it took was about a dozen deep thrusts, and then her body immediately clenched down, squeezing my length in a pulsating frenzy as she closed her eyes tightly, tilting her head to one side to press her cheek against her shoulder, struggling to endure the assault of intense pleasure that rang out from between her legs.

I reached up to squeeze her breasts gently, listening to her voice crying out a long, soft moan of ecstasy.

“Aaahhhh…” she gasped, regaining control of her breathing as the orgasm released her from its clutches. “Oh goodness, I missed you!”

“Fuck, me too,” I replied, followed by a long, content exhale against her chest as I relished the sensation of her tight, pulsing heat surrounding my erection, welcoming me with excited glee after such a long absence.

As she brought her lips back to mine for a passionate, post-orgasmic kiss, we heard Rarity’s voice come from beside us. “Oh Fluttershy! It looked as though you thoroughly enjoyed that.”

“Mm-hm,” the shy girl replied, keeping our lips connected.

After sharing the intense kiss together, Fluttershy sat up, putting her magnificent self on display for the three of us to enjoy.

“Are you ready for more?” she asked with a coy smirk as she cupped her own breasts, lifting and squeezing them together, re-creating the cleavage that she had while wearing the suit.

“Are you?” I asked in return.

“I…um, don’t know,” she giggled. “Let’s find out.”

She released her breasts to lean on my chest with her hands, then began to rocking her hips aggressively, delivering swift, powerful thrusts while digging her fingernails into my skin as she pleasured herself on me.

“Oh man, that’s the stuff,” Sunset’s voice panted from my left.

“Agreed darling, she is absolutely brilliant!”

I closed my eyes, chuckling silently. ”Fucking commentators…” I thought, opening my eyes again to reach up and hold onto the shy girl’s breasts as she continued to ride me, brazenly massaging my length with her moist, tight heat.

She bit her lip and moaned, chasing relentlessly after her next orgasm, her nipples hardening against my palms as I squeezed the soft, full mounds that proudly adorned her chest.

Determined to make the next climax better than her last, I let go of her breasts to place my hands on the mattress on either side of me, then I sat upright with her, using my arms for support. She quickly wrapped her arms around my head and hugged my face between her breasts, accelerating her gyrating hips as soon as she felt the advantage of the new angle; her clit grinding firmly against my body while my length worked her supple, tight flesh.

Fluttershy was quickly driven into a pleasure-induced fit of squeals and moans, letting her body writhe against mine as she rode her way to the next orgasm, feeling the pressure steadily build in her loins with each overwhelming thrust.

“O-o-o-oh, m-my…shi-…it’s gonna, I-I’m g-gonna explode!”

It only took another moment for the peak to come upon her, locking her body up in a seizure of ecstasy while hugging my head, pressing my face between her breasts. I planted soothing kisses between her breasts, feeling her body trembling against mine as she tried to hold her breath, but failed to contain the high-pitched squeal that escaped from her lips. Overcome by the sensation of her insides squeezing down on the long, hard occupant within her, Fluttershy proceeded to release another heavy gush of fluid from between her legs; a waterfall of ecstasy that washed down around our hips and legs, soaking the bedspread in a tidal wave of the nectar of her sweet satisfaction.

This aggravated Rarity, I’m sure.

The shy girl exhaled a loud blast of hot air when her orgasm passed, and then her body went limp on top of mine, her thighs wrapped around my hips, letting me remain deep inside her while she rested for a brief moment. Released from her grip, I leaned back on my hands to watch her enjoy the aftermath.

She kept her hands on my shoulders, panting heavily through her open mouth, staring at me with incredulous eyes. Giving a slow shake of her head in disbelief, she forced an exhausted smile before speaking. “That…that was…um, amaze…” she huffed, pausing as she let her head hang down for second to gather her composure.

Finally, she lifted her head again. “Can’t talk…came too hard.”

“Yeah, n-no shit,” Sunset’s laboured voice rang out from beside us. “Damn Flutters, that was fu…fu…fucking hot as fuck!”

It was then that we noticed the rhythmic jiggling that shook the bed, and Fluttershy and I looked over at Sunset, who was lying next to us; eyes closed, lips pursed tightly with her legs spread wide, repeatedly and vigorously burying her middle and ring fingers deep into her sloppy, wet crease without any shame or restraint, uncaring of who may have been watching her.

Fluttershy cupped a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide with shock as she watched the out-of-control red-head desperately seek some form of satisfaction. “Oh dear,” she gasped, removing her hand from her mouth. “Sunset, you poor thing!”

Sunset stopped suddenly, her eyes popping open to look at us. “Eh?”

“I forgot all about your magic,” the shy girl continued, prompting Rarity to sit up suddenly to look past us, towards Sunset.

“Oh! So did I, darling,” she said, with a tone of remorse. “How selfish of me; I should have let you take the first one, Sunset, so you could have had some relief from your condition.”

Sunset looked like she felt a bit on-the-spot. “Oh…uh, it’s OK, guys. No big dea-“

“Here,” Fluttershy cut her off as she climbed off of me towards Rarity. “You go ahead, Sunset. I think Rare needs some more cleaning up anyway.”

I laid back again as the shy girl crawled overtop of the naked, white body of her lover, where she let out a playful moan and connected her lips with the fashionista’s.

After watching them make-out for a brief moment, I started to turn back to face Sunset. “Well Sunny, looks like it’s just you an-OOF!”

Unexpectedly, the wind was knocked from my lungs when the comparably heavy red-head’s body slammed on top of mine.

"FUCKITHOUGHTYOU’DNEVERASK!” she shouted, frantically reaching between us with her gloved hand to guide my erection into her hot, throbbing flesh. After Sunset plunged me into her hungry depths, she then brought her lips firmly against mine and forced her way into my mouth, moaning excitedly into my throat as her tongue swept across mine, sharing her deliciously sweet saliva with me. Hers was the only mouth that didn’t taste like female arousal, and the scent of her soft-drink scented hair quickly permeated my nose as her body began to slam repeatedly against mine.

My sensitivity was in full swing my then, and after the passionate love-making I had just engaged in with Fluttershy, Sunset’s dripping wet flesh and aggressive thrusts were nothing less than heavenly.

At this point -- and to my delight -- she was now the third woman I’d had the pleasure of being inside that evening. While most vaginas are generally the same, enjoying them back-to-back in this way made it easy to feel the slight differences between each one; the shape and contour, tightness, texture, temperature and of course, the way the individual used to it to bring us pleasure, not to mention the differences in each girl’s scent, the way she breathed, and the sound of her voice. The one thing they all had in common was that they all felt incredible, especially after the trying times the four of us had just been forced to endure.

Tonight was our reward.

Sunset’s orgasm was the quickest-approaching of the night so far, taking only seconds and less than ten thrusts of her over-aroused flesh to bring about the massive wave of bliss that shook her body with rapture, drawing a loud moan from her throat as she buried her face against my neck and began mindlessly kissing and licking my skin, ticking me in the process.

“Ooooohhh, shit!” she panted wildly as she came down from the climax. “Fuck, I love this dick; I could cum all over this fucking thing all damn night!”

“Hey there, Rare,” Fluttershy cooed, giving her girlfriend a playful smirk.

“Hello darling,” Rarity replied, raising a sly eyebrow. “What can I do for you?”

“Hmmm,” Fluttershy hummed, tapping her bottom lip with her index finger as her lovely, teal eyes glanced around the room. She suddenly dipped her head to plant a kiss on Rarity’s lips, then leaned her cheek against the palm of her hand. “Um, I’m thinking of a number between one and a hundred. Can you tell me what it is?”

Rarity thought for a moment.

Fluttershy’s heart ached with affection as she watched her girlfriend’s sparkling eyes dance around the ceiling, rubbing her chin with her index finger, humming out loud as she pondered the question posed to her. The shy girl had an urge to lick the fashionista’s cheeks to see if those cute, tasty-looking freckles might come off, but she was snapped out of her trance by Rarity’s voice.

“I don’t know, darling,” she replied. “One to a hundred is a lot of numbers to choose from, I’m afraid.”

“I’ll give you a hint,” Fluttershy replied. “It’s higher than sixty-eight, but slightly lower than seventy.”

“Ooh!” Rarity squealed, her eyes lighting up with excitement. “I know the answer, but rather than tell you, why don’t I show you, hm?”

“Of course!” Fluttershy replied, kneeling to the side of the fashionista, who reached up to stop her.

“Allow me, daring. I’d like to be on top, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure,” the shy girl replied with a smile, waiting for Rarity to get up so she could take her place, lying with her back against the mattress.

The fashionista slowly and seductively straddled Futtershy’s shoulders, intentionally arching her back to show her ass off while lying down onto the slender body beneath her. Letting her breasts touch down onto her girlfriend’s belly, she positioned herself so her face was just above the moist, yellow and pink crease that eagerly awaited her tongue. Using her hand, she flipped her long, indigo hair over the back of her head to keep it out of the way, then brought her mouth downward for a taste.

Fluttershy beheld an equally beautiful sight; two smooth, white thighs on each side of her head, holding over her a petite pair of ass-cheeks, under which resided a pair of delicate, yet swollen white lips. Nestled between them was a cluster of fleshy, rosy-pink folds, spreading apart to present themselves to her, reminding the shy girl of some kind of exotic flower, opening itself proudly in the vibrant morning sun.

The shy girl’s breath suddenly hitched in response to the jolt of pleasure that rang through her, given to her by Rarity’s talented tongue and pouty lips, teasing her girlfriend's delicate folds and sensitive clit. “Ooohh boy,” she moaned, wrapping her arms around the small of the fashionista’s back to pull her hindquarters closer to her face.

Fluttershy reached up with her tongue, dipping it into the tasty folds before her. She drilled into the pink hood first, causing the little, white ass above her to jump when she struck the clit hidden inside with the tip of her tongue. After that, the shy girl licked along the length of Rarity’s crease toward her entrance, where she dove in deep; sweeping her tongue into the hot canal in search of any leftover remnants of the gift she’d received earlier.

I held tightly to Sunset’s breasts as her body shook uncontrollably, sitting upright upon me while she earned herself another intense climax.

“Fuck!” she panted, “That’s three; three already! Holy shit Golds, you’re on fire tonight!”

I looked up at her, smirking as I took in the details of her satisfied expression, her frazzled hair, and her heavy, non-stop panting. “I think it’s you who’s on fire, Sunny. You’re a fuckin wildcat up in here tonight.”

Sunset laughed softly and sat for a moment with her weight relaxed on me, savouring the impalement of her body as she cleared some red and yellow locks from her face, before resting her hands on her thighs. “Whew…”

I laughed quietly at her overwhelmed demeanor. “I hear ya, Sunny,” I said, glancing to my right at Rarity and Fluttershy, who efficiently and effectively serving each other oral pleasure next to me and the red-head. “Hey,” I said, looking back at Sunset while pointing to the other two girls. “What does that remind you of?”

She glanced over, biting her bottom lip thoughtfully. “Hmmm…” She paused for a moment, studying the two girls; one white body stacked on top of a yellow one, until suddenly, her eyes light up when the answer dawned on her. “Oh! lemon-meringue pie!”

“Yes!” I laughed, raising my hand for a high-five, which she gladly returned, along with a pair of jiggling beasts and a sweet laugh.

“Fuck, I’m gonna be craving one of those now,” she snickered.

“Same here. We’ll get one later,” I said, sitting up. “Here, lay down, Sunny. I’ll drive for a bit.”

“Really?” she asked, looking at me with surprised eyes.

“Yeah,” I replied. “I’m gettin tired of laying on my back on these wet blankets.”

“Alright then,” she said, rolling off one side of me, letting me slip out of her.

I moved to the side, lending her the space to crawl up on her hands and knees towards the pillow, granting me a nice view of her ass before flopping down on her back, sweeping a lock of hair from her face as she lifted her legs to show off her glistening crease, extending an invitation for me to come back inside.

I crawled over Sunset, becoming entangled in her limbs as she wrapped me up in them; her arms around my shoulders and her legs around my waist, hooking her feet together behind my back to keep me close.

I quickly found the red-head’s slick entrance and re-entered her effortlessly, eliciting a satisfied groan from her as her flesh stretched, welcoming me into her body once more. Finding a steady rhythm to pleasure her with, I connected my lips to hers and took her away to cloud nine, passing the other two girls along the way.

Rarity rapidly encircled her girlfriend’s clit with her tongue, playfully drawing various shapes and tracing around the perimeter of the shy girl’s tender, slick folds, moaning non-stop as she felt the favour being returned to her from behind.

The sensation was heavenly. Fluttershy’s tongue was aggressive and far reaching; hitting depths that the fashionista didn’t think was possible -- not that she had any complaints about it -- and her soft, sweet lips did a surprisingly good job of caressing her sensitive flesh, even going as far as to push into her hood to stimulate her throbbing clit.

Fluttershy had dug deep, hoping to find some leftovers from Rarity’s session with me, and she was not disappointed. She had reached as far as she could into the pink opening, using her tongue to scoop and suck out whatever she could find, savouring the taste and texture, as well as the symbolism of the kinky, deviant act. It drove her crazy, inviting her next orgasm to come fast and strong to meet the tip of Rarity’s tongue.

It hit her hard before too long; her hips bucking violently in response to each gentle, yet intensely pleasureful lick of the fashionista’s tongue, and all she could manage to do in the midst of it all was seal her lips around the slick, white crease in front of her face. Sucking firmly, she drew the delicate, pink folds into her mouth and aggressively flicked with her tongue, kicking Rarity’s sensations into overdrive and tearing the next orgasm from her body as well, paying her back for what she had just given.

Both girls moaned, increasing each other’s sensation even further as the vibration from their throats resonated into their lovers’ deliciousness. They gently came down afterward, relishing in one another’s flavours as they enjoyed the pleasure received -- as well as given -- and eventually they came to a state of rest; Rarity leaning to the side, relaxing her head on Fluttershy’s hip, gazing lovingly at the glistening yellow slit before her. And Fluttershy, resting her head on the pillow between her lover’s pale thighs, but not before reaching up once more to plant a playful smooch on Rarity’s sweet, moist white lips.

Content, they closed their eyes and sighed, happy to be where they were, enjoying the scent of each other’s satisfied bodies.

The moment was cut short, however, by the sound of Sunset’s ragged voice ringing out from the other side of the bed, causing both of them to pop their eyes wide open.

“WHAT THE FUCK, GOLDS! IT’S SO FUCKING DEEP!”

I had the red-head’s quivering legs slung over my shoulders by that point, driving into her with deep, repeated thrusts at just such an angle to make her feel as though she was going to be split down the centre, ripped completely in half by my thorough loving.

I was getting close as well. For the second time that night, I was feeling the pressure build and was eager to release it, knowing there was no better place to do so than inside my red-headed friend’s tight flesh, which, at that moment was aching to be filled like never before.

“Are you ready, Sunny?” I panted, “I’m almost there; you want it?”

She was breathing heavily, her mouth hanging open as she hollered out her enjoyment with each pass, and her turquoise eyes promptly lit up upon hearing my announcement. “YES!” she gasped. “Do it! Fucking DO IT! Pump me full of that shit!”

“Oh dear!” I heard Rarity’s voice from my left. “That certainly is a different sort of romantic talk, isn’t it?”

I glanced over to see Rarity sitting cross legged, watching the show as Fluttershy sat with her back leaned against the headboard, hugging her knees to her chest…also watching the show.

I locked eyes with the shy girl, who gave me an evil smirk before speaking softly. “Do what she says, big boy.”

Sunset pointed at Fluttershy, wagging her finger while nodding. “Yes! Listen to her; she knows what she’s talking about!” she quickly panted.

I was teetering on the edge by then, swollen and hard as a rock; ready to fire a half dozen hot, thick jets of satisfying white lava into Sunset Shimmer, who needed it desperately and was frantic with anticipation, knowing she was about to receive it within the next few thrusts.

On the final push, however, disaster struck. As I withdrew to wind up for the last thrust, I had mistakenly pulled back a tad too far and popped out of her crease unexpectedly, resulting in a missed re-entry during the next thrust, unaware that my ridged, throbbing length had left her depths and sprung upward slightly. When I pushed forward again, the head of my erection skidded between her lips, jabbing directly against her clit, causing her to yelp as the first shot fired from my tip, launching a long, white ribbon of hot fluid up the left side of her body, landing with one end at her collarbone, extending down over her breast -- directly across her nipple -- and continuing on until it finally stopped near her navel.

“AAH!” Sunset screamed, closing her eyes and turning her face to the side when she saw what had happened, not wanting to end up with a shot to the eye.

“Shit!” I shouted, realising my mishap. “Mayday! Mayday!” I reached down as quickly as possible to guide it back into her before anymore shots were released. Just before I re-entered her, however, the second shot fired; blasting her vulva at point-blank range, coating her pink folds in a white glaze, half of which was plunged into her when I slid my pulsating length back inside, while the other half gushed around my shaft and dribbled down between the cheeks of her ass.

Both Rarity and Fluttershy, having witnessed the whole event, had their mouths covered with their hands, their eyes wide in shock as they watched me shove all the way into the red-head, closing my eyes as I pumped the rest of my orgasm deep into her welcoming interior, filling her with what was still a generous amount of the hot, satisfying fluid.

“Sorry about that,” I said rather sheepishly as my violent pumps transitioned into random twitches inside her.

Sunset’s hands were resting on the pillow on both sides of her fanned out hair when she shook her head, staring at the ceiling in disbelief as simultaneous comments rang out from Rarity and Fluttershy.

“What a mess you’ve created, darling!”

“Oh my goodness, that was fucking hot!”

Sunset snickered, lifting her head to look at the long, thick strand of semen that had been slung across her torso. “Jeez dude, nice shot,” she giggled, marvelling at the sight of her hard nipple, glazed in the warm fluid. “That’s the first time that’s happened,” she said, pausing to think for a moment. “Well, unintentionally, anyway.”

Just as the red-head brought her hand up, presumably to wipe herself off, Fluttershy quickly leapt forward to stop her.

“Wait! Don’t waste it!” she cried, crawling over Sunset, running her fingers through her hair to hold it out of the way as she quickly lowered her face and took Sunset’s breast in her mouth, sucking it clean of the slippery, salty substance. After giving the red-head’s nipple a firm, cleansing suck, Fluttershy ran her tongue upwards along the top of her breast to her collarbone, lapping up the juice with one lick before moving back to the underside of Sunset’s breast to continue cleaning downwards. Running her tongue over the red-head’s toned belly, Fluttershy swept up the gooey streak, tickling her friend in the process as she stopped halfway to scoop it into her mouth, swallow, then continue the rest of the way to her navel, picking up the remainder of the mess.

Sunset’s jittering legs were still resting on my shoulders at that point. After watching the shy girl clean up the mess, I shook my head, smirking at the dirty behaviour displayed by Fluttershy as I slid the red-head’s flaccid legs off of my shoulders and withdrew from her, releasing a thick, white river that gushed from her slit and ran downward, between her ass cheeks, eventually ending up on the bedspread.

I knelt before Sunset, remaining between her legs as I watched Fluttershy lap up the few remaining droplets from the red-head's belly before closing my eyes to rub my face with my hand, reminiscing about the messy act that Sunset and I had just engaged in.

Something quickly caught my attention, however, and my train of thought came to a screeching halt when I felt a warm softness on my erection, causing my body to shiver with post-orgasmic bliss as it slowly slid along my length.

I opened my eyes to find an unexpected, yet enticing scene; Fluttershy had my erection buried deep in her mouth, sucking off the wet layer of juices that coated its entire length.

“Mmmm,” she moaned, savouring the mixture of flavour created by the fluids of all four of us. She slid her warm mouth off of me, slowly and seductively, letting her lips dance over the ridge before pausing to caress my over-sensitive head with her swirling tongue and soft lips.

“Fuck,” I whispered, my breath quivering as she finally let me pop from her mouth, licking her lips as she gazed seductively at me with her sparkling teal eyes.

“We taste good together,” she said, softly.

“Damn Flutters,“ Sunset said, prompting the shy girl to turn to face her. “You are dirty!”

Fluttershy giggled. “Oh, that’s nothing,” she replied, with a cute smirk. “I just got done eating some of his first cum-load, too.”

“What?” Sunset exclaimed, brows furrowed. “How did you-“ She stopped suddenly to shift her eyes onto Rarity, who returned a sly, cocked eyebrow in response. Slowly, Sunset returned her sights to Fluttershy, staring in disbelief. “Wow.”

Author's Note

I received my 100th like after posting this chapter. Thanks for the milestone, and thanks for reading, folks!

*Chapter 79: It's Gonna Be A Long Night - Part 4

Chapter 79

“I wanna try it,” Sunset blurted out suddenly.

“Try what, exactly?” Rarity replied as the shy girl and I looked at the red-head, wondering what she meant.

“Eating pussy,” Sunset replied, folding her arms across her bare breasts.

She was leaning with her back against the headboard of Rarity’s bed with her feet crossed, looking casual as can be for someone who had just dropped a doozy like that. Rarity and Fluttershy were snuggled up with each other, resting their heads on a shared pillow next to Sunset. I was lying across the bed, using Sunset’s thigh as a pillow, with my legs slung across the other two girls’ hips.

The three of us stared at her for a moment, unprepared for the sudden revelation.

Sunset paused, her cheeks darkening slightly as she glanced at the other two girls. “Any volunteers?” she finally asked.

I raised my hand, prompting Sunset to roll her eyes.

“Anyone else?” she asked flatly.

Defeated, I let my hand fall to the mattress with a thump, followed by a sigh.

The red-head smirked, shaking her head. “Sorry, Golds. When you get a pussy, give me a call.” She then turned her attention to the girls. “So? Who’s it gonna be?”

Rarity and Fluttershy looked at each other, unsure of how to decide who was going to do it. Finally, they did something I didn’t quite expect. Each of them raised a closed fist, holding their knuckles an inch or two apart from one another’s as they started bouncing their fists to the count of three.

”Wow…” I thought, turning to face Sunset. “Sunny!” I whispered obnoxiously loud, “They’re doing rock-paper-scissors to find out which one of them is gonna get their pussy eaten by their friend. Is that normal?”

Sunset shrugged, apparently indifferent to how it was going to be decided.

On the third shake, Fluttershy extended her index and middle fingers, indicating scissors; and Rarity kept her fist closed, winning the contest with the rock.

“Ah!” Rarity smirked, raising an eyebrow at her girlfriend. “You lose, darling!”

“Oh,” Fluttershy moaned, looking down at her outstretched fingers for a moment, before furrowing her eyebrows in confusion. “Wait, does that mean I’m doing it, or you?”

Rarity’s face went blank suddenly, blinking her eyes a couple times as she stared at Fluttershy, realising they hadn’t decided whether winning or losing meant you had to do it.

Sunset covered her face in frustration. “Ugh! Come on, you guys!” she growled, reaching over to grab Fluttershy by the arm. “Flutters! You’re it.”

“Eeeeeek!” the shy girl squealed as she was unexpectedly dragged across the bed towards Sunset.

I sat up to get out of the way, moving towards the foot of the bed to get comfortable and watch the show.

“Uh, have fun, darling!” Rarity giggled, seeing her girlfriend off with a dainty wave.

Sunset laid Fluttershy onto her back, placing her head on the pillow before climbing over her to straddle her hips.

While admiring the sight of it all, I was quite impressed with myself for securing such a good vantage point from the foot of the bed, watching Sunset hovering over my girlfriend on her hands and knees; her ass pointed into the air, her shiny, wet lips and pink folds peeking out from between her thighs as she lowered her head to speak to Fluttershy.

“I want you to coach me,” Sunset instructed, her fiery hair falling down around their faces as she spoke.

“Y-you want me to tell you exactly what to do?” the shy girl gulped, feeling a bit like Sunset had locked her inside a red and yellow prison cell. She was never one to use much slang, nor did she very often refer to specific parts by name, especially her own, and especially with this large of an audience. She was content to give orders, to tell her partners what to do while she watched; in fact, she enjoyed it. It was one of her biggest turn-ons, but she was usually pretty general in what she would say. This was different. This involved her calling her own parts by name, and telling her friend what to do to them, not to mention that she was now the one being watched.

“Yeah,” Sunset replied, “Like, I’m sure I can figure it out, but let me know if or when I need improvement. K?”

Fluttershy gave a small nod. “O-OK,” she said as Sunset lowered her head to place her lips on the shy girl’s neck, giving her the opportunity to glance with fluttering eyelids at Rarity, and then me.

Rarity returned a reassuring smile to her.

I gave her an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

Fluttershy let her eyes drift up to the ceiling, drawing in a shaky gasp as Sunset’s lips tickled her neck, sending shivers through her body each time the hungry mouth generated a tiny bit of suction against her smooth, yellow skin, followed by a teasing flick of her tongue.

Sunset migrated downward slowly, planting kisses down Fluttershy’s chest, between her ample breasts -- forcing herself not to stop and suck on those delicious nipples for hours an end -- continuing downward along her slender belly, leaving small, wet kisses as she crawled backwards toward the foot of the bed.

Fluttershy’s eyes rolled back in their sockets, brought on by the sensation of Sunset’s lips caressing her slender body as she made her way down; preceded by her warm, heavy breasts dragging along the shy girl's sensitive skin, over her hips, eventually reaching her thighs, where the red-head sat up suddenly. Hooking her gloved hands under the shy girl’s knees, Sunset lifted Fluttershy’s legs and spread them apart, then laid down on her belly, positioning herself with her face directly in front of the moist crease that awaited her services while letting Fluttershy’s thighs rest against her shoulders.

Sunset paused, pursing her lips as she stared at the glistening flesh before her, taking in the deliciously arousing scent of the shy girl's moisture. She exhaled softly, trying to decide how she was going to start off.

Fluttershy quivered when she felt the gust of air against her slit, causing her nipples to harden like glass as she stared at the ceiling, waiting with quivering anticipation to see how Sunset would perform.

Then she remembered.

“Oh! I’m supposed to coach her!” She lifted her head slightly to glance down at her friend. “Um…just, I…um…”

Sunset looked up at her, locking her aqua-coloured eyes with Fluttershy’s.

The shy girl cleared her throat, forcing herself to continue. “Um, well you have the same, um…parts, right? So you could start out doing what you think you would like, and w-we’ll go from there,” she said, lying her head down on the pillow for a second, before quickly lifting it again. “Oh! And start out gentle, go for the…um, least sensitive areas first, then work your way up.”

Sunset swallowed. “I can’t decide how to start, like…I don-“

“You could just kiss it first.”

“OK…like, where? What part?”

“Um,” Fluttershy cleared her throat. “Maybe just, o-on my lips…or my h-hood?”

Sunset nodded slightly. “Sounds reasonable,” she said, licking her bottom lip. Closing her eyes, she leaned in, puckering her lips slightly to press them gently against Fluttershy’s slick, tender folds.

The sensation of them against her lips struck Sunset. They were soft, warm and slippery, and the scent overwhelmed the red-head with desire, causing her to draw in a sharp breath as she pulled back to lick her lips, tasting the slick juice that now coated her mouth.

“That was, um…nice.”

Sunset blinked a couple times, ready to go back for another taste. Unexpectedly, she brought her awareness to her hands, which were still covered by the gloves; keeping her mind separate from the shy girl’s thoughts at her request, which she intended to respect. But oh, how Sunset wanted to tear those gloves off and eavesdrop on her friend's desires so she could go in for the kill, giving the pink-haired girl exactly what she wanted, blowing her mind in the process.

This was why Sunset had asked Fluttershy to coach her. Not that she expected that she would need help -- although she might -- but because she thought it might be cute, and maybe even sexy to hear the shy girl instruct her. It was obvious that Fluttershy was nervous about it, but Sunset was banking on the fact that when the shy girl gets into something, she had a tendency to really get into it, and loads of fun would surely ensue.

“So, what now?” Sunset asked, intentionally drawing more instructions from Fluttershy.

“Oh, um…you could lick my…l-lips,” she instructed, her slender fingers gripping onto the bedspread in anticipation.

“Like this?” Sunset asked, dipping her head to run the tip of her tongue upwards along the smooth, thick lip on the left side.

Fluttershy’s hips bucked suddenly when the wave of sensation shocked her. “Oooh,” she moaned. “Yes, th-that’s ni…nice,” she stuttered as Sunset repeated the process on the other lip.

The taste and texture was heavenly. Sunset loved it, and she loved the naughty feeling she got when the thought of what she was doing suddenly struck her: she was licking Fluttershy’s pussy, the most intimate and private part of her body, and it was absolutely delicious. As if this wasn’t thrilling enough, the shy girl spoke up again, continuing her instruction without being asked to do so.

It was working, and it made Sunset giddy with excitement.

“OK,” Fluttershy said, eyes closed, licking her lips before she continued. “Now lick the thing in the middle, at the top. The little hood thingy; give it a flick with your TONGUE!!!!”

Before the order was finished being given, Sunset leaned in and gave the shy girl’s delicate, pink flesh a little flick, just as instructed, causing Fluttershy to jump and yelp out the last word of her sentence.

“OOH!” Fluttershy giggled. “Again!”

Sunset repeated the move, eliciting another positive response from her partner.

“Harder!”

The red-head gave the tender folds a much stronger flick, making the shy girl jerk so hard it shook the whole bed.

“Very g-good,” she panted, “now give me a big lick. Put your whole tongue against me, down at the bottom, by the, um...opening, and lick it all the way up to the top...slowly.”

Sunset smirked, glancing up at the shy girl’s anxious face before lowering her head again, sticking her tongue out and pressing it against the opening in the lower half of Fluttershy’s crease, then she firmly licked upwards; driving the shy girl’s body into a fit of quivering madness as her tongue gathered up a pile of slick, metallic-tasting fluid during its long pass.
After the red-head’s tongue passed over the swollen, pink hood and exited from the top of the slit, she brought her tongue back into her mouth, rolling around the flavour of the thick, slippery juice as she watched Fluttershy quiver and moan in front of her.

“OK Sunset,” the shy girl said, suddenly possessing a more confident tone. “Now you’re gonna wrap your lips around my hood, and you’re gonna suck on it. Suck it right into your mouth and lick it!”

Sunset gave pause for a short moment, surprised by the shy girl’s sudden forwardness. It wasn’t long before she gathered her thoughts however, and she swallowed the flavourful juices she’d harvested from Fluttershy to make room for more as she leaned in again to close her lips around the tender, soft flesh. As she began gently sucking on the delicate folds, they effortlessly drew themselves into her mouth, just as Fluttershy said they would, and she began to flick them with her tongue before releasing the suction slightly to let them withdrawal from her mouth.

Sunset repeated the process, enjoying the feel of the slender, yellow body before her writhing and trembling on the mattress, hearing Fluttershy’s soft cries of ecstasy drift through the room, indicating to the red-head that she was indeed doing an impressive job.

Fluttershy then released the blankets from her tight grip. With one hand, she reached down to run her fingers through Sunset’s wavy hair, and the other hand she ran up the side of her smooth belly towards her breast, which she cupped firmly, kneading the soft tissue while tightly pinching her nipple between her thumb and forefinger. She arched her back, moaning with pleasure as she felt the red-head’s mouth sucking on her flesh, her tongue flicking away at the delicate pink lips, beckoning an orgasm to begin its ascent from deep within her loins.

But Fluttershy needed more.

“L-l-l-l-li…lick my clit,” the shy girl gasped. “I want you to make me cum in your mouth!”

Sunset quickly released the pink folds from her lips, then quickly drilled the tip of her tongue under the pink hood to stimulate Fluttershy’s throbbing clit directly.

The shy girl nearly hit the ceiling; yelping out a high-pitched squeal that almost shattered the large window that provided the view to Rarity’s hot tub, outside on the deck.

“Use...u..holy, wow! Use your f-fingers, Sunset. Spread me o-open and just…j-just go to t-town on my clit!”

The red-head complied; bringing her shiny, black thumbs up to spread the pink halves apart, exposing the little, red button beneath, and then she dove in with aggressive intention, wrapping her lips around the sensitive bud to suck on it while quickly and firmly flicking it with her tongue, tracing small circles around it as the shy girl bucked her hips wildly, pulling Sunset’s hair in a fit of agonisingly intense pleasure.

“Gaaahh! It’s soooooooo good!”

Sitting at the foot of the bed, I watched the scene unfold with great interest.

It was pretty hot, I won’t lie. Hot enough to re-awaken my libido, prompting a steady pulsing to ring out from between my legs as my length slowly began to stand up again, readying itself for another round.

“Holy crap,” I thought, unable to focus my eyes on any one thing. Sunset’s ass, Fluttershy’s breasts or her pleasure contorted face; it was too much to take in all at once, and I finally decided to peel my eyes away from them to take in the sight of Rarity, who was laying on her side with her head on the pillow, contently watching the girls’ activity.

The sight of the fashionista lying there, happily submerged in such a state of peaceful serenity was enticing, and I couldn’t resist crawling closer to her on my hands and knees to enjoy a bit of her company.

“Hey Rare,” I said, sitting next to her sprawled out body, placing my hand on her thigh to caress it slowly as she shifted her eyes onto me, giving me a welcoming smile in return.

“Why hello, darling,” she giggled. “Are you enjoying the show?”

“Absolutely,” I replied. “You?”

She nodded, letting out a long sigh.

We both returned our eyes to the other two girls, taking in the sights and sounds of pleasure being given by one, and of course, received by the other with much gratitude.

After another moment, Rarity sat up and rested her head on my shoulder.

“What’s up?” I asked, looking down into her eyes.

She shrugged, which I took as a sign that she just wanted to be closer to me, which I didn't mind one bit.

I glanced over at Sunset again, staring at her firm, perfect derriere for a moment before turning back to the indigo-haired girl. “Is it just me, or does Sunny have an amazing ass?”

Rarity’s eyes shifted onto the red-head’s well-formed cheeks, following up with raised eyebrows and a slow nod. “Mmm-hmm,” she hummed seductively, shifting her sights onto Fluttershy’s bust. “And does Fluttershy not have the most stunning breasts you’ve ever seen?”

I followed suit, letting my eyes come to rest on the full, yellow mounds that adorned the shy girl’s chest, one of which was hidden at that moment by her hand while she played with it, pinching her own nipple as she softly howled with delight.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “They certainly are top notch.”

“Mm…” Rarity moaned with a shake of her head, rocking her temple against my shoulder. “There are times I wish I could literally eat them for supper.”

I chuckled, looking back down at her to see a smirk on her lips. “Wow, that’s dark.”

She giggled softly, but then her smile slowly faded. Lifting her head from my shoulder, she looked into my eyes to speak again. “What about me, darling?”

“What about you?” I asked.

“What do I have that makes me stand out, that you simply cannot peel your eyes from?”

“Well, just like them,” I began, nodding towards the other two girls, “you have a nice everything, but as far as something you have that stands out?” I paused, considering my options, picturing every part of the fashionista’s body in my mind before I found my answer. “OK, I’ll say this; you definitely have a very pretty snatch.”

She leaned away slightly, furrowing her brow in response. “Not…sure…if…flattered…” she said slowly, raising an eyebrow.

“Why not?” I shrugged. “Having a nice-looking puss is nothing to scoff at.”

“Hm,” she mumbled, as the smirk slowly returned to her face. “Well then, if I may, what is so pretty about it?”

“Well, it’s uh…” I stopped to think for a moment. “It’s very smooth, and clean-looking, you know? Flawless, like it was scuplted by an artist. Your lips are nice and full, and the little ones inside are nicely shaped and sized, and symmetrical, and not all floppy n’ stuff. Plus, I love your colours. Like, you’ve got those juicy white majoras on the outside, and then you’re nice and pink on the inside; I mean, it’s fuckin beautiful.”

To my surprise, she actually blushed.

“And that purple landing strip,” I continued, biting my lip as I slowly shook my head. “Mmm, that is a nice touch.”

Rarity giggled. “Why thank you, darling. No one’s ever said anything like that to me before.”

“Well I would hope not,” I chuckled.

“Yes, I suppose,” she laughed. “It’s not something that comes up in everyday conversation.”

“Not usually. Not without the police getting involved, anyway.”

After her laughter subsided, the fashionista sighed and went back to watching the other two girls.

I did the same.

It wasn’t long before I noticed Rarity had turned her head again, tilting it downward to look at my lap. I glanced down to see her staring at my erection with a daydreamy look in her eyes.

She snapped out of it when she realised I was watching her, and a smirk quickly appeared on her face. “It appears someone has awakened yet again, darling.”

“Yeah,” I replied. “It’s no surprise, really, given what’s going down right in front of us.”

Rarity reached towards it with her index finger, gently stoking the bottom of the head in the same manner as scratching a dog’s chin. I shuddered suddenly, feeling the sharp sensation emanate from her fingertip as she ran it upwards, smearing the bead of clear fluid that had wept from the tip as she traced circles around my head, sending another wave of shudders rippling through my body.

“Well darling,” she cooed. “Now that it’s here, why not put it to good use?”

I looked into her eyes, noticing her bright, sapphire irises sparkling with desire as she wrapped her fingers around my length, slowly stroking the slicked up head and playfully biting her lip before leaning in for a kiss.

Our lips connected tenderly, and she was very gentle with her tongue, sending it in slowly to play nicely with mine, letting me taste her sweetness as she stroked my length, teasing me with more enticing pleasure, inviting me to return some of it to her.

She pulled back to break the kiss, and then swung one of her legs over my head, placing me between her thighs before gripping the back of my neck with her hand. Then, she leaned backwards to lay down, pulling me down on top of her.

“Come,” she said softly, "no sense wasting a perfectly good diamond cutter.”

I smiled, supporting myself on my hands over her. “What about you? Do you need to be re-heated, or are you ready?”

She hastily nodded, widening her eyes. “Oh yes; I assure you, darling, I am quite ready,” she replied, hooking her feet behind my back as a lustful smirk spread across her lips. “Put that big cock of yours inside me and you shall see.”

No more convincing was needed. I positioned myself over Rarity, lining myself up with her glistening slit while she wrapped her forearms around my shoulders, bracing her body for another invasion.

She certainly was truthful about being ready; her body received me with little effort, soaking me with her ample moisture and intense heat, coating my entire length when I buried myself completely inside her, stopping only when our bodies came together.

Her eyes went wide as saucers, thrilled by the sheer volume that filled her interior, as well as the vast depths that I had managed to reach. Drawing in a sharp breath as I leaned down to kiss her throat, she placed my earlobe between her teeth and bit down gently, exhaling a hot breath against my ear.

Keeping a slow, rhythmic pace, I stroked myself in and out of her tight flesh, enjoying the sensations that washed through me, along with the beautiful sound of her voice next to my ear, moaning through her teeth.

I stopped momentarily to shove myself deep into her when I felt her body shudder with delight, and she released my earlobe to put her lips next to my ear. “Ahh yes…fuck me, darling," she whispered.

“Put your finger inside me!” Fluttershy ordered, gasping uncontrollably as Sunset’s tongue swirled around her clit, causing her body to convulse violently enough to shake the entire bed.

Sunset complied, shifting one of her hands in order to use her thumb and forefinger to keep Fluttershy’s folds spread while bringing her other hand down to slide her middle finger deep into the shy girl’s tight warmth. Thrusting gently, Sunset used her finger to stroke Fluttershy’s soft insides while she continued to pleasure-torture her buzzing clit, driving the poor gild mad with heavenly, blissful ecstasy.

“B-better make it t-two,” Fluttershy panted, always a glutton for punishment.

Again, Sunset did as requested. Pausing the strokes for a moment, she lined her index finger next to her soaked middle finger, then buried both digits inside the shy girl’s quivering body.

“Don’t s-stop!” the shy girl begged, closing her eyes tightly as the red-head homed in on her orgasm, drawing her closer to her next intense release; stroke after stroke, lick after lick. “Yes! Th-that’s it!”

Fluttershy’s words encouraged Sunset, and she doubled her intensity, greedily sprinting towards her goal: to make the shy girl cum, and cum hard. She hammered the tight, hot flesh with relentless aggression, drilling the tip of her tongue into the red, throbbing button while the shy girl gripped her own breasts with her hands, furiously kneading the soft flesh as her hips rose in response to the approaching climax, pressing firmly against the red-head’s mouth.

Finally, Fluttershy exploded. Her body felt as though it was being split wide open by the intense pleasure, and she stiffened up suddenly, shuddering violently as her spastic flesh frantically squeezed Sunset’s soaked fingers. She had begun to cry out, but her instinctual shyness commanded her hand to slap itself over her mouth, and she let a muffled squeal collide with her palm as she furrowed her brows, barely able to withstand the onset of pleasure she’d been served by her good friend.

Sunset, relenting slightly, stopped her fingers when the orgasm began to subside, but left them inside so she could enjoy the little jolts of tightness that the shy girl’s flesh applied to her fingers during the aftermath. She withdrew her tongue, instead closing her lips around Fluttershy’s folds to suck on them gently, taking in the flavour of satisfaction as the shy girl’s breath slowly returned to a normal pace.

It was around the same time that I was enjoying the feel of my hard length wrapped in Rarity’s orgasmic flesh, which pulsed in time with Fluttershy’s; squeezing me with tight, warm hugs of gratitude as she moaned softly into my ear.

“Aaaahhh…perfect, yet again,” she panted. “Simply perfect.”

I lifted my head and gave Rarity a quick kiss on the lips, then sat upright to glance over at Sunset, who had sat up as well, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand as she gave me a proud look of accomplishment.

“Did you get her all fingered out?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Sunset replied. “That was fun. Like, deliciously fun. How'd I do, Flutters?”

Fluttershy had her eyes closed, lying on the pillow, her chest rising and falling with each deep breath. She lifted one hand, which had been resting across her breast, and gave Sunset a weak thumbs-up.

“HA! Not bad for a first timer, eh?” Sunset bragged, bringing herself up to stand on her knees on the mattress. “I could do that for hours,” she continued, looking down at the fashionista. “How about you, Rare? You want some?”

Rarity glanced over at the red-head, then cocked an eyebrow as she lifted her head to look down at herself, taking in the imagery of her pink folds wrapped tightly around my shaft, still buried inside her.

I did the same, then looked at Sunset as I shook my head. "Wait your turn. I'm kind of in the middle of something here," I said.

"Mm, quite," Rarity agreed, "and that something happens to be me, darling, so if you don't mind..."

“Oh jeez, Rare!” Sunset waved her off. “I’ll be quick, and then you guys can get back to what you’re doing.”

I spoke up again. “Hey, cool your jets, Sunny. Me and Rare are a little busy here,” -- I paused to shake my head -- “take a break, and don’t be so damn greedy.”

Sunset snorted, watching me look back down at the fashionista. “Oh whatever, Golds,” she sneered playfully. “What are you gonna do, punish me?”

The suggestion stopped me in my tracks.

I stared vacantly at the bedspread next to Rarity’s dark, sprawled-out hair, considering the idea of getting rough with Sunset; the same way I did in California. I couldn’t help but feel a wave of goosebumps wash across my skin, imagining myself administering a hefty punishment to the red-head in front of the other two girls as they looked on in shock.

“Should I do it?” I wondered, with a sly smirk beginning to creep across my face as Fluttershy slowly crawled back to our side of the bed to lie down close to her girlfriend. “She’ll never expect it…”

“You know what, Sunny?” I said sternly, promptly slipping my length from Rarity’s depths to advance on the red-head. “I am going to punish you. What do you think of that?”

Sunset, caught off-guard, looked up suddenly, and the smug grin quickly disappeared from her face when she saw me approaching. “You whaaa?” she cried, raising her hands in defence, which was little more than a futile gesture.

I swung my arm down low, sweeping her knees out from under her. “Lay down, you fuckin bad girl!” I growled, reaching forth with an unstoppably strong hand as she fell onto her right side. I gripped the left side of her head and drove her face into the pillow, and then quickly straddled her right leg as I slung her left leg over my shoulder.

“Oh fuck!” Sunset grunted, her excitement skyrocketing at the prospect of receiving another hammering. “Are you seriou-MMMPH!” Her question was cut short when I shoved her face even deeper into the pillow.

Rarity, caught off guard, had sprung upright upon witnessing the aggression and was covering her mouth with her fingertips, shocked by my sudden use of force. “My goodness, darling! What are you doing?? You mustn’t be such a ruffian! Let her g-“

“SHUT UP, RARE!” Sunset shouted, her pronunciation marred by my hand pressing against her cheek. “LET THE MAN WORK!”

“Oh dear,” Rarity said in quiet shock, watching with wide eyes as I lined my glistening erection up to Sunset’s cream-glazed slit and then shoved forward, making the entire length quickly disappear into her tight, hot crease.

The entry was effortless, thanks in part to the coating of Rarity’s juices that covered my length, however it would have been an easy invasion regardless; Sunset’s insides were still flooded with the thick, warm remnants leftover from the load I had pumped inside her not too long ago, and the sudden thrust of my girth into her displaced the white flood that she’d held captive, causing it to gush out around my shaft and run down her right hip, eventually pooling up on the bedspread next to her.

“OHH!” she grunted loudly, loving the forceful invasion; the pressure, the depth, and the ecstasy, all of it travelled up her spine like a lightning strike and crashed into her brain, instantly blowing her mind with intoxicating pleasure. “Oooohhh…shit! Give it to me! I deserve it,” she moaned, hardly able to speak coherently. “I just ate your girlfriend’s pussy; now fuck the shit out of mine!”

“My word, this is horrible!” Rarity gasped, watching the scene before her. It was difficult for me not to laugh at her reaction, and I was barely able to keep myself in character.

I hugged Sunset’s left thigh against my chest for leverage as I wound up for every thrust, each of which was like an impalement, reaching depths inside her body that were borderline grotesque, and almost frightening. I withdrew almost completely every time, pulling back until the ridge of my head was exposed between the lips of her slit before rocketing forward again until our bodies slammed together with another shamelessly wet slap, burying myself completely into her sloppy, cum-polluted interior, only to pull swiftly back again to start the process over, returning with the same level of fury on the next thrust.

Sunset yelped loudly with each body-filling stroke, whimpering like she was going to cry as I held her head firmly against the pillow, ruthlessly jack-hammering her delicate flesh, stretching her to her limits until an orgasm began to make itself known; welling up from within her loins, building more and more pressure as though my thrusts were literally pumping her full of pleasure. Finally, she burst forth with a loud holler, accompanied by a violent quiver and a sudden gush of clear fluid from her slit, rinsing off the thick, white river that had leaked out and ran down her hip during the heavy round of pummeling.

Sunset panted heavily, squealing loudly with each exhale as she lay helpless before me, enduring the rapture as she waited for the climax to subside.

I let her left leg slide off of my chest so it could rest on the bed. Then, remaining inside her twitching flesh, I leaned forward, using my hand to sweep some hair from her face to put my mouth close to her ear. “Let that be a lesson to ya,” I said in a deep tone, before licking her cheek from jaw to temple, leaving a long, wet streak across her face.

Sunset's eyes rolled back in her head, her mind overloaded. Her flesh continued to twitch around my length as she heard my deep, threatening voice in her ear, followed by the feel my tongue leaving a wide, hot path of moisture on her soft cheek. To her, the entire thing was unbearably hot, and she could do nothing but lay there, panting with lust as she let her eyes drift shut with satisfaction.

I licked my lips afterward, tasting a trace of Fluttershy’s fluid lifted from the red-head’s face as I sat upright again, waiting to hear some kind of comment from Rarity about how nasty that was, or something along those lines.

What I was met with instead was something I didn’t quite expect.

When I sat up and turned my head to face the other two girls, I was caught unprepared by having Fluttershy’s face only inches from mine. Her teeth were gritted, and a hypnotic, blazing fire had been lit in her normally innocent and lovely teal eyes. Without warning, her hands slapped hard against the sides of my head and she gripped me tightly, pulling my face close to hers, hissing through her teeth as she spoke.

“I want you to fuck me, just like that! RIGHT NOW!” she demanded, her normally sweet voice raspy with aggression.

”Whoa,” I thought, knowing full well that I really shouldn’t have been surprised. “Hold on, Flutters,” I said, reaching up to remove her hands from the sides of my head. “You need punishing too?”

She nodded frantically. “I need all the punishing!” she panted, leaning forward to slide her tongue into my mouth. It was hardly even a kiss; she literally just came forward with her tongue protruding from her mouth and shoved it between my lips, swirled it around inside my mouth, then pulled back out to lick my lips, followed by my chin, cheeks and the tip of my nose.

“Aw!” I grunted, my face now slathered with the shy girl’s saliva as I slipped my length from Sunset, whose eyes opened slowly in response.

“Huh?” the red-head mumbled absentmindedly, looking down at herself. “Where’d you go?”

I had shifted over to kneel beside Sunset, holding Fluttershy by the wrists as she pulled wildly against my grip, gyrating her hips towards me in a powerful fit of lust. “Come on, punish me too!”

“Oh dear…” Rarity murmured quietly, shaking her head as she retreated helplessly to her corner of the bed.

Sunset’s eyes widened as soon as she caught wind of what was happening. “Wait, Flutters is getting punished too? What’d she do?” she asked with sudden interest, sitting up partway to lean on her right arm for support.

“She uh, she…” I paused, trying to think of something creative that would warrant a punishment. After a few seconds, I abandoned the search for an answer and gave my head a quick shake. “Fuck, I don’t know. Who cares? Let’s give it to her, Sunny! How should I do it?”

“Hmmmm,” Sunset exhaled, flopping back down onto the pillow to stare at the ceiling, tousling her messy hair as she considered the options.

I glanced at Fluttershy, whose face was still close to mine. Her jaw was clenched, and she was breathing heavily through her nose, desperately eager to be taken forcefully, hoping to finally be given more than she can handle.

Was it possible to overwhelm the shy girl? Did she even have a breaking point? To date, I had yet to see her cry for mercy, and there had been times that I’d put her through some serious stimulation in the past. She was a fucking machine.

Sunset’s eyes suddenly widened. “I know.” she said with an evil tone in her voice, narrowing her eyes. “Do her from behind, and do that arm thing; you know, where you lock them behind her back.”

Fluttershy gasped, her eyes widening with excitement at the prospect, while to my left, Rarity covered her eyes.

“Oh god, darlings…I can’t watch!” she sulked, disapprovingly.

Without another word, I spun the shy girl around so she landed on her hands and knees, facing away from me. Her hair fanned out, influenced by the sudden, rapid movement as it swung down around her face when she landed, her heart leaping with excitement when she felt my hands firmly grasp her hips, followed by a gentle poke against her slick entrance.

The gentleness ended there, however.

I had knelt between her calves and gotten myself close to her so I could wind up and penetrate her deeply, which is exactly what I did; without warning or care for her readiness.

Her soft voice cried out suddenly when her slender body was deeply invaded, her knees quivering with anticipation of the rough loving that she knew was coming her way, and she dropped her shoulders to rest her weight on her elbows, preparing herself to endure whatever was coming next.

What came next, however, was unexpected. No sooner had she lowered herself to enjoy the barrage of thrusts than her was head yanked back by her long, pink hair, and she was hoisted upwards until the back of her head came against my shoulder.

The shy girl’s shoulder blades were now touching my chest, her ass pressed against my hips while my erection remained buried inside the tight, wet pocket between her legs. I reached around the front of Fluttershy to squeeze her right breast as I kissed her neck, then I let go of the thick bundle of hair to grab her left elbow and yank her arm back, drawing an anxious gasp from her. I continued by releasing her breast to grasp her other elbow, pulling it behind her as well so I could slip my forearm through the crooks of her elbows, locking her arms behind her back in the same fashion as I did with Sunset, in the motel in California.

I leaned her forward slightly to achieve the proper angle to thrust into her with: the same angle that drove Sunset mad with orgasmic bliss.

Fluttershy, now panting wildly with anticipation, felt her insides being stretched open by my erection, and she let her head droop in front of her. Her hair was hanging down and hiding her face, partially obscuring Sunset’s view of her full, yellow breasts, which were sure to be bouncing around shortly, once the action started.

“Are you ready, Flutters?” Sunset asked, smirking as she folded her arms across her breasts. “I hope you know what you’ve gotten yourself into.”

Fluttershy didn’t respond.

I made brief eye contact with Sunset, who returned a glance to me with a fiery look in her eyes that couldn’t have meant anything other than: ‘DO IT.’

I gave her a small nod and backed out of Fluttershy’s tight flesh until I almost slipped out, then I jammed back into her with a mighty thrust, hitting her G-spot dead on, slamming my hips against the cheeks of her ass.

She let out a loud, startling yelp as her entire body quaked in response to the jolt of ecstasy that she received, her arms twitching in my grip as her insides hugged my length, preparing with fervent anticipation for the next thrust, which came far sooner and harder than she could have expected, and she filled the room with another high-pitched cry of torturous delight.

Sunset watched intently, her soaked crease still tingling in the aftermath of her own penalty as she watched the shy girl’s slender, yellow body endure the power and unnerving depth of each thrust. She was quickly reminded of what it was like to be in that position; to be pleasured to the threshold of what her mind and body could handle, while being fully aware of how hopelessly unable she was to escape the powerful grasp of the one administering the punishment.

The red-head stared blissfully, taking in the sight of the beautiful Fluttershy’s long, pink hair swinging along with each thrust, along with her heavy, round breasts, which protruded proudly before her, their size and perkiness augmented with her arms pinned behind her back. The speed of the thrusts increased steadily, as did the volume and intensity of her cries. Everyone in the room found it alluring, fresh, and exciting to hear her voice ringing out so loudly and unfettered, after years of believing it only existed in the form of soft mumbles and sweet whispers.

Her pitch elevated by the second, and Sunset, being the tormentor that she was, leaned forward to taunt the shy girl. “Heh, this is right about the time I was screaming for mercy,” she said, giving a smug smirk.

Fluttershy, who was helpless to move anything but her head, held in her squeals suddenly and swung her head to the side, tossing her hair over her shoulder to expose her face to Sunset. She glared at the red-head with a pair of teal eyes that could cut steel, gritting her teeth and scrunching her nose aggressively before replying.

“Who said anything about mercy?” she panted, “I thought this was supposed to be a punishment!”

Sunset’s eyes were wide and she sat motionless, dumbfounded by the level of tolerance possessed by the shy girl, who then turned to look over her shoulder, locking an eye onto me.

“Tear me to shreds, big boy!”

Even I was unprepared for the command, and I glanced at Sunset after Fluttershy had turned back to let her head hang down in front of her again. The red-head took a moment or two before realising I was looking at her, and she locked eyes with me with a look of disbelief on her face.

I silently glanced down at her lap, where her gloved-covered hands were resting. Upon returning my eyes to her face, she cocked an eyebrow, not understanding what I was communicating. I repeated the gesture, looking down at her hands again. This time, she lifted her hands, looking at them for a moment before realising what I was implying, and a diabolical smirk quickly appeared on her lips.

Sunset sat forward, leaving the glove on as she reached for the shy girl’s slit. “Oh! Tough girl, eh?” she teased. “Well how about some of this?”

She slipped her fingers between the hot, slick lips between the shy girl’s legs and began to stroke her clit vigorously, causing Fluttershy’s body to jerk violently against my grasp.

I held her fast, and continued pumping my length into her sopping, pulsating heat, feeling the occasional touch of Sunset’s fingertips on my shaft as she stroked Fluttershy’s clit, over-stimulating the poor girl with deliberate intention.

Adding fuel to the fire, Sunset reached up with her other hand to pinch Fluttershy’s nipple, sending yet another form of overwhelming pleasure into her brain, the inside of which was crackling with fireworks and bolts of lightning; preparing itself for an orgasm that might prove to be lethal.

It had begun to build by then. Fluttershy could feel it, starting deep down between her legs. Each stroke, each thrust, and each pinch fed it, made it stronger until it grew just below the surface, ready to detonate furiously, like a hydrogen bomb.

The shy girl cried out in heavenly bliss, closing her eyelids tightly, furrowing her brows as the orgasm rose up and burst throughout her entire body, soaking her with warm, tingling, unfathomable ecstasy.

“AAAAAH-----------“ she had started to let out a full-on scream, but her raspy voice cracked shortly after it began, and the rest of the howl sounded only like a soft rush of air escaping her throat.

Her insides clamped down on my hard length so tightly I thought she might snap it off, and her hips convulsed violently with each additional thrust into her orgasmic tightness, causing her ass to rub against my hips with her erratic movements.

Sunset’s eyes went wide she saw the level of enjoyment achieved, but was then caught surprised when a massive wave of hot fluid shot out from Fluttershy’s slit, gushing down her smooth, yellow thighs and sending droplets through the air to rain down on Rarity’s bedspread. The largest portion of the squirt, however, collided with Sunset’s palm and was sent cascading down her forearm, where it eventually drizzled from her elbow in a solid, clear stream onto the red-head’s thigh.

Sunset laughed incredulously, her eyebrows going up in surprise as she witnessed the massive flood of satisfaction emanating from the shy girl. “Holy shit, Flutters!”

“HHHAAAHHH…HHAAAHHH…what the fffuu…?” Fluttershy gasped softly as her body hung limp from my grasp. She was spent, quivering and out of breath, but never before had she been so utterly satisfied.

My forearm was still hooked through her elbows, which was now her only means of support since it was obvious that she was putting no effort into keeping herself upright. Her tight, overheated interior twitched randomly, applying sharp jolts of pressure onto my erection, which remained inside for another moment or two.

Finally deciding she had been adequately fulfilled, unhooked myself from her arms, then placed my hand between her shoulder blades to dismissively shove her forward onto the bed. She slipped off of my length as she fell onto the mattress, where her limp body bounced once before coming to rest; face-down, looking more like a pile of yellow jelly and pink cotton candy than a young woman.

Sunset looked down at her, shaking her head. “Now, that girl,” she said, pointing at Fluttershy and pausing to look back at me, “is completely fucked.”

I chuckled softly, turning my head to see where Rarity had ended up.

The fashionista sat near the far edge of the bed with her knees up, resting one forearm across them as she kept her fingertips pressed to her temple, slowly shaking her head at the scene.

“What’s wrong, Rare?” Sunset asked, drawing my attention back to her.

Rarity looked up at Sunset. “Well, that certainly was…savage,” she chided. “Did you guys really have to shove her down at the end?”

Sunset shrugged. “It’s all part of the experience.”

Rarity scoffed, shaking her head. “That was no way to treat a lady,” she scolded, glancing down at the shy girl, whose back was still heaving up and down with each deep breath. “Poor thing…”

“Poor?? Hey, she asked for it; didn’t you Flutters?” Sunset defended, nudging the shy girl’s shoulder.”What’d you think?”

Fluttershy remained motionless for a moment, but finally managed to slowly lift her arm over her head, raising a thumb of approval.

“HA!” Sunset gloated, to which Rarity responded with an eye roll.

“No matter, that whole thing was quite disrespectful,” Rarity insisted, turning to look at me. “You should be ashamed of yourself, darling!”

I shrugged. “Meh.”

“Meh?” Rarity scoffed. “Is that all you have to say?”

“I think you’d better get over it, Rare, for your own sake,” Sunset warned.

The fashionista raised an eyebrow. “And just why is that, exactly?”

Sunset leaned over Fluttershy, bringing her face closer to Rarity’s. “Because it’s your turn now.”

The expression left Rarity’s face suddenly, and she stared blankly at Sunset for a second, before quickly turning towards me.

I cocked my head to look sternly at the fashionista, speaking in a patronizing tone. “Now Rare,” I said, “have you been a bad girl?”

Her eyes opened wide suddenly, and her pupils shrunk down to little pinpoints as she raised her index finger at me, shaking her head frantically. “Oh no…n-now you wait just a minute,” she stammered nervously. “D-don’t even think about it, darling!”

I slowly shuffled towards her on my knees, prompting her to retreat, but her back soon came against the headboard, stopping her in her tracks. “You stay back! Don’t you dare lay a hand on me!” she threatened, her heart pounding in her chest like a drum.

I brought my arms up to reach for her wrists, and she quickly responded by waving her open hands at me, conjuring up a slab of diamond with a hole in each end, through which my wrists were threaded, binding me, rendering me unable to get a hold of her.

I paused, looking at Rarity, who now had a relieved smirk on her face.

“Now then, darling, I think it prudent that we-“

Without a second thought, I twisted my arms, torquing the restraint until it cracked and then shattered energetically, sending shards of diamond ricocheting around the room.

“AAH!” Rarity shrieked, slapping her hands on the top of her head. “SHIT!”

She then tried to make her escape by leaping past me towards the foot of the bed, but I was too quick, and I managed to get a firm hold of her wrist. “NO! Unhand me, you brute! I’m a lady, and should be treated as such!” she squealed, wresting against me in vain, trying to prevent her petite frame from being yanked down onto the bed. “Have mercy, darling! I prefer a gentle touch! GENTLE TOUCH!!”

Sunset, sitting comfortably on the far side of the bed, let out an evil laugh, instigating the situation even further. “Oh Rare, don’t be stuck up! Just roll with it; it’s gonna be great. Trust me!”

Rarity’s little white frame was promptly slammed face-down onto the mattress, her chin coming to rest only a few inches from the foot of the bed. “GO FUCK YOURSELF, DARLING!” she growled in response to Sunset as I grabbed her other arm, pulling it behind her to cross her forearms behind the small her back, and then finally wrapping my right hand around her wrists, binding them together with my astonishingly tight grip.

I knew Rarity better than I was letting on. While aggressive loving was not her main form of enjoyment, something about how she was reacting didn't seem natural. She clearly must have been playing along; it seemed obvious, what with the poorly executed restraint she'd conjured up. She knew I could break out of that in a second, and was fully capable of creating something far stronger to subdue me with. Also, let's not forget her feeble attempt at an escape. I knew Rarity was far more agile than that, and yet, I was able to catch her with relative ease; the least she could have done was run AWAY from me, not right past me, where I could just reach up and grab her by the arm. Her verbal protests were a dead giveaway as well. They couldn't be anymore over-the-top if she tried, but why?

Did this excite her?

Perhaps she kept it well-hidden behind that façade of poise, sophistication and elegance on purpose, worried that she would be judged for it, not considering the fact that such things are enjoyed by more people than one would realise.

Nevertheless, I appreciated the fact that she was putting on a good show by playing hard-to-get, and now it was time for me to return the favour.

I quickly put myself over her and knelt between her legs, spreading my knees to drive her thighs apart as I laid down onto her, letting my hips rest against her round, white ass while maintaining a firm grip on her wrists, keeping her restrained.

“AAH! You ruffian! This is no way to treat Miss Rarity!” she pleaded, shaking her head as the tip of my erection dipped down between her cheeks, probing around to locate the entrance hidden between her moist lips. Although I was being forceful, I was extremely careful to make sure I was lined up correctly before thrusting into her.

“Fuck, if I hit the wrong hole, I’ll NEVER hear the end of it,” I thought, preparing to invade Rarity.

She had started to protest once more when I penetrated her without warning, stopping her sentence in its tracks.

“How could you do this to such an elegant la- HHNNGAAHH!!!”

The grunt that emanated from the fashionista’s mouth when her crease was stretched open was loud and guttural, catching both myself and Sunset by surprise with the volume and raw grittiness of it. It was a sound that no one would ever have expected to come from her dainty lips; a combination of shock and scorn, as well as secret, hidden pleasure.

I pressed my hips against her sweet derriere, extending my length deep into her tight heat while leaning with my free hand between her shoulder blades to pin her down, making sure to keep her hands fast behind her back. Holding her thighs apart with my knees, I backed out to begin thrusting into her, hitting her G-spot firmly with every push, causing her breath to become ragged between her continued protests.

“You…you bastard, you!” she grunted. “I’ll g-get you for thi…this…oooaaaahhh…you FUCKER!”

It was a struggle not to smirk at her vulgarities, but I managed to keep silent, concentrating on the feel of her heavenly, soft flesh sliding along my length. Buy this point, even though this was my third plateau, my sensitivity was in full swing, and a third orgasm of my own was becoming imminent.

Rarity struggled as well; not only against me, but also to hide her steadily growing enjoyment. It was evident in her voice, and in the way her body was beginning to relax, relinquishing control to me, submitting her will to my inescapable advances. In spite of this, however, she continued to voice her disapproval of my methods.

“Oooh, you ASS!” she moaned. “Mark my words, you will pay dearly for…for this! You will…you will…” her eyes slowly drifted shut after trailing off, followed by her trembling legs stretching out, her toes curling involuntarily as the heavy waves of bliss crashed over her. “Mmmmm…m-make no mistake, my love…you w-will not get away with…uuuuhh…things….n’ stuff….”

She was fully relaxed by then, knowing full well that she wasn’t able to move and had no choice but to lay there and endure the deep, forceful thrusts that were being given to her sloppy, tight flesh.

“I…am a la…la…lady! You have no…oooohhh god, that’s-“ the rest of her sentence was muffled into obscurity when her buried her face into the bedspread.

“What was that, Rare?” Sunset asked from her side of the bed.

The fashionista lifted her head, keeping her eyes closed as she whispered. “Uuuhh…it’s fantastic…” she said, too quiet for either of us to hear.

“Speak up, Rare, we can’t hear you!” Sunset ordered, grinning smugly.

“GAAAAH! IT’S FANTASTIC!!” Rarity screeched, her voice quivering under the thunderous approach of a powerful orgasm. “You’ve trapped me here, and you’ve given me no choice but to ENJOY IT!”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Are you enjoying it?”

“YES!” Rarity cried. “I LOVE IT! PLEASE DON’T STOP!”

I accelerated my thrusts, feeling the effect of her flesh on me as my own pleasure began to elevate faster and faster, and I became nervous that I my own finish might arrive before Rarity’s.

Rarity knew better, however. Her body convulsed with each stroke, with each shot of delicious ecstasy that ripped through her, building the pressure in her loins higher and more intense with each passing second, and she was forced to close her eyes and pant loudly, unable to move from her restraints as the marvelous girth that occupied her body brought her crashing head-first into a ruthless, powerful orgasm.

She howled loudly, her voice raspy and uneven, her eyes squeezed shut as her face held an expression of overwhelming, intense rapture.

I stopped as soon as I knew she’d made it, saving myself from releasing inside her a second time. Just as I paused to rest my hips against her ass, I felt her insides twitch violently around me, accompanied by the sound of warm liquid trickling from between her legs onto the blankets.

I released her arms so I could lean on the bed, supporting myself over her with my hands as I enjoyed the feel of her tight interior wrapped around my sensitive length, twitching in the aftermath of her climax.

Her arms fell lifelessly to her sides as her body heaved rhythmically, her breaths still deep after the heart-stopping pleasure she’d been given.

I took a deep breath, finally deciding to back out of her.

Standing on the floor at the edge of the bed, I rubbed my temple with my fingertips, gazing at the scene on the bed before me. I had laid waste to all three of these beautiful women; and now, they all lay motionless, completely satisfied with me, with each other, and with themselves.

A beautiful sight, if I do say so myself.

”Shit…Sunny was right...I AM of fire tonight.”

My attention was summoned back to my own arousal suddenly, and I glanced down at my glistening length, realising how eager I was for another release. I’d shot two loads already that night, but there were three girls…

Looking back at the bed, I locked eyes on the only one who hadn’t received a gift yet: Fluttershy. She was still lying face down, having not yet moved since I shoved her down, and I let my eyes run up and down her tall, slender frame, taking in the sight of her long, graceful limbs, her disheveled, pink hair, and her sweet, round yellow ass.

How had she not taken a load from me yet? No matter, I would remedy the situation in short order.

I walked around to the foot of the bed, then climbed onto the mattress with my knees, reaching out to grab her ankles.

Fluttershy yelped unexpectedly, digging her fingernails into the bedspread as I dragged her towards me, then rolled her onto her back.

“Hey Flutters,” I said, “Are you ready for some more?”

Her response was surprising. “Of course!” she said with enthusiasm in her voice as she reached up to clear her hair from her face, revealing her lively, sparkling eyes; hungry and full of desire. “Are you ready to get-off again, big boy?”

“Uh, yeah…” I replied, climbing over her as she spread her legs, inviting me to return to her welcoming depths. “Were you playing possum this whole time?”

The shy girl giggled. “Mm-hm!”

I shook my head, snickering as I leaned in for a soft kiss. “You sneaky little devil, you.”

She giggled, wrapping her arms around me to pull me close. “I know, I’m just full of surprises, aren’t I? Now get inside me, and let’s end this night on a high note.”

“Sure thing,” I replied, slipping my length between her soft, pink petals, deep into the tight heat beyond. It slid into her with ease, thanks to the heavy coating of slick juice on me that all three of the girls had contributed.

Fluttershy and I connected our lips, immediately passing our tongues to one another as I promptly commenced the short trip to my finish. I was close; the sensation of the shy girl’s insides wrapped around and sliding along my length drove me crazy, and my excitement skyrocketed with each thrust, building up the pressure behind the load I was about to release into her for the first time on over a month.

I pulled back to break the kiss so we could watch the look in each other’s eyes when it happened, knowing I was on the home stretch, about to fill her with my final load of the night.

Her eyes widened suddenly when she felt me swell up inside her, and I bit my lip in anticipation of the satisfying release…

Suddenly, however, she had a look of concern on her face, and she began to tap my shoulder, signalling me to stop.

“Wait, wait!” she said, “Stop!”

I complied, despite the energy build-up that I had locked and loaded, ready to blast her insides into oblivion. “What’s wrong?” I panted, glancing up at Sunset, who was watching us with a confused look on her face, apparently also wondering why Fluttershy had put the brakes on.

“It’s OK,” the shy girl reassured me, “You’re not doing anything wrong, I just…I don’t want it like this.”

“OK,” I nodded, slightly confused by her unexpected wish. “What would you like, then? Just tell me, and I’ll do whatever you want.”

Fluttershy smirked, then bit her lip. “Actually, I had something special in mind for you.” She pointed to the foot of the bed. “Sit there,” she ordered.

“You got it,” I said, slipping out of her as I rolled over to sit at the foot of the bed, letting my feet rest on the floor.

Fluttershy quickly slid her naked body off of the bed and knelt in front of me, positioning herself between my thighs, leaning down briefly to plant a cute smooch on the head of my length before placing her hand on my chest, giving me a gentle push.

“Lay back,” she instructed, which I did.

Only a second or two after my head touched the mattress, I felt a light flop just above my head, prompting me to look up to see what it was. Just above my head, was a pillow. I glanced up at the red-head, whose arm was still outstretched after tossing it to me.

“Aw, thanks Sunny!” I said, lifting my head to slide the pillow under it for support.

“No problem,” she replied, folding her arms. “I’m kind of interested to see what Flutters has in store for you.”

“Same here,” I said, glancing at Rarity, who was still lying face down to my right. Her hair was covering her face, but she was no-doubt watching intently thought the dark strands what was about to unfold.

I brought my eyes back to Fluttershy next, who now had her hands cupped over her breasts, and was lifting them gently as she leaned forward to place my glistening length between them.

“Oh my god, Flutters,” I said, as she squeezed her breasts together, pinning my erection between the soft mounds of warm flesh. “Fuck, I love you!”

She winked at me, then raised herself up, sliding her tightly-squeezed bust upwards, stroking me with one slick, smooth motion before sliding back down until her breasts came to rest on my hips, letting my head peek out from between them.

It felt completely amazing.

As she repeated the process, I heard Sunset’s voice behind me. “Holy fuck, this is hot,” she said, reaching across the bed to tap Rarity on her calf. “Rare, are you seeing this?”

Without moving, the fashionista replied. “Oh, I’m seeing it, darling; believe me!” she said from under her hair.

I watched intently as the soft, full breasts rhythmically slid up and down my sensitive length, driving me back to the apex of my pleasure with surprising swiftness. Each pass was like a stroke of heaven; her breasts were so much smoother than her interior -- which I suppose would have been no different for the other two girls -- and the pressure she applied to me was absolute perfection, squeezing me tightly yet softly, using her hands cupped over her bust to control how fast and how hard the release was going to be.

The sound of Sunset moaning rang out from behind me as Fluttershy’s breasts drew the orgasm from me quickly and efficiently; her eyes lighting up when she felt the sudden swelling against her chest, briefly filling her ample cleavage with sharp rigidity before the release finally began, starting off with a single, powerful shot that fired up from the crease of her cleavage, hitting her chin and scattering all over her collarbones and chest.

She reacted quickly, tipping her head back and laughing softly with delight as she continued to stroke her soft mounds up and down my pulsating shaft. The second shot followed soon after, missing her chin this time with her head tipped out of the way, arcing towards me before landing on my stomach with a quiet splat.

No more shots were airborne after this, however the rest of the load still managed to create a sizeable mess between her breasts as I pumped furiously, filling the chasm of her cleavage to the top with the pearl-coloured fluid until it spilled over, sending a number of thick, white streams down the front of her bust, dribbling over her fingers as they squeezed her soft mounds tightly against my jumping length, holding it safe until the waves of intense sensation finally subsided.

“You messy boy!” Fluttershy cooed, smirking, with a cocked eyebrow.

“Indeed, darling!” Rarity agreed, finally sitting upright to get a better view.

I let out a long, satisfied exhale, then rested my head on the pillow to stare at the ceiling, only to have Sunset’s face come into my field of vision, upside down from my perspective as she leaned over me from the head of the bed.

“Mother fucker, that was hot!” she chuckled. “And it felt…fucking…amazing!”

“Felt?” I wondered. It was then that I noticed her hand on my shoulder, and I looked down at it briefly to see that she’d removed her glove. “Oh, were you reading me during that?” I asked, looking back at her.

“Uh, yeah!” she replied, nodding with raised eyebrows.

“How was it?”

“Ppppfff…” she rolled her eyes back in their sockets. “It felt as fucking good as it looked, but you already knew that, I’m sure.”

I nodded slowly in agreement, shifting my eyes back to Fluttershy, who had released one of her breasts and was using her fingertips to scoop up a pile of the white fluid from between her breasts, after which, she put the treat into her mouth, licking each of her fingers clean.

Then, she stood suddenly and approached Rarity with her arms outstretched.

"Hang on, darling, wait...WAIT!" The fashionista recoiled, but was too slow to back away before Fluttershy wrapped her in a tight hug, pressing her slathered, pearl-covered chest against Rarity’s.

"AAA-mmmmm!"

Fluttershy connected their lips in a passionate kiss, stopping Rarity’s squeal of protest from escaping into the room, capturing instead a muffled cry in her mouth as the thick fluid smeared between their breasts.

Rarity gasped as she finally broke her lips away from her girlfriend’s mouth and looked down at their chests, noticing some of her long, indigo hair had been trapped in the mess between them. “EEK! Darling, you got some in my hair!”

I had crawled up towards the headboard to join a laughing Sunset, sitting next to her as the other two girls came to rest side-by-side on the far side of the bed.

“What a night, eh?” Sunset mumbled, leaning over to rest her shoulder against mine.

I nodded in agreement. “Yeah, it’s gonna be hard to top this one.”

The four of us rested for a few minutes in silence, listening to the sounds of each other’s breathing, taking in the scent of sex, bodily fluids and satisfaction that permeated the room, as well as the multiple dark patches on the bedspread, where everyone had their turn squirting their enjoyment out at least once.

Surprisingly, my mind was blank, and I found myself wishing I could fall asleep. If sleep was something I could do, it seemed to me that right then would have been a good time to do it.

I sighed after a moment, glancing down at the pile of messy red and yellow hair that resided next to me, and I was about to say something meaningful, but then it struck me suddenly that now was the perfect chance to deliver one of my intentionally cheesy one-liners.

I drew in a deep breath, looking around at the girls before speaking.

“Well everypussy, I’d like to spank you all for cumming…”

Author's Note

Whew!
Would you believe I originally intended that whole sex scene to take place in ONE chapter? I'm glad I decided not to, because it would have been just fucking ridiculous. All 4 parts of 'It's Gonna Be A Long Night' add up to over 33K words, WAY too much for one chapter.

Anyway, I hate to do this, but I need to take a little respite for a bit so I can get the next half set up, and this seems like as good a place as any to take a pause. I've been kind of flying by the seat of my pants lately, and the homecoming party/breakfast is going to be much more complicated than I anticipated, because there is a lot of catching up to do between the characters, as well as what's currently happening during the actual chapters, plus the setup for the next half of the story.

There are a lot of things to remember: Fluttershy was off by herself for a bit, and will have to tell her story, same with Golden Arrow and Sunset, and Rarity, not to mention Twilight has been off doing her own thing at school, and there's the three remaining mortals: Pinkie, AJ and Dashie. There's also a ton of things to set up for later, plus I have to keep it entertaining while delivering all of this closure, exposition and foreshadowing all at once, and I'm trying to be efficient about it by getting it all packed into this party/breakfast scene, which will probably go on for 4 or 5 chapters.

I hope you all enjoyed the adventure through the USA, despite the plot-holes. (let's not kid ourselves, I know there are plot-holes) As it turns out, writing a story arc where characters with little to no resources go up against a major spy organisation with unlimited surveillance technology is surprisingly difficult, and there were a few times where I had to ignore certain facts and leave some holes in the story in order to tell it the way I wanted. Now I see why so many movies have unrealistic parts; because if everything was 100% realistic, nothing cool would happen. I guess that's why the movies are so much more exciting than real life. (for the most part)

Sorry it took me so long to get this last bit pumped out (no pun intended), but life has been busy, between work and family vacations, as well as dealing with a death in the family a couple weeks ago.

Not only that, I've been spending time in my shop lately, installing a new exhaust system on my truck, which has eaten up more of my time than I originally expected. First of all, I had to drive to the states to pick the kit up, because they wouldn't ship it to Canada. Then, because I have custom twin turbos, I had to modify the front pipe of the kit to fit properly, which took a few evenings after work of cut, weld, test-fit, repeat, repeat, repeat...what a pain. Anyway, this is the wrong website for that sort of talk, so I'd better shut up about it, but needless to say, it consumed a lot of my time, so writing has been slow.

For a little teaser, there will be more action later on, but for now it's going to be more of a slice of life bit, with some sex mixed in, and new character/cameo intros. The action plot will center around the girls getting involved with a local crime syndicate, and this time around, I plan on using MLP villains, (with one smaller OC villain) rather than having all OC villains like before, who were all remnants of Golden Arrow's past.

I'm noticing that the longer this story gets, the more complicated it gets, because each character is having their own things going on, and as we learn more about them, it gets harder to remember it all.

Hopefully it won't be too long before I have some new stuff ready. Think of this as the intermission.

As always, thanks for reading and I'll see you after the break!

Chapter 80: Back in the Hot Tub

Author's Note

Welcome to the second half! Or act two, or part two, or season two...whatever you want to call it. I know it was a long wait for this story to continue, but here we are; I've got a pretty good head-start, (though I'm nowhere near finished writing yet) so new chapters should be published on a fairly regular basis, starting with these two.
How it's going to work this time around is: whenever I finish writing a new chapter, I will publish the next chapter for you to read, which as of late has been every 1-2 weeks, depending on the chapter being written.
Like the first half, the early chunk is fairly easy going, and then the heavy stuff will start to work its way in later on.
Oh, and guess what? I finally named the OC! Crazy eh? For those of you who haven’t been here during the hiatus, the OC’s name is...

*drum roll*...

Golden Arrow.

Or Golds, for short.

Please enjoy, and if you have any questions about a foreshadow you might notice or anything that involves discussing spoilers, please do so via PM.

Chapter 80: Back in the Hot Tub

Chapter 80

Ah, the hot tub.

I had some good memories here. Memories that I didn’t think I could top. And yet, here I was, enjoying the swirling, hot water against my skin, accompanied by three naked, beautiful, sweet —and deadly— women.

To be fair, the things that actually happened in the hot tub were still bested by that fateful night, when Rarity was unknowingly transformed into an eternal being, but tonight, what had just happened in her bed went far beyond anything I thought I’d ever experience with these girls.

I was sitting in the same place as before; the spot where Rarity and I made love for the first time all those months ago, when we’d only known each other for a couple of weeks. Sunset was relaxing to my right, in the spot where Rarity had started out that night, and finally, Rarity and Fluttershy were snuggled together directly across from me, exactly where Fluttershy sat that night, watching the fashionista and me get it on.

Rarity was sitting upright with Fluttershy’s temple resting on her shoulder; the latter sprawled out and relaxed, enjoying a well-deserved rest in the churning water. All three of them had their hair down, allowing it to dip into the water around their shoulders while the hair around their faces remained dry, albeit stuck together in some spots.

As I watched them in silence, Rarity brought her eyes up to gaze across the tub at me, her face coloured bright red by the LEDs under the water, reminding me yet again of that night, when we connected our bodies for the first time and made sweet, sweet magic together. Her eyes shifted to the left of me and she cocked an eyebrow, a slight look of bemusement on her face.

“Oh, darling?” she asked, speaking in her signature high-class tone. “Why did you bring that dollar store bag out here?”

I glanced to my left, spying the plastic bag sitting on the deck next to me. “Oh, I just brought that candy out for you guys. Did you want it now?” I asked, reaching into the bag.

“In a bit, perhaps,” the fashionista replied.

I glanced at Fluttershy. “Flutters? Candy?”

“I’d like some,” she replied, smiling, “but I’ll wait for, um...Rare.”

I nodded, then glanced at the red-head. “Sunny?”

She opened her eyes for a moment, then silently shook her head.

“OK, that’s cool,” I said, withdrawing my hand from the bag.

“Darling, I meant to ask: that bag looks rather full; shall I assume you purchased more than just candy?”

“Oh,” I replied, picking the plastic bag up to bring it closer. “Well, I was thinking; since you guys all got wicked-cool superhero suits, and since it’s almost Halloween…” I reached into the bag.

The other girls opened their eyes and sat up to watch with interest.

“I picked up this Batman suit when I was out getting gas,” I continued as I produced a cheap-looking caped-crusader costume, which I held up for them to see.

Sunset snorted, covering her mouth to hide her smirk. Rarity raised an eyebrow and Fluttershy let out a small giggle.

“Ah, you’re speechless, I see,” I said to Rarity. “Is that because I just blew away your crappy superhero suits with my AWEsome suit?”

Rarity sneered. “Hardly.”

Sunset leaned forward, squinting her eyes to read the tag on the costume. “Does that say ‘for ages five to seven?’”

“Yeah,” I replied, turning the costume towards myself to look at it. “That’s OK, it’ll stretch. So what do you guys think? Pretty sweet, eh?”

“It’s a piece of shit,” Sunset answered, coldly.

“Aw, Sunny!” I sulked, turning to face her. “My feelings aren’t indestructible, you know.”

Sunset rolled her eyes while Fluttershy giggled some more, and Rarity raised her hand above the water, pointing dubiously at the outfit. “Er...darling, that isn’t even a full mask. It doesn’t go around the back of your head, and the bottom half appears to be nothing more than a phony-looking plastic chin.”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” I replied. “Look: they put a little slot in the mouth for me to breathe through. I can even stick my tongue through it; it’ll be like I’m making out with Batman from the inside.”

“How bizarre,” the fashionista scoffed, raising an eyebrow as she offered even more criticism. “That cheap thing will never withstand the rigors of battle; I mean really, darling, the mask is held on by an elastic band!”

“Nah, it’ll be fine. It’s good and strong, it won’t-“

As I said this, I gave the string on the back of the mask a little tug, and it snapped off from one end quite effortlessly, rendering the mask useless.

All three girls busted out laughing.

“Hahaha! Oh, too bad, darling,” Rarity giggled.

“For fuck’s sake,” I grumbled, briefly inspecting the broken string before tossing the costume across the deck. “Whatever. I thought something like that might happen, so I got a back-up,” I explained, reaching into the bag a second time.

“Ugh!” Sunset rolled her eyes. “You bought two of those fucking things?”

“No, of course not,” I replied as I pulled a different costume from the bag. This one consisted of simple, loose robes coloured in brown and beige, and it included a few gadgets that attached to the belt. “I also got this killer Jedi costume! Eh? EH?” I gloated, raising my eyebrows at them.

Sunset laughed out loud, then pointed at the costume with one hand while covering her mouth with the other. “Gahahahaha! You dumbass, that’s a Rey costume!”

“What?” I scowled, turning the outfit to inspect it, suddenly feeling rather sheepish when I noticed Daisy Ridley’s face adorning the tag on the front. “Aw shit, I didn’t even see that.”

As Sunset continued having a good laugh, I turned towards Rarity to offer the costume to her. “Huh. Well, do you want this one, Rare? It’s not a man’s costume, so it’s no good to me.”

Rarity smirked, shaking her head. “Neither was the other one, technically. And I appreciate the offer, darling, but I must decline, I’m afraid. That ensemble is très gauche."

“Bah!” I growled as I tossed the outfit unceremoniously across the deck, where it landed next to the ruined Batman costume. "Fuck superheroes," I grumbled.

Sighing, I sank into the water and rested my head on the edge of the tub, closing my eyes as I smiled to myself, satisfied that my costume joke was at least somewhat worth the effort. I hadn’t planned on the string breaking on the Batman mask, nor did I notice that the Jedi outfit was actually a Rey costume, but in the end, it all worked out to my advantage and the girls had a good laugh.

I loved making them laugh.

Only a few seconds passed before I heard Rarity’s voice float across the bubbling water again, prompting me to open my eyes.

“Darling, please tell me that was some kind of joke.”

I snorted. “Yeah, Rare. Of course it was,” I replied, “I was gonna pull them out and have a quick laugh when I got back from getting fuel, but I got a little distracted by the uh…massive, ball-draining four-way we had instead.”

The fashionista rubbed her chin, letting a sultry smirk curl her lips. “Hmm...I suppose we did get a bit side-tracked there, didn’t we?” she said with a giggle.

“Uh, that would be my bad,” Sunset confessed, raising her hand.

I turned to the red-head, furrowing my brows. “Yeah, what the fuck happened with you guys anyway?”

“Well, you remember how turned on I was when you left?” Sunset asked me.

I nodded. “How could I forget? You were fired up pretty good there.”

“Well, I couldn’t get the suit off to change into my normal clothes, so I went to Rare’s room to ask for help, and I found these two” —she pointed at Rarity and Fluttershy— “making out pretty hard. I was gonna leave, but Rare offered to help by showing me how to get the suit off; so...she ended up naked, and then she helped me get mine off, aaaaand I was still horny, so…well, I’m sure you can figure it out.”

“Hmm,” I mumbled, staring vacantly into the luminescent water for a moment before looking back at Sunset. “So you were horny because of the magic, and Rare and Flutters were making out, so they were all hot-and-bothered from each other, and...that’s it? That’s all it took?”

Sunset nodded. “Yup. Pretty much.”

“Heh,” I chuckled, laying my head back again. “You guys are SO cool.”

After closing my eyes, I heard Fluttershy sighing blissfully, followed by Sunset starting a conversation with Rarity.

“By the way, Rare, we need a better way to get those suits off. That was a huge pain in the ass.”

“Yes yes, I know darling, but like I said: it gets easier with wear. Why, Twilight only wore hers for one night, and it came off quite easily.”

My eyes popped open suddenly; both Sunset and I sat upright, surprised by the revelation.

“WHAT? Twi has a suit?” Sunset asked loudly.

“But of course, darling,” Rarity said, sticking her nose proudly into the air. “And she’s already seen action in it.”

My jaw dropped. “What? When was this?” I asked, realising something else. “Wait a minute, she’s had no training whatsoever, and you took her out to do hero shit? I thought she wasn’t interested in fighting?”

“She wasn’t,” Rarity explained, “but once she saw some of the things I could do, she demanded that I teach her straight away.”

“Wow. So...did you teach her?” Sunset asked.

“Well…not really,” Rarity replied, somewhat sheepishly. “I did give her a few pointers, and I gave her some things to work on once she went back to school. Er...like homework, if you will.”

Sunset chuckled. “Well, that’d be right up her alley.”

“What kind of homework did you give her?” I asked.

“W-well,” the fashionista replied, locking her eyes on mine, nervous that she might have started Twilight off on the wrong foot; “like Fluttershy, she is quite timid, and dreadfully unconfident…”

Sunset nodded in agreement.

“So,” Rarity continued, “I told her she needed to work on that; to strengthen her posture, and to purge her fear of pain. I sent her home with the objective to learn not to flinch, but I haven’t seen her since, unfortunately. That was Thanksgiving weekend.”

Sunset and I looked at each other, realising simultaneously that we were in the middle of the desert while all of this was happening.

“Did…did I do the right thing, darling?”

I turned to Rarity again, who was watching me with worried eyes. “Yeah, you did fine, Rare. That’s exactly how I started you and Flutters off, and that’s how it should always be done,” I replied with a nod and a reassuring smile.

She exhaled, looking relieved. “Oh thank goodness,” she said, “I did feel as though I was overstepping my bounds, and I did tell her that you are the one she needs to see, because you can teach her much better than I can. Believe me, darling, she was quite eager to begin right away. It was all I could do to convince her to do her ‘homework’ first and wait until you returned.”

“Hm,” I chuckled, shaking my head. “And she told me all she wanted was to have lots of time to she read and learn everything she can. She just wanted to see the future, and had no interest whatsoever in becoming a fighter.”

“Well, I suppose we shall see how she’s done with her homework tomorrow,” Rarity asserted, “er…tonight, I suppose.”

Sunset smirked, shaking her head. “If I know Twi, she’ll have her homework done, and done well.”

I nodded. “Let’s hope so. But If I start training her, she’d better be serious about it. I don't wanna spend a bunch of time on her just to have her quit on me.”

Sunset’s eyes widened and she shook her head quickly. “No Golds, this is Twilight Sparkle we’re talking about here. She’ll be the best fucking student you ever had.”

“Fair enough,” I said, glancing at Fluttershy, who had her eyes closed and was still resting her head on Rarity’s shoulder.

The sight of her brought a smile to my face. After all she’d been through, sitting here in the warm tub with her friends, having her head nuzzled up to Rarity must have been absolute heaven for her. I don’t think I’d ever seen anyone with a look of contentment quite like the one she had right then.

It was then that I noticed Rarity looking in my direction. She shifted her eyes toward Sunset for a moment, then returned them to me.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“Darling, I cannot help but wonder why you two are sitting apart like that; why don’t you sit together and snuggle?”

Sunset and I glanced at each other for a moment, then at Rarity.

“It’s not like that,” Sunset explained as a blush quickly appeared on her face, visible even with the multi-coloured lights from the tub shining on her. “We’re just friends...who like to do each other a favour now and then. You know, I’ve got the magic problem; he helps me out with it. We have some good times once in a while, but that’s all.”

I nodded in agreement.

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Well, suit yourself, then. But I must say, it sure feels delightful to be here, snuggled up next to my dear, sweet Fluttershy.”

“We’re fine,” I said as I watched the fashionista plant a small kiss on the shy girl’s forehead, drawing a soft hum of contentment from her.

“So Rare, let me guess,” Sunset said quickly, changing the subject. “You’ve made a suit for everyone, haven’t you?”

Rarity let her eyes drift up to the lattice and vines above our heads, tapping an index finger to her chin as a coy smile appeared on her face.

Sunset smirked, shaking her head. “I knew it.”

“Well, what else would you expect from me?” the fashionista asked.

“You’ve got a point there,” the red-head replied.

Fluttershy lifted her head from Rarity’s shoulder to look into her eyes. “Um, do we have to be superheroes?”

Rarity’s brow furrowed at the question. “What ever do you mean, darling?”

“Well,” Fluttershy replied, letting her eyes drop to Rarity’s collarbones, “it’s just…I don’t really wanna dress up and go out at night to fight people.”

“But Flutters,” I interjected, “I thought that’s what you wanted? You said, that day we were watching those Marvel movies, that you wished you could be a hero like them, and you got your wish at the school when you saved the students. Now you’ve got a fancy suit and everything, and suddenly you don’t wanna do it? Like, this is the real deal here.”

“That’s right!” Rarity added, “you were so proud of yourself for what happened at the school—we all were— and now you can be a part of the team that is truly going to make a difference!”

The shy girl nodded, looking down into the water. “I know, but…I-I don’t want to be a killer anymore. After what I just went through, I...um…I’m just sick and tired of being violent.”

“But darling, these suits aren’t just for inflicting violence,” Rarity explained. “I’ve done many good things wearing that outfit; mind you, I have gotten quite rough with some people in it, but I’ve also helped just as many, if not more people with it.”

“Really?” Fluttershy replied. “How?”

“Well,” Rarity continued, rubbing her chin as she recalled the events of the past month. “I saved a family from a tenement fire, I thwarted a massive act of grand theft auto —that was the night Twilight was with me— I helped a couple of old CHS friends, who were being held at knifepoint in an alley…”

This seemed to interest the girls.

“Who was being held at knifepoint?” Sunset asked, perking up a bit.

“Why, it was Lyra and Bonbon. Do you remember them?”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah, the lesbos.”

Rarity promptly shook her head. “No, apparently not, darling. They are both married —to men, I might add— and they each have children.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? I thought for sure…”

I turned to Sunset with a smirk on my face. “You’re one to talk, little Miss ‘I wanna eat pussy tonight.’”

Sunset scowled at me. “Hey, I was just trying to have some fun!”

“Whatevs, judgie,” I replied, laughing at her response.

“All I s-“ she stopped, closing her eyes and sighing. “Just forget it,” she said dismissively, turning back to Rarity. ”So how did those two end up at knifepoint? Muggers?”

“Actually,” Rarity said in a gossipy tone, “it was the Sirens.”

Sunset and Fluttershy both snapped their heads up in surprise, their eyes wide as they stared at the fashionista.

“The Sirens!?” Sunset exclaimed. “Since when are they back in town?”

“Not sure, but I made certain to take care of them, so all is well,” Rarity replied.

Sunset gave Rarity a sideways glance, eyes narrowed. “Rare…you didn’t…kill them, did you?”

The fashionista let out a bumptious giggle, not unlike a snooty rich-wife who’d just been complimented on her Mercedes. “Oh no, darling!” she laughed. “I would never do such a thing —well, not that time, anyway— I simply convinced them to leave town and never come back.”

The red-head raised an eyebrow. “And how’d you do that?”

“I told them I would kill them, of course.”

Sunset recoiled, furrowing her brow in confusion. “What? But you just said you’d never-“

“No matter,” Rarity cut in. “The threat was all that was needed. I can assure you, Sunset; we will not be hearing from those three for quite some time, if ever.”

“Hm.” Sunset rubbed the back of her head. “So...what was their beef with Lyra and Bonbon?”

“Ah, because they’re former Wondercolts,” Rarity replied.

“So?” Sunset replied.

“Well, it seems the Sirens have lost their eternal life,” Rarity explained, “and they appear to have been aging. It is quite evident in their faces; they certainly don’t look like teenagers anymore, in fact, they look to be just around our age.”

Sunset rubbed her chin. “Hmm, well…I mean, it was probably always possible to hurt, or maybe even kill them, but as long as they avoided that, they would’ve lived forever,” she surmised, but then paused for a moment before looking back at Rarity. “So they’re aging now, eh?”

Rarity nodded. “Yes darling, and they apparently hold the Rainbooms responsible for their plight; since we were the ones who stripped them of their magic.”

“Sorry guys,” I cut in, “the Rainbooms; that’s your band right?”

Rarity nodded. “Was, darling. We haven’t played together for years now.”

“How come?”

“It’s...complicated,” Rarity replied.

I raised a brow at the response.

“Life,” Sunset interjected, with a glance in my direction.

I shifted my eyes to her for a moment, and then gave a thoughtful nod.

“So,” the red-head replied, returning to the conversation with Rarity. “They’re still pissed at us about that, eh?”

“It would seem that way. Especially that Adagio; she apparently has quite the vendetta with us,” Rarity replied, clenching her fist under the water. “OOH! She irks me so; I’m still irritated that she got those hits in on me.”

I cocked my head at the fashionista. “She hit you?”

Rarity nodded. “Yes darling, she managed to counter my first attack. OOOOOOH!” she growled, scrunching her nose. “She makes me so mad; her sly quickness, and her smug, little bitch-face!”

I shook my head. “Don’t beat yourself up over it, Rare. They’ve been around for centuries, so it only stands to reason that they would know a thing or two about defending themselves. Besides, it’s not like it matters anyway. They can’t hurt you.”

“I realise that, darling. It’s just that that was my first night out in the suit, and she ruined what was to be my flawless grand entrance!”

“Aww, nobody’s perfect,” I said, waving her off. “Besides, it sounds like you got them looked after anyway.”

“Indeed I did!” Rarity proudly poked her nose into the air. “In the end, I was able to put them down in rather short order. You know, despite being as old as they are, they certainly did not put up much of a fight. That’s not to say they aren’t more dangerous than they appear, because they are, but compared to us, and especially YOU, darling,” —she pointed at me— “they are quite disappointing in combat.”

“That’s probably because they spent most of their time using their singing to bend people to their will,” Sunset offered. “There wasn’t usually a need for them to become physical, but like you said, they are tougher than the average Joe. Before I became immortal and really learned how to fight, I wouldn’t even think about going toe-to-toe with any of them, and I was a pretty tough chick.”

“Agreed,” Rarity replied. “The only one of us who might have stood a chance was Rainbow Dash, what with her black belt and all.”

I cocked an eyebrow at Rarity. “Rainbow has a black belt? In what?”

“You name it, darling, she has it…not that she ever uses it.”

“Huh,” I mumbled, staring into the purple water. “What does that mean: she never uses it?”

“Well, because of her ankle, of course.”

“Her ankle?”

“Why yes, don’t you know about that?” Rarity asked.

As I shook my head, Sunset let out a snort. “Are you kidding, Rare? Dash won’t talk about that with anyone.”

“About what? What happened?” I asked.

“Senior year, darling; during the final seconds of the championship game, Rainbow Dash was about to kick the winning goal, but a member of the other team charged at her to get the ball away. She managed to score the goal and victory was hers, fortunately, but unfortunately, the other player kicked her foot out from under her and comPLETELY shattered her ankle.” She paused and shook her head. “Something about the way she was stepping when the other girl hit her; it was an accident, of course, but the damage it caused was...simply horrendous.”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah, fucked it up, big time. She had to have surgery and everything.”

“Yikes,” I said, cringing.

“Poor Dashie,” Fluttershy said softly, pushing her bottom lip out. “She was devastated. It was just awful to see her go through it.”

“Yeah, she was really down during graduation,” Sunset continued as she glanced at Rarity. “How many scholarships did she have, Rare?”

“I do not recall, darling,” Rarity replied. “About a half dozen, I believe; but she lost them all when they found out she couldn’t play anymore.”

I let out a sigh. “That really sucks.” This was the first I’d ever heard any of this, and I found it surprising, given the ‘Everything is fine, I’m doing awesome’ attitude that Rainbow Dash always had. It surprises me sometimes; how some people appear to have it all together, yet behind the scenes they can have far more problems that one would expect. As I’d just learned, Rainbow Dash was a person who excelled at hiding her personal issues. “So what'd she do?” I asked.

“Well, she moved into that house with Pinkie Pie and Vinyl Scratch for a bit,” Sunset explained, “They let her stay for a while, but eventually they told her she had to cover her part of the rent, so she got the job at the delivery company to make ends meet.”

“Hm.” I shook my head.

“But of course,” Sunset continued, “Dash being Dash; she got pretty competitive working there. The thing about Rainbow Dash is when she focuses on something, she gets right into it, and that job was no different. She has a very strategic mind, and she started making her own delivery routes, just like setting up a game play: figuring the shortest and quickest way to get everything on her truck delivered before anyone else —she would even plan her routes so they would only have right turns, cuz as she put it: ‘left turns waste too much fucking time’— and she made her way through the ranks pretty fast; got promoted a bunch of times, and now she’s…what’s it called? Senior Supervisor and Logistics Manager or something like that.”

Rarity nodded. “Something like that, yes. It’s quite impressive really; she’s only been there six years and she’s already moved up that much. I’m afraid, however, that it will never fill the gap left by not playing soccer. Granted, she does play in some of the leagues around town, but she’s nowhere near the athlete she once was, and she has to be especially careful not to aggravate her injury any further.”

“Really?” I asked. “She still looked pretty able-bodied at the beach last spring; remember that? When you guys were playing Frisbee?”

“She forces herself to do things like that,” Sunset explained, rolling her eyes, “but you can tell it bothers her.”

“Hmm, yes. Both mentally and physically, I’m afraid,” Rarity agreed.

Fluttershy’s voice caught my attention next.

“Um, that reminds me,” she said, her voice barely audible over the noise of the hot tub. “You…um, still have a job to do.”

“Hm?” I replied, confused.

“Dashie…and Applejack and Pinkie Pie,” she explained. “They’re still mortals. We need to change that.”

I shrugged in protest. “But they don’t want to,” I reminded her, “and I’m not gonna rape them, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

Fluttershy scowled. “Of course not!” she said sternly. “But if you ever have the chance; like if they seem like they want to do it, then just do it.”

“That’s right,” Rarity added. “You have a standing order, darling: if one of them wants it, don’t even bother checking with us, you just go right ahead and make it so. I’ve already made a suit for everyone, and we shan’t let them go to waste.”

I drew a deep breath, then pursed my lips for a moment, thinking about the bizarre nature of their requests. “I don’t know, you guys. They seemed pretty adamant about not wanting to do it. Especially Dashie. She’s all weirded-out by my age and keeps telling me to keep my ‘old dick’ away from her.”

Sunset snorted. “She might be weirded-out by you, but I’ll bet that’s just a front for not wanting help with her injury.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Rarity spoke up. “The thing to remember about Rainbow Dash, darling, is that she has far too much pride for her own good. She has not been known to ask for support very often, and she would much rather act 'tough' and look after herself than admit that she needs help.”

“Isn’t that pretty irrational?” I asked, furrowing my brows. “She could be fixed forever if-“

“Look,” Sunset cut in, “Dash is stubborn. Like, beyond stubborn. Once she gets an idea in her head, it's impossible to change her mind. Whether it’s dealing with her injury alone or thinking you’re an old creep, you just can’t get her to give it up.”

“Well, what if you guys…like, pitch it to her?” I suggested, to which all three girls shook their heads, groaning quietly amongst themselves. “What?” I asked.

“That’s a bad idea, darling.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because," Sunset replied, "if you try to push her, she’ll just dig her heels in deeper. That’s just how she is. Our best bet is to just leave her be and hope she’ll come around on her own.” The red-head stared into the water for a moment, then closed her eyes and shook her head. “Ugh! God, she is SO stubborn.”

Rarity cocked her head at Sunset. “Darling, did you just say ‘God’?”

Sunset nodded, chewing her bottom lip. “Yeah.”

“Since when?” the fashionista asked. “Even after all these years here, you’ve always preferred your native tongue in that regard.”

“Just a little something I picked up from this guy,” the red-head replied, tipping her head in my direction.

Rarity and Futtershy both shifted their eyes onto me.

“Hey, Sunny and I spent a lot of time together this past month,” I explained, shrugging my shoulders.

“Very true, I’m sure you two have learned a lot from and about each other, hm?” Rarity mused, returning an inquisitive eye to Sunset. “Anyway, back to Rainbow Dash; she simply does NOT understand what she’s missing,” she said, giving me a knowing wink.

“Hell no,” Sunset agreed, closing her eyes as she sank a few inches into the water. “Whatever. It’s her loss.”

The conversation was then concluded with one of Fluttershy’s soft giggles. The four of us proceeded to relax in the hot, swirling water, enjoying the ambiance of slowly-changing colours that cast a vibrant glow on our faces.

Eventually, I closed my eyes and allowed myself to sink deeper into the water until the bottoms of my earlobes were just touching the surface. Staring into the blackness behind my eyelids, I began to think about the rescue, the girls and their immortality, and my life over the past six months. While the mission had been a success, something stuck in the back of my mind; something that stung mildly, just enough to bug me, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was.

My thoughts were interrupted, however, when I felt something soft and smooth touch my right side, prompting me to open my eyes.

Surprisingly, I found Sunset taking a seat next to me, letting her naked body come to rest against my side. She rested her head on my shoulder, her wild, fiery locks tickling my neck and face. Her move caught me off-guard, and I couldn’t help but feel the soft sting of butterflies in my stomach when I saw her there.

“Hey,” I said softly.

She lifted her head again, giving me a quick glance before resting it back on my shoulder. “Don’t get the wrong idea,” she said flatly. “I just need something to lean on.”

“Yeah, sure,” I replied with a shake of my head, noticing that Rarity and Fluttershy were smirking at us.

The four of us then resumed spending time together in silent tranquility, listening to the endless hum of the hot tub.

My mind was suddenly occupied by the red-head, who’d taken it upon herself to sit next to me, putting her bare skin into contact with mine a little more than what actually seemed necessary. I wanted to see what would happen if I tested the waters a little, so I slid my arm behind her and placed my hand on her waist, pulling her closer; then I tipped my head towards her, letting my temple come to rest on the top of her head.

Her response was a welcome one. She didn’t move or say anything; she just let out a long, content sigh, followed by a smile that couldn’t be seen, only felt against my shoulder when her cheek muscles flexed.

I closed my eyes for a few moments, relishing the togetherness the four of us felt that evening, wondering how it was possible for everything that happened that night to happen the way it did.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one wondering this very thing.

“Darlings,” Rarity’s soft voice brought us back to reality. “I’ve been wondering about something…and I’d like to pose a query, if I may.”

“Shoot,” Sunset replied.

“What…” —the fashionista paused— “…what happened here, tonight?”

“Do you really need a reminder?” Sunset asked, smirking.

“Of course not,” Rarity sneered playfully, “What I meant was: how did the four of us do what we did tonight, without it feeling strange or hurtful?”

Sunset lifted her head finally, shrugging at the question. “I don’t know, but I’m not sure why you’re worried about it; I personally had a fucking great time.”

"Well that’s just it, darling,” Rarity replied, “so did I, and I’m positive these two did as well.” She gestured to me and Fluttershy, and we both nodded in agreement.

Sunset rubber her chin, staring into the water as she ruminated quietly.

“You’re wondering how none of us have gotten jealous with each other with all the things going on between us?” I asked.

“Precisely,” Rarity replied, pointing at me.

Sunset looked up at Rarity. “Well, it started with you guys; you know, with your three-way relationship, and tonight, I just joined in the fun. No big deal. It’s not like I’m in love with any of you or anything.”

Rarity drew a breath and held it. Looking up into the lattice, she scowled slightly. “No…I don’t think it’s as simple as that,” she finally said. “I mean...tonight, you made a move on me, and although it was a bit of a shock, Fluttershy wasn’t put off by it, even though she did pretend to be, which turned out to be nothing more than a little game, obviously.”

“Yeah…a game,” Sunset replied, narrowing her eyes at the shy girl, “that she might have taken a tad too far. You scared the shit out of me, Flutters!”

“S-sorry about that,” the shy girl spoke up, looking somewhat remorseful. “I guess it might have been a bit much.”

“It may have been a tad frightening at first,” Rarity interjected, “but in the end, I thought it was deliciously brilliant!”

Fluttershy giggled. “Really? You liked it?”

“But of course, darling!”

Sunset nodded. “I did too…eventually. It was pretty hot, I won’t lie.”

My eyes were darting around from girl to girl as I listened to the exchange. “Uh, yeah…at some point, you guys are gonna have to fill me in on what exactly happened there.”

“I’d be happy to, darling,“ Rarity replied, giving me a seductive wink before shifting her eyes back to Sunset. “So...back on topic; now Sunset, when Fluttershy was kissing you, I felt as though I should have been upset, however, I wasn’t. Now, why is that?”

Sunset shrugged, as did Fluttershy when Rarity looked to her for a response.

“I was wondering what you were thinking during that,” Sunset said to Rarity. “You weren’t pissed at all?”

Rarity shook her head.

“Hmm,” Sunset rubbed her chin, looking down into the water.

“But, um…Rare,” Fluttershy cut in. “You were acting jealous the night Goldie told us about Sunset’s magic. Remember? When we were talking about letting them do it?”

“Yes, darling. I remember, but...even then, I’m not sure if I was truly jealous. I mean, I felt as though I should have been, but I don’t know if I really was.”

“What about when Golds and I were in Vegas, and you told me over the phone to have sex with him?” Sunset asked.

“Same thing,” Rarity replied. “I was reluctant to grant you that freedom, but I felt bad for your…situation, and when I decided to tell you to go ahead and do it, I was surprised to find that it didn’t bother me at all. Not one bit.”

Sunset looked at Fluttershy next. “What about you, Flutters? You said you could tell that me and Golds had been having sex as soon as you saw us in the desert, right?”

“Um, yes,” the shy girl replied quietly.

“Now, I know you’re a bit of a sexual freak to begin with,” Sunset continued, “but given that you’d been locked up for a month, didn’t it bother you to find out that me and your boyfriend were fucking while you were in there?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “No, but…I’m not sure why. I think even I should have been bothered by that, but...I wasn’t.”

Sunset turned to look at me, chewing the inside of her cheek, which was something she always did when she was deep in thought; when she knew something wasn’t normal and needed to be figured out. After a spell, she shifted her eyes onto Rarity.

“You’re right, Rare. This is kind of weird.”

“Indeed,” Rarity agreed. “It’s had me thinking about our relationship, and how this ‘lack of jealously’ could possibly have been behind the entire thing.”

Fluttershy shook her head in disagreement. “No! I’ve loved you for years, Rare. Long before any of this, and long before we met Goldie.”

Rarity brought her index finger up to stroke Fluttershy’s cheek, giving her a reassuring smile. “Oh darling, I love you too, as well as Golds, and he loves us. I never meant to say this ‘lack of jealousy’ is the only reason the three of us got together, or that it’s not really us who are in love with each other; I just meant that it may have helped the relationship go a bit more…ahem, smoothly?”

Fluttershy took a moment to stare into the water as she considered the idea, then she finally nodded in agreement. “Um, yeah…maybe.”

“I’d say it’s possible,” Sunset inferred. “I mean, the rest of us were all pretty shocked when the three of you got together. Even though it is possible for three people to love each other in harmony, it’s a rare thing, because the conditions have to be just so, and with the right minds involved…but this," —she shook her head— "this seems different. And it all started when Golds came along.”

The three of them looked at me suddenly.

“What?” I said, my eyes darting back and forth between them.

“Well, this obviously has something to do with the immortality, darling.”

“Yeah, but…I don’t know why you’re all looking at me right now. I don’t know why this is happening either,” I replied.

“But you’ve been like this far longer than any of us,” Rarity insisted. “If anyone knew the answer, it would be you.”

I shook my head. “Whoa, hang on a sec; I was alone the whole time, remember? Things like relationships and jealousy and-all-that are kind of hard to learn about when you’re by yourself.”

Rarity pursed her lips. “Hm, true.”

Sunset scowled, looking confused. “But, what does being immortal have to do with not being jealous? It doesn’t make sense.”

The three of us pondered for a moment, and then Rarity finally spoke up. “Golds, darling,” she said, looking at me, ”what was it that Applejack was saying at the Sweet Shoppe that day?”

“What day?”

“The day of the school shooting,” Rarity replied, “she was saying something about reproduction, and how we don’t need it...you know, because we’ll be alive forever, there’s no longer a need to reproduce—or something like that, I don't quite recall.”

“Oh yeah,” I said, scratching my ear. “I remember that. Not sure if it makes sense though; I mean, it might explain why you guys haven’t gotten pregnant, but I don’t see how it would stop us from feeling jealousy.”

Sunset agreed. “Yeah...I’m not sure if that’s the answer. I mean, same-sex couples can’t reproduce, and they still have the potential to experience jealousy.”

“Hmm,” Rarity rubbed her chin. “Yes, I suppose you two make a valid point.”

Sunset chuckled, shaking her head. “It’s still a pretty clever thought though,” she said. “That AJ; she’s a surprisingly deep thinker.”

I nodded. “Yeah, there’s a lot more going on under that dirty old Stetson than you’d think.”

“Indeed,” Rarity said, with a quick roll of her eyes. “Even though she comes across as being quite obtuse at times.”

Fluttershy sighed in agreement, then left Rarity’s side to float across the tub to my left. “I love Applejack,” she said softly. “I missed all of you guys. Oh! I just can’t wait for the sleepover tonight!” She came to rest on my left side and reached for the dollar store bag, exposing her breasts above the water. “I kind of want that candy now,” she giggled softly, noticing I was looking at her.

“It's all you, Flutters."

The shy girl rooted through the bag for a moment, then produced the pack of Reese’s Cups and began to unwrap them. “Oh dear,” she mewled, “there’s only three in here.”

I shook my head. “I don’t need any.”

Her eyebrows went up suddenly. “Are you sure? I‘ll share mine with you, if you want.”

“Don’t worry about it. I got them for you guys anyway.”

Fluttershy smiled, then leaned in to place a quick kiss on my lips. “Thank you Goldie, for the…um, treats.”

I smiled at her, watching contently as she took one out to hand it to Sunset before floating back to Rarity.

The girls quietly enjoyed the candy for a few moments, until Rarity finally spoke again, between bites.

“Well darlings, I suppose for now we’ll have to accept that the answer to this ‘lack of jealousy’ question lies ahead of us, perhaps in the near future.”

Sunset nodded and took another bite of her cup, then proceeded to speak with a full mouth. “Yeah, whatever it is, I’m sure we’ll figure it out. We always do.”

“Agreed,” Rarity replied. “But until then, I say we embrace it. I had a marvelous time with the three of you tonight, and I see no reason to stifle it if it isn’t going to cause us any harm. What do you all think?”

Fluttershy nodded quickly, which came as no surprise to the rest of us.

Rarity turned to the red-head. “And you, Sunset?”

Sunset paused for a moment to swallow the candy before answering. “All kinds of wild, crazy sex with no strings attached? Sign me up!” she said, turning to me. “How about you, Golds?”

I scowled slightly at the question. “What, do I have the words ‘DUMB CUNT’ written on my forehead? Of course I’m down.”

“It’s settled then,” Rarity said, sticking her nose up as she put the last bite of candy in her mouth.

“You know what’ll be interesting to see?” Sunset asked.

“What’s that, darling?”

“How Twi acts tonight.”

“Ahh,” Rarity said, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. “I hadn’t considered Twilight. We shall have to keep a close eye on her to see how she acts around Golds. I don’t believe they’ve seen each other since…you know," —she turned to me— "have you, darling?”

“No, I -MMPH!”

Out of nowhere, Sunset stuffed the last bite of her Reese’s Cup into my mouth when I tried to answer. I gave the red-head a look of surprise, eliciting a mischievous giggle from her, followed by the other two girls a second later.

I gave her a small nod of thanks after a moment, chewing the candy slowly. “Thanks,” I said, my words muffled slightly as the flavour of peanut butter and chocolate filled my taste buds.

“Ooh!” Rarity suddenly perked up. “That reminds me, Sunset; you simply must give Shining Armor a call at your earliest convenience.”

Sunset’s brows furrowed, and she cocked her head at the instruction. “Shining Armor? Why?”

“A possible job opportunity,” Rarity replied, offering her chocolate-covered finger to the shy girl, who promptly licked it clean.

“Oh, cool,” Sunset said, settling down to rest her head on my shoulder again. “I’d better get on that, I guess.”

*****

After spending another hour or so in the hot tub, talking, laughing and snuggling together, the four of us eventually decided it was time to get out so we could ready ourselves to head to Fluttershy’s house. She’d been gone for close to five weeks, and she longed badly to return to her little home in the woods; to lay on her chaise lounge, to feed her animal friends, and to have a shower and put on her own clothes for once. It took us close to half an hour to track down our clothing and things, as well as Angel, Link and the items that belonged to them; food, collars, cages, and so on.

Finally, just as the sun was coming up, we got into the cars and departed. Fluttershy went in Rarity’s car —first stopping for one of Rarity’s obligatory caramel lattes before leaving town— and Sunset rode with me in the Diplomat so I could take her to my shop to get her bike.

We pulled into my yard at about 7:30am. I opened the bay door and saw the mess of tools scattered around the floor, reminding me of what I was doing at the very moment I was alerted to the danger that Fluttershy was in.

”Oh yeah, I finally get to try out my new turbo,” I thought, feeling my excitement grow as I wheeled Sunset’s motorcycle around for her. I put the kickstand down to park it and we stood facing each other, taking a moment to say our goodbyes.

“Well…”

I was unsure of what to say. We’d been together almost non-stop for the past month, and this moment wasn’t something I'd considered having to deal with when I asked her to come with me in the first place. “So…uh, I guess this is it.”

She nodded, somewhat hesitantly. “Yeah.”

“Um…” I stared into those big turquoise eyes of hers, noticing in that moment how bright and beautiful they really were. The look she was giving me made me weak in the knees, and I began to feel a tightness in my chest when I realised I was going to miss having her around.

“Well,” she said, unable to withstand the awkward silence. “That was a pretty crazy night, eh?”

A smile came across my face. “Yeah, it was. Heh! I’m pretty sure my jizz is on back-order now.” My quip earned a laugh from the red-head. I paused briefly to replay some of the messy events in my mind, but then I realised something: in the midst of all that fornication, we had overlooked one simple thing.

I looked up at Sunset to speak. “Uh, sorry that you didn’t get a chance to read me banging Flutters. I’m not really sure why she didn’t want me to finish inside her; I...honestly wasn’t expecting that.”

“Yeah, me either,” she replied. “Don’t worry about it though, Golds; you don’t have to apologize. To be honest, I really enjoyed reading you during that tit-fuck, and I also got to read you when you came inside Rare, so it’s all good.”

“Yeah, I suppose,” I replied, smirking as I continued. “That’s why I like you, Sunny. You’re a ‘glass is half full’ kind of girl.”

“Yeah, well hey...both of those things felt amazing,” she continued, after a short chuckle. “Especially Rare; her pussy felt like some kind of suede or something...I don’t know, but it was fucking fanstastic.”

“Yeah. Rare's got some nice tang, that's for sure,” I said, gazing off into the trees, noting how they’d transitioned into a vibrant array of fall colours during our long absence. “Same goes for you, Sunny. And by the way...uh, sorry about the friendly fire; you know, when I accidently slipped out and...shot you.”

Sunset snorted. “That’s OK. It was pretty hot, to be honest. Plus, Flutters was pretty quick to clean it up.”

“Hm,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s good to have that crazy slut home again.”

The red-head chuckled. “Yup. When you’re right, you’re right.”

I looked upwards, watching the canopy of dried leaves rattling softly in the breeze as I drew a long inhale through my nose, letting the earthy scent of the surrounding nature soak my senses. "I'm gonna miss these lovely conversations of ours," I said, causing Sunset to laugh again.

After a moment or two, our laughter died down and we were left standing there, surrounded by a vast sea of colourful leaves. Sunset’s demeanor, other than the obvious reluctance to separate from me, was one of serenity.

“How are you feeling, Sunny?” I asked.

She stared blankly, unprepared for the question.

“Like, are you, uh…horny?”

She smiled briefly, then stuck her bottom lip out and shook her head. “Nope,” she replied, swiping her hand through the air, slowly. “I am coooooool as a cucumber.”

“That’s good,” I said, smirking at her response.

She nodded and then continued. “Yeah, uh…as long as I have some of…you…left in me, I’m fine.”

“It doesn’t take much to keep it down, eh?” I replied.

“No,” she said. “I mean, on the trip home, I didn’t start feeling it again until we got to Niagara Falls, which was what, like a two day drive from New Mexico?”

“Yeah, about that,” I nodded.

“So...that means I should be fine at the get-together tonight, at least.”

“That's good,” I replied. “That’ll certainly take the edge off.”

“Mm-hm.”

Again, we found ourselves drowning in an awkward silence. Unable to keep my eyes on her, I looked at the ground and idly scuffed my feet in the gravel while she looked around at the surrounding woods, twirling a lock of red hair around her index finger.

Finally, Sunset cleared her throat to speak again. “It’s gonna be weird,” she said, pausing for a second to bite her lip, “you know…not being around you.”

I looked at her for a moment, surprised. “I know,” I replied, trying my best to conceal the slight heartache her statement caused. “Being with you was starting to become a way of life for me, and now it’s over. Just like that.”

Sunset pursed her lips, her eyes drifting downward as she gave a half-hearted nod. “It’s like the end of an era.”

“Yeah,” I said. “We’re gonna see each other tonight though, so it’s not a big deal, really. To be honest, I’m surprised you’re not completely sick of looking at my face.”

Sunset smirked. “Well, kind of,” she said with a quiet chuckle.

“Same here,” I jabbed back, but then I paused. “Just kidding.”

Sunset blushed slightly, folding her arms across her chest as she looked at the ground. The smile then faded from her face, and she brought her eyes up to mine, bringing a look of worry with them.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“How do you…come back?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Like…back to regular life.”

“Oh,” I replied, shaking my head. “It’s not as hard as you’d think. You just have to do it and not think about it.”

She sighed, staring off into the trees for a moment. “I have to find a job.”

“Well, what was Rare saying about calling that guy? What was his name?”

“Shining Armor,” Sunset replied. “He’s Twi’s brother. I’ll have to give him a call once I get a new phone. But if whatever he has for me falls through, I’ll have to get a job at a coffee shop or something just to pay the bills...until I get the position I really want.”

“Do you still have Lizzie’s broach?” I asked, referring to the gift that I had given her from my safe deposit box; the broach that once belonged to Elizabeth Bathory.

“Yeah, of course,” the red-head replied, pulling it out of her pocket, to my surprise.

“Well if you found the right buyer for that, it would pay the bills for quite a while,” I suggested.

“What?” she replied, scowling at me. “Are you nuts? I could never sell this!” She paused, looking down at the jewel again. “This is an amazing gift...from an amazing friend.”

I paused for a moment, surprised by Sunset’s compliment. As I watched her study the piece of jewelry for a moment before sliding it back into her pocket, a smile spread across my face as I realised I had some things I needed to say to her.

“I wanna thank you, Sunny,” I said, prompting her to look at me. “For coming along to help. You did amazing. Your thing in the CIA, the phone call to Chrysalis…everything. You’re an amazing friend, a brilliant detective, and a great fighter. I’m proud of you.”

She looked stunned for a moment. Usually, the two of us spent our time together joking around and being sarcastic with one another, but right then, I wanted her to know how much her company during the whole ordeal truly meant to me.

Evidently, she understood. I noticed a tiny bit of moisture gathering in the corners of her eyes, and she gave me a proud, albeit trembling smile.

“I’m actually really glad that you asked me to come,” she said, her voice wavering slightly. “I mean, I was apprehensive at first; like, I really didn’t want to do it, but now,” —she paused to draw a breath— “now...I am so glad I did. You taught me so much during this trip, and I got to see more of this world than I ever thought I would. I just wish it could have been a real vacation, instead of having to go because our friend was in trouble.”

“We’ll go on a real vacation someday, Sunny. Maybe we can all go,” I offered.

“Yeah.” After a short pause, she drew in a deep breath. “Thank you, Golds.”

“For what?” I asked.

“For bringing me. I know there were shitty parts, and sometimes we didn’t get along, but if I had to do it all over again; I would do it in a heartbeat. I loved learning about this world, about how to fight and outsmart my enemies, and…”

She trailed off, staring at the ground.

I dipped my head slightly, following her eyes as they sank downward. “And…?”

Sunset looked up at me again, slowly. “I loved spending time with you.”

Flattered, I was still for a moment, staring into Sunset’s eyes as a pang of…some kind of feeling rang through my chest. I didn’t know exactly what it was, but I knew it felt good.

“Me too,” I said, smiling at her.

She bit her lip for a second, looking as though she had something else on her mind. Then she drew a soft breath and opened her mouth to speak. “I…uh…” she trailed off, then turned to look at her bike. “I’d better get going,” she said abruptly, turning back to me.

“Uh…yeah,” I replied as I glanced at the bike, wondering what she was really about to say. “So what’s the plan for today?”

“Um…I’m gonna go home and shower, put on some fresh clothes and relax for a bit,” she said. “Then I’m gonna head to the city to pick up Twi for tonight.”

“Oh yeah,” I nodded. “That’ll be cool. I just hope she doesn’t act all weird around me.”

“Why? Just cuz you ejaculated in her vagina last time you saw her?” Sunset snickered. “Grow up, Golds.”

I let out a quiet laugh, looking down at the ground as I kicked a little stone across the yard. “Yeah, you’re right. What’s there to feel awkward about?”

“Exactly.”

Smiling, we stood for another moment, not knowing how to break off and go our separate ways.

“Well,” she finally said, “I…I’d better go.” And with that, she turned to walk towards her motorcycle.

As I watched her go, I took in the sight of her long, wavy hair, swaying gracefully behind her as she walked along. I enjoyed the way she looked, even with the leather jacket missing; her height, her strong build, her flawless derriere, and I found myself wishing th-

She stopped suddenly, then turned back to me.

Her eyes locked with mine, staring longingly for a moment before she briskly stepped towards me and threw her arms around my shoulders, giving me the tightest hug I’d received in a long while. Wrapping my arms around her in return, I squeezed her firmly and rocked her side-to-side, wishing that she would just come out to Fluttershy’s with me so I wouldn’t have to let her go.

”Come on, Golds! Get a grip, you douche. You only think you’re attached to her because you’ve spent all this time together. She’s just a habit, that’s all. A habit. It’ll go away once she’s gone,” I told myself. ”At least I think it will…”

Without saying a word, we slowly released each other from the embrace, and she headed once again towards the bike. This time, she managed to get on it and start the engine, revving it a few times before giving me a somewhat timid wave.

And with that, Sunset Shimmer kicked her bike into gear and rode off, leaving me alone in the yard. I stood perfectly still, waiting for the sound of the bike’s engine to fade into complete silence before I allowed myself to move again.

*Chapter 81: Home At Last

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

*Chapter 82: A Conversation With Pinkie Pie

Chapter 82

“I...you... W-what the fuck are you doing here, Pinks?” I asked, stumbling over my words as I stood next to the couch, looking down at the unexpected guest. “The sleepover isn’t ‘til tonight.”

Pinkie’s eyes shifted to me and she raised an index finger, signalling that she wasn’t available for questioning at that particular moment. “Please have a seat,” she said quickly, “I’ll be right with you.”

She was wearing a light blue T-shirt and pink pajama-pants that were covered with blue and yellow balloons, all completed by a pair of pink and white striped socks.

It was then that I noticed one of her hands buried inside those pants, creating a tent in the crotch that appeared to be swirling around in small circles.

It was not difficult to figure out what was happening here.

I took a deep breath and glanced awkwardly around the room, embarrassed that the party-girl had just witnessed me and Fluttershy having wild sex at the dining room table, not to mention that I’d now found her masturbating on the couch, obviously quite turned-on by what she’d heard.

“Fuck,” I finally whispered, deciding that the least awkward option was to just do what she’d asked, which was to sit down and wait for her to wrap things up.

Pinkie brought her knees up, moving her feet to make room for me at end of the couch. I sat down, unsure of what else to do. Sighing anxiously, I glanced over at the self-placater, who now had both hands down her pants, undoubtedly trying to shorten her journey to the finish.

“Take your time,” I blurted, then I immediately squeezed my eyes shut and faced the other way, shaking my head. “What the...why did I just say that?”

The couch was jiggling very slightly now, making it nearly impossible to resist stealing another peek at her. Though some people dislike the idea of a slightly overweight girl, I found Pinkie Pie’s figure quite alluring; buxom and curvaceous, with a reasonably small waist topped by the largest bust of the group by far. She had a fairly pretty face as well, complete with round, rosy cheeks and cute dimples, all framed by that wild, pink hair.

Slowly, I turned to look at her again, noticing this time that she was quite obviously braless. With both hands down her pants, her arms were shrugged together slightly, holding her giant breasts between them, which created a pool of soft flesh that jiggled and sloshed back and forth with her movements, each mound topped by a hard nipple that poked excitedly through her shirt.

Her eyes were closed by that point, granting me a little more freedom to watch her. When she drew a breath and bit her lip, however, I began to feel a tad guilty to ogling her, despite the fact that she obviously didn’t care.

I brought my attention to the TV, which happened to be off at the moment. Not knowing what else to do, I decided I might as well turn it on and find something to watch, so I took a quick look around the couch.

”Where’s the remote?” I wondered, looking past the panting girl in search of the TV controller, but it was nowhere to be found.

”Shit,” I sighed. Looking back at the TV, I figured I could simply get up and turn it on, then return to my seat after I found something that piqued my interest.

Just as I was about to stand, however, I felt a pair of feet press against my right thigh, prompting me to look over at Pinkie. By this point, she was biting her lip firmly and breathing heavily through her nose; the reciprocating movement of her arm became more and more exaggerated until finally, her body tensed up and she pressed her feet firmly against my leg, trembling wildly as her toes curled downwards, her nails digging into my thigh.

Feeling like a second wheel, I let my eyes drift from her orgasm-contorted face to the floor, waiting for her special time to pass.

Pinkie’s body relaxed suddenly, a long, satisfied exhale drifting from her nostrils.

“Hm...that was surprisingly quiet,” I thought to myself, just as the party-girl’s baby-blue eyes popped open and locked onto me.

“Hooh! That’s better. Hiya, Goldie-Woldie! What are you doing here?” she asked cheerfully, her voice punctuated by the waistband of her pants snapping against her belly when she withdrew her hand from them.

I brought my eyes from the floor to meet hers, jubilant and sparkly as always. ”Really? She’s just gonna start talking now as if nothing happened?” I raised an eyebrow in response to her question. “I believe I asked you first.”

Her face went blank for a few seconds, then she suddenly burst into a fit of giggles. “Oh yeah, you did! I forgot, cuz of that explosion just now, hehehe!” she chuckled innocently. “Now I know what it really means to have my finger on the button, am I right?”

I nodded, chewing my bottom lip as I looked at the TV again. “I saw.”

“So anyway,” Pinkie continued, prompting me to look at her again. “I came over here last night after I dropped Dashie and Applejack off —HAHAHA! I SAID JACK-OFF! HEHEHE!— anyway, I came here cuz I thought you guys were coming, but you never made it ‘til just now.”

“Oh, uh…” I paused, clearing my throat. “We got busy with a um…conference call.”

Pinkie cocked her head, then furrowed her brow. “A conference call?”

“Yeah,” I replied dismissively, giving her another glance. “Wait, where’s your car? I didn’t see it outside.”

“Oh, Marble needed to borrow it today, so she dropped me off last night.”

“Ah,” I nodded. “So you’re obviously not planning on going anywhere today?”

Pinkie shook her head quickly. “Nopers! I cleared my schedule for today cuz I wanted to spend time with Fluttershy now that she’s home.”

“Oh OK,” I replied, giving her a little smile. “That’s cool.”

“To be honest,” Pinkie continued, “I probably would’ve been here anyway, even if you guys hadn’t come back.”

I paused for a moment. ”What do you mean?”

“Well,” Pinkie replied, sighing. “I’ve been staying here off-and-on for the past few weeks, just to keep the house alive, you know?”

“Alive?”

“Like, when we came here for the Saturday thing on Thanksgiving, everything was starting to get all covered in dust, and some of the food in the fridge was going bad. So I started spending a few days here now and then, just to keep things looked after so Fluttershy could come home to a liveable house.” When Pinkie finished her sentence, she glanced down at the floor next to the couch, where a small pile of dirty dishes sat. ”Well…mostly,” she said sheepishly, returning her eyes to me.

I chuckled. “Well, Flutters will appreciate that, I’m sure.”

Pinkie smiled for a second, then her face slowly went blank. “Well, it’s not only that. I started coming here more just to get out of my parents’ house.”

“Oh?” I replied, raising a brow.

“Yeah…” She sounded a tad guilty. “I mean, I love mom and dad, and my sisters, but they can be really loud and obnoxious, you know? I gets so annoying after a while.”

“Really,” I said flatly. “They’re loud and obnoxious?”

She nodded. “Yeah, especially Maud.”

“Maud? Wait a sec…” I paused, my eyes shifting to the side, “isn’t she the one I thought was inanimate?”

“Haha! Yeah,” she giggled. “That was SO funny!”

I shook my head in confusion. “Wait wait, wait…she’s obnoxious?”

Pinkie’s brows went up in response. “Oh, you don’t know the half of it!”

“Hm,” I mumbled. “I can’t picture it.”

She waved me off. “Well, either way, after I stayed here a few times, I kind of liked how peaceful and quiet it is, so I started staying here more and more.” She paused for a short spell, staring at the couch’s backrest before continuing. “Plus, I missed Fluttershy. Being here somehow made me feel...closer to her.”

Struck by Pinkie’s words, I let my eyes fall to the floor, ruminating about how much the shy girl’s disappearance must have affected everyone; but she was home now, so I gave Pinkie a reassuring smile. “Yeah, it’s nice and quiet here, just like her. It’s no surprise that a person like Flutters would choose to live here.”

“Uh-huh!”

After another quick smile, I decided to thank Pinkie. “Listen Pinks, I…uh, we…appreciate you staying here and looking after the house. I’m sure it will mean a lot to Flutters.”

Pinkie gave me a wide smile in return, then she began to twirl her fingers through those curly, pink locks.

During the short silence, I let my eyes land on the TV again, reminding me of the missing remote. “Hey Pinks,” I said, turning to the party-girl, “you wanna watch something?”

“Sure!” Pinkie replied.

“Would you happen to know where the remote is?”

She paused for a moment to think, and then her eyes lit up. “Oh! I’m laying on it!” After reaching behind herself to pull the remote out, she sat up slightly to pass it to me.

“Ah,” I chuckled, reaching out to take it. “Thanks.”

As she passed it to me, her index finger grazed mine, leaving a slippery, wet streak behind. I passed the remote to my other hand and then raised my finger look at it, watching it glisten in the morning light.

“Oops, sorry...” Pinkie cringed, her cheeks darkening a shade.

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” I replied, looking back at the TV as I aimed the remote to turn it on. Without thinking, I put my finger in my mouth and licked Pinkie’s wetness from it, tasting its creamy, metallic flavour, just as I had done many times with the other girls over the past eight hours. It had become a simple force of habit, but this time I wasn’t thinking about whose juice I was tasting until after I did it.

As soon as I realised what I’d done, my heart froze and my eyes went wide, wondering if the party-girl had noticed what I did. I slowly turned to face her, and was met with a pair of shocked, baby-blue eyes.

”Shit. I probably shouldn’t have done that.”

“Uh…sorry,” I said slowly, “I...guess I wasn’t really thinking about what I was doing. To be honest, I’ve had more of this stuff on me over the past few hours than I care to think about.”

Pinkie’s lips were pursed, her eyes darting around nervously. Finally, she slowly lowered her hand to wipe her finger on her pant leg. “Umm…O-Kaaaaayyy?”

I sighed and shook my head, cursing myself for the blunder, but then I stopped when I realised something. "Hey, wait a minute,” I thought, turning back to Pinkie. “OK, I know I made a pretty awkward boo-boo there just now, but why are you acting all weird about that when YOU’RE the one who was hiding on the couch, being all ‘Creepy McCreeperson’ while Flutters and I were having a nice moment by the table?”

Pinkie’s demeanor changed suddenly, prompting her to reply with another cringe on her face. “I uh…when you guys showed up, I was gonna jump out and surprise you, but I was waiting for the right moment; and then Rarity had to leave for work, so I didn’t want to do it then, but then as soon as she left, Fluttershy started coming onto you really hard, so…”

My eyebrows rose when she reminded me of the shy girl’s behaviour. “Yeah, that uh…that escalated pretty quickly, didn’t it?”

Pinkie nodded, with an incredulous look on her face. “Uh-huh. Soooo...then, I mean, obviously I didn’t wanna jump out and...ruin your sexy time.”

I let out a sigh. “Well I appreciate that.”

She giggled suddenly, causing those huge breasts to bounce inside her T-shirt. “Hehehe! So I just laid here terrified instead!”

I chuckled. “Terrified?”

“Yeah well, I pretty much knew you were gonna find me here eventually. There was no way for me to sneak out while you were doing it since you were right by the door, but if I stayed put...well, you saw what happened,” she explained.

“Right. You decided it would be less awkward to masturbate in front of me instead. Makes perfect sense, Pinks. Good thinking.”

“Hey, when in Rome...” she shrugged.

“Hm...I suppose.” I began flipping through the TV channels after deciding nothing on the menu was catching my eye.

Pinkie gave pause for a moment, turning her head to watch the channels flash by. “You two are really hot together,” she finally said, looking back towards me.

I stopped pressing the button and looked back at her, caught off-guard by the statement.

“Fluttershy says some pretty crazy shit when she’s having sex, eh?” Pinkie continued.

I nodded slowly, smirking. “Welcome to the wild and frightening world of Flutters’ sex life.”

The party-girl let out a jolly giggle. “Oh yeah, listening to you guys going at it got me a little hot and bothered, which is why I was…you know.”

“Uh, yeah. I was able to put two-and-two together pretty quickly there,” I replied.

“Sorry if that was weird,” she said. “It didn’t seem weird at the time, but now I feel a little strange knowing I...did that in front of you.”

I waved her off. “Nah. Weirder shit has happened. Besides, I pretty much evened it up when I licked your cum off my finger like a fuckin serial killer a minute ago.”

“Meh. It wasn’t really that weird,” she replied. “I just wasn’t expecting it, that’s all.” During the short pause that followed, a mischievous smile slowly appeared on her face. “Soooo...what’d it taste like?”

I pondered for a brief moment, surprised that she would ask me this. “Uhh…rich, with buttery undertones.”

“Oooh, sounds yummy!” she giggled, looking at the TV again as I resumed flipping through the channels.

“Yeah it wasn’t too bad. So what do you feel like watching?”

“I dunno. Let’s just keep flipping ‘til we find something.” She watched a few channels flash by before speaking again. “You know, I never noticed it before, but Fluttershy has a LOT of channels.”

“I know,” I replied, shaking my head in frustration. “The satellite provider talked her into it. They were calling this one time about the contract renewal, and they pitched the full channel package as an up-sell, and she was too scared to say no; so now, she pays an exorbitant amount of money for TV she hardly watches.”

“Why don’t you just call and cancel it for her?” Pinkie asked.

I shook my head. “I told her she had to do it. She’s gotta learn to assert herself; she's a fuckin immortal now, you know?”

"Umm...no?"

I turned to Pinkie and continued. “I considered it to be part of her training, but we sorta got off on a tangent there when she got captured by secret agents and was locked up at the bottom of the ocean for a month. You know…that old song and dance.”

“Yeah,” she laughed, “don’t you hate when that happens?”

I returned a chuckle, then faced the TV again to continue my search for entertainment.

After a moment of watching some more sounds and colours flash by, Pinkie spoke again.

“Um…so, did you really have tons of sex with Sunset Shimmer while you were out looking for Fluttershy?”

I stopped again and glanced at Pinkie, chewing my lip nervously. ”Shit, I guess she would have heard Flutters say that…” I drew a deep breath, then nodded reluctantly. “Yeah.”

“Hmm,” she replied, furrowing her brows as she looked down at herself. “And Fluttershy is OK with that?”

“It sounded to me like she was pretty happy about it, actually,” I replied, rubbing the back of my neck; “just from what she was saying at the table there.”

Pinkie’s bright, blue eyes locked onto me. “That’s...surprising.”

“Like I said, welcome to Flutters’ sex life. It’s a crazy place. Bring Kleenex.”

“Well, it’s not just her,” Pinkie continued. “What about Rare-bear? How are either of them not jealous about it?”

I set the remote down on my leg, tapping it against my knee as I considered my answer. “You know Pinks, it’s funny you ask, because the four of us were talking about that exact thing last night.”

“The four of you?”

“Yeah,” I replied. “Sunny was part of our conference call.”

Pinkie gave a confused stare, pinching her bottom lip while she pondered to herself, then her eyes suddenly shot open with a loud gasp. “Oooooooooohhhh! A CONference call!” she howled, realising what I meant. “Wow, you guys had a four-way last night?”

I nodded, then glanced quickly at her. “Don’t say anything to the others about it though, OK? At least for now.”

She nodded.

“And I would steer clear of Rare’s room for a bit. It smells like baby-making really bad in there right now,” I explained. “I feel kind of bad for her, actually; I’m pretty sure things got a lot messier than she was expecting.”

Pinkie gave her head a shake. “Yeah...Rarity’s not big on messes, that’s for sure.”

I nodded, but was then reminded of something else I needed to bring up. “Oh, and don’t say anything to Flutters about being here when we fucked by the table. It’ll embarrass her.”

Pinkie put her fingers in front of her mouth, pretending to lock it with a key. “My lips are sealed!”

“Good. Thanks Pinks,” I said. “So anyway, yeah…Rare brought it up last night; about how we were all gettin it on and no one was upset or jealous about any of it, but we can’t figure out why that is.”

“Hmm...” Pinkie ruminated quietly, tapping her bottom lip with her index finger as I continued.

“I mean...at first, we all thought that me, Rare and Flutters getting together was just a fluke, you know? A rare love triangle that flourished under just the right circumstances, but now…” —I paused to shake my head— “now, Sunny’s gotten involved, and we’re not so sure that there isn’t something else at play here.”

“Like what?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” I sighed. “We kind of think it might have something to do with the immortality, cuz that’s around the time it all started, but we’re not really sure why being immortal would make us not be jealous of one another.”

Pinkie placed a finger to her chin and stared vacantly for a brief moment, then she focused on me and started to speak quite rapidly.

“Well it’s probably cuz jealousy is actually a defense mechanism designed to make sure you reproduce and carry on your bloodline cuz you don’t want someone coming in and stealing your mate because then they’ll reproduce with them instead of you but because you guys can’t reproduce now there’s no need to be defensive about losing your mates which makes jealousy an obsolete emotion for you guys!”

As I flipped through the channels, I listened to Pinkie go through her rant, but then something she said stopped me in my tracks. With my brows furrowed, I looked down at the floor for a moment, then towards Pinkie. “Wait…say that again?”

She drew a deep breath and started over. “Well it’s probably cuz jealousy is actually a defence mechanism designed to make sure you reproduce and carry on your bloodline cuz-“

I put my hand up, closing my eyes tightly. “Stop, stop…just the part about jealousy being obsolete; why is that again?”

“Oh, because you can’t reproduce, sex isn’t about reproduction anymore; it’s just something you can do, so there’s no reason to be worried about keeping your mate to reproduce with to carry on your bloodline. That’s obviously driven by our survival instinct, which you probably don’t have anymore because you’re always gonna survive, no matter what.”

“Hmm,” I thought, rubbing my temple. “That kind of makes sense, actually. Sort of like how I don’t get frightened or startled cuz I can’t be killed by an ambushing predator or something like that.” I turned to look at her. “So, fear is obsolete as well.”

“Exactly!” Pinkie squealed.

After thinking about her theory for another moment, I frowned and then shook my head dismissively. “Wait, hang on a sec; see, I’ve never really heard it said quite like that before. I always thought jealousy was brought on by feelings of inadequacy, or the feeling of rejection when someone says they prefer the company of others to your exclusive company.”

“How does anyone know about this stuff though?” Pinkie inquired. “It’s not like there’ve been any studies done on the super-sexy habits of immortals, especially since not very many people even know you guys exist. So how does anyone really know how people like you react to different things?”

“Ahh, good point,” I nodded, ignoring her shrillness. “You know, that whole thing is actually a pretty clever theory, Pinks. How the hell’d you come up with it out-of-the-blue like that?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Just a hunch.”

I chuckled, shaking my head. “A hunch, eh?” I mumbled as I began flipping through the channels again.

After watching a few images flash by, Pinkie suddenly sprang upright next to me, pointing her finger at the TV. “OOH! GO BACK! GO BACK!” she screamed, bouncing in her seat.

“OK...” I muttered, flipping in the opposite direction until an old, black-and-white movie appeared on the screen.

“STOP!”

“What is this?” I asked.

“It’s Gojiraaaaa!” she bellowed in a deep voice, then giggled at herself. “See the subtitles? That means this the original Japanese version; no Raymond Burr here!”

“Oh, I don’t think I’ve seen this one, just the one with Burr’s character; what’s his name...Steve Martin or something like that?”

“Yup!” she nodded enthusiastically.

We watched for a few minutes. Pinkie read the subtitles while I simply listened, understanding the Japanese dialogue perfectly. After the scene changed, we saw the image of a newspaper office on the screen, with a few men sitting around a table in the foreground.

“THERE HE IS!” Pinkie screeched, almost shattering every window in the house.

“Jesus Pinks, what the fuck!" I chided as I leaned away from her, scowling. "There who is?”

“Hehe! Sorry, Goldie!” she giggled. “Godzilla!”

“Huh?” I frowned, looking back at the screen, unable to see the monster anywhere. “Where? In the background?”

“No, silly!” she giggled. “Sitting at the table!”

“What?” I replied, scratching the side of my head as I looked at her again. “Have you lost your mind? Godzilla’s too big to sit at a table with regular people, much less be able to socialize without scaring the shit out of them.”

Pinkie Pie laughed out loud and hugged herself, her forearms heaving her massive breasts upward. “Hahaha! No, it’s not really Godzilla!” she laughed, pointing at the TV again. “See that guy at the table? The second one from the left?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s Haruo Nakajima; he’s the guy who actually played Godzilla! He got to wear the monster suit, and he walked around stomping on tanks and smashing up all the miniature cities n’ stuff!” Pinkie drew a deep, noisy breath, ready to be as loud as possible. “Best…job…EVER!"

“Huh,” I replied, folding my arms as I sat back.

“And sometimes, they would use him as an extra whenever Godzilla isn’t on screen; like this part. He even has a speaking line, coming up riiiiiight…NOW!” Again, Pinkie pointed at the TV.

Sure enough, the actor in question spoke a short line.

After listening to it and then reading the dialogue at the bottom of the screen, I leaned towards Pinkie. “You know, these subtitles aren’t really accurate.”

She shrugged. “Oh well. As long as we get the gist of it, I’m OK with that.”

“Yeah, it’s close enough to get the point across, I guess,” I replied, tilting my head lazily to one side.

Pinkie Pie and I sat for quite a while, watching the old movie. I kept an attentive ear on Fluttershy’s bedroom, listening for the sound of the shower stopping. It hadn’t as of yet, likely because the shy girl was having the time of her life, finally getting to use her own shower for the first time in what felt like ages.

The animals had followed her down the hall and were presumably gathered outside the bathroom door, waiting for her to emerge. The only exception was Link, who had returned to the main room and was now sniffing curiously around the far end of the couch.

After a scene in which Godzilla attacked the harbour had passed, there was a stretch of rather boring dialogue that followed, prompting me to make some small talk with the party-girl.

“So, how’s it been going around here, Pinks? What have you been up to?”

“Uuuhhh…not much,” she replied, slowly prying her eyes from the TV. “Just working, doing some parties, same old…”

“Oh,” I nodded, “that’s cool. No Halloween parties this weekend?”

“There is one that Scratchie and I were doing, but when you guys came home, I convinced her to look after it on her own so I could spend time with you and Fluttershy,” Pinkie explained.

“Oh, well that was nice of her,” I said. “That Scratch chick, she’s pretty cool, eh?”

Pinkie nodded. “She has bailed me out SO many times with these parties over the years; I really don’t know what I’d do without her.”

“Yeah. I still feel kinda bad about scaring her at the bar that one night,” I confessed.

“Oh, it’s OK,” Pinkie replied, waving me off. “She’s over it now. She actually thinks you’re awesome, and she LOVES demonstrating how you beat up those two big guys; like when you smashed that one guy’s forearm through his face, and how you broke the desk in half with the other guy’s head. Hehehe! It’s so funny watching her act it out!”

I chuckled, shaking my head as I reminisced about what went down in that shitty bar all those months ago. “Man, I was fuckin bent that night.”

“Me too,” she replied, to my surprise. “That guy who hit Sunset Shimmer in the alley was just...UGH! I’m so glad you were there, Goldie, cuz I had no idea what we were gonna do; he was just such a big jerk!”

“Well, now he’s a big vegetable,” I chuckled.

Pinkie started to giggle, but then quieted when she became distracted by the movie again. Clearing her throat, she changed the subject, speaking in a more solemn tone.

“There’s actually something else I was working on while you guys were gone,” she began. “An invention...that I thought was a great idea, but the other girls...um, they haven’t been very supportive of it.”

“Really? That doesn’t sound like them.”

“It’s true,” Pinkie said with a dejected sigh.

I couldn’t help but feel kind of bad for the pink girl. Deciding to show her some support, I shifted sideways on the couch to face her. “OK Pinks, I’d like to hear your idea. Why don’t you tell me about it?”

“Really?” she asked, her face lighting up like a Christmas tree.

“Yeah, let’s hear it.”

“OK!” she giggled, shaking her fists with excitement. “So, you like taking shits, am I right?”

I furrowed my brows suddenly, caught off-guard by the question. “Who?“

“AND, you like hanging out with friends, right?”

“Um, I-I guess-“

“So...what about a two-seated toilet? That way everyone can-“

I was shaking my head vigorously by that point, and I raised my hand to interrupt her. “You know what? I’m just gonna stop you there, actually; I can already tell you’re preachin’ to the wrong choir on this one.”

“What? Why?” she asked, looking hurt and confused. “Why does everyone keep shutting down my idea?”

“Pinkie, were you about to suggest a toilet where multiple people can sit and go ‘boom’ together?”

“Yyyyeah?” she replied, with a tone that suggested her answer was an obvious one.

“Well…see, here’s the thing,” I said, trying to think of how to put it delicately. “What’s gonna kill the idea is the simple fact that…generally speaking, most people —not all, but most— um, HATE the smell of shit.”

“Yeah, so?”

I recoiled at her response. “So? Are you serious? People don’t wanna hang out and smell each other’s shit. It’s weird and gross and just plain fucked up!”

“Awww,” Pinkie moaned, hanging her head.

Admittedly, I was remorseful for being so blunt with her, so I decided to offer some more advice. “Look Pinks, for an invention idea to be successful, it has to be something that a lot of people will want. What you’ve come up with here is…I think it’s safe to say, something of a niche market; meaning: not a lot of people will be interested in it.” I paused for a moment, rubbing my chin thoughtfully. “Why not instead focus on something that a lot of people will want; say, for example, a toilet that doesn’t echo louder than hell when you fart on it? People hate when that happens, like when you have guests over and you let one rip when you’re on the can, and everyone in the fuckin house hears it.” I paused for a moment to see if anything interesting was happening in the movie. There wasn’t, so I continued. “And it’s not just uncomfortable for you, there’s also that awkward moment when you come out of the bathroom after, and everyone’s looking at you and they're all like: ‘Hey.’”

Pinkie’s brows furrowed. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously and turned her head to the side, giving me a dubious look. “When does that ever happen?”

I shrugged. “I dunno. I was just trying the sell the idea.”

“No-no,” Pinkie said with sudden reassurance, rubbing her chin as a sly grin spread across her lips. “I like it…I could employ some kind of sound-cancelling technology; like maybe if you fart, the toilet will automatically play a really loud *squee* sound or something to cover it up.”

“Well,” I cautioned, “it might be better to have it somehow make the farts quieter rather than blaring over them, cuz if it plays that weird sound you just made, everyone will hear it, and they’ll still know you’re farting...and quite frankly, you’ll just end up looking even more ridiculous.”

“Hmm, good point,” Pinkie replied. “OOOH! This is so exciting! Thanks for the help, Goldie! You’re the coolest guy EVER!”

“Yeah,” I muttered quietly, “toilets…”

“HEY!” she shouted suddenly. “Do you want a mini Mr. Freezie?”

“A mini Mr. Freezie?”

“Yeah! They’re little tiny freezies that come in all kinds of yummy flavours!” Pinkie squealed excitedly.

“Uh, OK. Sure.”

“You might as well just come with me to the freezer and see what I got, because there are WAY too many flavours for me to name!” she insisted.

“Alright, let’s take a look,” I replied as we stood from the couch and headed to the fridge-freezer at the far end of the table. As I passed the hallway, I noticed the shower had stopped, indicating that Fluttershy must have been out by then. Just as her room left my line of sight, I saw her pass by the doorway; naked, with a white towel wrapped around her head. The image was fleeting, however, and all I was able to make out was a slender, yellow flash before I passed the end of the hallway.

Pinkie had already made it to the freezer by then and was removing a cardboard box from within. She turned and set it on the table.

I joined Pinkie as she started rifling through the pile of tiny treats inside the box. Right away, I noticed they were in fact very small; only about three inches long, and there were a lot of them.

“I know they’re not very big,” Pinkie admitted, “but that way you can have a whole bunch and then you can try more flavours! There’s ALL KINDS to choose from; tons of delicious, savory selections as far as the eye can see!”

There was one word in that sentence that concerned me. ”What does she mean, savory?” I wondered, scanning the different coloured labels to see what was available.

It wasn’t long before I knew something was amiss, and I realised these treats weren’t exactly what Pinkie had described them to be, leaving me no choice but to call her out on it.

“Uh, Pinks…you do realise these are just condiment packets, right?”

“Shhhh! You’ll ruin the prestige!” she whispered loudly.

"Prestige?!" I plucked one of the packets from the box and held it up. "This is Heinz ketchup; prestige doesn’t even enter the equation!"

My words seemed to fall on deaf ears, however, and I was left standing there, grimacing, watching her sideways as she rooted through the box.

“Hmmm,” she thought aloud, “What kind do I want?...I had plum sauce yesterday…and I’m sick and tired of mustard…”

”Seriously, Pinks…”

“OOH!” she squealed, finally grabbing a packet. She held it up and presented it to me. “Aww yeah...Taco Bell Mild, y’all!”

“Nice,” I said sarcastically, taking a step back in retreat as I noted the sound of a blow dryer coming from the bedroom.

“What kind do you want, Goldie-Woldie?” she asked.

I raised my hands in refusal. “I, uh…I’ll pass. Thanks.”

Pinkie looked surprised. “You sure?” she asked, looking down and giggling when one of the kittens from the ‘Us’ base brushed against her ankle.

I nodded as I watched her take a pair of scissors from the drawer to cut the end off the plastic sleeve. “Yup. I’m good.”

“Meh, suit yourself,” she shrugged, placing the packet in her mouth.

With a scowl in my face, I licked the inside of my mouth furiously as I watched Pinkie eat, disgusted by the idea of sucking on a pack of frozen taco sauce.

Unable to watch her any longer, I shuddered and turned to face the TV.

The movie had reached the main scene: Godzilla was trudging through the heart of Tokyo, leaving a sea of fire in his wake. Pinkie and I leaned against the table and watched the movie in silence, aside from her slurping noisily on the treat.

She spoke only once during the scene, pointing out another fact about the movie.

“You see that building he just smashed with his tail?”

“Yeah,” I nodded.

“Well, that was a movie theatre; a real movie theatre that actually played this movie when it came out in 1954, and when this scene happened, the people who saw this movie there totally FREAKED OUT when the building they were in got smashed in the movie!”

“Wow, really?” I chuckled, turning to look at Pinkie. “That’s...actually pretty cool.”

“Yeah it is!” she replied, giggling yet again.

It was then that I finally heard soft footsteps coming down the hall. I turned to see Fluttershy; all clean and made-up, dawning her signature look for the first time in what seemed like eons.

She was heart-stopping, just like the first time I saw her. Her hair hung over one eye, bouncing slightly with each step. The loose curls at the ends of those long, pink locks seemed to hook into the passing air, pulling them behind her shoulders as she moved along. Her face was gorgeous: her eye lashes and pink eye shadow, her smooth cheeks, her bright smile; all of it was exactly the way it should be.

Her wardrobe had returned as well. She wore the small, white tank top with the green skirt that hung below, adorned with that familiar cluster of pink butterflies. She had been wearing this same outfit the day she was captured, and it made me wonder how many backups of it she actually had, hidden away in her closet.

When my eyes drifted down to her pink, frilly-topped socks, I was prompted to look toward the shoe-mat next to the door, remembering that her green boots were long gone. There were no copies of those, so she would eventually have to find another pair somewhere.

I brought my eyes back to hers, and was met with a wide, gleeful smile.

“Flutters, lookin good!” I said, using an intentionally douchey tone.

“Oh! Why thank you, Goldie,” she giggled softly, stepping out of the hallway into the front room.

Pinkie Pie, in what appeared to be a deliberate attempt to startle the shy girl, leapt forward with her hands in the air as Fluttershy entered the room, screaming: “FLUTTERSHY YOU LOOK AMAZING!”

Without skipping a beat, Fluttershy turned to face the pink girl. “Oh hi, Pinkie Pie. I thought I heard your voice out here. Um, thank you for the compliment,” she said, calmly and softly.

Pinkie was taken aback by the shy girl’s lack of reaction, and was now rubbing her chin with a cocked eyebrow. ”Hey, howcome you didn’t jump up and scream like always?”

“First of all, Pinks,” I said, pointing at her, “you shouldn’t go around trying to scare people. Second of all, Flutters is like me now; she’s finally got it engrained in her mind that nothing can hurt her, so she doesn’t startle or get scared anymore.”

“Wow! That’s SO crazy!” Pinkie yelped, drawing a soft giggle from the beautiful girl, who afterwards spotted the cardboard box at the far end of the table.

“I’m still pretty shy though,” Fluttershy confessed, “Oh pinkie, did you bring your collection of mini freezies?”

Pinkie turned to glance at the box, then back at Fluttershy with her eyes lit. “Yeah! I never leave home without them!”

“Oh! Do you have any Arby’s sauce?” the shy girl asked, clasping her hands against her chest.

“Oh god, Flutters…not you too...” I shook my head.

Pinkie had thrown her head back, and was letting out a shrill, diabolical laugh. “HAHAHAHAHAHA! Ah-HAHAHAHAHAH! DO I HAVE ANY ARBY’S SAUCE? ARE YOU KIDDING? I HAVE ALL THE ARBY’S SAUCE!”

“Mmmm, I would love one. Do you mind if I help myself?” Fluttershy asked, stepping quietly towards the box.

“Of course, Fluttershy! I made sure to stock up on plenty of Arby’s sauce just for you, cuz I know it’s your favourite!” Pinkie squealed with pride.

“Oh, thank you, Pinkie. You’re the best,” the shy girl replied, rooting through the box until she found the flavour she wanted.

I shook my head, watching my girlfriend cut the end off the package before wrapping her lips around it. She then looked at me with a playful wink.

I returned with a smile, snickering to myself as I shrugged off the fact that she was eating frozen barbecue sauce. ”Meh, after what she ate last night, I guess this isn’t really that big a deal.”

Pinkie’s treat had long been finished by then, and she was busy putting the box back into the freezer. “So, what do you two lovebirds wanna do today?”

“Um, I don’t know,” Fluttershy replied, glancing at Pinkie. “W-what brings you here so early this morning?”

“Oh, I just wanted to hang out with you guys today,” said Pinkie, closing the freezer door and winking at me. “My sister just dropped me off not too long ago.”

Fluttershy paused, looking her friend up and down. “Um, in your pajamas?”

”Oh shit…” I thought, waiting to see Pinkie’s response.

“Uh…” the party-girl paused to look down at herself. “I…yeah! I wore them over here, haha! Silly me!”

“Oh…yeah, that is, um…pretty silly.”

I let out a quiet sigh, satisfied with Pinkie's cover up.

But then, in an act that I can only assume was born out of nervousness, Pinkie Pie continued to ramble.

“Oh, hahaha! Yeah, you know me! Super silly! Yup, I just got dropped off a few minutes ago, still wearin my PJ’s, so there’s NOOOO way I could have heard you two fucking by the table!”

Fluttershy gasped, her face instantly turning red as a tomato; she covered her mouth, her eyes wide.

I closed my eyes and tipped my head back, letting out a silent groan of frustration. “WHY Pinkie? For fuck sakes, you were home free!”

Pinkie’s eyes went wide, realising her mistake. “Wuh-oh…”

“Oh d-dear,” Fluttershy squeaked. “Did you, um…see us?”

“Uh, no…I just heard it,” Pinkie replied, cringing with embarrassment.

“She heard about it,” I cut in, prompting both of them to look at me. “I uh, told Pinkie about it when she got here. You know; cuz I‘m a guy, and guys like to brag about things like that. Right, Pinks?”

“Uh...oh, yeah!” Pinkie nodded, taking my lead. “Yeah, you’re a huge douchebag, Goldie! You were all like: ‘hey, let me tell you about this’ and I’m like: ‘no, that’s weird! Fluttershy’s my friend! I don’t wanna hear about that!’”

I tilted my head and gave her a sharp glare, clenching my jaw. "Seriously, Pinks? Nice.”

The party-girl saw the look I was giving and cringed even more, slowly looking back to Fluttershy, who had now begun to relax.

“You…told Pinkie about it?” the shy girl asked, turning towards me.

I nodded, sighed, and then tried to look ashamed.

“Oh…” she replied, letting her hair fall in front of her face as she glanced at her friend again. “Well, I…I guess that’s OK. I mean, our friends know that we, um…do those kinds of things, and we’re all adults here, right?”

“Yeah…ha ha…yeah,” Pinkie giggled nervously.

“Mostly,” I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck.

Fluttershy nodded, then smirked at me. “Um, so…what do you guys wanna do today?”

“What do you wanna do?” Pinkie asked, with renewed enthusiasm.

“Um…” Fluttershy trailed off, looking down at the floor where all five of the kittens encircled her feet, with Link and Angel sitting not far away.

“You know,” I said, “I have a ton of shit to get for the breakfast tomorrow, so I should probably go to the grocery store and get that looked after. While I do that, why don't you two stay here and continue to be as different from each other as possible?”

Fluttershy giggled at the remark, but Pinkie was rubbing her chin. “Actually,” she said, “I was gonna do some baking for the sleepover tonight, so I kind of need to go to the store too.”

I shook my head. “Nah, just gimme a list and I’ll get it for you.”

“Well, I don’t know what I’m gonna make,” Pinkie explained, “I usually just wing it, so I kind of have to go myself, so I can see what speaks to me.”

The pink girl and I both looked at Fluttershy.

“You wanna come with us to the store, Flutters?” I asked.

“Um…but I just got here,” she replied reluctantly. “I don’t really want to go anywhere just yet.”

“Well, we can go later if you want. It’s fi-“

“No,” she cut in, “you guys have things you need to do. You might as well get them done. I’ll stay here.”

“By yourself?” Pinkie asked. “Are you sure?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Mm-hm. I-I’ll just relax and watch TV, and maybe visit with the cute little woodland creatures outside.”

I walked over to the shy girl and stroked her arm. “We’re gonna be gone a couple hours; you sure you’ll be OK?”

“Of course,” she replied. “I’m at home now. I’ve never felt better.”

I smiled at her, then leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek. “OK then. We’ll be back.”

“See ya,” said Fluttershy, before turning towards Pinkie. “Bye, Pinkie Pie.”

“See ya, Fluttershy!” Pinkie replied as I made my way to the door, pointing at the party-girl.

“You ready, Pinks?”

“YEAH! LET’S DO THIS!” she roared, clenching her fists.

After we had our shoes on, Pinkie headed out the door. I was about to follow, but I stopped once more to look back at my girlfriend, who was making her way to the couch. It was a sight for sore eyes, seeing her at home once again, wearing her own clothes, looking like herself, mere steps away from relaxing on her beloved chaise lounge.

Smiling, I slowly closed the door, happy that things were back to normal…until I remembered something. ”Shit, she probably sees those dishes by the couch,” I thought, chewing my lip for a moment before finally shrugging. ”Fuck. Whatever, I give up. It's too late now; she’ll get over it.”

Facing the driveway, I stopped in my tracks when I remembered that Fluttershy’s SUV was still parked out in the middle. “Damn it. Well that’s pretty much useless without the key.” I brought my attention to the Diplomat, which was the only other vehicle there, despite the fact that it shouldn’t have been.

Pinkie was standing motionless in the middle of the driveway, staring silently at me with a big smile on her face.

“Hey, scary person?”

“YUP?” she answered.

“You wouldn’t happen to know where my truck is, would you?”

The smile faded from her face rather quickly. “Uuuhhh...you might wanna ask Rarity about that.”

“Oh?” I replied, scratching my ear as I looked at the old Dodge again. “OK. Well anyway, it looks like we’re takin the Dippie to the store.”

“Yay!” Pinkie cheered, jumping shamelessly into the air.

“Hey, don’t you wanna change your clothes?” I asked, realising she was still wearing her pajamas. “Or put a bra on at the very least?”

“I can’t,” she shrugged. “If Fluttershy sees that I have clothes here, she’ll know I was here when…you know.”

I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter, you left those dishes by the-“ I stopped suddenly, feeling my ambition plummet, so I gave up on trying to argue. “Fuck it. Who cares? Let’s go,” I said quickly.

“I-get-to-ride-in-the-Dip-lomat!” she sang, skipping towards the passenger door.

I walked around the front of the car, heading for the driver’s door when I got an idea and stopped. “Hey,” I said to Pinkie, tossing her the keys once I had her attention. “You drive.”

Pinkie caught the keys and gasped. “Really!?” she squealed, looking up at me with sparkling eyes.

I nodded as I made my way back to the passenger side. “It’s all yours.”

“OOOOH! This is amazing! I am SO nervi-cited!” she squealed, prancing quickly around the front of the car, her big breasts and round derriere jiggling as she bounced along, a sight that I had to admit was pretty cute to watch.

As Pinkie opened the driver’s door to get in, I heard the front door of the house open behind me.

“Waaaaiiiit!” Fluttershy’s voice called to us.

I turned around to see her running towards me. “What’s up?”

The shy girl approached me quickly, wrapping her slender fingers around my arm. “I…I don’t wanna stay here by myself.”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine as long-”

“I know.” She nodded. “I’m not scared, I just…I wanna be with you.”

I couldn’t help but feel a fluttering in my chest after hearing this, and I cleared my throat to try to hide it. “What about the animals?”

“They’re OK. I already set some food out, and then I made them a litter box and told them where I was going.”

Seeing the need for company in her eyes made me smile. I put my arm around her, leading her to the back door. “OK, tell you what: we’ll sit together in the back, and Pinks is gonna be our chauffeur for the day. How does that sound?”

“Oh my, that sounds like fun,” she replied sweetly.

I opened the door and let her get into the back seat, then I climbed in with her. As I closed the door behind me, I felt her head come to rest on my shoulder, sending another wave of butterflies through my stomach when the familiar, floral scent of her hair wafted into my nose, reminding me that this truly was the girl I fell in love with all those months ago.

“OK,” Pinkie asked from the driver’s seat. “Is there anything wacky I need to know about this thing?”

“Yeah, it’s a piece of shit,” I replied as I wrapped my arm around the shy girl’s shoulders. “Just kidding, it drives pretty good, actually. Just give it two pumps, then start it.”

Pinkie did as instructed and started the car, then threw her fists triumphantly into the air. “Wooohooo!” she howled, followed by a giggle. “Whoa!” she exclaimed suddenly, looking through the windshield over the seemingly never-ending expanse of hood. “This car is huge!” She pointed over the dash and turned her head to face us. “See? Look! This thing’s like a freaking jumbo jet!”

Fluttershy and I exchanged glances after snickering quietly at our friend, then she closed her eyes and leaned closer, planting a slow, tender kiss on my lips. After that, she smiled contently and rested her head on my shoulder again.

When I returned my eyes to the front seat, I noticed that Pinkie had taken out her cell phone and was holding it to her mouth like an intercom while talking in a smooth, deep voice.

“Good afternoon folks uuuuuhhhh this is your pilot, Captain Pie speaking; uuuuhhh today, we’ll be headed from Fluttershy’s house to the grocery store to get some yummy treats for the party tonight...uuuuuhhhh radar looks good, and we’ll be expecting clear and sunny skies for the duration of our trip...uuuuhhh as always, please enjoy your flight and uh, thank you for choosing the car that uuuuhhh smells like cat shit.”

Author's Note

Crazy story:
OK, so like most chapters, I had this one brewing in my mind for a few months before writing it, including the parts that mention Godzilla, and the actor who played him, Haruo Nakajima.
So, August 7th was the day that I actually wrote the part where Pinkie mentions him, and when I typed his name out, I wasn't sure if I was spelling it right, so I Googled him just to make sure.
Now, as far as I knew, he was still alive, (although old) but when I brought up his profile on Google, I was surprised to find out that he had in fact died...on August 7th, 2017.
So I'm looking at it, and I'm like: "Huh, I didn't know he died, that's pretty recent, too." *looks at date at lower right of laptop screen*

"WHAT? THAT'S TODAY??"
What are the odds that he passed away on the exact day, possibly even within hours of me finally getting to write this chapter?
Anyway, in all seriousness, I was pretty bummed to hear that the original suit actor is gone. He was pretty much the only person they could find who had the physical endurance to do such a job.

Suit acting was not an easy gig; the original Godzilla suit from 1954 weighed over 200 lbs and was so stiff he could barely move in it, and the fatigue it caused him was quite extreme. There were times he had passed out, and/or had to have stage hands literally pull him out of the suit because he couldn't move anymore, and that was after doing a take that maybe lasted a only minute or two. They had to put a drain in the bottom of the suit to let the sweat out, and the inside was rough, lined with wire mesh and other uncomfortable materials, which would rub his skin raw and cause him to bleed, AND on top of all that, his head was in the neck of the suit and all they gave him to see out of was a bunch of tiny little holes, so he was basically blind while trying to do his takes.
Now here's the thing, those miniature cities took weeks to build sometimes, and if he ever tripped or messed up a take, they would have to spend weeks rebuilding the mini-set before they could try the take again.
Needless to say, Pinkie was bending the truth a bit when she said it was the best job ever, but it certainly was rewarding.

As a side note, fun fact: part of this chapter was written in Windsor, Ontario, in a hotel right next the Detroit River, where the GM Headquarters sat in direct line of sight from my window.

Chapter 83: The Sleepover - Part 1

Chapter 83

A day with Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy was a fun, but interesting prospect, to say the least.

Pinkie did a satisfactory job of driving the old car...at least I think she did. To be honest, I can’t say for sure how well she did since I spent most of the trip to Canterlot in the back seat with Fluttershy, lost in her sparkling eyes and cotton-candy hair.

The only time the shy girl acted out-of-sorts was when we passed the curve with the bent guard-rail, where she’d lost her battle with seven CIA agents and ended up captured.

Something about that event bothered me. It happened in the middle of the woods, with literal armies of animals surrounding them. How is it that Fluttershy failed to escape? It just didn’t make sense to me. As curious as I was about it, however, I was happy to have her at my side again and both of us were in high-spirits, so I decided not to ask her any difficult questions.

At the grocery store, Fluttershy and I got ourselves a cart and sauntered around the store like an elderly couple, enjoying the leisurely pace of the day together. For the most part, we kept our distance from Pinkie, mostly due to the fact that the party-girl insisted on getting around the store by skipping, no matter how many times Fluttershy and I reminded her that she wasn’t wearing a bra and was therefore only one cell phone shot away from being featured on 'PeopleofWalmart.com.'

After gathering everything we needed, paying and then loading the groceries into the car, we headed back to the shy girl’s house and brought everything inside. I then left Pinkie and Fluttershy to sort everything out and put away what was unneeded, hopping into the Diplomat once again to head back to my shop to build a metal saw-horse that would stand over the fire pit and suspend a large cast-iron pot above the heat, which I planned on cooking the steaks in.

Upon my return to Fluttershy’s, I found Rarity’s car parked in the driveway. Rainbow Dash was standing by the front door of the house, enjoying the outdoor air. Today, she was wearing her usual outfit, adjusted for the fall season of course; a short fuchsia skirt with white stripes down the sides and a pair of black leggings underneath, topped off by a white, long-sleeved shirt under her favourite blue jacket.

Once I parked and got out of the car, the rainbow-haired girl left the front door and appeared by my side in an instant, leaving a rainbow coloured streak in her wake.

“Dafuq’s goin on, Golds?” she greeted cheerfully, chuckling as she leaned down to look through the rear side window. “Whatcha got in the back seat?”

After recovering from her unexpected approach, I reached out to open the back door. “It’s for cooking over the fire,” I replied. “Could you give me a hand? I gotta take it to the backyard and put it together.”

“Sure,” Dash said, reaching into the back seat to grab one of the A-frames.

As she did so, I rested my forearm on the car’s roof and began to explain the contraption. “Yeah I had to build it in pieces becau-“

I stopped abruptly when she took off like a shot, leaving a trail of colours that led around the house and into the backyard.

“Hm.” I chewed the inside of my cheek as I glanced toward the corner of the house, waiting for her to come back.

Seconds later, Dash returned to my side with another trail of colours bringing up the rear. “Sorry Golds, what were you saying?” she asked, reaching into the car to pick up the next piece.

“Uh, I was saying it wouldn’t fit in this car-“

Again, she sped away in mid-sentence, leaving me alone in the driveway, talking to myself a second time. Sighing, I drummed my fingers impatiently on the metal roof, waiting for Rainbow Dash to return for the next part of the stand.

She zoomed around the house and returned to the car again, snickering when she saw the look on my face as she reached in to pick up the final piece of the stand. I paused this time, waiting for her to take off again; but instead, she stood there for a moment, looking as though she was waiting for me to continue.

Falling for it, I began to speak. “So, like I was sayin-“

ZOOM!

Dash took off like a shot and left me standing in her dust for a third time, rolling my eyes at my own naïveté.

As I watched the ribbon of colours fade away, a smirk crossed my face as an idea for getting her back began to formulate. After waiting a few seconds for her predicted return, I began speaking, starting mid-sentence to look as though I’d been talking the whole time she was gone.

“-and totally splooged on her ass!” I laughed, just as she returned to my side, chortling at her own trick before picking up on what I said.

“Haha! I got you aga…wait, WHAT?” she exclaimed, turning to me with wide eyes.

“Oh nothing,” I said, shaking my head as I reached into the back seat to grab the box of wrenches and bolts, handing it to her.

“No seriously,” she insisted, taking the box. “Who splooged on whose ass?”

“Well, if you’d stuck around to listen, then you would’ve heard, wouldn’t you?” I replied, reaching into the car one more time to retrieve the large, cast iron pot with a heavy chain coiled up inside.

As I nudged the door shut with my hip, Dash let out an exasperated snort. “Oh whatever, Dad!” she chided as I carried the pot around the car and headed for the backyard.

“Walk with me, Dashie,” I said, glancing back at her.

She jogged a few steps to catch up, jingling noisily as the hardware bounced around inside the box she carried.

“So like I was saying,” I continued, “I had to build this thing in sections because it wouldn’t fit in the car in one piece, and I don’t seem know where my truck is at the moment.”

“Ah,” Dash chuckled, glancing at me. “You might wanna ask ‘Little Miss Turbodiesel’ about that.”

“Who?”

“Heh. Rarity,” Dash chuckled. “She was driving it quite a bit while you were gone.”

“Really?” I asked, confused. “I thought she hated my truck?”

“I dunno,” she shrugged. “All I know is she borrowed it to go to the city to pick up a shipment of supplies for her shop or something.”

”Ah...the materials for the suits,” I realised, staring at the ground as I walked along.

“She even showed up at my apartment at the crack of dawn that day trying to get me to go with her,” Dash continued, “but I had to stay home cuz I felt super shitty that morning. I think she ended up taking Pinkie Pie instead.”

“Oh yeah…” I replied absentmindedly as we arrived in the backyard, stopping next to the fire pit. “That makes sense, actually.”

“What does?” She set the box down in the grass.

“Well, I asked Pinks where my truck was this morning and she said to ask Rare, which made no sense to me so I didn’t really listen to her,” I explained.

“Heh! Yeah, no one really listens to Pinkie. Everyone thinks she’s nuts,” Dash replied, reaching up to tighten her pony tail. “Which isn’t too far from the truth; I’d go nuts too if I lived in that house.”

I was propping up one end of the stand to bolt it together, occasionally glancing at Dash as she talked. “Yeah, she mentioned something about that this morning; about how her family gets under her skin sometimes. Did you know she was staying here while Flutters was gone?”

Dash nodded. “Yeah,” she replied, watching me use the wrenches to tighten the bolts. “Hey, if you’re so strong, why can’t you tighten those bolts without using tools?”

I glanced at her briefly before answering. “Because my fingertips tend to flatten the bolt heads. Then it’s hard to loosen them again, and you can’t get a wrench on them once they’re deformed.”

“Ah,” she nodded, watching me line up the other end of the stand to fasten it together.

“Hm, well...” I mumbled. “I guess I’d better ask Rare about my truck when I get inside, eh? She is in the house, right?”

“Yeah. We just got here a few minutes before you.”

I nodded, then spent a couple minutes tightening and re-checking the bolts, after which I tossed the tools into the box. “So,” I began, then paused before deciding to take the risk of asking Rainbow Dash a personal question. “Does using your speed like that bother your ankle?”

She stared at me for a moment, then folded her arms across her chest when she gathered that I must have heard about her injury. “Uhh...no,” she replied, gently kicking a twig that sat in the grass near her foot. “My magic kind of protects it. It actually hurts more when I run normal.”

“Oh,” I muttered, turning back to inspect the stand.

“Um…how did you know about that?” she asked, looking a tad vulnerable.

It was a look I’d never seen on Rainbow Dash’s face before. Normally, she had an air of confidence about her that was so profound it border-lined on arrogance, or even narcissism, but now, she looked so defenseless I actually felt remorseful for bringing it up.

“Um…the others told me about it,” I confessed.

“Oh,” Dash replied quietly, rubbing the back of her neck. “Yeah, that whole thing sucked. It’s OK though, it was pretty easy to get through; all I had to do was give up on my dreams n’ stuff.” She forced an awkward chuckle.

I sighed, wishing I hadn’t opened my mouth; the mood was more sombre now, and it was my fault. “Sorry I brought it up, Dashie. And please don’t be mad at the others for telling me.”

She brought her gaze up, locking onto me with those striking cerise eyes. Finally, after staring long enough to make me feel a bit of discomfort, a smirk began to spread across one side of her face.

“Nah, it’s cool. You were gonna find out eventually, right? No biggie,” she shrugged.

“Yeah, I guess.”

The stand was ready by then, so I picked it up and placed it over the pit so it straddled the pile of wood, waiting patiently to be burnt. “Listen,” I said. “You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

Dash nodded, but remained silent.

“I’ve known a LOT of people,” I continued. “And I’ve seen some of them go through some pretty fucked-up shit, so there’s really nothing you could tell me that’s gonna put me off, or make me think you’re crazy or anything like that. Anything goes, Dashie...anytime you wanna talk.”

“OK. Thanks man.”

When I glanced over at her again, I noticed she was biting her lip as if something was on her mind. I was about to ask her if something was up, but just then we heard the sound of a noisy old V-8 rumbling into the driveway.

Dash’s eyes lit up suddenly. “AJ’s here!”

ZOOM!

I chuckled and shook my head after she sped away to meet her friend. A second later however, the rainbow-haired girl zipped back to the fire pit. “She’s on her way back here.”

About half a minute later, Applejack rounded the corner of the house with a scowl on her face, her arms spread in exasperation. She was wearing her hat, of course, as well as her white button-up shirt with the green shoulders and a pair of dirty, worn-out jeans. “What the hell, Dash? I was tryin ta fuckin talk ta ya!”

“Hey, chillax, AJ!” Dash replied, chuckling. “What were you saying?”

“Well, I was tryin ta tell ya about mah day,” Applejack continued as she stepped up beside me. “Hey sugarcube,” she greeted shortly, nodding.

“Hey,” I replied as Dash came up behind us and hopped up to snatch the Stetson off Applejack’s head, then plopped it down on mine.

I chuckled at Dash’s antics, shaking my head as the smell of the farm girl’s hat wafted into my senses. Apparently, dust, cigar smoke and a hint of sweat was the order of the day when it came to Applejack’s choice of scents.

Applejack was not impressed. “HEY! Git that off a’ him!” She quickly snatched the hat back, almost yanking me off my feet in the process.

“Jeez!” I grunted, staggering sideways. It was a rare thing for me to be thrown off-balance like that, but if anyone had the strength to do it, it was AJ.

“He don’t wanna wear that filthy fuckin thing!” she scolded, giving the hat a couple slaps to knock the dust out of it before placing it back on her matted hair.

After seeing her friend’s response, a less jovial Rainbow Dash's asked: “Something wrong, AJ?”

“Yeah, there is!” Applejack replied, turning to Dash with a sharp glare. “I’m fuckin madder ‘n a wet hen over here, but you wouldn’t know that since ya ran off while I was tryin ta tell ya ‘bout it.”

Rainbow Dash glanced at me for a second, to which I returned a shrug. “Well...sorry,” she said, turning back to the farm girl. “I was just messin around; I didn't know you were in such a bad mood.”

“Aw...it’s alright,” Applejack replied, putting her hands on her hips as she studied the cooking stand.

“Well, what’s eatin ya?” Dash asked.

“Aw, Filthy Rich is bein a thorn in mah side again,” she explained. “He showed up at the farm this afternoon—rollin up in his goddamn fuckin limo like owns the place...” She paused and gave her head a shake. “Anyway...he gets out and starts runnin his mouth at me and Big Mac, thinkin he’s gonna start tellin us all about ourselves...”

Dash rolled her eyes. “Ugh, what’s his fucking problem now?”

“Same as b’fore,” Applejack answered, “another shipment of cider with broken jars in it.”

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Dash groaned and shook her head. “Ugh! Why don’t you just switch to us?” she asked. “I keep telling you, I can get your shit delivered faster, cheaper, AND safer than those retards ever could.”

“I know, I know,” Applejack replied, “but Granny has the final say in that, and she’s been using the same shipper fer years and she don’t wanna switch.”

“Yeah, but they’re costing you guys money! And if you lose that contract with Filthy Rich, you’re gonna be outta some huge coin,” Rainbow Dash argued.

“I know. They did a great job for a long time, but the people they got workin there now are fuckin morons,” Applejack replied before turning her attention to me. “What’s this gizmo you got goin on here?”

“I’m gonna cook with it,” I replied, glancing away from the heavy pot, which I was in the process of hanging over the pit.

“I thought you were cookin steak and eggs?” Applejack asked. “What’s with the pot?”

“I am. It’s an old German recipe,” I replied, “but I’m cooking it American style; it’s a dish that became popular after the Germans immigrated to the southern states in the nineteenth century.”

Rainbow Dash lightly tapped Applejack on the arm with the back of her hand to bring the farm girl back to their conversation. “Hey, you want me to talk to Granny about switching shippers?”

“Uh,” Applejack paused, turning away from the pot to glance at Dash. “Nah. That won’t do ya any good. Granny’s pretty stuck in her ways. I appreciate the offer, Dash, but I think it’s best ta just leave it be fer now.”

“Fine,” Dash said, folding her arms.

“Ta be honest, I don’t even wanna think about it right now,” Applejack confessed. “I just wanna have a good time. Who else is here?”

“Uh...Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are in the house,” Dash answered. “And Sunset and Twilight are on the way, as far as I know.”

“Hm...well, I reckon it’s about time ta head inside,” Applejack said, turning to me. “How’s Fluttershy doin? She feelin better?”

“Yeah, she’s pretty much back to normal,” I replied. “We had ourselves a little heart-to-heart chat, and she eventually came around.”

“Aw that’s great to hear, sugarcube.” She glanced at the cooking contraption for a brief moment, then let out a sigh. “A’ight...I think I’m gonna go in n’ see her.”

“Hey,” Dash interrupted, with a mischievous tone. “I’m guessing after your heart-to-heart, you guys had a little dick-to-pussy action, eh?”

I turned to her with a smirk as she let out a suggestive chuckle. “Uh yeah, there may have been a bit of that going on,” I replied. “Very tactful, by the way; thanks for that.”

Applejack shook her head, letting out a quiet laugh.

“Anyway, I’m pretty much done here,” I continued, “I’m gonna head inside too. I gotta ask Rare where the hell my truck is.”

“Heh!” Applejack chuckled, adjusting her hat as she headed for the front yard. “Yeah, Rarity was quite the diesel dyke fer a bit there while you was gone.”

“Well, she’s bi, technically,” I joked, following her around the house with Dash at my side.

“No shit,” Applejack replied flatly. “I’ll be right in, you guys. There’s some apple fritters in the truck. I’m ‘a go grab ‘em.”

*****

In the house, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity were sitting at the table in that order, with Pinkie closest to the couch, and all three facing the counter.

Pinkie had changed by then, and was now wearing her white shirt with the heart on the front, the little blue jacket overtop and her pink skirt underneath.

Rarity had changed for work that morning and therefore had her hair styled in that always-elegant coiffure. She was wearing the loose, light-coloured shirt as always, with her purple skirt completing the ensemble.

“In the hotel shower?” Rarity was asking Fluttershy.

“Oh, yes,” the shy girl replied, clutching her hands to her chest with eyelids all-a-flutter. “He took such good care of me, Rare...”

“And he cleaned you off, like…everywhere, darling?” Rarity pried.

“Um, yes.” The shy girl nodded, blushing slightly. “He washed my hair, my face, my body, even my…”—red-faced, she lowered voice to a whisper and ducked her head before continuing— “e-even my bum.”

“WOW! Now that’s love!” Pinkie jumped in.

With impeccable timing, the front door opened and Rainbow Dash stepped inside, followed by me.

The sweet, aromatic smell of baking filled the house, bombarding mine and Dash’s nostrils with the mouth-watering scent, sending the rainbow-haired girl into a lip-licking frenzy as she bounced up behind Pinkie and Fluttershy.

“Oh my god, you guys!” she shouted, putting her face between her friends’. She hooked her arms around their necks to pull them close, sandwiching her cheeks between theirs. “What in the actual fuck have you two been baking in here? It smells totally awesome!”

“Why don’t you go see for yourself, Dashie?” Pinkie giggled, pointing to a tin foil covered platter on the counter.

Dash stood upright and gasped excitedly, then she zoomed around the table towards the mysterious dish.

Meanwhile, I had approached Rarity from her right, leaning around her to plant a kiss on her cheek as she watched Dash uncover the treasure beneath the foil.

“Ooh!” she squealed, turning to face me with a giggle. “There you are, darling!”

“How was work?” I asked. “Did you get those dresses figured out?”

“Ah yes,” she replied, rolling her eyes with a limp-wristed wave. “My goodness, such drama queens they were! The difference in size between the two who had the mix-up was so minor, they probably could have simply worn them as is. But, being the generous individual that I am, I made the changes and got them on their way.”

I nodded. “Yeah, that’s cool. Good job. So where the hell’s my truck?”

Rarity looked rather stunned. She stared at me with pinpointed pupils, which then began to dart rapidly around the room. “I-I’m sorry? Oh! Uh, your truck, uh, heh heh! It’s...er, in town, parked behind the boutique.”

“...OK.”

“I…I needed to borrow it, darling. Was that OK? Did I overstep my bounds?”

“Nah,” I replied, rubbing her shoulder. “It just would have been nice to have it here is all. There’s no key for Flutters’ car, so we had to take that old Diplomat to town for groceries, and I’m pretty sure we spent more on gas than the actual food.”

“Oh...my apologies, heh!” she replied, looking slightly relieved. “I didn’t mean to cause you any inconvenience, my love, but I simply cannot imagine your truck being any more efficient than that car; I found it to be quite hard on fuel myself.”

“Well, only if you drive the bag off it.”

The fashionista’s eyes widened again. “Er…well, I-I mean, uh...” She glanced down at the tabletop, stuttering anxiously.

“Anyway,” I continued, paying no attention to her response, “I’m gonna need it this week cuz Flutters’ car needs to have a new key programmed at the dealer, and we’re not paying a fortune to have it towed all the way to town, so I was gonna grab the trailer from my place and take it on that.”

“Ah. I see,” Rarity replied. “You will be needing your truck for that task, I suppose. Well, I will be at the boutique on Monday. Would it be possible to meet me there in the morning and I can give you the keys then?”

“Sure.”

“OK then! I…I shall see you Monday morning, bright and early!” she said with a smile, just as the front door opened again.

As Applejack entered, carrying a gym bag and a tray of apple pastries, Rarity leapt from her seat to approach the farm girl.

“Applejack!” Rarity greeted enthusiastically. “How are you, darling? It is SO good to see you!”

AJ, caught off-guard and looking a bit overwhelmed, scowled in response to the greeting. “Uh, I’m good Rarity, thanks. Now could ya please back the fuck up?”

“Ah! Truly sorry.” Rarity retreated a step or two. “Can I take your tray for you?”

“Nah, I’m good,” Applejack replied, slinging the bag over her shoulder so she could take her hat off and then hang it on the coat rack. After kicking her boots off, she turned to look briefly at everyone and then put a smile on her face, heading towards Fluttershy. “Howdy Fluttershy!” she greeted. “Feelin better?”

“Oh!” Fluttershy replied, turning to face her friend. “Um, yes. I feel wonderful, Applejack! Thanks.”

“Glad ta hear it, sugarcube. Listen, I’d love ta chat fer a bit, but I wanted ta ask a favour first.”

“Um, a favour?” Fluttershy asked.

“D’ya mind if I use yer shower?”

The shy girl’s eyebrows went up, followed by a nod. “Oh! Yes, of course. Help yourself.”

“Sorry, I didn’t have time before I left home,” Applejack explained. “I had a shitty day with things goin on at the farm and what not, and I just had ta get outta there.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Applejack. Did you wanna talk about it, um…later?” Fluttershy asked.

AJ smiled at the offer. “Nah, I just need ta warsh up; then I’m gonna relax, hang out with you guys and not think about it. Thanks fer the offer though, Fluttershy.”

“Oh. OK, um…n-no problem,” Fluttershy replied as Applejack reached over the table with the tray of pastries.

“Here, have some fuckin fritters,” she said quickly, dropping the plate on the table with a loud clunk. Then she headed down the hall with the gym bag over her shoulder.

Dash rolled her eyes after the blonde left the room. “God, she’s in a mood, eh?”

“Indeed,” Rarity agreed, returning to her seat as the rainbow-haired girl transferred the plate from the counter to the table, then peeled the foil off.

“YES, PINKIE!” Dash cheered, throwing her fists in the air. “YOU MADE BEAR TURDS!”

The rest of us, even Pinkie stared at her in silence, watching her pick one of the up treats to take a bite.

They looked something like a doughnut, except log-shaped, and were obviously chocolate cake based. Mixed into the crust were what appeared to be bits of nuts and berries of some sort, making me realise pretty quickly why Dash had given them such a name.

”Gross…”

“OOOOOHHH!!!” Pinkie howled suddenly, followed by a fit of laughter as she hunched over, clutching her stomach. “Now I get it! Bear turds! Cuz there’s nuts and berries mixed in! HAHAHAHA! You’re so funny, Dashie! Now I know why you’ve been calling them that all these years!”

Dash cocked a brow at the party-girl. “Uuh, yeah Pinkie. Why else would I call them that?” she asked with a full mouth.

“It totally looks like...” —Pinkie paused to laugh some more— “it looks like a huge bear just got up on the table and squatted over the plate and took a giant crunch! HEHEHEHE!”

Dash let out a loud, full-mouthed cackle, sliding the tray towards Fluttershy and Rarity to offer them some.

Fluttershy took one. She had spent the afternoon helping Pinkie make them, so she knew exactly what was in them and was looking forward to having one.

Rarity, however, grimaced.

“What’s up, Rare?” Dash asked. “Don’t you want one?”

“Ehhh,” Rarity cringed. “I’m afraid not, thank you. I am…struggling somewhat, with the mental image you two have just created.”

“Heh, suit yourself,” Dash replied with a shrug. She offered one to me next. “Come on, Golds, go for it!”

“Alright; I guess I’ll sample one of your turds, ladies,” I replied, smirking as I picked one up.

Holding it in my hand, I couldn’t help but notice how much it really did look like animal shit. “It’s warm…” I said, glancing up at Dash, who laughed out loud at my look of disgust as I closed my eyes, forcing myself to take a bite while trying not to snicker. It was a pleasant surprise, however; the crust was crunchy, as were the nuts that were interspersed throughout, and it had a sweet, sugary glaze on the outside that played well against the tartness of the berries. What stopped me in my tracks, though, was the soft, gooey center.

“What is that?” I asked with a full mouth.

“What’s what?” Dash replied.

“Why is it gooey in the middle?”

“It’s like a lava cake!” Pinkie replied, turning to me.

“Ah,” I replied, nodding slowly as I looked at the cross-section where I’d taken the bite from.

*****

About twenty minutes later, the shower had stopped. Applejack was drying off and dressing herself in Fluttershy’s room.

The rest of us had moved to the couch by then and were busy loading YouTube videos on the TV, having fun chatting and laughing together. Fluttershy had assumed her position on the chaise lounge, curled up in the corner with Rarity next to her, resting her head on the shy girl’s shoulder, their legs intertwined and stretched out on the cushion. I was seated to the left of Rarity, my right hand joined with hers while holding a bear turd in my left.

“These are friggin good Pinks, despite the name,” I said, giving the pink girl a nod of approval.

Pinkie was at the far end of the couch, looking my way with a big, toothy smile on her face. Dash was seated next to her, leaving a fairly wide space in the middle of the couch.

I turned to Rarity. “Psst!”

The fashionista turned her head part way to see what I wanted.

“You want a bite of my turd, Rare?” I asked, holding it out to offer her a piece.

Rarity snorted quietly, rolling her eyes as she went back to relaxing on her girlfriend’s shoulder, enjoying her body heat.

Eventually, Applejack emerged from the hall and made her way around the end of the couch, running a brush through her long, wet hair.

I was shocked by how different she looked compared to her typical dirty, farm-girl self.

First of all, she was clean. This alone made a tremendous difference, bringing out the shine in her surprisingly pretty emerald eyes while making her freckles more vivid against her tanned skin. She wore some fairly comfortable-looking long-sleeved pajamas, coloured in royal blue and covered in a pattern of light blue apples. They were just form-fitting enough to show off her tall, yet surprisingly feminine figure, while still being loose enough to hide her muscular physique. It was obvious that she wasn’t wearing a bra, showing off a bust that was larger than I expected, given how lean she was; though they weren’t anything quite like Sunset’s or Fluttershy’s breasts, and certainly not like Pinkie’s.

I must have been staring without realising, because it wasn’t long before I found my gaze locked squarely with her bright green eyes. “Why don’t ya take a picture, sugarcube? It’ll last longer,” she chided as she kept her head tilted slightly, running the brush through her long, golden locks.

I turned to Rarity. “Hey Rare, you got your phone on you? I have to take a picture of AJ.”

Applejack groaned, rolling her eyes as she finished brushing and then tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Ugh, it was just a figure a’ speech,” she grumbled, sitting on the couch in the space between me and Dash, who was chuckling at the exchange.

“You’re looking pretty gangster in that outfit, Applejack!” Pinkie squealed.

Applejack coughed, then let out a flat chuckle. “Heh heh, yeah you better watch yerself there, Pinkie Pie, or I’m a’ hafta bust a cap in yer big ass.” The farm girl smirked, crossing her legs as she settled in next to me. Her scent promptly wafted over; a strangely familiar one since she’d obviously used Fluttershy’s products in the shower.

“Hey,” Rainbow Dash said, turning to AJ as Pinkie continued to giggle, “you still in a shitty mood or what?”

“Well, I’m a bit better now that I’m all showered up,” Applejack sighed. After taking a moment to look around at the rest of us, she grunted quietly and shook her head. “Aw shucks; I’m sorry everyone, fer bein such a cunt tonight. I mean, yeah, I had a shitty day, but it weren’t y'all's fault, and ya’ll don’t deserve ta have me actin like this.”

“Nah, it’s cool,” Dash replied. “That Filthy Rich is a dick. I can’t believe your Granny started dealing with him even after how he acted at the camp.”

“I know,” Applejack said, shaking her head. “I warned her, but she wouldn’t listen. He’s too big of a customer. Ugh...knowin him, he probably has plans to buy our damn farm right out from under us one of these days.”

“Nuh-uh!” Dash sneered, “not as long as you’re still walking this Earth!”

“Yeah, I s’pose,” AJ mumbled, biting her lip as she folded her arms, staring at the TV screen.

“Here, let’s watch some funny shit,” Dash suggested. “That’ll get you cheered up.”

Pinkie had the controller. “What should we put on?”

“Uuhhh,” Dash rubbed her chin for a moment, staring at the ceiling as she thought to herself. Suddenly, her eyes lit up and she turned to Pinkie. “I know! Let’s watch that Knorr commercial!”

“OOH!” Pinkie giggled. “I love that one!”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Knorr commercial?”

“Just watch,” Dash assured as Pinkie brought the video up on YouTube. “You’ll love it.”

The six of us watched the video. By the end, Dash was bent forward, clutching her stomach and screeching with laughter.

Pinkie was giggling profusely as well, and I had to admit, I found it pretty amusing myself.

Even Applejack had a good, hearty chuckle over it. “Heh heh, that was pretty good.”

Dash leaned back, wiping a tear from her eye. “On my god, that’s good shit,” she said in a high-pitched whisper, out of breath from laughing.

Rarity’s attention had been captured by the video, prompting her to raise her head and look at the screen. “Goodness me, is that a real commercial?”

“Yeah,” Pinkie giggled, “I actually remember seeing it on TV when those first came out!”

The fashionista shook her head. “Well, I only ask because I’ve had those entrées and they’re quite delicious, though I simply cannot believe that was their marketing strategy.”

“It’s fucking genius,” Dash replied. “I love it.”

“Heh...yeah I hafta admit, I kinda liked that one,” AJ nodded, finally wearing a genuine smile.

“Ahh fuck…OK, what else is there?” Dash mumbled casually, glancing at Pinkie.

As Pinkie hummed to herself, trying to think of another good video, Applejack turned to me, locking her emerald-green eyes on the treat in my hand. “Did ya try one a’ mah fritters yet?” she asked, bringing her eyes up to meet mine.

I shook my head.

She scowled slightly. “Aw fer sweet apple’s sake! What in tarnation are ya waitin for?” she asked loudly, pointing to the table behind us with one hand while taking the chocolate treat from me with the other. “Here, go grab one and try it out. I’ll finish yer turd fer ya.”

“Alright alright.” I obeyed, standing up from the couch and glancing down at Rarity, whose head was resting on the shy girl’s shoulder again. “Too bad, Rare; you missed your chance. No turd for you.”

“A pity,” she replied dryly, keeping her eyes closed.

I made my way around the couch, heading to the table for one of the apple treats. After peeling the plastic wrap back, I picked one of the pastries up and gave it a try.

I was pleasantly surprised. It was soft and sticky, covered in a nice, sweet cinnamon glaze on the outside with bits of fresh-tasting apple nestled throughout.

“Very nice,” I said, to which Applejack turned around and faced me over the back of the couch.

“We don’t fuck around down at Sweet Apple Acres, let me tell ya.”

I nodded, giving her a brief smile before taking another bite.

“OOH!” Pinkie squealed suddenly. “I’ve got one!” She busied herself, quickly bringing up a new video on the TV. “It’s a shorty, but it sure is a goodie!”

I remained beside the table, leaning on it with one hand as I took another bite of the fritter. The girls sat on the couch, watching Pinkie bring up the video, which turned out to be only three seconds long.

“Haha! WHAT?” Dash cackled.

“What in the hell?” AJ shook her head, chuckling.

“I beg your pardon?” Rarity chided, lifting her head to look at the TV.

Fluttershy didn’t speak, but giggled softly, covering her mouth with her fingertips.

I shook my head, watching the four girls respond in unison to Pinkie’s video. After swallowing a mouthful of fritter, I spoke up. “That’s Japanese.”

The girls spun around to face me.

“What he just said,” I continued, pointing at the TV.

“What’s he saying?” Pinkie asked.

“'Godzilla’s leaving' or 'escaping,' or something to that affect. Like I said, it’s Japanese, but it obviously bares an unfortunate similarity to a certain English phrase,” I explained, smirking.

“I’ll say,” AJ chuckled, turning around again. “Heh! Good one, Pinkie.”

I continued to enjoy the pastry while the girls turned back to face the TV, watching as Pinkie searched for the next video. While this was going on, I heard the sound of a motorcycle approaching outside.

“That’s gotta be Sunny and Twilight,” I figured, looking over my shoulder at the front door, listening closely as the noise got louder.

I finished the apple fritter hastily, then made my way to the sink and rinsed the sticky glaze off my hands. The sound of the bike had gotten quite loud, then stopped abruptly just as I reached for the towel to dry my hands, figuring that she had parked the bike and shut it off.

Seconds later, the door opened and the lavender-skinned girl stepped inside. I had made my way back to that side of the table again, placing me fairly close to her when she came in, wearing a light blue T-shirt under an unzipped, purple hooded sweater, along with a pair of blue jeans.

She looked much different than I remembered, and the absence of her glasses quickly reminded me of our time alone together in Rarity’s bathroom, when she took them off to do the deed with me on the vanity top. Her hair was down as well —her bangs the same as always— but without her pony tail, it hung straight down her back like a short cape.

She stopped in her tracks when she saw me, looking unprepared and somewhat nervous about my presence.

“TWILIGHT!” everyone shouted from the couch in unison, drawing her eyes away from me.

“Oh, hey everybody,” she waved humbly as Sunset stepped in behind her, carrying a plastic bag with her as she shut the door.

I was struck immediately by the red-head’s appearance.

Apparently, she had a spare jacket, which she had decided to wear that night. It was a bit different than the one she’d lost, however; this one was slightly longer, and had three silver studs on each of the collars rather than the orange chevrons on the sleeves. Under the jacket was a light purple T-shirt with the red and yellow sun on it; hanging below that was an orange pencil skirt with two slanted stripes off to the side, one yellow and one light purple, like the shirt.

Her hair and make-up were very nicely done. After being on the road together for so long, neither of us cared about our appearance after a few weeks, so I had gotten fairly accustomed to her natural face as a result. But now, she stood before me with subtle eye shadow and mascara framing her big turquoise eyes, her olive cheeks smoothed by a powdery concealer, and her lips darkened by a deep crimson lipstick. Her hair was styled as usual, albeit neater than what it typically was on the road, with those darker layers underneath still remaining from the dye.

As she kicked her tall, black and purple boots off, Twilight’s voice sounded from my right, stealing my attention away from the red-head.

“Um, hi Golds.”

I turned to meet her violet eyes with mine, suddenly feeling a bit awkward in her presence. “Oh hey,” I said, flashing a quick smile, “how’s it going, Twi?...Light?”

“I’m good!” she replied with a nervous smile. “It’s good to see that you guys made it home...and you got Fluttershy back all safe-and-sound,” —she paused for a quick second— “well, I mean, she would have been safe regardless, but…I mean, like, she’s home…now. Which is good!”

I bit my lip, then nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, it’s good. Definitely good; I uh...double checked.”

We stood in silence for a moment, fidgeting nervously as we purposely looked past each other, avoiding eye contact.

Sunset had taken position to the side of us by then, shaking her head with a smirk on her face.

Twilight noticed this, and decided to force the conversation to resume. “Sooo,” she said, bringing her index finger up to rub her earlobe. “I uh, haven’t seen you for quite a while.”

I drew a quick breath. “Uh yeah, no…yeah,” I stumbled, “It’s been a couple months, at least.”

“Yeah...actually, I think the last time we saw each other was-“ she stopped abruptly, her eyes widening. “Uh…I-I mean, we, um…nevermind.”

“Yeah…” I said, pausing for a second. “I uh...yeah.”

“Heh...um…” She seemed to be struggling to think of something to say, and she began to rub the back of her neck as she glanced at the treats on the table.

“So you’re not wearing your, uh…” I waved my index finger around my eyes, indicating that I was referring to her glasses.

“Oh! Right,” she replied, raising her eyebrows when she realised I hadn’t seen her without them yet. “Yeah, turns out I don’t need them anymore. Pretty crazy, eh?”

“Yeah. Who’d have thought?” I replied, chuckling slightly.

“I know,” she agreed. “It’s crazy though, I feel like I’m still wearing them sometimes,” —she let out a giggle— “I keep reaching up to adjust them and they’re not there!”

“Oh yeah,” I said, rubbing my chin. “What’s that called? When you feel like you still have something on even after it’s gone?”

“Stimulus adaptation.”

“Oh yeah,” I replied, snapping my finger and pointing at her. “Stegosaurus addiction. That’s... that’s right.”

Sunset snorted suddenly, followed by a groan as she rubbed her forehead.

Twilight giggled, wringing her hands as she looked down at the floor.

“I like it,” I said quickly, trying to recover. “You look good like this.”

“Oh,” she replied, looking at me again, surprised somewhat by the compliment. “Um, thanks,” she said, her cheeks flushing as she began to twirl her index finger through that wavy lock of hair by her ear.

”Shit...” I began to worry that I’d gone too far, which brought the awkwardness of the situation to nearly unbearable levels. ”I gotta get outta here.”

Sunset remained at the side, rolling her eyes at us.

“OK well,” I said, gesturing to the deserted corner by the door, where the shoe mats and coat racks sat. “Uh, I’m just gonna go over there for a bit, and uh," —I gestured to the couch next— "why don't you go have a seat and mingle and make yourself at home, and uh, there’spopinthefridge.”

Sunset glanced at the fridge, Twilight glanced at the couch, then they both looked at me with furrowed brows as I passed them on my way to the corner.

Once alone, I began straightening out the girls’ boots, starting with Applejack's, since she’d kicked them off rather haphazardly when she came in.

Twilight did as suggested and made her way to the couch as Sunset joined me in the corner, folding her arms.

“Well, thanks for not making that weird,” she sighed.

I glanced up at her. “What? It wasn’t weird.”

“Uh, yeah it was,” she replied sternly.

I straightened myself up. “Nah, Sunny. That’s crazy talk. You’re crazy.”

“Crazy talk?” she huffed. “Those are bold words coming from you: Mr. ‘Stegosaurus adoption’ or whatever the fuck you just said.”

“Ugh...” I groaned, mumbling to myself as I bent to straighten out more of the footwear. “I don’t even know where the fuck that came from. It wasn’t even remotely close to what she said.“

“It was kind of cute, to be honest,” Sunset confessed, smirking.

“What? Me and Twilight?”

“No,” she shook her head, “well, maybe a little, but I was mostly talking about you.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. I mean...toughest guy on the planet, reduced to a nervous wreck by a nerdy little girl,” the red-head chuckled.

“Well,” I scowled a bit, looking down at the floor. “It’s just…I don’t know.”

Pinkie appeared at our sides suddenly. “Hey, Sunset Shimmer...” she greeted with a sly, yet cheerful tone and a wide smile.

“Hey Pinkie,” Sunset replied, returning a smile to the party-girl.

“Hey,” Pinkie whispered, leaning closer to Sunset. “Are you two gonna sneak off and do it later?”

Sunset gasped deeply, turning to me with eyes like saucers.

I groaned, shaking my head. “Thanks Pinks, I really appreciate that,” I said sarcastically.

The party-girl shrugged. “What?”

“Wait, everybody knows?!” Sunset asked me, whispering loudly.

“No, just Pinks,” I said, shaking my head.

“How does she know? How do you know?” she asked, turning to Pinkie for the second one.

“Pinks was here when we got home, and we didn’t know cuz she was laying down on the couch where we couldn’t see her,” I explained quickly, “and she overheard Flutters and I talking about it.”

“Ugh,” Sunset groaned, rubbing her face. “That’s just great. This is so embarrassing.”

Pinkie waved her off. “Not as embarrassing as what Goldie and Fluttershy were doing when they were talking about you!”

Sunset stopped to look at the party-girl, who was now pointing at the table.

“Uh, actually Pinks, you don’t need to-“

“They were going at it like rabbits right there by the table,” Pinkie explained, “and Fluttershy was saying all kinds of crazy, sexy stuff and I was RIGHT THERE ON THE COUCH THE WHOLE TIME!”

“SHHHHH!” I glanced at the couch to see if anyone else had heard, which they didn’t, fortunately.

Sunset was laughing by that point. “Ha! Are you serious? That’s hilarious! HAHAHAHA!”

Pinkie joined in slowly, her giggles building intensity until eventually, she was laughing giddily along with the red-head. “Hahahahaha...AH-HAHAHAHAHA!”

I sighed, shaking my head as I looked at the floor, waiting for them to get it out of their systems.

“Haha! Wow Pinkie, what did you think of that?” Sunset asked between snickers.

Pinkie’s laughter stopped instantly, her eyes wide. “Scary.”

“Serves you right; fuckin weirdo,” I grumbled as Sunset continued to snicker.

“HEY SUNSET!” Dash yelled, after turning around on the couch to face us. “You’re wearing your old ‘bad girl’ outfit! I didn’t think you still had that one!”

“Oh yeah, well I lost my other jacket in Tucson, so this one’s the only one I have; and I figured if I’m wearing it, I might as well bring out the whole ensemble.”

“Looking good!” Dash complimented, adding a thumbs up.

I glanced at Sunset again, taking in the sight of her made-up face and hair, and I was struck again by how beautiful she looked.

The red-head’s voice abruptly pulled me out of my trance, and I gave my head a quick shake. “Sorry, what?”

“Where’s your truck?” Sunset asked again. “I thought you left it here when we left for the mission; didn’t I have to pick you up here in the rental car?”

“Yeah, it’s in town. I guess Rare borrowed it to pick something up or something,” I replied, to which Pinkie jumped in with a reply of her own.

“Yeah, I was with her that day!”

“Hey, I hear that thing’s got some serious balls,” Dash shouted from the couch, “and that Rarity was driving the hell out of it!”

The fashionista perked up from her spot on the lounge, looking quite perturbed by the conversation. “Uh, darlings, could we please change the subje-“

“YEAH!” Pinkie squealed overtop of everyone. “It IS fast! That time I was with her, she actually made the Kessel Run in twelve parsecs!”

Dash let out a loud chuckle at the reference, followed by an unaware Twilight turning around on the couch to face us.

“Um, actually, Pinkie Pie, a parsec is a measurement of distance, not time,” the lavender-skinned girl corrected.

Pinkie waved her off. “Aw, you don’t get it, Twilight!”

Twilight paused and arched a brow, then turned slowly to face the TV again.

The red-head chuckled as Pinkie skipped back to the couch to sit next to Rainbow Dash, who had found another video to watch.

Sunset and I stood alone in the corner for a moment, watching the group having fun together in front of the TV.

I brought my eyes back to her after a moment, looking her outfit up and down once more before my eyes settled on her face. “You look nice,” I said.

She stopped and looked at me, unprepared for the compliment. Then, to my delight, her cheeks began to darken and she smirked bashfully, looking down at the floor.

“And you look the same,” she replied, giving me a light elbow to the ribs.

I cleared my throat. “Oh, yeah I’ve been busy all day. Haven’t had a chance to clean up or change yet.”

“Hm.” She smirked.

“You wanna sit, Sunny?” I asked, gesturing to the table.

“Sure.”

So we sat at the table together, watching the girls over the back of the couch, who were watching another video. I wasn’t paying much attention to what it was, though it sounded like a documentary of some sort, which I found strange, given that they’d been enjoying mostly funny videos thus far.

It felt strange to be with Sunset in a social setting. After being on the mission with her for so long, we’d gotten accustomed to spending most of our time planning and prioritizing, but now, we were free to relax and enjoy ourselves, and I found myself worried that we might not know how. It was like hanging out with a co-worker; you spend the majority of your time at work every day talking to them about the tasks at hand, but when hanging out with them at a barbecue or a bar, you don’t really know what to talk about. It can become quite awkward.

“Um...did you want a fritter, Sunny?” I asked, sliding the plate towards her.

“Oh, nah I’m good.”

I nodded and pulled the other plate closer. “OK, then can interest you in a delicious turd?”

“Uh...no, I had a yellow snow-cone on the way here, thanks.”

Despite the levity, I got the sense that Sunset felt the same awkwardness as me. She turned to me for a moment, looking as though she was trying to think of something to say. As she did so, however, I saw a familiar look begin to spark in her eyes, and she opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Rainbow Dash, who had sped over to the table, stifling her laughter.

“Hey guys, check it out!” she whispered, pointing at the lavender-skinned girl. “We’re pranking Twilight!”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Oh no...what are you doing to her, Dash?”

Snickering, Dash turned to point at the TV. “We put on an Eric Dubay video!”

“Who in tartarus is Eric Dubay?” the redhead asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“He’s a ‘Flat Earther!’” Dash snorted, her composure nearly slipping away before she caught it with a hand over her mouth.

Sunset let her head tip back, eyes closed. “Oh fuck, Dash! Don’t make Twi watch that shit; you’re gonna give her a brain aneurism or something.”

“I know!” Dash chuckled, turning to look at the lavender nerd.

Poor Twilight was sitting next to Applejack with the cushions gripped tightly in her fists, grinding her teeth with a look of anguish on her face as she watched the video.

“HhhhhhhhhhhHA! Hahaha!” Dash laughed, trying to keep her volume down. “Look at her! She’s losin’ her shit!”

Sunset shook her head. “You guys are fucking cruel.”

“Listen,” Dash whispered, leaning in close to Sunset as she pointed at Applejack. “I’ve got AJ in on it. She’s instigating; pretending like she believes it!”

On the couch, Applejack leaned closer to Twilight. “I reckon NASA’s got some ‘splainin ta do, eh Twilight?”

Twilight swallowed, then faced at the farm girl. “Huh? Explain what?”

“All these fake pictures a’ the ‘ball Earth,’” Applejack replied, doing quotes with her fingers. “I mean, who da they think they’re foolin?”

“Actually, there is literally no limit to the amount of photographic, physical and mathematical evidence that we live on a globe,” Twilight explained, “all it takes is a simple-“

“I wouldn’t be so sure a’ that, Twilight. This Dubay guy’s makin alotta sense, ya know? He’s given me an awful lot ta think about,” AJ said, cocking her head at the lavender nerd, who slowly turned to glare at the farm girl, her eyes wide with disbelief.

“AJ, please tell me you don’t actually subscribe to thi-“

“I mean, that’s gotta be where earthquakes come from, right?” the blonde cut in.

Twilight sighed. “I’m afraid to ask, in all honesty.”

“Nah, hear me out; now it doesn’t say in this video, but in another one I saw, they said the Earth, which is like a big dinner plate,” —she held her hands out, creating the shape of a circle with her fingers— “rides on the back of a giant tortoise in space…I think…but anyway, when it gets cold, it shivers, and I betcha that’s where earthquakes come from.”

Twilight stared vacantly at her friend, totally floored by the gibberish she’d just heard. “Um, AJ? Tortoises are cold-blooded; they don’t shiver.”

Applejack folded her arms, raising an eyebrow at Twilight. “And I s’pose NASA told ya that?”

“Oh dear god…” Twilight whispered, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips.

After doing so, the lavender-skinned girl let her hands rest on her lap. Glancing over, Applejack noticed Twilight’s hands, which were smooth and perfect looking. The farm girl cocked an eyebrow, thinking back to Thanksgiving weekend, when Twilight had tripped and fallen into the fire, shoving her hands into the coals.

“Hey Twilight, how’s yer hand?”

Twilight looked at Applejack apprehensively. “Oh, uh…” Looking past Applejack, she could see Rarity, who had overheard the question and was watching to see how Twilight would respond. “It’s…it’s fine. Thanks for asking,” she replied. “It turned out to be not that bad; a few blisters, which broke and drained after a few days. I put a medicated cream on it, and that seemed to help it heal up pretty quick.”

Applejack chewed her bottom lip, watching the lavender-skinned girl suspiciously for a moment before nodding finally. “Well...that’s good ta hear, sugarcube. Glad it wasn’t as bad as we all thought,” she said, giving Twilight a half smile.

“Thanks Applejack,” Twilight replied as she folded her hands to hide them.

Relieved, Rarity returned her temple to the shy girl’s shoulder as Twilight and AJ resumed watching the video, prompting Applejack to point her finger at the screen.

“Now here’s a question: why won’t the UN let anyone go ta An’arctica, huh?” she asked. “Cuz they don’t want anyone to know that that’s actually the edge of the world?”

Twilight shook her head in frustration. “What? They let science expeditions go to the Antarctic all the time!”

Sunset shook her head at the pranksters, and then glowered at Rainbow Dash. “Listen, if she gets irritated by this shit and goes all ‘Midnight Sparkle’ on us, that’s gonna be on you, Rainbow.”

Dash waved her off and headed back to the couch. “Oh that hasn't happened for years! Jeez Sunset, learn to live a little.”

Sunset snorted. “ME? When’s the last time you broke into the CIA, huh?”

The rebuttal stopped Rainbow Dash in her tracks. She looked back at Sunset with a defeated expression for a few seconds, then she smiled defiantly and shook her fist. “Alright. You win this round, Shimmer,” she chuckled, then pointed her finger at the red-head. “You have GOT to tell us about that, by the way.”

Sunset smirked. “In a bit.”

After Dash returned to the couch, Sunset and I sat at the table for a few minutes, watching the video. Finally, she turned to me.

“I wonder if this Dubay guy is Equestrian,” she joked, “cuz this whole ‘flat Earth’ theory of his is pretty much the way it really is in Equestria…minus the tortoise.”

“Hm,” I chuckled, “I think ‘minus the tortoise’ is pretty much a given, Sunny; no matter what dimension you’re in.”

Sunset snickered a bit, looking down at the tabletop right when a loud cry of protest rang out from the couch.

Apparently, Twilight had had enough.

She had leapt off the couch, pulling her hair in frustration. “What the…IS THIS GUY RETARDED? What the hell does he mean, ‘there’s no such thing as gravity?’ WHAT THE FFFF-“

She spun around to face the couch suddenly, huffing angrily through her teeth when she noticed everyone in the room staring at her with shocked faces.

“Uh…” she muttered shakily, drawing into herself again as she reached up to adjust her glasses, only to find that they were missing. Instead, she folded her hands in front of herself, her face burning with embarrassment. “S-sorry... everyone.”

After a few seconds pause, Dash threw her head back and howled with laughter, clapping her hands in celebration. “Hahaha! Do NOT apologise for that, Twilight! That was awesome!” She leaned closer to AJ, giving the farm girl a high-five. “I have always wanted to see Twilight fly off the handle like that!”

“What?” Twilight asked, confused.

“Heh heh, we was just messin with ya, sugarcube,” Applejack explained with a chuckle. “We don’t really believe in this bullshit.”

“You don’t?” the lavender girl replied, letting out a sigh of relief.

“Nah,” Rainbow Dash said, patting the couch cushion next to her, inviting Twilight to sit back down. “We were just giving you the gears to see if we could get a rise out of you, and wow! We were not disappointed!”

“Oh...heh.” Twilight chuckled somewhat bitterly as she sat down between Dash and Applejack. Looking at the TV again, she realised the video was still playing. “Um, could we please turn this off?” she asked, wincing.

“Yeah Rainbow,” AJ agreed. “Turn this shit off. It’s hurtin mah brain.”

“Fine,” Dash replied, grabbing the remote to pause the video, before perking up with another idea. “OH! We totally have to read the comments section!”

Sunset had turned to face me after witnessing the outburst, her brows furrowed as she chewed the inside of her cheek.

“What is it?” I asked, noticing the gears turning in her head.

She focused on me for a second, then shook her head. “That was pretty crazy.”

I nodded, snickering. “Yeah.”

“No, I mean...I’ve known Twi for a long time and I’ve never seen her freak out like that before.”

I leaned back to study the girls on the couch. To the untrained eye, they looked like a completely normal group of friends, laughing hysterically as Rainbow Dash read the comments to the video out loud. Both Sunset and I looked down at the table top, studying the lines in the wood as we ruminated about what we just saw.

“Hey you guys,” Dash called to us, “you gotta check out these comments, they’re fucking hilarious!”

Sunset was snapped out of her thoughts by her friend’s voice, and she promptly stood up to speak. “Later, guys. Right now, I think we need to talk about what’s happened over the past five weeks,” she said authoritatively, capturing the rest of the girls’ attention.

Applejack nodded. “Hell yeah, I wanna hear about yer big adventure!”

“Yes!” Dash yelped excitedly, bouncing on her knees on the cushion. “I wanna hear how you snuck into the CIA!”

Sunset headed for the front door, where she retrieved the plastic bag she had carried in. She walked around the front of the couch next, standing in front of the TV, holding the bag at her side.

I stood from the table and made my way to the couch, leaning on the back of the chaise lounge to be close to my girlfriends.

The girls all sat attentively, their eyes glued to the red-head in anticipation.

Sunset took a deep breath, looking around at everyone before speaking. “OK guys,” she paused to bite her lip, “you know as well as me that over the past eight years, nothing has really been going on —you know, magic-wise— even though I was always stressed about it after what happened at Camp Everfree. I felt like we’d been given these powers for a reason, but I never figured out why we had them, aaaaand then nothing ever really happened. So, we all settled into normal lives.”

“I know what ya mean,” Applejack nodded. “I reckon that’s why we kept so close all these years; in case anythin ever did happen.”

I found the sudden shift into seriousness surprising; it was fascinating to see the girls fall into line the way they did, but why wouldn’t they? They had a respectable leader like Sunset, who was now standing before them, speaking with conviction, and they hung onto her every word.

Sunset nodded, pointing at AJ. “But something did happen, didn’t it?”

The farm girl nodded.

“But it wasn’t magic we faced this time,” the red-head continued. “It was spies, guns, and surveillance; rogue government officials and corrupt global entities, owned by the richest and most influential people in the world. This time, it was magic versus technology.”

The girls took a moment to glance at one another, raising eyebrows and rubbing chins.

“And then there’s the wild card,” Sunset said, gesturing to me. “Golds came out-of-nowhere and gave of us the gift of immortality —unintentionally in some cases— and...he’s taught us things. Amazing things. Things that made it possible to bring our friend home. He is completely invincible, unbelievably powerful, and possesses a level of wisdom and experience that no one else on the planet could ever dream of matching, despite his occasional lack of maturity.”

I flipped Sunset off.

"Yeah, case in point," the red-head replied, gesturing to me.

“You forgetting something, Sunny,” I said. “All of the things we faced were seeds from my past. If I hadn’t been around, you wouldn’t have needed to know these things to bring Flutters home, cuz she never would have gotten captured in the first place."

Fluttershy glanced up at me, sticking her bottom lip out. “Oh Goldie, don’t blame yourself for what happened. It wasn’t your fault.”

Rarity spoke up as well, wagging a finger above her head at me. “You’re forgetting the school shooting as well, darling. We may very well have lost Fluttershy during that incident if it hadn’t been for the abilities you’ve given her, and none of us would be sitting here in this house right now, enjoying each other's company.”

“Yeah,” Dash interrupted, rolling her eyes, “so, we’re totally awesome. We get it. What’s your point, Sunset?”

Applejack nodded in agreement as she leaned back, folding her hands behind her head. “This is all stuff we already know, Sunset; no offense. Why don’t ya tell us ‘bout the rescue?”

“Well, there’s something else,” Sunset replied. “Something I think that happened to Fluttershy when she was alone. Something that hasn’t happened in a long time, which I hadn’t even thought about until I saw this.” She reached into the bag and pulled out a tattered, gray piece of fabric, holding it up for everyone to see.

It was a shirt; filthy, ripped, cut, burnt, full of bullet holes and splattered with brownish-red blotches of dried blood.

The girls cringed in unison, except for Fluttershy, whose face instantly drained of its colour.

“Gah! What is that disgusting thing?” Rarity asked, pointing at the garment as she pinched her nose. “I can smell it from here!”

“This is the shirt Flutters was wearing when we found her in the desert,” Sunset answered. “This is what she looked like from head-to-toe after being in there for a month.”

“Is…is that blood on there?” Pinkie asked, squinting at the shirt.

“Yeah, Pinkie. It is,” Sunset replied. “But that’s not what I wanna talk about.” She turned to look at Fluttershy next. “I hate to do this to you, Flutters, cuz I know you don’t want us to know about the things you did in there…”

Everyone shifted their eyes onto the shy girl, causing her to sink back into the lounge, hiding behind her hair.

“But I don’t wanna talk about what you did,” Sunset continued. “I wanna talk about what happened to you.”

“Um, to me?” Fluttershy replied meekly, peeking out from behind her hair.

Sunset sighed and tossed the shirt to Dash, who recoiled as she caught it, scrunching her nose at the smell. “Oh god! This thing smells like truck shop and...ugh! Roadkill!”

“What do you notice about it?” Sunset asked.

“Uh,” Dash mumbled, holding up the shirt to study it. “I don’t know…it’s fucked?”

“Look at the back,” Sunset instructed, folding her arms.

Rainbow Dash sighed and turned the shirt around to look at it again. This time, she noticed two large tears in the fabric; each one located approximately where the shoulder blades would be. “There’s a couple of big holes in the back,” she thought aloud. “And they look like they were torn, not cut or anything like that.”

“What about the position?” Sunset asked.

“Uh…” Dash looked again. “I dunno, they’re up by the shoulder blades,” —she shook her head, furrowing her brows— “almost like…where her wings would be if she-“

Rainbow Dash stopped when the realisation hit her, and she turned slowly to look at her friend with a shocked expression.

“Whoa whoa whoa…” Dash exclaimed as all eyes fell onto the shy girl. “No…friggin...way!”

Chapter 84: The Sleepover - Part 2

Chapter 84

Sunset had let the proverbial cat out of the bag, and now the girls were all-a-twitter with excitement.

“YOU PONIED-UP?” they shouted, in unison.

Everyone, with the exception of me and the red-head leapt from their seats and crowded around Fluttershy, who had hidden behind her hair and was pressing her back into the couch, practically disappearing between the cushions.

“Guys…” Sunset intervened as the others bombarded the shy girl with questions. “GUYS!”

All of the girls stopped and turned their heads to face Sunset.

“Give her some space,” she ordered, waving them away from Fluttershy. “I’m sure this isn’t easy for her. She’s been through a lot, and she’s had to do some things she’s not proud of, so let’s not hound her to death, K?”

Everyone returned to their seats amidst a chorus of impatient grumbles and quiet comments.

Fluttershy relaxed a bit and used a fingertip to clear the hair from her face, revealing a shocked Rarity looking back at her with a set of wide, sapphire eyes. Remembering the horrendous things she’d done during her enhanced state, Fluttershy was unable to maintain eye contact with her girlfriend, and she quickly dropped her eyes to her lap.

“Darling…is it true?” the fashionista whispered.

Fluttershy sighed, paused, then gave a reluctant nod, keeping her eyes down.

Rarity, noticing her girlfriend’s nervousness, reached for Fluttershy’s hand and laced their delicate fingers together. “But…that’s wonderful,” she said, catching Fluttershy by surprise.

Encouraged by Rarity’s response, Fluttershy looked down at their hands and studied the alternating whites and yellows of their interwoven digits, then she brought her eyes up to meet her girlfriend’s proud gaze. Her cheeks heated up suddenly and she smiled, leaning closer to Rarity to let their heads rest together.

“Dayum,” AJ muttered, staring vacantly down at her blue pajamas. “When was the last time this happened? At the camp, right?”

“Yeah,” Dash nodded, ”when we got our powers.”

“That’s right,” Twilight confirmed. “That’s the last time it happened; there haven’t been any magical invaders or catastrophic events since then, however, so our pony-ups haven’t been triggered without the need to do so.”

Sunset nodded in agreement, folding her arms. “Yeah, pretty much.”

Me? I had no idea what the fuck was going on.

Leaning over the back of the couch, I looked down at Fluttershy. “I don’t get it. You’re telling me those fuckers were charging you rent to be held captive in there?”

The shy girl looked up at me, confused.

“For fuck sakes,” I continued, “on top of everything else they did to you in there, that’s just a dick move.”

Rainbow Dash snorted.

“No Golds,” Sunset replied, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Ponying-up doesn’t mean, like: ‘ponying-up the dough,’ it means she powered up; with her magic.”

I looked up to face Sunset, who was watching to see if I understood.

“But…I thought you guys have magic all the time?” I asked, rubbing my temple. “There’s other things you can do, too? Howcome you never told me about this?”

“I did,” Sunset replied.

“When?”

“At Rare’s; the night we told her she’d been turned,” Sunset explained. “Remember? I showed you that picture on my phone of all of us with pointy ears and long hair n’ stuff?”

It all started coming back to me when the red-head reminded me of the photo. “Oh right,” I said, rubbing my chin as I began to remember more of the details in that picture. “You guys had wings n’ shit,” —I glanced at Dash, who had been flying in the picture, then back at Fluttershy— “Wait…Flutters, you got your wings back?”

She nodded, looking up at me with eyes full of teal innocence. ”Mm-hm.”

“Wow…” I said, staring off into space. “My girlfriend is hot as fuck, has a nice ass, nice tits, and sexy wings? Angel: confirmed.”

Rarity and Fluttershy exchanged some quiet giggles as I headed to the far end of the couch, where Dash was sitting.

“Can I see that shirt?” I asked the rainbow-haired girl.

“OK guys,” Sunset continued as Dash handed me the shirt so I could study it. “Let’s get back on topic.” She paced around in front of the group, rubbing her chin. “Well, I think it’s obvious what the next question should be,” she said, facing us again.

The girls glanced back and forth at one another until finally, Applejack raised an eyebrow.

“How did it happen?” she asked, to which Sunset nodded.

“Exactly.” The red-head sat at the foot of the chaise lounge. “Listen Flutters,” she said, giving the shy girl’s socked-foot a comforting rub. “I know this is hard for you to talk about, but I…we,” —she gestured to everyone else— “would all like to know how you did it.”

Fluttershy nodded, so Sunset continued.

“It’s one of those weird things, you know? Like, the pony-ups happened for different reasons at different times, depending on the situation. So if you-”

“Like ‘Context Sensitive!’” Pinkie blurted out suddenly, prompting Sunset to look at her; half confused, half annoyed.

“I…Pinkie, what?”

“Like in ‘Conker’s Bad Fur Day!’”

“Uhhhh...I don’t get it,” Sunset replied.

“Context Sensitive; it’s…sensitive...to context,” the party-girl explained, giggling.

The red-head sighed. “Ugh, I don’t even kn-“

Pinkie cut her off again, speaking this time in a deep, gruff voice. “The light comes on, makes a ting noise!” She grunted and waved her hands around arbitrarily, then scratched her temple. “And uh…well, uh…actually, they uh…uh press B!”

“OK…just,” a frustrated Twilight cut in, pressing her fingertips to her temples. “We’re getting WAY off topic here.”

Sunset was staring vacantly at Pinkie by that point, unable to get her wits about her until Rarity nudged her elbow with her foot. “Uh…” Sunset gave her head a shake, “Jeez Pinkie, what in Tartarus…” She brought her eyes back to Fluttershy. “Alright uh, sorry Flutters. So, are you gonna be OK to talk about this with us?”

“Yeah!” Dash shouted encouragingly. “We wanna hear how you did it!”

Fluttershy hesitated, then took a deep breath. “O-OK,” she whispered and nodded, to which Sunset smiled in return. “Well, um…girls, I-I was in the middle of my escape, and...I was in the big control room, and, um, I’d just thrown some smoke bombs to keep myself hidden because my, um…grenade launcher was out of shells, and-“

By then, the others, including myself, were all looking at each other in astonishment.

AJ put her hand out, eyes closed. “Whoop! Back it up there, sugarcube; I coulda swore it sounded like ya just said ya had a grenade launcher. Did I hear that right?”

Fluttershy drew a breath, raising her eyebrows in response. “Oh! Yes,” she replied in a tone so innocent, it was downright absurd. “I used it to destroy the little control room off to the side so they couldn’t call for help, and then I destroyed the big screen they had on the wall in there. It had maps and street camera views and pictures of people on it; they were, um, using it to watch everyone, and I didn’t like it, so I-“

“OK Flutters,” Sunset cut in, waving her hand. “One thing at a time. Let’s hear about the pony-up, K?”

“Oh!” Fluttershy covered her mouth. “I’m sorry, I-I got a little sidetracked.”

“It’s OK. Go on.”

“Um, OK…so I was in there, using the fog as cover, and then a bunch of guys came out of the elevator and shot me with some kind of, um...intergalactic weapon.”

Dash interrupted next, shaking her head vigorously. “Whoa whoa, time out!” she shouted, making a T-shape with her hands. “Did you say they shot you with an…intergalactic weapon?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Mm-hm. Right in the face.”

Sunset groaned, rubbing her forehead in frustration. “Focus, Flutters! The pony-up?”

“Well, that was it,” Fluttershy replied. “That was, um…how it happened.”

The red-head looked confused. “Wait, you mean getting hit by that weapon is what caused you to pony-up?”

“Mm-hm.” Fluttershy nodded.

Sunset sat up straight, staring blankly for a moment. “Wow,” she finally said. “I gotta be honest, that was not the answer I was expecting. At all.”

I reached over the back of the couch and tapped Twilight on the shoulder, prompting her to turn and face me. “I told you there were aliens here,” I whispered.

She snickered quietly, then turned back to the conversation.

“Um…so, I don’t get it,” Sunset shook her head. “Was it the energy in the weapon that made you pony-up?”

Fluttershy shrugged. “I…I’m not sure. Maybe? But, um, it could also have been an emotional thing; I mean, I did get really upset when it hit me.”

Sunset raised a brow. “Oh?”

“Um…even compared to all the awful tests they did on me in there, that thing was far, far worse,” the shy girl explained, rubbing her arm for comfort. “It shot out some kind of red, shimmering beam, and…it blew me right across the room.” She closed her eyes tightly at the memory of it.

Rarity wrapped her arm around the shy girl’s shoulders to comfort her. “Oh, there there; not to worry, darling. You’re home with us now.”

“Oh Rare,” Fluttershy continued, facing her girlfriend. “It was awful! When that thing hit me, the sound was terrible, and the energy…” —she paused, shuddering— “I could feel it when it hit me; it was like it was trying to tear me apart, e-except it couldn’t.”

“Ohh,” Rarity said in a comforting tone, squeezing Fluttershy tightly. “You poor dear. You’ve been through so much.”

Sunset was rubbing her chin, deep in thought. “Hmm, an emotional overload might make sense. It must have been a pretty strong one, eh?”

Fluttershy turned to Sunset and nodded. “I was really upset.”

“I think I would have to agree,” Twilight interjected. “I mean, Sunset is the biggest expert on Equestrian magic here, but to me, it stands to reason that the emotional factor is the most likely cause of Fluttershy’s pony-up.” She paused to purse her lips for a second, then shook her head. “I find it highly unlikely that whatever type of energy that weapon had would have activated it; I mean, as far we know, that thing probably wasn’t of Equestrian origin, so its energy would most likely be incompatible with Fluttershy’s magic.”

“The only way ta know fer sure would be ta do it again, right?” Applejack asked, leaning back on the couch.

Twilight and Sunset nodded.

“I don’t suppose you know where that weapon is now, do you?” Sunset asked Fluttershy.

“Gone,” the pink-haired girl replied, sighing.

“Hm.” Sunset shook her head. “Figures.”

“You cannot be serious!” Rarity scolded. “None of you are shooting Fluttershy with that thing again, even if we could get our hands on it.”

“It doesn’t really matter, Rare. It’s gone,” Sunset replied. “Besides, like Twi and I said, it’s probably the emotional response that triggered it anyway.”

The fashionista sneered. “Well, you’re not going to be trying to upset her just to see if it will work again. She’s been through quite enough!”

Sunset waved Rarity off. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t planning on it. Besides, I don’t think it’d be possible for her to hit that level of emotion anyway. We can’t get each other that upset because we all trust each other and we know we’re not a real threat to one another.” The red-head paused, then looked around the group. “Come to think of it, I’m not sure if I would want to pony-up if the way to do it is to get THAT upset. I mean, we would have to be subjected to something pretty devastating, right?”

The girls nodded in agreement, followed by a moment of silent rumination as they wondered what it must have been like to be Fluttershy; angry, homesick, terrified, facing all of those people in the base by herself, fighting for her freedom and then: BAM! Hit by an alien death ray of all things, triggering her to pony-up.

”Hmm...if they were curious about her before, I’ll bet sprouting a pair of wings really piqued their interest,” I thought to myself as I took a second look at the tattered shirt.

Twilight’s voice finally broke the silence. “What tests?”

This question got everybody’s attention, and they all looked to Fluttershy, whose eyes were darting around nervously.

Twilight felt remorseful when she saw the shy girl’s expression, knowing that her question may have roused some painful memories. “I-it’s OK, actually,” the lavender girl said, withdrawing her question. “You don’t have to talk about it if it’s too difficult.”

Fluttershy inhaled deeply. “No, Twilight; it’s OK,” she replied softly. “I should try talking about it. It, um…might help me get over it if I talk about it with you guys.”

AJ gave a comforting smile, followed by a nod. “We’re here fer ya, sugarcube. You can tell us as much er as little as yer comfortable with.”

“O-OK,” Fluttershy nodded. “Just…if it’s bothering any of you, just tell me, and, um…I’ll stop.”

Dash snorted. “Why would it bother us? You’re the one had to go through it.”

“Um…well, i-it’s kind of-“

“Shhh darling,” Rarity said, patting the shy girl’s hand. “We’ll be OK. Go ahead.”

Fluttershy took one last look into the sapphire eyes of her girlfriend, then nodded, letting her gaze drop to her lap as she began to tell her story.

“OK, um…w-well, the first thing they did was put me in a steel room with three big men —w-who were Navy Seals— and they forced me to, um…f-fight them. It...didn’t go so well; I mean, it didn’t hurt, but it was really scary. Those guys were awful. They were a lot stronger than me, and they threw me around and called me names, like: weak and useless, and they, um…said that I was only worth keeping around for...s-sexual favours.”

I clenched my fists and shook my head when I heard this. ”Ohh, those fuckers better hope they’re dead…” Looking around at the group, I could already see the looks of shock, empathy and disgust on the girls’ faces; some of them had their mouths covered, others were shaking their heads.

But her story was far from over.

“They um, made me fight like that over and over, day after day; after leaving me locked up in there all night with nowhere to sit or lay —other than the floor— and no light to see with.

“I just wanted out; whether it was going home or...just dying there alone, I didn’t care. I wanted out so bad, sometimes I would hold my breath for hours on end to see if it might finally work...” She sighed and shook her head. “But it never did.”

Heartbroken, Rarity covered her mouth.

Noticing this, Fluttershy cupped her palm over Rarity’s cheek. “Oh...I’m so sorry, Rare! I-I never wanted to leave you alone, but...I felt so hopeless in there; I thought I was never going to get out, and...if I had to choose, I would rather be dead than have to stay there forever.”

Rarity tightened her lips in an attempt to hide her emotion. “Forgive me, darling, but I am...glad, that you weren’t successful.”

Fluttershy sighed. She stroked Rarity’s cheekbone with her thumb and gave a comforting smile. “Me too.”

Looking around, the pair noticed everyone else’s eyes on them, and they cleared their throats, fidgeting bashfully.

“Um...I’m sorry everyone,” Fluttershy whispered, cheeks glowing.

“It’s OK,” Sunset nodded, patting the shy girl’s foot. “Take your time.”

“Um...so, w-where was I?” Fluttershy tapped her chin thoughtfully, then her eyes lit up. “Oh! So anyway, i-if I refused to fight or do the things they wanted, they would kill those little kittens right in front of me. Mr. Cody was the first to do it; Um...he wanted me to put my restraints on, and when I tried to reason with him, he broke the poor little guy’s neck and threw him on the floor, right in front of me.”

Rarity gasped quietly. “Oh dear, that is simply awful! So, those kittens you brought home…?”

“I rescued them w-when I escaped,” Fluttershy answered. “I couldn’t just leave the poor things there. They needed my help.”

Rainbow dash leaned back as she listened, shaking her head, appalled by her friend’s story.

“Th-that wasn’t all they, um…did to try breaking me, either,” Fluttershy continued, looking down to study her fingers as she spoke. “They put me in a room, and made me take weapons apart and put them back together and then fire them to make sure they worked properly. They made me do that for hours…HOURS on end. Oh! It felt like an eternity; I hated it!” She shook her head, eyes closed. “And they tried to fix my shyness…”

Applejack rubbed her forehead, cringing at the thought. “Oh god, how in the hell did they do that?”

“Th-they made me stand up in front of a crowd in the cafeteria —which was also like an auditorium— and they made me sing into a microphone w-without music; just my voice.”

“And you actually did it?” Pinkie asked, shocked.

“I had to,” Fluttershy replied, glancing up at her friend. “They threatened to hurt another one of the kittens if I didn’t.”

“Man…” Dash shook her head as Fluttershy continued.

“And just to make it more embarrassing, they made me sing loud songs. Like, the first one they had me sing was ‘I Will Always Love You,’ because it has a lot of long, high notes…” —the shy girl buried her face in her hands— “Oh goodness! It was awful! I sounded so bad! It was so embarrassing; I just wanted to run away, but I couldn’t because I was chained to the stage. I had no choice but to stand there and sing, with everyone looking at my p-privates, and-“

The entire group began to cry out in protest, drowning her out.

“Yer privates?” AJ exclaimed with fire in her eyes.

“Um, oh…yeah, they made me do it naked.”

AJ cocked an eyebrow, a sneer curling her lip. “They made ya stand up there, in front a’ everyone and sing…AND they made ya do it in yer birthday suit!?”

Fluttershy nodded.

Her confirmation silenced the room, and everyone, including me, stared into space, shocked and enraged by such abysmal treatment.

Dash shook her head finally, rubbing her face with her palm. “Are you fucking kidding me?” she moaned. “Should I even ask what else they made you sing?”

“Um…Bawitdaba.”

Dash’s face contorted into a combination of shock, horror and confusion. “What!? Baw-“ —she gave her head a shake— “by Kid Rock?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Mm-hm.”

Dash slapped her hands over her face, groaning with disgust. “I...I can’t even...WHAT?! They made you sing Bawitdaba? WHAT THE FUCK?! WHY!?”

“That is pretty fucked up,” Applejack agreed.

“Like,” Dash continued, “that is literally the last fucking thing I EVER expected to see happening on this planet! I can’t even fathom it: Fluttershy, singing Bawitdaba —a cappella— in front of a crowd, naked! I…I can’t...I...AAH!”

“So…wait wait,” Twilight cut in, “What was the purpose of all this? Mental conditioning?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Um, yes. Their plan was to brainwash me, weaponize me and then send me back here to try to capture more of you guys.”

This revelation infuriated Sunset, who shook her head and clenched her jaw. “Oooooh,” she growled, “now that is fucking low.”

“Darling,” Rarity said to Fluttershy, “you wouldn’t really have…attacked us, would you?”

The shy returned her girlfriend’s gaze. “Never! They had ways to condition people to do what they want; to follow orders without hesitation, but for some reason, it didn’t work on me.”

“That’s because it can’t,” I said, drawing Fluttershy’s attention. “Our minds can’t be broken, same as our bodies. We’re not subject to things like mental illness or brainwashing, no matter what kind of trauma we’re subjected to.” As I finished the sentence, I shifted my eyes onto Sunset, who I could tell was thinking of what’d she’d learned about me in the desert.

“But,” Twilight interjected, “earlier, you mentioned tests. What kind of tests?”

“Um, they wanted to see if there was any way to destroy me,” Fluttershy answered quietly.

Twilight’s eyebrows went up when the horrifying prospect dawned on her. “Oh…”

“Dang,” AJ said, shaking her head. “So, what did they do ta ya?...I-if ya don’t mind me askin.”

“It’s OK. Um, first: they tried shooting me,” Fluttershy replied. “They handcuffed me to a couple of posts so I couldn’t move, and they set up a bunch of different guns like a firing range and shot me over and over with all kinds of things.”

Rarity covered her mouth, her eyes moistening at the mental image of her girlfriend in front of what was essentially a firing squad.

“The worst one —aside from the alien weapon— was the twenty millimeter cannon,” Fluttershy continued, fidgeting idly with her skirt, sounding more like she was recapping a rough day at work.

“Twenty millimeter!?” I repeated, astonished that they would have been stupid enough to fire such a weapon in an underwater base. “That’s like…anti-aircraft shit!”

Fluttershy turned to face me over the back of the couch again. “Oh Goldie, it was awful! When they fired that one, it was SO loud, and the rounds were so big! When it hit me, it broke the handcuffs and knocked me into the wall so hard it folded me in half.”

By then, Rarity had squeezed her eyes shut, and was emitting quiet sobs from under her hand.

Fluttershy noticed her girlfriend’s tears, and leaned closer to whisper to her. “Do you want me to stop, Rare?”

The fashionista drew a shaky breath and opened her eyes to look at the shy girl. “N-no, darling,” she replied with a sniffle, wiping her eyes with her fingers. “We must get it all out into the open, that way we can get over it and move on. It is difficult, but it simply must be done.”

“OK…a-are you sure?”

Rarity nodded, forcing a reassuring smile as she sniffled again.

I reached over the back of the couch to give Rarity’s shoulder a squeeze for comfort. She responded by placing her hand on top of mine and looking up at me, her eyes surrounded by dark smudges of make-up.

“So, um…” Fluttershy continued, “aside from shooting me, they also tried to drown me, drop me, crush me, stretch me, cut me; they tried to drill holes in my head with all kinds of different bits and lasers; they tried to poison me with all kinds of different things; they tried to freeze me, burn me-“

AJ finally threw her hands up in protest. “Now wait just a dag-gum minute here! I mean, sure, yer ‘supposed’ to be indestructible, but what if you weren’t able to resist one a’ these tests? Did they not care if they killed you?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Mr. Stubz didn’t care about me at all.”

“Who?” Sunset asked.

Fluttershy looked up at the red-head. “He was my handler.”

“Handler?” Twilight replied with a disgusted sneer. “What, did they consider you a zoo animal or something?”

“Mm-hm,” Fluttershy nodded. “He was a nasty man. He was the one who did all those tests on me. To him, it was nothing; like it was just a regular job.” She sighed, remembering the endless torment the agent had brought her. “I lost my temper with him quite a few times.”

“Well, it sounds like he fucking deserved it!” Dash shouted, slamming her right fist into her left palm. “I hope you gave him the old ‘one-two’ when you escaped!”

“Oh yes,” Fluttershy nodded. “He got the, um…appropriate punishment.”

“Good!” Dash nodded. “So what did you do to him?”

“Um, w-well I…kind of ‘Pinkie promised’ he was going to lose his, um…p-penis.”

Pinkie’s eyes went wide. “Oooooh boy…” she said ominously. “No one breaks a Pinkie promise.”

Fluttershy, stone-faced, shook her head slowly. “No. They don’t.”

“Wow, Flutters,” Dash said, cringing. “That’s pretty fucked up.”

Twilight, who was staring at the floor, raised her index finger. “Wait, Rainbow Dash; she said his punishment was appropriate.” She then turned to face Fluttershy. “What did he do to you?”

Fluttershy sighed deeply, trying to build the courage to continue. Chewing her lip, she tipped her head back to face the ceiling momentarily, trying desperately to swallow her shame. Then she finally looked around at the other girls. “Mr. Stubz…touched me.”

The room fell into a space beyond silence.

I’d gotten pretty irritated already by what I’d heard so far, but this news absolutely enraged me, setting my blood on fire when the image of some random asshole touching a helpless Fluttershy popped into my head.

“Someone laid their fuckin dirty mitts on MY Flutters?”

Applejack finally broke the silence, shaking her head. “Son of a bitch,” she whispered.

I made my way around the couch, clenching my fists. “Those fuckin people are lucky I didn’t find my way into that base,” I grumbled, taking position by the foot of the chaise lounge, where Sunset was seated. “If I’d been there, I…I…” —I shook my head— “FUCK!”

“My sentiments exactly,” Rarity sobbed; a black tear ran down her cheek when she looked up at me.

“Yeah,” Dash agreed. “Cutting his dick off doesn’t seem so bad now.”

“Um, actually, I...shot it off,” Fluttershy pointed out.

Everyone on the couch cringed.

“Don’t w-worry, Goldie,” Fluttershy said, looking at me. “I made sure everyone in that place got what they deserved.”

I shook my head, sighing.

Oh, how I wished I’d gotten into the base myself to exact my own revenge; that outcome would have been much more satisfying than simply picking Fluttershy up in the desert and driving her home.

“Who in the fuck do these people think they are?” Applejack shouted, throwing her hands in the air. “They kidnap you, lock you up, humiliate you, abuse you AND sexually molest you? When the fuck did this Stubz asshole even find the time fer that?”

Surprisingly, Fluttershy answered. “It was after he tried burning me,” she replied, rubbing her neck, nervously. “The fire burned my clothes off, and I’d been strapped to a table and…that’s when he did it. I was naked, and…and…”

Rarity shook her head. She’d reached her limit. “Please stop, darling! I cannot listen to anymore!”

Remorseful for upsetting her girlfriend, Fluttershy wrapped her arms around the fashionista’s shoulders and squeezed her tightly. “I’m sorry Rare, I’ll stop! Please don’t cry anymore.”

Rarity leaned into Fluttershy’s soft, pink hair, resting her head on her shoulder. “I’m so sorry this happened to you, darling,” she sobbed, “You didn’t deserve it. You are the absolute last person to deserve such nasty treatment.”

Pinkie, with a trembling lip, darted from her seat without warning and dove on top of the shy girl, hugging her tightly and wailing like a five-year-old. “I’m super-sorry toooooo!” she sobbed into the shy girl’s shoulder.

Fluttershy, with the wind knocked out of her, reached around to pat the pink girl’s back. “Um…it’s OK Pinkie,” she grunted, “I’m sorry to upset you, b-but I’m home with you guys now, so everything’s fine.”

“I know, but…” Pinkie sobbed, hollering directly into Fluttershy’s ear, causing the shy girl to wince. “I feel super-duper sad about all the things that happened to you! Rare-bear’s right: you didn’t deserve it! IT’S NOT FA-HA-HA-HA-H-AIR!”

With a sniffle, Rarity reached out to give a comforting rub to Pinkie’s back. “There there, darling. Everything’s OK now.”

Rather than calm down and listen, the pink girl lifted her head and faced the fashionista to let out the loudest, dirtiest cry I’d ever seen, only an inch in front of Rarity’s face. “WAAAAAAAAAAAAA-HAAHAA!”

Put-off by the deafening display, Rarity recoiled and turned her head away, closing her eyes tightly. “DEAR GOD, PINKIE PIE! Get a hold of yourself!”

Taken aback by the scolding, a worried Pinkie stared at the fashionista with tears streaming down her round, pink cheeks. “B-but Rarity, you’re crying too!”

Stumped, Rarity touched a fingertip to her lower eyelid to inspect it for moisture, which she indeed found. She rubbed her thumb and fingertip together to dry the tear drop, rolling her eyes as she responded. “Well, it’s just that I…I…”

Sunset stood and took her place next to me in front of the couch, smiling as we watched the absurd, yet heartwarming scene take place. Further down the couch, Twilight and Rainbow Dash were quietly exchanging snickers.

One person was amiss, however: Applejack.

The farm girl sat motionless in the middle of the couch in her blue pajamas, staring at the floor with her mouth slightly ajar.

Sunset dipped her head to see into Applejack’s eyes, hoping to get a sense of what she might be thinking. “AJ? You OK?”

She didn’t respond.

“AJ!” Sunset repeated, louder this time.

This got Applejack’s attention, and she looked up at the red-head. “Huh?”

“Are you OK?” Sunset asked. “You were pretty spaced-out there.”

Applejack brought her hand up to rub the back of her neck, looking down at the floor. “I uh…I dunno. It’s just a lot ta take in,” —she looked up at Sunset— “ya know?”

Sunset nodded, pursing her lips. “Yeah. Some of that was...pretty disturbing.”

AJ glanced over at the party-girl, who was still piled on top of Fluttershy. Sighing, the blonde stood up to walk around the couch and headed to the table. “I’m-a grab a fritter, you guys want one?” she asked.

Sunset and I shook our heads.

“Alright, suit yerselves.”

I watched as the pajama-clad girl peeled the clear wrapper from the plate of pastries. She placed a finger on her bottom lip as she looked them over, deciding which one was going to be the most delicious. It was obvious to me and Sunset that something about the conversation with Fluttershy had bothered her, and she was now seeking comfort in one of her treats; no doubt an old family recipe that had been passed down to her, and was something that brought her mind to a more pleasant place.

Sighing, I looked down at the tattered shirt in my hand, wondering how long this ordeal would continue to affect the girls, but then another question popped into my head.

“Hey,” I said, looking at the group, “why is it that only two of you have wings?”

Twilight extracted her attention from the hug, and turned to me with three fingers in the air. “Three, actually.”

“Oh?” I replied, raising an eyebrow.

Dash nodded. “It’s because in the other world, I’m a pegasus, and so is Flutters,” she said, puffing her chest up with pride.

“A pegasus?” I replied dubiously, scrunching my nose.

“Uh, yeah,” Dash said with a bit of snark, raising an eyebrow. “You know…a horse with wings?”

I closed my eyes, nodding impatiently. “Yeah, I know what a pegasus is, Dashie. You don’t hav-” I stopped abruptly, then shifted my eyes onto Sunset, who was looking at me with a smug grin on her face.

“Wait a minute,” I said, pointing my finger at her. “In California…you told me you were a unicorn, which is also a horse…type…thing…”

“Mm-hm,” Sunset nodded, running her tongue along the inside of her bottom lip. “And you didn’t believe me.”

I put my hands up in defense. “Whoa…hey, I thought you were kidding.”

“You asked me what I was,” she replied. “And I told you.”

“Yeah, and you told me you were a unicorn,” I fired back. “Why wouldn’t I think you were kidding? We joke around like that all the time.”

Sunset shrugged, shaking her head.

I stared at her for a moment, deciding what my next move should be. Finally, I rubbed my forehead, sighing. “OK. You win,” I said, looking at her. “Sorry, Sunny. I didn’t realise you were being serious.”

The red-head raised an eyebrow.

I cocked my head, waiting for a clearer response. “Are we cool, or what?”

“I guess,” she replied, followed by a smirk. “And thanks.”

Rainbow Dash was rubbing her chin, deep in thought. “Uh, Golds actually makes a pretty good point.”

“And that is?” Rarity replied, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, if someone came out of nowhere and told me they were some kind of mythical creature, I’d probably laugh right in their face,” Dash explained.

“Of course you would, darling. You laugh at everything.”

Rainbow Dash scowled at the fashionista. “No I don-“ —she shook her head angrily— “RARITY! I DO NOT!”

Rarity’s next response was interrupted when Pinkie finally decided to roll off of Fluttershy, steam-rolling over the indigo-haired girl in the process. An exasperated grunt was squeezed from Rarity as the party-girl came to rest on the cushion next to Twilight.

“Gah!” Rarity gasped, fixing her bangs with her fingertips. “Pinkie Pie! Really darling, was that necessary?” she scolded as Pinkie giggled back.

“Thanks Dashie,” I cut in, thankful that Pinkie’s antics had stopped the argument that was obviously about to brew.

Dash looked at me, confused. “For what?”

“For seeing things from my side,” I replied, giving her a smile.

The rainbow-haired girl smiled back. “Hey, no problem, bro. Us pegasi are cool, right Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy was off in her own little world, and the sound of her name snapped her back to reality. “Hm?”

“Not like those snooty unicorns,” Dash continued, ignoring the shy girl’s absentmindedness as she cocked her head toward Rarity, who scrunched her nose and stuck her tongue out in return.

Sunset laughed, finally stepping in. “It’s OK, you guys. I wasn’t that upset about it. I was just giving Golds a hard time.”

“What else is new?” I snorted, turning to Rarity. “So…you’re a unicorn too, Rare?”

“Oh, yes darling,” she replied, pausing briefly, “well actually, I am human; I was born here. We all were, but we assume the partial form of our counterparts when we pony-up; aside from Sunset, of course. She IS the counterpart.”

Sunset nodded while the fashionista continued.

“She is the only one of us who was born there, so we must assume her human-born counterpart is somewhere in this world, but we haven’t the slightest idea where she is.”

Sunset froze suddenly; her eyes widened and then darted around nervously.

Her thoughts raced back to her mission in the CIA, where, thanks to Agent Daniels, she had learned of her other self. At the time however, she felt the need to keep it to herself; to lock it away and ignore it, more out of necessity than selfishness.

Between the stress of finding a way into one of the most secure buildings on the planet and forcing herself to swallow the uncontrolled urgency to have non-stop sex with her comrade, not to mention the constant worry for her friend, who had been locked away, abused and treated like a lab rat; she knew her stress was already at critical levels and she therefore made the decision to bottle it up until later, when she’d had some time to sort her thoughts out.

Now, however, she stood before her friends, and Rarity’s last statement had created the perfect segue for her to bring her human self to their attention. Sunset knew this, but was reluctant to do it. She’d hoped to have more time to decompress before talking about it with her friends, although she knew full-well that the longer she waited to bring it up, the harder it would be to do. If too much time passed, she would be forced to answer that inevitable question: ‘Why didn’t you tell us about this sooner?’

Drawing a breath, Sunset steeled herself. “Uh, actually, that’s not entirely true…anymore,” she finally said, facing the group.

Everyone stopped suddenly, their attention captured by Sunset’s statement.

“I…I’m sorry?” Twilight asked, confused. “Which part?”

Sunset cleared her throat, then bit her lip before continuing. “Um…about not knowing where my counterpart is.” She paused briefly, then drew another breath. “I…kind of…found her...during the rescue mission.”

The girls all gasped simultaneously.

Rainbow Dash sprang from the couch excitedly, pulling her hair. “You found your double? Where? HOW? What was she like?”

“Whoa, slow down,” Sunset replied, putting her hands out. “I didn’t actually meet her, per se; more like, I saw her file.”

By this point, my eyes were aimed at the floor; I was scowling, racking my brain to come up with a timeframe during the mission for this to happen. Unsurprisingly, I came up empty-handed, so to speak, and I looked at the red-head, confused. “Sunny,” I said, drawing her attention. “When did this happen? We were together pretty much the whole time.”

She folded her arms and put on that smart-assed smirk like she always did. “Yeah, key words there: ‘pretty much.’”

I took a few seconds to think, letting my eyes dart around the ceiling. Then it hit me, and I looked at her again. “The CIA?”

Sunset nodded. “Daniels. Remember how we didn’t think he was gonna show up with a plan that day, because he said I’d never get past the facial scanner?”

“Yeah, I wa-"

I stopped suddenly, hearing the wheels in my head begin to turn as the events of Sunset's mission slowly pieced themselves together. "Ooh...I think I see where this is going," I said, smirking as I looked over at the couch to find a group of thoroughly confused women.

Twilight was deep in thought, rubbing her forehead, but had the presence of mind to see an opening to speak when she saw me looking in their direction. “Uh, I’m sorry, I’m confused. Could you guys maybe…back up a bit and explain what happened?”

Sunset stopped to scratch her temple thoughtfully, realising that her friends had no idea what she was talking about. “Shit, sorry guys. I keep forgetting that you don’t know what happened. To me, that thing in the CIA feels like it happened ages ago.”

“That’s OK, sugarcube,” Applejack replied as she returned to the couch, licking her fingers one-by-one. “Just start at the beginnin.”

“What was the other Sunset like?” Pinkie’s shrill voice cut in. ”What does she do?”

The red-head smirked. “She’s a pilot in the US Air Force.”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes lit up immediately. “Uh, that sounds pretty awesome!”

I sat on the couch next to Applejack as Sunset proceeded to tell the entire story of her infiltration into the CIA, starting with the meeting with my old comrade, Dr. Whooves. She told them about Daniels, about the plan to go in pretending to be an applicant, and about the chance meeting with Daniels’ ex-wife in the bathroom.

The girls hung on every word, especially when Sunset explained how Daniels’ ex was the one who stole the bug that ended up on the kitchen chair, only a few feet away from where we were sitting. Rainbow Dash and Applejack especially enjoyed hearing about the beatdown Sunset laid on the female agent and the subsequent exposure of her theft, which ended with Daniels getting a promotion, making him a loyal ally to Sunset.

By the time Sunset was finished, the girls were all-a-twitter, talking excitedly back and forth, emulating the upbeat mood that had started the evening off. Even I enjoyed the story, given that about eighty percent of it was all new to me.

“God damn, Sunset!” Dash shouted, leaping off the couch to high-five the red-head. “That is a fucking great story!”

“You got that right!” Applejack agreed. “And I think it’s great that ya got ta learn about yer other self, on top a’ everythin else.”

Sunset shook her head, letting out a long sigh. “I learned SO much during this whole thing, AJ; you have no idea.”

“We’ve all learned a bit more about ourselves, I’m sure,” Rarity added.

“Ha!” Dash laughed, pointing at me. “Not Golds! I bet he didn’t learn anything; he’s been through so much of this kind of thing, he probably already knows all there is to know about it.”

I furrowed my brows, reaching over my shoulder to scratch my back. “No,” I paused, letting my eyes shift to the ceiling. “I don’t know everything about everything. No one knows everything.”

“Exactly,” Twilight smiled. “Even you must have learned something during this whole ordeal. I mean, you hung out with a plucky Equestrian for five weeks, for crying out loud.”

“Yes darling, tell us some of the things you’ve learned!”

With all eyes glued on me once again, I felt a little on-the-spot, and I found myself struggling to think of something under the pressure. “Uh, well we learned about the underwater base…”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, “Hmm, that’s not really a lesson or a skill though; nor is it about you.”

“Right, I guess not. Especially since the base isn’t there anymore, it’s kind of useless information,” I said, rubbing my chin as I thought a bit more. “Uh, we found out about the leaders of the organisation,” I continued, pointing at Sunset. “What was that lady’s name again?”

“Chrysalis,” Sunset replied, “but that was actually me who found that out.”

Defeated, I sank into the couch. “Oh yeah, that’s right.” Sighing, I began to wonder if Dash was right. Was I really at this point in life? Was there nothing left for me to learn? No more mysteries to solve? Surely not...

Then I thought of something. Granted, I was grasping at straws by that point, but I was at a loss to think of anything better. Plus, I figured it might be good for a laugh. “I’ve got one!” I said, sitting up suddenly.

“Heh heh! Spill it, buddy!” Dash shouted.

“OK,” I paused to rub my hands together. “I learned that: when someone is touching themselves in front of you, you should just leave them alone and not yell at them about it.”

A deafening silence followed, accompanied by several incredulous faces staring at me, all adorned with furrowed brows.

”Hmm…not funny, or…?”

After several eternities of unbearable awkwardness, Applejack finally groaned and rubbed her forehead. “Hang on a minute, sugarcube,” she said quietly as she glared sternly from under her brows. “You…didn’t already know that?”

I drew a breath to respond, but missed my chance when Dash suddenly burst out laughing, then slid down in her seat and began to run her fingers between her legs. “Hey AJ! Look at me, I’m touching myself!”

“Heh heh!” Applejack chuckled, leaving her seat to approach the rainbow-haired girl. “Hey Dashie! What the fuck ya doin, man? You touchin yerself!?” she shouted sarcastically, laughing as she repeatedly slapped Rainbow Dash across the thigh. “Ya need me ta come over and yell at ya? Huh? How’s that? Does that help? Does that get ya fuckin hot?”

Dash shook her head, laughing heartily as she continued to stroke herself through her clothes, feigning pleasure. “No AJ! HAHAHA! I’m trying to touch myself! Leave me alone!”

The other girls were giggling at the scene while I sat quietly, staring at the ceiling as I cursed myself for telling them such a stupid thing. “Very funny, guys,” I said flatly. “HA-HA. Hilarious. No breakfast for you two.”

Applejack came back and flopped down next to me again, giving my shoulder a loud backhand slap. “Awww! We’re just messin with ya!”

“HAHA! Yeah,” Dash laughed as she sat up again. Her laughter suddenly stopped, however, and a look of confusion came over her face. “Wait a sec,” she said, looking over at me. “Who was masturbating in front of you?”

Sunset’s face went blank and her eyes darted side-to-side, rapidly. Before the others had a chance to think about it, she spoke up. “Uh…actually, we need to move onto the next subject, guys…”

Not a single one of us noticed Fluttershy.

She hadn’t moved from her spot yet, and had become increasingly agitated during the ongoing conversation. Her mind was racing and she was fidgety; her fingers twiddled incessantly and her eyes darted around the room with an expression of uneasiness and apprehension.

She hadn’t told her friends everything.

It was true that she’d told them about her pony-up, but that was all. There was still the matter of the enhancements given to her by the immortality.

On one hand, it was exciting. She’d become powerful; more powerful than she or her friends could possibly have imagined. The issue she had, however, was the things she’d done while in that state.

The extreme distress caused by her captors had filled her with rage; a boiling, seething anger, unlike anything she’d ever felt before. That, along with the surge of physical prowess that she’d been granted proved to be a very bad combination for the hapless employees that populated the base.

Tapping her fingertips together, she chewed furiously at her bottom lip, trying her best to psyche herself up to tell us what had happened. But over and over again, her fear of judgement stopped her. Even though Rarity and I had told her that we thought no differently of her, it was difficult to tell her closest friends about the suffering she’d caused, whether her opponents deserved it or not.

She kept reminding herself that she could simply tell them about the large wings and the super-strength, and that she could leave the rest out. However, the simple act of telling them carried with it the implication of the type of violence that would have been committed with such abilities. After all, they already knew she had gotten herself out of there, and telling them she’d been granted such extreme power, combined with her already precise talent for killing would certainly make it easy for them to imagine the kind of rampage she would have went on.

The pressure, however, drove her to madness. She had to tell them, and she had to do it now. No more waiting for a pause in the conversation. It was never going to come, and he knew she would have to step outside of her comfort zone and just do it; because in truth, she wasn’t comfortable anyway.

Taking a deep breath, Fluttershy finally mustered up the courage to speak.

“Um...girls?”

No one heard her.

“Girls?” she repeated, sitting up slightly.

Her voice didn’t carry far, and again, no one heard her. No one, that is, except for her loving girlfriend.

When the shy girl’s soft voice wafted into Rarity’s ear, she paused for a moment, then turned away from the conversation to find her lover on pins and needles, looking like she was about to crawl out of her own skin.

Rarity leaned in, whispering quietly. “Darling...are you alright?”

Fluttershy locked eyes with the fashionista and froze.

“What is it?” Rarity asked. “Did you want to say something?”

The shy girl held her breath for a moment, then nodded.

“You mustn’t be afraid, Fluttershy. We’re all here for you.” Rarity turned back to the group to get their attention as Fluttershy watched on in terror.

There was no turning back now.

“Oh excuse me, everyone, excuse me!” Rarity called out loud, prompting the rest of us to quiet down and pay attention. “I believe Fluttershy has something to tell us.”

Even under the protection of her hair, Fluttershy could feel every set of eyes in the room burning holes in her, causing her heart to thump like a jack-hammer.

Sunset quickly noticed the shy girl’s discomfort. “What’s up, Flutters?”

After her eyes darted around the group once more, Fluttershy drew a deep breath and looked down at her trembling fingers. “Um…I-I haven’t told you guys everything…about the, um…pony-up.”

Sunset’s expression flattened suddenly, and she shifted her stance to face the shy girl more directly. “OK?”

Fluttershy, reluctant and nervous, continued stammering. “Um…I…I, um…I-“

“Come on, Flutters!” Dash hollered. “Spit it out already!”

After glaring at the rainbow-haired girl for a second, Fluttershy placed her hands on top of her head, closed her eyes, and blurted out the next sentence. “My pony-up was way different this time!”

Unsure of what to think, the girls glanced at each other as Sunset cocked an inquiring eyebrow. “Different how?” she asked firmly.

Taking another breath, Fluttershy slowly extended her arm and pointed a shaky finger at me.

I could feel the blood drain from my face when I saw it, and my eyes began to wander around, looking at each of the girls as they turned to stare at me one-by-one. “OK...what’d I do now?”

Sunset turned back to Fluttershy and folded her arms, confused. “OK, would you care to explain a bit more? What about Golds?”

“H-his power…” Fluttershy continued, “i-it made the pony-up…um, better.”

“Better how?”

“W-well…” the shy girl stammered, rubbing her forearm, “my, um…wings were bigger.”

Sunset’s eyes grew. “How much bigger are we talking?”

“Um, bigger than Twilight’s.”

Dash cocked an eyebrow. “OK so, how big is that? What kind of wingspan would you say?”

Fluttershy, who was now gaining some courage by her friends’ interest, furrowed her brow and scratched her temple. “Um…I’m not sure…nine, maybe ten feet?”

Dash gasped loudly, her eyes nearly bugging out of her head. “WHAT? Ten feet? That’s huge!”

Sunset, after a moment of shock, gave her head a shake and focused on the shy girl again. “Wait, so...you think Golds’ power is responsible for that?”

“Well, um…why wouldn’t it be?” Fluttershy asked, shrugging. “That’s the only thing that’s changed since the last time I ponied-up. Besides, the wings weren’t the only difference. I was, um…stronger, too.”

This caught Sunset’s attention again, and she watched the shy girl intently as Rarity asked the next question.

“How much stronger, darling?”

“Strong,” Fluttershy replied, looking into the astonished eyes of her lover. “I was, um…able to rip an elevator door out of a cinder-block wall and toss it aside like a candy wrapper.”

Before anyone else had a chance to respond, Rainbow Dash threw her hands into the air and howled like a crazy person. “What the fuck; THAT IS SO CRAZY!” She quickly spun around to face Twilight and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her vigorously. “Did you hear that, Twilight? It’s like an AWESOME OVERLOAD!” Without warning, Dash zipped to the far side of the couch with a multicoloured streak trailing behind, ending up in Fluttershy’s face. “TELL US MORE!”

As Fluttershy continued to reveal more about her powers, I watched Sunset pace frantically back and forth, talking to herself.

“This is incredible…” she mumbled, eyes wide as she turned to go the other direction. “Has this ever happened before? I don’t think it has…” —she paused to shake her fists in excitement— “Equestrian magic, combining with power from another universe…” She let out a shaky breath next, pressing her fingertips to her temples. “I gotta send the princess a message…or something…I mean, this...this is HUGE!”

*****

The night wore on, and Fluttershy, a shocked Sunset and I continued to tell stories from our mission to the rest of the group.

Fluttershy ended up telling us a great deal about her escape and her newfound, but temporary power. She wasn’t overly specific about her encounters with the agents in the base, which I completely understood after her revelation in Rarity’s bathroom; and even though she hadn’t explicitly said it, the rest of us got the distinct impression that a number of people in that base left this world in a less-than-pleasant fashion.

There were other things not touched on, however; such as Rarity’s night time escapades on the rooftops of Canterlot, as well as Twilight’s still secret immortality.

The chatter went on long after midnight, and although it was a great time, the three remaining mortal girls eventually began to fall asleep one at a time, starting with Applejack, which was no surprise, considering she’d put in a full day’s work. Rainbow Dash, who worked a half-day, dozed off next, but not before making her way to Fluttershy’s bed without even changing her clothes. Pinkie Pie was last, of course; she had the most energy leftover from the day, having done nothing but hang out with Fluttershy, baking some unfortunately-named treats. After changing back into her pajamas, she made her way to the bedroom to join Dash for a good night’s sleep.

Applejack had passed out on the couch, so Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Sunset and I decided to go outside and continue our visit in the backyard.

I made a point to Twilight that if she didn’t want the others to know that she’d been turned, she should stay inside and pretend to sleep. Her response consisted of a simple shrug, informing me that ‘even though she didn’t actively plan on telling them yet, if they found out, she’d be OK with it.’

“Fair enough,” was my response.

The five of us sat in a circle around the dormant fire pit. I was facing the woods with the back of the house to my right, with Sunset directly across from me. Twilight was to my right, with Rarity seated between us, and finally, Fluttershy was sitting between Sunset and Twilight.

We were reluctant to actually start a fire in case we ran out of wood by morning, which was how I had planned on cook their breakfast. So instead, we sat in the moonlight and chatted the night away.

“So, what have you been doing with all your extra time, Twi?” I asked, glancing over at the lavender nerd.

“Um…reading, mostly,” she replied sheepishly, followed by a thoughtful rub of her chin. “Well actually, the past few weeks I’ve sort of shifted my studies to…well, me.”

“Oh?” I replied, raising an eyebrow. “Ever since your outing with Rare?”

Twilight chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her neck as her face began to flush. “Heh…yeah. You, uh…heard about that, eh?”

“Yup,” Sunset replied. “I’m surprised, Twi. You never struck me as the Batman type.”

“Oh!” Twilight replied, pointing at Rarity with her thumb. “This girl here is more the Batman type than me; the things she did that night were absolutely amazing!”

Rarity giggled, sticking her nose in the air as she flicked her bangs with her fingertips. “T’was just another night, darling.”

“Pppfff!” Twilight smirked, shaking her head.

“I hear Rare gave you a little homework?” I said. “How’s that coming along?”

Twilight clapped her hands together excitedly. “Completely fascinating! Not only have I been busy with that, I’ve conducted a few other experiments; which reminds me…” She reached into the small satchel that she’d brought out with her and produced a small Ziploc bag. Inside the bag was a thin, white stick. “Before I get into explaining some of the things I’ve been doing, I wanted to show you guys this.”

Rarity, who was sitting beside Twilight, leaned closer, squinting as she studied the object in the dark. It wasn’t long before she figured out what it was and she squealed with excitement, bouncing in her seat and clapping her hands rapidly.

“Wait, is that a pregnancy test?” Sunset asked, her eyes lighting up with excitement.

“Indeed it is! And it’s positive! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! How wonderful, darling!” Rarity squealed. “Is it your brother and Cadance? ARE YOU GOING TO BE AN AUNTIE? OOH! When can we expect the little bundle of joy to arrive?”

Twilight’s expression lacked the excitement of her friends’. “Whoa, you guys,” she said, waving them down. “This isn’t Cadance’s. It’s mine.”

An Earth shattering silence suddenly fell over the yard, save for the noises in the forest; Sunset, Fluttershy, Rarity and I were left staring at Twilight, utterly dumfounded.

Fluttershy, wide-eyed, was the first to finally speak. “Um, w-what did you just say, Twilight?”

“Heh,” the lavender girl chuckled, reaching up to adjust her glasses, only to find yet again that they weren’t there. After a frustrated little grunt, she returned her eyes to us. “Uh, well…heh! Turns out I’m pregnant.”

Author's Note

Anyway...I hope you guys are having fun with this so far. This sleepover/breakfast party goes on for quite a few chapters, but I promise it gets better from here, now that the heavier topics have been tackled and we’ve gotten some closure on the first half.

Chapter 85: The Sleepover - Part 3

Chapter 85

Twilight’s news was quite the shocker.

Noticing the dumbfounded expression on the faces of the other girls, I responded in the only way the average dude knows how.

“Well it was nice knowing you ladies, but think it’s about time I hit the old dusty trail,” I announced nonchalantly as I stood from my chair, only to be engulfed in a lavender-coloured aura and hoisted from the ground.

Rendered immobile, I sighed and looked down at my feet, watching them wiggle helplessly above the grass. “OK, like…I was just kidding,” I explained, looking at Twilight, whose hand was outstretched, emitting a dull glow of its own.

“But…I-I simply cannot understand how this could have happened,” Rarity said, her voice rising in pitch as the reality of the situation began to set in.

Twilight raised her other hand suddenly, stopping the conversation. “Just…OK, you guys need to slow down and relax.”

“Relax?” I replied, feeling a twinge of frustration generated by her apparent lack of concern. “Do you not understand the significance here? This has NEVER happened before, so, uh...it’s kind of a big deal, no?”

“I said reLAX!” Twilight repeated firmly. “This is all irrelevant anyway.”

“I’m sorry, irrelevant?” I said, shaking my head in confusion. “In what possible way is this irrelevant?”

Twilight sat back in the chair and lowered her hand.

Without warning, the aura subsided and I dropped to the ground. Once my feet landed in the grass and I caught my balance, I looked at the lavender girl again, waiting for her response.

“Don’t worry, Golds. I’m not having a baby.”

A combination of relief and befuddlement came over me and I paused, raising an eyebrow.

Sunset sighed, closing her eyes as she sat back in her seat. “OK, I am officially confused.”

I glanced at Futtershy next. Her expression was also one of relief, however it was obvious that she too was puzzled by Twilight’s contradiction.

“I agree, darling,” Rarity said, rubbing her brow as I sat in my chair again. “You’re sort of…not making very much sense, I’m afraid.”

Twilight sighed, steepling her fingers in front of her chin as she considered how to go about explaining herself.

At last, she glanced around at the other girls. “When did I turn?” she asked. “Sometime in mid-August, right?”

“Yeah,” Sunset nodded. “Just before you attended that summer course.”

“Right, which would put me at about ten weeks, that is, if I was actually gestating,” —Twilight chuckled nervously— “and since most expecting mothers start to show around twelve weeks, it’s still too early for me to prove that I’m not actually growing a fetus from that alone. I did, however, visit the OB/GYN at the University Hospital for an ultrasound, which, as I predicted, showed nothing.”

Sunset rubbed her chin, ruminating on Twilight’s explanation when Rarity interjected.

“Perhaps you’ve miscarried, darling?”

“I don’t think so,” Twilight replied, shaking her head. “For that to happen, the fetus would have to be mortal, which I seriously doubt would have been the case, given the parents. That’s only a hypothesis though; we are, after all, traveling unto undiscovered country here.”

“So what do you think happened?” Sunset asked.

Twilight cleared her throat, straightening up in the chair. “Well, let me ask you,” she offered, looking around at the three girls. “Have any of you taken a pregnancy test since you became immortal?”

Rarity, Fluttershy and Sunset took a moment to exchange glances, then shook their heads as they faced Twilight again.

“Well, when was it that you were turned? Sometime in May?” Twilight asked, to which Fluttershy and Rarity nodded. She pointed at Sunset next. “And Sunset, you were in June, correct?”

Sunset nodded.

“Alright, so I think we can all agree that IF any or all of you were also pregnant, you would definitely be showing by now, right?”

“Yeah, for sure.” Sunset nodded.

“Well,” Twilight said as she reached into her satchel again and produced a new pregnancy test, “this is your chance to prove your theory correct, Sunset.”

“My theory?”

Twilight nodded. “Yes. The hypothesis that you came up with the day you found out about Fluttershy’s turn; wherein you stated that she must have conceived with Golds after their sexual activity that week, and that her Equestrian magic somehow ‘used’ the event to spread the immortality to her.”

Sunset put her hand out. “Hang on, Twi; that was just a theory that happened to fit the facts. I have no idea whether it was right or not.”

“Well, like I said: this is your chance —right now— to provide the evidence needed to prove your theory correct.” Twilight held the pregnancy test out, offering it to whomever would take it. “Any volunteers?” she asked, looking enthusiastically from one friend to the next.

Finally, after a moment of silent hesitation, it was Rarity who stood slowly and, without a word, took the package from Twilight and headed quietly into the house.

We sat for a short period in the fashionista’s absence, unsure of what to say to each other. I wasn’t sure how to feel at that point, and it was obvious by the looks on Fluttershy and Sunset’s faces that they didn’t either. Deep down, I knew it really didn’t matter; nothing was different after all, but the simple knowledge of what might have happened between me and these women made everything feel strange.

Sighing, I looked across the circle at Fluttershy. She seemed to sense that I was watching her and brought her eyes up, returning a nervous gaze to me. I gave her a reassuring smile, which she returned after a short hesitation, just as Sunset started talking.

“So,” she said, rubbing her hands together nervously. “Let’s say Rare comes out and tells us she’s pregnant, what does that mean?”

“Well,” Twilight said, scratching the back of her neck, “for starters, it probably means that you and Fluttershy are also ‘pregnant,’” she replied while doing air-quotes, “but in terms of the immortality, I believe it proves your hypothesis correct: that fertilization took place, but rather than creating a new life in the form of a fetus, the Equestrian magic took Golds’ power when his sperm cell fertilized her egg and used it to create a life of eternity, emulating his indestructibility and anti-aging properties.

“I believe...” Twilight continued, taking a short, thoughtful pause to rub her chin before starting over. “I believe that the exact moment of change happens when the fertilized egg implants itself in the uterus wall, which is why the pregnancy test shows positive since that is when the hormone ’human chorionic gonadotrophin’ becomes present in the urine, which is what the test is designed to detect. Once embedded in the womb, the cell becomes a part of us, and boom!” —she slammed her right fist into her left palm— “we become immortal, just like Golds.”

“Wait wait,” Sunset replied, waving Twilight down as she shook her head. “Two things; one: why doesn’t anything happen with people who don’t have Equestrian magic, and two: why does the fetus stop growing?”

“Hmm,” Twilight looked down at the ground as she considered the questions. It was interesting to see her mind in action; she was indeed very brilliant, and it was staggering to think about how much knowledge she would possess centuries later, given how much she knew already.

What will she know in 500 years?

“As for regular women not being affected: I don’t know. Obviously, the presence of our magic is the key to making it work; perhaps without it, the egg simply dies, or…” —she shook her head and shrugged— “There could be any number of reasons for it, but at this point, it’s only speculation.”

“Fair enough,” Sunset nodded. “Now what about the fetus? Why does it stop growing?”

Twilight turned to face me. “Well, when you look at Golds’ face, what do you see?”

Sunset snorted. “Depends on my mood.”

Twilight let out a playful giggle, covering her mouth with the backs of her fingers when she saw me narrow my eyes at the red-head. “Hehehe!…no seriously,” she chuckled, “What do you see, guys?”

I sat in silence as Sunset and Fluttershy looked me over, rubbing my chin patiently with my thumbnail as I waited, which in turn created a scraping sound against my stubble.

As the raspy sound travelled across the dormant fire pit toward the girls, Fluttershy’s eyes lit up suddenly and she pointed a slender, yellow finger in my direction. “Oh! His whiskers!”

“That’s right, Fluttershy,” Twilight replied, “Golds’ five o’clock shadow. It’s always there; he can’t shave it off, and it never grows. It’s just there, and it has been for thousands of years.”

Sunset shrugged. “I just thought that's cuz he’s a slob,” she teased, giving me a playful wink.

“Hey, why don’t you go fuck yourself, Sunny?” I fired back, returning the wink.

She folded her arms. “I would, but I don’t feel like getting yelled at.”

“Oooh,” I shook my head slowly, looking down at the grass. “There’s another one who‘s not getting any breakfast.”

After another round of quiet laughter, Twilight cut in to continue her explanation. “OK you two, that’s enough,” she chuckled. “So anyway, I believe that explains why the fetus stops growing. Once the immortality takes effect, we no longer grow new cells, nor do we shed dead ones. We just stop, and this is exactly how we stay. Forever.”

“So, we’re basically gonna be stuck at the exact moment of conception for all time?” Sunset asked.

“Yeah. That’s one way of putting it.”

“Hmm…” Sunset raised an eyebrow. “You know, that actually works out in our favour with the suits.”

“I’m sorry?” Twilight replied, furrowing her brow.

“Well,” Sunset looked upward, scratching her earlobe, “I mean, once we start going out and fighting crime and doing regular patrols, it will make it a lot easier to keep our identities hidden if there’s no chance of leaving hairs or any other type of DNA behind. From a forensics standpoint, that puts anyone looking for us at a serious disadvantage if the police —or any potential enemies— are trying to figure out who we are.”

“Ah, you’re right, Sunset,” Twilight agreed. “That’s actually incredibly convenient for us.”

A moment later, we heard crisp footsteps coming from the side of the house; a distinct sound, created by smooth and elegant strides that only the fashionista could pull off. The four of us turned to see her approaching with an expressionless face. She stopped between Fluttershy and Twilight and paused, glancing silently at each of us.

“Well…” said the indigo-haired girl, finally.

“Uh…well, what?” Sunset replied, raising an eyebrow.

Rarity looked at the girls rather sternly. “Why are you all just sitting around? Shouldn’t you be planning my baby shower?”

Fluttershy gasped deeply, covering her mouth with both hands as Twilight clapped excitedly.

“Yes! I KNEW it!” she cheered as a smirking Rarity handed her the positive test for inspection.

Sunset shook her head in disbelief. “So, that means me and Flutters are probably pregnant too, right?”

Twilight looked up from the test and nodded. “Well...you would test positive for it, but yes, I can pretty much guarantee it. Unfortunately, I only brought one test, so we’ll have to have you guys confirm it some other time.”

“I’m afraid I don’t quite understand, Twilight,” Rarity confessed as she stepped past the lavender-skinned girl to return to her chair.

Twilight then proceeded to explain the entire concept that she’d just presented to us during Rarity’s absence. I was thankful actually; hearing it second time gave me the chance to re-absorb some of the finer details, and with a better understanding of the theory, I had to admit that what Twilight was saying made perfect sense and was more than likely one hundred percent correct.

“…so you see,” Twilight concluded, “once the fertilized cell became embedded, you ceased to be the old, mortal Rarity and are now —and will always be— immortal Rarity.”

“Hmm,” the fashionista rubbed her chin. “So, would you say I’m not really me anymore?”

“Well, you’re you,” Twilight replied, “just not the same you. Technically, you are no longer human; you are something different. Something new.” She gestured to the other girls before continuing. “We all are, and it all started with Fluttershy. She was the first.”

“What about me?” I asked. “I was technically first. Waaaaaay first, actually.”

“True, but you aren’t exactly like us,” Twilight replied. “You don’t have Equestrian magic. Plus, the means through which you were created are still unknown to us, as well as your actual age.”

I paused, then nodded in agreement. “Right.”

“However,” Twilight continued, “in a way, you have fathered the creation of our immortal selves,” —she stopped to think for a moment— “and I guess that would make our mortal selves our mothers...kind of.”

Rarity looked at me suddenly, her eyes lighting up as she placed her fingertips in front of her mouth. “Ooh! So does that make you, in a sense, my father?”

I shook my head quickly, scowling. “No, no it does not.”

She pushed her bottom lip out and left her seat, gazing at me with a pair of big, blue puppy dog eyes as she came over to my chair and sat her purple-skirted fanny on my lap. “Tell me Golds, is it OK if I call you Daddy?”

“Hey, whoa! No no, don’t start that. That is just…just…no.” I shook my head, cringing furiously.

The other girls snickered quietly as the fashionista snuggled closer to me. She wrapped her arm around the back of my neck for a hug, mashing her soft, warm breast against my cheek. “Ohh, please Daddy!” she whined.

I let out an exasperated sigh. “What was wrong with ‘darling?’ I liked darling just fine.”

“I think ‘Daddy’ is cute,” Fluttershy giggled, prompting me to lean over to glare past Rarity at her.

“Don’t encourage her, you!”

“Awww,” Rarity cooed, leaning down to plant a kiss on my forehead. “Not to worry, you’ll get used to it,” she giggled.

“God dammit,” I whispered to myself, shaking my head as Rarity stood and headed back to her own seat. Instinctively, my eyes were drawn to her rear-end as she sauntered away, hypnotizing me with that violet skirt as it swung from her hips with each elegant, yet suggestive stride. Before she was out of reach, however, I decided she needed some fatherly discipline, so I leaned over and swung an open hand, giving her a firm spank on the ass.

“OOH!” Rarity squealed as she cupped her hands over her backside, jumping nearly a foot into the air. “DADDY!”

An exasperated groan began to emanate from the open bedroom window, followed by Rainbow Dash’s groggy voice. “Aargh…will you fucking weirdos keep it down out there?”

The five of us bit our lips and ducked our heads as we laughed silently at the outburst, hoping that by morning she’d have forgotten about what she heard and wouldn’t ask any questions.

It took a few moments to compose ourselves before we could continue the conversation.

Sunset, wiping a tear from her eye, was the first to speak. “So Twi, haha…are you excited about training with Golds?”

Twilight nodded; a smirk remained on her face as she answered. “Oh absolutely, I can’t wait! I believe I’ve done an adequate job on the assignment that Rarity gave me,” —she turned to face me— “and I think I’m ready to begin whenever you are, Golds.”

“One question:” I replied, “how’s this going to work with you being away at school?”

Twilight rubbed her chin, staring thoughtfully at the ground. “Umm…well, for now, it’ll just have to be on the weekends. It’s too far to make the trip out here every night of the week.”

I nodded. “That’s fine. It’ll take a little longer that way, but we’ll just have to work around it,” I said. “So what kind of homework did Rare give you?”

“Well,” Twilight replied, sitting up in her chair and resting her hands on her knees, looking quite studious. “She said I needed to improve my presence and learn to have a more confident stance, but most importantly...“

As Twilight spoke, Sunset looked to the ground on her right and spied a fairly large twig; roughly a foot long and about an inch thick, with a surprising straightness that made it an ideal throwing weapon. With a mischievous smirk, she leaned down and plucked the stick from the grass, then wound her arm up, ready to launch it at her friend.

A test, if you will.

“Twi!” the red-head shouted, throwing the stick simultaneously.

Twilight, without breaking her sentence, glanced at Sunset as the stick rocketed towards her. With a level of casualness that was almost comical, she raised her index and middle fingers, engulfing the projectile in a lavender aura, stopping it less than a foot from her face as she continued speaking. “...most importantly, she told me I had to let go of my fear of pain so I could learn to avoid flinching,” she finished, waving her fingers in a circle.

The stick spun around in response, and then quickly fired back towards Sunset.

With a smirk —and without even blinking— Sunset quickly swung her hand and swatted the stick to the ground beside her chair. “Not bad,” she complimented, raising her brows and nodding as she faced Fluttershy, who was looking back at her with an impressed smile of her own.

“Yes, good on you, darling. Bravo!” Rarity added, with a golf clap.

“How did you do that on your own, though?” I asked. “You didn’t have any help, did you?”

Twilight shook her head. “No. Given the trouble that Fluttershy was going through, I made sure to keep these endeavors to myself.”

I nodded. “Good idea. So how did you teach yourself not to flinch? I mean, you need to be attacked unexpectedly, and you obviously can’t do that yourself.”

“Actually, you can,” she replied, “with the right equipment, that is.”

“Equipment?”

“I built an apparatus,” she explained, “consisting of a stand, a heavy torsion spring, a release mechanism…and a two-by-four.”

I let out a chuckle, shaking my head as I glanced at Sunset. “I think I see where this is going.”

Twilight giggled in reply. “A simple concept, really. It stands next to my reading desk, and the two-by-four is attached to a swing arm, which is loaded with the tension from the spring —which I have to reset manually every time, but it works fine, I guess— and finally, the release mechanism triggers the attack. The nice thing about it is I can kill two birds with one stone;” —I glanced at Fluttershy when Twilight said this, noting the look of disapproval on her face after hearing the analogy as the lavender-skinned girl continued, blissfully unaware of her foible— “I can still spend most of my time reading, AND re-train my instincts at the same time.”

“Hang on,” I said, scratching my head, “how does the release mechanism work? It needs to be automatic so you don’t expect it, right?”

“Yes, I realise that,” she nodded. “It does attack by itself, and at random intervals.”

“How’d you accomplish that?”

“Well, the release mechanism is a large twelve volt solenoid, powered by an automotive battery that sits at the base to help anchor it —cuz it does rock quite a bit when the two-by-four swings— but anyway, the solenoid is triggered by a programmable control module that I set to go off at random times. For example: after I reset it, it might go off again in two minutes or it might go off in two hours; that way it keeps me on my toes.”

“Hm,” I said, chewing my lip. “So…what, you just sit at your desk and read, and this thing just randomly cracks you in the head?”

“Yup,” she giggled. “Pretty much.”

“Hm.” I gave a nod of approval. “Very clever. Unorthodox, but clever.”

I could just see Twilight’s cheeks flushing in the moonlight. She smiled bashfully, looking down as her hands fidgeted in her lap.

“It obviously worked; I mean, the way you countered Sunny’s attack just now proves it,” I continued. “That was pretty impressive.”

“Do you wanna see it?” Twilight asked, pulling her phone from her shoulder bag. “The device, I mean.”

“Sure,” I replied, leaving my seat to squat down beside hers while she brought the images up on her phone.

“Just a sec,” she said as she searched through her library, pausing to look around at the other girls. “Come see, you guys.”

Fluttershy stood and carried her chair closer, plopping it down next to her lavender friend as Sunset walked behind to look over Twilight’s shoulder. Rarity shifted her chair towards us and leaned against me, resting her head on my shoulder as the image loaded on the small, bright screen.

Right away, I noticed a play button in the middle of the shot. “Oh, this is a video?”

“Yes it is,” Twilight replied. “I recorded the majority of them so I could review the footage later for data collection.”

Sunset snorted. “Why am I not surprised?”

“Because we’re best friends, Sunset. You know how I am; we’ve known each other for years, and now, will continue to do so for centuries,” Twilight replied very matter-of-factly as she hit the play button.

The video started. All it consisted of was a fairly close side-view shot of Twilight, sitting at her desk, reading a book. There was a laptop in front of her, which was closed, along with a desk lamp not far beyond that, giving her just enough light to read by. I could see the machine’s stand in the background; however, the majority of it was out of the shot.

We all watched the video in silence, waiting for the contraption to do its thing.

A few moments went by, and nothing happened, other than Twilight turning the page—or rather, the page turned itself, leavening a faint lavender trail in its wake.

“Sorry guys,” she sighed. “I still have to cut some of these clips down so it’s not so hard to locate the event.”

“Are you sure this isn’t some fetish video you made?” Sunset asked, nudging Twilight’s shoulder. “You know, so you can touch yourself to videos of you reading?”

“No Sunset,” Twilight huffed, “I told you before, I don’t touch myself to videos of me reading!”

Sunset laughed. “Yeah you do, Twi,” —she put her fingers between her legs to pretend she was masturbating— "you watch them and you’re all like: ’aww yeah, that's right; read that book, you bitch!’"

“Shh!" Twilight replied dismissively, "I think this is it; watch closely, guys.”

All of us leaned in as Sunset continued to snicker to herself, watching intently to see the machine in action.

And see it, we did.

There was a sudden click, followed by the stand rattling noisily as the length of wood swung into view so fast it was hardly visible. It connected at full speed with Twilight’s forehead, who was still looking down at the book, having had no time to react.

CRACK!

“AAAH!”

She was knocked clean off the chair and quickly disappeared from sight, followed by a thump as she hit the floor out of the camera’s view.

All of us, except for Twilight, recoiled in horror and then cringed.

“OH!” I shouted, shocked by the ruthless force her machine had dealt.

“Goodness!” Fluttershy added, hands over her mouth.

“That thing’s got some serious fuckin gusto,” I said, looking at Twilight, who raised her eyebrows in response.

“Tell me about it. In fact, I am fairly certain it would be lethal to an ordinary human, or at least capable of inflicting serious trauma. In retrospect, I probably would have been fine with a lighter torsion spring, but it’s built now, so I guess it is what it is.”

I brought my attention back to the video. Just before it ended, I heard a voice in the background.

”Twilight! Are you OK?”

“Hey!” I said quickly, looking at the lavender girl. “Who was that? I thought you said no one else knew about this?”

“Oh, that’s just Spike,” she replied nonchalantly. “You don’t need to worry about him.”

“Oh?” I raised an eyebrow. “What, is he a friend, or….?”

“Uh, you could say that,” she answered, somewhat evasively.

“Oh, I miss Spike,” Fluttershy interjected, softly. “How is he?”

“Uhh,” Twilight paused, looking unsure of how to answer. “He’s...OK, I guess. I can’t really take him out much anymore though; he’s gotten a bit…antisocial in his old age.”

“And perverted,” Rarity added dryly.

Twilight huffed suddenly, letting her head drop to cup her palms over her forehead. “Look Rarity, I don’t know how many more times I can apologise for that!”

“I’m actually gonna back Rare up on this one,” Sunset cut in. “I’ve had to stop wearing skirts around him altogether lately.”

“I told you guys before, he can’t help it,” Twilight defended, shaking her head. “Just…nevermind. Let’s move on to the high-speed footage.”

Raising an eyebrow, I gave an admiring smirk to the young scientist. “You took high-speed footage too?”

“I did!” she replied enthusiastically. ”I was able to convince my professor to let me borrow a Phantom VEO-410 for ‘research purposes’” —she did air quotes while saying this— “and I set it up alongside the regular camera so I could more accurately observe my reaction times.”

“Huh, this outta be interesting,” I chuckled.

Twilight’s eyebrows jumped up. “Oh…it certainly is,” she replied as she loaded the next video. “Now, these videos are cut down to isolate the events themselves; because they were filmed at fifty-eight hundred frames per second, watching a five second clip actually takes about twenty minutes, so cutting it down to the event only is a must.”

“Cool. Let’s see it,” I said.

She pressed play.

“Um, this was about a week after the clip we just saw,” she explained. “Now, in the first one, even at regular speed, it was obvious that I hadn’t reacted at all before the two-by-four hit me, however, in this one, I…well, just watch and see.”

After watching her for a second, enjoying her enthusiasm, I shifted my eyes to her phone to watch the video.

At first, there was only stillness. Like before, a side-view of Twilight could be seen, sitting and reading at her desk. The machine was in the background, as before.

“Are you sure it’s playi-“ I started to say, but stopped when I heard a deep, echoing clang; a slowed down version of the solenoid releasing the lock pin, followed by a deep creak as the stand slowly flexed in the background. The two-by-four came into view soon after, looking more like a wet noodle as it hovered slowly-but-surely towards the reading girl from the right side of the screen.

“Holy shit,” Sunset exclaimed, “you can actually see the wood flexing!”

When the board was about two-thirds of the way through its sweep, Twilight’s eyes crept up to meet it, after which they slowly closed and her head began to turn. Her face transitioned into a grimace as she moved to avoid the impact, but it was clear that her reaction was far too late.

The five of us watched in silence as the two-by-four slowly collided with the lavender girl’s temple, jarring her head rather violently to the side. A shockwave of lavender skin began to ripple across her face, causing her features —her nose, cheeks and lips— to wobble like jelly under the impact, sending them around the side of her head to a degree that I didn’t think was possible.

In all honesty, it looked bizarre and quite comical, and I found myself having to bite my lips to keep myself from snickering. When that didn’t work, I covered my mouth and turned away for a second to have a quiet laugh.

Twilight heard it, and she turned to look at me.

I could see her out the corner of my eye. Knowing I was caught, I turned back to meet her gaze. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to laugh, it’s just-“

“It’s OK,” she cut in, giggling. “I had quite a few chuckles over it myself when I reviewed the footage for the first time.”

“I can’t believe how much a person’s face can move,” Sunset snorted as I brought my focus back to the screen, only to be shocked by what I saw.

A jagged crack had divided the two-by-four in half, and it was now surrounded by a myriad of tiny wooden splinters that floated though the air in all directions; spinning, twirling and colliding with one another, all suspended in the frame by the camera's manipulation of time.

“Whoa, you broke the two-by-four?” I chuckled in amazement, glancing at Twilight again.

“Oh, yeah,” she replied, with a casual air that made the other girls snicker. “I’ve broken a few of them. I think I’m currently on board number…five, is it?”

“Wow,” I chuckled as Twilight exited the video before it was done.

“Well, you get the idea,” she said, scrolling through the menu in search of another. “So, in the first video, you noticed that I didn’t react at all before the board hit me, and in the second one, I started to react, but was obviously still too slow. If fact, it hit me right in the temple because I had my head turned, which would be even worse for a mortal person; pretty much a guaranteed instant death.”

The mention of death caught my attention. “Hey, do you have roommates?” I asked.

“Yes I do,” she replied quickly, then put her finger up. “And I know what you’re thinking; and yes, I disassembled the machine and put it away before I left.” She sent a quick glance my way before continuing. “The last thing I need is to hear that someone got clobbered while I was away,” she said as she scrolled through some more videos. “Ah! Here…”

As she tapped another video thumbnail and waited for it to load, Twilight turned to me again to explain the next piece of footage. “OK,” she said, letting out a long exhale before continuing, “this footage was taken only two days ago; one day before you guys came home with Fluttershy.”

Once again, she tapped the play button and the video began, very much the same as the others: with Twilight sitting at her desk, reading. As before, the pin released and the two-by-four swung into view —clearly a new two-by-four as mentioned by her a moment ago, evidenced by a distinctly different grain— this time, however, when the wood was only a third of the way through its swing, she had already begun to duck her head to the side, leaning towards the camera; her face scrunched up, her teeth gritted, her eyes squeezed shut as her hair floated around her face, held in place by the prolonged effect of the camera.

This time, she was successful.

The board passed just above her head, barely grazing her hair as she continued to spill slowly out of the chair, after which she presumably stumbled towards the camera.

“Nice,” I said, giving an impressed nod as she stopped the video.

“Heh, thanks. It’s nice, actually; not having to hear the impact of wood ringing through my skull,” she chuckled. “It may not hurt, but it’s still quite jarring and unpleasant being hit like that.”

Fluttershy nodded in agreement. After her recent experiences, she knew exactly what Twilight was talking about.

“So,” Twilight continued. “With this footage, I was able to precisely gauge the difference in my reflexes before and after the therapy.”

“Therapy?” I laughed.

Twilight replied with a giggle. “You know what I mean,” she replied, elbowing my shoulder. “Anyway, from the time of the first clip I showed you to the one we just watched, I’ve concluded that my reaction time has been consistently reduced by approximately two hundred and eighty-seven percent.”

“That’s amazing, Twilight!” Fluttershy softly congratulated her friend, giving her knee a light squeeze and a shake.

“Yeah, that’s awesome, Twi,” Sunset agreed.

I looked down at Rarity, whose temple was still on my shoulder. “And thank you,” I said softly.

She tilted her face up, locking those big sapphire eyes onto mine. “Me?”

“Yeah, you got Twi started, and she figured out a way —brilliantly, I might add— to complete her own no-flinch training,” I explained. “That is a HUGE time saver for me.”

Rarity closed her eyes and smiled contently as I leaned down and planted a kiss on her forehead. “Awww, thank-you darli-…I mean, Daddy.”

“Ugh,” I groaned, followed by a roll of my eyes as I turned back to face Twilight, drawing a playful giggle from the fashionista.

Twilight was watching us with a smirk on her face when I met eyes with her, after which she looked down at her phone again. “Did you wanna see that last one in real time?”

“Sure.”

She opened another video, and was about to tap the play button when she stopped and raised her finger. “OK, just bear in mind, the time between this attack and the previous one was about an hour and fifty-seven minutes, and I was fully engrossed in this report that I was reading, which detailed the establishment and long-term culture of cell lines derived from gonad tissues of Siberian sturgeon. Quite fascinating, really; did you know that-“

“Twi! Focus!” Sunset cut her off, knowing full well of her friend’s tendency to get sidetracked.

Twilight turned to her right to glance up at the red-head, then returned her attention to the phone. “Right. Sorry,” she said, tapping the play button. “OK, just remember: this is after nearly two hours of reading.”

The video began in real time, and at a slightly different angle, due to being filmed with the other camera. She was at the desk, reading as before when suddenly, the machine clicked and the length of wood whipped across the screen.

Seeing her avoid it in slow motion was one thing, but in real time, it was a whole different experience, and already knowing she succeeded made it no less breathtaking to watch. The sheer instantaneousness of it, the unmatched precision; it was truly staggering to see her sitting and reading contently one second and then ducking her head to the right the next, missing the wood by mere millimeters as she stumbled from the chair and turned to look at the desk afterward, her back blocking the view of the camera.

Her shaky breathing could be heard over the camera’s microphone as she stood and stared quietly at the deadly object that bisected her reading space, where her head had been only seconds earlier.

”W-whoa,” she said in a shaky voice. Then she turned and bent down, leaning on her knees as she looked directly into the camera. “Another successful avoidance…” She let her head hang down for a second to give it a quick shake; then, after a short pause, looked into the camera again and held her hand up with her fingers splayed. ”That’s five in a row now,” she said, followed by a quiet chortle.

“Wow,” I said as she ended the video. “You managed to dodge it five times?”

She nodded.

“Heh...I won’t lie, that’s pretty fuckin impressive,” I said, holding my hand out for a five.

Twilight giggled as she swung her hand down to strike mine, after which she put her phone away. “I didn’t even think it was humanly possible to have reflexes that fast, and yet there it is.”

I pointed past Twilight at the shy girl. “She’s the one to beat; right there.”

Twilight glanced at Fluttershy briefly and then back at me, surprised. “Really?”

“Oh yeah,” I nodded, “Flutters’ reaction times are absolutely ridiculous.”

Fluttershy, being her typical self, ducked her head and hid behind her hair; the dark redness on her cheeks barely visible in the dim light.

“You say it’s not humanly possible,” Rarity interjected, lifting her head from my shoulder. “But you’re forgetting something, darling: we’re no longer human. You said so yourself.”

Twilight looked at the fashionista. “You’re absolutely right, Rarity. We need to be careful not to think of ourselves simply as humans who cannot be destroyed. There’s no telling what sort of abilities and thought processes we’re capable of now, given that many of our survival instincts are now obsolete, as well as god-knows what else…” Twilight paused for a second, then cleared her throat before continuing. “Like our sexual habits, for example.”

Rarity suddenly looked nervous, as did Fluttershy, whose eyes were wide and darting around the yard.

“I uh…er…” Rarity began as her fingers began to fidget, but was cut off by Twilight.

“It’s OK, you guys. I’m not judging,” she said with a comforting smile. “Sunset told me about your little soirée last night, which, by the way, Rarity,” —Twilight pointed a finger at the fashionista— “if I could make a suggestion: if you intend to continue such activities, you may want to consider having your bed Scotchgarded.”

“Oh,” Rarity stuck her nose up gave her bangs a proud flick. “Not to worry, I’ve already made the appointment, darling.”

Sunset scowled. “Wait a minute, Rare; you’re having someone come in to…Scotchgard your bed?”

“Yes, and?”

Sunset shrugged, giving Rarity a sideways glare. “Uh…you know, it’s not gonna be too hard for them to figure out what it’s for.”

Rarity drew a breath to respond, but then paused for a moment to rub her chin. “Hmm, you may be right,” she said, looking back at the red-head. “Perhaps I should look into a ‘do it yourself’ kit.”

“You mean like the spray cans you can buy pretty much anywhere? Probably a good idea.” Sunset replied, her voice laced with sarcasm.

“OK, so anyway,” Twilight continued, “back to what I was saying before: I believe it is irresponsible to assume that our transformations haven’t changed us in more ways than we’ve realised. We’ve already observed several differences in our behaviour; a killer instinct, heightened awareness and reflexes, a higher propensity for violence, heightened sexuality and freedom from insecurity—and who knows what else.”

“I agree one hundred percent, darling. I have noticed that the more time I spend in this form, the more differences I’ve seen in my behaviour,” Rarity said, straightening up in her chair with a giggle. “Especially last night!”

“Yeah, last night was…different, that’s for sure,” Sunset agreed, scratching her earlobe.

“I think it’s wonderful!” Fluttershy interjected, out of nowhere.

“What d’you mean, darling?”

“Oh, like…us not being jealous anymore; wouldn’t it be nice if everyone could fall in love with each other and just be happy? I think it’s beautiful,” the shy girl explained, folding her hands and nuzzling them to her cheek.

“Hm...it’s a nice thought, Flutters,” Sunset replied, “but I don’t think all of us are gonna end up falling in love with each other if we all turn. I mean…not everyone clicks, you know? That's just how it is.”

“I agree,” Rarity added. “I simply cannot picture myself being romantic with, say…Rainbow Dash, for example. Don’t get me wrong; she’s a wonderful friend, and I couldn’t picture my life without her, but that’s just…” —the fashionista shook her head, eyes closed— “No. Certainly not.”

“Ohh,” Fluttershy let her head droop, looking slightly dejected.

Noticing the reaction, Rarity gave her girlfriend a reassuring smile. “It really is a lovely thought, Fluttershy, and you are a sweetheart for thinking it; that’s one of the reasons I love you so much.”

The shy girl returned the smile to Rarity. “Aww, thanks Rare.”

“We really can’t say anything for sure right now, guys,” Twilight concluded, “like I said before: we’re traveling into unknown territory here. Who knows the things we’ll learn and feel once our survival and reproductive instincts become truly superfluous; for all we know, we could be on the cusp of a major evolutionary leap forward.”

Rarity nodded her agreement, shaking her finger at Twilight. “Absolutely, darling. I truly believe that we are the future, and perhaps one day the eight of us will be the watchers of this entire world.”

I stood and chuckled, giving the fashionista’s hand a squeeze before heading back to my chair.

“What’s so funny, Daddy?” she asked, raising a brow.

“It’s a nice thought,” I replied as I flopped into my chair and faced the indigo-haired beauty. “But the world will never be perfect. It doesn’t matter how powerful you are; you can’t control the masses, and you can’t stop people from doing or saying what they want. I’ve been there, and trust me,” —I shook my head— “it doesn’t work.”

“I didn’t mean we should rule them, I was only saying-“

“Guys,” Sunset cut in as she returned to her seat. “We don’t need to worry about the world right now. We’re not even all turned yet. Let’s just focus on training and looking after Canterlot for now.”

“Hm,” Rarity hummed. “I suppose I was jumping the gun a bit there.”

Sunset sat forward, leaning on her thighs with her elbows. “I, for one, can’t wait to suit-up and go out and make a difference. Even if it’s a small one, every little bit helps.”

“Agreed,” Rarity replied enthusiastically. “Even if you only help one person, the look of gratitude on their face makes it all worthwhile. I’ve seen it myself, and I simply cannot turn my back now that I know what goes on in that city every night.”

“We should go out this week,” Sunset suggested. “You show us the ropes, Rare, and then we can take shifts after that; you, then me, then Flutters, and-“

Unexpectedly, Fluttershy cut in.

“No!”

Sunset stopped and looked at the shy girl, wide-eyed with shock. “Huh? What do you mean, ‘no’?”

“I don’t wanna do it,” Fluttershy said as she rubbed her forearm, hiding behind her hair.

“Why not, darling?”

“I…I don’t wanna live a life of violence anymore. I’ve had more than my share already, and I just w-want to go back to the way things were; taking care of the animals at the shelter and, um…spending time with you guys.”

There was a long silence, during which everyone exchanged surprised glances.

Sunset was the first to speak. “But Flutters, we could use someone like you. You’ve got some serious skills and-“

“I-I’m sorry, Sunset,” the shy girl cut in, “but I just don’t want it. I’m really sorry.”

After another pause, Rarity let out a sigh. “Oh darling, you needn’t be sorry,” she said, giving her girlfriend a reassuring smile. “If you don’t want to do it, then who are we to force you? Above all else, all I want is for you to be happy.”

Fluttershy, with a flattered expression, gave a loving smile to Rarity. “Aw, thank-you Rare. You’re so good to me.”

“Always,” Rarity said. “While I had been looking forward to roaming the streets at night with you, I shall find a way to manage. And if you ever change your mind, your suit will be waiting for you.”

Fluttershy nodded and smiled.

“Well,” Sunset sighed, “I can’t say I’m not disappointed, Flutters, but I guess I can’t blame you after all the shit you’ve been through.” She then gestured to Rarity and me. “The three of us will manage until Twi is ready to join us.”

“Whoa,” Twilight replied quickly. “I can’t come?”

“Not until you’re ready, darling,” Rarity replied, reaching out to pat the lavender arm of her friend. “While it’s true that you’ve been out once already, it certainly wasn’t without it’s…*ahem*…booboos?”

Twilight paused, then let out a disappointed sigh.

“I’m truly sorry, Twilight,” Rarity continued, “but the only reason I brought you with me that night was because I was desperate for some company.”

Twilight gave a sombre nod. “It’s OK,” she said, following up with a smirk. “It’s not like we’re short on time anyway, right?”

“Precisely, my dear,” Rarity smirked, turning to me. “I suppose I should get your measurements so I can start coming up with a suit for you, right Daddy?”

I shook my head. “Stop calling me Daddy, first off; and second off,” —I pointed at Fluttershy— “I’m with Flutters on this one. I don’t wanna do it either.”

“WHAT?” Sunset shouted, scowling fiercely. “You’re fucking bailing on us?”

“I’m not bailing, Sunny,” I defended. “I’m still gonna be here. I’ll keep training you guys, and you can always come to me for advice and support, or if you need help with some strategies; and if you ever get into trouble that you can’t handle on your own, don’t think I won’t come and help, cuz I will.”

“But darling, you’re the best of us! You simply must be a part of the team.”

I shook my head. “I’ve seen plenty on violence over the centuries, and I don’t really want to invite more onto myself if I don’t need to.”

“But,” Sunset put her hand out in protest, “the mission, all of the-“

“I did that because I had to, Sunny. Not because I wanted to,” I interrupted. “To be honest, I hated it. I mean, hanging out with you was cool and all, but having to deal with all of their technology —fuckin cameras n’ shit everywhere, having to sneak around and ask for help— that’s not me, and that’s not how I like to do things. I like to attack my problems head-on, and it bugged the hell out of me that I couldn’t.”

“But you still did it, and you did it well,” Sunset countered, “I mean, you played those guys right into our hands like a…a…” —she shook her head in frustration— “I don’t know, but it was friggin brilliant. I can’t believe you don’t wanna do this with us!”

Rarity interjected next. “I’m afraid I must disagree with you, Daddy,” she said. “I think this mission did you well. Ever since you’ve returned home, I’ve noticed a difference in your presence. You seem to be giving off some sort of…energy, perhaps? I don’t know what it is, but I’m certain it’s there, and I rather enjoy it.”

I waved her off. “It’s just your imagination, Rare. You’re just excited that we’re home, which is totally understandable. And for the love of god, stop…calling…me…DADDY!”

Rarity huffed and folded her arms as Fluttershy spoke up.

“Um, you guys shouldn’t make him feel bad. He’s had a long life and he’s been through enough; more than we can imagine.”

Sunset tipped her head back and sighed in frustration. She knew that Fluttershy was right, having seen many of my past events firsthand through her magic. “Fine. Looks like it’s just me and you for now, Rare.”

“Hm.” Rarity shook her head, looking disappointed. “Well, I suppose it’s better than doing it alone,” she replied, flashing Sunset a smile. “I look forward to working with you, darling.”

We spent the next several minutes sitting in silence, listening to the sounds of the surrounding forest. It was awkward, knowing that Sunset an Rarity were clearly disappointed by Fluttershy and me not wanting to join them in their adventures, but like Fluttershy, I’d had enough running around and all I wanted was to spend quality time with her in peace.

It was Sunset who finally broke the silence with a chuckle. “Hey, you guys remember going to bed at night?”

This statement elicited a giggle from the others.

“Indeed I do, darling,” Rarity replied with a limp-wristed wave and a roll of her eyes. “But sleep has become SO passé these days!”

“You don’t miss it?” Sunset replied. “You know, after a long day and you were just beat and you could hardly keep your eyes open, but when you finally got to crawl into that warm, cozy bed and finally let yourself doze off…” —she paused to let her eyes roll back— “Oooh…that was such a great feeling.”

“And let’s not forget that big stretch when you wake up,” Twilight added. “That was always such a great way to start the morning; feeling so fresh and loose, ready to take on another day.”

Rarity stroked her chin gently, reminiscing on the days of being a mortal, and the ups and downs that came with it. “You two raise a good point. I for one, do miss going to the spa.”

“You don’t go anymore?” Sunset asked.

“I can’t,” Rarity shook her head. “They will sense something is amiss when they are unable to cut my nails or file my heels; and to be honest, I really don’t feel the need because I don’t get tense or sore anymore.”

“Hm, I never thought of that,” Sunset replied.

Listening to their conversation, I began to stare vacantly at the ground as a strange epiphany came over me: even after all my years here, all the things I’ve seen, done, learned, experienced, I can’t even fathom something as simple as a stretch.

What was so great about it? What did it feel like?

As the conversation continued, I began to feel a weight pressing on my chest.

Guilt.

These things that the girls were talking about, things that they had once enjoyed were now gone, and I was the one who took it from them. What else could they be missing out on? Could they harbour resentment about it one day?

As these thoughts filled my mind, I became so distracted that I didn’t even notice Fluttershy standing before me; not until I felt her weight come to rest on my lap.

Caught off-guard, I brought my eyes up to look at her. “Oh, hey Flutters.”

She smiled back and leaned closer to wrap her arm around my shoulders, letting the side of her breast press against my cheek. “Are you OK?” she asked. “You look sad.”

Surprised by her observance, I didn’t respond immediately. It struck me how she was able to pick up on my mood like this, and it suddenly dawned on me that I’d forgotten how much time she and I had spent together. Being alone with Sunset for a month had caused me to forget that Fluttershy and I were like two peas in a pod.

She knew me better than anyone.

A soft giggle sounded from the shy girl’s chest, resonating through her jiggling breast and into my head as her warmth began to soak into my cheek. “Hello?” she said, dipping her head to look into my eyes. “Are you home?”

“Uh, yeah,” I smirked, snapping myself out of the daze. “Sorry, I uh…spaced a little.”

“You look like you’re feeling left out,” she continued.

She was right.

“Uh, maybe a little.” I rested my hand on her thigh and gave it a gentle squeeze. “You guys are talking about stuff that I don’t really know much about.”

“I’m sorry, Goldie,” she replied. “We didn’t mean to-“

“It’s OK,” I said. “You don’t have to apologise.”

She took a moment to glance around at the other girls as they talked, then turned back to me with a smile. “Um, do you want to go for a walk with me?”

Her request surprised me and I stared back at her, somewhat stupidly.

“I mean,” she continued, “those guys are talking about that stuff, and I want you to have a good time too, so I thought maybe-“

“OK,” I nodded, not letting her finish. “Sounds nice. Let’s go.”

She smiled and we both stood. Fluttershy took my hand and led me across the yard toward the forest. “So, um…you really don’t want to go out with Sunset and Rare?” she asked softly.

I shook my head. “Nah, at least not right now. All I really want is to relax and spend time with you.”

She looked up at me with her brows raised, followed by a smile as she buried her head against my shoulder. “Aww…me too.”

Just as we were about to step into the tree line, we were stopped by the sound of Rarity’s voice.

“Oh Fluttershy, darling! I had a few questions about your wings: I was just thinking I should make some alterations to your suit to accommodate them, just in case they decide to 'pop' up again, and since you don’t plan on using it right away, I suppose now is the best time to do it.”

Fluttershy sighed and looked back at me, unsure of what to do.

“It’s OK,” I said, giving her hand a squeeze. “Go ahead, I’ll be fine.”

A small grimace appeared on her face, one that told me that she was reluctant to leave my side.

“Am I interrupting you two?” Rarity asked, looking concerned.

“No Rare, it’s fine,” I replied, letting go of Fluttershy’s hand to pat her on the shoulder. “Go,” I whispered.

She nodded, and then folded her hands as she turned to head for her girlfriend, but on her way, she stopped next to Sunset’s chair and bent down to speak.

“Um, Sunset?”

“Yeah?” Sunset replied, turning to face the shy girl.

“W-would you mind taking Goldie for a walk?”

Sunset stared at Fluttershy for a few seconds, unprepared for the request. She glanced at me next, then back at the shy girl with a smirk on her face. “Sure.”

“Oh thank-you, Sunset!” Fluttershy cooed, clasping her hands in front of her chest as Sunset rose from the chair. “You’re the best. Um, have fun, OK?”

“Will do,” Sunset replied as she approached me. “So where are we going, Golds?”

I pointed into the trees.

“Alright then. Let’s go,” she said.

Author's Note

Fun fact: most of this chapter was written in Ottawa—the capital of Canada, of course—in a hotel less than a mile from the parliament buildings.

Also, this was some of my inspiration for this chapter: (Twilight's high-speed camera footage)

*Chapter 86: A Walk in the Woods With Sunset

Chapter 86

“Aw, come on! Get outta town, Sunny! Was that seriously the guy?”

Sunset and I had been walking through the woods for about fifteen minutes now. We had found ourselves deep in conversation, speaking over the sound of our feet crunching through the layer of golden leaves that blanketed the forest floor.

“Yup,” she replied smugly.

“The guy who was driving the second SUV, whose phone you used to call Chrysalis?”

“Yyyyup,” she repeated.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” I asked, looking over my shoulder at her.

“I dunno,” she answered, ducking under a low-hanging branch. “I kind of forgot about it with everything else that was going on, not to mention the way Flutters was acting.”

“Hm. Yeah, I suppose,” I replied. “So he’s the fucker who was tailing us, eh?”

“Yup. That was a damn good read I got from him, too. Lots of good secrets that I’m sure ‘Us’ didn’t really want anyone knowing.”

“Wait wait,” I said, raising my finger, “In Vegas, when he tried to snipe Chupie, where was he?”

“On the roof of the MGM Grand —like you thought— hiding behind a ventilation unit.” Sunset let out a chuckle before continuing. “Heh, he thought he had that shot in the bag, but when you reached up and caught the bullet with your hand, he was just like: ‘Whaaaaaaaaat?’”

I gave my shoulder a blasé shrug. “I didn’t really catch it, technically. I just kind of…blocked it.”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “OK fine, but it was still pretty awesome. It was SO satisfying getting to witness that moment through his eyes; I fucking love my magic sometimes.”

“Yeah,” I snickered, “I just wish I’d known that when I had him there in the desert, cuz I would have savoured the moment a little more, rather than just smearing his brain all over the side of the truck.”

Sunset cringed. “Uh...yeah, that’s part of the reason I didn’t tell you.”

I let a short chuckle slip. “So I take it they figured out the people they were following were imposters?” I asked.

“Yeah, they knew for about a week,” Sunset replied, “but they had no clue where to find us until they tracked the helicopter that Flutters hijacked, then they followed the road in the desert near the crash site and eventually caught up to us.” She paused for a quick second to smirk at me. “And we all know how that turned out.”

“Hm.” I gave her a smirk in return, then glanced down at my hands, noticing a bright, pale light enveloping them. I looked upward to find a large opening in the canopy above, where the moon had found a way to sneak its rays through, soaking the red-head and me in an alabaster glow.

Staring up at the bright orb in the sky, I took a deep breath, ruminating on the mysteries that lie scattered throughout this world and beyond.

“Hey Sunny?”

“Yeah?”

“If that moon could see everything that goes on in this world, what kind of stories do you think it would tell?”

“Uuh…” Sunset exhaled slowly as she thought about the question. “Hm, I don’t know, Golds. That’s a fucking deep question.”

“Ha...yeah,” I chuckled quietly. “I guess it is. It’s just…if you think about it—you know, the trip you and I just went on…” I paused for a moment to reflect as I half-listened to the sounds of the red-head behind me, her feet crunching through the leaves, snapping the occasional twig as she moved around the forest floor.

Not paying attention to what she was doing, I continued to ramble. “I mean, you think about the millions...no, billions of people out there, blissfully unaware that over the past month, there was this ancient guy who looks like some loser in his late twenties who just moved out of his parents house, driving an old piece-of-shit car around the southern US with a mind-reading Unicorn-turned red-headed hottie, looking for another hottie who can talk to animals and occasionally sprouts a pair of wings, who’s been locked up in a bunker at the bottom of the ocean, which happens to be owned by the richest people on the planet…” I trailed off at that point and looked down at the ground, shaking my head at the absurdity of it all. “Like...if people only knew the shit that goes on...”

“Well, when you put it like that…” Sunset’s voice came from behind, accompanied by a quiet laugh.

I responded with a smirk, my eyes darting from one dried, golden leaf to another as a new thought came over me; something Rarity had mentioned. ”Hey Sunny,” I said, furrowing my brows, “what was Rare saying about me giving off some kind of energy?”

Still out of sight behind me, Sunset paused briefly and then let out a sigh. “I’m not sure.”

“Have you noticed anything like that?”

“Umm, not really, but it’s hard to tell because I've been with you this whole time. If there is something there, I probably wasn’t able to notice it, especially if it came on gradually.”

“Hm,” I mumbled, noticing the sound of Sunset’s footsteps crunching towards me, prompting me to turn and face her. “Maybe I should ask her more about it. I feel kind of bad for sa-MMPH!”

While in mid sentence, Sunset stuffed something into my mouth when I turned around. It was made of fabric, with what felt like small bits of lace running throughout, and it was rolled into a ball. It was warm, with-

My thoughts stopped when I noticed the slimy substance on it, which quickly spread onto my tongue, filling my taste buds with a musky, familiar flavour.

I quickly pulled it from my mouth as Sunset pranced around before me, laughing diabolically, obviously quite tickled by the bemused look on my face when I unraveled the material and held it up to study it.

It was a black thong.

A sharp jolt went through my midsection when I realised what it was, and with a raised brow, I glanced down at that orange skirt, then brought my eyes up to Sunset’s face, which was plastered with a devious smile.

“You wanna explain this?” I asked, with a smirk.

“I think you know what those are,” she giggled.

“Well, yeah…” I replied, rubbing the material between my fingers. “But I can’t help but wonder why they’re in my mouth instead of on your ass.” I paused briefly to give her a look when I felt a smooth slickness coating my fingertips. “Also, they seem to be a bit on the moist side.”

Sunset rubbed the back of her neck somewhat bashfully. “Well, I...have a bit of ‘the itch’ again tonight.”

I gave her a surprised look. “The magical itch?”

She nodded quickly.

I shook my head and raised a hand, eyes closed. “Whoa, wait a second: you said it’d be smooth sailing tonight; I thought when you have some of my stuff left in you it stays away?”

“Well, I did technically say that,” she replied, “but when I got home this morning, I had a shower and I…” —she paused, shrugged innocently and then bit her lip— “I...may have used a douche.”

Letting my arms drop, I held the underwear at my side, staring vacantly at her. “Sunny, what the fuck? Why would you do that?”

Instead of answering me, she approached briskly and cupped a hand over the crotch of my pants, squeezing my package. “Why in Tartarus do you think?” she whispered, biting her lip.

A strong fluttering erupted in my chest, and my manhood responded without hesitation, swelling up to push back against her palm. “Um…” I paused and swallowed, “Why'd you,“ —I cleared my throat nervously— “I mean, you...did this on purpose? I thought you hated being horny all the time?”

“I used to hate it,” she replied softly, releasing a warm exhale against my lips after bringing her face closer. “But that was before, when I couldn’t fuck you. Now…” She paused, letting her eyes drift shut as she brought her lips even closer. “Now I love it! I have the green light from your lady-friends to have my way with you whenever I want, and believe me, I’m gonna do my damndest to get my money’s worth.”

Hearing these things caused my heart to skip out of rhythm; unsure of what else to do, I just stood there and held my breath, watching the red-head lean in to press her soft, warm lips against mine. Once the kiss found itself firmly planted, accompanied by a soft moan from her throat, I stuffed the thong mindlessly into my pocket and placed my hands on her hips to pull her against me. She inhaled sharply through her nose when my erection poked her abdomen through our clothes, and she instinctively wrapped her arms around my shoulders, opening her mouth to tickle my lips with the tip of her tongue.

I responded quickly, pushing forward with my tongue to meet hers. After being playful and flicking at each other a few times, we dove into one another’s mouths and prodded around vigorously, lapping up the delicious flavour of one another’s saliva as I brought my hands down to her thighs, feeling her smooth, bare skin under my fingertips. Then I began to migrate upward, running my hands inside the back of her skirt to find her bare ass, which I gripped tightly, squeezing her firm, round cheeks, inviting her body to press itself against mine.

As I enjoyed the feel of her breasts squeezing against my chest, I adjusted my grip on her backside to let my fingers explore the warmth between the bottoms of those cheeks. What they found, unexpectedly, was a wet mess; a slick coating of arousal that had sprouted from her swollen, hot crease and migrated outwards, completely soaking her nether regions.

I broke the kiss to say something about it, but was halted when she dove into my neck to nip feverishly at my collarbone, throat and shoulder. Her lips left tiny dabs of saliva on my skin, which in turn gave me an invigorating chill as the moisture instantly cooled in the fresh October air, contrasting nicely with her hot mouth as it moved around my throat.

“Sunny?”

“Mmmmm?” she responded, brushing her sweet smelling hair against my face as she nibbled, filling my nostrils with that alluring soft-drink scent, which combined rather pleasantly with the earthy, autumn smell that surrounded us.

“You don’t just have a little itch,” I informed her, “you’re a complete mess down there.”

“I know,” she panted, backing up to look me in the eyes. “I could feel it starting when me and Twi showed up tonight. It was slow at first; in fact I wasn’t even sure if it was gonna work, but then as soon as you told me I looked nice, it was just like: SPLOOSH! And my pussy’s been fucking soaked ever since.”

“Wow...you’re getting good at hiding it; I mean, you stood in front of the girls and talked that whole time tonight.”

Sunset rolled her shoulders around, cocking her head side-to-side. “Yeah, I’m getting better, I guess,” she mumbled, biting her lip and leaning closer as she drew another breath. “Squeeze my ass again,” she whispered.

I complied, pulling her abdomen against me as I kneaded her fleshy glutes, letting my fingers sink into the slickness between them, which in turn drew a soft gasp from her, followed closely by a sultry giggle.

“I can’t believe you set this up on purpose,“ I chuckled. “Like, you’ve gone from saying it was pure torture to bringing it on intentionally in hopes of getting fucked—which is kinda crazy, just saying.”

“Ooohh fuck,” she moaned, licking her lips. “But you have NO idea what it’s like; to have my libido cranked up to eleven and then held there for hours on end,” —she let her head tip back and exhaled slowly before continuing— “and then...after all that, when I finally get to have it, especially from a stud like you, it’s just like: wooooooow…” —she faced me again, eyes closed— “mmm, soooo fucking good...”

I shook my head, smirking at the red-head’s rather provocative revelation. “Sometimes I worry about you, Sunny.”

Her eyes popped open and she gripped my shoulders, putting her face very close to mine. “You should be worried! Because of this magic, I am hopelessly addicted to fucking your goddamn brains out. If it were up to me, I’d keep you caged up in my bedroom, and the only time I’d let you out is when it’s time to ride your fucking cock.”

“Uh, actually...you know what? That cage won’t really hold me, but that’s OK,” I replied, trying not to shiver as she gently traced the tip of her nose along my lips. "If those are gonna be my living arrangements, then I seriously doubt we’ll be needing that cage."

“Shut up and listen,” she whispered, “I’ll tell YOU what I need: I’ve got an inferno raging deep inside my pussy, and I need you to get in there and hose it down...right now.”

“Um,” I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to gather my thoughts for a response, but I quickly gave up and looked at Sunset again, watching her eyes sparkle in the moonlight. “Shoot. For a minute there, I had a joke brewing about a fireman’s helmet, but I couldn’t figure out, um...how to, uh..." —I brought my hand up to wave it in a circle— "I couldn't get the uh...you know, the words right."

“That’s OK,” she whispered, warming my face with her breath. “We’re done talking.”

Sunset tilted her head and closed in hastily, slamming her mouth against mine. She reached far beyond my lips with her tongue, swirling it around the back of my mouth like a soft, warm blender, stirring our saliva together into a sweet concoction of lust and arousal.

Enticed by her aggression, I pulled her against me, forcing her mound against the stiff length inside my pants. Maintaining a firm grip on her backside, I hoisted her off the ground, which earned me a muffled squeal that resonated from her mouth into mine, followed by that deep, yet smoothly feminine voice emanating from her throat in the form of a sultry giggle.

I carried Sunset towards the nearest tree, her legs wrapped tightly around my hips. A noisy burst came from her nostrils when I rammed her back against the fairly thin tree; one with a trunk that was about ten inches in diameter, which was perfect for what I had in mind. While her tongue playfully tickled the underside of mine, I released my grip on her backside as she unravelled her legs from me one at a time, letting them down to plant her feet on the soft, leaf-covered ground.

I took a small step back, keeping our lips connected so she could feast on my tongue while I hooked my fingers under the hem of her skirt and pulled it upwards, exposing her throbbing ladyhood to the forest. A sudden gasp rushed into her lungs when the crisp autumn air nipped at her wetness, causing her to quiver excitedly in anticipation.

Without hesitating, I placed my fingertips on her smooth, bare mound and slid them downwards, inching them towards her yearning slit. My middle and ring fingers slipped effortlessly between those swollen lips, where I found a veritable waterfall of warm fluid —some of which had crept halfway down her inner thighs by then— allowing me to tease and manipulate her tender flesh with ease. Gently, I pinched her hood between my fingers and stroked it, causing her body to tremble violently against the tree, her voice echoing into my mouth with deep, soft moans of pleasure.

She finally broke the kiss to bury her head in my shoulder, breathing whispered groans into my shirt as I stroked her soft, wet flesh, churning up ripples of pleasure that rang endlessly through her beautiful frame. Before too long, I reached further to locate the entrance to her enticing depths and then entered her with two fingers. With the surplus of slick moisture soaking her tender flesh, I had no difficulty pumping her into a pulsating frenzy, prompting Sunset to let her head fall back against the tree as she moaned with lust and quivered with delight.

Looking at her face in the moon’s luminescence, I was struck by her beauty that night; the make-up she wore gave her appearance a much more feminine flavour, intensified further by the pale glow given to her by the bright satellite hanging far above our heads. Her eye-liner and thick lashes set her eyes off nicely, completed by that short lock of wavy, red hair that hung down the center of her forehead.

A soft breeze slipped through the trees just then, causing that swirled lock to flutter gently against her brow, furrowed by the pleasure being served to her hot, sopping core as the brisk air chilled her exposed hips and thighs. Unable to resist Sunset’s allure, I leaned in and planted my lips against her soft, warm neck, nibbling and kissing her deliciously tender skin while pressing the heel of my hand against her hood, stimulating the sensitive bud underneath as I squeezed my fingers toward my palm, applying firm pressure to her G-spot.

Sunset wrapped her arms around my shoulders as she endured the pleasureful assault; her eyes were shut, her breaths shallow, hips swaying, thrusting into my hand as an intense climax closed in and quickly exploded inside her, transforming her hot interior into a pulsating, wet mess of tingling flesh and dripping fluids.

Her throat vibrated against my lips with a soft moan of enjoyment, her body shivering with ecstasy. Once the orgasm had abandoned her, I withdrew my fingers from inside and continued to stroke her slit, smirking when I noticed that my hand was now completely soaked; coated from wrist to fingertips with the warm, sweet nectar of satisfaction.

Always the tease, I slowly ran my tongue from her throat upwards, past her jaw line and across her cheek. Next, I placed a tender kiss on her mouth as the trail of moisture I left behind cooled rapidly, bringing with it a wave of sharp goosebumps across her neck and shoulders.

As our tongues met gingerly between our lips, I removed my hand from her crease and held it up, breaking the kiss to look at it. Webs of clear, viscous fluid stretched between my digits, glistening in the cool moonlight, eliciting somewhat of a sheepish smirk from Sunset as I glanced at her with a sly grin.

“Like I said: I got the itch,” she giggled as I brought my fingers together and then spread them again, creating a new pattern of threads to catch the rays of pale light with.

“You wanna taste?” I asked, giving her a sideways glance.

Sunset nodded; she opened her mouth and took my fingers onto her tongue, enjoying the smooth earthiness of her own flavour. She closed her lips around my middle and ring fingers and slurped noisily, sucking off the thick, slippery coating.

The hunger she displayed was thrilling; especially when she pulled back and angled her head to lick my palm clean, panting softly as the tickle from her wiggling tongue crept up my arm, causing me to smirk.

“How is it?” I asked.

“Not bad,” she answered quickly, between licks. “Not quite as tasty as Flutters though.”

I chuckled, turning my head to study the surrounding trees while she resumed cleaning my hand. “You liked that, eh? What else did you like about last night?”

Sunset stopped what she was doing and opened her eyes to look at me. With a quick lick of her lips, she came towards me and planted a slippery kiss on my lips, followed by a firm lap with her tongue that spanned from my chin to the tip of my nose.

“I loved it when you manhandled Rare and Flutters,” she whispered, through gritted teeth. “Especially when Rare put that diamond block around your wrists and you just shattered it like it was nothing.” Her eyes rolled back in her head and a lusty groan escaped from her throat. “It makes me SO hot when I get to see how strong you are, and knowing that once you’ve got a grip on us, we have no choice but to lay there and get our asses fucked off until you’re done wi-”

Before Sunset was finished her sentence, I reach under her skirt again, grasped her hips and hoisted her effortlessly above my head, surprising her with what she loved: being manhandled. She obviously loved it; she'd literally just said it, so I decided to act on it.

“AAH!” Her yelp echoed through the trees, and was thumped into silence when I shoved her back against the tree and buried my tongue in her slit.

Sunset’s back arched and a sharp gasp shot into her lungs, her hands frantically reaching behind to grip the tree trunk to steady herself as my tongue snaked between her slippery folds and lapped away at her clit, sending powerful shockwaves of sensation throughout her body.

With one hand, I released her hip, holding her in place with the other so she could swing her leg over my shoulder. After repeating the process with her other side, she promptly wrapped my head in her well-toned thighs and cried out with delight as I buried my mouth in her flooded heat, uncaring of the fact that my face was now completely covered in her moisture.

“Ooohh…holy shit, Golds,” Sunset whimpered, tipping her head back. Her eyes fluttered open briefly, allowing her to glimpse the branch less than a foot above her head. Seeing an opportunity for a more secure grip, she reached up and hooked her hands over the limb and held on tight as her body was racked with endless, mind-numbing jolts of pleasure.

Her thighs clenched around my head like a vice when I reached deeper to taste her hot interior. Her voice elevated with each breath, her arms taut, holding onto that branch for dear life; the pressure had already begun to return, loading her up for a second orgasm as my tongue and lips worked away at her delicious flesh. Alternating between methods, I would first reach inside her with my tongue and swirl it around, harvesting the flavour of an entire evening’s worth of arousal, followed by closing my lips around the delicate frills and drawing them into my mouth to suck the juices free while flicking her clit with my tongue, causing her legs to tremble, her face contorted in ecstasy as she let out quiet squeaks of encouragement.

“Yes! Like that!” Her hips began to quiver upon arrival of a second climax. “Keep…keep going! Don’t sto…AAAAH!”

Her instructions went unnoticed, however, as my ears were sealed off completely by her thighs. No matter; I knew what I was doing, and it wasn’t long before those muscular legs began to spasm, followed by a long howl that rang out into the woods when the orgasm took her.

Her voice echoed through the trees, unbeknownst to me—not that I really would have cared at that moment; having Sunset Shimmer’s twitching flesh in my mouth was first and foremost on my mind, and all of my attention was dedicated to savouring every last drop of her sweetness.

As the pleasure faded, so did the frequency of her twitches, and when she’d finally reached a relaxed state, I slipped her legs from my shoulders and set her down. She was quick to discover a pair of wobbly knees and leaned on the tree for support, letting her head rest against the bark as she panted and stared incredulously at me.

After pausing to swallow, Sunset resumed breathing and, with a furrowed brow, she leaned forward, focusing on me.

“Holy shit, dude,” she said, “your face is soaked!”

Indeed, I could already feel the air chilling the moist coating on my cheeks. I gave her a coy shrug. “Did you like that?” I asked, tilting my head to wipe my cheek on my shoulder.

Her eyebrows rose, followed by a slow nod. “Mm-hm…” she sighed, her eyes drifting down to my pants, which were tented proudly by the eager erection within. “Time for some of that,” she announced with a quick gesture to the bulge as she stood straight again.

“Ah...you ready, Sunny?” I asked as I began unbuckling my belt.

“Fuck yeah,” she smirked. “Let’s go.”

“OK. Turn around,” I instructed. “Grab onto that tree, and hang on tight.”

“Oooh…” Sunset’s eyes lidded. “I like where this is going,” she smirked, turning slowly to lean forward, resting her shoulder against the tree.

As she waited, I undid my pants and pulled my length free, throbbing and red-hot, with an already moistened tip. The cool air nipped at it, hastening me to approach Sunset in search of someplace warm to put it.

I flipped her skirt onto her back and took a quick moment to gaze at her lovely backside, those perfect cheeks emitting a pale glow under the brightness of the moon. I cut the sightseeing short, however; stepping closer, I grasped her hips to pull her back slightly, then bent her forward.

Sunset closed her eyes and bit her lip, eagerly awaiting the invasion, which would of course be followed by a generous helping of pleasure and an unforeseeable number of orgasms.

Not much prep time was given. I was more than ready, and I wasted no time positioning my head between her juicy lips before pushing forward swiftly, bringing my hips against her derrière with a dull slap, hilting myself in Sunset's tight heat.

She yelped sharply when her shoulder was driven into the tree. Squeezing her eyes shut, she wrapped her arm around the trunk and hugged it tightly, marveling at her body’s ability to accommodate such an occupant.

Every time, it got her. She was never prepared for it; no matter how many times she and I connected, it was always a shock to feel her flesh stretch, to have her interior filled so deeply, and to endure that first wave of unbelievable bliss.

As always, when the magic had riled her up, conditions inside were ideal: sweltering, flooded, and tight; thanks again to the insatiable energy that lived within her, Sunset Shimmer was an absolute joy to penetrate.

I paused briefly, taking in the sight of her derrière pressed against me as I enjoyed the sensation of her moisture and heat soaking every inch of me, greeting me with a firm squeeze that may or may not have been intended by her.

Ready to proceed, I backed out slowly, watching her moisture glistening along the length of my shaft until all that remained inside was the head. Without warning, I drove forward a second time, forcing her hot flesh give way for me again.

Sunset grunted loudly in response, her eyes popping open. She clung tenaciously to the tree, staring into the dark woods with that unbelievably ‘full’ feeling returning as she heard her husky voice echoing back. “You…Ohh!” she panted, shaking her head in awe, her knees already trembling.

By then, she was receiving a rhythmic stream of deep thrusts, sending a shiver up her spine each time she was impaled by my hot rigidity, drawing a never-ending series of quiet moans and whimpers from her parted lips, feeling the exposed portions of her wetness becoming frosty-cool in the night air.

My cheeks suffered the same chilly fate, though I hardly noticed it with her intense warmth enveloping my length, re-heating it with every pass between those swollen lips into the tight depths beyond. That alone was comforting, but combined with the pleasure on top made it nothing less than exquisite; each thrust sent a jolt of sensation through me, setting every nerve ending ablaze with excitement, which only heightened more when I saw her back begin to arch in preparation for another release.

Her eyes had drifted shut again, her breaths shallow as she enjoyed the sure approach of another generous helping of pure ecstasy.

Out of nowhere, however, I was reminded of my first time with Sunset; in her bed with Fluttershy at our side —who had helped herself to a portion of the pleasure that night— and I was reminded of something from that session: something that Sunset took great pleasure in, and it gave me an idea. An awful, wicked idea…

Sunset’s frame began to stiffen, and with a few whispers of encouragement slipping out between breaths, her flesh began to tighten, forcing me to thrust harder to overcome the added resistance. Her breath caught in her throat, and she squeezed the tree tightly in anticipation of the explosion from within.

Just as she reached the pinnacle of tightness, however, I delivered one last thrust and held my hips against her cheeks, making sure to bury every millimeter of my length inside her quivering depths...

And I remained perfectly still.

She waited for a brief moment, then released the air from her lungs. A look of curiosity and desperation marked her brow as she glared over her shoulder at me, and the tightness that gripped my erection began to unravel as the orgasm slowly slipped away.

“What the fff…” she panted, gulping. “I was almost…why did you?…I was…I was about to cum!”

“I know,” I razzed, giving her a devious smirk.

Sunset blinked twice, staring vacantly as she continued to pant, creating a visible puff each time she exhaled. The exact moment that she realised my game plan was obvious; her jaw clenched slightly and her eyes narrowed, followed by a shake of her head.

“Oh, don’t even…” she growled.

“Eh?” I replied, cocking my head slightly to bring my ear closer. “What’s the matter, huh? You don’t like being edged, or what?”

“I…you-”

“How do you like it? Frustrating, isn’t it?”

She paused for a second, then rolled her eyes and let her head hang down. “You fucker…” she whispered, her hair swaying around her face as she gave her head a frustrated shake.

I let out a sadistic chuckle. “You know, when you’re not on the receiving end, this is actually kind of fun; there’s definitely a weird sort of satisfaction to it, eh?”

Sunset brought her head up again, hitting me with a sharp glare through narrowed eyes. Then a dastardly grin smeared itself across her lips as she gave her reply. “You think you can beat me at my own game, huh?”

I stared back at her in silence, wondering what that meant.

“Don’t forget who you’re fucking with,” Sunset warned, before reaching between her legs with her fingers to apply rapid, side-to-side strokes to her clit.

Hearing the wet folds of her vulva squipping under her fingertips, I looked down at the backside still pressed against me. It wasn’t long before I felt her flesh contract once again, squeezing my length with rising tightness as she coaxed the orgasm back to the surface.

“Hey!” I scolded. “That’s cheating!” I reached around and grabbed her arm to stop her, only to have her laugh deviously as she let go of the tree and reached down with her other hand to continue bringing about her finish.

It came quicker than anticipated, and by the time I realised she’d snuck her other hand in to finish the job, the climax was already upon her. Preceded by an impossibly tight squeeze, her interior began to pulsate violently, followed by the audible pitter-patter of fluid on the crisp leaves between her feet. Her body was stiff, her muscles forcing her to push out the breath she’d been holding —despite her trying to contain it— and she let a wild howl loose into the wilderness.

"NNNNGAAAHH!”

We had traveled a fair distance into the woods, but even so, that cry came out at such a volume that it made me wonder if the other three girls were able to hear it from the backyard.

My thoughts were drawn back to the here-and-now, however, when I felt her backside slide down my hips, nearly allowing me to slip out of her. Her knees had apparently given out, so I quickly grabbed her hips to keep her from collapsing at my feet.

Apparently, my idea was ill-conceived. While edging Sunset to get back at her for the time she did it to me seemed like a great idea at first, I hadn’t considered the logistics of trying such a thing on a woman. She had a particular advantage over me in that her clit was on the outside of her body, fully accessible to her fingers. As a man, when Sunset was doing it to me, I was buried halfway to her stomach, making it impossible to finish myself the way she just did.

Even so, keeping still the way I did, having her flesh wrapped around me made the orgasmic pulsations and sudden boost in moisture far more vivid than usual, which I rather enjoyed, so at least the plan wasn’t a total failure.

Once the orgasm finally died down and Sunset regained some of her composure —enough to support her own weight at least— she turned her head to look at me again. Panting deeply, she brought her hand up to flip me off, flinging moonlit droplets of moisture from her middle finger in the process. “HA!” she gloated, “put that in your pipe and smoke it, you dick!”

I gasped in reaction. “DICK? That’s it!” I slipped from her warmth, bathing my soaked length in the cold air as I spun her around, placed my hands on her shoulders and forced her back against the trunk. I brought myself close to her, flattening her bust with my chest as I reached down with my right hand and hooked my fingers behind her knee, lifting her leg so her thigh was beside my hip.

With my other hand, I aimed my erection between her folds, stroking her with my head a few times before locating her entrance and slipping back into her.

Sunset and I were face-to-face in this position, our noses less than an inch apart; her eyes widened significantly when I penetrated her, followed by a hot blast of breath that hit my face when the pleasure struck again. “Yeahhh...” she moaned, then leaned in to plant her lips on mine.

Keeping my fingers hooked behind her knee, I held her leg up and drilled her against the tree, showering us both with wondrous pleasure each time I sank back into her moist heat. Our bodies were having a strong effect on one another; her pleasure rose steadily, triggering a slow, progressive tightening yet again while at the same time my finish had begun a fast approach of its own. I could feel the pressure beginning to build down low, readying me to fire a sea of hot fluid into her waiting depths as the added firmness began to set in, alerting Sunset to the oncoming finale.

A shaky gasp was drawn in through her lips, her eyes widening with excitement. “Ooh…you gettin close?”

I nodded, exhaling against her lips, letting the tips of our noses just graze each other. “You want it, Sunny?”

“Ohh, yeah...give it, give it!” she begged, her brows furrowed, her mouth wide. “I need it SO bad!”

I tilted my head and brought our mouths together. Our tongues quickly passed between our lips and slithered around each other, renewing the flavour of one another’s saliva while our bodies continued to inch their way to their peaks.

The kiss was short lived however, broken by the red-head when she pulled back and gasped. “Ohh fuck...this is my favourite part,” she panted, “when you’re about to cum, and your dick swells up and gets so fucking huge, I swear it’s gonna split me open...I fucking love it!”

Before I could say anything, she brought her lips to mine for another kiss. A deep moan resonated through my lips as her flesh tightened its grip my razor-sharp rigidity, a sure sign that she was about to implode yet again.

“I want you to fuck me as hard as you can,” she ordered, breaking the kiss.

I furrowed my brows, breathing heavily as I felt the pressure and sensation migrate to my tip. “Huh?"

“Fuck!” she gasped, “I want you push into me as hard as you can when you cum; shoot it as deep as it'll go!”

“Are you sure about that?” I grunted.

She nodded frantically, grabbing onto my shoulders and holding tight to prepare herself. “DO IT! I don’t care if it blows my fucking head...o-off...AAAH!”

Sunset was barely able to finish her sentence when the next orgasm hit her. She squeezed her eyes shut and hugged me tightly, knowing I wasn’t far behind.

Her moist, quivering depths swiftly kicked me over the edge and I began to throb violently, firing a chain of thick, heavy blasts inside that tight, pink heaven of hers. Being careful not to overlook her request, I wound my hips up, dug my heels into the dirt and thrust forth; hammering my hips against hers and impaling her to deliver the load deep inside her body.

“OHH!” Her voice fired through the trees after having the wind knocked from her, and she threw her head back to gasp with delight.

What happened next was purely unintentional.

CRACK!

The deafening snap rang out from just below Sunset’s rear-end, echoing far and wide though the surrounding woods, followed by a loud creak as the tree began to lean away from us.

“Wha? Oh shit!” Sunset’s hands frantically searched the trunk behind her for a secure grip. When she failed to find one, she wrapped her arms around the back of my neck and held me close, burying her face in my shoulder as the falling tree began to pick up speed.

Her mind was racing, her body still reeling in the throes of orgasm as that stout occupant throbbed relentlessly within her core, injecting her with that soothing, hot flood of seed; and as if this wasn’t enough for her mind to endure, she was now riding a falling tree down to its final resting place.

"Shit! Shit, shit, shit chit chit chit!" she cried, her muffled voice warming the crook of my neck.

The loud rustle of fragile leaves sounded from above, followed by the crackle of snapping twigs and branches when the tree crashed into its neighbour, slowing first, then stopping mid-fall. The trunk now stood at a steep angle, with Sunset lying against it with her back. I stood before her, straddling the trunk with my legs, still holding her thigh at my side.

Silence slowly crept its way into the woods once again as everything settled into place, leaving Sunset and me staring into each other’s eyes, lying together on the half-fallen tree.

The moonlight captured in Sunset’s irises gave them a phosphorescent glow that I couldn’t look away from. I leaned against her hips, hypnotized by her stare, feeling the occasional twitch between her legs as hundreds of fall-dried leaves fluttered silently to the ground around us. The enveloping air seemed to get cooler by the minute, but inside her it was sultry, comforting and now filled with a warm deposit that would keep her libido subdued for the remainder of the evening.

Without a word, she closed her eyes, brought her lips to mine and kissed me softly. Her tongue reached deep and caressed mine with a strange gentleness: gone was the aggression, the urgency; all that was left was the flavour of satisfaction, flooding my mouth and mind with an almost unnerving tranquility.

Her tongue withdrew after a short time, but the kisses continued. Her lips connected with mine, then released, sending a quiet, wet smack into the night, and each subsequent kiss was followed by another; tender, moist and warm.

Something struck me suddenly. Something profound, that provoked a fluttering sensation in my chest: this was not how friends kissed, even friends with benefits. This was intense, heartfelt, loving…

I found myself staring as she continued, her eyes closed the entire time. Eventually, those turquoise eyes opened, revealing a look of dreaminess, followed by mild concern when it dawned on her that she was behaving rather…differently.

We spent an unknown amount of time staring at one another until a feeling of awkwardness began to set in, and I eventually made an effort to break the silence.

“Um,” I said quietly, clearing my throat. “We should, uh…head back...to the yard.”

Sunset hesitated, then nodded. “Yeah.”

I glanced downward, but the orange skirt was blocking my view of our conjoined bodies. “I’m gonna go,” I said, looking back at her.

She nodded, taking her hands from my shoulders.

I slipped free from her depths and backed up a step to watch the white river run a crooked stream down the tree trunk from under her skirt, glistening in the moonlight as it dripped to the ground.

Sunset exhaled loudly, tipping her head back to give it a shake. “Wow Golds, even after last night you’ve still got plenty on tap, eh?” she quipped, trying to lessen the awkwardness in the air.

“Yeah, looks like it.”

She swung her foot over the trunk and rolled off, but when her feet hit the ground her legs buckled and she stumbled forward onto her hands and knees, laughing at herself.

“You OK, Sunny?” I asked, reaching down and taking her arm to help her up.

“Yeah, I…I’m good,” she replied, nodding as she put her arm around my shoulders, letting the cold leather of her sleeve touch the back of my neck. “I just need a minute. That was a pretty serious fuck.”

She and I shared a quick laugh together, standing alone in the woods, looking at the newly felled tree in front of us.

“Define serious,” I said.

Sunset smirked and rolled her eyes. “Uh, gee, I don’t know. How about that?” She gestured at the tree.

“Hm. That’s never happened to me before.”

“Nah, it’s fine. It was me who asked for it,” she chortled, finally releasing me to step away, tentatively. “And I was not disappointed, let me tell ya. The tree on the other hand...”

I smacked my lips. “Yeah, it’s fucked.”

Exhaling through pursed lips, Sunset ran her fingers through her hair, surveying the moonlit area. “Hey, where’s my panties?”

“Oh...here,” I said, reaching into my pocket to pull them out.

She stepped closer to take the undergarment from me, then unraveled and held them in position to slip them on. Upon lifting one leg however, she stopped, then put her foot back down, pawing at the black fabric then rubbing her fingertips together.

“What?” I asked.

“These are all wet and cold,” she replied with a sigh, looking down at herself. “Not to mention, I’m a fucking mess.” Rather than put them on, Sunset rolled the small underwear up and used them to wipe her thighs and crotch as she grumbled to herself. “Ugh...what a mess. There’s pussy juice and cum all over the friggin place.”

“I think you’ve got yourself to blame for that,” I said curtly, grimacing as I stuffed my cold, wet manhood back into my pants and then fastened them.

She cocked her head and nodded in response. “That’s valid,” she replied, standing upright again to survey the panties. “Well, these are screwed.”

“That they are.”

Sunset hooked one side of the waistband around her thumb and stretched them out with her other hand, then she turned to face the other way. “Sayonara, dirty panties,” she quipped, releasing her thumb to fling the underwear into the woods. “Go be one with nature.”

“That’s a pretty short skirt to be going commando in, Sunny,” I warned.

“I know,” she replied as we headed back to Fluttershy’s backyard. “I’ll just borrow a pair of Flutters’ tightie-whities.”

*****

Back at the yard, we emerged from the tree line and were met by the other three girls, who had leapt from the seats to meet us.

“What was that?” Fluttershy asked softly, with concern.

”What was what?”

“That loud snap, Daddy,” Rarity replied. “It sounded like a branch breaking, or...”

“I don’t know,” I replied, ignoring the pet name. “We heard it too, but I’m not sure what it was.”

Rarity paused and cocked an eyebrow at me.

“We were a bit worried,” Twilight interjected as Rarity turned to head back to her seat. “It sounded like you guys might have gotten into a skirmish or something.”

Sunset shook her head. “Nah, we don’t need to worry about that out here. Probably just a dead tree giving up falling over.”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

The lavender girl then headed back to her seat, satisfied that all was well.

Fluttershy however, did not.

She stood slightly to our right, staring into the woods with an inquisitive look on her face. Only one eye was visible from behind her hair, and I could see it darting around busily; she tilted her head, looking as though she was listening to something.

”Uh-oh…” I thought, watching her intently.

She reached up to move the pink lock from her face and hooked it behind her ear, then she froze suddenly.

Her eyes locked onto mine, and after a moment of blank staring, a knowing grin slowly spread across her lips. “Hm,” she giggled, her eyes becoming lidded as she turned slowly to head back to her seat. “Well, I’m glad you guys had fun on your walk,” she said in an overtly seductive tone, dragging her index finger across my chest as she passed me to saunter back to her chair.

I chuckled quietly and shook my head, then leaned closer to Sunset. “She knows.”

The red-head looked back at me, her eyes widening. “You think?”

“Uh…yeah,” I replied, looking over my shoulder into the forest. “I’m pretty sure the woodland creatures just ratted us out.”

Sunset huffed and rubbed her face. “I guess if you wanna hide something from Flutters, you probably shouldn’t do it in the woods outside her house, eh?”

“Yup,” I nodded, turning to find a seat with the other girls. “Also, that squirrel on the branch behind you has your underwear.”

“WHAT?” Sunset’s eyes popped open and she spun around to find the critter on the branch just above her, holding the black thong. “GAAAH! GIMMIE THOSE!”

She swung her arm and snatched the underwear from the squirrel, who then scampered up the branch and out of sight, leaving Sunset standing there, grimacing at the cold wetness that soaked her hand after thoughtlessly grabbing the garment.

Author's Note

Standfortrees.org

Chapter 87: Morning

Chapter 87

Before we knew it, morning had come.

It cooled off significantly during the late hours before dawn; not quite enough to create a frost, but certainly enough that we could see our breath in the air. Despite my insistence that it wouldn’t bother them, the four girls dressed in a few extra layers to preserve their comfort, while I simply remained in the same clothes as the night before.

Applejack was the first to emerge from the house. Her hat and boots were on, unsurprisingly, and she had wrapped herself in one of Fluttershy’s comforters, wearing the blue pajamas underneath. Still half asleep, she plopped herself into one of the lawn chairs, sniffing and mumbling in a groggy voice, asking how Twilight had gotten up so early, to which the lavender girl chuckled and replied: ‘Oh, heh heh! You know me!’

Had Applejack been a little more wakeful, she may have thought about it a little more and possibly put two-and-two together, but instead she sat and watched with puffy eyes as I broke some branches to start a fire. Slowly, her interest grew along with her energy level, especially once the fire was lit and the smell of wood smoke filled the air. She watched intently as I dumped two whole jugs of canola oil into the cast iron pot, starting the slow process of heating it up over the fire.

The chain that suspended the pot had a spool with a crank to control its proximity to the heat; this was a primitive method of mine for controlling the temperature of the oil, which had a thermometer submerged at the edge, allowing me to keep it as close to three-fifty Fahrenheit as possible.

Rarity had gone inside to brew a large pot of coffee, which she then brought outside in a large carafe, along with some cups, sugar and cream.

Applejack —with a grateful nod to the fashionista— dove right in. Treating herself to a hot cup of black coffee was exactly what she needed; the warmth and caffeine surged through her in a flash, and before long she was back to her casual swearing, wise-cracking self.

No one was worried about disturbing Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie, even though it was still early—roughly 7:00 am. One of them had gotten up in the middle of the night and closed the window, likely because of the cold, so we were free to talk at a normal volume and share plenty of laughs without waking them.

Fluttershy was at my side, helping me prepare the steaks.

Cooking was one of the things I truly loved doing with the shy girl. Back when I first met her, the first direct interaction she and I shared together was cooking, and still to this day, it remained my favourite thing to do with her.

Correction: second favourite.

While I waited for the oil to heat up, I gave Fluttershy the task of setting up three dishes: one with flour, one with a few eggs cracked into it and one with a mixture of bread crumbs, garlic and onion powder, salt, and finally, pepper.

I had the steaks laid out on a large tray, going through the tenderizing process using a tool that consisted of four rows of ten spikes to perforate the cuts of meat lengthwise, crosswise, then on a diagonal, both ways. Then I would flip them over and repeat the process.

Applejack had become interested in helping, but was constricted by the blanket, so she went inside to change into her clothes.

Rarity and Twilight were busy loading the picnic table with a large carton of eggs and a selection of fresh fruits, along with orange juice as an alternative to the coffee.

It wasn’t long before Applejack returned to the backyard wearing a denim jacket with a groggy Rainbow Dash in tow, causing an uproar of laughter with her matted and mixed up hair. It was multi-coloured, obviously, but in this state of bed-headedness the colours were mixed up like she’d put her head in a blender, alternating hues in a strand-to-strand basis rather than those neat, wide stripes like usual.

“Meh, I just need to run a brush through it, that’s all,” was her response, before downing a glass of juice and then pouring a cup of coffee to keep herself warm with.

As I placed a frying pan on the wire grate that resided just over the fire, Fluttershy stood and headed for the house, saying that she needed to feed Angel, Link and the kittens. Today, I had made assumption that she wouldn’t bother feeding the wild animals, what with us having a fire going with everyone hanging around the backyard.

Only seconds after Fluttershy had left, Applejack squatted down beside me to offer a hand. “Whatcha need, partner?”

“Uuuhm…” I paused, looking around at the mess of ingredients. “Better get these steaks seared, I guess.”

“You got ‘er, sugarcube,” AJ replied, tossing the first steak into the pan, which erupted into to a loud frenzy of sizzling and popping. “Whoa!” the blonde hollered, “she’s too fuckin hot!”

“That’s OK,” I said, putting my hand out to stop her from moving the pan. “We want a nice brown on the meat; it’ll add flavour later, and we need some of it to stick to the pan…for the gravy.”

Applejack paused, then smirked and raised an eyebrow at me. “Gravy, eh?”

“Oh fuck yeah,” I replied, nodding towards the pan. “OK, flip it. We don’t wanna cook the steaks completely yet; just blacken the outside. Then take it out and do the rest the same way.”

“Sure thing,” Applejack replied, grimacing against the heat of the fire as she leaned in to flip the meat, creating a fresh cloud of sizzle and smoke. After a few seconds of that, she removed the steak from the pan and set it aside, then threw on a fresh one.

After checking the temperature of the oil, I noticed Applejack grunting, trying to shield her face with her forearm.

“You OK?” I asked.

“Ugh...it’s too dang hot, man. I can’t sit this close ta the fire like you.”

“Oh,” I replied. “OK look, I have another job you can do where you don’t have to sit so close. I’ll get Sunny to sear the meat.”

Sunset was standing off to the side, arms folded, with a smirk still lingering on her face after witnessing Rainbow Dash’s grand entrance.

“Hey Sunny?” I said, taking the frying pan from the heat so the meat wouldn’t burn. “You wanna finish searing these steaks?”

She looked at me somewhat nervously, then shook her head.

“Why not?”

“I’m not much of a cook,” she confessed, “especially over a fire. I’ll probably just fuck it up.”

“Oh whatever,” I groaned, waving her off. “I’ll be here. Don’t worry.”

She still looked unsure.

“Come on! It’s too hot for AJ, and Flutters went inside to feed the cats,” I pleaded.

“What about Rare? Can’t she do it?”

Applejack, Sunset and I turned to look at the fashionista, who was in the process of moving her lawn chair, muttering something about how the smoke was ‘following her.’

I looked back at Sunset, smirking. “You really think she’s gonna get in here and get all hot n’ smoky?”

“Ugh,” Sunset groaned, shifting her sights onto Twilight. “What about Tw-“

I gave the red-head a quick glare, stopping her from finishing—luckily. I glanced at Applejack next, curious to see if she’d picked up on Sunset’s near blunder, and I was met with a pair of inquisitive emerald eyes.

”Shit…” I thought, watching as AJ glanced at the lavender nerd, then back at me with narrowed eyes.

“OK fine!” Sunset conceded hastily and knelt down beside me, hoping to distract the farm girl.

“Alright!” I said, patting the red-head’s leather-clad shoulder as I handed her the pan. “OK, you saw what we were doing: twenty to thirty seconds each side, just enough to brown the outside.” I turned to Applejack next. “OK AJ, you see these bowls of egg and flour?”

“Yep.”

“When Sunny’s done with the steaks, you’re gonna roll them in the flour first, then the egg, then the bread crumbs; then set them aside,” I instructed, to which she nodded. “Oh,” I continued, facing her again, “and let them cool first so the egg doesn’t cook.”

“Done and done,” Applejack replied with a nod. She glanced at the pot of oil and then at me, smirking. “Yer gonna deep fry these bitches, aren’t ya?”

I nodded and checked the oil temperature again. “Yup.”

“Ah-ha,” the farm girl chuckled. “So yer makin chicken-fried steaks?”

“That’s right,” I said, turning to Sunset after I felt her tap my shoulder.

“Is this good?” the red-head asked, holding the pan up to show me the steak.

“That’s perfect, Sunny. Throw that one on the plate for AJ, then do the rest just like that.”

Sunset beamed with pride and did as instructed, slapping the next strip of meat into the hot pan with a loud sizzle.

“Dang, this is gonna be good,” Applejack said, rubbing her hands together. “I fuckin love chicken-fried steak!”

“Well,” I said, “technically, it’s Wiener Schnitzel; a German dish.”

“I’ve heard a’ that,” AJ replied, rubbing her nose. “It’s pretty much the same thing, ain’t it?”

“It IS the same thing,” I replied. “It was brought over to the States by German immigrants in the 1800s, but the name was eventually changed to sound more ‘American.’”

“Huh,” Applejack stuck her bottom lip out. “I never knew that. I always thought it was American.”

“So do some Americans, and they can get sore if you tell them it’s a German dish, so just watch who you’re saying it to. The last thing you want is some pissed-off Texan in your face,” I said, just as a small, white object fluttered into the corner of my eye. “Pfffft!” I spat, waving my hand to shoo it away. When it returned a second time and fluttered its wings against my forehead, I scowled and leaned back, shaking my head. “Hey...beat it!”

Applejack let a chuckle slip as she watched the little, white creature finally flitter off into the trees.

“Anyway,” I continued, “you guys should be honored; this breakfast you’re about to have is like a piece of history.”

“How so?” Sunset asked, glancing my way as she flipped the steak.

“Because I cooked this exact meal for James Riley, back in…hm, when was that?” I paused and rubbed my chin. “I wanna say…about 1873? Maybe four? I can’t remember exactly.”

“Who’s James Riley?” AJ asked, “Someone famous?”

“Sort of,” I replied. “He was involved in the Gunfight at Hide Park a year or two before; not as famous as the Gunfight at The OK Corral, but still a pretty serious one. He’d been on the run ever since, and eventually he met me in the desert with a wagon full of supplies.”

“Wait, you had the wagon, or he did?”

“I did,” I replied. “He was on his own, and he looked pretty sick and hungry so I told him he could travel with me for a bit, and I cooked him up a steak, just like these ones.” I paused for a moment to check the oil temperature. “Too bad it was his last meal.”

“Aw…too sick?” Applejack asked.

Before I could answer, Sunset cut in. “Did you kill him?”

“Sunny!” I huffed. “What do you think I am? Some kind of wild animal who just goes round killing everybody? Is that what you think of me?”

“No!” Sunset rebutted, taken aback by my reaction. “Calm down, Golds, Jeez! If it makes you feel better, I was just kidding.”

“Well…still,” I mumbled, shaking my head.

Sunset watched me for a moment as Applejack snickered quietly to herself. Finally, she let out a sigh and rolled her eyes. “Ugh…fine. I’m sorry I said that, Golds. I didn’t realise you’d be so sensitive about it.”

“It’s OK, Sunny. I forgive you.”

“Heh heh! You two are like an old, married couple,” Applejack chuckled, shaking her head. “So, what happened ta this Riley guy? How did he die?”

“I killed him,” I replied nonchalantly, to which Sunset angrily slammed the pan onto the grille.

“UGH! You are such a dick, Golds!” she shouted, causing Applejack burst out in a hearty laugh.

“Heh heh heh! Now that’s fuckin funny!” the farm girl chuckled.

I joined in and laughed along with her.

Sunset huffed and shook her head. “I swear…” she muttered, giving me an exasperated look. “Alright, so...why’d you kill him?”

After waiting for my laughter to die down, I cleared my throat and faced the red-head. “Um…he stole some shit from my wagon and tried to run off, so I pushed my thumb through his forehead.”

Applejack closed her eyes and grimaced, leaning away from me in disgust. “Aww! Nasty, man!”

“Yeah, that’s horrible,” Sunset agreed somewhat smugly, knowing she’d called me out correctly in the first place.

“What?” I shrugged. “He was fuckin-off with my turnips, what else was I supposed to do?”

Rainbow Dash, who —unbeknownst to me— was listening to our conversation, interjected from her chair. “Hold on, you killed a guy over some turnips?”

“Bah,” I waved her off. “He was a murderer anyway, remember? That’s why he was on the run in the first place.”

“Yeah, but still,” Dash shook her head. “What did you need turnips for? It’s not like you were gonna starve to death.”

“They weren’t for me,” I explained. “I was bringing them to a family I was helping; their ranch had been hit by a bad storm and most of their crops were destroyed, and they had three young children—five originally, but two of them died of illness. Anyway, they were on the verge of starving, so I made the three week trip to the next big town to bring a wagonful of food back for them.”

The girls were quiet after hearing the story, granting me a second to check the oil again.

Eventually, Sunset cleared her throat to speak. “So, why’d this Riley guy try to rob you?” she asked, placing another browned steak onto the platter before dropping another one into the pan.

“Well,” I replied, looking off into the trees as I drew a breath. “I think he realised he wasn’t going to survive travelling with me —you know, cuz I had no water or anything like that; I mean, I had a little bit for the potted plants that I was bringing for them to transplant, but not enough to drink— plus, when he met me, I was stopped an had a fire going, which is when I cooked the-“

“Wait, wait,” Rainbow Dash cut in, waving her arm and shaking her head. “Why were you stopped? Since when do you need to rest?”

“I don’t,” I replied, but it was getting dark, and the terrain was pretty rough; lots of rocks and pot holes. I couldn’t see where I was going so I stopped cuz I was worried about fuckin up the wagon.”

“Ah,” Dash replied, then took a sip of her coffee. “Sorry Golds,” she said after swallowing. “Go on.”

“OK, uh…” I mumbled, scratching my forearm. “Where was I? Oh, so anyway, at sunrise we were getting ready to move. By then, I’m sure Riley had noticed some strange things about me: like how I had no water, and how I didn’t sleep all night; plus, the wagon was fairly big and needed at least two horses to pull it, so when he —understandably— asked where my horses were, I said I didn’t have any. Then I grabbed the reins and started pulling the wagon myself...which I think may have freaked him out a little.”

“Yeah I think that mighta set me off, too,” Applejack chuckled.

“Oh for sure,” I nodded. “He was probably like: ‘fuck this,’ so he made a break for it. But before he left, he grabbed the first thing he could reach from the back of my wagon and took off with it. It pissed me off, obviously —you know, cuz he’s stealing from a family that needs it— so chased him down and…well, you know the rest.”

“Yeah we do, sugarcube,” AJ nodded, cringing again at the thought. “Did ya really have ta do it like that?”

“What, with the thumb?” I asked, to which she nodded. “That’s actually one of the most humane ways to kill someone; quick, clean, relatively painless…”

Sunset cocked her head, giving it a little more thought. “Hm. That makes sense, actually; now that I think about it.”

“Yeah, it’s easy,” I continued, “you just fuckin grab ‘em by the back of the neck and PLOP! Bob’s your Uncle.”

“Gross,” Dash muttered, her voice echoing inside the mug as she took another sip of coffee.

“So, were you able to help that family?” Sunset asked, flipping the steak.

I inhaled deeply. I already knew how the story turned out and I didn’t care much to say it, but I knew they weren’t gonna let up, so I figured I might as well just tell them. “Um, no. I couldn’t help them.”

The girls stopped what they were doing and turned to watch me.

“Why not? What happened?” Rainbow Dash asked, somewhat perturbed.

I chewed my lip for a second, then shook my head. “When I got back, they were all dead.”

Applejack hissed through her teeth, squeezing her eyes shut. “Aww...dang it. They starve?”

“No, actually…uh, a band of outlaws came around while I was gone. The father was on the porch, full of holes with his rifle laying next to him, and the family…” —I paused and adjusted one of the logs with my foot— “the family was inside, all shot.”

Applejack shook her head. “Dang...ain’t that a kick in the pants.”

I glanced at Sunset, who was staring at me, not paying attention to the meat. Clearly, she had yet to come across this particular story while reading my mind. “Don’t overdo that steak, Sunny,” I said, pointing to the pan.

“What? Oh!” she gasped, looking down at the meat after giving her head a shake. “Sorry,” she said, taking the meat out to set it on the plate. “OK...that’s all of them.”

“Good job,” I said, picking up a container of chicken broth, which I opened and dumped into the steak pan. “OK Sunny, let that broth boil down. It’s gonna lift all that brown from the pan, which will add flavour to the gravy. Just don’t let it burn; when it stops bubbling, that means the water is gone and you have to take it from the heat. Just let me know when it’s there.”

Sunset nodded as Rainbow Dash spoke again. “So what did you do?”

“Huh?” I glanced at her.

“At the ranch. What did you do when you found them dead?”

“Oh…” I picked up a stick of butter from the pile of ingredients and began to unwrap it. “I buried them, of course, and then…” —shook my head and shrugged— “I just left the wagon there. I had no use for it, so…”

“Ugh,” Dash grumbled, looking down into her coffee. “That sucks, man.”

“Yeah. I’m real sorry ta hear that, partner,” AJ said, patting me on the shoulder.

“You know,” I said, holding up the half-unwrapped butter as I stared into the trees, ruminating on the distant memory. “What really bothered me about that whole thing was: that family had nothing. I mean, they were starving, had no livestock, no fuck-all. They had nothing to take, and those losers shot them anyway; kids and all. Like...why?”

Applejack sighed, looking at the ground.

“And I knew that...if I was there, I could've saved them,” I continued, “but I was off getting them food, cuz I had to, otherwise they would have starved.” With a quiet exhale, I resumed unwrapping the butter. “That was a valuable lesson for me: it doesn’t matter how tough, or wise, or skilled you are, you can’t be everywhere at once; and sometimes...you just can’t save everybody.”

“Hm.” Sunset shook her head, stirring the broth. “I’ve already learned a lot since becoming like you. Being immortal certainly doesn’t eliminate all of your problems; there’s still plenty of things to worry about. Lots of things that can go wrong.”

“Yup,” I replied quietly, dropping the wrapper into the pile next to me.

“So, what did you do then, Daddy?” Rarity asked.

I leaned over and glanced past the fire toward my violet-haired girlfriend, surprised to realise that she’d been listening to the conversation.

“Well, I figured the outlaws were there only a day or two earlier; judging by the bodies,” I explained. “I mean, the father had been picked over a bit by the vultures, but I could tell it hadn’t been long. So after I buried the family, I found the outlaws’ tracks, and...I decided to follow them.” I glanced around at each of the girls, letting a sly smirk show itself. “It took me about four days to catch up with them.”

“Oohhh boy,” Applejack grimaced, “I bet yer thumbs got a workout that day, eh?”

“No, not really. I was nowhere near as humane with those guys as I was with Mr. Riley.”

“Yikes,” Rainbow Dash cringed. “Sucks to be them…”

“They didn’t call it the Wild West for nothing,” I chuckled.

“Where was that, exactly?” Sunset asked.

I turned to look at her, puzzled slightly by the question.

“Like, was it close to where you and I were?” she clarified.

“Oh,” I said, cocking my head as I thought more about it. “I’m not sure exactly. There weren’t very many roads or decent maps back then. All I can tell you is that family’s farm was near the Texas border, which I guess is sort of on the opposite side from where we picked up Flutters.”

“Did it remind you of those times?” Sunset asked. “I mean, at some points, even I felt like we were in the Wild West, driving around the desert in that old car.”

“Um,” I sighed, then nodded. “Yeah, I guess there were a few times that I thought of those days.”

Rarity interjected next. “You know, Daddy; I said it last night, and I’ll say it aga-“

Applejack’s brows furrowed and she shook her head, bemused. “Rarity? Why in the sweet name a’ fuck are ya callin him Daddy?”

I gave the farm girl a light tap on the shoulder with the back of my hand, prompting her to look at me. “THANK-YOU!”

The fashionista was caught off-guard for a second, but she recovered quickly and stuck her nose up. “It’s just a pet-name, Applejack, and it is none of your business!” she snapped, folding her arms.

AJ rolled her eyes, followed by a chuckle. “Alright fine, what were ya gonna say?”

It took Rarity a moment to respond. Making sure to be as dramatic as possible, she glanced sideways at AJ first, and then me, before finally unfolding her arms again. “As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted,” she began, prompting Applejack to sigh and shake her head, “I think this adventure has done you well, Golds. I don’t know what it is, but I certainly feel as though something has been sparked in you.”

Applejack cocked an eyebrow when she heard this and she turned to look at me, followed by an agreeing nod as she tossed the first steak in the bread coating. “Ya know, I think yer right, Rarity,” she said. “I coulda swore I noticed something different about him when they got back, but I figured it musta been my imagination.”

“Yeah, same here,” Dash agreed as well, “I noticed it too. It’s not exactly that you look younger, cuz you look the same,” —she paused to rub her chin, narrowing those cerise eyes at me— “I don’t know; it’s like you look more…alive.”

Rarity snapped her finger and then pointed at me. “Yes! That’s it! Rainbow Dash is correct; when we first met you, although you were a very nice man, you had a certain unmistakable…hmm, emptiness, is it?”

“Yeah,” Dash nodded. “You just looked depressed when we first met you, but since you got back from rescuing Fluttershy, you definitely seem...cooler. Like, by at least a solid twenty percent.”

I glanced at Sunset, who was looking at me with a smirk on her face, letting a bit of smugness show as she removed the pan from the heat. “The uh…broth is gone.”

“OK thanks,” I said tossing the stick of butter into the pan, which broke out into a violent sizzle and began to melt rapidly. “Maybe it’s the companionship?” I suggested, watching the translucent yellow pool spread across the bottom of the pan.

Rarity rubbed her chin, then shook her head. “I don’t think so, darling. We’d been together for months before Fluttershy was taken, but this new...aura of yours didn’t surface until after the rescue mission.”

“Hm.” I looked down to open the bag of flour beside me, then reached in to take a handful of the white powder, tossing it into the pan with the butter. “Mix that up, please, Sunny,” I instructed as I clapped my hands together to beat the flour off.

“What are we making here, anyway?” Sunset asked as she stirred the ingredients together with the spatula.

“It’s called a roux,” I explained, “That’s what’s gonna thicken the gravy.”

“Ah,” she replied, stirring rhythmically as I turned back to the others.

“Well, I don’t know, guys,” I said, watching Applejack roll another steak in the coating. “I don’t really feel any different, so I’m not sure what to tell you.”

Twilight, who had remained silent thus far, raised a finger to finally offer her opinion. “Perhaps, if I could make an observation?”

“OK, shoot.”

“I think...all this time you spent living alone in these woods, spending your time alone, keeping a low profile, working a normal job; while I understand it was a necessary move, I don’t think it was particularly good for you,” she explained.

“What do you mean, ‘good for me?’” I asked, shaking some onion and garlic power, along with dried sage leaves into the pan as Sunset stirred the lumpy, sizzling concoction.

“Well…” Twilight paused, rubbing her chin with her thumb as she considered how she would put her hypothesis into words. “I believe that by living that lifestyle, you were actively denying your true calling: which is to be an adventurer; a hero. A doer of good, if you will.”

“Told ya,” Sunset whispered, followed by a playful giggle when I gave her a dirty look.

“Actually,” the lavender girl continued as she sat upright in her chair, “I think this is true for many, if not all people; I am reminded of a speech by science philosopher Jason Silva, who said, and I quote:

‘Shake up the rug from underneath your feet;
Disruption makes things new again, it makes ideas fresh!
Return: to things that are meaningful, and bathe inside of them,
Partake in those things that will somehow…make us come alive.’”

Rarity replied first, after giving an impressed nod. “Hm! Agreed, darling.”

Applejack was nodding as well, bobbing an index finger at Twilight. “I like that,” she said, turning to me. “I like that a lot.”

I nodded, watching the farm girl as she laid the next crumb-coated steak onto the tray, ready to be cooked. I turned to Sunset next, who I could read like a book; it was obvious that she was gloating about the others agreeing that I should be an adventurer, and that her insistence that I be a vigilante with them was justified, in her eyes.

“I don’t know, guys,” I said, shaking my head as I crushed some peppercorns between my fingers and tossed them into the pan. “I’ve had my share of adventures. More than I can count. All I really want —at least for now— is to spend time with Flutters...and you guys.”

“Aww, and that’s mighty fine of ya, sugarcube,” AJ replied, placing her hand on my thigh and giving a firm squeeze, which caught me a little off-guard. “We ain’t suggestin ya go out lookin fer trouble er nothin like that; and if ya wanna spend time yer time bein in love, then dang it! Who am I ta say ya don’t deserve it?”

Hearing this, I found myself unable to stop smiling, and I watched quietly as she dipped another strip of steak into the egg-wash. “Thanks AJ,” I said quietly, to which she returned a warm smile to me. “You know, guys,” I continued, “I was kind of hoping that you all would be my next adventure; I mean, this is the first time ever...that I haven't had to live with the knowledge that someone I love is going to eventually grow old and be gone one day, leaving me behind. For once, I can relax and not have to deal with that feeling looming in the back of my mind every day. And for those of you who want to go and have your own adventures,” —I gave Sunset a nudge— "I can always live vicariously through you."

The red-head sighed and rolled her eyes.

"But seriously, guys," I continued, "I really mean it when I say this: that you ladies are, without a doubt, the best bunch of people I've ever met." I took a quick moment to look at each of them. "Ever."

“Aww, darling,” Rarity cooed, pressing her fingertips to her chest. “You think we’re the best people you’ve ever met?”

“Of course, Rare,” I nodded, “and that says a lot, cuz I’ve known a LOT of fuckin people.”

“Heh!” Dash chuckled, snapping her fingers and pointing her thumb at herself. “Do I really need to say it? It’s gotta be because we’re so awesome!”

“That’s right,” I replied, snickering at the rainbow-haired girl.

It was a nice moment, and a nice morning, in fact. I found it nigh impossible to wipe the smile from my face as I looked around the group; each of them had their own unique qualities, abilities, beauty, and I meant every word when I told them that I thought they were the best people I’d ever met, because they truly were.

From then on, I was fairly quiet while the girls chattered on endlessly. I enjoyed listening to them; to each of their voices and expressions, their laughter, and many times I found myself laughing along with them as I perfected the gravy, adding a splash of milk here and some pepper there to give it just the right consistency and flavour.

It was time to start frying the steaks soon. I was reluctant to cook them too early so they wouldn’t get cold, but none of us knew how much longer Pinkie Pie was going to sleep, so I made the decision to cook the rest of them and set Pinkie’s aside until she was awake.

“No, AJ!” Sunset insisted, deep in conversation with the farm girl about the mission. “I’m telling you, everyone down there talks exactly like you!”

Applejack closed her eyes and raised a hand. “And I’m tellin you, Sunset: I ain’t got no family down there! This is where I’m from; born and raised. I really don’t know what else ta tell ya.”

I was in the process of setting the lid over the gravy, chuckling to myself over the girls’ little argument. I stood afterwards, ready to head into the house.

“Where are you going, darling?” Rarity asked, setting her chair down after moving out of the smoke yet again.

“Just heading inside to start the biscuits. I won’t be long.”

Twilight sprang from her seat at the news, offering her help. “Here, let me do that, Golds. Why don't you stay out here and hang out?”

Her enthusiasm stopped me in my tracks. “Really?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah really,” Twilight replied. “You’ve been so busy all morning, and you’re doing a great job, but...I’d like to help out at least a little bit. You stay out here and have fun, and I’ll look after the biscuits.”

“Uh…OK,” I said, unprepared for the offer. I turned around to have a quick look at the fire, then back to the lavender-skinned girl, nodding finally. “Sure thing. Thanks, Twi. That helps a lot, cuz I actually just remembered I’ve gotta start the eggs soon.”

“No problem,” she smiled, glancing back at me as she headed around the side of the house. “Where are these biscuits, anyway?”

“In the fridge. They’re just the cheap store-bought kind; just follow the instructions on the package.”

Twilight gave me a thumbs-up. “Got it!” she said as she disappeared around the corner.

I headed back to the fireside and returned to my seat next to Sunset, who was now lying back, relaxing and watching the fire.

“How’s it going?” I asked her.

“Not bad. That was kind of fun, cooking over the fire with you,” she replied, running a finger through her hair to clear it from her face.

“Yeah?” I smiled at her, moving the gravy pan off to the side, where it was just close enough to stay warm as I set a second pan on the grille and then tossed a lump of butter into it.

“Yeah,” she nodded, drawing a long, relaxed breath, letting her eyes explore the trees above.

Picking up two of the steaks, I glanced back at her, noticing a bit of distance in her gaze. “Something on your mind, Sunny?”

“Um…” she mumbled, watching dreamily as I dropped the steaks into the pot, causing the oil to erupt into a hissing mass of rolling bubbles. “What do you mean by living vicariously through us?”

I gave Applejack a quick glance. She was staring absentmindedly at the frying steaks, so I turned to Sunset to answer her question. “Like I said last night: you guys can be the heroes, and I’ll be on the sidelines; training, teaching, advising, leadi-”

“OOOOH! Like you’ll be Charlie and they’ll be your Angels?!” Pinkie squealed from Twilight’s former chair, startling Rainbow Dash in the adjacent seat, who was in mid-sip of her coffee.

“AAAAHH!” Dash screeched as the hot beverage spilled down her chest, “Fuck, that’s HOT!” She quickly pinched her shirt and pulled it away from her skin, hissing through her teeth as she glared angrily at the grinning, pink girl. “PINKIE! I swear to Christ!”

“Oops!” Pinkie gasped when she saw Dash’s steaming, coffee-soaked shirt. “Sorry, Dashie!”

Applejack sat up and adjusted her hat, scowling. “Pinkie Pie, how many times do we have ta tell ya? Stop appearin outta nowhere and screamin yer fuckin head off! It scares the bejesus outta people!”

“Yeah!” Dash added, “where the hell did you come from, anyway? We thought you were still in bed!”

Pinkie closed her eyes and gave a robust giggle, her braless bust jiggling inside her shirt. “Nope! I’m wide awake, silly!”

“Well yeah!” Dash scowled, finally letting her shirt go. “The whole fucking forest is awake after that!”

Chuckling quietly at the scene, I glanced at a smirking Sunset, which reminded me of the conversation she and I were having before the commotion with Pinkie had started. “Oh, anyways, Sunny; um, I’ll always be here for support, but like I said: I’ve had enough excitement. All I want now is to live a normal, peaceful life, out here with Flutters. And Rare. That’s why I was living alone in the woods in the first place, except now, things are better, cuz...you know...pussy."

Sunset smirked at the remark, but then it disappeared quickly. After a pause, she let out a disappointed sigh. “Fine. It just sucks, you know? You’re the best of us, and I wish you would fight the good fight alongside us, if that fight ever comes.”

I cleared my throat. “I know, Sunny, but look at the bright side: realistically, you probably won’t have to worry too much about having to fight without me when the time comes.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because things probably aren’t going to work out the way I want them to.”

The red-head raised a brow. “What do you mean?”

I let out a sigh, staring at the golden steaks floating around in the pot. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned over and over again, it’s that life tends to get in the way of my plans. Every time. No matter how hard I try to avoid it.” I turned to face her, followed by a quick shrug. “Oh well, maybe this time it’ll be different. Maybe things will work out for once.”

With a sombre expression, Sunset’s eyes dropped downward to watch the fire. I turned to face Applejack and found her green eyes locked onto mine, giving me a foreboding look.

I returned my eyes to the pot to see two perfectly cooked steaks floating in the oil. “Ah!” I brought my hands together and rubbed them. “These two are done.” Without hesitation, I reached into the pot and plucked the steaks out with my fingertips, then set them down on the tray next to Applejack, who recoiled after witnessing my rather shocking methods.

“Whoa! Did you just reach inta that hot oil with yer fingers?”

I laughed out loud. “Hahaha! Yeah, I guess I did.”

“Damn partner, that sure gave me a start,” she chortled, shaking her head.

“Sorry,” I replied. “Hey, would you mind grabbing that carton of eggs from the table, please?”

“Yeah sure,” she replied, standing up to retrieve the eggs, still chuckling as Rarity got up to move her chair out of the smoke trail again.

“My goodness, Fluttershy is taking an awfully long time feeding those cats of hers,” she noted, with a glance toward the house.

“Yeah...she has been gone a long time,” Rainbow Dash agreed, pulling her phone out to check the time. “What was she doing when you came out, Pinkie?”

“Who, Fluttershy?” Pinkie asked. Dash nodded. “I didn’t see her in there when I came out; only Twilight.”

“Hm…are you certain, Pinkie Pie?” Rarity asked.

“Yup!” Pinkie replied. “Twilight was in the kitchen putting some biscuits in the oven, but there was nooooo Fluttershy that I could see!”

Rarity’s brows furrowed; she began to chew her lip, leaving her chair to head toward Fluttershy’s bedroom window. “Oh Fluttershy!” she called, daintily tapping the glass with her fingernails. After a moment and no response, she tapped the glass again, harder this time. “Fluttershy!” After another moment, a lavender face appeared behind the glass. Then the window began to glow, and it slid open by itself.

“What’s up?” Twilight asked, leaning closer to the screen.

“Ah, Twilight; is Fluttershy in there?” the fashionista asked.

Twilight shook her head. “No.”

Confused, Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure? She’s not in the washroom?”

“I don’t think so,” Twilight replied as she turned to look over her shoulder at the shy girl’s bathroom. “No, the bathroom’s empty,” she replied, turning back to Rarity.

“Hm,” Rarity rubbed her chin for a moment, then gave the lavender girl a nod. “Thank you, Twilight.”

“No problem,” Twilight replied with a smile as she left the window to head back to the kitchen.

Rarity turned around slowly, stroking her chin with the knuckle of her index finger. She glanced around the yard at the rest of us, a disquieted look growing in her eyes. “Where do you suppose she is?”

Rainbow Dash set her coffee down and stood. “She’s probably just in the front yard. I’ll go check.”

Rarity smiled and nodded. “Thank you, Rainb-“

ZOOM!

Applejack snorted and shook her head after seeing Rarity’s expression. The rest of us, however, were listening closely, trying our best to ignore the crackle of the fire in front of us.

“Fluttershy!” Dash’s voice called from the far side of the house. “You up here?...Fluttershy!”

A few seconds later, a multi-coloured streak shot into the backyard. “She’s not up there.”

“W-well, where could she be?” Rarity asked. Her voice had become shaky, her face displaying the evident concern that grew from within.

Sunset stood and walked toward the fashionista. “Just stay calm, Rare. She’s probably just talking to some animals or something. I doubt she’s very far.”

“Oh…yes, of course. You’re probably right, Sunset,” Rarity replied, looking slightly relieved as she made her way closer to the tree line. Placing her hands to the sides of her mouth, she called out to her girlfriend. “Fluttershy?...Fluttershy!”

Dash decided to join in. “Hey Fluttershy! Where’d you go?”

Pinkie was next. “Fluuuuuuuuttershyyyyyyyyyyy!” she squealed.

There was no response.

This did not put Rarity at ease.

She began to pace the tree line, her breaths shallow and quick, her face contorted with worry.

I remained by the fire, unable to leave the task at hand. “Try to relax, Rare. I’m sure she’s not far,” I reassured her. “Don’t get yourself all worked up over nothing.”

My words fell on deaf ears.

“FLUTTERSHY!” She then turned to face me, her fingers covering her mouth. “Oh Golds, where could she be? You don’t suppose…?”

“Suppose what?” I replied, leaning to the side to look around the fire at her.

“That…” —the fashionista moved her fingertips to her cheeks— “that they’ve come for her...to take her back? Do you think they might have taken her away from me again!?”

Her voice had risen to a squeal by then, so I raised my hand to calm her down. “No. Rare, that’s crazy.”

With folded arms, Sunset added: “Yeah, no. They wouldn’t be able to capture her right now, even if they wanted to. They don’t have the resources.”

Rarity faced the red-head. “But…but how can you be so sure?”

Sunset stepped closer to the fashionista and placed her hands on her shoulders. “Please Rare, try to stay calm, K? I’m sure everything’s fine; I bet you anything she’s just hanging out with some critters. You’ll see.”

Rarity pulled away quickly, scowling. “NO!” she hissed. “What if they’re after her again? We simply MUST find her before it's too late!”

The rest of us stood by, watching hopelessly as the panic-stricken fashionista turned back to face the trees, calling for the shy girl again.

“Fluttershy!...FLUTTERSHY!”

Author's Note

James Riley
The perfect candidate for this backstory.

Also, this is the talk by Jason Silva that Twilight was referencing, remixed by Melodysheep.
Watch it. Love it.

UPDATE: (May 10, 2019)

”The last thing you want is some pissed-off Texan in your face,” I said, just as a small, white object fluttered into the corner of my eye. “Pfffft!” I spat, waving my hand to shoo it away. When it returned a second time and fluttered its wings against my forehead, I scowled and leaned back, shaking my head. “Hey...beat it!”

In case no one noticed, this bit was a nod to fellow author MythrilMoth—one of several homages to other site members hidden in this story. I just learned tonight that he has unfortunately passed away.

I had very little interaction with Moth during my time here, aside from a few PM’s asking for his advice on the use of story tags, as well as asking if it was cool if I used him as an Easter Egg when I wrote this scene back in late 2017.

He was quick to reply each time and always made sure I’d gotten the help I needed before the exchange was over, which I was—and still am—very grateful for.

It was a shock to hear of his passing, to say the least; I hope he is resting soundly and is happy, wherever he may be.

*Chapter 88: Running With Scissors

Chapter 88

Shaking frantically, Rarity called out for her girlfriend, her voice riddled with worry.

“FLUTTERSHY!”

Concerned, I stood to face the panicking fashionista over the cooking stand. “Rare! Don’t do this to yourself. I’m sure Flutters is around here somewhere; getting yourself all wound up like this is only gonna lead to bad things.”

“Golds is right, sugarcube,” Applejack agreed. “We just need ta stay calm and work together. Why don't we all just go fer a walk around the woods a little ways? I betcha we’ll find her, lickety-split.”

Sunset nodded. “Good idea. If we fan out, I’m sure we’ll find her somewhere talking to some raccoons or something like that. Let’s go, guys,” she ordered, ushering the others along.

Those who were still seated got up and headed across the yard, calling the shy girl’s name as they headed for the tree line. All, that is, except for Rainbow Dash, who stood next to her chair, chewing her thumbnail, looking distressed.

“You OK, Dashie?” I asked, drawing her attention.

She quickly took her thumbnail from her mouth, wiped it on her skirt and nodded—albeit nervously.

It was obvious that Rarity’s irrational ranting had stirred fear in the rainbow-haired girl, so I put my hand out and gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. It’s gonna be OK.”

Rainbow Dash froze for a few seconds, then put up a façade of calm, snorting at me with a dismissive sneer. “Psshhh…yeah, of course it’s gonna be OK. I’m…I’m not worried…”

“OK whatever,” I replied, rolling my eyes as I turned to see where everyone else was.

“Fluttershy!” they called one-by-one, at random intervals.

This went on for several uneasy minutes. Then, at last, there was a rustling off to our extreme left. Everyone stopped and turned, waiting in anxiously to see what it was.

Sure enough, a smiling Fluttershy walked out of the woods, ducking under a branch with her arms behind her back.

A collective sigh resounded throughout the yard, and everyone’s shoulders dropped to a state of relief. I exhaled slowly and shook my head, looking down at the fire just as a burning smell tickled my nostrils.

The butter in the second frying pan was burning.

“Shit!” I squatted down and yanked the pan from the heat to inspect the damage.

As this happened, Rarity had locked her sights squarely onto the shy girl. “FLUTTERSHY!” she gasped, covering her mouth with her fingertips.

Unaware of the panic she’d caused, Fluttershy let out a soft giggle. “Hey Rare,” she greeted softly.

Relieved, but exasperated, Rarity made a beeline for the shy girl, stomping her feet through the soft grass as she crossed the yard in a huff. “WHERE ON EARTH WERE YOU?”

The fashionista’s approach stopped Fluttershy in her tracks, and the look of happiness was immediately swept from her face, replaced by confusion and alarm.

“You had us worried sick!” Rarity scolded, throwing her hands in the air as she came face-to-face with her taller girlfriend. “What were you thinking, running off like that?”

Fluttershy, with her hands still behind her back, leaned away from Rarity, caught off-guard by the harsh reprimanding. “I-I was just taking a little walk in the woods,” she explained, her voice barely above a whisper. Her shoulders had drawn inward, knees together; her head drooped slightly, letting her hair drape in front of her face, which was now bathed in a deep scarlet.

“A walk! After what just happened?” Rarity chided, putting her hands on her hips. “You scared us half to death! You should be staying in the yard where we can see you!”

The shy girl’s lips became tight and she cowered even more, her chin almost touching her chest. “I…I’m sorry, Rare. I didn’t mean…”

Standing a few feet away, Sunset could plainly see by Fluttershy’s posture that her girlfriend was frightening her. She shook her head, unimpressed with Rarity’s overreaction. “Rare, come on; that’s enough,” Sunset said, stepping closer to them.

Her words went ignored, and Rarity continued her tirade.

“Just what are we going to do with you, Fluttershy?” the fashionista rebuked, leaning closer as Fluttershy closed her eyes and turned her head. “What if you’d been taken? What if they came back for you? What then?”

“I…I don’t know-“

“You don’t KNOW?” Rarity huffed, closing her eyes as she gave her head a frustrated shake. “You need to be more careful than this, darling!”

The rest of the girls stood helpless and silent, watching in utter shock as Fluttershy drew in a shaky breath and then sniffled, keeping her eyes on the ground next to her feet. “I’m s-sorry…I never meant to scare you,” she squeaked, her voice cracking slightly.

The break in Fluttershy’s composure caught my attention, and I looked up from the burnt pan to regain my wits after the rapid —and needlessly stressful— chain of events.

It was time to put a stop to this drama.

“RARE!”

The fashionista froze when my voice thundered across the yard and echoed off the surrounding trees; her slender fame stiffened like a board, her heart almost leaping from her chest. With eyes like saucers, she slowly turned to face me, mouth open slightly.

Once her eyes were locked onto mine, I cocked my head and gave her a stern look. “Relax. Everything’s fine; just like we said.”

Stunned, Rarity held her breath and stared vacantly at me for a moment before gathering herself. She blinked a few times, suddenly realising she’d been acting quite unreasonably, and with a pounding heart, she reluctantly turned back to her girlfriend to assess the damage.

The sight of Fluttershy tore Rarity’s heart in two. Before her stood her beloved girlfriend; her shoulders shrugged nervously, her face hidden behind her hair as she stared at the ground with her chin trembling, her eyes glistening with moisture.

Drawing a tremulous gasp, Rarity placed one hand atop her head, wondering how she could have treated her best friend so poorly. She loved Fluttershy from the bottom of her heart; this was the sweetest, gentlest girl she’d ever known, the same girl who’d loved her all these years, unconditionally and without reserve.

And yet, here she was, scolding her like a child on her second day at home. The irony of it pounded at Rarity’s skull, reminding her of the conversation in her bathroom only a day earlier, when she’d preached about not letting fear guide one’s path, and now, she herself was guilty of that very same thing: believing the worst had happened without a shred of evidence and then berating poor Fluttershy, humiliating her in front of everyone.

“Oh dear,” Rarity whispered, “What have I…?” Rarity moved her hand from her head to her mouth. “Fluttershy, I…I’m so sorry; I-I’m afraid I’ve completely overreacted.”

The shy girl looked up slowly, locking her damp, teal eyes onto Rarity’s.

The fashionista shook her head, silently cursing herself. “Oh darling, please forgive me; I should never have treated you like that.”

“Um…i-it’s OK, Rare. I shouldn’t have gone off like that,” Fluttershy whispered, pursing her lips. Her demeanor was one of pure guilt; she had been unaware of the worry caused by her absence, and so began to dig her toe nervously into the grass with her hands still behind her back, unsure of what else to do.

Seeing this, Rarity’s heartache worsened. She had no right to tell Fluttershy what she can and can’t do. She was an adult after all, and in realising this, the fashionista suddenly felt an overwhelming desire to set things right. “No no, darling,” she said, “It was wrong of me to treat you this way. It’s just…when we couldn’t find you, I feared the worst: that those awful men had come and taken you from me again…but still, that was no excuse for me to speak to you the way I did, and I’m dreadfully sorry about it.”

Fluttershy sniffled again. “It’s OK. I, um…should have told someone that I was going for a walk. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

Rarity placed her hands on her girlfriend’s shoulders, squeezing them gently. “No. I was being selfish, darling. This is your home; if you want to go for a stroll in the woods, then that is your decision, and yours alone.”

Fluttershy’s eyes rose to meet Rarity’s, but the exchange was fleeting. Her gaze quickly dropped again, and she swallowed the lump in her throat to give a quick nod.

“Ohh,” Rarity moaned, reaching up with her fingertips to clear a swath of soft, pink locks from Fluttershy’s face. “Please don’t be upset with me, darling. I’ve frightened and embarrassed you, and I feel simply awful about it.”

“It’s um, OK.”

Sighing, Rarity shifted her eyes up to the surrounding treetops, wondering if it really was OK, or if Fluttershy was just placating her out of nervousness. “You certainly were gone a long time, darling,” she said, returning her gaze to Fluttershy, offering some comfort in the form of a smile and a bit of small-talk. “Were you...catching up with your wildlife friends out there?”

“Um…no. Not really.”

“Oh?” Rarity replied, raising a brow. “Well then…what were you doing out there for so long?”

Fluttershy paused, then let out a long, quiet sigh as she turned her head to the side, looking at the ground behind her, making Rarity notice that she still had her hands behind her back.

“What is it, darling? What have you got there?” Rarity asked softly, dipping her head to follow the shy girl’s gaze.

“I, um…” Fluttershy finally moved her hands from behind her back, bringing into view a modestly-sized bouquet of vibrant, purple flowers. “I was picking you some violets,” she whispered.

Aside from the occasional crackle or pop from the fire, the entire yard fell into a painful silence, accompanied by a stillness that was nearly sickening.

Closing my eyes, I let my face drop and caught it in my palm.

”Fuck…”

All I could do was shake my head, unable to clear the heart-wrenching image of that devastating reveal, and I honestly couldn’t decide which girlfriend I felt worse for.

Finally, I lifted my head again to look away from the two girls. Alternatively, I was met with the sight of Rainbow Dash, who looked about as comfortable as someone who’d just came out of knee surgery; eyes on the ground, cringing as she rubbed the back of her neck.

For Rarity, the sight of that bouquet was like an arrow to the chest. Filled with unbearable guilt, both of her hands found themselves covering her mouth as she struggled to keep her eyes from moistening, able to do nothing but stare down at the painful truth: she’d just torn a strip off of Fluttershy for being her usual sweet self.

“F-Fluttershy, I…” Rarity whispered shakily, her eyes locked on the bouquet as the shy girl held it between them. “You picked these…for me?”

Fluttershy gave a tiny nod. “Mm-hm. Um, w-when I came out of the house, I saw one of them by the edge of the driveway…and…s-so I went to pick it for you, but then I saw another one further in the trees, and, well…I went to pick it too.”

Hearing the story from Fluttershy’s point of view was horrific for Rarity. Not because of the flowers, but because of her own behaviour. She scolded herself in silence for not heeding her friends’ warnings; if she had, her emotions would likely not have led her to do the unthinkable: viciously scolding Fluttershy in front of everyone, all because she went out to pick flowers for the very person who nearly ended up bringing her to tears.

“I just had to pick them.” Fluttershy’s soft voice brought the fashionista back into the moment. “They looked so nice...and they reminded me of you, because they’re soft and purple…and SO pretty, just like your hair.”

Rarity swallowed and closed her eyes; her heart was frozen like ice, about to crack in half inside her chest. Feeling like the ultimate heel, she could sense the eyes of everyone behind her, glaring holes into her back as Fluttershy raised the bouquet to the fashionista.

“Don’t feel bad. Here. These are for you, Rarity,” the shy girl offered softly, prompting Rarity to open her eyes and look down at the gift; its soft, fresh fragrance filling her nostrils.

Rarity removed one hand from her mouth to accept the offering, her delicate, white fingers grazing softly against Fluttershy’s as they passed the bundle of stems from one hand to the other.

“I’m sorry I had you so worried,” Fluttershy continued. “I just wanted to get lots of them for you, but…um, they’re hard to find this late in the season, and it took me a long time to find them.”

The indigo-haired girl drew a shaky breath and exhaled slowly against her palm, studying the exceptionally beautiful flowers the shy girl had picked out. “Darling…I,” —she brought her eyes up to meet Fluttershy’s— “I-I’m so sorry, I never meant to…I mean…Ohh! Can you ever forgive me for being so nasty to you?”

Fluttershy’s gaze softened, the worry and discomfort all but gone from her eyes by then. “Oh Rare, of course I forgive you. I’ll always forgive you, no matter what.”

Rarity pursed her lips, feeling some relief from the tight knot in her chest as Fluttershy continued.

“And I’m glad that you care for me so much, but Rare: you need to remember that you can trust me to be on my own. I can take care of myself, OK?”

Sighing, the fashionista nodded, closing her eyes. “You’re right, darling. You’re absolutely right; I was wrong to act the way I did. I was a control freak, and that’s not how I want to be with you.” Rarity looked down at the flowers again, sniffling softly in the cold morning air. “These really are beautiful, Fluttershy; thank you very much.”

A tiny smirk appeared in the corner of the shy girl’s mouth as she brought her slender hand up to point at the bouquet. “Did you see these two?”

“Hm?” Rarity looked down, noticing a pair of differently coloured flowers in the sea of violet petals; one pink, one yellow.

“These ones,” Fluttershy explained, “represent me, and I put them there...because I wanted you to know that, um…I’ll always be a part of you.”

Rarity’s gaze rose quickly to meet the shy girl’s; her eyes flooded instantly, spilling tears down her cheeks. Her heart welled up inside her chest, ready to burst at the seams. “Oh…darling!” The corners of her mouth curled down, her bottom lip trembling uncontrollably. She threw her arms around the taller girl’s shoulders and hugged her tightly, burying her face in the crook of that soft, yellow neck. “Fluttershy…” she sobbed, her voice muffled, “you are such a sweetheart; I really don’t deserve someone like you.”

“No Rare,” Fluttershy sighed, wrapping her arms around the small of Rarity‘s back. “That’s not true, and you know it,” she said, following her soft words with an even softer kiss on top of the fashionista’s head. “I love you SO much, Rare; you’re my best girl,” Fluttershy whispered, resting her cheek on her girlfriend’s head.

If it hadn’t been for Fluttershy’s lips being so close to Rarity’s ear, she might have missed the soft-spoken words over her own sobbing; but she did hear them, and immediately, she could feel the pain in her heart give way to sweet, loving comfort. Sniffling, she nuzzled into the warm —and now moist— skin of Fluttershy’s throat, opening her eyes to see nothing but a sea of pink hair. “I love you too, darling,” she replied quietly, clutching the bouquet behind the shy girl’s back.

It struck the fashionista suddenly how lucky she was to have a partner like this. Someone so sweet and loving, demure and cute; someone who was able to forgive and forget with ease, and who always seemed to remember that above all, especially when it came to those you love, kindness was all that really mattered.

How did she end up with someone like this? And why, after all these years of knowing each other, did they wait so long to express their feelings for one another?

It was a comforting feeling, being wrapped in Fluttershy’s arms. Rarity’s fear of losing the shy girl and then her subsequent outrage had left her feeling vulnerable, but in the shy girl’s arms, she felt safe. Hidden between that tender, yellow throat and flowing pink hair, the fashionista smirked at the irony of it all: after being overprotective to the point of abuse only a few minutes ago, she was now the one feeling protected. The very thought of the shy girl watching over her caused Rarity’s heart to flutter, prompting her to tighten the embrace, squeezing the tall, slender body of her girlfriend against her own.

She inhaled slowly through her nose, inadvertently flooding her senses with Fluttershy’s flowery scent, which in turn sent a wave of tingling goosebumps along her smooth, alabaster skin. Without thinking, and since her lips were already there, Rarity planted a slow, soft kiss in the crook of the shy girl’s neck, eliciting the softest of giggles from her.

The response set off a chain-reaction in the fashionista; starting with a wave of shimmering tingles that travelled down her body, followed by a sudden, acute awareness of the person pressed against her. Fluttershy’s soft, steady breathing was as beautiful as she, and it put Rarity’s mind at ease; her comfort boosted even further by the warmth of the shy girl’s body, which had begun to bleed through the layers of clothing they were wearing.

Fluttershy’s figure suddenly became quite vivid against Rarity’s. Her generous bust pressed against the fashionista as her slender, graceful frame seemed to force its way into the indigo-haired girl’s mind, causing her heart to skip a beat, followed by a spark down low, inside the black tights she wore under her purple skirt.

Rarity released her girlfriend slowly and leaned back, positioning the two of them face-to-face, their noses barely in inch apart. She studied the yellow face before her: such luscious, perfect skin; smooth, luminous and soft, Fluttershy truly was the epitome of natural beauty. Just when Rarity thought her eyes couldn’t withstand anymore, the shy girl’s big, sparkling eyes blinked, flicking her long, hooked eyelashes as she gazed back at the fashionista.

Could Fluttershy have gotten those large wings because she actually was an angel? The possibility seemed very real to Rarity in that moment, staring onto those lovely teal irises; so vibrant, so full of kindness and innocence. The sight of them, and the sweet smile that graced the shy girl’s lips triggered another strong fluttering in the fashionista’s heart, followed closely by a warm surge of moisture emitting from between her legs.

She needed Fluttershy, right then and there. She had treated this lovely girl very poorly, and now she longed to make it up to her.

Rarity, with a shaky inhale, turned hastily to head for the house, taking Fluttershy’s hand in hers while holding the bouquet in the other. “Come,” she ordered, dragging the shy girl behind. “We must find a vase to put these flowers in!”

Sunset came and sat next to me again as I finished wiping the dark grime from the pan, ready to apply a fresh dollop of butter.

“Aren’t you gonna join them?” she asked.

I shook my head, sliding the pan over the grille again.

“Really?” Sunset looked surprised. “Wow, I thought for sure you’d wanna get in on that.”

“Nah,” I replied, “they’re having a nice moment; that’s for them to enjoy. Besides, with the way things have been going since we got home, I’m thinking I should probably pace myself.”

Sunset snickered, hugging her stomach for warmth as she leaned forward slightly. “Yeah, good call, Golds. There’s only so many trees out there for you to knock down.”

I glanced up from what I was doing to look into the woods, then turned to Sunset with a smirk. “I wonder if I should hold off on the last two steaks,” I said, glancing down at the growing pool of fresh butter in the pan.

“Why’s that?”

“Cuz I get the impression those two are about to have their own breakfast.”

*****

Twilight Sparkle was sitting at the table across from the oven, reading from a scientific journal on her phone as she enjoyed the smell of freshly baked biscuits filling the air. Her quiet leisure was interrupted, however, when the front door burst open and in came Rarity with a purple bouquet in one hand, dragging Fluttershy along with the other.

Rarity stopped when she saw her studious friend sitting at the table, smiling at them as she looked up from her phone.

“Hey guys, what’s u-“

“Twilight! Go outside!”

Surprised, Twilight stared at Rarity for a second before replying. “I…I’m sorry?”

Rarity stopped and pointed to the front door with the bouquet. “Outside. Now. Mingle. Have fun!”

Rarity then resumed dragging the shy girl past the table towards the hall to the bedroom, and Twilight was left staring at the door, which had been left open in the fashionista’s haste. “But,” she began, turning to face the two girls, “I’m looking after the biscuits, I can’t-”

“FUCK THE BISCUITS, DARLING!” Rarity spun around and tossed the bouquet on the table, then pointed to the door again. “GO OUTSIDE!”

Understandably, Twilight remained silent and stared vacantly at Rarity, stunned by the outburst.

Rarity rolled her eyes, and with what little patience she had left, released her girlfriend’s hand and leaned on the end of the table, speaking in a low tone. “Last warning, Twilight; if you choose to remain inside here, you will see things that you cannot unsee. THAT, I can promise you.”

Twilight’s eyebrows rose, finally realising what was about to happen. “Oh…” she said, shifting her eyes onto Fluttershy, who gave a coy smile and a little wave. “OH! OK, uh…I’ll just go outside then,” she chuckled nervously, turning her phone off and stuffing it in her pocket.

Rarity nodded and narrowed her eyes, giving an impatient smile. “That would be preferable, darling. Thank you,” she replied as she watched Twilight scurry out the door, which quickly swung shut behind her, bathed in a lavender glow.

Fluttershy giggled. “Goodness, Rare! You really-“

This was all the shy girl got out before Rarity turned and grabbed the front of her sweater, pulling her close to slam their lips together.

“MMM!”

Fluttershy’s squeal was muffled by the fashionista’s mouth as they stumbled into the hall after the impact, her arms waving around momentarily before they found their homes, wrapped around her girlfriend’s back.

The girls’ bodies settled into each other, their breathing intensifying as Rarity’s tongue unfurled into Fluttershy’s mouth like a serpent, wrapping itself around the shy girl’s tongue to mix their saliva into a concoction of lust and sweetness.

Not long into the kiss, Rarity released her lips from the shy girl’s and exhaled against her face, placing her dainty, white hands on Fluttershy’s shoulders and turning her to the right, shoving her back against the wall.

“OH!” Fluttershy gasped, finding herself pinned against the paneling about halfway down the hall to her bedroom. Her heart leapt with excitement at the prospect of being handled roughly by Rarity, the girl she’d had a crush on for years; even though they’d been together for months now and had made love countless times, this sensation was fresh and new to both of them.

Fluttershy, whose true sexual nature was hidden from most, had usually been the ring leader in bed, ordering her lovers to pleasure each other while she watched, driving herself mad at the sight of their bodies intertwined and writhing with pleasure until she could take no more and would have to leap into action with them.

But this…

Rarity had never pounced on her like this before. It was fresh and exhilarating, intoxicating Fluttershy with desire when the shorter, but surprisingly powerful girl trapped her against the wall and invaded her, setting her rapidly moistening womanhood on fire inside those teal-coloured tights as their lips reconnected for another kiss.

As their tongues danced and sampled each other’s flavours, Rarity’s hands found themselves on Fluttershy’s waist, where her fingertips dug firmly into that soft skin through the thick sweater, after which she slowly ran them down to her hips. Gripping her girlfriend’s figure through the green skirt, Rarity pulled their abdomens together and thrust her hips upward, grinding their mounds against one another. Even through multiple layers of clothing, the firm contact sent shivers through their bodies, eliciting soft moans from both of them that reverberated in their mouths, now connected as one.

Fluttershy’s arms slid outwards, pressing her palms against the wall, steadying herself in anticipation of what Rarity was about to do to her.

Their lips separated with a loud smack, followed by a hurried gasp as they came up for air to gaze deep into each other’s eyes. Before long, Rarity spied the shy girl’s hands gripping the wall, so she grabbed those slender wrists and forced them upward, lacing their fingers together as she pinned Fluttershy’s hands against the wall above their heads.

With the tips of their noses just touching, they gazed longingly into each other’s eyes in the dark hallway, blasting hot breaths against one another’s lips.

“I love you so fucking much, Fluttershy,” Rarity panted quietly, pushing forward on her tip-toes to mash their breasts together.

“Oh Rare,” Fluttershy whispered, her heart racing with excitement.

Being in this position thrilled her. Having her hands restrained by the girl of her dreams was mildly frightening after the verbal thrashing she’d given her outside, but somehow, the fashionista’s newfound aggression had transformed that ugly moment into something erotic. The shy girl’s breathing borderlined on hyperventilation now, and her body tingled from head-to-toe; her nipples were like glass, poking through their clothes into Rarity’s supple bust as her slit released a wave of slick moisture, soaking her panties in short order.

“I love you t-“

Fluttershy’s reply was cut short by another passionate kiss. Rarity’s full, white lips had become slicked with saliva by then, and they slipped around haphazardly against the shy girl’s mouth, spreading warm moisture around their faces as Rarity’s tongue shot into Fluttershy’s mouth, striking like a cobra and then retreating quickly, only to return for yet another taste.

Keeping their lips connected, Rarity backed away slightly and released Fluttershy’s hands from the wall. She brought her arms down and cupped her little, white hands over the breasts of her lover, squeezing big handfuls of the soft tissue, kneading it between her fingers while the shy girl closed her eyes and let her head rest against the wall, breaking the kiss to gasp with delight.

Fluttershy’s soft moans drifted down the hall into the rest of the house, filling it with the sound of pleasure and blending with the scent of baking pastries. As her girlfriend hungrily pecked at her lips, Fluttershy let her arms down; one of her hands came to rest on Rarity’s shoulder while the other combed its fingers into those silky, indigo locks, her palm gently gripping the back of the fashionista’s head, just behind her ear.

With her thirst for saliva finally quenched, Rarity dropped one last kiss and then ran her moist lips down to Fluttershy’s throat, where she kissed, licked and nibbled on that tender, yellow skin; dotting the entire area around her neck and collarbone with countless points of fast-cooling moisture.

Her hands continued to massage the round, yellow melons hidden underneath that sweater. It didn’t take much exploration, however, to find Fluttershy’s erect nipples, poking proudly through every layer of clothing, feeling as vivid against Rarity’s palms as if they were naked. Eventually, she relented in her kisses on the giggling girl’s neck to step back and behold that spectacular bust, moving her hands to the sides so she could squeeze them together and place her thumbs over the hard peaks, pressing them like buttons through the sweater before drawing invisible circles around them, making the shy girl quiver uncontrollably against the wall, overcome with sensation and wild excitement.

Hungry for more, Rarity hooked her fingers under the bottom of Fluttershy’s sweater and peeled it upwards, forcing the shy girl to raise her arms above her head as the thick garment was frantically torn from her graceful frame and cast aside to the floor. Now free of the thick layer, Fluttershy’s hair was left in a frazzled mess around her face, wafting forward each time a breath escaped her mouth.

Fluttershy, with eyes closed, shivered slightly as the cool air caressed her skin, her shoulders now bare, wearing only her white tank top with a plain, white bra underneath. She let her arms drop in search of Rarity, but the fasnionista had disappeared from her reach, prompting Fluttershy to open her eyes.

Looking down, she found Rarity down on one knee, slipping her delicate fingers inside the bottom of the tank top, her nails scraping gently along the shy girl’s smooth, yellow skin as they made their way up to her breasts. Once there, Rarity gently hooked her fingers underneath the wire of Fluttershy’s bra and slowly peeled it upward, letting the bulbous lower portions of her breasts drop out the bottom. Rarity quickly slid one hand out of the shirt to lift it up over the bra, revealing the luscious, yellow treats she craved so badly. The fashionista hadn’t removed the bra completely, however; she had intentionally stopped just below the nipples, keeping them covered while she reached up with her mouth to feast on the tender undersides of Fluttershy’s breasts.

The shy girl bit her lip and shuddered as her girlfriend’s supple lips and contrastingly sharp teeth nipped at the smooth, soft flesh. Rarity was indeed a talented lover and always seemed to know exactly what to do; where to bite, where to lick and where to suck. It drove Fluttershy crazy, causing her womanhood to throb with excitement, spilling even more of her hot juices into an already soaked pair of panties.

Rarity continued to kiss the soft tissue, giving the occasional nibble to draw a sharp gasp from her lover. Using her tongue, she traced wet streaks along the moon-shaped creases where the bottoms of Fluttershy’s breasts met her chest, tickling her, eliciting a sweet giggle from her lips, followed by another hitched breath as Rarity's teeth gently pinched the yellow skin again.

Satisfied that she’d harvested all the excitement she could from her girlfriend in this way, Rarity proceeded to push the bra and tank top upward, biting her lip as she watched Fluttershy’s erect nipples pop out from under the material; first one, then the other. When the clothing reached its final destination across Fluttershy’s collarbones, the remainder of her breasts had fallen free, jiggling proudly as they settled in front of the ravenous fashionista, enticing her to dive in for a taste.

Rarity leaned forward and closed her soft, white lips around her girlfriend’s nipple, making sure to completely hide the peach-coloured areola in her mouth, leaving only the surrounding custard-toned flesh visible as she sucked on the delicious bud, flicking it with the tip of her tongue inside her mouth. The shy girl’s reaction was as sweet and arousing as expected, and it lit a fire between Rarity’s legs—where she had already been smoldering feverishly, leaking a slick nectar into her lacy underwear and tight leggings.

By then, the combined scent of the girls’ arousal had become apparent in the narrow hallway, overpowering the strong vanilla and floral scents of their perfume, even drowning out the mouth-watering smell of the biscuits from the kitchen. Fluttershy’s eyes remained closed, her breaths quick and shallow as she enjoyed Rarity’s hot mouth on her tingling nipple. Rarity’s womanhood pulsed with the urgent need for attention, which reflected in the exquisite service she gave to the shy girl’s breasts. At last, she let the wet nipple slip from her lips with a quiet pop so she could lean over and swallow the other, showing it the same affection as the first.

Fluttershy gasped softly at the warm sensation of Rarity’s mouth on her other breast, leaving the first one to cool rapidly when the air hit the moisture that coated it. She pursed her lips and moaned softly as the abandoned nipple hardened like glass, contrasting with the warm, light suction on the other stiff bud as that nimble tongue danced around her areola, drawing quick spirals around it again and again.

As if this wasn’t enough, Fluttershy suddenly realised she could feel Rarity’s hands sliding up the outer sides of her thighs to disappear under her skirt, which caused her hips to tremble in anticipation of what was to come next. The fashionista’s mouth never relented on the shy girl’s breasts, aside from a brief pause when she hooked her fingers over the waist of her tights and swiftly slid them down to her ankles, soaked panties and all.

The scent of female arousal permeated the hall with new levels of potency, driving Rarity into a heated frenzy as she nibbled on Fluttershy’s nipple once more, then finally pulled back to let the moist bud escape from her mouth.

Rarity brought her other knee to the floor and settled down, sitting on her calves to position her face in line with the shy girl’s slit. All that was left covering Fluttershy was the green skirt, which Rarity had intentions of leaving in place. She reached forward and lifted the skirt with the backs of her fingers, finally revealing those swollen, yellow lips, glistening with moisture and pinched together between the shy girl’s smooth, warm thighs.

“Ohh my,” Rarity said softly, gazing at the pungent smelling, yet delicious looking delicacy before her. Full of fire, her sapphire eyes rose slowly, scanning her girlfriend’s mostly-bare body: her slender, butter-coloured figure; her round, full breasts, jiggling playfully with each excited tremor; her soft, flowing hair, which Fluttershy was, at that moment, running her long, graceful fingers through to clear it from her face; a face so pretty it could melt any living person’s heart, Rarity’s included. “You are so beautiful, Fluttershy; I am truly blessed to have you. Golds too.”

Fluttershy gazed down at her violet-haired girlfriend, her big, teal eyes shining, even in the shadowy hallway. “Ohh...you too, Rare,” she panted softly, following with a smile.

Rarity smiled for a brief second, then brought her eyes back down to the moist temptation before her. Biting her lip, she pondered silently for a moment and then shook her head. “Mm,” she began, “this may sound a bit out of left field, darling, but I must admit, this is one of those times I wish I had a big cock like Golds' to fuck you with.”

“Oh my!” Fluttershy replied, surprised. “Rare, that’s…that’s so-“

“Strange, perhaps?” Rarity nodded, “I know. And impossible, but hear me out: sometimes I find myself wondering what it must be like to be him; to feel your tightness, your heat…” —she sighed, gazing at Fluttershy’s slit— “I confess, I envy him at times. I can only imagine how wonderful it must feel to be inside you, feeling every inch of your beautiful pussy cumming all over that cock of his…”

With burning cheeks, Fluttershy watched her girlfriend stare into space as she held the skirt up, feeling the chill in the air ticking her wetness. “I-I guess that makes sense, Rare…it’s kinda hot actually,” Fluttershy replied with a sultry smirk. “I…I maybe have thought about it too…sometimes,” she confessed, timidly.

Rarity glanced up again, locking her sparkling, blue eyes onto the shy girl’s as a sly smirk graced her beautiful, white lips.

“Look on the bright side though, Rare,” Fluttershy continued, “you may not have one, but at least you have a nice place for Goldie to put his.”

Rarity giggled softly, her cheeks flushing as she gave her indigo bangs a quick, proud flip with her fingertips. “Yes. I suppose you’re right, darling. Point well made.”

Fluttershy giggled back, and the pair gazed at each other, enjoying the gleam in each other’s eyes.

After a moment, Rarity inhaled through her nostrils and dropped her gaze once again. “Well darling, cock or no cock, we’ve already proven time and again that we can have plenty of fun when left to our own devices, hm?”

“Mm-hmmmmm…” Fluttershy agreed, resting her head against the wall as her eyes crept toward the ceiling.

“Now then,” Rarity continued, shifting closer as she lifted Fluttershy’s left leg to unhook her pants from her foot, after which the shy girl stood against the wall with her feet apart, allowing Rarity full access to her eager sex. “Rather than fuck you with an imaginary cock, I intend to use my rather talented mouth to get you off, darling.” She glanced up at Fluttershy with an arched brow and a smirk, enjoying the sight of her girlfriend jittering with lust; a sight that served only to stoke the fashionista's fire, causing her to crave even more of that innocent, trepidatious look. It's wasn't a look that she had seen on the shy girl during intimacy before, but she knew immediately that she loved it, and that she needed more.

And she was determined to get it.

In an instant, Rarity leapt to her feet and cupped her little hands over the warm, full breasts of her lover and shoved forward, pinning her girlfriend against the wall. Erect nipples poked her palms as the soft flesh squashed under her grip, bulging out from between her fingers. She brought her face close to Fluttershy's, craning her neck to gaze upward into those wide, teal eyes. "Listen to me, Fluttershy," she began quietly, licking her lips, “I'm going to feast on your lovely pussy until I feel it quiver on the tip of my tongue,” —she lowered her voice to a whisper before continuing— “and I shall not stop until I taste your sweet satisfaction on my lips.”

"O-o-o-o-o-o-o-ohh..." Fluttershy's eyes rolled back, her slender frame quivering as the shaky moan drifted from between her lips; she practically melted into the wall, digging her nails into the wood in anticipation.

"Ready, darling?"

“Mm-hm…” Fluttershy bit her lip and nodded, drawing a deep breath as Rarity sank to her knees and flipped the green skirt up, holding onto the shy girl’s hips to pin the garment in place with her hands.

The scent of her lover quickly overwhelmed the fashionista, and without hesitation, she poked her tongue between the swollen, yellow lips into Fluttershy’s smooth, flavourful warmth. She held the shy girl’s hips tightly, which were spasmodic and out of control after the first powerful sensations rang out, drawing a throaty moan from the shy girl as she tipped her head back with fluttering eyelids, her eyes rolling back in the sockets. Rarity continued the assault by running her tongue upwards, tracing the deep crease along its length while tasting the delicate folds within until her tongue emerged from the crest, leaving a trail of saliva mixed with female juices in its wake.

“Oh m-m-my, Rare,” Fluttershy moaned, sighing so shakily it caused her breasts to jiggle as she readied herself for the next touch.

After swallowing the mouthful of slippery, metallic-tasting fluid, Rarity came forward again and took one of the shy girls lips between her own, sucking the slick coating free as she nibbled and played with it, then moved to the other side to show it the same affection. Next, she turned her attention to the smaller, more delicate lips within. She began to circle them with the tip of her tongue; flicking, sucking, licking, nibbling. It didn’t seem to matter what she did, all of it drove Fluttershy into a squeaking, gasping fit of delight.

The shy girl’s tall, graceful frame shook violently against the wall as the very talented Rarity continued to pleasure her, racking her body with wave after wave of wonderful bliss. Fluttershy’s breaths were short and erratic, her hands searching for something to grab onto; one found its fingers laced through Rarity’s silky hair while the other ended up cupping her own breast, pinching her nipple between her thumb and forefinger as she cradled the heavy, yellow melon in her palm.

Hungry for more, Fluttershy cocked her hips forward, allowing Rarity to dig deeper. Rarity responded in kind, tipping her head back to position her mouth directly under the shy girl so she could snake her tongue inside to get a taste of her depths. It was warm, tart tasting and surprisingly tight; clenching down on her tongue as she twirled and wiggled it around inside her lover’s interior, her upper lip and nose buried in the soaked vulva above, poking Fluttershy’s clit to compound the pleasure from within.

It wasn’t long until Fluttershy could feel the tension building in her loins, filling her with pleasure as each lick, each suck and each nibble inched her closer to that wonderful release.

And Rarity chased the orgasm down with ease. Fluttershy’s head tipped back and hit the wall; her eyes squeezing shut, her mouth opening to release a high-pitched squeal of delight into the hallway. Her hips convulsed wildly against Rarity’s grip, her crease rubbing against Rarity’s soaked face as her tight insides twitched around the tongue within, sending jolts of sharp pleasure throughout her body.

Overwhelmed, Fluttershy’s grip on the fashionista’s violet locks tightened significantly and she pulled hard —unintentionally— trying her best to endure the excessive rapture any way she could. It wasn’t until the climax ended that she realised what she was doing; panting wildly as she looked down at her lover, her eyes widened when she saw the dark strands pulled taught from between her fingers.

“OH!” she gasped, quickly releasing the fistful of hair. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pull your hair like that!”

Rarity leaned back slightly and looked up at Fluttershy. “Not to worry, darling; it’s quite alright,” she smirked, licking her glistening lips as she ran her fingertips up the inner side of Fluttershy’s thigh. “Did you enjoy that?”

“Oh, I did!” the shy girl panted, pausing briefly to swallow. “That was nice, Rare. You’re really good at that,” she giggled, “you…you really don’t need a, um…dick.”

Rarity smirked in reply as her fingertips reached the apex of the shy girl’s thighs, where she slipped two fingers between Fluttershy’s lips and sank them into the moist warmth beyond.

Fluttershy’s body stiffened at the new sensation and a soft moan escaped her lips. Rarity’s fingers felt wonderful inside, stroking her gently, helping her to come down from the pleasure high as her hips gyrated slowly on their own. “Oohhh Rare,” Fluttershy cooed, closing her eyes and licking her lips, “That’s s-so nice…it’s like you know exactly what I need.”

“D'you like that?” Rarity asked, bringing her thumb up to stroke small circles around the shy girl’s clit. “How about this?”

Fluttershy’s breath hitched at the sudden burst of sensation, followed by a tremble that echoed throughout her body. “Oooh, goodness! That’s…that’s…”

“Are you ready for round two, darling?” Rarity asked, watching her girlfriend’s face twitch at her will, as if her fingers were controlling her like a puppet.

Fluttershy nodded enthusiastically, biting her lips.

“Alright then,” Rarity said quickly as she withdrew her fingers from Fluttershy and stood up. She came forward and reached her arms around the shy girl to grip her naked backside, pulling their bodies together. “Let’s take this to the bed, shall we?”

“Um, OK…I- MMM!” Fluttershy was cut off by a quick, slippery kiss that tasted of lady-cum, then the fashionista hoisted her from the floor by her derrière and turned to carry her from the hall to the bed. Fluttershy was unprepared for it at first, but she quickly recovered and wrapped her legs around Rarity’s hips while her long, graceful arms wrapped around Rarity’s head, hugging her face tightly between her bare, yellow breasts.

Unable to see, Rarity hurried them into them bedroom to continue their love-making. While Fluttershy wasn’t a heavily built girl, she was fairly tall, and Rarity —who was just strong enough to carry her— did struggle a bit to keep the shy girl aloft, so she was forced to rush a tiny bit to reach their destination.

Perhaps she was a bit overzealous? Rarity had reached the bed sooner than expected and ran into it with her shins, causing the lovers to topple over onto the mattress; Fluttershy landed on her back with Rarity on top, her face still buried between her breasts as they giggled playfully, bouncing on the old bed.

“Ah-hahaha! Goodness me, darling; my apologies!”

“That’s OK, Rare,” Fluttershy tittered back, looking down into Rarity’s eyes after she’d lifted her head from her cleavage.

“Glad to hear it, Fluttershy,” Rarity replied, sitting upright between the shy girl’s legs to glance down at her slit momentarily. “Shall we continue?”

Fluttershy’s eyebrows rose with excitement. “Mm-hm!”

“Right. First thing’s first,” Rarity said as she grabbed the hem of her sweater and peeled it over her head, revealing the lacy, black bra that covered her perky, white breasts.

Fluttershy watched intently as her lovely girlfriend tossed the shirt aside, then reached between her breasts to unclip the bra, which she then swung open slowly, like the gates of heaven; her beautiful breasts fell free and bounced exquisitely, making the shy girl’s mouth water.

After letting the bra slip silently from her shoulders and down her arms, Rarity locked her sharp, sapphire eyes onto Fluttershy, sending a clear message that she was ready for more. Without warning, the fashionista pounced on the shy girl like a cat; crawling over her to plant a deep kiss on her lips as she let her half-naked body settle against Fluttershy’s, pinning their breasts together between them.

Rarity’s tongue dove deep, filling Fluttershy’s taste buds with the taste of her own fluids as the slick material was smeared from the fashionista’s face onto that of her lover. Their breasts felt warm together, cushioning their movements as their eager bodies writhed against each other, accompanied by the sound of their heavy breathing and soft, muffled moans into one another’s mouths.

Fluttershy’s legs were spread with her knees in the air, allowing Rarity to thrust her abdomen against the shy girl’s crease, driving her mad with intense pleasure, causing her body to tremble uncontrollably. After a peppering of kisses was distributed around Fluttershy’s lips, face and neck, Rarity planted her warm tongue on her lover’s cheek and then slowly licked upward while exhaling a fiery-hot breath, leaving a long, wet trail all the way up to Fluttershy’s temple. Rarity giggled at the shy girl’s quivering and dropped a small kiss on her forehead before proceeding to crawl upwards so her breasts hung in Fluttershy’s face.

The shy girl did not hesitate. She took Rarity’s nipple into her mouth and sucked hungrily, nibbling gently on the firm bud while her lips encircled the rosy-pink areola, wetting it with her warm saliva. With her tongue, Fluttershy continued to tease the fashionista while cupping the other breast with her hand, massaging the soft, white tissue between her fingers.

Biting her lip and staring at the headboard, Rarity let out a long moan of enjoyment, letting her eyes drift closed as she savoured the feeling of Fluttershy’s tongue flicking her sensitive nipple, which in turn set off a quiver down low, between her legs.

Without intention, Rarity began to thrust her eager warmth against Fluttershy’s stomach, sending a jolt of warm sensation through her nether regions each time she ground against her lover. With her tights still on, however, the stimulation was too distant; Rarity craved a more direct touch, which meant the rest of her clothes needed to come off.

Her attention was suddenly drawn back to her breasts when she felt her other nipple being fed on. Looking down at the shy beauty, Rarity smiled as she watched her lover work, enjoying the feel of her hot mouth and agile tongue bringing the tingling sensation in that nipple up to match that of the other.

Although she thoroughly enjoyed her girlfriend’s services, Rarity’s eagerness got the better of her and she began to crawl backwards, removing her breast from Fluttershy’s reach as she went. She brought their mouths together quickly, but briefly; exchanging a small sample of saliva with a sweet kiss before moving on. She continued to crawl downwards, running her lips along Fluttershy’s burning-hot skin, kissing her way over her beasts, flicking her nipple with her tongue as she passed, letting her lips graze along that slender, yellow belly and over her navel to the top of her skirt.

When her lips reached the green fabric, Rarity crawled off the foot of the bed and stood on the floor, hooking her fingers over the top of her skirt to peel it and the black tights off, followed by her lacy, black thong. The fashionista’s scent filled the room once released from her restrictive clothing; she groped her own breast with one hand while dipping a finger into her crease with the other, shocking herself with the amount of moisture she found hidden between those swollen, white lips.

After a moment of stroking her clit and moaning rather obscenely, Rarity released her breast and ran her fingers through her hair while she licked the warm coating off of the other finger, smirking seductively at Fluttershy, who lay in wait on the bed, staring back at her with lust-filled eyes.

Rarity crawled onto the bed on her knees, placing her hands on Fluttershy’s knees as she approached. “Fluttershy, darling; there’s something I want to try.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“Let me show you,” Rarity replied, licking her lips.

Fluttershy nodded, watching intently as Rarity took her long, yellow leg and lifted it upright, pointing her foot at the ceiling. Next, the fashionista let the shy girl’s calf rest on her shoulder and then straddled her other thigh, reaching down to slide the green skirt toward her ribs to keep her crease uncovered, ensuring that the material wouldn’t hinder their activity. Rarity then shuffled forward to straddle Fluttershy’s crotch, letting her slick, white lips settle against the throbbing, yellow slit below.

Fluttershy made a tiny gasp and her eyes widened, realising what her girlfriend was going to do. “Oh! I like where this is going,” she giggled softly, biting her lip as Rarity gave a seductive smirk.

“Here I go, darling,” the fashionista whispered as she brought her hips forward slowly, grinding her hot, slick folds into Fluttershy’s, causing both of them to inhale sharply at the sensation. Tipping her head back and closing her eyes, Rarity exhaled slowly and bit her lip. “Oh…that is…diviiiine….”

“Mm-hmmm,” Fluttershy agreed, biting her lip as she waited for the next thrust.

Rarity was not one to disappoint. Cocking her hips back, she bit her lip and promptly gave a second thrust, drawing a soft whimper from Fluttershy as her slit swept along the swollen flesh of her lover; white lips kissed yellow ones, pink folds intermingled and laced together, clits met and created sparks like a flint striker, causing the lovers to shiver and moan in unison as their sauces intertwined, mixing together in a sultry blend of unbridled passion and tantalizing naughtiness. Rarity did not relent; her hips quickened their pace, gyrating at a steadily increasing rhythm as she closed her eyes and hugged Fluttershy’s calf against her shoulder to steady herself, her slender, white torso slithering and slinking relentlessly over the shy’s girl’s tall, graceful frame.

The room was filled with a chorus of soft moans, accented by a repeating squip sound each time their wet creases interlocked and slid across one another.

Fluttershy’s mind swam, filled with ecstasy and love, unable to comprehend the reality that the girl of her dreams was now pressing her most intimate part against her own; serving up a feast of smooth, warm sensation along with a seemingly endless river of moisture, which by that point had been smeared nearly halfway down their thighs and around the bottoms of their backsides. Fluttershy gazed up at her lover, enjoying the beautiful image of the elegant, white figure undulating over her, clutching Fluttershy's long, yellow leg against her shoulder as her radiant features contorted with pleasure; her eyes were closed, squeezing her stunning, thick eyelashes together.

Both lovers’ could feel the pressure beginning to rise in their loins, increasing faster by the second as their hot, throbbing flesh ran back and forth together like a well-oiled machine —quite literally— swiftly bringing their climaxes closer, made evident by their deeply furrowed brows and the constantly rising pitch of their voices.

“Are you close, darling?” Rarity panted, looking down at her girlfriend, whose gentle hands were now exploring her snowy-white skin.

“Yes!” Fluttershy squealed, letting one hand come to rest on Rarity’s thigh as her other hand drifted up the side of her waist; she cupped a jiggling, white breast, holding it firmly as her flesh grew closer to detonation against her lover’s. “It feels SO good...I love it; I…aaahh! I love you, Rare! Please don’t stop!”

“I w-wouldn’t drea... heeeaaamm of it, darling! I w-want you to cum like this; cum with mmme, Fluttershy, I’m so close!” Rarity squealed noisily, her eyelids fluttering as the climax closed in.

Fluttershy drew a sharp gasp and tipped her head back; her body was teetering so close to the edge of orgasm, a small river of clear fluid had begun to trail from between their slits, running slowly-but-surely across her skin towards her navel. “OH...GOODNESS, RARE! DON’T STOP!” she howled, her voice ringing out at a volume uncharacteristic of its usual hushed-tone.

The shy girl's reaction struck Rarity. She knew the shy girl well enough to realise that a cry like this was reserved only for when she was at the absolute pinnacle of euphoria, the very peak of joy and excitement. Knowing that she’d brought her to such a state of rapture made the fashionista hotter than ever, turning her on to the point where her climax was jumpstarted and she exploded instantly.

Rarity’s orgasm arrived at the exact instant as Fluttershy’s—just as though it was meant to be. Their bodies both stiffened like boards, convulsing violently as a jet of hot, clear liquid expelled from both of them, combined as one massive tidal wave; followed by a shrill, but hearty scream that escaped their mouths in unison, filling the room with the sound of pure ecstasy.

The mutual squirt soared far and wide, drenching Fluttershy’s hips, skirt and the undersides of her breasts, soaking the bedspread on both sides of her body, which quivered out of control as hers and Rarity’s orgasmic flesh pulsated vigorously against one another. Rarity had long since lost control of her hips, and her thrusts had now become nothing more than random, ineffective twitches; her breathing was fast and hot, her mind numbed by the overwhelming pleasure that rang from her core, allowing her to focus only on her buzzing clit and her left breast, which the shy girl was now squeezing tightly, lost in a mindless daze.

Finally, as if they were being electrocuted and the power was suddenly switched off, Rarity and Fluttershy were released from their orgasms. The fashionista’s naked, white body flopped down onto the shy girl’s, leaving them in a panting mess of slippery, wet skin and intertwined legs, their hearts pounding away at each other through the cushion of their breasts, which were now pressed together with their rock-hard nipples poking into one another.

Their skin was hot, their hair messy, and their bodies satisfied.

Rarity’s hair had fanned out around them when she came down, enclosing them together in a dark, purple abyss, inside which only the two them existed, staring into each other’s eyes in complete awe of the moment they’d just shared.

“My goodness, darling…that…wow.” Rarity trailed off, letting her cheek rest on Fluttershy’s shoulder, waiting patiently for her breathing to return to normal. “Thank-you, Fluttershy. That was…simply breathtaking.”

“Mm-hmmmm…” Fluttershy replied, facing the ceiling with her eyes closed, indifferent to the fact that her face was covered in the silky, indigo hair of her lover, filling her senses with the familiar vanilla scent that she loved.

Sighing contently, Rarity shifted closer to plant a kiss on her lover’s neck, her movements making apparent the layer of slick moisture between them, lubricating their skin from their breasts, almost to their knees.

“Is that…something you would like to try again sometime?” Rarity asked, exhaling softly.

“Oh definitely, definitely,” Fluttershy replied, giggling. “We definitely need to do that again.”

Rarity giggled back, lifting her head and flipping her hair over her shoulder, clearing it from Fluttershy’s face while leaning to the side, resting her weight on her elbow. “What did you like about it?”

Fluttershy drew a breath and licked her bottom lip, gazing at the ceiling as she thought about it. “Ummm…” she paused, then shifted her eyes back to Rarity. “It was warm…and smooth. I don’t know; it just felt reeeaally good.”

“I found it to be…slightly naughty, touching our...pussies together like that,” Rarity offered, with a smirk. “Didn’t you?”

“Oh yes,” Fluttershy replied, unable to wipe the pretty smile from her face. “I was so wet, and SENSITIVE! Oh, it was amazing, Rare. You were amazing!” she gushed, making Rarity grin with pride as her eyes began to wander around the room, enjoying the tranquility of the moment. “It was so, um...sexy,” Fluttershy continued, “and such a turn on! Our most private parts, our juices…all rubbing and mixing up together…ooohh, I loved it!”

“Fluttershy…”

“And when we squirted? Oh my! That was amazing, Rare. We came all over each other," —she paused to shake her head incredulously— "goodness, it went everywhere! But it was SO hot, don’t you think?”

“Um, Fluttershy…”

“You know what we should do?” Fluttershy continued, her elation causing her to ignore the sound of her own name. “We should get a cup to catch it in...you know, for Goldie to drink; mmmm...a nice, warm mixture of our cum for him to taste…”

“Fluttershy!”

Staring at the ceiling, Fluttershy’s fingertips tapped Rarity’s shoulder excitedly when her depraved mind thought of something else. “Oh! You know what we should do? Get Goldie in here too, and let him fuck us until he fills us both up with his cum and then we’ll let it run out into a cup, and then we’ll make each other squirt until we fill it to the top; and we can both have a taste-“

“Fluttershy, the window!”

“Huh?” Fluttershy froze suddenly. Her heart screeched to a halt and the colour drained from her face, leaving her cheeks cold and tingly. Eyes wide, she looked at Rarity, who was holding her breath and staring at the bedroom window.

Slowly, Fluttershy shifted her eyes to the window to find a horrible sight:

It was wide open, and just beyond was the backyard, where everyone else was hanging out.

Mortified, she slapped both hands over her mouth and locked eyes with Rarity, whose pupils had receded to the size of atoms.

“Oh, no! D-d-d-do you think they heard us?”

Author's Note

The original title for this chapter was going to be ‘Trouble With Tribbing’ —an obvious Star Trek reference— but it was a bit too much of a spoiler for what happens in the chapter, so I changed it. I don’t think ‘Running With Scissors’ is quite as clever, but it doesn’t give away the best part so that’s what I went with.

Chapter 89: An Awkward Breakfast

Chapter 89

Screaming in ecstasy with the window open while all of your friends are sitting outside is a great way to create some top notch awkwardness, and those of us who were sitting around the fire were certainly feeling it in spades.

It ended up taking Rarity and Fluttershy over fifteen minutes to get themselves cleaned up and dressed. Never once did they come near the window to close it —not that it would have mattered by then— presumably because they were not keen on making eye contact with any of us just yet, accidentally or not.

Several minutes had passed since they realised we could hear them, and the lot of us sat around the fire in anxious silence, unsure of what to say. I, in particular, was quite red-faced when my name was dropped in the heat of the moment, bringing all eyes in the yard onto me as the shy girl explained her idea of having me chug their ejaculate concoction from a glass.

It was pretty embarrassing indeed.

Applejack was the first to finally speak. “Er…them steaks sure do smell mighty fine,” she muttered.

“Thanks,” I replied, forcing a smile. After a glance her way, I was reminded of the night before and an idea for a joke came to mind, which would hopefully add a bit of levity to the situation. “It’s too bad you don’t get any,” I teased.

Applejack raised a brow in response. She sat up straight and placed a hand on her knee. “Oh? And why’s that?”

“I told you last night,” I explained, “you and Dashie weren’t getting any breakfast because you made fun of me for yelling at Sunny.”

By the time I realised I’d said it, it was too late, and the farm girl’s eyes had gone wide as she turned and stared slack-jawed at Sunset.

The colour had drained from the red-head’s face and her eyes were like pinpoints, darting nervously around the yard.

“I-I mean nobody,” I corrected, trying quickly to recover from my slip-up, but it was far too little, and much too late.

“Welp, that was counterintuitive. Smooth, Golds. Real fucking smooth.”

Applejack’s emerald-green eyes slowly made their way back to me, followed by an uneasy snort. “Sounds like uh…there was some crazy shenanigans goin on while you guys were gone, eh?”

Biting my lip, I searched my mind for a quick response. “Uh, well it’s uh…there was a fair bit of…uh, hey Twi?” I called out, leaning back to see past AJ.

Twilight was sitting in a lawn chair, slouched down, reading from her phone again. “Hm?” she replied, unmoving.

“What are the chances those biscuits are overdone?” I asked, watching the lavender girl.

“I’d say about a hundred percent or higher,” she answered dryly, keeping her eyes glued to the phone.

“Should someone go inside and check them?”

“Nope.”

“Shit,” I whispered as I leaned forward and peered into the pot to inspect the steaks. The group returned to its uneasy silence, listening to the crackle of the fire as we wondered if, when, and how Rarity and Fluttershy were going to return to the yard.

After several more minutes, we heard soft voices coming around the side of the house, speaking in hushed, but stressed tones.

“Come darling, we cannot hide from them forever! Sooner or later, we are going to have to face the music.”

“Oh...but they heard me saying all those naughty things, Rare! I can’t do it!”

“We don’t know that for certain, Fluttershy. Besides, we are all adults here. What we do together is our right, and whether anyone knows about it or not is simply de minimis.”

“Ohh! Knowing is one thing, but they actually witnessed it!”

There was a pause, followed by a defeated sigh.

“I-I know, darling, I know. Let’s just get this over with.”

At last, the pair emerged from the corner of the house. Rarity was walking on Fluttershy’s left, one hand holding Fluttershy’s elbow with the other slung around her shoulders, leading her along.

As soon as the sight of us met the shy girl’s eyes, however, she let a soft whimper slip and then spun out of Rarity’s arms, scurrying back to the front of the house.

With an exasperated groan, Rarity turned and gave chase, catching Fluttershy before she got too far and leading her back again—with a tighter grip this time. “Come now, Fluttershy! We can’t avoid this forever,” Rarity urged as she brought her girlfriend into the yard. Fluttershy was on Rarity’s left this time, being led —or pushed, rather— until they stopped beside the chair occupied by Twilight.

I glanced up from the pot to observe the embarrassed ladies, wondering what they were going to say. Rarity appeared surprisingly calm, though I could tell her neutral visage was a forced one. Fluttershy’s gaze, on the other hand, was downcast, with a curtain of pink hair concealing her from the group. I could practically see the trees rippling behind her, distorted by the heat waves emanating from her cheeks.

The rest of the group fared no better, save for Pinkie Pie, who was off in her own little world, staring at the two girls with that silly grin on her face. Twilight, whose chair Fluttershy was standing directly beside, hadn’t moved and was still slouched down, staring at her phone; her eyes, however, gave away the fact that she was acutely aware of the shy girl’s vicinity.

Rarity cleared her throat, then gave Fluttershy a nudge of encouragement.

Chewing furiously on her fingernail, the shy girl reluctantly brought her eyes up to scan the yard, finding most everyone looking elsewhere except for me, which did give her a small measure of comfort.

Rarity gave her another nudge.

At her girlfriend’s prompt, Fluttershy took her fingernail from her mouth and, wringing her hands nervously in front of her bust, forced herself to speak.

“Um-”

“AAAAH!” Twilight leapt from her seat when heard the soft voice, causing the shy girl to retreat a step. “I-I mean, AAAAYYI’m going to check on the biscuits!” she recovered, realising everyone was staring at her. Stuffing the phone in her pocket, she sprinted around the corner of the house.

“Uh, Twi…” I began, “I thought you said they were-“

It was no use. Twilight was long gone, leaving the rest of us staring at each other in surprise.

“WHOA!” Pinkie shouted, giggling at Twilight’s sudden break. “No more coffee for her!”

“Oh dear,” Rarity said softly, turning back to face us again. “Well,” she continued, looking around the group while chuckling nervously. “It certainly is…quiet out here.”

“Nope! Didn’t hear a fucking thing!” Rainbow Dash shouted suddenly, followed by a quick sip of her coffee, eyes darting around the yard.

“Oh…” Rarity nodded, taken aback by the reply. “Well that’s…er,” —she waved her hand around in a circle, speaking from one side of her mouth— “certainly…ehh…”

Applejack cut in, hoping to direct some attention away from the elephant in the…well, yard. “Steaks are comin along real nice,” she said, giving a smile and a nod.

“Ah,” Rarity replied, relieved by the change of subject. “Excellent news, darling. I trust you had a lovely time making them with Golds?”

“Yep, right up ‘til…” the farm girl trailed off, realising she was about to back herself into a corner. “Er…shit,” she whispered, biting her lip. “You guys...um-”

“AJ!” Dash warned, sitting up to point at Applejack. “Don’t you dare!”

“What, Dashie?” Pinkie shrugged, cocking an eyebrow before realising what Dash was warning of. “OOHHH! You’re worried about how Applejack is super-duper honest and that she’ll just come right out and say we all heard Rarity and Fluttershy scissor-fucking through the window?”

“PINKIE!”

Pinkie gasped, wide-eyed. “Oops!” she said, covering her mouth as she looked at the mortified couple.

“Ohhh…” Fluttershy whimpered, covering her face as she sank into the chair that Twilight had just abandoned.

“Well then,” Rarity sighed, dropping her shoulders. “I suppose it’s all out in the open now, isn’t it?”

The rest of us nodded, avoiding eye contact.

Rarity steeled herself and stuck her nose into the air, placing her hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “Well, there it is. Fluttershy and I shared an intimate moment together, and it is our right to do so, however; had we known the window was open, we’d have been sure to close it, and we do apologise if anyone was made...uncomfortable...by what they heard.”

There was another short pause, followed by a chorus of ‘nahs’ and ‘nuh-uhs,’ accompanied by dismissive waves and the shaking of heads.

“Pppff, uncomfortable? No way!” Dash forced a chuckle as she sat back in her seat and turned to face Pinkie Pie. “We weren’t uncomfortable at all, were we, Pinkie?”

“Nope!” Pinkie shook her head with another big grin on her face. “No emotional scars to last a lifetime over here! No siree-bob!”

To be fair, Pinkie probably had built something of a tolerance to this sort of thing after what she’d witnessed the previous morning.

Sunset and I were exchanging laughs by that point while Applejack simply rolled her eyes, unimpressed by the one-eighty the others had pulled, wallowing in their own comfortable dishonesty.

“Oh...?” Rarity replied, dubious. “Are you...sure about that, ladies?”

Sunset sighed and put her hand up. “It’s fine, Rare. Don’t worry about it.”

Applejack nodded in agreement. “Sunset’s right, sugarcube. We’re all adults here, like ya said, so let’s just forget about it and move on with life.”

“Oh…a-alright then,” Rarity replied, wringing her fingers together nervously. “Well then, is there anything I can do to help with breakfast?”

“Uh…” I scanned my work area. The last steaks were just about finished, and Sunset was fluffing the scrambled eggs in the second pan. “Nah, I think we’re pretty good here. I’ll have the first plate ready in a minute or two.”

“Actually,” Sunset spoke up, giving me a pat on the back. “Golds here is pretty thirsty; I bet he could sure go for that drink right about now.”

Unprepared for her poorly-timed humour, Applejack and I both glared at Sunset as she laughed out loud by herself. She covered her mouth and pointed at us, clearly amused by our reactions.

Rarity stood with her hands at her sides, deadpanning at the red-head. “Very funny, Sunset,” she said flatly. “Pardon my confusion, but I thought we were all adults here?”

“I never said that,” Sunset chuckled. “That was AJ.”

I shook my head and leaned forward to peer into the pot. “God dammit, Sunny. You’re dead to me, ” I said, reaching into the hot oil to fish out the steaks.

“Call that karma,” she replied as she took her pan from the heat, giving the fluffy, yellow pile of eggs a final stir.

“Karma?” I replied, glancing at her as I set the steak on the platter.

“Um, duh?” she shrugged, holding the spatula to the side. “For outing me in front of AJ about the…you know…”

“Oh whatever!” I replied, scowling as I dipped my fingers in the hot oil again. “You want karma? Here’s some fuckin karma,” I said, flicking the oil in her face.

Hot droplets spattered across her nose and cheeks, sizzling loudly upon impact, causing her to recoil and cover her face with her forearm. “AHH! Hey, fuck off!” she hollered, swinging the spatula at me in retaliation.

The flat, plastic utensil caught my cheek with a loud slap, leaving a wet mark behind, along with a few bits of egg that stuck in my stubble.

“Oh shit!” Dash called out, sitting up in her chair excitedly. “Tussle! Tussle!”

“Hey hey hey!” Applejack shouted, grabbing my shoulder to yank me back. “Cut it out, you two! Ya can’t be goin around flingin hot grease and slappin each other with spatulas; the fuck’s wrong with ya’s?”

Sunset and I were both laughing by then, wiping our faces.

“We’re just messing around, AJ,” Sunset assured her. “We do stuff like this all the time.”

“Psshh.” Applejack shook her head. Unable to follow up with anything meaningful, she simply adjusted her hat and gave us a little smirk.

“In all seriousness though,” I said, reaching for a pair of paper plates from the package behind Applejack. “Everything’s pretty much ready; time for breakfast.”

AJ rubbed her hands together. “Hot damn, it’s about time! Mah mouth’s been waterin like a busted water pipe.”

With impeccable timing, Twilight emerged from the side of the house, carrying a tray of dark brown biscuits with a sheepish look on her face.

“How bad are they?” I asked, laying a crispy, golden steak on the plate as I looked up at her.

“Eh…edible, I think,” she grimaced. “Sorry guys.”

“No no, Twilight,” Rarity stepped in, “I accept full responsibility for that. I kicked you out of the kitchen, so it’s on me.”

“Bring ‘em over here,” I instructed, “They might not be too bad inside.” I turned to Sunset. “Throw some eggs on there, would you please, Sunny?”

“Sure,” she replied, scooping a fluffy, steaming pile of scrambled egg onto the plate, next to the steak.

Twilight was next to me by then, giving a friendly smile as a glowing biscuit levitated from the tray towards the plate.

“Could you tear it open, please Twi?” I asked, watching the dark, flaky pastry float before my eyes.

“Sure,” Twilight replied, after which the biscuit divided itself in mid-air, creating separate auras around each one as they lowered themselves onto the plate.

“Sweet,” I said, inspecting the pastry. “It still looks nice and light on the inside. I think they’ll be fine.” Removing the lid from the gravy pan and then using a small ladle, I drizzled a generous topping of the creamy, white sauce, dotted with black flecks of pepper over the steak, eggs, and even the biscuit.

“Dang, partner,” Applejack said, licking her lips. “That looks mighty tasty!”

“You want first crack?” I asked, offering the plate to her.

She smiled and began to reach for it, but then a look of uncertainty came over her and she paused to look over her shoulder at Fluttershy. “Ya know what?” she said, turning back to me. “I think Fluttershy should go first.”

Sitting in the chair with her hands folded in her lap, the shy girl had been staring at the ground the whole time, never really recovering from the embarrassment. Upon hearing her name, however, she brought her eyes up to find the rest of us watching her with friendly smiles on our faces.

“Hm?” she asked, looking at each of us one-by-one.

“You can have the first plate, sugarcube; I insist.”

“Me?” Fluttershy asked, placing her fingertips to her chest.

“Of course, you!” Rainbow Dash chuckled loudly from Fluttershy’s left, drawing the shy girl’s attention. “You’re the guest of honour!”

Fluttershy blinked. “I…I am?”

“But of course you are, darling,” Rarity interjected, making Fluttershy turn the other way to face her girlfriend. “This is our first meal together since you came home, and no one is more deserving of the first helping than you.”

“Oh! Well, th-thank you, everyone,” she said quietly, looking forward again as I stood and brought the plate to her.

I squatted in front of her chair and set the plate on her lap, then handed her a fork. “Bon-appetite, Flutters.”

She paused momentarily to gaze at me with those big, teal eyes of hers as a proud smile grew across her lips. “Thanks Goldie,” she whispered, before leaning forward with her lips puckered.

I placed my hands on her knees and leaned in to accept the kiss, after which she paused again, her cheeks flushing as she began to look around the group. “Everyone: thank-you,” she said, “I’m so glad to have you girls in my life, a-and you too, Goldie,” —she glanced at me, smirking— “I missed you all so much when I was gone. I couldn’t think of anything else the whole time I was there; in fact, it was the thought of all of you that gave me the drive to fight, to get myself out of there, and I couldn’t have done it without you.” She paused once more to let out a content sigh, then concluded her little speech with: “I love you, girls.”

“Oh darling,” Rarity cooed, resting her hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder as she bent down to plant a kiss on top of her head.

“Aw,” Rainbow Dash replied, leaning over in her chair to reach out and give the shy girl’s shoulder a firm, but affectionate nudge. “We love you too, Flutters,” she said with a warmth uncharacteristic of her personality, her voice cracking unintentionally.

“OOOH!” Pinkie squealed, shaking her fists excitedly beneath her chin. “Dashie’s breaking up!”

“What? No I’m not!” Dash argued, turning to Pinkie with a scowl.

“Aw Dashie! You need a hug?!” the party girl squealed, darting from her chair to wrap her arms around the rainbow-coloured head of her friend, mashing her soft, massive breasts against the side of Dash’s face.

“Pinkie!” Dash hollered, her voice muffled as she tried to peel her head from the other girl’s grip. “Get your big tits out of my…um…” she trailed off quite suddenly, her eyelids dropping as she stared vacantly into the fire. The fight had left her, creating somewhat of an eerie sight; not unlike a mouse that’d been constricted by a snake and was having the life squeezed from it. “Uuuhh…” she exhaled slowly, “those are really warm, Pinkie; I’m not gonna lie, this is actually kind of...nice.”

The rest of us let a few quiet giggles slip, which were suddenly interrupted by Applejack slapping her knee impatiently. “Come on Fluttershy, let’s get this show on the road! How’re them steaks tastin?”

“Oh!” Fluttershy snapped herself from the scene in the next chair and brought her attention to the plate. “Um...don’t I need a steak knife?” she asked, picking up the fork and looking inquisitively at me.

I shook my head. “Not for these steaks.”

“Oh…OK then,” she mumbled to herself, “I’m just gonna…” Fluttershy trailed off as she pressed the edge of the fork against one end of the crispy, golden treat. To her surprise, the fork broke through the breading and cut through to the plate like butter. “Goodness!” She stabbed the fork into the severed piece and mopped up a bit of the white gravy, then brought it up to pop it into her mouth.

The rest of us watched her eyes drift up to the treetops as she chewed, testing the flavour and texture of the rustic meal.

I had to admit, I was a bit nervous about it. After all, I hadn’t made this exact meal in this exact way for well over a century. Relief came quickly though; Fluttershy’s eyes widened and she stopped chewing, then she looked down at me before placing a hand over her mouth.

“Oh my goodness...” she muttered, her words muffled by a full mouth.

“Huh? HUH? How is it?” AJ pleaded for an answer.

Fluttershy shifted her eyes to her blonde friend and nodded, then gave a thumbs-up.

Applejack clapped her hands together excitedly. “Hot diggity-dog!” she cheered, “who’s next?”

“Why don’t you help yourself, darling?” Rarity offered.

“Me? Nah, best ta get everyone else served first,” AJ replied.

“No no, your enthusiasm speaks for itself, Applejack. Go ahead,” the fashionista insisted. “Besides, you helped prepare it, so you deserve to enjoy the fruits of your labour.”

Applejack paused. “Now wait a sec, Granny always taught me that it’s rude for the cook to serve themselves first, and I-“

“Oh Pish-posh!” Rarity waved her off. “You needn’t worry about rudeness, darling; certainly not after what you witnessed through the bedroom window.”

The farm girl stopped for half a second to consider Rarity’s logic, then she snatched up a plate. “Point taken, sugarcube,” she said hurriedly as she picked out one of the cooler steaks with her fingertips and plopped it onto her plate, then held it out to Sunset. “Egg me, Sunset; I’m starvin!”

“You got it,” Sunset replied, scooping a pile of eggs onto the plate, just as two halves of a biscuit floated down from above and came to rest on the plate.

“Ah, thanks Twilight!” AJ chuckled, glancing over her shoulder at the lavender girl, who stood behind her, giggling.

“No problem,” Twilight replied. “Why don’t you go sit and enjoy your breakfast? Sunset and I will fill the rest of the plates.”

“Sure thing, partner,” Applejack said as she drizzled her entire plate with country gravy, then got up to find a chair.

And with that, Twilight and Sunset continued building plates and handed them out one-by-one until everyone was sitting quietly, enjoying their crispy, saucy breakfast. The meal was enjoyed immensely by all, including myself, and everyone licked their plates clean, with the exception of Rainbow Dash; who enjoyed it, but found it too rich to finish completely.

Applejack scolded her nonetheless; saying it was her own fault for downing a glass of orange juice on an empty stomach, followed by a coffee, which surely didn’t help matters.

As the sun rose higher in the morning sky, the yard became warmer and with the added comfort —along with satisfied bellies— the conversations became louder and full of energy, punctuated by laughter, whoops and hollers; the kind of racket that could only be created by a group of friends like this.

I had returned to the fireside in the midst of it all to enjoy the warmth, while Fluttershy and Rarity found themselves snuggled up in a lawn chair together, listening to the rousing and often funny stories being told by their friends. A couple of the other girls had joined me by the fire, lured in by the comforting warmth; despite the rising temperature outside, there was still a persistent, nagging chill that hung in the autumn air.

Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were sitting close to me, reminiscing about the time they shared that house with their friend, Vinyl Scratch.

“Aw fuck, I miss living there with you guys,” Dash was saying as she poked at the coals with a long twig. “And I still really appreciate you guys letting me stay rent-free until I got on my feet, Pinkie.”

“No problem, Dashie!” Pinkie giggled. “We were happy to have you; the last thing we wanted was for you to have to leave town!”

I glanced at Dash, raising a brow. “Leave town?”

“Yeah, uh, it’s a long story,” Dash said, jabbing at one of the fire logs with the stick, chipping away at the blocks of charcoal stuck to its underside. “See, when I was still in high school, my parents were planning on moving away and going into early retirement, and I was gonna stay in Canterlot and go to College, but when I lost my scholarships, I had to either: move away with them or find a job and a place to live if I wanted to stay in Canterlot.”

“Hm.” I shook my head.

“Yeah!” Pinkie shouted, “But me and Scratchie said she could stay with us, right Dashie?”

“That’s right, you old softie!” Dash said, gnashing her teeth as she put Pinkie in a headlock and gave her a noogie, drawing a fit of giggles from the chubby, pink girl—giggles that sounded unnervingly similar to that of a newborn baby. Dash ground her knuckles through the sea of strawberry-scented curls until something hard struck her hand, prompting her to pull out. “Ow! What the hell was that?” she winced, peering into the messy, pink depths atop Pinkie’s head.

“Huh?” Pinkie replied, her eyes shifting upwards, perplexed. “Oh!” she giggled, “that’s probably my stapler!”

“Your stap- WHAT?” Dash exclaimed, befuddled by the response. “Why in the sweet name of FUCK do you have a stapler in your hair, Pinkie?”

“Why not?” Pinkie countered, following up with even more giggles as Dash released her from the headlock. “You never know when you might encounter an emergency in which there is a dire need to affix separated documents into one convenient, orderly package!”

“Ugh!” Dash groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose, “That makes so little sense, it actually hurts.”

“One day, Dashie; it’s gonna happen, you’ll see!” Pinkie warned, wagging her finger at the rainbow-haired girl.

Applejack’s voice sounded from behind us next, prompting the three of us to turn around. “Pinkie, why don’t ya go take your looney-bin, wacked-off, mind-fuckery someplace else?” she shouted, waving Pinkie away with a lit cigar cradled between her fingers.

Pinkie laughed hysterically in response. “HAHAHA! You’re so funny, Applejack!”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the exchange. “Oohhh Pinks; you are just one ‘soy sauce mini-freezie’ away from being totally crazy, you know that?”

The pink girl’s laughter halted in an instant and she turned to face me with an eyebrow raised. “Yeah, and?”

I put my hands up in defense. “OK, whoa! Relax, I was just kidding.”

Pinkie burst into laughter again, and then slapped me on the shoulder. “I know, silly!”

“Ya see, this is what I’m talkin ‘bout!” Applejack bellowed from her chair like someone’s grumpy old grandfather, a cloud of cigar smoke bursting from her mouth as she spoke. “The three of yas shoulda never been allowed ta live in that house on yer own!”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Ugh, here comes ‘the heat’ again.”

“Dammit, Dash!” AJ pointed the cigar at the rainbow-haired girl. “Now, I know I told ya ta quit callin me that!”

Dash simply shook her head and resumed poking idly at the fire.

“I’m tellin ya, Golds,” Applejack continued, “them three girls, alone in that house were a legitimate threat ta humanity.”

“Oh, COME ON!” Dash fired back. “It wasn’t that bad. Why do you gotta be such a grumpy-cat when you’re full?”

“Not that bad, eh?” Applejack replied, ignoring the question. “Need I remind you of ‘the blanket?’”

“UUUGH!” Dash tipped her head back, letting out an exasperated groan. “Again with the blanket!”

“What blanket?” I asked, glancing from one girl to the next.

“OOH! I love this story!” Pinkie piped up. “I’ll tell it! Can I tell it, Applejack? PLEEEEE-HEE-HEEASE LET ME TELL IT!”

“You can tell it, but it’s NOT a good story, Pinkie Pie! Just remember that,” AJ scolded, her words muffled by the cigar as it hung loosely from her lips.

“OK, here it goes,” Pinkie announced, before bowing and inhaling deeply, letting her head raise slowly as her lungs filled with air, ready to release a tale of calamity that I was sure I wouldn’t be prepared for.

“Oh shit…” I thought to myself as the verbal diarrhea began to spill from the party girl’s mouth.

“So one day I was in the basement doing laundry when I found this weird blanket stuck in the dryer; it was kinda pink, but kinda blue —I don’t really know— but I DO know that I didn’t know where it came from. So anyway, I was trying to pull it out and just then, Dashie and Applejack came downstairs for a jam session and asked me what I was doing, so I says to Dashie, I says: ‘Hey Dashie, is this your blanket?’ And she was like: ‘No, it’s not mine. Where did you find it?’ So I said: ‘It was stuck in this other compartment in the dryer; I don’t know who put it there, but it sure is jammed in there tight!’ So that’s when Applejack came up and said: ‘Holy shit! I reckon you guys need ta clean yer lint trap more often!’ And I was all like: ‘Say whaaaaaaaat?’ And then Applejack sa-“

“Whoa, wait a minute!” I was waving my hands around by then, overwhelmed by the bombardment of nonsense and utterly confused. “That blanket was buildup from your lint trap?”

An incredulous and very frustrated Applejack leaned forward suddenly and gripped the arms of the chair, biting down on the cigar with her teeth as she spoke. “These numbskulls didn’t empty the fuckin thing fer over a year!”

“HAHAHA! What? Are you serious!?” I couldn’t help but burst into a fit of laughter when I looked back at the pair of girls, whose faces had become red with embarrassment.

“Well we didn’t know!” Dash defended, turning to face AJ with a shrug. “My mom always did my laundry for me!”

“Yeah, me too!” Pinkie added and then paused, rubbing her chin. “Come to think of it, she still does!”

“OK, so what happened?” I asked.

“OOH! Me!” Pinkie squealed, remembering there was more to the story. “So Applejack said: ‘Ya gotta empty yer lint trap or ya could end up startin a fire!' And I was all like: ‘Lord Jesus, not a fahr! I got bronchitis; ain’t nobody got time fo' dat!’”

“She actually did say that…” AJ said flatly, letting the cigar dangle from her mouth as Dash let out a hearty laugh.

“Did she really?” I chuckled, glancing at Pinkie.

“You bet yer Sweet Brown she did.”

“Wow,” I laughed, wiping a tear from my eye. “So…what, you never emptied it…like, ever?”

“Well, technically, yeah…I-I mean, no,” Dash replied, removing the stick from the coals to inspect the tip. “We’d only been living there for a year by then, and we didn’t know you had to empty it, so…”

“Ugh,” Applejack rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Yer lucky ya didn’t burn the goddamn house down.”

*****

The day continued on. Eventually, we moved into the house and settled onto the couch to watch a few movies and play a few games. It was a wonderful time, relaxing, laughing, eating, playing, snuggling; the day flew by in a heartbeat and before we knew it, it was after 4:00 pm.

I had gotten up from the couch to finally change out of my smoky clothes and was in Fluttershy’s bedroom when I heard someone enter through the front door.

A few seconds later, I heard Rainbow Dash greet someone.

“Oh, hey Maud.”

The greeting was followed by a span of silence.

After pausing briefly to listen, I finished putting a clean T-shirt on and decided to head back to the front room. When I emerged from the hall, I looked to the left and sure enough, there she was: the gray skinned, purple-haired, older sister of Pinkie, standing still as a statue.

I decided to joke around with her.

When I reached the end of the table, I stopped and then recoiled suddenly, putting my hand to my chest, pretending to be startled. After a bogus exhale of relief, I chortled and shook my head. “Oh! Jeez, I thought somebody was standing there; but it’s just Maud.”

She didn’t laugh. In fact, she didn’t respond at all—or even move, for that matter. Instead, she blinked one time…slowly.

“Very funny, Greg,” Maud replied finally, in a monotone voice.

I cleared my throat. “It..it’s Golds,” I said quietly. “…Golds.”

After a disappointed sigh, I made my way around the couch to snuggle in with my girlfriends.

“A swing and a miss, eh darling?” Rarity teased as I nuzzled in close to sniff her hair, which was giving off a strange, yet alluring mixture of vanilla and wood smoke.

“I won’t miss when I put a mushroom print on your forehead, Rare,” I countered, eliciting a giggle from the shy girl, who was snuggled up on the other side of the fashionista.

Fluttershy raised two fingers and then spoke softly. “Ooh, I’ll take two!” she giggled.

Rarity gasped. “Fluttershy!”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the shy girl’s one-liner. She really did have a great sense of humour; it was a shame she was too shy to be able to flaunt it whenever she wanted.

Pinkie was up by then, gathering her things rather hastily to leave. Obviously, Maud had come to pick her up.

“Mom and Dad are waiting,” Maud said flatly.

Pinkie stomped her foot suddenly and faced her sister with clenched fists. “Yeah, I know Maud! I’m just getting my mini freezies, OK!? GOD!”

The rest of us remained on the couch, unable to see the Pie sisters exchanging words behind us as we sat there awkwardly, glancing around at one another. The whole thing struck me as odd: why would Pinkie blow her top so easily at her sister like that? She was so nice to everyone else, which made me wonder what kinds of things must go on in that house when no one is around.

Finally, after a tense few moments, we heard Pinkie’s voice from behind the couch.

“Bye guys,” she said, sounding rather dejected and quite uncharacteristic of the Pinkie Pie that I knew.

“See ya, Pinkie; bye Maud,” we all said, slightly out of sync, each farewell overlapped slightly by someone else’s voice.

After the door closed and the Pie sisters were gone, we sat in silence for only a moment before Rarity spoke up.

“Can you believe that? The way Maud spoke to Pinkie just now?”

I shook my head in confusion and looked at the fashionista. “Maud? Didn’t you hear Pinks yell at her?”

“Yes, but Maud provoked her,” Rarity countered.

“Oh, totally!” Dash agreed, from the far end of the couch.

I glanced back and forth at the two girls, confused.

“Yep,” Applejack added. “That Maud’s been a real handful lately. I just can’t figure what her blippin’ deal is.”

“Are you guys fuckin with me?” I asked, which earned a chuckle from Rainbow Dash. “All Maud said was: ‘Mom and Dad are waiting.’ I don’t really see the big deal there.”

Rarity shook her head. “No no, darling; you don’t know Maud the way we do. I know she comes off quite stoic when you don’t know her, but the subtle changes in tone and the look in her eyes makes her a very transparent person...once you get to know her, that is.”

“So…” I said, pausing briefly, “just now, Maud was being a dick to Pinkie?”

No one gave a verbal reply, but as I looked around the couch, all of them were nodding.

“Hmm,” I replied, resting my temple on Rarity’s shoulder. “Weird.”

“It’s cuz they’re all cooped up in that house,” Dash explained.

“Oh?” I replied.

“Yeah,” Applejack added. “Their dad; he doesn’t want them movin out. It’s like some kinda weird attachment ta parentin or somethin…I dunno. Them folks’ve never been good at dealin with change, y’know?”

“That’s why we couldn’t keep the house,” Dash explained. “Pinkie lived there with me and Scratch, but somehow, Pinkie’s parents convinced her to move back home, which left Scratch and I up shit-creek without a paddle cuz we couldn’t afford the rent without her.”

“Hm,” I mumbled as Rarity put her arm around me and stroked my back with her fingertips.

“Ingeous really is a sweet man, and a loving father,” the fashionista said, “but he does need to understand that he can’t keep those girls at home forever; it’s not good for them, and he’s certainly not doing their social lives any favours.”

“Definitely not,” Sunset agreed. “They were weird already, but lately, they’ve gone like... ‘next-level’ weird.”

*****

Evening arrived, and as with every Saturday dinner, the time came for the others to head home, with the exception of Rarity, who ardently refused to leave mine and Fluttershy’s sides. Before they left, each friend was sure to give Fluttershy a tight hug or a high-five—or whatever gesture happened to be that particular individual’s cliché.

Twilight and Sunset were the first to leave, due to Twilight needing a ride back to the city.

“Ugh! Twilight, are you sure you can’t just stay here tonight so I can take you back in the morning?” Sunset asked as she burst into her apartment, tossing her keys on the table.

“I’m sorry, Sunset,” Twilight replied, following the red-head inside and slipping out of her shoes. “But I’m already pushing it as it is; I have a fairly large lab report due this week that I thought I’d be working on this weekend, but when you and Fluttershy came home, coming down to visit became top priority. But now I need to get back ASAP so I can get caught up after missing the past day and a half.”

Sunset flopped down on the couch, rubbing her forehead. “Fine,” she replied, sighing. “Just let me sit for a minute first, K? I’ve been home for two days now, and I’ve barely had any time to relax in my own apartment.”

Twilight sighed and rubbed the back of her neck for a moment, watching her best friend sit back with her eyes closed, trying her best to unwind. “OK, fine,” she agreed, finally. “You win, Sunset. We can hang out here for a bit.”

“Thanks Twi,” Sunset replied, keeping her eyes closed.

“Anything for you,” Twilight said, sitting down next to the red-head. “You’ve been through a lot lately; I think it’s fair to say you deserve a break.”

“Mm-hm.”

Unable to relax fully, Twilight sat forward, folding her hands on her knees as she glanced idly around the apartment. Finally, she turned to look at her friend, who was still sitting back, eyes closed and motionless.

“Sunset?”

“Mm?”

Twilight paused to chew her lip, then drew a breath to speak. “If you had to, would you do it again?”

Sunset turned her head slightly, peeling one eye open to look at the lavender girl. “The rescue mission?”

Twilight nodded.

Sunset closed her eye and faced forward again. “In a heartbeat.”

Twilight’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Really?”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah…I mean, yes, it was stressful and scary, but getting to spend time with someone like Golds was…it was amazing, Twi.” She opened her eyes and faced her friend, tapping an index finger against her temple. “The secrets that guy has locked up in here...l mean, it’s nothing short of mind-blowing.”

“I can imagine,” Twilight mused, looking down at the carpet.

“I mean, he really is something else,” Sunset continued, then paused to bite her lip, followed by one of her signature smirks. “Even if he IS a huge goof sometimes.”

Twilight smiled and shook her head. “Well, to be fair, your constant teasing probably didn’t help matters much.”

“My teasing?”

“Uh, yeah!” Twilight chuckled. “I’ve known you for a long time, Sunset Shimmer; I know better than anyone how much of a pain-in-the-butt you can be.”

Sunset tilted her head and looked at the floor, pursing her lips. “Yeah…” she replied absentmindedly.

“Actually...” Twilight finally sat back on the couch, allowing herself to relax a bit. “The simple fact that Golds was able to survive being alone with you for over a month straight is a true testament to his resilience. Honestly? I’m surprised the scientific community hasn’t come up with some new unit to measure the amount of snark that comes out of you.”

Sunset laughed and shook her head. “Oh come on, Twi! Golds is no angel either, just so we’re clear.”

“Yeah, he can be pretty sarcastic too, sometimes,” Twilight giggled. “I have to admit, I do find it amusing to watch him and Rarity wind each other up.”

“Oh fuck,” Sunset rolled her eyes, “those two…” she trailed off, then chuckled softly. “Seriously though, he is a lot of fun to riff with, but being with him for that long could be a drain at times, not to mention he has a tendency to whine about stuff quite a bit.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “Golds? Really? What does a person like him whine about?”

Sunset shrugged. “Just stupid shit, mostly.” She paused momentarily, then turned to Twilight with another smirk. “That’s alright though, all you gotta do is give him some pussy. That usually shuts him up.”

The lavender-skinned girl snorted. “Wow.”

“It’s a small price to pay,” Sunset added as she folded her hands behind her head and crossed her feet, letting out a smug sigh.

“Hm, well it’s good to see that you haven’t let your recent accomplishments go to your head,” Twilight said sarcastically. “Besides, that’s hardly a solution for everyone else.”

“Meh,” Sunset shrugged. “Golds’ll fuck anything on two legs.”

Laughing, Twilight shook her head. “What about four?”

The red-head paused, letting her eyes shift to the ceiling. “Hm…I don’t know. Maybe?”

After a short spell of laughter, Twilight reached up to adjust her glasses, forgetting once again that they weren’t there.

Sunset noticed this and shook her head. “I can’t believe you still do that, Twi. Seriously, it’s been fucking months.”

“I know, I know,” Twilight waved her off. “Old habits…you know?”

“Yeah.”

Twilight let out a long sigh, drumming her fingertips on her thigh. “So…what’s on the agenda for tomorrow?”

“Umm…” the red-head shifted her jaw back and forth, staring at her lifeless TV. “Well, first off: I need another phone so I can talk to your brother about his job offer, and if that falls through, I’ll have to look for some other shitty job to get me by for now.”

“Like where?”

“I don’t know, like at a restaurant or coffee shop?”

“Hm,” Twilight rubbed her chin, deep in thought. “Hey, isn’t there a sushi place just around the corner from here? You could apply there.”

Sunset cocked an eyebrow. “Me? No, that’s not a thing.”

“It was just a suggestion,” Twilight shrugged. “Oh, wait! How about this?” She paused to pull her phone out. “We could call my brother right now; you can talk to him about the job, and if it sounds promising then you can stay with me when you take me home and then you can meet up with him this week to discuss things in person.”

“Ugh…” Sunset rubbed her face.

“What?”

“It’s just…like I said, I’d like to have some time to be at home for a bit. I miss my apartment, Twi. I don’t wanna take you home and then have to stay away for a few days just yet. How about I just take you home and then go back during the week to meet him?”

“But then you’d be making two trips,” Twilight argued. “How about,” —she paused to think, tapping her knuckles to her bottom lip— “OK, what if I stay here with you tonight, then you take me home tomorrow evening and you can stay with me tomorrow night? Then you and I can hang out here for a day, and you can meet up with Shining Armor as early as Monday.”

“Wait,” Sunset rubbed her chin, “what about your school work?”

“Don’t worry, Sunset. I’ll find the time to finish it. This is more important.”

“You’d do that for me?” the red-head asked, surprised, but flattered at the same time.

Twilight smiled. “Of course I would.”

“Wow…I don’t know what to say. Thanks Twi,” Sunset said, smiling as she gave her friend’s shoulder a shake.

“No problem.” The lavender girl held her phone up and jiggled it. “So, you wanna call Shining Armor, or what?”

Sunset bit her lip and smiled, feeling a surge of energy. “Sure.”

“OK then!” Twilight navigated through her phone, looking for her brother’s contact.

Sunset, admittedly, was a bit apprehensive about talking with Shining Armor. She hadn’t spoken to him for over a year, mostly because she and Twilight had been quite busy during her final year of university together.

When they first left Canterlot for the big city to attend school, Sunset had spent a great deal of time with Twilight’s family. They were a very friendly and hospitable bunch, and invited Sunset along to family dinners on weekends and holidays on a regular basis. Over time, Sunset inevitably began to find her friend’s older brother attractive, especially after breaking off her relationship with Flash Sentry for the second and final time. Little came of the infatuation, however; one night, during the winter of their third year in school, Shining Armor brought a date to dinner with him:

Cadance.

And the rest was history. Their relationship flourished —despite her being three years his senior— and they became engaged soon after and were married within the next year and a half, thus obliterating any chances of Sunset hitching a ride on her best friend’s brother.

It was probably for the best, in all honesty. As Sunset already knew, she merely lived in a human body, but she was not human, making genuine, romantic love towards a human impossible in her eyes. It didn’t happen with Flash, and it probably wouldn’t have happened with Shining Armor. The attraction was merely a sexual need. Nothing more.

Nevertheless, those memories of watching Shining Armor at the table with Twilight’s family, the lewd thoughts about him; they never went away completely and were still lingering in the back of her mind, resurfacing only when she interacted with him—like she was just about to do.

Sunset chewed the inside of her cheek while keeping an eye on her friend, who had found her brother’s contact and was now about to press the ‘call’ button.

”Come on, Sunset! This is no big deal; it’s just Twi’s brother. Twi’s hot brother. TWI’S MARRIED BROTHER! Ugh! You really need to get past this if you expect to be working for hi-”

“Here.”

The single word snapped Sunset from her thoughts and she focused on Twilight, who was now holding the phone out to her.

“Oh, thanks,” Sunset said, standing up to pace back and forth in front of the couch as she held the phone to her ear, listening to it ring—which it did several times, adding an extra level of unneeded tension to the situation.

At last, there was a click, then a familiar male voice: ”Hi, just a sec,” followed by the same voice talking farther away from the phone. ”Hey, sorry guys, I gotta take this.”

Sunset stopped pacing momentarily and raised an eyebrow, listening to the sounds over the phone as her heart rate began to pick up; there were a number of voices, punctuated by the clinking of glasses and silverware, as well as the sound of easy-listening music playing in the background. All at once, however, the noise faded away, ended by the click of a door closing.

Then, Shining Armor’s voice. “Sorry about that, Twily; Cadance and I were just having a dinner party with some friends tonight. What’s up?”

“Oh, uh…hey, it’s Sunset Shimmer calling…actually,” she replied, adding a nervous chuckle. “I’m just borrowing Twi’s phone. Um…how are you, Shining Armor?”

There was a short pause. “Oh…Sunset Shimmer, what an unexpected surprise! Uh, I’m good. REAL good. Ha! How are you?”

“I’m doing good, and you?” Sunset grimaced immediately. Like a dumbass, she’d just asked the same question twice.

Twilight snickered, shaking her head as she looked at the floor.

Silence for a moment. ”Um…I’m doing great, Sunset, thanks; doing real good.” He followed up by clearing his throat. Awkwardly.

Sunset was at a momentary loss for words, her mind flustered with embarrassment after the display of air-headedness on her part.

Shining Armor must have been able to sense the uneasiness —as if the silence wasn’t clue enough— and he decided to push the conversation forward. “Uh…s-so I take it you’re home from your…um, trip? And everyone’s OK?”

Sunset glanced at Twilight, surprised that her brother knew about the mission. “Uh, sorry…the trip?” she replied, barfing out whatever words came to mind first.

He paused briefly before answering. “I thought Twily said you and your friend were gone looking for the missing girl? Fluttershy, is it?”

“Yeah,” Sunset rubbed the back of her neck. “I uh, I didn’t know you were aware of that whole thing; how did you hear about it?”

“Uuh, it was…when was that?” he thought aloud to himself, “Oh! Thanksgiving weekend. Cadance and I drove Twily out to her friend’s house in the woods for a visit, and-”

“Fluttershy’s house?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” he replied. ”So anyway, Twily invited us to stay for a bit, so we did, and we roasted wieners and marshmallows over the fire, which was a lot of fun, I gotta say. Those friends of yours and Twily’s are a great bunch. Uh, but anyway, we got to asking about whose house it was, which, they said it was Fluttershy’s, and obviously she wasn’t there, so they ended up telling us about her disappearance and about you and your other friend going to find her…what was his name again? I can’t remember.”

“Golds…er, Golden Arrow.”

“Yeah, that’s it. Supposedly he’s some kind of expert at finding people? Your friends said he’s like a hundred times tougher than Liam Neeson, or something like that.”

Sunset snorted, momentarily abandoning her apprehension. “What? No way, Liam Neeson’s a badass. Golds is just…well, Golds.”

Shining Armor chuckled. ”HA! Well, I’ll take your word for it. So everyone is home again, safe and sound? Fluttershy’s OK too?”

“Oh, yeah. Everyone’s doing great. Flutters was a bit messed up at first, but she snapped out of it once she got home and saw everybody.”

”Oh, I can imagine; something like that can be pretty damaging to a person…you know? But hopefully she’ll be able to move on before too long and, uh…you know, heal from it…without too much trouble.”

“Oh…yeah,” Sunset nodded. “She’s doing great already. Me and Twi actually just came from her place. Everyone was there, including Golds, and we had a fire just like you guys did; ate some food, played some games and watched movies…you know, all the fun stuff.”

“Well that’s great to hear. I’m glad it all worked out in the end for you guys. Although, historically, nothing much ever stood in your way, did it?” he chuckled.

Sunset laughed. “No. Not really,” she replied, then licked her lip, followed by an uneasy sigh when she became aware that another bout of silence had developed. “Uh, so…the reason I’m calling, Shining Armor, is that I hear you have a possible job offer for me?”

A quick inhale could be heard through the phone, followed by his reply. “Oh! Yes, that’s right. OK, so…I don’t know if you’ve heard this, but I recently wrote my bar exam…and I passed.”

Sunset’s eyebrows rose. “Oh! No shit? That’s awesome, Shining Armor; good for you!”

“Heh, thanks. Yeah, it’s been crazy ever since. I keep getting calls and texts every time someone finds out about it…” —he paused to snicker— ”It’s finally just staring to slow down now.

“So uh, anyway; yes, the job offer: so what’s been happening here is I’ve gotten a hold of some office space and I’m planning to open my own firm, and I’ve been looking for a few ‘team members,’ as I like to call them, to fill some roles that I need looked after; secretary, accountant…you know, things like that.”

“Right…” Sunset said flatly, making the assumption that Shining Armor was offering her an entry level job.

”And I have those filled,” he continued, ”the only other important position I need filled is an investigator: someone who can dig up some dirt if need be, or if I need to know if a client or clients are being completely honest with me about their case. Anything like that.”

Sunset’s eyes lit up with excitement, her skin tingling. This was her chance!

“You want me to be an investigator for you?”

“Absolutely. If you want the job, I’ll make it yours right now. No interview needed.”

Giggling, Sunset covered her mouth in disbelief. “Wow! Really?”

”Yeah. I mean, I know you did exceptionally well in university with the forensics and all that; graduated at the top of your class, did you not?”

“Third highest, but yeah.”

”Oh, well still, that’s pretty good. Plus, you’ve got the uh…” —he lowered his voice near to a whisper— “You still have that mind-reading thing, right?”

Sunset smirked. “Yup. And trust me; it came in very handy during the past few weeks.”

”I bet!” he chuckled. “What sort of shenanigans did you and Golds get yourselves into, anyway?”

Sunset paused for a moment, chewing the corner of her mouth. ”Oh, how about treason, murder, bribery, espionage; just to name a few,” she thought to herself. “Uh, actually I’d rather not…you know…over the phone,” she replied.

Shining Armor understood. ”Ah. Say no more.”

“But I’d be willing to tell you all about it in person,” Sunset offered.

”Oh?”

“Well, I was thinking: I have to bring Twi home sometime before tomorrow night...and I was wondering if you wanted to meet up this week to talk about the job...and maybe if there’s time, I can ‘regale’ you with stories from my little adventure-” Sunset paused unintentionally just then, realising her nervousness had been shed and was speaking without reservation to Shining Armor, a feat she’d never been able to accomplish until just now.

“Yeah, sure, that sounds like a great idea!” Shining Armor replied enthusiastically. ”We can meet up for coffee and talk about the firm, what your role will be…oh! And I can take you to see the office. It’s still being renovated, but it’s coming along nicely; the drywall is up and painted, but they still have to do the trim, wire the lights and put in the carpet, then furnishings have to go in: desks, blinds, chairs, file cabinets…you know, ficus plants.”

Sunset chuckled at his elation. He sounded like a kid at Christmas, and she couldn’t help but think this move was going to be a good one for her. “Oh yeah, you gotta have ficus plants,” she giggled.

“So when did you want to meet?”

“Oh, well I’m gonna be in town by tomorrow night, soooo…are you free Monday?”

”You betcha. Monday it is!”

There were some audible noises in the background that sounded like the stomping of feet, followed by what sounded like hands clapping and then a hoot from Shining Armor.

”Woo! Wow, this is amazing!” he cheered, helpless to contain his giddiness. ”Man, everything’s been coming together so perfectly! The office will be ready probably within the next month, I’ve got the business licence and all the permits prepped, radio spots ready to go, and now, I’ve got the best investigator money can buy on board, too. This is perfect! When opening day comes, we’ll be ready to rock! We’re gonna unlock the door, turn on the lights, flip that ‘open’ sign around and we’ll be ready to hit the ground running!”

Sunset’s eyes immediately rolled back in her head, and she let her arm flop down to her side, taking the phone with it. ”UGH!” she groaned silently, shaking her head. “Well at least that killed what was left of the crush I had on him…”

Twilight had noticed her friend’s irritation and was watching with concerned features. “What?” she mouthed silently when the red-head looked at her.

Sunset shook her head and waved Twilight off, then brought the phone back to her ear just in time to hear the tail-end of another ecstatic rave.

”…TO SOAR ON THE WINGS OF AN EAGLE!”

Sunset was only mildly curious of how the rest of it might have gone.

“Yeah yeah, wings of an eagle. Got it,” Sunset replied quickly. “So Shiny, what kind of hours are we talking about here?”

Shining Armor paused briefly, then hissed somewhat nervously through his teeth. “Well, actually…that’s the only catch, really…”

Sunset paused, worried. “Uh-huh…”

“I can’t keep you on full time, unfortunately. At least not at first; to be realistic, there won’t be anything for you to do, not until we get our name out there and build some clientele.”

“Oh…OK. Yeah, no; that’s...that’s understandable. I get it.”

“Is that gonna be OK? I mean, it’ll kind of just be…like, free-lance for now, so…”

“Uh…yeah, that’s fine. It’s the only offer I’ve had since finishing school, so I’ll gladly take it,” Sunset replied, trying her best to hide her disappointment. It was starting to look like she was still going to need a job on the side to be able to pay the bills.

”Right. Sorry I can’t offer you more, but…I mean, like I said: once we get busier I can probably move you up to full time, or even part time; and in the meantime you’ll be gaining some experience that you can add to your portfolio, you know?”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah. No, it’s great, Shiny. I really appreciate the opportunity. Thank you.”

”No, thank YOU, Sunset,” he replied. “Anyway, I should get back to my guests here. So, uh…Monday then?”

“Yeah,” Sunset nodded again, “we’ll text you either tomorrow night or Monday morning and we’ll go from there. Sound good?”

”Sounds great. I look forward to seeing you again, Sunset, and I’m excited to have you on the team with us.”

Sunset chuckled. “I’m excited to be on the team. I’ll see you Monday then, K?”

“See you then. Bye, Sunset.”

“Bye.”

*Chapter 90: Best. Week. Ever.

Chapter 90

On Sunday, Fluttershy, Rarity and I spent a simple, quiet day together.

After spending Saturday night huddled up on the chaise lounge watching movies together, we went outside at first light so Fluttershy could return to her morning ritual of feeding the countless animals that resided in the woods surrounding her house. The shy girl and I stood in the middle of the yard, enjoying a good laugh as half a dozen sparrows chased a screaming Rarity around in endless circles after I had, unbeknownst to her, sprinkled a small handful of birdseed in her hair.

As the day matured, so did we —to a small degree— and after a shower each, we dressed ourselves in fresh clothes and decided to make a nice lunch. Surprisingly, Pinkie Pie had done an exceptional job of keeping the fridge stocked with food, including fresh produce: fruits, vegetables and the like. Not because it was what she normally ate —which was obvious— but because she knew what Fluttershy preferred to keep on hand.

Following lunch was a nice walk in the woods, deep in conversation. We engaged ourselves in many topics, the largest of which was the past month and how lovely it was to be back together again. Rarity was never keen on spending her time in what she referred to as ‘nature’s filth,’ however she made a conscious effort to do it without griping, because nothing was more important to her than keeping her lovers happy; and her friends, for that matter.

Evening brought more fun on the couch in the form of video games, which proved to be a challenge for the two girls; neither of them were well-versed in the art, and it certainly made for an entertaining time watching them try to pull off even the simplest of tasks.

That night, we decided to visit the Riverfield —which had been abandoned for well over a month by that point, allowing the grass and weeds to grow back to their original splendor— to catch-up on a long overdue training session. I wasn’t sure what to expect after such a long hiatus, but I was pleasantly surprised by the display of refinement from both of them, especially Fluttershy.

Clearly, her experience in the ‘Us’ base had hastened her advancement, and in hand-to-hand combat between her and Rarity, the shy girl consistently achieved the upper hand, taking down or striking the fashionista in ways that would certainly have been lethal to an ordinary person. Eventually, however, Rarity would get frustrated and resort to using her gemstone-composed weaponry, turning the tables and bringing the contest to a rather quick finale. In the past, this would have bothered Fluttershy, but now she seemed to have accepted her comparable shortcomings as a warrior, and was content to know that she could easily handle any ordinary human, especially if she happened to be armed, which, in the end, was all that really mattered.

By the end, I had the pleasure of informing Rarity and Fluttershy that they needed no more training from me as far as physical combat went, and we took to sitting in the cool grass, conversing about the lessons we’d learned from our recent experiences. I seized the opportunity to quiz Fluttershy as to how she managed to get captured on the side of the road, despite the fact that she was surrounded by nature and surely had a veritable army of critters at her disposal.

She admitted that it was her own fault; for starters, she should never have fallen into such an obvious trap: that being Agent Cody’s SUV sitting in her driveway, waiting for her to return home. Normally, the animals in the surrounding area would have been screaming at her to stay away, but in her lighthearted mood, she had the radio cranked and was unable to hear the warnings; thus, she fell unknowingly into his trap.

It surprised Rarity and me to hear that she’d earned herself the perfect chance to escape into the woods after causing the SUV to crash, but rather than invite the chance for Cody to come back to her house again, she made the brash decision to go back and take them on herself. Unfortunately, her recent success at the school had gone to her head, and her choice to engage several well-trained agents was nothing more than foolhardy; a result of overconfidence and narrow-mindedness, even ignoring the magic she had at her disposal, which she could have used to overwhelm her opponents with swarms of birds and animals of nearly every description. By the time she’d realised her mistake however, she was already locked up and being taken away, crying the back seat, calling desperately for something large enough to stop the SUV without killing itself in the process. Unfortunately, there was nothing within the vicinity.

In the end, it was a difficult lesson to learn, and an ugly experience to endure; ugly for anyone, let alone a sensitive person like Fluttershy. But, she had emerged victorious and was now much wiser because of it, and a very dangerous foe to anyone who might cross her in the future. Given her recent choices though, it was clear that she wished for her future to be a peaceful one.

In my experience, however, wishes like these almost never came true.

But who knows, maybe she’ll get lucky.

*****

Monday morning came, and it was back to business. Life needed to be put back on track.

Fluttershy needed new IDs, a new car key and a new phone. There was also the matter of eventually returning to work, and what to do with the five new kittens she’d obtained in her absence. I needed a new phone as well, although I found myself rather enjoying not having one; returning to my roots and living life the ‘old-fashioned’ way had brought about a sense of nostalgia, but I knew it was inevitable that the others would eventually demand that I got one so I was accessible at all times—which was precisely what I enjoyed being free from, to be honest.

Before anything could be done, however, we needed a proper vehicle, and not the gas-guzzling, shitty-smelling tank that was the Diplomat. Not that is was a bad old car, but it was really wasn’t fair to the old rancher for us to keep driving it with his plates on it. Plus, I was really beginning to miss my one real true love: my truck.

So, at about 5:30am, Rarity and I each gave the lovely Fluttershy a kiss and then set out to accomplish our errands. I drove the Diplomat to my shop and parked it there, then Rarity picked me up in her vanilla perfume-scented car and we set out towards Canterlot.

We went to her place first so she could ready herself for work, which was why we had to leave so early. Her morning routine wasn’t exactly a five minute ordeal, especially since she seemed to be deliberately stalling; I had noticed her becoming slightly apprehensive since leaving Fluttershy’s, but I shrugged it off to it just being the way she is on a Monday morning before work.

When she was ready at last —and unbelievably beautiful— we made our way to the boutique. She circled her car around back and parked by the rear door. I got out quickly, spying the big, blue beauty that was sitting pretty in the rear corner of the lot. It didn’t take long to notice the intense lustre coming from the paint, and Rarity was quick to point out that she’d had it washed and waxed by someone she referred to as ‘those tart-smelling diamond boys.’

She handed me the keys as we made our way over to the truck and stood next to it, chatting casually for a few minutes before going our separate ways for the day. She stood quietly, nodding absentmindedly as I reminisced about how rusted-out the truck was when I first bought it, and how I’d put a new body on it and painted it myself…but eventually I noticed her indifference and stopped talking.

Her eyes did widen, however, when I took a quick walk around the blue machine to perform a quick circle-check before hopping in, and when I inquired about why the rear tires were completely bald, she stammered out a hurried response that had nothing to do with what I asked, then spun on her heel to head inside.

“Ta-ta!” she called as she strode away, walking backwards while blowing me a kiss, saying: “I shall see you tonight, my love?”

“Yep,” I nodded, opening the driver’s door. “Are you planning on dressing up?”

“But of course, darling!” she smiled, “It is Halloween, after all!”

*****

After leaving the boutique, I headed back to the shop to pick up my trailer. Entranced by the ever-present rattle of the truck’s engine, I listened intently to each of its six cylinders, clattering in harmony with the soothing whistle of the turbos, echoing off the trees as I made my way through those calm, familiar woods. At last, I had sense of completion after the adventure. Being behind the wheel of my beloved machine was the final piece of the puzzle, allowing me to finally feel like I was truly home again—even if the interior did smell a bit like vanilla perfume.

At the shop, I found a couple spare tires that I kept on hand, just in case I encountered a blowout or some other emergency…like a lead-footed girlfriend, perhaps? Rarity’s uneasiness whenever the topic of the truck was brought up was easy to understand at this point; if nothing else, the fifteen hundred extra kilometers on the odometer and the missing tread on the rear tires were clear evidence that the fashionista had managed to have a bit more fun in my absence than she’d originally let on, which, to be fair, actually made me smile a bit.

After changing the tires over and hooking the trailer up, I headed back to Fluttershy’s house. Upon my return, she emerged from the house when she heard the long-missed sound of the engine; dressed in her teal tights and a fuzzy, white sweater, she stood on the front step, watching me back the trailer up to her little SUV. Next, I opened the hood and unhooked the shifter cable from her transmission so I could manually shift it into neutral while she stood by and observed. Curiosity finally got the better of her, prompting her to ask the obvious question:

“Um, Goldie? How are you going to drive it onto the trailer if you don’t have the key to-“

She went silent when she saw me place my hands on the bumper and shove the vehicle effortlessly up the ramps, where it found a comfortable home on the trailer, ready to be taken to the dealership.

“Oh…” she said, wide-eyed. “Um…OK.”

After cinching her vehicle down securely, we hopped into the truck together. Fluttershy sat in the middle next to me like she always did, and in the passenger seat sat a cardboard box with the five kittens inside.

We headed off to town with Fluttershy’s car in tow, talking back and forth about this and that, enjoying the serenity of a normal life.

The dealership was quick and only took about half an hour to cut a new key cut and have it programmed. I paid the invoice for the work done —Fluttershy’s bank cards and licences still needed to be replaced— and from there we set out on our separate ways; I headed back to the shop to unload the trailer and do an oil change and a full check-over on my truck, since Rarity had obviously put it through what is known in the automotive world as ‘severe service.’

Fluttershy, however, headed to her beloved shelter to drop the kittens off and catch up with Jeff, her business counterpart. She was surprised to see that renovations had already begun in the rearmost rooms; upgrades and retrofits galore were waiting to be installed, along with fresh paint and trim going up in the front reception area. Fluttershy was stunned to see the progress that had already been made, though after a quick explanation from Jeff she learned about the hoards of donations given by a gracious community in return for her heroism at the school, as well as the countless well-wishes received in her absence.

As a cover, Jeff had been told by the other girls that Fluttershy had gone to the city for therapy after the traumatic event, stating that she was having trouble sleeping and was unable to continue coming to work, which Jeff understood and supported completely, but was glad nevertheless when the shy girl informed him that she planned to return to work on the following Monday.

When Fluttershy presented Jeff with the kittens, she informed him that they were the ‘sweetest little guys ever,’ and were in need of a good home. Like the good veterinarian that he was, Jeff checked them over and asked all the standard questions, to which Fluttershy answered positively, stating that they were all in very good health and were quite happy animals.

“Of course they’re healthy,” she said, giggling. “It’s not like I found them at the bottom of the ocean or anything like that.”

“Alright Alright, fair enough,” was his reply.

After a lengthy visit, she headed home —keeping the radio at a decent volume this time— and spent the remainder of the afternoon wandering through the woods with Link and Angel, exploring the rich landscape together.

I returned home with a freshly-oiled truck to find her with supper ready. We ate quietly, like an elderly couple, watching each other from across the table; winks and coy smiles were exchanged on occasion, which would almost always earn me a soft giggle from her as she dropped random morsels of food next to her chair for Link to snatch up and enjoy.

It was dark by the time we finished supper and cleaned up, at which point Rarity had arrived.

She was rather unusually dressed in a long, purple coat. Her hair was tied up and concealed under a black wig; shoulder length with straight-cut bangs, similar to Twilight’s. Heavy make-up adorned her face, with a pair of shimmering, blue eyelids, outlined with sparkling silver that protruded from the corners of her eyes to end in bold spirals just below her temples. Her lipstick was a dark pink, augmenting those plump, juicy lips, surrounded by her flawless, white visage, powdered even whiter than usual.

Obviously, it being Halloween, she had dressed up as something a bit on the exotic side; more so than Fluttershy, who hastily dawned her costume immediately after the fashionista’s arrival: a costume that turned out to be extremely adorable, but hardly sexy.

Fluttershy was a puppy.

She emerged from her room in a baggy, full-bodied brown suit, lined with cheap looking fur, complete with big, fluffy mitts that resembled a pair of paws. A hood was tied tightly around her head, making her scarlet face the only part of her that was left visible. There were two large, floppy ears hanging down each side of her face, and on her cheeks were a pair of whiskers, attached using simple two-sided tape. The final touch was the dark brown spot she’d coloured around her right eye using simple face paint.

Rarity absolutely loved it. Fluttershy’s costume sent her into a frenzy of girlish giggles, her face practically glowing as she clasped her hands in front of her chin, shaking her head at the shy girl’s almost lethal cuteness.

Her expression flattened when she turned to me, however; it was with good cause though, because my costume didn’t seem to have much imagination at all, certainly not enough to impress the limitlessly-creative fashionista.

“And just what are you supposed to be, darling?” she asked, placing a hand on her hip.

“I’m totally a…a mortal guy,” I replied smartly. “Like, in his mid-twenties.”

Rarity sighed. “So…would it be fair to assume that you, in fact, did not dress up?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” I replied, scratching the back of my head. I let my eyes drop to focus on her feet next, noticing she was wearing a pair of golden high-heels, decorated with dark blue strips across the tops. “What are you supposed to be, anyway? And what’s with the long coat?”

She raised a heavily painted brow in response, followed by a rather sultry smirk. “Well, that’s for you to find out, darling; why don’t you two have a seat and let me show you?” she offered, gesturing to the couch.

Fluttershy, in an awesome feat of agility, placed one hand on the back of the couch and leapt over it in a single bound, landing in her favourite spot on the chaise lounge. The sight of it was nothing short of comical; her tall frame —looking deceptively heavy due to the baggy costume— flying through the air with such ease, her large, floppy ears airborne and extended from the sides of her head like the wings of a jet. She landed with a single bounce, giggling hysterically as I followed a snickering Rarity around the far end of the couch.

“Have a seat with her, Golds darling,” Rarity instructed, with a gentle pat to my shoulder. I did as ordered and crawled onto the lounge with Fluttershy. Being careful not to brush her whiskers, I planted a small kiss on the tip of her nose and then settled in next to her to watch Rarity, who had taken her phone out and was queuing up a song.

When the music began to play, she tossed the phone onto the couch and raised her hands above her head, lowering her vibrant, blue eyelids as she began to swing her hips slowly; her knees were bent slightly and she had begun to turn around, gyrating her hips in a slow, seductive manner as the shy girl and I watched, listening to the rather enticing Egyptian-themed music that seemed to drive the fashionista’s fluid and increasingly sexual movements.

With her back facing us, Rarity brought her hands down and slowly unraveled the belt on her coat and then spread it open, tantalizing Fluttershy and me with whatever she might have been hiding underneath. Of her, all we could see was her ankles and those golden shoes, visible below the bottom of the coat, along with that straight, black, shoulder-length wig, hanging just above the collar.

At last, after what felt like an eternity of hiding behind that coat, Rarity turned and flipped it from her shoulders, revealing an outfit that caused both mine and Fluttershy’s jaws to drop.

Her elegant, white figure was almost completely exposed, save for only the most intimate bits. Around her neck was a golden collar, decorated with a series of thin, blue and white alternating stripes; below that was a golden bikini top, one made of solid metal that cradled her milky, white breasts nicely, with cleavage that jiggled enticingly along with her movements as she hypnotised me and the shy girl with her slow, sensual dance. From the lower edge of the golden top hung a thin, clear veil of beige that was open in the front, but wrapped fully around her back and floated about with an elegant weightlessness, further augmenting the enchantment of the act.

A quick glance to my right found Fluttershy: her eyes wide and mouth agape, completely entranced by the pale-skinned beauty, whose elegant figure I could see reflected in those glimmering teal irises, broadcasting the image of the fashionista like a pair of circular televisions as she slithered and swayed seductively for our enjoyment.

The reflection prompted me to return my eyes to the fashionista to continue memorizing every detail of her costume, starting with the dark blue jewel in her navel. Far below that, around her hips was nothing but a thin, gold band; from the center of which hung a beige loin cloth that barely blocked our view of whatever bottoms she might have been wearing. Halfway down each of her thighs were two golden bands lined with blue stripes, and below that, there was nothing else but the golden shoes on her feet.

Her slender, white arms were heavily decorated, however; gold bands adorned her wrists and forearms, complimented by a pattern of violet hieroglyphics that lined the entire length of her arms.

“Well?” Rarity said, opening her eyes briefly to see our reactions. “What do you think?”

Fluttershy nodded slowly. “Um…hmm-muhm; tarch in charf esh kurm, en choshin chauffin.”

Rarity let out a high-pitched giggle, delighted by her girlfriend’s gibberish nonsense. “Do you know who I am?” she asked. “A certain ancient Egyptian queen, perhaps?”

“Cleopatra,” I answered, to which Rarity snapped her finger and pointed at me, winking.

“Precisely!” she replied, raising her arms above her head to slowly and gracefully weave them through the air as she swayed her hips, continuing her seduction of me and the shy girl.

“You know, Rare,” I said, clearing my throat, “not to sound like a dick or anything, but even though Cleopatra did in fact rule Egypt, she was technically Greek.”

“Mmmmm…shut-up, darling.” A defiant smirk graced the fashionista’s dark lips as she closed her eyes and tipped her head back, savoring the excitement of being ogled by her lovers.

A soft giggle came from Fluttershy after Rarity’s retort and I turned to glance at her, only to find a pair of ferociously aroused teal irises gazing back. I gave her a little smirk, knowing I deserved the comment, then I turned back to watch Rarity’s dance. I was just in time, too; right after my eyes landed on her, she turned and swung her hips rather vigorously to the right, causing the loin cloth to be thrown sideways, granting me a brief glimpse of what was underneath: a pair of smooth, alabaster lips between her thighs, above which sat that dark strip of violet hair. Whether Rarity did this intentionally, I’ll never know…but if she did, it was deviously arousing and brilliantly sexy.

It became apparent right away that Fluttershy had seen it too. She leaned over immediately, poking my cheek with her fake whiskers, whispering: “Did you see that, Goldie? No undies!”

“I saw,” I replied, turning to face her with a quick nod.

Returning my eyes to Rarity, I was met with the sight of her leaning back while thrusting her hips forward with a smooth, seductive grace; her face had begun to flush by then, and it became obvious that moving like this in view of her lovers had filled her with lust, knowing that her exquisite movements had caused me and Fluttershy to become borderline ravenous.

A hot breath against my cheek stole my attention from the fashionista, but before I had a chance to turn, I felt a set of teeth nibbling on my earlobe, followed by a hand —with the mitt now removed— slipping itself down my pants.

I swallowed hard as the exploring hand wrapped its slender fingers around my swollen manhood, pulling my attention in multiple directions at once; Fluttershy’s sweet breath blew against my face as her soft lips nipped away at my earlobe, her thumb began a series of spiral-shaped strokes on the tip of my length, spreading a slick layer of pre-ejaculate around while my eyes remained locked on the gorgeous dancer before us.

“Look at her,” Fluttershy whispered, releasing my ear from her lips. “She’s so fucking hot.” She exhaled slowly, biting her lip. “Mmm, you and me; we’re gonna take turns fucking her senseless. Ohh...we’re gonna make her squeal SO loud...” A long, shaky breath warmed the side of my face again, followed by her lips caressing my cheek, delivering a peppering of sweet kisses as she began to stroke my erection inside my pants, causing me to shiver with delight.

“Touch me.” The order was delivered directly into my ear, accompanied by another hot breath.

I turned to look at her, ready to oblige, but was met with the unexpected challenge of trying not to laugh; the sound of such a soft, seductive voice could hardly be matched to that face, adorned with those phony whiskers and the dark patch painted around her right eye. I bit my lip to maintain composure as I reached across to grasp the zipper just below her chin, drawing the fastener downward to split the front of the loose, furry costume open.

Inside was a pleasant surprise indeed: Fluttershy was nude.

Her slender, yellow figure was revealed in all of its delicious splendor as the costume separated and fell open; her beasts were partially exposed, but the edges of the suit only strayed so far, keeping her nipples just barely covered, serving only to tease my prying eyes, further setting my libido ablaze as the zipper reached the end of its track.

The opening ended a few finches below her navel; what lay beyond that beckoned me to slip my hand inside and run my fingertips over that bare mound of hers, and the shy girl arched her hips upward in response as my fingertips reached their final destination between her warm, swollen lips. Fluttershy’s response came as a violent shiver, accompanied by a tightened grip on my erection, followed by a series of more aggressive and vigorous strokes, which caused my eyelids to flutter while I slipped my fingers into her delicate tightness, soaking them with the viscous moisture that filled her hot depths.

After a moment of pleasuring one another, I felt a pair of dainty hands come to rest on my knees. I opened my eyes to see Rarity bending over me; her breasts practically poured from that golden top like whipping cream, driving me mad with the urge to see them revealed, an urge that was hastened by the repeated jolts that fired through my body every time the shy girl’s hand pumped the shaft inside my pants.

I had little time to process it all before the fashionista’s delicious, pink lips planted themselves against mine. Her tongue slithered in and twirled around inside my mouth as her sweet scent and exquisite flavor filled my senses, overloading my brain with a sensory assault that collided with the sensation of Fluttershy’s relentless pleasuring, added to the feel of her moist heat bathing my fingers as I struggled to concentrate on stroking her.

Rarity’s tongue withdrew from my mouth after a moment of passionate sampling, and she shifted towards Fluttershy, planting her knee between the shy girl’s legs to lean over her in search of another pair of lips to feast upon. There was difficulty, however; the whiskers that adorned the shy girl’s cheeks poked Rarity’s face before their lips could meet, but a solution was quick to present itself: instead of bringing their lips together, they giggled playfully and reached forward to meet each other with their tongues.

I watched intently as the panting girls swirled their tongues together in mid-air, allowing me to see their saliva passing from one wiggling, pink muscle to the other while they closed their eyes and enjoyed each other’s sweet flavour. This breathtaking act eventually culminated in Rarity’s dark lips wrapping themselves tightly around Fluttershy’s tongue and then sliding up and down it’s length, sucking every drop of saliva from it as the shy girl’s nethers quivered around my fingers, overwhelmed with desire by the makeshift felatio that was being performed on her tongue.

From there, the remainder of the night became a blur; we left the couch shortly after Rarity’s approach and headed for the bedroom to continue our activities, prompting the removal of most articles of clothing along the way. By the time we reached the far end of the hall, Fluttershy had shed her costume so all that remained was the whiskers on her face, though they didn’t stay in place much longer either; one of them decided to end up stuck to the inside of Rarity’s thigh only moments after crawling onto the bed.

The only part of Rarity’s costume that left her body was the hard, golden top. With a pair of free breasts, she and Fluttershy set themselves to laying inverted together, sampling each other’s damp slits until an orgasm was drawn from them both.

Fluttershy rolled away and sat up, then wiped her mouth with her hand and pointed at me. "Your turn, big boy." I did as instructed and crawled over the fashionista, making sure the loin cloth was flipped onto her stomach so it wouldn't hinder my entry. Without hesitation, I sank fully into her burning, pink depths. Rarity wrapped her forearms around the back of my neck and brought our lips together as she accepted compensation for the seductive show she'd put on earlier; her voice resonated in my mouth, rising in pitch with each thrust until finally, she broke the kiss and threw her head back, howling wildly against the headboard as she arched her back to bring her shivering self against me while the blissful reward crashed over her, one intense wave after another.

When it was over, I sat up to prompt Fluttershy back into action, but was caught unprepared when her lips came out of nowhere and slammed against mine. Her tongue shot in and swept up sample of saliva —a mixture of mine and Rarity's— before bending down to pursue the tip of my erection after it was withdrawn from the fashionista. Fluttershy searched with closed eyes and an open mouth, missing once due to its bobbing and ending up with a slippery stamp on her cheek before finally catching it. She wrapped her lips around the head and sucked hungrily, tasting the smooth coating left behind by Rarity's pleasure while serving me a little more in the process.

Fluttershy shoved me out of the way after letting my length pop free of her mouth before diving into Rarity's soaked sex with insatiable hunger, causing the fashionista's breath to hitch when the unexpected pleasure returned and tore through her delicate, white frame.

Once another screeching climax was reached, both of them quickly crawled over me and planted their hungry mouths on my throbbing length. Their soft, moist lips —one pair of which coated with the other girl’s nectar— ran the length of my erection on each side, caressing, kissing and licking the swollen head, drawing that inevitable explosion toward the surface until it burst forth and erupted between their faces like a volcano, slathering their blushing cheeks with my hot, thick fluid.

With the brown spot around her eye streaked down her cheek by the viscous, white mess, Fluttershy crawled over Rarity and kissed her furiously, aroused to the point of madness when she saw the sparkling, blue make-up above the fashionista’s left eye washed away in part by the cum, which had ran down over her brow and was carrying the vivid colour across her temple.

As the girls kept their lips locked, Fluttershy ground her body against Rarity’s, pressing their plump breasts together as she straddled the svelte hips of her girlfriend, whose knees were elevated and legs spread, giving me a splendid view of both of their glistening, pink creases.

With scenery like this, it was not difficult for me to recover. Sitting at the foot of the bed, my manhood stood at attention yet again, ready for more. I made my way across the bed and settled myself between the entangled legs of Fluttershy and Rarity to have my choice of lovely, wet openings presented to me.

Fluttershy let a muffled squeal of delight into Rarity’s mouth when she was unexpectedly entered from behind; she followed with an unbroken chorus of moans as I speared her depths vigorously until they exploded and spasmed violently, filled with rigid, orgasmic bliss.

It was Rarity’s turn next. I withdrew from between Fluttershy’s glistening, pink petals, aimed my soaked length downwards to meet the fashionista’s porcelain slit and then thrust forth, sheathing myself in her tight, welcoming heat. Rarity was quick to return her own howls to Fluttershy’s mouth as I worked her flesh into a tingling mess, using my ample girth to churn her nethers into a pulsating, squirting frenzy, raising the pitch of her moans as they resonated loudly within the shy girl’s cheeks.

I decided to remain inside Rarity for the time being, and I proceeded to devastate her with two more climaxes, after which I could feel another explosion beginning to build inside me, so I went for it; hammering the pale-skinned beauty’s tender flesh until I was swollen and ready to burst.

It didn’t take long; I went off like a stick of dynamite and painted Rarity’s basement with a generous helping of gooey warmth, eliciting a muffled hum of delight from her when she felt it happen.

Just after the first few shots were fired though, I quickly withdrew from Rarity and found a new home inside Fluttershy —unleashing one stray shot between them along the way— where I released the remainder of the hot mess from my pulsing length, flooding the tall, pink-haired girl’s depths with warmth and satisfaction.

Once the pleasure had subsided and it was all over, I slipped myself from Fluttershy’s firm grip and flopped back across the foot of the bed to watch the aftermath.

The sight of it was nothing short of exquisite. A stream of white syrup poured from between the shy girl’s pink folds onto the swollen crease below; much of it dribbled down and mixed with the white pearl that sat in the opening at the base of Rarity’s vulva, but some of it ended up drizzled in a zig-zag pattern across that purple landing strip of hers, giving it the deceptive appearance of some sort of fancy, delicious dessert.

After one more sloppy kiss, Fluttershy rolled off to lay on Rarity’s left, leaving me a free spot to lay on her right. Aside from the panting, the three of us laid in silence and stared at the ceiling, mutually ruminating about how wonderful it was to be back together, left alone to do as we pleased in the shy girl’s secluded house, hidden deep in the woods.

Fluttershy’s hands were cupped over her own breasts, idly massaging them as she stared at the ceiling with that brown spot around her eye, blurred by the hot splash that had ended up on her face while the remnants of my second load wept from between her legs.

Rarity looked much the same; the loin cloth was flipped up and resting on her belly with her hands laid across it. Her abdomen, landing strip and crotch were decorated with the leakage that had drizzled from hers and Fluttershy’s crease, leaving her a glistening, warm mess. The black wig was long gone and her makeup was partially rinsed away after being doused by cum, most of which still remained, dyed an odd creamy-blue colour as it clung to her temple, right next to her hairline.

I was the cleanest of the bunch, save for my manhood, which was soaked in a mixture of all three of our fluids.

After a spell of silence that lasted for a time unknown to us, we began to talk quietly back and forth. It was only Monday, and we were discussing how we should spend the remainder of the week; while it was nice for the three of us to spend time together like this, we decided to use the abundance of free nights to focus on our individual affections for one another, meaning: two of us would spend a night together, while the third would do their own thing until it was their night to partner-up with someone.

So, with no other way to decide, we drew names.

*****

On Tuesday night, it was me and Fluttershy.

Rarity spent the night at the boutique, catching up on her work. She kept a close ear on the police scanner, listening for any activity that might call for her to suit up and take action, but no such events materialised, so her night turned out to be a quiet one.

The shy girl and I stayed home and watched TV after supper, snuggled up on the chaise lounge.

It was still early in the evening, however, when things got heated and she ended up lying on her belly between my legs with her lips wrapped around my erection. It was a blowjob without purpose or intent; rather she did it simply for the love of doing it, and as a result, it lasted well over an hour. It was slow and methodical, gentle and smooth, but a man can only take so much and eventually, the soft touch of her lips and teasing tongue became too much. With a calmness that would put even a buddhist monk to shame, Fluttershy kept her lips firmly wrapped around my head as I pulsed and jerked violently, firing shot-after-shot of boiling hot nectar into her mouth, filling her taste buds with my salty, mildly bitter flavour. Afterwards, she let her lips slide off of me and then rolled the load around in her mouth with her tongue, giving me a sultry smirk before she drank it down and licked her lips with satisfaction.

With that over, she stood and lifted her skirt, showing off the soaked and semi-transparent crotch of her plain, white panties. As I stared intently at the pair of yellow lips pressed against the inside of that thin, wet fabric, she pointed down the hall to the bedroom, indicating that she had more in mind for us. This was somewhat unexpected, given the relaxed attitude she’d had towards the blowjob; with the amount of time spent on it, I figured that was all she had intended to do, and when I asked her about it, her response was: “Well, um…we have all night, big boy. And besides, I can’t fuck on an empty stomach.”

“Works for me,” I replied, and so we made our way down the hall to the bed, leaving a trail of clothes the entire way.

We then proceeded to make love three times, switching positions frequently, being sure to try every method of pleasure-giving we could think of. The first two times ended with me filling her with more of my warm load, but on the third we had taken a break from intercourse to pleasure each other with our mouths and hands, and she managed to bring about my third release using her gentle grip, receiving a warm spatter across her collarbones, breasts and down her belly.

Spent, we laid together and stared at the ceiling like the night before, chatting innocently while the slathering of cum that coated the shy girl's body dried on her hot skin. The quiet and carefree conversation continued until dawn; however, just when the sun began so rise, so did I. Fluttershy and I decided to finish our night on a high note with one more session, which turned out to be the longest of the night, lasting well into mid-morning before I finally released another payload into her—on the kitchen counter.

*****

On Wednesday night, Rarity and Fluttershy had their time together.

I decided to go to the shop and clean up a bit. There was still a horrendous mess from installing the new turbo in my truck back in mid-September, so I figured it was about time I got that looked after.

Once that was under control, there wasn’t much else to do, so I just alternated between watching TV in the corner room and sorting scrap metal. I found myself wishing I could go join the girls, but it was their night to spend together and I wasn’t about to violate that.

If Sunset hadn’t left town to talk business with Twilight’s brother, I most likely would have gone to pay her a visit; a visit that may or may not have ended with her receiving a noise violation from the other tenants in her building, complaining of an incessant sceaming that went on all hours of the night.

Rarity started the night by taking Fluttershy out for dinner at a restaurant of her choice, which ended up being that 50’s Diner that the shy girl and I went to after our first time together. Rarity resisted the urge to protest; after all, greasy diner food was certainly not her forte, but for Fluttershy, Rarity would force herself to eat at a sewage plant if it came down to it.

After dinner, the two went for a walk in the woods, hand-in-hand. Fluttershy enjoyed the surrounding nature, the sounds of the animals around them, and the scent of the crisp autumn air.

And Rarity enjoyed Fluttershy. Nature was not her favourite thing, but Fluttershy was, and like the diner, Rarity was happy to endure any level of discomfort to be with her sweet, innocent girlfriend.

To be clear, this was the same sweet and innocent girlfriend who, barely an hour later had Rarity bent over in the shower, leaning on the faucets with her delicate, white hands as the shy girl stood behind her with one hand on the small of her back and the thumb of her other hand buried deep inside Rarity’s tight depths. Fluttershy’s index and middle fingers remained outside to stroke her girlfriend’s clit as she pumped vigorously, sending intense jolts of electricity up the fashionista’s spine and down to the tips of her toes.

“F-Fluttershy…I…I, ahhh! Do NOT stop, darling! I’m going to cu…HUMM! Oh god, YES! I…I love it!

With her thumb inside her girlfriend, Fluttershy could feel Rarity’s flesh clenching and pulsating tightly when the orgasm struck. She never relented, however; smiling deviously as her thumb pumped away at the poor wailing fashionista, she watched the warm water pinging endlessly off her girlfriend’s back, running around her quivering body to drip from her stiff nipples, steady streams running from the tips of her long, dark hair.

Rarity’s orgasmic voice carried shrill throughout the house. Her body quivered uncontrollably, her legs buckling under the stress of such mind-numbing sensation; it was intense, permeating and overwhelming, leaving her with nothing to support her own weight when her knees turned to spaghetti, letting her drop to the bottom of the tub in a panting, wet heap.

They were out of the tub within minutes, Rarity asking for a towel and Fluttershy refusing.

“We don’t need towels,” Fluttershy explained, leading a naked, wet Rarity to the middle of her bedroom, her smooth, white skin covered with sparkling beads of water.

“What d’you mean, darling? Of course we-“

“Close your eyes,” Fluttershy ordered, to which Rarity complied. The shy girl’s tongue came out and she leaned in to dab a few droplets from her girlfriend’s cheeks and lips, eliciting a sweet giggle from Rarity, who shrugged her shoulders and shivered with delight.

“Oh my, Fluttershy! That tickles, but...I must admit, it does feel quite lovely,” Rarity whispered as she awaited the feel of the shy girl’s lips and tongue on her face again, but she suddenly felt strangely alone and opened her eyes to find an empty room before her.

She had no chance to call the shy girl’s name; before she knew it, a pair of lips had planted themselves upon the left cheek of her derrière, sucking up more beads of water like a vacuum from her goosebump-ridden skin as graceful hands came to rest on her hips, causing her to draw a deep gasp of excitement.

Fluttershy continued this highly arousing act for some time, lapping the clean, fresh tasting water from every inch of Rarity’s flawless, white frame. When the shy girl was finished, Rarity was no drier, but she was certainly aroused to the point where her body could not remain still; her hips gyrated perpetually in search of something to grind her throbbing slit against, desperate to have her desire sated after such ruthless teasing.

Without warning, Fluttershy shoved Rarity rather unceremoniously onto the bed and hastily climbed over her, smirking devilishly as the pale beauty stared up at her with wide eyes, unprepared for such a forceful advance.

“Oh Fluttershy…what are you planning to do with me?”

Fluttershy continued to smirk as she hooked her forearm under Rarity’s knee and lifted her leg into the air, then straddled her other thigh, letting her own eager slit hover directly above her girlfriend’s. “You remember what you did to me Saturday morning, when everyone else was outside?”

Rarity drew in a gasp. She knew exactly what the shy girl was referring to, and the anticipation set her on fire, especially when she felt the heat radiating from Fluttershy’s slit onto her own, tantalizing her with such close proximity.

“Well,” Fluttershy continued, cocking an eyebrow, “tonight, it’s MY turn to drive.”

*****

Thursday night was all about me and Rarity.

Fluttershy stayed home that night, curled up in her chaise lounge with the TV on, snuggled up with Link and Angel at her side. She was busy playing with her new phone, which she had gotten earlier that afternoon—along with a new bank card and a few other items of basic importance.

I went to Rarity’s that evening. When I arrived, she surprised me by answering the door in a rather lovely, black cocktail dress. She led me inside to the dining room, where she’d set up an exquisitely beautiful candle lit dinner, consisting of a very authentic home-made version of Pad Thai.

I quickly apologized for not dressing up a little nicer for the occasion, but Rarity was indifferent; she admitted that she hadn’t told me that there would be a formal dinner, and was quick to point out that I was unable to shave and would be ‘forever scruffy’ anyway, reminding me that that was how she knew me and that it was honestly how she preferred it.

I was pleasantly surprised by Rarity’s culinary expertise; all this time I thought Fluttershy was the only gourmet chef of the group, but Rarity’s Pad Thai turned out to be quite delicious, and I found myself going back for seconds, much to her delight.

She sat across from me and talked quietly, watching with a loving smile as I finished my second plate of the tasty mixture of noodles, vegetables and meat. Once finished, I set the silverware on the plate and the two of us talked quietly for a few minutes, reminiscing on the six months that we’d known each other, and the irony of how we met through a chance encounter on the side of the road, all because of a bad alternator.

Eventually, Rarity stood and made her way around to my side of the table. I pushed my chair back to stand, but she put her hand out to stop me.

“No no, you stay put, darling” she instructed, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Your dessert is ready, whenever you are.”

“Ooh…” I took a deep breath, giving my stomach a pat. “I’m not sure if I left any room for that, to be honest.”

Rarity raised a knowing brow. “Well, you don’t really need room for this dessert, per se,” she smirked as she slid my plate aside and sat on the table in front of me.

“Oh?”

“Mm-hmmm.” She leaned back and rested her high heels on my thighs, eyeing me up with a devious smirk as she slowly, tantalizingly slid the dress up her milky-white thighs.

Without moving, I watched intently as the fabric was lifted past her hips to unveil the glistening, ripe womanhood waiting beneath. Her underwear was nowhere to be found, and I was left staring at something that did in fact look quite delicious, and was quick to reinvigorate my appetite.

“Oh boy,” I said, rubbing my chin. “That just so happens to be my favorite, Rare. How did you know?”

She giggled. “Just a hunch, darling. You’ve always seemed to enjoy it before, so I took the
liberty of putting it on the menu for tonight.”

And with that, she draped her things over my shoulders and laid across the table with her eyes closed, allowing me to lean in and feast away at the exquisite, warm treat. This activity went on for close to fifteen minutes, ending with an arched back, a shrill squeal and two tight fistfuls of tablecloth, after which she sat up and promptly slid off the edge of the table.

“Time for bed, darling,” she panted through a frazzled lock of indigo as she took me by the hand and hastily lead me down the hall to descend the steps into her room. That cocktail dress was flung over her head in short order, leaving her in nothing but a red bra, which itself went missing only seconds later.

I had begun to take my clothes off as well, but was nowhere near as fast as the fashionista was, so she approached to help me undress, keeping her lips connected to mine the entire time.

“More dessert?” she asked, between kisses.

“Sure,” I said, pausing to receive another kiss. “Sounds good.”

“I believe I’ll have some too, if that’s alright,” she gasped, her movements becoming more impetuous by the minute. Once the last article was removed, she pointed a little, white finger at the bed, saying nothing.

I settled down onto the mattress on my back. Rarity was quick to join me; her knees found themselves resting on each side of my head as she straddled my mouth and faced my feet, then leaned forward onto her hands, positioning her face directly over my throbbing length.

We feasted on one another for what seemed like an eternity, savoring the taste of each other’s excitement while enjoying the mutual pleasures given, until finally, the session was brought to a close when her heavenly mouth drew an immense deluge of fluid from deep inside me. Blindsided by pleasure, I couldn’t gather my thoughts enough to do anything more than reach up and grasp the smooth, white backside above me as I nuzzled my left cheek into her thigh, panting heavily against her hot crease as I pumped her mouth full of delicious, creamy dessert.

She moaned incessantly throughout the ordeal, inundated with the flavor of the very substance that had been planted inside her many times before; the same substance that had created a new way of life for her, some of her friends, and for her dear, beloved Fluttershy.

Once the flow had subsided and I knew she’d swallowed every last drop, I wrapped my arms around the small of her back and lifted my head to plant a kiss on her vulva one last time. Then she dismounted and spun herself around to lie next to me, resting her head on my shoulder.

We did not stay idle for long. Only a few minutes had passed before she was on top of me again, sitting on my hips this time to take me inside her. She remained upright, riding vigorously and without relent as I reached up and held onto her breasts, closing my eyes to listen to her breathing; so hot and heavy—a very exciting sound to hear, especially when you have someone like Rarity riding you as though her life depended on it. Occasionally, she would come down and grate her soft breasts against me as she kissed my face and neck before sitting up halfway to lean on my chest, grinding her wet self into a frazzled, panting mess. Every time, she would end up vertical again, lacing our hands together and thrusting her hips with such vigorous enthusiasm that the bed sounded like it might give out. Eventually, the inevitable happened; I swelled quite rapidly and burst straight up inside her, filling her churning depths with another payload of hot, satisfying payoff.

With a victorious smirk, she sat for a moment, impaled on my twitching mast as she exhaled slowly, then eventually rolled off and flopped down beside me with an uncharacteristic indifference to the fact that she’d spilled her gift all over me and the bed. She laid quietly in all her alabaster glory, staring at the ceiling with those brilliantly hypnotic sapphires of hers, her bust heaving with each breath, blissfully content, enjoying the afterglow. She was lying spread-eagle, bearing all to the room with her knees pointed at the edges of the ceiling, her legs quivering like dried leaves in the breeze.

“Ooohhhh my…” Rarity sighed, looking down at her trembling limbs. “Look at me, darling,” she giggled, “I cannot keep my legs still!” She reached down and pressed her palms to her thighs, rubbing them firmly in a vain attempt to regain control. “I think I…spent more time cumming than not cumming during that last bit,” she chortled, looking to me with an amorous smirk before rolling onto her side to lay with her head against my shoulder.

A few minutes passed. Her eyes were closed when she drew a deep, relaxed breath. "Mmmmmmm...a perfect end to a perfect evening. Thank you, my love."

*****

Friday night the three of us spent together again. We took a break from sex for the night just to spend some quiet time together; having supper, watching movies, talking, going for a walk down the road, which was a compromise in Rarity’s favor, who preferred to steer clear of the woods for once.

It had been decided that day to have the Saturday dinner at Fluttershy’s again, and she and Rarity had offered to cook, so the two of them set to planning what they were going to make in the early hours of Saturday morning.

About an hour after the sun had risen, Fluttershy and Rarity were curled up on the couch together, talking amongst themselves while I was just about to start brewing myself a morning coffee.

I don’t know why I drank coffee. Obviously, I didn’t need the caffeine from it, but at some point in history I had noticed how regular people seemed to like it first thing in the morning, so I eventually tried it and lo and behold, I rather enjoyed it. Something about the warmth and flavor just seemed to set the day in motion a little more smoothly, so it became a semi-regular habit of mine.

Today however, it was not to be.

There was a knock at the door.

“Hm,” I mumbled as I set the empty cup down on the counter and went to answer it.

It turned out to be someone I didn’t quite expect.

“Oh hey,” I greeted.

“Howdy, sugarcube,” she replied, tipping her hat.

I was unsure of what to say for a moment, but was quick to catch myself before staring too long. “Uhh, h-how was your week?” I asked, forcing the first question I could think of.

Applejack shrugged. “Eh. You know: busy, tirin; same old shit.” She opened her mouth for a yawn, peering over my shoulder into the house. “What’d you guys get up ta this week?” she asked, smacking her lips.

“Oh…we uh...” —I glanced over my shoulder towards the couch— “did a lot of...catching up…on, uh…”

Applejack got the hint pretty quick and she put her hand up, shaking her head. “It’s OK, I-I get it. Ya don’t need ta…finish that.”

I nodded. “Thanks.”

Applejack placed her hands on her hips and chewed her lip idly, staring into space.

I watched her for a moment, waiting to see what she might say, which turned out to be nothing. “So…what brings you here so early this morning?” I asked, raising an inquisitive brow.

She snapped out of the trance and briefly stared at me with wide eyes. “Oh...well, ya see, my truck’s been wanderin a lot lately.” She pointed over her shoulder at the old Ford in the driveway. “It’s startin ta get hard ta keep on the road, ya know? So...I was just wonderin if ya had a minute ta take a look at it.”

“Yeah, sure,” I said, somewhat relieved that she was here for something simple. “Just let me throw my boots on and we’ll have a boo at it.”

Author's Note

Initially, the idea was to have Fluttershy dress up as the flutterbat for Halloween, that way both her and Rarity would be dressed sexy. Eventually, I decided that it was a tad out of character for her to dress up as something scary since she’s not really a fan of Halloween (her pony version isn’t, anyway) so I came up with the over-the-top cute puppy outfit instead.

Also I think I might have a porn addiction.

Chapter 91: A Day With Applejack

Chapter 91

“Nah, just wiggle the wheel back and forth a bit.”

Applejack sat on the seat of her truck, keeping her feet on the ground as she gripped the steering wheel and turned it back and forth.

I got down on my hands and knees to look under the front of the truck and observe the steering linkage. “Wow.”

Applejack stopped what she was doing so she could hear me. “Huh?”

I stood up, shaking my head. “Drag link's falling out and both tie rods are fucked.”

“Dang,” she grumbled, slamming the driver’s door shut and shaking her head. “Eh...I s’pose it could always be worse though, right?” she reasoned, after a short pause.

“Well we’ve still gotta finish checking it,” I said, making her look at me with a bit of worry. I pointed to the driver's front wheel. “We still gotta jack it up and check the ball joints.”

“Ugh,” she rolled her eyes. “Well, hopefully they’ll be alright; I don’t wanna sink too much money inta this old pig.” She paused when she noticed that I was looking at her. “So…you got a jack here or what?”

“Yup.”

She stood still for a moment, confused, waiting for me to elaborate. “Alright, so...where is it?” she shrugged.

“I’m looking at it.”

Applejack furrowed her brows for a second, then looked down at herself, realising what I meant. “Ah…dang.”

I let out a quiet chuckle as I watched AJ take her hat off and toss it onto the hood. “Yup, it’s an Apple-jack,” I joked.

“Yeah yeah,” she grunted as she got down on her hands and knees and crawled under the driver’s side of the truck.

I shimmied under the front bumper and tapped the front axle with my hand. “Lift ‘er here, AJ, would you please?” I instructed.

“Gotcha.” Lying on her back, she placed her hand on the heavy, cast-iron beam and pushed. With a grunt, the farm girl hoisted the truck from the ground, earning a deep groan from the old iron as it creaked its way into the air.

“Ok…” I sighed, scrutinizing the front-end components like a doctor checks his patient. After grabbing the wheel and jiggling it back and forth, up and down and taking a peek at the brakes, I instructed Applejack to set the truck down. We then turned over and repeated the process on the other side.

“Well?” she grunted as she let the wheel come to rest on the ground and then dusted her hands off.

“All four ball joints are about to fall out.”

“Fuck!” she winced, letting her head rest on the ground, rubbing her eyelids.

“How does this thing stop?” I asked, laying on my side to look past the axle at her.

“Not great. Why?”

“Your brakes are gone too.”

She sighed, looking down at the gravel beneath her.

“Well it could be worse,” I said, pointing up into the old machine. ”Your steering box is OK and the shaft is good, springs and shocks look...OK; uh, there’s no major oil leaks anywhere, and the tires…” I paused to look at them. “Well, they have tread on them, but they’re chopped to shit cuz you’ve got all these loose parts up here. I bet they hum pretty loud going down the road, eh?”

“Yeah…it’s pretty noisy,” she grumbled. “Fuck sakes! What’s all this is gonna cost me, d’ya think?”

“Let’s find out.” I reached under the truck towards Applejack, hand open. “You mind if I borrow your phone?”

She glanced at me for a second with those bright, emerald eyes. “Sure,” she mumbled after a pause, looking down at herself to fish her phone from her pocket. “Here ya go,” she said, handing it to me.

I turned the phone on and dialed the parts supplier, then held it to my ear. Lying on my back, I listened to it ring, idly running my fingers through my hair while Applejack laid on her side, watching me from behind the front axle.

Finally, an answer. “Hey Al,” I said, pausing. “Yeah, I know…long time, no see.” Another pause. “Oh, yeah I was away on extended vacation. Places to go, people to see; you know the drill. So listen: ’78 F-250; I’m looking for all four ball joints, both tie rods and both ends of the drag link, both adjuster sleeves, and front brake pads, rotors and calipers.” A pause, then I nodded. “'78. Yes, I’m serious.”

I sighed, waiting on the line as Al looked up the parts on the computer. Applejack laid in silence, chewing her lip as she waited for the bad news.

“OK,” I finally said, with a nod. “For all of it?...OK, hang on.” I set the phone on my chest and turned to AJ. “Six-fifty for everything, taxes in.”

Sticker-shocked, her eyebrows went up in disgust. “Six-fifty!? God dang it!”

“Well, I don't know what to tell you, AJ; you’re either gonna have to fix it or park it because it’s not safe to drive like this.”

She let her head rest on her shoulder, rolling her eyes. “Fine. How long till we can get the parts?”

I put the phone to my ear. “Hey. How long to order that stuff in?” I paused briefly, then my eyebrows rose suddenly. “Seriously? No shit! All of it?" I paused for a second, before letting out a small chuckle. "Haha! Yeah, I bet they’re dusty. Hang on a sec.”

I set the phone on my chest again, facing AJ. “They have everything in stock. We could go get it right now and then go to my shop to put it in. I bet you we could probably have it all done by this afternoon.”

“This afternoon?” Applejack repeated. “I dunno, I wasn’t really plannin on doin all this today; plus, that’s a lotta money ta spend on such short notice.”

“AJ…if you were paying retail plus labour, it’d be well over two-grand to get this work done.”

“WHUT!?”

“Yeah. You’re paying my cost on the parts, and I’m not gonna charge you labour—obviously—and we can get it done today and be back in time for supper.”

“Hold up, are you sure about that? Ain’t this gonna be a piss-load a' work?”

“Not for me, it’s not. It’ll be a breeze. I say go for it. It’s a good deal, AJ.”

She paused for a spell, studying the gravel beneath her. After considering it for a moment, she looked at me again with an enthusiastic grin. “Alright then, fine. Giddy-up, partner; let’s git 'er done!”

“OK,” I replied, returning the phone to my ear. “Al? We’ll be there in about forty-five minutes…Yup. Thanks.”

After ending the call, I handed the blonde her phone. “Let’s go.”

We crawled out from under the truck and headed inside for a moment to tell Rarity and Fluttershy what we were doing, to which they were fairly indifferent; apparently they had no real plans for me around the house that day other than dinner, which Rarity informed us was at 4:00pm sharp, and that we were NOT to be late!

*****

I let Applejack follow me to my shop in her truck, where she parked and then joined me in my truck to drive to the parts store.

It was slightly awkward at first. Applejack and I hadn’t spent very much time alone together; certainly not for this long.

“So…” I said, seeing if I could get the ball rolling.

“So…?” she replied, glancing over at me, adjusting her hat.

Admittedly, it was a bit of a struggle to think of something to talk about. “Uh…have you heard from Pinks at all this week?”

She drew a breath and shook her head before replying. “Nah…didn’t hear from ‘er.”

“Hm.” I returned my eyes to the road. “Do you think she got along with her sisters this week?”

Applejack shrugged. “Who knows. They’re a strange bunch, them Pies. I used ta go over there all the time fer movie nights with Pinkie Pie, but lately, her family’s been gettin weird and overbearin and I honestly don’t much care fer goin over there anymore.”

“How long has this been going on for?” I asked.

“Eh, pretty much since she moved back home,” AJ replied. “It’s been on a steady incline ever since, but it got real bad just in the last month, what with Fluttershy bein gone and all.”

I glanced over at her with an arched brow. “Really?”

“Ah yeah. From what I heard, she had this rip-roarin fight with her sisters just before Thanksgivin, and she started stayin at Fluttershy’s house pretty much all the time after that.” Applejack chuckled and gave her head a little shake. “Every time I went over there ta cut the grass, Pinkie Pie was in the house, watchin TV er somethin.”

“What were they fighting about?”

“Ah who knows. Limestone is such a territorial bitch ‘bout everythin, and Maud has been….just…I dunno. Though, I don’t know if that was really the problem, ta be honest with ya.”

“What do you mean? You think Pinkie is the problem?” I asked, glancing at her.

“Well…maybe. I mean, Maud ain’t been right lately either.” Applejack shook her head. “Them girls all need ta git their own place and move the fuck out. I know their dad likes havin ‘em all under one roof and all—I mean, really, he’s just havin a hard time lettin ‘em go, which is sweet an’ all— but it ain’t doin ‘em any good bein cooped up at home like that. Much longer, and they’ll be at each other’s dang throats tryin ta strangle each other ta death.”

“Hm.” I sighed, chewing my lip for a moment. “But…wait, what were you saying about Fluttershy being gone? Like…you think that made it worse?”

“Yeah, I think so.” AJ nodded. “Like I said, Pinkie Pie was stayin at Fluttershy’s most of the time. I think Fluttershy bein gone really bothered her —I mean, it bothered all a’ us— but Pinkie seemed like she was out of it a lot if the time, even though Rainbow didn’t think so.”

“Rainbow?”

“Aw,” Applejack waved dismissively. “Rainbow Dash was insistin that Pinkie was fine cuz she was still actin like her usual nut-job self, but I know Pinkie better than that. And ta tell ya the truth, Rainbow ain’t been right lately either.”

“Oh?”

AJ shook her head. “Nah, I just been noticin somethin off about her lately too; probably just cuz a’ Fluttersy bein gone. I dunno.” She paused to yawn, finishing her sentiment in loud, open-mouthed words. “I’m sure she’ll be fine now that Fluttershy’s back though. Everythin‘ll probably start gettin back ta business as usual b’fore long.”

I nodded. “So what about Pinks? You said she didn’t seem right?”

“Ah yeah…Pinkie’s…I dunno. She’s a tough one ta read; when somethin’s botherin her, she hides it behind that big smile and all that crazy bullshit, and it takes someone who’s known her fer a long time ta see through it.” Applejack paused to shift her position in the seat. “Pinkie’s a lot like Maud in that way: see, they both hide everything they’re thinkin and feelin behind their personalities. It’s just that they act so different; like, Maud’s basically got the personality of fuckin roadkill, and Pinkie’s just a gigglin shit-fest,” —she paused to glance at me, smirking— “although...I mean, I guess ya already knew that, didn’t ya?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

Applejack shook her head and looked down at her lap. “I know they seem like polar opposites, but Pinkie and Maud are a lot more similar than ya think, and I really think that Fluttershy being gone brought out all the problems Pinkie’s being havin with her family lately.”

“Hm,” I mumbled, focusing on something through the windshield. “Hey,” I said, pointing to the bent guard rail as we approached the curve. “This is where it happened.”

Applejack glanced at me with wide eyes, then her face drained of its colour when she saw the damaged rail. “What, Fluttershy?”

“Yup, she killed six men here,” I explained. “Look,” —I pointed into the woods— “the trees are still broken from where the truck flipped over.”

AJ shook her head. “Dang,” she said. Then she frowned. “Hey Golds? I don’t get it; how did she lose ta them guys? She’s so tough now, and bein out here in the woods, she shoulda had all the help in the world. Whaddaya think happened?”

I sighed, turning the wheel slightly to round the bend, watching as the scene of the crime shrunk into obscurity in the rear-view mirror. “Well, let’s just say she learned a valuable lesson that day—two actually; one:” —I raised a finger— “if you have an arsenal at your disposal, use it.” —I raised a second finger— “And two: always go with your first instinct.”

“First instinct?”

“Well, she had the chance to escape into the woods,” I explained, “but she changed her mind and came back to finish them off. She almost did it, too; Cody was the only one left, but once he got those cuffs on her, it was all over.”

“Hm.” Applejack nodded and then sighed, staring through the windshield, deep in thought.

Indeed, the conversation had put us both into a spell of silent rumination, and for the rest of the trip to the parts store, we thought about the shy girl’s recent plight, listening to the endless chatter of the heavy diesel as it hammered away under the hood.

*****

Eventually, we made it to the parts store, picked everything up, paid, loaded it into the back of the truck and began the trip back to my shop.

It was quiet in the cab for the first fifteen minutes or so; if I didn’t know better, I would have thought that Applejack enjoyed the sound of a diesel as much as I did.

Eventually, however, the farm girl broke the silence with loud and rather unladylike yawn.

I glanced over at her, secretly pondering what it must feel like to be tired. “Hey, am I keeping you awake over there?”

She finished and closed her mouth quickly, then looked at me somewhat sheepishly.

I couldn’t help but laugh at her response. “You’re like a fuckin hippopotamus today; did you not get enough sleep last night?”

“Uh,” she looked down at her hands, studying the calluses on her palms. “I…actually didn’t sleep much all week.”

“Oh? Howcome?”

She sighed, chewing her lip with an obvious reluctance to answer.

“Something bothering you?”

She drew a breath to speak. “Kinda…well, I mean, yeah. I s’pose.”

I glanced back and forth from her to the road, waiting to see if she was going to continue. When she didn’t, I shrugged somewhat impatiently. “OK...so what is it?”

With a sigh, she turned away from me to look out of her window. “Somethin Fluttershy said last weekend…when we was talkin ‘bout her bein captured.”

I watched her, but remained silent, waiting for her to continue.

“Um,” she paused again, then turned to look at me, “when she was talkin ‘bout them tests. It uh…it bothered me a lot.”

I nodded. “Oh…yeah, some of that stuff was pretty fucked up.”

“It was the fire,” she blurted out quite suddenly, making me look over at her. “That one bothered me the most,” she continued, closing her eyes.

“What about it bothered you?”

Applejack re-opened her eyes and stared through the windshield. “Well…I mean…what if she weren’t immune ta it?”

“Ahh,” I nodded, realising what she was getting at.

“I just,” she paused to shake her head, huffing out a tense breath, “I can’t get it outta my head; Fluttershy, alone in there, scared outta her britches…what if they hit her with that fire and she didn’t survive it? What if she got…burned alive?” She closed her eyes again and swallowed, trying to shut the horrific scene out of her mind. “I can’t, I mean…she’s always been such a nice girl, a pretty girl, y’know? And...I just can’t get that dang image outta my mind of…you know, her bein engulfed in flames, screamin, her hair burnin off, her skin…just…”

I sighed, looking over at Applejack as she trailed off, staring into the distance. “It probably doesn’t help that you’re thinking about it so vividly, but I get where you’re coming from.”

“I-I know,” she said, looking back at me.

We drove in silence for a few minutes. Eventually, something came into my mind and I looked over at the blonde again. “Hey, is that why you were all spaced-out on the couch last week? When you went to go get a fritter from the table?”

She chewed her lip for a moment, and then nodded. “Yeah.”

“Hm,” I said, looking ahead again. “Sunny and I thought something was up; you really didn’t seem quite right for a bit there.”

“Nah, it...it bothered me somethin fierce; I hardly slept a wink all week b‘cuz of it,” she replied.

“Hey…” I reached over and patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’re immune to everything. Trust me.”

“Yeah…I know.” She sighed. “I just couldn’t help but think it. I still just…I can’t believe Fluttershy had ta go through all that.”

“Well hey,” I shrugged, “what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, right? And Flutters, she definitely came out of it a stronger person.”

*****

After returning to my shop, we carried the parts inside and brought Applejack’s old Ford into the bay, lifted it on the hoist, and went to work fixing up the front-end.

The conversations continued to become more interesting as the day went on.

“Y’ know…” she was saying as she worked at ratcheting the brake caliper bolt out, “I been thinkin a lot lately, what with all this nonsense goin on with Fluttershy: could the same thing happen ta any of us?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, before whacking the pitman arm with a hammer to knock the drag link out of its taper.

“Like, if they find out more of us have powers er whatever, d’ya think they’ll come fer us too?”

“Um…no.” I shook my head, studying the nuts on the tie rod ends; this was a rusty old truck, and I could tell it wasn’t going to come apart without a fight. “Mainly because the organisation that took Fluttershy is pretty much defunct, at least for the time being. Plus, Sunny threatened the owner pretty hard if they ever came sniffing around here again.” I paused to let out a chuckle and then I shook my head. “She uh…she sure can have a mean streak about her, eh?”

Applejack replied with a chuckle of her own, glancing away from what she was doing. “Who, Sunset? Heh! You don’t know the half a’ it; you shoulda seen her when she first came ta CHS. I don’t think I ever seen such a rotten cunt in all my life!”

“So I’ve heard,” I replied, finding myself thinking about Sunset’s cunt. “But anyway, I don’t think we’ll be seeing too much of them anymore, and apparently the CIA isn’t really interested in us either, so I think we’re in the clear for now, at least. Plus, Sunny read a few of those guys who attacked us in the desert and she picked up quite a bit of info from them, so she’ll know what to expect if they try anything.”

“Well that’s good, I s’pose,” she said, sliding the caliper off the rotor to set it aside. “Still…” she continued, ”I been thinkin a lot about, like, what I would do if some a’ them showed up at the farm. What would I do? What about my family? Big Mac, Cherilee, Apple Bloom, Granny…would I be able ta protect them?”

“Well, that’s a tough question,” I replied. “You do have super strength, which is good, but can you fight? Do you have good tactical awareness?”

Applejack shook her head. “Not really. I mean, I’ve always been pretty tough…and yeah, I got my strength, but what if they have guns? My strength don’t mean shit if they can just shoot my ass from across the room.”

“Yeah,” I mumbled as I spun one of the tie rod nuts off with the impact gun. “You’d be kind of fucked if they were armed, which they most likely would be if they’re with the organisation.”

“Well, ya see? I’d be screwed,” she replied. “And I wouldn’t be able ta protect mah family properly…I mean, unless I was like you.”

Her statement caught me by surprise, given the insinuation it carried. We stared at each other for a moment, feeling the awkwardness created in the wake of her revelation. Finally, her freckled cheeks began to flush slightly, and she quickly turned away.

“So, uh…would ya happen ta have one a’ them fancy axle-nut sockets fer this thing? I gotta get off…er, get the rotor off, I mean,” she corrected, huffing with embarrassment.

“Uh, yeah…sorry, I do…somewhere,” I stammered, trying to sound casual as I set the impact gun on the floor. “I’ll have to take a look around for it; it’s been quite a while since I’ve worked on an old rig like this.”

“No doubt,” she chuckled, resting a forearm on the steering knuckle as she adjusted her hat with the other. Then she cleared her throat, waiting for me to return.

I rummaged around in the old tool boxes along the rear wall, searching for the special socket needed to remove the eight-toothed nut. “So, AJ?” I called across the shop.

“Eeyup?”

“I thought you didn’t want to...you know, make the change...cuz of your family?”

“Ah…yeah, well…yeah, that’s right,” she replied. “I-I wasn’t bein serious, that was just a…like a hypothesis, er whutever.”

“Hypothesis?”

“Y’know…like a ‘what if’ type a’ thing.”

“Oh,” I chuckled, shaking my head. “You mean hypothetical.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Hm. Yeah, I know what you mean,” I said as I finally spied the tool I was searching for. I plucked it from the drawer, moving it from its long-time resting place amongst the pile of other obsolete tools that I thought I’d never use again, then I headed back to the truck, where Applejack was waiting.

“Yeah, I just don’t know if I can do it,” she continued, clearing her throat. “Like, me stayin alive and young while mah brother and sister get old and wither away; I dunno how I’d deal with that, gettin left behind by myself.”

I approached Applejack from the side as I listened, holding the socket out to her. “Here. I’m pretty sure this is the Ford one.”

“Thanks, sugarcube,” she replied, taking the socket and trying it on the nut. “Yep, that’s the one,” she nodded. “Anyway, like I was sayin: I know I’d have the other girls —and you— ta hang around with, but mah family means a lot ta me, too. I just can’t imagine my life without ‘em.”

I nodded, leaning with my shoulder against the bumper, watching the blonde twist the axle nut off with ease. “Um…listen, AJ; I wanna tell you something,” I said, raising a hand when she glanced at me. ”Now, I’m not trying to convince you to do anything, or talk you into something you’re not sure of, I just think there’s some things you need to consider.”

“What kinda things?”

I cleared my throat and stuffed my hands in my pockets. “OK well...you talk about your family getting old and dying, and how you’ll be alone after they’re gone; but there’s something you’re not thinking about.”

“Oh? And that is?”

“Well, someday, your brother and his wife are probably gonna have a little one…right?”

AJ’s eyes went to the ceiling for a second, then she nodded. “Yeah, I guess.”

“And...Apple Bloom’s gonna meet someone and they’ll settle down and have kids at some point too.”

“Uh-huh,” she nodded again, yawning through her response.

I watched her for a moment, letting my eyebrows rise as I waited for her to pick up on what I was saying. “AJ…” I finally said, “you’ll have them.”

She paused for a moment, her eyes darting around as she thought to herself.

“Think about it,” I continued. “You’ll have them, and one day, they’ll have children of their own, who will one day have children of their own. You see what I’m saying?”

Applejack’s eyes widened slightly when the wheels in her head began to turn, and the scope of what I was alluding to suddenly hit her. “Ya mean…I could know my descendants…well into the future?”

I nodded, smirking. “Generation after generation of Apples, and you could know them all. You’ll see what they become, how they evolve, what they’ll be like; and they’ll know you: their great, great, great, great, great Auntie AJ. You’ll be able to teach them the family history in amazing detail, cuz you’ll have been there for all of it, and they’ll love you for it.”

A smile began to grow on her chapped lips, one of euphoria and wonderment as she began to imagine the possibilities. “Wow…I could see what becomes a’ mah family? Where they’ll be and what they’ll be doin in four or five-hundred years?” She chuckled and shook her head in amazement. “That’s…I mean, that’s not somethin I ever even remotely thought about b’fore; it’s kinda amazin when ya stop and think about it. I always had a bit of a soft spot fer family history, but ta be a livin, breathin part of it? Now that sounds mighty nifty.”

I nodded in agreement. “It is. And you’ll still have a lifetime to spend with your brother and sister, just like you would normally, except you get to keep going and you’ll be able to meet each new generation as they come along.”

Her expression sank upon hearing the reminder of her siblings being gone. “Hm,” she sighed. “I still would miss Apple Bloom and Big Mac though. It’s too bad they can’t be turned too, but they ain’t got any magic.”

“Yeah,” I mumbled flatly, “you gotta have magic for it to work.”

“Well, you could always try it anyway, ya know?” she suggested, to my surprise. “Better try it on Big Mac first though, I don’t want you touchin mah little sister!”

“WOW AJ…just, wow.” I shook my head and pointed to a crack that jutted across the floor. “See that line there? You just crossed it; like, you went RIGHT over it.”

Applejack burst into a hearty chuckle as she reached for the line wrench that waited for her on the tool cart.

Smirking, I turned my attention back to the tie rods and we worked quietly.

Again, the blonde girl broke the silence before too long. “So…what about you? Do you know if ya have any descendents around somewhere?”

“No clue,” I replied, zipping off the other tie rod nut with the impact gun. “That’s going back a long ways; and I don’t even know how far back I really go, to be honest.”

“Hm, yeah that’s true,” AJ replied, “Fer all we know, you could go back ten, er even a hundred thousand years, right?”

“Well, I doubt it’s that far,” I replied, “I mean, the technology to create tools for cutting hair and shaving obviously existed, so I doubt I go back much farther than 2500.”

“Ah, yeah I s’pose. So ya never got ta see yer family exist through the generations, eh?”

“No.”

“Ah. Well, I just wondered, cuz a’ how you seemed to know what it’d be like with mine,” she explained.

“Oh…well,” I paused to yank the tie rod ends from the knuckles and then dropped the whole assembly on the floor. “I actually went through something like that with a Hungarian family; long time ago.”

“Oh? Not relatives though?”

“No, but I knew them for hundreds of years, and I had the honor of telling them over and over again about their ancestors from two, or even three hundred years earlier, and it was always fun to see their eyes light up when I would tell them about some of the things their great, great grandfathers or grandmothers did; how they lived, and so on.”

Applejack ducked her head to glance at me through the wheel well, intrigued by my story. “Heh! That’s pretty neat there, sugarcube. So, where is this family now? Are ya still in touch with them?”

I shook my head. “No, I uh…I lost track of them.”

“What? How’d that happen?” she asked, sounding disheartened.

“War. All the men in that one generation went off to fight and died, and all the women who were left over —widows, daughters— they eventually married and the name got swallowed up and disappeared. To be honest, I never really went back after that, and now it’d be a huge pain in the ass to figure out who their descendants are if I were to try and find them.”

“Aw shucks,” AJ shook her head, “that’s too bad.”

“Yeah.”

“That musta been a pretty special thing, eh?”

“Uh…yeah, I guess.” I nodded. “I had a special bond with that family because of that whole thing; something I’ve never really had since…well, until you girls came along. Although...this thing with you guys is a bit different, again.”

Applejack paused and smiled as I assembled the new linkage, readying it for install in the truck. “So…I take it they knew about ya bein…ya know…”

I drew a deep breath and paused for a moment. “Yeah…well, I never explicitly told them, but they pretty much figured out something was up when I would tell them I knew their great grandfathers and I still looked like this” —I gestured to myself— “and then, when they reached old age on their own and I still looked like this; yeah. They knew.”

“Heh, well isn’t that a- aw FUCK!”

I stopped to see what Applejack was doing, surprised by the outburst. “What? What’s the matter?”

She stood back and clicked her tongue, shaking her head. “I broke the brake line off.”

“Let’s see,” I said, calmly walking around to the wheel well to see for myself. She was right; the steel line had wrenched itself off when she tried to loosen the nut. “Yeah, the nut was seized to the line, so when you turned it, it twisted the line off.”

“Fuck,” she huffed, removing her hat to run her fingers through that matted, blonde hair in frustration. “Now what? We gotta go all the way back to the parts place? Are they even open still?”

“Nah,” I waved her off. “I have bulk line and a flaring kit here; we’ll just make up a new one. No big deal.”

“Ah…well that‘s good, I s’pose.”

I had started to make my way to the tool box to get the flaring kit, but then I stopped and turned to face her, brows furrowed. “Wait, do you still have to take the other side off?”

“Uh…yeah,” she replied, rolling her eyes. “How much ya wanna bet it’s gonna do the same thing?”

I raised an index finger. “Here; I’ll show you a trick.”

The blonde folded her arms and stepped over to the other side of the truck, which had yet to be disassembled, and she watched as I wheeled over the acetylene torch and then filled a tin can with water from the wash bin faucet.

“OK look,” I said, holding the torch head up and flicking the striker in front of the nozzle.

POP!

The torch burst into flame, and I quickly set the striker down to turn the knobs on the handle, adjusting them until the flame went from a fluttering orange to a hissing light-blue feather. “OK, you watching?” I said, prompting her to step closer. “Here’s what you do: get the line nut hot, until its glowing orange…” As I said this, I waved the intense, blue flame over the fastener, which began to glow a dull, reddish-orange in a few short moments. “Like that, but not too much, cuz you don’t wanna burn the line off.”

“OK,” AJ nodded, plopping her hat back on her head.

I shut the torch off and set it aside, then grabbed the tin can and dumped the cold water on the glowing nut, which created a hissing, spattering cloud of steam as it rapidly cooled the metal down. “There,” I said, handing her the line wrench. “Try it now.”

AJ stepped up, set the wrench on the nut and turned it loose with little effort. “Say!” she chuckled, glancing over at me. “That’s a pretty neat trick; I’ll have to show Big Mac that one.”

“Mm-hm,” I replied, winding the torch hose up and turning the tanks off. “It’s the quick change in temperature that does the trick: when you heat it up like that and then shock it with cold water, it expands and shrinks really fast and breaks all that rust loose, so then the nut spins free on the line and doesn’t twist it off.”

“Good ta know.”

I pointed at the line before she got too many turns on the nut. “Just tighten it back up for now so you don’t lose all your brake fluid; we’ll come back to it when you do this side.”

“Ah, good point, sugarcube,” she said, turning the wrench the other way.

After removing the other end of the broken brake line, I made my way over to the work bench to make a new one while Applejack began to install the new brake parts on the driver’s side. I had to admit, she was doing quite well working on her own vehicle, especially for someone who doesn’t fix cars for a living. Just another skill she picked up living the farm life, I suppose.

The added distance placed between us while I worked on flaring a new line inevitably caused us to remain silent for quite some time. I kept myself busy listening to my own thoughts during the hiatus, thinking about the Hungarian family I once knew, having been reminded of them for the first time in ages during the conversation with my rural-bound friend.

Eventually my thoughts returned to Applejack and the conversation itself, and I found myself wondering: “Was she seriously considering turning just then? How long has she been thinking about this?”

Then Applejack broke the silence.

“Ya know, i-it’s nothin personal, sugarcube.”

Confused, I furrowed my brows and turned to look at her, but her upper half was obscured by the hoist-levitated truck, allowing me to glimpse only her legs.

“Huh?”

“You know,” she replied. “The whole ‘becomin immortal like you’ thing…I know how it’s done, and that’s not why I didn’t wanna do it.”

“Oh…OK.” I said, turning back to my work. “That’s fine anyway; Dashie’s been pretty forthright about how she thinks I’m old and weird, so it really wouldn’t have bothered me if you did too.”

“Ugh! Sorry ‘bout her, Golds. I don’t know what her fuckin problem is with you; it’s not like yer a bad-lookin fella er anythin.”

The compliment made me smirk a little. I continued on with what I was doing, removing the line from the flaring tool to start on the other end. “Uh…she surprises me, actually…Dashie,” I said absentmindedly, “I would have thought she’d be all about making herself better, you know? Especially with her ankle being the way it is.”

“Ah, ya heard about that, eh?”

“Yeah, the girls told me about it the night we got back: about how she lost her scholarships and was really depressed after high school, living with Pinks and Scratchie in that house.”

Applejack sighed. “Yeah…she was in a real bad way fer a while there. She pulled outta it though; she got that job drivin the delivery truck, and a’ course with her havin ta be the best at everythin it wasn’t long before she was on top, as always.”

“So I heard.”

“Eeyup.”

Silence for another few minutes, but then Applejack spoke again, returning to the previous subject.

Something was obviously on her mind.

“Uh, but anyway, like I was sayin,” she began, “it’s not like havin a good piece a’ ass would be the worst thing in the world right now…”

I paused again, but didn’t look at her. Instead, my eyes were darting around the surface of the work bench. “Oh…?”

“I mean, I been goin through one hell of a dry-spell lately, what with farmin and runnin the marketin side more, since Granny’s getting too old ta deal with it on ‘er own.”

“Hm,” I was unsure of what to say. “How long of a dry spell are we talking?”

“Like…probably over two years now.”

The answer made my eyebrows jump up in surprise. “Wow, two years, eh?”

“I told ya it was a dry spell; drier ‘n a popcorn fart.”

I let out a good chuckle and shook my head. “Well, it’s been a bit for me too,” I replied sarcastically. “I think it’s been like…a whole day since I’ve had a piece.”

“Heh-heh!” she chuckled, “Dang, life’s tough, ain’t it, sugarcube?”

“Yeah, I don’t know how I’ve made it this far.”

“It’s just cuz yer such a trooper, that’s all.”

Smiling, I removed the line from the flare tool to inspect it. “So…who was it?” I asked.

“Who was who?”

“The last guy you…you know.”

“Fucked? Uuuhh, I guess it woulda been that dumbass Trenderhoof.”

“Dumbass?” I replied as I headed back to the truck. “Why were you banging a dumbass?”

“It was only the one time!” she defended, scowling as she took the new brake line from me. “Thanks.”

“Fine, fine,” I said, resuming my work on the steering parts. “So what happened? How’d you meet this Trenderhoof guy?”

“Oh, he went ta Crystal Prep. Met him durin the friendship games and he took a shine ta me right away. I have no idea why; I guess it was the whole ‘country girl’ thing or somethin,” she explained, followed by a chuckle. “Poor Rarity had a huge dag-gum crush on him and he weren’t interested in her in the least; he just kept mackin up on me like crazy —even though I told him ta fuck off more times than I can count— Rarity just couldn’t believe it.”

“I can imagine,” I replied, tightening up the adjuster sleeve. “I can already see a problem with this guy; nothing against you, AJ, but anyone who wouldn’t be interested in Rare must have some kind of fuckin deficit or something.”

AJ sighed. “Well, ta be fair, back in those days Rarity hadn’t really grown inta her face er her titties yet; she weren’t near as pretty as she is now, but still, like I said, it weren’t looks so much as the whole farm girl thing that had him interested in me.”

“Hm,” I replied. “So…you obviously didn’t like him back?”

“Nah. He looked like a fuckin idiot most a’ the time, what with that stupid hair and those dick-ish glasses; and the shit he wore made him look like a complete tool. Rarity, a’ course, thought he was the bees-knees, but I could hardly stand the sight of ‘im.”

“But he got in your pants somehow, didn’t he?” I chuckled.

“Ugh…don’t remind me,” she grumbled as she tightened up the last bolt, completing the brake job on that side of the truck.

“How’d he do it?” I asked.

“Well…he kept showin up at the farm durin the summers, askin if he could work fer us —which was just an obvious trick ta get close ta me— and even though I said no, Granny and Big Mac hired him on fer the summer, which pissed me off, needless ta say.”

“Oh fuck, so you were stuck with him, eh?”

“Yeah,” she replied, grumbling as she wheeled the tool cart past me to start removing the brakes on the passenger side.

“So what happened?”

“Well, nothin that year,” she explained. “It was the summer after —our senior year— and a’ course, he came back ta work fer us again, and that’s when…it happened.”

“How?”

“Well, he worked pretty late that night and then he stayed fer supper, then he kept hangin ‘round after that even. I knew he musta’ been up ta something, but I couldn’t really say much, cuz he wasn’t really doin nothin wrong.” Applejack paused to cough, and then picked up a wrench before continuing. “It was after Big Mac and Cherilee went out and Granny went ta bed that he started gettin frisky with me.”

“Where was your sister?”

“She spent that week at her friend’s house, so it was just me and him in the house, basically alone, and I’ll admit, I…” —she paused to let out a shameful sigh— “I was sorta hard-up for some action myself…and…I had a moment a’ weakness and decided to give him a shot.”

“Wow. And?”

She raised a hand to adjust her hat, sneering. “Ehh…kinda so-so. I mean, he was enthusiastic, I’ll give him that; it was his big moment after all, and he went at me pretty hard, but…it was just…nah.”

“Hm. Just didn’t hit the spot, eh?”

“Like I say, I’ll give him credit; it was a long day and we worked the shit out of him, and he still had the energy to go to town on me like that. I mean, heh-heh! It was makin the lights in Granny’s room turn on-and-off all the way down at the far end of the hall!”

“What?” I was confused. “I don’t get it; why were the lights going on and off?”

“Well…Granny has a clapper in there.”

My eyebrows went up in astonishment. “Oh shit, he was fuckin you hard!”

"Heh-heh! Yeah, Granny woke up and started bitchin about someone fuckin with the breakers er somethin like that," she chuckled, then shook her head. “but anyway…like I said, the sex was just…I dunno, meh.”

“Hm,” I chuckled. “So what happened then?”

Applejack glanced at me. “Aw, I uh...fired him the next day.”

“...Nice.”

“Eeyup. I told him he wasn’t a good enough worker and that it wasn’t workin out, and I told him his pecker was too long and skinny.”

I was busy greasing the new steerin parts while she was saying this, and so it took me a second to catch-on to what she’d just said. “Wait a sec, what did you say?” I asked, turning to look at her from under the truck. “You were already firing him, and you made fun of his dick?”

“Why not?” she shrugged. “The fuckin thing was like a pepperette.”

“Yeah but,” I shook my head, “that’s just…cruel, AJ.”

“But it was true!”

“Yeah, but…” I paused to look at the floor, shaking my head for a moment before looking up at her again. “OK, look: you were already firing him; the both of you knew why he was there, which was just so he could get close to you—which, to be fair, was kinda ‘stalky’ of him, but still; so getting fired would have already been like a break-up to him —or a rejection, whatever you wanna call it— but to go and rag on his dick after all that? That’s just mean.”

“I was just bein honest, sugarcube. No need ta git yer panties all in a bunch.”

I sighed. “I know, I know. Honesty is a good thing, AJ. It’s one of my favourite things about you. But there’s a time and a place for it, and an omission now and then isn’t always a bad thing.”

Applejack just shrugged. “Yeah-yeah, I know. The other girls said the same thing, ‘specially Rarity. She went up one side a’ me and down the other about it, saying he didn’t deserve that, and yadda yadda yadda—you know.”

“Hm...yeah.” I went back to what I was doing.

“Er...ta be honest, I did feel kinda bad about it after a couple a’ weeks,” she continued, after a short pause. “I mean, I knew I kinda fucked up, and I was just tryin ta distance mahself from it, but...I guess that really weren’t no excuse neither.”

“Did you ever try calling him back or anything?”

She shook her head. “Nah. I kinda figured the damage was already done by then. These sit’iations can be a lot like dog shit sometimes: that more ya fuck with it, the more it stinks.”

“Oh...”

“Besides...I couldn’t really work up the nerve fer it, ta be honest.”

*****

Hours later, Applejack’s truck was finally finished and we had just set it on the ground to torque the wheels. Once that was done, I laid under the front end and checked the toe-in with a tape measure, laughing hysterically at the story that she was telling.

"Wait, wait," I howled, "it took his pants and his boxers?"

"Eeyup!" she laughed. "So there was poor Big Mac, chasin this sheep 'round the yard with his ass hangin out, tryin ta get his pants back. Normally he wouldn't care, but his wallet was in the back pocket and he didn't wanna lose it."

"So what happened?"

"Well, he finally got a hold of ‘er; managed ta catch ‘er off-guard from around the corner and dove onto her back. Heh-heh! So, he's hangin onta the back a’ this sheep with his bare ass showin... aaaaaand that's when Cherilee pulled inta the driveway..."

"Oohhh fuck," I moaned, closing my eyes and letting my head drop to the floor. Just imagine what it must have been like to get caught in such a predicament.

"Oh fuck is right, sugarcube," she replied, shaking her head. "It took us hours ta calm her down. And they were still just engaged back then; she almost left him over that whole incident."

"Wow...well, to be honest, that would be a hard one to explain."

"Yeah," she agreed, scuffing her foot on the floor. "It all worked out in the end though, obviously."

"Well that's good."

"For a bit, anyway," she continued, prompting me to roll over and look up at her. "I got myself inta a bit a’ hot water a few months later...fer instigatin."

I chuckled and went back to what I was doing. "Oh god, what'd you do, AJ?"

"Well, Rainbow and I had this idea fer his birthday," she explained, wringing her hands together, "so I went and bought him a plain T-shirt and some a' that paint that ya can write on clothes with, and I made him a shirt that said: 'FUCK YOU'...except I spelled 'you' like E-W-E...ya know, like a female sheep."

I laughed immediately, the image of her brother receiving the gift in front of everyone filling my mind’s eye. "Wow, haha! Classy. How'd that go over?"

"Eh..." she shrugged. "Apple Bloom thought it was funny, but Big Mac and Cherilee?...not so much. Granny wasn't too thrilled either, in fact, she dragged me outta the room by my fuckin ear and tore a strip off a' me right then and there."

"Hm. Who's idea was it, exactly?" I asked.

"Well, I came up with the slogan, but it was Rainbow's idea to make it into a shirt and give it to ‘im fer his birthday," she explained. "And she got away scott-free; sayin she was just kiddin and that she didn't think I would actually do it."

"Well...I haven't known Dashie as long as you have, but I have noticed that if she thinks something's funny, it probably isn't funny," I said, taking one final measurement.

"Yeah. I learned my lesson on that one," she replied, leaning against the bumper with her leg.

“That you did, AJ, that you did. OK...that’s not bad there,” I concluded, letting the measuring tape snap closed as I rolled out from under the truck and rose to my feet. “It shouldn’t wear the tires like that, but the steering wheel will probably be off-center. Just bring it by my work when you get a chance, and I’ll set it up on the alignment machine and we’ll price out some new tires for you, too. I rotated the fronts to the back for now though; that should hide the road noise a little bit.”

“Sounds good, sugarcube,” she yawned. “Thanks for doin all this today, Golds; it actually didn’t take as long as I thought it would. I gotta say, yer pretty good at fixin shit.”

I waved her off. “Nah, I’ve just been doing it since cars were invented, that’s all. It’s like second nature.”

“Heh, yeah.” She began to look around the shop, scanning the walls for something. “Even so,” she said, “I wonder what time it is; ain’t you got a clock in here?”

“Oh…no, I always just used my phone, but I haven’t got a new one yet. Where’s yours?”

She pointed over her shoulder to the truck. “Mine’s in the cab. That’s OK, I’ll check it when I go.”

I nodded.

“Well,” she said, stretching her back. “I guess I better skedaddle; I gotta get home and shower ‘n stuff before dinner, so…”

“Yeah, you’d better head out,” I replied. “I’m just gonna stick around here for a bit and clean up.”

“Alright then,” Applejack said as she opened her truck and slid into the cab. She closed the door and started the engine, then paused for a moment before sticking her head out the window. “Hey! What time did Rarity say ta be there fer supper?” she shouted over the engine.

“No later than four.”

“Ah,” she nodded. “OK then, see ya there.”

I nodded and waved as she shifted the truck into reverse and backed out of the shop.

Author's Note

Because I was worried that “fuck ewe” line might be a common joke (and given my track record of accidentally copying video games), I decided to google ‘fuck ewe’ just to double check that it hadn’t already been done to death.
DO NOT google this. It will take you places you don’t wanna be. :twilightoops:

*Chapter 92: Cleaning Up For Dinner

Chapter 92

Applejack was gone.

I released a deep sigh, drowning out the overpowering silence in the shop as I surveyed the mess of tools littered around the now vacant workspace. All that remained of her old Ford was a pile of worn-out parts, lying on a bed of rust flakes that had fallen from the undercarriage while the truck was being repaired.

I took a few steps towards the broom to begin sweeping, but instead, my ambition plummeted rather quickly. Not only that, I had no idea what time it was. Rarity had mentioned that we were to be back no later than 4:00, and if there was one thing I knew about my indigo-haired girlfriend, it was that she did not take kindly to tardiness when a time was explicitly stated. I figured it best not to take a chance, so I decided to have a shower and head back to Fluttershy’s.

I ventured into the tiny living room in the corner of my shop and stripped down, leaving my rust-caked clothes in a pile and setting out a stack of fresh ones.

Next, I stepped into the glass stall, shut the door and turned the hot water on. I washed the dirt and bits of rust out of my hair, creating a small-scale galaxy of light-brown suds that swirled around the drain between my feet. The shower door glass had already become foggy by the time I plucked the soap from the ledge and lathered it up to wash my face.

It was during this that I thought I heard a noise outside of the shower and so I paused, eyes closed, listening.

Unexpectedly, I heard the stall door click, followed by a cool gust of air tickling my skin.

“What the hell?” I quickly put my face under the shower to rinse the soap away so I could see what was happening. Granted, I could just open my eyes and let the soap in; it wouldn’t hurt, but I hate the rubbery feeling my eyeballs get after being washed out, so I tend to avoid letting it happen. Before I could finish, however, I heard a voice yelp right beside me.

“Yowee! Dang it, that water’s hot!”

I paused briefly, wondering if my ears were playing tricks on me. Then I replied. “AJ? What the fuck are you doing!?”

Before she answered, something soft brushed my arm; something that was topped with a hard nub.

”Was that a tit? That TOTALLY felt like a tit…”

“Sorry ta barge in on ya like this, sugarcube,” her voice rang out again, “but I was just about ta pull out onta the road there when I looked at my phone and was like: ‘holy shit, it’s 3:30! I ain’t got time ta go all the way home, shower and be back at Fluttershy’s in time fer dinner!’”

I had finished rinsing my face by then, so I opened my eyes to look at her. Why I was startled by what I saw I am not certain; I really don’t know what else I should have expected.

She was naked. Completely, utterly naked.

Her hat was gone and her hair was untied, hanging over her shoulders and framing her face in a much more feminine way, one that I hadn’t seen on her before.

Applejack was surprisingly pretty.

Her freckles stood out on her high cheekbones and her bright, emerald-green eyes were big and sparkling, giving away the nervousness that she was obviously feeling after making such a brash move, which she was now trying to hide behind a weak façade of casual conversation.

“I figured it’d be faster just ta shower here,” she confessed, “although, I didn’t realise you’d be in here too. But that don’t matter; we can just share it and git ‘er done faster, right? Now, could ya be a pal and turn the hot water down a tad?”

“Uh…OK,” I replied absentmindedly as my hands acted seemingly of their own accord, reaching up to adjust the taps to bring the water to a bearable temperature.

As Applejack reached in with an open hand to test the water, I took the opportunity to take in the sight of her body while her attention was occupied. She was indeed tall, and while her arms were somewhat muscular and bulky, the rest of her body was surprisingly sleek and feminine looking, much more so than one would have realised, being hidden beneath the unflattering attire she usually wore.

Her skin was quite pale and her shoulders were dotted with freckles, but the lower portions of her arms were a dark, golden hue, as was her neck and chest. A deep, dark V-shape pointed downward between her breasts—the unmistakeable tan line created by the repeated wearing of button-up shirts in the direct sun.

Speaking of breasts, hers were surprisingly nice; they weren’t overly large on her, which was to be expected, given her height and how lean her build was, but even so, up close, they certainly carried a fair bit of weight to them; similar in size to Rarity’s, but rounder and a bit less perky.

“That’ll do, partner,” she said, yanking my mind back to reality as she stepped into the stall and turned around to close the door, granting me a fleeting glimpse of her backside, which was surprisingly cute and round, yet still put off an air of strength with the obvious muscle tone that hid beneath those fleshy cheeks.

“Whoo!” she hooted as she closed her eyes and put her head under the water, running her hands through her hair as it soaked up the moisture, darkening it to a golden colour and flattening it against her head.

I had unwittingly backed myself against the cold tiles by then, instinctively trying to avoid having mine and Applejack’s bare, wet skin come into contact. Unable to help myself, I cast my gaze downward, taking in the details of her toned belly, the smooth curves of her hips and her strong, yet beautifully sculpted thighs.

Between those thighs was a tuft of golden hair. Unmaintained, but not unappealing, it had a natural look about it. Its light, skin-matching colour had a way of hiding it in plain sight, giving off an appearance of being short, soft and silky, rather than course, long and thick.

“You OK?”

“Huh?” Her query jolted my eyes upward. Figuring I’d been caught ogling her, I was relieved to see the water still cascading down over her eyelids.

“Yer awful quiet over there,” she continued, blowing droplets of water from her lips as she spoke.

“No, I-I just…I wasn’t expecting-“

“Nah, it ain’t no big deal, sugarcube. Big Mac and I used ta bath together when we was just little-uns, so there’s nothin either a’ us ain’t seen bef-,” she paused suddenly after turning her head from the shower and inadvertently letting her eyes drop to my lower regions.

Those emerald eyes of hers widened when they landed on my half-standing manhood, watching as it bobbed along with my pulse while a stream of water dribbled from the tip. Applejack brought her gaze up slowly until she met my eyes with hers. The apprehension growing in her stare was bluntly obvious, and as the reality of what she’d done began to set in, I could almost hear the thoughts within her head, saying: ‘Dang it, AJ! What’d ya go and git yerself inta?’

Realising her trepidation had become apparent, Applejack put a casual smirk on one side of her mouth and blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “Heh…that thing’s actually pretty impressive…now I see what all the…er, all the fuss is...about…” She trailed off rather abruptly, wondering if that comment really was as inappropriate as it sounded.

Nervous, I shifted my eyes to the side and scratched behind my right ear. “Oh, um…thanks?”

The blonde girl’s cheeks lit up and she looked away in embarrassment, clearing her throat. “I…I s’pose we’d better get ta warshin up,” she announced, grabbing the shampoo bottle and squeezing its contents into her palm. “The whole point a’ this was ta save time, so it ain’t no use fer us ta be standin here, starin at each other like a couple a’ retarded monkeys.”

“Yeah...right.” I turned to grab the soap from the ledge and began to wash the rest of myself as she scrubbed and churned up a layer of suds in her hair.

The act of having her arms raised had the fortunate side-effect of perking her breasts up, causing them to bounce and jiggle, which in turn triggered a surge of blood to rush toward my manhood, prompting it to stand at full mast, ready for action.

“Shit!” I thought, panicking a bit when I realised my state of affairs, ”Down, boy! How can you be hungry after the week we just had!?”

Indeed, I had just spent the entire week unloading my seed into the mouths and vaginas of Rarity and Fluttershy more times than I could count, and yet, even after all that, I was now completely turned on by Applejack and her beautiful, dripping wet body; my manhood was full of blood and ambition, eager to try her out.

That had to be it: she was new. New to me, that is. Fresh meat, if you will. I wasn’t particularly fond of this thought process, however; Applejack was a good friend to me, and I respected her immensely. Her penchant for hard work and raw honesty were tough traits to find in most people these days, and all I could do now was hope she didn’t pick up on my animalistic tendencies, OR my throbbing hard-on.

As the final wisp of suds were washed away, she pulled back from the falling stream of water and wiped her eyes. She glanced downward without thinking and stiffened immediately, her expression changing to one of shock and nervousness before she quickly turned away.

”Yup. She saw it. Good one, Golds. She TOTALLY fucking saw it.”

I sighed as I set the soap on the ledge and finished washing my thighs and calves, positioning myself in a way that would obscure my shame.

Cursing myself, I shook my head and stood on one foot to clean the other, making sure to keep my eyes where they belonged as I concentrated on banishing the erection. ”Come on Golds, get a hold of yourself. Think! OK, uh...the underside of a tarantula; a python swallowing a kid; the Department of Transportation; that lady at Wal-Mart who rides the electric cart with the gunt that hangs past her knees; oh! DOG SHIT!”

Then Applejack said something I didn’t quite expect.

“Hey, uh…sugarcube? Could ya do me a favour and pass the great big pecker?”

I froze in utter bemusement for a second, and then turned to look just in time to see her cheeks turn an impossible shade of crimson.

“Er…I mean…” She slapped her palm against her forehead. “HEH-HEH! I meant…the soap; pass the soap!”

Relieved slightly, I chuckled, hoping to embrace a bit of levity in the situation as I reached for the soap and offered it to her. “Did you have a bit of a Freudian Slip there, AJ?”

She took the soap, but then paused with a ‘deer in the headlights’ sort of look, and then quickly began to stutter out the first answer she could think of. “What? Heh! No, wait…what was that?” She cocked an eyebrow and shook her head dismissively. “Er...nah man, y-ya got this nice anti-slippin-grip mat in here,” she explained frantically, looking downward as she scuffed her foot on the shower mat beneath our feet.

I replied with a look of confusion when she glanced back up at me, hoping I would be satisfied with the answer.

“What? No, AJ…a Freudian Slip is when you accidentally say something you don’t mean to say cuz you’re thinking about it.”

“Oh…” she replied, followed by a vacant pause. “Pshhh!” she sneered dismissively, shaking her head. “What, you think I was thinkin ‘bout yer big…h-hard…” —she cleared her throat— “Nah…nah man, that’s crazy shit! You must be losin it, sugarcube.”

“Alright...” I answered dubiously as she began to run the soap around her body, leaving a slick, bubbly trail in its wake.

I was watching intently as she coated her skin in the cleansing suds when it suddenly dawned on me: I was finished cleaning. Seeing an opportunity to flee, I decided to take the initiative to get the hell out of there.

Applejack had her back to me at that point and was bent forward slightly —as much as the tiny stall would allow— so I spoke up while I tried to slip by to exit the shower. “Hey, I’m just gonna sneak past you-“

As I said this, the tip of my erection mistakenly poked the right half of her backside, then slipped across her soapy skin and ended up jabbing itself between her cheeks, causing her to yelp and straighten up suddenly.

“Huh? Wazzat!?” she bellowed as she spun around, ending up face-to-face with me. We stood frozen in place for a moment, staring nervously at one another until the same realisation hit us simultaneously.

Both of us let our eyes venture downward to see what we already felt was happening: my length was jammed into her golden muff like a javelin.

“Sorry, I-I was trying to get out of-“ I stopped when I brought my eyes up and noticed that she’d squeezed the bar of soap so hard it had been extruded between her fingers and was falling piece-by-piece to the shower floor. “Oh…that’s, um…” I said quickly, “I have more soap if you…”

“Huh?” She opened her hand after noticing what she’d done, letting the remaining chunks fall to the floor.

Again, we stood in silence with the warm water sprinkling over our skin, unsure of where to go from here. Her bright green eyes were wide and hungry, yet she looked resistant to giving in to her urges. After all, she and I didn’t share that type of relationship, although there was a reason outside of romance that she had hinted at to me about considering, but I had dismissed it as mere colloquy on her part; nothing more than idle thoughts.

The water had completely rinsed the soap from her by then, leaving her body clean and covered in clear, glistening beads of water.

The sight of her was nearly irresistible.

My time for rumination ended abruptly when Applejack snapped and lost control of herself; she grabbed my shoulders and shoved me back against the tiles —a feat that none of the other girls were capable of— and she leaned in, tilting her head to the side to plant her lips on my neck, tickling and teasing me with firm, yet carefully crafted nibbles and kisses.

She brought our wet bodies together next; my erection slid upward, pointing towards our navels until it ended up sandwiched between us, twitching in response to the mild pleasure created by our abdomens rubbing against it. Her breasts were against my chest, one arm wrapped around the back of my neck, and her other hand went to my waist as she feasted hungrily on my neck.

It wasn’t long before I gathered my thoughts and decided to return the favour. Using my finger to sweep the wet, blonde locks from her face, I tilted my head to kiss her cheek and jaw line, then I give her earlobe a quick nibble, which she seemed to enjoy, judging by how her body tensed slightly, followed by a low, deep hum that resonated from her throat.

It felt a bit strange at first to make out with someone the same height as me, but after a moment I found it somewhat convenient; no bowing my head, no need for her to tip-toe, and it was quite surprising to me how easy it was to wrap my arms around her. I had always had a vision in my mind of Applejack being this beast of a woman with a girth that matches that of a lumberjack, but in reality she was surprisingly slender compared to what I envisioned. That’s not to say she wasn’t the biggest of the group, because she certainly was; Fluttershy by comparison was like a blown-glass figurine and Sunset, while stronger and more toned, was still noticeably more delicate than the freckled farm girl.

Just as I was thinking about this, she began to run her mouth along my cheek as she backed away slowly, and so I prepared to receive a kiss directly on the lips, assuming that was where she was headed.

Unexpectedly, however, she skipped right over my mouth and continued along my other cheek, exploring that side of my neck with her lips while I stared at the shower door, confused. Before long, my puzzlement vanished and my eyelids fluttered shut; the feel of her mouth pecking and nipping away at my skin had begun to influence me, and I found myself running my hands up and down her back, feeling the warm water cascading down her skin as she began to thrust her abdomen forward, her body’s patent way of communicating what it was after.

It wasn’t long before she backed out again, pausing to look me in the eyes for a moment. Mistaking this as an invitation, I leaned in for a kiss, but she backed away, looking somewhat perturbed.

I broke the advance quickly, wondering if she was really sure of what was happening. “Are you OK?”

“Yeah yeah,” Applejack chuckled dismissively as she backed away a few inches and reached down between us, placing her fingertips on my erection to tilt it downwards, aiming it between her legs. Holding me in place, she came forward again to straddle it, letting it press upwards against her crotch.

Beneath that golden bush of hers was a pair of soft lips, which parted gently and cradled the topside of my shaft as her hips reciprocated slowly, stroking me with her soft, tender folds.

Between those lips I was quick to discover a different sort of moisture that lived there, one that contrasted sharply with the squeaky-clean water that covered the rest of her; this wetness was slick, warm and smooth, allowing her eager flesh to glide effortlessly along my length as her pace began to quicken, along with her breathing.

Applejack gripped my shoulders and leaned back slightly, closing her eyes as she rocked her hips hungrily, quivering each time her clit passed over the ridge of my head, her breath hitching in response to the sudden jolts of sensation created by each pass.

Her breathing had become panting by this time, and I could see the desperation on her face, in her body language, and in the heat created by her throbbing womanhood as it swept its way along the top of my erection.

Her actions became more and more energetic, and she began to tilt her abdomen forward more, trying desperately to give her body what it desired by manipulating the angle of her entrance, hoping that I may inadvertently plunge inside of her on the next pass.

Finally, she got her wish; on one particularly well-placed thrust, we both felt the tip of my length catch in her opening. She screeched to a halt, however, second guessing herself, wondering if she should go through with it. I could see the wheels turning in her head, her eyes locked on me, her lips parted.

Before long, all else was trumped by lust and she made her decision. That hesitant expression changed to one of resolve; she held her breath, bit her lip, and then slowly pushed towards me.

A breath was drawn sharply into her nostrils as she glided forward, letting my stiff length ease into her slick, hot depths until that golden bush came to rest against me.

I gripped her hips to keep her steady, giving her a moment to allow her body grow accustomed to its new tenant. She stared at me incredulously, her soaked, yet lovely features giving away the immense sensation that she felt ringing out from her core like
a beacon. “Dang,” she gasped, “I reckon this is gonna be good...”

“I haven’t had anyone walk away disappointed yet,” I replied. “Or in a straight line, for that matter.”

“I don’t doubt it,” she said, looking down at herself as she began to gyrate her hips, stroking her new occupant and moaning quietly as she felt the head pop in and out, overwhelming her body with the first series of blissful jolts.

This position wasn’t ideal; I could tell right away that I was going to slip out the second she got even a tad overzealous with her thrusts, so I reached down to hook my hand under her thigh and lifted it up to my side. She took the cue and wrapped her calf around my backside, which in turn opened her up to allow a deeper penetration.

I wasted no time taking advantage of this and pushed forward quickly, causing Applejack to gasp when she felt my length reach exciting new depths within her. She began to grind herself against me with feverish glee, extracting every ounce of pleasure she could, savouring the feel of my length stroking her tight insides while her clit ground firmly against my lap.

The pleasure began to elevate in both of us, and Applejack had become unable to hold back; she gripped my shoulders tightly and pushed harder and faster while I held her thigh against my hip with one hand, squeezing one of her breasts with the other.

Her breast was a nice size; a decent handful to be sure, with a nipple tickling my palm that remained hard despite the warm water washing over us. Her flesh was wrapped firmly around my shaft, stroking me into a euphoric trance which was more enjoyable than I’d anticipated, something I knew she would agree with, since I could already feel her beginning to tighten.

The opening burst was not to be, however; even with her leg raised, the position was not ideal for vigorous thrusting and my length accidently popped out, jabbing her thigh just as she had begun her ascension to that perfect explosion of bliss.

“Aw, fer sweet apple’s sake!” she complained, frustrated. Desperate to continue her trip to the top, she reached down and grabbed my slippery length to guide it back inside, but her attempts fumbled again and again. The position was simply not right.

Watching Applejack fiddle around in frantic futility afforded me a few seconds to snap out of it and come back to reality. It dawned on me that I didn’t even take the time to talk things over with her, to find out what her intentions were, and how sure she was that she wanted to follow them.

“Hang on, hang on,” I said quickly, letting go of her leg.

She stopped what she was doing and stood under the falling water, staring at me, bewildered by the outburst.

“AJ, what are we doing?”

She frowned and shook her head. “The hell’s it look like?” she shrugged, confused.

“No, I know, but…” I raised a hand and shook my head, closing my eyes as I thought about what to say to her. “Are you…wanting to…make the change? Or are you just…I don’t know, messing around?”

Applejack’s expression deepened when the question was posed to her; her breathing slowed and her gaze drifted downward, her mind racing as she began to consider the gravity of such a decision. Finally, her eyes rose to meet mine and she gave a brief pause before nodding slowly. “Yeah. Yeah, I wanna do it.” Her confidence grew once the answer came out. “I wanna be like you…and Fluttershy, and Rarity…and Sunset. I wanna be able ta help people, ta protect my family; I wanna see what the future brings, and ta meet my descendents like you was sayin…” She paused to rub the back of her neck, blushing rather sheepishly. “And…ta be honest, I could really go fer a good piece a’ ass right about now.”

“OK, but,” I replied as I wiped the water from my face, “you need to be sure about this, AJ. This isn’t like buying a car; once you turn, there’s no going back—as far as we know, anyway.”

She nodded. “Yeah…I get it. Trust me, sugarcube; I been thinkin ‘bout this fer the past couple a’ weeks, and then just today when you were talkin ‘bout me bein able ta meet my great great grand nieces and nephews and all that, that kinda sealed the deal fer me.”

I stopped for a moment, rubbing my temple as I considered her reasoning. “Alright. As long as you’re sure about it.”

“Yeah, yeah absolutely, I am. Never been more sure a’ anythin before.” She paused briefly, then raised her hands somewhat defensively. “I mean…as long as you think Rarity and Fluttershy will be OK with it…I don’t wanna, ya know…”

“Oh, yeah…they’ll be fine.” I waved her off. “In fact, I have direct orders from them to turn anyone who wants it; no questions asked.”

“Heh! Well, that…actually doesn’t surprise me one bit,” she chuckled.

“So wait,” I said, closing my eyes and raising a finger. “This whole thing was just about you wanting to change? It’s got nothing to do with you being...into me, or anything like that?”

Applejack folded her arms under her breasts and shrugged, causing them to bulge upward—which I found quite distracting, I must say. “Well…I guess,” she said. “It’s not like ya ain’t a decent catch er nothin like that. I mean, yer a mighty handsome fella and…” —her eyes drifted down to my pulsing length— “that pecker…after havin a little bit a’ that, I could sure go fer some more, if ya catch mah meanin,” she confessed, biting her lip.

“Yeah, I…I hear ya,” I replied, rubbing the back of my neck. “Um, I was just asking because of earlier…you know, when you wouldn’t kiss me.”

Her eyes focused on mine again. “Aw, that? Nah.” She shook her head. “That’s just a dumb little tick a’ mine; ever since I was little, Granny always said the mouth was the dirtiest part a’ the body, so ever since then I’ve had a aversion ta mouth kissin.” She paused to have a short chuckle. “It’s nothin personal, sugarcube. Sorry if I offended ya.”

“Oh…no, it’s fine.” I shook my head. “I didn’t realise you had a thing…you know…like that.” I looked her naked body over once more and cleared my throat, deciding that it was time to move things forward if this truly was what she wanted. “OK so...are we doing this, or what?”

Applejack’s eyes widened. “Yeah, let’s uh…wait, do we gotta, like, shake hands first, er anythin like that?”

I snorted. “No.”

“Well, I dunno how this shit works!” she defended, shrugging.

“This is how it works,” I said, taking charge. “Turn around and lean on the wall,” I instructed as I placed my hand on her waist to guide her around.

“Ah, now we’re talkin!” She turned and slapped her hands against the wall, arching her back to stick her ass out, offering her tight, hot depths for me to make myself at home in. “We better get this fuckin show on the road er we’re gonna be late fer dinner!”

“Yeah yeah,“ I muttered as I approached her with one hand on her hip, the other guiding my erection between her cheeks, where I probed her swollen lips, spreading her moisture onto my length to re-lubricate it after the shower had rinsed it off during our discussion.

Once I was all slicked up and ready to enter, I placed the tip between her lips and lunged forward. Ramming her soft halves apart, I glided into her, feeling her intense heat and supple tightness envelope me as I pushed forward, stopping only when her ass mashed against my lap and every inch of me had disappeared inside her.

“Whuuuh!” she gasped, staggering forward slightly and letting her temple rest against the wall, her eyes wide with shock. “God dayum!” she grunted. This position allowed a much deeper penetration than before, and it was evident on Applejack’s face that having her body filled with such a hard, tremendous girth like this was overwhelming, but also breathtakingly wonderful.

“You OK up there?” I asked as I leaned back slightly, looking down between her cheeks at those swollen lips, wrapped around the base of my shaft after her warm flesh had gobbled up every last inch of it.

“How in the fuck does a little lady like Rarity take this thing!?” she panted, shaking her head in disbelief.

“Very carefully,” I replied, withdrawing from her about halfway and then pushing back into her again, slapping my hips against her ass, which created a wet slap as a layer of water splashed from between us.

“Aw fuck,” she moaned, letting her forehead rest against the tiles as I held her by the hips and began to thrust into her hot, tight flesh, serving up wave after wave of mutual pleasure for us to share, each stroke more exciting than the last. “Mmmmmm!” She bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut, unable to believe that her body could contain such an object, but it did, and it liked it!

It had been a long time since the farm girl had a man inside her; over two years, in fact, and she had been desperate for it as of late, unbeknownst to everyone else in her life. But now she was finally having it, and if she was being honest with herself, it wasn’t quite meeting her expectations.

It was far surpassing them.

She absolutely loved it. Did it hurt a little? Perhaps, but the pleasure she was receiving made it well worth the tiny bit of discomfort. The depths reached inside her was almost unnerving, and the girth displaced her to a point where she thought it might tear her apart if it was any bigger, but she found herself quickly getting used to it, realising the truth: that this was exactly what the doctor ordered.

“Oh man,” she huffed as her knees began to buckle under the immense sensation, which had began a steady incline by then, carrying her straight into that first climax. “That’s gonna…ohh, that’s gonna do it, partner…keep that goin!”

I maintained a silent pace, plunging my entire length into her slowly clenching interior, feeling her body stiffening, her back arching as she prepared to receive that first explosion of euphoria from between her legs.

I held her hips tightly, using them to pull her into my thrusts, being careful to remember that I couldn’t be as rough as I wanted like I could with my girlfriends; one wrong move with a regular person could result in a broken bone or dislocated joint, so I had to keep that in mind. Although, to be fair, Applejack was hardly a normal person herself…

It wasn’t long before the first orgasm took her, and her flesh began its vigorous, pulsating dance across my entire length, racking her body with exhilarating waves of the most satisfying delight imaginable.

“Ahhhh, that’s it! Right there!” she cried, her voice higher and more shrill than I’d ever heard it, giving me the drive to continue drilling into her quivering flesh, relishing the thrilling effect I was having on her body.

That is, until I heard a hefty thump that shook the walls, followed by a sharp clattering at our feet that stopped me in my tracks. I leaned to the right, looking over her shoulder to see where the sound had originated.

To my shock and dismay, I found her fist buried partway into the tiles with a large web of cracks spread around it; some chips of ceramic had fallen out, with more looking like they would follow if jostled or poked at.

“Hey man, you’re fuckin up my tiles!” I chided, reaching over her shoulder in a futile attempt to push them back into place.

“Wha?” she panted, lifting her head to look at the wall. “Aw shit!” she gasped, pulling her fist free to pat the loose pieces down, which only resulted in more of them falling out. “Sorry ‘bout that, partner,” she said, turning to glance over her shoulder with a guilty face. “I guess I dunno my own strength sometimes.”

I let out a defeated sigh. “No, it’s fine,” I said, “just…try to rein it in, if you could.”

“Alright, I’ll…I’ll try,” she nodded, closing her eyes. “It’s just hard…ya know? That was…real nice just now, I-I could sure go fer another, if ya didn’t mind.”

“Oh I’m sure there’ll be more,” I replied. “This isn’t over until I…you know…inside you.”

Applejack turned to look at me again, her eyes wide.

Noticing her expression, I drew a breath to speak. “Are you OK with that? That’s kind of how this whole ‘becoming immortal’ thing works, you know.”

She licked her bottom lip and nodded. “Uh, yeah I kinda figured that. It’s just…the reality of it kinda hit me just now there: yer...I mean, yer about ta fuck me until ya get off...inside me,” —she paused to snicker a little— “it’s just…kinda crazy is all. We...ain’t like that, ya know?”

I nodded. “I know. Don’t worry, it’ll be fun; I promise.”

Applejack took a deep breath and gazed at me, removing her hand from the wall to place it on mine, which was still on her hip. “Let’s do it. I’m all yers, partner.”

Warm water continued to spatter over our bare skin while we stared at each other for another moment, looking into each other’s eyes, watching the desire overtake our minds. Finally, she turned away again, whipping her wet, golden hair over her shoulder as she leaned on the tile with both hands.

She was obviously ready for more and I wasn’t about to keep her waiting, so I adjusted my grip on her hips and backed partway out of her hot, slick flesh to resume thrusting.

Applejack, to my delight, turned out to be quite a delicious treat; I had always wondered what she would have been like to have sex with, and I never could shake the idea of it being almost like sleeping with a man, given her build and how she dressed and spoke.

She was nothing like that, however; her body was actually quite lovely, albeit powerful looking. From behind, her waist was fairly small and her hips were nicely curved, with breasts that were modestly sized, but still quite beautiful; her shoulders were muscular and rippling, as were her arms, but somehow it complimented nicely with her figure, giving her an arresting and unique beauty all her own.

It didn’t take me long to find her next peak; her interior gave away its approach by gripping me tighter and tighter each time my rigid appendage glided through that warm, slick canal. On the cusp of explosion, her back stiffened and she pushed backwards to receive every millimetre she could when her flesh began to tingle and quiver a second time, slamming her body and mind with a massive tidal wave of ecstasy.

Applejack squeezed her eyes shut, barely able to endure the intensity as her nethers pulsed and squeezed happily around that solid occupant. Overwhelmed, she let out a loud howl and searched around with her hands, looking for something to hold onto so she could brace herself against the wonderful onslaught.

Her right hand eventually found a grip on the faucet handle, and she held tightly and waited for the orgasm to pass, wondering how many more she would receive before she was finally filled with my thick, hot gift.

TING!

In the midst of euphoria, Applejack hadn’t realised how tightly she’d been holding onto the tap, or how hard she was pulling on it. Unfortunately, it had finally reached its breaking point and snapped off in her hand, exposing the plumbing beneath and blasting her with a massive stream of water.

Icy, chilly water.

“HOOOOO-WEE, THAT’S FUCKIN COLD!” she hollered, putting her hands out to block the freezing spray. It was no use; there was far too much of it and her body reacted in the only way it knew how: to get away from it.

“No no, wait! AJ, STOP!” I shouted as her back slammed into mine, shoving me backwards. I wasn’t prepared for this, and she was far too strong for even me to stop her, so I was helplessly driven back though the shower glass with a loud smash.

Large, curved shards of glass flew everywhere, surrounding me and Applejack as we fell out of the shower onto the floor together.

I landed on my back on a pile of jagged glass and she fell on top of me, still squealing and squirming as the cold water continued to spray across the room, hitting her directly and then pouring down onto me. Concerned for her safety, I caught Applejack by the hips and held her above me to keep her from cutting herself, but the cold water continued to soak her, causing her to squirm and shake as she tried to block the spray with her hands and feet.

“Hold still!” I shouted, “I don’t wanna drop you; there’s glass everywhere!”

“Get me outta this fuckin water!” she screamed, holding her hands out in a vain attempt to protect herself.

“Fuck,” I muttered, looking to the left to see the tattered, old couch on the far side of the room. Placing one hand on the small of her back, I rolled to the right to wind my arm up and then tossed her across the room.

“Whooaa!” She landed on the couch on her backside, bouncing once before coming to rest.

I quickly stood and trudged through the shattered glass and into the shower, pushing against the dousing jet of cold water until I reached the broken tap. Closing my thumb and forefinger around the end of the pipe, I gave it a firm pinch and a twist to stop the discharge, reducing the flow to a slow dribble.

After completing the makeshift repair, I sighed, shook my head and stepped out of the stall to survey the room; there was glass all over the floor, water everywhere, destroyed plumbing, and a large crater in the tiles.

Applejack was turning into an expensive fuck.

“I-I’m sorry ‘bout all this, sugarcube,” she said quietly from behind me.

I turned to face her. She was sitting upright on the couch now, looking quite sheepish. Those big, green eyes stared at me from under a layer of wet hair that was stuck to her face; her skin was riddled with goosebumps and her nipples were hard, aching, and throbbing after being awakened by the frigid water. Her right arm was bathed in red from about half way to her elbow and-

I gasped when I noticed the cut. “Shit! AJ, you’re bleeding!” I shouted, pointing at her arm.

“Huh?” she replied, looking down at the wound. “Whoa, I didn’t even see that!” She started to get up, prompting me to raise both hands to dissuade her from moving.

“Wait, don’t move! Just stay there; there’s glass all over the place.” I started towards the cabinet to retrieve a clean T-shirt and then I tied it around her arm like a bandage.

She had stood up by then, ignoring my instructions. I let it slide since her adrenaline was high; given what had just happened, it was understandable that she wouldn’t have been thinking coherently.

Once I had the shirt tied around her arm and cinched up tight, I shook my head, sighing. “Sorry about this, AJ,” I said, patting her good shoulder. “I don’t have a proper first aid kit here…for obvious reasons. We should get over to Flutters’ though, so we can fix your arm up a little better than this.”

“Huh?” she said sharply, sneering. “What the hell for?”

Surprised, I raised my eyebrows at her defiance. “You…cut yourself; like, pretty badly. Besides, aren’t you cold?”

“Well...maybe a little,” she shrugged, her breasts bouncing in response. She turned and gestured to the couch beside us. “I was just thinkin…I dunno, we could get down on this here couch and finish this thing; then this cut’ll just disappear after I turn, right?”

She had a point, though I didn’t catch onto it right away. I was too busy being shocked that she wanted to continue having sex after such a catastrophe, but apparently her body still craved more attention.

Regrettably, this little fact had momentarily slipped under my radar, and I continued to plead with her to look after the injury. “OK, seriously...like, doesn’t that hurt?” I asked, gesturing to her arm as a fresh drop of blood ran out from under the makeshift bandage. “I mean, look at it, AJ, you’re bleeding pretty bad there.”

Applejack’s patience was all but gone by then. Her womanhood throbbed with desire, despite the pain in her arm and the slight shiver that ran through her powerful frame, and she resolved right then and there to take matters into her own hands, grabbing me by the shoulders and lifting me off the floor. “YER GONNA BE THE ONE BLEEDIN IF WE DON’T FINISH THIS, NOW SIT DOWN!” she growled, shaking me violently before throwing me onto the couch.

I landed on the center cushion with a bounce, but before I was able to get my bearings again, Applejack had jumped onto my lap, straddling my thighs with hers as she grabbed my wrists and pinned them down across the back of the couch, stretching them out at arm’s length.

Instinctively, I fought against her grip to raise my arms, but I was met with a bizarre and unfamiliar feeling:

I couldn’t move.

Applejack was holding me down, and I couldn’t get free.

“Well THIS is new…” I thought, looking at one imprisoned arm and then the other, just as her voice sounded from right in front of me.

“HA! I gotcha now, ya pot-licker!” she taunted. “Where ya gonna go, huh?”

”Oh shit…” I looked straight ahead to see her face only inches above mine, staring deviously into my soul. “AJ-“

“Quiet down! If you ain’t gonna finish this, then I am!”

“Oh dear god…” I whispered, dropping my eyes to her breasts, which were perched just in front of me, her erect nipples pointing directly at my face like they were laughing at me for being held down by a mere mortal.

She had begun to wiggle her hips around by then, searching for the tip of my erection with her hot, soaked crease, eager to swallow it up into her tight depths once again.

I watched intently as she brought herself forward and caught the head of my length between her folds, spreading her warmth and moisture onto it, readying it for re-entry.

Could I have gotten free from her grip? Most likely, but the strength involved to overpower her —IF I could overpower her— would likely have destroyed the couch, which I preferred to avoid, given the amount of damage caused already. Besides, I had a job to do. This time, however, I had little choice but to sit back and give up control of the situation, accepting the fact that I was simply along for the ride.

Feeling helpless, I swallowed and watched her hips come forward, brushing that golden bush against my abdomen as I felt the tip of my erection being forced between her slick, tender folds. Once she had me where she wanted me, Applejack slid her knees outward, letting her body descend; a deep moan of appreciation vibrated from her throat when her tight warmth slid down my shaft until our bodies met, her soft, moist interior giving every inch of me a firm, welcoming squeeze.

Her strong thighs covered my hips, soaking them in more warmth than expected after the broken tap incident, accompanied by a soft exhale against my forehead, prompting me to look up into the face of my captor. My eyes met hers; shimmering, green and ravenous, creating a wave of goosebumps that dotted my skin when the reality of what she was intending to do to me set in.

With an evil smirk, the blonde rocked her hips forward and forced herself down, grinding her buzzing clit against my body as her taut flesh stroked my length, igniting a sparkle of warm sensation that filled me with euphoria. Unable to do anything but sit there and take it, I let my eyes drift shut while I relished the warm, velvety massage.

I wasn’t the only one enjoying myself, either; Applejack had quickened the pace of her breathing as well as her thrusts, moaning joyously as she had her way with me, using me as a toy to get herself off with. Her excitement was getting the better of her, much to the couch’s dismay, evident by its creaking and grumbling under the weight of the blonde girl’s riding.

Her own talents served her the next orgasm in short order, eliciting a loud howl from her throat that was accompanied by a row of sharp and aggressive clenches, squeezing my erection with firm appreciation as her body stiffened and twisted slightly to one side.

Keeping my eyes closed, I felt the grip she had on my wrists increase a hundred fold, making me glad that I was who I was—otherwise I’d be heading to the emergency room with two pulverized wrists once our session was finished. This wasn’t all I felt though: a soft breast had found itself pressed against my cheek once her climax had died down and she’d decided to take a short break, letting me feel her thighs quaking around my hips, along with her twitching sex and racing heart, which I could feel through her breast, poking my cheek with its stiff nipple.

I opened my eyes to find her chest filling my field of vision. Looking to one side, I gave a ‘test’ pull with my arm to see if her grip was still fast. She didn’t budge. I was only mildly disappointed by this; not so much because I wanted to escape, but because I would have enjoyed holding onto her hips, ass, breasts, or her waist. Part of what I enjoyed about being with a woman wasn’t just being inside her, it was exploring her body with my hands; learning her shapes, her details, where she was most sensitive…but this was Applejack’s show now, so really, I had no choice but to sit there and let her do her thing.

It wasn’t long before her hips started their dance again, slowly at first, like a steam engine building momentum, stroking me with her heavenly tightness, her dripping heat, drawing forth the inevitable rise in pressure that would eventually culminate in an overload of pleasure and a messy explosion of thick, white reward.

Trapped there on my own couch, all I could do now was submit to this powerful creature that ravaged me like a slave; the energy and want that she displayed was hypnotic, and her body was nothing less than breathtaking: stroking, squeezing and pleasuring me relentlessly, intending to milk me of every drop of seed I had to offer.

For the first time in ages, I was helpless. Applejack was well aware of this and it excited her; she knew exactly what she wanted from me, and she was going to take it from me whether I liked it or not. Obviously, I wasn’t going to complain about the situation, but being held captive by someone who is using their body to exploit mine for pleasure —and in this case, power— was slightly unnerving, especially in my case: given the fact that I hadn’t faced a real physical challenge for centuries, I was accustomed to not having to answer to anyone.

As I ruminated on this, I could sense the pressure boiling over in my loins, stiffening my length even further in preparation for release.

“Ohhh…” Applejack moaned softly when she felt the steady swelling inside her. “Yer gettin there, eh sugarcube?” she taunted, intensifying her oscillations further yet, the anticipation of bringing me over the edge pushing her excitement to its maximum.

“Yeah,” I grunted, trying to hold my breath as each stroke drove me closer. “This is it, AJ; there’s no turning back once you do this. You’re sure this is what you want?”

She slowed her pace suddenly, giving me a short respite. A look of indecision crossed her face as she took one last moment to consider what she was about to do. Then her eyes focused on me and she shook her head, nipping her bottom lip as a combination of ecstasy and desire took control of her. “Yeah…this is what I want,” she panted, returning her hips to full throttle, causing the couch to creak noisily. “Go fer it, partner; dump ‘er in.”

I exhaled loudly, after which I bit my lip and held my breath, knowing it was only seconds away.

Eyes closed, I let my head fall back as Applejack held me in place and ruthlessly ground her golden mound against me, delivering the final strokes to coax the orgasm from my length. Wrapped in the firm embrace of her moist flesh, the sensation rang out from my swollen head as I began to throb violently, injecting my latest batch of hot seed deep into her core.

Applejack gasped deeply, thrilled by the sudden volume of heat that permeated her interior. She looked down at me with satisfied eyes and a victorious chortle while maintaining a modest pace with her hips, making sure to draw every bit from me that she could, right down to the final spurt.

Once she was satisfied that I had no more to give, Applejack finally let herself come to rest, perfectly content to remain impaled on me as I continued to jerk randomly within her cum-soaked depths. Finally releasing her grip on my wrists, she slid her hands up to my shoulders and let her cheek come to rest on my head.

She drew a deep breath, then let it out slowly with a long, soft: “hooooooo…”

Tentatively, I brought my arms inward to rest my hands on her hips, feeling her wet skin beneath my palms. My thoughts raced to some of my previous sessions with Sunset; how I’d held her down and jack-hammered her womanhood into a pulsing oblivion, fully aware of how I’d just become the recipient of that very same treatment.

”So THAT’S what that feels like…” I sighed, starting to realise why the red-head enjoyed it so much. Although slightly demoralizing, it certainly wasn’t without its appeal; the idea of being held in place and having an orgasm forced upon me was actually quite exciting and rare, considering Applejack was most likely the only individual on the planet with the ability to do it.

After a quiet moment, The farm girl pressed herself against me and hugged my head, nuzzling my face between her breasts. “That...sure was nice,” she said quietly, combing her fingertips through the hair on the back of my head.

“M-m?”

“Huh?” She released me just enough to let my speech escape her cleavage.

“That was good, but...I thought you were worried about being late for dinner; as much as I hate to ruin a nice moment, shouldn’t we…I don’t know, get going soon?”

“Ah…yeah, I s’pose we should,” she replied. “But not just yet. It’s been a long time since I done this, and I don’t know when I’ll be doin it again, so…if ya don’t mind, I’d kinda like ta stay right here fer a bit.”

I sighed, content with her decision. “OK.”

“B’sides...I kinda like it when ya twitch.”

Just after she said it, my erection jumped as if responding to her.

“Heh!” she chuckled, her breasts bouncing against my face. “Yeah, just like that.”

I chuckled in reply. “Well, I…I’m not actually controlling that,” I replied, wrapping my arms around the small of her back to pull her abdomen against mine.

Chapter 93: Dinner Revelations

Chapter 93

The shy girl was curled up on her chaise lounge, red-faced, her shoulders quaking with silent laughter by the end of the video.

Rainbow Dash was sitting at the far end of the couch, smiling.

“Oh...oh my goodness, Dashie!” Fluttershy tittered, her hand over her mouth. “That was SO funny…and cute!”

“I told you you’d like it!”

In the kitchen behind them, Rarity and Pinkie Pie were seated at the table, assembling sandwiches and chatting back and forth idly.

“Ugh, I should have known those two would be late,” Rarity grumbled, checking the clock on the stove.

It was 4:45.

“Don’t worry, Rare-bear!” Pinkie grinned. “I’m sure they’ll be along any min-“

The party-girl stopped to listen when the rumble of an old V-8 approached the house, followed by abrupt silence.

“You see?” Pinkie squealed as she turned to a silent Rarity, whose eyes rolled in reply.

They continued working away at the sandwiches, stacking the finished ones on a platter as they watched the door in silence, waiting for Applejack to enter.

At last, the door opened and the farm girl stepped inside. Her eyes met Rarity’s immediately and she paused, then proceeded to kick her boots off. “Howdy,” she greeted flatly.

“Hey AJ,” Dash greeted from the couch.

Raising an eyebrow, Rarity watched the blonde, noticing immediately that there was something different about her air. Something new. “How…was your day?” asked Rarity, tentatively. “Did you two get your truck fixed?”

AJ straightened up and adjusted her hat. “Uh…yeah. We got it all done.” She paused to chuckle, shaking her head. “That Golds, he is one hell of a mechanic. Didn’t take him long at all ta bang it out…er, I mean-“

“Well, why are you two so late then?” Rarity cut in. “I gave you two one simple instruction: be here no later than four. So what happened? Did it simply slip your mind, or…?”

“Uh…slip? Er, no! It’s just…” —Applejack’s eyes darted from side-to-side— “it was still a lotta work; if anyone other than Golds was doin it, it woulda took two whole days ta get it all done. Honest!”

Rarity sighed. “And just where is our dear Mr. Arrow, if I may?”

Applejack paused and then pointed at the front door with her thumb. “Uh…well, he…he was right behind me. Er, no…not right behind me; he was…just, well, y-you know what I mean!”

The fashionista furrowed her brow, bemused by the strange response.

“He’s comin!” AJ blurted out, but then bit her lip nervously, not considering the fact that she was the only one who understood the double-entendre. “I mean, nah…he’s uh-“

“He’s…not coming?” Rarity asked, shaking her head in confusion.

“Nah, he did…I mean, he IS!” Applejack’s cheeks began to heat up with embarrassment. “He’s…he’s on his way,” she said, finally satisfied with that answer.

Rarity knew better than to ignore such strange behaviour. Pinkie had noticed it as well, and was watching on in silence.

“Applejack darling, is everything OK?”

“Who, me?” AJ shrugged. “Yeah, I’m fine. Everythin’s great.” She slipped out of her jacket next, forgetting about the shirt-bandage tied around her arm.

Rarity noticed it immediately. “What, may I ask, is that?”

Applejack froze for a moment, looked down at her arm, then back at the fashionista. “Uh…a shirt?”

Pinkie Pie let out an amused giggle, followed by a loud snort. “That’s not how you wear a shirt, silly!”

As the farm girl let out an embarrassed chuckle, Rarity leaned forward, squinting. “Is…is that blood?”

This got the attention of the two girls on the couch, and they turned around to observe Applejack, looking mildly concerned.

“Oh…right, yeah.” She looked down at the crimson-spotted bandage, adjusting it nervously with her fingertips. “I…might a’ cut mahself when we was workin. No big deal, really.”

“No big deal?” Rarity disagreed, leaving her seat to approach the farm girl. “Let me see it, darling; we certainly wouldn’t want it to end up infected.” The fashionista sighed as she untied the shirt and peeled it away from Applejack’s skin, revealing a sizeable incision across her bicep, bordered with dark, crusty blood. “Goodness me!” Rarity gasped, covering her mouth. “That is quite a nasty gash you’ve got!”

Applejack snorted. “That’s not what Golds said,” she mumbled.

“I beg your pardon?” Rarity asked, glancing up at her friend.

“Huh? Oh nothin, sugarcube.”

“He didn’t think this was bad?” Rarity grilled. “So, what…he couldn’t be bothered to fix you up any better than this?”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Well, he don’t have a first-aid kit there, fer obvious reasons.”

“Hm,” the fashionista grumbled, turning toward the couch. “Fluttershy? Would you mind having a look at this?”

“Of course!” Working with animals for years and having to deal with the occasional injury made Fluttershy the most experienced one of the group when it came to bandages and dressings. She left the couch to approach Rarity and Applejack. “Oh dear!” The shy girl gasped when she saw the wound. “How did you manage this?”

Nervous, Applejack began to stammer out a response, but was luckily stopped by a dismissive wave from Rarity. “Nevermind that; you can tell us later, darling. Go with Fluttershy so she can look after you.”

“Um, OK Applejack. Let’s go. I’ll get you all fixed up, good as new,” Fluttershy cooed, using a warm, soothing tone.

“Alright,” the farm girl replied as Fluttershy took her by the hand and led her down the hall.

*****

I pulled my truck into Fluttershy’s driveway and stopped, noticing the old Ford already parked there. Applejack had left a few minutes before me so we wouldn’t show up together; we decided to do it that way to avoid giving off any hint of what had happened, but in reality it made no real sense. Honestly? We were just being paranoid. It was highly unlikely that anyone would have jumped to the conclusion that we’d had sex just because we showed up together—after all, we did just spend the entire day working on her truck.

After shutting the engine off and hopping out, I made my way to the front door. I paused there, wondering what Applejack was going to do.

Would she wait to tell them? Would she just wait until she turns and let the others figure it out on their own? Or would she pull the honesty card and come right out of the gate with the truth?

”Maybe she’s already told them...” I sighed. “That’ll make for an awkward entrance, won’t it?”

After taking a deep breath and a quick moment to build some courage, I opened the door and stepped inside.

It was a fairly mundane sight. Rainbow Dash was on the couch by herself, scrolling through a list of YouTube videos on the TV while Rarity and Pinkie Pie sat at the table, preparing sandwiches. Fluttershy and Applejack were nowhere to be found.

The indigo-haired girl’s eyes locked onto me as soon as I entered. She quickly set the knife down and stood, licking her thumb as she approached me to wrap her arms around the back of my neck.

“Hey Rare,” I said quietly, returning the hug.

“How was your day, darling?” she asked, backing up a step so she could face me.

“Good,” I nodded, unable to think of anything else to say.

“Mm. How’s that new watch working?”

“Huh?” I raised a brow. “What watch?”

“It’s almost five o’clock, darling.” She pointed at her wrist. “Did I not say to ‘be here no later than four?’”

“Sorry, we got busy with…uh, we were just trying to get her truck done and didn’t realise how...late…“ I trailed off when I glanced at Pinkie again, who was cutting a sandwich into quarters and smirking, watching the exchange between me and Rarity. “Hey, wait a sec…you guys aren’t even done making the food yet, and you’re on my case about being late?”

“Oooh! He’s gotcha there!” Pinkie giggled, stacking the sandwich pieces on the platter.

“Well, I…” Rarity paused to glance at the table. “Wwwwe simply lost track of…you weren’t here yet, so we just...” She cleared her throat, then smirked and gave me a light slap on the chest. “Oh, come now! I was only being facetious; there’s no need to get upset about it.”

“Ohh come on,” I growled playfully as I wrapped my arm around the small of her back to pull her little frame against me. “Why d’you gotta such a drama-queen, huh?” I teased, placing a kiss on her forehead.

“Oh, Puh! Khh! Fft! I was not being dramatic!” She hooked an arm around the back of my neck again, pulling herself closer so she could nuzzle her face into my shoulder. “I just…missed you, darling. That’s all.”

“Same here,” I replied, resting my cheek on top of her head. Her perfume began to tickle my senses, distracting me, compelling me to inhale deeply to take in the sweet and mildly spicy fragrance. “You smell amazing, as usual.”

“Mmm.”

“What is that, anyway?” I asked. “Vanilla and…?”

“Cardamom, darling.”

“Ah. I never even though of that. Very fancy.”

“Well, I’m a lady of fancy tastes,” she giggled, backing away a second time.

“That you are,” I said, turning to inspect the spread on the table. “I take we’re having sandwiches for supper?”

“And soup, too,” Rarity replied, pointing to a pot on the stove. “Fluttershy made her sweet potato curry soup, and Pinkie Pie and I were making curried egg salad and avocado BLT sandwiches to go with it.”

“Nice,” I nodded, watching Pinkie take another two slices of bread from the bag. “How’s it going, Pinks?”

She looked up at me with that signature grin. “Super-duper! How are you, Goldie-woldie?”

“Good, as always. How was your week?”

Her smile faded ever so slightly. “It was…OK,” she replied, her tone dropping just enough for me to notice. “I miss staying here, though.”

Unsure of how to respond, I quickly glanced at Rarity for help, but she just gave me solemn look in return.

With impeccable timing, Applejack emerged from the hall with a proper bandage on her arm. Fluttershy followed closely behind, her eyes locking squarely on me as soon as I was within sight. She quickly scurried over and grabbed my arm with both hands.

It didn’t take me long to notice her expression; those teal eyes of hers were lit up like Christmas trees and she had a wide, goofy grin plastered across her lips, like she’d inhaled an entire tank of laughing gas.

“Hey…” I said.

She didn’t respond, just smiled.

“Uh…” I glanced around to see if anyone else had noticed her behavior. “You’re, uh…creepin a little, Flutters.”

Then it dawned on me: maybe Applejack told her what happened. It was easy to figure out that they’d been in the washroom alone, dressing the blonde girl’s cut, and it wasn’t too far-fetched to assume that Applejack had gone ahead and told the shy girl everything.

Searching for an answer, I glanced at AJ, who was leaning on the end of the table, watching us. When she saw me looking at her, she bit her lip and gave a tiny nod, confirming my suspicions.

Drawing a breath, I looked at Fluttershy again and smirked.

She was giddy, ready to jump out of her skin with elation. Blinking finally, she realised she’d been staring like a crazy person, so she leaned in to whisper in my ear. “Good job! You’re such a good boy, Goldie.”

I chuckled in response, looking at her again. “I know.” I glanced around at the others. “Is it just you who knows?”

She nodded.

“What about them?”

“Don’t worry; she’s gonna tell everyone in a bit.”

As soon as the last sandwich was placed on the pile, Rarity announced dinner.

“Soup’s on, darlings!”

A streak of colours shot from the couch and ended with Rainbow Dash standing next to Rarity, rubbing her hands together as she surveyed the spread. “Aww yeah!” she grunted, picking up a little plate and filling it with the avocado BLTs.

“Ba-a-a-a-acon…”

“Don’t forget the soup, Dashie!” Pinkie reminded her.

“Hang on, is this everybody?” AJ asked, adjusting her hat with her good arm. “What about Twilight and Sunset?”

“They’re still in town with Twilight’s brother,” Dash answered as she set a bowl of soup on the table and sat down with her collection of sandwiches.

“Ah,” the blonde nodded. “I take it that means she musta got the job he was offerin, eh?”

“It would seem that way, darling,” Rarity answered, sitting down next to Rainbow Dash with her dinner.

“Good fer her,” Applejack said. “She’s been lookin fer somethin fer quite a while.”

“Granted, she’s only on call for now, but it certainly is better than nothing, I’d say,” Rarity added, before taking a spoonful of soup. Her eyes closed suddenly and she let out a moan of delight. “Mmm! Oh Fluttershy, you’ve done it again!”

*****

After eating the simple, yet delicious meal —or most if it, in Dash’s case— Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy dispersed and found spots on the couch to watch more videos.

Rarity remained at the counter to tidy up and Applejack leaned on the end of the table, ruminating on what I assume must have been her future.

I decided to try talking to her.

Approaching her with one last sandwich in hand, I leaned in close and spoke quietly. “Hey.”

She was chewing her lip, staring at the back of the couch. “Huh?” she mumbled, her thoughts brought to a halt by my voice. “Oh…hey.”

“So?”

She shrugged. “So…what?”

“How was it?” I asked, taking a bite of the sandwich.

“Ugh…” she rolled her eyes. “I cannot believe you would even ask me that right now.” She shook her head. “You was there. You know it was good. Like, the best I ever had. I mean,” —she leaned in and lowered her voice to a whisper— “I got off like three times, sugarcube; you know that.” She gave a quick glance over her shoulder before continuing. “So ya don’t need ta be askin me about it just ta give yer ego a boost, alright?”

I stared at her, speechless, with a cheekful of sandwich. Her response caught me off-guard, and it took a moment before I finally got my wits about me again. I blinked a couple times first, then shook my head and swallowed. “AJ…I was asking about your truck.”

Her expression went blank. “Huh?”

“How did it drive? Is it still wandering bad?”

She inhaled quickly, eyebrows raised. “Oh…that. Uh, yeah, it drove real nice; straight as an arrow.” She rubbed the back of her neck, cringing slightly. “Er...thanks fer yer help today, by the way, and uh, s-sorry ‘bout that…just now.”

I paused for a moment, then leaned closer. “Did you say: ‘best you ever had?’”

Applejack leaned away and grimaced, trying to look put-off, but the scarlet in her cheeks betrayed her. Turning away, she shook her head. “Fuck off.”

I chuckled at her, then popped the rest of the sandwich in my mouth and dusted my hands off as I headed around the couch to sit with Fluttershy.

*****

About a half hour had passed before Applejack worked up the courage to announce her ‘big change.’

She stood in front of the TV, nervously wringing her hands together while chewing her lip. Fluttershy had a tight grip on my arm, jittering with excitement while Rarity —who was still unaware— was sitting on the other side of me with her legs crossed like the lady she was, sipping a hot tea.

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were at the far end of the couch, wondering why Applejack was blocking the TV.

“Uh…everyone? I-I got somethin ta announce…I guess.” She lifted the back of her hat to rub her head, trying to decide how to go about wording the news. “Now…I wish Sunset and Twilight coulda been here fer this, but they ain’t, so…”

Rainbow Dash cocked an eyebrow. “OK. Soooo…?”

Applejack sighed. “Alright look, this is kinda weird ta talk about, but…I don’t like keepin secrets, so I’m just gonna come out n’ say it.”

Fluttershy and I held our breath in anticipation while Rarity brought the teacup to her lips for another sip.

Applejack exhaled through pursed lips. “Earlier today…Golds and I boinked at his shop.”

“Pppppfffft!” Rarity leaned forward suddenly, spraying a mouthful of tea across the room.

Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were motionless, wide-eyed.

My cheeks were on fire by that point, but a slight comfort came when a pair of slender, yellow arms wrapped around me, hugging me tightly.

“Yaaaaaaaaay!” the shy girl cheered softly, nuzzling her face into my shoulder.

Shocked, Rarity turned to face me; her eyes looked like they were about to fall out of her head and her mouth hung open, with nothing intelligible coming out other than stutters and gibberish.

“You OK?” I asked, cringing.

She blinked finally, after a moment of mindless staring, and then focused of me again. “Er…yes. Perfectly fine…darling.” She blinked again and gave her bottom lip a quick lap, turning to glance at the red-faced blonde. “Did…” she muttered, turning back to me. “Did you…you know, in…inside? Is she gonna….?”

Fluttershy and I nodded.

“Yeah. She’s gonna be one of us,” I said.

The fashionista’s eyes shifted to Fluttershy, noticing that she’d nodded as well. “You knew?”

“Mm-hm.” Fluttershy nodded quickly. “She told me when I was bandaging her arm, but she told me not to tell anyone else because she was gonna announce it later.”

“Oh my…” Rarity paused to look into her tea for a moment, finally cracking a smile when she returned her eyes to me. “Well…this is wonderful! I…I hadn’t expected anyone else to make the change so soon; and certainly not Applejack!” She set her teacup on the floor to wrap me up in a tight hug, followed by a kiss on my cheek, which was mirrored by a kiss on the other cheek from the shy girl.

Applejack remained in front of the group, feeling very exposed while Pinkie and Dash gaped at her.

“Uh…you two alright?”

Pinkie was the first to snap out of it. “So…are you…invincible?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at the farm girl.

AJ nodded and raised her hands. “Well, I-“

It was at this point that Rainbow Dash did something rather unexpected. Spying the remote on Pinkie’s lap, an idea sprang into her mind. Quick as lighting, she snatched the remote and hurled it at Applejack, hitting her square in the eye with a sharp clack.

Applejack recoiled, covering her face as she turned to the side. “AW! FUCK, THAT HURT!” she cried, glaring back at the rainbow-haired devil with her good eye. “YOU FUCKIN DICK!”

The commotion got our attention. Rarity, Fluttershy and I looked at Applejack, noticing the remote at her feet.

Rarity turned to the other two girls in a huff. “What? Who threw that!?”

With wide, nervous eyes that stayed locked on the fashionista, Pinkie pointed her finger at Dash.

Cocking her head, Rarity glared viciously at the blue-skinned girl. “Rainbow Dash, are you fucking kidding me?” she scolded, to which Dash responded with a confused shrug.

“I don’t get it; what gives? Howcome she’s still vincible?”

“VINCIB-“ The fashionista stopped herself to facepalm, letting out an exasperated groan. “It doesn’t happen immediately, Rainbow Dash! It can take several hours for it to happen!”

“Yeah!” Applejack interjected, her eye still covered as she held her other arm out to display the bandage. “Can’t ya see the bandage on my arm, ya asshole?”

“Sorry, AJ! I didn’t know!” Dash pleaded.

“Well if ya don’t know, ya shouldn’t go ‘round chuckin shit at people’s faces! Yer lucky I don’t pound the shit outta ya fer that!”

Dash let out a snort, sitting back with a smirk on her face. “Sounds to me like you’ve already done enough pounding for one day.”

Applejack glared, her fist clenched at her side, her face red as fire. “That’s it!” she roared, stepping towards the rainbow-haired girl.

Dash’s eyes widened when she saw the angry blonde approaching. “Uh-oh…” she said, before streaking around the end of the couch towards the front door, leaving candy cane-shaped rainbow to mark her path.

Caught off-guard by the escape, Applejack looked across the room to see Dash standing near the front door with her hands outstretched.

“AJ, just chillax! I’m sorry!” Dash pleaded.

“Chillax!?” Applejack repeated, removing her hand from her eye and then blinking it repeatedly. “Why would you even say that?”

“I thought you’d laugh!” Dash shrugged.

“YA THOUGHT I WOU-aww fuck it.” AJ hung her head, sighing. She knew she wouldn’t be able catch Rainbow Dash, thus her aggression plummeted and she flopped down on the couch next to Pinkie Pie. “Whatever,” she muttered, rubbing her sore eye.

Looking to her left, Applejack found herself face-to-face with the ever-grinning Pinkie, who promptly wrapped her arms around the farm girl and squeezed tightly.

“Heh…thanks, Pinkie Pie,” Applejack sighed, wrapping her good arm around her friend’s shoulders.

*****

Time passed. We had put on a movie to watch —one of Pinkie’s selections— while we waited for Applejack’s turn.

Dash had returned to the couch before too long, with an apology and the explanation that she thought AJ had already turned and didn’t think throwing the remote would hurt. Her line about ‘pounding’ was also supposed to be a joke, but Dash humbly admitted that she was a bad comedian when she was nervous or felt bad about something—which I could agree with, having seen her foot end up in her mouth after many, many poorly-timed comments in the past.

Once the movie had ended, we took to exchanging small talk. It was fairly late by then, but everyone was reluctant to go anywhere until we witnessed Applejack’s evolution.

In the middle of a conversation between Rarity and Pinkie, Dash cut in quite suddenly.

“Hey AJ? How’s your eye?”

Applejack paused and gently pawed at her face with her fingertips. “It’s fine. Why?”

Dash raised an eyebrow. “Uuh…cuz I’ve been poking at your bandage for the last five minutes and you haven’t even flinched.”

The farm girl’s eyes widened, and she quickly peeled the bandage away while the rest of us watched.

After the dressing was torn away, we all stared in awed silence.

The wound was gone.

“Holy...shit…” Applejack was incredulous, rubbing her hand over the spot where the cut was, inspecting for any evidence of an injury.

But there was nothing.

“That’s...amazin!”

Rainbow Dash was on her hands and knees by that point, bouncing on the cushions with excitement.

Applejack locked eyes with her friend and nodded, waving her hand toward herself. “Now ya can hit me!”

“Really?” Dash laughed. “You want me to?”

“Gimmie yer best shot!”

“Oh my god, this is so awesome!” Dash giggled as she reared up on her knees, leaned on AJ’s shoulder with one hand and delivered a hard right jab to her friend’s nose.

Applejack’s head bounced back upon impact, knocking her hat off. She had instinctively closed her eyes and scrunched her nose to brace herself, but after the punch, she was shocked to realise that it didn’t hurt at all.

Rainbow Dash, however, was shaking her hand loosely, wincing in pain. “Damn it, that hurt!” she complained.

“Heh!” AJ chuckled. “I didn’t feel a fuckin thing!”

“Shut! Up!” Dash exclaimed, eyes wide. “Are you SERIOUS?”

“I ain’t shittin you, Dashie!” Applejack replied excitedly, leaning forward to look past Rainbow Dash at us. “Did y’all see that? Dashie popped me right in the fuckin beak and I didn’t feel a damn thing!”

“Yes, that’s lovely, darling.”

“Come on, Dash,” AJ shouted, leaping from the couch. “Let’s go ta the kitchen and try out some knives!”

“HA! AWESOME!” Dash jumped up and followed her.

“Don’t make a mess, you two!” Rarity warned, wagging her finger over the back of the couch.

As the two girls giggled deviously behind us, Rarity, Fluttershy and I exchanged glances, smiles and giggles. Both of them were elated, thrilled that another one of their friends was going to exist alongside them for ages to come.

The moment passed quickly though, when Pinkie randomly dove across the couch, belly-flopping onto our laps without warning.

“AAH! Goodness, Pinkie Pie!” Rarity scolded as Fluttershy snickered happily.

Pinkie turned over so that she was lying across all three of our laps, giggling profusely as usual. “Sooooo?”

The three of us stared at her, unsure of what that was supposed to mean.

Fluttershy cleared her throat. “So, um…what?”

Pinkie’s eyebrows went up. “Are all three of you staying here tonight?”

“I believe so, darling. Why?”

“Is it cool if I stay here too?” Pinkie asked, somewhat timidly.

The three of us glanced at one another.

“Hey, I-if I’m imposing, just say the word and I’m gone!” Pinkie said suddenly, pointing over her shoulder with her thumb.

Rarity patted her thigh. “No no, darling; we honestly had no real plans for tonight.”

“Are you sure? Cuz if you guys wanna have one of your crazy three-ways, I don’t wanna stop you.”

“It’s perfectly fine, Pinkie Pie,” Rarity reassured her. “We had our fill of that kind of thing this week; honestly, we’d just planned on lounging around and spending some quiet time together.”

“Oh...OK!” the party-girl grinned.

“Um, is there something on your mind?” Fluttershy asked, gently running her fingers through those pink coils.

Pinkie paused, looking up at the yellow fingers that tousled her hair. “Um…no, nothing on my mind. I just…would rather not go home, that’s all.”

With nothing to say, the three of us exchanged a quick glance, sympathetic toward Pinkie and her home-life dilemma.

Sighing, Rarity gave Pinkie’s thigh a rub. “It’s fine, darling. We’d love to have you here with us.”

“Hey wait! Rarity, you’re not going home tonight?” Dash asked from the kitchen, having overheard the conversation.

“Well no, darling. I told you before I was staying here tonight.”

“Aw shit,” Dash cursed, sighing. “How am I gonna get home?”

“Why not run, darling?”

“What!? No way! It’s fuckin cold out, man!” Dash protested.

“Hey Dashie!” Applejack cut in excitedly. “D’ya wanna come ta the farm tonight instead? We can try hittin me with axes n’ pitch forks n’ shit, huh? Waddaya think a’ that?”

“Hm,” Dash paused, rubbing her chin, a devious smirk slinking across her face. “You know what, AJ? I think that is a fucking... brilliant... plan. Count me in!”

“Let’s go!” AJ shouted, waving Rainbow Dash along. Within seconds, their boots and coats were on and they were out the door, laughing and snickering the entire way.

The three of us were left in silence, with Pinkie Pie sprawled across our laps.

“So…bye then,” Rarity said dryly, waving her hand over the back of the couch.

Fluttershy giggled. “Oh Rare, they’re just excited,” she said, before giving pause, looking concerned. “I sure hope Dashie doesn’t hurt herself messing around like that.”

“She’ll be fine, sweetie,” Rarity said dismissively. “Rainbow Dash is quite accustomed to being an idiot.”

Pinkie laughed, her entire body jiggling across our laps. “You’re so funny, Rare-bear! You guys wanna watch another movie?”

The question literally came from nowhere, catching the three of us off-guard.

“Oh...well I suppose we could, darling, but it’s quite late; aren’t you tired?”

Pinkie waved Rarity off. “Nah. I stay up late all the time.”

“Alright, well...if you insist,” Rarity replied as Pinkie pointed the remote and scrolled through the movie list, eventually choosing ‘It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,’ which turned out to be a long movie!

After about the two hour mark, we were still watching the movie —which was actually pretty entertaining— and Pinkie was still lying across our laps. She was dressed differently than usual that night; black yoga pants that nicely fit her curvy frame covered her legs, with a light-blue, long-sleeved T-shirt topping it off.

Pinkie’s thighs and knees were on Rarity’s lap, her back and shoulders were on Fluttershy’s lap, and her rear-end was resting dead-center on me, which made a slight worry fester in the back of my mind: what if something caused me to have an erection? There was no way that could possibly happen without Pinkie feeling it.

How would she react?

Rarity’s temple was resting on my shoulder as I wondered this; my head was tipped back, resting on the cushion behind us.

It was about this time that I noticed movement in my right periphery. The lights were out, making the TV the only source of light in the room, but it still provided plenty of light to see what was going on.

When I shifted my eyes to the right, I saw something that threw me for a loop.

Fluttershy was touching Pinkie’s left breast. And not just a little bit; she was kneading it, playing with it, rolling its voluminous mass around between her fingers.

A sharp jolt zipped through my chest, causing my eyes to widen when I saw what she was doing. I looked at Fluttershy’s face; she was staring vacantly at the TV as if nothing unusual was happening.

I glanced at Pinkie next. She was also completely enthralled by the film, paying no mind to what the shy girl was doing.

Rarity was no different; though I couldnt see her face, I got no sense of shame or disconcert from her whatsoever.

After returning my attention to the TV for a moment, my eyes began to dart around again. I knew I wouldn’t be able to ignore what was going on beside me.

“Flutters...” I whispered.

“Hm?” She turned to look at me.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing,” she whispered innocently.

I paused, not expecting that answer. “Uh…you kind of are, actually.”

She looked at me inquisitively, so I tipped my head towards Pinkie. Fluttershy looked down at her hands, wrapped around that warm, fleshy melon.

“Oh!” she giggled. “I’m just playing.”

I raised a brow. “Playing?”

By this time, Pinkie herself had noticed the conversation and peeled her eyes from the TV to look at me first, and then Fluttershy.

“Mm-hm,” the shy girl nodded. “It’s…I don’t know, relaxing; like kneading a lump of clay.”

Pinkie interjected. “Or like a stress ball!”

“Yeah,” Fluttershy agreed. “Or a fidget-spinner.”

The party-girl giggled and raised her index finger. “A fidget-tittie!”

Fluttershy laughed, taking one hand from Pinkie’s breast to cover her mouth while using the other thumb to push on the erect nipple that poked through that blue shirt.

Rarity lifted her temple from my shoulder momentarily, then gave her head a little shake before settling back down again.

“Right…” I chewed my lip thoughtfully. “So, you guys just…do this sometimes?”

They both shook their heads.

Surprised, I furrowed my brows and glanced back and forth between them. “What? You’ve never done this before?”

They shook their heads again.

I looked at Pinkie. “And you’re…OK with it?”

Pinkie shrugged. “I dunno; I guess. Why wouldn’t I be? It’s Fluttershy. I trust her! I’ve only known her for, like, ever, you know!”

I shifted my eyes onto Fluttershy next. “So…this isn’t, like…a sexual thing?”

She shook her head. “Mm-mm.”

“Are your sure?”

“Mm-hm.” She nodded. “You know what they say, Goldie: idle hands are the devil’s playground. I’m just keeping them busy while we watch the movie.”

Letting out a deep sigh, I returned my attention to the TV. “You girls are so random.”

*****

The movie hadn’t quite finished before Pinkie fell asleep. The three of us, however, had become quite invested in it, so we finished watching it while the party-girl slept on our laps. Once it was finally over, we exchanged glances and impressed nods. I had to admit: Pinkie Pie had great taste in classic films.

When the credits were finished rolling, I slid one arm under Pinkie’s knees and the other behind her back, stood up with her in my arms, carried her down the hall, and laid her down in Fluttershy’s bed.

After pulling the covers over her to make sure she wouldn’t make up shivering, I returned to my spot on the lounge and sandwiched myself between Rarity and Fluttershy. The three of us snuggled in tight, and, not knowing what else to do, decided to start yet another movie.

Chapter 95: Everyone Needs Help Sometimes

Author's Note

I had hoped to have more than this ready by now, but this is all I was able to finish.

I kinda miss you guys. :pinkiesad2:

Chapter 95: Everyone Needs Help Sometimes

Chapter 95

The next morning, Rarity left for home at about 5:00am to get ready for work, and Fluttershy started to get ready to leave about an hour after that. We hadn’t done much during the night, aside from lay together on the couch. The girls had suggested going out to Riverfield, but I wasn’t really feeling it, and it was fairly cold out—not that it was harmful to us, but spending time on a soft couch under a warm blanket with two lovely ladies was far more preferable than being outside in the middle of the night during the month of November, especially with the mood I was in.

I made Fluttershy a simple breakfast while she was getting ready. She blushed, cooed and purred over it like always when I did something nice for her, which is one of the reasons she was so loveable, and why I absolutely would have wandered the desert for a hundred years looking for her, with or without Sunset at my side.

Before I knew it, she had her shoes on and was headed out the door after a quick kiss goodbye, leaving me alone in an empty house with nothing to do, and no one to talk to.

I hated it.

It had only been a few minutes since she left, but I already missed her. Rarity too.

I decided to busy myself to keep my mind occupied. There’s gotta be some shit to do around here, I thought, spying the mess I had made while cooking Fluttershy’s breakfast.Ah-ha!

So I set about cleaning the dishes and the stove, and the table. And the counter. And the fridge.

After that was looked after, I swept the floor and vacuumed the living room carpet and the couch. Then I moved onto doing laundry.

Since Fluttershy’s house was so small, it was without a utility room of any kind, so the washer and dryer were right in her bedroom—in a closet with folding doors, standing opposite from the bathroom. To be honest, it was actually unbelievably convenient having them right there; although back when she was an ordinary human, she couldn’t run them at night as they would keep her awake, but now, it obviously didn’t matter.

Once I had a load of laundry going, I went out to the front room and sat on the couch, checking the time on the satellite box.

9:31am.

“Ugh…” I groaned, letting my head fall back. I stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, wondering what else there was to do. Damn, I wish I had a phone. I could text Pinkie; I bet she’d be free today, and I’m sure she’d want to hang out since her family drives her nuts. I frowned, staring aimlessly at Fluttershy’s wooden ceiling, memorizing the shape and path of every single grain, the position of every knothole. Are all of her sisters seriously home all day, every day?…god damn, that would drive me nuts...FUCK! I sat forward suddenly with a frustrated grunt. Folding my hands, I looked down at the floor between my feet. I can’t believe Gord wanted to keep that little dreadlocked retard over me; I mean…seriously? THAT’S who he’d rather have?

I felt something come to rest on the cushion to my right, and I looked over to find Link sitting there, watching me inquisitively. He was not quite half-grown by that point, but he was sure becoming a handsome animal. I couldn’t help but smirk at him, sitting patiently with his big, furry paws on the cushion, twitching his ears with those long, black tufts protruding from the tips. Although I couldn’t communicate with him like my girlfriend could, this cat and I shared a special bond nevertheless. Fluttershy had made it clear to him early on that I was the one who rescued him from certain doom, and that it was me who brought him home to her. This animal understood exactly who I was and what I meant to him, and although this may have been an ordinary thing for Fluttershy, for me, it was quite a profound understanding to share with an animal.

Link dipped his head finally, and lifted his foreleg to paw at my thigh.

“Yeah-yeah,” I replied, reaching over to scratch behind his ear. He responded by tilting his head and driving it into my palm as a low purr began to emanate from his throat. I continued to stroke him idly, running my fingers through the thick shag under his jowls; my eyes focused on nothing but the air in front of them as the time passed me by—wasted, unproductive and dull.

Downright fucking wretched, in actuality.

Eventually, my thoughts returned to my lost job. Who does that little fucker think he is, calling ME washed up? What, just because I couldn’t rescue Flutters by mysel-

My mind screeched to a halt. With furrowed brows, I stared at the floor as the realisation slowly trickled in. Then another memory came to me, from the night I stayed with Fluttershy after her head injury: I promised to take care of her that night, that I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her.

And then she got captured.

I broke my promise, and I couldn’t even fix it on my own.

I needed help to bring her back.

More memories began to come back to me; my wife, crushed to death in the rubble beside me all those centuries ago, the family in the Wild West, murdered while I was away, and then of course, there was Fluttershy. Failure after failure, more than I cared to admit.

As I sat there, stewing in my own self-loathing, I could feel myself filling with a dank emptiness, stricken by a stark, cruel truth: I was no longer the alpha here in this vast world. I had been surpassed by technology and, of all things, by magic.

“Huh...” I shook my head. I can’t even hold down a job anymore...

I felt unneeded, unnecessary, and worst of all, outdated.

But I had momentarily forgotten about one thing: the girls loved me.

I rubbed my forehead, scrunching my face. Damn it Golds, shut up! Quit being a douche to yourself! What would Flutters and Rare say if they knew you were thinking like this?

Sighing, I let my hands drop and I stared at the floor. Maybe Twilight and the others were right: sitting around like this really was bad for me. Bad for my mind; bad for my spirit. On the other hand, though, I felt like I’d already had more than enough excitement for one year. To be fair, some of the excitement was good, like meeting these women: so lovely and kind, brave and passionate, and now, like me, inextinguishable and everlasting.

In actuality, there weren’t just like me, they were better than me. They had magic!

“Hm…” I mumbled quietly, turning to look at Link, whose eyes were closed, his throat vibrating like the water at the base of those grand falls that Fluttershy and I had recklessly dove into. “What do you think?” I asked the cat.

There was no reply.

“Is this where I end up? Me: the oldest living person on the planet; an ancient artifact, a gladiator, an amazing pipe-layer...” I chuckled at myself, but the levity soon faded. “Is this really me? Reduced to a fucking housewife?”

I glanced over at Link again, who was giving me a wooden stare. I snickered to myself and shook my head. “Yeah, you’re right. I am being a bit dramatic, aren’t I?”

I gave him one final pat on the head and stood. “I’ve been hanging around Rare too much,” I quipped. “I just need something to do. Sitting around here, thinking about all this existential nonsense is just gonna drive me mental.”

I paced back and forth in front of the couch, rubbing my chin as I tried to think of something to do.

With a snap of my finger, I stopped and looked at Link. “A new phone! I could go to town and get…” My shoulders slumped suddenly. “Shit…I can’t drive anywhere.” I placed my hands on my hips and stood there, staring into the fabric of the couch. “I could fix the shower at my shop…if I could drive to Hoof Hardware to get new tiles, a tap and a new shower stall.”

Fuck.

I REALLY wish I didn’t take the plates off the Diplomat and cut them in half now…

After getting my truck back, I had removed and destroyed the rancher’s plates from the old car to remove the temptation of driving it any more, although I wasn’t expecting to lose my job and therefore the ability to drive my own vehicle; if I’d known this was going to happen, I would have kept the Diplomat handy for the time being.

I paused suddenly. The Diplomat…

I quickly made my way to the door and threw my jacket and boots on, then I went outside. My shop wasn’t that far away, in fact I had made the trip on foot before, on that fateful night when the girls learned of my true identity. I ventured a small distance up the road until I found the spot where I emerged from the woods that night; it was still fairly noticeable where I had broken through the brush, especially with the fall season in full swing, leaving the trees —save for the evergreens— completely barren of leaves.

It took quite a while to get there, especially having to climb that rock-face that surrounded the area where my shop sat; it was definitely a lot easier going the other way that night, when all it took was a simple jump down.

To be honest, I didn’t know why I was going to the shop. The thought of the Diplomat made me, for some reason, think I could find something to do there. Maybe give it a tune-up? Clean the carburetor? I wasn’t quite certain. All I knew was that I didn’t want to sit at Fluttershy’s house all day with my thumb up my ass.

Even when I found myself standing in the shop, staring at the old car, I still didn’t know what I was doing there. Finally, I popped the hood and took a moment to look the engine over in all its dusty, grimy glory. With a sigh, I thought about how far this car had actually taken us at a moment’s notice, after sitting for several months amongst the tall grass and weeds on that ranch in California. It was a good runner, and it had been faithful to Sunset, Fluttershy and me—heck, it even went through a battle with us.

I hated the idea of scrapping it, even though the thought had crossed my mind, but it was still in too good a shape.

And…this car brought Fluttershy home. It had sentimental value. That, and I paid fifteen-thousand dollars for it.

Maybe a little tune-up was the least it deserved, so I started by removing the sparks plugs to inspect them. After that, everything became a blur. I removed the carburetor next and tore it down, then the valve covers came off…

One thing led to another and a couple hours later, the Diplomat was on the hoist with a gaping engine bay, and the engine and transmission were sitting on the ground.

I stood over the greasy old motor, rubbing my chin as I pondered to myself.

Why the hell did I do this?

I sighed and shook my head at myself. Chewing the inside of my cheek, I glanced around the shop until my eyes landed on the cutting mill, sitting in the corner. I stared at it for a moment, then I glanced at the car, then the engine, then back at the mill again.

An idea was forming, as was the smirk on my face.

Nothing was to materialise of it that day, however; I suddenly realised I had no idea what time it was, so I decided to begin the long walk back to Fluttershy’s house.

It was about 4:30pm when I returned. Fluttershy wouldn’t be home for another hour, so I decided to have a shower to clean the grime from my hands and arms—mostly. Then, after drying off and getting dressed, I started making supper.

Fluttershy arrived home a few minutes before 6:00pm like usual. She stepped inside and paused when she saw me standing by the stove, stirring a pot of spaghetti with her pink apron on. We locked gazes somewhat awkwardly for a moment—my eyes darted from hers down to the pot, then back to her.

“Don’t laugh.”

Fluttershy smiled, then rolled her eyes as she slipped out of her coat and kicked her shoes off. “Oh Goldie, I would never laugh at you for making me supper.” She squatted down to greet Link and Angel, who had both sprinted to meet her as soon as she entered.

I set the spoon down and turned the burner off. “So? How was your day?”

“Oh, it was…um, OK.” The shy girl stood and made her way to the table. She set her leather briefcase on the adjacent chair, then took a seat. She sighed wearily —though not actually weary— letting the exhale blow noisily through her lips as she swept a pink lock from in front of her eye and hooked it behind her ear. “It’s noisy there right now,” she said absentmindedly, staring at the tabletop. “The guys doing the renovations are really loud, with all the banging and the power-sawing all day long. The animals don’t like it. They’ve been complaining about it ever since I got back. They just want the noisy people to go away.”

“Hm,” I replied, setting out a couple glasses of juice on the table. “What did you tell them?”

Fluttershy shrugged. “I just tell them those men are here to help, and they’re making our home a nicer place to live, but it’s going to be a little bit noisy while they’re here.”

"Hm." I smiled at her. “You’re a good mama, Flutters,” I said, slapping a pile of pasta on a plate before setting it on the table for her.

“Thanks Goldie,” she said, smiling as she twirled her fork into the pile of spaghetti. Dipping her head a bit, she popped the forkful into her mouth and chewed while I sat across from her with a plate of my own. “MM!” Her eyes opened suddenly when she remembered something. She raised her finger, signalling me to wait while she gulped her food down. “Guess what?”

“What?”

“Someone almost adopted Tyler, Skyler, Kyler, Mr. Pickles and Beelzebub today!”

These names, of course, belonged the five kittens she’d brought home from the ‘Us’ base. One of them was a bit of a troublemaker.

“No shit! All five of them?”

“Mm-hm,” she replied, licking some tomato sauce from her lips. “That would have been amazing; I’d really like to see all five of them stay together if possible, especially after all they’ve been through.”

I nodded. “Yeah. So what happened? He change his mind or…?”

She shook her head, swallowing another mouthful. “He’s gonna think about it, so he might still go for it.”

“Hm.” I sighed, scooping up a pile of noodles with my fork. “Well, fingers crossed.”

She smiled, but remained silent and continued to eat.

I swallowed my first bite and cleared my throat. “Which one was it that pissed in Cody’s mouth?”

“Mm...” She sucked a noodle up between her lips. “That was Mr. Pickles.”

I nodded, pointing my fork at her. “I liked him. I wish we coulda kept him.”

“I know; me too, but like I said, I don’t want to break them up if I don't have to.”

“Yeah,” I sighed, returning my attention to the dinner.

A moment later, Fluttershy reached across the table and touched my hand with her fingertips. “What’s that?” she asked, squinting at by blackened knuckles.

“Oh,” I raised my hand to study it, “just some grime from the Diplomat. I was working on it a bit today.”

“At the shop?” she asked softly.

I nodded.

“You didn’t…drive there, did you?”

“No. I walked through the woods.”

“Oh. So what was wrong with it?” she asked, plunging her fork into the pasta again.

“Nothing.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Nothing?”

My mouth was full, so I just shook my head.

“So then…what were you doing to it?”

I swallowed my food. “I took the engine and tranny out.”

Fluttershy paused, surprised. “Um…why did you do that?”

I shrugged. “Bored.”

She stuck her bottom lip out. “Aww, you poor guy. It must have been such a long day out here for you, all alone; I felt bad about it all day.”

“Well, it was pretty boring, but I was fine,” I lied.

“Hm. So, what are you gonna do tomorrow? Put the engine back in?”

I shook my head. “No. I have some ideas for it. I’ll probably just stick around here tomorrow though; there’s not much else I can do with it for now.”

“What kind of ideas?”

“You’ll see. I have to do a bit of research first to figure some things out though.”

“Hm…” Fluttershy nodded and went back to enjoying her dinner.

When she was finally finished, she set the fork on the plate and pushed it away, folding her arms on the tabletop. “That was good. Um, thanks for making me supper.”

“No problem. Anything for you, Flutters.”

“I love it when you cook for me,” she continued. “You’re actually a really good cook—which I guess makes sense, I mean…you’ve had lots of time to learn how.”

I nodded, swallowing another bite. “The secret ingredient is love…juice.”

Fluttershy giggled, and then leaned forward with a suspicious smirk. “Goldie…did you cum in the spaghetti?”

I gave her a wink.

“I thought that tasted familiar.” She let out a snicker and gave me a wink in return. “It could have used a bit more though, to be honest.”

“I didn’t have time.”

Fluttershy tittered some more and then gradually went quiet, staring blankly as I scraped up the last few bites on my plate.

“Um…Goldie?”

“Hm?”

“You didn’t…really cum in the spaghetti, did you?”

I snorted and then swallowed. “You think I’d be eating it if I did?”

Her eyebrows went up. “Hm, well,” she giggled. “That’s what I was kind of thinking, but...I don’t know. Good point.”

A moment later, my plate was cleaned, so I pushed it aside and leaned back, folding my arms. We stared at each other for a moment, and then I cleared my throat.

“Is Rare coming out tonight?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “No, she said she's gonna go out and do a patrol. She’s been neglecting that lately.”

“Oh.” I looked down at the table top.

“Um, she really wants someone to go out with her.”

“Well, where’s Sunny?” I asked. “Still up in the city with Twi and her brother?”

She nodded. “Mm-hm. They must be having a lot of fun.”

“It’s a good sign. I assume that means she got the job if she’s still up there.”

“You’re probably right.”

“So it’s just you and me tonight, eh?” I said, smirking at her.

She giggled. “Yeah. What do you wanna do?”

I shrugged, then paused, raising a brow at her. “Hey, I just realised something…”

“What’s that?”

“The last person I had sex with is AJ...like, four days ago.”

“Hmm.” Fluttershy stroked her chin thoughtfully. “You’re right, Goldie. That’s kind of funny, actually.”

“Yeah. I mean, the closest I’ve been since then was when Rare offered me butt-sex last night—not too sure what the deal was there.”

Fluttershy smirked. “She’s funny.” She then raised a brow at me. “Would you do it?”

“Uh,” I looked at the ceiling. “I guess, if she really wanted me to. It’s not the first time she’s offered, actually.”

“Isn’t it, like…tighter?” Fluttershy asked inquisitively.

I cocked my head. “Um…yes and no. Like, at the entrance it is, but further in, not so much...usually.” I shrugged. “I don’t know; I like pussy a lot better, personally.”

“Mm-hm,” she replied as a sly smirk grew across her lips. “You wanna, um…have a go at mine?”

“What, right now?”

She nodded enthusiastically.

“Sounds like a plan,” I said quickly, and we bolted for the bedroom.

*****

The next day was much the same. Once the sunrise began, Fluttershy went out to feed the animals and then came back in for a shower while I made her breakfast. She emerged from the hallway all prettied-up as usual, ready to head to work once her meal was gone.

Once again, after a kiss goodbye —a longer one this time— she was out the door, gone again until evening.

“Dammit,” I whispered, placing my hands on my hips. I sighed, looking around the empty house, terrified of the prospect of trudging through another day like the one before. What the hell is wrong with me? Why can’t I deal with this? I’ve been through way worse shit before…

Deciding it wasn’t going to do me any good just standing there thinking about it, I proceeded to clean the kitchen and then afterwards, found a spot on the couch. After I considered watching a bit of TV for a spell, I spied the Wii sitting off to the side and my mind immediately went back to the first night I met the girls, when we played Mega Man 9.

Maybe I should take another crack at that game, I thought. If there was ever a good time to waste on such a thing, now would be it.

So on the game went, and I chose the first enemy, which happened to be the same one I chose that first night. When I beat him that time, the girls were so impressed by it, and I was enthusiastic to do it again, hoping it would bring back that feeling of pride and make me feel a bit less lonely.

That feeling was nowhere to be found, however, when the boss of that level beat me, and by a fairly significant margin at that.

“Huh.” I furrowed my brow and glanced over at Link, who was lying on the chaise lounge, keeping it warm in Fluttershy’s absence as usual. “Lucky shot,” I snorted as the screen refreshed and Mega Man stood ready outside of the boss’ chamber.

I lost again.

And again.

The next thing I knew, I was staring at the ‘Game Over’ screen, chewing my lip with the Wiimote sitting on the cushion beside me.

“What the fuck, man…” I whispered. Am I going soft? Or was it actually fluke that I won that night…?

I glanced at the clock.

8:02am.

“FUUUUCK!” I let my head fall back and stared at the ceiling, recognising the same details in the wood from the day before. “I bet Pinks is free again today. I need a fuckin phone. This is bullshit.” I closed my eyes and groaned, realising a missed opportunity. I should have went to town with Flutters. She could have dropped me off somewhere before going to work, and I could’ve got a new phone and walked around and stuff…it would have been better than this, plus I would’ve had the whole ride to town to spend with her.

With a sigh, I shook my head, picked the Wiimote up again and started over, choosing a different robot master to pursue.

I kept at it, but it was a struggle. I wasn’t sure why though; I thought I was pretty good at that game, but for the life of me, I just couldn’t handle it that day. Perhaps it was because I didn’t actually want to play it, but I knew if I stopped, there’d be nothing left to do.

Hours later, I had defeated all eight of the robot bosses—and invented some new cuss words. After collecting the maximum capacity of E-tanks, I took a deep breath and contemplated venturing into the castle.

A deep sigh came next. My ambition had dwindled severely by then, and I wasn’t quite sure if I wanted to begin a new leg of the game. Ugh…do I really wanna do this now?

I glanced at the satellite box.

11:55am.

“Shit.” I shook my head. “Well, I guess I’ve got nothing better to do.”

So, I selected the big ‘W’ in the middle of the screen and pressed the button to begin the next stage. Fortunately, the castle didn’t go much worse than the earlier levels, although it wasn’t much better, either. Eventually, I did make it through to the final boss of the game and was actually doing quite well, but as fate soon dictated, a victory for me was simply not to be, and I was defeated.

“Son of a cunt’s ass!” I slapped the cushion beside me, rousing Link’s attention. I looked over at the cat, noticing he’d lifted his head and was now watching me intently. “Did you see that!?” I asked aggressively, gesturing to the TV. “You believe that shit? I was like…literally two shots away from winning! Now I used up all my goddamn E-tanks, so if I want more I have to go into a level to collect the little screw thingys to buy more, but if I do that, I’ll have to go through the ENTIRE FUCKING CASTLE TO GET TO DR. WILY AGAIN!”

Link stared blankly at me, making me feel like a fucking idiot for having an outburst like that over a video game…to a cat.

I sighed and rubbed my face, exhaling with puffed cheeks.

Dammit, Mega Man, why'd you have to go and get yourself into trouble like this?

I chewed the inside of my cheek and glowered at the TV, on which the blue bomber was standing idle, just outside the final boss' chamber—out of E-tanks, out of weapon energy, ready to be sent into a suicide mission.

Why even bother trying? Even if I win, Dr. Wily just gets away every time and comes back in the next game. Honestly, is Mega Man not just wasting his time?

If I was Mega Man, I'd say 'fuck that old asshole,' and then I'd totally stay home and bend Roll over the bathroom sink. I grimaced suddenly, feeling like I may have missed something. Unless Roll is his sister...is she his sister? I don't know...

Incest or not, however, what kind of hero would he be if he did that? I sat, drumming my fingers on the cushion as I stared at the little blue figure on the screen, who was waiting patiently to see if I would pick the controller up and lead him to certain doom, or if I would simply turn off the console and imprison him inside a limbo of wires and semiconductors.

Eventually, my mind flip-flopped yet again: it didn't matter whether or not he went out to be a hero or if he stayed home to fuck his sister; Dr. Wily always came back. Mega Man was definitely wasting his time. Hm...circular logic is circular. I cocked my head. Wait...would that be circular logic? No, that's more like...boomerang logic. Yeah...because the same reasoning keeps coming back, just like a boomerang. Or maybe...the boomerang stays still...and everything else moves-

I growled out loud and sat forward suddenly, shaking my head. "God dammit, Golds. That has got to be the stupidest fuckin thing you've ever said. Maybe."

The jury was out on that. In the meantime, I took a deep breath and let my eyes drift around the room, landing on the big, shaggy cat first, then the shy girl's worn out lounge cushion, then the TV, then finally, my own feet.

Was Mega Man wasting his time? After all, he does manage to thwart the old doctor’s evil plans every time; but how long will it be until Wily succeeds?

It wasn’t long before my mind began to wander elsewhere.

What about Rarity? And Sunset? Were they wasting their time?

Indeed, the suits and the vigilante thing sure threw me for a loop when I learned of it after coming home. All I told her was to look after Canterlot. Why would she take it to such extreme? And why would she make a suit for everyone? The other girls weren't even turned yet!

Not that I thought what she was doing was bad, or a waste of time—on an individual level. Helping people is indeed good, but Rarity's thoughts about 'changing the world' and 'making it a better place?' It was a pipe dream, if you asked me. Why? Because I know how humans work. I've seen it so many times, I could practically set my watch to it: the greed, the plotting, the breakdown of society, and eventually, the fall of humanity.

Not all humans are like this —an obvious fact— but unfortunately, it only takes a few people, or even just one, to spread their bad ideas like a virus and spawn a cataclysmic event that changes everything.

And how many times was I a part of it? More than I cared to admit.

The girls hadn't lived through this, and therein lies the reason for their naïveté.

I've been through it over and over: I saw the wars, witnessed the vain loss of life, watched in horror as history was forgotten and then repeated itself time and time again. Maybe it wouldn't happen if everyone was like me and had the ability to remember the mistakes of the past, but sadly, they aren't. Every new generation brings with it a fresh crop of assholes, hungry for power, wealth, resources, and more recently, energy; ignorant to the fact that countless people have tried it before them, only to end up dead and buried—if not by revenge at the hands of someone they've wronged, then by father time himself.

Granted, Rarity's ideals were lovely —I couldn't dispute that— but she was wasting her time striving for something so...intangible; so unachievable. You can't control the masses, and you can't change the world. I had said this to them ad nauseam, and none of them would listen, save for one timid little sweetheart.

The only one who seemed to understand was Fluttershy. She’d had a taste of it; she knew what it was like, she knew what dark depths human beings could sink to. It was she —and only she— who understood the futility of it all, the utter pointlessness in fighting the current. She knew, like me, that the best way to survive was to find a rock and get behind it; hide from the flow, stay away from the pull, and life can carry on in peace.

Unless that rock happens to wash away, which does occasionally happen. Then —and only then— is when you must fight the current, until you find the next rock.

This is how it must be...when you’re in a river that never ends.

Now...would I ever tell Rarity —or Sunset, for that matter— that this was how I felt about their ambitions?

Never. Mostly because it was highly unlikely that they would listen. Some beliefs cannot be taught, they can only be learned—through direct experience. Surely Rarity would do little more than turn her nose up and wave me off if I were to share these thoughts with her, saying that 'I am just a negative-nelly,' and that I am far too cynical for my own good. Almost guaranteed, she would fold her arms, raise that smart-assed eyebrow and ask: 'why train us to fight then, darling? What was the point if it's so hopeless?'

The answer was simple: because the world ISN'T perfect.There are dangers everywhere—nasty characters with bad intentions lurking in the shadows, and being able to protect oneself and the ones they hold close is paramount to survival—which means so much more than just staying alive. I stayed alive buried under a castle for an entire lifetime, but I was alone, I couldn't move, trapped in that black limbo for what seemed like eons. I wouldn't even consider that 'surviving,' and it was certainly not living. My entire existence consisted of nothing more than my memories, my thoughts, and the colour black. It was akin to a death sentence, an eternity in hell.

Don't get me wrong, if I could make the world a perfect place, I'd have done it centuries ago. But I can't, so this how it has to be, something I had hoped the girls would learn before it was too late.

I glanced up at the TV, suddenly realising the music was still playing and the blue bomber was still waiting. Rubbing my hands together, I looked down at the Wiimote for a moment; my ambition was all but gone, and I didn't really want to try again, knowing how badly the odds were stacked against me. My eyes crept across the couch until they landed on Link, who was sitting with his eyes closed, lazily wasting away the day.

I began to wonder if I should take him outside for a walk. Some fresh air and exercise would be good for him —not to mention I needed a break from my messed-up thoughts— and I was about to look away when I noticed his ears perk up. He looked towards the front door, evidently interested in something.

Wondering what it might have been, I listened along with the lynx, letting my eyes explore the ceiling mindlessly as I waited to see if I could hear something.

Oddly enough, there was a sound coming from out front, in the driveway; something metallic, but light, sounding like it had been dropped on the ground.

I glanced at the clock.

3:30pm.

“Hmm...” I set the controller down and headed for the front door. What the hell’s going on here? I wondered as I slipped my boots on.

When I opened the door and peered out, my eyes beheld something I didn’t expect: Fluttershy’s car was parked there, and the shy girl herself was kneeling down in front of my truck, cussing quietly to herself as she fidgeted around with something; her body was blocking my view, so I couldn’t see exactly what she was doing.

“Flutters?”

She turned to look over her shoulder, unaware that she was being observed. “Oh!” She stood and faced me suddenly, making sure to keep what she was doing blocked from my view. “Um…hi, G-Goldie.”

“Why are you home so soon?” I asked, closing the door behind me before approaching her. “What are you doing out here?”

“N-nothing,” she replied quickly, keeping her hands behind her back.

“Doesn’t look like nothing,” I said, leaning to the side to see past her, noticing her eyes wandering nervously along the ground. “Flutters?”

She sighed finally, giving up on hiding what she was up to, and she brought her hands in front of her, revealing three screws and a screwdriver.

I raised an eyebrow when I saw them, and she stepped aside, allowing me to see the front of my truck.

There was a new license plate partially mounted on the bracket, hanging crooked with a single screw started on one side.

“Hey…” I said quietly. “What’s this?”

“Um…a licence plate.”

I shook my head. “Yeah, I know it’s a licence plate. Where did you get it?”

“It’s new. I got them for you today,” she replied, failing at containing a smile.

“How?” I asked, placing my hands on my hips, confused. “I can’t…I mean, I-“

“Here.” She handed me the tools and then headed for her car, where she pulled her leather briefcase out and produced a thin file folder. “Um…because you never put this truck in your name, the signature on the old ownership from the guy you bought it from was still valid, so…um, I left the shelter at noon and went to the ministry to…well, look.”

She held a new ownership out for me to see. It was complete with all the truck’s information, but the thing that really caught my eye was the owner’s name:

‘Fluttershy’

“Hold the phone,” I said, squinting at the document to make sure I read it right. “You put it…in your name?”

“Mm-hm.” She nodded. “I hope that’s OK. Um, it’s still your truck, Goldie; we both know that, but this was the only way we could make it so you could drive it again.”

“Wow…” I said, rubbing the back of my neck, unsure of how to react. “I don’t know what to say…” —I paused for a second— “wait, you got insurance on it too?”

Fluttershy shrugged. “I called them yesterday and had them add it to my policy.” She gave the truck a quick glance. “It’s actually wasn’t that expensive because of its age. Oh! Actually,” she perked up, ”um, at first, they said they wouldn’t cover it at all because it’s so old, and, so um…I told them that if they wouldn’t, then I would find another insurance company who would. And do you know what?”

“What?”

“They did it!” she cheered softly, pressing the heels of her hands to her cheeks.

“Whaaaat? You stood up to them?”

With bright eyes and a wide smile, she nodded excitedly, causing her hair to ripple gracefully around her face.

“Flutters, that’s…that’s amazing!” I jammed the tools in my pocket and grabbed her by the waist, picked her up and spun her around once before setting her back down. “I mean, you hate dealing with sales people! I can’t believe you di-“

My words stalled out suddenly. I gazed in disbelief at my girlfriend, watching her eyes gleam with pride, her cheeks glowing as a soft, pink lock of hair slipped in front of her right eye.

“Flutters…you did all this…for me?”

“Mm-hm.” She nodded, smiling.

Lost for words, I stood there, staring at the beautiful sweetheart before me, my hands still on her waist. After a moment, I became unable to control myself and I pulled her into a tight hug. “Thank you, Flutters,” I whispered. “Thank you SO much. I don’t know what I ever did to deserve you; I just...I can’t believe you did this.”

“Oh Goldie,” she sighed, returning the embrace. “I told you before: you’re my best boy. When your happiness is at stake, I’m not afraid of anything! Plus…you deserve it, because you’re you, and you’ve made me the happiest girl ever.”

I swallowed, trying to keep myself in check as the shy girl’s words tugged ruthlessly at my heartstrings. “Damn it…you’re the best, Flutters! You know that?”

“Nah,” she giggled softly. “I just love you a lot, that’s all.”

“I love you too,” I said, unwrapping my arms from her to look down, realising I was feeling the tools in my pocket get pinned between us when we hugged, so I took them out to look at them.

“Um…d-do you mind putting them on for me? I’m…not very good at screwing.”

“Ha! I beg to differ,” I chuckled, kneeling down to fasten the plate on the front of the truck.

Fluttershy watched me for a moment and then quietly cleared her throat. “Um…I-I was going to get personalized plates for you, but then I…didn’t.”

“Oh?”

“Mm-hm. I was gonna get them to make it ‘Fluttershy And Goldie,’ but, um, that's obviously way too long, so I said maybe we could make it just the initials, but...the um, ministry lady wouldn’t do it.”

I was listening only half-intently to her as I turned the screwdriver, but after giving some brief thought to what she was saying, I paused and furrowed my brows, then I glanced over my shoulder at her. “Uh…well, you know what that spells, right?”

The shy girl nodded and looked at the ground. “I know. I-I realised after she said she wouldn't do it. It was, um, pretty embarrassing…actually.”

“Yyyyyyeah...” I replied slowly as I resumed tightening the screws. “Well I'm glad they caught it, I guess.”

Fluttershy put her hands behind her back and looked down, drilling her toe into the gravel, letting her knee swing back and forth as she did. “Well…and also, you have to order personalised plates, so I wouldn’t have been able to get them for you today.”

“Yeah,” I replied absentmindedly as I moved on to the next screw. “It was for the best, I’d say.”

Fluttershy nodded and watched silently.

As I worked, I could hear a quiet giggle growing behind me, so I turned to look at Fluttershy. She was smirking and looking at the ground with crimson cheeks, holding the folder behind her back; her shoulders quaked with a quiet laughter that grew steadily the more she thought about the offending plates.

A smirk quickly forced itself onto my face, so I turned back to what I was doing to try to hide it, but the mental image of me driving the truck through town with those tags on it caused me to snicker even more. I was able to keep it quiet at first, but eventually my shoulders began to bounce and I had no choice but to let it out.

Fluttershy’s laughter grew louder when she heard mine. Placing her hand over her mouth, she broke into a full belly laugh when she saw me hang my head and give it a shake.

Eventually, I pulled myself together and finished tightening the last screw. I stood when I was finished and, still chortling, I approached Fluttershy to wrap her up in another hug.

“Oh goodness, I'm so sorry! I almost made a mess of everything,” she snickered, wrapping her long, graceful arms around the back of my neck. "I wasn't thinking; I almost made your plates a mean word!"

“Never. It was an innocent mistake. You, Flutters, are the sweetest thing ever,” I replied, rubbing the small of her back. Closing my eyes, I inhaled a noseful of her calming scent. “God I love you.”

“Me too,” she replied softly, her laughter subsiding finally.

“No, really…like, I can’t thank you enough for this. This is just…I mean…”

“Well, save some for Rare,” Fluttershy said, “she did her part, too.”

My eyes opened and I paused, then backed up to look at her. “What did Rare do?”

“She got the, um…safety certificate for you.”

I hadn’t even thought about that: all vehicles are required to be inspected and certified whenever they change owners. “Wait…how did she do that?” I asked, confused. “The truck’s been here with me this whole time. It hasn’t gone anywhere.”

“Oh…well, um, she went to your work with her deadly, um…”

She paused a little longer than usual, which inevitably made me fear the worst. “Oh god, don’t tell me she threatened them…”

“Let me finish, Goldie!” she giggled, gently swatting my shoulder. “I was gonna say she went in there with her deadly good looks, and she convinced your boss to write an inspection certificate for us. I mean, he knows, just like us, that you take really good care of your truck, and that it would pass no problem, so he was happy to write one up for Rare.”

“Huh…” I said, staring over Fluttershy at the house, trying to picture the fashionista in that grimy, smelly place. “Wow…Rare actually went in there to get that for me?”

“Of course she did! You know how she is: she just goes in there with her ‘va-va-va-voom!’ ...and she knows she’s gonna get exactly what she wants.”

I chuckled and shook my head as the shy girl came in once more to rest her head on my shoulder.

“She loves you very much, Goldie, just like me. She hated seeing you so sad the other night, and she felt bad about all those speeding tickets. She just had to do something to make it up to you, so we came up with the idea of putting the truck in my name so you can drive it again. Remember what we said the other night?”

“What’s that?”

“Well, um, we said that we weren’t going to stop until we made things right for you, so that’s what we did.”

“You guys…” I shook my head and sighed, looking at the front of her house as I held her close. “Is…is she coming out tonight?”

Fluttershy nodded against my shoulder. “Mm-hm. She’s coming. She’ll be here after supper, so when she gets here, you can be sure to thank her.”

*****

It was well after dark when Rarity arrived. She stepped in through the front door to find me and Fluttershy on the couch.

“Good evening, darlings!”

“Hey Rare,” Fluttershy replied softly, waving over the back of the couch.

I didn’t reply. Instead, I had an idea for a practical joke forming in my head. “Hey,” I whispered to Fluttershy. ”You wanna see Rare get really upset?”

“Um…no.”

“Too bad.”

We could hear the fashionista approaching us behind the couch. “I say, Golds; those are some lovely new licence plates you have out there, where ever did you get them?”

I intentionally waited a few seconds, then forced out an exasperated sigh. “Actually, those aren’t my plates.”

Silence.

“Turns out,” I continued, “I have a couple of girlfriends that I thought I could trust, but instead they go behind my back and steal my truck out from under me so they could put it in their name.”

Fluttershy rolled her eyes, rubbing her forehead. “Oh Goldie…” she whispered.

“Shh!”

Behind us, Rarity had drawn in a nervous gasp. “Oh…I…no, that…that wasn’t what we meant-“

She stopped suddenly.

Fluttershy and I glanced at one another, wondering what Rarity was thinking.

We soon found out.

“HA!” She chuckled smugly. “You!…You almost had me there, darling; t’was a nice try, and I’m glad to see you back to your old self, however if you must know, I’ve been getting wise to your antics as of late, so I’m afraid your little jokes will no longer work on me.”

Shit…

Fluttershy giggled silently when she saw the defeated look on my face, then she covered her mouth and turned away when I narrowed my eyes at her.

A dainty, white hand came over the back of the couch to pat my shoulder. “There-there, my love,” Rarity teased. “Better luck next time.”

“Hm,” I grunted. Time for plan B. I turned slightly to look at her hand and then gave my head a shake. “No Rare…I’m dead serious. I think you need to be punished.”

Rarity promptly broke into an amused cackle, after which I felt her head come to rest on the back of the couch. “Oh Darling, you are such a card! If only I had- AAAHHHH!”

As she spoke, I grabbed her hand from my shoulder and yanked her over the back of the couch and onto my lap. She landed face down, caught completely off-guard; that purple skirt of hers flipped onto her back when she landed, exposing the lacy, black thong she wore, leaving her pure, white backside visible to me and a very shocked Fluttershy.

“GAAH! Darling, what the fuck!?”

Eyes wide, Fluttershy covered her mouth as I slipped my hands inside Rarity’s shirt next, tickling the sides of her ribs with my fingertips.

She screeched and squirmed violently, squeezing her arms against her sides to try pinning my hands in place. “EEEK! N-no! Golds…hehe! Don’t t-tickle me, I- haha! I hate being tickled- AAAAH!”

“I told you, Rare! You need punishing, and just cuz you can’t feel pain anymore don’t mean you can’t be tortured.”

“No! Hehe! You mustn’t…you-AAH! Unhand me, you mongoloid!” She spun around to lay face-up and brought her legs up to protect herself, using her knees to try pushing my arms away. Her hands pawed helplessly at my shoulders as I slid my fingertips higher, passing over her bra and burying them into her armpits, drawing the shrillest of squeals from her. “EEEEK! Stop it, dar-...ah! Hehehe! Don’t make me piss on you! HAHA!”

I bit my lip and smirked, watching her face, contorted with laughter and anguish; her eyes were squeezed shut, pressing her thick, black lashes together. Her nose was scrunched up, her mouth open as she giggled feebly, showing off her clean, perfect teeth, between which passed one pleading squeal after another while fighting valiantly against the playful torture.

It struck me suddenly however, just how beautiful she looked that night. I wasn’t sure if she’d gone the extra mile in doing her makeup, or if it was just the way I saw her after realising the things she and Fluttershy had done for me over the past couple days, but either way; her cuteness, her utter sweetness took hold of me, and quite suddenly, all I wanted was to have her close.

The joke was over. I wanted to show her how I really felt. My fingers stopped their attack and I slid my hands around her back, feeling her warm, smooth skin against my palms as I pulled her into a firm hug, leaning forward to meet her halfway.

“Oh…” she panted softly, her arms hanging limp at her sides as she stared lifelessly at the ceiling, that perfectly sculpted coiffure splayed and ragged, hanging loose around her face. “I…I’m afraid I…don’t quite understand…what just happened here,” she mumbled softly.

I responded by burying my face into the crook of her neck, inhaling a deep whiff of her delectable scent. “Thanks, Rare.”

Her breathing stopped, and she brought her eyes down from the ceiling onto my shoulder, unable to see my face with it nuzzled against her.

“For what you did for me,” I continued, my voice muffled by her soft skin. “After the two days I just had, this is just…perfect. I can’t even think of the last time someone’s done anything like this for me.”

Rarity’s eyes began to gleam as she listened, and an affectionate smile appeared on her lips. “Aww,” she cooed, wrapping her arms around my shoulders in return. “Well you’re perfectly welcome, darling. T’was the least could do; we know how much you enjoyed working there and how much you love your truck, and we simply couldn’t bear the thought of you being so despondent about what happened. You deserve better, and although I was unable to convince him to hire you back, I did get him to sign the inspection form so Fluttershy could get the plates for you.”

Some of this was news to me. She tried to get me my job back? Learning this triggered a wild fluttering in my chest, making me tighten my grip on the fashionista without even realising it. I said nothing in reply; instead, I planted a soft kiss on her neck, just below her earlobe, earning a soft giggle from her.

After a lick of her bottom lip, Rarity continued. “Fluttershy and I…we love you so much, and after all the wonderful things you’ve done for us, we knew this was our chance to take care of you for once—and we weren’t about to pass it up!” She paused and tightened the hug, closing her eyes. “Mmmm...you said it yourself, darling: we all have to look after one another, and you were absolutely right. That’s what people do when they love and care for each other, and everyone needs help sometimes, even someone like you, my dear Mr. Arrow.”

I let out a sigh, the air from my nostrils tickling Rarity’s throat. Soon after, we released one another, and I placed a kiss on her cheek before leaning back into the couch, letting the fashionista lay comfortably across my lap. “Where have you ladies been all my life?” I asked with a smirk.

“Regrettably, we simply did not exist, darling. But we’re here now.”

“Mm-hm,” Fluttershy joined in, “And we’re here to stay, Goldie. I promise.” She leaned in and gave me a kiss on the cheek, then rested her head on my shoulder with a sigh.

For a short, but lovely time, we sat there in silence, enjoying the warmth of each other, the sound of our breathing—and the moment itself.

“Well, my darlings,” Rarity finally said, “what shall we do tonight?”

Fluttershy shrugged and then sighed, humming softly as she did so.

I looked down at Rarity, who returned the gaze with those lovely sapphire eyes of hers. “I might have an idea…”

She raised a brow. “Oh? Do tell.”

“Something that I’m sure the three of us can have a lot of fun with…”

This got Fluttershy’s attention. “Mm-hmmmm,” she said softly, letting her fingertips rest on Rarity’s shin as I continued.

“Something that will get our hearts pumping; something that will have you two screaming for mercy…”

“Ooh…I like the sound of this,” Fluttershy said seductively, walking her fingers up Rarity’s thigh like a tiny pair of legs.

Rarity’s eyes widened with excitement. “Oh darling…are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?”

“Let’s go out in the truck and do burnouts!” I shouted.

Rarity giggled ecstatically, pressing the heels of her hands to her cheeks. “YES!” she squealed, giggling with delight.

“Huh?” Fluttershy’s eyes widened as well, but her expression didn’t quite synch up with Rarity’s. In truth, this was not...exactly what she was thinking.

Chapter 96:Things To Do

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

*Chapter 97: Taking Care of Business

Chapter 97

After stepping out of the cold air, I found myself inside the vestibule of Sunset’s apartment building, blasted in the face by the heater just above the door. I scanned the tenant list for her buzz number until I found it:

‘S. Shimmer’

I entered the code that accompanied her name and waited, listening to the intermittent drone over the speaker as the phone rang on her end.

At last, a click. I drew in a breath, ready to answer whatever she might say, but instead, all I heard was a click from the inside door when it unlocked, and then silence from the speaker.

“Hm.”

I opened the door and headed for the elevator, somewhat surprised that she hadn’t said anything over the intercom.

On Sunset’s floor, I exited the elevator, scrunching my nose as I headed down the long hallway to her suite. With a brief pause, I held my knuckles in front of the door, feeling my pulse quicken; I hadn’t seen her in almost two weeks, and a lot had happened in that time. In a way, it felt like I was visiting someone I hadn’t seen in ages.

I forced myself to knock. Then I waited, thinking about all the time I spent alone with her—roaming a different country, hiding from international spies, committing murder...fucking each other senseless. God…was that all a dream? I wondered, looking down at my shoes as I waited for an answer.

A few minutes passed until finally, I realised that the quiet drone I could hear wasn’t the building’s ventilation system, but rather the muffled sound of a blow drier coming from inside the apartment.

I rolled my eyes. Dang it, Sunny! I cursed silently, knowing I would have to wait until she was done before she could hear me knock.

So, I leaned on the wall next to her door and sighed. Looking down the hall, I scrunched my nose again. Fuck man, whose apartment smells like that? I held my breath, still hearing the hum of the blow drier through the wall. Come on, Sunny, someone’s cooking something horrendous out here!

At last, the noise stopped, so I took my chance to knock again.

This time, she responded. “Just a sec!”

Hearing her voice, familiar as it was, felt mysterious after the long absence and it caused my rapid pulse to return. The response she had given was simple, yet it carried a slight tone of urgency with it.

I knew that tone, that one specific hunger; I’d heard it many times on the road, and it caused my heart to flutter a little, knowing what I was probably in for. Feeling slightly nervous, I drew a breath and tried to create some levity for myself.

Why do I have the feeling I’m about to be sexually assaulted? I smirked as I slipped my hands into my pockets, looking down at the floor. And why am I so OK with it?

The locks clicked suddenly, one-by-one.

My heart skipped a beat.

Then the door swung open, revealing the red-head in nothing but a light-blue bathrobe. Her hair was straighter than normal, having just been blow-dried and brushed. It had lost more of that dark brown shade left over from the dye since I’d last seen her.

The next thing that hit me was a wave of humidity and fragrance, obviously a product of the shower she’d just stepped out of; her skin was smooth and clean, her hair soft, and her scent:

Sweet. Delicious. Fresh.

Exquisite.

I hadn’t realised until then how much I missed that soft drink aroma that followed her around.

Oh god, how I missed it.

All of these stimuli hit me at once and it took some time to process it, but I managed to regain my grasp on the moment before long. I put on a smart grin and gave her a nod.

“Evenin’ ma’am, did someone order a rape victim?”

Sunset rolled her eyes, sighed, and with one hand on the door frame, she reached out with the other to grab a handful of my T-shirt. “Get in here,” she ordered, pulling me inside the apartment.

I obeyed and stepped past her when she released me to close the door behind us. After a quick look around the apartment to reacquaint myself with it, I turned to say something to Sunset just in time to see her unravel her belt and flip the robe off her shoulders, revealing every inch of her bear, olive-toned body to me.

“Uh…hi.” My eyes widened; I was unable to move or think.

She stepped towards me briskly, slid her hands around my sides and up my back, past my shoulder blades to hook her fingers over the tops of my shoulders, pulling herself close. Without a sound, other than a sharp gasp, she connected her lips to mine and forced her tongue into my mouth without reservation or care for what I may have been thinking. Probing deeply, Sunset searched for every drop of flavour she could find; her tongue met mine, licking the edges of it with the tip of hers before spiralling it around in a frantic whirlwind, making sure to replace every drop of my saliva with hers.

She broke the kiss suddenly and exhaled into my mouth, her forehead resting against mine. Her bare breasts mashed against my chest, transferring their heat through my shirt and into my skin as she thrust her pelvis forward, grinding her mound into the tent that had already been pitched in the front of my pants. My hands found themselves on the small of her back; her skin was still hot and damp from the shower, warming my palms and fingers as she looked straight into me, gazing intensely with those hungry, turquoise eyes of hers.

“Ohh fuck, it’s already starting,” she moaned, her eyelids fluttering. “On top of everything else…”

“What do you mean: ‘everything else?’” I asked, confused.

“I’m…grr!” She growled impatiently, closing her eyes. “I’ve been really hard-up these past few days,” she declared, “like, on my own, I mean. All that time I spent with Twi and her brother; it was fun at first, but by the end I just wanted to fuck the shit out of something, and all I could think of was you.”

My breathing stopped momentarily when that little spark went off inside my chest. “Um…” —I paused to clear my throat— “you, wanted…I mean, without the magi-“

Sunset backed up enough to look me in the face and pressed her index finger against my lips. “Shh! Less talk, more cock.”

She walked past me suddenly, leaving me to stare mindlessly at the door as she headed deeper into the apartment. Finally, I blinked a few times when I realised I was standing there by myself, and so I turned to see where she’d gone.

Sunset had approached the dining table by the left wall, just outside of the kitchen. There was a large stack of mail and flyers that had accumulated in her absence, which she had obviously brought up from her mailbox and stacked there with intentions of going though it at some point.

My eyes fixated on her firm backside as she approached the table and, with a single sweep, shoved the heap of papers onto the floor, which slapped loudly when they landed on the tiles and slid, spreading themselves halfway through the kitchen.

Sunset spun around to face me next, placing her hands on the edge of the table before hopping up and sitting on it. She laid back and shifted upwards so she could set her heels on the edge, bringing her knees into the air to separate them, exposing her womanhood to me in complete, explicit detail. With a long exhale, she stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before lifting her head to look through her legs at me.

“Come get it.”

I rubbed the back of my neck, stunned by the utter obsceneness of the invitation. I had seen Sunset like this countless times, but after the extended absence I needed to ease into things a bit—for a minute, at the very least. “Uh, Sunny…I don’t…like, I ju-“

“What’s the problem?”

“N-…nothing, it’s just…I need some time to warm up is all.”

Those turquoise eyes of hers dropped suddenly, studying the bulge in my pants. “You’re pitching a tent, dude. You’re fucking ready. Now…” —she reached down with her fingers and divided her labia, showcasing every single detail of her glistening anatomy for me— “Destroy.”

My hand was on my forehead by then. “God damn, Sunny…I mean, what the fuck.” My eyes were glued to that swollen vulva, spread wide for me to behold; that little red bead glared at me from the upper end of that glistening valley, the delicate minoras fanned out like the head of a cobra, leading the eye down to that teardrop-shaped opening, red and throbbing, soaked with slick moisture and waiting to be invaded.

The scent of that moisture hit me within seconds; it’s creamy, yet slightly tangy musk was enticing to say the least, reminding me of its flavour, its warmth, and what it felt like to be covered in it. Before long, my length had gone from being simply erect to throbbing excitedly.

“OK I’m ready!” I said hastily as I unclasped my belt, then unzipped my pants with shaky fingers and tore them open, reaching inside to fish out my erection.

Sunset’s breathing intensified instantly as she watched, her nethers buzzing with anticipation when she saw that hard length bob into view. “Ohhhh yeah, that’s what I wanna see!”

I grabbed her by the hips and pulled her to the edge of the table, set the head of my length between those soft, warm petals and pushed firmly, sinking every rock-hard inch into the tight inferno that was Sunset Shimmer.

She responded immediately, by tilting her head back with enough force to lift her shoulders from the tabletop. She let out a deep growl, her teeth gritted firmly as a sharp gasp hissed through them. “RRRRRHHH! Yeah...that’s it!”

Her heat was intense, wrapped tightly around me as I drove far into her depths, my length soaked instantly in her smooth wetness. Looking down at the point of entry, no part of me was visible anymore—only the red framework of her womanhood, still splayed by her fingers and shining with moisture in the dim lights of her apartment.

From there, I let my eyes explore her body; moving past her toned belly, my sights eventually landed on that wonderful bust. With both hands still between her legs, her arms pushed her breasts together in this position, and they jiggled enticingly as her body trembled with endless delight. Her nipples pointed at the ceiling, stiff with excitement from the sensation of having her soaked flesh so wonderfully penetrated.

Unable to resist that delicious, ripe fruit, I leaned forward and took one breast into my mouth and then began to thrust into her. I sucked gently on that throbbing bud, savoring the sensation of her hot interior sweeping along my length, each stroke churning her sensitive flesh, spreading her moisture between us as her breathing elevated more and more. Barely a minute in, her juice had been smeared across our abdomens and our bodies slid together haphazardly, writhing together on that hard tabletop.

Sunset had released herself by then and was reaching around my back, where she found a couple handfuls of my shirt to hang onto as she endured the wonderful assault. Her legs wrapped themselves around my waist and she hooked her feet behind my back; her eyes were closed and she was biting her lip furiously, moaning shamelessly after each thrust, feeling herself inching closer and closer to that explosive euphoria.

“Oohhh!…Fuck, I needed this,” she panted, her breath hitching when I switched my mouth to her other breast. “Ohh, s-so good...” she grunted. “It’s so...fucking...GOOD!”

This wasn’t going to be a long session. This I knew for a fact: her heat, her abundant wetness that had already found itself everywhere, her panting, her fresh skin, her want; all of it was so intense, so relentlessly thrilling. Such a desperate need for fulfillment had made her crazy with lust, and that, coupled with the feel of her warm, supple interior wrapped so tightly around me made it impossible to contain myself—and before long, both Sunset and I reached the finish line together.

With a mouthful of her breast, my peak hit quite suddenly; the sensation spiked and I began to throb vigorously, spilling pulse-after-pulse of my load into her quivering depths just as her own release found its way out from between her folds, its hot gush soaking our bellies and washing down her hips to pool up on the tabletop below.

Neither of us spoke. We just stared at each other, panting heavily as our flooded, slippery nethers remained interlocked, passing twitches back and forth in the aftermath of what we’d just shared.

Sunset released my shirt and flattened her hands against my back, rubbing my shoulder blades slowly as she stared at the ceiling, reflecting on what her body had just experienced, and just how badly it had needed it.

With a content sigh, I placed a kiss between her breasts and then turned my head to rest my cheek there.

After a moment, her hands left my back and she placed her palms on her forehead to rub her brow. “Ohh god…I SO needed that.”

“Yeah, I’d say so,” I replied, staring at the erect nipple in front of my face while I listened to her heartbeat slowly return to normal. “You kind of, um…lost your mind there, for a bit.”

“Mmm…yeah, sorry about that.” She swallowed. “I thought that might happen. The past few days have been…trying, to put it lightly. I was already pretty turned on from, like…Twi’s brother, and having to go two whole weeks without any action —after having tons of action— I got back here and asked for you to-“

“Use me?”

“Ugh...” She rolled her eyes. “Sure. Yeah. So like I was saying, I was already horny as Tartarus, and when you got here, the magic kicked in right away and I was just like: fuck, FUCK!”

“You seem OK now.”

She nodded. “Yeah, it’s…I’ll be fine now. I’m good.” She paused, frowning. “I think.”

After a quiet moment, I placed my hand on her hip and ran it up her side until I reached her breast. She responded by squeezing me with her legs when I began to play with her nipple, rolling it idly between my thumb and forefinger.

“So,” I sighed, “you have a thing for Twi’s brother?”

Sunset cleared her throat. “Tshh…sort of. Like…yeah, a little. I guess.”

“You have feelings for him?”

“No.” she replied abruptly. “I can’t, you know that. It’s just…like, a physical thing.”

“Oh…”

She licked her lips and stared at the ceiling. “It’s just, he’s so…hot. I don’t know…” She shook her head next, rolling her eyes. “Ugh…that Cadance; she’s such a lucky little bitch.”

I lifted my head to look at her. “Who’s that, his wife?”

She nodded.

“You don’t like her?”

The red-head sighed. “No, I do. She’s great, actually. I’m just being…you know.”

I nodded. “Right,” I replied, lowering my eyes to her collarbones. “You know, you should probably rein that in if you’re gonna be working for him.”

She closed her eyes. “Yeah, I know.” After a pause, she opened her eyes again and stared at the ceiling, nibbling on her lip. “It’s OK, I’m hardly even gonna see him right now anyway. I’m just gonna be on call until things pick up.”

“What were you guys doing up there for so long?”

Sunset shrugged. “I hung out with Twi a lot. Her family too, a bit, but I did spend a lot of time with Shiny; he showed me the office and the surrounding area, just to give me a feel for the clientele we might have. And we spent a lot of time having coffee and talking about how to market ourselves, and we made some action plans n’ stuff like that…”

She trailed off for a moment. I listened, waiting for her to continue.

“It’s just,” —she furrowed her brows— “when I was talking to him, he would do things sometimes, like a certain expression or body language; he’s just such a…grr! Cutie...or whatever. I just, sometimes I just wanted to…” She stopped and shook her head.

I let out a sigh. “Well Sunny, like I said, if you’re gonna be working for him, you need to get a handle on that; you don’t want to complicate things and mess up your career, or end up having an affair with him or something.”

“What?” She scowled. “I wouldn’t do that; that’s Twi’s family!”

“I’m just sayin-“

“Besides,” she continued, ”whenever I got like that, it was never actually him I would end up thinking about fucking.”

I stared at her, waiting.

“When I got turned on, I would always, um…” She made sure to avoid eye contact, looking somewhat bashful. “I…I would think about you. Every time. Whenever he would get me going, no matter what he did to cause it, my mind would always come back to you.”

A wave of goosebumps washed over my skin suddenly, and my thoughts went back to the things Rarity and Fluttershy were saying before I left; all of it made perfect sense, especially after hearing Sunset say this.

I decided to take the plunge.

“Sunny?”

She looked up at me, her eyes locking squarely with mine.

“Do you…have feelings for me?”

Her breathing stopped for a moment, then a slight scowl became visible on her brow, followed by a dismissive chuckle. “Pfft! What? No, you…I’m not in love with you, Golds; I…I told you before, I can’t be. Remember?”

I exhaled and nodded silently, wondering if that feeling in the pit of my stomach was relief or disappointment. “Yeah,” I replied. “I know; you’re not really human. I was just asking…cuz of what you just said. Plus…” I rose slightly and pointed downward, between us.

She lifted her head to look, reminded suddenly of the rigid length and the hot, gooey flood that occupied her depths. “Oh…well yeah, there’s that, but…that’s just something we do, you know?…f-for fun.”

“And, to…sedate your magic.”

“Right,” she nodded quickly. “Exactly. I mean, all that stuff I just said, about thinking about you when I was horny: that’s just cuz I can fuck you. And...I-I like fucking you. A lot. But I mean, I can’t fuck Shiny; that would be bad. Heh, that would be SO bad! Shit, could you imagine?”

“Yeah...” I mumbled, turning to my right to look at the mail that had been swept to the floor.

“But, I-I mean, it’s not like I only thought about you then, when I was…you know,” she continued, apparently worried that she had put me off. “I thought about you a lot when I was talking to Shiny about the rescue mission; and like, when I was hanging out with Twi, I thought about you when she was talking about being trained…” —she ran her fingers through her hair, staring at the ceiling as she continued— “and…I don’t know, I just…I thought a lot about being on the road with you, seeing some of the amazing things you did, like in Vegas…or in California, when you made me those nachos...after giving me the best fuck of my life. Heh!…I thought about some of the funny shit you say, and all the joking around we did. And then there’s all the things you taught me, and…I don’t know, this whole thing with Shiny, being all hot and bothered all the time; I don’t know if it was really him so much as I just…” —she paused suddenly, realising she’d been rambling— ”missed you.”

Those last two words seemed to slip out purely by mistake; as soon as she said them, she bit her lip and held her breath, looking like she really wished she hadn’t.

But she did day it, and now the two of us found ourselves staring at one another in utter silence, unsure of what to say.

I raised a brow, finally, and then cleared my throat, removing my hand from her breast to rub the back of my neck. “Uh…Sunny? I’m pretty sure all that stuff you just said is…pretty much like being in love...actually.”

Her eyes widened just enough for me to notice, and her lips began to move, trying to decide what response to give. “I…well, it’s…you,” —she scowled suddenly, shaking her head— “just...shut up!” She put a hand on my shoulder and pushed me away, looking down between us. “You should probably take your dick out; it’s starting to go soft.”

I looked down at her glistening mound, realising she was right; my manhood had become something of a soaking wet noodle by that point, and was about to slip out of her soft grip. “Oh...yeah, I guess.”

“Wait-wait,” she said quickly, stopping me from going any further. “I just need some…hang on.” She reached above her head to grab a metal napkin dispenser that sat on the far side of the table, next to the wall. With a sigh, she yanked several napkins from it as I watched, her expression one of tedium, as if wiping sex juice from yourself while lying naked on the dinner table was just an ordinary, mundane task.

I cocked a brow, noticing how this particular napkin dispenser looked distinctly like the kind you typically find in many diners and restaurants. “Nice, uh…napkin dispenser,” I said in a suspicious tone. “Where’d you get it?”

She paused momentarily, then pulled out a few more napkins. “Umm, I maybe…obtained it from a certain dining establishment…illegally.”

“Right,” I nodded, as she lined her hand with the napkins, then put her other hand against my stomach to guide me away.

“OK, go.”

I backed away, and Sunset quickly slapped the papers over her crotch just as a thick, white river began to pour from the base of her slit.

“So,” I said, reaching for a few napkins of my own as she wiped herself. “Am I to assume that you in fact stole these napkins from somewhere?”

She nodded, folding them up and using the dry side to continue wiping between her layers. “Yeah…from that place around the corner; you know, the place we went the night you turned me.”

“Hm.” I proceeded to clean myself up as she continued.

“Well…technically, it was Scootaloo who stole it for me.”

“Who?” I looked at her again. “Oh wait, wasn’t she our waitress that night?”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah. Anyway, I ate there with Rainbow Dash one night a few weeks later, and on our way out, Scootaloo hands me this napkin dispenser and tells me I’m gonna need it.” She rolled her eyes, shaking her head. “Fucking little smart-ass! She said it right in front of Dash, too—probably trying to impress her.”

“Well she’s not wrong,“ I replied, pointing between Sunset’s legs. “I mean, you are using them for the exact thing she was insinuating.”

She let her head rest on the table, looking at the ceiling again. “Yeah...still…” The napkins were saturated by then, so she balled them up and dropped them to the floor, then she snickered when she heard them splat on the tiles. Unfortunately, her laughter squeezed more of the pearl-coloured juice from inside her, and a fresh stream of it gushed downward, seeping between her cheeks below.

I pointed at her. “Sunny, there’s more.”

She already knew it, having felt the warm tickle running down her crack. “GAH!” she yelped, thrusting her hips into the air to keep it off the table as she snatched a single napkin from the dispenser and slapped it over her crease. She stared at me nervously, followed by a blush and a smirk. “Oops.”

“Nice catch.”

Sunset sat up partway to adjust the napkin. “Jeez, Golds! What, did you step-up production or something? This is like…a TON of jizz.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “Nah,” I replied, tossing my own napkin aside before tucking my floppy, damp length into my pants. “It’s probably cuz I’ve only had sex once this week, with Flutters. On Wednesday…I think.”

Sunset looked at me, surprised. “You only had sex once this week?”

“Yeah,” I replied, pulling my zipper up.

“Seriously?” Sunset grabbed a few more napkins and continued to wipe herself. “I thought the three of you would have been at each other like rabbits this whole time.”

“No, not really. It was kind of a weird week.”

The red-head paused and looked at me with a cocked brow. “So, then…” —her eyes shifted side-to-side— “what’d you guys do the whole time, like...talk?”

I snorted, amused by her perplexity. “Yeah Sunny, we talked. We do that from time-to-time, you know? Like, we enjoy each other’s company n’ shit.”

“Well…you know what I mean; I just thought-“

“You should have seen us the week before,” I cut in. “Starting on Halloween, every night that week was a total fuck-fest, right up until Friday. Now THAT was a fun week.”

“Mm-hm,” she mumbled indifferently as she plunged her middle finger into her vagina, trying to scoop out as much lingering cum as she could. “And uh…at what point did you sneak AJ in there?” she asked, over the squipping sound of her finger moving about.

I paused, caught off-guard by the question—and the scenery. “Oh…you heard about that, eh?”

“Yeah,” she replied, wiping her fingers off with a napkin, followed by her crotch once more. “Well, no one actually told me, I just got a text-video from Rainbow Dash of her running AJ over with a tractor and I kinda put two-and-two together.”

“Ugh,” I groaned, rubbing my eyes. “I swear to god, those two…”

“Did Dash go for it too?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“What about Pinkie Pie?”

“No.”

“Oh…well, has there been any inkling from either of them...you know, wanting it?”

“Not really,” I replied. “Well, actually…Pinks let Flutters grope her tit that one night for no reason, but other than that, no.”

Sunset sighed. “I’m not even gonna ask.”

I smirked at the red-head as she laid back and exhaled noisily, staring upward.

The conversation reminded me of something that I found rather strange, and I began to nibble on the inside of my cheek as I thought about Rainbow Dash. “I don’t get her.”

“Who?” Sunset asked, not moving.

“Dashie,” I replied. “Like...she was so pumped when AJ turned, but...what I don’t understand is: if she was so excited about it, why she wouldn’t wanna do it herself?”

As Sunset ruminated for a moment, she brought her hands up to play with her breasts, inhaling slowly through her nostrils. “Mmm...” she hummed, “Dash is the type who’ll stick to her guns about stuff like that...but at the same time, she’ll still be supportive of her friends for whatever they choose to do—if that makes any sense.” She shrugged and shook her head. “I mean, she is the element of loyalty after all.”

Considering this, I let my eyes drift down to the floor as Sunset finally slid off the table and stood, turning her back to me.

“My ass is still wet isn’t it?”

I glanced at her backside and noticied the lower half of her cheeks glistening. “Yeah. Here, let me get it,” I said, grabbing the napkins. Sunset took a deep breath and hooked her hands around the back of her neck, lacing her fingers together as I wiped her ass dry.

“I can’t believe how messy that got for a little quickie,” she chuckled.

“Heh…yeah, you weren’t kidding about being hard-up,” I replied, tossing the soggy napkins with the others. “There, good to go,” I said, with a light spank on her left butt-cheek.

“Thanks Golds. You’re such a gentleman,” she quipped, turning to face me.

“Yeah,” I nodded, “that’s uh, what the minister’s wife keeps telling me.”

The red-head snorted and placed a light slap on my chest. “Whatever, dude.”

After a short bout of snickering, Sunset and I wound up staring silently at one another. Feeling a hint of awkwardness creep in, I scratched my temple and turned away slightly. “So…what now?”

“W-…what do you mean?” she asked, folding her arms across her bust. She shifted them down below her breasts next, then quickly brought her arms back up to cover them again, unsure of how to present herself.

“Like…I don’t know,” I said, feeling the discomfort growing between us. “If…I mean, if we’re done here, should I…go?”

Her eyes shifted onto the door behind me.

“I…” She trailed off, biting her lip anxiously as she looked at me again.

I couldn't be sure what she was thinking; she honestly hadn't had much time alone after being away for so long, and now that she’d gotten what she needed from me, she probably just wanted to have that much-needed space, but didn’t quite have the heart to send me on my way.

I figured I’d save her the trouble and do it for her.

“It’s OK, Sunny. I’ll, uh…I’ll get out of your hair.” I spun around and headed for the door.

She unravelled her arms and stepped forward hastily, reaching her hand out. “Golds, wait…”

I stopped and turned back to find her fingertips only a few inches from my shoulder.

She hesitated and withdrew her hand slightly, closing her fingers.

“Stay.”

I paused, not expecting this request. “Really?”

She tightened her lips and nodded. “Yeah. I’d really like it, actually…if you stayed.”

It felt nice to hear this, and it caused a fluttering warmth to resonate through me, forcing me to turn away again to hide my face, just in case my expression made it obvious how I was feeling.

Once settled, I turned back to face her as she continued to speak.

“I was hoping you would stay, even…like, before I asked you to come over; I just…” —she wrung her hands together nervously— “I…I didn’t wanna keep you from Rare and Flutters is all.”

“Oh…nah,” I waved her off. “They’re fine. It was them, actually, who told me to come here, cuz I was the same way: I didn’t know how they’d feel about me coming here just to fuck y-“

Her eyes widened. “Hang on, they knew?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I was on the couch with them when you texted. They saw the whole conversation.”

“Ooh…” Sunset cringed. “Sorry about that. I…didn’t know.”

I shook my head. “It’s fine. They were actually…pretty excited about it. Like I said, they were the ones to told me to come, so it’s all good.”

“Hm…” She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “So, they’re cool with this? That you came here just to fuck me?”

“Yeah, of course. Remember the pact we made in the hot tub? Between the four of us, everything's fair game.”

She nodded. “Yeah, I know; it’s just…I’m still getting used to it, is all. We were in a weird mood that night, and now it's just...I don't know.”

“I hear ya, Sunny.”

A pause.

Sunset was chewing her lip when she turned to look at the couch. “Uh…so, you wanna watch something?” she asked, turning back to me. “Or we could play some games?”

I scratched behind my ear. “Sure…” I said as I happened to turn and look at the table, noticing a wet ass-print near the edge. “Uh, before we do that though, Sunny, we should probably clean the table off. Just...as a common courtesy to whoever might end up eating there next.”

Sunset snorted. “It’ll probably be me anyway, but I guess you’re right.”

After a quick trip to the closet, Sunset produced a spray bottle full of some unknown cleaner and a cloth, then returned to the table—still naked. She sprayed the surface down and wiped it clean, then she ventured into the kitchen, stepping over the pile of mail to set the cleaning supplies on the counter before turning to look down at the mess.

“Fuck,” she sighed, hooking her hair behind her ear. “I wish I didn’t throw all this crap on the floor now.”

I shrugged. “Eh…it happens. Pretty standard fit of passion.”

“Still,” she chuckled, turning away from me to bend over and pick up a few of the papers.

My eyes widened at the sight of her, bent at the waist before me, those smooth, shiny lips peeking out from between her thighs as she reached down to gather up a small stack of envelopes.

“Uh…Sunny? You know, you might wanna think about bending at the knees next time.”

“Huh?” She glanced at me inquisitively as she straightened up to set the envelopes on the counter. Then a smirk crossed her face when she realised what she’d done. “What, you didn’t like that?”

I leaned on the kitchen door frame, raising a hand as I replied. “Well, i-it’s not that, I just-“

“OK well...how about this?” Sunset turned her back to me once again and stood with her feet far apart, straddling the papers on the floor. Keeping her knees straight, she bent at the waist again, arching her back to stick her ass out in a very exaggerated way as she reached down to gather up a few more pieces of mail. “Ahhhh...yeah, I’m just gonna…pick up some more of this mail here…” she grunted, then exhaled slowly.

The view from where I was standing was…quite spectacular.

“Wow Sunny, that is…graphic.”

“Yeah?” she giggled, wiggling her hips a bit.

“Oh yeah,” I replied. “Like, I can see everything…and I mean EVERYTHING.”

“Mmmmm. Aren’t you glad you stayed now?”

“Well, I was glad before, but now I’m even…uh, more...gladder?” I paused to chew my lip for a moment, then I shook my head and reached into my pocket next, searching for my phone. “Hey Sunny, you mind if I take a picture?”

Sunset was still bent down, half teasing me, and half interested in actually reading her mail. “Oh shit, my Sam’s Club membership expir-“ She stopped suddenly when her brain alerted her to the words ‘take a picture,’ and she looked through her legs to see an inverted image of me standing behind her, holding my phone out. “HEY!” She straightened up quickly and spun around, pointing her finger at me. “Don’t you fucking dare!”

I lowered the phone and looked at her, confused. “What? That was a great shot; you could see your butthole and everything.”

“OK, do NOT.” She cocked her head, glaring sternly.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. “Mrrh…” I grumbled quietly as I stuffed the phone back into my pocket. “Fine. Here, let me give you a hand with these.”

Once the mail was stacked on the table again, Sunset and I made our way into the living room, where I took a seat at the left end of the couch while she stood in front of the TV to turn everything on and gather the remotes.

I sat back and crossed my feet, rubbing my chin—my eyes glued to Sunset’s naked rear-end.

Was she ever planning on getting dressed?

“OK...” she sighed, turning to head for the couch. She flopped down at the far end, breasts jiggling shamelessly as she came to rest on the cushion. “You wanna watch a movie?”

“Sure.”

Sunset began scrolling through the menu on the TV. “What do you wanna watch?...Fuck, I don’t even know what’s out now.”

I folded my arms and drew a breath. “Uh…something horror.”

She glanced at me. “Really?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Flutters won’t watch any of that stuff.”

“Ah.”

“She won’t watch anything unless it’s like…happy candy clouds or whispered dreams, you know? That kind of crap. Or anything with animals.” I huffed and shook my head. “I mean, I love her to death, but…I swear to god, if I have to watch ‘Homeward Bound’ one more time, I’m gonna lose it.”

Sunset chuckled. “I can just imagine.”

We spent the next several minutes searching the titles for something that piqued our interests and eventually landed on a somewhat obscure film called ‘It Follows.’

Once the movie had started, Sunset turned the lights down and curled up at the far end of the couch once again. I looked over at her a few times during the first minutes of the movie, taking in the details of her smooth, bare skin, illuminated dimly by the glow of the TV.

After the third time stealing a glance, however, she grabbed the remote and paused the movie.

“Why you looking at me, Golds?”

I turned my head towards Sunset, but kept my eyes on the TV for a second or two before shifting them onto her. “Are you...gonna put clothes on at some point?”

She glanced down at herself, then shook her head. “Wasn’t planning on it.”

I chewed the inside of my cheek for a few seconds, and then nodded. “OK.”

She watched me for a moment, and then looked down at the remote in her hand. “To be honest, I hang out naked like this when I’m alone…pretty much all the time. I’m kind of used to it, actually; back in Equestria, most ponies didn’t normally wear clothes, so…you know,” —she shrugged her right shoulder— “some habits die harder than others, I guess.”

“Hm,” I mumbled, bringing a hand up to inspect my fingernails as I listened.

“Normally, I…don’t do it if anyone’s around, but…” —she paused and smirked at me— “I’m pretty comfortable around you now; I mean, I’m pretty sure you’ve had your mouth on literally every inch of me at one time or another, so…I think we’ve gotten to the point where there’s not much left to hide, so…why bother?”

I nodded in agreement. “Yeah, me and you; we’re uh…pretty well acquainted, I’d say.” With a quiet sigh, I pointed at the TV. “So…we watchin this or what?”

Sunset glanced at me with a smirk, then she lifted the remote to resume the movie.

We didn’t talk much during the film, which started out as a fairly interesting one, though ultimately was nothing to write home about. As silent as we were, however, glances were exchanged between the red-head and me; sometimes I could see her glancing in my direction, but whenever I returned the look, she would quickly send her eyes back to the TV, or she would look down at the couch and fiddle with the remote or something, trying to appear occupied.

By the time that movie had finished, it was just before 2:00am. Sunset suggested a second movie, one that I wasn’t overly keen on watching, but she hadn’t seen it before and was quite insistent about it.

This second film was much more upbeat, and throughout its duration I noticed Sunset inching closer to me; whether by crossing her legs or simply shifting position, I could see the gap between us slowly diminishing until finally, about halfway through the movie, she asked ‘if it was cool if she could stretch out.’

I wasn’t about to refuse her, of course, so I nodded and she proceeded to shift over to the middle cushion and laid with her feet pointed away from me, resting her head on my lap. This captured my interest much more than the movie did, and I found myself ignoring it, letting my eyes exploring her smooth, yet solid curves in the colourful light of the TV instead.

She lay on her side with her arms folded in front of her, which hid her breasts from me, unfortunately, but her waist, hips and thighs were in plain view, so I made good use of the opportunity to commit every single inch of her to memory.

Eventually, I mustered up the courage to play with her hair. Starting at the little tuft next to her ear, I combed my fingers through it, stirring up that sugary fragrance of hers as I sorted it into narrow locks and began weaving it together, creating an alternating colour pattern throughout the braid by keeping the yellows and reds separated as I went.

By the time the movie was coming to an end, I had just finished looping the final length through itself to lock the braid in place. She giggled in amusement as the movie faded to black, with Michael J. Fox’s voice crying excitedly from the TV speakers.

”TURKEY!...Turkey turkey turkey turkey turkey…”

“Haha! Wow, that was a good movie. I can see why Flutters likes it so much,” Sunset said, turning onto her back to smile up at me.

“I still can't believe you made me watch that,” I sighed. “After I specifically said…”

She rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue. “Oh come on, Golds. You like it. Besides, you’d do anything for me, wouldn’t you?”

“Meh,” I muttered, letting my eyes sneak across her figure. Now lying on her back, Sunset’s breasts were in plain view, flattened slightly by gravity and wandering outwards; past those laid her firm belly, displaying her button-like navel in the center, and beyond that was her bare mound, her slit hidden behind it, just out of sight.

As my sights traveled past that and made my way down her smooth thighs, she spoke again.

“So…what now?”

I came back to meet her eyes, sparkling brightly in the dark as she gazed up at me. “Uh…I don’t know. What were you thinking?”

A tiny smile curled one side of her mouth. “Hmmmm…”

As she rubbed her chin thoughtfully, I wandered around the room with my eyes, looking for nothing in particular. Eventually, I found myself gazing through the balcony window at the night sky, illuminated by the city lights below.

“Hey, you wanna go for a walk?” I asked, looking down at her again.

She looked surprised by the suggestion. “What, outside?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“What time is it?” she asked, turning to see the clock. It was 3:30am. “Ummm,” she chewed her lip and looked up at me again, hesitating briefly. “...Sure.”

Sunset sat up and headed for her bedroom, swinging her hips ever so slightly as she went. “I just gotta get some clothes on.”

“Really?” I said with a smirk.

She stopped and looked back at me, sneering. “Yeah, really.”

I glanced outside once more, then I returned my eyes to her. “Hm. Well, it is pretty cold out, I guess.”

The red-head snorted and rolled her eyes before disappearing into the bedroom.

I waited on the couch and rubbed my nose, listening to Sunset rummaging through her drawers. After a few minutes of this, her voice came out of the room, sounding rather surprised by something.

“Whoa! What’s this?”

I turned to my left to look through the doorway, but I was unable to see her. “What’s what?”

“This thing you did…with my hair.”

“Oh...that. I was just messing around.” I cocked an eyebrow. “Couldn’t you feel me doing that?”

“Yeah, I mean…I knew you were messing with my hair, but…I didn’t know this is what you were doing. Where did you learn how to do this?”

“Oh…” —rubbed my heel on the floor idly— “that’s just…useless skills left over from days gone by; back when we used to have to make our own rope, weave our own baskets—stupid shit like that.”

“It’s not stupid. It’s beautiful.”

I cleared my throat and let my head fall back to look at the ceiling. “Your hair was beautiful before I ever touched it, Sunny.”

She didn’t reply.

A few more minutes passed before she finally emerged, wearing a pair of tight jeans and a red knitted sweater. The braid was still there, hanging down the left side of her face; a slight crimson hue coloured her cheeks.

“Ready?” she said quietly.

I stood from the couch and approached her, nodding. “Yeah. You look awesome, by the way.”

She smirked and looked down at the floor, reaching up to stroke the braid with her fingertips. “Nah, I just…it’s…” She trailed off. Then she looked at me again. “You don’t look so bad yourself, Golds.”

“I know.” I gestured to the door. “Shall we?”

*****

Sunset and I ventured across the street to the plaza and walked along the sidewalk together, under a long row of bright, flashing signs. Hardly anything was open and the streets were quiet, but all of it certainly made for a nice atmosphere. We had stopped at my truck to grab my jacket; it was quite cold out, though not windy, luckily, but I didn’t want to look out of place, regardless.

I offered her my arm as we walked, which she gladly took, hooking her hand in the crook of my elbow with a somewhat bashful smile.

Something seemed different about Sunset Shimmer that night. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was, but I knew it was there; something about those two weeks away had changed her, or perhaps made her realise something. Nevertheless, I was reluctant to bring it up again and risk spoiling the night if she didn’t want to talk about it; as it was, the two of us were having a lovely time together.

“So…hang on,” I chuckled, “you actually went to the school during that?”

She nodded.

“While you were plotting to take over the world?”

She nodded again, struggling to contain her snickering. “Both worlds, actually.”

“And you actually attended all your classes?” I asked, furrowing my brows at the thought.

“Yup.” She nodded and pursed her lips.

“Wow,” I said, shaking my head. Then I started to laugh.

“What?” she asked, smirking at me.

“Didn’t you ever have nights when you were like: ‘Aw man, I was gonna work on my world domination tonight, but I’m totally slammed with all this friggin calculus homework! Oh well, I guess this is what I get for choosing to go to high school while I carry this plan out.’”

“Hey shut-up!” Sunset pounded my shoulder with her fist. “I had to blend into this world somehow! I wasn’t expecting to show up in a teenager’s body, you know.”

I raised my finger, looking up to the sky as I brought up my next point. “What I don’t get is: why weren’t the teachers or principals like: ‘Hey Sunset Shimmer, who the fuck are you, anyway? You’re not actually enrolled at this school, and you being here is a little something we actually like to call: TRESPASSING.’”

“Pppfft!” Sunset waved me off, rolling her eyes. “That was easy, Golds. Come on, I was an evil genius, remember?”

“So what’d you do?”

“Before I started going there, I just snuck in at the end of a school day and hid in the library. Then after everyone was gone home, I broke into the office and added my name to the roster. Then I showed up the following Monday, looking all nervous n’ stuff, and I was in. Piece of cake.”

“Wow. That easy, eh?”

“Yup. That computer they had in the office was SO fucking old; I swear it was like, the first computer ever made or something.”

“Hmm…” I rubbed my chin. “So really, It’s not that you were an evil genius so much as they were just…idiots?”

“Tshh!” She shook her head. “I swear, those principals had zero fucks to give.”

I stopped abruptly, prompting her to look at me.

“This variety store is open, Sunny,” I explained, pointing through the advertisement-laden window. “You want a hot chocolate or something? My treat.”

She glanced into the store and then looked at me with a broad smile. “Sure.”

Moments later, we emerged from the store with steaming, chocolate-filled foam cups in hand, both of which shed thick vapors into the frigid air like dry ice. We were enjoying a good laugh over the porn selection at the back of the store when Sunset spilled a few drops on the sleeve of her leather jacket, which she had decided to wear over the red sweater.

“Aw damn,” she grumbled, bringing her arm up to lick it off. “Meh. I don’t really like this jacket anyway.”

“Why not?” I asked, reaching out to run my fingers over the studs that lined her collar. “What’s wrong with this one? I kinda like it.”

She took a sip of her hot chocolate, slurping noisily. “This is the one I wore when I was…you know, an asshole.”

“Ah,” I nodded slowly. “Well, wearing it doesn’t actually make you an asshole again; just sayin.”

“I know, it’s just…I dunno.” She sighed. “Maybe this week I’ll look for a new one, once I figure out my financial situation.”

I was taking a sip when she said this, and it prompted me to stop and swallow quickly. “You should wait!” I said, more hastily than I mean to.

Sunset cocked a brow at me. “Why?”

“Just…I would hold off for a bit, OK? Please?”

“Golds…what are you up to?” she asked suspiciously, glaring at me sideways.

I raised a hand in defense. “I…might have a solution for you; just give me another week, OK?”

She rolled her eyes, which I took as reluctant compliance.

Satisfied by this, I took another sip and then grimaced, raising the cup to look at it. "Goddammit; you pay three-fifty for a little cup of hot chocolate and half of it's FOME," I grumbled.

Sunset snickered, then glanced into her hot chocolate before taking another sip. Swirling the sweet drink around in her mouth, she looked up at me again with a curious smirk. Then she swallowed. “A solution, eh?” she said, unaware that her upper lip was lined with a light-brown foam moustache.

“Yeah,” I answered absentmindedly, chuckling at her. “You’ve got a little, uh…” I reached out and wiped the foam away, feeling the soft warmth of her lip against my thumb.

I paused suddenly. The unexpected, yet gentle touch seemed throw the red-head into somewhat of a trance, which I noticed immediately after taking my hand away. We wound up standing still for a moment, facing at each other like a pair of statues.

Those turquoise irises of hers shone vibrantly, though partly obscured by the red and blue lines of a neon sign that stood behind me, reflecting in her eyes as she stood there, gazing, unblinking.

She exhaled slowly, her breath a visible mist in the cold air.

Stunning. That was the only word I could think of to describe her in that moment.

My mind began to race, as well as my pulse. I didn’t know what to do. I felt like kissing her; like tasting that sweet chocolate on her lips, but I didn’t know if I should.

Luckily, I was saved by a tiny, white object that floated down between our faces, breaking the invisible tether that kept our eyes joined before landing in her cup and disappearing instantly. Free from one another’s hold, Sunset and I looked up to see the night sky filled with thousands of fluttering, white flakes, falling silently around us.

It was a moment that was as beautiful as it was palpable.

“Huh…” Sunset sighed contently. “The first snow.”

We brought our eyes down and locked onto each other again.

“Yeah,” I replied quietly as I watched several more snowflakes come down and settle in her hair, clinging tenaciously as if they were drawn to her as much as I was.

Yes, stunning was the right word. The perfect word.

Sunset licked her lips slowly, looking like she wanted desperately to do or say something in particular, but was unsure what would happen if she did.

I could understand, because I knew I felt the same way.

Finally, she blinked and gave her head a little shake, looking down into her cup. “Uh…s-so…Applejack, eh?” she asked, trying to change the subject as casually as possible. “How was that?”

The moment had passed, and I found myself both disappointed and relieved. Sighing, I looked at the ground and then took a quick sip from my cup. “I don’t wanna talk about it,” I said, turning to walk away.

After a brief pause, I could hear Sunset laugh from behind, followed by her boots clopping on the sidewalk as she jogged to catch up.

“That bad, eh?” she asked, after joining my side again.

I glanced over at her and offered my arm again; she slipped her hand around the crook of my elbow while holding her drink in the other. “It was…different,” I replied, followed by another sip.

“Oh?” she asked. “Different how?”

“Well, I-“

“Did she smell bad?”

I grimaced, looking over at her. “Ew, no! Why would you think that?”

Sunset laughed. “I don’t know. I just picture AJ not being the freshest.”

“Well,” I sighed, “I’m sure there are times that she isn’t, but we were in the shower at the time, so…”

Her mouth dropped open. “What!? How’d you guys end up in the shower?”

“We were at my shop,” I replied, “working on her truck. We’d just finished and were supposed to go to the dinner right after, but she didn’t have time to go home and clean up, so she took it upon herself to hop in the shower with me.”

“Hm.” Sunset bit her lip. ”I’m guessing by your tone that you weren’t expecting that.”

“No. Not really.”

“Huh…wow, that’s actually a pretty bold move for AJ.”

“Yes...yes it was.”

“So?” she asked, after another sip of chocolate. “What was so different about it?”

“Umm, well-“

Sunset gasped suddenly, looking at me with wide eyes. “Wait! Did she not enjoy it? Did you actually find someone who you can’t drive totally crazy with your cock!?”

“What? No,” I scowled, shaking my head. “No, she…she enjoyed it a lot actually, thank you very much!”

She chuckled and took another sip as I continued.

“It’s just…you have to remember who we’re talking about here.”

The red-head swallowed her drink and cocked an eyebrow. “What? I don’t get it.”

I sighed, looking down at the sidewalk as it passed under our feet. “Let’s just say I’m gonna be spending quite a bit of money at Hoof Hardware in the next little bit.”

Her pace slowed suddenly, and she looked at me with wide eyes when she realised what I meant. “Oh shit…you don’t mean...“

“Two words, Sunny: Property. Damage.”

*****

It was just after 5:00am when we arrived at Sunset’s door again. She unlocked it and stood in the opening, leaning on the frame while we spent the next twenty minutes or so conversing about different things, exchanging the occasional grimace when the apartment hallway puked up some ghastly new scent for us to sample.

“So listen: uh...I wanna thank you for coming over tonight.” She stuffed her hands into her pockets, giving a coy smirk as she lost the nerve to maintain eye contact.

I smiled, watching her cast her gaze to the floor. “No problem, Sunny.” I reached out to grasp the red and yellow braid that ran alongside her face, letting its knotted length slide through my fingertips. “It’s nice being able to spend time with you without having to worry about anything else.”

She nodded and brought her eyes up to meet mine, slowly.

Yet another moment passed where neither of us said anything.

It was nice.

As much as I didn’t want it to end, however, I knew I had to get on with my day.

I slowly drew a breath. “Um…look, I…should get going, Sunny.”

The contentment in her face wavered ever so slightly, but she put on a smile to hide it. Despite how enjoyable the night was, she knew it had to come to an end eventually, and now, this was it. “Yeah,” she replied softly. “Yeah, we…both have things to do, don’t we?”

I nodded and sighed. “We should do this more often though.”

Sunset’s eyebrows went up. “Yeah, totally. And you could bring Rare and Flutters…i-if you wanted.”

I paused again, lost in her big, lovely eyes, doing endless laps around those vibrant, turquoise irises of hers. I had to make a conscious effort to break away eventually, and I reached into my pocket to pull put my phone. “Hm. It’s after five. Uh…like I said, I’d better get going. I have to get home to make Flutters her breakfast.”

The red-head covered her mouth and chuckled. “What? You make her breakfast?”

I nodded. “I have all week.”

She tilted her head and let it rest on the door frame, smiling. “You’re such a sweet guy.”

After a pause, I gestured down the hall. “Do you wanna come? I can make some for both of you…”

“Uh…no, that’s fine,” she replied, a bit surprised. “Thanks though…for the offer, but I think I’m gonna take some time to be alone…for now.”

“OK.” I said, putting my phone away. “Well, I better go. I’ll see you tomorrow for dinner?”

“Uuhhh…” she straightened up a bit. “Probably? I…where is it this weekend, anyway?”

“Hmm,” I frowned, staring at the wall as I thought about it. “I don’t know, actually.”

“Oh.” She shrugged and scuffed her foot on the floor. “Whatever. We’ll figure it out.”

“Yeah.” After looking at her for a moment, I took a breath and held one hand over her shoulder, inviting her in for a hug.

“Oh…heh,” she chuckled, stepping away from the door frame to wrap her arms around my back. We held the embrace for a moment, pressed cheek-to-cheek, feeling our warmth between us.

She backed out slightly, just enough for us to face each other, our noses barely an inch apart. A moment swept by and before we knew it, we realised we’d gotten lost in one another’s eyes again. Knowing this cycle of goodbyes-followed-by-not-leaving could go on for hours, I made the decision to break away and get out of there—quick and painless, like a band-aid.

I let my hands slide away from her back and began to turn away. My escape was thwarted, however, when Sunset grabbed a handful of my shirt and pulled me into a kiss.

There was no movement, no tongue; just her soft, luscious lips pressed firmly against mine. With her eyes closed, she held us together for a time that I knew would never be long enough.

Finally, a long, slow exhale escaped her nostrils, wafting gently around my face.

My hands had found a resting place on her hips by the time she let our lips disconnect, sending a tiny, wet pop echoing down the otherwise empty hallway.

Still gripping my shirt, she let her forehead touch mine as she bit her lip, casting her eyes downward. “Do me a favour?”

“W-…what?”

“Don’t ever leave me without a kiss again…got it?”

Chapter 98: Special Delivery!

Chapter 98

I don’t remember much of the drive home. That kiss from Sunset hung in my mind like a cob web in a drafty old attic.

Why did she do it? Why did she say what she said? If she didn’t have feelings for me, then why was she acting the way she was? Was Rarity right? Did Sunset love me, but was too stubborn to admit that she was wrong about herself? Or was she just sending mixed messages to watch me squirm for her own personal entertainment?

I sighed as I pulled into the driveway, wondering how I was going to get through the day with all of these questions echoing endlessly inside my head. Luckily —although I didn’t know it yet— my girlfriends would come to the rescue and provide the necessary distraction to get my mind off of the previous night.

I entered the house to find the front room deserted. There was little time for me to wonder where they might have been though, for the sound of Rarity’s laughter could be heard from the far end of the hall.

As I made my way to the bedroom, I found myself quite taken aback by the pitch and intensity of the fashionista’s laughing. It was several octaves higher than I’d ever heard it; she sounded like she was short of breath. Whatever they were doing, Rarity was extremely amused by it.

After entering the bedroom and finding it empty, I realised they were in the bathroom, so I approached the doorway to see what they were up to—before I had the chance to notice what sounded like the trickling of liquid into the toilet.

What I saw was tremendously unexpected and quite frankly, disturbing.

Fluttershy, dressed only in her white tank top, was standing in front of the toilet; the teal tights that Sunset bought her in Niagara Falls were looped around one ankle, along with her panties. Her other leg was raised, stretched over the toilet with her foot resting on top of the tank.

Needless to say, she was nude from the hips down—and from where I stood, I had just about the clearest view imaginable of what she was doing; my jaw hung halfway to my knees as I watched the arc of sparkling, yellow liquid coming from between her legs and landing in the toilet bowl with a noisy, continuous splash.

Rarity was mostly out of view, aside from her legs. She was sitting on the side of the tub with her feet on the floor, clapping her hands and howling with delight.

Fluttershy turned to look at her girlfriend and raised her fists above her head, flexing her biceps. “GRRR! Look at me, Rare, I’m a MAN! This is how I go pee!”

Rarity leaned back, unable to catch her breath. “HHHHHHHHHHHHA! HAHAHA! Oh darling, HYSTERICAL! AH-HAHAHAHAHA! I cannot believe you’re actually doing it!”

Fluttershy replied with a giggle as she glanced down again to keep her aim steady. “You didn’t think I had it in me, huh?” she asked, turning back to Rarity. “Well I got some sour news for you, Ja-OH!”

That was when she noticed I was there.

Fluttershy gasped and covered her mouth, then she quickly brought her leg down and sat down on the toilet. Amazingly, she was able to pull this manoeuvre off without pissing all over the seat, which I’m embarrassed to say was slicker than anything I could ever pull off.

Watching me with wide eyes, she leaned forward and hugged her midsection, her cheeks glowing a deep scarlet as an awkward smile appeared on her face, lips crooked with embarrassment.

Rarity was quick to notice the sudden retreat into shydom, so she stifled her laughing. She leaned forward from the edge of the tub to peer around the corner, her face lit with anticipation, to see if someone was actually there, witnessing Fluttershy’s shenanigans.

Now, to be clear, when I rounded the corner and saw Fluttershy doing what she was doing, I was quite certain I could never be shocked like that again. Ever. When Rarity leaned forward and brought her head into view, however, I was proven completely, painfully wrong.

Once the trickle of Fluttershy’s business tapered off to a quiet conclusion, the three of us found ourselves staring each other down in utter silence. After glancing incredulously at one girl, then the other, I closed my eyes, shook my head, and without a single word, turned away and headed back to the front room.

When I was about halfway down the hall, I heard this:

“PPPFFT…HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

I sat in the middle of the couch, rolling my eyes as their laughter rang out from the bathroom, their voices laced together in demented glee. I gnawed at my lip, begrudgingly impressed on some level that these two seemingly innocent and overtly polite girls were able to let loose like this—meaning they possibly had even more fun that night than Sunset and I had.

Eventually, Fluttershy quietly padded her way around the couch with her hands folded in front. She sat quietly on my right. I kept my face forward, but shifted my eyes to watch her as she swept some hair from her face and hooked it behind her ear.

She cleared her throat. “Um…I’m sorry you had to see that, Goldie. We were just having a little fun, that’s all.”

“Uhh...it’s OK,” I replied, smirking at how kooky this girl really was when she wasn’t shackled down by self-consciousness. “I just wasn’t expecting to see…well, that.”

“Hm,” she giggled softly. “W-…we were getting a little carried away there, I guess.”

I nodded silently and then scratched my temple. “Uh, you know…we don’t piss like that, us guys. We don’t put our foot up on the tank and, uh…” I trailed off when I glanced over and found her big, teal eyes gazing back at me, gleaming with nothing but pure innocence. Sighing, I closed my eyes and shook my head. “You know what? Just…nevermind. It’s fine.”

I felt the cushion on my left compress and I turned to see Rarity sitting beside me, biting her lip nervously.

“Hi…”

“Hey…uh, Rare,” I replied, my eyes drawn upward to the inexplicable sight at the top of her head.

“Er…w-what d’you think?” she asked timidly, running a hand over her hair.

I took a deep breath and held it, considering how to respond. “Um...well,” I said, exhaling slowly. “It certainly answers the question that no one ever asked...like, ever.”

She raised a brow. “And that would be?”

“Uhh, that would be: ‘what does Rarity look like with cornrows?’”

“Ah. Well…” She cleared her throat quietly, and then looked off to her left as she fiddled with one of those indigo braids. “Do you…like it?”

I glanced at her again, furrowing my brow a bit. “I...I don’t really know. It’s kind of weird. Like, I can see your scalp showing between the rows, and...it’s really white.”

“That’s how it’s supposed to look, darling!” she said, giving my arm a playful slap.

I shrugged, finding myself at a loss for words.

“Well, do you like the beads at least?” she asked, swinging a handful of braids in front of her shoulder; they clattered together as she held them up for me to see. Each one was threaded through a row of beads, coloured in alternating blues and whites along each length.

“Those are pretty nice; yeah.”

Fluttershy spoke up. “I like it, Rare. You look like a tough, um…gangster.”

Rarity giggled and tilted her head, cocking a brow as she raised her hand and sliced it back and forth through the air like a rapper. “Yes-yes, I am quite corking, don’t you know; uh…er, motherfuckers!” She snorted, placing her hand on my shoulder as she tittered at herself.

“Actually Rare, I don’t know.” I pinched the bridge of my nose and shook my head. “Don’t do that again. Please.”

“Oh, come now!” she scowled, back-handing my arm. “My ‘street colloquialisms’ are nothing less than top notch!”

“I thought it sounded good, Rare,” Fluttershy interjected. “You, um, sounded just like a real thug.”

“That’s right, Fluttershy; you’ve got it!” Rarity replied, pumping her fist in the air. “Thug living!”

“Ugh! It’s thug life!” I huffed.

Rarity looked put-off by my outburst, and after a short pause, she folded her arms, pressing her lips firmly together. “If you didn’t like it, darling, you should’ve just said so.”

“Didn’t like what?”

“My hair, of course.”

I rubbed my forehead and exhaled noisily. “No, it’s got nothing to do with your hair. You just…you can’t talk ‘street’ for shit, Rare.”

She paused and then looked away, nose upturned. “Hm!”

I groaned, sitting back into the couch. “Fuck. Here we go with the drama.”

A few moments of tense silence passed, followed by a warm, yellow hand coming to rest on my thigh.

“Are you...OK, Goldie?”

I turned partway towards Fluttershy, but stopped short, keeping her just out of my view. “I don’t know,” I sighed, chewing my lip. “I had a weird night; I’m not really sure what to think about it.”

“Well…um, what happened?” the shy girl asked, leaning against my shoulder with hers.

I stared ahead, pondering to myself about the night. Finding myself unsure of where to begin explaining what happened, the ambition to find a way to articulate my feelings into words came up short, so I just sighed humbly and glanced at Rarity.

“I’m sorry, Rare,” I said, reaching over to squeeze her thigh. “I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

She exhaled slowly and turned, glaring at me with a raised brow.

“You look beautiful, as always…” —I paused, looking down at my lap as I continued quietly— “and...when you talk ‘street,’ you sound hard as fuck.”

Her expression softened. After a brief pause, she rolled her eyes and sighed, unfolding her arms. “Oh darling,” she groaned, resting her cheek on my shoulder. “How could I possibly stay mad at you when you say such sweet things?”

“I dunno.” I continued staring into the darkness of the room.

“So? What happened, anyway?” Rarity closed her eyes and threw her head back dramatically, placing the back of her hand against her forehead. “When you burst through the door like her knight in shining armour, did Sunset swoon and confess her love for you?” she asked, adding that extra hint of dramatic flair.

“Not exactly.”

“Um, what do you mean?” Fluttershy asked.

“Well…I couldn’t get her to admit it,” I said, rubbing my chin, “but...I think you guys might actually be right about her.”

*****

Saturday morning had arrived.

Friday had come and gone as usual, aside from Rarity realising that it was well after 6:00am before she left Fluttershy’s house for work. She was in a bit of a tizzy, of course, since leaving so late meant that making the hour drive back to town and changing her clothes would afford her no time to remove the cornrows from her hair and still be at the boutique for 7:30.

I managed to get her calmed down before she left, however, reasoning that the hairstyle might be a good thing for her. It would demonstrate to her customers that she was conscious of an impressive range of styles and that it was a good way to advertise her wide array of talents.

I had no idea if any of this was true, but it was all I could think of to get her settled down so she would go.

Rarity was absent on Friday night; apparently she had a late-week surge of orders to fill, so she was obligated to stick around the boutique, catching up on that.

Nevertheless, it was now Saturday morning, which made me happy because Fluttershy didn’t have to go to work and leave me alone—for the first time in five days. The sun was up, the animals were fed, breakfast was had and cleaned up, and now it was time for the shy girl and me to sit down and take a crack at beating Mega Man 9 once and for all.

She aimed the remote to turn the TV on while giggling through the conversation we were having about the other night.

“I’m sorry you had to walk in on that, Goldie; it must have been such a shock for you.”

“Yeah well...I’m sorry, but you two can’t be alone together anymore.” I let out a chuckle. “Ha! Just kidding. Actually, it made me think about the night I met you: how back then you wouldn’t even come out and eat supper with us, and then there you were the other night: pissing standing-up while flexing your muscles like some kind of roid-freak.”

Fluttershy blushed and covered her face. “Oh goodness! I…honestly, I don’t know what came over me that night!”

“Nah, it’s cool,” I replied, waving her off as I headed around the couch to make my way towards the kitchen. “I mean, sure, I was a little put-off by it at the time, but in retrospect it was kind of cute seeing the two of you let loose a little. Plus, it made me feel better about hanging out with Sunny all night.”

“Oh,” she replied, picking up the Wiimote. “You don’t have to feel bad about that. Besides, me and Rare just felt like being crazy that night; we just, um, you know...wanted to have fun.”

“Heh! Did Cyndi Lauper happen to stop by?” I joked.

Fluttershy paused. “Who?”

“Cyn-...she-…nevermind.” I shook my head, reminding myself that Fluttershy was younger than I remembered—something I often overlooked when making bad jokes with her. “Anyway, go ahead and get the game ready, Flutters. I’ll be right there. I’m just gonna make me some coffee up in this bitch,” I said as I approached the counter. “You want one?”

“Um, no thank you.”

The previous Saturday had seen my efforts at having a nice, strong Cup of Joe thwarted by Applejack —although the day turned out pretty interesting in the end— but this weekend, right now, I was bound and determined to have that steaming mug in my hand. Nothing was going to stop m-

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

“FUCK!” I threw my hands in the air. I hadn’t even had a chance to turn the machine on yet.

“Who…who could that be?” Fluttershy asked, looking over the back of the couch nervously.

“I don’t fuckin know. I’ll get it. You stay put.” I headed for the door, grumbling to myself as I reached for the doorknob. Which one of these bitches wants eternal life this time? Ooh! I hope it’s Pinkie; I’d be SO down with putting my face between those big ole titt-

When the door was opened, I stopped.

I didn’t know who this person was: a middle-aged man, dressed in a brown delivery uniform, holding a fairly large package under one arm.

“Good morning!” he greeted with a smile, adjusting his glasses. “I have a package here for a Mr. Arrow?”

“Uh…” I paused and shook my head, not expecting this on a Saturday morning. “Yeah, that’s…that’s me, actually.”

“Ah,” he smiled, presenting the box to me.

What is this? I glanced at the shipping label, but he spoke again, prompting me to look up at him before I had a chance to read it.

“I just need a piece of photo ID, if you don’t mind.”

“Oh…sure.” I reached behind me to pull out my wallet, then I produced my ‘official’ driver’s licence and handed it to him. I glanced over his shoulder, noticing only Fluttershy’s car and my truck parked in the driveway.

“Where’s your truck?” I asked, as he studied the ID.

“Out on the road,” he replied, furrowing his brow.

“Oh.” I nodded. “Didn’t know you guys worked weekends.”

“Not usually,” he sighed, handing my licence back to me. “I’m sorry, Mr. Arrow. The address on this ID doesn’t match the one on the package.”

“What?” I replied, checking the license for myself. “Oh, that’s because this one has the address for my shop.” I faced him again, holding the card up to show the picture. “Still, it’s my ID; you can tell that’s me on there.”

He shook his head. “That’s not good enough. I can’t release the package to you until we sort out the address discrepancy first.”

“Ugh...” I rolled my eyes. “Wait a minute; I don’t even know what this is. Who’s it even from?”

He held the box out again so I could see the label.

My eyes widened when I saw who the sender was. “Oh shit! This is the, uh…Wow, that came fast!” I clapped my hands one time, gritting my teeth with excitement. “Fuck yeah, Sunny’s gonna be fuckin stoked!”

Without thinking, I reached for the package, but the delivery man quickly withdrew it. “Whoa! Hang on, sir; I can’t let you have this.”

Caught off-guard by the rebuff, I gave him a sharp glare, feeling my earlobes heat up. “Come on, man. Don’t be a douche,” I insisted, my frustration building quicker now that I knew what was in the package.

He raised a brow at me. “Listen, Mr. Arrow: regardless of what you think of me, the address on your ID does not match the one on the package, and I cannot release it without proof of your residency at this address.”

“Who gives a shit? You can see by the photo and the name that it’s me,” I countered.

“I give a shit,” he replied. “To be fair, the address on the package doesn’t even belong to you; it’s actually registered to a Miss Fluttershy.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “How do you know that?”

“It’s in our system.” He raised his hand at me. “Listen, I’m just doing my job. I don’t make the rules here, so don’t get frustrated with me, OK?”

“Alright,” I breathed deep, brought my hands together slowly and touched my fingertips to my chin as I resisted the urge to throw this little man into a treetop. “I really need this package, OK? So...what do you need me to do so I can have it?”

“Is the owner of this residence home?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, she can confirm the address —with a photo ID, of course— and she can give verbal confirmation of your residence here as well.”

“Oh fuck!” I slapped the side of my head. “Why didn’t you just say so?” I turned my head partway. “Hey Flutters?”

“Mm-hm?” she replied softly as the delivery man leaned to the side, peering past me into the house.

“Could you be a sweetheart and please tell this guy that I am who I am?” I asked, looking back at him. “Apparently his eyes and brain can’t comprehend things on their own.”

The delivery man shifted his sights onto me, then he rolled his eyes and shook his head.

Just then, I heard the deepest gasp I had ever witnessed, and I quickly turned to see if the shy girl had in fact inhaled the couch. She was standing next to the armrest, having made it only partway to the door; her eyes were wide as saucers, and she was covering her mouth with both hands, making me wonder what could have put her into such a state of shock.

Finally, she lowered her hands to speak. “M-…M-M-Mr. Ingram?”

Huh? I turned back to face him. His face was lit up with elation, and he took it upon himself to step past me and enter the house, slipping the brown uniform hat off to reveal a bald head. He held his arms out, laughing uncontrollably as he watched Fluttershy’s eyes tear up, bright and full of excitement.

“Y-you’re alive!?” she squealed, placing her hands on her cheeks. “I…I can’t believe it! Is it really you?”

“It’s me, Fluttershy,” he nodded. “It’s really me.”

She gasped a second time, as if her brain had finally accepted what her eyes were showing it, and she charged forward with her arms outstretched. “EEEEEEEEEEK!” She squealed like a little girl at a princess birthday party as the two of them came together in a tight embrace, Fluttershy lifting her heel behind her as she hugged the shorter man tightly, sobbing with joy.

I stood with my back to the door, brows raised and jaw dropped as I watched the reunion, finally realising who this man was.

How did he survive?...And how did he find us?

They separated after a long hug, Fluttershy sniffling with delight as they stared at each other, forcing themselves to comprehend being in one another’s presence again.

“You look amazing,” said Ingram, holding her by the shoulders. “I mean...your hair, your face! And your clothes—you don’t look anything like I expected. After looking like you’d been living in a sewer for the past decade, this is just…my god! And your eyes…” —he shook his head in disbelief— “your eyes are so bright and full of life! I can hardly recognise you; I can’t believe you’re the same girl I met down in that dank shit-hole.”

“Oh, um…th-thank you,” she sobbed, lips trembling as she wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand. “But…that wasn’t me in that base; um, that was FS1.”

Ingram drew a breath and then nodded, releasing the exhale slowly. “Yes. I remember.”

Fluttershy smiled. “Well…sh-she’s gone now—for good. Thank goodness, too; she made me do awful things to people, even the ones I love. And thanks to those same people, she died that night in Rarity’s bathroom, just a few hours after I got home.”

“And…I take it you’re happy about that?” Ingram asked.

The shy girl nodded. “Oh my, of course I am! There’s no place in this world for FS1. She was a monster, and she needed to go away. But now she’s gone, and I’m back home, with my animals…and my friends.”

Ingram let a long, quiet breath out through his nose and took a moment to look around Fluttershy’s home, taking in the details of the wooden walls, floors and ceilings; the large, well-used couch with the big TV in front of it, displaying the outdated Wii menu that awaited the attention of its next player; the rustic, heavy looking table, surrounded by the quaint, but efficient-looking kitchen; all of it was so peaceful and lovely, and every detail absolutely screamed Fluttershy.

“Huh,” he chuckled, looking back at her. “You know, before I found you here, I always wondered what kind of place you would call home, and this…” —he smiled and shook his head— “this is exactly what I pictured; not that cold, dark prison. This is where you belong. It’s absolutely perfect.”

“Oh…” She paused and smiled, a tear rolling down one cheek, leaving a faint, glistening line of mascara in its wake. “But...it’s because of you that I’m here right now, Mr. Ingram. You set me free. You gave me my life back.”

“I only set you free, Fluttershy. Fighting your way out? Getting yourself home? You did that on your own, and you should be proud of yourself for it.”

The smile disappeared from her face suddenly, and she covered her mouth with both hands. “Oh, th-the base! I…I blew it up with you inside —at least…I thought I did— but, I-I thought I killed you. I felt SO awful about it!” she began to sob. “I’m so, so sorry! I didn’t want to do it, b-but there was a storm, a-and I couldn’t-“

Ingram quickly pulled her into another hug. “Shh, sh-sh-sh. You don’t need to feel bad about that. You did the right thing. That place had to go. You knew you were the only one who could do it, and you did it, even though it hurt, knowing I was still in there.”

“I…I know. It made me sick to-“

“You,” Ingram cut in, “are the single bravest person I know, Fluttershy. I am so proud of you for what you’ve accomplished, and you should be, too.”

A cold breeze hit my back as I stood by the door, dumbfounded, watching the scene unfold. I looked over my shoulder, realising the door had been left open, so I reached back and swung it shut, then headed towards to the reunion.

I walked quietly around them and stopped behind Fluttershy; the package was still in Ingram’s hand, which was now being held behind Fluttershy’s back during the embrace.

“Can I just…?” I tentatively gripped the end of the box. “I’m just gonna...take this…” I pulled gently, but Ingram had a tighter grip on it than expected. A second, more powerful yank proved successful, plucking the package from his hand with ease.

I carried it back to the table and tore the end open, peering inside to see if it was the thing I was hoping for. I clenched my fists excitedly when I saw that it was, and I threw my head back in celebration. “Yes! Thank you, Chupie!”

Without moving, Ingram spoke to me over Fluttershy’s shoulder. “There’s a fourty-two dollar brokerage fee on that, just so you know.”

“Yeah. Hilarious,” I replied, turning back to face them.

Ingram sighed against Fluttershy’s shoulder and shook his head. “Who is this college dropout, anyway?”

College dropout? I thought to myself, scowling.

“Oh!” Fluttershy backed out of the hug suddenly, covering her mouth. “How rude of me, I haven’t introduced you two!” She gestured my way, prompting Ingram to turn and face me with an unimpressed glare. “Mr. Ingram, this is um, Golden Arrow.”

The short, middle-aged man and I stood and stared silently at one another, both reluctant to say anything, having gotten off on the wrong foot at the door.

Fluttershy stamped her foot softly and waved me over. “Goldie! Come here and shake his hand!”

“Oh,” My eyes widened and I stepped closer to him with my hand outstretched, realising right then just how pussy-whipped I really was. “Sorry about that,” I said as he took my hand and shook it, “that whole…’douche’ thing; I...didn’t realise who you were.”

“Well,” he inhaled slowly, “I was kind of in disguise.”

“True, true.”

Fluttershy smiled, looking back and forth between us. “There. That’s nice.”

“Uh...” I released his hand to scratch the back of my head. “I guess I should probably thank you for…you know, setting Flutters free. Heh, you sure saved me and Sunny a lot of work.”

“Oh?” Ingram cocked his head with interest.

“Um, Goldie and my other friend are the ones who met me at those coordinates,” Fluttershy explained to Ingram. “And…they were the ones who brought me home.”

His eyebrows rose. “Ah, I see. Well, it sure was nice of you to travel all the way out there to meet her.”

I shrugged. “Nah, we were already out there, trying to figure out a way into the base.”

Ingram looked confused. “Uh…I’m sorry, what? You were trying to get into the base? To rescue her?” he asked, pointing at Fluttershy.

“Yeah,” I muttered. “It wasn’t going so well.”

“Well yeah, I can imagine,” Ingram replied. “No one —and I mean NO ONE— ever got in there; not unless they were invited.”

I nodded and reached into my pocket in search of my phone.

Ingram rubbed his brow, looking confused. “I still don’t understand. What were you doing trying to break into the ‘Us’ base?”

“Um, Goldie is like me,” Fluttershy replied. “He can’t get hurt, plus...he’s really good at stuff like that.”

Ingram looked at the shy girl in surprise. “You mean...he’s one of you?”

“Mm-hm.” Fluttershy nodded. “He was the first, actually. And…I know he looks young, but…he’s a lot older than you think. Like, a lot older.”

Ingram turned to look at me again, rather analytically. “Now wait a minute,” —he raised a hand and closed his eyes— “don’t tell me...you’re the-“

I raised my index finger to interrupt him, looking down at my phone. “One sec; I’m texting my peeps.”

ME: U better get ur ass out here, pronto

I lowered my phone and looked at Ingram again. “Sorry about that, I-“

My phone buzzed.

RARITY: What is it?

I took a moment to answer her.

ME: We have a visitor that u need to meet

RARITY: Who?

ME: U’ll see. Just get out here ASAP

When I lowered my phone again, Ingram was rubbing his chin, his brow cocked impatiently.

“Sorry, yeah. I’m, uh-” My phone buzzed again, so I took a quick glance at it.

RARITY: On my way

“Anyway,” I continued, looking back up at him, “yeah, if you’ve worked for the American government at all, then I’m sure you’ve probably heard of me.”

Ingram nodded. “I heard stores —or legends, really— about something; some ancient being that has been alive for centuries, that cannot be killed, cannot be captured…” He paused for a moment, bringing a closed hand to his chin as he studied me some more. “I knew he was involved with Miss Fluttershy in some way, but I’m having a hard time believing he’s...you.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you.”

My phone buzzed.

“Whoop, hang on.” I brought my phone up to read it.

It was a reply from the other recipient of my original message.

SUNSET: Can it wait? Im kinda in the middle of sumthing here

“Fuck sakes, Sunny,” I whispered, shaking my head.

ME: Fine. Just get here whenever u can

I slipped my phone into my pocket. Then I clapped my hands and rubbed them together, looking at Ingram. “OK, so…you don’t believe us? You need some proof, or what?”

Ingram raised a brow. “You mean other than that fake driver’s licence?”

Author's Note

This song, man...like what the fuck!? Seriously! Why’d the Cornflakes fall over? No one even touched them!

Although, side note: I didn't expect to see Lon Chaney Sr. in this video. I’ll give it points for that. (Hunchback of Notre Dame, 1923; seen @ 1:53)
More on him later.

Chapter 99: Catching Up

Chapter 99

“Oh Goldie, please!” Fluttershy begged softly, clasping her hands together. “Come on, show us the apple trick...with the knife!”

“No, Flutters!” I shook my head stubbornly. “I already put my hand over the burner and tried to cut my fingers off with the cleaver, just like you did for Sunny when you turned, OK? He knows who I am now, don’t you, Ingram?” I gestured to him, and he nodded in agreement.

Fluttershy glanced at Ingram for a second, then she brought her eyes back to me. “I know, but…um, you should show him some of the amazing stuff you can do.”

I waved her off, heading for the couch. “Nah, he gets the idea. That, and we don’t have any apples.”

“Oh!” She scurried around the table towards the counter. “We have oranges; those’ll work the same, right?” she offered, grabbing a clementine from the basket.

By this point, I was standing in the open space behind the couch and to the left of the table, which was where Ingram was sitting. “OK, Flutters? Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve done that? Not to mention, that orange is smaller than an apple, which will make it even harder to do.”

Fluttershy stood between the table and counter, holding the orange out; her bottom lip pushed forth, her eyes big and shiny.

It was quite possibly the most irresistible fucking pouty face the universe had ever witnessed.

“Ugh. Goddammit.” I caved instantly to the look and turned away, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Fine!” I said, turning back to her as she giggled hysterically and yanked the silverware drawer open. “I’ll try it once, but I can’t promise-“

“Think fast, Goldie!” Fluttershy called, throwing the orange at me with one hand, followed by a paring knife with the other.

“Whoa, hey! I’m not ready-“ There was no time to finish; the fruit was already soaring directly at my face.

Keeping one hand to my chest, I quickly brought my left arm up, bouncing the orange off of my elbow and into the air. Now the knife was next in line. I snapped my right foot up and threw my head back, leaping into the air to throw myself into a backflip; I felt something impact my toe —presumably the knife— as I turned over backwards, everything in my field of vision blurred as the room rushed around me.

I landed on one knee a second later, shaking the entire house when my weight hit the wooden floor with a heavy thump. I leaned forward, using my hands to steady myself as I stared at the floor, wondering how badly I fucked up the manoeuvre; the main reason I didn’t want to do it, after all, was that I hadn’t even tried it since my heyday. It was something that took a lot of practice, and you really had to pay attention to where the apple —or the orange, in this case— was, as well as the knife, but Fluttershy, bless her heart, went ahead and threw the objects at me before I was ready.

I huffed and shook my head, about to look up at the shy girl to say something, but I was stopped by a tiny drip, coming from not far ahead of me. I scanned the floor, searching for the source.

I found it quickly: a small dot of yellowish liquid, pooled on the floor only a couple feet ahead of me. It was joined by a second drop that doubled its size, followed by a third, and then a fourth. My eyes shifted upwards as the pool of citrus juice grew, and I raised my head to look up at the ceiling where I found the orange: skewered by the knife, which was jammed in the ceiling, pinning it in place.

Elated, I gasped and leapt to my feet, bringing my hands together. “Holy shit! I did it!” I cheered, “Flutters, did you see that? That was fuckin sweet!“

Fluttershy was wide-eyed, her mouth covered as she stared up at the orange. “O-oh…” she whimpered, giving her head a small shake.

I looked at Ingram next. He too was staring at the impaled fruit, scratching his cheek as he let his eyes follow the droplets of sweet juice down to the now three-inch puddle on the floor. He rubbed his chin and shook his head incredulously, looking back at me again.

“That…” He shook his index finger my way, while Fluttershy darted for the couch and leaned over its back, reaching for her phone. “Now that was pretty impressive, I must say.”

“Are you kidding?” I replied, “I can’t believe that worked! Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve done that?”

“Heh…it seems you haven’t lost your edge, Mr. Arrow, despite your years of inactivity,” Ingram nodded.

“Fuck yeah,” I replied somewhat absentmindedly, having noticed Fluttershy still laying over the back of the couch, typing something on her phone.

“Alright, so…” Ingram took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. “This actually makes a lot more sense now: if you were the one who taught Fluttershy her combat skills, then it’s quite obvious why she’s become such a formidable soldier—although I dare say she did learn a few of her own tricks during her time in that base.”

“Yeah, that’s what she was saying,” I replied, just as a buzz came from my pocket. I took my phone out to read the message.

FLUTTERSHY: Guess what ur gettin lots of tonight ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({})

My eyes widened when I saw the message, and then my heart leapt when I looked up and saw her turn towards me; her cheeks were flushed and rosy, but her eyes were ferocious, glaring so sharply I could almost feel them cutting into me.

Oh boy…

Wait...how is this different from any other night?

It wasn’t long before Rarity arrived.

Fluttershy, Ingram and I were seated at the table, the latter two sipping coffee. There were two light raps at the door, after which it opened quietly, allowing the fashionista to enter.

“Good morning, everyone! How was- OH!” Rarity’s greeting was cut short when she noticed the unfamiliar man seated at the table, dressed in the delivery uniform. “Er, hello there,” she said in a polite and slightly demure tone, closing the door behind her.

Ingram paused with the cup halfway to his mouth when he laid eyes on the stunning young woman. After removing her suede jacket, she was dressed in some very fashionable attire, consisting of a pair of dark, navy blue dress pants, topped by a light silver blouse with a wide, flimsy collar and loose, flowing sleeves. Her hair was bouncy, full of those perfectly styled coils that always made her appearance so remarkable. He quickly pulled himself back to reality and, giving his head a shake, nodded politely to her.

“Good morning, Miss.”

Rarity approached the table, offering a limp hand for a shake. “Likewise. I don’t believe we’ve met, darling.”

“Oh, I’m uh…” Ingram set his cup down to shake her hand, but then he paused when her words sparked something in his mind. He looked at her, thoughtfully. “What did you just say?”

Rarity cocked her head, confused and a tad nervous. “I…I’m sorry?”

He brought his hand up to point a finger at her. “You said ‘darling.’”

“Yyyyes…” Rarity replied, unsure of what he was getting at. “I…do tend to say that—rather frequently, I suppose.”

His eyes widened. “You’re the woman who called me…on the phone!”

“I’m afraid I don’t underst-“

“You’d just been attacked, and…and it was storming out,” Ingram continued, but then he slapped his palm over his forehead. “Oh my heavens, I haven’t introduced myself! I’m Agent Ingram; you and I spoke on the phone —like I was just saying— about freeing Miss Fluttershy here.” He gestured to the shy girl.

Rarity’s eyes widened with surprise when it sunk in, and she covered her mouth with both hands, gasping. “Oh my! I…but I thought you were…” She paused and moved her hands to her chest. “My apologies, but I thought, from what Fluttershy said, that you hadn’t survived the escape.”

He raised his brows and nodded. “Yeah…it was a close one for sure. I, uh-“

Rarity cut in unexpectedly. “Dear me! Where are my manners?” She cursed herself and pinched the bridge of her nose before facing him again with a cordial smile. “A pleasure, Mr. Ingram. Allow me to introduce myself...” She backed up a step and gave a small curtsy. “I am Rarity—hm, of course. At your service.”

Fluttershy and I glanced at each other, smirking and rolling our eyes at how Rarity always felt the need to do everything with that extra helping of class and panache.

Ingram chuckled. “Yes, I remember, Miss Rarity. How could I forget somebody like you?” he said, adjusting his glasses before folding his hands on the table. “And I must say, it’s nice to finally put a face to the name, and such a lovely one at that; now that I’ve met you in person, I really couldn’t imagine you any different.”

“Oh Pssh! Come now, you’re going to give me an ego, talking like that!” Rarity giggled, waved him off and rolled her eyes, very obviously pretending that she didn’t agree. “Now then,” she continued as she seated herself across from Ingram, “you must pardon my interruption, darling; it was quite rude of me. You were saying?”

Ingram cleared his throat. He was quite impressed by this young woman; so elegant and poised she was, and stunningly beautiful to
boot. “I was just saying how close a call it was…getting out of the base in time.”

“Ah, yes,” Rarity gave a quick wave of her hand. “Do tell; I am simply dying to know how you managed to escape unharmed.”

“Well,” he paused to draw a breath. “I was in the lower levels, creating the fuel leak and setting the charges, and…after I set the emergency door to the mainframe to blow, I took the elevator up to Central Control, which was completely destroyed, and the elevator that went the rest of the way up was damaged, so-”

“Oh…” Fluttershy covered her mouth. “That was because of me. I-I’m really sorry about that, I was ju-“

Ingram raised a hand to stop her. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it, Fluttershy; I found another way out—obviously.”

“But…how?”

He folded his hands again. “Well, any place that has elevators has to have a backup, right?”

The three of us nodded.

“Now…obviously, being built in secret, that base didn’t exactly adhere to all building codes,” —Ingram shrugged— “I mean, why would they if they didn’t think they had to? Come to think of it, I’m not even sure which country’s jurisdiction it would have landed in; I would assume the US, but I’d have to look into it to know for sure. Regardless, they didn’t have a proper stairwell in case of emergencies —like a downed elevator or power outage— but they did have a service ladder, which is what I used to get back to the top level, which I also found pretty much destroyed.” He looked at Fluttershy, smirking. “When I asked you to create a distraction, young lady, you certainly went all out, didn’t you?”

Fluttershy smiled and looked down at the table, her cheeks flushed. “Um...I was kind of mad at them.”

“Indeed she was,” Rarity added. Then she leaned closer to Ingram, raising a brow. “Darling, did you…see her?”

Ingram looked confused. “I’m sorry?”

“W-…what I mean is: did you see Fluttershy…during her escape? On security camera or…by any other means, perhaps?”

Ingram paused, then he shook his head. “No. I could have, like if I’d been able to get to a security station, I could have checked the security footage for her, but there just wasn’t time for that—especially after taking so long to climb that damn ladder.”

“Hm.” Rarity nodded quietly and glanced at me.

Ingram hadn’t seen Fluttershy’s wings.

The fashionista and I glanced at the shy girl, who looked somewhat relieved that Ingram hadn’t witnessed her rampage first-hand. We decided to keep that aspect of her abilities to ourselves for the time being—when to share something like that would be for Fluttershy to decide.

“So anyway,” Ingram continued as he glanced around at each of us. I could tell he knew we were keeping something from him, but had decided not to pry about it. Evidently, he understood that if we wanted to share it, we would. It wasn’t difficult to see that he was a remarkably sharp individual, and now, after meeting him in person, it was no surprise that he was able to get Fluttershy out of that place successfully.

“On the upper floor, there were offices —well…more like vaults, really— for the owners, when they visited the base,” he explained. “Now, what ninety-nine percent of the people working there didn’t know was that each of those offices was equipped with an escape pod: like a mini submarine, but with no form of self-propulsion. They were designed simply to eject from the outer wall of the office and float to the surface. From there, they emit a beacon for the mainland agents to come and pick up whoever is in the pod, which was overstocked with about a week’s worth of food and water for one person."

"But..." Fluttershy cut in. "The elevator to the surface was right there; why didn't you just take it up and meet me there?"

"Ah." Ingram rubbed his hands together. "That's a good question, Fluttershy. And the answer, put simply, is that the time risk involved was too great."

Fluttershy looked confused. "What does that mean?"

"Well, you rode that elevator to the surface, did you not?"

The shy girl nodded.

"And it took a long time, correct?"

"Mm-hm. It was a long way up."

"Well, that was the issue," Ingram explained. "That elevator took a long time to get to the top, and I'm guessing you weren't too far ahead of me; in fact, you might still have been on your way up, which meant that I would have had to wait for you to get to the top, then wait for it to come all the way back down, THEN ride it the entire way up. That would have taken a very long time, during which you could have boarded the chopper, decided I wasn't coming and triggered the detonator. It was much faster and safer to simply break into one of the offices with the code emulator and use an escape pod."

"There was still a significant risk though, darling; was there not?" Rarity interjected. "Didn't you say the escape pod sent out a beacon to bring them to you?"

“Yes, but no one came to pick me up," Ingram replied. "The organisation was so out-of-sorts after having the base destroyed that no one was sent after my pod’s signal, so I had to ration the food for about two weeks until a fishing trawler finally picked me up and took me back to mainland.” He paused for a moment and bit his lip. “It’s a good thing it worked out the way it did; if ‘Us’ agents had been the ones who picked me up, I’m sure I wouldn’t be sitting here right now.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I bet it would have been quite the surprise for them if they found you in there, eh?”

“Not a surprise.” Ingram shook his head. “Since none of the owners were at the base when Miss Fluttershy escaped, all of them were accounted for elsewhere, so they’d have been expecting an imposter in that pod and would have come prepared to deal with it. Lucky for me, it didn’t seem to be a priority for whatever was left of them.”

“Yeah, I’m guessing the only significant force they had left was the group that attacked us on the road after we picked Flutters up in the desert,” I explained.

“Oh?” Ingram said, raising a brow.

“Yup,” I replied, pointing at Rarity. “Add to that the fifteen guys she took out, and I bet their field agents were probably pretty few and far between by that point.”

Ingram glanced at the fashionista, who was sitting quietly with her arms folded, resting a finger across her lips as she listened. It was funny, really: sitting there, looking like a posh, pretty lady, one would never expect that she was capable of mowing down fifteen heavily armed men the way she did.

“And it didn’t work out too well for them,” I chuckled, prompting Ingram to return his attention to me. “They came after us with a bunch of motorcycles and a couple trucks, but the three of us took them out like it was nothing.”

He cocked his head, looking confused. “Three of you?” He glanced at Rarity. “But I thought she…”

“Oh!” I tapped his shoulder with the backs of my fingers, “shit; you don’t know about Sunny. Yeah, she was with me, in the desert when we picked Flutters up.”

“Sunny?” he repeated, furrowing his brow.

“Ah, her full name is Sunset Shimmer, darling,” Rarity interjected, “she is —how you say— like us, as well.”

Ingram faced Rarity, looking a bit surprised. “She’s indestructible?”

The three of us nodded.

The agent glanced at me, then Fluttershy, then Rarity once again, before closing his eyes and raising a hand. “OK, wait…exactly how many of you are there?”

“Six,” I replied.

“For now,” Fluttershy added.

Ingram opened his eyes again and paused, staring thoughtfully at the tabletop for a spell before he spoke again. “And…you all live near this one city?”

We nodded again.

“So…there are no others like you anywhere else in the world?”

I shook my head. “Not that I’ve seen. And I’ve been around the block a few times, if you catch my drift.” After another sip of coffee, I rubbed my hands together and continued. “Don’t worry, you’ll be meeting Sunny before too long.”

Ingram blinked. “Oh?”

“Yeah. I texted her at the same time as Rare, so she should be out here at some point.”

Rarity furrowed her brow and pulled her phone out to check the time. “You messaged her at the same time as me? Are you sure she got it?”

“Yeah. She texted me back right after you did.”

“Well I’ve been here for a while now. What do you suppose is taking her so long?”

“I don’t know,” I sighed. “She said she was in the middle of something, so…whatever. I just told her to be out as soon as she can.”

“Um, it is Saturday, you guys. Remember?” Fluttershy interjected.

“That’s right!” Rarity gasped, clapping her hands together as she faced Ingram. “You simply must join us for dinner, Mr. Ingram. We do it every weekend; everyone will be here —except for Twilight, of course; she’s off attending school— nevertheless, it will be the perfect chance for you to meet the rest of us!”

Ingram chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. “Well...obviously I didn’t have any other plans for today, so I would be happy to accept your invitation, Miss Rarity.”

The fashionista squealed softly, followed by a golf clap. “Excellent, darling! We’d be delighted to have you.” She gestured at me next. “This is precisely how we got to know Golds; I invited him to supper here after he stopped to fix my car—and of course, the rest is history.” She paused to rub her chin, then glanced at the shy girl. “Although, I really should stop inviting people to Fluttershy’s house without asking her first; it is somewhat rude of me, isn’t it?” She giggled. “Oh dear! Do you remember how nervous you were that night, Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy nodded and blushed.

“Oh! The poor thing was so nervous, she wouldn’t even come out to eat with Golds here,” Rarity explained to Ingram, who smiled and glanced at the shy girl, amused that someone so deadly could also be so adorably timid.

“I-it’s OK, Rare,” Fluttershy replied softly. “Goldie turned out to be a good guy. And I already know Mr. Ingram, so...I-I’ll be OK this time.”

Rarity clicked her tongue and slid from her chair, heading towards the shy girl. “Ohh…such a sweet thing you are, darling,” she cooed, stroking Fluttershy’s cheek with her index knuckle.

Both girls puckered up as Rarity leaned in for a quick kiss.

Ingram smiled as he watched the pair, knowing he was instrumental in reuniting them.

Rarity glanced at me next, then made her way around the table. “And I mustn’t forget you, my love,” she sang, wrapping her arms around my shoulders as she came in and planted a kiss on my lips.

“GAH!” She recoiled, covering her mouth. “You taste like coffee, darling!”

“Sorry,” I replied, licking my lips. “You taste, and smell delicious, as usual.”

Rarity giggled and hugged me again, pressing her cheek to my temple. “Oh my! Such a sweet-talker you are.”

Ingram looked confused, watching who he thought was Fluttershy’s lover now kissing and nuzzling me.

“Oh, and I have but one question, darling,” the fashionista asked, closing her eyes.

“Shoot.”

“Why is there an orange on the ceiling?”

*****

Some time later, Ingram was down on one knee beside the table, scratching Link’s ear as he read the browser page on Fluttershy’s phone, which he held with his other hand.

“No, you’re right; it says here that it takes roughly two full years for the average Lynx Canadensis to reach full adulthood.”

Fluttershy nodded, leaning against the table with her hip. “Mm-hm. I thought it was something like that, but I couldn’t, um, remember exactly. I knew it was a lot longer than a normal kitty though.”

“My goodness!” Rarity exclaimed, seated at the table again. “I had no idea; so…he’s going to get a lot bigger then?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Oh yes. He’ll be the size of a retriever when he’s fully grown.”

Rarity clasped her hands together. “Ohhh, how exotic!” she swooned.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

“Entrez!” Rarity answered as the rest of us turned to see who it was.

The door opened only a few inches; a head, adorned with wavy, fire-coloured hair, peered inside. “Uh…hey guys.”

“Sunny, you’re here,” I replied, prompting Ingram to his feet to hand Fluttershy her phone. “You’re not gonna believe who decided to drop in for a visit.”

Sunset’s eyes focused on Ingram, studying his uniform with her mouth slightly ajar. “The…delivery guy?”

“No…Sunny,” I scowled and then gestured to Ingram. “No, this is Agent Ingram.”

She continued to stare, her face blank.

“Uh…” I cocked my head, noticing the red-head’s absentmindedness. “He’s the guy who…helped Flutters escape from the...base...”

A few seconds passed, and then Sunset’s eyes widened. “Oh…OH!” she replied, her eyebrows rising. “Huh. Wow, uh…crazy.”

“Yes, darling,” said Rarity, rolling her eyes. “He managed to survive escaping a top-secret underwater fortress before it exploded; so, I guess you could say that it is somewhat…crazy.”

Sunset glanced at the fashionista. “Oh, well…yeah. I mean, that’s awesome. I’m glad he, uh…made it.”

I raised a suspicious brow. “Sunny?”

She looked at me again. I recognised that nervous look she had in her eyes; it was a look I’d seen many times before, especially during the car ride through the USA.

I waved her inside. “Why don’t you open the door and actually come inside—instead of peeking in here like some kind of weirdo?”

“Uh…” Her eyes darted around the room as she searched for a response.

I took a few steps closer to her. “What’s the matter with you? Is something wrong?”

“Indeed,” Rarity agreed. “You’re acting quite strangely, darling.”

“Well, I just…uh…” she stopped and looked over her shoulder, answering some quiet whispers that came from outside. “OK,” she whispered back with a nod before facing us again. “It’s funny, actually...that you guys got a visit today, because, uh…so did I.”

The four of us glanced back and forth at one another, and then faced Sunset again.

“And who might your mystery caller be?” Rarity asked inquisitively.

“Uh, well…” Sunset finally swung the door open, revealing a man in a suit standing behind her. He looked to be in his late thirties, with black, gelled hair that was parted in the middle, letting his bangs hang in hooked points over his forehead. On the lapel of his jacket hung an ID tag with three block letters displayed boldly across the top half: CIA.

I recognised him immediately, but the other three were at a loss to place him.

Nervous, Sunset stepped in to introduce him. “Guess what everyone? It’s Agent Daniels!” she announced, chuckling anxiously as she raised a pair of limp jazz hands.

The room was silent. Rarity was staring at the agent, wide-eyed and slack-jawed; Fluttershy was slouched down with her hair covering most of her face; Ingram was quiet, studying the agent in that thoughtful way that I was already familiar with—and I kept my eyes on Sunset, fearing that she’d been caught for the break in at CIA headquarters.

Rarity was the first to reply...slowly. “Er…hello. To what do owe the pl-“

She stopped abruptly when a second agent entered: a woman this time, wearing a black suit of her own, its lapel adorned with her ID tag.

Her stature was quite intimidating. Towering above Sunset as well as Daniels, she had to have been an easy six-foot-three, and although she was fairly slender, she was certainly not weak-looking. Her hair was distinctive, buzzed short around the sides while remaining fairly long on top, creating something of a fuschia mohawk, which complimented well with her dark plum skin. Her eyes were unseen, hidden behind a pair of black shades.

As she stepped inside and positioned herself behind Daniels, he raised his hands to speak.

“Everyone just try to relax, OK? We’re not here for any sinister reasons —unlike former Agent Cody— so there’s no need to worry,” Daniels explained. “Now, as Miss Shimmer here already mentioned, I am Agent Daniels, CIA.” He gestured over his shoulder to the taller agent behind him. “And this is my…assistant, Special Agent Shadow.”

He called Sunny by name, I thought, watching both agents closely. I take it that means he knows who she really is, and probably the rest of us as well.

“Oh my,” Rarity muttered, looking slightly intimidated by the pair. “Er, a-as I was saying: to what do we owe the…pleasure?”

Sunset jumped in, her hands wringing together nervously. “Uh, Agent Daniels helped me out at the CIA headquarters…with my investigation—when I was trying to locate Fluttershy and Agent Cody.”

Fluttershy and Rarity glanced at each other.

“Oh...I’m terribly sorry, darling,” Rarity answered, turning back to face the new guests. “We didn’t realise that was you; Sunset hasn’t said much about you since her return home.”

“How did you find her?” I asked, stepping closer to Daniels.

He shifted his eyes onto me, looking surprised by the question. “And you are?”

“Golden Arrow,” I replied, to which Agent Shadow cocked her head slightly, her interest obviously piqued by the name. “We’ve actually met,” I continued, “Well…sort of. I was in the motel room with you and Sunny when you were co-“

I stopped suddenly and glanced at Agent Shadow. Then I leaned closer to Daniels. “Hey, how much does your bodyguard know about your involvement with Sunny?” I whispered.

He looked at me, brows furrowed. “Everything, pretty much,” he replied. Then he closed his eyes and raised a hand. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand who you are...exactly.”

I rubbed my brow with an index finger, paused, then gestured to Sunset. “OK. Well, technically, Sunny was actually kind of working for me when she was…doing what she was doing.”

“Breaking into the CIA?” Daniels asked, quite forwardly.

“Uh, yeah.” I cleared my throat, glancing past him at Agent Shadow.

Daniels noticed this, and he placed his hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry, you can trust her.”

I shifted my eyes onto him. “And what about you?”

He sighed and gave a nod, along with a smile before turning to look at Sunset. “This young woman here: she changed my life. She helped me fix my problems, she got rid of the people that made my life miserable, and she ended up getting me a promotion. She gave me a reason to try again; so, the rest of you —whoever you are— you have my gratitude, and you can trust me, no matter what. Special Agent Shadow, too.”

I turned and gave quick glances to my girlfriends first, and then Ingram. “Well alright then,” I replied with a nod. “I’d say it’s high time you got to know us then, sir.” I stood next to Daniels and pointed to Fluttershy, whose face was still concealed behind her hair. “See that little angel over there? That’s Fluttershy. She’s my girlfriend; the one Anus Cody kidnapped.”

Daniels chuckled at the insult, then nodded to the shy girl.

Fluttershy raised her hand and gave a timid wave. Then she spoke, surprisingly. “Um…th-thank you,” she whispered.

“Oh,” Daniels smiled, “you’re welcome, miss; glad I could help.”

Fluttershy replied only with a pair of crimson cheeks.

“She’s quiet,” I said, turning back to Daniels, who nodded. “You get used to it,” I added as I gestured to Rarity, only to be stopped by the agent.

“Wait…what did Cody want with her, exactly?” he asked, confused.

“Ugh,” I shook my head, “It’s a long story, bud.” I pointed at Rarity again. “Now, this lovely young lady here is Miss Rarity. She’s hot.”

“I see that,” Daniels chuckled, giving her a nod. “Hi there,” he greeted.

“A pleasure, darling,” Rarity giggled, batting her eyelashes at the pair of us.

“OK. Last, but not least,” I continued, turning the agent’s attention to Ingram. “I know this guy just looks like a delivery dick, but he’s actually a former federal agent; he’s the one who helped Fluttershy escape the base, which also happened to be where Cody was hiding.” I held my hand out to Ingram as I introduced them, gesturing to each one as I said their names. “Ingram? Daniels. Daniels? Ingram.”

As the two men shook hands, I paused and furrowed my brows. Something about those two names spoken in that order had a familiar ring to it, but for the life of me, I couldn’t remember where I’d heard it.

I shook it off after a moment, then I noticed Rarity leaning over to talk to Fluttershy.

After the two agents shared a handshake, Daniels stood back and put his hands in his pockets as Agent Shadow approached him from behind.

“Sir? I’ll be at my post if you need me.”

Daniels glanced over his shoulder and nodded. “Got it.”

Sunset noticed this and rolled her eyes. “Look, I already told you guys, you don’t need worry about protection. Everyone here is cool.”

Agent Shadow paused to look at Sunset.

“Besides,” Sunset continued, “You see that guy over there?” She pointed at me. “If he decides he wants either you or Daniels dead, you might as well just pucker-up and kiss your ass goodbye, cuz you’re dead. Trust me; there’s no need for the whole bodyguard thing here.”

“Well it’s not just that,” Daniels replied. “There’s also the possibility of outside threats that we need to watch for.”

Sunset sighed and folded her arms. “No. We’re fine out here. Trust me.”

Agent Shadow simply shook her head, headed out the door and closed it behind her, much to Sunset’s chagrin.

“Look,” —Daniels raised a hand— “Agent Shadow is just doing her job. She is very well trained, and extremely loyal to her duties. She’s gonna do what she does, no matter what you say.”

“Fine,” Sunset said with a sigh.

“Oh, darling?” Rarity called from across the table, capturing Daniels’ attention. “We’ve talked it over, Fluttershy and I, and we would be delighted to have you and Miss Shadow for dinner, if you so wish.”

“Uh,” Daniels rubbed the back of his neck, not expecting the invitation. “OK...Sure. That’d be great.” He nodded, smiling. “Oh, and it’s Agent Shadow. Not Miss.”

Rarity’s eyebrows rose. “Ah…yes, of course. My apologies, dar-“ The fashionista stopped suddenly, glancing around the room. “Er…pardon me, but, where did she go?”

“Outside, standing watch,” Daniels replied.

“Oh, well she needn’t bother,” Rarity dismissed, “we’re all perfectly safe in…“ She trailed off when she noticed Sunset looking at her, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. Taking the hint, Rarity looked back to Daniels with a polite smile. “Very well, darling. As you wish.”

After a glance at Rarity, then a smile at Fluttershy, I suddenly realised I’d forgotten something in the midst of all the excitement when I saw the package sitting on the table.

“Oh, Sunny!” I picked the box up and held it out to her. “Here. Don’t say I don’t do anything nice for you.”

Sunset raised a brow and took the package. “What’s this?” she asked as she flipped the end of the box open and gasped loudly, drawing the attention of everyone present. “Holy shit! Golds, where did you get this!?”

Everyone watched as she plunged her hand into the box and pulled out a black leather jacket. She inspected the sleeves first, and was delighted to find those signature orange chevrons sewn onto each sleeve.

“Darling! Is that your jacket? The one you lost?”

Excited, Sunset unfolded the shiny leather garment and held it up, revealing a small hole in the back, near the bottom. “Yes! This is it!” she exclaimed, “that’s the bullet hole from when that asshole was shooting at us in Vegas.” She lowered the jacket and looked at me, her eyes glistening. “H-how did you get it back?”

I gave a casual shrug. “I uh, made some calls. No big deal.”

She shook her head incredulously, letting out a shaky snicker. “I cannot believe you,” she said quietly, her voice cracking as she approached me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders, squeezing tightly.

I returned the hug, lifting her off the floor. “Anything for you, Sunny. You know you deserve it.”

Once she was returned to the floor, Sunset hastily peeled her studded jacket off to replace it with the other one. When she slipped her arm into the sleeve, however, her hand pushed something free, which fell from the cuff and landed on the tabletop; the clack sound it made grabbed everyone’s attention and we all stopped to look at it.

It was a pair of blue and gold aviators.

“Wha-…ohhhh shit,” Sunset chuckled, eyes wide. “I SO thought we lost these!” She picked them up, covering her mouth with the other hand. “Did you ask for these back too?” she asked, turning to me.

I shook my head. “No,” I replied. “Call it a bonus, I guess.”

Daniels pointed at the glasses. “Hey…aren’t those Cody’s?”

“They were,” Sunset corrected as she slipped her arm into the other sleeve, then adjusted the collar. “Ahh, fuck it’s good to have this back.”

Rarity gave a reserved applause. “And you look simply ravishing in it, as usual!”

Smirking, Sunset picked the glasses up and put them on. Then she snapped her fingers and pointed at me, bobbing her head side-to-side with an arrogant sneer on her lips. “Hey, look at me; I’m a fucking dick!”

I laughed —along with everyone else— and shook my head. “You are, Sunny, you are. To be fair though, those look a lot better on you than they ever did on that ‘Max Headroom-lookin’ fuck.”

"Totes," she snorted, then she took the glasses off and studied them briefly. She then glanced at the shy girl and, after a pause, she let out a sigh and slid the shades across the table. “You know what, Flutters? You should get first crack at these. You deserve it.”

Everyone watched in silence as the shy girl gingerly picked the glasses up and, without a word, swept her hair aside and slid them on. Then she sat still, her face expressionless.

Sunset was the first to lose her composure; she snorted loudly as she covered her mouth and pointed at Fluttershy.

I joined in not long after. “Wow, Flutters,” I said, “I never thought I’d hear myself saying this, but you kind of look like a douche.”

Her cheeks flushed and a smile cracked her lips.

“Perhaps…the glasses were the problem all along, hm?” Rarity quipped.

“M-maybe,” Fluttershy replied softly, sliding the glasses down her nose so she could look over them with those teal eyes of hers. “Maybe he wasn’t such a bad guy after all; um, it was just the glasses all along.”

“Definitely not,” Ingram interjected, to which Daniels nodded in agreement. “I only met the guy once, but that was more than enough to see the kind of man he was.”

Fluttershy giggled. “Oh…well that’s good. I’d hate to think I killed him for no reason.”

This got Daniels’ attention. “Whoa, hang on; you killed Agent Cody?”

Fluttershy paused. She looked at Sunset and then me, somewhat nervously.

I gave her a reassuring nod. “Don’t worry, Flutters. No one here is gonna judge you.”

“Yeah,” Sunset added, “besides, I actually promised Daniels I would do it, and Golds was gonna do it if he ever got his hands on him, so…really, you just did everyone here a favour.”

Fluttershy took a breath and returned her eyes to Daniels. “Um…yes. I killed him.”

“How? I-if you don’t mind me asking,” Daniels asked, raising his hand to point out the shy girl’s innocent and frankly unimposing appearance. “I mean, Cody was a tough cookie. You don’t exactly look like the type who could take him down—no offense.”

Fluttershy opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated and glanced at me.

I gave her a nod to proceed.

After a quick smile, she drew a breath and pushed the glasses up with her index finger, hiding her eyes once again. “Well, I…um, first, I choke-slammed him through a glass table, th-then I threw him against the wall, and…then I shot him in the mouth with his own gun.”

Daniels’ eyebrows went up. “Uh…I’m sorry, you did that?”

“Mm-hm.” She nodded, causing her cotton-candy hair to slip over one side of her face, leaving only one lens of the aviators visible.

“To...Agent Cody,” Daniels clarified.

“Mm-hm.”

Daniels paused and rubbed the back of his head. “Whew…wow. That’s...surpri-“

“Um, then I broke his neck,” Fluttershy cut in.

Daniels sat speechless, staring.

“A-and then, I threw him across the room…against the wall. And…after that I smashed him through the wall, into the next room.”

After a few blinks, Daniels shook his head and leaned closer to the shy girl. “Aaaaand then…?”

Fluttershy scratched her temple and shrugged. “Oh…w-well, that’s about it. I, um, couldn’t really find him after that.”

Ingram leaned closer to a speechless Daniels. “She was a lot different in that base—which is understandable; I mean, they really didn’t treat her very well in there.”

“I guess…” Daniels replied, glancing at Sunset, who was smirking as she watched the shy girl adjust her new sunglasses. “Still, it’s hard to imagine; like…” —he paused to return his eyes to Fluttershy— “speaking to you right now, you seem really...nice.”

“She is,” I answered, “As long as you don’t piss her off, she’s an absolute sweetheart.”

Author's Note

Finally! I get to do this part.
So there you have it: (if you hadn’t figured it out already) Agents Daniels and Ingram are basically the show's composer, Daniel Ingram, split into two people. Their names were a subtle hint to you, the readers, that they were going to be allies to the protagonists.
I quite enjoy inserting little foreshadows and references like this into the story. Some other ones, off the top of my head are:

In Chapter 50, there is a part where Golds/the narrator mentions that they are listening to 'Road to Nowhere' by Ozzy Osbourne on the radio while driving across the country to Langley, Virginia in hopes of finding Fluttershy at the CIA headquarters. They don't find her there, of course, which was hinted at by the song, basically telling us that they were driving to a place that didn't have what they were looking for—‘going nowhere,’ so to speak.

Another one that I like is Chapter 57, after Cody kills the kitten in front of Fluttershy and she starts screaming at him, ending off with: "you'll be sleeping with the fishes, forever!" This was a hint that the base was actually underwater, which hadn't been revealed yet.

*Chapter 101: A Night at RAD’s

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 102: Workin' at the Boutique

Chapter 102

Rarity didn’t wake until just before dawn. The experience threw the poor girl for a loop; apparently, the time lapse that went along with sleep had already become an alien concept to her, and it took several reassurances to finally convince her that it was in fact morning already.

She wasn’t overly forthright in regards to it, which left me unsure of how she truly felt about the remainder of the night passing by in an instant. I, however, very much enjoyed letting her slumber away the hours in my lap. Such a simple concept is the act of sleep, yet so elusive to us, therefore I didn’t dare move or disturb her to make sure she had as much of it as possible. All the while, I held her little porcelain doll-like body close to mine, enjoying the sound of her soft breathing as the warm water swirled around us while I memorized the colour sequence of the hot tub LEDs.

Before long, the ever-adaptable fashionista set herself to the morning routine. A quick shower, followed by the endless process of creating her signature hair styling and make-up, then her clothes —the light top and violet skirt, as always— were added, completing that classic ‘Rarity’ look.

All I did was dry myself and throw some clothes on. Using the time available, I prepared a simple breakfast for her, just like I’d been doing for Fluttershy each morning. Once Rarity was finished in the bathroom and saw the meal I had made, she swooned with delight and peppered my face with kisses. I offered to make some for her sister as well, and so she ventured down the steps to her bedroom to see if she could wake the young woman.

After hearing a series of hostile moans, I saw Rarity return to the kitchen shortly after—with rolling eyes and a shaking head. She resolved instead to leave Sweetie Belle a note, reminding her of her obligations for the day.

Not long after, we left for the boutique in separate vehicles; I had tools in my truck that I needed for the day, so I had to take it regardless, and for convenience, Rarity chose to drive her own car.

We arrived at the boutique at about 7:20am. Before Rarity started the opening routine, she handed me a prioritized list of repairs to be completed around the place.

“OK,” she began, pressing her hands together while I held the list in my hand and looked it over in silence. “There’s that leaky faucet in the staff washroom that needs attention first; ooh! And see if you can figure out why the toilet keeps running on its own. It’s been doing that for a few weeks now,” —she raised a finger and wagged it— “we don’t want to be paying an outrageous water bill now, do we?”

“No, Miss Rarity.”

She gripped my arm with one hand and covered her mouth with the other, giggling. “Oh! You are SO adorable! Ah-hahaha! Anyway,” she continued, looking back down at the paper. “There’s a light panel above the customer service counter that has been out for a few days. I think it may have the same type of ballast as that one you changed in the ‘chaos room,’ so that’s likely all it is.”

I glanced up at the panel above us, noting that it was not on. “Yeah, probably.”

“Might as well change that out. You remember where the new ones are, I presume?”

“Mm-hm.” I glanced up at her when she didn’t continue and found an expectant look on her face. “I mean…yes, Miss Rarity.”

“That’s better,” she giggled, while I rolled my eyes.

I said it the first time as a joke. Was she really going expect me to keep it up all day?

The answer...was probably yes.

“Well then, darling, you may as well start with that, and when you’re finished with these items, come see me and we’ll go over the rest of the list.”

“OK. Any leaks in the basement at all?” I asked, with a suggestive smirk.

She raised a brow, and then came closer. “Perhaps,” she replied softly as she ran her fingertip down my cheek. “if I happen to sense any…moisture down there, I shall certainly bring it to your attention.”

“Very good, Miss Rarity.”

She let out an amorous giggle. “Oh, darling…today is going to be so much fun with you around!”

“Hey, I’m just happy to be out doing something, you know? To feel useful for once.” I said. “But, hanging out with you all day is fun too.”

Rarity scowled. “Useful? Darling, I-“

The sound of a door opening came from the back room. A moment later, the blue-haired, ascot-wearing lady —Rarity’s sole employee— entered the showroom.

“Ah, good morning Coco!” Rarity greeted and then gestured to the service counter, where a lone coffee sat in wait. “I brought you your morning coffee: Americano; two sugars, as always.”

“Oh, thank you, Rarity. You’re the best—as always.” Coco replied with a smile. Her voice was tinier than I remembered—though I’d only met her once before, months ago. “And a swell morning to you, too.”

Rarity placed her hand on my shoulder and aimed a cordial smile at Coco. “You remember Golden Arrow? He will be spending the day with us, attending to some of the…*ahem*…issues around the building.”

“Oh, hey, that’s great!” Coco smiled. “That ladies washroom has been a disaster lately.” She turned to Rarity next, looking a tad more serious. “Um, Rarity? I was supposed to let you know that I have a doctor’s appointment today; I told you about it last week, and you asked me to remind you about it on the day of.”

Rarity paused for a moment, pensive; then her brows went up. ”Ah! Yes, I remember. What time is it again?”

“10:30. I should be back by about one. I hope that’s not a problem.”

Rarity waved dismissively. “Pish-posh, Coco. I’m sure I can ‘hold down the old fort,’ as they say. Now, there is still twenty-five minutes before we open; why don’t you have a seat and enjoy your coffee? I will continue preparing for the day.”

I leaned closer to Rarity and cleared my throat. “Uh, I’m just gonna get started on that washroom if it’s cool with you.”

She glanced at me with attentive eyes. “Absolutely, darling. Go!” she replied, waving me forth. “If you need me, I shall be out here or in the chaos room.”

It was fun seeing the fashionista shift into work mode. She was quite serious about what she did, but at the same time, she seemed like a great boss; very easy going, approachable, and highly respectful to those in her employ.

I nodded and headed outside to get my tools, then I went to work on the washroom. After figuring out what I needed, I jumped in my truck and headed to the hardware store. Fortunately, it was a nice day out; the temperature had risen since the previous week, so the light dusting of snow that had covered the town was now just a memory.

As it turned out, the flapper in the bottom of the toilet’s tank wasn’t sealing properly, which was the reason it kicked on periodically. Unfortunately, a new flapper was unavailable, so I had to replace the entire toilet.

The faucets were an easy fix; after some new tap seals, all was well in the washroom. By the time I brought the ladder into the showroom to work on the light above the counter, it was close to 11:00am and Coco had already left for her appointment, leaving Rarity to fend for herself.

It wasn’t long before a pair of talkative old ladies entered the store, prompting Rarity to emerge from the back room to greet them; her red glasses sat low on her nose and a yellow measuring tape was draped around her neck. Her look was almost something of a cliché: hard at work in the back room, creating some magnificent piece for a celebrity.

I kept my eyes on what I was doing, while the tittering of the fashionista and the old broads drifted to the back of my mind as I fastened the new ballast in place.

The door opened again, and a middle-aged woman entered. Rarity gave her a quick glance and a smile, followed by a cheerful ‘good morning.’ The woman smiled back and proceeded to make her way patiently around the store, studying the pieces on display.

Time passed, and the old ladies were still bantering with Rarity, oblivious to the fact that another customer had entered and Rarity was the only one working. The middle-aged woman had made several laps around the boutique by then; it was obvious to me and the fashionista that she needed advice, and was waiting to speak with someone who worked there.

The front door opened yet again, and a pair of young women entered.

“Good morning!” Rarity sang, facing them briefly. The two returned only a mild stink-eye and continued their gossip with one another as Rarity clenched her jaw and returned her attention to the old ladies. “Ah yes, the trends this fall have been quite striking; it has been a struggle for me to stay ahead of the curve this time around, what with how quickly the styles have been changing,” she continued with the old ladies.

I could tell that she wanted them to leave. It was obvious that they weren’t going to buy anything, and all they were doing was yakking her ear off, most likely because they were old and had nothing better to do. Rarity did, however; she had other potential clients waiting, clients who had been patient thus far, but it was impossible to tell how long that patience would last. Even so, she didn’t want to be rude to the elderly women, so unfortunately, her hands were tied.

That’s when the phone rang.

It was the last thing Rarity would have asked for, but there it was. She was wringing her hands together by then, turning her head to face the counter where the phone sat, blaring out its need for attention.

I looked down upon the scene from atop the ladder, noticing the fashionista’s normally pretty face marked with stress as she glanced at the phone, then I glanced around the store at the three other people who awaited service.

Rarity needed help. There were too many things going on at once, and she was unable to deal with it all on her own. Not wanting to see her in distress, the instinct to help kicked in and I set my screwdriver down on the top rung, then climbed down. At the bottom, I reached for the phone to pick it up, but then a sudden hesitation hit me, and I froze with my hand hovering above the receiver.

What the hell am I doing? Is this a good idea? What do I even say?

I glanced across the showroom at the fashionista, who was still entangled in meaningless drivel with the old ladies, nodding rapidly as they chuckled at their own jokes, arrogantly ignoring everything around them.

Emboldened by the sight, I looked at the phone when it rang once again. Come on, Golds! Rare needs you. You can do this. You’re just talking to a person on the phone. You’ve known tens of thousands of people; you know how to work ‘em. Answer that phone and show Rare what you’re made of! Work it, Golds…WORK IT!

Quick as lightning, I snatched the receiver from its cradle and placed it to my ear. “It’s a grrreat day here at Carousel Boutique! This is Golds speaking, how can I help you?”

”OH! Haha! What a delightful greeting!” said the voice on the other end.

“Well, we’re a delightful bunch here. What can I do for you today?”

By then, Rarity had picked up on my voice and turned to see who I was talking to, only to have a look of horror wash over her face when she saw me on the phone. With a sharp glare, she mouthed the words: ‘what are you doing!?’ in an over-exaggerated way.

With a quick smile, I gave her a thumbs up, after which she turned back to the old ladies, eyes wide, mouth open, completely flummoxed about what to do.

”Oh, right…yes. Um, let me see,” the lady on the phone replied. ”I was wondering if you sell any Versace or Chanel?”

I furrowed my brows and drew a breath as I thought. I was honestly unsure if Rarity ever carried anyone else’s brands. “I don’t believe we keep anything by those designers in stock,” I replied, “but we may be able to order them in for you, if you wish.”

The instant I finished the sentence, Rarity’s head snapped in my direction again and with a clenched jaw, she shook her head rapidly.

Oh shit! My brows rose when I saw her reaction. “Whoop! My mistake!” I quickly corrected. “Allow me to apologise, ma’am. We, in fact, do not deal with designer brands; everything sold here is designed and created by our in-house seamstress.”

”Really? You have your own designer? Is he or she any good?”

“Ah!” I replied. “Is she good? Let’s put it this way: you’re never gonna find any brand name pieces that even come close to what you’ll find here; in terms of both style and quality. Why? Because she’s one of the BEST! She can make a Versace look like something you buy at Giant Tiger!”

“Oh come on! Really?” the woman replied, incredulous. “She’s that good?”

“Absolutely. She’s been serving Canterlot and surrounding area for several years now, and has become a local favourite—a pillar of the community, so to speak. Why, she’s even done work for the mayor and her family…” —I glanced around the showroom, scanning the pictures that lined the walls to see what other famous individuals she’d done work for— “she’s sold pieces to local celebrities like…Countess Coloratura, Sapphire Shores…”

”Ooh!”

“Diane Saddler…”

A gasp. ”From the news?”

“That’s right.”

”Very impressive!”

“Yeah? Well how about Jennifer Lawrence?” I continued, making my way across the wall by reading off the names below the photos.

There was a pause. “Uh…I’m not quite sure who that is, actually…but she sounds lovely.”

“Oh...yeah, she’s an actress or something. I don’t know,” I replied, clearing my throat.

“Um, so...does this prodigious designer have a name?”

“OHO!” I smacked my palm against my forehead. “Where are my manners? I must have left them in my other pants!” The stupid joke elicited a quiet chuckle from the woman on the other end. “She is known as Miss Rarity.”

”Miss Rarity, eh? Well, she certainly sounds impressive.”

“That she is,” I replied as I glanced down to inspect my fingernails, realising I hadn’t washed my hands after installing the toilet. “So, was there something specific you were looking for?”

”Well, I have a wedding coming up, and I was looking for a gown to wear; something that matches the colour theme of the occasion.”

“A wedding, eh? Someone close?” I asked, glancing across the showroom in time to see Rarity watching me closely before she turned back to the old ladies, who finally looked like they were postured to leave.

”My daughter, actually. My youngest.”

“Aww,” I smiled and tilted my head to the side. “How precious; congratulations!” I gushed, possibly a bit overdramatically.

”I KNOW! I know, they grow up SO fast, don’t they?”

“Yes, they certainly do…”

”So, if I give you my measurements, could you tell me if you have anything in stock that comes in red, silver and purple?”

“Uh…” I paused for a moment, watching as the time-wasting cunts finally made their way out the door. Rarity turned while giving them a final wave, and then approached the middle-aged woman. “So sorry for the delay, darling. Welcome to the Carousel Boutique. I am Rarity. Is there something I could help you with today?”

Watching her greet her customer made me smile. So poised and classy she was, with such a sweet voice and flawless enunciation; I loved witnessing every second of her in action.

”Um…are you still there?”

Shit! I quickly brought myself back to the conversation. “Yes...sorry ma’am. I was just answering a question for somebody.”

”Oh, OK. Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound impatient.”

“No-no, it’s me who owes you an apology. So…you wanted something in red, silver and purple? You said those are the wedding colours?”

”Yes. I wanted to know if there might be something there in my size with those colours, and if there is, maybe I could swing by and try it on to see if it needs alterations. That way, they can be done before the big day comes.”

“Mm-hm,” I replied in a perky tone. “Well, here at Carousel Boutique, we do things a little differently,” I explained as I searched the counter for a pen and paper. “You need to understand, we go out of our way to exceed our client’s expectations at every turn; this is how we’ve been able to garner a reputation as being the best and most generous spot in the city.

“So first,” I continued, “Miss Rarity will need to have you come in for measurements. Everyone is a little different, and her standard is to measure everyone who comes through that door to ensure that their piece fits perfectly, and with the utmost style and comfort. Next, she looks more closely at you: your hairstyle and colour, the tone of your skin, what kind of face you have, the colour of your eyes—et cetera, et cetera. From this, she will craft a gown that will not only fit perfectly, but will compliment your style, with a colour set that will compliment you as an individual, while still maintaining the colours used in the wedding.”

“Wow…she would do all that for me?”

“Absolutely. Miss Rarity is a stylistic genius; a connoisseur of colours; a craftsman of form and function. She will create a piece that fits and compliments you and only you, just like she does with every person who walks through that door, looking for the best.”

I noticed the fasionista glancing in my direction when I said this, a tiny smirk visible on her lips.

Hesitation from the other end. “Eh…I’ve gotta be honest, this is starting to sound a bit involved...and expensive,” the lady confessed, sounding a tad apprehensive.

“Well,” an inhale hissed through my teeth, “it is true that Miss Rarity’s services aren’t the cheapest around, but when you factor-in the level of service combined with the quality of style and workmanship you receive, I can assure you there is no one that comes even remotely close to matching what you get for your dollar here.”

The woman on the other end sighed, considering her options.

I listened for a moment, licking my bottom lip. “Would you like to book a time to see Miss Rarity? The measurements and consultation are complimentary,” I explained, hoping to sway her decision.

“OK. Sure, I…I’ll give it a try. It’s a bit more involved than I was expecting, but I have to admit: I’m pretty intrigued by this Miss Rarity. I’m looking forward to meeting her.”

“You will not be disappointed, ma’am. Miss Rarity is an amazingly talented young woman—truly a one-in-a-million. You’ll find no one else in this business quite like her, and the end product you’ll walk away with will reflect that. That is my promise to you.”

I glanced up again as I held the pen over the notepad, ready to write. Rarity was gazing my way with sparkling eyes, visibly flattered.

“OK, could I get your name and phone number please?”

I wrote the information down, nodding as she replied. “Mm-hm. Got it, thank you. And what time are you free to come in?”

”Well…I’m actually from out of town, so I’ll have to check my schedule. One sec…”

“Sure,” I replied, looking up see how Rarity was handling things.

“Very well then,” she was saying to the woman, clasping her hands on front of her chest. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help to you.”

“Oh! No, it’s alright,” the woman replied, shaking her head as she gave the fashionista a gentle pat on the forearm. “You’ve been an absolute sweetheart, Rarity; thank you so much for your help.”

“Oh, well I thank you for the kind words, darling,” Rarity replied, with a small giggle. She then waved as the woman made her way to the door. “Have a pleasant day! Enjoy that weather!”

“I will. Bye-bye.”

One more down, two left. Rarity turned to approach the pair of young girls, giving me a quick glance on the way; her hair had become slightly frazzled by then, so I gave her a reassuring smile to lessen her stress.

”OK, hello?”

“Yup.” I looked down at the paper again.

”How does two weeks from today sound? I think that’ll be December first, right?”

“That’s right, and what’ll be a good time for you to come in?”

”Can you do one o’clock?”

“One is perfect. Consider yourself booked.”

“Great. Well, I gotta run. Heh, things to do, you know?”

“Absolutely.”

The woman chuckled. ”Well thanks very much for your time-...I’m sorry, what was your name again?”

“Golds.”

”Ah, right. Golds. It was an absolute pleasure talking to you.”

I let out a phony chuckle. “You as well. I’ll be honest; having the opportunity to chat with wonderful people such as yourself is the reason I love this job.”

”Aww..."

“Anyhoo…we’ll see you on Thursday, December the first. One pm.”

”I’ll see you then. Can’t wait!”

“Neither can we. Buh-bye!”

”Bye!”

And with that, I hung the phone up and rested my chin on my hand.

Pppfft! ...Bitch.

In the meantime, Rarity was in the midst of greeting the pair of young women. “Good morning, ladies. Welcome to Carousel Boutique. I am Ra-“

“Does this one come in pink?” one of them cut in with a very nasal voice, pointing at a blue display dress, making Rarity cringe—despite trying not to.

“Well…er, that design is more suited for a…cool colour motif. If you’d like, I could show you a-“

“Nah, it’s OK. We’re just looking.” The girl turned away, chewing her gum like a cow chews its cud, and she and her friend continued traipsing around the store.

“Oh…v-very well then.” Rarity turned away from them with her hands clasped; when she faced me, her jaw was clenched and her eyes glared with annoyance.

I raised my hand swung it downwards like I was wielding and invisible sword, mouthing the words: ‘slice ’em up!’

She snickered silently and covered her mouth.

A few minutes later, the young women headed for the exit, gossiping back and forth quietly.

Rarity spun around when she heard the door opening. “Uh, h-have a nice day!”

They paid no mind and walked out the door, ignoring her farewell.

“Cunts.” The fashionista sighed and then turned to face the counter. Her eyes lit up when they landed on me, and she headed towards the counter, clapping her hands with a proud smile on her face. “Bravo, darling!”

I leaned on the counter with my arms folded, raising a brow. “Who, me?”

“Why, yes! What you just did on the phone there, that was quite good! I didn’t know you could be such a charmer!”

“Oh…well…” I shook my head and swept my hands across the desktop. “It was nothing. It looked like you needed help, so…”

“Oh pish-posh. Don’t be so modest, darling!” she replied, reaching across the counter to place her hand on mine. “You were amazing, although, if I could offer a single pointer: you should never bash other brands to the customers.”

“Oh...you mean that Giant Tiger thing?”

She nodded and raised a finger. “Precisely. We do not do that sort of thing here. It makes us appear catty and disrespectful.”

“Fair enough. Sorry.”

“It’s perfectly alright, darling. You did an absolutely splendid job otherwise—and I certainly hope I can live up to all your touting.”

I met eyes with her, smiling. “You’ll do fine. And I’ll tell you this: if there’s three things I know about people: it’s how to kill ‘em, how to fuck ‘em, and how to bullshit ‘em,” I explained, raising a finger as each point was made.

“Hm,” she giggled. “Well you certainly are an expert at each one of those, I must say.”

“That’s very sweet of you to say, Rare. Thank-you,” I quipped.

“No, thank-you, Golds.” She gave my hand a squeeze. “Now, I must ask: how exactly did you know what to say?”

“Oh,” I shrugged. “Just…from listening to you.”

“Me?” She looked surprised.

“Uhh…yeah…?” I raised a brow at her. “You talk about this place all the time.”

“Well, of course, but…I didn’t think you actually listened to me about it.”

I let out a chuckle. “Then why talk about it?”

Rarity shrugged. “I don’t know. Because I like to?” She sighed and looked down at my hand, stroking my knuckles with her little white thumb. “To be honest, I’m used to people not listening to me about it, so, I mean…I just assumed that you…”

My eyes drifted downward, watching her caress the back of my hand. “Well…I’m sorry if I came across like I wasn’t paying attention to you, but I was. To be honest…I’m too hung-up on you not to pay attention; the way you talk, the sound of your voice…” —I gave my head a shake— “it’s like I’m hopelessly addicted to you, Rare.”

She paused and locked eyes with me, her mouth drifting open slightly. Then she turned away for a moment, before looking back with a trembling smile and sparkling eyes. “Ohh…you mustn’t say such things to me here; you may cause my make-up to run. But…thank you, darling. And I love you too.”

We shared a quick moment in silence, staring at her each other over the counter; I could tell she wanted a kiss, but was holding back in the name of professionalism. I cleared my throat finally, deciding I’d better get back to fixing the light before she and I got ourselves into trouble.

“Uh…so I’m just about done with this light here; I just gotta connect the leads and put the bulbs back in.”

“Ah. Very good…darling.” She cleared her throat quietly, watching me ascend the ladder. “I suppose I should…return to the chaos room and resume my work.”

“OK.”

Neither of us had reached our spots when we heard the door open again. We both stopped to look, and were greeted by a rather pleasant surprise.

“Fluttershy!” Rarity gasped happily as the smiling shy girl made her way towards the counter, donning her new blue-and-gold aviators and carrying a bag filled with delicious-smelling packages.

“Hey Rare,” she replied. “Is, um…anyone else here?” she asked quietly, scanning the store for customers as Rarity made her way around the counter to meet her.

“No-no, darling. It’s just us here for now,” Rarity replied. “Although you just missed the little mini-rush we had, but we handled it just fine, didn’t we, Golds?”

“Sure did,” I said, glancing down from the ceiling.

Fluttershy slid the glasses to the top of her head. When she wore them like this, they held her hair back instead of letting it drape in front of her face, allowing us to see her with a clarity that wasn’t often witnessed.

“You, Goldie?” She looked up at me, surprised.

“He certainly did, darling.” Rarity brushed her fingertips down Fluttershy’s arm. “I had five people in here, and the phone started ringing, so Golds —being the sweetheart that he is— jumped down and answered it for me.”

“I didn’t jump down.”

“You know what I mean!”

Fluttershy giggled. “Oh my, you two. Good for you, though, Goldie; you’re such a good boy.”

“I know, I know,” I replied as I tightened the final screw and then set the screwdriver down. “Hey Rare, can you hand me those bulbs?”

“Certainly,” Rarity answered cheerfully as she picked one of the glass tubes up and passed it to me. “What do you have in the bag, Fluttershy?”

“Oh!” She raised her arm and set the bag on the countertop, then began removing a bunch of styrofoam containers from it. “I brought us some lunch,” she explained as she distributed the items around the countertop.

“Ooh! How lovely,” Rarity replied excitedly as she passed me the second bulb. “It smells absolutely divine; what is it?”

“Just soup and sandwiches from that deli around the corner.” Fluttershy paused as she took yet another package from the bag and looked around the store. “Um…where’s Coco?”

“Doctor’s appointment,” Rarity replied, glancing at the shy girl with the light cover in hand, ready to pass it up to me.

Fluttershy’s brows rose. “Oh, because I brought her some lunch, too. I-I didn’t realise she wasn’t gonna be here.”

“Not to worry,” Rarity replied. “I’ll put it in the fridge for her to have when she returns. And thank-you for being so thoughtful, darling.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Um...so is that why Goldie had to answer the phone?”

“Well…he didn’t have to, darling, but yes.” Rarity held the honeycombed panel up for me.

I took it and went about popping it back into place. “Thanks, Rare.”

“You’re quite welcome,” she replied with a giggle, folding her hands in front of her chest.

Once the cover was in place, I stepped off the side of the ladder and dropped to the floor with a loud thump.

“Ah! Goodness me, darling!” Rarity scolded. “My boutique is not a gymnasium!”

Fluttershy giggled softly as I flicked the light switch and looked upwards, then furrowed my brows when nothing happened.

“Hmm…”

“It’s not working?” Rarity asked, looking up at the dead panel.

“No,” I replied, flipping the switch off and on again. “Not sure why; it should be working.”

“It’s fine, darling; let’s break for lunch and we’ll come back to it with a fresh mind.”

“Sure.” I leaned against the counter next to Rarity —straight across from Fluttershy— and we began our feast.

“Mmm...delicious! Thank-you for this, Fluttershy!”

“You’re welcome.”

More time passed. The only sounds heard were the slurping the soup and the odd clearing of a throat.

“So Rare,” I said when I was reminded of something. “How did it go that one day...with the hair?”

She looked at me, wiping her mouth with a napkin. “I’m sorry?”

“That day you had to come to work with corn-rows.”

Her eyes widened briefly, then she rolled them and shook her head. “Ugh...never again, darling.”

“That bad, eh?” I asked, cringing.

She simply shook her head and went back for another spoonful of soup.

knowing when to leave it be, I looked up at the light as I chewed a bite of sandwich, wondering what I’d missed. I figured I would have to go up and take the panel back off to take a closer look, however my planning was interrupted by the shy girl.

“So, um…did you guys do it last night?”

“Uhh, yeah,” I replied, followed by a snort.

“Ooh! Was it good?”

“Er, how about we share these details later, hm darlings?” Rarity requested. “This is neither the time nor the place.”

“Hey!” I said, slapping the countertop before pointing at the fashionista. “Rare fell asleep!”

Fluttershy gasped, turning to Rarity. “You did?”

“Oh, well…as a matter of fact, I-“

BLING!

BUZZ!

Fluttershy glanced down at her pocket and Rarity let out a small yelp when her phone vibrated under the counter.

I knew the chime on the shy girl’s phone meant she’d gotten an email, but I wasn’t sure about Rarity’s. I had little time to think about it though; my own phone suddenly buzzed once in my pocket, which meant I had received an email as well.

“That was weird,” Fluttershy said, scowling as she pulled her phone out. “What are the odds of all three of us getting an email at the same time?”

“Could just be a coincidence, darling,” Rarity replied before taking another spoonful of soup.

Fluttershy unlocked her phone and tapped the screen a few times. After a moment, she shook her head. “Definitely not a coincidence. It’s from Twilight.”

Rarity and I stopped eating and looked at our girlfriend for a moment, then we set our food down to take our phones out. I didn’t get far with mine, however; it started to ring in my hand, so I looked at the screen to see how it was:

’Sunset Shimmer’

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t ‘Little Miss Too-Busy-To-Talk-To-Me,’” I mumbled as I hit the answer button. “Ehh…what’s uhh, goin on there, Sunny Buns?” I answered in a deep, sleazy voice.

”Fuck you. Did you get the email?” Sunset replied.

“Yeah, but you didn’t give me a chance to look at it. Flutters and Rare got it too, though; they’re just looking now.”

“You’re with them right now? Aren’t they at work?”

“We’re at the boutique having lunch.”

”Oh...OK well that’s good anyway; now we only have to explain this once.”

“We?”

“Yeah, I’m with Twi. Could you put us on speaker?”

“Sure, but if a customer comes in, we’ll have to stop, and we can’t leave the showroom cuz the other girl that works here is at the doctor’s.”

“K. Fine.”

I took the phone from my ear and hit the speaker button. Then I set it on the counter. “OK, Sunny.”

“Hey guys, it’s Sunset,” the red-head’s voice rang throughout the showroom.

The girls acknowledged her in unison.

”And me, Twilight!”

“Hey, Twi,” I replied, folding my arms on the countertop.

“To what do we owe the pleasure, darlings?” Rarity asked, picking up the styrofoam bowl to scrape out the last bit of soup with her spoon.

“OK,” Sunset said, followed by an exhale. “So, uh...Mr. Ingram and Agents Daniels and Shadow have been spending some time with Twi and me, and we...kind of told them everything.”

“Um…e-everything?” Fluttershy asked, staring intently at my phone.

“Er…define everything, darling.”

”Like...EVERYTHING. The immortality, how Golds spread it, the Equestrian magic —and therefore all of our powers— and...the suits.”

Rarity gasped. “You told them about my suits?”

“Is that wise, Sunny? How can we trust them with that kind of information?” I asked. It made me a bit apprehensive knowing that CIA members knew this much about us, especially after what had happened between me and them in the past.

”Yeah, it’s fine guys. Relax,” Sunset’s voice returned. ”Trust me; our secret is safe with them. They were actually on board with the vigilante thing. When we told them that we want to help people and do good things, they thought it was a great idea, and...they’re kind of...on board with us. Especially Ingram.”

I glanced at my girlfriends, raising a brow when they each returned a look to me. “What does that mean, ‘on board?’”

”Like...they wanna help.”

“How?”

”Information, tech gear, surveillance, however they can. Obviously, Daniels isn’t gonna be handing us classified info or taking stuff from the CIA without them knowing, but he said maybe one day we might be able to reveal ourselves to them—then we’d REALLY be set.”

I lowered my head to rub my face. “OK, so…what are they planning on doing right now then?” Then I looked at the phone again. “Wait...are they still there?”

”No. They left this morning. ALL of them; Daniels and Shadow took Ingram with them. Ingram applied to the CIA online the other day, and Daniels is gonna handle his investigation and push him through the hiring process as quick as he can. After seeing the stuff Ingram can do, Daniels was REALLY impressed, and he knows he’ll do well at the agency.”

Fluttershy smiled. “Good for Mr. Ingram. I think he’ll be happy there.”

I nodded, then looked down at the phone again with another question. “What about you, Sunny? Wasn’t Daniels here to find you? How is he supposed to go back empty handed?”

”Oh, Daniels and Shadow have that covered,” Sunset said dismissively, to my surprise. “Since only they knew about the passport, they can keep my being a double of the other girl a secret from the rest of the agency, so that’s not a big deal. For the rest of it, they came up with the idea of making an anonymous ‘confession video,’ where we acted out a mock interview and I talked about being attacked in the bathroom by his ex-wife and all that, and to cover up who I am, he’s gonna treat it like a ‘witness protection’ type of thing—in case whoever ‘might have been in cahoots with his ex-wife comes after me for exposing her, and possibly him, by extension.’ That way, anyone outside of Daniels’ investigation can’t have access to my identity.”

I frowned, scratching my forehead. “And…they think that’s gonna work?”

”They’re positive it’ll work. Even Ingram gave it the thumbs up. Don’t worry, Golds; I think we can trust them.”

“Alright, fine.” I sighed as I glanced at Fluttershy first, and then Rarity. “Daniels better be careful doing this shit or he’s gonna end up like his wife.”

“Yeah. He seemed pretty casual about it though, so I dunno. Anyway, we’re getting off topic here: back to those emails.” Sunset replied. ”For that, I’m gonna let Twi do the talking.”

A short silence, followed by Twilight’s voice. “OK, hi again, everyone.”

“Hey,” we replied in unison.

”OK, so...as you all know, our friend Mr. Ingram is something of a techie, and quite an impressive one at that,” —she paused to let out a chuckle— ”it’s not very often I get intimidated by another person’s intellect, but I think in this case, it is absolutely warranted. I mean, he is BRILLIANT.”

”Well, to be fair, Twi, he pretty much said the same thing about you,” Sunset cut in.

”Oh...yeah, well...I mean, heh! Yeah...”

I glanced at Rarity as we listened to Twilight trip over her own modesty. She responded with a smirk and a roll of her eyes.

Twilight stopped herself and cleared her throat. “Um, anyway...excuse me everyone. Where was I? Oh! So...as Sunset mentioned, we told them about Rarity’s adventures during the nights, as well as the time I went with her on Thanksgiving weekend. When I was telling them about it, I happened to mention that Rarity was using a police scanner app to track the activity in the city, which seemed to rouse Mr. Ingram’s attention, and he said he MAY have something a little more...far reaching, I guess you could say? Anyway, that brings me to the email we just sent you guys. Go ahead and open it.”

Rarity and Fluttershy picked their phones up and did as requested while Twilight continued.

“It’s an app, but not like any app you've ever had, I can assure you. This one is tied to the police scanner, like what Rarity was already doing, PLUS, it is tied into every traffic, street and security camera in Canterlot, as well as here in the big city. That way, we can listen for activity, and do a visual search to find out what is happening almost instantly.”

“Wait, wait, how did you get access to the city’s camera system?” I asked, surprised by this.

”Oh...well,” Twilight hesitated slightly, “Accomplishing that was a bit more... hands-on.”

“Ohh boy…”

“So darling,” Rarity cut in, looking down at her phone. “I’ve got the email open; what do I do now?”

“Just click on the icon. It should install like a normal app.”

“Ahh…” Rarity replied, tapping her phone.

”Now...we know that Fluttershy and Golds aren’t interested in coming out with us, but we sent them the app anyway because...I mean, why not? The rest of us will have it, so you might as well have it too,” Twilight continued. ”So like I was saying: Ingram has the schematics to build a small antenna that, when spliced into the city’s data lines —or ANY system, really— it broadcasts all camera footage directly to the app on our phones. Obviously, to accomplish this, Ingram, Agent Shadow and I had to physically go and...do a little break-and-entering, in both Canterlot AND here in this city, to install the devices.”

“Wait…you guys were in Canterlot?” I asked.

”Correct.” Twilight replied. “So anyway, with this app, you now have access to every camera in the city, as well as the ability to control them to a certain extent. Say, for example, you wanted to do something that will be in view of a camera that you don’t want anyone on the other end to see, you can simply freeze the image before hand, and to whoever else is watching, it just looks like nothing is going on. AND, the antenna is untraceable by their system; they’ll never know we’re using it.”

“But, um…what if it’s raining or windy or something like that?” Fluttershy asked as she watched the progress bar creep across her screen.

“Well, in a case like that, you could just turn the camera off, or simply loop a short length of footage. Hehe! Having the rain stuck in the air because it’s been paused wouldn’t be very inconspicuous at all, would it?”

“Hm.” Fluttershy nodded.

“So…when you say we have access to every camera in the city, are we talking about literally every single camera?” Rarity asked. “On every street? In every building?”

”No, not quite. We do have access to nearly every outdoor camera and a number of indoor ones, but any security system that runs a closed circuit will not be accessible to us. Now, I DID ask Ingram about this, and he said that we could easily install an antenna in each of those systems, but the issue with that is the sheer number of closed circuit systems that exist in the city—it would be a massive undertaking to install an antenna on every single one of them. He suggested instead to leave them for now, and only tap into the ones that we need to, WHEN we need to; whether it happens to be a business or something that we suspect may be involved in criminal activity, OR maybe even a potential victim. And when the time comes to do that, I can sneak in and install it myself. Mr. Ingram showed me how to do it specifically for this reason, since he has chosen to return to the United States and won’t be here to do it for us. And since the app is tied into the city’s mainframe system, I have access to blueprints for pretty much every building in the city and surrounding area, so figuring out where to tap into any system should be a snap. Now...granted, not every single blueprint is a-hundred percent up to date, but still...”

“Yeah, no, that’s…pretty amazing, actually,” I said, with an impressed nod. “It sounds like this little setup is gonna work well for you guys.”

”Well...I haven’t even gotten to the comms link yet,” Twilight continued, prompting Rarity, Fluttershy and me to glance at one another in surprise.

“Er, pardon me; comms link?” Rarity asked, watching her screen as the app made itself at home on her menu screen.

”The app also has a voice link feature, meaning we can talk to each other, whether it’s through text —which will even allow us to send messages to Daniels, Shadow or Ingram at any time— or though the headsets that we picked up this week, as long as the person you’re talking to is wearing a headset as well; sort of like Skype, only...better.”

“Er…did you say headsets, darling?”

Twilight chuckled. ”Don’t worry, Rarity. We know how particular you are about the appearance of your suits, so we took special care to find a headset to retrofit to them that won’t alter the appearance of the outfit in any way. It consists of a simple set of Bluetooth earbuds —black of course, very similar to what you were already using— and a microphone that’s small enough to be attached to the bottom of the mask without being overly visible, while being close enough to your mouth that the person on the other end can hear you clearly. Trust me; we’ve tested it. It is top notch.”

Sunset cut in next. “Yeah, seriously guys, like...this stuff is awesome. You’re gonna love it.”

”And the best part,” Twilight continued, ”The comms line is completely secure; because of the transmission type Ingram has implemented, no one can tap into it and listen in on what we’re saying to each other. Not unless they also happen to have the app.”

I was rubbing my forehead by now, wondering how all this was possible. ”OK…I have a question. How in the name of my sweaty ball-sack did Ingram design and write this whole program in less than a week?”

”Well...the simple answer is: he didn’t. Mr. Ingram is very clever; he keeps a number of these types of programs hidden away on a secret website, where only he can find them.”

“A website?”

”That was MY initial reaction, too,” Twilight replied. ”But the way he did it was very clever, actually: the website itself is a very boring-looking gardening blog that gets very few hits. Hidden within the text, however, there are links to downloadable files, maybe hidden inside a quotation mark or something like that, which, when downloaded, look like gibberish to most people. They are, in fact, encrypted sections of the app coding, which was divided into separate parts and had to be downloaded separately and put together on my computer. There are other programs hidden on the site as well, which, if mixed with the wrong sections of other apps, will simply not work. Only Ingram knew which ones to download, where to find them, how to open them and how to put them together.

“Once that was done, he did a few updates to take advantage of the latest smartphone technology and we installed it on mine and Sunset’s phones, which, after some light testing, seem to be working perfectly—after a few last minute tweaks, of course.”

I shook my head incredulously, chuckling. “Wow…am I the only one who’s glad we have Ingram on our side?”

“Indeed,” Rarity agreed as she explored the app, which had since finished installing. “This is...astonishing.” She scrolled through the camera selections, searching for one view in particular as she walked to the front door. “Ooh!” she gasped suddenly, “there I am!” She peered out of the front window of the store, waving at something up in the air, outside.

“Um…you can see yourself, Rare?” Fluttershy asked, turning to watch the fashionista wave at herself while looking down at her phone.

“Why, yes! Through that camera on the street light.” She turned back to us, furrowing her brows as she slunk back to the counter. “Twilight, this is simply...amazing; I...cannot wait to try it! But, er...when shall I receive the new headpiece?”

Sunset replied. “I’m coming back to Canterlot tonight, so I can give you your headset then.”

“Excellent, darling! I cannot wait to see it.”

”You won’t just be seeing it, Rare. You’re gonna be putting it to the test, cuz you and I are gonna have a little date tonight.”

Rarity froze, staring at my phone with wide eyes. “I’m sorry…did you say…a-a date?”

“Mm-hm. Just you and me.”

“I see…” Rarity replied softly. “And…just what shall I wear on our…date?”

Sunset gave a knowing chuckle. “Well...I’ll be wearing black; I was gonna suggest you do the same.”

*Chapter 103: A Night on the Town

Chapter 103

Canterlot. A beautiful city during the day. A nice place to live, to work, to shop, to go to school. At night, it was a lively place. The downtown core was alive with bright lights, theatres and shopping malls; bars, coffee shops and nightclubs. The perfect place to cut loose and unwind, to meet new people and maybe even get a little tipsy.

The entire city was not this lucky, unfortunate as that may be. The low-income areas were dark and gloomy after nightfall, as was the industrial complex, making these sections a hotbed for criminal activity. No one dared walk these streets after dark for fear of being mugged, beaten, raped, or worse; unless, of course, the one doing the walking happened to be the source of these fears.

Such is the case of the small band of thieves who were busy breaking into a pawn shop on one of the darkest streets in town, far east of the tracks, where traveling on foot was a frightening prospect even during the day...

It was the smallest hour of Friday, November the 18th. The street was dark and deserted, so dark, in fact, that no one could possibly have noticed the work truck that had pulled up and parked in front of a run-down pawn shop. Said truck had been reported stolen from a scrap yard a few days earlier, its utility box loaded with tools, cutters and welding equipment, the combination of which was worth many thousands of dollars. It was not taken for its value, however; rather, it was commandeered for its usefulness.

The pawn shop in question was, of course, in a bad neighbourhood and as such, its glass door and front windows were heavily fortified with iron bars, as well as a swing gate that secured the front door like a prison cell.

This was of little consequence for our thieves, however. The truck was, after all, equipped with a plasma cutter, which, as per their plan, made gaining entry to the pawn shop a relatively easy task.

There were three of them: a taller man, dressed in work clothes; a fairly petite young woman, dressed in fishnet stockings and a tattered, black jacket, her face plastered with pale make-up, contrasted by heavy, blue eyeliner and black lipstick. Finally, there was a second man, stumpy and thick, wearing clothes that barely fit him—unfortunate clothes that’d been stretched sadistically around his greasy frame.

The hum of the plasma cutter filled the otherwise silent street with its incessant buzzing, accompanied by a blinding, flickering light that cast a deceptively gigantic shadow of the tall man on the opposite buildings. He knelt before the door, cutting through its protective barricade, hoping to gain entry before much longer—before the extravagant light show attracted any unwanted attention.

Truth be told, most of what was hidden within the walls of that pawn shop was stolen anyway, turned in for money to help feed a hopeless addiction, pay a prostitute, or even buy one’s way out a of pair of broken legs. This fact alone made it easy for them to break-in and help themselves to the merchandise guilt-free, with little-to-no consequences placed on what was left of their consciences.

The goth girl leaned on the side of the truck, waiting impatiently while scrolling through her phone. The stocky man kept a modest distance, maintaining a watchful eye around the corner for any passers-by who may become witnesses to the crime—not that he really expected to see any.

“Ugh…” the girl groaned as the cutter clicked noisily from within the back of the truck, prompting her to step away from its intolerable racket. “Are you almost done, or what?” she growled, shielding her eyes from the bluish light as she took position beside her partner-in-crime.

His reply was nothing more than a set of muffled syllables that emanated from inside the welding mask.

She rolled her eyes and glanced down at her phone again, shaking her head in annoyance. Only seconds later, however, the noise stopped, much to her delight. “Fuck, are you finally done?”

He straightened up on his knees and held the cutter up to have a look at it. “No,” he grumbled, after flipping the welding mask to the top of his head. “It stopped for some reason,” he explained gruffly, his voice tainted with irritation as he pulled the wire forward to inspect it, only to find that it was attached to nothing. Holding it up, he could see even in the dark that it had been sliced off clean.

“What the hell?” he growled.

How did this happen? Did something fall off the truck and land on it? Determined to complete his task so he could claim the spoils of his labour, he looked over his shoulder to see what had happened.

What he saw caused his heart to jump nearly right out of his throat.

A mysterious woman stood barely two feet away, dressed in a tight, black outfit with wide, pointy collars and a deep V-neck, showcasing her milky-white cleavage. On her face was a black mask, topped by dark, indigo hair that was tightly wound into a coil behind her head. In her hand was a long, clear blade, its razor-like edges sparkling even in the dull moonlight.

“WHOA!” He leapt to his feet and fled in a panic, shoving past the goth girl and knocking her against the wall.

“Ah... fuck! ASSHOLE!” she grunted as her phone clattered onto the sidewalk after being knocked from her hands. “What the fuck is your prob-“

Her sentence was cut short by a sharp gasp when she saw the masked spectre standing there. Her heavily-lined eyes widened and she stood motionless for what felt like an eternity, paralysed with fear.

Was this really happening? she wondered. Was she really standing face-to-face with THE Dark Mistress? While she’d only heard tales of the mysterious vigilante, be it through friends or on the local news, she’d never actually seen what the Mistress looked like, but there was no doubt in that poor, frightened girl’s mind who this was.

The slender woman in black moved suddenly yet silently, raising her arm to swipe the sword in a graceful loop, ending in a rather aggressive pose with her feet apart and the blade straight across her chest.

The girl’s knees began to buckle when she witnessed the sheer precision of it; the way that glassy blade cut through the air was both mesmerising and terrifying at once, and it seemed quite obvious that her own flesh would offer little more resistance than the air itself if that blade decided it wanted to pass through her.

With her back against the wall, she shuffled a few steps away, struggling to find her voice. The blank expression and sharp eyes of the masked woman pierced the girl’s mind when she raised her chin and looked down upon her: a silent dare for her to run.

At last, the girl found her motor skills and turned to make her escape. “Uhh, aaah… AAAAAAHH!” Each cry of panic climbed in volume as she took off after her partner in crime, who was shockingly still only a few strides ahead, running towards the closest alley. To her, the interaction between her and the Mistress had lasted for centuries, but in reality, it was but a few seconds.

When they closed in on the last several feet before the corner, their fat comrade emerged, zipping the fly of his jeans up.

“God dammit! You were supposed to be standing guard!” the tall man hollered as he charged towards his surprised partner.

“Huh? I was taking a piss.”

“It’s the Dark Mistress! Go! GO!”

The fat man’s eyes widened, and he drew an asthmatic gasp when he saw the dark, slender figure standing next to the truck, watching their departure. “SHIT!” He slobbered on himself when his panic struck, and he turned to run back into the dark alley. The other two rounded the corner and followed; each of them were about fifteen feet from one another, sprinting with all their might in a single file down the dark pathway.

“I hope you’re ready, darling…”

The voice came from the street behind them, near the truck they had just abandoned.

Panting heavily as she ran, the goth girl’s adrenaline-pumped mind couldn’t help but wonder if the Mistress was talking to her and the two men, or if she was addressing someone else—and if so, who could it be? Was there someone else in the street that night, engaging in dirty deeds that they hadn’t noticed? Perhaps, if they were lucky, it would serve to distract the Mistress long enough to allow their escape.

Despite her fear, she forced herself to turn and look behind her to see if the Mistress had given chase, but the alley behind them was empty. She looked ahead once again with a shade of relief filling her mind. The alley was long, but straight, and the far end was wide open and inviting, calling to them, coaxing them in for a free escape.

All they had to do was get there. It was a direct path, aside from the random dust bins and the occasional dumpster that sat along the wall. Easy obstacles to get around. No problem there.

The chubby man’s lead shrank rapidly due to his rather unathletic gate; as the tall man came only a few feet from overtaking him, he happened to pass a large dumpster that resided on their right.

As they approached the far edge of the bin, a long and powerful leg, wrapped in shiny, black material swung out and drove its high-heel into the greasy man’s right brow. His head snapped back and his feet shot into the air. He landed on his shoulders with a terrific thud, and just like that, he was laid-out on the cold pavement like a beached whale.

The other two skidded to a stop, their breath locking itself in their throats, too afraid to show itself in the cold air even as their pounding hearts cried out for oxygen. Their mouths gaped in horror as their comrade lay motionless in front of them, grounded by an unknown force; a force that now stood between them and their only escape from the Dark Mistress.

Their eyes widened as the architect of their partner’s fall revealed herself: a second woman, dressed in the same tight, black attire as the Mistress herself, the only differences being the red stripes down her arms —rather than white ones— and her thighs being crested with a red and yellow sun, replacing the trio of diamonds that adorned the Mistress’ legs. This woman was notably taller and built more heavily, with deep, olive-toned skin and impressive cleavage; the ensemble was topped by a head of brunette hair, tied loosely in the back while leaving a single spiral free to hang down her forehead, fluttering in front of the black mask as she stepped slowly and confidently into the center of the alley to block their escape.

Desperate, the remaining two thieves turned back in hopes of a retreat, only to find the far end of the alley blocked by the white-skinned Mistress, standing with her weight on one leg, arms folded, not moving. Just watching.

“Shit,” the girl cursed as they turned back to face the new vigilante. “There’s two of them now?”

“What the fuck…” the tall man whispered, watching anxiously as the taller lady in black appeared to be sizing them up. “Uhh…”

He glanced at his rather small partner —who was cautiously reaching into her jacket while keeping her eyes on their new adversary— and then back at the masked woman. In a snap decision born out of cowardice, he grabbed the goth girl by the arm and shoved her towards the vigilante, intending to slip by while she was distracted by his partner.

His plan was grossly ill-conceived, however. The masked woman sidestepped the stumbling girl with little effort and swung her leg out to the side, catching the tall man across the mid-section before he could pass. He grunted and stumbled backward, clutching his stomach as the vigilante quickly turned and reached out to grab the goth girl’s hair before she could slip away, yanking her back to join her partner.

The tall man returned with a direct attack; a swift and heavy right hook was his first try at putting the masked woman down, but she leaned to the side and took his wrist, twisted it, and then grabbed the back of his head with her other hand. She drove his face downward to meet her knee when she brought it up, producing an impressively loud thud which sent him reeling backwards, giving the spectre a brief opening to turn her attention to the goth girl.

The girl herself was no slouch. Though not physically imposing, she was in fact armed; after being interrupted by the tall man when he shoved her, she had finished drawing a semi-automatic pistol in hopes of gaining the upper hand. The woman in black was quicker than she appeared, however; a gloved hand gripped the top of the gun in an instant and the slide was shoved back, rendering the weapon unable to fire.

Unprepared for the weapon’s betrayal, she glanced down at it. Realising what had happened, she quickly brought her sights back to the masked woman just in time for a black fist collide with her mouth. The impact spun her around and she slammed face-first into the dumpster, her lip split wide open by her opponent’s knuckles. With a grunt, she gingerly touched her lip when the taste of blood entered her senses, but then she gasped suddenly when a realisation struck her: the gun was gone, and she was now empty-handed.

She turned quickly to appraise the situation, praying that she wasn’t being held at the point of her own gun. What she found instead was a black hand landing a tight grip her throat, squeezing her airway closed and slamming her back against the metal bin. Wheezing pitifully, her eyes widened when she came face-to-face with the masked vigilante, those phosphorescent irises blazing through that dark mask in the moonlight, nearly stopping the young girl’s heart right then and there.

The shuffling of footsteps came from beyond that terrifying visage, and the woman looked over her shoulder to see the tall man charging on her six. A tall, high-heeled boot shot out from behind her, catching his chin and jarring his head to the side, and from there he staggered backwards until the back of his head met the bricks on the far side of the alley.

After watching him slide down to the ground to begin his nap, the masked woman faced the goth girl for a second, then glanced to the left at a dustbin with its lid missing. Without hesitation, she placed her other hand under the girl’s arm and hoisted her into the air, then carried her by the throat a few steps and tossed her head-first into the can. A loud, metallic bang echoed down the alley as the girl was driven to the bottom of the bin, her fishnet-wrapped legs pointing into the air like some sort of bizarre modern artwork.

Sighing, the masked woman retrieved the pistol from the ground next to her feet. She unloaded the magazine and dropped it into a separate dustbin, then she threw the gun itself into the dumpster.

“How was that?”

The sound of clapping echoed from the far end of the alley. ”Bravo, darling. Bravo!” The Mistress’ reply sounded through the taller woman’s earpiece, echoed by her actual voice as it traveled down the long corridor an instant later. ”You have ALL the grace and subtlety of a bull in a china shop, to put it simply.”

“Pffft…” The vigilante chuckled as she surveyed the carnage. “I play rough. That’s how I roll.”

”Well... did you really need to be so hard on that girl?”

The brunette stopped for a moment to consider her methods. “To be honest, I felt kind of bad for her at first, cuz of how that guy pushed her at me so he could get away; but when she pulled that gun on me I was like: oh no you didn’t.”

”That is fair, I suppose,” her partner’s voice replied through the earpiece. ”I must say though: the sight of you in action, wearing that suit: it certainly was captivating—aside from the brunette hair, of course. It does not go well with the colour scheme of the suit at all, but beyond that, you looked simply amazing!”

She shook her head as the sound of footsteps began to echo through the passage. “I told you, I had to dye it again for the confession video. Besides, we used temporary dye this time; it should be gone in a few days.” She glanced over her shoulder as she spoke, watching the Mistress trot her way through the alley to join her.

“Tsk-tsk, darling. Just look at these poor souls!” she said as she inspected the scene before shaking her head. ”SUCH a brute you are.”

“Yeah well…” With the Mistress close by, the masked brunette reached up to switch her earpiece off as she turned away from the bin with the girl’s legs sprouting from it. “That’s what happens when you cross the ‘nightmare.’”

The Mistress paused, giving her head a perplexed tilt. “I beg your pardon… nightmare?”

“Yeah, you know: ‘Knight’… as in ‘of the round table,’ like a warrior; and ‘Mare’… because of where I’m from.” She put her arms out to present herself, glaring at her friend. “You know… ’Knight Mare!’ Get it?”

The Mistress stood with her arms folded, deadpanning her partner. “Yes, I get it. And it certainly is, darling.”

“Ugh... whatever.” Knight Mare groaned and rolled her eyes. “And you’re called the ‘Dark Mistress’ even though you are obviously white as a fucking ghost?”

The Mistress clenched her fists at her sides and stamped a foot. “It’s my outfit that is dar-“ she stopped herself and cleared her throat, then she pointed her nose into the air. “For your information, I didn’t come up with the name. T’was the media who did.”

“OK fine,” Knight Mare sighed, looking down at the tall man. “Let’s clean these guys up and get outta here.”

*****

Moments later, the trio of unconscious thieves were propped against the side of the stolen truck, their hands tied behind their backs; a perfect little gift package for the police to discover within the next few hours.

With every loose end tied, the masked duo left the scene and returned to the rooftops to have a look over the city. There was very little traffic on the police scanner and city cameras by then —other than the thieves they’d already taken care of— so they decided to keep watch over the streets for another hour or so, after which, if nothing came up, they would call it a night.

An hour and a half passed uneventfully, so the pair finally decided to call it a night and retreated into the shadows.

“I can’t believe this is where you of all people come to change, Rare,” Sunset chuckled, shaking her head as she scanned the dark, dusty room, hidden away inside a dilapidated building that stood in the old industrial complex, just on the outskirts of town.

“Well I can’t very well hop in my car and drive home dressed like this, now can I?” Rarity replied snidely. “And in order to change back into my own clothes without being seen, I must come here to do it, then I walk to that hidden parking spot I was fortunate enough to find, and I drive home in my regular clothes.”

“Hm. Makes sense, I guess,” Sunset replied, rubbing her chin as she looked around the once-busy office, taking in the details of the broken furniture strewn about, not to mention the cracked walls, broken windows and dusty floor. She shook her head. “It’s just… this is the last place I’d expect to see you, given how much of an anal-retentive clean-freak you are.”

“Oh believe me, if I could book a fancy hotel room downtown, I would, darling, but unfortunately, that would not be very discreet,” the fashionista replied as she pulled their bag of clothes out from under a desk. “I had a much better place to change at the start of all this, but I had to re-locate after I was jumped by those agents that night, especially with the police sniffing around during the investigation that followed.”

Sunset snorted. “It’s fine, Rare,” she said, pulling the band from her hair to let her wavy, brunette locks fall around her shoulders.

Rarity watched her for a moment, noting how striking Sunset looked with her hair down while still wearing the mask.

“Ugh… let’s see how this thing comes off this time,” Sunset groaned as she slipped her fingers under the stiff, shiny collar. “It definitely feels softer already, I’ll give it that.”

Rarity, who’d become slightly dazed by the thought of Sunset removing the suit —which reminded her of what happened last time they were in this exact situation— blinked a few times and then re-focused on the other girl. “Wh-… pardon? Oh! No, it doesn’t take long for it to loosen up,” she replied quickly as she watched Sunset pull the material outwards. “Er… would you like a hand, darling?”

“Uhh... hang on, let me try it first,” Sunset replied, turning to face the other way. “I’d kinda like to be able to get outta this thing myself, you know?”

“Of course.” Rarity nodded, watching somewhat absentmindedly. She cleared her throat. “I quite enjoyed myself tonight. The application that Mr. Ingram was kind enough to supply us worked splendidly, I must say.”

“Yeah, it worked great,” Sunset grunted as she wrestled and squirmed, keeping her back to Rarity. “Especially being able to talk to each other from a distance.”

“Oh… yes. Very clever, that Mr. Ingram.”

“Hnnngh!... Yeah.”

Silence followed.

Rarity had yet to move. It was a strange feeling for her, finally having company on her little adventures. Granted, she’d been out with Twilight once already, but she wasn’t trained. Sunset, on the other hand, did very well, and this perhaps made the fashionista feel a bit less… like the alpha. She was no longer the sole watcher of Canterlot—a position she herself had created. Now, there were two of them. And more soon to come.

“Do you wish Flutters and Golds were here with us?”

Rarity held her breath for a moment, unprepared for the question. “Oh, well... perhaps, Sunset, but… having you with me tonight has been... most pleasant.”

Sunset paused and looked over her shoulder at the other girl. “You OK, Rare?”

Rarity stared back at her, those sapphire eyes of hers sparking up a stark contrast against the mask. “I… I don’t know.”

Sunset looked confused.

Rarity sighed. “It’s just… simply put, I… I-I don’t recall the last time you and I spent this much time alone together. It’s just a bit of a-“

“A change of pace?”

The fashionista nodded. “Especially after seeing so little of you when you were away at school these past few years. Then you went with Golds to rescue Fluttershy, and since you got home, you’ve been away with Twilight so much… again. I just…”

“No, I… I get it,” Sunset spoke up, letting her eyes drop to the floor. “We really haven’t spent much time together lately, have we?”

Rarity shook her head.

“Well... personally, I had a blast tonight,” Sunset confessed, turning away to resume her struggle with the suit. “This… I mean, until the others join in, could be our thing. Something that just you and I do together, you know?”

“Yes… I suppose.” Rarity rubbed her chin for a moment, then she rolled her eyes and huffed, letting her arms flop down to her sides. “Oh! I am so dreadfully sorry about this, Sunset. I don’t know why I’m feeling or acting this way all-of-the-sudden; we’ve known each other for years, and I’ve been yearning for company during these outings for weeks now; I should be thrilled to have you here with me tonight.”

“It’s fine, Rare. Don’t worry about it. Hnnnngh!” The brunette struggled to pry the collar back, but was unsuccessful. “Look, how about this? After we get changed, we can go to a coffee shop and hang out for a bit. We can talk about stuff that’s going on, and see if we can come up with some more ideas for the app; you know… stuff. What d’you think?”

Rarity smiled, glad that Sunset understood her feelings, and that she was quick to offer a solution. “Alright, Sunset. I think that sounds lovely,” she replied with a nod. Then she leaned on a nearby pillar with her arms folded, watching Sunset attempt to writhe her way out of the outfit.

After several more failed attempts, Sunset finally groaned and shook her head, letting her shoulders drop in defeat.

“Ugh… fuck. I give up.”

“Would you like a hand now, darling?” Rarity giggled as she left the wall to help her friend.

“Yeah-yeah.” Sunset let out a sigh as Rarity began to fiddle with the suit. “Heh! At least Golds isn’t here this time, getting me all hot and bothered,” she chuckled.

“Indeed,” Rarity replied, concentrating on what she was doing.

“So… how have things in paradise been?” Sunset asked, attempting to strike up a conversation.

“Paradise, darling?”

“You know… the three of you guys being back together.”

Rarity paused, then drew a quick breath. “Ah… yes well, it’s been lovely. Though I do feel bad for poor Golds, losing his job like that. He’s been so bored lately. That’s why I had him at the boutique yesterday; I just wanted to give him something to do… to keep him occupied. To be honest, I enjoyed having him there, and he was quite good with the customers, surprisingly.”

“Yeah. Golds can be a lot of fun as long as you can ignore the cheesy jokes he makes sometimes,” Sunset snickered. “It cracks me up though, how he gets all awkward if you don’t laugh at him.”

Rarity giggled. “Yes, I’ve noticed that. I think it’s cute. Ooh! Have you ever noticed how he sometimes speaks old-timey English?”

Sunset’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Like… d’you remember the night we found out he was immortal, and he mentioned that… as society and trends evolve, he evolves along with them without even realising it?”

“Yeah, it comes natural or whatever,” Sunset replied.

“Well, after spending so much time with him, Fluttershy and I have both noticed that he sometimes… reverts back to older dialects,” Rarity explained, her tone labored as she finally managed to slip the black material over Sunset’s shoulder.

“Hm,” Sunset looked down at her freshly bared skin. “I can’t say I’ve noticed that.”

“Really? Even after spending all that time on the road with him?” Rarity asked, taking a step back with her arms folded to watch Sunset peel the rest of the suit off on her own.

“No, but I’m also not too familiar with the older languages here,” Sunset explained. “I wouldn’t even know what to look for. Like… what kind of things does he say?”

“Hmm,” Rarity looked upwards, rubbing her chin as she tried to think of an example. “Ah!” She snapped her finger and looked at Sunset. “When you were gone with Twilight and Shining Armor those two weeks, we were talking one night about how you’d been gone for so long, and out of nowhere, Golds said something along the lines of you ‘making merry for a fortnight,’ or some such thing.” She snorted and let out a coquettish giggle. “I don’t think he’s aware that he did it, and it was all Fluttershy and I could do to not laugh out loud, but ooooohh it was SO adorable!” she swooned, clasping her hands and pressing them to her cheek.

Sunset gave her a confused sneer. “Making what for a whatnight?”

“Oh, uh…” Rarity composed herself and put a finger to her chin, thinking of a way to explain the statement. “Making merry is pretty straight forward: it’s like having fun, essentially... and a fortnight is simply two weeks, a contraction of the words ‘fourteen nights.’ It’s a dialect from colonial times, I do believe—though I’d wager Twilight would know more about it than I.”

“Huh.” Sunset, turned back and gave one last yank to the other shoulder. The suit peeled down her shapely frame, exposing her olive skin to the pale moonlight.

The fashionista quieted herself and watched her friend’s bare back come into view as the shiny material was pulled down to her waist.

Pausing for a short break, Sunset sighed and turned to face the window, placing her hands on her hips as she stared thoughtfully out at the moon. A soft, November gust came up just then, wafting into the room through the broken glass.

Rarity’s eyes widened when she saw Sunset’s nipples harden in response to the air’s icy caress, and she bit her lip when the brunette began to move again, her breasts jiggling like they were performing an enticing dance for the fashionista, who watched in silence as Sunset hooked her thumbs inside the material to begin working it the rest of the way off.

A slow inhale flowed into Rarity’s nostrils. She felt a lovely warmth begin to tingle inside her, watching Sunset’s hips swing back and forth as she inched the tight outfit downward, shimmying one side down, then the other until her mound was all but exposed, leaving only that little cleft barely hidden from sight.

A thought struck the fashionista suddenly; now she knew exactly what had been making her feel uneasy a few minutes ago: it wasn’t that Sunset was usurping her position as Canterlot’s protector, and it wasn’t the fact that she and the brunette hadn’t normally spent this much time alone together.

Rarity was aroused.

She hadn’t expected this to happen —in fact, she hadn’t even considered it a possibility— nor did she know why it was happening, but one thing was certain: the crotch of her suit was moistening. Rapidly.

Perhaps it was a simple case of déjà vu, considering what ended up happening the last time she witnessed her friend slipping out of that very suit. Regardless, images from that night bombarded her mind’s eye, and she was helpless to stave off the warm waves of desire that were now lapping away at her brain. Chewing hungrily at her thumbnail, Rarity watched anxiously as Sunset worked the outfit downwards, praying for a glimpse of that clean, hairless slit; those plump, juicy lips, waiting to be tasted, to be nibbled on…

Then, something else from that night came to the forefront of Rarity’s mind, and her lewd thoughts screeched to a halt. After a moment, she began to spawn an idea. A terrible, wicked idea; a chance at retribution, but not only that, a chance to feed her body the pleasure it so desired.

Knowing that Sunset wasn’t paying attention, a sadistic smile grew on Rarity’s lips, and then she cleared her throat to speak in a rather chipper tone. “Oh Sunset, darling?”

“Yeah?” the brunette replied with a quick glance over her shoulder.

“I, personally, have found it much easier to pull down at the back,” Rarity explained, pointing at Sunset’s partly-exposed butt-crack. “Slide it over your derrière first, then it should slip down your legs with little difficulty.”

“Oh OK.” Falling for the fashionista’s gambit, Sunset proceeded to hook her thumbs into the back of the suit and began to push it downwards.

As soon as she did, Rarity held her hand out and, with a bright flash, a pair of solid diamond shackles appeared around Sunset’s wrists, binding her hands behind her back.

Sunset stopped immediately and held her breath, then she slowly turned her head to look down her back at the makeshift cuffs. “Uh… Rare? Is this you?” she asked nervously, bringing her eyes back up to look at the masked girl.

Rarity was gone, however. The room was empty.

“What the…?” Sunset’s eyes darted around, scanning the darkness for her friend while her heart rate began to pick up, her breaths becoming shaky. “Rare?”

She then heard a light shuffling in the opposite direction, and before she had a chance to turn around, a black boot slid across the floor and swept her feet out from under her. Sunset landed face-down on the floor, a puff of dust blasting out around her face as the wind was knocked from her lungs. Quickly, she tried to roll onto her back to see what was happening, but was stopped when a high-heeled boot planted itself on her back, right between her shoulder blades.

Sunset grunted when she tried to move, but her efforts were hopeless; having her hands tied behind her back with Rarity’s foot pinning her to the floor made any chance of escape impossible. Her only option now was to twist her head around to look up at her captor with those turquoise eyes full of confusion, surrounded by that dark mask.

“Rare… what is this?”

The Dark Mistress, still clad in the full ensemble, glared down at her victim with a face devoid of expression, her eyes staring coldly through the black disguise. “I’m afraid, darling, that I have something of a score to settle with you.”

Sunset’s breathing stopped. Her eyes darted back and forth. “What? What score? What are you talking about?”

“The night you came home, in my bedroom,” Rarity replied sternly. “I seem to remember being taken, held down, my hands bound behind my back; I remember being fucked like this, despite my… objections.”

Sunset quickly shook her head. “What? No, that was Golds, not me. He’s the one you should have a-“

“But it was you, darling, who put him up to it. You instigated. YOU were the one who told him to do it.”

The brunette paused, then she closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. “Aww crap,” she groaned, letting her forehead rest on the floor. She then lifted her head again to look at Rarity, sighing loudly as she accepted her fate—with reluctance, of course. “Fine. So what now?”

Rarity bent down and leaned on her knee with an elbow. “I’m going to move my foot, and you’re going to be still. If you cannot, I shall be forced to restrain you further. Understand?”

Sunset nodded, facing the floorboards.

Rarity lifted her boot from the brunette’s back and, with her hands on her hips, stepped towards Sunset’s feet, her heels thumping noisily on the hollow floor.

All Sunset could do was lie there, hands behind her back while staring at the floor, listening to the deep thuds as they echoed throughout the empty building. The sound stopped a moment later, and she heard only quiet for several seconds, followed by the sound of Rarity’s suit flexing. Then she felt something grasp her left boot.

The fashionista lifted Sunset’s leg and yanked the boot off, then turned her attention to the other to repeat the process. With the boots gone, she took a step forward and stood over the brunette’s thighs, reached down, and then peeled the suit down her legs. The material was cast aside after it was freed from Sunset’s body, leaving her completely nude, face-down on the cold floor with her hands locked behind her back.

Now that Sunset knew Rarity’s reasoning, she’d be lying to herself if she said this hadn’t excited her, but she still felt some apprehension, not knowing exactly what Rarity was planning to do.

She soon found out, however.

Without warning, Rarity turned and sat down hard on Sunset’s back, facing Sunset’s feet, her arms pinned under the fashionista’s derrière.

“UH!” Sunset grunted when Rarity’s weight slammed down onto her, another cloud of dust kicking up around her face when a lungful of breath burst free.

Straddling her friend, Rarity went right to business. She raised both hands above her head, fingers splayed, and then brought them down as hard as she could, slapping them over Sunset’s backside. Cupping a cheek firmly in each hand, Rarity dug her fingertips into the soft flesh like talons and squeezed with all her might, gritting her teeth as she listened to the brunette’s voice come from behind.

But then, Rarity stopped suddenly and chewed her lip in contemplation. She released her grip and let her palms rest idle on Sunset’s derrière, before turning to look over her shoulder at the brunette. “It’s doesn’t have… quite the same effect when it doesn’t hurt, does it?”

Sunset paused for a moment and then turned her head partway to answer. “No… I guess not. Still, it does feel kind of nice… you know, jostling me around… down there.”

Rarity faced forward again to study Sunset’s rear. “Hmm... I suppose we shall see what kind of punishment I can devise then, hm?”

With a thoughtful sigh, the fashionista placed a black fingertip at the top of the brunette’s crack and ran it downwards, tracing a soft line between those perfect cheeks, which had clenched in reaction to Rarity’s touch.

Rarity quickly raised her other hand and gave Sunset’s left cheek a sharp smack, which echoed surprisingly far into the building. “Relax, darling!”

Sunset grunted in protest. “It tickles!”

Rarity shook her head in disapproval, but decided to move on. Leaning forward, she slipped her hands between her friend’s knees and divided them, then she ran her fingertips up the insides of those smooth thighs, inching them towards the warm center at the apex. She cupped one hand over Sunset’s crotch, gently pinching the soft lips between her digits, feeling the intense warmth soak through the glove as she rubbed her fingers around in small circles. Sunset’s back arched slightly, followed by a quiet moan, prompting Rarity to slide her palm upwards, dragging her fingertips through the valley between the brunette’s cheeks. Then she shifted her own derrière backwards so she was sitting closer to Sunset’s shoulders.

Rarity leaned forward and placed her nose between those thighs, allowing her lips to graze the bottoms of Sunset’s cheeks. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply through her nostrils, overflowing her senses with the musk of her friend’s growing arousal.

“Hmmm…” Rarity hummed seductively, her breath wafting against Sunset’s moistening slit. “Someone certainly is excited, aren’t they?”

“Uuh… pretty good. Yeah.” Sunset’s voice was shaky.

After a devilish giggle, the fashionista slowly opened her mouth and let her tongue out, reaching forth until the tip just touched the tender folds before her, causing the brunette to draw a quick breath. When the flavour of her comrade’s nectar was just barely detectable, Rarity withdrew abruptly and sat upright.

“Hm,” she mumbled smartly.

The groan that followed was laced with frustration after feeling the tease of that wet tongue, and then being denied it’s services.

“Do not worry, darling,” Rarity assured, pausing to hilt her index and middle fingers in her mouth to wet them. “You’ll get what’s coming to you.”

A sigh. “I was afraid of that.”

With a quiet chortle, Rarity placed the moist, black fingers between her friend’s thighs and stroked her tender, slick folds very slowly. Cool air rushed into Sunset’s lungs and her eyes drifted shut; she bit her lip, savouring the electric sensations created by the smooth material caressing her, teasing her clit through the protection of that soft, fleshy hood.

Sunset’s hips had begun to auto-gyrate in response, grinding her eager flesh against the invading fingers. Rarity was quick to put a stop to it, however, by grabbing the brunette’s backside with her free hand and pinning her to the floor, eliciting a whimper of protest from Sunset.

“Shhh! That’s enough out of you,” Rarity scolded as she placed her middle fingertip between the hot folds and slipped it inside.

Sunset gasped at the unexpected intrusion; she arched her hips upward to push against Rarity’s grip, inviting more of her friend’s digit into her body.

Rarity reached into the other girl as deeply as she could, curling her finger to stroke the sides of that supple canal before withdrawing for a second stroke. Her finger had become hot inside the glove, and she began to wish that it was bare; to have that slick fluid soaking directly into her pure, white skin—but she would have to remove the entire suit to free her hands.

That was going to have to wait.

Sunset’s body had begun to writhe beneath Rarity as she slid her finger in and out of those hot depths, and it wasn’t long before she added her index finger to the assault, stretching that warm, supple flesh a tiny bit further. She stroked harder and faster, causing the brunette’s breathing to rise in concert with her fingers’ pace.

Helpless to do anything but lay there and take it, Sunset closed her eyes and let her cheek rest on the cold floorboard, her brows furrowing deeply as her body was bombarded with pleasure. Her hips twitched; fresh moisture wept from her supple folds to coat Rarity’s glove. Her breathing was heavy, a blissful moan occasionally dribbling from her mouth as the first sign of orgasm began to spark within her loins, coaxed forth by the fashionista’s nimble fingertips.

Each stroke brought the climax closer, closer, and closer yet. Sunset’s body began to tense up, her womanhood tingled with added intensity each time those talented fingers slid between her swollen layers until finally, she could feel herself about to spill over the edge into pure bliss.

“Ooooohh... that’s SO good, Rare; I… I’m close…”

Rarity maintained firm grip on the brunette’s rear and hammered her fingers repeatedly into the rapidly tightening interior of her friend—her former enemy, her victim, and for the moment, her lover.

A shiver of anticipation shook Sunset’s body, and just as the sound of Rarity’s fingers spearing her tender flesh changed from a sharp smacking to a much sloppier sound, the fashionista yanked her fingers free and held them high in the air. A sadistic grin crossed her lips as she watched that perfect ass spasm with desperation, accompanied by a loud growl of distain as Sunset realised she was going to be deprived of the release she craved.

“Ugh! Rare, you… FUCK!” She banged her forehead against the floor, eyes closed, teeth gritted. “You… I… DAMMIT! WHY?”

“Tut-tut, my dear Sunset,” Rarity taunted before she paused to wrap her lips around her fingers, tasting the juices that seeped from the very flesh that had teetered on the precipice of climax only seconds earlier. “So unfortunate, this is. You must try to remember: this is your penalty. If a reward is what you desire, then it must be earned.”

Sunset lay motionless, rolling her eyes as she panted against the floor.

“I’m going to stand up now,” Rarity informed, “I trust you will remain still?”

“Mm-hm.” Sunset sighed hopelessly. She felt Rarity’s weight leave her suddenly, followed by the sound of shuffling and flexing material from someplace out of sight. Then something flopped onto the floor just ahead of her, and she lifted her head to look at it.

It was Rarity’s suit.

Her eyes widened when she saw it, but before her heart even had a chance to leap from her throat, a pair of dainty white hands grabbed her side and flipped her onto her back, trapping her gemstone-cuffed hands beneath her.

Rarity stood over Sunset, her elegant, porcelain figure in full view, bleached to a shade beyond white by the pale glow of the moon. Her pert breasts were displayed proudly as they stood over the slender waist that sat atop her smooth hips, framing the dark strip of violet hair that resided just above her slit, which at the moment was hidden from view by the tiniest bit of shade. Her indigo hair was still tied in place on the back of her head, and the black mask still covered her face. With a devious grin, Rarity knelt beside her victim and gently brushed some dust from her stomach, chest and breasts, causing Sunset to flinch slightly each time the fashionista grazed her sensitive skin.

“Oh dear, it appears to be quite chilly in here, darling,” Rarity teased as she took Sunset’s stiff nipple between her thumb and finger to give it a pinch. “Honestly, could this thing possibly be any harder?”

Rather than answer, Sunset licked and then bit her lip, closing her eyes.

“Hm… let’s find out, shall we?” Rarity leaned down, slowly, to let the tip of her tongue touch the throbbing bud, dabbing it with her warm saliva. She traced a spiral around the areola next, wetting the entire circle before she backed up to watch the frigid air harden Sunset’s nipple into glass.

“There we go,” the fashionista smirked, pleased by the result. She shifted her position next; one knee was placed on the floor next to Sunset’s arm, and her other leg stretched across Sunset’s chest to plant her foot above the brunette’s opposite shoulder, positioning Rarity’s womanhood just above the heaving bust below.

Wasting no time, Rarity grasped Sunset’s left breast and held it with her thumb and fingers around the outside; she squeezed gently, extruding the soft flesh upwards, with the hard nipple perched at the very top. With her other hand, Rarity reached down and divided her slit with her index and middle fingers to expose those glistening, pink ruffles. She lowered herself gently, holding Sunset’s nipple in place as she used it to prod her clit; she wiggled the breast back and forth, stroking herself with that stiff bud, spreading her slick moisture onto it as a euphoric shiver crept up her spine.

The sudden warmth on Sunset’s breast prompted her to open her eyes, and her jaw dropped when she saw what Rarity was doing.

“Oh shit… damn, that’s hot,” the brunette whispered. She bit her lip, watching her nipple disappear between those soft, pink petals, her skin soaked by warmth as Rarity’s fluid spread further across her breast with each increasingly vigorous stroke.

Rarity’s breathing had become elevated by then. Her head tipped back, eyes closed as she rocked her hips, grinding her wet, pulsing crease against that throbbing bud. Waves of delight swept through her delicate, white frame, causing her to jolt uncontrollably each time that stiff nub struck her clit.

She reveled in the sheer naughtiness of it. Such a racy act it was, shamelessly smearing her arousal all over her friend’s breast; it was a double-edged sword, however: that very same warmth was beginning to cause Sunset’s nipple to soften and relax, which in turn caused it to lose its effectiveness as a sex toy. Although she enjoyed the pleasure it continued to give, Rarity knew there were better ways to get off, so she backed away and sat on her heel to study the shiny streak left behind on Sunset’s breast.

That juicy coating began to cool immediately in the brisk air, commanding Sunset’s nipple to stand at attention once again, which tempted Rarity to re-mount it, but she knew it would simply recede in her warmth a second time, so she leaned down and wrapped her lips around it instead.

A gasp of excitement poured into Sunset’s lungs when Rarity’s lips and tongue teased her, cleaning the smooth fluid away while her womanhood throbbed with nearly the same intensity as it did when activated by her magic.

Once Rarity had licked that breast clean of her flavour, she gave her lips a lick and then crawled over the brunette, placing her knees on both sides of her head and then sitting her bare backside on Sunset’s chest.

The fashionista sighed as she looked down at her friend’s face, positioned between her milky, white thighs. After a quiet moment to reflect, Rarity bit her lip, and then she began to speak. “You know… there’s something else you did that night that I didn’t particularly appreciate.”

Sunset groaned and rolled her eyes. “Ugh… now what?”

Rarity placed a finger on Sunset’s lips to quiet her. “Nevermind your sass, darling. Now…” —she drew a breath and held it, rubbing her chin thoughtfully as she stared straight ahead— “I seem to recall you being quite ‘hungry’ that night. D’you remember?”

Sunset licked her lips, trying to think of the answer. “Are you talking about me and Flutters?”

“Precisely.”

“You don’t like that I… ate her out?”

Hearty laughter burst from Rarity, her breasts bouncing with glee; she hugged her stomach and shook her head. “Oh, heavens no, darling! Hahaha! I have no qualms whatsoever about you feasting upon my lovely girlfriend; that is not the issue here.”

Confused, Sunset furrowed her brow, which was still hidden under the mask. “Well… then what is?”

“Ah yes, well…” Rarity paused for a breath. “I seem to recall you enjoying it rather immensely, and… if memory serves, you became a tad overzealous about wanting some more…” —she cleared her throat— “from me.”

“Uuhh, yeah… and?”

Rarity huffed. “And do you recall what I was doing at the time?” she asked, her tone elevated with frustration.

Sunset paused. Her eyes searched the room for an answer, blinking occasionally until she finally found it. “You and Golds were fucking.”

“Ah! Right again,” Rarity replied, her voice returning to that sweet, yet condescending note. She put on a cloy smirk and poked Sunset’s nose with her index finger. “Very good, darling. Now… while this was happening, do you, by chance, remember what you did?”

Sunset knew exactly where this was going. She let out a defeated sigh. “I… asked if I could eat you out.”

Rarity held her breath for a brief wait, then she finished for Sunset, just to drive the point home. “…wwwhile Golds and I were still fucking. Correct?”

“Yeah.”

“Ah-ha! See…” Rarity cocked her head and wagged a stern finger at Sunset. “Now, one thing you must never do, darling, is interrupt me when I’m enjoying my favourite cock, which is exactly what you did; so I’m sure you can understand why I might have been a tad… fuckstrated by that.”

Sunset sighed. “Sorry, Rare.”

Rarity clapped her hands to compound the drama of her response. “SORRY does not cut it, I’m afraid.”

Silence followed. The fashionista lowered her hands to rest them on her thighs, and both women stared intently through their masks at one another.

It was Sunset who finally broke the silence. “So… what’s it gonna take to make it up to you? What do you have in mind?”

“As I recall, you never did manage to get a taste of me that night, did you?”

Sunset shook her head.

“Hm. But you wanted it?”

The brunette’s eyes wandered upwards, then she shrugged and gave a small nod.

Rarity narrowed her eyes at Sunset. “Well… then I must say, tonight is your lucky night, darling; because I intend to feed you all the pussy you can handle.”

A tiny smirk tugged at the corner of Sunset’s mouth, but she managed to break away and neutralize it quickly. “Fine.”

“AND,” —Rarity raised a finger— “if you can muster enough skill to make me cum, then you shall have your reward.”

Her terms were given; now it was time for Rarity to enjoy herself. Shifting her weight forward, she lifted her derrière from Sunset’s chest and straddled her face, sliding her knees outward to lower her crease within reach of the brunette’s mouth.

Too eager to wait, Sunset lifted her head and wrapped her lips around Rarity’s tender folds to suck the smooth nectar from them. Her tongue shot in and quickly found the fashionista’s clit, hidden between those soft, juicy petals; she flicked and drilled away at the sensitive bud, causing the smaller girl’s porcelain frame to quake and shiver, followed by a gust of air that rushed noisily into her lungs.

Rarity drew her lips into her mouth and bit down on them, closing her eyes. “Mmmmm,” she moaned as she ran her hands up her body, slow and very sensual. Eventually, she found her breasts and cupped them tightly, pinching her pointed, pink nipples; she threw her head back, her mind shattered again and again by her friend’s enthusiastic tongue.

Sunset drew back, stretching those tasty minoras until they popped from between her lips and snapped gently back into place. She turned her attention to the smooth, white lips next, licking the flavour from one before moving on to the other. When she’d harvested all she could from that, Sunset buried her tongue under the soft, pink hood and flicked mercilessly at Rarity’s clit, prompting her to spasm and moan softly, both of them knowing full well this would draw an orgasm to the surface in short order.

Rarity could feel it building already: a pressure deep inside that slowly boiled to the surface, all of it converging near the top of her slit, where Sunset was expertly working her magic. Her breasts heaved as she panted deeply, her slithering body eager for that explosive release, that mind-numbing gush; just as she was about to tip over the edge into pure bliss, however, she bit her lip and lunged forward onto her hands and knees, removing herself from Sunset’s reach.

“What the…?” Sunset craned her neck to look at Rarity’s backside. “What are you doing, Rare? Why’d you g-“

“Tut-tut!” Rarity panted, raising a finger after she about-faced. “You were SO close, my dear Sunset; very close indeed.”

Sunset shook her head and scowled under the mask. “That’s- HEY! That’s not fair; you can’t pull away like that!”

Rarity licked her lips and crawled forward, positioning her face above Sunset’s so they had an inverted view of one another. “Not to worry, darling. I’m simply changing positions.”

The brunette was rendered breathless when Rarity proceeded to crawl over her until those perky, white breasts rested on the other girl’s abs, and her face was directly over Sunset’s womanhood, where, without hesitation, Rarity dove in with her mouth open, welcoming a burst of female flavour onto her tongue.

Sunset arched her back and gasped deeply when her friend’s tongue slithered into her, her eyes closed, mouth open wide. “Hhhhaaa… oh shhhhit! Rare!… That’s… mmm!”

Rarity withdrew suddenly, her lips creating a loud slurp as they left Sunset’s flesh. “Oh darling?” she called over her shoulder. “Shouldn’t you be… ahem… busy?”

Sunset’s eyes popped open, realising her head had been flanked by a pair of smooth, white thighs, at the center of which laid that lovely, pink flower, eagerly awaiting attention, so close that Sunset could feel its heat radiating onto her face.

Letting her lust take over, Sunset lifted her head and planted her mouth against Rarity’s sex. Lapping away at that soft hood and sensitive bud, her eyes travelled upwards, studying the pair of round, white cheeks directly above, gleaming like snowy hills in the bright moonbeams that came through the window.

“Oooh!” Rarity gasped, closed her eyes, and then dove back into the feast beneath her. Closing her lips around the soft ruffles, she flicked her tongue rapidly and hummed with pleasure, earning a moan from Sunset, whose voice buzzed into her own vulva, vibrating her clit with just the right amount of intensity to set her body on fire.

With Rarity’s crease now inverted, Sunset felt like she was playing a new field, but she managed to get her bearings quick and found that she rather enjoyed the new angle. The fashionista’s opening was now in plain sight, and it wasn’t long before Sunset decided to venture inside; with her tongue, she slipped in and licked the walls of that warm interior, sampling the heady flavour and rippling texture within, waiting to be discovered by a wandering tongue such as this. She found herself wishing her hands weren’t tied so she could reach up and grab that sweet little ass; if she could do that, then she’d be able to squeeze it tightly and pull Rarity against her mouth to dig even deeper with her tongue.

The girls continued their feast together, lying on the dusty floor in that freezing cold room with that angular beam of moonlight cutting across their nude forms; lapping, sucking, nibbling, kissing, their moans of delight —punctuated by wet slurps and sharp gasps— filled the room. Their voices elevated in pitch as they each raced toward victory, pursuing each other’s climax with greed and vigor, their bodies hot with excitement and writhing in synch together.

Their orgasms struck almost simultaneously —Sunset’s a few seconds sooner, given that Rarity was the more experienced eater of the two. Regardless, their peaks overlapped significantly; their bodies stiffened and trembled in ecstasy, their flesh pulsing and gushing into each other’s mouths, though they found it near impossible to concentrate on the incoming flavours with such intense pleasure pulsing through their own loins.

Their tongues eventually slowed, along with their breathing, and they gently lapped away at each other as they came down from the mutual climax, the occasional whimper slipping past their lips. Finally sated, Rarity lifted her body from Sunset and brought herself around, straddling the brunette’s hips as she let her weight settle onto her: belly-to-belly, breast-to-breast.

Sunset gazed at the masked face above her, noting how her lips and chin glistened in the frigid light. It had gotten significantly colder since they started, though despite their nakedness, they hadn’t noticed, and were surprised to see that their breath was now visible in the moonlit air.

“Well…” Rarity took a long, deep breath. “I suppose now I can… consider us even. Agreed?”

Sunset licked her lips and nodded. “Sure.”

After a short smirk, Rarity glanced down, noticing that Sunset’s hips were still heaved upwards. “Oh dear, your hands are still cuffed! Here…”

A flash burst from under Sunset’s back and her hands were freed. As soon as this happened, Sunset —with her gloves still on— grabbed Rarity’s shoulders and rolled her onto her back.

She climbed on top of the fashionista and grabbed her wrists, pinning her hands to the floor, above her head. With her face close to Rarity’s, she glared through that black mask into a pair of wide, sapphire eyes.

“N-now-now, darling; we’re even, don’t forget! Fair is fair.”

Jaw clenched, Sunset narrowed her eyes at Rarity.

The brunette’s intensity caused a portion of Rarity’s confidence to slip away, and she turned her head slightly. “W-…what are you going to do to me?” she asked, her voice wavering.

Sunset remained silent for a moment, but then her grip loosened. With a sigh, she spoke quietly. “You’re lucky you taste so damn good.”

After taking a moment to absorb this, a smile marked Rarity’s lips as Sunset slid downward, letting her wavy, brown hair tickle its way down Rarity's face and shoulders.

Sunset dipped her head and planted a soft kiss on the inner curve of Rarity’s right breast, then she let her cheek rest on that smooth, white chest. “Thanks Rare,” she sighed. “That was fun.”

“Aww,” Rarity giggled, wrapping her thighs around Sunset’s waist and squeezing her, feeling the grittiness of the dirt stuck to the brunette’s back. “T’was my pleasure, darling. I thought you might like that, what with all the things Golds has told me about you.”

“Yeah… no, it was awesome. You did great.”

Smiling, Rarity took a moment to run her fingers through those wavy, brown locks before speaking again. “Well... you’re part of the club now. We enjoy taking care of our own.”

They laid in silence for a bit. Sunset listened to her friend’s heartbeat through her breast, and after a moment, she let out a quiet chuckle.

“What is it, darling?”

“I was just thinking… I bet Flutters and Golds’ll wish they came out with us once they hear about this.”

Rarity snorted. “I wouldn't be so sure of that.”

“Why?”

“Because. It’s Fluttershy and Golds, darling. Together. Home alone.” Rarity shook her head. “I bet they’re having the time of their lives right now.”

“Hm. Good point.”

Chapter 104: Know Thine Enemy

Chapter 104

The ticking of the clock was the only sound in Fluttershy’s house.

It was about 2:00am on Friday, November the 18th.

Most of the front room was dark, save for the light above the table, where the shy girl and I were sitting across from each other in silence. Between us, a chess board sat on the tabletop, its pieces strewn about in disarray, locked in a motionless battle.

She was the light; I was the dark.

On the table close to me was an array of taken pieces: many pawns, both rooks, a bishop, and both knights.

On her side, a lonely pawn.

She and I stared at each other, expressionless. It was her turn, and she was mulling over how she would make her next move.

I sat with my arms folded, watching, waiting.

Her eyes dropped to the board and she cleared some hair from her face with one finger, hooking it behind her ear. She studied the board in earnest, sucking on her bottom lip as she weighed her options.

Finally, a timid, yellow hand hovered over the board, reaching tentatively for one of the few remaining light pieces that had any real power.

I raised a brow, which Fluttershy noticed.

She quickly withdrew. “Eep!”

“What?”

“You, um… made a face.”

“No I didn’t.”

Fluttershy glowered at me for a second, then she returned her eyes to the board. With a quick inhale, she reached for the same piece —quickly this time— and moved it to a new spot, plopping it down with a wooden clunk. Then she hunched down, folded her arms on her lap and watched me nervously.

With one arm freed, I reached up to stroke my chin as I drew a slow, thoughtful inhale. I spent a moment scanning the board—not because I needed to, but because I was really just fucking with her by that point. After all, this is war, which, when fought properly, is just as much a mind game as it is a contest of strength and strategy. The Spartans knew this; they taught it to me, and I’ve taught it to many, many, many soldiers in the centuries since.

I scratched my chin, my fingernails scraping noisily over that rough stubble, a sound that I knew drove Fluttershy mad at times like this. Just as I was considering how long I should torture her for, however, her soft voice came across the table in song—much to my surprise.

🎶What does the fox say?
Yacha, chacha, chacha-chow!
Chacha-chacha, chacha-chow!🎶

I looked up from the board to watch my girlfriend’s shoulders bounce back and forth, her hair swaying gleefully as she danced to her own melody.

Then she realised I was looking at her.

🎶Yacha chacha... cha cha... um...”

She trailed-off quite suddenly once her eyes met mine, her face immediately adjusting to a deep shade of scarlet. Then she cleared her throat and quickly looked down at her lap, as if she’d been scolded for something.

A tiny smirk coaxed my mouth to the side as I watched her. Hm... this must be what Rare was talking about… with the singing.

I cleared my throat. “Who sings that? Wasn’t it some Swedish guys or something?”

She looked up at me, paused, and then nodded timidly. “They’re from Norway. Um, Ylvis.”

“Ah, that’s right. Why’d you stop?”

She looked down at the table, causing the hair that she’d just swept aside to slide in front of her eye again. Then she shrugged one shoulder.

“Hm.” I sighed and looked down at the board. “You know... you have a beautiful voice—and not just when you’re taking dick; you’re actually a good singer, too.”

Her eyes met mine once again, and she smiled. “Oh… um, thank you. I think.”

Silence followed, each second sliced away by the ticking of the clock.

After a few moments of half-strategising and half-thinking about her singing, Fluttershy’s voice drifted into my ears once again.

“It’s kind of crazy, this.”

“What?” I asked, not looking up.

“Me: up late on a Thursday night, playing chess with some cute guy who’s older than Jesus.”

I snorted, and she continued.

“Someone who’s personally witnessed more history than I’ve even read about...” Fluttershy paused; a little smile graced her lips. “A big, tough war hero.”

The last part made me look up. It wasn’t the ‘big’ comment that caught my attention, despite the fact that I’m pretty sure Applejack weighed more than me; it was those last two words. I stared into her eyes for a moment and then shook my head, looking back down at the board. “War hero? Nah.”

“W-what do you mean?” she asked, furrowing her brows.

“I’m no hero, Flutters. It’s hard to consider yourself ‘heroic’ when you can’t die. I mean... what’s there to sacrifice, ya know? Where’s the courage in that?”

Fluttershy cocked her head.

“Every time I went to war, it was always the same. It meant nothing to me. It was literally just another thing I was doing.” I brought an index finger to my chin, sighing. Then I looked up at her again. “Starting a-way back when we fought with bows and swords, to the American Revolution, where we just lined-up and shot the crap out of each other, right up to the twentieth century with modern warfare —guns, tanks, planes… all that shit— I was always just ‘there,’ killing other people while I thought about what I would be doing the next year: like… maybe I would take up gardening. Again. You know?”

Fluttershy’s eyes wandered down to the tabletop, her mind no doubt filling with sepia-toned snapshots of mud, darkness, fire, and blood.

“But to all the other guys,” I continued, “it was a nightmare. I mean, they were scared shitless—and who can blame them? I mean really, who wouldn’t be scared when every moment could be your last?” I leaned closer to her, tapping an index finger to my temple. “Think about that: one bullet, in just the right spot, and BAM! That’s it. That’s the last thing you ever do. No gardening next year, no seeing your family again, no fucking that girl you like, nothing. It’s over. You’re done. Gone.”

“That’s awful,” she said quietly.

I rubbed the back of my neck and shook my head, letting out an incredulous chuckle. “I mean… I can’t even fathom that. Like... I’m always gonna have that next thing to do; the next stage in the game is always waiting for me.” I shrugged and let my hand rest on the table. “Heh. The end. I mean, for me? It’s never gonna happen. It’s just not a thing. But those guys?” —I gave my head a shake— “I don’t know how they did it. How they could walk into a battle knowing it might be the last thing they ever do, knowing they might never get to do the things they really wanted with their lives.

“I don’t think I could do it,” I confessed, looking Fluttershy straight in those big, teal eyes. “I think I’d be a coward. I’ve been spoiled by this... invulnerability, wherever it came from. I couldn’t give my life up for the greater good, especially now; if I were to lose this power, I wouldn’t have the tools to deal with pain or injuries, or fear,” —I let out a chuckle— “I mean, I’ve never even seen my own blood. Do you have any idea what that’s like?”

Fluttershy shook her head. Even though she was like me now, she’d spent her life as a normal person until just recently, and the memories of that existence were still fresh in her mind.

I raised a finger. “Those guys; the ones who fought next to me, who died next to me: they’re the heroes. Even the ones on the other side—all those people I killed; they were the heroes, Flutters. Not me.” I paused and then took a quick breath. “Like I said, it’s hard to call yourself brave when you can’t lose. It’s just not a fair fight. It’s like taking candy from a baby.”

Fluttershy sighed as she watched me fold my arms on the table and look down at the chess board again.

“I’m no hero, Flutters.”

Silence. The room felt heavy now, and even though I firmly believed everything I said, I found myself wishing I hadn’t laid it on quite so thick.

“Um... Goldie?”

“Hm?”

A pause.

“You’re my hero.”

I glanced up to send a smirk her way, but I found her looking quite serious, so I didn’t. “Thanks, Flutters,” I replied, looking down again after deciding not to argue the point with her.

“Um… I understand what you’re saying,” she continued softly, “and… I’m sorry you had to go through all that, but… not being able to put yourself on the line doesn’t mean you can’t be a hero. You can still help others.” She placed a finger to her chest. “You helped me. You’ve saved me more than once, and that’s something I know I’ll never forget—literally forever.”

As I listened to her, I was slowly reaching for one of my pieces.

“I love you so much, Goldie; and no matter what happens, I know I’m always gonna have you as my own personal hero.”

Struck by her words, I stopped what I was doing and looked up at her again. The look on her face, combined with what she’d just said, caused my heart to throb just a little bit.

Her eyes had become lidded, and a rather alluring smile appeared on her lips as she leaned forward, letting her breasts rest on the tabletop. This position shoved them up and out of that white tank top, making that flawless and full yellow cleavage extremely visible to me.

I paused with my hand over the chess board, rubbing my thumb and forefinger together. Finally, a smile spread across my face, and I lowered my hand to pluck my bishop from the board.

“Nice try, Flutters.”

The seductive look immediately dropped from her face. “Um… w-what?”

I pointed at her with the piece. “You; trying to distract me, trying to play mind games. You’ve got the right idea, but you still need to work on your delivery a bit. Next time, don’t lay it on quite so thick. It was too obvious that you were up to something.”

The shy girl’s mouth hung open as I moved the bishop to a space occupied by one of her pieces, and she watched in horror as I swapped hers out for mine.

“So,” I said, holding up her piece. “I just took your queen… aaaaand I believe that is checkmate, my dear.”

“Hmph!” Fluttershy flopped back in the chair and folded her arms. “It’s not fair. You’re too good at this game.”

“Don’t feel bad, Flutters, you’re not alone. I haven’t lost a game of chess in a loooong fuckin time.”

She shook her head, scowling. “It’s like… I swear, you’re reading my mind. I don’t understand it.”

I studied the little wooden queen, twirling it between my fingers. “It’s not mind reading. It’s mind control.”

Fluttershy raised a brow.

“It’s like this:” —I put the piece down and set my hands on the table, framing the board with them— “the moves I make aren’t to advance on you, especially at the start. They’re to get you to react, to draw you out, so you’ll move your pieces where I want them. Then, when I have you in position, I close in, and it’s all over in seconds.” I raised a finger before continuing. “This is also why you seem to be doing worse every time we play; because I’m learning your style, your methods, how you think, and I can take you down faster and faster the more I get inside your head.”

She sighed, gawking at the board to analyze the carnage.

“It’s just like the rescue mission, with Rare,” I continued, “I mean, real life isn’t always like chess, but sometimes the only way to win is to draw them out; dangle something they want in front of their noses and then wait... hope... that they fall for it. Once they make that one fatal mistake —whatever it may be— the ball’s in your court. Then you call the shots.”

Fluttershy glanced up at me with a little smirk. “Oh Goldie… the mastermind.”

“That’s right,” I said, placing my fingertip on the top of her queen to rock it around. “And now I’ve killed your king, and I’ve taken his queen for myself.”

“Hmmm…” She cocked a brow and gave a seductive grin. “And what are you gonna do with her? Are you gonna force her to be your, um… sex slave?”

“I won’t need to force her once she sees what I’m packing.”

The shy girl let out a giggle. “Oh, Goldie! You’re terrible.”

“I know…” I paused and studied the little monarch for a moment, then I shifted my eyes onto my girlfriend. “You know… this queen’s pretty hot, but… to be honest, there’s another queen I’d much rather have.”

“Oh?” Fluttershy cocked her head. “And what queen might that be?” she asked with an impish gleam in her eyes.

For several seconds, the two of us stared at one another in silence, waiting for an answer.

Then, quick as lightning, I threw my arms over the chess board, grabbed her wrists, and then dragged her across the table to my side.

“EEEEEEEEK!” She squealed with excitement as her long legs and green skirt swept the board and all of its pieces onto the floor, making a loud crash that stirred Link from his spot on the couch.

I put Fluttershy on her back and pinned her arms against the table, then I took the hem of her tank top between my teeth and pulled it up, exposing her belly.

“HEHEHEHE! GOLDIE, STOP!” she giggled as I ran my lips around her navel, rubbing my gritty face against her skin. “Your whiskers… HEHEHE! They’re scratchy! EEEK!”

I placed my mouth just below her navel and blew a raspberry, drawing yet another shriek from her as she wrapped her legs around me and squeezed firmly.

“AAAAAH HAHAHAHA! Goldie, I… hahaha! EEEE!”

I blew a second raspberry—wetter this time, splattering a bit of saliva around her belly. I let go of her arms while I did this; she gripped the back of my neck, threw her head back and squealed for mercy.

Using my fingers, I pried her skirt down just enough to expose the top of her panties, then I planted a row of kisses across the warm skin just above them before lifting my head to look up at her.

Fluttershy gazed down at me, biting her lip. Her eyes were playful, filled with excitement; she brought her hands around to cup my cheeks in her palms. “Do you, um… wanna take this to the bedroom?”

I nodded quickly, feeling my manhood begin to inflate at the very suggestion. “That sounds like a fucking great idea, Flutters,” I replied as I backed away, holding her hand as she slid off the table.

“OK,” she panted, hands outstretched as she looked at the mess scattered across the floor. “Just, mmm. OK…” She quickly bent down snatched a piece from the floor and then turned to hand it to me. “Here, take your new queen and go wait in bed for me.”

I looked down at the little wooden piece and furrowed my brow. “Uh… what?”

Fluttershy turned back and paused, then she ran her finger over the piece, slowly and seductively. “Just look at her, Goldie; all these bumps and ridges…” —she inhaled deeply and bit her lip— “I bet she would feel really goooood...”

I raised a brow at the shy girl. “Oh boy… are you gonna put her in the dungeon?”

Fluttershy smiled and winked. “If she’s lucky.”

I scrunched my nose. “Ew…”

Her eyes widened when she realised how her answer could have been interpreted. “Oh! No… I mean, yes! She’s going in my, um…” —she cleared her throat and turned back to the mess on the floor— “Just… go to bed and wait for me. I just wanna pick this stuff up first.”

I waved dismissively. “Just leave it. We’ll get it later.”

“No-no, I’ll be quick.” She squatted down and started gathering up the pieces. “I don’t want Linkie to mess with them; they might end up lost or something.” She looked over her shoulder at me. “You go. I’ll be right there.”

“Alright,” I sighed as I turned and headed down the hall.

***

Fluttershy quickly gathered the pieces up and piled them into the back of the board, which closed up like a briefcase for storage. She wasn’t quite finished when she glanced at the couch rather abruptly; Link was sitting up and looking over the backrest, staring curiously at the front entrance.

The shy girl glanced at the door and then back to the cat. “What is it, Linkie? Did you hear something?”

Link’s only response was to twitch an ear.

Fluttershy knew exactly what this meant: someone was outside. She glanced at the clock and furrowed her brows.

Who could be out there at this hour?

With a deep breath, the shy girl balled her fists and stood, then she made her way to the door. She approached slowly and silently, placing her ear against the wood to listen carefully.

The sound of light breeze was evident, which was normal; that sound could always be heard out here, whistling noisily through the trees. She was about to open the door to take a peek outside, but she stopped when she realised the breeze had camouflaged a different sound.

Breathing.

Right on the other side of the door.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened and she glanced back at Link again, who remained motionless, watching from the couch. She slowly turned back and looked down at the doorknob. Her heart rate climbed steadily as she wondered who could be standing at her front door so late on such a cold night, out here in the middle of the woods.

She felt no danger, but still the fear gripped her, like the fear of a ghost, or of the unknown; she wanted desperately to call out to her boyfriend, but she knew that would give away her position, and she preferred not to leave the door unattended to go get him.

She had no choice but to see who it was.

Open the door, Fluttershy.

She had to push herself, even though she was fully aware that simply facing the intruder would be the best course of action. Whoever this was couldn’t hurt her; after all —and even though she wasn’t proud of it— she knew that she was quite capable of maiming pretty well any normal human being to death quite easily.

Open the door, Fluttershy.

One more deep breath, a tight clench of her fists, and Fluttershy quickly grabbed the doorknob and tore the door open, ready to face whoever it was.

When she made eye contact with the intruder, she froze instantly. She thought she was ready for anything, but as it turns out, she was wrong.

It was a woman in her mid-twenties, wearing a long, black fleece coat with two rows of big, back buttons down the front. Around her neck was a thick, burgundy scarf, and coming out of the bottom of the coat was a pair of legs that sported tall, pink boots with white toes.

Her skin was a pale blue—save for the redness on her cheeks and nose, due to the cold. Her eyes were a deep shade of maroon, and her light blue hair was styled in a short bob, with bangs that were cut into a rather unique V-shape, accented by two dark blue stripes along the center.

She stood with one closed hand in the air, about to knock —and evidently hesitating— but was deprived of the chance to do so. Her eyes were wide; clearly she did not expect the door to be opened like this, but she managed to get her bearings quickly and withdrew her arm, clutching her hands together on her chest.

“Um… I wasn’t sure what else to-WHAAAA!?”

She was quickly cut off when the shy girl’s instincts kicked in.

Fluttershy grabbed her arm and yanked her inside, then she twisted it behind her back, causing the stranger to grunt in pain as her shoulder was wrenched around, her arm pulled to an impossible angle and placed between her shoulder blades. She had no choice but to obey when Fluttershy pushed her over to the table and bent her forward, slamming the side of her head down against the wood with a loud thud.

The visitor squeezed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth, wincing as a sharp pain rang through her skull. “OOOWWEEEEEEEE!”

“What are you doing here, Sonata?!” Fluttershy whisper-shouted.

The siren didn’t answer.

The shy girl turned to look at the empty doorway, then back at Sonata. “Where are the other two!?” she asked, shoving the siren’s head even harder against the wood.

The blue-haired girl grunted. Squeezing her eyes shut with her mouth opened wide, she panted a few quick breaths in an attempt to control the pain, and then answered.

“I… I don’t know!”

Fluttershy tightened her grip yet again. “What do you mean, you don’t know?”

“I don’t know where they are! F-for realz!” She opened her eyes and tried to look back at the shy girl. “I… I ran away!”

The scowl on Fluttershy’s brow softened, and a look of dubiety began to creep in. “You… ran away?”

Sonata nodded—or she tried, rather; her freedom to move was restricted by the shy girl’s grip, after all.

“Why!?” Fluttershy asked, hardening her tone again.

“I… I just wanted to, because of something somebody said to me… a few weeks ago.” She winced and let out a grunt; the pain in her shoulder had begun to radiate through her entire body, so she quickly decided to finish telling her story in hopes that the shy girl would release her. “I left while Dagi and Ari were asleep, so they couldn’t stop me from leaving. I didn’t know where to go; I knew I couldn’t go back to Canterlot, but I was getting hungry… and cold, and I remembered hearing something about a Rainboom saving the school or something, so I asked some people at an old diner about it and I found out it was you. So I decided to come here, because I remember you being kind of nice...” She tilted her head slightly to look at Fluttershy. “A-at least, I thought you were nice…”

The aggression left Fluttershy’s face after hearing the Siren’s story, and her eyes began to drift along the tabletop as she processed what she’d just been told.

This was an unexpected turn of events, especially given how long the three sisters had been wandering this world together.

What was said to this girl that would make her want to do this, to make her seek out an enemy?

Fluttershy brought her eyes back to Sonata. “So, you came here to… ask me for help?”

Sonata nodded quickly. “I didn’t know what else to do. Like… I have nothing. No money, no food, nowhere to sleep; Dagi was the one who always looked after that stuff. She’s smart! I didn’t expect it to be this hard on my own, and… I tried to go back, but… they were gone, and now I can’t find them. I don’t know where they went! And... I didn’t know what else to do, so... I came here.”

A sense of compassion began to develop in Fluttershy’s conscience; she stared vacantly, realising that the siren’s intrusion here was nothing more than an act of desperation. Her instincts led her here, but it couldn’t have been an easy decision to make. Before she had much time to ruminate, however, Sonata’s voice once again grabbed her attention.

“Um… do you think you could let me go? This is kind of hurting my arm—like, a lot, actually.”

“Oh!” Fluttershy’s brows rose when she took notice of the stomach-turning angle that she was holding Sonata’s arm at, so she let her wrist go and then slowly released the pressure from the back of her neck.

Sonata placed her hands on the table and straightened up slowly as Fluttershy backed away, chewing her thumbnail.

What was she going to do with this girl?

The two stared tentatively at one another; Sonata faced Fluttershy and leaned against the table, rubbing her shoulder. It was then that the shy girl noticed how rough the siren actually looked: her face was pale—aside from the rosiness her cheeks and nose, which was running slightly. Her eyes were bloodshot, with dark, puffy lines beneath them, and her eyelids looked heavy. All of it was an obvious sign that it’d been quite a while since she’d seen a full meal and a decent night’s sleep.

A gust of air came into the room suddenly, bringing the November chill with it.

Fluttershy glanced outside. The front door still needed to be closed, but she was reluctant to turn her back on the siren to do it.

“Linkie!”

Without delay, the big, shaggy cat leapt over the back of the couch and pranced across the floor, his claws clacking along the wood as he went. When he approached the door, he lowered his head and pushed it shut, then he turned and headed back to the couch.

“Thanks, cutie,” Fluttershy said sweetly, keeping her eyes locked on the pale, blue visitor.

Sonata watched with wonderment as Link jumped over the couch and found a comfortable cushion to lie on, out of the curious siren’s sight.

*****

I was lying on Fluttershy’s bed, twirling the queen between my fingers.

“Don’t worry, your majesty,” I reassured the inanimate monarch, “it’s awesome in there. You’re gonna love it.”

I chuckled quietly, giving myself a proverbial pat on the back for my brilliant sense of humour when I began to listen for Fluttershy. Admittedly, I was becoming somewhat impatient, especially now that the sound of chess pieces being picked up had disappeared and was replaced by silence.

What the heck is she doing? I rubbed my forehead, grunting impatiently. Why couldn’t she just leave that shit for later? It’s not like she won’t know if Link starts to-

I heard the front door open, prompting me to stop and listen. I stared at the wall, brows furrowed as I heard the sound of an unfamiliar voice speaking quietly, followed by the sounds of a struggle: the shuffling of feet, grunting voices, the rustling of clothing and finally, the heavy thud of something hitting the tabletop, followed by:

“OOOWWEEEEEEEE!”

“What the…? Who the hell’s that?” I whispered as I set the queen aside and sat on the edge of the bed, listening intently.

Some back and forth talking filled the next few moments, with Fluttershy sounding rather aggressive at the start. The conversation came down the hall in nothing but murmurs, leaving me to guess at what they might have been talking about.

Obviously, Fluttershy was OK on her own, but my curiosity was starting to get the better of me, so I decided to go out there to see what was going on. As I stood from the bed, a cool breeze slid down the hall and swirled into the room, followed by Fluttershy speaking a single word that I didn’t quite hear. Once I entered the hall, I saw Link jump over the back of the couch; a few seconds following that, I heard the front door close, then another murmur from Fluttershy just as Link returned to his spot by leaping over the back of the couch again.

When I entered the front room, I found Fluttershy and a mysterious blue-haired girl standing by the table, staring apprehensively at one another. When I stopped at the far end, my foot scuffed on the floor, which drew the attention of both girls to me.

Fluttershy had a look of distress on her face, as if something she really didn’t want to deal with had just been unexpectedly dropped in her lap.

The other girl looked, for lack of a better word, confused… and kind of sickly, to be honest.

“Uh… hi?” I said, cocking my head as my eyes went from the blue-haired girl to Fluttershy to give her an inquisitive look.

The shy girl sighed, cleared her hair from her face and then rolled her eyes. “Um… Goldie? This is Sonata. Um… Dusk.” As she spoke, she raised a hand and gestured to the other girl, then she let it flop back down to her side.

Sonata gave me an innocent-looking wave, smiling weakly as the shy girl raised a finger at her.

“Um… could you stay there for just a sec?”

Sonata put her hands behind her back and nodded.

Fluttershy headed over to me and put her hand on my shoulder, turning me around so we both faced the couch. “Oh goodness…” she sighed, “why is it always me who has to deal with these things lately?”

“Well, Flutters... I’ve told you before: once you order a hooker, it can be really hard to cancel them if you change your mind.”

“Goldie! She’s not a hooker!” Fluttershy huffed, then lowered her voice to a whisper. “She’s a… a siren!”

I leaned away and glared at the shy girl with wide eyes. “What? You mean…?”

She nodded quickly.

“What the fuck…” I whispered, looking over my shoulder at the girl, who was taking a quick scan of the room. It had been centuries since my own run-in with the musical trio, but on second glance —and after looking past the modern clothing and hairstyle— there did seem to be a vague familiarity with this one. Motherfucker, I thought as I looked her up and down.

I turned back to Fluttershy. “What’s she doing here? I thought they hated you guys.”

“They do... I-I think,” she replied, “but she says she ran away from them. She’s got nowhere to go and nothing to eat. She says she came here for help; she didn’t know what else to do.”

“Hm… she does look pretty rough,” I admitted, giving Sonata another glance. “How do we know it’s not a trick? You know the kind of conniving bitches they are. It could be a ruse to get closer to you guys or something.”

“Maybe,” Fluttershy glanced over her shoulder, keeping tabs on the visitor. “I thought of that too, but, um… what if she’s telling the truth? What if she really does need our help? I don’t wanna send her away if she doesn’t mean any harm.”

“Right. So what d’you wanna do then?”

The shy girl covered her face. “Ohh… I don’t know! Why’d this have to happen right now? I can’t deal wi-“

“Flutters... you know what I’m going to say to that, right?”

She paused briefly and then let her hands drop to her sides as a defeated sigh blasted from her mouth. “These things don’t wait for us to be ready, they just happen when they feel like it,” she recited with a roll of her eyes.

I nodded. “OK. So what do you wanna do?”

“Oh…” she glanced at Sonata. “I… I don’t know! I don’t wanna be responsible for letting a traitor in, but what if she really is in trouble?”

After a pause, I sighed and pulled my phone out. “We need Sunny.”

Fluttershy’s brows rose. “Oh. Yeah… um, good idea.”

“She can read her mind and tell us what’s up—and if she’s bad news, we’ll just kill her,” I explained as I typed on my phone.

A gasp came from the shy girl.

“What?” I shrugged. “If you send her away, she’s just gonna freeze or starve anyway. It’s more humane to just finish her off and be done with it. Those are your choices: either kill her, or help her.”

“Ohh,” she shook her head and folded her arms. “That’s… I don’t know about that. It doesn’t feel right.”

“Well, maybe I’m not the best guy to ask about this sort of thing. I dunno. That’s OK though: we don’t need to worry about it just yet. I sent Sunny a message; hopefully she and Rare aren’t too busy,” I said, slipping the phone back into my pocket. “Let’s just wait until she gets here, then we’ll figure out what we’re gonna do.”

Fluttershy nodded and turned to look at the siren, who was still propped against the table, looking down at her hands. If this whole thing was a deception, I had to give her credit; she really did look quite forlorn, and it was difficult not to feel bad for her.

“What should we do in the meantime?” I asked my girlfriend, who returned a look to me. “It’s your decision, Flutters. Whatever you wanna do, I’ll support you, one hundred percent.”

She sighed and then studied the visitor once more. “She does look pretty hungry.”

I smirked and gave her shoulder a little squeeze. “So let’s feed her.”

I made my way to the counter as Fluttershy approached Sonata, resting her hands on the back of one of the chairs. “Um… excuse me?”

Sonata looked up at her, nervously.

“Are you hungry?”

The siren’s eyes lit up. She smiled and nodded eagerly, like a five year old.

Fluttershy forced a smile in return. “Well, um, what would you like?”

“Do you think you could make me some tacos?”

Fluttershy paused and rubbed her arm. “Um… no, sorry. W-we don’t have the stuff to make them.”

“Oh…” Sonata’s expression sank a bit. “Are you sure? Maybe you could check?” she asked, her eyes showing one last glimmer of hope.

I leaned on the table with my hands, prompting Sonata to turn and look at me. “Listen: the only kind of tacos that get eaten around here aren’t the kind you really need right now, so… pick something else.”

Sonata looked at me for a moment, then she slowly turned back to Fluttershy as she furrowed her brows, unsure of how to react.

“Um… I can make you some canned soup pretty quick. How about that?” Fluttershy suggested.

Sonata’s stomach growled just then, answering on her behalf. She glanced down at herself for a moment and then nodded. “OK.”

Fluttershy smiled and stepped closer, hand outstretched. “Can I, um… take your coat?”

Sonata paused, surprised, but then she unbuttoned the black outerwear and slipped it off, revealing a pink skirt slung below a burgundy jacket with three light-blue ties across the front.

“Why don’t you have a seat?” Fluttershy said, gesturing to a chair as she took Sonata’s coat with the other arm.

Sonata did as suggested and pulled a chair out to sit on it, but as she did so, she turned to Fluttershy, who was taking her coat to hang it up. “Um… hey?”

The shy girl stopped and looked at her.

“Thank you... for this.”

I stopped what I was doing and turned to see the Fluttershy’s reaction.

She paused and blinked a few times, and then she smiled warmly. “You’re welcome. And… I’m sorry if I hurt your shoulder.”

Author's Note

Ridiculous. But it has animals in it, so...

Though I did find the end of the second verse kind of funny.

Oh, and holy shit, Sonata Dusk!

*Chapter 105: The New Girl

Chapter 105

With Sunset in the passenger seat, Rarity pulled into Fluttershy’s driveway just a few minutes after 4:00am. The two had been deep in conversation the entire drive, having been summoned by text message to Fluttershy's house.

“I'm afraid I don't quite understand what that means, darling,” the fashionista said as she pulled the key from the ignition and opened the driver’s door.

"The Crown, Rare," Sunset replied. "They're basically the prosecutors in criminal proceedings, but their role isn't necessarily to try to convict the person charged; it’s to be an unbiased presenter of evidence in the case. I told Shiny he should apply for it. I mean, the worst that can happen is that he won’t get the job, right?"

"Indeed," Rarity said as she swung her feet out and placed them on the ground. "And I certainly do wish him all the best; that would be a tremendous step forward for his career."

"Oh, absolutely," Sunset agreed as they stepped out of the car and closed the doors, wearing their regular attire—each with the added comfort of a jacket. Sunset sighed a visible cloud into the chilly air. She looked at the front of the house, taking note that the outside light was on. "Hm." She glanced at Rarity. “I wonder what Golds wanted,” she muttered, looking over the car at the fashionista, who shrugged and rolled her eyes, followed by a smirk.

“I am not certain, darling, but if it has anything to do with something going inside something else until there’s a mess to clean up, then I’ll be glad we made the trip.”

Sunset chuckled. “Nah. I'm sure Flutters already has that looked after.”

“I wouldn't be shocked in the least, but we mustn’t rule anything out; one never knows, darling!” Rarity replied as she rounded the front of her car and headed for the door.

Sunset smirked, listening to the salacious giggle that came from the indigo-haired girl as she joined her by the front door, using her index finger to sweep a lock of that brunette hair from her cheek after it’d been put it there by a small breeze. When she did, her sense of smell picked up the aroma of Rarity’s womanhood, which was still lingering on her face. She then found herself gazing at the fashionista, wondering how she would have felt about their earlier activities if she was still mortal: would she be horrified? Would she ever be able to be near Rarity again without it being awkward?

She really had no idea, and in truth, she didn’t care. Sunset thoroughly enjoyed the things they did together that night, and she would do it again in a heartbeat, whether it was with Rarity or Fluttershy.

Beside her, Rarity took the handle with one hand and gave a polite knock with the other before opening the door to peer inside.

“Oh, darlings! Are you in here? Is someone in need of a lady’s touch? Because we can certainly-“

When Sunset and Rarity stepped inside together, they were instantly stopped by a shocking sight, preceded by the agitated voice of Golden Arrow.

*****

With the counter to my back, I leaned on the table with one hand and raised a finger with the other. “I’m gonna spell this out for you, one… last… time: We. Do NOT. Have. TACOS! Got it!?”

Fluttershy stood next to me with hopelessness in her eyes, covering her mouth and shaking her head.

The girl who sat across the table from me pointed a blue finger around the kitchen. “Yeah, maybe... but, are you for realz sure? There’s still a few cupboards you haven’t checked yet.”

After a wide-eyed glare, I stood upright and threw my hands up. “Alright, that’s it! Thumb, meet forehead!”

Fluttershy gasped and reached out to grab my shoulder with both hands, trying feebly to stop me from rounding the table toward Sonata. “No! Goldie... Goldie, stop! Don’t do it!”

At the same time, we heard voices from outside, followed by the front door opening.

I peeled my eyes from the vacuous smile on Sonata’s face to see who it was, and was quickly relieved when I saw Rarity and Sunset’s faces there, staring in shock at the blue-haired girl seated at Fluttershy’s table.

“Thank Christ! Get in here!” I shouted, holding a hand out to wave them inside before turning away to go back to the far side of the table.

Sonata turned to look at the new arrivals and tapped her index fingertips together. “Um… hi,” she greeted timidly.

Rarity was the first to react; her eyes widened and then she inhaled quickly. “You!” she growled, raising a finger as she stepped forward. “I thought I told you-”

Sunset gasped and quickly gripped Rarity’s shoulder to pull her back, making the fashionista look at her in surprise.

With a cautious glare, Sunset shook her head.

Realising she’d nearly exposed herself, Rarity paused and then slowly turned back to a confused-looking Sonata. “I-I mean, I thought I… er... recognised you; w-what are you doing here?”

“Um…” the Siren paused, picking at the tabletop with her fingernail, “I… ran away from Dagi and Aria.”

Rarity and Sunset stood by the door, dumbfounded. After staring at Sonata for a moment, they glanced at me and Fluttershy, and then at each other.

“Psst!”

After summoning their attention, Fluttershy and I waved the them over.

They made their way around the table to us, looking as though they weren’t exactly sure which planet they were on. We backed away a few steps to meet them at the far end, out of earshot of the siren.

Rarity folded her arms as she approached, ducking her head to speak quietly. “Darlings, what the fuck is this?” She paused to glance back at Sonata. “How did this happen?”

Fluttershy held a hand next to her mouth and whispered her reply. “I don’t know! She just showed up here, saying she ran away from the other two and that she was lost and hungry, and she needed some place to go.”

Sunset cocked a brow. “When?”

Fluttershy shrugged. “Like an hour or so ago. It sounds like she’s been on her own for a couple weeks; she didn’t know what else to do.”

“It’s a trick!” Rarity assserted, raising a finger. “What else could it be? Why else would she be here? The other two have clearly sent her to scope us out, to find our weaknesses,” —she shook a fist in defiance— “well they’re not gonna find one, that much I can promise!”

“Uh, well they could technically fuck with our homes or hurt the people around us,” Sunset pointed out.

“No matter,” Rarity fired back. “We’re onto their little scheme, and we shall put a stop to it right here and now!”

“I don’t know, Rare, she was really cold when she got here—and hungry,” Fluttershy explained. “Something’s not right. It really did seem like she’d been on her own for quite a while; do you really think the other two would put her through all that just for a... a scheme?”

“Plus,” I added, “she would definitely not be my first choice to send on an espionage mission, based on what I’ve seen of her already.”

“But perhaps that’s the trick, darling. It could all be an act.” Rarity rubbed her chin. “Not only that, I specifically told her that they were to stay out of Canterlot, and yet she has blatantly disobeyed my order. Clearly she cannot be trusted after showing such defiance!”

“This isn’t Canterlot,” Sunset reminded her. “And it was technically a threat, not an order. Not that it matters.”

“Yes, I’m aware of that,” the fashionista chided. “But regardless, I don’t like it. They are up to no good, I tell you; I just know it!”

I pointed at the brunette. “That’s why I asked for Sunny to come out, so she can find out what’s really going on.”

After a quick pause, Sunset rolled her eyes and groaned. “Oooof course you did.”

“Yes, absolutely!” Rarity snapped a finger. “You get inside her mind and expose their plan, and then I will dispatch her quickly. We shall send her back to the others in several boxes to send a clear message: do NOT fuck with us!”

I rolled my eyes and pulled Rarity against me, rubbing her shoulders. “OK Rare… you need to slow down, alright? You’re getting a little ahead of yourself here—and kinda freaky, to be honest.”

“Yeah, why are you so fired up about this?” Sunset asked.

“I ju-… I just… unnngh…” the fashionista buried her face in my chest and whimpered. Then she wrapped her arms around me and hooked her hands behind the small of my back.

Fluttershy approached and placed her hand between Rarity’s shoulder blades. “It’s OK, Rare. I understand how you feel, but we shouldn’t jump to conclusions just yet. We have to let Sunset do her thing first before we can, um… decide what to do.”

Rarity let out a quiet groan, and then removed her face from my chest to look across the table at Sonata. “Fine. Let’s get it over with, and you shall see that I was right all along,” she boasted. Then she folded her arms and looked at Sunset. “Well, get on with it!”

Sunset took a moment to prepare herself. She took a deep breath and exhaled through pursed lips, wagging a pair of loose hands before turning toward the siren. “OK. Here it goes.”

The three of us watched intently as the brunette made a cautious circle around the table to approach Sonata. Keeping her arms folded, Rarity leaned back, letting her shoulders rest against me as she glowered at the siren; Fluttershy stood at my side, taking my hand in hers while covering her mouth with the other.

Sonata kept her eyes on Sunset as she approached, withdrawing somewhat as the brunette pulled the adjacent chair out and sat sideways, facing her.

Sunset let her arm rest on the table, tapping her fingers lightly on the smooth wood as she let out a long exhale, studying her adversary. After a moment of considering how to begin, Sunset finally spoke.

“Do you… remember me?”

Sonata looked at her with a pair of big, maroon eyes, twiddling fingers that Sunset could see were trembling with anxiety. She nodded and opened her mouth to speak, hesitantly. “You’re the one who beat us... I think. I thought your hair was red?”

“Oh...” Sunset’s eyes crossed as they looked up to that brown spiral that hung over her forehead. “Yeah, that’s... I dyed my hair for, um... a project.” She then returned her eyes to Sonata. “And it wasn’t just me,” she corrected. “It was all of us who beat you. Together. I just joined in late, because I wasn’t sure if it was my place to help.” She paused and let out a sigh. “Not long before that, I did bad things, just like the three of you.”

Sonata looked down at the table and sighed. “I know.”

The brunette leaned forward to see into the siren’s eyes. “Do you think you could tell us what happened? When did you leave the other two?”

Sonata looked solemnly at Sunset. “A few weeks ago, I just… left.” She shrugged and shook her head. “I felt like I needed a change.”

Sunset rubbed her bottom lip thoughtfully. “OK... so you were out on your own for two… three weeks? And you had nowhere to go, so you came here?”

The siren nodded. “It was getting cold out.”

“How do you feel now?”

“Better,” Sonata nodded, “now that I ate. I still feel kinda weird though.”

“Do you feel sick at all?” Sunset asked, seeing an opportunity to move in. She brought her hand toward Sonata’s forehead, causing her to flinch. “Hey, it’s OK,” Sunset softly reassured her. “I’m just gonna check you for a fever.”

Sonata relaxed slowly, and she allowed Sunset’s hand come against her brow. The brunette closed her eyes, her brows furrowed immediately.

I knew that look. Although Sonata hadn’t been around quite as long as me, I could tell by Sunset’s expression that there was still a long history hidden away in that seemingly empty head, and it was clearly taking her a minute to sort it all out.

When she finally withdrew her hand, Sunset gave her head a shake and blinked a few times, her expression one of distress.

“Um… I-I think you’ll be fine,” she said to Sonata, her voice uneven. She rose slowly from the chair. “Could you excuse me for one moment?”

Sonata nodded and looked down into her lap, unaware that her mind had just been invaded and scrutinized so closely.

“Well?” Rarity asked softly as Sunset approached us, rubbing her temple. “What are they up to? What sort of rubbish are they planning?”

“Nothing,” Sunset answered, then raised a finger to specify. “Actually, I don’t know about the other two, but she definitely isn’t up to anything.”

Rarity and Fluttershy were silent for a moment, but then Rarity raised a finger and shook it. “She is quite naïve; perhaps she is being used by them and is unaware of it. They could be following her to see where she’s going so they could learn our whereabouts, a-and-“

Sunset shook her head. “First of all, they know where we live. All of us.”

Fluttershy covered her mouth and looked at her girlfriend, who also looked rather concerned by this revelation.

“So… what then? Do they intend to strike?” Rarity asked. “Come now, out with it, Sunset! We simply must know their plan so we can put a stop to it!”

“Relax, Rare. They don’t have a plan—not that I know of, anyway. They haven’t moved in on us because, quite frankly, they’re scared of us.”

Rarity raised a brow. “Scared? But… when I had my encounter with them, all they spoke of was how they were going to have their revenge, and how superior they are to us; nothing but arrogance and hubris if you ask me, especially from Adagio.”

Sunset shook her head. “It’s all an act. Deep down, they know we beat them —at their best, too— and now they’re just normal women; they’re afraid of us because they know we’d probably beat them again.”

“Are they aware of the… you know,” —Rarity leaned in to whisper— “the immortality?”

“No,” Sunset replied shortly. “They don’t even know about the powers we got at the camp.”

“Hm.” Rarity rubbed her chin thoughtfully, and then looked up at Sunset again. “Is there a second of all?”

“Yeah. Sonata’s not spying on us, and the others aren’t following her around without her knowing. They can’t be.”

Rarity was taken aback by this. “Are you certain?”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah. She was thinking about leaving for a week or so before she did it, and she never mentioned it to them at all; she just left one night while they were asleep, so there’s no way they could have planned something like that with her. They don’t even know where she is.”

“Oh dear,” Fluttershy whispered. “So… she was telling the truth.”

“Yup,” Sunset said, glancing back at the siren as she ran a hand up her midsection to her chest, where she cupped her breast and squeezed it gently. “And it was because of you, Rare,” she continued as she turned to look at a surprised Rarity.

“Me?”

The brunette nodded, biting her lip. “Yeah. I saw you in her mind, wearing the suit. You’re the one who gave her the idea to leave.” Sunset gave the fashionista a little smirk. “You told her she was sweet.”

Rarity’s jaw went slack; she stared blankly at her friend. “You… I just… I-I was simply… I was trying my hand at some ‘divide and conquer’ tactics,” she stammered. “I didn’t think it would actually work, and I CERTAINLY didn’t intend for her to end up here!”

Sunset cocked her head and shrugged. “Well… it’d been a long time since she heard anyone say anything nice about her, and I guess she took it to heart.”

“Ohh…” Fluttershy covered her mouth as she watched the lonely-looking girl sitting at her table. “That’s so sad.”

Rarity sighed and rubbed her forehead, eyes closed. “I simply cannot believe this.” After a short pause, her eyes popped open suddenly and she moved her hand to look at the brunette. “Wait a minute... does she know I’m the Dark Mistress?”

“No.” Sunset shook her head. She released her breast and then folded her arms over them. “She didn’t take this decision lightly, Rare, just so you know. I mean, think about it: the three of them are sisters; they’ve been together for ages. It wasn’t easy for her to do what she did, but she did it because she thought maybe it was time for something new, to make things better for herself.” Sunset turned to look at the siren again. “In a way… I actually kind of admire her for it. It took guts to do what she did, leaving them like that... without even saying goodbye.” She turned back to face us, licking her lips. “She misses them. Leaving them behind was the hardest thing she’s ever done. It devastated her, and she needs help; she needs someone to support her, because… uhh, fuck!... I-I think she really wanted to make things... uh, better, and she needs to know that she did the right thing.”

“So… um, what do you think we should do?” Fluttershy asked softly.

Rarity sneered. “You’re not suggesting we actually take her in, are y-” Her question was cut short, however; her vitriol transitioned into a vacant scowl as she watched Sunset’s hand slowly make its way down her midsection to her crotch, where she cupped her mound and began to rub it firmly.

The three of us —and Sonata— stared in blank silence as the brunette fondled herself before us, her eyes drifting shut.

“Darling; are you… feeling alright?”

Sunset’s eyes popped open suddenly, realising that she had in fact trailed off, and was now brazenly touching herself in front of everyone. “Uhh…” She brought her hand up, her cheeks darkening a shade or two. “Ugh… sorry guys, I’m… having trouble concentrating,” she confessed, hanging her head as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

Fluttershy reached out to give Sunset’s shoulder a rub. “It’s a lot to take in, Sunset. I kn-”

“No, it’s not that, it’s…” Sunset cut in, but then she stopped for a second before pointing at me.

My eyes widened when I saw that finger aimed at my face like a gun, which prompted the other two girls to turn and face me.

Rarity scowled and shook her head. “Oh, darling!”

“What?” I shrugged, scowling back. “It’s not like I’m doing it on purpose; it’s her magic that’s causing it!”

The fashionista sneered and gave my shoulder a backhand. “Well don’t just stand there,” she scolded, pointing down the hall to Fluttershy’s bedroom. “Take her in back and relieve her!”

“Oh Jesus, fine!” I huffed, throwing my hands in the air. “Looks like it’s Golds’ job to be everybody’s FUCKIN servant tonight! Make me tacos; don’t kill the siren; cum in my pussy... GOD!”

With a shake of my head, I turned and headed down the hall, waving the brunette along as I went. “Come on, Sunny, let’s go.”

A smirk crossed Sunset’s face as she glanced at the fashionista. “Thanks Rare,” she said as she laced her fingers together and cracked her knuckles. “I’ll see you ladies in a bit.”

“Have fun, darling. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“Ha! Well that’s a pretty short list,” Sunset quipped, her voice echoing down the hall as she departed.

Fluttershy and Rarity turned back to face the table, where a concerned-looking siren was sitting.

“Uh… wait,” Sonata raised a finger and cocked her head, “what was the second thing he said?”

Fluttershy’s eyebrows rose. “Oh… um, nothing. It’s OK.”

Sonata looked a bit dubious of the answer, but she decided to let it go and simply nodded.

The three stood in silence for a moment, staring awkwardly at one another. Fluttershy’s hands were folded; she looked somewhat unsure of the situation, as did the siren. Rarity, however, looked quite hostile: her arms were folded and she was glaring sharply at Sonata, watching her attentively.

“Nice haircut, darling.”

Sonata met eyes with the fashionista, reaching behind her head where her long ponytail once hung. “Oh… yeah, I… uh, it got cut off.”

“I see that.”

Tense silence followed.

*****

In Fluttershy’s bathroom, however, tension was being released.

“Wow, seriously? You and Rare got it on tonight?”

“Uuuhh-huh,” Sunset moaned, leaning on the vanity top.

She was bent forward slightly, her back curved so her derrière pointed outwards. Her black tights and red thong were wrapped around her left ankle, her body jarring with each thrust it took from the rear. From my position, I could see her face in the mirror; her eyes were closed, her brow furrowed, mouth open. It was always a lovely sight, seeing Sunset’s face contorted with pleasure, and tonight, I had the choice of seeing that, or I could look down and see those beautifully perfect cheeks, jiggling playfully each time they collided with my hips. Beyond that, my stiff length was wedged tightly between those thick, amber lips, sliding deep into her tender, hot moisture again and again.

“Huh…” I shook my head as I held her hip tightly with one hand. The other reached around her, where it slid up inside her shirt to wiggle my fingers inside her bra so I could hold onto her breast, enjoying the feel of that stiff nipple tickling my palm. “So… how’d it go?”

“Oohhh…” she let her head hang and then shook it, her long, dark locks swinging over the sink. Her womanhood gripped me tightly, spreading its juice along my length as I worked my way in and out. “It was… fucking hot!” She brought her head up quickly, throwing her hair behind her back as she locked those turquoise eyes onto my reflection. “She is SO fucking sexy, I can’t even… and her pussy?” —her eyes rolled back, eyelids fluttering— “Oooooh, it’s like eating a flower from heaven.”

“Yeah I can definitely vouch for that,” I agreed, tightening my grip on her breast.

“Mmmmmm,” she closed her eyes and licked her bottom lip, enjoying the fulfilling sensation of my length pummeling her insides.

“What kind of stuff did you guys do?”

“She… oohh, she tied me up and fingered me, then she used my tit to stroke her pussy… and… AAAAH!” The ability to speak had been temporarily stolen from her; she squeezed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth, her knees trembling weakly, calling for her to prop them against the vanity to keep herself steady.

“What else did she do?”

“Um… mmmm… she uh, used her tongue...” she gasped, squeezing her eyes shut.

I slid my hand from her hip to reach around her. “Where’d she lick you? Here?” I dipped my finger into the warmth of her slit, using the slick coating between her folds to stroke her clit.

Her entire frame buckled in response, her upper body nearly collapsing onto the countertop before she caught herself. “Oohhh fuck… YES! Right there!” she cried, panting heavily as I continued to hilt myself in her depths, her legs quivering as I traced rapid little circles around that sensitive bud. “Sh-sh-she… w-we ate eat other like a couple of www-w-w-wild animals; I… fuck! It was so good, Golds… you should have been there!”

“I bet,” I said, closing my eyes to steady myself. The sensation of her interior gliding along my length, its distinct texture squeezing and teasing me, combined with the mental image of her and Rarity lapping away at one another’s delicious flesh had sent me reeling, and I had to take a moment to gather myself in order to remember what I was going to say. “I know, speaking from experience, that Rare’s mouth is really good at more than just talking.”

“Oohhh yeah,” she moaned, tipping her head back with her mouth open, eyes closed. “Don’t… don’t stop! I… I’m gonna cum!”

I did as ordered and sure enough, after mere seconds of impaling her with my manhood, slapping her backside with my hips and teasing her clit with my finger, her back stiffened and she began to tremble violently. Her teeth clenched, bearing the release of pleasure that had just exploded throughout her body.

“NNNGHH!” she grunted, letting her head hang as the rest of her body melted like putty in my hands, her sopping wet interior squeezing my length rhythmically, pulsing like a stack of subs at a night club as her hands clamoured around the countertop to find something to steady herself on. Her fingers mindlessly wrapped themselves around one of the faucet handles and pulled, turning the water on when it moved unintentionally, which caused her hand to slip off. “Ahh… huh?” she panted, opening her eyes when she heard the sound of water hissing into the sink. “Sh-shit!… Oops…”

In the meantime, I hadn’t let up on Sunset. It was always my opinion that just because a lady was having an orgasm, that was no reason to stop fucking her—unless it appeared to be bothering her. Not only that, it was comical watching her try to turn the faucet off, and I found myself wondering why she even cared in the first place.

Her dexterity was shot; she could hardly see with her eyelids fluttering shut—not surprising with the amount of sensation that was bombarding her, making normally simple tasks a challenge to complete, like turning off a faucet.

She reached for the handle and missed. Instead, she ended up slapping the bottom of the sink and splashed water all over the counter.

“Damn it!” she huffed, bringing her hand up to shake it off. “Oh, fuck it,” she panted, shaking her head as she gave up and leaned on the rim of the sink, letting the water run.

Her climax died not long after, and I had since moved my hand back to her hip to grip it with slippery fingers as I continued to thrust into her depths, which were now much sloppier in the wake of her orgasm, making our fucking much noisier than before.

She brought her eyes up again, watching my face in the mirror. Then a smirk began to form in the corner of her mouth—which I noticed.

“What?” I asked.

Her eyelids fluttered, and she licked her lips, then pursed them. “You’re so cute, pretending to be mad about having to fuck me.”

“Heh. Yyyyeah...” I smiled back at her. “I was just messin around.”

She giggled softly and then let her head hang, her amusement transitioning into a long moan as her body received more of that deep, wonderful sensation.

“So... what else did you guys get up to tonight?” I asked, speaking up so she could hear me over the fleshy squipping sounds combined with the running water. “You see any action in the streets?”

“Ummm…” Again, she raised her head and bit her lip, eyes closed. “There was a s-s-stolen welding truck… some people breaking into a sh-shop with it…”

I closed my eyes, feeling the pressure begin to elevate in my nether regions. “Y-you put a stop to it?”

“Uuuuhhh… mmm, uh-huh…” she nodded, licking her lips. “I even ch-choke-slammed some punk chick into a ga... ga... GARBAGE CAN!”

“Noice!” I smirked as I looked down at her ass, watching my hips hammer those cheeks ruthlessly.

“Oh my-... fuck! You’re gonna cum soon, aren’t you?” she whispered between breaths, forcing her eyes open to look at me in the mirror.

“Yeah,” I panted, my fingers sinking deeper into her breast as I tightened my grip on it.

“Oh yeah... I can feel it getting harder,” she moaned, pausing to swallow. “Fuck my pussy, Golds! I want you to make me even wetter; pump me full with that fucking big dick!”

I watched her face in the mirror, her brows furrowing as she moaned with delight, feeling the member inside her swell up in preparation for release.

“Fuck... almost there, Sunny… you ready?”

“YES!” she huffed, her legs quivering with anticipation. “Do it! Cum inside me!”

The sound of her voice begging for my seed finally sent me over the edge. I burst inside of her without restraint, feeding her loins the hot, thick gushes of fluid that her magic had been making her crave so badly. My heart raced as her tight flesh gripped my sensitive head, overloading my mind with intense pleasure; each subtle movement caused me to pulse again and again until the flow began to subside, leaving me a twitching, creamy mess, lodged deep inside her.

Sunset let her head hang, panting hard as the tips of her dark locks dipped into the sink, wetted by the running water. “Fuck…” she whispered, turning her head slightly as she reached out and turned the handle to shut the water off.

She looked into the mirror at me with those turquoise eyes full of satisfaction, her mouth slightly ajar as she waited for her breathing to return to normal. A smirk curled one side of her mouth, followed by a quiet chuckle. “You: never stop being this awesome.”

I closed my eyes and leaned forward to reach around her, wrapping my forearms around her belly as I rested my cheek between her shoulder blades. “It’s not just me who’s awesome, Sunny,” I replied, listening to her heartbeat through her back.

“Hm,” she giggled softly, aimlessly studying the water droplets on the vanity top.

We remained like this for a few minutes, enjoying the heat of that thick pool that’d been planted deep in her loins.

Eventually, Sunset straightened up, prompting me to lift my head from her back. She turned to face me over her shoulder so I could lean in for a kiss.

After separating our lips, we stared into each other eyes for a moment, followed by a smile from her.

“Well…” she said, giving my bottom lip a nibble, “I guess we’d better clean up and get back out there so we can figure out what to do with this fucking siren.”

“Yeah, probably,” I replied, before planting one more peck on her lips.

*****

Sunset returned to the front room with her fingers laced through her hair, tousling it vigorously as I followed not far behind.

I stopped at the end of the hallway, folded my arms and leaned on the wall while Sunset rejoined Rarity and Fluttershy at the end of the table with a blissful sigh.

Rarity turned to the brunette and raised a brow. “And how are we doing now?”

Sunset nodded. “I feel loads better.”

“Right then, if I might make a suggestion?” the fashinoista replied, pointing her nose into the air rather smartly.

Sunset returned an inquisitive look.

“Perhaps next time you might... close the bathroom door?”

“Oh...” Sunset cringed a little bit. “Could you guys hear us?”

“Well, we...” Rarity’s eyes shifted upward and she waved her hand in a circle. “Errr... we did hear some the, uh... louder bits.”

“Oh...”

“No matter, what’s done is done. Oh, and... ‘flower from heaven?’ Thank you, darling, I am quite flattered.” The fashionista waved the compliment away to change the sunject. “Have you made a decision on what is to be the fate of Miss Dusk here?”

Sunset clapped her hands and rubbed them together. “Yeah. She stays.”

“It’s settled then. We shall take her out back and- WHAT!?” Rarity’s eyes popped open; her jaw nearly hit the floor. “What do you mean ‘she stays?’”

Sunset raised her brows and drew a breath. “She made the decision to change her life for the better, and I think we should support her. She can’t do it on her own,” she explained, facing the siren.

Sonata’s eyes lit up and she clasped her hands together. “I can stay with you guys? For realzies!?”

The brunette smiled and nodded, then turned to Fluttershy. “Is it OK if she stays here for a few days until we figure out a permanent place for her?”

“Oh… um…” Fluttershy paused, rubbing her chin as she glanced at Sonata. “I, um… I guess so.”

“I know it’s not a very convenient thing to ask, Flutters,” Sunset said, placing her hand on the shy girl’s shoulder. “I’d take her, but I have shit to do tomorrow, and the others are all working, except for Golds—cuz he’s an unemployed loser.”

I let my arms flop down to my sides, scowling.

Sunset continued. “So he can stay here tomorrow and keep an eye on her, then on Saturday, we’ll have the get-together and we’ll talk everything over.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Oh, yeah... it’s OK, Sunset. I’d be happy to have her.”

“Good. So we’re all in agreement then?” Sunset asked, glancing at each of us.

“Certainly not!” Rarity pouted and folded her arms, prompting the rest of us to look at her in surprise, especially Sonata. “I don’t like it one bit! I don’t trust her!”

Sunset pointed a finger at herself. “Do you trust me? Cuz I already told you she wasn’t lying about leaving the others.”

“I… I just, I’d rather not be responsible for letting a traitor into our midst,” Rarity reasoned, placing a palm to her forehead for a moment before sighing and looking at Sunset. “I have a bad feeling about this, darling.”

Sunset cocked a brow. “Rare… why are you so wound up about this? It’s pretty obvious that Sonata hasn’t come here to…” She trailed off, and then gave the fashionista a sideways look. “Wait… are you mad because-“ Sunset glanced at Sonata first, then she put her hand on Rarity’s shoulder to lead her back to the hall entrance where I was standing. “Come here,” she said quietly before turning back to face the shy girl. “Flutters, could you help Sonata get settled in?”

“Of course!” Fluttershy replied with a smile before turning to approach the siren.

Sunset brought Rarity close to me, and the three of us huddled together, speaking quietly.

“Rare, are you pissed that she came back after you told her not to?”

The fashionista recoiled at the accusation. “W-what? No! It’s not that at all, it’s just-“

“Holy crap… that’s totally it, isn’t it?” Sunset chortled, covering her mouth. “You told them to leave town and never come back, and now you’re all butthurt cuz she didn’t listen to you!”

Rarity gasped, her lips moving silently in search of a response. “Wha… I… I am NOT butthurt! What sort of malarkey is that?”

“I dunno,” Sunset shrugged. “What else would it be?”

“It’s just that...” She glanced at Sonata and leaned closer to us, whispering. “The Dark Mistress gave her an ultimatum: leave Canterlot for good... or else! If we let her get away with returning, it’ll look as though the Mistress doesn’t make good on her word...” —she raised a finger to Sunset’s face— “and one thing the Dark Mistress is not, is a flake!”

Sunset pinched the bridge of her nose. “Ugh... this isn’t Canterlot! Letting her stay here doesn’t make you a flake!”

Meanwhile, Fluttershy had approached Sonata at the table.

“Um… hi. Um, why don’t you go make yourself comfortable?” The shy girl gestured to the couch. “And… in the meantime, I can find you some clean clothes to wear. How does that sound?”

Sonata smiled and stood.

“O-OK. Hmm…” Fluttershy stroked her bottom lip, looking the shorter girl over to size her up. “You’re smaller than I remember,” she mumbled. “I don’t know if any of my clothes would fit you very well.” Her eyes lit up suddenly and she snapped her fingers. “Oh! I know! Rare has some of her clothes here; I bet you’re about her size. Let me go check. You go have a seat on the couch; you’re welcome to put the TV on if you want.”

Sonata nodded as Fluttershy scampered into the hall, slipping past Rarity, Sunset and me.

The siren headed for the couch, but only made it a few steps before she was met by Link, who had rounded the end of the couch and approached her, taking calculated, yet curious steps on those big, furry paws. Sonata stopped and looked down, watching cautiously as the large, shaggy cat stepped closer and then sat only a foot or two away, blocking her path. He looked up and inspected the strange new person, his long, black-tufted ears twitching with interest, which drew a grin of amusement from her.

The conversation in the hallway continued.

“Are you sure you’re feeling alright, Sunset?” Rarity asked. “You’re talking crazy, letting a siren move in with my girlfriend!”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Yes, Rare. I’m fine.”

Rarity faced me next, eyes narrowed. “Are you certain you came in the right hole, darling?”

I raised my brows and shrugged. “I can try again if you want.”

“Ugh! Not necessary,” Sunset growled, giving Rarity a sharp look. “You’re welcome to go in for another taste if you don’t believe me, Rare.”

The fashionista made an expression somewhere between a sneer and a grimace, but it was interrupted when Fluttershy passed between us on her way back from the bedroom with an armful of clothes.

Rarity’s eyes popped open when she saw them, prompting her to grab the shy girl’s arm, stopping her. “What-what? Fluttershy, what are you doing? These are my clothes!”

“Oh… um, I was gonna give them to Sonata to wear,” she replied, giving an innocent smile and a shrug.

Ooh boy… I thought to myself, cringing when I saw the fashionista’s eyelid twitching.

“WHAT!? I… I, I-I can’t even!”

“Oh, but Rare,” Fluttershy pleaded, “her clothes are filthy; she needs something clean to wear while I wash them.”

“Yeah Rare, jeez. Element of Generosity much?” Sunset jabbed, giving her an instigating smirk.

Squeezing her fists at her sides, Rarity’s face turned from white to scarlet; she clenched her jaw, puffing her cheeks full of air as one eyelid began to flutter uncontrollably.

Worried, I took a step back. Not for us, of course, but for Sonata: if Rarity lost control and decided she wanted the siren dead, I wasn’t sure if even I’d l be able to stop her.

The moment was saved by Sonata herself, ironically, when she called to us from the other side of the room.

“Um… excuse me?”

The four of us turned to see her standing behind the couch with that empty-headed smile on her face, her toes pointed inward. Link was sitting just in front of her, and she was pointing down at him.

“Can I pet your space-cat?”

We all stared at her, unsure of where to even begin with a response to that. Eventually, it was Fluttershy who mustered up the presence of mind to respond first.

“Um… what?”

Sonata glanced down at the cat, then back at us. “This guy… can I pet him? He is TOO cool!”

“Oh… um, OK. Sure.” Fluttershy nodded.

Sonata gave a toothy grin and clasped her hands together excitedly.

We watched incredulously as she dropped to one knee and buried her fingers in the shaggy fur under the cat’s jowls, scratching him vigorously. Link responded by nuzzling his forehead into her neck with a loud purr rattling from his throat.

“Aww… hahaha! Aren’t you just the cutest thing ever!? Where are you from, huh?”

The four of us turned to face each other slowly, eyes wide.

Licking the inside of my bottom lip, I leaned closer to Sunset. “So… what’s her deal, anyway? She got, like, brain damage or what?”

Sunset shook her head. “Let’s hope so.”

“And you want me to spend tomorrow with-“

I was interrupted by loud, throaty growl that came from that side of the room; not from the cat, but from Sonata herself.

“AAAAU-U-G-G-G-GH!”

Shocked, I looked at the three girls one at a time, ending with Sunset. “Is that a wookie? Is she fuckin serious!?”

A loud sigh came from Rarity. She let her head drop, closed her eyes, and then raised one finger into the air. “I… am going to lose… my shit.”

Sunset rolled her eyes and groaned, then she began rubbing her forehead. “OK… I think Rare and I’d better go.”

Rarity looked up at Sunset, her eyes ablaze. “What!? You expect me to leave her alone with-“

“Rare!” Sunset held her hands out and cocked her head, looking sternly at the fashionista. “You need to settle, K? Just go out to the car and wait for me.”

That snowy-white bottom lip started to quiver. Rarity stared at the brunette with wide eyes; that feeling that she had in the warehouse was present again: that feeling of being usurped, like her proverbial toes were being stepped on. Her authority in the thing she created was being diminished, and now, to make matters worse, she was being dismissed altogether. With a huff, she abruptly headed for the door, stomping her feet the entire way.

“Um… n-no kiss goodbye?” Fluttershy asked softly, but it was far too quiet for Rarity to hear as she left the house, slamming the door behind her. “Oh dear… she’s really upset,” the shy girl said, turning to Sunset.

“Fuck… I’m not looking forward to this drive home,” Sunset groaned. She sighed, looking at us again. “Don’t worry. I’m sure she’ll come around, but I think it’s best if we get her away from Sonata for now, ‘til she gets over it.”

I glanced past the brunette at the siren, who’d stopped petting Link to turn around to look at the door. Sunset, noticing where I was looking, turned to face Sonata just as she shifted her eyes onto us.

“She… doesn’t like me, does she?”

Sunset paused, her eyes exploring the floor as she searched for a response. “It’s OK, don’t worry. She’ll get over it. It’s just a lot for her to take in right now, that’s all.”

Sonata was quiet for a moment, looking like she felt unwelcome, but she finally nodded and turned back to Link when he pawed at her thigh, urging her to pet him some more.

“Well, I’d better get going,” Sunset announced, turning back to me and the shy girl, “before Rare leaves without me or something.”

“OK,” Fluttershy replied.

“Thanks for doing this, Flutters.” Sunset gave the shy girl’s arm a nudge. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but I’m sure you two can handle it.”

Fluttershy nodded and then slung the clothes over her shoulder to hold her arms out, inviting Sunset in for a hug. I leaned back, staring at the wall across from me while the two girls embraced, wondering what I was going to do with Sonata for an entire day.

It dawned on me that she would have to sleep eventually, and it was nearing dawn, meaning she must have been pretty tired by that point; god only knows how long she’d been up, or when the last time she’d had anywhere warm and comfortable to lay down was.

Sunset had exited the hug by then and was leaning close to my cheek. I was only faintly aware of her breath as it brushed against my skin; my mind was too tied up with thoughts of the siren, unaware of what the brunette was after.

Finally, Sunset huffed quietly and pulled her sleeve over her hand, then she placed her covered fingers on my chin and turned my face toward her so she could plant a kiss on my lips.

It caught me off guard, and I found myself wondering what Fluttershy thought of this. I shifted an eye onto the shy girl to see her reaction, but she seemed completely unfazed by us, as if kissing Sunset in front of her was the most normal thing ever—though I ‘d wager she was also distracted by the thought of our new guest.

Sunset broke the kiss slowly and then followed it up with an exhale. “OK. I gotta go.” She turned and headed for the door, crossing the room fairly close to Sonata. “See ya later, Sonata,” she said, giving the siren a soft pat on the shoulder on her way by. “I’ll text These guys tomorrow and see how you’re doing, K?”

The siren looked up at her, nodded, and then smiled. “OK. Thanks.”

“No problem,” Sunset replied as she waved one more time before stepping out, closing the door behind her.

Once alone with the siren, Fluttershy wrapped her arms around me and buried her face in my chest. “Oh Goldie…”

“I know.” I wrapped the shy girl’s shoulders in my arms and sighed, resting my cheek on her temple.

Moments passed, and finally, I turned my head to look at Sonata, who was still knelt down, staring at the floor as she scratched Link’s head idly.

“Well Flutters… I guess we’d better get her looked after.”

Fluttershy drew a breath and straightened up again. “Yeah.” She gave my hand a squeeze and then turned to head for Sonata. She stopped next to the blue-haired girl, who looked up at her as she bent down and leaned on her knees to speak. “Um, w-why don’t you come with me?” Fluttershy asked, tipping her head to gesture down the hall. “I found you some clothes to wear, but, um, first, you should have a nice warm shower and get yourself all cleaned up. Then you can get dressed, and I’ll wash your clothes for you in the meantime.”

With an awkward smile, Sonata stood and followed Fluttershy down the hall to the bedroom.

*****

Once Fluttershy had gotten Sonata situated in the bathroom, she tossed the siren’s clothes in the wash and then joined me on the chaise lounge.

We snuggled in close, listening to the shower run for a very long time. Not much was said between the two of us; obviously our minds were preoccupied with our new roommate, and what her coming here would mean for the future, and what it would mean to the rest of the group. One of us was already vehemently opposed to her presence—how many of the others would feel the same?

At last —at a few minutes before 6:00am— the shower stopped. It was another twenty minutes or so before Sonata finally emerged from the hallway, wearing an outfit that was clearly meant for Rarity; a light gray shirt with a large neck that was lined with fancy lace, the same lace that ended each sleeve just above the elbow. The pants were purple and skin-tight, with a low waist that showed much of her pale blue midriff, especially with how high the hem of the shirt was.

Fluttershy was right: Sonata was indeed very close to Rarity’s size, though maybe an inch or so taller, and with a slightly smaller bust.

She rounded the end of the couch with wet, but brushed hair, blushing slightly and biting her lip. “This… isn’t really my style,” she confessed. “But I guess it’ll do.”

I pointed a finger at her. “It’s good. You know why?”

Sonata shook her head.

“Cuz it doesn’t smell like crap.”

“Oh...” The siren looked down at herself. “Yeah. I guess it was a lot longer than I thought since I showered.”

“We could… um, tell.” Fluttershy gestured to the far end of the couch. “Have a seat… I mean, if you want to.”

After a short hesitation, Sonata sat on the middle cushion and crossed her legs. She began twiddling her fingers together nervously, looking at the TV. “S-so… um, what are we watching?”

I let out a sigh, trying to mask my exasperation as I looked up at the ceiling. “‘Homeward Bound’... again.”

“It’s one of my favourites,” Fluttershy giggled, nuzzling her cheek against my shoulder.

“Yes. Yes it is,” I added, flatly.

After a few minutes of watching, a smile found its home on the siren’s face. “Heh! Talking dogs…” she mumbled in amusement, followed by a deep yawn. “Oh boy… I am tired. Is it OK if I lay down?”

“Sure.”

Sonata flopped down and put her head on one of the throw pillows, pointing her feet towards us. She let out a deep sigh and smacked her lips loudly. Then she laid in silence, watching the movie as her eyelids began to drift shut.

It was only a minute or two before Fluttershy and I heard snoring from the far end of the couch. We glanced at each other, shook our heads, and then snuggled up again.

“Poor thing. She probably hasn’t had a good night’s sleep in ages.”

“Yeah,” I muttered, glancing over just in time to see Link leap onto the couch with her, sniffing her face curiously before curling up on the cushion against her belly.

I tapped the shy girl’s shoulder, prompting her to sit up and look. “Linkie!” she scolded, after a quick gasp. “Let her sleep!”

The cat looked back at her and twitched an ear, causing Fluttershy to recoil in surprise. “Well... OK then!”

“What?” I asked, noticing the reaction.

“He doesn’t want to move,” she replied. “He likes her.”

I snorted. “He’s probably amused by the fact that she thinks he’s an alien.”

Fluttershy giggled and was about to sit back again; instead, however, she got up from the lounge rather abruptly. “Those clothes aren’t very warm,” she said to no one in particular as she pulled a comforter from the box in corner. After unfolding the blanket, Fluttershy approached the sleeping siren and draped it over her, tucking it around her waist and legs, being sure not to cover Link as well.

There wasn’t much left of the movie, so it didn’t take long to finish watching it. When it was over, the sun was just beginning to rise.

Fluttershy decided to go out to feed the animals and then start getting ready for work.

After she disappeared into her bedroom, however, the sound of her voice came rushing back out to me.

“EEP!”

Concerned, I got up and quickly made my way down the hall. “What’s wrong?” I whispered as I entered the bedroom. Fluttershy was sitting on the edge of the bed, pulling her socks off. She looked up when she heard me and frantically threw her arm up to wave me away.

“Wait, stop!”

It was too late though; I could already feel my socks becoming saturated with water. I looked down, noticing the carpet made a squishing sound with each step, and I could see the moisture squeeze out around my feet when I moved.

“What the fuck?” I whispered, looking into the bathroom. There was a layer of water on the floor. “Oh Jesus, what the hell did she do?” I sloshed a few more steps toward the doorway to get a better view, and it wasn’t long before I found the culprit. “Aw, for fuck sakes!”

Fluttershy looked up from what she was doing. “What happened?”

I looked over my shoulder at her while pointing into the bathroom. “She put the shower curtain on the outside of the tub; so that whole time she was showering, the water was running out on the floor.”

The shy girl covered her mouth. “Oh dear…”

I raised my arms and laced my fingers together, resting my hands on the top of my head as I exhaled through pursed lips. “God damn, that girl is dumb as a brick,” I whispered to myself.

Fluttershy stood and began to approach the doorway. “Goodness me,” she gasped when she saw the flood. “Here, let me get this cleaned up.”

“No-no,” I replied, putting my hands on her shoulders to guide her away. “You go do your thing outside with the animals and get ready for work. I’ll look after this.”

“O... OK…” she said, stopping once I let her go to face the bathroom. “Sorry, Goldie… and, um... thanks.”

“No problem,” I replied, rubbing my forehead as I surveyed the mess in the next room.

I was just about to step away to retrieve some towels, but I stopped when I felt a delicate finger tap my shoulder. I turned back to see Fluttershy, whose hands were now folded in front of her lap, her cheeks warming slightly.

“Um... I just want you to know that I meant what I said earlier; that it wasn’t just a trick.”

“Hm?”

“A-at the table... when I said you were my hero. It’s the truth. You saved me, and I’m always gonna love you for it, no matter what happens.”

I responded with a smile and wrapped my arm around her waist when she stepped in for a kiss. “You saved me too, Flutters.”

*Chapter 106: The Dawn of a New Friendship

Chapter 106

Having the smooth, warm moisture and the soft, rippling texture of Fluttershy’s pussy wrapped around my rock-hard length had brought me close to bursting as always, and each additional thrust inched me ever-nearer to that wonderfully satisfying —and messy— conclusion.

“Are you close, big boy?” she panted, looking over her shoulder through that pink hair of hers.

“Oh god, yeah…”

It was Friday evening.

To my delight, Sonata ended up sleeping all day, which afforded me the time to clean the flooded bathroom and bedroom carpet, as well as washing and drying the siren’s laundry, along with all of the regular chores.

Fluttershy was right: it’d been a long time since Sonata had had a decent, full night’s rest; no question about it. She slept like a rock all day long, and Link absolutely refused to leave her side unless he felt the need to have a quick bite or use the big litterbox.

Fluttershy had returned home from work almost an hour early and, for whatever reason, was in quite the amorous mood indeed; as soon as she stepped through that front door, bags and clothes hit the floor and before we knew it, she was bent over the edge of the bed, grunting and squeaking like a wild animal.

She was stark naked, her smooth, daffodil skin bathed in the orange glow of the sunset as it flooded in through the bedroom window. Her slender frame leaned over the bed, supported by her fingertips, her pendulous beasts swinging in synch with each impalement. One leg was raised, her foot perched on the bed to spread her womanhood, offering it up for me to take from behind—which I accepted with great gusto.

As mentioned, I was nearing the end, ready to release the result of my enjoyment throughout her loins.

Or was I?

Tonight, we were having a bit of fun with some role play.

“You, Fluttershy,” I said, in a husky voice with a bad southern accent, “have been found guilty of crimes against humanity. How do you plead?”

A panting Fluttershy hesitated, turning her head partway. “Um… but you, aaahhh! … you just s-s-said I was guilty…”

“Huh?” My eyes widened and my thrusts slowed, realising I’d severely fucked my line up. “Oh shit… fuck, I did, didn’t I? Damn, uh…”

Fluttershy let her head hang, her body quaking in harmony with her sweet-sounding laughter. “Hahahaha! Ohhh Goldie! Mmmm…”

I gathered myself and speared her deep with a powerful thrust; my hips slapped against that yellow backside of hers, eliciting a sharp squeak from her when she found herself filled swiftly by my stiff girth.

“Silence!” I commanded. “You have, uh—I mean, by the power vested in me, I hereby sentence you to death… by firing squad!”

Fluttershy gasped —one that I wasn’t sure was real or not— and she began to thrash her hair around in protest. “No! Not the firing squad! I-I’m innocent, I swear!”

“It’s too late for that,” I replied dismissively, feeling the pressure build down in my loins, travelling slowly to the tip of my length. “Have you any last words?”

The shy girl panted heavily. Her mind spun, causing her to struggle to think of a response. Finally, she swung her head to clear the hair from her face and then looked over her shoulder at me. “Bring it. I’m ready!”

“As you wish.” I looked down at her backside and readied my hand as my length slid into her warm depths a few more times, just enough to bring about my climax.

I withdrew and gripped my shaft just below its swollen head to fire that first thick, white stream at her waiting derrière; the shot hit dead-center on the right cheek, ricocheted, and then scattered up the small of her back.

Fluttershy jerked when she felt the hot splash on her skin, feigning the impact of a bullet. “Ah! I’m hit, Goldie!” she gasped, hanging her head. “Tell my pets I love them; this is it… I’m a goner!”

I couldn’t help but snicker at such melancholy as I watched the second shot leap from my tip to land on her tailbone, where it quickly ran down between her cheeks, coating her tight little orifice in a warm, white glaze as it went.

Before anymore got loose, I placed my length between those slick, yellow lips and sank back into her heat to deliver the remaining shots, soaking her depths with copious amounts of viscous, white gratitude while the stream that ran down her crack began to pool on the topside of my throbbing shaft.

Closing my eyes, I rode the orgasm out until it finally faded; the hot gushes slowed to a trickle, followed by the odd twitch as I waited patiently for my pulse to return to normal. Fluttershy and I remained in that position, panting together in an untimed chorus of bliss as we savoured the warm, sloppy aftermath of our little production.

After a few moments, I inched away, watching my glistening length slip out of her. With the cork pulled, a stream of hot fluid gushed down the inner side of her right thigh, the sensation of which drew a devilish giggle from her. I was about to look at the bedside table to check the time of death on her clock radio so I could announce it, but something in the opposite side of my peripheries stopped me.

Something blue, standing in the doorway.

With eyes wide, I turned my head very slowly to see what —or who— it was.

Sure enough, it was Sonata: standing in the doorway wearing Rarity’s clothes, hands behind her back and pigeon-toed, with that arbitrary grin on her face. From her position, she couldn’t possibly have had a better vantage point to see what the shy girl and I were up to; with her left leg raised —which, of course, just had to be the side that faced the hallway— the siren’s view was as plain as the clearest day. Not one thing was obscured from her sight: not Fluttershy’s lemon pie-coloured backside, splattered with meringue; or her well-serviced crease with its pink accoutrements peeking out from between those swollen, yellow lips, dribbling a white stream down her thigh.

I stood motionless, unsure of what to do and yet unable to break eye contact with Sonata, who opened her mouth to speak, despite the unbearable awkwardness.

“The milk’s all gone.”

So apparently, only I felt said awkwardness.

The nonchalantness she displayed in the face of such an interruption floored me, leaving me at a complete loss of what to say.

Fluttershy, who’d been unaware of the siren’s presence until now, froze like a statue upon hearing the extra voice. Holding her breath, she slowly turned her head and peered through her hair at the blue intruder, and the two locked eyes and stared each other down.

Sonata’s smile widened slightly. “Hi.”

Fluttershy remained motionless a few seconds longer, then she suddenly turned and scrambled for the bathroom in a panic.

“AAAAAAHH! H- H- HA-A-AH!” Shrieking with embarrassment, she sprinted into the other room and slammed the door behind her.

Sonata looked surprised by the reaction.

I let out an exasperated sigh, pursing my lips as I studied the cluster of white dots on the carpet, left behind by the shy girl’s ass.

*****

“So where are we going?” Sonata asked, glancing out the passenger side window of my truck and then back at me.

“I found a new place for you to stay,” I replied flatly, keeping my eyes on the road.

“Oh…” She let her eyes drift down to the floor, looking disappointed. “Bummer. I’m gonna miss that big kitty-cat.”

“You’ll get to visit him, I’m sure.” I raised a finger at her. “And he’s not a wookie, OK? He’s a Canadian Lynx.”

“Oh... I knew that. He’s still pretty cool, though.”

“Yeah,” I sighed, finally glancing over at her.

Before we left, Sonata had changed back into her own clothes, which were now clean and fresh smelling—something she was actually quite thrilled about. Under that long, black coat was her burgundy top with those double-pointed collars and the three light-blue ties down the front. Below that hung her pink skirt and boots.

Compared to the previous night —after a couple meals, a shower and a long, restful sleep— it was difficult not to admit that Sonata looked like a million bucks. Her skin colour was vibrant, her eyes were gleaming, and her energy level was noticeably higher.

During the short glance at her, I couldn’t help but notice how light and bouncy her hair was. I was never a fan of short bobs, but on her it honestly looked pretty cute. Admittedly, she did have a very pretty face to go along with it, especially with that simple innocence that showed in her expression.

If only she wasn’t such an idiotic nuisance.

Several minutes of silence passed once I returned my attention to the road. It was dark out now—almost 7:30pm. My mind began to wander, just as the truck did when it rounded the bend, transporting our other-worldly and ancient guest to her new home.

Sunset and I had a short text conversation after the incident with Fluttershy. Once I explained the situation and suggested a new place to relocate the siren to, she agreed that there was no danger, and that it might actually be beneficial to Sonata—and her new host.

My thoughts were interrupted by my passenger.

“I remember you.”

I looked over at her, cocking a brow. “Hm?”

She looked oddly serious. “I remember you. From Massachusetts. You’re the guy who broke Aria’s thumb.”

“Oh?” My eyes darted around the cab, then I quickly returned them to the road. Since her arrival, I’d been hoping that she wouldn’t recognize me. That event, which took place during the Witch Trials, was something I really didn’t want to rehash.

“Yeah,” she nodded, “Like… last night, I thought I recognised you at first, but I was like: ‘nah, that was a long time ago; how could he still be alive?’ But today, when I saw you and Fluttershy in the bedroom, I knew it was you.” She folded her arms and grinned. “I’m not that great with faces, but I never forget a ding-dong.”

I coughed out loud and then cleared my throat. “Look, I’d rather keep that whole thing on the down-low, if you don’t mind.”

Her eyebrows went up in surprise. “Wait… the Rainbooms don’t know about it?”

“Well, they… they do—just... not the way it really happened. Some of the details are a little different: like, they think we had some kind of huge, epic battle that ended with me breaking that purple chick’s thumb.”

“Aria.”

“Yeah... her.” I rolled my eyes. “But seriously, I don’t think they’d be too thrilled if they found out that I actually caught you guys trying to rob me instead of saving the town from your singing.”

“Wow. That’s what you told them? That we fought? Ah hahahaha!”

“Well yeah! I sure as hell wasn’t gonna tell them you guys had the purp —uh… Aria, sorry— create a distraction by seducing me so you two could sneak in and steal my shit while me and her were going at it.”

“Why?” Sonata asked, confused. “Like, I get that you’re all lovey-dubby with Fluttershy now, but that happened like... two-hundred years ago.”

“More like, over three-hundred.”

“Well… whatever.”

“Look, I’d rather keep this between you and me, if you don’t mind. I don’t know how they’d take it if they found out I fucked one of you guys—especially Rare. Plus, I’ve already told them a different story, so if they found out now, they’d know I’ve been keeping things from them.”

Sonata rolled her eyes and nodded. “Fine, fine.” She sighed.

“OK then.” I bowed my head and returned my attention to the road. After a moment, a tiny smirk began to show in the corner of my mouth, and I turned to face her again. “As much as I hate to admit it, you guys got me pretty good there—almost.”

Sonata grinned and nodded. “Yeah. I told you, Dagi’s smart. She knew you were travelling with all that gold n’ stuff, but when we found out our singing didn’t work on you, she came up with that plan instead.”

“It was slick, I’ll give her that,” I replied. “That Aria, she was the right one for the job. I mean, she’s a fuckin bitch, but she is pretty damn hot.”

Sonata paused momentarily; her expression faded slightly. “Mm… it would have worked too, if I hadn’t laughed.”

I snorted and shook my head. “Oh, man… I couldn’t fuckin believe that! There I was, pluggin away at Aria and the next thing I know, I hear laughing behind me, so turn around and there’s you and that orange fur-ball going through my shit!”

Sonata brought her hands up and shrugged. “I couldn’t help it! You called her ‘Miss Purple-Bottom!’”

I let out a laugh at her expense. “I know, but still; the key to sneaking up on someone is being quiet, not laughing out loud. It still cracks me up when I picture that look on that orange one’s face when you did it.”

She groaned, covered her face and shook her head, then she looked back at me. “Dagi was SO mad at me about that. So was Ari, come to think of it; after we got away from you, she totally went off on me, like: ‘DAMMIT, SONATA! THE PLAN FAILED AND I GOT MY FUCKING THUMB BUSTED—ALL BECAUSE YOU COULDN’T KEEP YOUR STUPID MOUTH SHUT!’”

I glanced back at the road. “Yeah, I can imagine.” Then I paused for a moment to think. “And actually, if I remember right, I’m pretty sure she was like… two seconds away from getting off.”

Sonata brought a hand up to scratch the back of her neck. “Yeah that probably didn’t help, either.”

We drove in silence for a moment. Then I raised a hand. “Look, bottom line: I don’t want the girls to know about this, so can we just keep it between you and me, please?”

Sonata rolled her eyes and huffed. “I already said I would, OK? I promise it’ll be our little secret.”

“Thank you.”

Again, silence filled the cab, save for the rhythmic clatter of the truck’s engine.

After a few minutes of rumination, the siren turned to me. “So where am I going?”

I inhaled slowly and faced her. “You’re gonna stay with someone a who’s little more… your type.”

*****

It was well after dark when Pinkie Pie rolled out of bed and shuffled down the stairs. She’d hosted an odd mid-week high school birthday party the previous night and as a result, had slept all day.

At the bottom of the stairs, she stopped and slipped a hand inside the back of her pyjama pants to scratch her right butt-cheek. She yawned loudly, mouth wide, eyes shut tight.

Afterwards, she smacked her lips and raised her phone —which hung precariously from limp fingertips— to read her texts.

MOM: Remember thee well, your father and I are absent on this week's end for the anniversary of our nuptials. We shall return on the night of the Sabbath. Please aspire to coexist in peace with your sistren during your toils.

She raised a brow and then swiped to the next message.

DAD: Remember thee well, your mother and I are absent on this week's end for the anniversary of our nuptials. We shall return on the night of the Sabbath. Please aspire to coexist in peace with your sistren during your toils.

After a quick roll of her eyes, Pinkie shook her head and sighed. She glanced into the kitchen and then the front room, both of which were dark. “Maud? ... Limestone?” She paused after calling their names, listening. “Marble?”

No answer.

“Hm.” She shrugged and headed for the kitchen, satisfied that she had the house to herself for the night. Just as she began to wonder what to do with her free time, however, her phone chimed, signalling the arrival of a new message. She brought the device up to read it.

GOLDEN ARROW: Hey Pinks, u busy tonight??

Pinkie’s brow furrowed, her curiousity piqued by the message. Her thumbs moved to type a reply as she yawned deeply, making sure the caps lock was on first.

PINKIE: HIYA GOLDIE-WOLDIE! I JUST WOKE UP BECAUSE I WORKED AAAAAAALL NIGHT LAST NIGHT! WHATS UP?? GOLDEN ARROW: Perfect!

Just then, there was a loud knock at the front door, a few feet from where she stood. It startled her, causing her to yelp and drop her phone.

“Jeez Louise,” she whispered as she placed a hand over her chest, her heart thumping like a drum. After an exhale through pursed lips, she approached the door and reached out to unlock it, then she turned the handle.

She’d only opened the door a few inches when a powerful hand swung it open from the other side, after which a blue-skinned girl in a black coat was shoved into the foyer, stumbling awkwardly against the momentum.

“WHOA!” Pinkie shouted, wide awake and alert, having recognized the siren, who was now standing before her, grinning nervously. Then she turned to see me standing in the doorway, reaching in to grab the doorknob.

“Hey Pinks! Now, I know you've been having a hard time with your sisters lately, but I’ve got just the solution for you: a new friend! Hopefully now you won’t lose your marbles, right?”

“Huh?” She glanced at Sonata with tiny pupils, then back at me, looking quite confused.

“Don’t worry,” I said hastily, “it’s just her. She left the other two. She wants to turn over a new leaf, but uh… she can’t stay at Flutters’ house cuz it’s uhh... too small. Or something. I dunno. Bye!”

SLAM!

After the door swung closed, the girls stood alone in the dark foyer, staring anxiously at one another in silence.

Sonata wrung her hands, chewing her lip as she watched the pink girl tug nervously at the hem of her pyjama shirt. “Um,” —she cleared her throat— “so… you’re the drummer, right?”

Pinkie froze and stared at the siren. “Uhh… yeah.”

Sonata tapped her nails together, trying to think of a way to show the other girl that she wasn’t a threat.

Then she spotted the cell phone on the floor.

Sonata took a step forward, which caused Pinkie to retreat a step. She paused briefly to watch the pink girl, then she bent slowly and plucked the phone from the floor.

Pinkie’s eyes dropped to the device when Sonata stood and held it out to her.

“Is… this yours?” the siren asked, with a friendly —albeit nervous— smile.

Pinkie hesitated, then reached slowly to take the phone. “Um… yeah. Thanks.”

Sonata tightened her lips and nodded before retreating to her original position. “S-sorry to barge in on you like this.”

After staring for another moment, Pinkie Pie closed her eyes and shook her head. “Uh, no… no, it’s OK,” she replied. “So… wait, what happened, exactly? Why were you... you know, with Goldie?”

“I, uh… left my sisters.”

A pause.

“Why?”

Sonata shrugged. “I don’t really know, but… I got lost, and I didn’t know where to go, so last night, I… went to your friend’s house to ask for help.”

Pinkie began to loosen up as she listened to the siren’s story. “You… came to us?”

Sonata sniffled and looked down, scuffing her foot on the floor. “I don’t really know anyone else.”

Pinkie was silent. She looked down at her phone, pondering the fact that it had just been handed to her by one of the sirens—in her own house, at that.

Sonata continued. “Some of the other Rainbooms even came over to talk to me last night, and um, your friend Sunset said I could stay, and Fluttershy made me some food and washed my clothes—she even let me use her shower and sleep on her couch.” She paused briefly. “I mean, she did almost break my arm, too, but other than that, she’s really nice.”

The party-girl looked up at Sonata. “You talked to Sunset?”

The siren nodded.

“And she said you could stay with us?”

Again, Sonata nodded.

Glancing down at her phone once again, Pinkie chewed her lip as she thought to herself. She knew that if Sunset had decided to let the siren stay, then she must have read her mind at some point to make sure it was safe; and if Sunset wanted to welcome Sonata into the group, then so did she. Pinkie wasn’t one for disappointing Sunset or the others, and, like Golds said, maybe some new company at home would be a nice change of pace.

Looking again at the siren, Pinkie swallowed and then pointed into the kitchen with an over-the-shoulder thumb. “Um… I was just about to make myself a coffee-kaboom; did you want one too?”

Sonata paused briefly, scanning the chubby girl’s face for sincerity. The look in those big blue eyes and that frazzled, pink hair gave the siren a sense of comfort; she felt welcome, which made her smile. “Um… I’m kind of thirsty, actually. I think I’d rather just have a water… kaboom.”

Pinkie returned the smile. “OK then. Coming right up!” She turned to head into the kitchen, her movement triggering the lights to come on by themselves. “Why don’t you take your coat off? There’s some hooks in the corner by the door,” she suggested, pointing next to the kitchen doorway.

Sonata did just that. Then she found a seat at the tall, wooden table, folding her hands on the smooth finish.

After starting the coffee maker, Pinkie opened the cupboard and snatched a mug and a tall glass from within. She filled the glass with water and ice from the fridge dispenser, then she approached the table and set it in front of Sonata.

“There you go: one water-kaboom!” she giggled.

Sonata smiled and took a sip as Pinkie went back to the counter to pull ingredients from the cupboard and fridge: whipped cream, milk, caramel, chocolate chips and cinnamon.

With a raised brow, the siren watched curiously as Pinkie moved about. When she was shoved unceremoniously into the house a few minutes earlier, she’d noticed right away how much curvier the pink girl had become since the Battle of the Bands, and after seeing what she was about to put in that coffee, it was no huge stretch to the imagination how she’d added so much to her figure over the years. She had to give Pinkie credit though; this look somehow suited her, more so than the rail-thin string bean she was, back when she spent her days roaming the halls of Canterlot High.

Moments later, the extravagant drink was ready, and Pinkie brought it to the table to sit across from Sonata.

“So…” Pinkie said, licking some whipped cream from her lip after taking the first sip.

The siren cleared her throat. “So…”

“How’s your water-kaboom?”

Sonata nodded and looked down at the perspiring glass. “It’s uh… it’s good. It’s got that nice, rich… watery… um, goodness?”

Pinkie giggled and set her phone on the table, swiping her finger across the screen. “What time is it?” she mumbled to herself. Then she looked up at Sonata. “Are you getting, like, tired? Cuz I actually just woke up.”

Sonata shook her head. “No. I just got up an hour ago too, actually. I got to Fluttershy’s house pretty late last night and I didn’t fall asleep until this morning, so I was out all day.”

Pinkie’s brows went up. “Oh! Really? Cool! Well… what do you wanna do?”

Sonata shrugged. “I dunno. What do you wanna do?”

Pinkie tapped her chin, casting her gaze to the ceiling. “Hmmm…” Her eyes lit up suddenly. “You wanna go downstairs and watch movies?”

“Sure!”

Pinkie grabbed her things and stood as Sonata chugged the remainder of her water.

“Ahhhhhh!” She held the glass out to Pinkie. “Do you think I could get one more before we go?”

Pinkie stopped and eyed the empty glass. ”Whoa! Are you driving? Hand over those keys!”

Sonata’s face went blank. “Huh? I don’t have a car.”

Pinkie let out a jolly giggle. “I know, silly! It was a joke.”

“I don’t get it.”

“You know: I was trying to stop you from drinking and driving, except all you’ve had is water! ... Get it?”

Sonata’s eyebrows rose suddenly. “Oh… ... OH! Ha! Yeah, I... get it now. That... uh, that’s funny.” She paused for a moment, her cheeks darkening with embarrassment. “Sorry.”

“That’s OK,” Pinkie replied with an awkward smile. She turned and nodded at the fridge. “There. Just hold your glass under the dispenser and press the button.”

“Oh… OK,” Sonata replied as she left the table with glass in hand.

*****

The basement was dark and somewhat ratty compared to the kitchen, but it was cozy nonetheless. Sonata sat —legs folded, with the glass on her lap— in the middle of a tattered plaid couch in front of a very large flatscreen TV, fully equipped with an elaborate surround sound system.

Pinkie was in the adjacent room, searching through several laundry baskets for something clean to wear so she wouldn’t have to go all the way upstairs.

Sonata used the time to survey the room as she waited for her host to return. The walls were lined with old, cheap-looking wood panelling, the light switches were adorned with gaudy, gold-outlined covers and the carpet was a dingy pistachio colour. While this basement was indeed finished, it was clearly done a long time ago, and was sorely in need of an update.

After turing to glance behind the couch, Sonata’s eyes locked onto a drum set. “Um, are those your drums?” she asked, glancing at the doorway to the next room.

“Yup!” Pinkie’s voice rang out from inside. “Those are the ones I was playing when we beat-“

She managed to stop herself from finishing the sentence when she remembered who she was talking to, but when she appeared at the doorway and saw Sonata’s expression, she knew she’d already let too much slip.

The siren stared longingly at the instruments. Even now, abandoned and sitting there in dead silence, they still managed to beat into Sonata’s mind the reality that her days were now numbered, thanks in-part to the girl who played them, who now stood in the doorway with a boot in her mouth.

“Sorry…” Pinkie said quietly. “I didn’t mean to-“

“No… it’s OK.” Sonata’s eyes left the drums and landed on a narrow, white case that leaned against the wall, decorated with a trio of blue diamonds. “What’s that?”

Pinkie looked to where the siren was pointing. “Oh, that’s Rare-Bear’s keytar,” she answered. “She left it here after our last jam session and never came back to get it.” Pinkie placed a finger on her bottom lip as she tried to remember how long it’d been since they last played. “That was like… I dunno. A lot of years ago now.” She looked at Sonata again. “It still works; you can play with it if you want.”

Sonata paused for a moment, her eyes dropping to the floor. Then she abruptly turned and faced forward again, sighing. “That’s OK, I’d better not. I don’t think she likes me very much.”

“Who, Rarity?”

Sonata nodded.

“Why do you think that?”

“Not sure,” she shrugged. “I just got that feeling from the way she looked at me… and how she said she wanted to kill me.”

Pinkie stood in the doorway for a moment, trying without success to think of something helpful to say. Finally, she gave up and disappeared into the laundry room again to retrieve her coffee, then she returned and made her way around the couch. “You know, if it makes you feel any better, half of those drums aren’t even the same ones; some of them got wrecked when our old house blew up, so I had replace a bunch of ‘em.”

Sonata gave Pinkie a surprised look as she sat next to her, wearing a tight, red sleeveless shirt with a pair of black yoga pants and purple socks. “Wait… how did your house blow up?”

With cheeks full of coffee and sugar, Pinkie paused for a moment, wondering if the siren already knew about the powers they’d gotten from the geodes. Ultimately, she decided to play it safe, and so she swallowed the mouthful to reply. “Oh… it’s a long story. You know… gas leak. Boom.”

Sonata furrowed her brow. “That’s not a long story.”

After another sip, the party-girl paused nervously, her cheeks full again. She swallowed quickly and shrugged. “Oh, well… I dunno. What d’you wanna watch?”

Sonata fell for the distraction and faced the TV as Pinkie aimed the remote to turn it on. “I don’t know, what’s on?”

“Not sure, lemme check the classic movies,” Pinkie suggested, slurping her coffee again.

When she arrived at the channel, she found a black and white film in mid-play. The actor’s lips were moving, but there was only music playing. Then the screen changed to a black background, surrounded by a lacy border with words in the center.

“Ooh! A silent movie!”

“Huh,” Sonata chuckled. “I remember these.”

The two watched quietly for a time, sipping their drinks and, on occasion, making awkward small talk.

Sonata mentioned that she and her sisters used to frequent the theatres in those days to see the newfangled ‘moving pictures,’ like most other people of the time.

The novelty wore away fairly quick for Adagio and Aria, and they eventually stopped going. Sonata, however, continued seeing the movies, having been swept away by the magic of it all; especially when the ‘talkies’ arrived on the scene. Without the other two to provide her with means to get in, Sonata would often obtain tickets by singing to a young or married couple who had already purchased theirs and were on their way to the show. The siren’s spell would send the lovers into a vicious argument, during which they would angrily cancel their plans and hand the tickets off to the blue-haired trickster, who would be conveniently standing by, waiting for the offer.

Her sisters disliked her use of the singing in this way, mostly because she wasn’t very inconspicuous about it; Adagio in particular worried that if anyone were to witness the spell in action, suspicions toward Sonata —and her and Aria by extension— may have been raised.

About twenty minutes passed before a scene featuring a masked man playing a pipe organ arrived on screen. Behind him stood a beautiful young woman, who appeared to be reaching over his shoulders with the intention of snatching the mask from his face. After hesitating several times due to his movements as he played, she finally made her move and peeled the mask upwards, revealing a hideous face underneath.

Sonata gasped and slapped a hand atop her head. “Hey! I remember this! This is the, uh… the phantom…” She snapped her fingers repeatedly as she tried to jog her memory.

“'Phantom of the Opera,'” Pinkie nodded. “With Lon Chaney Senior.”

Sonata pointed at the party-girl. “Yeah, that’s it! I saw this when it came out!”

Pinkie’s eyes nearly bulged out of her skull. “Really!? Wow! What was it like?” After asking these questions, she gasped suddenly and, without thinking, reached out to place her hand on Sonata’s arm. “OOH! Did people in the theatre really faint when they saw his face?”

Sonata furrowed her brows and pursed her lips. “Hmm… I don’t think so? But… I’m not sure; it was pretty dark so I couldn’t really see too good. It was pretty freaky though; a lot of people screamed when it happened.”

“I bet! Lon Chaney’s make-up effects were super-duper awesome! He practically pioneered the movie make-up indust-“

Pinkie Pie stopped when she realised her hand was resting on the siren’s arm, and she quickly pulled away when they both looked down at it. “S-sorry… heh-heh…” the pink girl apologized, cringing with embarrassment. “I got a little excited there.”

“Uh…” Sonata paused for a moment. The contact hadn’t bothered her, but the obvious discomfort in Pinkie’s expression did, so she tried hastily to fix it. “No... it’s OK.” She gave Pinkie a nervous smile. “I just… um, for a minute there, I thought you trying to take advantage of me after all these waters I’ve had.”

A pause. The girls stared vacantly at one another, and then:

“PPPPPPFFT! HAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Pinkie clutched her stomach and leaned back, kicking her feet while Sonata covered her mouth, her shoulders bouncing with laughter.

“Oh, sweet cheese and crackers!” Pinkie giggled. “You’re onto me, Notty! I’ve been trying to get you all watered-up this whole time!”

Sonata stopped mid-laugh, her expression changing to a neutral one as she watched Pinkie continue to giggle on her own. “Did you just call me ‘naughty?’”

Pinkie opened her eyes and looked up at the siren, then her laughter faded quickly when she saw the confusion on the other girl’s face. “Oh… no, I meant ’Notty’… like, from your name: So-na-ta.”

The other girl stared vacantly.

“You know… NOTTY! Get it?”

“Oh.” The siren looked down at her lap. “You mean… like a nickname?”

“Yeah,” Pinkie said quietly. “But… I can stop if it bothers you. I didn’t mean to-“

Sonata looked up at her again. “No! It’s OK, I... um, my sisters never gave me nicknames, so… it’s just…” —she shook her head dismissively— “I dunno. Nevermind.”

Pinkie folded her arms and leaned back, resting her head on the cushion. “Your sisters never gave you nicknames?”

Sonata shook her head.

“Why not?”

Sonata shrugged. “They’re just not like that. They spent most of their time being serious about stuff, and they were grumpy a lot of the time, especially with me.”

“Why you?”

Sonata sighed. “I think… because of how I am.”

Pinkie’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean by that?”

The siren paused, looking down into her glass as she swirled the last bit of water around the bottom. Then, after clearing her throat, she tipped the glass up and drank the rest, after which she leaned down and set it on the floor. She sat back and crossed her legs again, sighing.

“I know how I come across to people.”

Pinkie remained silent, waiting for the siren to continue.

“I know I say or do things sometimes without thinking, and I come off kind of ditsy and stupid; and, I mean, I can see why. Usually, I realise after some of the things I say how dumb it sounded, but…” —she sighed and faced the pink girl— “there is more to me than that. It’s just… no one sees it. Not even my sisters. They just acted like I was a burden most of the time.”

Pinkie rubbed the back of her neck, trying to think of something to say. “Um… why did you stay with them for so long if they were so poopy to you?”

“Cuz they took care of me. And they’re my sisters. I mean, we always just stuck together and did bad things all the time, trying to take over some town or… something—which is why we probably deserved that.” She pointed over her shoulder at the drums.

After a quick glance at the instruments, Pinkie looked at Sonata and pursed her lips. “Wait, so… you knew the things you were doing were bad?”

Sonata nodded.

“But… you don’t seem bad; you actually seem kinda nice. Why did you do it?”

“I just wanted to make Dagi and Ari happy.” Sonata sighed and shook her head. “But they never were. Especially these past few years—you know… since the battle.”

“Hm.” Pinkie looked down at her lap. “Is that why you finally decided to leave?”

“Kind of,” Sonata cocked her head. “There was... someone else… who asked me why I stayed with them. A few weeks ago.”

“Who?”

The siren shrugged. “I don’t know. Someone scary.” She turned to face Pinkie, her eyes gleaming in the light of the TV. “A lady… with a mask.”

Pinkie Pie cocked a brow, not expecting such a bizarre answer. “Hmm…” Her gaze drifted to the floor as she reflected on this. A moment later, she let her eyes go to Sonata again, studying her clothes. She thought of the struggles she’d been having with her own sisters as of late, and then something suddenly struck her: even sisters who’d been together for centuries could still bicker amongst themselves, and if a group like the sirens could fall prey to such petty squabbles and end up splitting apart, then she should try to put forth the effort to make things right with her own sisters before they suffered the same fate.

Pinkie brought her eyes up to Sonata’s. “You know what?”

“What?”

“I don’t think you’re dumb.”

Sonata’s eyes locked onto Pinkie, her face blank.

“I mean, think about it: you made the decision to leave on your own. That took guts —especially coming to us for help— but it also means that you were smart enough to know that it was the right thing for you.”

The siren tried to force a smile, but after only managing a weak one, she turned to look at the floor.

“Do you miss them?”

Sonata nodded, saying nothing.

“I’m sure it was really hard to do what you did, and I bet it made you super-sad, didn’t it?”

Another nod.

“But you know what? Now you can hang out with us; and if there’s one thing me and the girls are amazing at, it’s being good friends!”

The siren raised a brow at Pinkie. “But... do you actually want to be my friend?”

Pinkie smiled and nodded.

“For realz? Even after all the things I did?”

Pinkie took a deep breath and put her hand on the cushion, near Sonata’s thigh. “I know how you feel, Notty. I know what it’s like to be different. Lots of people think I’m a crazy person just cuz I like to laugh and smile and eat sweets all the time, but I don’t let it bother me, because that’s who I am, and like you, there’s more to me than just a giggling goofball.”

This made the siren smile.

Noticing the positive response, Pinkie decided to try delving deeper into Sonata. “So… you say there’s more to you? Like what? What kind of things do you like?”

“Well… I like music,” Sonata replied as she let her eyes roll back, giggling. “Heh, DUH! But not just singing; I like to play instruments, and I like to write little pieces on them.” She paused suddenly, her smile fading. “But Dagi would get mad at me for it.”

Pinkie scowled. “Why?”

“Cuz ‘musical instruments don’t have magic, so they can’t cast our spell,’ is what she would always say,” Sonata replied with a roll of her eyes. “Only our voices worked for that, and she said that that’s what I should be spending my time on: writing vocals for our magic—not wasting time on instruments.”

Pinkie shook her head, vexed by the lead siren’s lack of consideration.

“Like, they could play stuff too,” Sonata continued, “but that was just cuz they had to, sometimes. Back in the old days, we would have to play our own accompaniment if we were doing a ‘show,’” —she did quotes with her fingers, indicating that a ‘show’ actually meant casting a spell on a large group of people; not unlike the battle of the bands— “but I liked to play for realz, cuz I liked all the sounds I could make with different instruments. Don’t get me wrong, singing was great and all, but I love making music with my hands, too.”

“You know what?” Pinkie squawked. “Poo on them! As long as you’re with us, you can play aaaaall you want! I’d be super-stoked to hear you play!”

Sonata smiled, her eyes brightening. “For realzies?”

Pinkie smiled and nodded.

“Huh... Wow! Well, maybe sometime I will.”

“Ooh! That’d be SO fun! I miss playing with the girls.”

With lifted spirits, the pair returned their attention to the old movie and watched for several minutes. Admittedly, although it was a classic, it was rather slow at times and Pinkie was finding herself unable to maintain interest in it. Instead, she found herself exploring the ancient girl with her eyes; questions inevitably began to accumulate in her mind and finally, she turned sideways on the cushion and folded her legs, facing Sonata.

“Um… I really like what you did with your hair,” Pinkie said first, to break the ice.

Sonata turned to her, surprised. She brought her hand up and cupped the locks of her bell-shaped hair-do, which barley reached to the bottoms of her earlobes. “You like it? Ari said it was the worst.”

Pinkie scrunched her nose and then blew a raspberry. “Aw, what does she know? I think you’re a total cutie-patootie with a bob!”

“Oh,” Sonata giggled, sliding her hand around the back of her bare neck. “Well… I didn’t really choose to do it like this; someone else cut it, and… this was the only way I could fix it without getting a haircut like a boy.”

Misunderstanding the story, Pinkie made the assumption that Sonata meant someone incompetent did her hair and fouled it up; the truth, of course, was that her beloved ponytail was lopped off against her will. Not realising this, Pinkie moved on. “So… what have you guys been doing since the battle of the bands?”

The siren’s eyes wandered around the ceiling for a moment before landing on the party-girl. “Nothing, really. Just trying to survive.”

Pinkie looked surprised. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Sonata uncrossed her legs and then re-crossed them the other way. “It was a lot harder without our magic. Like... before, we could get people to do things or give us stuff, but without our singing, we were totally bummed.”

“So how’d you guys get by? Did you have to get jobs?”

“Pffft! We tried, but…” —she shook her head and groaned— “that didn’t really work out… for a few different reasons.”

“Like what?”

“Attitudes, they said. Mostly.” Sonata let out a sigh. “Ari, and especially Dagi were really grouchy for a long time about you guys wrecking our pendants, and they swore up and down that they were going to get back at you. It was like all they talked about for the whole first year, until… you know, we started running low on money, and then we had no place to stay.”

“Aww... so what’d you do?” Pinkie asked.

“We uh, stared committing crimes.”

“Oh…”

“Yeah… I mean, we started out just pan-handling n’ stuff, but then Dagi started coming up with more elaborate stories and started getting people to buy us food and clothes n’ stuff like that. She got pretty good at it after a while, and she started coming up with some pretty crazy scams to trick people into giving us lots of money. Then we actually started blackmailing people, and… well, when we almost got in trouble with the cops a few times, we kinda had to lay-off and leave town for a bit.”

“Wowzers! That’s crazy,” Pinkie exclaimed, astonished by everything the sirens had been through, and in turn, how low they’d had to sink.

“Well… it actually got worse after that,” Sonata continued. “Dagi started acting really weird once she noticed we were getting older.”

Pinkie raised a brow.

“She was plotting, like, all the time: about how to make money, how to get back at you guys, how to get our magic back; she was starting to go kinda crazy—although no one but me and Ari could tell. She was so good at hiding it. But then things got really bad when her big ‘get rich quick’ scheme fell through.”

The party girl furrowed her brow; her eyes briefly went to the TV, then returned to Sonata. “What... ‘get rich quick’ scheme?”

“Oh,” Sonata waved dismissively and rolled her eyes. “She tried to sue Starbucks for like a million-billion dollars or something like that.”

“WWWWHAT!?” Pinkie screeched, pressing her hands to her temples. “For what?”

“For putting Aria on the cups without her permission.”

After staring vacantly for a moment, Pinkie closed her eyes and raised a finger. “Wait… wait wait wait; say that again?”

Sonata raised her hands to make a circle with her fingers. “You know the green symbol on the Starbucks cups?”

“Yeah…”

“Well… we're pretty sure that’s supposed to be Aria. It looks just like her.”

The party girl raised a brow. “Are you sure?” she asked suspiciously, leaning closer.

“Pssh! Hellooooo? It totally does!” Sonata giggled, giving Pinkie’s knee a nudge. “Just look at it: the face looks like her, the hair looks just like hers—well… mostly. But they even put those star-shaped hairbands in there! I mean, come on, think about it: they actually say she’s a siren!”

A dubious Pinkie turned her head to give Sonata a sideways look.

“I’m telling you, they totally used her for their logo!”

“No way! I gotta check this out.” Pinkie took her phone out and tapped at the screen. After a quick Google search, she managed to find a shot of the logo, and she froze when she saw it. “Holy crapsticks…”

Pinkie was floored. Hearing the siren describe it the way she did helped the party-girl make the connection, even though common sense told it couldn’t possibly be true. Seeing it again in this context, however, she had to admit Sonata may actually have been right. That girl in the logo looked an awful lot like Aria Blaze.

“That… is… crazy-pants,” Pinkie declared. She looked up at Sonata. “So… wait, how did this even happen? Did Starbucks know about you guys?”

Sonata shook her head. “No, I don't think-… well, actually, we're not really sure."

“But... how’d they know what Aria looks like?”

The siren shrugged. "We have no idea, but that didn't really matter to Dagi. She saw an opportunity to make some money, and she went for it."

“Hmm…” Pinkie chewed her lip and looked down at her lap. “So what happened? You guys actually went through with it?”

“With suing them? Yeah.”

“Wow, really?”

“Yup. Dagi met with a lawyer and everything.” The siren paused, but then she shook her head. “It… didn’t go very well, though.”

“Why not?” asked Pinkie, totally riveted.

“Ehh… he said it ‘kinda’ looked like her, but there wasn’t enough detail in the picture to say for sure. Then he made the joke, saying that if we could prove we were really sirens that we’d have a case, which was actually kind of funny, cuz we could have —before we met you guys— but… since our magic got taken away, we’re... kinda not... anymore. Poor Dagi though; she was so desperate to make it work, she tried telling him right there that we were sirens, which… didn’t work out all that well.”

Pinkie grimaced. “Oh jeepers… what happened?”

“Meh. He just laughed at us and called us a bunch of desperate gold-diggers. Then he told us to get real jobs and walked out.”

“Aww…” Pinkie cast her gaze down to the dirty carpet. “That's too bad—I mean, unless the logo really was just a coincidence, then Starbucks would've gotten screwed over if you guys actually won... unless they actually did use Aria for their logo. Then they kinda deserved it. OOH! I'm so confused! Brain aneurism!”

“Yeah, well… we didn't win, so it doesn't really matter.” Sonata paused for a sigh. “Anyway, the whole thing about us not being sirens anymore… kind of got Dagi mad at you guys all over again, and she’s been pretty obsessed with getting back at you lately… for like, the past year or so.”

“Hm…” A look of concern marked Pinkie’s brow. She folded her arms and sat facing forward again, letting one leg swing down so her foot touched the floor.

Returning to silence, the pair watched the film until the final scene, wherein Erik was being chased through the streets of Paris by an angry mob. By that point, Sonata was scratching her head furiously and frowning with confusion.

Pinkie noticed this and turned to face her. “What’s wrong, Notty?”

Sonata pointed at the screen. “I don’t remember this.”

The party-girl waved her off. “Well, you did see this a long time ago—almost a hundred years now. HEHEHE! I can barely remember yesterday!”

The siren shook her head in disagreement. “I coulda swore it ended with him dying while he was playing with his organ.”

Pinkie giggled. “No, that’s the Pornhub version, silly!”

“No, I- PPPPPFFT! ... HA!” Sonata burst out laughing, covering her mouth as she turned to Pinkie. “You’re funny! Haha!… Ahh... but no, seriously; I thought he let Christine go and then he was playing the pipe organ by himself and he died of a heart attack or someth-“

Suddenly, and to Sonata’s surprise, Pinkie Pie gasped the deepest gasp ever and slapped her hands over her cheeks, her eyes wide with astonishment.

“What? What’s going on?” Sonata asked nervously, shifting away from Pinkie. “What happened?”

The party-girl’s face didn’t change, but she slowly extended her arm to point a finger at the siren. “You… saw… the original… ENDING!”

Sonata frowned. “Huh?”

“This movie,” —Pinkie pointed at the TV— “had limited showings with the original ending, which was just like the book: Erik lets Christine go and then he dies of a broken heart, but that version was only shown to test audiences. They didn’t really like it though; they said that after all the bad things he did, he deserved a bigger punishment, so they re-shot the ending with this ridiculous, out-of-character chase through the streets, and the original ending was cut and thrown away...” Pinkie had a look of wonderment on her face as she leaned closer to an increasingly anxious Sonata. “And it was lost... for aaaaaall time... and you’ve seen it!”

Sonata had leaned away from Pinkie by then, gripping the couch cushions in her fists. “Uh… uh-huh,” she replied, her eyes darting side-to-side. “I, uh… liked that ending better than this one…?”

Nodding slowly, Pinkie licked her lips and leaned closer. “This is so amazing…” she whispered.

“OK… uh, I am for-realz scared right now,” Sonata confessed, shifting closer to the end of the couch.

Pinkie continued to advance on the siren, but when she was almost upon her, she flopped onto her back, clutching her stomach and giggling profusely. “Hehehe! I’m just messin with you, Notty!”

Sonata hesitated for a moment, then released the breath she had been subconsciously holding. “Whew. Heh-heh…” she chortled, sitting up again with a relieved smirk on her face. “You had me worried there.”

Pinkie giggled and waved dismissively. “Oh, Notty! I wouldn’t hurt you; you’re probably the only living person on this planet who’s seen the original ending of Lon Chaney’s ‘Phantom,’ which makes you the coolest… person… EVER!”

Sonata beamed with pride. “You think I’m the coolest?”

“Pppfft… yeah!”

The siren said nothing. Instead, she grinned bashfully and looked down at her hands as they fidgeted in her lap, her cheeks glowing with warmth.

“Oohhh boy,” Pinkie groaned as she patted her paunch, oblivious of the other girl’s reaction to her accolades. “Are you hungry, Notty?”

Sonata glanced up at her. “Me? Uhh… I guess,” she shrugged.

“What do you feel like?”

“Ummm…” She rubbed her chin and paused, but then she closed her eyes and shook her head. “No. Nevermind.”

“What? Tell me!”

“Nah, I… I shouldn’t. Plus, you probably don’t have the stuff to make them.”

“Make what?”

Sonata sighed and then folded her arms. After a pause, she looked at Pinkie and spoke. “I could really go for some weed tacos.”

Dumbfounded, Pinkie’s mouth hung open. “Uh… yeah, we can’t make those.”

Sonata huffed and then nodded, looking slightly ashamed. “Yeah, I figured.”

“Weed tacos, eh?” The party-girl smirked and leaned closer.

“Yeah.”

“So… what do you do? You mix the weed in with the lettuce, or…?”

Sonata shook her head. “No, I put it in the ground beef; that way you can’t tell it’s there. Well… not right away, anyway.”

“Huh. Interesting.” Pinkie rubbed her chin as Sonata continued.

“I kinda came up with them by mistake,” Sonata explained. “I was so tired of Dagi and Ari being cranky all the time; I mean, all I ever heard from them was: revenge this! Kill the Rainbooms that! I just got so sick of it after a while, ya know? So I tried to think of a way to get them to mellow out…”

Pinkie’s brow furrowed. “Wait... what was that about the Rainbooms?”

“So anyway,” Sonata continued as she played with her hair, ignoring Pinkie’s question. “I had a good-sized stash of weed that we’d stolen a while back, so I decided to try sneaking it into their food. So I made tacos!”

Pinkie Pie was unsure of what to say, so she just listened.

“It didn’t really work out though,” the siren confessed, her expression dropping slightly. “I… kind of forgot one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Well… it turns out that I’m the one who really likes tacos, and I kinda forgot that they… well, don’t.”

“Oh... so your plan didn’t work?”

“Well… it did—just not on them.”

Pinkie raised a suspicious brow. “You ate them, didn’t you?”

Sonata nodded.

“How many?”

The siren cringed, wringing her hands together. “Uh… a-all of them...?”

Pinkie slapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide.

“Yeah.” Sonata let out a sigh. “That was a bad night. Dagi and Ari were REALLY mad at me; like, they actually had to drag me to my room and put me in bed.”

“Wow,” Pinkie replied. “It messed you up that bad?”

“I couldn’t even move, I was so frickin’ fried.”

The party-girl couldn’t help but let quiet snort escape; she covered her mouth and looked away.

“What?” Sonata asked, leaning forward to see Pinkie’s face.

The pink girl looked back at her, trying in vain to hide her smile. “I’m sorry, but… that was kinda funny.”

The siren snickered a bit herself, then she looked down at her lap. “Yeah… it kind of is, I guess.”

Pinkie cleared her throat suddenly and shook a pair of loose hands to calm herself down. “OK-OK. So... like I said, I can’t make tacos, BUT!…” —a devious grin spread across her lips— “I may be able to help with the other part.”

Sonata raised a brow. “I’m listening…”

“Wanna come up to the kitchen with me?”

“Sure!”

*****

Back upstairs, Pinkie Pie and Sonata Dusk entered the kitchen. The automated lights kicked on, bathing them in bright, clean light.

“OK, so…” Pinkie announced, clapping her hands together. “We may not have the stuff to make tacos, but I do have another super-classic solution for us; as long as we have all the ingredients.” She turned to face the counter. “Alexa?”

A blue and green ring illuminated at the top of a black cylinder that sat on the counter.

“Can you list the ingredients to make brownies?”

After a few seconds, a voice returned from the cylinder. ”OK. Butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, cocoa powder, flour, salt, baking powder.”

Pinkie faced Sonata again. A dastardly grin appeared on her lips, making her dimples show. “Perfect. Now all we have to do is add the final in-green-ient.”

Sonata gasped and bounced on her heels, folding her hands in front of her chest. “And then what?”

Pinkie raised her index finger and turned to head for the cupboard. “First, we bake. Then we get baked. Then we hang out and watch Disney’s ‘Alice in Wonderland!’”

Author's Note

The Phantom of the Opera - 1925

This was a pretty awesome scene, in my opinion. Whether or not you find it scary, you have to admit this make-up was pretty damn good for its time. Given the non-existent state of the movie make-up industry in those days, the fact that Chaney designed and applied his own make-up everyday during filming is pretty amazing. Add to that the freedom of movement that he was able to achieve, which was important because silent acting required over-exaggerated facial expressions since relying on spoken words and tone-of-voice was obviously unavailable; there is even a scene later in the movie where he gets it wet, and it holds up perfectly. Impressive, especially since this is how Chaney looked in real life:

On a side note, the thing Pinkie says about the original ending is true in real life, and if you watch at about 7:40 in the video, you can see some foreshadowing to the original ending -- which is now lost -- with him having severe chest pain, indicating that Erik (The Phantom) had heart problems, which lead to him 'dying of a broken heart' after letting Christine go free at the film's climax.

The ending that still exists today where the mob chases him down the street is fucking stupid. He had so many secret passages and trap doors built into the opera house, he could have easily escaped and hid like he always did, but instead, he runs out into the wide open street? No. Just...no.

Also: The Siren

Chapter 107: Riverfield Revelations

Chapter 107

“Dag gummit, Golds! How much further inta these dang woods we gotta go?”

“We’re almost there, AJ. Just relax. Not even Rare complains this much.” I sidestepped a branch and then paused to look back at the farm girl, whose head was lowered to hold her hat secure with one hand so the passing branches wouldn’t pull it off.

“You guys come all the way out here every time ya go fer trainin?” she asked, grunting as she failed to slip past a particularly thick cluster of branches, the sleeves of her denim jacket becoming snagged in their wooden claws.

“Yeah. I know it’s a pain in the ass, but it’s important to keep this stuff hidden, and no one’s ever gonna find us out here, so…”

“Yeah, I s’pose,” she huffed. “I’m just hopin we get there soon.”

“Don’t worry, it’s right through here,” I replied, stopping to hold a branch aside for her. “Welcome to Riverfield, AJ. Come on in; the others are waiting for us.”

Applejack gave me a quick glance, then she ducked into the prickly passage. A moment later, she found herself in an expansive, grassy field, illuminated by the cold November moonlight. There was a solitary tree standing in the center. Behind that was a snaking river, its water babbling along peacefully, fed by a small waterfall on the far right.

I stopped beside Applejack to steal a quick glance at her expression, shaded from the pale light by her hat. Her face could be seen silhouetted in profile; her mouth hung open and her eyes were wide, surrounded by rhythmic puffs of steam each time she exhaled into the cold air.

“This place is amazin,” she finally said, turning to me.

“It sure is,” I replied. “Flutters showed it to me… back when we first got together. She told me she used to come here whenever she was feeling shitty about stuff.”

“Huh.” AJ tipped her hat back with her thumb as she surveyed the field. “And now you guys come out here ta do all yer trainin, eh?”

“Mm-hm, and now you will, too.” I nodded to the farm girl’s right when I heard my girlfriends’ voices drift across the field toward us, laced together in concert. “There they are.”

Applejack glanced in the direction indicated and saw two slender figures in the moonlight a short distance from us; they appeared to be dancing, bumping hips as they sang together.

🎶Bee, ba bop badda-bo!
Ba bop badda-bo!
Bee, ba bop badda-bo!
Ba bop badda-bo!🎶

“What in the hell are they doin?” AJ asked, glancing at me again.

“Oh fuck, this is nothing,” I replied. “You wouldn’t believe some of the weird shit they do when they’re alone together.” I gave her arm a nudge and then stepped past her to head towards them. “Let’s go.”

We had gone only a few steps before the singing abruptly stopped.

“Applejack, darling!” a sleek voice echoed across the tall grass toward us. “So nice of you to join us!”

When we were only a few feet from them, AJ tipped her hat and gave a friendly nod. “Howdy, Rarity; Fluttershy.”

“Hi,” Fluttershy greeted quietly, adding a timid wave.

Rarity glanced at me. “Sunset sends her apologies, darling; she is coming, but is running a bit behind.”

I nodded, and then glanced up at the sky to see if there were any clouds that might block the moonlight.

“Mighty nice place you guys got here,” Applejack complimented, placing her hands on her hips as she looked around again. “Lots a’ space fer practicin…” She paused after exhaling, noticing her breath in the air. “What happens in the winter time, though? It’s gonna be a pain in the ass learnin ta fight in the snow, ain’t it?”

I brought my attention down from the heavens to look at the blonde girl. “War doesn’t wait for nice weather, AJ. It’s important to know how to handle yourself in any condition.”

She cocked her head and nodded thoughtfully. “Hm. Yeah… fair enough, I s’pose,” she replied as I stepped past her to wrap Rarity in a tight hug, followed by a kiss on the forehead.

“How are you feeling?” I asked as she returned the embrace, groaning quietly. “You still upset about our visitor?”

The fashionista sighed into my chest. “A bit. I feel better than I did, perhaps, but I’m really not looking forward to dinner tomorrow.”

“Well, Sunny says she’s coming, and she wants everyone to make an effort to give her a chance, including you.”

Rarity nuzzled her face deeper into my chest. “Ooh… I don’t like it, darling. What if she’s up to something?”

“Sunny says she’s not. I think we should trust her.”

Confused, Applejack gave her head a shake and raised a hand. “Hold up, who’s this we’re talkin ‘bout here?”

“Oh, you haven’t heard?” Fluttershy spoke up, softly. “Um, Sonata Dusk showed up at my house last night, looking for someplace to stay.”

The farm girl’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head. “WHAT!? You talkin ‘bout… Sonata Dusk, the siren?”

Fluttershy nodded.

“What in tarnation does she think she’s doin showin up at yer house? ‘Specially in the middle a’ the night like that?”

“She, um… says she left the other two behind, and that she had nowhere to go,” Fluttershy explained, hugging herself as she spoke.

Applejack paused when she heard this, and she gave her bottom lip a thoughtful nibble as she looked down at the grass. “And she came ta us fer help?” she finally asked, looking up again.

“Yeah,” I replied, “and don’t worry, Sunny snuck a mind-read on her; her story checks out.”

Rubbing her chin, the farm girl ruminated for a moment. Then she put her hands up and shrugged. “Well? I s’pose if she made the effort ta reach out ta us after everythin that went on, then who’re we ta refuse makin an effort back? We’d be no better n’ them if we go and turn ‘er away now.”

A hot puff of air warmed my chest when Rarity heard this. I looked over at AJ as the fashionista shook her head in protest, rubbing her face into my clothes. Lifting one arm from her shoulders, I put my hand above her and pointed down at the top of her head while looking at Applejack.

“What?” the farm girl asked, confused.

“Rare’s not… overly receptive to the idea.”

AJ raised a brow. “Why not?”

“I do not trust her,” Rarity replied, her voice muffled into near incoherency.

“But if Sunset said-”

“Rare had a little run-in with the three of them a while ago,” I explained. “She told them to leave town and never come back, but now that Sonata has come back and we’ve decided to let her stay, Rare feels like her say in the matter has been invalidated.”

Rarity huffed and leaned away from me, scowling. “That’s not it, darling! I… I simply have my… suspicions about her. I’m not comfortable having a member of such a conniving trio in our midst!”

“But that doesn’t make sense, Rare; Sunny read-“ I stopped and shook my head, eyes closed. “Look, just forget it. I don’t wanna have this argument right now,” I said, giving her petite little body a squeeze.

By then, AJ was rubbing her forehead, thoroughly befuddled. “Now just hang on a cotton-pickin minute! When did you have a run-in with the sirens?” she asked Rarity. “And howcome the rest of us never heard about this?”

Rarity sighed and shook her head, placing her fingertips to her temples. “It’s a long story, darling, which reminds me…” She raised a finger and turned to walk a few steps away.

Applejack watched curiously as Rarity stopped and bent down to unzip a bag that had been left sitting in the grass.

“I have something for you to try on, darling,” she continued as she produced a small, black piece of material and held it up.

The farm girl squinted as she studied the garment in the moonlight, then her eyes widened when she realised what it was. “What the shit? Is that a mask?”

Rarity cocked a brow and gave a sly smirk. “Indeed it is.”

Applejack remained silent for a moment, staring slack-jawed at the disguise. Then she gasped and pointed at Rarity. “It… it’s YOU! Yer that... that ‘Dark Whatchamajigger’ they been talkin ‘bout on the news!”

“But of course, darling!” Rarity giggled. “What else am I supposed to do with all my free time?”

“God dangit!” Applejack chuckled, shaking her head incredulously. “I can’t even…”

“Oh yes, you can.” Rarity plucked the bag from the grass and slung it over her shoulder. “Come with me, Applejack. I simply cannot wait to see how it fits you!”

“Hold up… that’s fer me?”

“Yes, darling. Chop-chop! Let’s go.”

As the farm girl followed Rarity to the tree line, Fluttershy approached me and placed her cheek on my shoulder. I put my arm around her shoulder and sighed.

“Poor Rare. She’s so upset about Sonata,” Fluttershy cooed softly.

“Yeah…” I chewed the inside of my cheek for a moment, then I pressed my mouth to the top of her head and sniffed her hair. “We should do something to help her relax.”

“Hm,” the shy girl giggled. “I’m sure we can think of something once we get back to the house.”

Not quite fifteen minutes had passed when Rarity emerged with a tall, slender figure in tow, dressed all in black.

Fluttershy’s mouth was covered as the pair approached us, awed by the sight of her friend; the suit and mask, as well as the absence of her Stetson had made Applejack completely unrecognizable—which, to be fair, was the whole point of the outfit. Her suit was the same as the others per usual, save for the orange stripe down the arms and the trio of red apples that bedecked her thighs. All else was standard: the mask, the pointy collar, the tall boots, the skin-hugging fit, and of course, the wide V-neck that showcased some surprisingly full, lightly freckled cleavage—with an unfortunately visible tan line highlighting the edge of the suit.

“Oh my goodness!” Fluttershy gasped. “Is that you, Applejack?”

“Eh… yeah, I-I s’pose…” she replied sheepishly, rolling her shoulders and moving her arms around to stretch the suit out.

“How does it feel, darling?” Rarity asked, reaching behind Applejack’s head to adjust the ribbon that held the long, blonde ponytail in place.

“It’s a bit tight,” AJ replied, splaying her fingers as she studied the gloves. “But I reckon I’ll grow inta it.”

I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle when she spoke.

“What’s so dang funny?” she asked, her striking, green eyes glaring at me through that dark mask.

I gestured to the suit. “It’s just… the way you look; all sleek and refined, but then when you talk, you sound like a… a…”

“Redneck asshole?”

I cleared my throat and put my hands in my pockets. “Uh... yeah. The way you look and the way you sound don’t exactly... go together right now.”

Applejack nodded, sighed, and then shrugged. “Well… I guess I can’t fault ya fer sayin that.”

“Oh pish-posh!” Rarity scolded, brushing AJ’s shoulder off with her hand before turning to me and Fluttershy, smiling proudly. “Well? Do you like it?”

Fluttershy folded her hands in front of her bust. “Oh Rare, she… looks… amaaaaazing!” she squealed softly, before glancing toward the tree line.

Squealing, Rarity bounced with excitement, clapping her hands rapidly. “I told you, darling!” she gloated to AJ. “Didn’t I tell you?”

AJ rolled her eyes. “Yeah, ya did,” she replied flatly.

Rarity looked to me next. “What do you think, my love?”

I looked the farm girl up and down, then stuck my bottom lip out and nodded. “I like it. You look a lot sleeker. And lighter.”

Applejack looked surprised. “Really?”

“Yeah. And you actually look pretty hot.” I reached out to place my fingertip in the crease between her breasts. “Nice tits, too.”

The blonde girl gritted her teeth and batted my hand away. “GIT!”

Just as I started to chuckle at her reaction, the four of us heard a twig snap in the tree line, off to the right.

The rest of us turned to see a head of fiery-coloured hair emerge from the woods.

“Ah, it’s Sunny,” I said, raising a hand to wave her over. “Hey! Over here!”

“Ugh,” Applejack covered her forehead after turning away, failing to notice the second figure that was following Sunset. “I dunno how many of y’all I want seein me like this.”

Rarity gave AJ’s arm a slap. “Nonsense, darling, you look terrific!”

“That’s right,” I said, “Rare gave you the look, and now that everyone’s here, we can start giving you the skills to go with it—and that’s where I come in.”

“Hey guys,” Sunset greeted as she approached and stood next to Rarity, folding her arms. She paused, however, when she noticed AJ, who had turned to face her. “Whoa!” she laughed in surprise, covering her mouth. “AJ? Is that you!? Holy shit, you look amazing!”

“Heh…” The farm girl rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. “Shucks… er, thanks, Sunset.”

I pointed at Sunset’s hair. “You weren’t kidding about that dye being temporary this time.”

She smiled and ran her fingers through those wavy locks of hers, tousling them vigorously. “I told you.”

“Hey guys,” came a new voice from Applejack’s right. “Hey, Applejack. Looking good!”

AJ turned her head to respond. “Oh, hey Twilight. Thanks.” She turned to face me again. “Alright, so… what’re we gonna get st-“

Applejack’s sentence screeched to a halt suddenly, and she turned back to face the lavender girl with eyes wide as saucers. “TWILIGHT!? What in tarnation are you doin here? I thought this place was just fer… ya know, those a' us who’ve turned?”

Twilight smiled and nodded. “It is.”

The farm girl was quiet. She narrowed her eyes and turned her head a bit, giving Twilight a sideways look. “Hold up, here…” —she slowly turned to me— “... been busy since ya got home, eh sugarcube?”

I shook my head.

“What?” she sneered, turning back to Twilight, confused.

Twilight shrugged. “I’ve… been this way for a while, actually.”

AJ closed her eyes and shook her head. “And just... h-how long is a ‘while’?”

“Umm…” Twilight tapped her fingertips together and chewed her lip. “Since… August?” she squeaked, cringing.

Standing still with her mouth open, Applejack stared at the lavender girl for a moment, then she looked down at the ground, chuckling. “Wow. I, uh…” She stopped again, then brought her eyes up to look inquisitively at her friend. “Wait… Thanksgivin… at Fluttershy’s; when you fell inta the fire…”

Twilight nodded. “I was fine.”

“Dang…” AJ threw her head back and turned away, looking into the sky. Then she turned back and pointed at Twilight. “Ya know, I thought ya seemed awful casual about that whole thing; plus, at Fluttershy’s, when we was watchin them r’tarded vidyas, yer hand looked totally fine...” She puased to put her hands on her hips, nodding. “Yeah… it all makes sense now.”

“Correct,” Twilight nodded. “And, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys about it; I was kind of reluctant to come out and say that I’d had intercourse with Golds—especially after what happened at Pinkie Pie’s house that one weekend.”

“Well, I ’spose I can respect that,” Applejack replied, rubbing her chin. “After all, it’s yer right ta decide whether er not ya wanna tell us what yer doin with yer life.”

Twilight folded her hands and smiled. “Thanks Applejack. I knew you’d understand.”

After a quick nod, AJ turned to the rest of us to say something, but then she stopped and slowly turned back to Twilight once again.

"Is... everything OK?" Twilight asked, looking somewhat apprehensive about the look she was getting.

Applejack brought two fingers up and pointed at her eyes. "Yer glasses," she muttered, "You didn't really switch ta contacts, did ya?"

Twilight's eyebrows rose. "Oh... no, I didn't. My vision became perfect after I turned, so I don't need them anymore."

After a short pause, Applejack raised a finger and shook it; the wheels in her head whirling as she turned to face me. "My hearin," she said, pointing to her ear. "Ever since I been immortal, I been noticin I can hear things more than before, like my hearin's been enhanced er somethin."

"Hm." Twilight rubbed her chin. "That's interesting, actually," —she paused to look up at the masked girl and shook her head— "I don’t think it’s enhanced though, Applejack. I think what you've actually experienced is renewed hearing."

AJ cocked her head. "Renewed?"

Twilight nodded. "Given your lifestyle —growing up on a farm; working around loud machinery— I would think it's safe to assume you've suffered minor hearing damage over the years and just never noticed... until you got it back all at once."

"Huh." Applejack shook her head and put her hands on her sleek, black hips. "I never even thought a' that," she admitted. "Makes perfect sense, though."

I gave the farm girl a shrug when she glanced my way. "Maybe now you'll realise how shitty country music really is now that you can actually hear it."

"Oh hardy-har-har. Dick." AJ rolled her eyes, then she took a quick look around the group. “Alright, so now... ya know I gotta ask: who else is actually left?”

“Pinkie and Rainbow,” Sunset answered shortly.

“Huh.” AJ turned back to Twilight. “So… you been out here trainin a bunch already?”

“Uh, no… actually,” —Twilight cleared her throat— “this is my first night.”

“Really?” The farm girl sounded surprised.

“You’ve got a good head start, though,” I interjected, to which Twilight shrugged and nodded. I looked at Applejack next. “Speaking of which, how’s your hammering coming along?”

“Aw, not too bad,” AJ replied. “I got the nail down in one hit quite a few times already; I just can’t do it every time yet.”

I nodded and gave her arm a nudge. “That’s good! You’ll get it. Just keep at it.” Facing the group, I brought my hands together and rubbed them firmly. “OK, well… I guess we’d better get at it before we run out of…” —I glanced up to the sky— “moonlight, I guess. But first thing’s first: AJ, did you bring your phone like I asked?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Perfect.” I pointed at Twilight. “Why don’t you get ‘the app’ installed on her phone and take a few minutes to show her how to use it? Then we’ll get started.”

“Sure!” Twilight nodded as the red-head let out a knowing chuckle.

“I hope you two are ready to have your minds blown,” Sunset said as the two walked away to get AJ’s phone, prompting them to look back somewhat anxiously.

Smirking, Sunset approached me as I studied AJ’s backside, wrapped tight in that black suit, its perfectly-formed cheeks gleaming in the moonlight. “So, how’re things going at Pinkie’s?”

I shook my head. “Haven’t heard.”

“I simply cannot believe you two sent her there,” Rarity huffed, flicking her bangs with her fingertips. “Need I remind you that Pinkie Pie has not yet been turned, and she could be in grave danger if Sonata ever decided to turn on her.”

Sunset waved Rarity off. “Don’t worry, Rare. I’m sure they're staying out of trouble.”

*****

Meanwhile, at the Pie residence, the door to the upstairs bathroom opened and the blue-faced siren poked her head out into the hallway.

“Alexa!” she called out. “The toilet’s plugged!”

After waiting a moment, she looked down the hall to the right, and then to the left.

“Alexa?”

Pinkie’s voice drifted up to her from the base of the stairs. “You OK, Notty?”

“Oh, uh…” the siren’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “I, uh… think I plugged your toilet.”

“Oh…”

“Sorry…” Sonata bit her lip. “I didn’t eat much this past week, and then I ate a whole lot at Fluttershy’s house, and I think it... might have overloaded my system.”

“Oh. No, that’s OK,” Pinkie replied. “That toilet’s kinda messed up anyway; if you’re droppin’ a stomper, you gotta do a courtesy flush partway through or it’ll get plugged really easy.”

“Oh OK.” Sonata turned to look into the bathroom behind her.

"Notty?"

Sonata looked out into the hall again. "Yeah?"

"Were you... trying to ask Alexa to unclog the toilet just now? Cuz you know she can't do that, right?"

"Uh..." the siren paused, and then cleared her throat. "Yeah, no, I knew that. I just thought maybe she would... like, dispatch a plumber or something."

"No. No, she won't do that."

"Hm," Sonata nibbled on her bottom lip as she glanced at the toilet. "OK, well... I guess I'll look after this, then."

“Do you need some help?” Pinkie asked.

Sonata looked into the hall again. “Uh… no! I’ll get it. Is there a plunger in here?”

“Yeah. Under the sink.”

“OK.” Sonata turned to go back into the bathroom, but was stopped by Pinkie’s voice.

“OH! By the way, I just took the brownies out; they smell super-yummy! I just gotta put some icing on them once they cool off a bit, and then they’ll be ready!”

*****

”The time has come, my little friends,

To talk of other things...”

Back in the dark basement, Pinkie and Sonata were slouched down on the couch, watching the old film. A plate sat on the floor by their feet; only one brownie remained, surrounded by the crumbs of its departed brethren.

Pinkie sat motionless, her face empty of expression.

Sonata’s mouth hung open, her eyelids heavy. After smacking her lips a few times, she scowled half-heartedly and slowly shook her head. “W-… wait, wait… wait… wait…”

Pinkie turned slowly to face her.

“Why did the ‘R’ on the calendar start… like… flashing and getting bigger?”

Pinkie looked back at the screen and replied slowly, in a monotone voice. “Because of the old adage that you’re only supposed to eat oysters in the months that have the letter ‘R’ in them. It comes from the idea that summer months are the prime breeding time for red algae, which is toxic to humans and is often absorbed into the oysters’ meat.”

Sonata blinked a couple times and then faced the TV again. She cleared her throat; then she frowned again. “So... what do shoes, ships, and sealing wax… have to do with cabbages and kings?”

Pinkie cocked her head. Slowly. “I am uncertain. The way I interpret it is that they actually have nothing to do with each other; the walrus is simply trying to change the subject. For example: when work was mentioned by the carpenter, he said it; and when the mother oyster insisted that the others stay put, he said it again.“

While listening to the explanation, Sonata turned her head and let it rest on the back of the couch, blinking periodically and furrowing her brows as Pinkie continued.

“The true moral of this particular poem has never been made concrete; in light of that fact, I would presume it foolhardy to delve deeper and attempt to make any real sense of it.”

By this time, the siren was staring slack-jawed at the party-girl, having finally noticed a major change in her demeanor since the substance had kicked-in. Those heavy, maroon eyes of hers studied the pink-skinned girl, watching her watch the bizarre, old film. Her face was almost that of someone else’s; with that perpetual smile absent, her dimples were gone, as was that brightness and the crescent shape of her big blue eyes: devoid of happiness, replaced by apparent indifference.

The biggest change was her hair. Gone were the poofy, voluminous curls; instead, it was straight and flat, hanging alongside her round, smooth cheeks, making her head —and her entire presence, by extension— appear smaller.

“You’re… like… way different now,” Sonata muttered, following with a pair of slow blinks.

Pinkie turned slowly. “I know.”

Sonata paused with a frown, then she licked her lips. “You do?”

Pinkie blinked very slowly. Her eyes drifted back to the TV. “I’ve been told I act a lot like my older sister when I’m high,” she replied in a flat tone.

“Huh…” Sonata paused for a moment and then pointed at Pinkie. “Even your hair is different; it’s, like… straight n’ stuff.”

After glancing down at the lifeless locks that rested on her shoulder, Pinkie brought a hand up and laced her index and middle fingers through them. She slowly brought her hand forward, letting the pink strands slide through her grip until her fingers reached the tips and the hair fell silently back to down to her shoulder.

She looked at Sonata again. “It always does this; I don’t really know why. I presume it’s because the THCs, after entering the bloodstream, eventually reach the brain, where they bond with the cannabinoid receptors, resulting in changes in the levels of various neurotransmitters, which can create changes in conscious perception, feelings of well-being, relaxation, increased appreciation of the arts, metacognition and introspection, heightened libido, and enhanced creativity—basically, it mellows me the fuck out. But that’s just an assumption, of course.” She let her hands rest on her lap and faced the TV. “This is also why I can’t do this when my family is around—because everyone can tell when I’m high.”

“Hm.” Sonata squinted and scrunched her lips together. “You… don’t seem as happy like this.”

Pinkie’s eyes shifted onto the siren again. “I’m still happy. I’m just expressing myself differently right now, so you’re not seeing it in the way you’ve grown accustomed to.”

“Oh.”

After cocking her head, Pinkie let a long sigh escape as a few of her thinner locks draped across her face. “Do not let my calm exterior fool you; my entire field of vision is filled with paisley.”

Sonata frowned and gave her head a little shake. “Paisley? Oh! You mean those amoeba things on the Mexican stuff?”

“No.”

Sonata paused, confused. Scratching behind her left ear, she glanced at the TV momentarily, then at Pinkie. “Um… it’s kind of funny, don’t ya think? Like… how when you’re high, you get like... more smarter. Not me though. When I’m high, I just get, like… dumber. HAHAHAHA!”

“I’m not smarter. I just act different.”

The siren continued to snicker as she leaned closer to Pinkie, resting her weight on the cushion with her palms. “You… you know what I think?”

As Pinkie turned to face her, Sonata brought one hand up and used a slender, blue fingertip to sweep the hair from Pinkie’s face, hooking it behind her ear.

“I think you look totally hot like this.”

For a moment, the girls locked eyes and stared intently at one another; neither one knew what to think, but neither was apprehensive about it. They just stared, taking in the vibrant colour and sparkling beauty of each other’s eyes in the dark, wondering what the other must have been thinking.

The gaze was broken, however, when Sonata realised her hand had come to rest on Pinkie’s chest, just above her bust. She glanced down, gasped, and withdrew quickly, then she straightened up and faced forward again.

“Uh…” She rubbed the back of her neck, unsure of what to say.

Pinkie remained silent.

After a short pause, Sonata completely forgot about what’d just happened and chuckled at something in the movie. “Pppppffff… heh... heh heh... heh, that walrus is playing his flute like a cane.” She rubbed her forehead firmly, keeping her eyes wide as she blinked them several times to clear her vision. “Man… I am SO fucked right now.” She turned to Pinkie again. “Where... uuuuhhh, did you get this stuff, anyway?”

“Marble grows it,” the party-girl replied, remaining motionless otherwise.

“Who?”

“My baby sister—who is really my twin, but since she was born a few minutes after me, I consider her a younger sibling. She has acute social anxiety, so she started growing cannabis a few years back to keep herself mellow whenever we have company.” She turned slowly to face Sonata. “Don’t tell dad.”

The siren exhaled through pursed lips and shook her head. “Man... she sure knows what she’s doing.”

“She is an excellent gardener,” Pinkie replied. “All those flower beds out front and in the backyard: everyone thinks mom takes care of those, but it’s Marble. It’s always been Marble. She’s had a green thumb ever since she was little.”

“Hmm…” The siren rubbed her chin thoughtfully, wondering what the rest of Pinkie’s family was like, and how they might receive her into their home. Then she started thinking about giant singing flowers.

Her nonsense was interrupted, however, when a sharp hiss burst from beside her, and she turned to see what it was.

Pinkie had opened a bottle of cola and was now taking a swig. Sonata found herself enthralled as she stared longingly at the drink, licking her lips reflexively. She hadn’t noticed until just now, but something about all those THCs running through her system had made her unbelievably thirsty. Her mouth was dry and pasty, and suddenly she wanted —no, needed— to quench her thirst in the worst way.

On the floor by her feet, her water glass was empty. She could have gone to fill it, but on the same token, the brownies had made her incredibly lazy, and she had little-to-no ambition to get up and find a faucet to refill the glass from.

Instead, Sonata looked at Pinkie again, who was now letting the cola bottle rest on her thigh. She licked her lips once more, gathered her nerve, and in a scratchy voice, spoke.

“Hey… P, can I get a sip of your moisture?”

Pinkie, who had just taken another swig, looked over at Sonata, her cheeks inflated with sugary liquid. After noticing Sonata staring intently at the bottle, she swallowed and glanced at it herself, then offered it to the siren.

Sonata snatched the bottle hastily and chugged the drink, ignoring the sting from the carbonation in the back of her throat as she savoured the refreshing surge of cool liquid.

Pinkie watched idly as the bottle began to collapse and then popped loudly when Sonata separated it from her mouth.

“Ahhhh!” The siren let out a satisfied exhale and wiped her mouth, then handed a nearly empty bottle back to Pinkie.

After taking stock of what was left, Pinkie just shrugged and downed the rest, then replaced the cap and dropped the bottle to the floor.

“Hoo! That’s better,” Sonata sighed, licking her lips again as she looked at the TV.

The pair sat in silence for several minutes, watching the film. It wasn’t long before a scene bewildered the siren once again, and she was prompted to ask the temporary-genius Pinkie what it meant.

“What’s that caterpillar smoking, anyway?”

Pinkie blinked once, slowly. “If I corall recrec-clec…”

Sonata gave Pinkie a quick, wide-eyed glance, then she burst into laughter. “HAHAHA! What the… you just said… haha!” She paused, clutching her stomach. “What the heck was that?”

Pinkie turned to watch her laugh. “I meant to say: ‘If I recall correctly.’”

The siren squeezed her eyes shut and laughed even harder, tipping away from Pinkie to lay sideways on the cushion. “HAHAHA! HOLY CRAP, THAT IS TOO FUNNY!”

The party-girl watched the siren roll back and forth, her shoulders quaking with laughter; as this happened, however, a lock of bangs in the center of Pinkie’s forehead began to ruffle, then it suddenly sprang up, pointing to the ceiling in an erect, pink spiral.

TOING!

Her brows rose when her eyes shifted upward to look at it, then they quickly moved onto the hysterical Sonata, who just happened to look back at her at the same time.

“Whoa!” Sonata pointed at the curl. “What happened?”

Pinkie paused for a moment, then a smile began to break free from one side of her mouth. “I think I’m starting to come down—which is ironic, because my hair is going up.”

*****

Saturday afternoon came, and with it, a very interesting dinner indeed—once everyone got there, that is.

Pinkie Pie and Sonata Dusk had slept the morning away, as well as a significant chunk of the afternoon, so around 3:30pm they both strolled into Fluttershy’s house, still groggy from their sleep… and possibly some leftover effects from the brownies.

Link shot across the room to greet Sonata the very second she entered, and he began a nuzzle-fest with her that lasted the entire evening. That cat never once left her side.

From there, the evening went as one would expect: starting out with some awkward hellos, followed by a hasty re-telling of how Sonata had left the other two sirens behind and came to find herself on Fluttershy’s doorstep. Once all was explained, and Sunset gave her reassurances that Sonata was being truthful —without revealing her mind-reading abilities to the siren, of course— everyone agreed that it was worth giving the siren a shot, especially since it was she who made the effort to affect a change in her life by deciding to come to us.

Everyone that is, except for Rarity. She spent most of the evening on the couch —or wherever Sonata wasn’t— with her arms folded, pouting angrily about the fact she was the only one who wanted to be cautious of whom she considered to be a potential intruder.

Unfortunately, the opportunity for Fluttershy and me to have a ‘calm down’ session with the fashionista was never afforded to us that morning; the training session at Riverfield ran on until after dawn, and then Sunset and Twilight decided to stick around Fluttershy’s house, figuring there was no sense in going all the way to town just to come back again that afternoon.

Beyond that, there were some other oddities that presented themselves that evening: starting with Sonata bringing Sunset a garbage can on more than one occasion. To say this was weird and awkward would be an understatement; the room would go silent each time Sonata would approach Sunset and hand her the bin, giving a friendly smile when the confused red-head took it, followed by a quick thumbs-up.

Another mysterious event that Fluttershy and I noticed was Rainbow Dash’s coffee. Applejack was the one who drew the short straw and ended up having to go to town to bring the rainbow-haired girl out for dinner, and Dash, in the meantime, had walked to a nearby Starbucks to purchase a coffee while she waited and then texted AJ to let her know where to pick her up.

This led to Dash’s cup sitting on the table at Fluttershy’s house, being stared at somewhat longingly by the blue-haired girl from the opposite seat. Pinkie, who was sitting next to Dash, took notice of Sonata’s solemn expression and reached out to rotate the cup so that the green logo faced the other way. Then she gave a wide, friendly smile to the siren, who returned with a thankful grin of her own.

The only time tensions grew was when the topic of Twilight Sparkle came up. Frustrations became elevated during the lengthy conversation that followed when the siren mistakenly asked the lavender nerd how things were going in Equestria. It took everyone’s combined time and patience to explain to Sonata that while Twilight was in fact Twilight, she was not the same Twilight that she had encountered all those years ago at the battle of the bands.

The discussion went around in circles for what felt like ages, culminating in diagrams, charts, and illustrations as visual aids to help the siren understand who Twilight really was; Pinkie even went as far as putting on a puppet show using a colourful selection of Fluttershy’s socks to demonstrate the not-so-complicated truth.

Eventually, it did sink in, and after all was said and done, it was a half-decent evening. Sonata seemed to be making a genuine effort to be friendly with everyone—though it obviously bugged her that Rarity could not be bothered to give her the time of day. Everyone else got along with her fairly well, however, especially Pinkie Pie. In the short time they’d spent together, they seemed to have hit it off quite well. To my surprise, I even noticed some minor physical contact between the two. Little things, mostly, like a shoulder nudge here and a pat on the knee there, as well as one occasion where Sonata fixed Pinkie’s hair by running her fingers through the thick curls that hung next to her temple.

I was unsure if anyone else noticed this though, so I decided to keep it to myself.

Author's Note

*Chapter 108: Musical Reminiscence

Author's Note

There is a short piece of music in this chapter. It is not required that you listen to it to get everything from the chapter; it’s just something I wanted to play around with.

The embedded player was much nicer, but it won't work anymore—not since the site update last December, so I had to do it with the underlined link. Feel free to open a new tab and listen while you read, or just follow the link to listen to it. Or skip it.
Your choice.

Please let me know if there are issues with it not playing properly, etc. Thanks.

Credits:
Song composed by: Naoto Tanaka
Recorded by: Krzysztof Słowikowski

*Chapter 108: Musical Reminiscence

Chapter 108

It was the middle of the night. The dinner was over, everyone had gone home, and Fluttershy and I were well underway to helping Rarity relax a little.

She was lying face-up on Fluttershy’s bed, legs slung over my shoulders. Her head was on the pillow with her hands resting on each side, limp fingers curled. Her eyes were closed, showing off that smooth, blue eye-shadow and thick lashes; her face was neutral, other than the long, soft exhales blowing from those plump, pursed lips. Her breasts rolled softly up and down her chest, keeping time with each thrust into her slick heat, each one bejeweled with a stiff, pink nipple.

Fluttershy kept watch next to us, lying on her side with one knee raised so she had easy access to pump her middle and ring fingers into her hot, sloppy nethers.

I had been going fairly easy on Rarity, given the reason for this session, but she appeared to be somewhat docile —more so than normal— making me wonder if she was actually enjoying herself. After glancing down between her legs to watch my glistening self reciprocate between those soft, pink layers, I returned my eyes to her face, studying her eyelids and that neutral visage.

Perhaps it was time for a wakeup call. I reached down with one hand to grip her shoulder and then pulled her towards me while thrusting my hips forward, plunging my length deep inside so that our laps came together with a dull slap.

Suddenly feeling an astonishing fullness, her eyes popped open and her head sprang up, mouth open wide. “OH!” she gasped. “Darling! What was that for?”

I released her shoulder and leaned on the bed, reducing my depth slightly. “Just making sure you’re still awake.”

“Of course I’m awake!”

“Yeah, but... you just looked kind of… out of it.”

“Nonsense, darling. It was exquisite,” she replied, taking a deep breath as she let her head rest on the pillow again. “I was quite enjoying myself, if you must know—at least, until you did that.” She exhaled noisily and put a hand over her forehead, closing her eyes. “Goodness me, I swear I could feel you in the back of my throat!”

“Sorry, Rare.” I leaned down to kiss her lips. “I thought maybe you needed a little jolt, that’s all; just to keep you on your toes.”

“It’s perfectly alright, my love,” she said, reaching up to caress my cheek with her fingertips. “But just because I’m not screaming my lungs out doesn’t mean I’m not enjoying myself.”

After giving her a smirk, I turned slightly to kiss her palm.

With a soft giggle, she lowered her hand and let it rest on her forehead, palm up. Then she cocked a brow. “Shall we continue?”

I looked down and withdrew from Rarity to stroke her with my erection, letting that slippery wetness do its job as I swept along her crease, causing her to jump when I brushed her clit. After a gasp was drawn, I slipped back into her, bringing forth a shrill yelp of delight.

As I resumed my slow, methodical thrusts, Rarity licked her bottom lip and then bit down on it, her bust heaving as another deep breath entered through her nose.

I glanced over at Fluttershy, noticing that she had also slowed down and was watching Rarity, mild concern marking her brow. When the fashionista let a long, sensual moan slip from her throat, however, she closed her eyes, satisfied that all was well, and went back to pumping her fingers into herself.

“Mmmmm…” Rarity’s body arched up slightly and she tipped her head back, pointing her chin into the air as her breasts shifted toward her collarbones.

Seeing an opening, I leaned down and nibbled on her throat, causing her to curl up and giggle at the unexpected sensation, bringing her chin down against my cheek.

“EEK! Hehehehe!”

She responded by wrapping her hand around the back of my neck, then she reached up to nibble at my earlobe, followed by: “You know what would really hit the spot after this, darling?” she asked, her hot breath wafting into my ear.

“What’s that?”

“A hot shower.”

“Yeah?”

“Mm-hmm,” she moaned, her voice like warm butterscotch.

Once she’d released me and laid back again, I rose above her and accelerated my thrusts, savouring the sweet sensation of her tight flesh as it stroked my length, sending wondrous shivers of delight up my spine.

I was prompted to look to my left when Fluttershy spoke, rather sensually. “I think a hot shower would do you good, Rare.”

Another long sigh from Rarity signalled her agreement. Her eyes were closed again, and her brows had begun to furrow when she felt my length stiffen and swell, the familiar sign that she was about to find herself filled with another hot, satisfying flood. She reached up and wrapped her delicate fingers around my arms, squeezing firmly. “Yes, darling…” she whispered, “give me your cum.”

What she missed, however, was Fluttershy and I winking at each other. The shy girl sat up on her knees and positioned herself next to me as I straightened up and held Rarity’s legs apart by the ankles; Fluttershy leaned against me, kissing my shoulder as she watched that rigid shaft slide in and out of her girlfriend, her left hand still between her legs, fingers buried inside her, stroking idly.

Several thrusts later, my heart was racing and I was ready to burst like a stick of dynamite, brought to the very edge of orgasm by Rarity’s heavenly interior.

“Read-dy?” I whispered to Fluttershy, shaking uncontrollably.

She gasped softly at the prompt and removed her fingers from herself, holding her hand above Rarity’s abdomen.

In the final seconds before detonation, I withdrew from the panting fashionista and swung my hips forward to let my length project over her. Fluttershy was quick; she wrapped her fingers around that swollen head and stoked vigorously, using the moisture from her masturbation combined with Rarity’s juices to lubricate the favour, completing what little was left of my journey to blissville.

Just as it happened, however, the shy girl’s other hand met my chin and turned me towards her so she could press her soft lips against mine; she sent her tongue into my mouth for a sweet frolic, intoxicating me with her flavour as my length began to convulse within her grip.

The first rope soared straight up Rarity’s body and landed between her breasts, a thick, wavy streak that extended from her sternum, all the way down to her navel.

Rarity gasped sharply when the warmth hit her skin, and she lifted her head to look just as the second shot fired and blasted her square on the chin, splattering down her throat and pooling between her collarbones.

“GAH!” She quickly turned her head and brought her hands up to shield her face.

Fluttershy continued to stroke as she kissed me, causing my entire body to tingle and shiver blissfully as the next shot was fired. This one strayed slightly to the right and slung itself across Rarity’s left nipple, followed by a fourth shot, which took the same path and landed right next to the previous one.

Subsequent shots lost propulsion; several more spurted lazily from my tip and landed on her belly, slathering that hint of abs she sported in my smooth, slick syrup. A pair of thick strands dangled from Fluttershy’s knuckles, swinging precariously as her hand pumped away at my now oversensitive head, which had finally ran out of ammunition and was now twitching helplessly in her grip. The webs eventually broke free and fell from her fingers, landing across that strip of violet pubic hair that graced the fashionista’s mound.

At last, the shy girl relented. She released my erection and peeled her lips away from mine, leaving me in an overwhelmed, panting mess. When I turned to Rarity, however, I found myself slightly disappointed: it felt to me like I’d shot a lot more than what there appeared to be—of course, she was the same colour; perhaps it was camouflaged?

I sat back on my heels and watched as Rarity lowered her hands and looked down to appraise herself, grimacing while doing so.

“Well…” she said, reaching down to dip her fingertip in her navel—which was filled to the brim with cum. “That certainly was the icing on the cake.” She rubbed her thumb and fingertip together, feeling the slippery substance between them as she surveyed the rest of herself. “Goodness me, I am positively covered!”

Fluttershy paused from licking her fingers off to reply. “Well, um… you said you wanted a hot shower.”

Rarity smirked and rolled her eyes. “That’s not quite what I meant, darling.”

“I know,” Fluttershy giggled, reaching up with her dry hand to hold her hair back. She leaned over Rarity to close her lips around her nipple —the one that’d been doused in cum— teasing and tasting at the same time, sucking the salty flavour away before letting that pink bud pop noisily from her mouth. She sat up, swallowed and licked her lips, then continued. “We just thought that… if one was good, then two would be better.” She shrugged, letting her hair swing free. “It’s just gonna get washed off anyway, right?”

“Well... yes, I suppose so.”

By then, I had decided to crawl beside Rarity and lay down. On my way, though, I caught a glimpse of the slathering I’d given her when the bedside lamp was in just the right spot, creating a glare on the many streaks and pools scattered along her body.

“Whoa, I did get you good,” I smirked.

She looked at me, surprised. “Of course you did, darling, just look at me!”

“Yeah but, I couldn’t really see it before, with the… you know... white-on-white.”

Her eyebrows went up. “Oh... trust me, it’s there. I can feel it. Speaking of which...” She looked down at herself again. “I suppose I’d better get myself cleaned off, hm?” She started to sit up, but then stopped suddenly. “Oops…” —she chewed her lip, looking slightly concerned— “that’s not going to stay put, is it?” She laid back again and faced the shy girl, her hand outstretched past me. “Fluttershy, darling, could you hand me the Kleenexes, please?”

“What for? You’re just gonna wash it off in the shower,” Fluttershy reasoned. “You’re gonna waste half a box of tissues wiping all that up.”

“I… but I don’t want it to drip on my way to the bathroom, darling.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Here, just do what I do: spread it around.”

Rarity gave the shy girl a bewildered look while I snorted and covered my face.

“What d’you mean?” Rarity asked.

“Like lotion,” Fluttershy explained, demonstrating by moving her hands around herself, keeping them just above her skin. “If you spread it around really thin, it won’t drip off.”

The fashionista stared hesitantly at her lover, considering the idea. Such a filthy, naughty prospect, though from a physics standpoint it made sense; not only that, the idea of being completely coated in semen did excite her to a certain degree, and she’d be lying to herself if she said she didn’t want to try it—if only for the sake of being able to say that she’d done it.

Rarity brought her hands up and held them over herself, pausing as she looked to Fluttershy for reassurance.

Fluttershy nodded and smiled. “Go for it, Rare.”

Rarity looked back at herself, then took a deep breath before lowering her hands into the thick, warm mess on her skin. She squeezed her eyes shut and let out a high-pitched squeal as she began to slide her hands around, smearing the smooth substance over her breasts first, then across her chest and down her belly.

I couldn’t help but raise a brow as she ran her hands down her thighs, leaving a visible sheen behind; running her hands between her legs, she made sure to coat her mound and labia in a shiny layer as well. Before long, her entire front from thigh to throat was covered, but even so, she continued to run her slickened hands all over her skin, moaning softly as she tilted her head and slithered around in place.

I shifted away from her a bit. “OK… this is gettin kinda weird.”

“No, it’s not,” Fluttershy argued, staring hungrily at her girlfriend, who had finally stopped and opened her eyes.

“Oh my…” Rarity said after a short pause. She lifted one hand, gingerly licked the tip of her index finger, and then slowly turned to Fluttershy and me. “Er… perhaps it’s time for that shower,” she announced quietly, her cheeks rosy.

Rarity swung her legs over the edge of the bed —being careful to keep her hands up to avoid touching anything— and stood, showing her petite, white derrière to us as she headed for the next room. She stopped halfway, however, and turned to face us. A sly smirk appeared on her face and she placed her hands on her hips, shifting her weight onto one leg to swing her hips to the side.

“How do I look?”

I studied her body once again. Her skin glistened brilliantly in the light of the bedside lamp: her breasts, her toned belly, her hips, slit, waist, collarbones, hands—everything. All of it looked as though it was made of porcelain.

“You’re, um… really shiny,” Fluttershy giggled.

“That I am,” Rarity replied, looking down as herself once more before turning to finish her trip to the bathroom.

“Rare… RARE! Don’t touch anything,” I barked, sitting up part way.

“Not to worry, darling; I shall leave the door open.” The fashionista kicked the shower curtain out of the way and then stepped into the tub.

The shower had just started when a warm, yellow body slammed on top of mine like a ton of bricks. I looked up just as Fluttershy grabbed the sides of my head and curled her fingers to fill her fists with my hair. She gritted her teeth, her stare cutting into me like a pair of teal daggers.

“Did you fucking see her, Goldie!?” she hissed. “All fucking shiny and fucking covered in your fucking fucking CUM!”

Eyes wide, I sank my head into the pillow to distance my face from hers. “Yes! Yes, I saw it, Flutters. And thank you... for showing me what fear is.”

She exhaled her hot breath against my face, then came down to deliver a sloppy kiss, smearing her saliva around my face with her lips and tongue. “Mmmmmmmm...” she moaned, backing away slightly. “I need to fuck you SO bad right now.”

“OK, uh…”

Her movements distracted me, and I trailed-off as those bulbous, yellow breasts ground against my chest; she pushed her hips downward and rubbed her mound against my semi-hard length, causing it to quickly re-inflate, much to her delight.

She arched her hips to aim her entrance at my manhood and pushed backward, stuffing it inside that tight, moist inferno.

“Ooh…” She closed her eyes and sat upright next, letting her weight rest on my hips to impale herself on me. She tipped her head back, exhaling loudly into the air.

“You know, Flutters, I’ve never actually seen you do that,” I said, resting my hands on her thighs as I felt my length project straight up into those tight depths. “That thing... with the jizz smearing.”

“I haven’t,” she replied, looking down at me. “I just wanted to see Rare do it.”

“Oh.”

She came down suddenly and put her face against my neck, biting my shoulder first, then my ear, exhaling against my throat afterward. “Fuuuuck…” she whispered quietly, “it made me SO hot seeing her like that…”

“I think even Stevie Wonder could see that,” I said anxiously, knowing full well that I was about to get utterly fucked by this beautful psychopath, and with a post-sensitive hard-on, to boot. “You’re ready to go, Flutters, I can tell, but… I just need… just give me a minute, K?”

She sat up partway, letting her breasts dangle above my chest while giving me a stern glare. “Sorry, big boy,” she said softly. “No break for you.”

Then Fluttershy grabbed my shoulders, cocked her hips, bit her lip and delivered a thrust that nearly drove me through the headboard.

*****

Wednesday, November 23, 11:45am.

ME: Hey

RARITY: Hello

ME: R u going out for lunch today?

RARITY: Wasn't planning on it. Why?

ME: Wanna come to the music store with me for a bit?

RARITY: Music store? What for?

ME: Doin sum preemptive bass guitar shopping

RARITY: For Applejack? Certainly.

ME: Cool. C u in a few.

*****

Rarity and I walked into the music store hand-in-hand, heading directly for the guitar wall.

It was a big place. Display cases filled with a plethora of different instruments lined the walls an isles; music books sat on the shelves, surrounded by picks, straps, lint-free cloths, and just about any other item you could think of that could be related to musical instruments. The smell of the place was potent, like cleaners, glue and new materials, giving the place a sort of ‘new car smell,’ only different.

The fashionista and I were talking amongst ourselves as we weaved through the store together.

“Oh, I know, darling. I saw her going at you when I got out of the shower; I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so frightened.”

“Dude, I… fuck,” —I paused to rub my forehead— “I was scared. I thought she might actually snap me in two.”

Rarity giggled. “Well, that’s what you get for blasting me into a slimy mess.”

“Actually, Flutters technically did the pumping there, so… blame her.”

“Not to worry, darling. We’ll get that little she-devil back,” she declared with a flip of her bangs. “One of these days, when she least expects it, you’ll take her and shove her face-down on the bed and have your way with her; all the while, I’ll be off on the sidelines, laughing diabolically as that sweet, yellow tuchus is torn asunder.”

I couldn't help but smirk as I surveyed the selection of bass guitars that hung on the wall. Rarity’s dirty talk had certainly garnered a reputation for being somewhat hit or miss, but in this case I honestly wasn’t sure how to grade whatever the hell she just said.

“That won’t work, Rare. You know Flutters’ll just enjoy it.”

“Hm... true,” she grumbled. “Always one step ahead, isn’t she?”

“Yeah. So what did AJ’s old bass look like, anyway?”

Rarity paused, tapping her chin with her index finger. “It had a stained wood finish… with some little decorations on it.” She snapped her fingers and pointed at me. “And an apple.”

“Hmm…” I scanned the wall again. “I don’t see anything like that here.”

“No…”

I raised a hand to point at a blue one with a white pick-guard, topped off with a light wooden neck. “What about that Fender there?”

“Perhaps; it does have that retro look that Applejack likes. We’ll put it in the ‘maybe’ pile.”

We took slow steps along the wall, eyeing each instrument. There were some nice guitars there, but none of them seemed to emanate the farm girl’s style. I glanced down at Rarity and gave her hand a squeeze, noticing a mild look of despondence in her.

“You OK?”

She looked up at me with her eyes open wide, her long lashes spread like the wings of some majestic bird. After a few seconds of unsureness, she brought her attention back to the guitars. “Oh… nothing.”

I raised a brow. It didn’t look like nothing. “You sure?”

She sighed, cocking her head as those sapphire eyes jumped from bass to bass. “It’s just… being here reminds me of the band, which… reminds me of the battle.”

I drew a breath through my nose and faced the wall again. “Sonata.”

She nodded.

“You’re still upset about that?”

Another nod.

“Why?”

“I told her to stay away.”

I gave her a dubious look. “Surely that can’t be it.”

“I don’t trust her.”

“Oh come on; Sunny said-“

“I KNOW WHAT SU-“ she stopped suddenly and looked over her shoulder, realising her volume had gone higher than she’d intended. “I know what Sunset said,” she finished, whispering this time.

“Why don’t you believe her?”

“It’s… it’s not that, I… I…” She placed her free hand over her eyes and groaned. Then she let her arm flop down to her side and stared blankly at the wall. “It’s… this whole thing with the suits. I thought I felt it the night she and I went out, but I brushed it off as… something else. But then, when Sonata showed up…” She trailed off and shook her head.

“What?”

Rarity sighed, then spoke quietly. “The suits, the hero stuff, all of it; it was my idea. I set it up, I made the suits, I created a reputation —a legend!— something the town has come to revere, and…” She looked down at the floor. “My first night out, I ran into them: the sirens. I told them to leave, or die. That was my decision. Then Sonata came back.”

I remained silent and scanned the display as I listened to her.

“And Sunset…” —Rarity rolled her eyes— “she just swooped in, took over, and overturned my call and let Sonata stay. Just like that. She took what I created and just… made it hers.”

Hearing this made me give pause, then I snorted and looked at the floor, shaking my head. "Fuck. I knew it."

"Knew what?"

"I said this the other night: that you felt like Sunny was stepping on your toes. And you denied it."

Rarity scowled at me, but hesitated. "It... no, it's just that..." She stopped, sighed and closed her eyes, then let out a frustrated growl.

“Rare... you know this isn't really Sonata’s fault. Plus, I mean, you guys kind of hold Sunny as your leader, so…”

“I know.” She nodded. “And I realise that I was the one who wanted others to join me out there, but… I didn’t expect this.”

“What?”

“Like… feeling like I’ve had my child taken away.” She let out a sigh. “I made this thing, and now… I feel invisible. Like no one wants to listen to me; not Sonata, not Sunset… and then Twilight and the others came up with that app without even talking to me first, and you and Fluttershy want nothing to do with it—even though I made her a suit…” She squeezed my hand and looked up at me, her eyes glistening.

“You didn’t expect to be playing second fiddle in your own game.”

She swallowed, and then faced the guitars. “I feel underappreciated. I thought this was always going to be my thing.”

I released her hand to wrap my arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. “Maybe you should tell Sunny how you feel.”

She sneered and rolled her eyes. “What’s the point? Sonata’s here to stay. Everybody else has already welcomed her with great enthusiasm.”

“Not that,” I said. “You can’t change that. I meant talking to Sunny about including you in future decisions.”

Rarity remained silent for a moment, considering my advice. “Perhaps.” She stroked her chin thoughtfully. “Yes… I-I could tell her that this was my venture, and that I should be respected more, and-“

She stopped suddenly, then she let out an exasperated huff, covering her face. She stayed like this for a moment before letting her arms fall to her sides, looking at the floor to my right.

“Oh dear. I’m being selfish, aren’t I?”

I gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze. “Maybe, but I get where you’re coming from.”

She sighed and then let her head rest on my shoulder.

“I understand, Rare. You were excited to share this thing with us when we got back, and now it’s not what you expected it to be.”

“It wasn’t like this when I took Twilight out. She followed me; not the other way around.”

“Yeah. Sunny’s not like that.”

“It’s become very different now, and I feel… let down.”

“You know what?”

She raised her head to look at me, and I planted a kiss on her forehead.

“This kind of thing happens to everyone: people have expectations, and when things don’t go the way they planned, they feel just like you do. But now it’s up to you to adapt to it, deal with it, and move on.”

“How?”

“Talk to Sunny. Tell her how you feel.”

After a brief hesitation, Rarity nodded.

“And try to give Sonata a chance. I know she’s a fuckin idiot, but I really think she means well.”

“Ugh,” she rolled her eyes. “Fine.”

I removed my arm from her shoulders and gave them a rub. “You’ll be fine, Rare. You’ve dealt with far worse things in the past couple months and came out on top. This should be a walk in the park.”

Finally, a tiny smirk. “Hm. Thank you, darling. And I apologise for being so… dramatic… at times.”

“It’s one of my favourite things about you.”

“Pffft!” Rarity gave my arm a slap. “Oh, go on! You’re a terrible liar.”

“Yeah-yeah,” I said as we re-joined hands. I looked past her just then, noticing another guitar display. “Hey look, there’s more over there.”

“Ooh!”

Once we’d made our way to that rack, it was only a matter of seconds before my eyes landed on a sleek, black bass with a wooden neck that was stained very dark.

“What about that Ibanez?” I asked, pointing to it.

“it’s lovely, darling, but it’s not really Applejack’s style.”

I opened my hand and gestured to it again. “Yeah but, what does it remind you of?”

Rarity cocked a brow.

“Something she was wearing the other night…?”

The fashionista’s brows rose when the realisation hit her. She brought her chin up, mouth open. “Ahh… yes, I see.” She turned to me with a sideways glance. “But still, I’m not so sure she would be into it, darling.”

“I dunno,” I replied, shaking my head. “By the end of the night, she really seemed like she was diggin that suit, and she did look good in it.”

“Of course she did. Everyone looks good in the outfits I make.”

After a short chuckle, I stared at the bass for a few moments, chewing my lip, deep in thought.

Then I nodded. “I’m gonna buy it.”

Rarity turned to me, wide-eyed. “What, right now?”

I nodded.

“But what about her hammering-“

I waved her off. “I’m not worried about that. She’ll have that down in another week.”

“But… what if she doesn’t like it?”

I shrugged. “If worse comes to worse, we can return it. But I personally think she’s gonna love it.”

Rarity sighed and threw her hands in the air. “Alright then. It’s your money, darling.”

“Did you find everything you’re looking for?” the music store attendant asked, moments later.

I pointed at the wall behind the counter. “How much for that strap? The one with the apples on it.”

“Ten bucks.”

“Sold.”

Rarity wandered the store in the meantime, looking at the other instruments.

The attendant set the strap on the counter next to the bass. “So, which case did you say you wanted?”

I pointed to the display at the far end of the counter. “That brown leather one there.”

“OK.”

He rounded everything up, rang it in, and set about wiping the guitar down before putting it in the case while I counted out some cash. He attached the strap for me and tucked it in around the bass, then closed the case as I handed over the money.

“Don’t worry about the change,” I said as I picked the case up by the handle, giving him a nod.

“OK. Have a nice day—and thanks.”

“Have a good-“ I stopped when the sound of music came from behind, and I turned to find Rarity sitting at a black grand piano in the center of the store.

MUSIC

Surprised, I stood still for a moment to watch her. I was unaware that Rarity played the piano—in fact, if it hadn’t known she’d previously been in a band, I wouldn’t have pegged the fashionista as a musician at all.

Once I got my wits about me, I made my way through the store, carrying the cumbersome case between the other instruments —drum sets, keyboards, stands full of saxophones and other brass instruments— until I was at her side.

It was an elegant yet simple tune, one that seemed like something Rarity would play. Cocking my head, I watched as ivory fingers danced on ivory keys, bringing to life the lovely, emotive music that filled the store with its deep warmth. The performance was not flawless; a note was misplayed once or twice, which would cause the fashionista to cringe whenever it happened, followed by a little ‘eep’ sound, but overall, she did quite well.

At one point, she hit what sounded like a chorus or sorts; the pace picked up slightly, changing the piece into a brighter and more hopeful tune, ending with a pair of rolling chords followed by a single note, leaving it with a slightly darker conclusion.

Once it was over, she put her hands on her lap and faced me, smiling.

“Nice. I didn’t know you played,” I said.

“Yes well…” She gave a smart flip of her bangs and pointed her nose up. “I used to be quite the little Beethoven… many moons ago,” she explained, letting her head drop a bit as she pursed her lips. “There were definitely a few booboos in there, however.”

I gave her shoulder a pat. “Nah, it was pretty good. Especially since it’s been, like… uh,” —I paused for a second or two, furrowing my brows— “how long has it been since you played?”

She shrugged one shoulder. “I’m not even sure, darling. Years.”

“Hm. Well, still, it was a nice tune. What was that anyway?”

She drew a breath and glanced up at me, then she brought her eyes back down to the piano. “Oh… it’s just something Fluttershy wrote. Years ago, in high school.”

My brows went up in surprise. “Flutters wrote that?”

Rarity nodded. “She wrote several songs for the band, including one that we played during our battle with the sirens,” she replied, glancing across the piano keys, thinking about the music she’d just resurrected. “It really is quite beautiful,” she continued as she reached up and gently closed the lid to cover the keys. She let her fingertips linger on it, feeling the smooth finish under her touch. “It’s a shame she never finished it.”

“What’s it called?” I asked.

She looked up at me again, paused, and then furrowed her brows. “It’s a rather strange story, actually: she came up with it during math class.”

“Oh?”

A tiny smirk crossed Rarity’s lips. “Well, she certainly had the time; she was quite good in that class, actually. She even gave Twilight a run for her money.”

I cocked my head. “Flutters? Really… huh.”

Rarity nodded. “Anyway, darling, she was apparently thinking about variables and numbers one day when she got this idea: what if they were alive?”

I raised a brow. “…Alive?”

“Yes, like if they were characters. And what if they were pitted against one another in battle? Specifically the variable ‘X’ and the number zero—who would win?”

“Well that’s easy,” I shrugged. “Zero.”

“Why?”

“Because zero times anything is zero.”

Rarity shook her head and wagged a finger at me. “Ah… no-no, darling; you’re thinking in terms of mathematics. They are characters based on numbers; they embody the traits unique to the numbers that each one represents, but they are not the actual numbers.”

“Oh…”

She was right. When she posed the question, my mind automatically pictured the numbers next to each other on paper, so I instinctually made the snap decision to multiply them.

“You must think of them as living people, darling, but also remember to imagine them as the figures they are based on. Take zero, for example: who is he? What is he like?”

I drew a breath and rubbed my chin, considering it; but there wasn’t much to consider, so I just shrugged. “Zero is nothing. It’s just zero.”

“Right.” She swung a finger through the air, ending with her hand against her shoulder. “And what of X? X is a variable, correct?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I guess. He could be anything—maybe even a shape-shifter.”

“Hmm…” She tapped her chin. “Yes, I supposed he could be a changeling of sorts.” She looked up at me again. “So? Who would win?”

“I’d have to change my answer to X, I guess,” I said, after a pause.

“Why?”

“Because X could be anything he wants,” I replied. “How can zero beat that? He’s nothing.”

“True, darling, true.” She folded her hands on her lap. “But then again, if zero is nothing, then how can you beat him? How do you destroy something that isn’t there?”

I raised a finger to reply, but then I stopped. My lungs deflated and my finger drooped, limp. “Hmm… I hadn’t thought of that. You’re saying that X, even with all his potential abilities, can’t do shit to zero?”

“Precisely, my love.” Rarity smirked. “So, we have X, who is potentially all powerful, but cannot defeat zero, because zero is and has nothing to lose. And yet, zero, being nothing, does not have the means to attack X; so… I’d wager that we have a bit of a stalemate, wouldn’t you agree?”

My eyes shifted to the ceiling momentarily; then I nodded. “Yeah. I guess we do,” I said, looking down at her with a chuckle. “This is some fuckin deep thinking, Rare. I wasn’t prepared for this today.”

She let out a giggle. “Well… Fluttershy did have a tendency to daydream in class.”

“Sounds like it.”

After her smile subsided, Rarity smacked her lips and sighed. “I suppose you’re wondering where I’m going with all of this?”

“Yeah, totally.”

Another giggle. “Well darling, Fluttershy’s daydreaming of this led her to be inspired by these characters, locked in battle for all time; and so she wrote this piece of music, which she aptly titled: ‘X Versus Zero.’”

“Hm.” I glanced at the piano. “And that, what you just played; that was the whole thing?”

Rarity nodded. “I told her it was lovely and that she should keep going with it, but over time she seemed to lose interest,” she explained, sighing. “Fluttershy tended to write music that was upbeat and light; ‘X Versus Zero’ was meant to have a more epic sound, and whenever Fluttershy strayed from her norms, she would flounder and end up not finishing it.”

“Why?”

“She always worried that people wouldn’t like it.”

I groaned quietly and rolled my eyes. “Well that definitely sounds like Flutters.”

“Quite so.” Rarity stood suddenly. “Well, as much as I’d love to continue this chat, darling, I should be getting back to the boutique.”

I looked down at the large, rectangular case in my hand. “Yeah…” I looked back at her, offering my arm. “Thanks for coming with me.”

“Oh! It was my pleasure,” she replied, slipping her hand through the crook of my elbow as we started for the door.

“Do you think Flutters’ll ever finish it?” I asked, stopping at the door when I realised my hands were full.

“Let me get that for you,” she insisted, opening the door and holding it for me. “As for the song, I don’t know, darling. I’m sure she’s forgotten all about it. I hadn’t thought about it myself for quite a few years... until I saw that piano just now.”

“Maybe we should ask her about it.”

“We could,” Rarity replied, taking my arm again as we strode along the sidewalk.

“Maybe she will now,” I said, shrugging at her. “She’s got the time, right?”

Rarity laughed. “That she does. I don’t know if the ambition is there though, to be honest.”

“Hm.” I followed up with a sigh. “Well, you know what? Sometimes all it takes is the right motivation to get people going again.”

Chapter 109: Golds' Custom Garage

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

*Chapter 110: Twilight Sparkle Gets Railed on the Hood of a 1981 Dodge Diplomat

Chapter 110

As it turns out, Twilight Sparkle was a feisty one.

True to her word, she certainly made no promises as far a biting; in the few minutes since we’d began our make-out, she’d already nipped my bottom lip more than once, as well as my tongue, making me somewhat reluctant to slip it into her mouth. Not that it mattered; she had no problem bringing hers into mine.

Her stature was very small—noticeably smaller than Rarity, both in height and build. She was built very similar to Fluttershy, in fact, minus the height and generous bust—not that hers was completely non-existent; from what I could see, she appeared to have a very cute little pair of breasts hiding under that bra of hers, but it was difficult to see exactly how big they really were. Only time and a few less garments would tell for sure.

Her arms were still hooked around the back of my neck, her feather-light frame hanging tenaciously from me as she massaged my lips with hers, panting deeply through her nose, eyes closed. Her body pressed against me, her stomach grinding against the tent in the front of my pants; her shirt was unbuttoned and spread open, which allowed her heat to soak from that smooth skin, through my shirt and into mine.

I had no idea what to think. This was Twilight after all: a total fucking nerd, always played it straight, very polite and well-spoken, and as it turned out, possessed an incredibly nimble and very delicious tongue. The prospect of having sex with this girl a second time wasn’t an unwelcome one; she was a pretty little thing after all, with lovely, soft skin of a lavender so vibrant it almost glowed under the florescent lights of the shop, and though I was never a big fan of bangs like hers, I did enjoy those cute coils that hung in front of her ears, not to mention that bun on the back of her head, which gave her a geeky-innocence that was irresistibly adorable.

Though I knew that Fluttershy and Rarity had established their lack of insecurity over things like this, I nonetheless had a lingering worry in the back of my mind that they might be upset with me if they found out I was having sex with one of their friends. Perhaps centuries of witnessing many a scorned woman had conditioned me to think this way, or perhaps it was simply because Twilight was largely uncharted territory—at least, this side of Twilight certainly was.

Even in such an amorous mood, however, it became apparent that the lavender girl must also have been thinking about the other girls when she broke the several minute long make-out to whisper something, which I took as a way of reminding herself that what we were about to do was acceptable.

After her lips separated from mine with a moist smack, Twilight exhaled against my face and then angled her head to lean in and kiss my throat. “Fluttershy was right,” —she paused to give my shoulder a gentle bite— “about this… connection we all share now that we’ve changed, and how... we have this ‘confortableness’ with each other…” She licked the spot she’d just bit. “It really is beautiful.”

I exhaled slowly as her lips grazed my adam’s apple on the way to the other side of my neck, where she continued to kiss and nibble away at my skin.

“Yeah…”

There wasn’t much more I cared to say.

Twilight, however, continued to speak between nibbles. “Just… the simple fact that we —all of us— can… engage in things like this anytime, without the worry of someone else feeling upset or betrayed, without the burden of ending up with a child…” A small nip to my earlobe. “This is no longer an act of procreation; its only purpose now is pleasure, to connect our bodies, to please each other for no reason other than to enjoy it… which is exactly what I intend to do; the way I should have done it in the first place.”

“And…” I paused to clear my throat as her lips tickled my neck. “You’re… um… sure this is what you want?”

Twilight pulled back suddenly and placed her hands on my shoulders. “Oh, absolutely.” She stood on her tip-toes and came closer to nip at my bottom lip. Then she turned to her left, appraising the hood of the old Diplomat from our position by the rear door, and after a thoughtful lick of her lips, she took my hand and led me around the hoist to the front of the car.

I watched her as I followed; that dark, violet shirt flowed behind her as she hurried us to the next location, occasionally fluttering high enough to grant me a glimpse of her round little backside, which was wrapped so tightly in those light gray pants they might just as well have been painted on.

Once in front of the car, she stood back and gestured for me to sit on the hood. Being suspended on the hoist, the Diplomat sat higher than it normally would on the ground, placing me at exactly her standing height when I sat.

Twilight closed in swiftly, placing her tiny, warm hands on my cheeks as she closed her eyes and kissed my lips, then exhaled against my face. “It’s true what the others said: that you’ve been giving off some kind of… something, ever since you got back from the mission.” She shook her head, pulling herself closer. “I wouldn’t say it’s a pheromone or anything like that; it’s definitely not chemical based at all, rather, it’s something… energetic. Whatever it is,” —her eyes widened with lust— “it is extremely appealing.”

I smirked reflexively as she closed her eyes and stroked my cheekbone with the tip of her nose. “Maybe it’s my dickish charm?”

Twilight gave a quick, sharp exhale. “Honestly? I couldn’t care less what it is. All I know is that I really want you, Golds. I want you right now.”

The conversation ended when the lavender girl once again connected our lips with passionate verve. She sent her tongue into my mouth to meet mine and they danced and played together, swirling up a hurricane of sweet saliva and throaty moans as I reached into her shirt and placed my hands on her little waist. Her skin was smooth, soft and hot against my palms, inviting me to slide them around to her back so I could pull her closer.

She pushed against my shoulders with her hands, signalling me to lie back on the cool, metal hood. As I did, she pulled herself in top of me, straddling my hips as she continued to dip into my mouth, licking every square inch of my tongue to memorize my flavour while her body began to grind against mine, running on pure instinct.

After finally breaking the kiss, Twilight sat upright and leaned on my chest with her hands. She gyrated her hips, grinding her warmth against the stiff bulge in my pants—a rather salacious act for the lavender nerd, one that sent a warm shiver of excitement through us both, knowing there were only a few thin layers of fabric separating us.

After letting a soft moan escape through her teeth, Twilight took her hands from my chest and peeled the nearly weightless shirt from her shoulders, slipped it down her arms and then tossed it over my head, where it landed softly on the windshield.

Mesmerized, I gazed up at the mauve beauty; her exposed skin flooded my vision with even more of that vibrant colour, and I watched intently as she reached behind her head and pulled loose the tie that kept her hair in that tight bun.

Those long, straight locks fell free, flowing wildly around her as she shook her head to set it free. Twilight’s hungry, violet eyes locked onto me next; her hair settled and draped across her back, covering her shoulders with those soft curtains of navy, accented by that offset strip of bright pink.

She bit her lip and gazed amorously at me, inviting me to come back for another taste of her soft, sweet lips. Unable to resist, I sat up and wrapped my arms around the small of her back, bringing our mouths together for another feast. Her elbows found themselves resting gently on my shoulders, her delicate fingers running through the hair on the back of my head as she laced her tongue around mine once again, bringing another dose of her saliva into my mouth.

Meanwhile, my fingertips traced ticklish lines up her back until I found the clasp of her bra, stretched tight between her shoulder blades. A soft moan transferred from her throat to my mouth when she realised what I was doing, but she made no attempt to stop me, even when I released the tiny hooks one-at-a-time, letting the beige garment snap loose and fall away from her chest.

Twilight broke the kiss and sat up to slip the lacy fabric from her arms and toss it aside, revealing a lovely pair of pert little breasts. They were somewhat smaller than what I was used to seeing, but even so, they stood proudly on her chest, her nipples projecting forward into the cool air of the shop. Her areolas were hardly darker than the lavender that surrounded them, and it was easier, in fact, to discern their borders by the tiny little bumps that ran the perimeter of each one.

Their size and lack of swaying or jiggling made them appear deceptively firm, like a pair of unripe fruits; but when my hands inevitably found themselves cupped over them, I was pleasantly surprised by two warm handfuls of very soft tissue that squished and molded to the shape of my grip—aside, of course, from the firm points at the center of each, poking into my palms.

With a deep inhale, Twilight tipped her head back and licked her lips when I shifted my hands to the sides and traced circles around those firm little buds with my thumbs, after which I leaned in and closed my lips over one of them. My tongue swirled around it while I sucked gently, drawing that throbbing nub deeper inside. It wasn’t long before I noticed I was able to draw most of Twilight’s breast into my mouth, causing her to nuzzle her cheek against the top of my head and moan softly as my warmth enveloped her soft flesh, my tongue teasing its tingly center. I found having the ability to do this rather enjoyable; even though they lacked the mass that some of the other girls possessed, her breasts were still quite beautiful, and wonderful as any to play with.

Once I’d decided her left nipple had had enough stimulation, I pulled back gently and let it pop from my mouth, but instead of switching to the other one immediately, I hooked one arm around her waist and flipped her onto her back, laying her bare skin against the cold metal hood.

“Oh!” She yelped at the unexpected move, as well as the cool shock against her back—although it wasn’t long before the heat of her skin conducted itself into the old metal, making her new position comfortable in short order as I climbed over her, kissing her navel and flat belly before making my way upwards. The pull of gravity had all but hidden her breasts in this position; they had spread outwards and sank into her chest, leaving her nipples standing all by their lonesome until I used my hands to gather up some of the soft tissue, squeezing them upward so I could feast on the second breast as she began to thrust her hips forward, grinding her mound against my stomach.

Twilight’s breathing continued to elevate, her senses sparking up a fire that spread across her skin as my lips and tongue —and occasionally my teeth— stimulated her breast, while I gently pinched the other bud with my thumb and finger, using the saliva left behind to lubricate her skin as I spun it back and forth like a dial.

After a few moments of this, I released her from my lips, but lingered just long enough to trace her areola with the tip of my tongue, after which I flicked that rock-hard nipple several times, causing her breath to hitch more than once, her muscles tensing each time I struck her with that warm, fast sensation.

Snickering at her reaction, I climbed higher and buried my mouth in the crook of her neck, kissing and nibbling at her soft, tender throat. This prompted a quick shrug and a soft squeal as my stubble scraped against her skin, followed by a hum of delight as my lips traveled up her neck and nipped at her earlobe, her warm hands gripping my shoulders as I worked.

Next, I brought my lips to her jaw line and left a dotted line of kisses across her cheek; when I reached her mouth, we locked lips and traded tongues once again, renewing each other’s flavours for a brief moment before I broke the kiss and rose from her. She breathed heavily and watched as I dragged my fingertips down her chest, over her breasts and down to her navel.

I stood in front of the car and appraised the half-nude girl before me; her long, dark hair fanned out across the hood, little hands fondling little breasts, eyes closed and mouth open as she panted with excitement, causing her chest to swell with each breath.

The only things she wore now were the light gray tights and a pair of dressy loafers. My eyes drifted downward, figuring the next article to be removed, and I came upon the waistband of those pants, stretched tightly around her hips. As I traveled lower yet, my breath stood still and my loins churned wildly at what I saw next: in the crotch of those skintight pants was a vertical stripe, darkened by moisture that had seeped from the excitement between her legs and soaked into the light-coloured fabric.

Hooooly shit, that’s hot… Without hesitating, I brought my face down and grazed the tip of my nose against that moist streak, sniffing her musky scent as she arched her hips upward, pushing her mound against my face. The scent of Twilight’s arousal set me on fire, and after sampling the sweet flavour of her saliva so many times already, I suddenly found myself ravenous, eager to find out how she tasted on the other end.

After I’d hooked my fingers over the top of those tights, Twilight responded quickly by lifting her hips so I could peel them down over her slender curves, panties and all. I fiddled briefly with them once they were around her ankles, but impatience won the day and I ended up simply yanking her shoes off, followed by her pants, which I threw past her to join the rest of her clothes on the windshield.

Twilight then rested her heels on the bumper, her knees elevated slightly as she separated her thighs, presenting her ladyhood while I slipped my shirt over my head to toss it aside.

I brought my eyes back to the petite, naked young woman sprawled out before me, taking in the sight of her inviting anatomy, recalling memories from that warm August day in Rarity’s bathroom. As Twilight relaxed a little more, her legs sank outwards, which in turn caused her to further open up.

I had forgotten about the dark blue hair. A thin layer of it covered her mound, but was trimmed down to a uniform length, leaving it just long enough to avoid being picky or rough, but still thin enough to see through. Below that was a pair of thick, mauve lips, her fleshy hood protruding from between them; glistening folds tipped with dark purple that transitioned into a bright pink within, where her clit and the entrance into the warmth beyond resided, coated with moisture and waiting eagerly to be serviced.

I hooked my arms under her knees and lifted her legs slightly, curling her hips upward for a better angle to eat her from. As I brought my face down, however, she sat up without warning, leaning on her elbows.

“Whoa… what are you doing?” she panted.

I looked up at her, surprised. “I was gonna go down on you. Is that OK, or...?”

She licked her lips and then swallowed. “Well… yeah, but… I thought you didn’t like doing that? I mean, last time, you wouldn’t…”

“Oh…” I gave my head a quick shake. “No, I just… I was caught off-guard, that’s all. You, like… showed up out of nowhere, wanting to fuck; and I barely knew you then, so…”

She relaxed a bit. “Oh, well… yeah, I... guess I can’t fault you for that.”

“So… is it cool if I go ahead?” I asked as she laid back, her breasts disappearing into her chest again.

She nodded and exhaled, looking up at the ceiling. “Sure, yeah.” She lifted her head to look at me once more. “Just… I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to, OK?”

I looked at her sideways. “Hey… you said ‘no inhibitions,’ did you not?”

Twilight paused, her eyes darting side-to-side. “Uhh, I… guess I did?”

I gave a single nod. “Alright. Lay down and let me eat your pussy then.”

She hesitated for a split second, then she laid back. “Fine, fine,” she said, followed by a deep breath, exhaling through pursed lips as she stared at the metal ceiling.

Leaning against the car, I glanced down at the delicious-looking orchid before me, taking in the heady scent of the arousal that soaked those dark, violet petals. I came down and flicked the delicate hood with my tongue, intending only to sample her flavour at first. Her legs jumped within my grip, her breath hitching when that first tease hit her. The taste of her nectar was quite mild, with a creamy smoothness that was fairly similar to the other girls, but with just enough distinction to make it Twilight’s own.

Hungry for more, I leaned down again and traced the tips of her minoras with my tongue one-at-a-time, tasting more of her arousal as I mapped-out and memorised every one of her most private details. She arched her hips upward in search of more, her body quivering with excitement as the first waves of bliss gently washed over her.

I moved in for a direct assault next, licking the entire length of her vulva from bottom to top, coating my tongue in a slick layer of her fluid. Her body reacted vigorously; a sharp breath drew inward and her head arched back, eyes shut firmly as I circled and drilled her clit with the tip of my tongue, then closed my lips around those soft, fleshy frills to suck the flavour from them.

A pair of small, purple hands combed their fingers through my hair and then gripped it as I worked, her soft coos of delight filling the shop as I drew her supple folds into my mouth and batted at them with my tongue, torturing her clit with relentless, rapid flicks, licks and swirls. Her hips arched up again as her body began to stiffen, her voice elevating in pitch with every sound she made.

“Ohh…” She bit her lip. “Unngh!” Her head went back, mouth opening wide to draw a lungful of air. “OOHHH!” She stiffened and shook, lifting her head again to look down at me as an orgasm quickly approached; her fingertips dug firmly into my scalp, feeling the sensation rise each time my tongue snaked into her warm depths to swirl itself around, tasting the most intimate place in her body before returning to the surface to lap away at her buzzing clit.

With her arms reaching down to my head, they had the affect of cradling her petite breasts between them, making them visible again. The sweet little nubs that sat atop each one pointed excitedly towards the ceiling, hard as glass and throbbing with excitement.

“Aaaahh…” she sang, brows furrowing deeply. “Gol-… Gol-… I’m gonna…” —her muscles tensed even more— “OOOHHH!”

When the climax finally caught up with her, Twilight quivered and threw her head back, howling in ecstasy while I kept my lips sealed over her crease, feeling her throb against my tongue as it continued its quick laps around her clit.

The sensation quickly overwhelmed her, and she twisted her body to the side in a desperate attempt to find respite, only to have her hips held down against the hood as her quivering, seeping flesh was electrified by my busy tongue. She gripped the top of my head in desperation, then —realising physical resistance was useless— brought her hands up and pressed the heels of her palms to her eyelids to endure what remained of the orgasm, her body spasming so violently it caused the car to rattle on the hoist.

“OK!... OK!” she gasped, her chest heaving in synch with her pleas for mercy, unsure if she really wanted it. “That’s good! You got it… you got it…”

Her womanhood slowly calmed itself as the orgasm faded, leaving her in a tingling, twitching, wet mess. By then, I had eased away from the assault and was gently running my tongue up and down the length of her crease, feeling and tasting every soft, fleshy detail as I passed over them, letting her gradually float down from that perfect pinnacle of sensation, that wondrous blast of bliss. I changed my methods and began to kiss her, dropping several smooches on those soft layers, to which she let a long, relaxed moan slip free of her throat.

With one last flick of my tongue, making her jump and hitch her breath, I stood upright to look at Twilight; her arms were sprawled outward, her head and shoulders surrounded by that all-encompassing swath of navy blue hair, accented by those thin, pink strands shattered throughout the one side. Her bangs were twisted and disheveled, granting a rare view of her forehead, making her look somewhat unfamiliar as those violet eyes gazed dreamily at the ceiling, sparkling with satisfaction.

I placed my hands on her knees to draw her attention. “Well?”

After a short pause, Twilight’s eyes rolled back and then she closed them. “Oohhh… so good. So, so good.” She opened her eyes again and sat up slightly, leaning on the hood with one elbow while reaching for me with her other hand. “Come here.”

I complied and leaned closer to her. As soon as I was within reach, her hand hooked itself around the back of my neck and yanked me down with all its might to connect our lips. Her tongue swept in briefly, but then she pulled back when she realised the strange flavour she could taste was herself. I let my forehead rest against hers as she smacked her lips tentatively, analyzing her own flavour, wondering if tasting something so naughty was really for her.

It wasn’t long before she must have decided it was, and she slammed her lips against mine again, sending her tongue into my mouth to lick her juices from it—and to thank it for a job well done. My lips were slippery, and the coating was spread onto hers in short order, causing her mouth to slide around my face in a wild fit of passion, her tongue darting out haphazardly, sometimes tickling my lips, other times missing and jabbing the corner of my mouth.

The make-out session had clearly rekindled a wildfire in her; Twilight Sparkle was ready for the next round.

She broke the kiss and, keeping our foreheads together, panted her hot breath into my mouth as she reached down and clawed at my pants. Her shaky fingers tried frantically to unclip my belt, but their dexterity was lost in the heat of the moment. So, with no patience left, Twilight splayed her fingers and engulfed the leather strap in a small field of magenta, snapping the belt in two.

As the deafening pop echoed through the large room, the lavender girl quickly pulled the button free and yanked my zipper down, followed by my pants and shorts. She gasped when she saw my length bounce free, and was quick to wrap her little fingers around it to give it a squeeze; a bead of clear fluid gushed from the tip, running down over her thumb, warming it.

“Oh my gosh,” she whispered as she stroked me, using the pre-ejaculate to lubricate the head, which she pumped slowly but firmly, sending breathtaking jolts of electricity through me. “I want you so bad,” she whispered, before kissing my lips again. “I want you inside me—no, I need you inside me... right now.”

“Alright, alright,” I said, giving her tasty lips one last peck before straightening up to look down upon her.

Twilight released my erection and brought her hand to her mouth, wrapping her lips around the webbing between her thumb and forefinger to suck my juices from it. While she did this, I hooked my hands under her thighs and pulled her towards me. Her skin squealed noisily along the smooth metal as I dragged her backside to the edge and then set the tip of my length against her slit, wiggling it around until the head was nestled comfortably between those dark, purple folds. Their moist, tender warmth felt like heaven, tempting me to thrust forward, but I forced myself to hold my position and look up into that pair of desperate, violet eyes.

“You ready?”

After a deep inhale, she nodded. “Please... do it.”

Placing my hands on the hood on both sides of Twilight, I leaned over her and pushed forward, watching the ridge slip in and disappear between those violet petals, followed by inch-after-wonderful-inch of that long, stiff trunk.

Her eyes closed and her back arched, prompting me to stop about halfway in. “Ohh!” she gasped, biting her lip. “More please,” she begged politely, knowing there was a lot left, waiting to come inside.

I exhaled, paused, then pushed forward the rest of the way, stopping only when our laps came together to share their warmth.

Twilight’s eyes popped open when she felt my entire length housed within her, soaked right down to the base with her soothing heat and slick moisture. “Oh wow!” she hollered, reaching up to grab my shoulders. “Big penis!”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the observation. Even after countless comments from the other ladies about my size, I could never wrap my head around what they thought was so outstanding about it; I’d always considered myself to be of a ‘respectable’ size, though certainly nothing to break any records with. But hey, if they were enjoying it, then who was I to argue?

I leaned down and planted a kiss on those mauve lips. “Did you miss it, Twi?”

“Oh my gosh,” she replied quickly, pressing a palm to her temple for an incredulous shake of her head. “So much,” she panted, lowering her voice to whisper quietly to herself. “Big penis, big penis…”

With another snicker, I buried my lips in the crook of her neck and nibbled at her skin as I pulled my hips back and then gave the small, vibrantly-coloured girl a hearty thrust, eliciting a gasp and a shrill cry of delight from her, followed by another thrust and its accompanying yelp, prompting her to wrap her legs around my hips and hook her feet behind me.

Her interior was hot and drenched with arousal; it clenched down on me like a vise, stroking me firmly each time I forced my way back in. The sensation was intense, making my body shiver each time I felt her lovely depths glide along my length. I knew I wouldn’t last long like this, especially after engaging in such in-depth foreplay.

“Relax, Twi,” I whispered into her ear, before nibbling on it.

Her panting ceased momentarily when she swallowed. Then the next breath burst forth, followed by her reply. “I am.”

I snorted softly, shook my head and then continued to thrust into her, filling her tiny lavender body with that overwhelming, rigid girth each time our hips came together.

It wasn’t long before her limbs cinched down around me; her voice began to elevate, her breathing accelerating. “Oooooh boy, another… AH! Or-... OOOORRgasm coming!”

Only seconds passed before it struck her. That little body locked up beneath me and quivered violently while her depths —which I didn’t think could possibly get any tighter— squeezed down and pulsated rapidly, flooding her interior with a wave of fresh, hot fluid. Twilight howled like a wild animal, throwing her head back in ecstasy as her flesh came gleefully around my length, wrapping it firmly in that wonderful, hot bliss.

When the climax subsided, it left her so quickly it was almost unnerving; her spent body turned to putty beneath me, her arms and legs limp, barely maintaining their grip on me.

I rose to my elbows and leaned over Twilight to look at her. Her eyes were closed, lips parted slightly so she could breathe through them, and her hair was a frazzled mess. “How was that?” I asked.

Her eyes opened partway, slowly. Then she shook her head. “Pfffft… fuck.”

The reply made me laugh out loud, which in turn incited a soft giggle from her. I couldn’t recall if I’d ever heard Twilight drop an F-bomb before; nevertheless, it was a rare thing to witness and was quite entertaining, to say the least.

I looked down between us when I noticed she was still clenching down on my erection. In the short time that I’d been fucking her, I’d already noticed my own orgasm starting to wake—in fact, if she hadn’t came so unnaturally fast, this session might have been finished already. I decided to speak up about it. “Hey Twi? You need to loosen up down there or this is gonna be over in a hurry.”

Twilight’s eyes opened the rest of the way. She looked befuddled. “Huh?”

I paused, unsure of what she didn’t understand. Then I pointed down between us. “You, squeezing me with your pussy. I’m not gonna last long with you doing that.”

She shook her head. “I’m not squeezing you.”

I stared vacantly at her for a moment, prompting her decision to prove it to me.

“Here,” she said, biting her lip.

I felt her walls harden suddenly, clenching down even tighter.

“Now I’m squeezing you.”

“Uhh…” I took a moment, trying to wrap my mind around how tightly this girl was wrapped around my manhood without even trying, feeling her interior relax once again in the meantime.

Then it struck me; something I had learned about Twilight in Rarity’s bathroom all those months ago, which I had conveniently forgotten about until just now: her vagina was tight. Extremely tight, in fact, which made her a very difficult woman to make love to without bursting like a teenager having his first time with a girl.

I locked eyes with the lavender nerd. “You!”

She recoiled slightly, cocking a brow. “Me?”

I nodded. “You’ve got that fuckin super-tight pussy; I totally forgot about that.”

“Um… OK?” she replied meekly. Any better of a response had escaped her for the moment.

I rested my cheek in my palm, staring at the pile of clothes on the windshield as I wondered how long I’d be able to last if we continued. She was after a good romp, and while we were off to a solid start, I certainly didn’t want it to be over within the next minute or two. “Dammit…” I gave my head a shake, unsure of how this was going to work. “I never even thought about that; I probably should’ve fired one down the shitter before we started.”

Twilight grimaced and placed a hand over her brow, disgusted by the suggestion—or its wording, rather. “Wait! Wait wait wait,” she said, moving her hand away. “How is it that you were able to last so long last time?”

I shrugged. “No foreplay,” I said, to which she hummed and shifted her eyes to the side. “Like, you just showed up at Rare’s, came into the bathroom, slapped some KY on there and we were off to the races. Remember?”

Looking somewhat exasperated, Twilight pinched the bridge of her nose. “Yes, I do... now. OK, so… what do you wanna do?” She looked at me again. “Cuz… to be honest, I would really like to continue, if—I mean, if you can.”

I sighed, scratching the back of my head. “Well, not much we can do besides that. Unless you want me to go to the bathroom and-“

“NO!” She gripped my cheeks with her palms. “Don’t do that. Please. Just… I don’t want you to go.” She tightened her legs around me. “Please, just stay here and… uh, pound me into…” She paused, licking her bottom lip as she considered her wording. “Fragments. And... er, particles.“

I could help but laugh. Hearing a nerdy girl like Twilight trying to lure me back with sexy talk was so fucking cute it made my heart ache. “You mean dust. And don’t worry, Twi; I’m not going anywhere. Tell you what: let’s just keep on truckin and see what happens. I mean, I already know, but... you know.”

Twilight nodded. “Deal.” She wrapped her arms around the back of my neck and pulled me in for a warm, wet kiss.

I moved my hips again, withdrawing my length from her vice-like depths to thrust back in, starting the rhythmic pleasuring once again. Her interior had become significantly wetter since the orgasm, creating a lewd schlop sound each time I slid into her; the flood of girl-cum certainly helped our sex move quite literally like a well-oiled machine, allowing my ridged girth to glide through that tightness like it was nothing.

Unfortunately, however, it was starting to work a little too well. Twilight’s womanhood was just about the most efficient milking-machine one could imagine, and I could already feel the pressure beginning to build deep down, the pleasure at the tip laced with that familiar tingle.

Her eyes were closed, her legs quivering as they gripped my hips tightly; she panted loudly through pursed lips, but I could tell she was nowhere close to orgasm yet. Certainly not as close as I was.

I held out as long as I could, but that narrow heaven massaging my length proved to be too much to handle. Not wanting it to be over yet, I was forced to withdrawal before my swelling head burst and pumped her full of my seed.

“Ohh…” she groaned longingly, looking down at my glistening manhood as it throbbed and bounced above her abdomen, teetering on the brink of release.

“Sorry, Twi. I couldn’t,” I panted, shaking my head. “It’s too much.”

“It’s OK,” she replied softly, rubbing my shoulder. “Take your time.”

This comment made me feel a bit like a tool. I could tell that Twilight felt the need to coach me because she was worried I might feel inadequate, but she didn’t understand: I was good at pleasing women. I didn’t need coaching!

“I’m fine,” I said, letting pride get the better of me. “I just needed two seconds. I’m good to go now.”

“O... K,” Twilight replied dubiously as I aimed my sensitive head between those dark folds.

With a quick breath to prepare, I pushed against that pink center and sank back into those hot, ridiculously tight depths.

“Mmmmmm…” Twilight moaned as I connected our mouths again, knowing full well I’d already made a massive mistake by returning so soon. Only seconds passed before my erection was tingling out of control, my loins full of pressure and ready to unload inside the lavender girl.

Again, she was not even close to getting off.

I wanted to give her more. She needed more! She deserved it. I couldn’t finish after she’d only gone once; she propositioned me with the intention of having a wild ride—and dammit, I was going to give it to her.

Knowing it wasn’t going to happen this time, I withdrew again, drawing a desperate cry from Twilight. Looking down at that writhing, mauve body, I knew I couldn’t disappoint her, so I did the only thing I could think of: I gripped my length and pressed the less-sensitive bottom side of the shaft against her slit and stroked her with it, caressing that beautiful hood and the throbbing clit underneath. I picked up the pace and stoked her vigorously, using my length to pleasure her while keeping the sensitive head out of harm’s way. She moaned and writhed, combing her fingers through that navy hair to pull it firmly as she endured the sharp sensation that radiated from her slit.

An orgasm built up and released itself on the surface, like a bomb had been dropped between her legs, sending a shock wave of ecstasy across her goosebump-riddled skin. She shrieked and trembled uncontrollably, letting go of her hair to grab her breasts, pinching her nipples with her thumbs and forefingers.

I slowed the strokes when her climax appeared to fade, stopping only when Twilight’s body was totally relaxed, panting blissfully as she fondled herself. I released my length and rested my hands on her knees, leaving wet fingerprints on one of them.

“Good?” I asked, breathing heavily.

She nodded, closing her eyes. “Yeah… that was pretty good.” She licked her lips. “It’s just…”

My breathing stopped. “What?”

“I… I…” She hesitated, considering how she should word it. “I wish it could have been… inside.”

I hung my head, knowing I hadn’t satisfied her as well as I’d hoped. “Oh...” I sighed, rubbing her knee. “Sorry. I just... I couldn’t keep it up; that pussy is like a fuckin pinhole, man.”

She smiled briefly, then reached out with her hand to pat the sheet metal beside her. “It’s OK, Golds. Here. Why don’t you lay down and have a break?”

I glanced at the faded paint where she’d patted and sighed. Then I rolled my eyes. “Fine.”

After flopping down next to the lavender beauty, I stared at the ceiling in silence.

A short pause later, she reached over and took my hand to squeeze it gently.

“It was still good, Golds,” she said, “just… not quite like the first one.” She swallowed, combing her bangs with her fingertips to straighten them out. “Having that orgasm with you inside me was… I mean, it was amazing. There’s really no other way to describe it; it just blew my mind.” She turned her head to face me. “Even if we quit now, I’d still say this was some of the best sex I’ve ever had, so… you shouldn’t feel like you’ve let me down.”

I gave her a little smile in return, then placed a hand on my forehead. “Thanks. It’s just… I wanted to get you off at least once more—like... legit: with my dick inside you. And here I thought I was gonna be able to take you to the limit, like I do with the others. Especially Sunny.” I let a chuckle slip free. “She’s actually kind of a lightweight, you know? She can’t take much of it, especially when she’s cumming.”

“Yeah…” Twilight replied quietly. “Sunset’s been here for a lot of years, but she’s still getting used to her body. Apparently, her other one wasn’t quite so sensitive.”

“Hm… still.” I sighed and rubbed my chin. Then I glanced over at her. “You, Twi: are a very difficult person to fuck, especially if the dude you’re with expects to last any reasonable amount of time.”

Twilight ruminated. Slowly, a look of remorse crept into her features.

“What is it?” I asked, noticing her expression.

“I… I feel kind of bad now.”

“Aw…” I waved her off and faced the ceiling again. “It’s not your fault. We’ll just have to cut back on the foreplay next time.”

She shook her head. “No, it’s not that. I was thinking about Timber.”

“Who the fuck is Timber?”

“He… had trouble lasting, too; and I always dismissed it as being because of him,” she explained, closing her eyes and giving her head a shake. “I kept insisting that he was suffering from premature ejaculation, which would always upset him.”

I raised a finger at her. “I’m telling you right now, Twi: it was not his fault.”

She sighed, letting her breath escape through pursed lips as she scratched the top of her head. Then she glanced downwards, looking towards my manhood for a moment before her eyes crept back up to mine, followed by a mischievous smirk and another squeeze of my hand. “Why don’t I give it a try?”

“Huh?”

“Let me be on top,” Twilight suggested. “Maybe it’ll be… I don’t know… different? Besides, I… could really go for some more—I mean, if you don’t mind.”

I glanced down at myself, noticing I was still at full mast, having been deprived of the chance to unload.

“Heh…” I glanced back into those hungry, violet eyes. “What have we got to lose, right?”

“Exactly!” Twilight giggled as she rolled her little lavender body on top of mine, leaving a wet spot on the front of the car where her backside was. “OK…” she mumbled to herself as she straddled my hips and then reached down between us to grasp my length. Staring off beyond the roof of the car, she ran her tongue along the inside of her bottom lip as she rubbed my knob against that slippery crease, stopping only when she found the entrance to that tight, sultry hell.

Biting her lip, Twilight closed her eyes and let her weight settle onto me, allowing me to slip inside her once again. She descended slowly, engulfing me in that warm squeeze until her backside rested on my hips; she let a warm exhale blast against my face and placed her hands on either side of my head to lean on the hood. “Hoooooh!” she panted, closing her eyes as she waited for her body re-adjust to the penetration. “So much…” she whispered, opening her eyes again as her long, straight hair hung down and surrounded us in a dark curtain, which filled my senses with the faint scent of shampoo.

She began to move about, rocking her hips slowly at first, tickling my face with those navy coils that hung by her temples. Her interior was like an inferno —and sopping wet— noisily stroking my length with each curl of her slender hips. She sat up partway and leaned on my chest with her hands, taking me right to the hilt so she could grind her clit against my lap. Her breasts had just enough mass to sway in this position, inviting me to reach up and close my hands over them as she panted wildly, accelerating her thrusts with every passing second.

Twilight was a surprisingly skilled rider, and she was well on her way to an orgasm, which was simply inevitable with such a girth filling her depths, not to mention her clit raging against me so ferociously.

Unfortunately, it was not to be. I was still too sensitive, and she was far too heavenly for me to last. I gave it everything I had to hold out, but it was too tight and too slick, and just as the pressure moved out to the tip, I released her breast and tapped her thigh rapidly, signalling her to stop.

She did, but not without an exasperated groan, knowing that her own climax was within sight. “UGH!” she growled, raising her hands and closing her eyes after sitting straight up, impaling herself on my twitching length. “Alright, look… how about this? If the goal is to make me have another orgasm, why don’t you just go ahead and ejaculate and then we can start again; then you’ll be less sensitive, right?”

I nodded, letting my forearm lay across my eyes as I panted heavily, my heart pounding like a jackhammer while I concentrated on keeping the climax contained. Dangling tenaciously over the edge, even the slightest movement on Twilight’s part could still set it off and she would end up getting blasted—probably five feet into the air. As a matter of fact, I was fairly certain that some had already seeped from the tip; I could feel the heat from it, soaking its way down my shaft inside her.

“OK,” I said, moving my arm so I could look up at her. “At this point, I don’t think there’s much else we can do.” I gave her the nod to proceed. “Go for it, Twi.”

“Um,” she paused, touching a finger to her lip. “Actually, I… don’t want it inside. Yet.”

I stared blankly at her. “What?”

She put her hands on my chest again, tracing shapes with her fingertips. “I just… I’m not really a fan of… ’sloppy seconds,’” she explained. “It’s so… I don’t know…”

“Messy?” I offered.

She bit her lip thoughtfully, then replied. “Yeah, and it’s, well... thick.”

I furrowed my brows, staring at her breasts. “Thick…”

“You know,” she continued, struggling to explain it. “I mean, it makes the intercourse feel… vague, because, um… semen is so thick and slippery. I like to feel the details… of your… you know, inside me.” She sighed and shook her head. “I’m sorry, that probably doesn’t make any sense.”

I patted her thigh. “No, it’s fine, Twi. We can do it your way, but,” —I raised a finger— “If you don’t want me to cum inside then you’d better let me drive.”

Twilight nodded quickly. “You’re probably right. Go ahead.” She leaned to her left and slipped off of me, lying on her back in her original spot again. “And don’t worry, Golds: you can go inside me on the next one.”

“Sweet,” I said, standing in front of the car to hook my hands behind her knees, lifting her legs and holding them apart. “Alright, let’s do this. Heh! Shouldn’t take too long, right?”

“Nope!” she giggled and looked down, watching me place my head between her lips and then promptly disappearing into her. “Oh god!” she threw her head back, gasping with delight.

I went at her with fresh vigor; no more worry, free of the obligation to please—that was now reserved for round two. But first, I was entitled to a free release, and after so many false starts, I was more than eager to unleash this well-deserved load.

And I was right: it didn’t take long at all. The pressure in my loins skyrocketed quickly as I pumped Twilight’s impossibly tight depths, drawing a chorus of throaty howls from her while I brought that tantalising tingle to the surface, swelling, hardening…

Just as I was ready to blow, I withdrew and stood with the intention of turning away and using my hand to fire it into a nearby bucket of used motor oil. Before I had a chance to do any of that, however, Twilight slid swiftly from the hood and squatted in front of me, gripping my rock-hard member with both hands —one wrapped around the shaft, the other around the swollen head— and she proceeded to pump her fists without mercy. Intense waves of sensation shot through me as she stroked, which in turn drew the explosion forth in a matter of seconds.

Twilight gasped with excitement when she felt me jerk within her grip, her firm caress setting off a chain-reaction of thick, white threads that fired from the tip; the first one hit dead-center on her adam’s apple and ran down between her collarbones, the second strayed to one side, splashing her left collarbone and then running down over her little, jiggling breast.

Surprised by the volume being expelled, her eyes widened when she saw the third shot fire. She hadn’t expected this much of a mess and so she began to panic, wishing to avoid a gigantic soaking. This wasn’t quite what she was prepared for, so she made a snap decision to contain the mess the first way she could think of.

Gripping my shaft by the base, Twilight closed her lips around the head to catch the rest, overloading me with limitless pleasure while I overloaded her mouth with what seemed like gallons of that thick, hot fluid. She closed her eyes and moaned, furrowing her brows as more of that salty flavour permeated her taste buds with its smooth warmth.

She then opened her mouth and exhaled around my shaft, her bottom lip acting as a spout from which a heavy, white stream poured out and splattered across her right thigh. From there, it ran downward and dribbled down to the floor.

I was still squirting, however, and the next shot fired into the back of her throat as she breathed, making her cough rather suddenly. She hacked once or twice, then forced herself to seal her lips around the very tip to catch the weaker, final shots directly on her tongue.

She moaned softly, feeling the throbbing fade between her lips. Still holding me with both hands, she gave a firm suck to draw out any lingering cum, then slid her lips off the tip—the sensation of which caused me to shiver from head to toe.

Panting with satisfaction, I looked down at Twilight, my heart still racing as I watched her release me from her grip and cover her mouth with one hand, furrowing her brows as she gulped down what was left in her mouth.

“Jesus, Twi,” I chortled incredulously, “you have totally been watching porn.”

The lavender girl looked up at me with those purple eyes, revealing her throat, shoulders and chest, which were covered in a mess of thick, white webs. “That… was a lot more semen than I expected.”

I nodded. “Too much build-up, I guess.” I reached out to take her hand and help her to her feet.

Twilight sat on the car and took a deep breath. Then she flopped back, lying with her arms and hair sprawled across the hood, exhaling loudly.

I sat beside her and pulled my boots off, followed by my pants—which were still around my ankles. “Damn it.” I shook my head and chuckled. ”I thought I was supposed to rock your world tonight, not the other way around.” I turned towards her to study that dainty lavender figure; her breasts had sank into her chest again, leaving her hard nipples behind with several gobs of cum to keep them company.

She turned her head to look at me. “You liked that?”

I snorted and shook my head. “Liked? Fuck, that was awesome. You just blew my friggin mind, Twi.”

She smiled and licked her lips, then faced the ceiling again as her chest inflated with another big breath. “You did rock my world, Golds; just so we’re clear.”

I smirked, letting my eyes sneak down to gaze at her mound, studying the thin layer of dark blue hair on it.

“And,” she continued, “in a few minutes —or… whenever you’re ready— you can rock it again; even harder this time.”

I tore my eyes from her womanhood to glance at her with a brow raised.

She gave her shoulder a little shrug. “I mean, you’ll be desensitized now, so it should be smooth sailing from here, right?”

I pursed my lips and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, exactly. What could possibly go wrong?”

*Chapter 111: Twilight Sparkle Gets Railed on the Hood of a 1981 Dodge Diplomat... AGAIN!

Chapter 111

Fluttershy made her way up the long driveway parked her vehicle near the shop. After stopping the engine, she exited the car and turned to close the door very slowly —so as not to bother the animals in the surrounding woods— and after giving the door a soft nudge with her hip to latch it, she made a light-footed trail towards the door.

Earlier, when she’d returned home, Fluttershy hopped in the shower to clean the dust from herself, then she spent some time straightening up the house, after which she played with Link and Angel for a bit. One thing that was amiss, however, was her phone. She’d tried to find it after her shower to check for messages, but came up empty handed, so she busied herself with other tasks, not thinking too much about it.

Later, when she tried to find it again, wondering if she’d received anything, it was nowhere to be found. Slightly perturbed by this, and she went outside to check her car for it, determined to track the elusive device down. When it wasn’t there either, she stood beside her car, hands on her hips as she took a moment to mentally trace her steps.

As she thought to herself, Fluttershy looked down to study the dark, form-fitting yoga pants she was wearing, topped by a loose, white long-sleeved shirt, its collar equipped with a zipper that went just low enough to expose her cleavage. With an annoyed shake of her head, she decided that she must have left it behind at the shop; it was quite unlike her to forget something like that, but after searching the entire house for it, that was the only logical explanation left.

So now, here she was: back at the shop, padding her way across the gravel towards the side door.

*****

“…what could possibly go wrong?” I was saying to Twilight when we heard the shop door click a split second later, and we turned to see Fluttershy stepping inside.

“Hey, um… Goldie? Have you seen my- OH!” Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when she spotted the two of us lying naked on the hood of the old car.

“OH MY GOSH!” Twilight sat up and rolled herself into a ball, bringing her knees up to her chest to hug them.

I had sat up as well, mouth hung open. “Uuuhh… I… Flutters, I-“

“I’m sorry! I-I didn’t know you guys were…” Fluttershy gripped the doorknob and began to back away nervously. “Lemme just… I’ll just go… sorry.”

The retreat left me stunned. Understandably, she would have been quite shocked after making such a discovery, but the fact that she felt like she needed to excuse herself from her own boyfriend’s presence nearly broke my heart right then and there.

I raised my hand and called to her. “Flutters, wait!”

She stopped and looked up at me from inside shadow of the door, her eyes big, but her pupils tiny. Twilight had turned to me as well, her face aghast.

“What are you doing!?” she whispered as I waved Fluttershy over.

“I feel bad,” I whispered back, watching the shy girl make her way through the shop. “She’s my girlfriend; I can’t make her leave like that.”

“Yeah, but… I-“

Fluttershy was standing only a few feet away by then, her eyes darting back-and-forth between us.

No lies, it was an awkward moment.

Rapidly, the shy girl tapped her fingernails together, sucking on her bottom lip. Surprisingly, though, she was able to muster up the gusto to speak.

“Um, I… couldn’t find my phone,” she said, barely above a whisper. “So I came back here, thinking maybe I left it behind.” She paused and quietly cleared her throat. “I, um… didn’t expect you guys to be… you know… naked together.”

Twilight and I glanced at each other. Her face was beet-red.

I drew a breath to respond, but held it for a moment before I did. “Yyyyyeah, uh… that. Well, we were just… working on the car, and, uh, we got to talking, and one thing led to another…”

Fluttershy nodded. “I… um, I can see that.” She folded her arms and stood pigeon-toed. “What… happened exactly?— if, um, you don’t mind me asking.”

“Well…” I reached up to scratch the back of my head. “We were talking about… when Twi was turned—you know, in Rare’s bathroom...”

Fluttershy nodded quickly. “Mm-hm. Mm-hm.”

“And… she was expressing some… regrets.”

Fluttershy’s eyebrows rose. She looked at Twilight. “Regrets?”

I raised a hand and continued. “Not that she did it; just… that she didn’t allow herself to make the most of it. So… uh, she proposed a do-over.” I glanced over at Twilight, whose face was still smouldering as she stared down at her knees. “Uh… an intercourse do-over.”

The shy girl’s brows furrowed slightly. “An intercourse do-over?” She took a moment to study the lavender girl, her eyes growing more inquisitive as they took in the sight of all that vibrantly coloured skin.

“Yeah,” I replied. “And we were just… kind of in the middle of that when you came in.”

My girlfriend’s gaze dropped; she looked somewhat remorseful, thinking she’d interrupted us.

“You know…” I continued, “Twi mentioned that you and Rare told her she could, uh… join in the fun anytime she wanted to…”

Fluttershy turned to me, her eyes widening. “Oh… um, that’s true, actually; we did, but… we never thought she would actually do it.”

Twilight remained silent, but she turned to me with a look that clearly said: ‘I told you!’

Noticing Twilight’s anxiousness, Fluttershy couldn’t help but feel a twinge of guilt for embarrassing her, especially when she was doing something that no doubt required a lot of courage on Twilight’s part. She took a tentative step forward with her arm outstretched, and after a short hesitation mid-reach, the shy girl slowly and gently placed her fingertips on Twilight’s forearm, causing the lavender girl to tense up.

“It’s OK, Twilight,” Fluttershy reassured softly. “This kind of thing? It doesn’t bother us anymore. We don’t really know why that is, but… you don’t have to worry about me getting upset with you.”

Twilight’s eyes rose to meet Fluttershy’s. She watched intently as the shy girl used an index finger to hook her hair behind her ear before continuing.

“And, um… I think it’s great that you stepped out of your comfort zone and decided to do this. It just means that you’re getting comfortable with your new self,” Fluttershy explained. “We’re not finished changing as soon as the immortality sets in; we, um… continue to grow and evolve: the way we act, and how we think… it all changes with time.”

“Exactly,” I said, facing Twilight. I reached out and gave her hip a little nudge. “You’re good, Twi. No one did anything wrong here.”

Twilight said nothing, but she appeared to be considering the situation. She was still curled up in a tight bundle though, hiding her nude bits.

“You can relax and loosen up,” I added. “It’s not like you two haven’t seen each other naked before, right?”

The girls stole a glance at each other, then down at the faded hood, and then finally, at me.

I watched them for a moment, my mouth hanging open in surprise. “Oh, come on! Seriously? You guys have never seen each other naked? And you’ve been friends for how long?”

Twilight shook her head as Fluttershy removed her fingertips from the other girl’s arm to wring her hands together.

“Um… I saw Twilight once… accidentally.” Fluttershy cleared her throat softly. “Back in high school, we were at Pinkie Pie’s house getting ready to go to the beach, and I... walked in on Twilight changing. I only saw her for a second, though.”

I glanced at Twilight. “And you’ve never seen Flutters?”

She looked at me and then shook her head. “I haven’t.”

“Well, jeez… you don’t know what you’re missing,” I said with a wink at the shy girl, who cracked a little smile in return. “Seriously though,” I continued, facing Twilight again. “Just take it easy, Twi. Flutters and I are cool. Besides, you look pretty good naked.”

Twilight drew a breath to reply. “I know. It’s just… being caught like this: it’s a little different than walking in on someone changing. It’s kinda hard to relax when you’ve been caught in a sexual situation with... you know, someone’s lover—even if they tell you it’s OK.” She sighed once again and took a moment to gather her nerves, then she loosened her arms and let her knees fall away from her chest… slightly.

I looked at Fluttershy and smirked, rolling my eyes. Obviously, Twilight wasn’t going to unwind that easily.

The shy girl shook her head and returned the smirk to me, but when she glanced down at Twilight again, something caught her eye and she paused. Even after the lavender girl had loosened her position, her breasts were still hidden, but her collarbones were now in Fluttershy’s view, and on those collarbones was a distinctive strand of thick, white goo.

Fluttershy knew exactly what it was, having seen it countless times herself. The sight of it caused her hormones to stir, prompting her to reach out and gather a sample on her fingertip.

Twilight and I both watched in silence as that slender, yellow finger swept a small bead of fluid up and brought it to the shy girl’s mouth. She wrapped her lips around it and tasted the substance, her expression one of curiosity as she rolled her tongue around in her mouth, analyzing its flavour.

Then, a single brow raised and Fluttershy looked down at Twilight first, and then me. “Um… I thought you said you were in the middle of it,” she said softly, but with a certain hint of raciness. “Because it kind of looks to me like you’re already done.”

“Uhh…” I glanced at Twilight, who looked back at me while I quickly tried to gather the words to explain what we were doing. “Well, Twi and I were just having a little, uh… intermission.”

Fluttershy swallowed and smacked her lips. “Now, Goldie… how can it be intermission when poor Twilight is already covered in cum?”

Twilight closed her eyes, her face red as a tomato.

“Oh… I, uh… was having some trouble… um... lasting,” I explained anxiously. “So we decided to… let me finish and then take another run at it.”

The shy girl cocked her head curiously. “You had trouble lasting?”

Hesitating, I squeezed my right hand into a fist as I tried to think of a delicate way of wording it. “Well… you see, Twi here, is very… small. Inside.”

“Oh, god...” Twilight whispered under her breath. She put her head down to hide her face.

Staring at the lavender girl, Fluttershy blinked a couple times, then a smirk began to appear on her lips, followed by a soft giggle.

“What’s so funny?” I asked as the shy girl’s giggles slowly grew into laughter.

“It’s just… hehehe! Twilight would be the one to, um… take you to school.”

I sighed at the pun and rubbed my forehead. “She didn’t take me to school! At least… not the whole time.”

“Is that a fact?” Fluttershy tittered, placing a hand on my leg as she glanced down for an eyeful of my length, standing at half-mast and glistening with Twilight’s juices. The sight of it made the shy girl bite her lip, and she slowly brought her sights up to gaze at me with a pair of sharp, teal eyes.

The flutter-beast was awake.

I nodded and narrowed my eyes at her in jest. “Yeah. It is a fact. And now that I’ve popped once already, I was just about to pound little Twi here right through this fuckin hood into the goddamn floor.”

“Ooooh...” Fluttershy bit her thumbnail and gazed at me with an innocent, but devious grin. “Can I watch?”

Twilight’s head popped up suddenly, eyes wide. “Uh, I’m sorry, what?”

“Watch?” I snapped a finger. “Hell, you can join us!”

The lavender girl’s head snapped in my direction, her face a deep shade of WTF. “What? No... nonono…”

“What’s wrong, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked in a coy tone.

Twilight shook her head. “I told you… at Rarity’s, remember? I have zero interest in being involved in these group-sex shenanigans of yours.”

“Ugh!” I tipped my head back. “They’re not shenanigans!”

“Still,” Twilight replied. “That’s not really something I’m interested in; I’ve been saying that since the beginning.”

Fluttershy and I glanced at one another, then I raised a brow at Twilight, pointing a finger at her. “Hang on, Twi… you said yourself before we started: no stipulations, no holding back. What happened to that?”

Twilight glared at me, her mouth open as she tried to think of a response.

“You said you were disappointed after the first time because you thought you held yourself back from enjoying it,” I continued. “Do you really wanna end up looking back on tonight the same way?”

“I… I, uh…”

“We could always stop,” Fluttershy cut in. “I-if you don’t like it, I mean.”

Twilight looked at her friend, holding her breath.

Fluttershy closed some distance between them. “You know, Twilight, I always thought you liked experimenting. You always said it’s the best way to learn new things.”

The lavender girl’s mouth fell open after hearing this, and she quickly tried to stammer out a response. “Well… I-I… that’s different, I mean-”

“How is it different?” Fluttershy asked in a soft voice as she reached out to lean on the hood. She placed her hands on both sides of Twilight, which prompted her to bring her knees tight to her chest again. “If we let ourselves explore and be free, just think about all the things we could learn about ourselves… and each other.”

I smiled and leaned back, watching the shy girl work that seductive magic.

Twilight was stammering ferociously now, and with Fluttershy’s face less than a foot from hers, she was having trouble piecing the words together to form an answer. “I-I don’t know, guys… I,” —she cleared her throat— “It’s just that I… I’m… I-I’m-“

“Afraid you might like it?”

The lavender girl stared into those deep, teal eyes, struck silent by the audacious response from the not-so-shy-right-now girl.

Fluttershy continued, her voice lowered to a whisper. “If don’t wanna try it, Twilight, then that’s OK. You can say ‘no.’” She paused to lick her lips. “But if you do, you don’t have to say anything. All you have to do… is close your eyes.”

Twilight hesitated, and with her jaw trembling ever so slightly, she slowly turned to me.

I just raised my brows and gave a little shrug.

This caused her to bite her lip indecisively.

“Don’t worry, Twilight,” Fluttershy whispered, “if you don’t like it, just tell us and we’ll stop. I promise.”

The terms were given, and the decision now rested solely on Twilight.

She turned back slowly, finding herself locked head-on with the intent gaze of the shy girl, whose proximity brought with it the fresh smell of shower product, laced with the floral scent of her perfume. That, combined with Fluttershy’s beautiful, yet seductive eyes and inviting smile pacified the mauve beauty, and so she made her decision in silence. She drew a deep breath to steel herself, swallowed, and then as she exhaled slowly, her eyes drifted closed.

Victorious, Fluttershy glanced at me and smiled. After a sly wink, she turned her attention back to the waiting Twilight and closed in, leaning over her friend’s knees to exhale across those lavender lips to let her know she was there, which sent a wave of visible goosebumps across Twilight’s skin.

“Here I come,” Fluttershy whispered as she brought her lips in and touched them against Twilight’s, just enough to tickle her.

Twilight’s jaw quivered in response; her lips puckered instinctively as a sharp inhale was drawn through her nose, signalling to Fluttershy that it was time to dive deeper.

I laid on my side as the scene unfolded, watching these long time friends share a kiss for the first time, for no reason other than to see where it would take them.

Fluttershy came forward and pressed her lips firmly against Twilight’s, feeling the softness between them, their warmth transferring from one to the other. Before long, the shy girl opened her mouth and let the tip of her tongue trace along the other girl’s lips, eliciting a soft hum and a shudder from Twilight before her mouth opened to grant her friend entrance.

Rather than simply dive in, Fluttershy took it slow and probed timidly, knowing how fragile the situation might still be. It wasn’t long before she felt the tip of another tongue bump into hers. She greeted it with a flick and a muffled giggle, after which she was surprised by a return lick.

Twilight’s limbs had begun to relax by then, and her feet slid towards the front of the hood, passing between Fluttershy’s legs as they went.

These responses made the shy girl’s heart leap with excitement, especially when she felt the delicate touch of Twilight’s hands sliding over her shoulders to her back, her breathing escalating as the studious young woman’s return kisses became more and more fervent.

Twilight was into it. Game on!

Fluttershy lunged suddenly, pinning the other girl onto her back. She crawled onto the car on her knees and positioned herself over the petite, mauve girl and dove deep into her mouth, sweeping up the flavour of Twilight’s saliva, which, to Fluttershy’s delight, carried the heady and very familiar taste of male juices.

This was surprising to the lavender girl, though not unwelcome. Enticed and tingling from head to toe, Twilight let a soft moan slip past her friend’s invading tongue and into her mouth, pulling the larger girl down against her to bring that soft, full bust against her own chest.

Their faces were now hidden from me under that fluffy, pink hair as it draped around them and became intertwined with Twilight’s arrow-straight navy locks. Their bodies were visible, however; Fluttershy’s clothed frame straddled the naked, brightly-coloured body below, dwarfed by the tall stature of the shy girl.

Twilight was on fire. Her heart raced, her body quivered, her skin tingled, and her nethers buzzed with arousal. Who would have thought kissing Fluttershy would be so exciting? So delicious? So intoxicating? Twilight’s analytical and excessively organised mind was unable to fathom such a question, rather it short-circuited and shed sparks behind her eyelids each time that tongue swirled around hers, every time those soft lips caressed her own; her muscles quivered each time a lock of Fluttershy’s hair grazed her neck and shoulders, filling her senses with that amazing scent, that sweet, natural serenity.

Twilight’s hips had begun to gyrate beneath the shy girl by then, desperate to steal some pleasure by grinding her mound against the shy girl’s abdomen, smearing those black yoga pants with the slick moisture leftover from the first session.

With a preceding moan, Fluttershy withdrew her tongue and broke the kiss. As the wet sound of released suction echoed through the shop, the shy girl ran her fingers through her hair to flip it to the side, allowing me to see their faces once again. Panting, she gazed down at the lavender girl, overflowing with hunger. “Goodness me, Twilight; you taste naughty!”

Twilight simply gazed back, those violet eyes full of shock as the vivid memory of making out with Fluttershy replayed in her mind on a constant loop, again and again and again.

Giggling, Fluttershy lifted herself from Twilight to look down at her clothes. The front of that white sweater was now covered in wet spots; the cum on Twilight’s skin had soaked into it while they were pressed together, and so, with a seductive smirk, she looked at Twilight again to speak.

“Um… I take it not all of that cum ended up on your chest,” she said knowingly, licking her lips afterward.

Twilight snapped out of her daze when she realised she was being spoken to, and she focused her sights on the teal eyes above her. “Huh?”

“You mouth, Twilight,” Fluttershy clarified. “I know that taste; I’ve tasted it myself many times, right from the source.” Her eyes traveled downward next, scanning that smooth, vibrant skin until she found a solitary smudge left behind, just above Twilight’s collarbone. “Ooh! There’s more,” she giggled, dipping her head to lick her friend’s collarbone clean.

With her mouth open, Twilight’s cheeks flushed brightly as she searched for a response, her body shivering with excitement as the shy girl’s hair tickled her, that warm tongue setting her skin ablaze. “I… oohhhh boy…”

“Mmmmmm…” Fluttershy closed her eyes, licked her lips, and then looked at Twilight. “Don’t worry,” she continued, “being naughty isn’t a bad thing. Me and Goldie are all about the naughty girls, aren’t we, Goldie?”

I was lying on my back, staring into the vacancy of space. “Yeah. Naughty chicks confirmed.”

Fluttershy giggled and looked back down at Twilight. “You see? Now…” She rolled to the side, just enough to uncover half of the petite body beneath her. “Do you know what naughty girls do when they’re with us?” she asked, poking idly at one of Twilight’s stiff, mauve nipples.

Twilight shook her head, practically jittering in anticipation as she waited for the answer, biting her lip when a pair of yellow fingers gently pinched the erect bud on her chest.

The shy girl drew a quick breath. “They get on their hands and knees.” She slid off the hood suddenly and stood in front of the car, running her fingers through her hair as she waited for her friend to comply.

Twilight froze. “On my… I-I’m sorry?”

Fluttershy raised her hand and twirled her finger in a circle. “Hands and knees, Twilight.”

Holding her breath, Twilight glanced over at me with wide, incredulous eyes.

I gave her a little shrug, followed by some reassurance. “If I know Flutters, I’m positive you won’t regret this, Twi. I would go for it if I were you.”

She bit her lip and returned her eyes to the shy girl, who stood patiently before her. “O… K,” she sighed as she sat up tentatively. She stood on her knees, turned around so she was facing the windshield and then leaned forward on her hands, aiming her little, round backside directly at the other girl.

“Um, Twilight?”

“Hm?” She turned partway to face Fluttershy.

“Go down to your elbows; rest your head on the hood, but keep your bum in the air.”

Twilight paused, glanced at me for reassurance, and then lowered her shoulders so her elbows were planted on the hood. Crossing her arms beneath her, she turned her head to one side and rested her cheek on her forearm. “Like this?”

“Mm-hm,” Fluttershy nodded sweetly. “Looks good.”

The lavender girl drew a breath, her cheeks filling with blood yet again when she envisioned the view she must have been giving her friend. She swallowed and then closed her eyes. “Um… Fluttershy? I can’t help but feel… slightly, um, exposed right now.”

Fluttershy stepped forward and knelt on the bumper, giggling at Twilight’s comment. “That’s the idea, Twilight,” she said as she placed her graceful, yellow hands on the other girl’s calves, causing her muscles to tense under the touch. “Ooh… just relax. Don’t be nervous.”

Twilight turned to let her forehead rest on the hood, nodding. “I’m trying,” she replied, her breath hitching when she felt those warm hands making their way up her thighs.

I had propped myself up on one elbow by then, watching intently as my girlfriend’s hands explored the normally studious and proper Twilight Sparkle, someone I never thought I’d have the chance to behold quite like this: naked, on the hood of that old Diplomat with her backside pointed straight into the air, her face hidden under that mess of long, navy hair.

Fluttershy slid her hands up those smooth thighs, letting her nails drag ever-so-slightly along that beautiful skin until her hands were cupped over the pert cheeks of Twilight’s derrière. Giving the fleshy mounds a little squeeze, Fluttershy leaned closer, giggling. “So, Twilight, I hear you’re a biter,” she said, before clamping Twilight’s left cheek between her teeth, just firm enough to get her attention.

Gasping, Twilight lifted her head and glared into the car through the windshield, her eyes wide as saucers.

The shy girl released her immediately, laughing with devilish glee. ”Oh my! I’m so sorry,” she snickered as she rubbed the bite mark away with her thumb. “I just couldn’t help myself.”

Twilight exhaled loudly and let her forehead rest on her arms, eyes closed. “It’s OK, it didn’t hurt; I just… was not expecting that.”

“Oh, Twilight! Before tonight is over, you’re gonna be an expert on how to expect the unexpected.”

Twilight sighed. “I was afraid of that,” she said, followed by a little giggle.

Hearing some laughter from her friend bolstered Fluttershy’s confidence; admittedly, she had been taking tiny steps —by Fluttershy’s standards— with Twilight, but hearing the lavender girl make a joke and have little laugh let her know that she was comfortable, so the shy girl resolved to push forward and take the next step.

Again, she grasped those round, lavender cheeks and squeezed, letting her fingertips sink to the fleshy tissue as its warmth soaked into her palms. Biting her lip, Fluttershy summoned her nerves and then gently separated them to get a better look at what was hiding in between. This very act caused the shy girl’s loins to stir, and the sight of those fat, glistening lips between Twilight’s thighs made her own slit moisten and throb out of control.

Slowly, Fluttershy reached inward with her thumbs, placed them on either side of the other girl’s crease and spread it open, revealing those tender, dark violet layers inside, and that light pink core hiding at the center of it all.

“Oh, Twilight…” Fluttershy said softly, noting the slick moisture that coated her thumbs. “I’ve gotta say, it looks like you’ve seen quite a bit of action tonight already.” Next, the shy girl’s eyes traveled upward to study the neatly-puckered, dark purple starfruit that lived just behind Twilight’s ladyhood. “Hm… you know, you’re very pretty back here, Twilight.”

Smirking, I glanced down at Twilight to see her reaction after she wiped some hair from her face.

Her brows were furrowed and her eyes danced around, looking at the faded, blue paint right in front of her face. “Uuhhh…” —she cleared her throat— “thanks?” she replied, her voice cracking.

After a devious giggle, Fluttershy leaned closer and pursed her lips to blow a stream of cool air onto Twilight’s soaked nethers, chilling the moist coating, which in turn caused the lavender girl to quiver in surprise.

Her eyes were anxious and wide when I looked down at her again, but then her breathing screeched to a halt when she heard the shy girl speak again.

“I wonder if you taste as good as you look.”

The anticipation had become too much for Twilight to handle, and now, knowing what was coming, she drew a deep breath, buried her face in her arms, and waited.

Fluttershy’s teeth were grinding as she leaned closer; she could sense the aroma of her friend’s arousal, which only served to further set her own womanhood ablaze. A curious hunger took over and she couldn’t wait any longer, so she drew a breath through her nose, opened her mouth and then leaned forward, ready.

The shy girl’s heart raced with excitement when her tongue slipped into that tasty groove, and she swirled, twirled and flicked away at Twilight’s supple folds, eventually pushing deeper to poke her clit, circling it a number of times before she licked upwards, tracing along the length of her crease until she reached the entrance to that cozy interior.

Twilight shivered with delight when the warm sensation washed over her, sending her mind into an explosion of sparks and disorienting colours; jolts of electricity caused her legs to twitch uncontrollably as that nimble tongue wiggled and swept through her flesh, lapping up her delicious flavour for several agonisingly wonderful minutes until it finally withdrew.

Fluttershy pulled back to bring her tongue inside her mouth, appreciating the taste of her friend’s nectar as she gazed longingly at that swollen slit. It took discipline and patience to do what she did sometimes; pacing herself just enough to tease her subject was how she always managed to drive them wild, and she knew exactly what to watch for to know whether or not she was succeeding. In the case of Twilight, it was the tensing of muscles and a soft, hungry groan, one that carried a tone of desperation with it, letting Fluttershy know it was time to dive in and give Twilight some more.

It came before long, and when it did, she went in with gusto. Her tongue dug between those dark minoras again and swirled around that throbbing clit, generating a cyclone of pleasure that sent Twilight reeling, her eyes rolling back in their sockets, lashes fluttering uncontrollably.

Fluttershy made her way upward next, tracing lines between those soft, slick petals until she found herself at that pink entrance again. After circling it a few times, she withdrew, stiffened her tongue and pushed forward, spearing deep into the lavender girl’s tight, warm depths. The acetic flavour intoxicated the shy girl and drove her wild; she hungered for more as her lips buried themselves in that swollen crease, sucking Twilight’s tender flesh into her mouth before slipping her tongue back inside her to swirl it around.

I watched from the sidelines, utterly floored by the scene that was taking place on that old, expansive hood: Twilight Sparkle, naked, on her hands and knees with Fluttershy behind her, both hands gripppng her ass-end, face buried between those cheeks to feast on that already well-serviced flesh while Twilight’s smothered moans vibrated the hood under where I sat.

How much of this could Twilight handle in one night? I, for one, had a feeling that the three of us were gonna find out before the sun came up.

A throbbing sensation between my legs stole my attention, and I looked down to find my length standing at full mast, hard as a rock and craving attention. After watching it bounce in time with my pulse for a few seconds, I glanced back at the two girls, chewing my lip hungrily.

Welp, I’m ready.

Quick as lighting, I slid off the hood in search of something to fuck. Twilight was taken, obviously, her interior happily occupied by Fluttershy’s tongue. Fluttershy, however, was free, bent over the front of the car with her backside on display: fresh and juicy, ready for the taking, covered in those tight, black pants, beckoning me to tear them off and bury myself in that hot, flooded place I call heaven.

Placing my hands on her hips, I slipped my fingers under her shirt and slid it upwards. I leaned down and kissed the small of her back several times, followed by a swift lick part way up her spine. She quivered in response, but did not stop her meal to say anything. Next, I hooked my fingers inside the waistline of her pants and slowly inched them downward until the very tip of her butt-crack was exposed; I poked my tongue into it and then lowered her pants some more as I kissed a trail down those smooth, yellow cheeks. My lips followed the clothing as it slipped downward, not stopping until about half way down her thighs.

Her skin was soft and warm, and it still carried that fresh fragrance of soap; believe me when I say it, there are very few things on this planet quite as delicious as Fluttershy right after a shower.

Once my lips had reached the bottoms of her cheeks, the scent of her arousal became apparent as I nipped at that crease at the top of her thighs where they met her backside, which in turn caused a hunger to stir in my chest; I poked my tongue between those soft, glistening lips, daring to taste a hint of the shy girl’s warm nectar.

Desperate to proceed, I stood upright and reached under her derrière to cup my hand over that warm muff. I slipped my middle and ring fingers between her juicy lips, where I discovered a hot, slippery mess of fresh fluid, which allowed me to slide into her with ease.

A soft moan resonated between Twilight’s cheeks as I pumped my fingers into the shy girl, spreading her moisture onto my hand and around her labia, readying her for penetration. My erection accidently poked her left cheek as I worked, leaving a shiny, warm stamp of pre-ejaculate behind.

I glanced down at my length, noticing the gleam of moisture on the tip; much of Twilight’s fluid had evaporated by then, leaving its surface somewhat tacky, but Fluttershy by that point had produced more than enough lubrication to allow an easy and delightfully smooth entry.

I couldn’t wait any longer. The feel of her hot, wet flesh around my fingers was exhilarating, and I wanted badly to replace those fingers with my manhood so I could feel it there. After withdrawing my fingers, I gripped my length at the base and placed the head between those lips while I placed my other hand on Fluttershy’s hip to hold her steady. Then I pushed forward, sinking fully inside those wonderful, hot depths.

I brought my hips against her ass and held them there for a moment, keeping every inch of me hilted inside her as I enjoyed that supple, welcoming grip, the heat of her interior warming me like I’d been placed inside an oven. Twilight may have been tight; she may have been hot and slick, an unstoppable milking machine, a marvelous ball-drainer—even if she was adorably oblivious to the fact— but to me, nothing in this universe could compare to the warm, gentle squeeze of Fluttershy. No matter what I encountered out there, no matter who I found myself inside, it was always wonderful to come home to her sweet, comforting heat.

Once I had withdrawn part way to begin a stream of long, smooth thrusts, the waves of deep, tingling sensation that followed did no favours for Fluttershy’s concentration; inhibited by pleasure, she squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to continue to nibbling and lapping at Twilight. Eventually though, the feeling of her body being stretched and filled again and again overwhelmed her and she found herself stopping to enjoy it.

With her brows furrowed, Fluttershy’s mouth opened wide and she panted against Twilight’s crease, swaying slightly each time she was impaled. Her grip on that mauve backside tightened, as did her interior as it prepared for that first unavoidable orgasm.

Twilight, face down on the hood, had also felt the creeping presence of a climax looming on the tip of the shy girl’s tongue, but it had come to a grinding halt when it left her flesh and was replaced by hot, repetitive blasts of air.

Panting, desperate to reach that wonderful release, Twilight lifted her head to speak—or to try, rather. “Fluh… Fluttersh-sh… don’t stop… please… s-so close!”

Fluttershy’s mind was too occupied to notice her friend’s pleas at first, but after moaning and licking her lips in response to a particularly deep thrust, the slick coating on her face reminded her of what she was supposed to be doing, and so she opened her eyes to gaze upon the glistening slit before her.

“Oh… s-sorry, Twilight, I got a bit distra… HHHACTED!… Oooohh!”

The orgasm was coming. Fluttershy dove back into that lavender ass and drew a mouthful of those dark, tender ruffles inside her mouth, fluttering her tongue wildly as she sucked, trying desperately to finish her friend off so she would be free to wallow in her own climax.

The shy girl was successful, but only by a small margin. Twilight’s howls of delight echoed throughout the building as her flesh tingled inside Fluttershy’s mouth, summoning an explosion deep inside that caused her hips to quake in synch with her contractions, which Fluttershy would surely have felt had her tongue still been inside.

Though victorious, Fluttershy had little time to enjoy her triumph before an orgasm was thrust into her, causing her sopping wet insides to clench down on my length in rhythm with her pleasure. “MMMMM!” Her voice hummed directly into Twilight’s quivering flesh, its vibrations causing the lavender girl to cry out even more when the sensation overwhelmed her while the shy girl, whose mouth was planted between her legs, was bombarded with ecstasy at the same time.

As for me, I was on cloud nine. Fluttershy’s hot, velvet interior held me snugly in place, her lips gripping tight at the base of my shaft as her writhing, pulsing flesh massaged my throbbing head deep inside, sending gentle waves of bliss through me each time I slid to and fro through her body.

It was a beautiful thing that the three of us shared together, a moment that I’m sure we all wished would last forever. It was not to be, however, and both girls inevitably came down from their orgasms, their bodies falling limp onto that old hood. They laid end-to-end, panting heavily in the afterglow.

Eventually, Fluttershy peeled her face from between those mauve cheeks; several shimmering threads of fluid stretched from her lips as she went, keeping her connected to Twilight’s swollen, twitching crease.

She licked her lips to break the gooey tethers and then turned back to face me over her shoulder, chortling quietly as she gave her head a shake. “Goodness me…” she panted, “that was… wow.” She trailed off and turned to face Twilight’s backside. “Mmm... did you like that, you naughty girl?” she asked, giving the lavender girl’s hood a kiss.

A soft whimper sounded from Twilight, who was still lying motionless, face-down on the hood.

Amused by this, Fluttershy turned to me with a sly smirk and then looked down at her own backside. She gave her hips a little wiggle to tease me, then she moved forward slowly to let my length slip out of her.

“Well I hope you’re ready, Twilight, because I’ve got Goldie all primed and ready for round two.”

Twilight was muttering something quietly when Fluttershy rolled out from between us and slid up along the hood so she could lie back on the windshield, keeping her pants around her thighs.

“The show’s starting, you two,” she remarked as she ran her hand down between her legs and slipped two fingers inside herself. “Don’t keep me waiting.”

Twilight had barely begun to pick herself up when I reached out to grab her calves and pull her towards me, drawing a surprised yelp from her. Once her abdomen was at the front edge of the car, I released her legs and let them fall, her toes hitting the dirty floor as I placed one hand on the small of her back to hold her steady.

My other hand steadied my erection as I aimed it between her thighs, placing the tip just beyond her little round cheeks to line it up with those swollen, purple lips. Without a second thought or allowing time for Twilight to prepare, I pressed forward, letting Fluttershy’s moisture do its work as the lavender girl’s folds gave way to let me glide into her tight, scorching flesh, filling her with my long, rigid girth.

“OOH!”

Those purple eyes opened wide and met the teal eyes of her friend, who arched her back and bit her lip as she stroked herself shamelessly, watching Twilight’s jaw drop when my hips collided with her backside, mashing her little body against the old car.

“S-so deep!” The lavender girl grunted, closing her eyes and pressing her palms against the faded metal, preparing for the thrashing she knew she was about to receive.

And thrash her, I did; but before I started, I reached out and swept her long hair aside to expose her back and neck in search of something to hold onto her with. With a firm grip on her shoulder, I backed my hips away from her derrière, retreating from those constricted depths until the ridge was just about to pop out, flaring that sloppy cloak of lavender skin out as it conformed to my shape. I rammed straight in again, causing the pretty little dork to stiffen and gasp, followed by an ear-piercing yelp of joy.

Jesus Murphy, she was tight.

Despite this, and how good it already felt, I knew I’d earned a measure of added stamina to pound the lavender girl with before she ended me again, and I wasn’t about to waste the chance. A second withdrawal and subsequent thrust set the machine in motion; Twilight gripped the hood for dear life as my hips spanked that sweet little ass of hers, driving her down into the car as my length drove through her, pummeling her interior at depths never before reached.

Meek as she may have seemed, Twilight actually surprised me by pushing back, her backside rising up to meet my hips as her journey to climax raced along swiftly, sending a flurry of warm sensation to her brain while a buildup of tension was sent down to her loins.

“Oh... my… god…” she whispered, her words separated by blissful panting. Her mouth hung open as she endured the mighty pumping of her nethers, each thrust taking her closer to that perfect explosion without worry that her partner would need to stop and cool off.

“How is it?” Fluttershy panted softly, licking her lips as her fingers mimicked in her what was happening in Twilight.

A throaty scream preceded the lavender girl’s reply. “SO good!” she howled, shaking her head to clear her hair away. “Pressure… so much pressure!” Her eyes squeezed shut rather suddenly and her head dropped to let her forehead rest on the car. “So close! Almost… AAH!”

It had snuck up and pounced on Twilight sooner than expected, and her tight depths closed in on me, squeezing like a vice as her hips quivered and twitched helplessly, causing her ass to jiggle against my abdomen. The climax was far from being through with her yet; as Twilight released another loud shriek into the room, a tidal wave of hot, clear liquid shot from between her legs, no doubt relieving the pressure she’d been stammering about only seconds earlier.

Some of it managed to splash against my legs, but the majority of it blasted the very edge of the hood and washed down onto the bumper, where it dripped to the floor and soaked into the dirt and grime below.

I slowed my pace, giving her long, steady strokes with my entire length: all the way in, then all the way out, allowing her pulsing flesh to come down at its own pace.

Twilight let her hot face cool against the smooth hood, panting furiously as she waited for her body to relax. The orgasm was gone, and left in its wake was the odd random twitch that would grip me for only a millisecond before releasing, her fluids slowly gushing around my shaft and onto the metal below.

In the midst of it all, a tiny smirk appeared on one side of Twilight’s mouth.

She just couldn’t help it. Although this wasn’t what she expected to be doing when she rented that car and drove herself here, the fact that she let it happen without pre-planning and obsessing over every detail filled her with a sense of adventure. Tonight, there was no reading, no studying for tests or working on a lab report. There was none of that this time. Instead, she was getting fucked from behind on the hood of some old car in a filthy shop—and she was having the time of her life.

She told herself that if she was to do this, she wouldn’t ruin it like last time —not that the last time was bad— and right then, warming that faded, old hood with her bare body and hot breath, she knew damn well that she’d succeeded.

Her mind had cleared itself after the climax left her, and she began to take stock of the night’s events thus far, reading the appraisal back to herself in silence as she stared into the darkness behind her eyelids:

She kissed a girl—a very lovely girl, at that. She’d had her most private parts eaten by not one, but two people. She swallowed cum. She got onto her hands and knees on the hood of the car, naked —voluntarily— with her friend of many years right behind her as she presented every delicate bit she had to offer. She squirted. She said ‘fuck.’ She successfully edged the best piece of meat she’d ever had the pleasure of putting inside her… several times.

After gyrating her hips ever so slightly to remind herself that that long, hard occupant was still housed within her, Twilight began to wonder about herself. Would the old, ordinary, mortal Twilight have done this? Would she ever have had a night like this?

She found herself wishing that she could go back just to see what would happen, but then she realised that her current experiences would skew the results, having already lived through them. Besides, she couldn’t go back. The only way to properly conduct such a test would be to travel backward in time to start fresh, without the memories of this night…

Twilight tightened her lips and scowled. She gave her head a shake.

She knew there were no answers to these questions, and quite frankly, she didn’t care. This was going to go down as one of the most unforgettable nights of her life.

Finally, she lifted her head to follow the sound of Fluttershy’s panting. She found the shy girl lying back on the windshield, eyes closed, mouth open, her round, full breasts inside that shirt, swaying and jiggling against her arm as it shook rhythmically. Her fingers pleasured her, audibly plunging into her moist heat in pursuit of the ultimate satisfaction.

Twilight knew right then and there: this was happening because of her. She made the first move, she set this lust-filled night into motion.

How?

She’d pushed herself. She left her comfort zone. She cast aside the shackles of self-consciousness and embraced her desires—and it worked.

And if what she did caused all this wonderfulness, then logically, wouldn’t more be even better?

With a deep breath, she turned to look over her shoulder at me, watching as I stood motionless behind her, looking down at her cute little backside, enjoying the tight squeeze of her flesh.

“Let me…”

The words caught my attention and I looked up to meet those hungry, violet eyes with mine. I watched her for a moment, her utterance leaving me at a loss for words.

Twilight glanced down at her backside for a second or two and then swallowed. Her eyes rose again and locked onto mine. “I wanna be on top; I want Fluttershy to watch me ride you.”

I stared vacantly at her, not expecting the request. I turned my attention to Fluttershy next, whose eyes had popped open and landed on Twilight, her fingers paused in mid-schlick. It wasn’t long before a giddy smirk smeared itself across her lips.

Looking back at Twilight, I could see the want in her expression, the determination in her eyes.

Who was I to turn down such a request?

“Alright then,” I said as I slipped out of her, causing her eyelids to flutter.

She rolled over —being careful not to poke herself on the hood ornament— and sat on the front of the car near Fluttershy’s feet, revealing the massive wet spot where the orgasm had taken place.

I looked down at the soaked metal as I climbed onto the car. Clear droplets hung from the grille; some of it had pooled on the bumper, and there was a fresh streak across the hood after Twilight slid over to let me climb aboard.

I laid on my back and glanced over at the shy girl. “You watching, Flutters?” I asked, giving her a sly wink. “This is gonna be a good show if it’s anything like it was before you got here—except it’ll last longer than twenty seconds this time… hopefully.”

“I bet it’s gonna be amazing,” Fluttershy replied, her free hand coming up to grope her breast as she resumed stroking herself, watching that spritely, mauve body climb over her boyfriend.

Twilight leaned on my chest with her hands as she straddled me; the inner sides of her thighs were soaked down to her knees after the squirt, and they smeared my hips with her slick warmth when she positioned herself over me, her long hair hanging down and brushing my face.

“Don’t worry, Golds, I’m sure you’ll beat twenty seconds.” Twilight snickered and then bit her lip, leaning forward on one hand as she reached between her legs with the other. She held my length with her fingertips and aimed it towards her entrance, then, with her eyes closed, she tilted her hips to point her derrière upward and pushed herself back, plunging me back inside that tight heat.

Her brows furrowed, and her soft breath hit my face. “Ohh… yes,” Twilight whispered as her hands planted themselves on either side of me, her hair surrounding my face and hiding it from the shy girl, who was no doubt enjoying the sights and sounds of mine and Twilight’s lovemaking.

She began to move above me, her body reciprocating in steady rhythm. Her back arched at the base of each thrust, grinding her fuzzy mound against me each time she pushed her hips forward, stroking me with that impossible tightness, smearing me with even more of her warm, slick moisture. She accelerated slowly, cocking her hips harder each time she descended, burying me deep every single time.

The experience was surreal. Twilight was impressively skilled in the art of pleasuring—both herself, and her partner. Her breath warmed my face, her hair swept my skin, her petite breasts brushed my chest; my hands had found themselves on her rear-end by then, squeezing her cheeks as her speed increased exponentially. Her body had begun to run away on her, set ablaze by the sensations that came from her clit as it ground against me, from the solid occupant that filled her loins, from the tingling of her hard nipples each time they grazed my skin; faster she went, and tighter she got.

Faster, tighter, faster, tighter, until finally…

Her precise, perfectly-timed rhythm became broken and she howled wildly, her body trembling out of control as a spread of fireworks exploded just beneath her skin, her interior clenching and pulsing around my length. Her lips locked with mine and her tongue invaded my mouth, fluttering around with no control or any idea of what it was doing, her voice filling my head with the sound of pure joy.

Twilight came to rest on me soon after, her mouth beating the crook of my neck with hot blasts of air. “Hooooohhh… holy crap!” she panted, her body quivering from head-to-toe.

“Uh… huh,” I panted. I could tell I wasn’t far behind. An aggressive ride like that took a toll on my sensitivity and put a significant dent in my plateau; like it or not, she was going to finish me off again before too long.

I was only vaguely aware of my girlfriend by then, somewhere on the outside of that navy blue curtain, drilling herself and whimpering softly at the result. “More,” was her only request.

Twilight heard it and was eager to oblige; she lifted her head and then brought her lips to mine. “Well… you made it past twenty seconds,” she giggled softly after the kiss.

“Yeah… fuck.”

She used her hand to flip her hair over one shoulder, exposing our faces to Fluttershy. “You think you can do twenty more?”

I gave my head a small shake. “I… fuck, I dunno; I doubt I can make it through another one of those again. Not if you keep fuckin me like that.”

A tiny smirk curled her lips. “Care to find out?”

I nodded. “Absolutely.”

Twilight sent a glance in Fluttershy’s direction, which was returned by a pair of teal eyes telling her to go for it. So, after a deep breath to prepare, the lavender girl rose and leaned on my shoulders with her hands. Our laps were soaked and slippery; likely the only thing that was stopping her from slipping right off of me was being snagged several inches deep on my manhood.

She leaned forward first, nearly allowing me to slip out before shoving down again, impaling herself on me in hopes of re-creating that thrill of initial entry. “Ahhh,” she moaned softly, eyes closed as the riding resumed.

Fluttershy sat off to the side, teasing herself on the brink of orgasm. Her fingers would stroke vigorously until she was ready to burst, then slow down to keep it at bay, waiting for the perfect moment to let herself have it.

“You look amazing, Twilight,” she cooed, licking her lips as she watched that petite little body gyrate on top of her man, loving how helpless he was inside her; it wouldn’t be long before his orgasm would be had, and Fluttershy was obsessed with seeing it happen inside her friend—only then would she allow her own climax to come. “I wanna see you take it from him.”

Twilight heard the order, but was too busy panting to reply.

“Tell him what you want,” Fluttershy instructed, prompting her friend to glance over at her. “That’s all you have to do,” she continued. “He’s a good boy, and he’ll do what he’s told; you just have to tell him so he knows what you want, and you’ll get it.”

Twilight couldn’t help but smirk when she looked down at me. The idea seemed absurd; clearly, the end result would be the same regardless of whether she said anything or not, but surprisingly, Fluttershy really seemed to enjoy dirty talk, so appeasing her seemed like a fine thing to do, especially since she so graciously loaned me out for her to get-off on.

“OK,” she panted, glancing down as she gyrated her hips in a circular motion. “I want you to… ejaculate inside my va-“

“No-no,” Fluttershy giggled playfully. “Don’t use sciencey words, Twilight; you’re a naughty girl tonight, remember? Be naughty! Say naughty things!”

The lavender girl’s hips had slowed, distracted by the embarrassment of what she was about to say. Her cheeks glowed slightly, but it wasn’t long before she forgot about the mishap; inside her was something that felt for too good not to give her full attention to, and she resumed grinding away at it with her insides.

She’d already gotten used to fucking in front of her friend by then, but dirty talk —using slang— was still new to her, and somewhat intimidating. But then she remembered her mantra for the night: no limits. No holding back. Just do it!

With her resolve solidified, she opened her eyes and looked down at me, watching me struggle to endure the intense sensation. Twilight clenched her jaw, inhaled and grabbed the sides of my head, then she leaned down to put her face only an inch from mine.

“LISTEN,” she said firmly, stopping her thrusts while she spoke. “As soon as I finish this sentence, I’m gonna sit straight up, and I’m gonna ride your fucking big dick like there’s no tomorrow.”

Fluttershy’s eyes lit up. “Oh my! Perfect!”

Twilight wasn’t finished. She put her tongue out and licked my face from my jaw, all the way up to my temple. Then she bit down on my bottom lip and pulled back, letting it snap against my teeth when she released it. “I’m gonna use my tight little pussy to drive you completely wild, and I’m not gonna stop until you lose control and shoot your big, hot load straight up inside me.”

Fluttershy and I were speechless.

True to her word, Twilight went upright and sat on my hips, fully impaled on my length. As those slender hips began to thrust, she grabbed my hands and placed them on her pert little breasts, hiding them neatly beneath my palms. Her hands gripped my biceps for leverage, and she held on tight as she rode vigorously, with no intention of stopping until she was filled with my seed.

There was no hope for me. No way would I be able to last any more than a minute or two against something as wonderfully tight and perfectly suited for giving pleasure as that. Her hot grip enveloped me all the way down to the base; that soft, heavenly texture swept relentlessly over my throbbing head, filling my mind and body with increasing bliss while the pressure built steadily in my loins.

I let my eyes close and I bit my lip, letting my mind focus on the only two things it could: hard nipples poking my palms and a rapid swelling deep inside the lavender girl, followed by the sudden burst of sensation and the release of pressure as she rode me over the edge without a second thought. I erupted inside her like a volcano; gushing, throbbing, pumping her cozy depths full of that thick, satisfying heat as my length pulsed vigorously, causing Twilight to open her eyes and gasp when she felt the whole event go down within her.

“Oh god… yes!” she panted, batting my hands from her breasts so she could come down to slip her tongue into my mouth, her lips locking with mine as air blasted from her nostrils against my face. Her hips continued to gyrate; she had no intention of letting up until my throbbing ceased, ensuring that every drop had been harvested.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy was biting her lip, her eyes struggling to stay open so she could watch as her fingers stroked ferociously, finally allowing herself to have her climax after waiting carefully to synch it with mine. When it hit her, her eyes slammed shut and she let out a high-pitched, but soft squeal; her body buckled forward and jerked violently as a jet of fluid shot out from between her fingertips, soaking the black yoga pants that were still wrapped around her thighs.

At last, it was finally over.

The three of us were silent. The lavender girl was still lying on top of me, her lips fastened to the crook of my neck as she panted through her nose, her body full and satisfied. I was staring at the ceiling through a thin veil of straight, navy strands, feeling my spent erection coated in my load, which, by extension was coated in Twilight Sparkle. Fluttershy was sprawled out on the windshield, one wet hand sitting limp in her crotch; having lost the ambition to move it after she’d finished, her other hand ran it’s fingers idly through the pink hair that was draped across her breasts.

Simultaneously —and unintentionally— all three of us drew a deep breath, then released it slowly, in perfect unison.

Fluttershy was the first and only one of us to say anything. “Wooooow…”

Twilight and I may have been silent, but we agreed completely.

Several minutes passed, affording us some much needed time for rumination while we waited for our breathing to return to normal. Eventually, Twilight had begun to squirm and giggle; without even realising it, I had taken to running my hands up and down her back, caressing her soft, luminous skin with my fingertips from her shoulders, all the way down to her derrière and back again.

“Oh… sorry,” I said, placing my hands on her hips and keeping them still.

“It’s OK,” she replied, lifting her head to look down at me with the most content pair of purple eyes I’d ever seen. “It was kind of nice at first, but… it was starting to tickle a bit.”

“Oh… you want me to keep doing it?”

She shook her head and sighed. “It’s OK. I’m gonna get off anyway; I think I’m starting to leak.”

“Oh…” I suddenly realised she was right: a slow, hot gush of fluid was starting to cover my crotch. “Yeah, go ahead.” I took my hands from her as she sat up and swung one leg over me, dumping a white stream from between her legs all over the hood as she went. She slapped a hand over her crotch when she realised she was spilling, but it was too late by then.

“Oh shit!” She scowled and laid back next to me, inspecting her cum-soaked hand.

At the same time, Fluttershy rolled over and crawled on top of me, peppering my neck with kisses. Her soaked pants were still around her thighs, showing her bare, yellow backside to the room.

“Mmmm… what a fun night!” Fluttershy announced, bringing her lips to mine for a quick smooch.

“Agreed,” Twilight replied with a finger raised, keeping her dazed eyes glued to the ceiling.

“Did you two have fun?”

I nodded, but said nothing.

Twilight’s eyes shifted onto the shy girl. “Honestly? I can’t even remember the last time I enjoyed myself this much.”

Fluttershy’s brows rose. “Really?” she exclaimed, to which Twilight nodded, and then Fluttershy giggled. “Here,” she said, reaching toward Twilight’s mound, “let’s just see how much fun you’ve had.”

Twilight inhaled through her nose and bit her lip when she felt two of Fluttershy’s fingers slip inside her and swirl around, gathering a sample of what I’d just injected. Then the shy girl withdrew and gazed at her index and middle fingers: yellow digits coated with a translucent, white glaze.

“Hmm,” Fluttershy mused, “it looks to me like you had plenty of fun; in fact, you’ve been pumped right full of it.”

I raised a brow and spoke. “Uh... yeah. I don’t think you can measure ‘fun’ with a dipstick like that.”

“Sure you can,” my girlfriend giggled. She then separated the two fingers, placed the middle one in her mouth, wrapped her lips around it and sucked the mixture of bodily fluids free. “Mmmm,” she hummed, holding her hand out to offer her index finger to her friend. “Want some?”

Twilight hesitated and arched a brow, eyes slightly crossed as she studied the juicy finger hovering just before her.

Fluttershy tittered and covered her mouth with the other hand. “Oh Twilight, you’re so funny! You’ve had cum in your mouth once already tonight; the only difference is this has some of you mixed in—um, and a hint of me too, I guess.”

“Hm.” The lavender girl rubbed her temple for a moment. Fluttershy was correct. Besides, what could it hurt, really? It’s not like being unsanitary meant anything to us anymore. Realising this, Twilight simply shrugged, closed her eyes, and opened her mouth. After wrapping her lips around her friend’s finger, Fluttershy slowly withdrew, letting Twilight’s warm mouth clean the juices from it.

“There. All clean,” the shy girl concluded before looking down between us. “Oh… well, not quite… maybe,” she corrected, spying a large smear on Twilight’s hip, as well as the white puddles on the hood beside her—not to mention what was squashed between my hip and the exposed portion of Fluttershy’s thigh. And, there was almost certainly more still running out of Twilight, though it was out of sight from where I was laying.

Licking her lips, Twilight raised a finger. “Uh, for the record, Fluttershy: your behaviour when sexually aroused is vastly different compared to how you act in an ordinary social situation.”

Fluttershy let out a playful giggle. “No shit, Twilight!”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the response. Twilight simply rolled her eyes and smirked.

“Well,” Fluttershy continued. “Are you… OK with how I behave in a, um… sexy situation?”

Twilight rolled onto her side to face us, her breasts gravitating toward the hood as she let her head rest on her arm. “Of course. As a matter of fact, I thought you were spectacular.”

The shy girl smiled; her cheeks darkened slightly. “Same time next week, then?”

Twilight smiled back. “If training gets cancelled? Absolutely.”

Author's Note

Oh Twi... how will you ever trust this face again?

Chapter 112: The Return of the Rainbooms

Chapter 112

Saturday afternoon, December the 10th; dinner at Pinkie Pie’s.

The party girl had managed to procure an empty house for the event, and so she and Sonata were to be our hosts for the evening. Somehow, through a connection in the party-throwing world, Pinkie had gotten a hold of some tickets for a live show at the Royal Canterlot Theatre —five in total— so she convinced her parents to take her three sisters while she ‘volunteered’ to stay home and miss it.

Obviously, this was nothing more than a master plan to be able to host the dinner that weekend, at which she had something special planned; something they hadn’t done in a long time, and something that Pinkie was clearly quite excited about.

Everyone was to be present, save for Twilight, who was in the midst of dealing with a slew of major exams and lab reports that were due in a short span of time, due to the holidays approaching in the next few weeks.

A couple weeks had passed since the… encounter at my shop. Communication between the lavender girl and me remained the same during those weeks: more or less non-existent. However, she was always present at the Riverfield for training alongside Applejack, which was going well, though I was already having to branch out and customize their individual styles of combat; obviously their powers differed greatly and, like Rarity, I was able to think of some amusing uses for Twilight’s telekinesis —of which the possibilities were practically endless— while with Applejack, I was basically able to train her to fight almost exactly like myself since her strength was nearly identical to mine, maybe even a tad greater.

Speaking of Applejack: earlier in the week, she had informed me that she felt as though she had the hammering down to an art, so I went over there one afternoon for a demonstration. To my amazement, she pounded those nails flush with one hit each, fast, precise, and consistent. After asking her to demonstrate some impromptu tasks chosen at random to test her diversity, she showed perfect control of her strength, and she did it plenty fast, which was really the ultimate goal.

That being said, this meant I could now have the honor of presenting her with the new bass guitar. In typical Applejack fashion, she was bluntly honest with me about not being a fan of the all-black instrument’s style, though she did appreciate the gesture. Once I explained the black being representative of the suits, she softened a bit on the bass’ design, and when I offered to take her to the store to pick out another one, she refused, to my surprise, saying that she was willing to give it a chance.

So now it was early Saturday afternoon, and I was in town helping Rarity with a small repair at the boutique, after which we’d planned on heading out to Pinkie’s house together to meet everyone else, including Fluttershy.

We stopped at Fluttershy’s house on the way to drop Rarity’s car off, then we both took my truck and drove —or sped, really, for fun— to Pinkie’s place from there. When we arrived, I opened and held the door for Rarity while in the midst of an interesting little argument with her; she trotted in with her nose in the air, carrying a casserole dish full of pasta that needed to go into the oven after some modest preparation.

“I’m telling you, Rare, there was nothing wrong with that ruler. You really didn’t need to throw it out.”

“Nonsense. It simply must be bigger than that, darling; it certainly feels bigger!”

I shook my head and shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you. I kinda think your eyes are bigger than your snatch.”

“Oh, come now! That ruler was clearly inaccurate, which means I probably shouldn’t be using it anymore.”

“Ugh! What is wrong with you guys, anyway?” I grumbled as I closed the door. “I don’t get it; it’s not that big.”

“There’s nothing wrong with anyone, darling. You are simply a well-endowed fellow,” —she swung her hip to nudge mine, giving me an amorous wink before heading into the kitchen— “and I happen to be a very lucky young lady—with an unlucky taste in rulers!”

“OK well, d’you wanna see if Pinks’ Dad has a tape measure we could use to compare?”

Gasping, she spun around to face me with a grimace, still holding the casserole dish. “We are NOT using Igneous’ tape measure for that!”

With a hearty chuckle, I turned and headed into the room opposite the kitchen in search of the rest of the group.

The place was empty.

I pulled my phone out and texted the party girl.

ME: Where is everybody?

Just as the message sent, I heard a deep hum rumbling its way through the floor: the unmistakeable sound of an electric bass, followed by the muffled crash of cymbals and the screech of electric guitar.

I stopped and listened; the drumming had ceased, but the bass and guitar continued to play on by themselves. A few seconds later, my phone buzzed.

PINKIE: WE'RE IN THE BASEMENT. COME ON DOWN ME: I thought I wasn’t allowed down there PINKIE: DON'T WORRY, LIMESTONE'S NOT HERE! ME: K

“Rare, I guess they’re downstairs. Do you need any help before I go?” I asked, facing the kitchen.

“You go ahead, my love. I can manage. You’ve already done plenty for me today, thank you.”

“Alright,” I replied, stuffing my phone into my pocket as I headed for the basement stairs. I as went down the steps, the sound of an electric guitar came up to greet me, its twang natural and without distortion, playing a very familiar riff that carried a heavy blues influence, one that I —and anyone else not living under a rock— had heard many, many times before.

Then came Rainbow Dash’s voice. “Ohh man, I think that clock is sloooow…”

The riff continued to repeat, accompanied by Applejack’s voice amongst manufactured giggles. “I don’t feel tardy.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself as I descended the last few steps, amused by their rendition of the song. When I reached the bottom I rounded the corner to the left, exploring the unfamiliar space to find my way. It wasn’t difficult, and I soon found myself entering a large, dingy room with an impressive-looking home theatre on one side, faced by an old, worn out couch. In the far right corner was a drum set manned by the Pie girl herself, and surrounding her was Fluttershy with her tambourine, Rainbow Dash with a blue electric guitar, Applejack with her new bass, and Sunset, who was the one playing the riff on an orange Gibson Flying-V.

Sonata was leaning on the back of the couch with a keytar slung over her shoulder, watching the girls play.

I brought my attention back to Sunset, who went through the riff a few more times before squeezing her eyes shut and shouting at the top of her lungs: “Class… disMIIIIIIIIISED!”

“OOH!”

The rest of them joined in, slamming my ears with an unexpected and awesome level of volume; the crash of cymbals, the thump of double-bass drums, the Earth-shattering grit of two distorted guitars playing that same riff in power chords, all hammering its way into my head at once while the thrum of that black bass vibrated the floor beneath our feet.

The tempo was fast, and the girls were on time, on key, and on point. It was astonishing to see such perfect coordination and skill, and how easy they made it all look; it was hard to imagine that this was the first time they’d played together after such a long hiatus. For me, it was a thrill to finally see it in person, especially after all the stories I’d heard about this band’s heyday.

As they played through the verse, Rainbow Dash took the reins on vocals—though she could hardly be heard with the absence of a microphone. After going through the chorus once, they moved on to the outro, ending with a long, drawn-out series of slides, strumming and drum rolls, slowing it down incrementally before ending it all with one final —and loud— simultaneous chord.

Sonata stood and clapped excitedly, cheering her new friends’ performance. “YYYEAH! That was crazy, you guys!”

“Yeah, nice,” I added, finally announcing my presence.

All of them turned suddenly, not realising I was there—save for the siren, who’d been facing my direction when I entered.

“Hey, Golds,” they greeted, all at slightly different intervals, except for Fluttershy, who quickly approached for a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“Dude!” Rainbow Dash called to me as she pointed at Applejack. “That is one sweet-ass Ibanez you got AJ! It could not have been cheap; how much did you pay for it?”

I raised a brow and gave a cocky nod. “I paid just the right amount.”

Dash snorted and shook her head. “Whatever, man.”

I brought my attention to Applejack next. “How do you like it?” I asked as I slipped my arm around Fluttershy’s waist. “Is it starting to grow on you?”

The farm girl held the instrument at each end and tilted it up to look at it. “Eh… ya know that? It kinda is, actually. I didn’t think it would at first, but after playin it fer a few days, I kinda like the shiny look of it.” She looked up at me again. “I think I might end up keepin it. Ta be honest, it meant a lot comin from you; and it’s a good reminder that I can make anythin happen if I keep hammerin away at it.”

I gave her a little bow. “Alright then. But if you change your mind, let me know and we can go exchange it.”

“No way!” Dash protested. “You gotta keep that one, AJ. It looks totally badass on you!”

“Heh, yeah I s’pose it does,” AJ replied, rubbing the back of her neck as she looked down at it again.

“You tried doing any slap on it yet?” I asked.

“I did, actually,” Applejack replied as Rainbow Dash shoved her hands in her pockets and huddled her shoulders. “Heh! And it’s still in once piece, so… yay fer that, I guess,” she finished carefully, wary of Sonata’s presence.

“Why don’t ya show him your moves, Applejack!?” Pinkie squealed from behind the drum set, following up with a little roll on the snare.

Sunset spoke up next. “Why don’t you show him that one we were just practicing? That song has a fucking killer bass line.”

Fluttershy perked up. “Ooh! Um… I like that one,” she agreed softly, leaving my side to stand with her band mates.

Pinkie stood and pointed a drum stick at the siren. “OK, we’re doin it! You’re up, Notty!”

With a smirk, Sunset turned to Sonata and waved her over. “Yeah, get over here. We kinda need you for this one.”

Sonata’s eyebrows rose at the invitation, and her eyes shone with excitement. “For realzies!? YES!” She giggled as she scampered over to join the group, turning the keytar on and then messing with the settings.

“Alright then,” Applejack nodded, lacing her fingers together and then turning her hands inside out to crack her knuckles. “Lemme show ya what this fancy new bass can do; I reckon you’re gonna like thi-“

The farm girl stopped when she noticed Rainbow dash, whose hands were still buried in her pockets, her jaw trembling faintly.

“Don’t tell me yer fuckin’ cold! It’s hotter n’ blazes down here!” AJ shouted with a bemused scowl on her brow.

Dash’s eyes rose to meet her friend’s. “What? Are you serious, AJ? It’s fucking cold, man!”

“No it ain’t!” the blonde argued back as Sonata looked to the ceiling, touching a finger to her chin.

“Hmm…” the siren thought aloud, “that might actually be a good title for this song: ‘It’s Cold, Man!’”

The rest of the girls turned to Sonata, utterly confused.

I made my way across the room to lean on the back of the couch to watch.

“Whut?” AJ bellowed at Sonata. “That don’t make a lick a’ sense whatsoever! Ya can’t just-“ She covered her face suddenly, grumbling. “Ugh… fine. Whatever, it don’t matter. It ain’t got no words anyway.” The farm girl turned back to Rainbow Dash, pointing a finger. “Just be ready, Dash; warm them hands up and let’s go!”

“Fine, fine.” Dash rolled her eyes and cupped her hands over her mouth to warm them with her breath, rubbing them together. “OK. Here we go.” After a final look around the group, Rainbow Dash gave a nod. “Everyone ready?”

The others each returned a nod.

Dash turned to Pinkie and nodded, and she held her sticks up and stuck them together. “Two! Three! Four!”

MUSIC

The music began with some heavy chords played on all instruments, followed by a drum roll and a little bass lick before the verse began; Sonata, using both hands, played the lead with one half of the keytar set to piano, using a soft string section to back that up on the other. Sunset hit some simple power chords at a soft volume, keeping the emphasis on Sonata’s lead.

Fluttershy was unexpectedly spritely on the tambourine; she spun the instrument back and forth so rapidly it was nothing more than a blur at the end of her wrist, and she would occasionally bring her other hand over to slap it for a sharper sound, or even bounce it off her hip, transforming her playing into a lively dance.

Rainbow Dash stood silent, bobbing her head to the music as she waited for her part to begin.

Pinkie Pie and Applejack, however, were the stars of the show. The drums and bass line were mirrored in their rhythms; Pinkie put down a steady, quick beat, while Applejack —holy shit, Applejack!— went straight to town on that bass and slapped it like a disobedient child, using her thumb to hammer the top string and then hooking her index finger over the bottom string to let it snap against the pickup, creating a sharp ping with every pop of the string.

It was not something I would ever imagine the dusty farm girl to be capable of, and yet there she was, her right hand bouncing and hammering on those strings so fast they could hardly be seen. Her left hand danced around that fret board like a spider that’d snagged a fly in its web, her bass line mimicking Pinkie’s beat with such utter precision it absolutely had to be seen to be believed.

After going through the short verse a second time, an ascending set of chords built up to the next part, at which point Rainbow Dash readied her pick and then jumped in on cue. Her guitar lead was high in pitch, yet soft and melodic, and it changed the whole tone of the piece, giving it a much more epic, classic-rock vibe. Sonata had stopped the piano when Dash took over, but her string section swelled to match the intensity of Dash’s lead, supporting it with a smooth, beautiful foundation.

It was like hearing two songs at once: the melody was soft and relaxing, yet the percussion and bass was hard-hitting and rapid. Despite this, the two tracks blended seamlessly, and I found myself in awe of these girls and the fact that they could mastermind a composition like this.

Once the chorus had reached its final note, Applejack bridged with a nifty little bass riff, which Sonata followed on the strings to bring the song into the coda, and the next verse began anew.

The only thing missing, really, was lyrics—which AJ had noted before they started.

I leaned against the couch, listening and watching as the girls played through two more verses before finally ending the piece. The very second they were finished, Pinkie’s arms fell to her sides and her tongue rolled out.

“Hhhaauugh!” she panted, letting her head fall back. “Out of... out of shape... ...shapey-shape...”

After a few snickers, the rest of the girls looked at me with anticipation laced with a hint of vulnerability as they waited to see what I thought of their performance.

Their apprehension was unfounded, however. Awed, my mouth was hanging open like a trap door, and when I realised they were waiting for a response, I blinked and gave my head a shake, stood, and then brought my hands together in applause.

“Wow, you guys! Ho-ho-holy shit!” I shook my head and stopped clapping to hold a hand towards Applejack. “AJ… that bass line! Seriously, that was fucking wicked.”

“Heh. Shucks,” she replied, giving a bashful rub to the back of her neck. “Like I said, I kinda like this bass.”

I shook my head incredulously as I glanced at Sonata next, whose hands were behind her back, letting the keytar hang across her front. “You know,” —I pointed at the siren— “I didn’t know you could split the keyboard on those things to play two different sounds like that; that was pretty cool.”

Sonata looked like she was about to reply, but Dash cut in to answer for her. “Uh, that’s actually Rarity’s keytar, just so you know.”

“Oh?” I replied.

“Yeah.” Dash slipped her hands into her pockets again. “And originally, you couldn’t do two different effects on it at once, but Rarity let Twilight do some mods to it, so... now you can.”

“Huh, nice.” I rubbed my chin, studying the instrument for a second or two before shifting my eyes back onto Dash. “That guitar lead was gorgeous, Dashie, by the way.”

“Heh! Did you seriously expect anything but pure awesomeness from me?”

I chuckled and shook my head as I placed my hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “No, I guess not. That whole thing was pretty awesome, guys. Outstanding job; really.”

“Yeah. Not too shabby for less than two hours work,” Sunset replied, which drew my attention, as well as a confused look.

“Two hours?”

“Yeah!” Dash shouted, puffing her chest out with pride. “Two hours ago, that song totally didn’t even exist!”

I stared vacantly at the athlete for a moment, then I closed my eyes and raised a hand. “Wait… you guys wrote that whole thing in two hours?”

“Pppppft… yeah!” was Dash’s reply.

AJ rested one hand on the bass and raised the other. “Hang on now, Dash, we didn’t really write anythin; it was Sonata who did most a’ that.”

Everyone’s eyes landed on the siren, who was looking down at the floor, trying to look casual by pointing the toes of one foot into the carpet and swinging her knee back and forth.

“Yeah… that’s true, technically,” Rainbow Dash admitted somewhat reluctantly, causing the siren’s cheeks to glow.

I stuck my bottom lip out and nodded. “Well, still... it’s pretty impressive that you guys were able to play it so well already; but to be able to compose something like that so quickly is... kinda crazy,” I said, prompting those big, maroon eyes to come up and meet mine.

“It was fucking amazing, actually,” Sunset clarified.

“Oh, totally!” Rainbow Dash added, facing me while she gestured to the siren. “Dude, Sonata is awesome at this stuff, and she can play, like, EVERY instrument! You shoulda seen her! She would take my guitar and just write the lead right on the spot, then she’d show me how to play it; then she took AJ’s bass and came up with that bass line, then showed her how to play it, and—well, you get the idea. She went around to each of us and wrote each part like that, and when we all played it together, it sounded AMAZING!”

Sonata’s eyes remained glued to the floor, poised somewhat nervously by all the attention.

“Well,” Sunset interjected, “it took some practice to get it to sound really good, but yeah, it was pretty damn cool. Sonata basically wrote that whole song in one sweep.”

Rainbow Dash was shaking her head, pressing her fingertips to her temples. “Yeah, like… I can’t even! We could never just up-and write something like that.” She faced Sonata, hand raised. “How’d you do that, anyway? Like, how can you write each instrument separately without even hearing them together to see if it’ll even sound good?”

Sonata shrugged, her hands still hooked behind her back. “I dunno,” she said quietly, looking down at the girls’ feet. “I just picture the way it’s gonna sound in my head, and it just works.”

Rainbow Dash paused, the wonderment fading from her features slightly when she noticed the siren’s anxiety. “Hey...” She stepped closer to tap Sonata’s arm. “Why’re you acting so weird?”

Sonatas eyes climbed the rainbow-haired girl’s form slowly, but they stopped before making eye contact. “I dunno,” she shrugged, causing the keytar to sway. “My sisters never liked it when I did stuff like this.”

Dash sneered at the answer. “What!? Why the hell not?”

The siren cowered slightly, dropping her eyes to the floor again. She shook her head and shrugged.

Applejack raised her chin to step in. “Well, ya ain’t with yer sisters no more. Yer with us now, and I think what ya did here today was pretty dang impressive.”

“Yeah,” Sunset nodded as Sonata cautiously looked up at us again. “I know your sisters didn’t always treat you very well, but we’re not like that. You don’t have to be nervous round us.”

Silently, the siren took a moment to glance at each of the Rainbooms until her eyes finally landed on Pinkie Pie, who was still seated behind the drum set. Sonata couldn’t help but feel her chest swell when she saw her new best friend squeeze her eyes shut and give her the biggest, widest smile she’d ever seen.

After another glance around the group, Sonata summoned her courage, drew a breath and opened her mouth to speak. “Thank y-“

The moment was shattered suddenly, when the sharp sound of a throat clearing came from the stairs behind us. Everyone turned to find Rarity standing there, arms folded with a brow cocked, looking quite annoyed.

Sonata’s heart froze when she realised the fashionista was looking at her. She glanced down at the instrument hanging from her shoulders, then back at the indigo-haired girl. Frantically, the siren lifted the strap over her head and held it up for Rarity, who approached and swung her arm to snatch it away, making the siren draw back and wring her hands, her face flushed with embarrassment.

Eyes narrowed, Rarity leaned in and glowered in Sonata’s face, then she marched past the rest of us and plopped the keytar into its case rather unceremoniously. “I was wondering where I’d left this,” she muttered to herself as she closed the lid and snapped the latches. “I suppose I’d better go put it in my car so I don’t forget it again.”

“Uh, Rare? Your car’s not here,” I said, surprised by her surliness.

She glanced at me, then yanked the case from the shelf to head for the stairs. “Not a problem; I shall leave it by the front door then.”

As Rarity passed, Sunset put a hand out to stop her, earning a nasty scowl as a result. “Rare, you gotta ease up. Seriously. Like, I was literally just saying how cool we are compared to the sirens, and now you just made me look like a total ass,” the red-head whispered noisily. “Besides, it’s not really fair for you to treat her like this since she doesn’t know it was you who told her not to come back.”

Rarity sneered. “Well we can’t tell her that; you said so yourself.”

“Exactly!” Sunset huffed. “Which is why you have to quit being so pissy with her.”

“TCH!” Rarity rolled her eyes.

“Come on, Rare,” Sunset reasoned. “Leave the keytar here. We were just having some fun.“

“This happens to be MY keytar, in case you’ve forgotten!” Rarity barked, before she covered her mouth to mock her friend. “Oh! But Rarity is oh-so generous! Clearly, that means we are free to rob her blind! Isn’t that right?”

Sunset —as well as the rest of us— stared in shock, our mouths hanging open as we watched Rarity completely lose it.

“That’s how it works, right Sunset? You simply take something that I’ve created and make it your own, hm? Is that it? Fine!” She shoved the case into Sunset’s hands, banging it against her guitar, which caused a shriek of feedback to sound from the amplifier.

“Jeez, Rare!” Sunset scowled, scrambling to gain a grip on the case that’d been so unexpectedly thrust into her possession. “Calm dow-”

“Why don’t we just give her my keytar? HUH?” Rarity growled, gesturing to Sonata. “Let’s just give her everything! My house, my car, my… my fucking clothes!” She glanced at Fluttershy when she said this, making her hide behind her hair. “While we’re at it, why not just sign over the deed to my boutique, HM!? Nothing of mine is sacred, right?”

Sunset had set the keytar case down by then and was putting her guitar on its stand. Then she turned to Rarity with a hand raised. “Rare, come on!”

When Rarity saw Sunset reaching for her, she snarled and jumped back. “DON’T YOU TOUCH ME!” she screeched.

I stood motionless, staring in shock at the fashionista’s meltdown as Fluttershy appeared beside me and clutched my arm.

“You could at least have the decency to let me have my own thoughts, Sunset!” Rarity continued, her finger pointed at Sunset’s face.

The red-head gave a glance to Sonata for a moment, wondering if the siren had picked up on that before looking back to Rarity, clenching her jaw. “Dammit, Rare! You’d better stop this before you say something you regre-”

Rarity clenched her fists at her sides and stamped her foot. “OH SHUT-UP! I AM SO SICK OF YOUR BULLSHIT, SUNSET SHIMMER!”

The room was then doused in silence; the tension was high enough to split that cheap paneling that covered the walls as a crimson-faced Rarity glared at the red-head, huffing through her teeth while Sunset just stared back, utterly speechless.

Eventually, the fashionista’s eyes began to scan the room. Everyone was staring at her, eyes wide, mouths open. Once the realisation of how she’d been acting began to creep in, her jaw slowly relaxed and her anger melted away, replaced by embarrassment and shame.

She stepped back and swallowed, letting her eyes fall to the floor. “I… er… e-excuse me, everyone,” she said softly. Then she hurried out and headed quickly up the stairs.

The rest of us were left staring at one another in complete and utter astonishment.

Rainbow Dash was the first to speak.

“Hoooooly shit...”

Fluttershy turned to look up at me. “What… just happened?”

“Fuck.” I let out an exasperated sigh. “I told her she needed to talk about this with Sunny… before something like this happened,” I mumbled, pinching the bridge of my nose.

“Should I go talk to her?” Fluttershy offered, a tiny smirk appearing on her lips. “Maybe she’s stressed; I’ll bet she just needs a little flutter-tongue,” she joked, trying to lighten the mood.

I didn’t laugh; my mind was preoccupied by what’d just happened.

“Um… I-I’m sorry,” Fluttershy said quickly, her cheeks darkening as she looked down at the floor.

Realising I’d left her hanging, I wrapped my arm around her shoulders to give her a squeeze. “No, it’s OK. I’m sorry; I wasn’t paying attention.”

She rested her cheek on my shoulder, watching the siren stare vacantly at the floor after having that fleeting sense of pride completely shattered. “What do you think we should do?”

I rubbed her arm. “Go talk to her. Get her to settle down.”

She looked at me and nodded.

I raised a finger at her. “None of that flutter-tongue stuff though. She obviously feels like her boundaries have been crossed, so it’s probably not the best idea to get into her personal space like that.”

“Of course not. I was just kidding about that,” Fluttershy replied, turning out of my arm to head for the stairs. “Don’t worry, I’ll go talk to her.”

“Good luck,” I said, watching her ascend the stairs. Once she was out of sight, I approached Sunset to give her a little pat on the arm. “Hey.”

Those turquoise eyes came up to meet mine. After a few seconds of staring, a confused scowl appeared on her face. “What… in the highest order of fuck… was THAT?”

I rubbed the back of my neck, sighing. “Uhh… you and Rare should probably have a talk.”

Sunset raised a brow. “Ya think?”

“Well… I can’t really speak for her, but she has told me some stuff. And uh… I dunno.” I shook my head. “You need to go talk to her. That’s all I can say.”

“Great. I’m sure that’s gonna be a barrel of breezies.“ Sunset ground her teeth and sighed as she watched Sonata, who was now standing with and listening to Pinkie. “I just don’t get what her deal is with Sonata. Like… why won’t she trust her? Or me, for that matter?”

I stole a quick glance at the siren. “It’s… not just about Sonata,” I sighed, looking back at Sunset.

Her expression went blank, not expecting to hear this.

I reached out to stroke her forearm. “Don’t worry. Just give Flutters a few minutes to soften her up. She knows what she’s doing.”

*****

Rarity sighed, her arms folded with her back leaned against the vanity. She had retreated to the upstairs bathroom to escape the roomful of glaring eyes and gaping mouths she had created just moments earlier.

“You’ve sure done it this time, haven’t you, Rarity?” she mumbled softly, cupping a hand over her cheek.

She waited in silence, wondering what to do. Her car wasn’t there, making it impossible to for her to leave without having to face everyone again—definitely not something she wanted to do.

Or maybe she did.

She didn’t know.

Rarity sighed. No, she couldn’t go back downstairs after an outburst like that.

A sharp heartache had begun to set in just as a soft knock came from the bathroom door. Wishing to be alone, she turned her head to let her eyes settle on the off-white panels of wood that separated her from the hallway.

After a long pause, she answered flatly. “Yes?”

“Um… Rare?” Fluttershy’s voice soaked its way through the wood. “Is it OK if I come in?”

Rarity waved a loose hand, gesturing her girlfriend in. “Sure.”

The door opened slowly, and that long, pink hair flowed in through the narrow opening first, followed by the pretty face that Rarity had grown to love so much. A tiny smile appeared on the shy girl’s lips. “Hi.”

A long exhale flowed from Rarity’s nostrils as she looked down at the floor. “Hi.”

Fluttershy paused; then she quietly opened the door just enough to slip into the room, closing it behind her and then leaning against it with her back. After chewing her lip for a moment, she took a tentative step forward. “Are you... OK, Rare?”

Rarity shook her head. “I don’t know.”

The answer worried the shy girl. “Would, um… would you like to tell me what’s bothering you?”

Pausing, the fashionista looked up to the ceiling. “I… I’m not certain that I can articulate it properly…”

“Oh… OK.” Fluttershy stroked her chin with the tip of her finger. “Um… is it OK if I come closer?”

Rarity faced the shy girl. “Of course.”

With a trepidatious smile, Fluttershy made her way across the little room, folded her hands and stood before the fashionista. “How do you feel?” she asked, after taking a moment to consider what to say.

Rarity shrugged. “I feel… used. Unappreciated. Disrespected.”

A faint scowl marked the shy girl’s brow. “But… why? You feel that way because of Sonata?”

“Not… entirely; or directly, even.”

Fluttershy tapped her nails together, cautious of saying the wrong thing. “Well, um… w-why don’t you tell me about it?”

Rarity shook her head and sighed, eyes downcast. “I’d rather not, right now… if that’s alright.”

The shy girl’s mouth fell open; she looked visibly hurt. “Oh… O-OK.” She looked down at her girlfriend’s feet, rubbing her arm. Then she looked up again. “I didn’t mean to upset you,” she said softly, to which Rarity looked a tad surprised. “When I lent your clothes to Sonata; I was only trying to help. I would have given her my clothes, b-but they’re too big for-“

“No-no, darling,” Rarity cut in, reaching out to take Fluttershy’s hands in hers. “I’m not upset with you, and I’m sorry I said that. It sort of just… came out in the heat of the moment, and… I didn’t really mean it.”

Fluttershy squeezed her girlfriend’s hands for comfort. “It’s OK,” she whispered.

They were silent for a moment.

Rarity let her eyes drift down the shy girl’s body, taking in her height, her curves, watching her breathe; she pursed her lips, then spoke quietly. “You know, Fluttershy,” —she cleared her throat— “when you were gone, and I started the whole thing with the masks, it was exhilarating, exciting; I felt as though I was doing something that mattered. But all the while, all I could think of was you. I missed you, darling, and I wanted so badly to have you back, to show you what I’d done, and to continue it with you.”

Fluttershy kept her eyes on Rarity, listening.

“And...” Rarity continued, “when you came home, I was so excited to finally have the chance to suit-up and go out for a night on the town with you. Oh! It would have been so much fun! Just you and me, all dressed up, fighting crime, helping people…” The small hint of elation fizzled out rather suddenly, and Rarity’s eyes fell to the floor again. “But then… you wanted nothing to do with it. You said you’d had enough excitement, and that you had no interest in fighting alongside me,” —she paused and pursed her lips, trying to hold back her emotion— “and you d-didn’t like the suit I made for you…” Her eyes squeezed shut, squeezing large beads of moisture from them.

“Oh Rare…” Guilt pierced Fluttershy’s heart like a dagger when she saw this, and she wrapped her arms around Rarity’s shoulders and drew her into a hug. “Shhhh…” She rocked her girlfriend gently, letting her weep into the crook of her neck. “Please don’t cry. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings; I-I didn’t realise it meant so much to you.” She rested her cheek on the side of Rarity’s head, rubbing her between the shoulder blades. “It’s not that I don’t care, or that I don’t wanna spend time with you, Rare; and I liked the suit. Really, I did! It’s just… the mask was kind of uncomfortable. It would have taken me some time to get used to wearing it.”

As Fluttershy spoke, Rarity’s hands slid their way around her back to squeeze her tightly as she sobbed into her shoulder.

A pause and a sigh later, Fluttershy shook her head. “I’m sorry I’m not as much fun as you hoped, Rare. But… you know that if you really needed help, I’d be there for you, right?”

Rarity lifted her head, just enough to take her face out of the shy girl’s neck, and after a little sniffle, she gave the smallest of nods.

Fluttershy let her cheek press against Rarity’s temple. With her arms still wrapped around her, she continued to rock, hoping to make the fashionista feel as loved as she truly was.

Rarity’s sobbing had stopped by then, but her head remained on Fluttershy’s shoulder.

The shy girl looked in the bathroom mirror, gazing into her own eyes; she studied herself, holding her elegant, young lover, taking in the sight of those long, silky locks of violet as they draped over her slender, yellow forearms, which were crossed over the small of Rarity’s back. She watched a smile slowly materialize her own face, and then she closed her eyes and began to hum the bass line from a song that she knew from her youth.

She started out quietly, then her volume began to build as she synched their swaying with the tempo. Rarity remained silent and kept her head down, but she did begin to sway along to the rhythm.

Finally, after humming the intro for a moment or two, Fluttershy licked her lips and began to sing, directing her soft voice into Rarity’s ear.

🎶My tea’s gone cold I’m wondering why I…
got outta bed at all.🎶

She stopped there, but continued to sway.

Rarity found herself wanting to hear more, and she lifted her head slightly, perturbed by the silence. “Why did you stop, darling?”

“It’s your turn, Rare. You sing the next line.”

Rarity paused, sighed and swallowed. Then shook her head slightly. “I’m afraid I… don’t know the lyrics to that one.”

“Do you know the melody?”

The fashionista nodded.

“You can just hum it then.”

After a short hesitation, Rarity drew a breath to steady herself and then let her forehead rest on her girlfriend once again.

Fluttershy smiled and listened as Rarity hummed the next line into her shoulder. They had started to rotate in a circle by then, turning their simple swaying into a slow-dance, gradually making their way around the small room, one revolution at a time. When Rarity finished humming her line, Fluttershy took over.

🎶And even if I could, it’d all be grey, put your picture on my wall,

It reminds me that it’s not so bad, it’s not so-🎶

There was a reserved knock, causing the girls to separate quickly. They stood motionless for a time, staring at the door.

At last, Rarity cleared her throat and answered. “Who is it?” she asked, her voice cracking.

“It’s Sunset,” a muffled voice replied. “Is it cool if I come in?”

Fluttershy glanced at Rarity, who didn’t look overly receptive to the idea, but after running her tongue around the inside of her cheek for a moment, nodded and closed her eyes.

“Yes… I suppose so.”

The doorknob turned, and the door opened slowly. Sunset cautiously poked her fiery locks into room, much like Fluttershy did a few minutes earlier.

Those turquoise eyes locked onto the pair of sapphires that stared back, surrounded by smudges of black make-up.

“Hey.”

Rarity folded her arms. “Hello.”

Relieved that Rarity hadn’t immediately jumped her, Sunset opened the door slowly and stepped inside, looking at Fluttershy. “Uh… hey, Flutters, do you mind if I talk to Rare for a moment? Alone?”

“Oh, um…” The shy girl glanced at her girlfriend. “Sure,” she answered, looking back at Sunset. “Of course. I’ll just be… d-downstairs.”

“Thanks,” Sunset said, forcing a smile as she stepped aside to let the shy girl pass. Once Fluttershy had gone and the door was latched quietly behind her, the red-head drew a breath and faced Rarity.

The girls stared at one another for a moment, barely able to withstand the discomfort.

It was Rarity who faltered first; she folded her arms and looked down at the vanity, sighing.

Sunset chewed her lip and tousled the hair at the back of her head, considering how she could break the ice. Finally, she sighed and let her arm fall to her side. “Mad about somethin’?” she asked sardonically, shrugging.

Rarity glanced up at her friend, but said nothing. For a moment, she looked like she might, but ultimately, she gave up and cast her gaze downward again.

Without an answer, Sunset shook her head and glanced at the floor, then she brought her eyes up, cleared her throat and approached Rarity. She stood next to the tub, folded her arms and faced the fashionista, who leaned on the vanity, opposite Sunset.

The two girls faced each other in silence.

Entire minutes ticked by without a single word spoken.

Eventually, Sunset’s patience wore thin, and she rolled her eyes and groaned. “Ugh… Rare, seriously. What is your problem with Sonata anyway? I’ve told you I-don’t-know-how-many-times that she’s telling the truth; she’s no threat to us, and honestly? Everyone seems to be getting along just fine with her… except you.”

Rarity clenched her jaw.

“Like,” Sunset continued, placing her fingertips to her temples, “I get it. You told her not to come back, and she came back. She didn’t listen to you. I understand that, but you need to get over it.”

“I gave her an ultimatum.”

Sunset paused, not expecting a reply—but she was quick with a rebuttal. “I know that, Rare, but what did you expect me to do? Let you take her out back and slaughter her like a cow after looking into her mind, seeing how lost she was, and that she’d come to us for help?”

“You overturned MY decision,” Rarity replied sharply, leaning closer with her arms folded. “You made the Dark Mistress look weak, like she is too big a flake to keep her word!”

“Ugh!” Sunset tipped her head back and rolled her eyes. “I seriously doubt Sonata’s even thought of that. She’s dumb, remember? Besides, I don’t even think she’s been to town since she came to us, so technically she hasn’t violated your ‘terms.’” She did quotes with her fingers when she said this.

“But what of the other two?” Rarity queried. “Hm? Suppose they think Sonata has returned with no consequence; what then? We might as well send them a formal invitation to come back and-”

Sunset groaned when she heard this, and she smacked a hand over her face. “Rare, what the-... That makes no fucking sense! What is the matter with you!?”

Rarity clenched her fists, glaring at Sunset as she endured the frustration being unleashed upon her; huffing through her nose, she slowly gritted her teeth in irritation.

“You have to stop this, OK? We’re NOT getting rid of her. She’s here to stay, so you’d better get used to it,” Sunset continued, her voice rising to a holler. “And I did NOT appreciate what you did downstairs just now; you almost gave away my mind-reading to Sona-“

“USURPER!”

Rarity’s temper had reached critical mass, and at last, she let it out.

The single word stopped Sunset in her tracks. She stood there, eyes wide, jaw slack, completely stupefied. Eventually, she managed to scrape up enough thought to respond. “W-… what?”

Rarity leaned forward, her face scrunched. “You know exactly what that means, Sunset.”

The red-head blinked a few times, then she gave her head a small shake. “I don’t get it, what are you talking about?” she asked, her tone much quieter, more inquisitive.

“You… you’ve taken it,” Rarity stammered. ”This thing… that I created, that I built; this was MY gig, Sunset, and I welcomed you into it to be a part of the team, and what have you done? You’ve swiped it RIGHT OUT FROM UNDER ME!” She paused and huffed, glowering at her friend. “I have been ousted from the very thing that I made, placed on the back burner while YOU run the show. You and Twilight came along and added that splendid little app for us —because apparently, what I already had in place wasn’t good enough— and you’ve overturned my decisions; decisions that I made while YOU were out on your little adventure, rescuing my girlfriend while I was told to stay home and ‘mind the town!’”

“But… there was a reason for-“

“It just wasn’t enough for you, was it, Sunset?” Rarity continued, ignoring the interjection. “You got to go out on the mission, you got to have all the glory, YOU got to see Fluttershy before I did! And what did I get? Hm? I got to stay home and wait. Oh, but Golds gave me a job, didn’t he? Look after Canterlot, like a good little girl! So that’s what I did, and I did it right: I created a new persona, I garnered a reputation for myself, I put myself on the map. I WAS THE TALK OF THE TOWN!” She leaned back and looked Sunset up and down, sneering. “And then YOU came home, and it simply wasn’t good enough to have rescued Fluttershy, to travel to another country, TO BREAK INTO THE GODDAMN FUCKING CIA! Ooohhhhh no! You saw what I had made, and you just had to have that too! You have to be right at the center of everything, don’t you?” Rarity threw her hands into the air. “We get it! You’re our leader! Huzzah for Sunset Shimmer: the almighty champion of EVERYTHING!”

Rarity stopped at last, allowing herself a breather while she watched Sunset stare vacantly into space.

After a moment and a few blinks, Sunset sank slowly and sat on the edge of the tub, resting her hands on the porcelain next to her hips.

Rarity’s adrenaline had slowed by then, but her frustration remained. Disgusted, she gave her head a shake, speaking softly, but firmly. “I thought for once, we could be equals. No leaders, only partners. I created this thing, not to lead it, but to share it. Besides, if anyone were to lead it, it wouldn’t be you, Sunset; it would be that man sitting downstairs—lord knows he’s more qualified than all seven of us put together. But… like Fluttershy, he wants nothing to do with it, so for now, it’s just us.”

Sunset didn’t move.

“I wanted to work with you, Sunset. Not for you. Things have changed. This was to be a new chapter for us, not a continuation of what we were before.”

Rarity closed her eyes and tipped her head back, feeling as though a stifling weight had been lifted from her chest. A moment passed, and she opened her eyes to look down at Sunset, wondering what she was thinking, and how she would reply.

Sunset was still for a time, and then finally, her eyebrows went up and she exhaled through pursed lips. “Wow.”

Rarity folded her arms. “Hm. Is that all you have to say?”

Sunset looked up at her, eyes filled with sorrow. “You… thought I was taking over the team?”

“What else was I supposed to think?” Rarity chided. “It’s pretty obvious how you rank yourself among us, Sunset.”

The red-head looked down at the floor, shook her head, and then brought her eyes back to the fashionista. “I… I’m sorry, Rare. That’s not what I was trying to do at all.”

Rarity raised a brow as Sunset continued.

“I wasn’t trying to take over; I was trying to impress you.”

Hearing this made the scorn quickly fade from Rarity’s face, replaced by confusion and uneasiness. It’d suddenly dawned on her that there may have been more to the situation than she understood.

“Im… press me?”

“Yeah…” Sunset replied quietly, feeling the same discomfort as Rarity: that they were just now realising they’d both been plodding forward, unaware of the misunderstanding that was happening between them. “I never… I mean, I wasn’t trying to take over; I was just trying to be a part of this amazing thing you started. I never thought your methods weren’t good enough—like the police scanner. Me, Twi and Ingram came up with the app to help... because we thought you would like it. And that night we went out, I wanted to take care of all three thieves myself because I wanted you to see that I can fight just like you and Flutters.” She shook her head, looking downward. “I just wanted to prove that I was worthy. I mean, who wouldn’t want to impress you, Rare? You’ve become something I could only dream of, and you’ve done some amazing things these past few months.”

Rarity’s hand was covering her mouth by then.

“Like… Flutters is home because of you, which is good because Golds and I sure as Tartarus weren’t getting anywhere. And you created this whole vigilante thing; you made amazing-looking suits... that are indestructible! You made the entire city know who you are. You even attracted the attention of ‘Us!’ Me? PPPFFT! I cried in the back seat on the way to Washington, because I was scared shitless about going to the CIA. I had no idea what I was even supposed to do there!”

Rarity chewed the inside of her cheek and rubbed her ear as she listened, feeling guilty for unloading on Sunset the way she did. “Er… well…”

“Well nothing, Rare! You’ve become one of the most amazing people I know: powerful, smart, brave… like, I don’t even know if Golds could handle you in a real fight anymore.”

The fashionista stared at Sunset, shocked by the assumption. “Oh, pssh!” she dismissed, rolling her eyes and waving the thought away. “That is naïve thinking, Sunset; don’t think for a second that Golds hasn’t kept some tricks up his sleeve that he’s not telling us about, just in case.”

Sunset shook her head. “No. He hasn’t.”

Rarity met eyes with her friend, surprised by the reply. “What? How do you know that?”

Sunset raised a hand and wiggled her fingers. “I’ve read his mind, Rare—well… some of it, anyway.”

“Oh…”

“Golds may not be able to see people’s thoughts like me,” Sunset continued, “but he’s been around long enough that he can read them like a book, and he knows that you, me, Flutters and the others are people that he can trust.” She looked Rarity dead in the eyes. “He trusts you, Rare. And me. He trusts all of us. I mean, think about it: do you think he would have taught you the things you know if he thought there was even the slightest chance that you might turn around and use it against him—or anyone else, for that matter?”

Rarity sighed and looked at the floor. “No, I suppose not. He is much wiser than that.”

“And yeah…” Sunset rubbed her forehead. “I was kinda mad at him too, when he said he didn’t want to join us, but really: he’s been through a LOT. Like, more than you can imagine. He’s seen it all, done it all, and honestly? He’s tired of it.”

The fashionista folded her hands and ran her thumb across her knuckles as she listened.

“But the one thing he’s never had is someone who’ll always be there… and now, finally, he has us. Being alone is what he fears the most, Rare; all he wants is to be loved.”

Hearing this prompted Rarity to lock eyes with Sunset, and the two spent a moment staring at one another. Eventually, the indigo-haired girl cleared her throat and looked away, rubbing the back of her neck.

“Uh… anyway,” Sunset paused to rub her temple. “That’s kind of off topic. Um…” She furrowed her brow, brushing her fingers through her hair as she tried to process everything that had been disclosed. Then she looked back at Rarity. “Wait a minute; so… this whole thing… wasn’t really about Sonata?”

“Ehh…” Rarity cringed and looked away. “I suppose I… did project my frustrations onto her a bit, which I admit, was unfair to her—although… if it wasn’t for her, none of this stuff between you and me would have happened.”

“Hmm.” Sunset looked dubious. “I don’t know about that, Rare. I kinda think if it wasn’t this, it would have been something else.”

Rarity stopped for a moment to consider that. “Well… you may be right, I suppose.”

After a short pause, Sunset licked her lips and drew a breath. “So do you think you can make an effort to be nicer to Sonata? And to trust her?”

Rarity scowled, and she folded her arms to hug herself. “I…”

“What?” Sunset asked, slightly frustrated.

The fashionista sighed. “You aren’t considering the fact that I was the only one there that night. I was the one who saw the three of them, Sonata included; they had poor Lyra and Bonbon cornered in an alley... with a knife. Lord knows what might have happened if I hadn’t been there to stop them.”

Sunset took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, rubbing her chin. “Hm… I guess I hadn’t considered that. I can kinda see why you would be wary of her after seeing that, but to be honest, the impression I get is that Sonata did what she did because it was what her sisters wanted.”

“Yes. And that makes her no better than the other two,” Rarity countered. “She knew what she was doing was wrong. She’s smart enough to see the distinction there.”

“I know,” Sunset nodded. “And I totally agree, but Rare: she’s made the decision to change, and she came to us for help. I think that we —and I mean all of us— need to give her a chance.”

Rarity kept her arms folded as she looked downward and chewed the inside of her cheek. “Alright,” she said, after a moment of tapping her foot on the floor. She was being forced to swallow her pride in order to agree to this, and it made her somewhat fidgety.

“And I think you should apologise to her when we go back downstairs.”

Flabbergasted, Rarity’s mouth dropped open and she glared defiantly at the red-head, who rolled her eyes at the response.

“Come on, Rare…”

With a noisy exhale, the fashionista’s reluctance deflated and she hung her head. “Oh, fine then. I suppose if we are to lead by example, then it only makes sense to make it a good one.”

This made Sunset smile. “Now there’s the generous, sensible Rarity I know.” She paused for a moment, tapping her fingertips on her thigh before continuing. “Look, I’m sorry about all this. I wasn’t trying to overthrow you—I mean, other than this whole thing with Sonata. And I never meant to make you feel like I thought I was better than you. I don’t feel like that at all; you’re like… on a whole other level from me, Rare.”

“Nonsense.” Rarity licked her bottom lip and sighed. “And well, I… had I known…” She whimpered suddenly, covering her eyes. “OHH! Why must I jump to such silly conclusions? I’m so sorry, Sunset. I should never have let this boil over the way it did; I should have talked with you about how I felt much sooner that this.”

Sunset sat up straight on the edge of the tub, resting her hands on her thighs. “Hey, I should have talked with you before making decisions about the team—like setting up the app. I wanted to surprise you with it, to be honest, but I never really considered how it might have made you feel. Obviously, I gave you the wrong impression with it. How about: from now on, we all discuss everything that’s going on within the group; any changes in protocol, or the suits, or the tech. Anything at all. Deal?”

Rarity paused, rubbed her chin, and then nodded. “Deal.” She held her hand out for a shake.

Sunset looked at it for a second, then she made eye contact with Rarity. “You really wanna shake my hand? I thought you didn’t want me in your head?” she quipped.

“Ah.” Rarity withdrew her hand quickly. “Yes, I suppose not—for the moment. Good catch.” After a few taps on her chin, Rarity outstretched both arms. “A hug then, perhaps?”

Sunset raised a brow.

Rarity’s arms dropped partway when she saw the reaction. “Ohhh… please, darling. I feel simply dreadful about this whole thing; I misjudged you, and I’ve made some rather odious assumptions about your motives, and I’ve acted terribly about it. Couldn’t you find it in your heart to forgive a stupid imp like me?”

Sunset snickered and shook her head. “You know, if it was anyone else, I would’ve totally kicked your ass for this.” She stood and approached her friend. “But in this case? Yeah. I think I can forgive and forget,” she said, wrapping her arms around the smaller girl.

The pair squeezed each other tightly, eyes closed, sighing contently.

“I’m sorry, darling,” Rarity whispered.

“Me too,” Sunset replied, rubbing the small of Rarity’s back.

The embrace lasted only a few moments, but it felt much longer to the girls. Eventually, Rarity began to notice Sunset’s abdomen pressing against hers, pinning her hips against the vanity. She pulled her head back to face Sunset, wondering if it was intentional.

With their noses barely an inch apart, they gazed vacantly at each other. Then Sunset’s eyelids drifted downward and she leaned in, planting her lips against Rarity’s.

The kiss was soft, yet electrifying, due to its unexpectedness, and after accepting her friend’s flavour for a few intoxicating seconds, Rarity snapped out of it and pulled back, alarmed by the advance. “Er... Sunset, I-”

With a gasp, Sunset’s eyes popped open. She quickly released Rarity and turned away, placing one hand on her hip and the other on her forehead. “Shit! Sorry…” She huffed, closing her eyes. “It’s just… Golds is here, in the house, so… you know.”

Rarity’s brow rose. “Ah… yes. The magic. A pesky thing, that.”

“Mm-hm. The uh... juices are flowing; pretty bad, too.”

Rarity raised her finger after a moment of thought. “Here, darling, allow me,” she offered, producing her phone.

*****

In the basement, the rest of us were hanging out, snacking, and chatting idly. There was a movie playing on the TV, but Fluttershy and I were the only ones watching it. We were sitting together on the couch; my arm was around her, and her head was resting on my shoulder.

A buzz came from my phone.

Grumbling, I arched my back to reach into my pocket, retrieving the device.

RARITY: You are needed in the upstairs bathroom. We have situation with a leaky basement. Chop-chop!

“Hmm,” I sighed. “I was wondering how long that was gonna take. Looks like the talk went well though, at least.”

Fluttershy lifted her head to look at me. “What is it?”

I leaned closer as I lowered the phone, speaking from one side of my mouth. “I gotta go fuck Sunny,” I said quietly, rising from the couch.

“Oh… OK.” Fluttershy crossed her legs and folded her hands on them, looking back at the TV. “Knock ‘em dead, slugger.”

“Will do,” I replied, glancing at my phone when it buzzed a second time.

RARITY: Make that two leaky basements.

Author's Note

Song credits:

Also, touching moment:

Rainbooms song composed by: Akari Kaida
Recorded by: Krzysztof Słowikowski

Chapter 113: A Diplomatic Mission

Chapter 113

BUZZ!…

“Mmmrrrh…”

BUZZ!

With a husky grunt, Rainbow Dash stirred. After squeezing her eyelids together, she opened them to have a look around her bedroom.

BUZZ!

“What the…?” Rolling over, she wiped her hair from her face and looked at the bedside table just as her phone lit up another time.

BUZZ!

“Who the fuck is this?” Dash peeled the covers back and sat upright on the edge of her bed to reach for the phone. She stopped, however, when that ever-present feeling of nausea once again permeated her stomach. She clutched her midsection and winced, closing her eyes.

“Oooooh…” she moaned as she exhaled slowly, lips pursed. “God, I hate the mornings.”

She waited a moment for the feeling to pass, but it never did; rather it stabilized just enough to let her gag reflex subside, and with a deep breath she slowly reached for her phone and turned it on.

’Friday, December 16th
18 Messages Received from: Golden Arrow
Most recent-Hey Dashie!’

A grumpy sneer curled Dash’s lip. “The hell’s he want?” she muttered as she tapped the icon to open her messages.

GOLDEN ARROW: Hey Dashie! GOLDEN ARROW: Hey Dashie! GOLDEN ARROW: Hey Dashie! GOLDEN ARROW: Hey Dashie! GOLDEN ARROW: Hey Dashie! GOLDEN ARROW: Hey Dashie! GOLDEN ARROW: Hey Dashie! GOLDEN ARROW: Hey Dashie! GOLDEN ARROW: Hey Dashie! GOLDEN ARROW: Hey Dashie! GOLDEN ARROW: Hey Dashie! GOLDEN ARROW: Hey Dashie! GOLDEN ARROW: Hey Dashie! GOLDEN ARROW: Hey Dashie! GOLDEN ARROW: Hey Dashie! GOLDEN ARROW: Hey Dashie! GOLDEN ARROW: Hey Dashie! GOLDEN ARROW: Hey Dashie!

She groaned and hung her head. “Dammit, Golds, it’s my fucking day off.” After a sigh, she lifted her head and typed her answer.

RAINBOW DASH: WHAT???

A reply came fast.

GOLDEN ARROW: What u doing RAINBOW DASH: Trying to sleep GOLDEN ARROW: Wanna hang out today? I got something I wanna show u

Another message popped up before she could reply.

GOLDEN ARROW: Not my dick

She groaned and shook her head.

RAINBOW DASH: Can’t it wait? GOLDEN ARROW: I guess it can…if u don’t want ur xmas present early that’s fine

The rainbow-haired girl perked up, her brow rising in synch with her intrigue.

RAINBOW DASH: ??? GOLDEN ARROW: Today’s a good day for it, all the snow from last week is pretty much melted so we should probably jump on it

Rainbow Dash shook her head, confused by the message. “What the fuck is he talking about?” Curiosity had gotten the better of her, and now she was wide awake and anxious to know what he had in store. The entire prospect was alien; she and Golds hadn’t hung out together much —especially alone— so this sudden invite, even with a specific reason like an early Christmas gift, was quite unusual.

RAINBOW DASH: Where r u? GOLDEN ARROW: Out front. I’ll honk my horn

Bemused, Dash quickly shook her head and scowled.

BEEP BEEP!

“The hell?” she muttered, looking over her shoulder at the bedroom window and then back at her phone, sighing.

RAINBOW DASH: OK fine. Give me a minute to get dressed and I’ll be right down GOLDEN ARROW: Kewl

She turned her phone off and stood without thinking, and before she had a chance to set it on the nightstand, a fresh wave of nausea swept over her. She froze and placed one hand over her belly, eyes closed as she waited for it to pass.

“Oooh…” she breathed. “Come on; you got this… you got this… it’s no different than any other day.”

Once the feeling stabilized, Rainbow Dash set her phone on the table and headed for her dresser only to be stopped yet again by the illness, this time causing her to wretch violently. She cupped a hand over her mouth, hoping it would pass. It didn’t, and she heaved against her palm once more before using her magic to zip to the bathroom.

*****

Down in the parking lot, I sat in my truck, waiting.

I glanced at the clock on the radio display. Damn, Dashie, you take almost as long as Rare to get ready!

Finally, after one more sigh, I glanced at the front of her building just as the main door opened. Rainbow Dash emerged, wearing a black coat with wide, yellow and white strips around the arms and shoulders. Her hair was in a pony-tail with her bangs swept across her forehead, ears topped by a pair of gray earmuffs.

As I watched her approach, I placed my finger over the power lock button, ready to lock the doors just as she was about to grab the handle. When she was about twenty feet away, however, Dash took a quick look around to make sure no one was watching, and then she zoomed up to my truck and quickly opened the door.

It was too fast for me to react, and I balled my hand into a fist, having missed my chance. Dammit!

“Hey, Golds,” she greeted as she climbed in.

“Hey, Dashie.”

She closed the door and then looked at me, chuckling. “Heh! You were gonna lock me out, weren’t you?”

I paused for a moment, frowning. “Pppfft! No. I’m not an asshole, Dashie.”

“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes and reached for the seatbelt. “So what’s going on? What’s this about an early Christmas present?”

I was about to answer when I noticed the smell of mint wafting through the cab. She’d brushed her teeth, obviously, but I couldn’t help but detect traces of a certain distinctive sourness. I quickly shrugged it off though, figuring she’d used one of those organic toothpastes that don’t really work.

“We’ll get to that, Dashie,” I said, “but first I gotta stop by Timmy’s for some coffee.”

She cocked a brow. “Um… why do you need coffee?” she asked, pulling her phone out to set it on the center console.

I shrugged. “I like it. Can’t I like it? Is it OK with you if I like it, Dashie? AM I ALLOWED TO LIKE IT!?”

Dash put her hands up. “OK, fine! Jeez! I was just asking!”

Laughing at her response, I turned the key and woke the clattering beast that lived under that bulbous, blue hood, then I faced the rainbow-haired girl again. “I’m just fuckin with you, Dashie. So where’s the nearest Timmy’s from here?”

“Uh…” She stopped for a moment to think. “Oh, there’s one just down that way,” she said, pointing off to our right. “Close to Sunset’s apartment, actually.”

“Sweet. Let’s roll.” I pulled the shifter down into drive and we turned onto the street, rumbling our way to the coffee shop.

Dash was right; I knew the location as soon as I saw those instantly-recognisable brown and red striped awnings shading each window. It was literally just around the corner from Sunset’s building.

We pulled into the parking lot and entered the drive-through lane. I rolled the window down as we approached the speaker, which allowed a wisp of diesel exhaust to enter the cab.

“Mmph!” Rainbow Dash covered her mouth when the smell hit her, and she closed her eyes.

I threw a glance in her direction. “What, you don’t like that?”

She shook her head quickly, keeping her hand over her mouth.

I threw the shifter into park and shut the engine off, which was mandatory in drive-throughs—if you wanted them to hear your order, that is. A few seconds passed in silence, followed by a not-so-enthusiastic female voice that came from the speaker.

“Welcome to Tim Hooftons, how can I help you?”

“Hey there, how are you this morning?” I replied cheerfully.

A pause, then: “Good. What can I get you?”

The voice —although flat—seemed strangely familiar, but with the poor sound quality of the speaker I had difficulty placing it.

“Uh… just one sec,” I said, rubbing my chin as I scanned the menu.

I knew I wanted a coffee, but I was having a small craving for something to eat as well. Nothing overly sweet, like a frosted doughnut; maybe just a-

”Would you like to try our new barbecue potato wedges?”

Mildly annoyed by this, I glowered at the speaker for a moment and then shook my head. “No. Thanks.” Then I turned to Rainbow Dash, whispering: “I fuckin hate when they do that shit.”

Dash just rolled her eyes as I turned back to the speaker.

I drew a breath, studying the menu. “Uh… OK. I’ll have a… large double-double and uh… one old-fashioned plain.”

”I’m sorry, we do not sell antique aircraft at this establishment,” the voice replied flatly.

Scowling, I turned to Rainbow Dash, who snorted and shook her head.

“What the...?” she whispered as she stifled a chuckle.

I turned back to the speaker. “Wow… TGIF, eh?” I chided. “I didn’t ask for an airplane, I want a plain doughnut—you know, without frosting or any of that crap on it.”

A pause. “Is that everything?”

I turned to Rainbow Dash again. “What do you want?”

“Oh…” She quickly raised a hand and shook her head. “I’m good, thanks.”

“You sure?” I asked, surprised. “I’m buying.”

She shook her head again. “Nah, I’m good. Thanks though.”

“Alright,” I replied, turning back to the speaker. “Yup, I guess that’s it.”

”Your total is five-sixty; please drive ahead.”

I started the truck and pulled the selector into drive. We slowly rolled ahead, the noise of the engine echoing off of the building as I stopped next to the window and waited. I glanced at Dash again, wondering if the exhaust smell was bothering her. Next to the building, the breeze that had brought it into the cab before was now blocked by the wall, so the smell wasn’t too bad and I decided to leave it running.

Rainbow Dash had turned away and was looking at something across the street. It was then that saw her phone —which was still on the center console— light up, its vibration drowned out by the engine. Not expecting anything interesting, I glanced down and read the message that popped up, showing the date and time, and who the text was from.

SOARIN: Hey r u OK? I heard you passed out at work yesterday

Struck by this, I my eyes snapped up to look at Dash.

She was still looking the other way. A few seconds passed before she sighed, which I took as a cue that she was about to turn back, so I spun my head around to face the drive-through window.

Dash must have turned back as expected; I heard her snatch the phone from the console, most likely noticing the message and wanting to hide it, unaware that I’d already seen it.

As I began to wonder if Dash was feeling up to our trip —or if she would tell me if she wasn’t— the drive-through window opened, and inside stood a tall, young woman in a light brown uniform, complete with a visor that sported the coffee shop’s name. Behind that visor was a large hair clip, holding in place a large coil of wavy, red and yellow hair.

Both she and I paused for a moment when her big turquoise eyes landed on mine. A coy grin then appeared on her face, and she held the cup of coffee out to me.

“Sunny?”

She cleared her throat and spoke loudly to counter the noise of the engine. “That’ll be five-sixty, please.”

“Oh, shit. Hang on.” I reached into my pocket just as Rainbow Dash burst out laughing.

“HAHAHA! Holy shit! Sunset!? You work here?”

Sunset shrugged. “Yup. Gotta pay that rent, you know?” she replied as I dropped the money into her hand, being careful not to touch her so she wouldn’t freak out and throw the coffee. “So what are you guys up to today?” she asked as she handed the cup to me.

“Nothin,” Dash shouted so Sunset could hear. “Just chillin.”

I set my coffee in the cup holder and gave Sunset a stern look. “That was some pretty poor customer service back there. I think I need to speak to your manager about that.”

“Pfft!” She laughed. “I knew it was you; I could hear your truck coming.”

“Oh…” I gave her a little smile and a wink.

“Oh, hey...” She grabbed a little bag from the counter and held it just above her head. “Don’t forget your doughnut,” she said as she slowly passed —or flew, rather— the package through the window. She slowly tilted the bag, banking its trajectory towards me, all the while imitating the sound of an airplane.

“Gimme that!” I barked as I snatched it from her, making both her and Rainbow Dash laugh out loud. “You and your fuckin Wright Brothers shit…”

Rainbow Dash spoke up as I set the doughnut bag on the center console.

“Hey Sunset, when’s your shift done?”

She leaned on the ledge with her elbows. “I just started actually,” she replied. “I’m not off ‘til three.”

“Aw, that sucks. I was gonna say, you should come hang out with us if you’re almost done,” Dash explained.

Knowing already what I had planned, Sunset glanced at me and smiled. “Nah. I would, but I can’t. Sorry. You guys have fun, K?”

I placed my hand at the top of the steering wheel. “Alright. Thanks for the coffee, Sunny.”

“Don’t mention it,” she said, swooshing her index finger to motion us along. “Now go on, get outta here before I start gettin wet.”

“Oops! Right,” I chuckled as I released the brake pedal to let the truck roll away. Her magic honestly hadn’t crossed my mind until she mentioned it, and she was probably starting to feel it build already.

“Wow,” Dash mused as we rolled onto the street and hammered on toward the outskirts of town. “Inter-dimensional unicorn, mind-reader, CIA infiltrator, university graduate, numerous time world saviour: now working at Tim Hooftons.”

“Hey, gotta start somewhere, Dashie. That’s how careers are built,” I chuckled, followed by a sip of coffee. “Oh, and you forgot ‘turned into a horrible winged monster.’”

“Oh yeah.” Dash ruminated for a moment, rubbing her chin. “Ya know,” she continued, “that... technically wasn’t the last time that happened.”

I looked over at her, surprised. “Oh?”

“Yeah, she actually turned into that thing on a regular basis.”

“Really.”

“Yup. Happened all the time; uuuusually about once a month.”

I was just beginning another sip of coffee by then, but when I realised the joke she was making, I shot her a look. “Wow, Dashie.”

“Heh heh!” She chuckled, followed by a long, howling yawn. “Haaaauuuugh!… shit.” She smacked her lips. “So, where are we going, anyway?”

“To my place,” I replied before having another slurp.

“Really? For what?”

“You’ll see when we get there.”

*****

About fifteen minutes brought us past the edge of town. Not long after that, we were headed down the wooded road that meandered like a brook through the seemingly endless forest.

I’d noticed that Rainbow Dash was quite lethargic when I first picked her up, which was further corroborated by the text message she had received. But, as time went on, her spirits seemed to awaken and she became rather spry and excitable as our destination drew closer, so my worry over her condition soon melted away and we became engaged in conversation.

“So how’d you become a mechanic, anyway?” she asked as she twirled a multi-coloured strip of pony tail around her finger.

I looked over at her, and then back at the road. “Well… see, after so many centuries of the same old shit, I was used to being around horse-drawn carriages n’ stuff like that, as you can imagine.”

She nodded.

“Uh, it was around the turn of the 20th century that I started seeing these noisy, smelly things scooting around by themselves without any horses—and to be honest, I thought for sure it was just gonna be a fad. I was wrong, obviously. But anyway, I became fascinated by these things, and I wanted to learn more about how they worked and all that kinda stuff. Blah blah blah, long story short, I eventually got a job at an assembly plant to see how they were built and what made them tick.”

Rainbow Dash whistled. “Fuck man, that’s crazy. That must have been a pretty amazing thing to see, eh?”

I nodded.

“So what happened then?”

“Well, I did that for a few years, but then I got involved in both world wars, so I kinda had to leave the trade for a while. When I finally came back to it in the late forties, cars had changed so fuckin much I basically had to learn them all over again. Factory jobs were harder to get by then though, so I got a job in a garage and got into the service and repair side of things instead.”

“So… what, you’ve been doing it ever since or what?”

“No,” I sighed, to which she raised a brow. “The whole thing with the CIA started not long after that, so I did that for a while until I ended up on the run from them, and I’ve basically worked on cars off and on since then—basically anytime I was able to settle down somewhere long enough to need a job.”

“Jeez. That sucks, having to deal with that crap all the time.”

“Well, I should be in the clear now, thanks to Sunny, Rare and Flutters... at least for a bit.” I turned to face her. “Of course, I’ve said that before, so…”

Dash folded her arms. “Hopefully. You deserve to catch a break.”

I deserved to catch a break? I think I could consider it caught.

I snickered, thinking about the previous weekend in the upstairs bathroom at Pinkie’s, when I had the pleasure of giving a Sunset yet another dose of the magical mystery cure. To my delight, Rarity had opted to stick around for the session; she and Sunset had clearly just finished an intense discussion about Sonata, as well as the suits, and the two of them seemed quite eager to make it up to one another—so much so that there were times when I wasn’t even a part of the action.

Instead, I was sitting on the edge of the tub, watching them intensely and passionately reconcile their differences —which at one point, consisted of a pair of screaming white legs wrapped around a frazzled mound of red and yellow, followed by the same thing with the roles reversed— while I waited for an opening in which I could literally insert myself.

Luckily, I hadn’t been completely left out in the cold; after those two had satisfied their cravings for one another, both sets of lips ended up wrapped around me — both one at a time and simultaneously— after which I found myself inside Rarity, then Sunset… then Rarity again, followed by Sunset again and so on and so forth. One climax after another was had, bent over that vanity while the other watched and pleasured herself. The only thing I had to be mindful of was making sure I reached completion inside the right girl, which I did, much to Sunset’s relief—after a rather close call.

I had become mesmerized by the round, pale cheeks of Rarity’s derrière slapping my hips to the point where I hadn’t noticed how close I’d gotten, and there was barely anough time to make the switch from alabaster to amber before the flood gates opened—though I think the fashionista might have gotten a tiny spurt before I left.

Yes, between that and Rarity, the red-head certainly enjoyed her share of ‘white’ that evening.

I must have been daydreaming because I suddenly realised I could hear Rainbow Dash’s muffled voice calling to me from somewhere in the back of my mind.

“Yeah, both of ‘em…” I muttered, without thinking. Then I gave my head a shake and looked over at her. “Oh… huh?”

“Uhh… weird, but OK.”

“Um… so Dashie,” I asked, snatching my drink from the cup holder to sip away at the second half. “How do you get around?”

“Huh?” She curled her lip and raised a brow.

“Like, what do you do for transportation? You don’t have a car, do you?”

“Oh… well, no, I just use my magic... most of the time.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “I don’t really like doing it in front of too many people; kiiiiinda freaks them out a little. And no, I don’t have a car.”

“Right,” I replied. “So, what if it’s raining? Or snowing? How do you carry home ten bags of groceries?”

She waved me off. “That’s easy. I just call an Uber or something. Or I take the bus.”

“You ever think about getting a car?”

Dash paused and shrugged one shoulder. “Uh, I dunno. I’ve been getting by fine without one, so I don’t really think about it. Why?”

“Well, I got to thinking,” —I cleared my throat, admittedly a bit nervous— “I was wondering if you wanted that old Diplomat to drive.”

Rainbow Dash grimaced, her eyes shifting to the side. “Uhh… you mean that old car from the rescue mission?”

I nodded.

“Wwwwwhy?” she asked, confused.

I shrugged. “Why not?”

“Well…” she rubbed the back of her neck, cringing. “It’s… kind of a neat car, I guess, but it’s pretty old. And isn’t it, like, really bad on gas?”

Obviously, she didn’t want it, but she was having a tough time saying no.

“Yeah, I mean, it was bad on fuel, but… I’ve made a few updates to it. Should be a lot better now.”

“Well, maybe, but…” She paused and then shook her head. “I just… don’t really need a car. Like I said, I’ve been getting along fine without one.”

“Wait, what about the dinners at Flutters’?” I asked. “Don’t you hate having to hitch a ride with Rare all the time?”

She looked down at her lap for a moment. “I… well, kind of, I guess-“ She stopped suddenly and looked at me with suspicion. “Hey... this isn’t the early Christmas present you were talking about, is it?”

Hesitating, I looked ahead through the windshield. “Yes,” I said stoically, looking over at her again.

“UGH!” She slapped a hand over her face. “Seriously? That’s my present? You, pawning your junk onto me?”

“Hey now,” I raised the drink, extending one finger to point at her. “This is the rescue car we’re talking about here. I mean, we brought Flutters HOME in that thing! It was even in a gun fight with us; Flutters took out a whole motorcycle gang singlehandedly—from the driver’s seat!”

Dash smirked a little. “OK well… I guess that is pretty awesome, but still… I don’t know if I wanna drive around in some old rust bucket is all.”

I shook my head and huffed. “Dashie… it’s a southern car. It’s got no rust whatsoever.” I took the last sip and set the cup in the holder. “Look, I made a few improvements to it, like I said. Why don’t you at least have a look at it? We’re almost there anyway; what could it hurt?”

She rolled her eyes and leaned back in the seat, folding her arms. “OK, fine. I’ll look at it—but don’t get your hopes up about me taking it!”

“Cool. Thanks.” I glanced at her once more. “And if you still don’t want it even after seeing it, you don’t have to take it. No questions asked.”

She nodded, and we continued on in silence, listening to the engine as it chattered away at us.

Rainbow Dash began to fidget soon after, moving her arms from a folded position downward to hug her stomach.

“Ooh…” she groaned quietly, looking across the cab towards me. “Damn. I wish I got something to eat now. I’m getting kinda hungry.”

I glanced at her and then down at the center console, where the light brown bag was sitting with the doughnut still inside. I picked it up and held it out to her. “Here. You can have my doughnut.”

She looked surprised. “Really?”

“Yeah.” I gave her a smile as she took the bag. “And if you decide you don’t want the car, we’ll call that your Christmas present instead.”

Dash scowled, then snorted as she took the pastry from the bag.

I chuckled and looked forward again.

*****

We pulled onto the laneway to my shop not long after she’d finished the doughnut.

With a turn of the key, the big blue truck rattled into silence. Rainbow Dash and I jumped out and shut the doors behind us.

Parked closer to the building was a large car. It was shrouded in a light gray cover, which hung down over the wheels and flapped gently in the breeze.

The rainbow-haired girl sighed as we ambled towards the concealed vehicle; she rubbed her chin and gave her head a shake.

“Uuhhh… why is it under a cover?”

“I told you, Dashie: I made some updates to it. Plus, it’s technically a present, so…”

“Alright... if you say so,” she said dubiously, folding her arms as she stood a few feet from it.

I continued on until I reached the rear of the car, where I bent down to take the edges of the cover with my hand. I stood up straight next, ready to yank the cover free.

I paused, however, and looked her way, hoping the raise the anticipation, the excitement of it all.

It wasn’t working all that well. She waited silently, deadpanned.

“Are you ready, Dashie?”

“Uh-huh,” she replied, digging some doughnut from her molars with her tongue.

“Get ready…” I continued, “to be blown away; to have the shit knocked right out of your ass; for your mind to be completely blo-“

“Dude, seriously!” she cut in somewhat impatiently. “I’ve seen this car before, remember? I don’t know why you’re making such a big deal about this.”

Wooden-faced, I stared at her for a moment. Then, without warning, I yanked the cover from the car in one quick snap, revealing the newly made-over Diplomat.

A fresh coat of paint covered its metal skin; one of a deep charcoal gray, with just enough metallic in it to give it a faint bronze edge. The sun gleamed along the endless, sharp lines of its hood before dropping abruptly at the front end, where the vertical lines of a silver grille sat between two pairs of square headlights, under which ran two rows of square holes right out to the corners of the fenders. A straight, chrome bumper was the foundation on which all of these features sat.

Down the center of the hood —and over the roof and rear deck lid— was a twelve inch wide stripe, lined with every colour of the rainbow, starting with red closest to the driver’s side and transitioning through the spectrum until violet was reached on the far side. Its weight rested on a set of simple, but larger-than-stock silver alloys, wrapped in shiny new tires.

Rainbow Dash was motionless—and speechless. Her brows had risen and her jaw had dropped; those wide, cerise eyes of hers danced around the gleaming edges, taking in every detail of the old car’s new lustre.

I rolled the cover into a ball while she gaped at the glimmering Dodge, tossing it aside and then approaching her, chuckling. “Well? You wanna head back to town? Maybe we can get you some new socks instead.”

She put a hand out and shook her head slowly, keeping her eyes glued to the new paint job. “No… wait, wait… I better, uh… do a quick walk around, to… you know… check it over first.”

“Be my guest,” I said, gesturing to the car as I turned my head the other way, looking off into the woods.

Rainbow Dash circled the car in silence: inspecting, scrutinizing... drooling. A smile had seeped its way into her features by the time she’d reached the driver’s rear quarter panel and placed her hand on the trunk lid, looking back at me.

“Golds… did you paint this?”

I nodded.

She was silent for a moment as she stole another glance at the rainbow stripe that ran the length of the car before facing me again. “Like… for me?”

I nodded again.

She furrowed her brow and glanced at the car yet again. “But… all this work; what if I didn’t want it?”

I shrugged. “I’d just paint over the stripe. No big deal.” I folded my arms and leaned closer, grinning. “But I knew you’d want it.”

She shook her head, chuckling. “But why me?”

I held my hand out. “Because you don’t have a car, first off, and I really didn’t want to scrap this thing; it was in way too good a shape to let it go.”

“Yeah…” she turned and looked down the length of the car again, sighing thoughtfully.

“Plus, this car’s been through a lot with us. I mean, it brought Flutters home, you know?” I pointed to the edge of the trunk lid. “That spot right there, where your hand is:” —she looked down at it— “Sunny jumped from that very spot and tackled a guy off a motorcycle… at seventy miles per hour.”

Dash faced me and raised a brow. “Heh… wow. I’m not gonna lie, that is actually pretty cool,” she said, followed by a sly smirk. “Even though she works at Timmy’s now.”

I chuckled, looking down at my feet. “Yeah… hopefully no one ever tries to rob that place. They’ll be in for one hell of a beatdown.” Looking up at her again with a smirk, I made note of her expression, wondering what she was thinking. “Well, Dashie?”

“Well what?”

“What do you think?”

She folded her arms and looked the car over once more. “Uh… it does look amazing, I’ll give ya that, but still… I dunno.”

This surprised me.

“I just don’t know if I really need the expense, ya know? The insurance… and the gas,” she continued as she faced me again. “But it IS pretty cool. You did an awesome job making it look good.”

I sighed and reached into my pocket. “Here,” I said as I pulled out a small, triangular metal key and held it out to her. “Maybe a test drive will change your mind.”

Dash was hesitant. “Wait, but… there’s no plates on it,” she said as she tentatively reached for the key.

I shook my head. “We’ll be fine out here. These back roads are pretty deserted. I’m sure we can get away with taking it out for a little tour,” I said, dropping the key into her hand. “Just take it for a quick spin, and if you’re still not sold, then we can head back to town and… then…“

My sentence fell off when I noticed Rainbow Dash’s expression—or lack thereof. She stared at the ground, her eyes glassy, her skin faded to a pale bluish-gray. Her mouth hung open, her breathing was shallow, and on the exposed portion of her forehead were bullet-sized beads of sweat.

“Dashie?”

No response.

After a short pause, I reached out and nudged her arm. “Hey…”

Finally, her eyes crept upward to meet mine. “Huh?”

“You feeling OK?” I asked, becoming worried. “You look a bit pale.”

“Wha?… Nah…” Her voice sounded weak. She shook her head slowly, waving me away with a limp arm. “I think I just… ooh, ate that doughnut too fast, that’s all.”

“No,” I said, stepping over to the front door and opening it. “Here.” I pointed to the driver’s seat. “Come sit down a minute.”

Keeping one hand on the car, Dash slowly made her way over and sank into the seat, stretching her feet out to let her heels rest on the ground.

I watched as she sat there, slouched over, forehead buried in her hands, and my mind suddenly raced back to the text she’d received earlier.

Did I drag her out here with some kind of stomach bug?

I felt remorse at the prospect; granted, I had been excited about unveiling the car to her for the previous week, but perhaps I should have paid more attention to her demeanor before we left town and came all the way out here. Although, if it was that bad, why wouldn’t she have said something about it?

I placed a hand on her knee. “Hey…”

She responded with a deep breath; her face remained buried in her hands.

After removing my hand from her, I scratched the back of my head, looking down at the gravel to my right. “Sorry, Dashie. I didn’t mean to drag you out here all sick like this.”

She raised her head as I turned back to her, just enough to let me see her face.

“Come on,” I said, nudging the side of her leg with my knuckles. “Let’s head back to town. We can do this some other day.”

She glared at me suddenly, looking slightly annoyed. “What? No way,” she complained. “We’re already here; just... give me a minute. I’ll be fine.”

“You sure?” I leaned on the roof next to the rear door, watching her.

“Yeah.” She nodded, holding her hand open to study it for a moment. “I’m just uh… a little tired, that’s all. I was up late last night and then you got me up early, so…”

I sighed at her stubbornness and took a quick look around the surrounding woods. “OK. Fine.” I stood and walked around the back of the car, hands in my pockets, wondering how this was going to play out. Hopefully she didn’t end up puking all over the interior that I’d just shampooed the cat-shit stench out of.

I opened the passenger door and got in, closing it behind me. “You think you’ll be OK to drive?” I asked.

Dash sat up and rolled her shoulders. She tilted her head to one side, then the other. “Yeah… I’m good,” she said, lifting her feet into the car as she rotated in the seat to face the steering wheel.

I watched intently as she reached out to pull the door closed and then tipped her head back to rest it against the seat.

“It’ll pass,” she said quietly, eyes drifting shut. “Just gimme a minute.”

I nodded quietly and then cleared my throat. “Alright, well…” I chewed my lip as I looked around the interior. “As you can see, I didn’t do much in here other than clean it up a bit; there’s no reproduction parts for these interiors, so there really wasn’t much I could do with it.”

She opened her eyes to have a look around while I talked.

“The dash board was cracked from the sun —it’s hot down south, you know?— so I made up this piece of carpet to cover it,” I explained as I ran my hand over the furry, blue covering that lined the dashboard. “It’s not perfect, but it’s a lot better than staring at a bunch of cracks—unless those cracks happen to be Rare, Flutters or Sunny’s bu-”

Dash’s hand sprang up. “DON’T… finish that,” she warned. “But yeah… it looks fine.”

I glanced at her for a second and then pointed at the radio. “I uh… this thing originally had an Eight-Track player, if you can believe it, but it was fucked —chewed a tape up— so I got an aftermarket radio with USB ports and Bluetooth and all that shit. I replaced all the speakers, too, just cuz the old ones were sounding pretty rough. No amp or subs or anything like that though, but if you want some, I can get-“

She shook her head and waved dismissively. “Nah, that’s OK. I was never a fan of those big, thumping car stereos. I kinda hate that, actually.”

“Oh… well you’ll probably be happy with it then. It sounds pretty good, I think.” I rubbed my chin, studying the rainbow-haired girl. “I’ll show you later though, I don’t wanna go blasting you with a bunch of loud music when you’re feeling like this.”

She glanced at me, then shook her head and sat forward. “Nah. I’m fine, Golds,” she insisted, wiping the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand, leaving some of her spectrum-laden bangs stuck to her forehead afterwards. “Let’s check this thing out.”

Some of her complexion had returned, granting me a bit of relief as I watched her slip the little key into the ignition and turn it forward.

“Do I gotta, like… pump the gas or anything?” she asked, looking my way after a pause.

I shook my head. “Nope. Just turn the key and go,” I said confidently.

She did, and the old car roared to life. Its exhaust note was quite unexpected, given the car’s regal appearance—rainbow stripe aside.

“Oooohhh…” Her eyes widened. “That actually sounds pretty good.”

“Give it a rev,” I urged.

She pumped the accelerator and the entire car rocked, answering the call with a throaty roar; not overly loud, but with a very definite ‘don’t fuck with me’ tone.

A smirk forced itself onto her features. “Damn! Did you put exhaust on this thing?”

I nodded.

“Nice. It sounds good for an old beast.”

“Well…” I scratched my brow. “Actually… it’s not the same engine.”

Rainbow Dash looked over at me, surprised. “You put a different engine in?”

“Yeah. Me and Twi, actually.”

She cocked a brow. “Twilight helped you?”

“Yeah man. She made the motor mounts,” —I let out a snicker— “so if the engine falls out, blame her.”

“Heh…” She took a moment to listen to it purr, blinking occasionally. “So where’d you find an engine for this thing, anyway?”

“Oh...” I glanced ahead through the windshield. “I snagged a wrecked Dodge pickup from the junkyard for cheap. It had a good five-point-seven Hemi, so I-“

Rainbow Dash gasped suddenly, her face lighting up as she turned to look at me. “You got me a Hemi!?”

“Yeah I did. Overdrive tranny, too. This thing’ll cruise like a fuckin pro on the highway, Dashie; no joke.”

“Oh man…” She quickly reached over her shoulder to buckle her seatbelt. “OK… now I gotta try this thing out.”

“Go for it,” I said as she pulled the shifter down into gear. “Just take ‘er easy though; don’t go all crazy until you get a feel for it.”

“So how much power do you think this thing’s got?” she asked as the old machine rumbled around the curve. Her mood had returned rather quickly, and she was clearly excited to see what’d been done with the old car.

“Uh… factory? I think these came with about three-fifty horse, but don’t quote me.”

“Nice,” she replied, turning onto the paved road and then accelerating rather aggressively. “Damn, man! I’m barely even touching it!” she laughed.

“Yeah, it goes pretty good.”

We drove for a few minutes without talking, listening instead to the rumble of the engine. I couldn’t help but feel a good bit of pride in my work; the old car felt wonderful, and I could tell by the smile on Dash’s face that she thought so too.

“What do you think?” I asked, glancing her way. “Not bad, eh?”

She nodded. “Yeah, man. This old thing actually feels amazing.”

“Yeah. The front end was tight, but the shocks and springs were saggy so I replaced them and put all new brakes on it. But…” I raised a hand of warning. “The A/C still doesn’t work; I didn’t really have time to check it out, but going into winter I wasn’t too worried about it. Come springtime I’ll get it workin for ya.”

“Sweet.”

I watched her for a moment, letting my eyes trace down her leg to her foot, which held the throttle just enough to keep the car at an easy cruising speed of fifty miles per hour. A mischievous smirk crept onto my face, and I nodded at her foot.

“Hey, why don’t you drop the hammer on this old girl? See what she’s got.”

Dash looked over at me, smirking. “Yeah? Should I?”

I nodded. “Give her shit.”

“OK,” she said, gripping the steering wheel tightly and taking a breath.

After a short psyche-up, Rainbow Dash stomped the gas pedal to the floor.

All hell broke loose.

There was a faint hiss from up front, followed by the roar of the exhaust behind us. The rear tires promptly broke loose, puking clouds of white smoke out of the wheel wells as they screeched like a pair of banshees, sending the car into a tailspin.

“OH SHIIIIIIIIIT!” Rainbow Dash screamed, eyes almost bugging out of her head. She released the throttle, but it was too late; the car was already skidding sideways, completely out of control. Steering into it was no use, and so the car spun around and screeched along the pavement when she stomped the brake pedal, locking up and skidding on all four wheels until we finally came to a stop on the shoulder, facing the way we came.

“WOOO!” I whooped, laughing as I looked through the windshield at the cloud of dust and tire smoke left in our wake. “Did you see that shit, Dashie!?”

Rainbow Dash was stiff as a board, panting deeply as she gripped the steering wheel with knuckles whiter than Rarity’s. Turning slowly to face me, those cerise eyes of hers were like pinpoints and her mouth hung open in awe—and maybe a bit of panic as well.

“What… was THAT!?” she screeched.

“Awesome, that’s what!”

She scowled as the colour slowly returned to her face. “What the-… I thought you said this thing was like… three-fifty horse? Cuz it kinda feels like a bit more than that.”

I raised a finger and shook my head. “No-no, I said it came from the factory with about three-fifty. This one obviously has a bunch more becau-“ I stopped suddenly, closed my eyes, and slapped a hand over my forehead. “Oh shit! Sorry, Dashie. I forgot to tell you about the Procharger.”

Her eyes widened. “The what?”

“Yeah, I put a supercharger on it.”

“You did WHAT!?”

Seeing her reaction, I let out a hearty laugh.

“Dude, that’s totally not funny! It would have been nice to know that, don’t ya think? I almost fucking crashed this thing just now!”

“Nah.” I waved her off. “You did fine.”

Incredulous, Dash watched me for a moment before exhaling and facing forward again. “Fuck…” she whispered, listening to the purr of the engine as it idled innocently, ready to unleash another mountain of torque at a moment’s notice. “So...” she said, rubbing her temple. “How much power does this thing make?”

“Uuhhh…” I stared up at the headliner. “Probably about five-fifty, maybe six-hundred? I’m not too sure. It’s hard to say without putting it on a dyno.”

Dash recoiled in shock. “SIX-HUNDRED!? That’s... that’s like a Viper!”

I shook my head. “Not really. Vipers are a lot lighter and they handle better, but still…”

She shook her head, blowing a lungful from pursed lips as she looked out over that long, shiny hood to study that strip of colour down the center.

“Well?” I said, raising a brow. “You want the car? Or do you wanna go back to town and pick out some socks?”

She sighed, and then turned to me with a tight-lipped stare. “I’m not gonna lie… I kinda want the car.”

I clapped my hands together. “Nice! Good choice, Dashie. I knew you’d love it.”

“Well, just hang on…” she said, holding a tentative hand out. “How much is this gonna cost me?”

I paused, unsure of what she meant. “Huh?”

“To buy the car off you.”

I shook my head, brows furrowed. “What? Dashie, I already told you: this is a Christmas present.”

Her eyes widened. “What? Whoa, whoa, whoa. You’re… giving it to me? For nothing!?”

“It’s not for nothing, Dashie,” I smirked. “It’s for you.”

Author's Note

For anyone wondering, this is what an '81 Dodge Diplomat looks like:

Chapter 114: Happy Holidays!

Author's Note

I have the flu pretty bad right now, and it hurts my head to stare at the screen for too long, so I’m just gonna post this chapter without a final proofread. Sorry if there are mistakes.

Chapter 114: Happy Holidays!

Chapter 114

It was cold and windy outside. The snow was blowing, building smooth, white drifts around the yard. Christmas day had brought calm, lovely weather with it—but that was yesterday. Today, Boxing Day, it was downright unpleasant, which was unfortunate because everyone was heading to Fluttershy’s for the Christmas get-together.

Which is precisely what Pinkie Pie and Sonata Dusk were in the kitchen preparing for. It was just past noon; they were dressed and ready to go. Pinkie, with a thick, white turtleneck sweater and green straight-bottom pants with red polka dots covering their entirety, and Sonata, with her burgundy coat, fastened in the front with those light blue ties, finished off by that pink skirt—though she’d added a pair of black tights underneath to help deal with the cold.

The two were bustling around the kitchen, packing up their contribution to the potluck dinner.

Actually, Pinkie was bustling. Sonata was just watching.

“Okie-dokie, lokie,” Pinkie giggled as she placed the second pie on the travel tray, which consisted of two tiers —to hold two pies, of course— with a handle at the top to carry it with. “The pies are ready for transport!” Those baby-blue eyes of hers suddenly turned quite serious, and they locked squarely onto a grinning Sonata. “Your mission, Agent Notty, should you choose to accept it, is to escort the package safely through dangerous territory to the transport, where it will be taken to its final destination: the super-duper hella-fun Christmas party at the super-secret sex fiend’s house.”

“Hahaha!” Sonata hugged her stomach and let out a goofy chuckle. “You mean Fluttershy!”

“Precisely,” Pinkie replied, maintaining a grim demeanor. “That is your mission. Do you accept?”

Sonata straightened up and saluted. “I do,” she said, failing to hold her snorts and snickers from slipping out.

“Excellent.” Pinkie reached out to shake the siren’s hand. “God be with you, soldier; protect these pies with your life.” She bent down and placed her cheek close to the desserts, pointing her finger at the top one while keeping her eyes on Sonata. “This one is known as Grasshopper Pie, but don’t let its gross name fool you; it is filled with a light, marshmallowy, creamy, minty, delicious filling and has a crust made of crushed Oreos and butter. Yummy. This one,” —she pointed to the pie on the bottom tier— “is a Butter Pecan Skor Kaboom; very similar to a normal butter pecan pie, except this unit has Skor bits inside, and...” —her eyes darted sneakily back and forth— “in a moment of weakness when no one was looking, I gave in to my hot, sugary urges and drizzed all over it with butterscotch!”

“Oh!” Sonata pointed at the syrup-laced pie. “Just like the time I caught Fluttershy with buddy’s cum all over her butt!”

Pinkie’s expression neutralized and she cleared her throat, standing straight again. “Uhh, yeah… which is why you live here now. And that’s super-duper awesome, so… yay for creepy eavesdropping!”

Sonata paused, her brows furrowed with confusion. “Huh? No, they sent me here cuz her house is too small.”

Dubious, Pinkie let her eyes dart back and forth. “Uuuuhh… no, it’s cuz you were watching them bone.”

The siren cocked her head and sneered. “What? No, I was just letting them know the milk was gone. I was being a good house guest; I even waited for them to finish so I wouldn’t interrupt.” Sonata snorted and then laughed. “It’s not cuz I was watching them do it!”

“Yeah, no, it totally is,” Pinkie said dismissively, folding her hands on the counter and locking eyes with Sonata. “So anyway, uhh… yyyyeeeah. You might as well get your coat on and take these pies out to the car; I just have to go pee and I’ll meet you out there, K?”

“OK.” Sonata took her long, black coat from the rack and slipped one arm through the sleeve, glancing at the party-girl as she left the room. “Hey, P?”

Pinkie stopped at the bottom of the stairs and turned to face the siren.

“I’m glad they sent me here.”

The party girl smiled. “Me too,” she replied, before heading up the stairs.

After returning the smile, Sonata slipped the rest of the way into her coat and then went to the table to take the pie holder by the handle. “Bye Mister and Misses Pie!” she said cheerfully as she waved to Pinkie’s parents, who were sitting at the far end of the table, having heard the entire conversation.

Cloudy Quartz forced a smile and gave a polite nod, while Igneous’ eyes remained glued to the newspaper, his index finger looped through the handle of a coffee mug.

“Fare thee well, Miss Dusk,” he grumbled crossly, which Sonata failed to notice.

When the siren opened the front door, the wind nearly yanked it out of her hand, causing her to stumble. After checking to make sure she hadn’t dropped the pies, she put her head down and grimaced into the stinging impact of high-speed snowflakes as she forced the door shut with a laboured grunt.

Sonata headed to Pinkie’s car next, using her free hand to hold her collar closed while running head-down, squinting into the pelting snow.

“Holy crap!” she cried as she reached the passenger door. After yanking it open with her right hand, she jumped into the car, leading with the pie tray hanging from the left before pulling the door shut behind her as quickly as she could. Now sealed inside, she siren threw her head back and breathed a sigh of relief, having successfully entered the car all in one fell swoop.

“Wowee, it is nasty out there!” she exclaimed as she reached over to set the dessert carrier on the driver’s seat so she could put her seatbelt on, oblivious to how much lighter it had gotten since she’d left the house.

The tray came to rest on the seat, but before the siren had a chance to take her fingers from the handle, she happened to glance over at it, and what she saw caused her heart to skip a beat.

The bottom tray was vacant; only the minty-green pie on the top tier remained.

Sonata gasped. “Where’s the other pie!?” she shrieked. Looking frantically around the car, her breaths became quick and shallow when the dessert was nowhere to be found. “Ohh crap... please tell me I didn’t drop it outside,” she squeaked, turning to look out the passenger side window, but unable to see it. “Shit! Could this possibly get any wor-“

When she’d shifted position to look outside, her backside felt mushy and slippery against the seat, making her stop instantly, face blank.

“Oh no…”

Slowly, Sonata placed one hand on the center console and the other on the door handle, and she lifted herself from the seat to look beneath her.

Sure enough, there was the Butter Pecan Skor Kaboom on the seat, squashed into the shape of Sonata’s backside. Half of it’d been mashed into the upholstery, with the other half smeared into the back of that pink skirt.

“Aargh!” She sat down on the pie again, staring into the snowy windshield as her face contorted with worry. “P is gonna kill me!” she cried, running her fingers through her wind-blown hair, dampened by droplets of melted snowflakes. “How did this even happen!?”

Bundled up and a thick coat and a blue scarf, Pinkie Pie fought valiantly against the wind to get the front door of the house closed. Once that was done, she turned and bounced down the front steps and then scampered to her car, her face shielded by her hand as she went.

She grabbed the handle and tore the driver’s door open, slipped into the seat, and then reached out to shut the door.

“Holy sweet donkey-balls!” Pinkie shivered, her frazzled hair loaded with clingy, white flakes. “That was craz-“

She stopped when she glanced over at her blue-skinned friend, caught off-guard by the pair of maroon-coloured puppy-dog eyes that stared back.

“Notty?”

“I’m sorry, P.” Sonata stuck her bottom lip out, making and expression that oozed with remorse.

Confused, Pinkie let her eyes drop to the tray on Sonata’s lap, noticing the absence of the bottom pie.

Sonata glanced down to her hip, guiding Pinkie’s attention to the chunks of crust and gobs of sticky, brown filling that’d been extruded from under her backside.

Pinkie looked up to the siren’s face again, eyes wide, lips parted.

Sonata opened her mouth to speak, but she hesitated. Then she sighed and looked down to the console between them. “I got butterscotch in my butt-crack.”

The party-girl stared vacantly for another moment, but then, without warning, she slammed her eyes shut and snorted loudly. “PPPPPFFFFTTT… HAHAHAHAHA!”

Surprised, Sonata looked up again, watching Pinkie throw her head back to cackle with delight. She clapped her hands several times before looking back and covering her mouth.

“You…” The siren paused. “You’re not mad?”

“Hahaha!… WHAT!? No way!” Pinkie laughed, pointing to the mess on the seat. “How… HAHAHA!... How did that even happen?”

Eyes wide, Sonata put her hands out in protest. “That’s what I said!”

Pinkie squealed at the response and reached out to pull the siren closer. “Oh my god, Notty! You are SO funny!” she giggled, hugging tightly as she pressed her cheek to Sonata’s forehead.

At last, Sonata started to chuckle. “Heh… thanks, P… for not getting mad at me.”

“Oh Notty! Why would I be mad? I know you didn’t do it on purpose!”

Sonata reached around Pinkie with one arm to return the hug. “I-I know, it’s just… my sisters wou-“

“Hey,” Pinkie backed up slightly to look the siren in the eyes. “I’m not your sisters, OK?”

Sonata took a moment to gaze into the bright, blue eyes of her best friend. She nodded finally, and then smiled. “I know, P.”

Pinkie yanked the other girl close once again to squeeze her tightly, pressing their cheeks together. “Ohh! Merry Christmas, Notty! How could I be mad at you? I love you!”

*****

Fluttershy’s house was a busy one that Monday, December the 26th. We had skipped the normal Saturday event that week in favour of having it on Boxing Day; most everyone was busy preparing for the big day anyway, finishing up the last bit of shopping and picking up food for their respective Christmas dinners.

None of us saw each other on Christmas day, with the exception of Twilight and Sunset, who both attended a family gathering at Twilight’s parents’ place, which was also attended by Cadance and Sunset’s employer, Shining Armor.

Applejack spent the day with her family, of course, as did Pinkie Pie, with the addition of Sonata. Rarity’s parents had flown into town for the holidays as well, so she and Sweetie Belle were tied up with them.

None of us knew what Rainbow Dash was up to. None of us had heard from her for over a week. As far as anyone knew, her family hadn’t returned to town for the holidays, but no one heard from her on Christmas Day either. It was anyone’s guess where she was or what she was doing.

And of course, Fluttershy’s family was still stuck in France because of her idiot brother. This was fine by me, however, because that meant that she and I could spend the entire day alone together. We waited until sunrise to exchange a single present to one another; we had agreed not to do anything too extravagant, so just one gift was all we did. My gift to her was a heart-shaped locket with pictures of myself and Rarity inside —which made her cry— and she got me some socks and a few new T-shirts—which also made her cry.

After a hug and a few ‘I love yous’ —as well as the reassurance that I would gladly take nothing but a pair of socks every Christmas for the rest of my existence if it meant that she would always be mine— she calmed down and gave Link and Angel each a little treat, then we went about making a breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausage, toast, hash browns, and sausage gravy.

After that, we curled up on the couch and watched one of those old Christmas specials—not Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer; she was too afraid to the abominable snow monster, for fuck’s sake.

It was mid-afternoon when the intercourse started, which began with an off-colour comment from Fluttershy that she’d been dreaming of a ‘white’ Christmas, and it continued right on through until well after dark.

We were not alone today, however. Fluttershy’s home was filled with conversations and laughter, snacks and desserts, friends and lovers.

Rarity was the first to arrive, with her younger sister in tow. After an awkward hello, Sweetie Belle made herself at home on the couch while the fashionista placed a frozen lasagne in the oven, squawking as she did so—because I may have been giving her pert little derrière a squeeze while she was bent over. She uttered some choice words at me after she’d straightened and turned around, but I’d been called a devil many times before, so I simply laughed it off and slid my arms around her to pull her in for a hug.

Sunset and Twilight arrived not long after. They had left the city early in the morning after spending most of the night chatting at a coffee shop—part of the reason being that Sunset wished to get some ‘relief’ before the others arrived to avoid having to spend the whole day horny in their presence. So while I quietly took Sunset to the bathroom to fill her with some Christmas cheer, Twilight hung around the kitchen area and put together a snack tray while having a lively chat with Rarity and Fluttershy.

Applejack and her younger sister, Apple Bloom, arrived next, much to Sweetie Belle’s delight. Apparently, these young ladies were great friends at one time —along with that short-haired girl who worked at the restaurant near Sunset’s apartment— but they’d seen much less of each other in the past few years since graduating high school.

Apple Bloom was one of those cases where you knew without a shadow of a doubt that she was a sister to Applejack, mostly because of how she talked, but she actually bared very little resemblance to her older sister, especially when compared to Sweetie Belle and Rarity. Her style of dress was certainly more feminine than her older sister’s, especially the cartoonishly large pink bow she wore in her long, soft hair, which was coloured in a rather striking shade of red.

Apple Bloom was dressed in a light green shirt with a ruffled neckline and sleeves, accompanied by a pair of tight blue jeans. She was smaller than AJ, both in height and build, as well as being freckle-less. Her creamy, yellow skin appeared soft and smooth by contrast; it was clear that she hadn’t endured the same years of abuse under the hot sun like her siblings evidently had.

Pinkie Pie and Sonata arrived next, Sonata immediately asking Fluttershy if there were some spare clothes available for her to wear—apparently she’d had a run-in with a dessert on the way over?

The gobs of crust and brown pie filling stuck to her backside were clear evidence of said incident; the ‘smoking gun,’ if you will. Whatever happened, I was sure it was something that only Sonata could pull off.

After a quick glance at Rarity to see if she had any objections, Fluttershy offered the siren a change of the fashionista’s clothes that she kept handy, and the shy girl and Sonata, followed by Link —who became Sonata’s shadow for the remainder of the day— headed down the hall to find a fresh outfit.

Rainbow Dash was the last to arrive, her presence announced by the rumble of her new car. She was not the first person to enter the house, however; the front door burst open and in came the young bronze-skinned, short-haired girl from the restaurant, wearing a dark gray hoodie and green cargo pants. Her big, violet eyes were ablaze with excitement, and she threw her arms in the air, shouting:

“Oh my GOD, that car is amazing!”

“SCOOTALOO!” Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom immediately leapt from the couch to meet the final member of their trio.

Giggling with glee, the three young ladies collided in a tight group hug while Rainbow Dash ambled in through the front door, wearing an oversized gray hoodie of her own, along with some baggy jeans.

Applejack tipped her hat to the rainbow-haired girl. “Howdy, Rainbow Dash! Merry Chris- HOLY SHIT!”

The outburst got the athlete’s attention, and she looked up at the farm girl with a pair of dull, heavy eyes. “What?” she asked weakly.

AJ paused briefly, looking Rainbow Dash over once more. “You… feelin a bit hungover er somethin?”

“Uuhhh…” Dash paused for a moment, her eyes darting around the floor from underneath those greasy, duller-than-usual bangs.

Indeed, the poor girl looked rough. Her shoulders were slouched, eyes sunk and surrounded by dark blue shadows, her skin pale.

Rarity, who’d been too busy at the stove to overhear Applejack’s question, stopped her fiddling to turn around and greet her friend.

“Ah! Rainbow Dash, so nice to see- GAH!”

Dash turned an eye towards the fashionista, who stared back, cringing.

“Er… heh heh heh,” Rarity chuckled nervously, “been burning the candle at both ends this holiday season, have we?”

Dash rolled her eyes. “Whatever.” This was all she said before quietly dragging her feet over to the couch to sit down; all the while, Rarity and Applejack looked at one another, wondering about their friend.

Sonata, dressed in light gray slacks and a white blouse, appeared at the end of the hall a minute later with Fluttershy—who made her way to the couch to curl up with me on the lounge.

Pinkie and Rarity were busy setting out a large spread of food along the counter. There wasn’t a proper dinner planned for this occasion, just a large array of treats set out to pick away at as much or as little as one desired.

Sonata held back and took a moment to watch the gathering take place. This was all alien to her. Adagio and Aria never involved themselves in things like this: friends chatting, lovers snuggling, young women who hadn’t seen each other for ages, laughing excitedly as they turned the Wii on and grabbed a remote each, ready to start a game of Wii Sports Resort.

The siren stood at the hallway entrance and stared, hands behind her back, knees together. Link stayed by her side like a bodyguard, watching whatever she was watching, but without that goofy smile that she’d taken centuries to master. This time, though, it was not that same empty, head-in-the clouds sort of smile; what she was seeing truly made her grin. For the first time in ages, she felt like she was a part of something good, rather than lying to herself, saying that what she was doing was for her sisters, to make them happy.

It made her feel warm inside, and the warmer she felt, the more warmth she craved. It inspired her to be a better person —a better friend— so when she glanced at Pinkie, who was zipping around the counter with Rarity, she decided to speak up and offer some help.

“Hey, P?”

The party-girl glanced over at the siren while she continued what she was doing. “Yeah, Notty?”

Sonata touched an index finger to her chin. “Is there something I can… like… do?”

Pinkie stopped, not expecting the offer.

The siren shrugged and smiled as she put her hands behind her again. “You know... to help?”

Raising a brow, Pinkie flipped some curls from her face and came closer. “Actually… you know what you can do for me?”

“What?” Sonata asked, elated that Pinkie actually had something for her to do.

“PUCKER UP, BUTTERCUP!”

Sonata’s expression went from happy anticipation to a confused frown in an instant, but it was interrupted when the party-girl cupped her hands over those soft, blue cheeks and leaned in to press their lips together.

There was no tongue, no moisture exchanged; only firm, steady pressure of soft lips on trembling ones. Nevertheless, the siren was stunned by the move. Her heart nearly leapt from her chest when Pinkie’s kiss planted itself on her, her mind going haywire when the scent of strawberries and cream flooded her senses. Her hands unhooked from behind her and fell to her sides; they were just about to reach up to find a home somewhere on Pinkie, but before they had a chance, the party-girl broke the kiss and pulled away.

“MMMWAH!” The lip-smack echoed across the room, catching the attention of most of the group, and we turned to see from who and where the sound had originated.

Wide-eyed and speechless, Sonata stared at Pinkie, who laughed hysterically at the reaction. “HAHAHA! Look up, Notty; you’re standing under the mistletoe!”

“Huh?” The siren tipped her head back to look above her, mouth open. Sure enough, there was a ball of fake-looking plastic mistletoe hanging in the doorway. “Oh…” She looked down again in time to see Pinkie scamper off to the counter to resume her work. Then she scanned the room, finding numerous sets of eyes watching her with smirks hung beneath—aside from Rarity, of course, who didn’t look overly impressed, but knew better than to say anything about it, especially today.

She looked down at Link as she touched her fingertips to her lips, feeling the coating from Pinkie’s lip gloss left behind. Her bosom fluttered at the thought of it. No one had ever made her feel like this before; no one ever showed her such affection. Although it wasn’t necessarily a romantic feeling, it made her feel important, cared about —loved, even— rather than being made to feel like a nuisance.

Figuring she was off the hook from helping in the kitchen, Sonata rubbed her fingers together to wipe the gloss away, and she made her way around the back of the couch. Link was on all fours in an instant, following her every step of the way. Even when she found a spot on the couch next to Rainbow Dash, the lynx curled up on her feet to stay close and keep watch over her.

I leaned over to my left to say something to Sunset, who witnessed the kiss like I had, as did Twilight, seated on the far side of her. “Hey, Sunny… is Pinks into chicks or what? I thought she loves the D?”

“She does,” Sunset replied with a chuckle. “But she’s also the type to do something like that just for the sake of doing it—and to get a rise out of everybody.”

“Huh.” I faced the TV, watching the game happening between the young friends. “I wouldn’t put it past her, I guess.”

“I thought it was cute,” Fluttershy said from my right.

I turned to her, speaking in an irritated tone. “You know what, Flutters!?”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “What?”

“I think you’re cute.”

Giggling, Fluttershy leaned in for a kiss. “Aww… I know you do.”

On my left, Sunset folded her arms and shook her head. “Ugh. Gag me, you two.”

“That can be arranged...” the shy girl fired back, nudging me.

*****

Time passed, games were played, snacks were eaten, and conversations were had.

The latest of such was Rainbow Dash, slouched down on the couch, talking —albeit in an unusually quiet voice— to Sonata.

“Oh god yeah, living with Pinkie was awesome,” Dash was saying. “When the three of us had that house together, I swear, Vinyl put on, like, thirty pounds in the first month.”

“Oh, for realzies!” Sonata nodded. “The stuff she makes is SOOOOOO good!”

On the chaise lounge, I was sprawled out with Fluttershy lying against me, watching Rainbow Dash converse with the siren. Both of these girls were blue-skinned, obviously, but sitting adjacent to each other like this created a stark contrast between them—and Rainbow Dash looked bad.

Sonata was practically glowing by comparison, making Dash’s complexion appear greyish and dull; her eyes were glassy and dark, her hair stringy, flat and drab-looking. Even her cheeks looked sunken, like she had shed weight—and then it dawned on me that every time we’d seen her lately, she was always wearing thick, baggy clothes.

This reminded me of the day I took her to see the Diplomat, when I saw that text on her phone saying she’d passed out at work. As I chewed my lip, I took my eyes from Rainbow Dash to look at Fluttershy, wondering if she had noticed her friend’s diminished appearance, but she was busy watching the young girls play.

I turned to Rarity next, who had squeezed in between Sunset and me and was sipping away at a cup of tea. She too was paying attention to the TV.

Tapping my front teeth with my fingernail, I began to wonder if I should bring it up to them. Not right at that moment, obviously, but later on. Perhaps they were noticing the same thing as me, but didn’t want to interrupt the festivities with a difficult intervention. Dash was quite stubborn after all, and sometimes governed by foolish pride, and it was highly unlikely that she would open up in front of the entire group if pushed.

“AAWWW!” Sweetie Belle shouted and threw her hands in the air, the Wiimote held tightly in one as she watched her character fall down into water below the platform.

They’d been doing the swordplay duel on Wii Sports, in which the players swing the remote to attack their opponent, and the object was to knock them off the edge of the platform. Sweetie Belle had been playing against Pinkie Pie, and the latter had been victorious in the first and second rounds by eliminating the young, ivory-skinned girl with ease.

Pinkie turned to us and growled loudly, gritting her teeth with an exaggerated underbite as she flexed her muscles victoriously. “YEAH! Who’s next? Huh!? Who’s gonna sack-up and face the Pinkster!?”

A rolling of chuckles and headshakes made their way along the couch. Then Sunset gave Rarity a nudge with her elbow, causing the fashionista to spill a few drops of tea onto her hand.

“TSS!” Rarity moved the cup and wiped her hand on my pant leg before scowling at Sunset. “What is it, darling? Look at the mess you’ve caused!”

Sunset nodded toward Pinkie. “Why don’t you take Pinks on? Show her a thing or two on the sword.”

Rarity glanced at the TV for a second, then she let out a dismissive chortle. “No-no, darling. There is no need; that sort of thing is beneath me.”

Sunset turned to the party-girl. “Hey, Pinkie! Rare says she’ll take you on!”

Rarity was about to have another sip when Sunset announced this. She faced Sunset, gasping. “I beg your pardon!? Did I not just say-“

“Yeah, go for it sis!” Sweetie Belle shouted after spinning around giddily to face Rarity. “Kick her ass!”

“Yeeeaah! Let’s see what you’ve got, Rare-bear!” Pinkie shouted, pointing the remote at the fashionista.

Everyone else had joined in by then, egging Rarity on as she shook her head and chuckled nervously. “N-no no, I-I don’t think so.”

“Come on! Go for it!”

“I’m afraid not, everyone, I just-“

“DO EEEET!”

Finally, Rarity conceded and threw her head back. “UGH! Alright then, fine!” she groaned, holding the cup and saucer out to me. “Hold my tea please, my love?” she asked politely.

Chuckling, I took the dishes so she could stand and take the remote from her sister, who then took Rarity’s spot on the couch, squeezing in between me and Sunset.

“Come on, big sis!” Sweetie Belle shouted, clapping her hands in encouragement. “Beat that pink ass into the ground!”

A roar of laughter rang out across the couch. Snickering, I shook my head, surprised by how different this girl was from her sister; in fact, she struck me as being more like a sister Applejack would have, and Apple Bloom honestly reminded me more of Rarity, minus the flawless English.

After turning to glower and shake a finger at her sister, Rarity strapped the Wiimote to her wrist and before long, the round had begun.

My interest in the showdown faded quickly, however, as my thoughts had returned to Rainbow Dash. When I looked down the couch at her, she was sitting with her arms folded, staring at the floor while everyone around her was shouting and cheering over the game.

I was kicking myself now for not saying anything about it after the day I gave her the car. I’d assumed at the time that she’d simply caught a flu bug and just needed to let it run its course, so I never mentioned it to anyone.

But what kind of flu lasts a week and a half, and gets worse as time goes on?

My train of thought screeched to a halt suddenly when everyone shouted at once, and I looked back to the two competitors to see what had happened. Rarity was standing still, staring incredulously at the TV while Pinkie danced around, celebrating an apparent victory.

What the hell? I glanced to my right at Fluttershy. “Hey, did she fucking lose?”

Mouth covered, Fluttershy nodded while giggling.

“Jeeeesus…” I muttered, looking back to Rarity, who was readying her stance to for the next round, just as I’d taught her to do… with a real sword. This was moot, however, since the mechanics of this game didn’t translate well into real life, as evidenced by how the next round began—and finished.

Pinkie Pie simply flailed wildly, smacking the daylights out of Rarity’s avatar, while Rarity tried in vain to evade or block the onslaught. It was a futile attempt on her part, and within seconds, she was down in the water again and the game was over.

“BAM!” Pinkie shouted, throwing a hand forth and stopping it just before Rarity’s face. “That’s how it goes, Rare-bear!”

Rarity sighed and turned to face us, her cheeks darkening when her eyes met mine. “Yes, yes… I suppose you’ve earned your victory today, Pinkie Pie.”

The party-girl giggled. “Aw… good game though!” She held her remote up. “You wanna go again?”

Rarity cringed. “Er… thank-you, darling, but no. I don’t find this to be… terribly realistic,” she answered flatly as she slipped the remote strap from her delicate, white wrist. “Who would like to play next?”

Scootaloo raised her hand. “I’ll play!”

Rarity tossed the remote to the young girl and sat at the foot of the lounge, motioning for Sweetie Belle to stay put when she tried to offer the seat to her sister.

I sat forward and tapped Rarity on the back. She turned around to find me holding her tea cup out to her.

“Ooh! Thank-you, darling. Almost forgot.” She was turning away, about to have a sip when I tapped her again, and she turned back to see what I wanted this time.

“Uh… do I need to take you out for a refresher or something?”

Hearing this, Fluttershy covered her mouth and giggled as Rarity narrowed her eyes at me.

“I wouldn’t go there, darling...” she sang before turning around, placing the teacup to her lips.

Chuckling, I sat back against the cushion. A second later, I felt the light tickle of fragrant hair on my left cheek and I turned to find Sweetie Belle’s face very close to mine, glaring at me with those bright green eyes. Instinctually, I leaned away, slightly unnerved by her proximity.

“Yeeesss?” I asked slowly.

She narrowed her eyes and spoke in a low, quiet voice, so only I would hear. “I know you fucked my sister.”

Brows elevated, I glanced quickly around the room before looking at her again. “Uhh…”

“That night you stayed over; after I got home from the airport. You guys did it in the change room—I could hear you through the wall.”

I stared at her for a moment, then, not knowing what else to do, slowly faced the TV again. “K…”

Sweetie Belle licked her bottom lip and leaned even closer, making her hair enter my periphery. “So when do I get a turn?” she whispered softly, her breath caressing my cheek. "Hm? How many times you gonna make me touch myself to that?"

My eyes widened significantly, staying locked on the TV as that tingly feeling of uneasiness crept its way up the back of my neck. Then I turned to my right to see if Fluttershy heard it. It appeared she hadn’t; instead, she was busy tracing the shape of Rarity’s hip with her toes.

Helpless, I faced forward again. I didn’t dare face Sweetie Belle; making eye contact with her was something I wished to avoid.

Luckily, she eventually turned away and sent her attention elsewhere.

How the FUCK did no one see that!? I wondered.

“Who wants to play Scootaloo?” Pinkie was asking.

“Y’ain’t playin no more?” AJ asked from the far end of the couch.

“Nah,” —Pinkie pointed past the couch, towards the counter— “I’m gonna go load up with some desserts!”

“AWW!” Scootaloo growled. “You’re just scared, Pinkie Pie! Scared of the Scoots!”

“Nope! Just hungry,” Pinkie replied, dangling the remote from her hand as she offered it to whomever would take it. “Come on, who’s gonna fight Scootaloo? Applejack? Sunset?”

The two mentioned shook their heads.

Pinkie turned to Scootaloo. “Who do you wanna play?”

Scootaloo didn’t hestitate. She pointed the Wiimote at the slouched-down athlete. “Her! I wanna play Rainbow Dash!”

Dash’s eyes opened and she looked up to find the source of her name. “Huh?”

Pinkie Pie tossed the remote on Dash’s lap. “Your turn, Little Miss Hangover!”

“Oh…” Dash glanced down at the remote. “Uh… nah. I’m not really feelin it right now.”

Scootaloo dropped her hands to her sides and rolled her eyes. “Come on, just one round?”

“Yeah! Gh frh it, Drshie!” Pinkie shouted from behind us, her mouth already full of pie.

By this time, Applejack had a concerned eye locked on the rainbow-haired girl, clearly noting her appearance. “Hey,” she said, leaning forward to place a hand on Dash’s knee. “If yer not feelin it, ya don’t hafta play, Rainbow. Just take ‘er easy.”

Dash glowered at AJ quite unexpectedly; the concern her friend showed for her seemed to spark that trademark defiance that Rainbow Dash was known for, and she sat forward, rolling her shoulders. “What do you mean ‘not feeling it?’”

Applejack retreated slightly, shrugging. “I dunno. Ya just said-… I mean, ya don’t look so hot, that’s all.”

Dash stared at AJ for a moment, then she shook her head. “Nah. I’ll be fine. Let’s do this.” She stood and slipped the strap over her wrist.

Scootaloo, by this point, was watching Rainbow Dash ready herself for the game, her brow marked with concern of her own. It was obvious to me by then that the plucky young girl looked up to Rainbow Dash —idolized her, even— but even she was seeing the unusual behavior and pale complexion that Dash was exhibiting. “Uh… are you—hey!” she shouted, making sure she had Dash’s attention. “Are you sure you’re OK? You have been pretty quiet since you picked me up.”

Dash glanced up at the young girl as she closed the strap around her wrist. “Yeah, totally. Now get ready, kid, cuz you’re about to get your sorry little butt whipped!”

After a short pause, Scootaloo nodded and an unsure smirk appeared on her lips. “Ok then,” she replied, turning toward the TV to start the round.

On the lounge, I watched intently as Dash faced-off against the younger girl, swinging the remote back and forth with a better-looking precision than Pinkie exhibited, though her movements appeared rather lethargic.

I turned to look at Fluttershy to see if she was watching. Her eyes were locked squarely on her friend, filled with worry. I was about to ask if she had noticed Dash looking a bit off when I turned, but it was obvious that Fluttershy was extremely aware of it, so I simply turned back to face the others.

Looking down the couch, I could see that everyone had a close eye on her. It was difficult for everyone present not to notice that something was amiss.

In the game, the two of them were a fairly close match, making the round last much longer than previous ones. Eventually, however, the rainbow-haired girl was able chew off a tough victory.

Scootaloo shrugged it off and chuckled, not really glancing at the older girl as she advanced them to the next round.

With arms that hung limp at her sides, Rainbow Dash was panting heavily by then; she tipped her head back and closed her eyes, exhaling noisily.

“Um… are you gonna be OK, Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked, sitting forward. “Maybe you should sit down for a minute.”

Dash shook her head stubbornly. “Nah… I just… I fine,” she huffed. With a limp arm, she pointed the remote at the TV screen. “Le’ss go.”

After a pause, Scootaloo reluctantly pressed the OK tab on the screen, and the match began. She was reluctant to swing, however, and she kept her eyes on Rainbow Dash, who stepped forward and, with great effort, raised her arm like that Wiimote weighed fifty pounds.

Once it was above her head, she swung the weapon downward with an arm like a wet noodle. The rest of us watched in horror as the motion caused her balance to shift; her knees faltered and shook, forcing her to stumble off to the right to maintain her balance. Without warning, she wretched violently, spewing a wide stream of light brown vomit from her mouth, which landed on the wooded floor with a thick splat.

The rest of us gasped, wide-eyed and shocked by the sight.

“Holy shit!” AJ shouted as she stood to go help her friend, but as we soon saw, she would be too late.

Dash had covered her mouth by then, and when the second wave of vomit came up, it collided with her palm and gushed in every direction, dribbling down her arm and all over the floor. Her knees gave out next, and her eyes rolled back in their sockets; her body tumbled to the floor in a vomit-soaked heap as the rest of us rushed from the couch to follow AJ’s lead.

When Rainbow Dash landed, she didn’t even feel the hard, wooden floor collide with the side of her head. The pain in her skull from the headache she’d been having all day was too great, but still, the feeling of her brain being jostled within her skull drove the nausea even futher upward. She may have gagged and thrown up a third time; she couldn’t be sure. She wasn’t even sure where she was anymore.

Every muscle ached, her joints were full of spurs, and her blood was like acid. Her skin was cold as ice, yet her pores dumped boiling hot sweat onto her skin, soaking the edges of her hair and her clothes. Rainbow Dash was tough, but any human being, awesome or not, can only withstand so much, and the suffering she’d been enduring, ignoring, hiding, had finally overwhelmed her, and she was no longer able to keep it a secret.

Her body had begun to shut down.

As her eyes slowly drifted shut, all she knew was the warm, putrid vomit against her cheek, and the sound of her friend’s voices frantically calling her name, fading away as she floated further from consciousness.

“Dashie...”

“DASHIE!”

“DAAAAAAASSSSHHHHIIIIIEEEEEE…”

Chapter 115: Rainbow Dash’s Plight

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

*Chapter116: To Save A Friend

Chapter 116

“Uhh… I’m sorry, what?”

Fluttershy huffed. “You have to save her, Goldie.”

I stared at the shy girl for moment. Then I glanced over at Rainbow Dash, and then at Fluttershy again. “Uh, heh! Whoa… hold on,” I said, closing my eyes and raising my hands. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

Fluttershy swallowed. Worry marked her pretty features. “I don’t want her to die like this.”

I sat back in the chair and rubbed my forehead, sighing. “I know, Flutters. Neither do I, but… I’m not entirely sure how you think this is gonna work.”

She scowled. “What do you mean? You know exactly how it works.”

I sighed and let my eyes drop to the floor. “Ugh... that’s what I was afraid of.” I looked up to face her, brow cocked sarcastically. “You know, Flutters, there’s like, several issues of morality kind of jumping out at me all at once here.”

“Oh, but Goldie,” Fluttershy pleaded, her bottom lip coming out. “You’re all she has left. This is the only way she can survive.”

“I understand that, Flutters, but what do you expect me to do?” I asked, holding a hand toward Dash. “She’s barely alive. What, should I just get on top and stick it to her? Take her to the fuckin limit? I can’t do that—especially here! What exactly do you expect me to do?”

She covered her face with both hands and stamped her feet softly. “I don’t know… I don’t know!”

“We can’t, and I mean, we can’t do this, Flutters,” I said, placing a hand on her forearm. “Like, she’s not even conscious; I doubt I could ‘get it up’ even if I agreed to it.” I pointed to the clear bag filled with yellow liquid that hung near the foot of the bed. “Look… she has a catheter in, for crying out loud! How the hell am I supposed to—“

A nurse entered the room just then, bringing our exchange to a tentative halt. She smiled solemnly as she passed us to do her routine checks on the rainbow-haired girl—pulse, temperature, and so on. The process was not an involved one in the case of Rainbow Dash: given her prognosis, not much was checked other than making sure she wasn’t suffering and that she was actually still alive, and so the nurse was gone within a minute or two.

We both smiled at her as she left. As soon as she was out of sight, I quickly faced the shy girl, whispering loudly. “You see!? There’s people in and out of here all the time! What if I was up there giving it to her just then? How awkward would that be? They’d be calling the cops on our asses so fast, I—“

“I KNOW, I KNOW! FINE!” Fluttershy cried softly, pressing her palms to her temples.

“And it’s not just the logistics of it, Flutters; like I said, there’s some serious moral concerns here.”

She lowered her arms and turned to me with a glum stare.

I gestured towards the blue-skinned girl. “She never wanted to go through with it—you know that. In fact, she was pretty adamant about avoiding it.”

“I know, Goldie, but… what kind of morals would we have if we have the means to save her, but we just let her die?”

“No, I get it, Flutters. I get what you’re saying, but you understand that when someone doesn’t want to have sex, and you have sex with them anyway —whether they’re awake or not— I’m pretty sure that’s bad. In fact, I think there’s a word for that exact thing…”

Fluttershy chewed her thumbnail and looked over at her friend.

“Not only that,” I continued, “she’s gonna know what happened. Like, if she has terminal cancer one minute and then wakes up perfectly healthy the next, it’s gonna take her all of… what, like five seconds to figure out that I went and screwed her ‘almost-corpse’? Don't you think she might feel just a teensy-bit violated by that?”

The shy girl remained silent as she gnawed furiously on her nail. Then, without warning, a stream of moisture ran down her cheeks, and then she covered her face. “Ohhh! What are we supposed to do then?” she asked, her voice muffled, but quite obviously shaking. She looked up to me with a quivering lip. “She’s my friend, Goldie; I’ve known her my whole life. Longer than anyone else I know, even my own brother.”

I sighed and reached out to place my hand on her back, rubbing it. “I know. I don’t like it either, but I can’t do something like that to her. It’s not right. I mean, think about it: she’s known she was sick for a while —granted, it only just got bad while we were away— but she must have known that I could have helped her all along, and she didn’t ask.”

“But… w-why would she do that?”

I shook my head and looked down at the floor. “I don’t know,” I replied. Then I glanced at Fluttershy. “You’ve known her longer than me, why would she do that?”

She took a deep breath. “I don’t know. I mean… she was definitely not comfortable with you and your age, but… was she really that put off by it?” Those big, teal eyes found me again. “Maybe it was because she didn’t want to sleep with her friend’s boyfriend? Or maybe…” She trailed off and turned away to face her friend again.

I ruminated for a moment while I rubbed her back. Then I drew a breath to speak. “I don’t know, Flutters. I just worry that… Say we did it: say we saved her. What if she ends up hating us?”

Fluttershy sighed. “Then at least she’ll be alive. I’d rather her be alive than dead, even if it means she hates us.”

I shook my head. “Come on; you don’t really mean that, do you?”

She gave me a look.

“Think about it,” I continued, “she’ll be alive forever. Every single day, she’s gonna be reminded of the fact that she’s alive because someone violated her. That’s a long time to have something like that hanging over her head. Is that really what you want for her?”

Fluttershy sighed and leaned forward, placing her chin in her hands, elbows on her knees. “No,” she replied, pausing. “If only there was another way to save her… without having to do that.”

I nodded and stared across the room. “Yeah.”

A few minutes passed in silence, aside from the distant sound of footsteps in the hallway, punctuated by an occasional cough from the surrounding rooms. I tried to imagine how I would go about doing what Fluttershy wanted, and every time, without fail, the thought of it put me off completely. And I was positive that Fluttershy would have felt the same way if we actually tried it.

After shaking my head to clear the image from my mind, I sighed and glanced over at my girlfriend. Just as I did so, she perked up, her eyes rapidly shifting back and forth.

“What is it?” I asked, noticing the sudden train of thoughts rushing through her mind.

She turned to me, eyes wide. “I think I have an idea!”

“What kind of idea?”

“Wait here,” she ordered as she darted from the room, leaving me alone with a barely alive Rainbow Dash, confused and slightly worried about the scheme that was being cooked up under that mass of soft, pink hair.

*****

Fluttershy padded softly down the hall toward the nurse’s station, being careful not to run or make too much noise. She approached the counter and quietly rested her hands on it, speaking extremely softly. “Um… e-excuse me?”

The nurse who was seated there looked up from what she was writing to find the extremely timid girl looking down at her. “Can I help you, sweetie?” she asked, forcing a smile through the annoyance of being interrupted.

“Um… i-is there a pharmacy in this hospital?”

“Third floor. B zone,” the nurse replied flatly before returning to her work.

“Oh… um…” Fluttershy began to stroke her hair hand-over-hand, reluctant to bug the nurse again. “W-where is that, exactly? … Sorry.”

The woman looked up at her again, and then pointed her pen down the hall to her right. “The elevator’s that way; take it down to the third floor, then go right. You’ll know when you’re in B zone because the walls will have a blue stripe. Then just follow the signs.”

Fluttershy looked to where the nurse pointed and licked her lip. “O-OK,” she said, turning back to the nurse with a weak smile. “I think I can find it. Th-thank you.”

With a quick nod and another fake smile, the nurse returned to what she was doing as the tall, soft-spoken girl scurried off.

*****

After exiting the elevator and exploring the halls for several minutes, Fluttershy found herself in the blue-striped halls of the ‘B zone,’ as the nurse called it. She was antsy and therefore moved quickly, her feet hardly touching the floor as she went.

She followed the signs —which, as it turned out, were confusing and had caused her to make more than one wrong turn— and eventually, despite such impractical guidance, scurried past a glass door, peering through it on her way by. Inside, she spotted several aisles stocked with bottles and boxes of every describable size and colour.

“Ooh!” She skidded to a halt and quickly made her way back, spying the plaque next to the door:

’Pharmacy’

A wave of relief washed over her, knowing she’d finally found it. More determined than ever, she entered the room in search of the item she needed. The pharmacy was much larger than expected, which did little to slow her resolve, but after a few passes up and down the seemingly endless lanes, Fluttershy once again became flustered.

“Oh dear,” she muttered softly as she stopped mid-aisle, scanning the vast sea of items stacked along the shelves.

She needed help.

Glancing around, the only person she could find was a lady in a white lab coat, working behind the counter at the rear of the room. Quickly, the shy girl made her way to the counter, separated from the pharmacist by a layer of glass with only a small speaker to talk through.

Fluttershy hated these.

After a short hesitation, she licked her lips and spoke. “Um… hello?”

The woman, whose back faced the counter, didn’t hear the call and simply continued what she was doing.

Frustrated, the shy girl brought a closed hand to her mouth and cleared her throat. She bent slightly to bring her mouth closer to the speaker. “Excuuuse me,” she cooed.

The pharmacist heard the whisper this time, and after a short pause she turned to face Fluttershy. Then she stood and made her way to the window. She was a tall woman with skin coloured in a dark ebony, sporting a short afro, with large, golden hoops hanging from her ears. When she approached, she folded her dark, lanky hands on the counter and gave a welcoming smile.

The affable response gave Fluttershy a boost of comfort, allowing her to relax and ask her question. “Um… could you tell me where I can find one of those medicine plungers? You know, the kind you use to give liquid Tylenol to... um, babies n’ stuff?”

The woman nodded once, smiling again as she raised a hand to gesture past Fluttershy’s right, speaking in a smooth, deep voice, laced with a strong Kenyan accent.

”With unwellness and pain,
we cannot make do;
the solution you seek
is waiting... in aisle two.”

Fluttershy glanced over her right shoulder. “Oh!” She glanced back at the pharmacist, pointing toward the lane with her thumb. “Over there?”

The woman bowed her head to confirm.

“Thank you very much, um… for your help,” Fluttershy replied, giving a thankful smile as she stepped away.

The pharmacist turned to resume her work, chuckling at the sweet, pink-haired girl, who was now scampering her way down aisle two.

Fluttershy found the syringes within seconds, and she cursed herself when she realised she’d walked straight past them earlier. After plucking one from the shelf, she headed to the front of the store where several self-checkouts lined the front wall. After scanning the item, placing it in the bag and swiping her card, Fluttershy snatched her purchase from the scale and headed for the door. She stopped just before leaving, however, to glance toward the rear of the pharmacy, where the found the black woman still watching her. She smiled and waved once more, and the woman responded by waving back, smiling warmly and nodding once, slowly.

Then Fluttershy sailed into the hall to begin her trip back to the elevator.

*****

RARITY: Fluttershy is gone? ME: Yeah. She left like 20 min ago RARITY: Where did she go? ME: No clue. Where r u? RARITY: We’re just taking a walk. Sunset wanted some more time out of that room, so we’ll be a little longer than planned. Will that be alright? ME: Yeah, it’s fine. I’ll be here with Dashie RARITY: Alright. <3

Sighing, I leaned to the side to slip my phone into my pocket. I glanced over at Rainbow Dash, who was still out-cold with those clear tubes running across her upper lip, feeding oxygen directly into her nostrils. Just then, I heard the soft pitter-patter of feet approach the door, followed by a soft voice.

“Goldie!”

I turned to see Fluttershy standing there, plastic bag in hand. “Come here!” she whispered loudly, waving for me to come.

After one more glance at Rainbow Dash, I stood and made my way to the door. “What’s up?”

“We need to find a washroom,” she said quickly, grabbing a handful of my shirt and pulling me into the hall. “I need to show you something.”

“Yes, Flutters, I know you can piss standing up; I don’t need to see that again,” I complained as she led me along the corridor, weaving between stretchers linen carts.

She spun around and scowled at me. “SHH! That’s not what this is about,” she said as she found her destination on the left, about seventy feet from Dash’s room. “In there!”

She led me inside the small, single-person washroom and closed the door.

“OK... so what are we doing in here?” I asked, glancing at the hand sanitizer dispenser before looking at her.

“We have to be quiet... and fast,” the shy girl said hastily as she slid her tights down, followed by her panties.

“Whoa, hey!” I whispered loudly, placing my hands on top of my head. “What the hell are you—“

“We have to save Dashie,” she said, reaching into the little bag to produce a plastic syringe. “And this is how we’re gonna do it. I need your cum.”

I looked at her sideways. “Holy crap, are you fucking serious?”

“Mm-hm,” she nodded, her expression steely. “This way, you don’t have to touch her. Just think of it as medicine, or an antidote; it’s not sexual at all, no different than if it came from a flower or some kind of mineral or... or something.”

I scowled slightly, despite it being a halfway decent idea—but there was only one problem. “And what if she doesn’t share that sentiment?” I asked as she tore the package open to remove the syringe.

She paused when she heard the question, looked up at me, and then shrugged.

“Yeah, well... you’d better make damn sure you explain to her what we actually did before she flips out on us.”

“Don’t worry, Goldie, I will.” She pulled the plunger out so the rear end of the tube was open, then she looked at me again. “Are you hard yet?”

I hadn’t even started; her plan hadn’t quite sunk in yet. “Oh,” I said, looking down at myself. “No… not yet.”

Fluttershy lifted the sweater she was wearing just enough to reveal her slit, showing off those plump, yellow lips pinched between her thighs, ready as always to wrap themselves around me. “How about now?”

There was a spike in blood pressure below my belt buckle. “Uh… yeah, that’s kinda working.”

Approaching quickly with both halves of the syringe in one hand, she cupped her free hand over my crotch. My manhood awoke quite suddenly, pressing firmly against her palm.

“There you are,” she whispered, bringing her lips to mine for a soft kiss.

How, after so many months of being together and after making love countless times, this girl could still make my heart flutter like this was beyond explanation. There was little time for me to ponder it though; she had already broken the kiss and was looking down at my bulge.

“Undo your pants,” she ordered softy, unable to do it herself with one hand. “Get him out, Goldie. We have to hurry.”

I made quick work of unbuckling my belt and unbuttoning my pants, and after yanking the zipper down, I reached into my shorts and pulled my erection free.

Fluttershy’s slender, yellow fingers wrapped around it immediately, and she began to stroke gently as she leaned in to whisper her warm breath against my cheek. “OK, big boy, we have a job to do,” she said softly, tracing her fingertips along the ridge. Next, she released me and cupped her hand just below her mouth. Pursing her lips, she spit a large, bubbly gob of saliva into her palm, which was a bit less sexy than Fluttershy’s usual methods, but it was obvious in her expression and her body language that she was in a hurry to complete this harvest.

I leaned in for a kiss as she wrapped her hand around my shaft to spread her saliva onto me, but as soon as I tried to introduce my tongue, she squealed softly and pulled away.

“No-no, this isn’t sexy time,” she scolded quietly, wagging her finger at me while holding the syringe with the other three digits. “This is a ‘get-off quick’ fuck.”

She released my manhood and turned to face the sink. Then she lifted one foot to set it on the toilet, presenting that smooth, yellow backside to me. “Come on Goldie, get in me; we have to save Dashie!”

I remained still for a moment and watched her, unprepared for such a strange proclamation; she bent forward, drawing my eyes down below her cheeks, where I could see her fingertips slip between her thighs to spread her lips open, revealing those soft pink petals, inviting me to make myself at home in the tight, warm space that waited between them.

“Hey!”

Fluttershy’s voice snapped me out of the trance. I looked up to find those teal eyes watching me over her shoulder.

“What’s the hold up?” she asked, arching her back slightly to point her ass-end up at me. “We have a job to do.”

I blinked a couple times and shook my head. “Uh… right. Yeah, right. Sorry.” I looked down and gripped my saliva-coated length by the base before stepping toward her. Placing my free hand on her hip, I poked her between the cheeks, feeling around until I found one of her fingers with my tip. After locating the other finger, I aimed between them and pushed firmly ahead.

She gasped softly, feeling my stiff girth slip into her warm grip. “Oooh... mmm.” She closed her eyes and turned to face the mirror, her breath fogging the glass as the first round of trusts began to pummel her depths.

I watched those yellow cheeks bounce softly against my hips for the first bit, reminded before long that saliva isn’t quite the best lubricant for sex. Her flesh felt rubbery as I slid through it—not that it was ever a bad thing to be inside Fluttershy, but I much preferred the smooth, slippery feel of a properly aroused woman. She didn’t keep me waiting long for it though; as her breaths deepened, so did my thrusts, and that slick warmth began to seep in, coating my length and allowing it to glide through her more smoothly, letting us enjoy the pleasure created by each stroke.

“Ohh… that’s good, big boy. You got it,” she panted, opening her eyes to look at me in the mirror. “Keep going.”

I slid one hand from her hip to her front, where I grasped a handful of her breast through the sweater, squeezing it firmly as I reamed her depths again and again, faster and faster. Peeling my eyes from her derrière, I looked over her shoulder to face her in the mirror, only to find that she wasn’t looking back at me, but at herself instead.

I watched her closely, somewhat fascinated by the self-fixation. She was only inches from her reflection, her eyes locked onto themselves, watching the sensations flow through them, the fireworks going off behind them, that pink hair swaying with each thrust, her mouth hanging open as she panted a foggy patch of moisture onto the glass, partly obscuring the lower half of her face.

Does she like watching herself get pounded? I knew the answer within the next minute; evidently, the sight of her own face in that mirror, contorted with bliss, turned her on to the point of getting off, and she began to tighten around my erection, preparing to be blown off her feet.

“Hhhaa… ohh!” No longer able to keep her eyelids from fluttering, she squeezed them shut and drew her lips into her mouth to bite them together. “Mmmmm! Hmm… mm.. mmm…” She gripped the sink tightly as she tried in vain to silence her moans, her body stiff and quivering while her hot interior pulsed around me. The orgasm tore through her like a vicious animal, leaving her breathless and seeping from between her legs.

Her lips parted and a hot breath burst outward, clouding the mirror even more. Her eyes opened, and she turned to face me over her shoulder, panting heavily as she brought a finger to her lips. “Shh… sh-sh-sh-sh… we gotta be quiet! Don’t wanna get caught in here.”

“You’re the one making all the noise, woman!” I whispered as I placed my hand on the small of her back, watching my gleaming shaft disappear beneath those round, yellow cheeks.

“Ohh… I know, I just… mmm...” She took her finger from her lips to place her hand on the back of mine, which I had moved from her breast down to her waist, just above the flare of her hip. “Are you close?”

I glanced down again at her backside, feeling myself deep inside, her tight warmth wrapped firmly around my length. I was still thrusting, although I had slowed down during our talk, but I could still feel that wonderful tingle coming on—the telltale sign of that inevitable release.

“Getting there,” I answered, kicking my speed up again.

“OOH!” She hadn’t expected the sudden onslaught, and she let out a cry of delight just a little louder than she meant to. “Shh!”

“So how are we doing this?” I panted. “Am I gonna pull out and shoot it into that tube, or what?”

“I… mmm,” —her eyelids fluttered as she tried to answer— “no. It might get all over the place if you miss. You know how much of a loose cannon you can be.”

“OK… so what are we—“

Giving her head a shake, Fluttershy cut in. “Just let it go inside me, then I’ll catch it in the tube when it runs out. Just don’t shoot it in too deep.”

“Fuck,” I whispered, feeling the tension build as my length begin to swell. “Are… are you sure that’s gonna work?”

She turned to me with her lips parted, a light scowl on her brow. “I don’t know, Goldie, I’ve never done this before!”

“OK, OK,” I grunted, squeezing her hip as the pressure rose from deep down, migrating out to the tip of my length as her warm hand squeezed mine. “Here it comes, Flutters.”

“Oohhh!” she moaned, closing her eyes and throwing her head back. “Do it! Give it to me!”

On her order, the floodgates opened, and —keeping my length at a shallow depth, only an inch past the ridge— I injected her furiously, dousing her interior with pulse after pulse of those hot, thick ropes. The feel of her soft flesh gently gripping my throbbing head sent shivers up my spine, and it took an extra measure of concentration to remember not to shove forward and pump it in too deep.

I leaned forward slowly as the pulsating began to subside, each shot losing power until finally, I reached that final spurt and it was all over. My forehead came to rest between her shoulder blades, cushioned by a soft bed of fragrant, pink hair. Inhaling her scent, I closed my eyes and panted with relief.

“Hooohh… good boy,” she said, turning to look over her shoulder. “How’d it go?”

I shook my head against her back, drawing a deep breath and then releasing it noisily.

Fluttershy reached back to pat my hip, but missed for the most part. “Good job,” she muttered, her breaths taking a pause to swallow. Looking forward again, she put the plunger between her teeth to hold onto it, keeping the tube in her hand. “OK… you ready?” she asked, moving her foot from the toilet seat to the floor.

I straightened up to face her with a nod. “Yeah.”

“OK, one sec,” she instructed as she reached down between her legs, her fingertips grazing the slippery underside of my shaft as she readied her hand to cup it over her slit once I withdrew. “OK… go,” she nodded.

I pulled out and stepped away, watching Fluttershy turn around to sit on the toilet; she separated her knees, hand cupped over her crease as she placed the tube beneath her crotch, just below her fingertips. Carefully, she slid her hand upward, letting the thick, white ribbon of fluid gush from between her folds into the clear, plastic tube.

I turned to rip a handful of paper towel from the dispenser to wipe my manhood clean while Fluttershy worked on collecting as much of the load as she could. She held her breath and clenched her abdomen, squeezing out another small dribble. Then she slipped two fingers inside in an attempt to dig for more, but when she succeeded in getting only a few drops, she stood and placed the plunger in the end of the tube, pointed the tip at the ceiling and pushed it up to purge the air.

“Hold this,” she ordered, offering the syringe to me as I zipped my pants up.

“Eh… sure,” I said, grimacing as I took it between my thumb and fingertip.

She spent a moment grabbing a wad of paper towels to wipe herself clean, making sure to soak up the excess fluids from between her layers. “Do you think that’s enough?”

I glanced at the syringe, which was about half full. “Uh… I’d say so. It’s quite a bit, actually.”

“OK,” she replied, slipping her panties up, followed by her tights. She washed her hands and then dried them off, turning to face me after throwing the paper towels into the garbage. “OK. Let’s go.”

After taking the syringe from me and wrapping her sleeve around her hand to keep it hidden, Fluttershy unlocked the door and opened it a tiny bit. Peering into the hall, she looked both ways to see if anyone was around, then she turned back to give me a nod.

“Come on,” she whispered as she threw the door open and scampered into the hall. I caught up and walked beside her, both of us trying our best to look casual.

A nurse passed us in the opposite direction about thirty feet from the bathroom; she was clearly busy with her duties and did not make eye contact with us, yet Fluttershy still felt the need to look down at the floor as we passed, her cheeks glowing slightly.

“I can’t believe we just did that,” she whispered softly once the nurse was behind us.

“What about the fact that you’re carrying a syringe full of semen right now?”

“Um… yes. That too,” she said as we made a left to return to Rainbow Dash’s room. Fluttershy headed straight for the bed, turning back to face me. “Stay by the door, Goldie. Keep watch.”

I paused, let out a sigh, and then retreated a step to maintain a clear view of the hallway. “Fuck,” I whispered to myself as I glanced both ways, making sure there were no nurses headed our way. “You’re good.”

After a quick nod, Fluttershy produced the syringe and stood at the bedside. Gingerly, she lifted the blankets from Rainbow Dash’s chest, watching her face to make sure she didn’t stir.

From the doorway, I glanced both ways into the hall another time before bringing my attention back to my girlfriend, who had peeled the blankets downward and was piling them just below Dash’s waist. The shy girl paused briefly, glancing at me.

“Are we clear?”

I nodded. “Hall’s empty. Go for it.”

After a deep breath, Fluttershy exhaled through a pair of pursed lips, staring intently at the syringe. She was apprehensive about what she was about to do; that much was obvious. “It’s just medicine,” she whispered, closing her eyes. “It’s just medicine...”

I glanced outside once again. Someone passed by the end of the hall to the right, making me shake my head before looking back at the shy girl, wondering how long she was going to go on repeating this mantra. “Flutters, it’s now or never. You don’t have time to be wishy-washy about it; make a decision now.”

She opened her eyes to glance anxiously at me.

“You’re sure this is what you want?” I continued. “Cuz you can’t take it back once it’s in.”

She watched me for a moment, drew a deep breath, nodded, and then reached down to pull Rainbow Dash’s gown up. She paused suddenly, scowling at something that seemed to have left her a bit perturbed. Then she closed her eyes and shook her head, apparently dismissing whatever it was. I couldn’t see it myself; the blankets were blocking the view from where I was standing.

“What is it?” I asked, curious.

“Nothing.”

I sighed, knowing the answer wasn’t true, but I decided to let it go. “You think this is gonna work?”

She glanced at me and shrugged as she reached down between Dash’s legs, placing the syringe. “I don’t know; I hope so. I don’t see why it shouldn’t. I’ve inseminated animals at the shelter lots of times, just like this.”

Why does that not surprise me? I wondered as I glanced into the hall one more time. When my eyes returned to the shy girl, her arm was still, her face stiff with concentration. A few seconds passed, and then Fluttershy withdrew her hand.

The syringe was empty.

“All done?”

She looked at me and nodded, and then turned to throw the syringe in the garbage. “I guess now we wait,” she said as she replaced Dash’s gown and pulled the covers up, tucking them gently under her arms.

“Yeah,” I replied, stepping into the room as the shy girl wiped her hands with a tissue. Then she approached me for a tight hug, resting her head on my shoulder.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“Eh… I just hope you know what you’re doing. And I wouldn’t count your chickens just yet. We just gave it to her; we have no idea if it’s gonna work until she actually turns.”

“I know,” Fluttershy replied, leaning back to face me. “Let’s hope it does, for Dashie’s sake.”

Then she closed her eyes and leaned in for a kiss.

*****

Hours passed. Rarity, Sunset and Twilight had finally returned to the room after their walk, which went a little longer than originally intended. They sat with us, talking quietly about Rainbow Dash’s condition and about what would happen if we lost her.

Fluttershy and I didn’t tell them about what we did, not wanting to get their hopes up in case it didn’t work.

Eventually, morning came, and Sunset had to leave for her shift at the coffee shop. Twilight opted to leave with her; she had obligations for her own, namely an online group chat with her schoolmates about a project that they were to resume when the holidays were over, so she decided to do that at Sunset’s apartment, stating that she would be back in a few hours.

The boutique was closed until after New Years, so Rarity stayed with us.

Fluttershy had become noticeably agitated in the meantime. It had been eight agonizing hours since the injection, and Rainbow Dash still looked gray and withered, and she was still sleeping like a log.

I tried my best to keep her calm without letting on what’d been done, but Rarity was much too receptive for us to keep her from noticing.

“Fluttershy, darling, what is the matter?” she asked, leaning in front of the shy girl to look into her eyes, placing a hand on her back.

“Oh, um… it’s just… I-I’m really worried about Dashie,” Fluttershy replied, which was understandable—from both mine and Rarity’s perspectives.

“Ohh,” Rarity nuzzled Fluttershy’s cheek with her own, squeezing her tightly. “I know, darling. I am too. This whole thing is just… terrible business. Simply awful, what’s happened.”

I was standing by the foot of the bed, having given my seat to the fashionista, watching the pair embrace. Fluttershy’s eyes rose and glared up at me; clearly she was annoyed by the situation, but was reluctant to tell Rarity the truth just yet.

“Why don’t you take a walk, darling? You’ve been cooped up in here for hours,” Rarity suggested, leaning back to look at her girlfriend. “You and Golds should take a walk to the coffee shop and have a nice, hot drink while I stay here with Rainbow Dash. What do you say?”

Fluttershy sighed and glanced at me. I could tell she didn’t want to leave the room until it happened. “I… I’d rather stay here, Rare… if that’s OK,” she replied, turning to the pale beauty.

Rarity cocked her head, concerned. “Are you sure, darling? You don’t want a nice latte or something?”

Fluttershy rubbed her chin, her eyes scampering along the floor tiles. “Hmm… actually, that does sound good,” —she glanced my way— “but… I’d just rather stay here. Um… do you think you could go get me one?”

Rarity looked surprised. ”Me? But I was already th—“

“Pleeease, Rare?” Fluttershy begged, sticking her bottom lip out. “I would be so grateful if you could do that for me,” she continued as she cupped her hands over the fashionista’s soft, white cheeks, stroking the corner of her mouth with her thumb.

“Oh… well, I…” Rarity stared helplessly into those big, teal eyes, watching as Fluttershy blinked a few times, flicking those long, hooked eyelashes of hers. “Oohhh alright,” Rarity sighed, finally caving to her girlfriend’s influence and standing up. “So that’s what that feels like; I cannot believe you used my own tactic against me,” she grumbled as she faced me. “Would you like anything, my love?—since I’m going.”

“Uhh… a double-double, I guess. Thanks.”

With another sigh, Rarity slung her handbag over her shoulder and bent to kiss Fluttershy on the forehead. “I shall be back soon.”

“Thanks Rare,” the shy girl whispered, watching the indigo-haired girl saunter out of the room. As soon as she was gone, Fluttershy left her chair and went to the bedside, clutching handfuls of her hair. “Ohh! Why isn’t it working, Goldie!?” she cried softly. “Why is she still sick?”

I stood next to her to have a look at Rainbow Dash for myself. Indeed, she still looked the same: dull, frail, and motionless.

I shook my head. “I don’t know, Flutters. I don’t get it.”

“Oh... I hate this!” she whimpered, turning to me. “What if it doesn’t work? What if we were too late and she can’t conceive? What if she... what if she...” —Fluttershy drew a soft gasp— “d-d-dies!?” She became increasingly wound up with each thought, even reaching the point of grabbing my shoulders and bouncing on her heels as she spoke.

She needed to calm down. Badly.

“OK... relax, Flutters! Come over here and sit down,” I instructed, leading her back to the chairs. She sat in the farthest one from Rainbow Dash, looking anxiously at the bed as I sat beside her, holding her hands and looking into her eyes. “You need to calm yourself. Please. Panicking isn’t gonna help anything.”

Her stare shifted onto me, her pupils tiny, her mouth open, lips quivering. “But… I don’t know what to do! Oh goodness, I’m a nervous wreck! It’s been hours, Goldie! It’s never taken this long for anyone to turn. Why is it taking so long!? What if she doesn’t make it!?”

“Listen, listen,” I said, squeezing her hands. I opened my mouth to speak, about to say something like ‘she’s gonnna make it,’ or ‘everything’s gonna be alright,’ but I just couldn’t bring myself to tease her with false hope. I couldn’t stand the thought of seeing that look in her eyes, watching her heart shatter into a million pieces if her friend actually ended up dying of cancer, especially after administering what she thought was a sure-fire cure.

So I told her the truth. “I… don’t know, Flutters. I wish I did. I wish I knew what to do. I wish I knew what was happening, but... I don’t. I just...” I paused, and then turned to the side, shaking my head.

Fluttershy’s face went blank. The colour drained from her cheeks. Her eyes locked onto mine.

“I’m sorry,” I continued. “But… we need to be ready.”

Her bottom lip quivered. “What do you mean? Ready for what?”

“In case… for whatever reason, it doesn’t work.”

Her breathing stopped. Then her eyes drifted downwards.

I let my eyes follow hers to the floor as I spoke again. “We did our best, Flutters. And… she may still come around, but... I don’t know if she will. It’s been a long time since we gave it to her, and like you said, it’s never taken this long before. I don’t know what that means. Maybe it means nothing, I don’t know.” I paused, gently caressing her knuckles with my thumb, prompting her to look up again. “The last thing I want is for her to go. I really don’t want to see you guys have to go through that—especially you. I know she’s an old friend, and that you’ve known her forever, but—“

Fluttershy gasped and frantically tapped my hands, making me stop mid-sentence. “Goldie! GOLDIE!”

“What!?” I replied, looking up at her. She was looking at the bed, her eyes wide as saucers as she pointed her finger, shaking it wildly.

“Goldie, look!”

I glanced over my shoulder at the bed, shocked immediately by what I saw.

Rainbow Dash looked different. Or rather, she no longer looked different; she looked like Rainbow Dash. Her skin had returned to that vibrant blue that we’d grown to miss without even realising it. It was smooth and healthy-looking, and she’d filled out noticeably; gone were those sunken eye sockets and protruding cheekbones, now replaced by a round, almost pudgy visage—not pudgy like Pinkie Pie, of course, but certainly more so than a few minutes ago.

Fluttershy and I both had forgotten what she really looked like. The sickness had chipped away at her health for so long and so slowly, we never noticed the extreme loss of colour and weight until now. And her hair! It practically glowed with energy; it was fluffy and full, lined with every colour of the spectrum, so vivid it was almost blinding to look at.

Before the shy girl and I had a chance to comprehend the change, Rainbow Dash began to stir.

“Mmmrrrh…” she groaned, squeezing her eyelids tight as she rolled her head from side-to-side. Then, after a slow inhale and a lick of her lips, her eyes opened, revealing a pair of sparkling, cerise irises—which immediately locked onto both Fluttershy and me. “Hey…” she said, her voice husky.

“Dashie?” Fluttershy replied, eyes wide, mouth covered.

“Mmm… yeah,” she grunted, shifting upward a bit. “How long was I out?”

“Um… a-all night,” said Fluttershy, still unblinking. “How do you feel?”

“Ehh…” Dash looked down at her palms, brows furrowed as she studied her bright, blue skin. “Pretty… good, actually. I haven’t felt this good in—“

“Ah! You’re awake,” a voice said from the doorway.

The three of us turned to see a nurse entering with a supply cart in tow. She was a fair-skinned lady, and young, with powdery-pink hair, wearing light blue scrubs that matched her eyes.

“My name’s Redheart,” she announced cheerfully. “I’ll be looking after you for today.” She paused when she reached the bedside, cocking her head at the rainbow-haired girl. “Hm.”

“Uh… what?” Dash asked, raising a brow.

“Well,” Redheart replied, “I just finished going over your charts with the outgoing nurse, and from what she was saying, it sounded like you were gonna be out all day, but I have to say: you look pretty darn good for someone in your condition!”

“Uh… yeah,” Dash said quietly, reaching up to scratch her temple as Redheart took a look at the monitors. “I… actually feel not too bad right now, to be honest.” She lowered her hand to the bed as she continued. “Maybe the sleep did me some—ew, what is that?”

Redheart faced her patient with a start. “What’s the matter? Are you alright?”

Rainbow Dash was holding her hand up, grimacing. “My sheets are wet!”

“Wet?” the nurse repeated, looking down to pat the fabric next to Dash’s hip before rubbing her fingertips together. It was indeed wet, prompting her to find the source, which did not take long. “Oh sugar! Your IV came out,” Redheart said, turning quickly to shut off the drip. “Here, I’ll have to start you a new one.”

Fluttershy and I glanced nervously at each other as the nurse retrieved a fresh needle from the cart. Both of us were unsure of what to do, or what was about to happen—but if I was a betting man, I would’ve said giving the new and improved Rainbow Dash a needle was probably not going to work out so well.

Nurse Redheart returned before long with a needle ready, and instructed Rainbow Dash to lay her arm out straight. After swabbing the crook of Dash’s elbow, she unwrapped the new needle and steadied herself, looking for the old hole for a location reference; when she couldn’t find it, she shrugged and decided to start fresh, poking around with her fingertips in search of an artery. “Ok… little pinch,” Redheart said softly as she pushed forward. Dash’s skin dipped inward under the pressure and eventually rolled over itself, but the needle would not penetrate. Redheart pursed her lips and pushed firmly, but after bending slightly, the needle simply snapped off.

Fluttershy covered her mouth and looked at me with tiny pupils.

“Oh my, haha!” Redheart chuckled, and Dash glanced up at her, confused. “I can’t even remember the last time I saw that happen,” she continued as she looked for the broken piece. “Tough girl! Haha! You must be indestructible or something!”

The statement seemed to spark something in the rainbow-haired girl as she looked down to study her arm, and her face went blank quite suddenly. Slowly, her eyes rose and eventually met mine, narrowing when they found their target, her jaw clenching tightly as she gave me the nastiest glare I’d ever seen.

Oh shit... I thought, feeling the hair stand on the back of my neck.

She knew. Rainbow Dash had pieced it together.

“OK,” Redheart said in the meantime, oblivious to everything. “I’m pretty sure that was the last needle in this cart, unfortunately. You’ll have to excuse me for just a minute; I need to visit the supply room to get some more,” she explained as she departed swiftly, leaving Fluttershy and me alone with a fully aware and not too impressed-looking Rainbow Dash.

“What. Did you. DO!?” Dash barked, sitting upright.

I raised my hands in defense. “N-now Dashie, just relax; we did what we had to—“

“Please!” she cut in, angrily. “Please, tell me you did NOT do what I think you did.”

I shook my head quickly. “No, I…” Looking to Fluttershy for help, I found her already standing up, covering her mouth with both hands as she stared bug-eyed at her friend. “Flutters, little help?”

The shy girl took a step backward and shook her head. “Oh dear, sh-she looks upset.”

“Well aware, Flutters!” I replied, agitated by her lack of action. “You might wanna jump in anytime and tell her what happened!”

“WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU GUYS DO TO ME!?” Dash hollered, pounding the bed with her fist.

I spun around to face the rainbow-haired girl, hands raised. “Hang on, Dashie!” I barked, before turning back to Fluttershy. “Come on, Flutters!”

Instead of jumping in, the shy girl just stood there. Seeing her friend’s outburst had left her frozen with panic. “Oh dear, she’s really mad! I… um, I think... I-I gotta go.”

“FLUTTERS!” I whisper-yelled, staring in disbelief as she turned and scurried out of the room. “What the— ... Where the hell are you going!? Get back here, you little...”

She was long gone.

“FUCK!” I turned back to face Rainbow Dash with no idea what to do.

In the hall, not too far from the room, Fluttershy met Rarity, who was heading back with a tray of coffees.

“Ah, darling! I hope you don’t mind, I had to—“

“Um, I could sure go for that walk right now, Rare,” Fluttershy interrupted, walking quickly toward the fashionista, who stopped, looking understandably befuddled.

“Oh… well, alright, but… shouldn’t we at least bring Golds his coffee?”

“Nope, he’ll be fine. Lets go!”

“Fluttershy!” Rarity exclaimed as the shy girl grabbed her arm and spun her around, leading her away from Dash’s room. “Is something wrong?”

“Nope! All good. I just need a little walk, that’s all.”

“Oh… well, alright then,” Rarity replied, glancing suspiciously over her shoulder toward Dash’s room as they headed away.

In the meantime, Fluttershy’s panic and subsequent exit had left me to face a livid Rainbow Dash on my own. “Uh… OK. Dashie, I can explain…”

“I canNOT believe you…” she snarled, folding her arms. “You really can’t keep that fucking thing in your pants, can you?”

I raised my hands and shook my head. “Now wait a minute, Dashie, I didn’t do this to you.”

She looked at me sideways, sneering dubiously. “Oh? Then who did?”

“It was Flutters.”

Dash snorted and rolled her eyes. “Are you kidding me?” she chided. “So… what, like, Fluttershy has a dick now? Is that part of being immortal? Am I gonna grow a dick now too?”

I shook my head, grimacing. “What? No! You with a dick? Who’s ever heard of such a thing?”

Rainbow Dash scrunched her nose and tightened her lips. “I swear to god, Golds…”

“Look, Dashie…” I pleaded, “Flutters was hysterical. She didn’t wanna lose you—“

“I DIDN’T ASK FOR THIS!” she screeched.

“Quiet down!” I whispered loudly, waving her down with both hands. “Shit...” I glanced over my shoulder, wondering how many people could hear the commotion. Then I faced her again. “OK fine, you can be mad at me all you want, but right now, we seriously need to get the fuck out of here—like right now. If that nurse comes back and tries giving you another needle —or if they do any tests on you— they’re gonna figure out that you aren’t exactly normal—and that’s gonna lead to... very complicated things.”

“Ugh!” she groaned, throwing the blankets off and swinging her legs off the side of the bed. “You son of a bitch,” she grumbled, pulling the various tubes from her gown.

“Here,” I said, retrieving the plastic bag from the side table. “We brought some clean clothes for you; put ‘em on and let’s get the fuck outta here.”

Dash sat still for a moment, staring at me. “So… what, we’re gonna break out of the hospital? Right now?”

“Yes! Well… actually no, not ‘break out,’ per se…” I replied, yanking the curtains around the bed and then standing on the outside of them while Rainbow Dash removed the gown to get into her clothes.

“Well then, what are we doing?” she asked from inside the cloth barrier, the rustle of clothing underlining her words.

“We’re just gonna leave,” I explained, rubbing my forehead as I paced back and forth. “If you break out, they’re gonna look for you. They’ll probably even get the police involved. So what you’re gonna do is tell them you wanna leave, and they’ll get you to sign yourself out.” I stopped to look at the curtains as I continued. “Now, they’re gonna try to talk you out of it, because they have to, but it’s your right to leave if you want to. And it’s your right to refuse to let them touch you, which is good, because you definitely don’t want anyone figuring out your new… uh… situation.”

“Pfft!” she groaned. “It’s my right to decide who touches me; that’s fucking rich, coming from you.”

I let my head fall back, groaning. “Ugh! Come on, Dashie. I already told you, I didn’t—“

“What made you guys think it was OK to do this to me? Huh? No really, I’m genuinely curious because I’d like to know how you get into these sick fucking fetishes of yours.”

I let out a sigh, facing the curtain to watch her silhouette slip her shirt over her head. “It was either that or let you die.”

The curtain was noisily torn open just then, revealing a fully clothed Rainbow Dash standing with one hand outstretched to hold the drapes aside, glaring at me with those sharp, cerise daggers.

After a tense moment, she sighed and let her eyes drift downward. “Fine, whatever. Let’s just get outta here.”

*****

“You do realise what you’re doing, right? You are absolutely certain you want to do this, Miss Dash?” the resident asked, standing next to the nurse’s station.

Rainbow Dash stood with her arms folded, wearing her black tights with the multi-coloured lightning stripes zig-zagging down the sides. Up top, she was wearing a white T-shirt underneath a blue jacket, its sleeves lined with shiny, yellow strips.

“Yeah, I know,” Dash said, trying to sound lethargic. “I just… I don’t want my last days to be here; that would totally suck—no offense.”

The resident glanced at the nurse, raising a brow.

“Look,” Dash continued, “I feel a bit better today —obviously— so, I’d rather use this chance to go home; otherwise, travelling is gonna be a nightmare if I get worse again. Ya know?”

“I understand that, Miss Dash,” the resident replied, raising a hand. “But please understand, the last time we checked your hemoglobin, it was quite low—although we don’t know what it is now, since you refuse to let us check you— but if something were to happen, like if your pain were to get out of control, or if you started bleeding internally, you will not have access to immediate help like you would here.”

“Uh…” Dash did her best to look like she was having second thoughts about it. “Well, still… I understand that, but I’m willing to take the chance. I really just wanna be at home.”

The resident pondered for a moment and then sighed to herself. “Alright then,” she said, holding a hand out to the nurse, who passed her a sheet of paper. “If you’re absolutely sure you want to leave, you can, but you’ll have to sign this form, stating that you chose to leave against medical advice, and that you were informed of your condition, thus we cannot be held responsible for anything that happens outside of our care.”

“Alright,” Dash said tentatively as the paper was slid towards her with a pen set on top of it. She took a moment to read the form over, murmuring under her breath as she did. “Ugh… what a pain in the ass.”

The resident watched her for a moment, holding a finger to her chin. “You know,” she said, finally, “we’re not trying to make things difficult for you here; we’re just doing our jobs. Truth be told, many people in your situation end up being sent home anyway, so long as they are stable enough to travel—we just don’t want them to end up suffering too much during their final time at home with their families.” She raised a finger suddenly. “Speaking of which, I’m going to write you a script for something to control the pain,” —she pointed at me with her pen— “maybe your friend here can go have it filled for you; that’ll help keep you more comfortable at home.”

“OK. Thanks,” Dash replied absentmindedly as the resident filled the prescription out. After signing the form, she slid it across the counter again. The nurse took it, along with the pen, whispering ‘thank-you.’

The resident tore a sheet of paper from the pad and held it out to the rainbow-haired girl. “Here. This is a script for hydromorphone. The pharmacist will walk you through the dosage when they fill it for you.”

Dash took the prescription and gave a deliberately weak smile. “Uh… thanks.”

“And if you need anything, you can call this floor directly and ask for myself or one of the other residents. The number is on the script I just gave you. Don’t call the switchboard; they’ll just keep you on hold forever, and anyone you do talk to will just forward you to someone else. They’ll have you going around in circles all day long.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “OK. Uh… thanks... for all your help.”

“That’s what we’re here for,” the resident replied, holding her hand out with a well-meaning smile on her face. “Good luck, Miss Dash.”

With a nod, Rainbow Dash shook her hand and then turned away, heading down the hall in search of the elevator.

I gave the resident a final nod and then turned to follow. We headed to the right of the nurse’s station and found the elevator—which we had to wait for; after all, a hospital is a busy place during the day.

The wait was tense. And quiet.

When the doors finally opened, several people disembarked, and several more remained inside. Dash and I entered, along with a few others. There was no need to hit the button for the ground floor; it’d been pressed numerous times already.

The elevator ride was filled with the typical silence, despite the number of occupants. No one really seems to enjoy continuing a conversation in such close quarters with strangers, especially in a hospital where the subject matter can be somewhat personal at times—though the impression I got from Dash’s silence wasn’t one of shyness or embarrassment.

She was pissed.

Once we were finally on the ground floor, she quickly exited the elevator and headed through the front lobby. I had to run to catch up.

“So… uh,” I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to start a conversation—though I had no idea how I was going to smooth this over with her. “It all makes perfect sense now.”

She glanced over at me, eyes narrowed.

“I mean, like… your appetite these past few months,” I explained. “I don’t think I’ve seen you finish a meal since we brought Flutters home. Maybe now—since you can—I was thinking we could go someplace and eat? Maybe get some ice cream and we can talk about this?”

Dash shook her head, saying nothing. Instead, she quickened her pace.

Fuck… I rolled my eyes and matched pace with her.

Eventually, we exited the front doors and found ourselves outside, making our way down the wide, stone steps toward the drop-off lane.

“Listen, Dashie,” I said, trying to get her to slow down. “What you think happened in there isn’t what really happened, OK? I never laid a finger on you. I would never do that without your permission. I know how you felt about the whole thing, but… we didn’t want to lose you, so... we had to improvise a little.”

She continued on, crossing the laneway and heading alongside the parking garage, where there were far fewer people around to see us.

Using this opportunity, I reached for her arm to stop her. “Dashie, wait! Please—“

She must have expected it or saw it coming because she yanked her arm away just as my fingertips grazed her sleeve, and then she turned back to face me.

“FUCK OFF!”

ZOOM!

The response took me by surprise, as did her lightning-fast exit, which left a streak of bright colours behind. They were the only part of Rainbow Dash left in my presence, and even they faded quickly, leaving me standing alone, next to that dark, cement fortress.

“Dammit,” I whispered, placing my hands on my hips and looking down at the sidewalk.

Author's Note

Shout-out to FanOfMostEverything for his help on this chapter—like... over a year ago.

Thanks!

Chapter 117: Winter Blues

Chapter 117

It was January 25th, 2023. New Year’s had come and gone, as did three Saturday get-togethers—without Rainbow Dash present. The holidays were now a distant memory, and we’d since found ourselves knee-deep in the dead of winter; depressing darkness, cold wind, blowing snow and a never-ending string of fleeting days were all we knew.

Perhaps if Dash hadn’t hated me, it wouldn’t have been so bad. But she apparently did, and it made the already ugly season that much worse. Fluttershy was particularly distraught by it; she felt terrible about turning-tail and ducking out when Rainbow Dash woke. She slammed herself non-stop for ‘going soft,’ as she put it, referring to her incarceration and subsequent escape from the ‘Us’ base. ‘If she could handle that, she should be able to handle anything,’ she said, to which I had to point out several times that her dealings with ‘Us’ were completely different than dealing with the fear of losing —and bearing the unprecedented anger of— a lifelong friend.

Regardless of what I said, however, Fluttershy blamed herself for the way things ended up, despite the fact that I told her it was probably going to happen whether she’d stayed or not, and that all we could do now was wait and hope that Dash might come around.

Apparently, she would still talk to Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Twilight and Sunset, but they told us that anytime they brought up the immortality, she became either quiet or outright belligerent and would try to change the subject or simply leave. She even seemed to be avoiding Rarity as well, likely because of her association with Fluttershy and me.

Luckily, we are able to keep news of the incident from leaving the group. Since Sonata, Scootaloo and the two younger sisters, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, were having fast-food a block away that night, they never actually learned about Rainbow Dash’s cancer. Once Sunset and the others found out that Fluttershy and I had saved her, we unanimously decided to tell Sonata and the young girls that Dash was just sick with a bad flu, and simply needed a day or two to let it run its course.

They bought the story, fortunately, and the group’s immortality remained a secret—and now, the only girl left vulnerable was Pinkie Pie.

It was a Wednesday evening, and my spirits were at an all-time low. Added to the weather, having no job and the situation with Dash, I had been alone all week, since early Monday morning. Two weeks prior, someone by the name of Gloriosa Daisy had contacted the girls to ask a favour. Apparently, this woman owned a campground outside of town—as well as being the official gardener for the City of Canterlot, which meant she’d been shouldered with the responsibility of maintaining the massive flower garden at Canterlot City Hall, with the help of another young lady whose name I can't recall.

With the garden in the middle of its off-season, Gloriosa was in need of a few extra pairs of hands at the buildings at the camp—namely the mess hall, some of the cabins, and even the main auditorium, as she called it. Evidently, a facelift was sorely needed: paint, flooring, plumbing and windows, just to name a few items on the ‘to do’ list. The girls were more than happy to help —with the exception of Rainbow Dash— and they accepted her invitation to spend the entire week at the camp, having booked the time off from their jobs to help out with the renovations.

Since Miss Daisy didn’t know me, I was not invited. And although the girls insisted that I would have been more than welcome to come as a handy addition to their workforce, I decided not to go. I didn’t want Rainbow Dash to be uncomfortable by my being there—only to find out after the fact that she didn’t go.

No matter, I thought to myself, I need some alone-time anyway. These past few weeks have been a mental drain, and some time with my thoughts might do me some good.

Boy, was I wrong. Only the third night in, I felt more alone than ever.

I missed Fluttershy and Rarity —and Sunset, in all honesty— so much so that I found myself thinking about driving out to the camp just to see them again. I missed their voices, their softness and their warmth, their colourful, delicious-smelling hair; I missed chatting and giggling with them, I missed looking into their big, beautiful eyes, kissing their soft lips, and running my mouth over every inch of them, enjoying the taste of their smooth skin.

They made sure to text regularly, but letters on a screen were no substitute for their presence, and really, it only made me miss them even more. My relationship with this group of women had gotten to the point where I began to worry that I had become clingy; certainly I’d never had an attachment like this with anyone for many centuries, but then again, this was also the first time I wasn’t going to have to deal with watching them age and eventually vanish from the perpetual timeline that was my life.

Interspersed with all of that was the problem of Rainbow Dash, who, as far as I knew, legitimately believed that I’d had my way with her while she was stuck in a hospital bed, doped up on drugs and dying of cancer. She wanted nothing to do with me ever again.

How were we ever going to get through to her?

A movie was playing on the TV, trying, but failing miserably to keep my mind off of the girls while I sat alone in the middle of Fluttershy’s couch. Link had filled her place on the chaise lounge as always, keeping it warm for her. In all honesty, I disliked laying on the lounge by myself. I really didn’t find it all that comfortable; it was worn out and had sunk badly. The only reason I ever sat there was to be close to Fluttershy—and Rarity, too, if she happened to be there. Lying there on my own, especially tonight, only made me feel more alone.

Some company might have been nice, but I was careful not to consciously wish for it because you never know who you might end up with.

It was already too late, apparently; the universe must have heard my thoughts and decided it was going to be a dick about it.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

I turned partway to listen, slouched down too far in my seat to see over the back of the couch. This was one of those semi-interesting moments in life where I wondered if I would find myself ripping someone’s head off within the next few moments.

I heard the door open next. “Hello?” a familiar voice called.

Link immediately leapt from his spot, straight over the back of the couch to meet the newcomer.

I closed my eyes and huffed quietly. Oh god...

It was Sonata.

“Are you here, Gold Boy? I saw your truck outside.”

“Yeah, I’m here,” I answered, totally devoid of enthusiasm. Not too early to rule out any head-ripping…

Her footsteps clunked along the wooden floor, accompanied by the soft padding of the lynx’s feet alongside her. Seconds later, she appeared at the far end of the couch with her hands clasped behind her, wearing that long, black coat of hers.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” I replied, giving her a quick glance as Link sat next to her.

“Whatcha doin?”

I pointed at the TV. “Movie. Watching.”

“Oh… cool. Uh, is it OK if I hang out here?”

“Here? ... I dunno.” I looked over at her again. “How’d you get here, anyway?”

“I borrowed P’s car. She said I could use it while she was gone.”

“Do you have a driver’s license?”

Sonata shook her head.

“Does Pinks know that?”

This time, Sonata nodded.

After watching her for a few seconds, I exhaled and turned my attention back to the movie. “Fair enough.”

Despite my evasiveness, she smiled awkwardly and shrugged. “Um, you know… it’s kind of boring at P’s house without her there.”

“What about her sisters?”

Sonata shrugged. “I have been hanging out with Marble all week; she’s cool, and really nice, but… she had to work tonight, and I didn’t really wanna hang out with Maud or Limestone, so… I just thought I’d come over here and see what you’re up to.”

I was about to ask why she wouldn’t want to spend time with Maud or that other bitch, but then I stopped myself, figuring the answer was obvious. So I just nodded, keeping my eyes glued to the TV.

“Sooo…” Sonata continued, her eyes darting around.

“So… what?” I asked, glancing over at her.

“You never answered me.”

I shrugged and shook my head.

“Is it cool if I hang with you tonight? I’m kinda lonely.”

My eyes slowly drifted down from her to the couch, and then back to the TV. “I guess.”

She paused for a moment, unconfident in the tone of my answer; more than likely she was put off by my lack of energy. “Are you sure? Cuz if you want me to leave, I will. I don’t wanna bug you if you… you know… don’t like me, or whatever.”

I brought my attention back to Sonata, watching her eyes gleam in the dark, reflecting the light of the TV. Then I sighed and shook my head, facing forward. “I don’t not like you, I just…” I paused, momentarily distracted by the movie. Finally, I looked up at her again. “Uh… fine. Sit down, make yourself at home.”

The siren brought her hands together and giggled when I patted the cushion next to me.

“Wanna watch with me?” I asked.

“Just one sec,” she replied, raising an index finger as she headed back to the table, unbuttoning her coat to slip it off. I’m kinda hungry; you mind if I grab a snack?”

I waved over my shoulder. “Help yourself. We don’t have tacos though.”

“Shit!”

A smirk materialized on my face.

“What do you have then?”

“Uh… chips, cookies, ice cream… that kinda shit.”

“Ooh! Ice cream? Where?”

I rolled my eyes. “Gee, I dunno. In the freezer, maybe?”

“Oh… right.”

I shook my head and continued watching. Behind me, I could hear the siren moving around; the clatter of bowls when she pulled one from the cupboard, followed by a dull clunk when she set it on the table. The jingling of silverware followed, then the peeling of a plastic lid, a laborious grunt as she dug out a scoop, and eventually, the opening and closing of the freezer.

Quietness followed for a short time—aside from a bit of soft rustling, making me wonder what she was doing, but not enough to make me want to ask or look. I took a deep breath and reached up to rub my forehead just as an unexpected sight passed in front of me, making me do a double-take. It was difficult to see at first with her being silhouetted in front of the TV, but even so, it didn’t take me long to realise that Sonata was pants-less.

Carrying a heaping bowl of ice cream, she had crossed the room to the far side to fetch a blanket from the basket that sat near the foot of the lounge. She bent down to pick out a thick, red comforter, showing off a pair of violet cotton panties, lined with horizontal yellow stripes—and to make matters worse, she had a half-wedgie, leaving one of her round, blue butt-cheeks completely exposed.

I let my hand drop to the cushion with a soft thump. “Where the fuck are your pants?”

Sonata stood and looked back at me. Up top, she was wearing a light gray T-shirt with darker gray sleeves and a rather short hem that showed off her midriff. It hung away from her body in the front, held outwards by a modest rack that was led by a pair of semi-stiff nipples. She flung the blanket over her shoulder and then reached back to hook a finger inside her underwear, pulling it free of her crack. “Over there,” she replied, pointing to the table as she made her way back to the couch and sat to my immediate left, spreading the blanket over herself.

“Uh... why?” I asked, watching her set the bowl on her lap.

She shrugged. “I dunno. I just don’t really like pants; I’d rather hang out in my undies. It’s waaaay more comfy, if you ask me.”

“O… K.”

“Yeah…” she mumbled as Link hopped onto the cushion beside her to lie down. She gave his head a little pat, and then took the first scoop of ice cream before speaking with her mouth full. “Me and P do this all the time.”

This caught my interest, and so I raised a brow and turned her way. “Oh?”

“Yeah. I mean...” —she swallowed— “not right away, but she warmed up to the idea before long.” Sonata looked at me quite seriously after digging the spoon in for another bite. “You’d be surprised how self-conscious that girl is about her body.”

“Who, Pinks?”

The siren nodded, putting the spoon in her mouth.

“Hm.” I looked at the TV again. “That is surprising. She never really struck me as the self-conscious type. You know she masturbated in front of me once?”

Sonata’s eyebrows went up in surprise. “For realzies!?”

“Yup,” I replied. “She is definitely not the shy type. Granted, she was fully clothed at the time.”

“Like… she really isn’t that bad, compared to most peeps —I mean, everyone gets nervous about taking their clothes off in front of people, right?— but for P, with the personality she has, it’s actually pretty bad.”

“What’s her problem?” I asked, folding my arms. “She think she’s a bit on the chubby side or what?”

Sonata nodded and swept some hair behind her ear to keep it away from her cheek. “Yeah, I think it is, which is crazy; I’ve told her a bunch of times she looks fine. Like... sure, she’s a little chunky, but she’s got it in all the right places, you know? I think she looks good!”

I nodded in agreement. “Yeah. Pinks is bomb, for sure.”

Sonata took another bite. Then she put her finger across her upper lip as she chewed, giggling mischievously. “You know what? This one time, we were watching movies, and... on kind of a dare — hehehe— we actually hung out in just our panties! Hahaha! For a whole night!”

I turned to face her, eyebrows raised. “What, like… topless?”

Giggling, she closed her eyes and nodded; she may have been blushing a bit as well, but the room was lit too dimly to tell.

“So… wait, you’ve seen Pinks’ tits?” I asked, trying not to sound too interested. Admittedly, I was feeling quite envious of Sonata right then.

“Oh yeah. Tons of times now, but that was the first time.” She shook her head and poked at the ice cream with her spoon. “It took a lot of convincing at first, you know… to get her to do it. I don’t know why; like… she’s obviously not shy, and she looked totally hot, so… I dunno.”

“Yeah… that is kinda weird,” I replied, trying to ignore the little tingle I was feeling in my nuts. “I mean, I’ve seen her at the beach in a bikini before. That was a while ago though; I think she’s actually put on a few extra pounds even since then—not enough to look bad, but still…”

The siren was quiet, twirling the spoon in the bowl for a few moments before speaking again. “I kinda think she was just self-conscious to do it around me, maybe cuz I’m a lot skinnier than she is... or something like that.”

“Or maybe because you tried to take over the world and you two used to be enemies,” I suggested, jabbing her with my elbow and then smirking. “But still, she did it, so… good for her, I guess.”

Sonata took another bite and spoke with her mouth full. “Oh yeah, she got right into it once she finally did it. I think because she took the plunge and then I told her she looked awesome, she felt… like, I dunno, liberated. You know?” She swallowed and let a giggle slip out. “You shoulda saw her: the only thing she was wearing was a little tiny thong. Hehehe! You could barely see the frickin thing!”

The image this conjured up in my mind caused a slight swelling below the belt. I shifted in my seat, clearing my throat as I tried to control it. “Huh,” I muttered, trying to think of a way to ask for more information without looking too obvious about it. “So… are her tits, like… nice, or what?”

“Uhh…” Sonata tilted her head, licking the sweetness from her lips. “Yeah, not bad.”

I wanted… no, I needed to hear more than just: ‘yeah, not bad.’ Rubbing my chin to look as nonchalant as possible, I drew a breath to ask further, desperate to achieve the most accurate mental snapshot I could. “Not bad as in how? Are they… I dunno… saggy, or anything like that? They got those blue veins on them? Does she have those big ‘sunny-side-up’ nips?”

Sonata looked at me, her brows creased suspiciously, which caused me to look away rather quickly. “No... not really,” she finally answered. “None of that. They’re not droopy at all for how big they are. They kinda remind me of balloons, actually; like, kinda weightless. And yeah, her nips are pretty nice. Don’t tell her this, but I’m kinda jealous of her; for realz, I wish I had boobs like hers.”

“Hm.” Satisfied, I nodded and then brought my eyes back to the TV, thinking she was done. She raised a finger, however, drawing my attention back to her.

“Actually, she does have some little stretch-marks on them, around the bottoms, but it’s not really that noticeable.”

“Oh… yeah. She’s got those on her hips, too. Comes with the territory, I guess.”

Sonata agreed in silence, and then continued to enjoy her ice cream while I watched the movie. Once the final bite was gone, the siren dropped the spoon into the bowl with an obnoxious clang and then set it in front of Link so he could lick it clean.

“You wanna see them, don’t you?”

I raised a brow and turned partly towards her, but kept my eyes on the TV, looking like I wasn’t really paying attention to her. “Huh?”

“P’s boobs. You wanna see them.”

I could feel the blood drain from my cheeks, knowing I’d been correctly called out for being... well, me. I turned to face her, trying to think of a good response. “Well, I... not... well…“

Sonata snorted and giggled at me, folding her arms. “I’ve seen you looking at them. We all have.”

All!? I bit the inside of my cheek, staring at the TV to avoid eye contact with Sonata. “Even Pinks?”

Sonata yawned deeply, smacking her lips afterward. “She’s never said it, but yeah. I’m pretty sure she’s noticed.”

I let my head fall back against the cushion, sighing. “Well, shit.”

“Meh.” The siren waved me off. “Tons of guys check her boobs out. I wouldn’t worry about it. She’s probably pretty used to it.”

Sonata was quiet for a few minutes, then, out of nowhere, she turned to me, raising a brow. “You’re kind of a horn-dog, aren’t you?”

My head whipped to the left to face her. “Where in the world would you get an idea like— ... yeah, I kinda am, actually.”

The siren laughed and covered her mouth.

“To be honest, I really miss Rare and Flutters,” I confessed, turning back to the movie. “I’m so used to having them around, I’m finding it a lot harder to be alone these days.”

“Aww… that’s kinda sweet.” She smiled, but then reached up to rub her eyes. “Plus you really like boning them, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I do like banging hot women, now that you mention it,” I said curtly, rolling my eyes. “And by the way, it doesn’t really help matters that you’re sitting here with no pants on; just sayin.”

“Oh…” she looked over at me, blinking heavily. “I didn’t really think about that; I’m sorry. I can put them back on if you want.”

I waved her off. “Nah, it’s fine. I can’t really see anything with that blanket on you anyway. Although... that shirt doesn’t exactly leave much to the imagination—and I can still see it.”

Sonata looked down at herself. Realising those pointy breasts of hers were quite visible through that thin fabric, she hooked her hands under the blanket and pulled it up to her shoulders. Then she looked at me again, smiling innocently. “How’s this?”

I gave her a thumbs-up.

“And it’s nice and cozy, too!”

“Well there you go.”

We sat quietly for a few moments. I struggled to stay into the movie; Sonata scratched Link behind his ear. After another long, howling yawn, she asked me what movie I was watching.

“Uh… ‘Interstellar.’” I replied, staring forward. “One of Pinks’ picks, actually. It’s pretty good. They gotta go to space to find a new home because the Earth is dying or something... which is a pretty cool premise, I guess.”

“Huh…” Sonata settled back into the cushions, her eyelids starting to look quite heavy. “How far in is it?”

“About a quarter of the way, maybe. The dad’s about to leave to go into space and he’s trying to say goodbye to his daughter, but she’s pissed that he’s leaving.”

“Oh…”

Silence followed as Sonata and I watched the scene for a few moments.

As the main character drove away from the old farmhouse in his old, blue truck, Sonata leaned over to me, brows furrowed.

“Hang on... is he going into space in his truck?”

“Heh!” I let out a chuckle and turned to face her, but then my face went blank when I saw a vacant stare being returned to me. “Oh... you’re serious.”

Sonata shrugged. “I dunno. That’s what it looks like to me.”

I glanced at the TV and then back at her, brows furrowed. Then I closed my eyes and shook my head. “So let me get this straight: you actually think Matthew McConaughey is just gonna take off from a dirt road in a rusty old pickup truck and fly into space? Don’t you think he’d at least roll the windows up?”

The siren scrunched her face, blinking at the TV. “But... who’s doing the countdown? Isn’t that what they do when someone’s about take off into space?”

I gestured to the screen with my hand. “They’re overlapping the audio from the next scene! Who else would be doing the countdown? The old fuckin man on the porch?”

Just as I said this, the image of a rocket lifting off appeared on the screen.

I looked over at Sonata. “There! See?”

Sonata tipped her head back, mouth open. “Ooooohhh... I get it.” Then she looked at me again and started to laugh at herself.

I shook my head and rubbed my temple. “God damn, Sonata. You gotta have some ginseng or something; eat more brain food.”

“Ew.”

“THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU EAT ACTUAL BRAI—forget it.” I faced the TV once again, sighing.

When I looked over at the siren again, she was giggling and snorting to herself over the whole thing. In all honesty, it was cute in its own annoying way, and it made me chuckle along with her. The two of us sat there on Fluttershy’s couch in the dark, sharing a fun little laugh together—granted, it was at her expense, but still.

Before long, her laughter transitioned into a deep yawn, and she covered her mouth, eyes shut tightly. “Ohhhh... boy! It’s gettin sleepy in here.” She stared blankly for a moment. “Hm.”

“What?” I asked.

“P… she’s crazy.” Sonata reached for the ceiling and stretched. The blanket slipped down again, uncovering her shirt, beneath which her breasts had perked up noticeably when she raised her arms. She went limp afterwards, letting her hands flop down to her lap. “She’s like a Hollywood encyclopedia. I swear, you can ask her about any movie, and she can tell you all there is to know about it.”

“Yeah, she definitely knows her shit.”

Silence fell between us again, and we sat together in the dark: two ancient beings, wasting our time watching a ten-year-old science-fiction film. I turned to Sonata, ready to say something cynical about it, but found her asleep instead. Sighing, I glanced past her at Link, who was curled up against her hip with his chin resting on her thigh.

Letting my head fall back, I finished the movie on my own. By the time it was over, Sonata had rolled onto her side and curled up against me, her face pressed against my arm. Her mouth hung open and she was snoring softly, drooling warm saliva onto my sleeve. Once I realised this was happening, I stood from the couch and lowered her to the cushion, slipping a pillow under her head. Her smooth, blue legs were sprawled alluringly across the couch, and I found myself quickly covering them with the blanket when I felt that telltale tingle in my nethers, hoping to remove the temptation of getting between them.

Missing the touch of a woman for the past three days had already taken its toll on my libido. While having two stunningly beautiful girlfriends —one of which was a nymphomaniac— was a wonderful thing, it had clearly spoiled me. Times like these, when they were gone for several days in a row, had become difficult to endure.

And now here I was, alone with Sonata, who was quite lovely herself, honestly, in that ditzy, goofy sort of way. The idea of burying my manhood in her and having a good release certainly wasn’t the least attractive prospect right at that moment, but I knew damn well that was out of the question; I’d be in the doghouse with Rarity in a big way, for who-knows how long. Not only that, we couldn’t be sure if Sonata was completely free of Equestrian magic, and if she ended up turning, I’d have some serious explaining to do.

All that aside, while I was initially annoyed that Sonata had shown up that night, in the end, I was actually glad for it; she was much better company than I’d expected—once she got comfortable, that is. I had been noticing this with her: she tended to act dumber when she was nervous, but once she settled, she would sharpen up a little bit.

After standing over her for a moment or two, watching Link curl up against her belly as she slept, I made the decision to head for town in search of something to do. As much as I didn’t mind the company, she was out cold now, and not very interesting anymore. I found myself yearning for something to do, and, given my poor luck with blue chicks as of late, I decided it best to get out of the house and find something to occupy my time.

Once my boots and coat were on, I left Sonata a note, telling her where I was going. Then I exited the house and jumped in my truck.

*****

It was close to midnight by the time I rattled into the urban maze known as Canterlot.

I drove around aimlessly for almost half an hour, wondering what to do with myself. Not much was open with it being a weeknight, so options were limited, aside from bars, which I was not a fan of—unless, of course, they had just the right thing to offer my particular brand of hang-ups.

Luckily, the roads were half-decent, even though the air was quite frigid. It hadn’t snowed for a few days, so the city plows had done their job of clearing the streets, making it a fairly easy drive. I drove by several late-night steakhouses and sushi joints, thinking about going in for a bite, but ultimately deciding against it. I was not dressed properly, nor was I in the mood for snooty waiters. Ultimately, I ended up in a cheap fast food drive-through followed by an empty parking lot, where I ate whatever this establishment considered to be food, listening to the perpetual rattle of the old diesel as it chattered on like a bunch of cast-iron teenagers.

What to do, what to do, I wondered as I swallowed the last bite. Going to Rarity’s place had crossed my mind; I couldn’t go in without breaking and entering, obviously, but I could have hopped the fence and had a soak in her hot tub.

Eventually, I decided against that. For one, I had nothing to change into and no towels to dry off with, and second, being there would probably just make me miss her and Fluttershy.

My next idea wasn’t much better: to go and see if, by chance, Rainbow Dash was home. Maybe, if she was there, and if she was willing to talk with me, we could work things out. Wouldn’t that be a nice surprise for Fluttershy when she got home?

So, after driving across town to Dash’s apartment, I parked the truck and stepped into the front entrance, scanning the tenant list for her name. I found it, and then buzzed her suite.

No answer.

I waited a few minutes and then buzzed again.

Still no answer.

Shit.

With a defeated sigh, I walked through the biting wind back to my truck. Inside the cab, I stared at the rainbow-haired girl’s building while I rubbed my hands together, wondering what I should do next. Sunset’s apartment was only a short distance from there, but with her not home, there wasn’t much point of going—

I stopped suddenly, remembering something about the red-head’s apartment: the balcony door didn’t lock.

I wonder if they ever fixed that?

I decided to go find out, and I started the engine to make the short drive to Sunset’s building. After parking in her assigned spot —her motorcycle was in my shop while she was away— I approached the building quietly, scanning the eleven balconies below hers for any occupants. They were all deserted, unsurprisingly, given the weather and the time of night, so, keeping quiet, I approached the wall and stood to the side of the second floor balcony. Looking up, I gauged its height at about fourteen feet to the railing—an easy reach for me.

After rubbing my hands together to warm them for a better grip, I squatted slightly and faced the wall, taking a few pursed-lip breaths to psyche myself up. Then, after a short charge, I leapt and kicked off of the wall, spinning around in mid-air to reach up and grab the second-floor railing, my feet planted on the bottom ledge. I looked up to the third floor next, squatting down so I was hanging below the rail by my hands before flinging myself up to the third floor.

After catching the rail, I stopped to look down into the yard to see if anyone was watching.

As expected, it was dark and deserted, so I continued my ascent. A leap to the fourth floor, then the fifth and so on, eventually brought me to Sunset’s balcony on the twelfth floor. I swung my legs over the rail and rubbed my hands together as I approached the sliding door, hoping the lock was still inoperative—otherwise, I had just wasted my time climbing all the way up here.

The door slid open with ease—not that I couldn’t have just broken it anyway, which I wouldn’t have done, obviously.

Inside, it looked like a typical young person’s apartment. It was reasonably clean, and it smelled quite pleasant—there was even a hint of that root beer-scented perfume that she wore, which immediately caused a pang of longing deep in my gut. Being there had already caused me to miss her, making me question why I decided to come.

But I was already there, so I slid the door shut and sat on the couch. A tablet was sitting on the far cushion. I picked it up and turned it on, but there was a password required, which I didn’t know, so I set it down. I glanced at her TV for a moment, but then I quickly shook my head.

I shoulda stayed home if I’m just gonna end up watching TV again. I reached over my shoulder to rub my back, looking around the place. What the fuck am I even doing here?

I stood from the couch and headed for the kitchen. Stopping halfway, I shook my head yet again, remembering I’d just had a rather unfulfilling snack; another one wasn’t going to do me any better.

I turned back again, completely lost. In doing so, I came face-to-face with her bedroom doorway. I knew I shouldn’t go into her personal space with her not present, but then again, I really shouldn’t have been in her apartment at all. Ultimately, I went against my better judgement and, after putting my hands in my pockets, stepped cautiously into her room, looking around the place while I tried to ignore that annoying buzz of guilt that rang up the back of my neck.

It gave me chills to be there. Would Sunset care if she knew I was here? How would she feel about this?

How did she feel about me?

I sat on the edge of the bed. Then I laid on my side and buried my face in her pillow, inhaling deeply through my nose.

Disappointingly, it didn’t smell like her.

I sat up again, quickly. Oh, yeah… she doesn’t sleep. This bed is basically just for decoration. And fucking.

I shook my head at myself, staring at the adjacent nightstand. It had a drawer on the front, its cheap-looking fake gold handle tempting me to reach out and give it a pull to see what was inside.

I took a deep breath and chewed my lip, wondering what secrets she might be hiding. Personal hygiene products? Sex toys? Maybe I could get a whiff of her puss—

I gave my head a vigorous shake. Probably a bad idea, Golds. You’re already on edge here; getting a whiff of that will probably lead to bad things. While the concept of masturbating on Sunset’s bed without her there did seem mildly intriguing, I knew that after all was said and done, I’d be right back where I started: lonely and miserable.

No, busting nuts all over myself was not the answer.

I brought my attention back to the side desk drawer. It was calling to me, tempting me—no, begging me to open it. I knew I shouldn’t, but I’d already come this far, so I figured: why stop now?

Hey, when in Rome… Again...

Like tearing off a band-aid, I reached down and pulled the drawer open, eager to learn of its exciting contents. But I was met with disappointment.

There was only one thing inside: a large, brown leather book, decorated by that same red and yellow tribal sun on the front. I plucked the book from the drawer and set it on my lap, running my fingertips over the fiery emblem.

“Hm.”

Wondering what was inside, I opened it up to find page after page of what appeared to be written letters. After scanning a few entries, however, I discovered something rather peculiar: there were two distinctly different hand writing styles in these pages.

One was obviously Sunset’s, and after reading a few of the other person’s passages, it was easy to deduct that it was Twilight. Not our Twilight, to be clear; the Twilight from the other world, as evidenced by Sunset constantly referring to her as ‘princess.’

“Hmm…” I mumbled aloud. How did her writing get in here? No way she was coming here just to write in this book; what would be the point? Plus, the princess hasn’t been here for ages—as far as I know, anyway.

Although the last entry was four years old, I distinctly remembered Fluttershy telling me that the portal had been closed for eight years, going on nine in a few more months.

If that was the case, how was it possible for the princess’ writing to be in here?

I lifted the book and laid back on the bed to hold it above my face as I read. As I did, however, a few sheets of paper slipped out from between the pages and landed on my chest. After glancing down at them, I set the book beside me and picked the items up to inspect them.

The first one was a letter.

'Sunset,

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Thank you for your encouragement, for your faith in me, and for your advice—which I am SO glad I took, because I GOT THE POSITION! I, Shining Armor, am now the newest Crown Counsel for the province of British Columbia! I can't believe it! I am glad I reached out to you, Sunset, to offer you this job. You are a brilliant person, a great, dedicated worker, and a wonderful friend.

From both Cadance and I, from the bottom of our hearts, we thank you, and we look forward to many prosperous years of working and growing together.

Yours truly,

Shining Armor'

“Hm.” I turned the paper around to see if there was anything on the back. It was blank, so I set the letter down and brought my attention to the second article, which was a photograph. On the back was written:

’ Nightmare Ni Halloween 2019’

And on the front:

“Well that’s super unhelpful,” I muttered aloud. After setting the photo aside, I brought my attention to the third and final piece, which also caught my attention, but in a slightly different way.

It was an even older photograph of the three ladies I’d been thinking of all night, the same ones I’d been missing so badly since Monday morning.

It was stunning to see them so young. I don’t recall exactly how long I stared at the picture for; for all I know, it could have been an hour. This was by far the best image I’d ever seen of them in their youth, and quite simply, I couldn’t peel my eyes from it.

Seeing the three of them together like this was heart-achingly sweet. Fluttershy looked so tiny and innocent, so much so that I actually felt guilty for some of the things I’d done to her behind closed doors. Rarity looked young and beautiful, unsurprisingly, but I was quickly reminded of what Applejack had told me: as a teenager, she wasn’t nearly as stunning as she was in the present. Indeed, after a closer look, it was obvious that she was trying to look prettier than she really was, but was having nowhere near the success that she was having as an adult. And Sunset looked like Sunset, only younger. Looking at her in the picture, it was hard not to feel like she was looking right at me with those big, sparkling eyes, and that beautiful, wide smile had the power to make anyone, even me, weak in the knees.

As I stared at the three of them for what felt like ages, my thoughts began to wander to the other girls: what were they like? What did the work-hardened and rough-around-the-edges Applejack look like? Was Pinkie Pie always that chubby? What did Rainbow D-

The thought of the rainbow-haired girl’s name quickly reminded me of the current situation between me and her. My heart sank when I was drawn away from this window into a brighter past, and so, with a sigh, I set the picture down and picked the book up to read some more. I hadn’t read a single word, however, when I paused and frowned at the ceiling for a second before grabbing the picture once again to take a second look at something.

What the— … what is up with that dog?

After studying the photo for a second time with no answers, I set it aside once more and held the book up to read more of its passages.

I was still perplexed by how the Princess had been writing in this book. I racked my brain over it again and again, trying to figure out how this was accomplished. Then I remembered something: the night of the sleepover, after Fluttershy told everyone about her enhanced pony-up, I had overheard Sunset mention ‘writing’ the Princess to tell her about it. How would she do that? Was she talking about this book? Did she ever get around to doing it? I flipped to the last entry again, only to be reminded that the last thing written was dated four years ago. Oh, yeah.

I closed the book and sat up, rubbing my chin as I pondered the portal. One day in particular that came to mind was the Wednesday I was looking after Fluttershy, after she’d bumped her head the previous weekend—the same day I had the encounter with her and Rarity in the hot tub. She had taken me to see the school that afternoon to show me the statue where the portal resided, and she had mentioned Sunset not going home, opting to stay here in this world instead, though she would occasionally ‘send messages’ to the princess to, as she put it, ‘stay in touch.’

It struck me suddenly. I looked down at the book again, frowning. Wait a minute… is this how she does it? Does she write in this book, and somehow, through some kind of magic, the Princess gets the messages and writes her back?

My eyes rose slowly, staring into space as I contemplated this possibility. Was this really how it worked? Why not? Weirder things have happened. I have a girlfriend that talks to animals, after all.

There was only one way to find out.

I left the bed and made my way to the dining room table in search of a pen. I found one and sat, opening the book to the first blank page.

Then I paused, holding the pen just above the waiting paper. Should I be doing this? How pissed will Sunny be when she finds out? Can I afford having two of the girls mad at me?

I began to think about the entries I’d read so far; most of them were just back and forths, updates and ‘how are yous?’ but I also remembered seeing a number of entries in which Sunset asked for advice about her friends, even referring to Twilight as the ‘Princess of Friendship’ a number of times.

Then it hit me:

Rainbow Dash.

I cocked a brow and took a pause, wondering if the idea forming in my head was really worth a shot.

Of course it was.

And so, without hesitation, I put pen to paper and began to write, mimicking Sunset’s greetings from the previous entries.

’Dear Princess Twilight,

I need your help.’

*Chapter 119: There is No Sex in The Champagne Room (Usually)

Chapter 119

“Come on, it’s for a couple friends of mine. It’ll be fun,” I insisted.

Trixie stood opposite me with her hands on her hips, which were shifted to the side, one leg bearing most of her weight. I had flagged her down after she finished her act and moved on to circling the club, looking for clientele to sell a more ‘close up and personal’ experience to.

The club’s floor thumped with the bass of yet another insufferable dance song, giving the stage’s current occupant a beat to move to as she slipped out of another article of clothing, bathed in the white intensity of the spot light. Everywhere else was flooded in black-lighting, giving Trixie’s white hair and skimpy, light silver top and bottom a luminous glow while the rest of her was shrouded in darkness. This gave the appearance that I was talking to a floating wig and bikini—to which I was about to offer a generous sum of cash for an evening of personalized entertainment.

“Did Mr. Magnet talk to you?” I asked, stepping back to let someone pass between us. Steven Magnet, being the owner of the club, was of course her boss—who apparently hadn’t been above personally serving drinks to Starlight and the princess on my behalf.

“He did,” she replied, her hips swinging the other way when she shifted her weight to the other leg.

“And what did he say?”

“He said that the Lavish and Sultry Trixie can, in the champagne room, take things as far as she wants—with you, that is. And only you.” She raised a finger suddenly, pointing at my face with a painted fingernail that glowed like a radioactive pebble. “But know this: such services from the one-and-only Trixie are not cheap; and she does not provide top notch entertainment to just anyone, even if they are long-time acquaintances with Mr. Magnet! One must also be in Trixie’s good favour if they expect those services. Now, if you’ll excuse m—”

I nodded and looked downward, prompting her to wait while I produced and thumbed through a thick wad of cash, squinting to see it in the dark as I counted out a good-sized amount. She folded her arms, making her cleavage bulge upward as she watched impatiently.

This made me count a little faster.

“OK,” I announced, holding a fanned-out sum of cash to her. “I’ll give you five-hundred just for talking to me right now, and five-hundred more if you give my friends a private show.”

I could see the glowing whites of her eyes when they widened at the sight of the money. She quickly snatched it from my hand and leafed through it to confirm the amount. After a short pause, she faced me again, her expression smoothly shifting to one of artificial lust.

“Well… lucky for you,” she said with a flirtatious smirk, “Trixie just happens to be having a slow night, so… perhaps she could make your dreams come true—just this once.”

I rolled my eyes. As much as I disliked third-person speakers, Trixie could be forgiven, considering how fantastic she looked, not to mention what she claimed to promise. “It’s not my dreams you’re gonna fulfill,” I pointed out. “I’ve got a couple ladyfriends from out of town here, and I wanna make sure they go home with an experience they’ll never forget.”

She paused. “Ladies, you say?”

“You OK with that?”

She grinned mischievously while stuffing the rolled-up cash between that curvy hip and the glowing waistband of her thong. “Of course! While Trixie does love watching a grown man squirm and ultimately go home with messy shorts, at the end of the day, female customers are among her very favourite.”

“Perfect! Lead the way,” I said, gesturing to the far side of the room, where there was a short hallway lined with openings filled with curtains, hiding whatever sinful acts that may or may not have been going on behind them. I followed the hip-swinging stripper, watching that floating, luminescent bikini bounce its way between the tables, her glowing hair swaying side-to-side as it hovered along.

Halfway through the hall, Trixie turned and faced me. “Which room?”

I pointed to a curtain on the right, just past where she stood. “There.”

“Ah.” She began to turn away to continue, but her eyes clung to me for a moment before she turned back suddenly, squinting under the dim lights in the low ceiling. “Wait… you look familiar to Trixie; have you been here before?”

I hung back, looking at her sideways. “Uh… I used to come here. Sometimes. To watch you dance.”

She raised a brow.

“But I’ve never actually talked to you before,” I continued quickly. “This is the first time I’ve approached you for a private dance.”

“Why’d you stop coming?” she asked. “Was Trixie not titillating enough for you?”

I shook my head quickly. “No! No, it’s not that. I uh… actually really hate bars. But Mr. Magnet is an old friend of mine, and I liked watching you dance… er, I mean…” I rubbed the back of my head, drawing a breath. “I, uh… I was kinda lonely back then, so I was willing to put up with the bar scene just to see some… well, you know. But then I met someone, so…”

She folded her arms and tapped her chin, eyes narrowed. “Hmmm…”

“What?”

After a short stare, Trixie shrugged and spun around to approach the curtain. “Nothing. Trixie was about to say something next-level brilliant… but instead, to show her appreciation for your return after losing your little ‘someone,’ she’s going to put on a show that you and your ladyfriends will remember forever.”

I raised a hand to correct her. “I didn’t lose her, I’m just—“

Trixie had already turned to approach the room and was no longer listening, so I just rolled my eyes and followed along.

*****

Inside the tiny room, Princess Twilight and Starlight Glimmer sat together on a padded bench that lined the right-hand wall. Across from them was another bench, empty, and surrounding that were black walls decorated appropriately with glow-in-the-dark stars and moons. The ceiling was lined with coloured LED lights, alternating in pink and light-blue, giving the room a quiet-looking ambiance—though it was hardly quiet. Equipped with a speaker in the ceiling, the space was pumped full of the same song that was playing in the main room, albeit at a slightly more modest volume.

Twilight sighed, and after yet another scan of the seemingly oscillating room, she turned to Starlight. “Hey. Do you… feel kind of strange?”

Starlight’s eyes moved from the coloured lights above to her friend, her eyelids drooping slightly. “Feel? No. Well… yeah, actually. But… I kinda like it, to be honest.”

“Mm,” Twilight mumbled as she looked around again. “Same here. It feels... rather interesting.” Her eyes returned to Starlight. “Those were definitely not normal drinks that Steven Magnet brought us, but… I, um…”

“You feel adventurous,” Starlight finished for her, and Twilight nodded to agree. “I feel like I have a ton of energy, and, like…” she took a deep breath and looked down at herself. “I don’t know. I feel like I want to explore this world more… and this body.”

Twilight, only half-listening as she stared at a particularly interesting-looking moon on the opposite wall, rolled her lips together in contemplation. “Mm-hm… I know what you mean. Also, I’m kind of wondering why Golden Arrow put us in this room. What do you think he has planned?”

Starlight shook her head slowly. “I don’t know, but I’m sure it’s gonna be a—”

She was interrupted when a blue hand tore the curtain aside, and the scantily-clad Trixie sauntered into the room. “The Sexy and Sultry Tr-r-r-rixie hopes you ladies are ready for a mind-blowing experience; one that can only be—“

Twilight sat up straight and gripped the edge of the bench. “GAH! Trixie!?”

The dancer stopped mid-sentence and gasped; her jaw nearly hit the floor, eyes wide as can be. “Twilight Sparkle!?” she exclaimed in a sour tone. “What are you doing here?”

“Er… uh,” Twilight rubbed her arm, trying to think of the fastest way to explain herself, but the alcohol in her blood had her mind circling in a vacant loop. “Hi?” She said, followed by a nervous, toothy grin.

Trixie reminded silent, leaning closer with narrowed eyes. “Are you wearing contacts?” she asked, cocking her head.

The princess, still gripping the bench, looked over at Starlight, and then back at Trixie. “Wwww... what type of contacts? Electrical?”

“Elec—!” The stripper crinkled her face at the response. Then she leaned even closer, studying the lavender girl. “Wait a minute... why do you look so young?”

Twilight squirmed, pressing her back against the wall to add some distance between her and Trixie. “Young? Uh...”

Trixie glanced over her shoulder at me as I slipped past her to enter the room, suddenly remembering that I had mentioned that these friends of mine were from ‘out of town.’

“Wait a minute,” she said, slowly returning her eyes to the lavender girl. “You’re not our dweeby Twilight…” Pointing a finger, Trixie gasped dramatically. “You’re the princess!”

“Uhh… heh. That’s me,” Twilight said weakly, forcing a nervous chuckle as she played with the hair next to her ear.

Unsure of what to say, Trixie looked at me, frowning. “How do you know her? Trixie demands to know!”

I raised my hands in defence. “Whoa. I just met them tonight.”

She put her hands on those bare, blue hips and leaned closer. “They’re from a different dimension; you don’t just ‘run into someone’ who’s even not from this world!”

I gave her a sideways look. “How do you know about that?”

Trixie stood straight again. “The Brilliant and Well-informed Trixie knows everything about Princess Twilight Sparkle! Trixie went to CHS. She was there when Sunset Shimmer tried to take over, and when Princess Twilight here came to our ‘rescue.’” She said this with a smugness that made it sound like she, in particular, didn’t need rescuing. “And again, with the battle of the bands—which Trixie should have won! It was all a sham! You Rain-butts should never have gotten picked over me!”

Twilight shook her head, scowling with disagreement. “That wasn’t our fault and you know it! The sirens were the ones controlling everything; they made it so the Rainbooms went on to the finals so that—“

“OK-OK!” I cut in, waving my hands at them. “This isn’t why we’re here.” I turned to face Trixie. “Look, I met the princess through a friend, OK? And I invited her here to have a good time—which is why I just handed you that huge wad of cash, remember?”

Trixie paused, rolled her jaw, and then raised a dubious brow at me as she folded her arms below her breasts. “Fine.” Her eyes settled on the princess once more, but then they ventured into new territory: the good-looking pink-skinned girl who sat farther down the bench. “Hmm… and who’s you’re little friend, princess? Trixie does not believe she’s seen her before.”

“Oh,” Twilight glanced at Starlight and then gestured to her, facing Trixie again. “This is Starlight Glimmer. She’s… from Equestria, like me, and actually… funny story,” —she chuckled nervously— “she’s actually best friends with the Trixie from that world.”

Trixie’s brows went up. She made eye contact with Starlight, grinning smartly. “Is that so?” she gloated. “Well, at least someone from there has good taste.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and looked away.

After stepping past Twilight, which allowed me to take a seat next to her, Trixie bent at the waist and positioned her face close to Starlight’s, a sly smirk plastered across her lips. “Hm. Trixie certainly hopes she can live up to her own greatness. What do you think?”

Leaning back, Starlight gulped. Her eyes inadvertently dropped below Trixie’s chin, where that pair of marvellous, azure bulbs teetered on the brink of dumping out of that silver top. “I… th-think so?”

“Hm.” Trixie stood suddenly and spun on her heel, giving the pink-skinned girl a full view of her backside, which was essentially bare, other than a thin silver strip that stretched across her hips, from the centre of which ran and a thin, vertical strip that disappeared between those plump cheeks. “Well then, showmaster,” she said to me, “how would you like the Great and Powerful Trixie to start?”

I gave a quick wave toward the girls. “However you want. You’re the professional here; show them a good time.” I was about to face Twilight, but then I brought my eyes back to the stripper, finger raised. “How about this: you’ve already been promised a thousand bucks, right?”

Trixie faced me, listening.

“If you give us a good show, I’ll bonus you another five-hundred.”

Trixie placed her hands on her hips. “Consider it done! Make no mistake: Trixie WILL be walking out of here with every one of those fifteen hundred bucks—which can only mean good things for the three of you.”

With that, she faced Starlight, and although it looked as though she was going to approach her first, she unexpectedly side-stepped in front of Twilight and came forward to place her knees on the bench on both sides of the princess, straddling her lap.

Twilight gasped and threw her hands above her head to avoid touching the stripper’s skin, that ample cleavage now hovering barely an inch from Twilight’s face. “Oh my gosh! Trixie!”

“Shhh… now-now, princess,” Trixie said with a syrupy voice. “It’s all part of the show. Just sit back and relax; let Trixie work her magic.”

“This is not magic! This is not magic!” Twilight protested. Her hand reached to the side and clawed at my shoulder, grabbing at my sleeve as Trixie’s hips spiralled and gyrated above her lap.

That curvy, blue figure slithered and slunk, grinding the inner sides of her thighs against Twilight’s, which caused her skirt to ride up, allowing Trixie to share the heat of her womanhood through that thin strip of fabric by rubbing it firmly along those toned, lavender thighs. Her breasts brushed the princess’ cheeks and nose more than once, prompting her to pull back and turn to the side, eyes shut tightly.

“You need to loosen up, princess,” the dancer teased. “Maybe Trixie should move on for now; she’ll come back once you’ve had some time to warm up.”

Without warning, Trixie rolled off of Twilight’s lap and landed on mine, facing the opposite direction. She drove that round, blue derrière straight into my lap, a move that was quick to rouse the attention of the already half-erect member hiding inside my pants. Leaning on my knees with her palms, she slid up and down my lap, her right cheek grinding directly against my length through my clothes and causing a surge of sensation that made my eyelids flutter with delight.

She continued to grind her backside against me as she leaned back, letting her soft, white hair brush against my face. Her perfume smelled wonderful; clean, like nature, but with a fruity undertone that was difficult to identify. As I was wondering what it could be, Trixie centered herself on my lap and pressed backwards, which caused my bulge to jab firmly between her cheeks and into the warm softness between—quite intentionally, it seemed.

“Mmmm…” she moaned, biting her lip as she looked over at Twilight. “You see? This handsome young fella is having a good time. Trixie can feel it.” She threw her head back and cranked her hips to stroke herself against me; rest assured, if we hadn’t been separated by clothing, this movement would undoubtedly have driven me deep inside her.

I drew a breath, trying to ignore the throbbing down below as I gathered my thoughts to speak. “You’re, uh… doing a bang-up job here,” I said, prompting her to turn her head and smirk at me. “But… this was supposed to be for them.” I gestured to the other two girls, who were both frozen in place, staring in shock.

Trixie’s eyes locked onto Starlight. “Hmmm… Alright. Maybe it’s time to pay Trixie’s ‘best friend’ a little visit then.” She glanced back at me again and, with a jiggle of her hips, sparked a sensation that made my breath hitch sharply. “Unless you’d rather have Trixie suck you off while they watch?”

Wow. She was bound and determined to earn that bonus.

The offer sent a wave of goosebumps up the back of my neck, and the mental image of those lovely, azure lips wrapped around my knob made my fists clench like vices. But this wasn’t about me, and it took every ounce of will-power I had to stay on course. “That is a riDICulously tempting offer —believe me— but this show is supposed to be for my guests… if you don’t mind.”

Trixie could tell I was torn, as was evident by the devilish giggle followed by the little wink she gave me. “Suit yourself then, Mr. Tentpole,” she said with a shrug as she left my lap, which suddenly felt rather chilly in the absence of that warm derrière. She approached Starlight and stood with her weight on one leg, running her index finger through the pink girl’s bangs to move them aside so she could have a better look at her. “Trixie’s afraid she is bad with names; what did you say yours is again?” she asked as she moved her fingertips to Starlight’s chin, forcing her to look up to make eye contact.

“S-Starlight Glimmer,” she gulped.

“Hm.” With a smirk, Trixie bent at the waist and put her face very close to Starlight’s. “And you’re best friends with the Trixie from your world?”

Starlight nodded. “Yes, for many...” —she cleared her throat— “um, for quite a few years now.”

That vivid, blue figure slowly lowered itself onto the other girl’s lap; her knees came to rest on the bench, and her backside settled onto Starlight’s tense thighs. “I see.” She gave a slow, sly nod. “So, has that Trixie ever told you how good-looking you are?”

Face-to-face with the other girl, Starlight’s jaw hung open, her search for words a hopeless one. “Uhhh…”

“What’s the matter?” Trixie giggled, placing her hands on Starlight’s shoulders. “Cat got your tongue?”

“I…” Starlight closed her eyes. “This is so weird.”

Trixie raised a brow. “What’s weird? That your ‘best friend’ is sitting on your lap, telling you how good you look?”

“No. Well, yes. You actually are my best friend, only... not. I don’t even know how to explain how this feels.”

Trixie ran the back of a finger down Starlight’s cheek, causing her to smirk reflexively. “Well, make no mistake: after tonight, you will never, EVER forget this Trixie.”

The dancer stood suddenly and spun around, running her fingers through those silvery-white locks. She swung her hips from one side to the other, mesmerising Starlight with those round, azure cheeks before she shifted her stance, standing with her feet far apart and bending forward at the waist, giving the pink-skinned girl a view of everything, covered only by a narrow strip of silver fabric. All three of us stared like dummies; even in the dim light, we could clearly make out the bulge of her soft labia beneath the garment, separated by the indent of her slit, leaving very little to the imagination.

She stood slowly, sliding her hands up her thighs and then along her waist until they reached her breasts. She cupped and kneaded them, rolling their soft, heavy-looking mass between her fingers. Trixie had a spectacular rack, especially given her small-ish stature; her breasts were roughly the size of Sunset’s, which, on her shorter and curvier frame, looked quite massive.

Then, unexpectedly, Trixie backed up and drove her ass into Starlight’s lap. The purple-haired girl gasped in shock, her face red as a beet. She threw her hands into the air, unsure of what else to do with them as that backside ground against her with a rhythm synched with the thumping of the music.

A giggling Trixie swung her hair around, her movements fluid and seductive. Looking back, she noticed the raised and idle hands of her client, and she reached back to grasp Starlight’s wrists and placed those warm, pink hands on her hips as she swung them in a circle, making Starlight’s arms follow the movements.

Amused by the pink girl’s reaction, I nudged Twilight, who took a few seconds to peel her eyes away from the scene. She turned to me, mouth open.

“What do you think?” I asked.

“I… I don’t…” She paused. Then her eyes travelled downwards, and she lowered her head to look at herself. “Um… something’s happening.”

This was a weird thing to say, so I cocked a brow in response. “What do you mean?”

She placed a closed hand on her lap and pressed it against her abdomen. “Down there. But… this shouldn’t be happening. It’s not the right time; the season is all wrong.”

What did she mean by this? Perhaps some kind of heat cycle they have in their other bodies? Whatever the case, she was a human right then, and here on Earth, all of that stuff goes out the window.

I shook my head. “We humans don’t really have ‘seasons’ quite like that,” I explained. “Here in this world? The night time… is the right time.”

“Wait... you mean…?”

I nodded. “Whenever you want.”

“Wow.” The princess took a deep breath and bit her lip. “This is crazy… no, fascinating, actually; I can’t believe how quickly these bodies react to this type of stimuli.”

Meanwhile, next to the princess, Starlight had a tight grip on Trixie’s hips, feeling that hot skin against her hands—which, in and of itself, was a strange sensation compared to having hooves. Her breath elevated as she watched that azure figure wiggle and squirm before her, brushing against her, stunning her, thrilling her. Her mind buzzed, partly from the alcohol, and partly from the euphoria brought on by having this alien body pressed against hers; her skin tingled with each movement, causing an enticing heat down below, which surprised her, much like it did the princess.

Her eyelids fluttered, her breaths long and deep. She didn’t know how to react or what to say; all she could do was watch this version of her best friend press its beautiful self against her, sharing its enticing heat. She thought about her friend back home: what she was like, how she behaved, what her interests were, what she did for a living—and without thinking, the slight intoxication she felt volunteered a question that she normally would not have asked right then.

“Why... are you doing this?”

Trixie stopped suddenly. She turned to look over her shoulder at Starlight. “What did you say?”

Starlight gulped, realising she might have framed the question in a way that she probably shouldn’t have. Like most people with alcohol in their system, she tried to dig herself out, but only wound up going deeper. “Uh… it’s just… our Trixie does magic; she does a show, with tricks and… stunts…”

She trailed off when she saw the look she was getting.

Trixie stood suddenly and spun around, folding her arms. “You think Trixie can’t do magic? I can do magic! Probably just as good, if not better than YOUR Trixie!”

Starlight shook her head and raised her hands. “No, I… that’s not what I—“

“You think that because I do this, because I had to take this job just to make ends meet, that I… I-I mean, Trixie… isn’t the best magician this world has ever seen? Just because she’s still doing this… … three… years… later.”

She trailed off, wondering if her venting just then had gone too far. Then she stepped back and folded her arms, scowling crossly at the purple-haired girl.

Unsure of what to do, Starlight took a moment to stare at the stripper, chewing her lip. After blinking rapidly a bunch of times, she lowered her eyes to the floor. “I, uh... I’m sorry. I don’t know why I said that. I didn't mean for it to sound bad.”

“Then how was it supposed to sound? Hm!?” Trixie asked, leaning in with a sideways look. “It sounded an awful lot like you think this is beneath Trixie. Not like the Trixie from your world! Oh, she’s SOOOOO great, isn’t she? She would never do anything like this, right?”

After staring open-mouthed for a moment, Starlight shook her head. “No,” she said softly.

The look on Trixie’s face suggested she was rather stunned by the admission.

“She would never do this,” Starlight continued, “but that’s what makes it so exciting.”

The princess and I exchanged glances, and Trixie simply replied with a cocked brow, waiting curiously to see where the purple-haired girl was going with this.

“That, what you were doing just now,” Starlight explained, “I’ve never seen my Trixie do that, and she’s never made me feel like that, either.” She sighed and looked down at the floor. Then she faced the stripper again, cocking her head. “This whole thing: being in a strange place, living in a strange body, seeing people I know in strange bodies; it’s a lot to take in all at once. It’s like a weird dream, a vivid fantasy. You... you’re Trixie. You look like my Trixie, except you don’t. You act a lot like my Trixie, but you aren’t her. The things you were doing just now, the way you were touching me...”

Starlight exhaled and shook her head. “It was exciting. My heart was racing. I felt dizzy, like I was floating. This place, this room... it’s like a secret space where I can explore curiosities I never thought I could, where I can learn the answers to all the ‘what ifs’ I’ve ever thought about asking, without it affecting anyone in my ‘real world.’ I didn’t ask you that because I was looking down on you; it was more like... ‘how did we get here?’ How did I end up with you here, in this body, doing these things?’”

Trixie was rubbing her chin, brows furrowed thoughtfully. Then she moved her hand to the side, rubbing her fingertips in the air as she watched Starlight. “You... liked what Trixie was doing?”

Starlight nodded quickly. “I liked it a LOT. I felt like you were awakening something inside me, inside this body, like you were about to take me on a tour of it—which I would very much like you to finish. I never wanted you to stop.”

“You don't think Trixie... is worthless?”

Starlight scowled and shook her head. “What? No. Why would you think that?”

Trixie looked down at the floor, her hands fidgeting. “Sometimes... lately, Trixie feels that way.”

“No,” Starlight repeated. “You’re not worthless. You have value, even if you don't do magic. I’ve said this to my Trixie many times: it doesn't matter what you do, whether its magic, or playing music, or even something like this. It’s not any one of those things that make you great; its you. You are an entertainer. You’re a natural at capturing the imagination of your audience, no matter what you're doing.”

To this, the dancer smirked and looked down at the floor, arms folded.

I brought my hands together loudly, leaning forward. “OK, good talk! Now can we, uh, get back to the show now, maybe?”

Ignoring me, Trixie faced Starlight again. “If you think Trixie has worth, then prove it to her.”

“How?” Starlight asked.

“Two thousand. Or Trixie walks.”

Enraged, I bit my lip, threw my head back and clenched my fists when I heard this. “FFFFFFFFFFF!”

Seeing the reaction, Trixie shrugged and headed for the exit, pointing her nose up as she went. “Fine then. Trixie will entertain someone else instead.”

“Wait!” I barked, reaching out to stop her. That whole exchange between Trixie and Starlight might have been a beautiful thing if it hadn't been for the fact that it’d become a total grift. Admittedly, however, I had to admire Trixie’s confidence and quick thinking; even though I could see exactly what she was doing, I was also a sad and lonely man that week, and I was reluctantly willing to fork out the dough to see her naked body up close, to interact directly with her. After a short pause and then a huff, I reached for my wallet, much to Trixie’s delight. “Way to go, Starbright,” I grumbled quietly, with a glance toward the purple-haired girl.

Starlight cringed. “Sorry,” she whispered. Then she faced Trixie again. “And I'm sorry for what I said to you. I didn't mean to spoil the moment.”

There was a short pause as Trixie finished counting the wad of cash she’d been handed, then she shifted her eyes onto Starlight. “Hm? Sorry, Trixie was a little distracted. You were saying?”

“I was apologizing for the thing,” Starlight replied flatly, quickly coming to the realisation that her gaffe had been shamelessly capitalized on.

“Ah, yes.” After a pause and a deep breath, Trixie slipped the cash into her top and quietly approached the purple-haired girl. She looked down upon her, solemnly, and then placed a hand on top of her head while Twilight and I watched anxiously.

“Trixie… forgives you,” she said quietly, closing her eyes.

It was weird. And expensive.

Starlight cleared her throat and nodded, lips pursed. “Um... thank you.”

“Hm…” Smirking, Trixie removed her hand from Starlight’s head to retreat a step. “And you’re right,” she declared, “Trixie is much more than just a magician, or a musician… or an exotic dancer…” She raised a hand into the air, looking up at it. “She is an entertainer! She is the great and powerful, the talented and in-tune, the desirable and nubile Tr-r-r-r-r-rixie! She is not some cheap, ‘one-trick’ pony!”

“Watch it,” Starlight warned.

A small cringe flashed across Trixie’s face. “Sorry,” she said quietly, before returning to a grandiose volume. “Nevertheless, Trixie is simply the most spectacular, astonishing, and mesmerising entertainer this world has ever seen!” She turned and pointed at me next. “You! You came here to spend your hard-earned dollars to see the best show that money can buy, did you not? So who am I to keep you from it?”

“You can’t,” I replied, but Trixie wasn’t paying attention.

Instead, she lunged toward Starlight, catching her by surprise by grabbing her shoulders and pushing her back to pin her against the wall, which elicited a gasp from the pink-skinned girl.

“Mark my words,” Trixie hissed, face-to-face with Starlight. “You wanted to see what your new body can do? You wanted Trixie to take you on a tour of it?” She smirked provocatively and nodded once. “Well… Trixie hopes you’re ready, cuz she is gonna take you on the most unforgettable fucking tour you’ve ever had.”

And with that, Trixie released the other girl and backed up a step, plucking the folded-up wad of cash from her waistband to add it to her top. Then, without warning, she spun around, hooked her thumbs under the straps on her hips, and bent forward. Those silver bottoms slid down her legs to the floor, leaving that bare, blue backside in full view, spread apart less than two feet in front of Starlight’s face.

Embarrassed, she turned away to face Twilight. “OOOOOO-K then… so that’s what that looks like,” she chortled nervously, closing her eyes. It was too late, however; she’d already gotten an eyeful, and that image of Trixie’s hindquarters was already burned into her brain like a Polaroid snapshot: her round derrière, her smooth thighs with those plump, azure lips peeking out from between, along with that darker blue asterisk just above, staring her down from the valley between those full, round cheeks.

I bit my lip and gave the princess a nudge. “Now we’re gettin somewhere,” I said, although I was quite certain she didn’t hear a word I said.

She was too busy watching Trixie, who had stood upright and was turning around to face us. When she did, both Twilight and I automatically locked eyes with her womanhood: a small cleft created by those smooth, azure lips, pinched between her thighs and decorated nicely by a small tuft of silvery-white hair that lived just above.

More details of her anatomy were soon presented when she raised one knee to set her foot on the bench next to Starlight. This position opened her slit ever-so slightly, allowing a pair of pink, fleshy petals to peek out at us.

“Look,” Trixie said confidently, reaching down to use two fingers to part herself, spreading that delicate, pink lotus wide open. She was, of course, speaking to Starlight, but when she moved her eyes onto the pink-skinned girl, she was disappointed to see her still looking away, eyes closed.

With a quick sigh, Trixie reached out with her free hand to place her fingertips on Starlight’s chin, turning her back to face her. “Look at Trixie’s pussy,” she commanded.

After a slight hesitation, Starlight first squeezed her eyelids tightly to prepare herself, then she opened them slowly.

Trixie smiled wickedly when she saw the other girl’s eyes lock onto her nethers. “See? That’s not so bad. What do you think?”

Starlight stared for another moment and then licked her lips, trying to think of how to respond. “Umm… that’s uh… a lot of flaps. Is it supposed to be like that?”

The white-haired girl let out a giggle. “What makes you think yours is any different?”

“Uh…” Starlight was at a loss for words. Admittedly, this was something she hadn’t yet checked.

“Here,” Trixie said as she released her crease and took Starlight’s hand in both of hers. She folded all but two of those slender, pink digits down, leaving only the index and middle fingers extended. Then she brought them up and slowly, tantalizingly, wrapped her lips around them.

Starlight’s eyes widened when she saw her fingers disappear inside Trixie’s mouth. This was truly an alien feeling to her; in her own body, she had hooves—which were hard and had no feeling. These human appendages, on the other hand, were soft and extremely sensitive, letting her feel every detail of the inside of that mouth as it slurped and sucked on them: the warmth, the moisture, the soft texture, the suction—she could feel that wiggling tongue licking her fingertips as Trixie slowly drew them from her mouth.

Her lips made a tiny squip sound when Starlight’s fingers exited, covered in a thin layer of saliva.

Trixie raised a brow. “So, you like magic tricks, do you? Well…” She pressed the back of Starlight’s hand to her midsection, just below her breasts, and slid it downwards. “Has Trixie got one for you,” she continued as she moved the other girl’s hand down, past her navel and over that little patch of coarse, white pubic hair. “Watch in amazement, as Trixie makes these fingers… disappear!”

Starlight’s breath locked in place as she watched, dumbfounded, when Trixie placed her extended —and moistened— fingertips against those thick, moist lips and then slipped them in between. From there, the sensitive appendages of Starlight’s sank deep into Trixie, whose hot depths squeezed gently with a texture that was indescribable, soaking her with a slick coating of moisture.

The pink-skinned girl sat up straight and gripped the edge of the seat with her free hand, her body stiff as a board. “Hoooooh! Wow,” she gasped. “That is… very, very warm.”

“Nice, isn’t it?” Trixie giggled. “SO much better than being out in that nasty cold weather, Trixie bets.”

On the far side of Twilight, I covered my mouth and tittered incredulously. I can’t believe she just did that, I thought to myself as I looked down at my lap, making sure the tent I was pitching wasn’t horrendously obvious.

As I was doing this, Twilight snapped around to face me, her hair whipping my cheek before settling on her shoulders. “What is she doing? Is this normal? Is this some sort of custom here?” she asked, brows furrowed with concern.

I looked up at her and paused. “Uh, in here? Yes. At Arby’s? Not so much.”

In the meantime, Starlight watched with a thumping heart as Trixie guided her hand downward, withdrawing her fingers partway before slowly pushing them back inside. They both exhaled through pursed lips; Trixie, because of the pleasure she felt as those soft little fingers stroked her; and Starlight, because she simply couldn’t fathom the idea of feeling the inside of someone with an appendage that she didn’t even have until a few hours ago.

Again, craving another wave of sensation, Trixie drew those pink fingers free and then stuffed them back into her steadily moistening interior. “Oooh,” she cooed, closing her eyes. “Just like that.” Her breath hitched. “Mmmm… if Trixie lets go, do you think you can you keep going?”

A shaky exhale preceded an answer. “U-u-u-uh… maybe. I think?”

“Let’s see,” said Trixie, and she looked down as she slowly released Starlight’s hand.

For a moment, Starlight was motionless. Her mind was still short-circuiting from the sensation of her fingers being gripped by that soft, wet heat, and she looked up to lock eyes with the alternate of her best friend, who was grinning salaciously, brow cocked.

“Don’t stop,” Trixie reminded, causing Starlight to blink more than once.

She drew a deep breath and focused, studying the soft, pink petals wrapped around her fingers. After gently clamping her bottom lip with her teeth, she held her breath and pulled downwards, watching her fingers glisten as they slid free of those folds, then, after a moment to gather herself, she pressed upwards to watch them disappear back into the confines of that warm, moist tunnel. Then she did it a second time, slightly faster.

With a soft gasp, Trixie tipped her head back and drew her lips into her mouth to bite down on them. “Mmmmmm… mm-mm-mm. That’s nice,” she said encouragingly, placing one hand on her knee while raising the other to twirl her fingers in a circle. “Don’t be afraid to try different things; why don’t you give Trixie a stir?”

Starlight gave the white-haired girl a daring glance, and then, surprisingly, she smirked just a little. After bringing her attention back to that enveloping warmth, she sat forward slightly for leverage and then moved her fingers in a spiral—slowly at first, and then gaining speed as her dexterity fine-tuned itself to the task.

Evidently, this pleased Trixie. Her eyes were closed, her breathing was uneven and her body jerked, causing her breasts to bob inside that white top. “Ooooh yes,” she gasped, opening her eyes and leaning closer, putting her hand in front of Starlight’s face. “Now go like this,” she instructed, waving her fingers towards herself in a coaxing manner.

Starlight complied. She curled her fingers towards her palm and stroked the front wall of Trixie’s interior, the heel of her hand inadvertently pressing against that soft, pink hood, putting pressure on the buzzing clit beneath.

Trixie responded with a yelp, her voice crackling slightly as she fought to keep her balance on a wobbly leg, which had nearly sent her to the floor. “Wow,” she panted, licking her lips as she removed her foot from the bench and replaced it with her knee, bringing herself down to Starlight’s level. “Oooh-wee! Trixie LIKES you,” she smirked as she leaned closer, placing her fingertips on Starlight’s cheek to hold her in place while she brought their lips together.

Princess Twilight and I observed from the side, unblinking, watching intently as the two girls shared their first kiss. It was tender at first; blue lips met pink ones for a few gentle pecks, gauging one another’s softness and warmth, but it wasn’t long before Trixie’s hunger for a taste took hold, and she opened her mouth to poke Starlight’s lips with her tongue.

Without a thought, Starlight followed Trixie’s lead, and she opened her mouth to probe back. Despite finding this an odd custom, Starlight was excited by it, and her heart began to race as their tongues quickly became entangled, mixing their saliva into a smooth cocktail of lust and faint traces of alcohol.

I could see it all happening through the little opening where the corners of their mouth hadn’t quite met; their tongues wrestled each other for dominance, sliding, swirling, licking, all the while their breathing intensifying as Trixie’s hand moved down to cup one of Starlight’s breasts through her clothes. She kneaded the soft mound firmly, blowing air from her nostrils against the other girl’s face as mind-numbing waves of pleasure shot through her, brought on by the swirling, stroking fingers inside her.

In the midst of it all, I peeled my eyes from the spectacle to look at the princess. All I could see was the back of her head, that long, navy hair with the single strip of pink hanging perfectly straight and still, making me wonder what she was thinking.

Starlight and Trixie continued; small moans and gasps emitted from their throats each time the kiss was broken, pink fingers squipping in and out of those soaked folds. Eyes closed, Starlight nuzzled her face into the crook of Trixie’s neck, nipping on her soft, blue skin after she’d thrown her head back and reached behind herself to unclip the last remaining garment.

Before anyone knew it, Trixie’s top fell away, revealing those bulbous, blue tits of hers. They dropped free from her chest, swaying heavily as she reached for the pink girl again, a fluttering of loose dollar bills raining down between them. Cupping Starlight’s cheeks, Trixie guided the other girl’s face between her breasts, giggling when she felt soft lips tickle her breastbone.

After a moment of this, the dancer used her hands to adjust the other girl’s position so her face was lined up with her nipple and then pulled her forward, burying it in Starlight’s mouth.

The princess and I watched on as the purple-haired girl’s lips closed around that throbbing, blue bud. Starlight let instinct take control, and she sucked and flicked it with her tongue, her fingers still stirring up a concoction of sensation and pressure deep inside Trixie’s loins. She switched to the other breast before long, causing the white-haired girl to toss her head back with delight.

This left the first nipple visible to me and the princess. Soaked in Starlight’s saliva, it glistened under the coloured lights; the areola was a shade darker than the rest of her, and it was large in diameter, though not unsightly so: perfectly circular, with that rock-hard hub standing tall and proud from the center, kept erect by the cooling effect of the moisture that coated it.

Trixie herself was also quite busy. By then, she had placed both knees on the cushion, surrounding the other girl with her thighs while trembling with ecstasy as slender, pink fingers continued to coax pleasure from her. She groped at Starlight’s breast while Starlight sucked and nibbled on her own; eventually, she found a hard nipple under the fabric and gave it a pinch before cupping the entire thing, gauging its modest weight and warm softness against her palm.

This did not keep Trixie occupied for long, however, and her hand ventured onward. Fingers pointed south, she ran her palm down Starlight’s midsection until she poked her nails under the waistband of those stylishly torn pants, and then she paused to gauge the reaction. Starlight hardly seemed to notice; her mouth and tongue continued to tease that breast: flicking, sucking, nibbling. Her hips spoke for her, though, by tilting forward ever so slightly—a silent invitation for Trixie to continue.

So she did.

Her fingers wiggled under the first waistband, then they met the second, which belonged to of a pair of lacy panties. This did little to slow her ingress, and she smiled when she noticed Starlight’s knees subconsciously drift apart—quite telling of what she really desired. Her fingertips raked over the pink girl’s mound, through a mass of coarse hair before her middle finger plunged into a hot, slippery valley that hid between a pair of soft lips.

Immediately, Starlight responded with a sharp gasp. Her mouth opened wide and she threw her head back, a string of saliva the only remaining connection between her bottom lip and Trixie’s nipple. Her chest heaved, her moans ragged; her frame stiffened, thighs quivering uncontrollably when Trixie’s fingertip hooked its way beneath her hood and found her clit. She tapped at it —gently at first— but then she pressed the hyper-sensitive button firmly, following with a series of rapid spirals that sent Starlight reeling into a wondrous realm of flashing stars and random colours.

“OHH! Holy sweet CelesitaaaAAAHH!” Her cry elevated as did the pleasure, her eyelids fluttering as she reached blindly, searching for the other girl with her free hand to hold onto.

“Ooh, you like that, don’t you?” Trixie teased, leaning close to flick the tip of Starlight’s nose with her tongue.

“It’s… f-f-fantastic!” Starlight gasped, hardly able to concentrate on stroking the other girl’s nethers.

“Aren’t these bodies great?”

Starlight nodded quickly. “It’s so… s-so sensitive! I can barely han—MMM!”

Rather than let her finish, Trixie dove in for another kiss, sending her tongue between those soft, pink lips for another taste of Starlight’s mouth. Down below, blue fingers stimulated quivering, pink flesh; they stroked that sensitive little bud, sending shockwaves throughout that foreign body—foreign to us, as well as its owner, whose appreciation of it grew exponentially by the second.

When Trixie’s fingers slipped inside, Starlight was truly in heaven. She howled with delight, a squeal that was muffled by the dancer’s mouth.

I watched the pair squirm as if their fingers controlled one another like puppets, and I noticed Twilight —whose back was still facing me— moving. I leaned closer to speak into her ear.

“You OK?”

She turned suddenly. Her face was much different than it was a few minutes ago; her eyes were wide and intense, her pupils dilated. Her lips were parted slightly, warm air moving between them in synch with her breathing. Her brow was marked with desperation.

Seeing this, my eyes were drawn to her lap, where she was pressing her fist into her mound, grinding it in the same way one would put out a cigarette.

“I can’t believe this,” the princess whimpered, placing her free hand on her brow. “These bodies; the way they react is so… intense. It’s so warm down there, and… I just wanna touch it. It’s like an uncontrollable urge. I can’t help it. Is this normal?”

Admittedly, I was no expert in the field of how beings who cross over from a different dimension and end up with a different body experience sexual pleasure. “I’m not sure,” I replied. “It might just be that it’s normal for us, and you’re just not used to it; but who’s to say that you two aren’t a little… different, because of your situation and where you’re from.”

She leaned forward and pressed her thighs together, biting her lip as she pressed her fist into her lap. “Nnnnngh,” she groaned. “It’s so… grrr! I feel like... i-if I could touch myself down there, like that” —she tipped her head toward the other two girls— “it would feel really good. Amazing, even. It’s just…” She held both hands up to appraise them. “I don’t know what to do with these.” Then she looked down at her lap. “Or that.” She shook her head and met my eyes with hers. “Do you think you could, I dunno… help me?”

When she said this, it triggered a prickling sensation that went up the back of my neck and into my scalp. Every nerve ending fired with simultaneous excitement and terror.

I threw my hands up. “Whoa! Princess, that’s against the rules—I think.”

Desperate, she reached up to grab at my hands, pulling them downward. “No-no-no; it isn’t, I swear! Please help me.”

Is… the princess seriously asking me to finger her? I closed my eyes and gave my head a quick shake to dismiss the thought. No. That’s crazy, I told myself as my eyes settled on the empty bench opposite us, staring blindly as my thoughts droned on. But… I mean, she’s horny—and in a weird body, to boot. She just told me this; she said she wanted to touch herself, but can’t, so then she asked me for help. What else could it mean, you dumbass?

I took a deep breath, not noticing the clumsy grip on my wrist as I remained busy pondering the proposal. OK, say she wants it. That’s great, but… is this a good idea? What will Sunny think if she finds out about this? Or Rare and Flutters? They won’t be jealous, per se, but would they condone doing this to a friend —a FOREIGN friend— and to the princess, at that? I rolled my eyes at myself. Ugh. This is dumb, Golds. You brought her here. You got her horny. All she wants is to get off, so just DO IT! I mean, obviously you’re not gonna fuck her. No WAY are we going there; we can’t risk giving her my power and then send her back home with it. Who knows what kind of shit that might cause! That’d be like introducing an animal from a foreign land into an eco system that can’t handle i—

I stopped suddenly when I realised my arm was being fucked with, and that it’d been put someplace warm. I looked down at the princess’ lap; she had taken it upon herself, while I was distracted, to take my hand and slip it under her skirt. Her warm, smooth thighs hugged my hand, and my fingertips were touching the hot, moist crotch of her panties.

!!!#?@!&?!

Shocked, I instinctively began to pull away, but she gripped me by the elbow, feeble but desperate to keep my hand where it was. “No, wait! Please… please,” she panted as she leaned closer, her breath warming my neck. “You need to help me with this. I can’t stand it! Please, Golden Arrow.”

It was impossible to refuse her. The urgency in her voice, the hunger in her eyes, the intense heat inside that purple skirt, that young, young body—all of it was calling to me at once. I was helplessly snared by it, and if the bulge in my pants and the constellation of wet dabs inside my shorts was any indication of my mood, not much convincing was needed beyond this.

I drew a breath and faced her, our noses only an inch apart. “OK. I’ll do it, but only as a friend, because I—“

“Yeah-yeah, don’t care,” she panted, her breath warming my face. “We’ll just say we’re doing it for science—or something. I dunno.”

Surprising as the shift in personality was, I shook it off and focused. To make access easier, reached past Twilight’s thighs and hooked my fingers over the top of her panties. She took the cue to lean on her hands and lift her backside from the bench, letting me draw the light-pink garment from inside her skirt. Since her boots were too big to take them right off, I simply left them at her knees. I paused briefly when I noticed there was no tag in them, making me wonder where they’d actually come from, but I quickly dismissed the thought and proceeded to run my fingertips along the inner side of her left thigh.

She shuddered with anticipation, her eyes closing as she licked her lips, readying herself for whatever might happen.

At the apex of her thighs, her slit waited for my touch, soaked with slippery fluid and pulsing with need. My fingers dipped into it with ease, her moisture covering them as I slid my way between those soft, warm layers.

The princess gasped and threw her head back, following up with a breathy moan. “Oohhh! Wow, that is…” She swallowed and licked her lips, keeping her eyes closed. “Mmm… it’s so sensitive!”

I ran my middle finger from the base of her slit, giving her entrance a shallow poke as I passed over it before pressing on her hood to tease her, using my index and ring fingers to hold her majoras apart.

Princess Twilight quivered violently and threw her arm around my shoulders to hold on tight; she buried her face in my neck, pressing her parted lips against my throat, panting her hot breath against my skin as she endured the strange, but intensely wonderful sensation that rang out from between her legs. “Ahhh… ahhh! It’s almost too much,” she gasped, her body trembling. “It’s… it’s amazing!”

“You know,” I said as I teased her hood with my fingertip, “Sunny’s the same way. Like, all you gotta do is ring the devil’s doorbell once and she’s all like, ‘OOOOOOH!’”

The princess lifted her head to face me, her eyelids fluttering as if the pleasure had swept over her like a warm breeze. “Whose doorbell?”

I glanced down to her lap as I switched to stroking the full length of her crease, my thumb brushing through a patch of course hair at the top of each pass. “Oh… the devil, he’s uh…” I faced her again. “He’s like an evil deity here. He tempts people into doing ‘sinful’ things so they’ll get banished to his lair after death.”

“Ooooh?” she breathed, her jaw hanging open.

“Don’t worry, he’s not real,” I assured her. “It’s just a story they used to control people, but it doesn’t really work that much anymore.”

She shook her head. “I don’t understand, why…” —she paused for a breath— “why would you bring that up?”

“What do you mean?”

“The devil. Why would he have a doorbell if he’s not real?”

“Oh… heh!” I chuckled. “That’s just slang for this thing.” I peeled her hood back and then pressed directly on her clitoris.

She tensed up instantly. A gasp rushed into her lungs and she threw her head back with a high-pitched yelp. “AAH! Oh my gosh!”

“You like that?” I asked as I pressed her clit again, giving my finger a rapid wiggle this time.

“AAAAAHH! YES! AGAIN!”

“For science, right?”

”YES!”

“Ok, how about this?” I reached down and placed my middle and ring fingers at the lower end of her crease and slipped them inside her, then I brought the heel of my hand down and ground it against her hood while I stroked her interior.

The princess gripped me tightly and buried her face in my neck again, her hot breaths blowing down the front of my shirt. She shook and moaned loudly, her fluids soaking my hand as I worked her womanhood, feeling her interior pulse in preparation for its first explosion.

I glanced over at the other two girls to check their progress and found myself surprised by what they’d gotten up to: Starlight’s pants had been peeled midway down her thighs, revealing a purple bush streaked with a thin ribbon of turquoise. Trixie’s fingers were still buried deep inside her, and conversely, Starlight’s fingers were lodged inside of Trixie, who was kneeling with one leg on the bench, having peeled Starlight’s shirt and bra upward to free her breasts.

They were modestly sized, similar in size and shape to Rarity’s, but differing in their radiant, pink colour, with mauve nipples that pointed stiffly into the stripper’s fondling hands as she kept their lips locked firmly together.

Wow, I thought as I wrapped my free arm around Twilight’s back. I held her close, listening to her squeak and moan while I pleasured her with my nectar-soaked fingers. The excessive tightness of her womanhood squeezed down on them, and after a silent chuckle, I shook my head, marvelling at just how identical she and our Twilight really were—in every single detail.

*****

It was close to 4:30am when we returned to the schoolyard. The night had gotten even colder since the previous evening when the pair came through the portal, but the bitter sting of the cold air went unnoticed by the otherworldly girls —especially the princess— after partaking in an unknown number of beverages in the aftermath of our session with Trixie.

Starlight Glimmer remained quiet and reserved since leaving the club. While visibly tipsy at times, she more or less kept herself in check, unlike the princess, who was sloshed to the point of slurred speech and barely any ability to stay upright. While it seemed like they had both enjoyed themselves well enough, something in particular seemed to hang in Starlight’s mind, keeping her from letting loose like the princess had.

If I had to guess, it may have had something to do with the fact that an alien version of her best friend pleasured her in ways that she didn’t think was possible, and now she was wondering what it was going to be like when she got home and had to face her actual best friend.

Or maybe she was just cold.

Regardless, it had been a long night, and they needed to return home. So there we were, standing next to the statue, bidding our farewells.

Or trying, at least.

Wearing Sunset’s coat, Princess Twilight traipsed up to the pedestal and spun around to face me with eyelids that were visibly ‘Paris Hiltoned.’

“Eh… dis, dis wassa bes’ night, Gurds; yer da bes’!”

“Yeah, totally.” I replied, catching her by the arm after she tried to rest her hand on my shoulder and missed. “We should do this again sometime—but maybe with a bit less drinkin, eh?”

Twilight narrowed her eyes and raised a hand to point both her index and middle-fingers at me, waving them like a pair of running legs. “Totes… tally toooooo!”

I chuckled at the non-response. “And thanks for the help with Dashie, by the way. I’ll try your idea with the soccer game, aaaaand... I dunno. I guess we’ll see what happens. I’ll let you know either way.”

She let go of me, letting her arm flop to her side as she attempted to stand on her own. “Eh you got it buddy iss all good. Heh, Dashie. YEAH! Iss gonn’ work, trus’ mah.” She raised her arm to try to pat my shoulder again, but this time the windup caused her to teeter backwards, and she fell on her ass on the cold, snow-dusted sidewalk.

Starlight and I stepped in to help her up. Once she was back on her feet, Starlight —who seemed remarkably stable in comparison, leading me to conclude that she’d had fewer drinks than I thought— kept a firm grip on Twilight’s arm.

“Ha! Daysh…” The princess rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand. “I… I ca’ harlly walk.”

I gave a shrug. “Well… to be fair, you could barely walk before, so…”

Her expression disappeared suddenly, and she spent the next few seconds staring vacantly at me before squeezing her eyes shut and bursting with laughter. “Pppppppfffftt… HAAAAAA! HAHAHAHA!” She tipped her head back and pointed to the left of me, unintentionally. “Poneh, y’ are sho… aweshum!”

I smirked and swung a finger her way. “No, YOU’RE awesome!”

“Blah…” She waved me off and rolled her eyes, looking off in the other direction while Starlight leaned back to counteract her tipsiness.

I shifted my attention to the purple-haired girl. “How about you, Starbright? Did you have a good time?”

Once she had the princess stable, she sighed and faced me. “Go buck yourself. And yeah, I had a great time, actually.”

I chuckled. “Glad to hear it. Thanks for joining us, by the way; I wasn’t expecting the princess to bring a guest, but… I’m glad she did. You were a fun addition tonight—which I’m sure Trixie would agree with.”

She forced a smile and looked downward; I’m sure she would have blushed if her cheeks weren’t red from the cold already.

“Hey, did you get her number, by chance?” I teased.

Starlight cocked her head. “Her number?”

I pulled out my cell phone. “You know, her phone number.”

She snorted and rolled her eyes. “We don’t have those in Equestria. And even if we did, I doubt they would work between dimensions.”

By now, Twilight was facing Starlight, her eyelids drooping as she wagged a loose finger, smacking her lips noisily as she prepared to speak. “We’ll getchu guys a book; then you can… y-you can, you can, you can… y-you can, you can CHAT.”

Starlight gave the princess an exasperated look, but then she closed her eyes and shook her head.

I chuckled quietly, bringing my hand up to stroke my chin. When I did, however, my nostrils inadvertently picked up the husky scent of female arousal. I was quickly reminded of our activities from earlier, when the princess enjoyed her first orgasm as a human. Those very fingers had the privilege of witnessing the event from the inside, and aside from our memories of it, the scent she’d left behind was the only remaining evidence.

Without thinking, I brought my index finger up until it touched the bottom of my nose and inhaled slowly, drinking in more of that enticing musk.

Somehow, even in her state of inebriation, Princess Twilight picked up on this, and for reasons unknown, she seemed to take exception to it.

“HEY!” Her voice was gruff, catching my attention just in time to see her jab her finger into my chest. “WHADDAYA THINK YER DOIN, HUH!?” she growled. “R’ YOU SNIFFIN THE ROYAL… er…” she trailed off and rubbed her tired, drunken eyelids. “What is word?” she muttered after turning to face Starlight.

“Uhh…” Starlight’s eyes shifted side-to-side. “It’s, uh… pussy, I think.”

Twilight threw her fists into the air, almost losing her balance in the process. “PUSSY! Yeah, pussy!” She let her arms drop and leaned into Starlight. “Arn’ dose sings great?”

Starlight forced an awkward smile, and I looked around the school yard after hearing the word echo around it, clear as a bell.

“Uh, you might wanna keep it down, there,” I warned. “We’re at a school, you know.” There was no one around, though, so I’m not sure why I actually cared.

Starlight, however, nodded in agreement. “Yeah. I actually think it’s about time we head back.” She turned Twilight around to face the pedestal. “Come on, princess; let’s get you home.”

She and Twilight stepped up to the edge while I watched. “See ya around, princess,” I said, waving.

She didn’t look back; instead, she pointed her finger into the air. “See ya, pussy smeller!”

“OK. Just go,” Starlight ordered, abruptly shoving Twilight through the portal before she could cause anymore ruckus. The yard was bathed in a silver light as she passed through, and then the darkness returned, save for the street lights.

With a loud exhale, the purple-haired girl turned and faced me.

I pointed at the pedestal. “She took Sunny’s coat with her.”

Starlight glanced at the concrete block and then at me again. “Oh… Well, don’t worry, I’ll send it back. Oh, and by the way: here.” She hooked her fingers inside of the coat she was wearing to slip it off her shoulders.

I put my hand up to stop her. “Nah, it’s OK. Keep it. Sunny’s too; I’ll just buy her a new one.”

She stopped and looked at me, surprised. “Really?”

I nodded.

Starlight put her hands down to her sides. “Um… thanks. To be honest, I’m not even sure if these things’ll exist on the other side; heh, I guess I’ll find out soon enough.”

“Yeah.”

We stood awkwardly for a moment, silent.

Finally, I rubbed the back of my neck. “Um, so... thanks for looking after her. Make sure she drinks lots of water.”

She nodded and smiled. “I will. And thank you, for showing us around. It was fun. Really.”

“No problem.” I smiled.

Another pause. She looked distant.

“You OK?”

Starlight glanced at me and hesitated. Then she smiled. “Yeah. I’m fine. It’s just… a lot. Tonight. All at once, you know?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

Another pause later, she drew a breath. “Well… I’d better go. Thanks again, Golden Arrow. I hope things work out between you and Rainbow Dash.”

“Same here.” I put my hands in my pockets. “Oh, and can you say thanks to the princess for me?—once she’s coherent enough to understand it, that is.”

She turned for the portal, looking back at me as her foot passed through the concrete, wrapped in a bright ring of energy. “I will.”

I nodded and gave her a quick wave. “Thanks, Starlight.”

She stopped once more to glance back at me, followed by a smile.

Then, Starlight disappeared through a field of shimmering light and vanished from this world, leaving me alone in the cold, dark schoolyard in the wee hours of the morning.

Chapter 120: A New Day

Chapter 120

Saturday, January 28th.

Game day.

It was mid-morning and the sky was overcast, laying a forlorn shadow over the city. The air was frigid as ever, but luckily, for the citizens of Canterlot, there was very little wind.

Despite the weather, my outlook was tip-top. It was a great day for mending friendships, which I intended to do before the sun set that afternoon.

And thanks to Ingram’s app and a bit of patience, I was able to locate Rainbow Dash, taking a walk across the strip mall parking lot near Sunset’s building on her way to the park. This was perfect, because that park just happened to have a soccer field.

I’d positioned myself behind the corner of the last building in the strip, waiting for her to pass by, at which point I would get her attention and challenge her to a game. I had my phone in one hand, watching her approach through a camera positioned on the far side of the lot while holding a brand new soccer ball under my other arm.

This was a good location for this meet up; there were plenty of people around, which would hopefully deter Rainbow Dash from using her magic to speed away if she was unwilling to talk.

Key word: hopefully.

She was only a few feet away.

My pulse pounded. For once in my life, I was nervous. I didn’t want to... no, I could NOT afford to mess this up. Of everyone in the group, Rainbow Dash and I were the least close, but her relationship with Fluttershy was a life-long affair, and it had been strained badly by the events of the past month. I knew how it gnawed at Fluttershy’s mind, how it damaged her soul. I needed to fix it for her. If Dash never spoke to me again, I could see why, and I could accept it. But I couldn’t allow her and Fluttershy’s friendship to be destroyed.

OK. I put my phone away and did some pursed-lip breathing to psyche myself up. Moment of truth, Golds. Don’t fuck this up. I know you’re used to killing to solve your problems, but this is different. Killing can’t solve this. It’s time to love. Spread the love, Golds; SPREAD IT!

I looked up just in time to see the rainbow-haired girl emerge from behind the wall, passing unnervingly close to me. Her head was turned the other way; evidently she was looking at something on the street—a certain car, perhaps. Regardless, she didn’t see me.

I stepped forward to address her. “Hey, Dashie, you up for a game?”

She continued to walk away as if she didn’t hear me.

This was when I noticed the sound of tinny music coming from somewhere. I squinted to focus on her and sure enough, there was a pair of tiny, wireless headphones in her ears. The song she was listening to must have reached its crescendo as I noticed this, because just then, Dash began to sing aloud.

🎵I been walkin the streets at night,
Just tryin to get it right...🎵

“Dammit.” I rolled my eyes and shook my head, sighing. Well that was fuckin smooth.

She was getting away. I had to act fast, so I did the first thing I could think of. Cupping the soccer ball in my hand, I brought my arm back and underhanded it at her, being careful not to throw it too hard.

It hit her between the shoulder blades and fell to the ground behind her, bouncing on the sidewalk and heading back in my direction.

Dash spun around and looked down at it, surprised. She watched it roll back for a second or two, but then she caught sight of my shoes first and then me, standing next to the wall. When she realised who I was, the curiosity on her face disappeared, replaced by a scowl and a clenched jaw.

Then she turned and continued walking away.

“Fuck,” I whispered. Then I drew a breath. “OK. This is OK. You expected this. Just keep at her.”

I wasn’t about to give up.

I stepped forward and scooped the ball up, then I jogged to catch up with her. Once beside her, I glanced back to see if there were still plenty of people around. There were, but ahead of us, across the street, was the park—with lots more trees and fewer eyes. I knew for a fact that if she got that far, she would use her speed to get away.

I couldn’t let that happen.

“Dashie, come on,” I said loudly, hoping she could hear me over the music. “One game. Let’s play one game, then maybe we can have a talk?”

Her eyes remained forward and she kept a steady pace.

I glanced down at the ground, frustrated. “We need to talk, Dashie. Please. Don’t do this to Flutters.”

No reaction.

“We saved your life!”

Nothing.

I huffed and shook my head. Then I looked over at her with a scowl. “Fine then. I guess I’ll have to tell the princess that you wouldn’t go for it, that you would rather things stay like this.”

Finally, her eyes shifted onto me. Her pace slowed.

This line had gotten her attention, obviously, so I rolled with it. “She told me that you would at least go for a game of soccer, and that if I won, maybe you would hear me out. But I guess not, so it looks like I’ll have to tell her she was wrong about you.”

Rainbow Dash stopped.

We were just a few steps from the crosswalk.

I stood before her, waiting to see what she would do next.

After a long, dubious stare, Dash reached up and plucked a headphone from one ear, then she spoke. “You talked to the princess?” she asked, flatly.

I nodded.

She raised a brow. “Princess Twilight? … From Equestria?”

I nodded again. “Yeah.”

She took a moment to look me up and down. “When... and how?”

“The other night. I wrote in Sunny’s book, asking her for help.”

“How’d you get Sunset’s book? Isn’t she away at the camp?”

“I know how to get into her apartment.”

Dash snorted and shook her head. “Boy, you sure like taking liberties with us, eh?”

I let my head fall back and looked into the sky, irked by the jab. After a sigh, I faced her again, hand raised. “Look, that’s not something I would normally do, but everyone was gone, and I was bummed about… well, us. You and me. And Flutters. I don’t want you to be mad at us anymore. What we did, in the hospital, we didn’t take that decision lightly, you know. But Flutters was hysterical; she didn’t wanna lose you.”

Rainbow Dash folded her arms and sighed, staring off to her right.

“I had to fix this, Dashie. You know that,” I continued. “And I did what I had to do, which meant asking for help… from someone who I thought would know what to do. So I went to Sunny’s place, found the book, and I asked the princess for help. She agreed to come here, and—“

Dash’s eyes widened suddenly and she threw her hands up. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! The princess was here?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“On Earth?”

“Yeah.”

She furrowed her brow. “But… she hasn’t been here for years. How did you convince her to come?”

I shrugged. “I told her I needed help with you. It was a big deal to her.”

For once, it appeared that Rainbow Dash’s defenses had dropped. “So… wait, you went through all this just to get me to talk to you?”

I nodded. “It’s important that we all stay together. We look out for one another; that’s the only reason we got Flutters home.”

She paused and rubbed her chin with a little blue knuckle, then she looked at me again with a brow raised. “But… isn’t Sunset gonna be super-pissed that you went through her stuff and wrote in her book?”

I waved her off. “Yeah, probably, but it was worth it. I’ll deal with Sunny when the time comes. Anyway…” I held the ball out to her. “How about it? The princess said you did this for her once upon a time; she said it was your way of assessing her character, seeing what kind of person she was. And she said you’d do it for me too, especially if I told you that she said you would—because deep down, she knows this isn’t how you want things to be. You are the Element of Loyalty, after all.”

Dash stared at the ball for a moment, studying that all-too-familiar black-on-white pentagon pattern that spanned its surface. Finally, she groaned, rolled her eyes, and then scooped the ball out of my hand.

“Ugh, fine. One. Game.” She promptly raised a finger at me. “But I’m doing this for Princess Twilight, not you! Got it?”

“Fair enough. So, one-on-one? First to five points wins?”

She shook her head. “First goal wins.”

I scowled at her. “What? Why?”

“Hey, this is a compromise, dude. I don’t even wanna do this with you.”

I shrugged in protest. “But I thought the whole point was to test my persistence, like you did with Twilight?”

She shook her head. “This isn’t the same thing as Twilight. I already know you. You’re not showing me what you’re like; you’re playing for an audience.”

“An audience?”

Dash pointed at her chest with her thumb. “With me! You win, we sit down and chat. If I win? Well… let’s just say I won’t be doing anything you want anytime soon.”

I sighed noisily, rubbing my forehead. Then I looked her in the eyes. “Fine.”

She gestured to the crosswalk and the park beyond. “Let’s go.”

*****

“Alright,” said Rainbow Dash, as she dropped the ball in the middle of the field. There was only a light dusting of snow in the grass, which was good; the park was fairly deserted as well, and surrounded by trees, granting us a reasonable amount of privacy to have our little game. “Any stipulations?”

“No powers,” I said, pointing at her.

She scoffed. “Pfft. Fine, whatever. What else?”

“Uh… I think that’s about it. No hands, out-of-bounds rules all standard?”

She sniffed. “Sounds good. First goal wins, then.” She took a couple of steps back.

I did the same.

“You ready?”

I nodded.

“OK then. Since no one’s here to drop the ball, we’ll just go quick-draw style.”

I nodded again. “OK.” Admittedly, I wasn’t completely sure if I knew what this meant.

Dash drew a breath and widened her stance.

I cleared my throat and did the same. Holding my breath, I waited for her to make her move.

She was still, watching me.

I watched her back.

Seconds passed—or minutes.

It felt like hours.

Was she waiting for me to make my move? Or was she thinking that I was waiting for her to make the first move? Maybe she’d make a move any second, thinking that I expected her to wait for me to move. Maybe I should do that. It might throw her off if—

She made her move.

I should have done it, rather than trying to analyze the situation to death.

I charged forward to meet her, both of us approaching the ball at once. We each swung a leg to kick the ball away, but managed only to trap it between our feet, and so it popped straight up between us.

This is when I learned that I had vastly underestimated Dash’s skills as a soccer player. When the ball had reached chest height, she raised a knee and bounced it to the side.

She was after it before I was, having planned to send it in that direction. I gave chase, hoping to get ahead of her before she could get possession. It was not to be, however; she managed to catch up to the ball in mid-roll and snagged it with her foot.

I ran hard, tearing frozen divots in the grass with my toes as I tried to catch up to block her, but she’d already wound her foot back, ready to take a swing.

I was close, so I slid forward with my foot extended to block the kick, but I was too late.

WHAP!

Her foot collided with the ball and sent it sailing just millimetres past my toes. I skidded to a stop, having failed to block her, and I looked behind me to see where it was going. It sailed across the field, bounced once, twice, then it rolled along the ground, dead center between the goal posts.

I couldn’t believe it. She won. Already.

My heart sank when I saw the ball —which I had just bought that morning, with high hopes— come to rest by the trees at the end of the field, having been kicked a total of only three times, if one was to count the knee. That’s all it took to beat me. There was no epic, neck-and-neck battle for victory like I had pictured us having. Nothing even close to that.

I had failed. Miserably.

“Well that was disappointing,” her voice said from my six.

I turned to face her, half expecting her to be smiling smugly, but instead, she was completely neutral.

I stared helplessly at her, not knowing what to do.

After a dismissive scowl, she put her hands in her pockets and turned to walk away.

I stood there in disbelief, lost and defeated. The sight of Dash making her exit without a second thought made my heart ache. Was this it? After all the effort I made to set this up: breaking into someone’s home, talking to a stranger from another dimension, buying a ball, tracking Dash down, convincing her to play a game with me—and this is all I accomplished with it? A massive, colossal failure that took all of two seconds to happen?

My eyes dropped to the dead, frozen grass as I gulped down the tension that was growing in my throat. I had failed the princess, the other girls, and most importantly, Fluttershy. I was supposed to fix this for her, and I didn’t.

Rubbing my forehead and wondering what to do, I became irked that Rainbow Dash didn’t even care about all the things I did to get this chance to talk to her. I drew a breath, feeling frustration seep in, replacing the ache in my chest with a spark that began to smolder, deep down inside.

I looked up at her again, clenching my jaw. Just like that, I felt like giving her a piece of my mind. What difference would it make now? She was already leaving.

“So, what, you’re just gonna walk away now? Is that how it’s gonna be!?“ I shouted, throwing my hands up. “Huh? You’re just gonna turn your back on me? On the princess? On Flutters?”

She didn’t look back.

“Where would you be without us, Dashie? WE SAVED YOUR LIFE!”

This stopped her. After a short pause, she spun around, fists clenched, face red. “You— … THAT WASN’T YOUR CHOICE TO MAKE!”

“What, you’d rather be dead?”

“I’d rather be ME!”

My lip curled into a sneer, and I shook my head at her. “What?”

“Pffft!” She shook her head, turned to one side and folded her arms. “You don’t get it. And you never will, so why don’t you just leave me alone before you make things worse?”

I let out a sigh to calm myself and gather my thoughts, watching her for a moment. She remained still, standing in profile to me. I had forgotten about how much girth had returned to her frame—not that she was overweight by any means, but compared to the frail little thing she’d become after months of withering away so slowly that none of us had noticed, seeing her like this again took some getting used to. But how could I, when she’d gone out of her way to avoid me?

This was when I realised something else about her: she was no longer walking away. Granted, she wouldn’t look at me, but she was staying.

This was a good thing.

I swallowed and took a moment to consider what to do. Then, after chewing my lip for a moment, I took a cautious step forward, followed by another, keeping a watchful eye on her the entire time. Once I’d closed half of the distance between us, I stopped again to speak in a slightly more careful tone.

“What don’t I get, Dashie?”

Rainbow Dash let out a soft groan. Her eyes dropped to the ground, but she didn’t answer.

I waited briefly to see if she would, and when she didn’t, I took one more step. “What do you think happened that night?”

Her head turned toward me, slowly, but her eyes remained downcast, avoiding contact with mine.

I brought my hands up and put them together. “Listen, Dashie: I told you that day, I never laid a finger on you. OK? Flutters and I, we would never do that to you. We had to find another way, and that’s exactly what we did.”

She sighed, listening, and then once I was finished, her eyes crept up slowly to meet mine. As soon as they did, however, she turned away again.

I tried not to fret despite this; it was the first time those cerise eyes had made purposeful contact with mine in what felt like ages. It was a step in the right direction, even if it was a tiny one.

To my surprise, she spoke. “How?”

It took me a moment to consider how to answer. I was reluctant to be graphic about it, especially with how unsexy the act was; plus, there was no guarantee that Dash wouldn’t still be upset by it.

I cleared my throat. “We uh, did it… artificially.”

She turned slowly to face me, scowling.

“With a, uh…” —I paused to clear my throat— “one of those medicine plungers.” I raised my hands in defense when Dash grimaced. “It was Flutters who did it! I wasn’t anywhere near you; I was by the door, standing watch.”

Rainbow Dash watched me for a moment, then she turned away to face the trees and shook her head.

“Trust me,” I continued, taking another two steps closer, one hand outstretched. “There was nothing even remotely sexy or enjoyable about it. To her, it was like giving an antidote, that’s all. The only thing she cared about was saving you.”

Dash turned part way to face me with one eye, scowling. Then she folded her arms and sighed.

After watching her for a moment, I put my hands on my hips and shook my head. “How long have you known Flutters?”

“My whole life,” she replied with a sigh.

“Do you trust her?”

She paused for a moment and then shrugged. “Yeah—I mean, I did. I’ve never had a reason not to, but now, I... I don’t know.”

“Because of what she did?”

She turned to look at me from under her brow. Apparently, the answer was obvious.

“Ok... look,” I said, holding a hand up. “I know that what she did was pretty messed up. Doing that to someone would normally be a massive violation —and it was, we know that— but there’s some context here that really matters.”

She cocked a brow at this.

“Ask yourself this, Dashie: you’ve known Flutters your whole life. You know her better than most people; do you really think she did what she did to gain some sort of sexual gratification? Or to victimize you, to have power over you?”

She sighed and looked down at the ground. “No, probably not.”

“No. She wouldn’t do something like that as a prank, or to hurt anyone. You know that. She did it because she felt she had no other choice.” I cocked my head to look at her sideways, giving it a shake. “She didn’t take it lightly, Dashie; believe me. And neither did I, because I was worried that something like this would happen. Nobody was happy about the situation, but we didn’t want—”

She closed her eyes and nodded, looking annoyed by hearing the same line again. “Yeah, I get it. You didn’t wanna lose me.” She sighed. “And believe me, if it was anyone but Fluttershy that did it, I...” She bit her lip and shook her head, angered by the very thought. Then she faced me. “Like, if it was you who did that to me, trust me, I would NOT be standing here, talking to you right now.”

I raised my hands in defense. “Oh... no way! I wanted nothing to do with it.”

“But you did,” she fired back.

This stumped me. “Yeah,” I replied quietly. “I went along with it. Because I didn’t like seeing Flutters freaking out over it, and to be honest, I trusted... somehow, that she knew what she was doing. I don’t think anyone was really thinking straight that night; not even me.”

Again, she drew a breath, folded her arms and faced downward.

“I just wanted you to know: what we did, it wasn’t meant to be malicious. No one wanted to hurt you, and me and Flutters feel terrible about the whole thing. This is why I brought you here today, so I could tell you this.”

She swallowed, keeping her eyes on the ground to avoid eye contact. “I, um... I know you guys didn’t do it to be, like... I dunno.” She paused to kick a small clump of frozen soil before continuing, softly. “But still... you should have asked me first,” she mumbled, “before you did it.”

I turned one ear toward her to listen, brows furrowed.

She unfolded her arms and faced me, apparently noticing that I was looking for clarification. “You should have woke me up and asked if that’s what I wanted.” She continued, using a tone that was obviously meant to mock me. “Like this: ‘Hey Dashie, how would you like to live for all eternity, not knowing where you’re gonna end up once this world is gone or turns to shit, with absolutely no way out if your life ever ends up a total nightmare—like if you get buried alive or end up floating alone in outer space for all time?’”

Clearly, she’d been thinking about this a lot.

I shook my head. “We couldn’t wake you up, Dashie. They had you so drugged up because of the pain, you were basically in a coma. Even if we could wake you up, there’s no way we would have gotten anything remotely close to a valid answer from you.”

“Yeah, but... Do you have any idea what it’s like?” she fired back. “To have a decision like that made for you?”

I waved my hands at her, eyes closed. “Yeah, no, I get it. I know how you feel; I don’t know how I got like this myself, remember? And Flutters never asked for it either. Same with Rare; those two never expected this to happen, and now they’re stuck with it forever. Don't think for a second that doesn’t weigh on me, Dashie, cuz it does. Look at what Flutters has had to go through already, all because some people wanted to exploit her power.”

“I know that. It’s just... I don’t—“ She stopped and looked off to the side, shaking her head. Then she looked at me again. “You guys messed everything up! I can’t even go to sleep now! That used to be my favourite thing: taking naps in the afternoon—and you took that away from me! I can’t even get drunk anymore, so I can’t even do that to forget about it!”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Wow.” Then I lowered my hand and looked at her, head cocked. “And… what, you don’t care about the fact that you don’t feel like you’re constantly gonna puke anymore?”

She paused, glowering at me. “Well…” she finally said, “I guess that’s kinda nice, but…” She pressed her eyes shut and shook her head. “You guys… you still had no right to do what you did; and now, because of you, I not even really me anymore.”

She turned suddenly and walked toward the center of the field.

I watched her go, my brow marked with surprise and confusion. This was the second time she said that. “Hey… What does that mean?” I replied as I followed her.

Rainbow Dash eventually slowed to a stop at the center of the field. She dropped rather unexpectedly, sitting on the hard, frozen ground. I stood beside her and paused, watching her for a moment before looking in the direction she was facing.

She appeared to be staring at the goal posts, or possibly at the ball that sat beyond, near the trees. Reminded of my embarrassing loss, I sighed and then looked down to check the ground beside her. It looked uncomfortable, but I sat anyway.

I brought my knees up and folded my arms on them, watching the evergreens wave to one another in the light breeze, boasting their lush greenery to the bare maples that stood like skeletons nearby.

Finally, I spoke. “Dashie… what does that mean, that you’re not really you? Why d’you think that?”

Dash remained still for a moment, looking down at the ground. “I don’t feel real anymore. It’s like I’m some kind of synthetic double of my old self. I don’t feel like I’m really... me.”

I looked over at her as she trailed off. Then I faced the ground. My backside was feeling the cold seep in already, but it didn’t matter. I drew a breath as I lifted my head to scan the soccer field, contemplating what it must have been like for her to go through a transition like this with no support from me, like the others had.

“You’re still human, Dashie. Trust me. I know it feels different, but it—“

She shook her head, cutting in. “But with your immortality, it’s like I’m just another version of you now; a cheap carbon copy.”

This statement threw me for a loop. “What? No, you’re still you; you’ll always be you, Dashie, and no one —not even me— can take that away from you.” I gestured to the street just past the tree line, to the cars that zipped by, and the people that drove them. “That’s like saying when you were mortal, you were just a carbon copy of all the other mortals. You were ‘you’ then, and you’re still ‘you’ now. And if we’re going by that logic, then you’re far more unique now, because there are billions of mortals on this planet and only a handful of us.”

She took her eyes from the street to glance briefly at me, then she sighed and looked down again.

I pointed at her. “Let me ask you this: if you’re just a copy of me, then where’s my super-speed? Last time I checked, I didn’t have any—and I sure as hell ain’t any good at soccer, apparently.”

Dash looked over at me again; I wondered if she might smile, but she didn’t.

Disappointed, I exhaled through my nose and let my eyes slip from her to the ground. They crept along the grass absentmindedly, until they landed on the bottom of her shoe. I reached down and tapped her foot. “What about your ankle?” I asked. “How does it feel?”

She shrugged. “It’s fine now.”

I watched her for a moment and then shook my head. “That’s it?”

Rainbow Dash sighed and looked up to the sky, squinting into that bright spot in the clouds where the sun was trying to hide.

I wondered what she was thinking. Perhaps she was thinking the same thing I always thought about whenever I looked at the sun: what will it be like to outlive it? What will happen to this world? When will that day come? Will we have left by then?

Her voice interrupted my rumination, quiet and despondent.

“Do you know what it’s like to have the one thing that makes you great —the thing that makes you awesome— taken away from you?”

I remained silent, watching her.

Eventually her eyes drifted shut and she lowered her head. “I had it made in high school. I was the awesome one: the best athlete, lead guitarist in the best band, captain of every fucking team. Everyone wanted to be like me. I had a scholarship to pretty much any school I wanted. I could’ve gone pro. I SHOULDA went pro. I coulda been famous, like Ronaldo or... someone like that!” She shook her head. “But nooooo! One day, just like that, it was all gone.” She swiped her hand through the air. “Some dumb bitch had to come along and take it all away from me.” Dash turned to face me. “She ruined my life. I’m sure her life is just great and she’s forgotten all about that game, but me? Pfft. Look at me! I’m not a star athlete. I’m not famous. No one knows my name. I’m just a schmuck who delivers packages. I show up in a stupid brown truck, and I have to drag some big, heavy box to their door so they can have their shitty-ass junk from some shitty-ass country.”

She straightened up suddenly, tipping an imaginary hat as she demonstrated her daily routine. “Hey, hows it going today? Got a package for ya! What’s your name? OK! Just need ya to sign here on the trackpad! Yeah, you can just use your finger; isn’t technology great? Heh heh.” She let her head drop as soon as she finished, letting out an exasperated sigh.

I watched her for a moment, brows furrowed. “Wow. I didn’t know you hated your job.”

Her eyes rose just enough to scan the trees. Then she drew a breath, bringing her attention to the ground next to my feet, not wanting to look directly at me. “I don’t... hate it. It’s just not what I was expecting to be doing with my life. What I hate is that I’m NOT playing in the pros. If you went back in time to my old self in senior year and told me that this is what I’d be doing with my life, I would probably kick you right in the balls. This isn’t what I envisioned at all; sometimes I don't even know what I’m doing here.”

“Come on, Dashie, you don’t really mean that.” I let my chin rest on my forearms, which were still folded across my knees. After a quiet breath, I continued. “I always thought you were pretty great… and I didn’t even know you back then.”

“Tsh.” She rolled her eyes and turned away.

“What?” I asked, lifting my head again. “You are. Just because you don’t play soccer doesn’t mean shit. That’s not what made you great. You know what did? You. I mean, look at your job; look how many promotions you’ve gotten in just a few years. Is that because you’re not great?”

She glanced over at me and then shrugged. “Just an unexpected talent of mine, I guess.”

I shook my head. “No. I don’t believe in talent. I believe in ambition.” Again, I turned towards the street and waved at the cars passing beyond the trees. “All those people out there, they’re all good at different things. Why? Because they were naturally good at them? No. Because they were interested in them. They spent time doing that thing, thinking about it, practicing it —intentionally or not— and they got better at it over time; better than the next person, because they cared about it more.”

Dash glanced at the street, watching the cars between the gaps in the trees for a moment before raising a brow at me as I continued.

“That’s why you were good at soccer: because you loved it more than anyone else. Do you like your job?”

After a short hesitation, she nodded. “It’s OK, I guess.”

“Why? What made you stay there all these years?”

She drew a breath and furrowed her brows. “Um… I dunno. It’s kinda like a game; see who can empty their trucks the fastest. It’s kinda fun, actually.”

I snapped a finger and pointed at her. “You see? That’s your passion: being the best. Not soccer—well… I mean, you like soccer, but being the best at it is what you strive for. And you like your job, so you care about being the best at it. THAT’S what makes you awesome, Dashie.” I gave her shoulder a little nudge. “And it’s not just that. You’re also courageous; I mean, the night you guys figured me out, you were the first one to come out swinging.”

“Pfft… lotta good it did.”

I shrugged and gave a little wave. “That’s beside the point—and kind of a unique case, to be honest. Bottom line, you’re not someone who takes things lying down. Plus, like I said, you’re just a straight-up cool chick. You’re fun to chillax with, as you call it, and you’re a hoot to joke with—well… usually, anyway. I mean, once in a while your comic timing is a little off, but hey: so is mine. I make bad jokes all the time, and I know the girls —especially Sunny— like to make fun of me about it behind my back.” I leaned closer to speak a little quieter. “They think I don’t know about that, but I do.”

At last, a tiny smile made itself known. But it was short lived, and she looked down at the icy grass again. “It’s just… that’s kinda the other thing that’s been bugging me lately.”

“What’s that?”

She looked directly at me. “You.”

My stomach lurched, but I did my best to hide it. “Me?”

Rainbow Dash glared at me for a moment, long enough to bring about some added discomfort. “Promise you won't tell the others about this?”

I nodded. “Of course.”

She cast her eyes down to the grass again, drawing a breath. “When you came around, and especially after we found out who you were, I felt like… I’d been replaced as the awesome one—or what little was left of it.”

“Dashie…“

“Yes!” she barked. “Right from the beginning; you kicked all our asses that night, then you hammered those guys at the bar when that drunk guy hit Sunset, then when Fluttershy got kidnapped, you and Sunset took off to bring her back, and the rest of us were just sitting around here, taking up space. I hated that! You didn’t once stop to think that maybe one of us wanted to come too?”

I shook my head. “I took Sunny because I needed a mind reader, and because she can’t get hurt. You might have gotten killed if you came with us; we got shot at quite a few times. Didn’t you see Sunny’s jacket?”

“Yeah, I know.” she mumbled. “It’s just… it was always me who looked after Fluttershy, ever since we were little kids; but when you went to rescue her, I felt like… it was like I was being told to ‘step aside,’ you know?” She chewed her lip for a second, and then she gave her head a shake, letting out a soft snort. “And I just stayed at home and withered away. Literally. Pfft! Some awesome chick I am; I can’t even stay alive on my own.”

I rolled my eyes. “Getting cancer isn’t a sign of weakness, Dashie. It can happen to anybody. You’re being too hard on yourself.”

Abruptly, she turned toward me, looking irate. “Well, just like usual, you just had to swoop in and save the day, didn’t you?”

This reaction was unexpected, and I leaned away from her. “What do you mean by that?”

“This!” She gestured to herself. “You and your fucking... doing everything. And being good at it!” She reached down and tugged the front of her jacket. “Look what you guys did to me; I didn’t ask for this!”

“We didn’t wanna lose you.”

“Ugh… again, with that.” She shook her head and sighed. “Did you ever stop and think that maybe I wanted to face it on my own?”

“What do you mean, on your own? You were gonna die.”

“Maybe! ... Well, probably.”

“Definitely.”

She groaned softly and rubbed her forehead. “OK, fine. But… maybe I wanted to deal with it myself—and if it came down to it, stare death in the face as me. Maybe I wanted to use what little awesomeness I had left to give him the big middle finger before going down for good. To die like a Spartan: badass as fuck and not afraid of the great beyond. That was going to be, like, my last stand. I didn’t feel like it mattered either way; my life didn’t turn out like I thought it would, and being sick was kind of like a test. If I survived, then it meant I still had something great coming, and if not, then... well...” she shook her head. “But by the way things were looking, I wasn’t gonna make it, which means my life was probably just gonna keep on being mediocre.”

I drew a breath, scowling at the trees. This reasoning was surprisingly poetic for Rainbow Dash, and in a strange way, I felt a measure of reverence for her, despite it making little sense. There was a definite hint of remorse felt for what Fluttershy and I had done, now that I understood the rainbow-haired girl’s position more clearly.

And then Dash turned and locked eyes with me. “But you guys came along and fucked it all up.”

I scowled in response. “Dashie, I don’t mean to question your beliefs or your methods, but I don’t think letting yourself get ravaged by cancer is a good litmus test for whether or not your life is worth living. You should know better than that; your friends certainly do.”

She rolled her eyes at this.

I reached over to tap her arm. “But OK, let’s play your game for a minute. I feel like I need to point out one fact that you’re not considering: you did survive—maybe not in the way you were thinking, but you are alive right now, regardless. So maybe me and Flutters didn’t screw things up. Maybe that was your answer all along.”

She shook her head at this, rather abruptly. “No. You guys interfered. I was supposed to deal with it the way I wanted. I know that sounds kinda fucked up, but that’s how I felt—and it SHOULD have been my choice to make, not yours or Flutters.”

As I listened, I gazed around the yard, feeling a hint of admiration for this girl. She was ready to face the end with her head held high, something that I could never do, whether due to the fact that I can’t die, or simply that I would likely have been a coward in the face of death—something that I had openly admitted to the shy girl.

I swallowed and licked my lip. “Listen, Dashie…”

She placed a pair of grim, cerise eyes on mine.

I drew a breath, then let it out slowly. “I don’t think that’s fucked up. I think it’s incredibly brave. Sure, lots of people would think it’s silly, and a waste of life —you know, all that ‘life is precious’ crap— but I’ve been around long enough to see countless lives come to an end just like that” —I snapped my finger— “and they get replaced by new life in a heartbeat. Over and over again, like the passage of time; one second after another. It never ends, and you can’t stop it.” I rubbed my chin for a moment before facing her again. “Did you know… that something like only five percent of all that were humans ever born are still alive today? And that number is shrinking as time goes on. After everything mankind has accomplished, with how long we’ve been roaming this world, and all the things we’ve learned: in the end, all we’re gonna leave behind is a bunch of dead bodies.” I gave my head a little shake, chuckling ironically. “After a while, when you’ve seen what I’ve seen, life just kind of… loses its preciousness. You know?”

She blinked once or twice, then she rolled her eyes. “Aaaaand… your point is?”

“My point, Dashie, is this:” —I straightened up and placed a hand on her shoulder— “your life belongs to you, and if you wanted to face the music on your own, as yourself, then dammit, you should have been allowed to do it. And I would’ve had nothing but respect for you. I could never do something like that. I wouldn’t have the balls to walk up to death say ‘bring it on!’ like you were ready to do.” I shook my head, chuckling. “Man... if I were to lose this? If I became a regular person tomorrow, I don’t know how I would deal with it. I would be scared every day, constantly, that I would get hurt somehow. And I have no idea how I would cope with the pain. Tsh! The stress if it alone would probably kill me. I don’t know how regular people deal with it.”

Her eyes became less intense as she listened; I could even see a sparkle of pride in them.

“And…” I continued. “If that was what you wanted, then… I’m sorry we took it from you. It’s just… well, you know: we didn’t wanna lose you.” I gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Where would we be without you, the one-and-only Rainbow Dash? How boring would the weekend dinners be if you weren’t there? You were still, and will always be, the awesome one in our group. Hell, you just proved yourself to be a way bigger badass than I could ever be, and for that, you have earned the utmost respect from me. I find myself looking up to you now, Dashie, because you were about to something that I would never have the nerve to do.”

It was obvious by then that she was struggling to keep her face straight. “Seriously? You… look up to me?”

I nodded.

“You. Golden Arrow. Look up to me, Rainbow Dash.”

“Yeah—although I gotta say, that’s a pretty horrific way to commit suicide. I have no idea what hell you were thinking.”

She shrugged. “Well... it wasn’t really suicide, technically; I didn’t really know if I was gonna die—at least not ‘til the end.”

“Well, still.” I paused to give my head a shake, followed by a soft snicker. “You’ve got balls, Dashie, I’ll give you that.”

Her eyes dropped after locking with mine for a second or two, and she turned to look the other way.

I watched her for a moment, then I drew a breath to speak once more. “I’m sorry.”

She said nothing, only nodded after a moment.

Disappointed that I didn’t get more of a reaction, I let out a sigh and looked down at my lap. As I watched my chest swell with each inhale, I began to notice a subtle growth of light, a warm glow that gradually began to surround us. I lifted my head and looked up to the sky; the cloud cover had broken, and the sunshine was pouring through, bathing us in the first natural warmth anyone had felt in weeks.

I glanced over at Dash to see if she’d noticed. She hadn’t moved, making it impossible to tell if she had, but even so, the invigorating warmth brought with it a positive radiance—like this was a sign that everything was going to work out. Today was the perfect day for this.

It also gave me the confidence to make the next move. With one arm, I reached out and placed my hand on her far shoulder, giving her a gentle pull towards me. To my relief, Dash did not resist, and she came up against my side, resting her head on my shoulder.

We stayed still and quiet, leaning against one another under the warm sunlight, sitting in the center of that desolate, frozen soccer field. I gave her a squeeze, feeling a light tickle, as well as the distinct scent of Fruit Loops, from her hair.

“Listen… I don’t expect you to forgive me. All I ask is that you come back to us; give us a chance.”

Rainbow Dash did not reply.

“Come out to the field, Dashie. Let me teach you—let us teach you. There is so much waiting for you. Your life is worth living, I promise.”

She exhaled and then swallowed. “Why?” she asked, her voice muffled.

“Because they need you. Flutters needs you. I need you.” I tilted my head to look down at her hair. “You know that Dark Mistress that’s been running around town lately?”

“Yeah.”

“You know that’s Rare, right?”

She snorted softly and shook her head against my shoulder. “I kinda figured.”

I moved my fingertips up to tuck some hair behind her ear. “You know… that suit she wears is pretty much indestructible, just like us. And she’s made one for everybody.”

She leaned back to look up at me. “Why am I not surprised?”

I gave her a smile. “If awesome is what you want to be, then come back to the group. Join us at the Riverfield, and I promise you, you will be more awesome than I ever was… or ever will be.”

She sighed and stared across the field, considering the offer. Then she leaned closer and let her cheek come to rest on my shoulder again. “Fine.”

I reached out and gave her a pat on the back. “Good. You won’t regret it, Dashie.”

She smiled weakly, but remained silent. After a minute or two, I decided to see if I could talk her into moving.

“My ass is wet.”

“Mine too.”

“You wanna go get some coffee or something?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Neither am I. I literally can’t remember the last time I was.”

She smirked and looked up at me, those eyes of hers finally showing a bit of warmth. “Fair enough. Let’s go.”

She shifted slightly to stand up, but I put my hand on her shoulder to stop her. “Hey... I gotta ask: why didn’t you tell us this before? What you told us in the hospital that night was completely different.”

Dash rubbed her temple. “Ugh... do you really think I could’ve told my friends what I just told you?”

I chewed my lip and then turned away. “Good point,” I replied. Then I faced her again. “Hey... before we go, promise me one thing?”

Her brows furrowed. “What?”

“Promise me you’ll go see Flutters when she gets back? Let her know you don’t hate her. Please?”

She closed her eyes and exhaled. Then she nodded and looked at me, somewhat apprehensively. “OK. I will.”

Author's Note

Big shout-out to fellow author Soufriere for his advice on this chapter!

Also,

*Chapter 121: Sunset Gone Wild

Chapter 121

“I… am so… FUCKING… mad at you.”

I sat like a scolded child on Sunset’s couch, while the red-head herself stood in front of it, her arms folded as she glowered down at me, her weight on one leg.

“I don’t see what the big deal is,” I said quietly.

She leaned forward abruptly, scowling. “You don’t see what th— ... Golds!” She freed one arm and gestured to the balcony door. “You broke into my apartment! You went through my stuff! You read my journal, and not only that, you wrote in it!”

“I was trying to patch things up with Dashie.”

Sunset eyed me up for a moment, jaw clenched, lips pursed. Then she huffed and narrowed her eyes, shaking her head slowly.

“I cannot believe you fingerbanged the Princess of Friendship.”

I raised a brow and gave a nod. “Oh, she was fuckin friendly, lemme tell ya,” I said, with a sly tone.

“That’s NOT funny.”

I raised a hand to protest, but then gave up immediately, letting my arm drop back to the cushion with a thump. “Come on, Sunny.”

“Don’t ‘come on’ me!” She immediately closed her eyes and raised her hands to stop me before I could say anything. “Shut up! I know how that sounded just now, and… it’s not what I meant.”

“No comment.”

Sunset folded her arms and huffed. “Princess... fucking... Twilight. Seriously, this is such a fucking typical ‘Golds move,’” she grumbled, turning away to face the balcony glass with a shake of her head.

My brows furrowed. “What does that even mean? I already told you, she asked for my help. She wasn’t very good with her fingers and she was all turned on from watching Starbright gettin’ diddled, so she asked me to show her the ropes. That’s all.”

The red-head turned back to me, confused. “Starbright?”

“Yeah, she—oh!” I slapped my forehead. “Sorry, StarLIGHT. I was calling her Starbright to piss her off.”

Sunset’s brow furrowed. ”Starlight?” After a brief moment, her eyes widened, meeting mine. “Wait... you mean Starlight Glimmer?”

I pointed at her. “Yeah, that’s it! You know her?”

“Well… no, but Twilight talked about h— … wait.” Her expression went blank suddenly, and she buried her face in her hands. “Ugh! Come on, man! You fingered her too!?”

I shook my head. “No-no, that was Trixie.”

Flummoxed, Sunset clutched her chest and staggered backwards, feigning a heart attack. “WHAT!? Where the fuck did she come from!?”

I shook my head and looked away, waving her off. “Oh, fuck. It’s a long story, Sunny.”

She exhaled noisily, folding both hands on top of her head as she stared at the ceiling. “I go away for one week. One. Fucking. Week.”

“Hey, just relax, OK?” I said, facing her again. “Everything’s fine. I got things more-or-less patched-up with Dashie, and I got to know the princess. We had great time, as a matter of fact; me and her are like this.” I bumped my fist to my chest.

Sunset rolled her eyes and looked away.

I gave the adjacent cushion a pat. “Come on, sit down.”

After a pause, Sunset snorted and approached the couch reluctantly. She sat next to me, crossed her legs and folded her arms, staring straight ahead.

After a moment of watching her foot swing up and down, I leaned closer. “Come on, you’re not really that mad at me, are you snookums?” I said, puckering my lips close to her cheek.

Her leg stopped, but she kept her eyes forward. “You’d better back the fuck off.”

I leaned away and inhaled slowly.

Her leg resumed swinging.

“You know what the worst part of this is?” she grumbled.

“What?”

“Even though I’d really like to get down on my knees and speed-bag your nutsack right now, my magic is still kicking in —especially after being away all week— and… I kinda wanna fuck the stupidity out of you.”

“Hmm…” I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. “Now that IS a conundrum.” I glanced over at her. “How about… like… you give me an angry fuck? Like… a ’take your aggression out on me,’ kind of thing. You know? Who knows, maybe I will be a little smarter after.”

“No.”

I let out a sigh. “Come on, Sunny! It’s been a long week. A tough week; I was gettin’ blue-balled by blue chicks pretty much the whole time.”

Sunset scrunched her face and looked at me sideways.

“Seriously! That night with Starbright and the princess: I was literally the only one who didn’t get-off! And that one night I was sitting at home and Sonata was bored and showed up to hang out, and she starts walking around in her fuckin underwear right in front of me, and then Dashie…” I paused and cocked my head. “Well… that wasn’t really sexual; that was more of an emotional blue-balling.”

Sunset’s brows went up. “Oh, emotional blue-balling, eh? Wow, that’s fucking deep, Golds. We should hang out more.”

“Jeez, Sunny!” I rolled my eyes and turned away.

“Don’t.”

I scratched behind my ear, sighing. “OK. Look, I’m sorry I broke into your apartment and messed with your stuff, but it was for a good cause. I set things right with Dashie, and I got to meet the princess. Everything’s better now, OK?”

She tapped her foot on the floor, fidgeting with her hands as she looked up to the ceiling. “Well… I guess I’ll give you that, but still...”

I waved a hand in the air. “Hell yeah! Princess Twilight is a good shit, and holy fuck, can she party! I mean, she was just like: BOOM! Fuckin Jägerbomb! Jägerbomb! Jägerbomb! Just friggin poundin ‘em back.”

Sunset turned slowly, her eyes as big as moons, her mouth agape. “You fed her fucking Jägerbombs!?”

I scratched my temple, mouth open to answer, but hesitating. “Well… only like the first fi— … I-I mean, no.”

She sighed heavily and rubbed her face. “Dammit, Golds; you could have just stopped at ‘we had a great time.’”

“Yeah.” I faced our laps, reaching out to give her thigh a firm pat. “You know what would really help right now?”

“WHAT.”

“You and I: we need to have us a good fuck.”

Sunset grimaced at me. Then she turned away. “Ugh… the worst thing is, I think you might actually be right—but not for the reason you think.”

“Of course I’m right. Look, Sunny; I missed you. You missed me.” I raised a brow at her. “Let’s make this right. Right here, right now.”

“Hm.” She sat forward and leaned on her knees, resting her chin in her hands. Then she sighed and rolled her eyes. “Fine. You’re fucking lucky I have this magic, Golds. And that I can’t cut your balls off.”

I gave a little shrug. “Can’t argue with that.”

”We should wait though; let it get worse,” she continued, facing me. “You know how it works: the longer I let it build, the more intense it gets. Then when I finally get it, it’s like… booooom. Mind-blowingly good.”

“Yeah,” I replied, leaning back on the couch. “Until I cum. Then it goes away.”

“Yeah.”

We sat, wondering how long we should wait, how long we could wait, and how good it was going to be once we did it. Then something crossed my mind, and I let out a snicker.

“Hey… wouldn’t it be great if it stayed intense like that all night long?”

She nodded. “I won’t lie, that would be amazing. I guarantee I would cum super hard, like… a thousand fucking times.”

“Hm. I wonder if we, like…” I stopped, brows furrowed.

Sunset turned to look at me when I trailed off. “What?”

My eyes shifted onto her. “I just got a fucking… brilliant... idea, Sunny.” I gave my head a shake. “Holy shit, I’m a genius.”

“No, you’re not. But go ahead and humour me.”

*****

It was just after midnight when the silent serenity of the woods was shattered, its blackness pierced by the headlights of a thirty-year-old diesel pickup as it ripped around the bend, pistons hammering, turbos screaming.

Inside the cab was me, perched behind the wheel. Next to me was Sunset Shimmer, kneeling on the center seat, one hand on my thigh, the other on my shoulder, her lips tracing my jaw line. Her breaths were deep and hot, pounding against my neck between licks and kisses.

The red-head was in heat. Big time.

After a gentle bite to my earlobe, followed by a noisy smooch, she backed away to speak, but instead leaned in again to lick my temple. She backed away a second time and sat on her calves, panting through her teeth. “Tell me again; tell me your idea.”

I glanced over at her, brows furrowed, feeling the saliva she’d left behind cooling the side of my face. “I just told you, like, five minutes ago.”

“I wanna hear it again,” she breathed, biting her lip. “It’s so fucking hot; I can’t fucking wait ‘til we get there!” Her hand slid from my thigh to my crotch, where her palm found the tent-pole that was holding the front of my pants up. She pressed down on it, sending a shiver up my spine as she tilted her hand to wrap her fingers around its stiff girth, separated from her hand by the material of my pants. “Ooh… feel that?” she teased, her lips brushing my cheek as she worked her hand up and down, stroking that warm length through my clothes. “That feel good?”

My eyelids fluttered. “Yeah,” I muttered, my heart pounding with the same intensity as the six cylinders under the hood.

“Mmmm…” A wet kiss found my cheek. “By morning, I’m gonna have this fucking thing worn down to a nub.”

“Well I certainly hope not; I wa—mmm!” Her lips had found mine, stifling my words. This was a problem, however, because I could no longer see where I was going. I turned away just as she tried to slip her tongue into my mouth, which caused it to slide across my cheek, leaving a warm, moist streak behind. “OK… Sunny, I’m trying to drive,” I said as I leaned away from her.

Sunset followed, her lips in hot pursuit of mine. A breath later, she was in front of me again, joining her mouth with mine once more.

“Sunny! I can’t see where I’m going!” I twisted my head and looked past her to see the windshield, but those fiery locks were still blocking my view. “Get back; I can’t—RUFF! RUFF, RUFF, RUFF! RUFF!”

Sunset recoiled quickly. She leaned back and scowled, and then slapped the top of my head. “Don’t bark at me, you jackass!”

“I can’t see the road!”

She rolled her eyes and glanced through the windshield. “Fuck.” Then her eyes landed on my pants again. Biting her lip, she leaned closer and cupped her hand over my crotch to steal a firm caress. “Fine then. How about I put my mouth somewhere that won’t block your view?”

The suggestion made my skin tingle. I glanced over at her to find a cocked brow and a tongue poking the inside of that smooth, amber cheek.

“Yeeeaahh,” she breathed, convinced that this was the greatest idea ever. “That’s what I’ll do.” She sat on the seat next to me and picked away at my pants with her fingertips. Before long, my belt was unbuckled and my zipper was yanked down; her bare fingers slithered into my shorts and wrapped around that hot trunk, her knuckles glazed by the slathering of pre-ejaculate that’d been spread around the inside of the fabric.

Her frame stiffened when her fingers touched me, brows furrowing as my mind surged into hers. She searched and tuned the frequencies until she found what she was looking for: my real-time thoughts. With a firsthand view of what she’d be serving me, she pursed her lips and pulled my erection free.

I glanced down at it, feeling the kiss of cool air as it stood proudly between me and the steering wheel, Sunset’s fist wrapped firmly around the base. She shifted her position to lie across the seat on her belly with her head above my lap, her knees bent so her feet pointed upward next to the passenger door.

Without a word, the red-head leaned down and flicked the tip with her tongue, picking up a small sample of clear fluid that had seeped from the opening. With a quick smack of her lips, she familiarised herself with the taste, and then she came down to wrap her lips around that swollen head. She gave it a warm caress using her mouth, her cheeks caving in as she sucked more of the juice from me.

My eyelids twitched. Wonderful sensations flowed up my spine. Her lips were soft, her mouth hot. It felt wonderful after a full week of abstinence, especially after witnessing a pants-less siren, a stripper fingering the nethers of that sexy purple-haired girl, and of course, having my own fingers inside a foreign princess with an eighteen year old’s body.

This was my reward. At last, it was my turn to be serviced, and who better to do it than someone who I knew could feel exactly what I was feeling?

“Ohh… Wow, Sunny. That is…” I bit my lip, knowing I didn’t need to tell her a single thing; she already knew how it felt, and she knew how to make it even better.

“Mmmm,” was the only response I got. Her voice buzzed through my length as that nasty tongue of hers fluttered against the tip, making me grip the steering wheel just a little tighter. Her soft lips took center stage next when they slid down the shaft, the heat and moisture of her hungry mouth following in close tandem. She pinned the head between her tongue and the roof of her mouth next, drawing a suction as she slowly lifted again, letting her lips slide up the shaft —millimeter by glorious millimeter— until they popped over the ridge and paused, staying wrapped around the tip. Her tongue swirled around it, painting it in a warm coat of saliva and teasing me into an uncontrollable shudder as I did my best to concentrate on not going off the road.

Then she surprised me by plunging downward so her lips met the top of her fist, shoving my head nearly to the back of her throat. I had moved a hand from the wheel to place it between her shoulder blades just as she did this, and her back arched under my touch when she caused herself to wretch, trying force as much of me into her mouth as she could.

Sunset continued this pleasure-feast as I drove on, struggling to keep my eyes open so I could watch the road—while also keeping an eye on that mass of red-and-yellow hair, bouncing up and down above my lap. A suck here, a lick there; a gag as she drove me down her throat once again, followed by her soft, pursed lips circling the ridge and then spreading a long kiss down the length of that soaking wet shaft—all if it, again and again and again.

The sensation rose steadily. Damn, how I’d missed the touch of a woman! Each caress of her lips, each flick of her tongue, every second that passed, and every move she made drew me closer, elevated me, pressurized me, guiding me to that wonderful and much needed release.

But was it time? We didn’t want to mess up our plan…

Since my hand was already there, I gave her back a gentle tap. “Sunny? I’m uh —hooh boy— I’m... gettin kinda close.” I paused for a moment, rolling my tongue around the inside of my cheek. Then I looked down at her. “But I guess you probably knew that… since you’re reading me right now.”

“Mmmm.”

My words rolled off of her like water from a feather, and she continued to fuck me relentlessly with her mouth—in fact, she intensified her motions, kicking my ascent into overdrive.

I drew a deep breath and let my head fall back as Sunset’s mouth travelled the entire length of my erection, one round-trip after another—her lips tight, her hair a blur, her saliva pooled around the top of her fist as it gripped the shaft firmly. “Hang on, are you sure you want to…” My eyelids began to flutter when I swelled inside her mouth. “Holy crap… Sunny, w-wait—“

Sunset did not wait. She went full steam ahead with full intentions of sucking a mouthful of hot goo out of me—and she was not known for failing when she set out to do something.

The pressure peaked, and the sensation became overwhelming; her lips —which electrified me wherever they touched— slowed and came to rest, wrapped around my swollen, rigid length as it pulsed and fired relentlessly into her mouth, flooding her cheeks with the satisfying taste of a job well done. She took the opportunity to play with me, letting her lips massage that sensitive, throbbing tip as she flicked at the opening, trying to bat those thick, juicy ropes down as they emerged; more than one of them hit the tip of her tongue, covering it with that distinctive flavour as the rest of it splashed down against the backs of her teeth.

Slowly, the climax subsided, and thankfully, I’d managed to stay on the road. Sunset drew a long breath through her nose, waiting for the convulsions to subside. She moaned deeply as her tongue swept around that sensitive knob, mixing the thick mess that’d just entered her mouth with her saliva. At last, with her lips sealed tight, she let them slide away, making me shiver as I felt them pass over every single nerve ending on the way out.

I exhaled deeply, opening my eyes wide and blinking them as I watched the road rush toward us. Sunset sat up and retreated to the passenger seat, saying nothing. A quick glance her way told me why: her jaw was lowered slightly and her lips were drawn tight, and I could see the odd protrusion of her cheeks as her tongue poked around the inside of her mouth.

It was still in there.

I sighed and brought my attention back to the windshield. A few moments passed in silence, save for the clattering from under the hood. When she still said nothing, even after a discomforting amount of time went by, I let curiosity get the better of me and turned to face her again.

It was still in her mouth. And not only that, she was staring directly at me the entire time.

Back to the road my eyes went. “Uh… Sunny? Are you thinking about swallowing that sometime, or…?” I glanced at her again.

She shrugged. Then she winked at me.

I glanced at the road once more before continuing. “That’s not gonna, like… fuck up our plan is it?”

She shook her head and pointed between her legs. “Mm.”

“Oh… right.” I nodded and faced the road again. Feeling a draft below, I glanced down at my lap to see my manhood still protruding from my pants. It was slowly beginning to sag, so I reached down with one hand to tuck it away before it had a chance to touch the steering wheel.

Sunset sat quietly as I drove. She inflated her cheeks and tilted her head to one side, then the other, letting the contents of her mouth run back and forth over her tongue. Then she started swishing it like mouthwash.

“Uuugh!” I grimaced when I heard it. “OK. Sunny? You have swallow that right now or I’m turning this truck around.”

She snorted and covered her mouth, struggling to hold her laughter. As soon as she regained control, she gulped the load down and laughed out loud.

“Hahaha! Your face, hahaha!” She pointed at me, holding her other hand in front of her mouth. “And just so we’re clear, the only reason I swallowed that is because I didn’t want to snort it out of my nose.”

My lip curled into a sneer. “Gross.”

Sunset faced forward and casually tousled her hair. “So that was pretty good, eh?” she bragged, after a moment. Then she cleared her throat and swallowed again, smacking her lips.

“Uh… yeah. A little unexpected, but yeah.”

The red-head pursed her lips. “Well, you’re not off the hook yet, big fella. Not by a long shot.”

“Yeah.”

“Fuck. Are we almost there or what?”

“Pretty close. Ten minutes, maybe?”

“Good.” She folded her arms, pressing her thighs together to alleviate the buzzing between her legs. “My panties are fucking soaked; I can’t wait to get my ass out of ‘em.”

*****

Fluttershy laid quietly on that worn-out chaise lounge, checking for unread messages on her phone. Her house was dark, save for the TV, which she had turned on, but never actually selected anything to watch, so the room was bathed in a dim, blue silence. She was alone, aside from Link and Angel—who were off in the dark somewhere, slumbering.

They had only been home from the camp for a few hours. Rarity had decided—no, needed— to go straight home to wash off a week’s worth of outdoor filth, and dusty old cabin filth, and all of the other types of filth she’d been forced to endure throughout the week, leaving Fluttershy at home, all by herself in the dark.

Even her beloved Golden Arrow was nowhere to be found. A quick text had solved that mystery, however; he was at Sunset’s, waiting for her to return home to tell her about something that’d happened while they were away.

Something ‘a bit brash,’ as he put it.

No matter. He would likely be home before the night was done, and if Fluttershy was being truthful, a little time alone after such a busy week would be a welcome escape. She liked the quiet; she liked the calm.

Fluttershy sighed and took one hand from her phone and set it on her abdomen. Then, slowly, she slid it downwards, toward the top of the yoga pants she’d slipped into after coming home. There was a warmth beginning to radiate from below her waistline, and the need to find and satisfy it was growing steadily.

Perhaps now was the perfect time.

She took a brief pause, and then snuck her fingertips under the waistband, looking for the top of her panties.

The search was cut short, however, when the clatter of a diesel engine could be heard in the distance, its volume increasing steadily as it approached from the road.

A smile appeared on the shy girl’s face immediately. She withdrew her hand and gripped her phone to make it look like she wasn’t about to the thing that she was about to do—because now she didn’t need to!

Yay.

The sound approached the house and became impossibly loud —louder than she remembered, which excited her— and then it stopped.

Silence.

She waited patiently. A door opened, and then it closed. Then a second door opened.

Fluttershy furrowed her brow. Hm… must have had to get something out of the other side.

That door closed and then, a few seconds later, the front door to the house opened, followed by a cold breeze that gave her goosebumps.

“Flutters?” he called from out of sight.

The shy girl’s heart leapt. It had been a whole week since she heard that voice. She grinned and shook her phone excitedly, but then forced herself into a calm state and cleared her throat. “Oh, um… hi, Goldie.”

“How was your week?”

“Um… it was good. I-I missed you,” she replied sweetly, listening to the rustle of clothing and the clomping of boots after the door was shut. Strangely enough, she thought she heard a soft whisper or two, but she shook it off as him fidgeting with his clothing.

“What? Oh…” he whispered, followed by a cough. “Yeah, I uh… I missed you, too. Quite a bit, actually.”

Fluttershy smiled. “Aww. Hm. Why don’t you come lay down with me?”

“Sure, I—“ A pause, then a frantic whisper. ”Are you fuckin serious!?”

The shy girl’s brows furrowed. Why the tone? Serious about what? Was something wrong?

“Um, Goldie?”

“What, she’s talking to me?” His voice got louder again. “Oh, uh... yeah. Here I… uh, here I come.”

Fluttershy listened as the sound of soft footsteps crossed the room, approaching the far end of the couch from behind. With a fresh smile on her face, she shimmied down into a laying position and set her phone aside, ready to receive her lover. She watched the end of the couch intently, waiting to see me emerge.

Who she saw, however, was not Golden Arrow; instead, she saw those bouncy, instantly-recognisable waves of hair, their normally red and yellow hues tinted to a dark purple and green by the azure glow of the TV. Befuddled, Fluttershy lifted her head and blinked, wondering if she was hallucinating.

She wasn’t. It was Sunset.

“Oh! Um…” She inhaled quickly. “H-hi there, Sunsssssssssss…”

Fluttershy trailed off when the red-head came into full view, stunned silent by what she was wearing, which was only three things: a pair of shiny, black gloves —that counts as two— and a lacy, dark red thong.

That was it.

The shy girl’s breath lodged in her throat, her heart stuttering like an engine with no oil pressure as she watched Sunset saunter her way towards the lounge, hips swinging, naked breasts bouncing with each stride, her skin glowing a vivid blue as she passed before the TV.

Her features eclipsed into a silhouette when she put herself between the screen and Fluttershy, who watched speechless and wide-eyed as the red-head dropped to her hands and knees at the foot of the lounge and crawled over her.

Fluttershy watched Sunset’s breasts dangle pendulously above her own legs, hips, waist and then finally, her bust, as she brought herself up to eye-level with the shy girl, letting her abdomen settle down on top of her. She straddled Fluttershy’s hips and looked down at her for a moment, her expression hidden in the dark, surrounded by those sweet-smelling, wavy locks.

Fluttershy’s heart raced. She was terrified, confused —and slightly aroused, admittedly— all at once. What was Sunset doing here? And why in-the-name-of-all-things-cute-and-furry was she almost naked?

She’d just seen her friend earlier that day when they left the camp, but Sunset’s behaviour was completely different then. It was normal. She was not the same person now, and the reason for this was no difficult mystery to solve:

Goldie!

Clearly, the culprit was Sunset’s proximity to a certain someone, and now she was ravenous for pleasure. Endless pleasure. Pleasure that she would have no problem taking, and giving, with anyone, as experience would dictate.

And, to be honest, Fluttershy kind of liked it. She secretly loved surprises like this, and she loved playing along with them.

The shy girl’s thoughts came to a halt, however, when Sunset inhaled deeply and arched her back; she drove her hips forward to drag her mound along Fluttershy’s belly, pulling her shirt up along with it. She quaked at the sensation of those damp panties sliding past her navel, but there was no time for her to process it before an erect nipple grazed her lips and then brushed the tip of her nose.

“Mmmm.”

That moan, the sound of pure desire coming from Sunset’s throat caused the shy girl’s own nethers to tingle, and she pressed her head back into the cushion so she could focus on the breasts that dangled just above her face, feeling the telltale moisture soak through the crotch of that thong and into her belly, warming her skin.

A slow exhale came from above, followed by Sunset’s voice.

“Hey, Flutters.”

Fluttershy shifted her sights upward, past those hanging breasts and the collarbones beyond, but she was unable to see Sunset’s face in the shadows.

“Um… hi.”

“Whatcha doin?” Sunset asked, her tone laced with bogus innocence as she purposely lowered herself to dip her bust in Fluttershy’s face again.

“Um… n-not muffh—“

The shy girl’s reply was smothered by the warm, soft weight of the red-head’s breast coming to rest on her lips.

Sunset lifted again, a low giggle in her throat. Then she let herself drop, slowly this time, so her nipple just barely touched Fluttershy’s lips, teasing her, tempting her, drawing a shaky breath from the lighter girl.

Fluttershy knew what Sunset wanted. It gave her goosebumps; it made her bosom flutter. Letting her eyes drift shut, she reached out with her tongue and gave a gentle lick to the very tip of that throbbing bud, which drew an immediate reaction from the powerful body above her.

Sunset’s frame shivered when the tiny sensation shot through her, her breath hitching sharply as she looked down at the shy girl. “More.”

With no choice or desire not to obey, Fluttershy reached up to close her lips around her friend’s nipple, sucking gently as her tongue feathered its sensitive tip.

Sunset’s head tipped back, a wave of fresh air rushing into her lungs. “Yyyyeah,” she whispered, her skin tingling with delight as the other girl’s mouth teased her, her delicate yellow fingers taking a gentle grip on her waist. Her heart raced and her nethers throbbed when the thought of what was yet to come flashed through her mind, even as the sensation of Fluttershy’s oral ministrations flashed through her loins. Despite this, impatience got the better of her, and she slid down over the shy girl, pulling her breast from the gentle clutches of those soft lips.

Sunset’s hips came to rest on Fluttershy’s, those smooth thighs surrounding the other girl’s legs as she laid her body down, mashing her bare breasts against the shy girl’s still-clothed bust. Without hesitation, the red-head connected her lips to Fluttershy’s, giving no time for her to regroup after being pinned helplessly to the lounge cushion.

Sunset’s tongue slipped into her mouth, bringing the odd, musky taste of her saliva with it. Fluttershy knew this flavour; she’d tasted it plenty of times before —in Rarity’s mouth as well as her own— and, of course, straight from the source. It wasn’t the sweetest flavour by any means, but it was enticing nonetheless, and she found herself reaching past Sunset’s tongue with her own to steal some of it for herself.

Sunset pulled the kiss apart after a moment, their tongues slipping away from one another as the shy girl’s mind played through its version of what must have happened during the hour-long drive from town. It wasn’t hard to imagine, given the evidence, especially when Sunset exhaled against her face, filling her nostrils with more of the naughty scent.

Never one to call someone out, Fluttershy opted to go the small-talk route instead. “Um, so… what’ve you guys been up to?”

“Ohh, not much,” Sunset breathed, her hips thrusting downward to press her mound against Fluttershy’s. Both girls shuddered from the sensation it created, and then Sunset continued. “I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that my magic has kicked in—in a bad way, too.”

The shy girl licked her lips. “I did kind of notice, actually, but, um… howcome you and Goldie didn’t just… you know… take care of it like always?”

Sunset drew a breath and then paused. “Well, uhhhh… that’s actually why we’re here. We had an idea —well… it was his idea really— and… we thought you might be interested in helping us out with it.”

“Oh?” Fluttershy replied curiously, glancing down and biting her lip as Sunset cupped a gloved-hand over her breast, giving it a squeeze through her shirt.

“Yeah,” Sunset said, bringing her attention from kneading Fluttershy’s breast back to her face. “We kinda need an extra person for it to work, and we thought you’d be the person most likely willing to do it.”

“Oh… OK. Well… um, what’s your plan?”

Sunset brought her face down, just enough for her nose to touch Fluttershy’s. “I’d be glad to tell you… but first, you gotta eat my pussy.”

The shy girl could feel the colour drain from her face when she heard this, and her breath caught in her throat when Sunset’s lips briefly pressed against hers before she sat upright, letting her weight rest on her hips.

“So? What’s it gonna be? You up for it?”

Fluttershy blinked a few times and then gave a small nod, saying nothing.

“Smart,” Sunset said as she lifted herself up to slip the red thong down, extending one leg into the air at a time to slip them past her feet before tossing them aside. Then she shuffled forward until she straddled Fluttershy’s face, letting her knees slide outwards on the cushion to lower herself into the other girl’s reach.

Fluttershy reached up and hooked her hands around the tops of Sunset’s thighs as she descended, her mouth open and ready to receive that tender treat, to taste the flavour of its juices and to feel its heat against her face.

Sunset sat harder than expected, smearing a layer of warm, slick fluid from her crotch and inner thighs onto Fluttershy’s cheeks as she wiggled her hips into place, making sure she’d be comfortable while her friend serviced her.

Meanwhile, I had pulled a chair out and sat at the table to watch the scene unfold. Sunset faced me over the back of the couch while she sat on my girlfriend’s face; she folded her arms on the cushion and locked eyes with me as she felt the shy girl’s lips close around her hood, her tongue snaking in to probe at her soft layers before venturing even deeper.

After drawing a breath, Sunset bit her lip gave her head a shake, followed by a smirk. “What do you think, Golds? I think it’s only fair: I let you cum in my mouth, now I get to cum in your girlfriend’s mouth.”

I shrugged and let my hand fall to the table with a slap. “I don’t hear her complaining.”

The red-head smirked. “Neither do I.”

The room went quiet for a moment, and Sunset and I stared each other down, contemplating the things we had in store for each other that night.

It was her gaze that wavered first. A flutter of her lashes preceded her eyes rolling back slightly, followed by her mouth dropping open as her breaths slowly evolved into heavy panting. She paused briefly to swallow, then her brows furrowed.

I cocked my head and smirked. “She’s good, eh?”

“Hoooo…” Sunset gasped, her face contorted with ever-increasing pleasure. “Wow. Your girlfriend has a… a long fucking tongue.”

I chuckled and glanced down at the wooden tabletop. Then I brought my eyes back to Sunset in time to see hers flutter closed. “Why don’t you give her a squeeze?”

Her mouth hung open, her eyelids squeezed together tightly. “Ohh… W-what?”

“Squeeze her tongue.”

Her eyes popped open. “With my…? Uh… mmm, OK…” Sunset bit her lip and began to breathe through her nose, furrowing her brows as she concentrated on what she was doing.

She must have succeeded, because a muffled squeal rang out from beneath her.

The red-head chortled at the sound, her eyes wild when they locked onto mine again. “I’d say she felt that.”

“Sounds like it.”

“OHH!” Her eyes slammed shut suddenly and she put her head down, resting her cheek on her arms. “Holy sh-shit! Fluh… Flutters! Ahh!”

I sat still, watching patiently as Sunset’s muscles gradually tightened up, her cries rising in pitch as unseen forces worked away at her; licking, sucking, and lapping away at her soaked and throbbing nethers.

An orgasm hit not long after, prompting her to fill the little house with her voice, no doubt scaring the shit out of Link, wherever he was.

She gripped the backrest and threw her head back, panting straight upward, breasts heaving as she rode the climax out. When it finally faded, she came forward and buried her face in the cushion for a short breather, then she rolled over to sit next to the shy girl.

“Wow…” she panted as she stared at the TV screen, her face bathed in that bright blue light. “Flutters, that… pppfft!”

“Um… I-I’m glad you liked it,” the shy girl replied. She licked her lips and then wiped her face with the back of her hand, but only succeeded in getting her knuckles wet; her face was utterly saturated in Sunset’s nectar. “So, um… are you gonna tell me your idea now?”

Sunset stopped panting to look over at her friend, then she stood in front of the couch and looked down at her. “No. I need one more.”

“W-what!?” Fluttershy protested as Sunset reached down and grabbed her by the arms to pull to her to her feet.

The red-head bent down, hugged the shy girl’s hips and hoisted her into the air, slinging her over her shoulder by the waist.

“EEP! Um… S-Sunset? Where are we going?” Fluttershy asked as she placed her hands just above the red-head’s backside, her long, pink hair swinging behind Sunset’s legs as she was hauled around the end of the couch.

Oh shit, I thought to myself as Sunset approached the table and stopped, glancing past my girlfriend’s rear-end at me.

“You coming or what?”

I stood quickly. “I guess I’d better.”

“Yeah, I’d say so,” she said as she continued into the hallway.

Moments later, we found ourselves in Fluttershy’s bedroom. Sunset was lying back, near the foot of the bed with her knees apart. Fluttershy had knelt on the floor with her face between the red-head’s thighs, her thumbs holding Sunset’s vulva open to keep her clit exposed while her tongue fluttered rapidly against it. Sunset squirmed and howled uncontrollably as that sensitive little bud was bombarded, unrelenting until a second climax built itself up and quickly exploded on the tip of the shy girl’s busy tongue. She arched her back sharply, crying out in a cracked voice when the shy girl’s lips closed around her hood, her tongue spiralling around that clit as Sunset tugged on fistfuls of her friend’s soft, pink hair.

Once Fluttershy was satisfied that Sunset had had her fill, she rose to crawl over the naked girl, her bottom lip still connected to the red-head’s hood by a long, thick strand of transparent goo. The lady-cum stretched and broke as Fluttershy made her way up to position their faces close together, her teeth gritted firmly.

“You’d better tell me your fucking idea now, Sunset!” she demanded softly, spraying Sunset’s face with her own nectar when she pronounced the ‘F’ in ‘fucking.’

“Ughuh… OK... alright,” Sunset panted, struggling to keep her eyes open. “C’mere.” She waved her fingers to signal Fluttershy to turn her head so she could whisper in her ear.

During all of this, I was seated at the head of the bed, pants tented. I kept an eye on Fluttershy’s pretty little face as Sunset whispered our plan to her; her eyes darted about curiously for the first bit, but then they widened when the red-head got to her part, and she backed up to look her friend square in the face.

“Goodness! Really?”

“Yeah, but there’s more. Come here,” Sunset waved her back down, and Fluttershy complied by placing her ear close to Sunset’s mouth again.

Again, Fluttershy’s eyes went wide, but this time they drifted up the bed until they locked with mine; she stared intently at me, listening to her friend’s whispers.

Those teal irises sent shivers down my spine. I already knew she would go for it —was there ever any doubt?— but seeing that satanic look in her eyes firsthand was… thrilling, to say the least, and I could hardly wait to see how it was going to play out.

When Sunset was finished, she watched as Fluttershy crawled backwards and stood at the foot of the bed. “Well? What do you think, Flutt—“

She stopped when the shy girl’s shirt was peeled over her head and thrown aside, followed by an unclasped bra coming away, liberating those lovely yellow breasts from its confines.

“Uh… I take it you’re on board then?” Sunset asked as she watched her friend slide her pants down, underwear and all.

Instead of answering, Fluttershy brought her nude, yellow figure, complete with that long, pink hair, smooth, graceful curves, hairless mound and full, luscious breasts, around the bed towards me. She reached down, grabbed my shirt collar and tugged, prompting me to stand. When I did, she peeled the shirt over my head and threw it away, then she wrapped her arms around me, squashing that soft, warm bust against my chest. After a quick kiss that tasted of Sunset’s juices, the shy girl clenched her jaw and looked me straight in the eyes.

“Get over there and fuck her senseless.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I replied as she took my spot, watching me head to the foot of the bed where Sunset was waiting.

The red-head sat up when I approached, biting her lip as she reached forth to run those gloved fingertips down my chest, no doubt wishing she was touching me with her bare hands instead. Having to stave off the rush of thoughts from me could be taxing after extended periods, however, and it took away from what was happening elsewhere in her body, which, especially tonight, was not an option—so the gloves were essential.

I had begun to work at unbuckling my belt in the meantime, but she was quick to notice this, and so she batted my hands away to claw impatiently at the fasteners herself. Quick work was made of them, and before long, she yanked my zipper down, followed by the pants themselves and finally, my shorts.

As the last garment was removed, she was leaning forward slightly to pull it down, putting her in a precarious position; the waistband of my shorts bent my erection downward as they dropped, and when it popped free, it sprang upward and bopped Sunset on the nose, causing her to jump back in surprise.

“Whoa!” she giggled, leaning in again to plant a kiss on the tip. She licked her lips afterward, tasting the smooth coating of pre-ejaculate they’d collected during the smooch, and, unable to resist stealing another sample, she came forward and wrapped her mouth around the head to give it a firm suck. Letting her lips slowly slip away, she completed the act with that perfect little smack sound made by the release of suction.

“OK,” Sunset announced, looking up at me with that turquoise seduction, her lips curled into a devilish grin. “It’s time for some real fun.” She crawled backwards until she was positioned next to the naked, yellow figure of Fluttershy, who was lying on her side, ready to oversee the event.

After kicking free of my pants, I leaned on the mattress and crawled over the red-head, positioning myself between her thighs, which were raised, knees parted to invite me in. I let my weight settle on her; my chest flattened her bust, my hips pressed against her inner thighs as her legs wrapped around mine, heels hooked behind my knees to hold me in place.

Our lips connected for several short kisses, after which I moved to her soft, smooth cheek and then traced a line to the corner of her jaw, where I nipped at her earlobe, making her respond with a giggle and a shrug. Her eyes drifted shut and a breath was drawn as my lips brushed her neck, sucking on her warm skin, nibbling on her collarbone; while this was happening, her hand and snaked itself down between us to grasp my length with fingertips wrapped in that smooth, black material.

I am quite certain that when Rarity designed Sunset’s suit with removable gloves, this was not the use she’d had in mind for them, but at that point, who was I to complain? As tough as that material was, it felt surprisingly nice.

Not quite as nice, however, as the feel of her soft, warm folds rubbing against the tip of my manhood. Sunset had guided me into her crease and was tracing the length of it with my head; sensations rang throughout the both of us as she mixed our fluids together, her flesh coated in that warm slickness, made slightly rubbery by the presence of Fluttershy’s saliva.

Her voice vibrated against my lips as I continued to kiss her throat, a hungry moan that’d slipped free when she placed my tip at her entrance. Feeling it sit so tantalizingly close to penetration drove her into an impatient frenzy, and both of her hands quickly found themselves on my hips to draw me closer.

I gave in and let myself sink into her, savouring the feel of that hot moisture and soft grip working its way up my length as her depths swallowed me up, second by second, inch by inch.

Control of my own breathing had escaped me for a moment, and I halted the stream of kisses on her neck to blast it with a hot exhale.

Damn it, it was glorious. Finally, after a week of loneliness, of desperate longing, of torture, of teasing —some of it by my own doing, admittedly— I was inside someone at last. I honestly didn’t care who it was; Rarity, Fluttershy, Sunset, or any of the others. It really didn’t matter. I couldn’t recall a time when I needed to feel that hot embrace, squeezing me from base to tip, as badly as I did that night.

So many catalysts had led to such need: Sonata traipsing around in her underwear, her little half-wedgie when she was searching for a blanket, her pointy little hard-ons poking through that shirt as she described Pinkie Pie’s curvy body in nothing but a little thong, making me envious of the siren for having the exclusive pleasure of seeing those massive, pink tits.

Then there was Trixie and her luscious, blue curves.

Oh, how I wanted to unload that night! Starting with the stripper’s perfect, blue ass pressing into my lap, her soft warmth grinding against the bulge in my pants; then there was the sight of Starlight’s fingers planted between those thick, azure lips. I still had that mental snapshot of the purple-haired visitor sprawled out on that bench, pants-less, crying out with delight as the white-haired dancer enjoyed the exchange, stroking that curiously sensitive canal, savouring the sweet taste of appreciation on her lips.

And of course, I couldn’t forget about the princess and her little teenage body; the feel of her hot interior wrapped around my finger was nearly heart-stopping, and I would have loved nothing more than to have it instead wrapped around my—

“OHHH!”

Sunset’s voice tore me from my thoughts, and I was quickly returned to the moment. Only fractions of a second had passed, but it already felt like I’d been inside her for an eternity. This was a good thing, however, and a profound realisation, because this session was literally just getting started.

Realising my mouth was still planted in the crook of her neck, I lifted my head to look her in the face; her eyes were full of bliss, her mouth open, firing her breath into the air.

“Please, fuck me,” Sunset whispered, her lips quivering. I leaned down to kiss them, to calm them, and then I proceeded to fulfill her wishes.

Thrust after thrust was dealt. Her head arched back, eyes closed, mouth wide. Her arms wrapped around my back, her hands gripping my shoulders tightly to keep herself steady as that rigid girth rammed into her depths, again and again. Kisses were exchanged, dirty talk was uttered, glances tossed in Fluttershy’s direction to see what she was doing—which was always little more than watching intently as she rolled a stiff nipple between her thumb and forefinger.

It wasn’t long before the red-head climaxed, her body trembling as it arched against mine, muscles stiff, her warmth pulsing around me and gushing with satisfaction.

“Aaaahh!” she cried, her head to the side, eyes squeezed shut. “Fuck… that’s so goooood! AAH!”

I paused for a moment to enjoy her flesh, its rhythmic spasms surrounding my length. Then I leaned down to plant a few kisses on her cheek while I waited for her body to calm itself.

“Oh my… did you like that?” a soft voice came from beside us.

Sunset’s eyes opened to find the shy girl looking back with a lustful gaze. She shook her head and exhaled loudly. “Fuck, Flutters…” she panted as her eyes rolled back. “I can’t even. I fucking love this magic. Why did I ever think it was a curse?” She swallowed. “This is SO not a curse. It’s not. Sex was never, ever this good before.”

Her arms slipped from my shoulders and flopped onto the mattress, sprawled out to the sides. Freed from her clutches, I rose and leaned above her with my hands on the mattress, looking down at her. “Well… we’re just gettin started, Sunny. There’s plenty more of this still ahead of us, so I hope you’re committed.”

Sunset looked up at me, still panting. After a few blinks, her brow furrowed slightly. “I know that. I was just sayin…” She placed a hand on her forehead and drew a breath. “Well?” she said, looking up at me again. “What’s the hold up?”

I glanced at Fluttershy and snickered; she rolled onto her back and crossed her arms above her head, putting that glorious yellow body and perfect breasts on display as she waited patiently, ready to see the action continue.

I was well aware of my girlfriend’s love of watching her friends getting railed, and I sure as hell wasn’t about to disappoint her. On the other hand, however, the sight of her lying there, naked as the day she was born, was extremely alluring, and I found myself craving the feel of that soft, daffodil-coloured skin against mine.

“Hold that thought, Sunny,” I said, giving her hip a gentle pat before withdrawing from her. “I wanna have a round with Flutters before things start getting real here.”

Huffing, Sunset closed her eyes and combed her fingers into her bangs. “K, fine. Hurry back, though.”

Those teal eyes lit up when Fluttershy saw me cross the bed for her, and she brought her knees up, separating her thighs to welcome me in as she reached up, cupping my cheeks with her hands to pull me down into a tongue-filled kiss.

“This isn’t part of the plan,” she giggled. “Not that I’m complaining or anything.”

“Like I said, I just want a little piece of you while I still can,” I replied, following with a kiss on her neck, just below her ear. “I fuckin missed you this week.”

“Aww!” She gave me a hug and then a kiss on the cheek. “I missed you, too.” Then she placed her hands on the back of my head, putting our foreheads together to look me dead in the eyes. “Now, you’d better do what you came here to do, mister—before Sunset gets irate.”

“Right.” After a quick peck on her lips, I sat upright, hooked my hands under her thighs and lifted her legs, folding them back until her knees almost touched her shoulders. Those smooth, yellow lips of hers separated in this position, revealing the delicate, pink petals within; my length, gleaming with Sunset’s moisture, hovered above it, gently bumping her hood with the underside of the shaft.

Fluttershy took the cue and reached down, using her index finger to press the erection downward, nuzzling it between the folds at her entrance. Without hesitating, I pressed forward and sank into that yellow heaven, watching my length disappear head-first between those pink ruffles, driving myself and Sunset’s juices deeper until I was completely hidden inside her.

She threw her head back and cooed with delight, her bosom heaving as I proceeded with the spearing. Fluttershy’s interior hadn’t been flooded with arousal quite like Sunset’s, and so her texture was much more vivid, rather than being partly obscured by that thick layer of fluid; she felt tighter, and every soft, little ripple teased me as I passed through her, setting our collective nerve endings on fire more and more each time I sheathed myself in that tight, slick heat.

I gripped the backs of her knees firmly, feeding her a steady stream of deep, hard thrusts. She squeaked and panted, her moans soft, but rising in pitch as that perfect crescendo of sensation approached, hinting its arrival by forcing her muscles to stiffen, her womanhood filling with additional moisture to celebrate the event.

Fluttershy threw her head back when it finally happened, biting her lip and squeezing her eyes shut as she tried to stifle her cries. Her heart raced as she felt her interior convulse wildly, surrounding my length with her quivering flesh and warm juices.

“Oh-h-h-h my…” she shivered, reaching up to hang onto my shoulders while she waited for the climax to die down within her. “That was… Ohh, how I missed you, big boy!”

I leaned down to kiss her. “Me too, Flutters. That was great, as always, but duty calls,” I said as I rose to my hands and knees, both of us watching my length slip out. “Be back in a bit.”

Again, I shuffled sideways to position myself over the red-head, who was quick to reach up and pull me into a kiss.

“Goddammit, that was hot,” Sunset hissed, her breath warming my face. “Now give me some of that!”

"Calm down, Sunny, here it comes." I reached down and hooked my arms beneath Sunset’s knees to pick her legs up and sling them over my shoulders, letting her calves rest on my shoulder blades.

Sunset gasped excitedly. “Ooh, now we’re talking. I—AHH!”

Her statement switched to a yelp when I thrust my hips and buried my shaft completely inside her, those amber lips and pink folds parting to accommodate my girth before being slammed mercilessly against my lap.

“Holy shit, piss, cunt, fuck, ass, cock!” Sunset grunted as the profanity poured from her mouth. “Goddammit, that’s deep!”

I bit my lip as I watched the shock on her face, feeling myself project far into that soft grip. The heat and pressure that deep inside was breathtaking, and it caused my length to twitch with excitement. I knew it wouldn’t be long before I reached my finish, even after the release she’d given me during the drive; as wonderful as alternative sex acts can be, often times having their own appeal that even surpasses regular intercourse, sometimes there’s simply no substitute for the excitement of fucking a beautiful woman to pieces.

Off we went to cloud nine, Sunset and me; my length slid in and out from one end to the other, passing effortlessly between those soft petals as I ravaged her senseless, her face contorted with overwhelming ecstasy. Black hands gripped my arms to hold on for dear life, breasts adorned with hard nipples undulated on her chest while her voice filled the room—there was no way either of us could last long like this, not with those warm, smooth the sensations rippling from our sex as it slid together like a perfectly oiled machine.

“Yeeeaaah,” she whispered between breaths. “You like that? Is my pussy good? Huh? Is it gonna get you off?”

No time to answer. Just as the pressure began to build, Sunset’s womanhood exploded and drew itself tight around my length; her eyes closed, her body shook, her heart pounded like a drum.

All of this was too overwhelming: her soft, sloppy warmth wrapped around me as it climaxed wildly, her beautiful face contorted with rapture while her firm, shapely body spasmed beneath me; all of it conspired to draw a massive load of seed from me, and I began to swell rapidly inside her, ready to blow.

“Ohh!” she gasped, her eyes locking with mine. “Yeah! You’re almost there, aren’t you? I can feel it!”

“Mm… yeah, really close…” I grunted, biting my lip.

The pressure was right at the tip by then; I was ready to burst.

Now was the time to execute our plan.

Swiftly, I withdrew from Sunset and tossed her legs from my shoulders.

“Yeah, go! Go!” she gasped, feeling her vacant interior continue to twitch on its own as she rolled onto her side to watch.

Quick as lightning, I approached Fluttershy and flung her legs up and out of the way, placing my swollen head against that glistening, yellow slit. I pushed firmly and, thanks to the slick coating between us, my length slipped between those warm lips, allowing me back inside her. After a few short thrusts to tip me over the edge, the sensation quickly skyrocketed and I burst violently, pumping her full of that hot load.

“O-oh my!” Fluttershy’s eyes widened with shock, her mouth opening to let a high-pitched squeal escape. This was a shock to her system; going from empty to being filled completely by a raging, swollen girth like that was an surprising adjustment, especially when it began to throb immediately, dumping that hot pool so deep inside, giving her mind no time to absorb what was happening in her body.

It had never happened like this before.

“Mmmm…” Fluttershy reached up to stroke my cheek as the pulsing within began to taper off to its conclusion. “How was that?” she asked sweetly.

I closed my eyes, my body shivering uncontrollably under the gentle touch of her fingers, amplifying the feel of her soaked interior wrapped around me. “Amazing,” I replied, leaning down to kiss her.

Sunset was lying on her side, her head propped on her elbow. “Goddammit, you guys. Now that was fucking hot. I can’t wait to see more.”

I gave her a glance, studying her breasts as they hung towards the bed, offset on her chest. “Oh, you will,” I replied as I looked down at Fluttershy once more to appreciate the sight of those glistening, pink ruffles, parted and wrapped softly around my length. “OK, I’m gonna go,” I said, bringing her knees together and pushing them toward her chest. “So now you gotta stay like this, Flutters. Hold onto your legs; keep ‘em up, OK?”

“Mm-hm.” She nodded and wrapped her arms around the backs of her thighs to hug them, keeping her knees against her bust.

I withdrew slowly, watching myself slip from her pretty clutches until it fell free, leaving that pool of thick, white heat hidden deep inside her. Then I planted a kiss in the arches of her little yellow feet, eliciting a giggle from her before I paused to appraise the situation: Fluttershy was now lying on her back with her legs elevated, her backside and labia pointed at the ceiling to keep from spilling; Sunset was on her side, eyeing me up, her nethers presumably still on fire, having not yet received their reward.

Nor would they.

This was the plan all along: keep her hungry, keep that magic burning; give her a night she’ll never forget. Let Fluttershy have the cum—not that this step was completely necessary, but it was much sexier than simply wasting it; plus, we knew damn well that the shy girl would absolutely love doing something as naughty as this, and if there was one thing I cared about, it was giving my girlfriend lots of something that she loves.

“How d’you feel?” I asked Sunset. “Ready for more?”

“Damn fucking straight, I am,” she replied as she sat up and shifted closer to the foot of the bed. “We should probably clean you up a bit though; don’t want any leftovers ruining our fun, do we?”

“Good call, Sunny,” I said as I crawled toward the headboard to lie down next to Fluttershy. Drawing a breath, I watched the red-head crawl over me, letting her hair sweep across my skin as she leaned down and take my length in her mouth, sucking the juices from it. I was still somewhat sensitive, and had actually began to soften ever-so-slightly, but the feel of Sunset’s lips wrapped around my head was reinvigorating, and the firmness returned swiftly, ready to be buried in that hot canal yet again.

“Mmmm,” Sunset hummed as she let her lips slide away; she grasped the base of the shaft and squeezed gently, pulling her hand upward to squeeze a small, white pearl from the tip, which she vanquished with a simple flick of her tongue.

After giving one final, tantalizing lick to the underside of the shaft, starting at the base and moving all the way to the frenulum, the tickle of that fiery hair in concert with her tongue migrated upward, travelling over my stomach and then my chest. She crawled over me, her breasts brushing my skin along the way before she let her abdomen settle on top of mine, her warmth pressed against me as she leaned in for a kiss.

“What now?” I asked, placing my hands on her hips.

“Hmm…” She tapped her bottom lip with her index finger, eyes shifting upward as an innocent, but mischievous smirk appeared on her face.

After a quick glance down between us and finding the view blocked by her dangling bust, I gave the red-head a smirk and slid my hands behind her to squeeze that firm derrière, her breasts mashing against my chest as I pulled her in to connect our lips once more.

Sunset sat upright when kiss was broken, and she looked down to find my erection protruding from between her legs. She reached down to wrap her hand around it, biting her lip as she stroked the head, slowly and firmly, kicking off the next round of pleasure with a bit of manual teasing. Leaning forward slightly, she placed her hand on my chest and licked her lips, watching me; it was at tad strange to watch, Sunset looking like she was jerking herself off because of where my length was positioned, but it was ultimately short-lived as the urge to be penetrated overtook her and she released it to come down to meet me.

She planted a kiss on my prickly chin, echoed by a row of smooches across my cheek as her hips began to thrust downward; her thighs straddled mine as she gyrated and slithered, grinding her smooth, slick mound against me, pinning my length between us.

Sunset quivered and panted against my neck, following that with a flick to my earlobe with her tongue. “Ready?” she asked, her lips brushing my ear when she spoke.

“Always, Sunny.”

A short exhale blew against my throat, and she raised herself just enough to bring us face-to-face; her hair surrounded us, tickling my cheeks as she reached down to grasp my length, aiming it into the tight warmth between her legs. She pushed backwards next, impaling herself on that slippery mast, her breasts rolling down my chest while pulling upward on hers, creating wonderful cleavage for me to behold as I felt her heat envelope me down below.

Sunset’s eyes drifted shut when she’d sunk to the bottom. “Mmm, yeah…” Her mouth came down to meet mine, her tongue slipping its way past my defenses to fill my taste buds with the sins she’d already committed that night.

Her hips swung rhythmically, working me in and out. This didn’t last long, however; Sunset soon broke the kiss and sat up rather abruptly, letting her weight come to rest on my hips to drive me even farther into her. “Wow,” she gasped as she threw her head back with delight, bringing both hands up to run her fingers through her hair.

Having her arms raised perked her breasts up, tempting me to reach for them. I raised my arms to touch her, but rather than go directly for her bust, I laid my palms over her collarbones and then let them slowly move south. My fingertips danced over her delicate features, conforming to the roundness of her breasts as I made my way down; her nipples traced a line up my palms and then between my fingers before they continued down to her waist, matching the movement of her body as it slithered seductively and relentlessly, churning up a storm of lust and pleasure, her breaths deep and rapid, her noises rising in pitch.

My hands found homes on her hips and I closed my eyes, feeling her movements rather than seeing them, her clit grinding against my lap as her depths stroked my length right down to the base, each gyration gaining speed and intensity as her excitement rose in synch with it.

Before long, her breaths had become ragged and shallow. Her frame stiffened, delivering thrusts that were more like quick jerks; soon, she would be there yet again, and her body would be like melted butter within the next minute or two.

Then, an order slipped from her mouth between breaths:

“Grab my tits!”

I opened my eyes and looked up at her, but her patience had gone before I could do any more.

She took her fingers from her hair, reached down to grab my wrists and yanked my arms up to place my hands on her breasts.

“Squeeze my tits, I’m gonna cum!”

Just as my fingers hinged inwards, their tips sinking into those soft orbs, her interior clamped down quite firmly and she threw her head back to release a throaty howl of delight, followed by a gush of clear moisture that wetted my abdomen and then ran down my hips to soak the bedspread.

She gripped my forearms tightly, leaning against them for leverage as she bore down on me, her face contorted with ecstasy as the orgasm ravaged her body.

Then, as quickly as it came, it was gone. She went loose and leaned on my chest with her hands, pausing for a moment to enjoy the aftermath. Looking up at her, I could see those turquoise eyes gazing through that broken curtain of red locks as it pulsed forward, impacted by her breaths as they fired rhythmically from her lips.

“Damn…” I said, returning my hands to her thighs.

Sunset drew a deep breath and then released it, following with an incredulous shake of her head. “I… fucking love this cock.”

“You got some more left in you?”

She nodded slowly. “Lots.”

Lying next to us, Fluttershy watched as the red-head straightened up and resumed that wonderful gyrating: body slithering, back arching, hair swinging.

The shy girl drew a deep breath and hugged her knees against her bust, feeling the cool air nip at the moisture on her exposed slit, while deep inside her sat the generous reservoir of her lover’s seed.

She was acutely aware of it; its volume, sitting heavily in the pit of her loins, its heat permeating her insides. Over and over, her mind replayed how it was put there: pumped in by the man she loved, after it’d been coaxed to the surface by her friend’s beautiful, tasty flesh.

She wondered when he would be back to give her some more.

This thought prompted her attention back to Sunset. She was the key. It was she who was tasked with bringing the next load forth, to fuck him free of it, to ride it all the way home—most of the way home, that is.

Then, Fluttershy could have the next serving. She wondered what it would be like, to be injected with a second dose, what it would feel like having her depths filled to the brim.

Her nethers throbbed at the very thought of it. She watched the red-head thrust those strong hips again and again, making the entire bed move and creak noisily. She watched his hands grip those beautiful breasts, kneading them firmly as she rode him without mercy, sitting straight up on his hips, impaled on that wonderful mast.

Fluttershy tried to picture it inside of Sunset. How far up did it go? Hard to guess from the sidelines, really, but she knew from experience that it certainly felt like a long way, having been perched on that thing many times herself.

In fact, she could feel a craving to go for a ride coming on right then…

No! That wasn’t her job tonight. Sunset had that covered—boy, did she have it covered!

Fluttershy’s job was simple: be the dumpster. Take the loads so Sunset could maintain that hunger, to split her body in two with that incredible, magical pleasure, all night long. This was an easy thing for the shy girl to do, especially if it made her friend happy. She certainly looked happy at the moment—and she sounded happy, too.

Fluttershy snapped out of it when she realised what was happening. Oh! She’s cumming again. Good for her. She let out a content sigh, wondering how long it would be before he would cum again.

Oh, how she wanted to shove Sunset’s rubbery frame off of him and jump his bone… but she couldn’t. She would spill all that precious cum! Then she wouldn’t know the feeling of having two —or maybe even more— full servings of it, all mixed together inside her.

This didn’t necessarily mean that Fluttershy was forced to go without any pleasure, however. After all, she had ten talented fingers at her disposal, so why not put them to use while she watched her friend fuck her boyfriend over the edge?

With a soft inhale, Fluttershy bit her lip and moved one arm downward, letting the other hold her legs in place. That delicate hand slid down the back of her thigh —tickling slightly as it went— until she reached the base of her derrière; reaching inward, she let two curious digits slip between those slick layers, her fingertips warming as they stroked her hood, which immediately sent a shockwave of sensation coursing through her slender frame.

The last thing she saw before she closed her eyes was Sunset lying forward, her breasts mashed against her lover’s chest as she bit his earlobe, her hips going a mile a minute. That final snapshot remained in the shy girl’s mind, kept in motion by the constant feed of panting and moans drifting into her ears.

One finger slipped deeper yet, venturing under her delicate hood in search of that sensitive little bud. She found it quickly, and the tiniest poke triggered a jolt of pleasure that struck her like a lightning bolt, her body showing its appreciation with a sharp jerk. She traced a series of quick circles around it next, just close enough to stimulate it, but not so much as to be overbearing.

The temptation to slip her fingers inside nipped at her willpower, but she resisted. She couldn’t disturb his gift. It needed to stay put so it could be added to. It was precious to her; she had to protect it.

There was no need to go inside anyway. After teasing her clit directly for a moment or two, Fluttershy withdrew and pressed three fingers to the outer layer of her hood, stroking rapid, firm circles to draw endless ripples of warm, electrifying sensation from within. Between the sound of Sunset’s cries, the thick heat nested deep inside her body, and the wonder of her talented fingers, Fluttershy found it easy to stroke an orgasm free of her body like a demon at an exorcism, causing her to throw her head back and let loose a comically soft coo.

Her fingers slowed to a steady rhythm, keeping her afloat in that ocean of bliss; her interior pulsed around the hot load within, making her worry slightly that some of it might squeeze out and end up running down into her backside.

Once the climax subsided, Fluttershy reached past her slit to check for any spilled cum. After a few gentle probes with her middle finger, she was satisfied that it had stayed inside and all was well, so she rested her hand across her thighs and glanced over at Sunset—who was still lying forward, hiding both of their faces with her hair as she ground her entire body against his, apparently in the midst of yet another peak.

Hmm… Fluttershy looked straight ahead at her knees, sucking her bottom lip. Goldie might be a while yet… With a deep breath, she lifted her hand and rubbed her fingertips together, feeling the smooth slickness that coated them. It did feel pretty nice to touch herself like this; having that forbidden treasure inside her was exciting. It added an extra measure of heat to her already aroused body.

She had some time to spare, what could it hurt to go for another?

By this time, I had lost count of how many times that red-headed animal had climaxed, but I was sure as hell aware of how much bodily fluid she’d shed. My abdomen, hips, and her inner thighs were like a Slip n’ Slide, and my lips and cheeks were smeared with saliva after she’d missed my mouth while coming in for a kiss so many times.

Unexpectedly, Sunset sprang upright again and threw her head back, whipping her hair over her shoulders before reaching for my hands to hold onto them.

Our fingers laced together as she pushed forward against my arms, using them to lean on so she could grind herself into my lap, stirring her insides into a tingling frenzy, my manhood extended straight up inside her.

Admittedly, it wasn’t until after her first orgasm that I could feel the pleasure return —the basic consequence of jumping right back into it after shooting one’s load— but by now, it was well on its way back, making a steady ascent to the top. Not surprising, really; who could possibly hold it in when they’re being ridden so hard by a howling, squirting, fiery-haired vixen like Sunset Shimmer?

Her breasts swayed rhythmically as she ground her nethers into oblivion; my eyelids drifted downwards as I breathed heavily, concentrating on that tingle as it loaded itself into my rapidly-swelling mast, preparing to detonate straight up inside her.

But, at the same time, I couldn’t forget Fluttershy. Oddly enough, as I thought of this, a soft cry sounded from the far side of the bed, reminding me to save the fireworks for her.

I squeezed one of Sunset’s hands to get her attention. “Sunny… gettin close.”

She bit her lip and continued fucking, eyes shut firmly.

A sudden twitch. I was close.

“Sunny… you gotta get off soon.”

“Hnnngh!” She tightened her eyelids and pushed harder against my hands. “Almost… j-just let me cum once more!”

A hard exhale. “I… Sunny, I don’t think I can…” —my head tipped back into the pillow, trying to resist the rapid stiffening in my nethers— “ooooh god, I… I’m not gonna make it; you gotta get off!”

“Just a little… almost there!” she cried, her brows furrowed as she thrust her hips harder and harder, driving me impossibly close to the end.

I was too close; she needed to get off immediately.

“You have to get off, Sunny, I can’t—“

“N-nn-n-nh!” she gasped, “SO close!”

No more time.

“Dammit…” I grunted, feeling the heat rushing towards the tip of my length. In a panic, I grabbed Sunset by the hips and launched her upward.

She yelped in surprise, her limbs flailing as she stopped just short of the ceiling before beginning her descent to the floor.

I was already on my knees by then, holding my swollen manhood with one hand in hopes that I would make it to my girlfriend in time. “HolycrapFluttersIneedyou!”

“Oh! I’m here, big boy, come get it!”

Fluttershy separated her thighs as I positioned myself before her, keeping one arm—

THUMP!

—hooked behind each knee. Unfortunately, I didn’t quite make it; the first shot fired just as I positioned myself at her entrance, splattering one lip and part of her inner thigh with a thick, white rope before I shoved myself deep into her hot, sloppy depths.

Originally, I had intended to go a bit shallower this time so as not to disturb the first load—which I had planted as deep as I could for that very reason. This is not how things worked out, however; being brought so close to release by that wild-assed red-head left me frantic and in a bit of a rush, so instead of only going partway like I had planned, I slammed my entire length inside the shy girl.

It slipped into her like a dipstick into an engine, poking into that thick pool in the pit of her depths, its viscous warmth coating my head as it throbbed and fired a fresh batch of cum directly into the first, filling the shy girl’s canal another portion of the way up with that liquid heat.

Once I’d realised my mistake, I withdrew partway and looked down between her legs to inspect for any cream that might have squeezed past that throbbing shaft. The damage wasn’t as bad as I feared; a single bead of white was slowly making its way towards her derrière.

“W-w-w-wow…” She shy girl’s eyes were wide, her mouth agape as that thick, warm mass mixed together inside her, pulse-by-pulse.

I locked eyes with her, and after a moment of awed gazing, her lips curled upward and she let out an incredulous chortle. “Oh my, Goldie,” she giggled, licking her lip. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this full before!”

I swallowed and then released a breath. “What’s it feel like?”

“It’s… really warm. And heavy.”

A short snicker, and then I looked down at her again, noticing some of it seeping from between her folds. I placed a hand on her thigh and withdrew, then I used my finger to sweep the stream that was making a run for her ass back into her crease.

“Oh... did some leak out?”

I nodded. “Yeah, a little.”

Fluttershy tilted her head to the side, but was unable to see past her thighs. Then she looked up at me. “Did you get it?”

“Yeah, you’re good,” I replied, glancing at the side of her crease that’d been fired upon, still soaked in a white coating. Then I turned to look at the edge of the bed; Sunset had crawled back from wherever she landed and was now resting her chin on the mattress, her arms sprawled across the blanket.

I pointed a finger at her. “You!”

Her eyes rose to meet mine, brows furrowed. “Me what?”

“I told you to get off. You almost ruined it.”

Sunset closed her eyes and shrugged.

I returned the shrug, bemused. “What, that’s it? Just:” I shrugged again, imitating her.

“Yup.” She sat up and folded her arms on the edge of the bed. “You ready for more or what?”

I stared vacantly at the red-head for a moment. Then I shrugged. “Sure. You gotta clean me up first, though.”

“Gotcha.” Sunset proceeded to crawl onto the bed to take my rapidly deflating manhood in her mouth. She managed to bring the firmness back with little trouble, causing me to shiver when her lips massaged that sensitive head, after which she used her tongue to lick the juicy, white ring from farther down the shaft, where Fluttershy’s folds had left the telltale mark showing how deep I was when I shot that second load into her.

With a lick of her lips, Sunset stood on her knees and wiped her mouth. “I’d say you’re ready,” she said, watching me stand at attention, bouncing along with my pulse. “How’re we doin it this time?”

I raised a finger and swirled it around in the air. “Turn around; get on your hand and knees.”

“Ooh, me like.” Sunset put her thumb in her mouth and gave me a wink. Then she turned away, smirking.

She did as ordered and crawled over to the pillow, pointing her backside into the air as she lowered herself to her elbows, her nipples grazing the bedspread as she waited to be taken for round three.

Oh, was she gonna get it. Maybe next time she’ll listen when I tell her to get off.

I approached her from the rear, kneeling between her calves as I slipped my length between the pair of soaking-wet lips nestled between her thighs—with a sideways glance at Fluttershy to give her a heads-up.

“Aahhh…” Sunset sighed, her body shivering with anticipation. “Fuck, I wonder how much more of this I ca—“

I shoved straight into her without warning, her ass slapping noisily against my hips when I hilted.

“AAAAH! HOLY SHIT!”

With a firm grip on her hips, I held her against me, forcing her insides to accommodate my presence. Admittedly, I was still a touch sensitive from the orgasm, but following that would be a plateau of dullness, a desensitized state from which there was only one escape:

Pound the holy hell out of Sunset Shimmer’s pussy.

“Ohh… I’m in for it now, aren’t I?” she asked as she turned to face Fluttershy, who was looking back and nodding slowly with a mischievous grin on her face.

So it began. I started out slow, to give the aftermath some time to taper off. Then, it was off to the races.

I held Sunset by the waist and hammered my hips against that ass without mercy, relentless and unforgiving. Sunset buried her face in the pillow and screamed, her voice muffled by the fabric as it rang forth perpetually. She simply could not stop it, not with all of this pleasure pouring into her by the gallon.

Even when her orgasms came, I refused to let up—and to be honest, I kind of liked how she trembled when her loins exploded. It rocked her entire body, making her nearly catatonic at the height of each climax.

Eventually, the time came for a change. An orgasm had just passed, leaving Sunset in a state of breathlessness, so I took the opportunity to reach forward and grab her arms, just below the shoulders. I pulled her upright so her back was touching my chest, and then I shoved her forward against the headboard.

With one hand between her shoulder blades, I held her against the wall while I used the other to tilt her hips back, aiming her backside at me. Then I placed my erection below her cheeks to search for her entrance, and I slipped back inside her.

I took her by the wrists next, yanked her arms upwards and pinned them against the wall, above her head. She pressed her cheek against the flat, painted surface, huffing and moaning as I drilled her some more, spanking that golden booty with my hips at the apex of each thrust; she trembled, gushed and quivered each time she came, her breasts pushed flat, nipples throbbing against the cold wall.

The next climax drew a squirt that hit the headboard and ran down to soak the pillow. Her voice was shrill, unable to control its pitch as that girth pushed its way into her quivering depths, again and again and again.

Once that one had died down, I withdrew and backed away for a moment; Sunset’s hands found the top of the headboard to steady herself. She rested her forehead against the wall and paused, panting like she’d just run a three day marathon.

I didn’t give her much respite though; I reached around her and placed a hand on her chest, then I tossed her backwards onto the mattress.

She landed on her back with her head near the foot of the bed. I was upon her before she knew what’d happened and my length was back inside her, ready to continue ravaging her into a frazzled mess.

One thrust after another, again and again; at last the sensation was beginning to build in me once more, a testament to how enjoyable this woman was—inside and out. Her hands moved about, sometimes grabbing the back of my head or neck, then they’d come down and take handfuls of the bed spread to squeeze them, then she would reach up to pull her hair, eyes shut, teeth gritted.

Little did either of us know, the constant jack-hammering had inched Sunset closer and closer to the edge—and for once, not of a climax. Eventually, her shoulders were hanging over the end of the mattress; but I was making the slow ascent to the top, giving her full-length, rapid thrusts to coax the stubborn orgasm out, not noticing how close she was to falling.

Sunset gasped when her felt herself begin to slip; her eyes popped open and she reached up to grab my shoulders to stop herself. Unfortunately, I was leaning too far into it when her weight unexpectedly hung itself from me. I lost my balance, and both Sunset and I toppled over the edge to the floor, where we landed with a heavy thump.

She yelped when I landed on top of her, ramming face-first into the underside of her left breast. “Nnguh!” I grunted as I picked myself up and leaned over her, supported by my arms. “Jeez! Sorry about th—“

“WHERE’S YOUR COCK!?”

“Wha?“

“Put it back in; keep fucking me!” she barked, pulling me down by the back of the head for a kiss.

Quickly, I adjusted my position and brought myself up to her height so I could slide my length back into that intense heat, ready to continue on the path to that final release.

“Yyyeah,” she growled, keeping her hand on the back of my neck to hold our foreheads together while I fucked her right there on the floor, at the foot of Fluttershy’s bed. “Are you gonna cum again? Hey? Is my pussy that fucking good?”

“You know it is, Sunny.”

“Yeah? Is it gonna get you off so you can go give your girlfriend another big fucking load?”

“Yeahhh…”

“Ohhhh! Fuck, she’s gonna be SO full! I can’t wait to see it!”

By this time, Sunset’s velvety grip and sultry words had brought me close. Extremely close. Stiff as a board and swelling rapidly, I stabbed those sloppy folds a dozen or so times more, until I could feel that familiar pressure rise to the tip, followed closely by the fluid that would ultimately burst forth.

Sunset’s eyes widened with excitement. “Ohh! You’re almost there, I can feel it!” she gasped. “Go!... GO! Fill her up!”

The climax was upon me. Quickly, I withdrew from Sunset and leapt onto the bed, where Fluttershy was waiting with baited breath. As I approached her, I could see a little white pearl sitting in the base of that decorative, pink groove. It was right there; I wouldn’t be able to go very deep.

There was no time to think about it, however; I jammed my knob between those lips just as the shaft began to throb visibly, sending yet another load of hot, liquid mayhem into the shy girl, filling up what little space she had left.

“Oh... yes! More!” the shy girl gasped, teal eyes wide.

Only the tip had been inserted, the ridge just barely cloaked by her folds as the shaft jerked and pumped, bridging the gap between our laps as my juices passed rapidly from me to her. Each spasm was followed closely by a white gush that pushed out around the shaft and ran down her backside, filling her crack with that slippery warmth.

Fluttershy was out of vacancy; she was literally overflowing with cum.

“Fuck yyyeeaah….” Sunset’s voice came from the edge of the bed, having sat up to lean on the corner of the mattress as she watched.

I gave the red-head a short glance as the orgasm subsided, after which I slipped my already-limp manhood from Fluttershy. Then I flopped down across the foot of the bed, completely spent, but wholly satisfied.

“Um… how does it look?” Fluttershy asked timidly, with a glance at the red-head.

Sunset shook her head, slowly. “You’re a goddamn mess, Flutters. It looks amazing.” Then she picked her head up to rest it on the heel of her hand. “What’s it feel like?”

“Um…” Fluttershy giggled. “I feel really full, like… if I wiggled my bum, it’ll… like, slosh around in there.” Still hugging her knees to her chest, the shy girl shook her derrière a tiny bit, but the muscle use caused some of the load to squeeze out, and river of it gushed down between her cheeks, covering that other hole in a translucent, white glaze.

“Uh… you probably shouldn’t do that,” Sunset warned. “It’s going into your ass.”

Fluttershy giggled. “It’s OK. There’s lots more where that came from.”

Sunset chortled softly and then turned to me.

I shifted my eyes onto her. “How are you? You had enough yet?”

She closed her eyes and nodded. “Yeah, pretty soon, I think. Just let me know when you’re ready and we’ll jam one more out so you can dump one in me to turn this magic off.”

My jaw dropped. “You kiddin me?”

Her eyes popped open again. “What?”

“Sunny… my dick is like a piece of driftwood right now.”

“What?! I need some too; I can’t stay like this!”

“I dunno what to tell you,” I replied with a shrug. “I’m fuckin out.”

“What the fuck; that sucks, dude! I have to work tomorrow, and I just took a whole week off, so it’s not like I can just call in ‘horny.’”

“Won’t it go away on its own once you leave?”

“Man, fuck that! That’ll take forever!”

“Um… Sunset?” Fluttershy interjected softly, drawing the red-head’s attention. She raised a finger and coaxed her friend over.

Sunset crawled onto the bed, breasts swinging beneath her as she made her way over to the shy girl.

“Here,” Fluttershy whispered, placing a gentle finger on Sunset’s jaw to bring her close so she could whisper in her ear.

I watched the red-head’s face as she listened, studying that head of frazzled, fiery hair as her eyes began to widen, and she pulled back suddenly to look at her friend.

“Are you serious?”

Fluttershy nodded.

Sunset paused for a moment. Then she sighed. “Alright. I guess it’ll have to do,” she said as she crawled to the far edge of the bed, nudging me with her foot as she went. “No thanks to this big wuss.”

“Hey, I shot four loads tonight. Sue me.”

Sunset had left the bed by then and was kneeling on the floor, next to where Fluttershy was lying. She reached out and grasped the shy girl’s hips to help her shift sideways until her backside faced the edge of the bed, where Sunset was kneeling.

After clearing her hair from her face, Sunset leaned in and dipped her tongue into Fluttershy’s crease, pressing her lips tight to seal it off as the shy girl let her legs swing down and sat upright, letting the contents of her vagina dump into her friend’s mouth.

“Ooh! That feels weird,” Fluttershy giggled as the thick syrup left her body.

Sunset was overwhelmed rather quickly; it came faster than expected, and she instinctively swallowed a small portion of it while some of it gushed from the corner of her mouth, causing a white bead to run down her cheek to her throat.

Once the flow seemed to stop, Sunset closed her mouth and stood before Fluttershy, who remained seated on the bed and tilted her head back, ready for the next part of the transfer. She leaned in to connect their lips and then opened her mouth, letting the cum run into Fluttershy’s mouth. They let their tongues play together as the goo was passed along, swirling and stirring it up as its pungent flavour filled their taste buds.

Sunset then broke the kiss when her mouth was empty. She sat next to Fluttershy and laid back, lifting her knees and holding them apart as the shy girl turned over and pressed her lips against the red-head’s vulva.

The shy girl poked her tongue through her own lips and plunged it into Sunset, using it as a trough to let the load drain into the red-head’s depths, ready at last to do its job of subduing her magic for the night. After pushing the last little bit along with her tongue, Fluttershy gave Sunset’s hood one last flick with her cum-soaked tongue, then she crawled onto the bed and flopped down next to her.

The three of us laid in silence for several minutes, staring at the ceiling as we wondered what part of hell we would be sent to for the things we’d just done—if we ever managed to find a way to die, that is.

Finally, I turned my head to face Sunset, who was lying right next to me, with Fluttershy on the far side. “That was, uh… pretty gross, you guys.”

Sunset snorted. “You want a kiss?”

“Kiss Flutters.”

Fluttershy giggled, and then turned on her side to face me and the red-head. “Why don’t we both kiss her, Goldie?”

I looked at Sunset, watching her stare hesitantly at the ceiling. With a smirk, I rolled closer, prompting Fluttershy to follow suit, and we both planted a kiss on each of Sunset’s cheeks—and, lucky for me, the shy girl got the cheek with the cum streak on it. The red-head shrugged and let out a giggle, one that was much more girlish than you would normally expect to hear from such a tough-looking chick.

The shy girl and I laid back with Sunset between us, who was now gazing at the ceiling with cheeks as red as her hair.

“How do you feel, Sunny?” I asked after glancing down at her nipple, noticing it was still hard as a rock.

She stared upward for another moment, blinking periodically. Then she faced me. “Pretty good. It’s starting to kick in already.”

“That’s good.”

A few moments passed, at which point something crossed my mind, and I chuckled to myself out loud.

“What?” Sunset asked.

I shook my head. “Nothing. I’ll tell you later.”

Sunset watched me for a moment. Then she sighed and faced the ceiling again, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

Wow. She just watched me bust inside Flutters three times, and never once did she remember to go into my mind during ANY of them.

*Chapter 122: Tying Loose Ends

Chapter 122

“I must admit, it does sound quite risqué, darling, and I’d be delighted to try it; however, I am not certain that I am a fan of the term: ‘cum tank.’ Perhaps something a bit less gauche, say, for instance…” Rarity paused for a moment to think, her eyes floating up to the ceiling. Then, with a smirk, she snapped her fingers and pointed at Fluttershy. “Love reservoir. What d’you say to that?”

Fluttershy giggled. “Oh Rare, it doesn’t matter what you call it. It was so hot; you won’t even be thinking about that when you’re laying there with your legs in the air, getting filled like a Boston Cream doughnut three or four times.”

Rarity was quick to shake a finger at her girlfriend, head cocked. “Tut-tut! Éclair, darling!” she sang.

The shy girl tittered once again. Then she wrapped her arms around the fashionista’s shoulders and squeezed her tight, pressing their cheeks together. “Oh goodness, you’re so cute, Rare. I can’t wait to see you taken down a notch when Goldie makes a complete mess of you.”

Rarity set her tea on the table to return the hug, then she faced the shy girl for a quick smooch. “We shall see, darling.”

I was sitting on the couch, shaking my head as I scrolled through my phone. “Uh, you know… that wasn’t even twenty-four hours ago. You’re gonna have to give me at least a day to restock.”

Smirking, Fluttershy and Rarity glanced at each other and rolled their eyes.

“Oh Goldie, you know you could do it again if you tried.”

I turned to look over the back of the couch at them. “Pffft! Once… maybe twice, but that’d be it.” I returned my attention to my phone. “It doesn’t matter anyway. We’ve got training tonight, and it’s Dashie’s first night with us, so we gotta be serious and show her what we’re all about.”

Fluttershy crumpled into herself upon hearing her friend’s name. “Ohh… I-I’m so nervous about that,” she whimpered, wringing her hands.

Rarity gave the shy girl a rub between the shoulder blades. “You needn’t worry, darling. I’m sure it’s going to be fine. You two have known each other your whole lives.”

The shy girl fidgeted in her seat. “I know. It’s just… I-I haven’t even seen her since… the hospital. She was so mad at us that day.”

I stood, slipped my phone into my pocket, and then made my way to the table where they were seated. “It’s gonna be fine,” I said, resting my hands on the chair opposite them. “Like I said, I smoothed things over with her. She understands why we did what we did.”

Fluttershy paused for a moment. Then she drew a deep breath and forced a brave smile. “I know. And I’m glad you did it, but… I’m still scared to see her. I feel so bad about what I did.”

I gave her a reassuring smile while Rarity sipped her tea once more.

“Mm!” The fashionista smacked her lips after swallowing. “I simply cannot believe you convinced the princess to come here, Golds. I do wish, though, that you’d waited until we were back. It would have been an absolute delight to see her again.”

I waved her off and reached for my phone. “I wouldn’t worry about it. It sounded like she was game to come back at some point anyway.”

“Hm.” The fashionista took another sip of tea, furrowing her brow as she swallowed. “Speaking of Twilight, will she be joining us tonight?”

I glanced up from my phone. “Yeah—I hope so, at least. Her and Sunny should be here any minute. Then there’s the three of us and Dashie. The only one who can’t make it tonight is AJ.”

Rarity cocked her head. “Applejack’s not coming?”

“Um, her and Pinkie Pie are doing their annual ‘Predator’ marathon tonight,” Fluttershy explained softly.

“Ah.” The fashionista rolled her eyes. “I see. So I take it they’re at Pinkie Pie’s house for the night then?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “No, they’re doing it at the farm, um, because Applejack didn’t wanna deal with Pinkie’s sisters.”

Rarity raised a brow. “And where is Sonata? At Applejack’s as well?”

“No. I’m not sure where she is, but I know she has Pinkie’s car because Applejack had to go pick her up—um... Pinkie, I mean.”

“Hm… odd,” Rarity muttered, stroking her chin.

“Nah,” I said with a dismissive wave. “She’s been driving Pinks’ car all week. It’s kind of her ‘thing’ lately.”

“Ah.”

During the short silence that followed, the three of us could hear a motorcycle approaching.

“Ah, speak of the demon,” Rarity announced.

Moments later, the illustrious red-head and her studious companion entered, kicking and slipping their boots off and setting their helmets down.

“Hey, guys,” Sunset greeted, using her fingers to ruffle her hair while Twilight straightened hers.

After they’d exchanged quick hellos with Rarity and Fluttershy, Sunset approached me.

“Hey.” She gave me a nudge with her hip and then folded her arms.

“Hi,” I replied, giving her a little smirk. “You, uh… gonna be OK tonight or do you need a little top-up?”

Sunset snorted. “With you, there’s no such thing as a little top-up,” she quipped. “But no, I should be fine for tonight.”

I nodded and turned to Twilight as she approached. “Hey.”

“Hi, Golds,” she said with a friendly smile. “How’s it going?”

I gave a little shrug. “Good. You?”

“Not bad,” she replied, smiling again, somewhat awkwardly this time. “Soooo… I hear you got to meet the other ‘me’ this week.”

I paused and then raised a finger. “Uh… yeah, about that: I actually need to talk to you about something—if you don’t mind.”

Twilight cocked her head, not expecting this. “Oh? What about?”

“Eh… it’s kinda personal, actually.” I gestured to the other girls. “Why don’t you three go ahead and make your way out to the field? Me and Twi’ll stay here and... uh, have a little chat while we wait for Dashie.”

“But of course, darling,” Rarity said as she gulped back the rest of the tea, indifferent to the fact that it was still steaming hot. Then she stood to put the cup and saucer on the counter before following Fluttershy and Sunset to the door, where their coats and boots awaited.

*****

Several minutes later, Twilight and I had moved to a more isolated location, away from the front door—just in case Rainbow Dash showed up. As a result, Twilight was now seated on the vanity in Fluttershy’s bathroom, facing me.

“OK, so… wow.” She shook her head incredulously. “The princess actually asked you to...” —she paused and then raised her brows— “provide her with... digital stimulation?”

I drew a deep breath and then slowly exhaled. “Fingerbang, yeah,” I replied somewhat bluntly. “She was all wound-up about everything that was going on, and she had a few drinks in her, so she was a little... confused as to what was going on with her body. So she asked for some help… uh, with that.”

Twilight blinked. “And you did it?”

I nodded. “Why not? Seemed innocent enough.”

“Innocent, wow.” She exhaled through pursed lips and then paused, deep in thought. Then she looked at me again. “What was she like?”

“Just like you, except… a little younger looking. And she had more muscle on her, kinda like Sunny.”

Twilight gave a quick nod and licked her bottom lip. “That’s to be expected; the way of life in Equestria is a bit more… traditional than ours.” She paused for a short moment, brows furrowed. “And… Did you say she was younger than me?”

“Physically, yeah. Something about how time in that world flows differently than ours… I think—I dunno, I wasn’t really paying attention.”

“Based on what I know of that world, I am quite certain that what you just said is totally incorrect.”

I shrugged. “Whatever. I dunno. Either way, it was a tough night; all that crazy, sexy shit went down right in front of me —because of me, for the most part— and everyone else got off at least once. I was the only one who didn’t.”

Twilight drew a breath and bit her lips together to hold it. “I can see how... mmmm that would be frustrating,” she said after a holding her breath for a moment.

“Ugh…” I shook my head. “Especially after having my fingers in her; I could actually feel it when she came. She was tight as hell, just like you, and hot… and juicy—and that body was so damn young…” I bit my lip and gave my head a shake. “Dammit, Twi, I wanted to fuck her so bad; you have no idea.”

“Mmhh… well, now you pretty much are,” she replied, her eyelids fluttering softly.

I glanced down between her legs to study her anatomy as she said this, those fleshy, violet pedals hugging my length as it disappeared into her yet again. “True.”

As always, it hadn’t taken long for the lavender girl’s excessive tightness to drive me to the brink of release. She knew this; such a thing was not difficult to figure out when the member that filled her depths had grown to such rigidity, eager to release its tension deep inside of her.

“I take it you’re close?”

“How could I not be?” I panted, slowing my pace slightly to savour the moment just a little more.

“Me too, actually,” she replied as her eyes drifted shut. “Just take your time and enjoy it, OK?”

“Oh, I am; trust me.”

“I kn-n-n…” Twilight tensed up suddenly and then gripped my shoulders, squeezing them tightly. “Ohh boy… here it comes!”

Just as I reached my peak, so did she. My length began to throb in synch with the tiny interior that gripped it, filling it with a generous portion of that hot, liquid pleasure. Like our nethers, our mouths came together; my lips locked with hers, our moans resonating in harmony as we panted through our noses, our bodies trembling with that wholly satisfying bliss.

Twilight eventually broke the kiss to latch onto my bottom lip with a gentle bite. Her eyes remained closed as she enjoyed the rest of her climax, thrilled by the sensation of that warm pool she’d received deep down—the final shots of which were gushing in as she flicked my bottom lip with her tongue, her breath hot against my face.

At last, the mutual pulsing faded, and we backed away just enough to watch one another.

She exhaled slowly, followed by a full-bodied shudder and a soft chortle. “I can’t believe you. Even after what you went through last night, you still felt the need for this?”

I brought a hand up, holding my index finger and thumb close to indicate something small. “I just had that one specific little itch left, and it needed some serious scratching. You know?”

She rolled her eyes and smirked. “I guess. Well, I’m glad I was able to scratch it for you.”

“Hopefully it’s not like a mosquito bite: where the more you scratch it, the more it itches.”

“Let’s not go there.”

“Oh, come on. You know you like it.”

She smirked demurely, her cheeks reddening. “Well... it’s not the worst favour someone could ask, I guess. I certainly don’t mind you scratching an itch with me… on occasion.”

“Well you’ve got the princess beat, as far as that goes. I honestly can’t tell if it was her I wanted, or if she was just making me want you.” I reached up to thread my finger through that spiral of hair next to her temple. “Plus, she doesn’t have these cute little curls here,” I said, eliciting a sweet giggle from her.

Just then, we heard the front door open. Twilight and I glanced at one another, listening.

“Sounds like Dashie’s here,” I mumbled, to which she nodded, readying herself for withdrawal.

Then we heard a voice call out—one that did not belong to Rainbow Dash.

“Hey! …Is anybody here?“ Then, a gasp. “LINKIE!”

Twilight and I froze. We stared at each other, this time our eyes were wide as saucers.

“Sonata!?” the lavender girl whisper-shouted. “What the heck is she going here!?”

“Shit,” I cursed as Twilight’s arm shot outwards, using her magic to swing the bathroom door shut. While she did that, I grabbed her by that little backside and lifted her from the countertop, shuffling sideways to hold her over the sink so I could pull out.

A thick, white stream ran from her slit when I slipped free of her clutches, splattering quietly into the sink as she quickly reached back to turn the faucet on. “Does she know about the training?” she asked in a panic, glancing down between her legs to make sure the cum was being washed down the drain.

“No, she doesn’t,” I replied as Twilight used her magic to summon a roll of bathroom tissue from the basket next to the toilet. “Uh… you know, we’re kinda contributing that water problem right n—“

“Ugh! This is not the time to worry about that!”

“OK-OK, fine,” I conceded, giving Twilight a shake to see if any extra cum might drip from her, prompting her to grip my shoulder.

“OK, um… Golds? Could you not shake me like that? It’s... kinda weird.”

“Sorry. I wasn’t thinking. Here,” I said, setting her down on the floor, where she tore off a few pieces of toilet paper and then squatted slightly to wipe between her legs. It wasn't the most ladylike thing I’d ever seen, but time was of the essence and we preferred not to be caught like this by the siren.

*****

Moments later, Twilight and I quietly exited the bathroom, keeping a sharp eye out for the siren.

Fluttershy’s bedroom was empty, so I stepped into the hallway entrance, Twilight trailing close behind. I could see flickers of light in the front room, and there was a gruff voice coming from the TV speakers.

”Coral!”

I turned to look at Twilight. “She’s watching TV,” I whispered.

“Oh. Do you think she’ll know we were engaged in coitus?” she whispered back.

”Coral!”

“I doubt it. She doesn’t even know half the shit you tell her.” I looked back at her once more. “And don’t call it that.”

“Right. Sorry.”

Slowly, we made our way to the front room and approached the couch from behind. Sonata was perched on the center cushion with Link sprawled out beside her, his head nestled in her lap.

I cleared my throat to get her attention.

She didn’t move.

I glanced at Twilight and shook my head. Then I placed my hands on the back of the couch and leaned closer.

“Hey.”

“BAH!” Sonata jumped and spun around, which made Link sit up, annoyed by the interruption. “Ohh! Gold Boy,” she panted, placing a hand on her chest. “You scared me!”

“Sorry, my fault,” I replied. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh... nothin.” She turned back to face the TV. Seconds later, she turned again, her eyes narrowed on Twilight.

Was she actually suspicious of us? Could she tell we just had sex in Fluttershy’s bathroom?

“Which Twilight are you?”

Nope. Clueless, as usual.

“Uh, not... the princess?” Twilight answered, cringing nervously.

The siren nodded slowly. “Ah. OK.”

I shook my head. “The princess went home, Sonata… like, the same night.”

Sonata stared at me. Then she shrugged and faced the TV again.

”CORAL!”

Twilight and I exchanged glances, then I looked at the TV screen. “What the hell are you watching?”

Sonata turned partway, but kept her eyes glued to the screen. “Uh… AMC’s been doing this ‘Walking Dead’ marathon all weekend.”

“Oh... OK,” I replied, turning to gesture to the table. Twilight took a seat, her back facing the counter. I sat across from her. We’d barely gotten comfortable when the show cut to commercial, and Sonata turned to face us over the back of the couch, folding her arms on the cushion.

“So what’re you guys up to? Where is everybody?”

I hesitated, firing a glance at Twilight. “Uh, I think they went for a walk… maybe. Again, what are you doing here?”

Sonata shrugged. “I dunno. I went to P’s a little while ago, but she wasn’t there. Her fam said she went to Applejack’s to watch movies or something.”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “They went to watch some ‘Predator’ shit. Why didn’t you just go there?”

“I don’t know the way,” the siren admitted. “And I didn’t really wanna hang out with P’s family either, so I came here.”

“I can give you directions if—“

“Nah.” She waved me off and faced forward again. “I’d rather just hang out with Linkie, now that I’m here.”

Foiled, I let out a frustrated sigh.

Twilight had folded her hands on the table and was endlessly twiddling her thumbs. She drew a breath and looked in Sonata’s direction. “Uh, so… I hear you hung out with Flash Sentry this week.”

Sonata spun around with a big smile on her face. “Oh yeah! It was totally fun!” She faced me next. “Thanks again for that, by the way.”

I nodded and forced a smile. “No problem. What’d you guys get up to, anyway?”

The siren’s eyes went to the ceiling for a second. “Well... we went to the bowling alley, and I had late-night tacos; Flash had nachos, and then we bowled a few games—his best score was like one-sixty something, and I got a two-eighty-eight.” She paused for a moment to think. “Oh! Then I gave him a handie in the parking lot after they closed.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped.

I brought a hand up, eyes closed. “Whoa! Wait… wait, wait.” I pointed at her before opening my eyes again. “You? … Bowled a two-eighty-eight?”

Twilight looked at me, incredulous.

In truth, it kind of pissed me off that even Flash got to empty his nuts that night, and so I chose not to acknowledge it—although I did just have sex with the inter-dimensional duplicate of the girl he liked, but still…

Sonata laughed. “I know, right? I never even bowled before!”

I cleared my throat and faced the table, folding my arms on it. “Wow. Well, good for you for having fun, I guess.”

“Oh yeah! It was a blast,” she nodded, but then a scowl suddenly came over her face. “Except at the end when he nutted on my boot. That was kinda gross.”

Sonata spin around again to watch the TV, replacing her face with that dazzling, blue bob.

Twilight and I slowly turned to face each other. Then I turned to look over my shoulder toward the door, where Sonata’s boots were sitting—right up against mine.

I faced Twilight again, scowling. She snorted, and then placed her hand over her mouth to stifle it.

Then my phone buzzed. I pulled it from my pocket to see who it was.

RAINBOW DASH: So… is someone coming to pick me up or what?”

I gave my head a shake, brows furrowed. What? I thought as I typed my reply.

ME: Remember that amazing car I built and GAVE you? Can you not drive it out here? That’s kind of the reason we have cars, you know.

A few moments passed with no answer.

“What’s going on?” Twilight asked, curious.

I shook my head. “Not sure.”

A reply finally came.

RAINBOW DASH: Yeah…that. Well because I was so mad at you I stopped driving it and…at some point because I hadn’t checked on it for a long time someone kinda stole it.

“SON OF A BITCH!” I yelled, dropping my phone to the table, causing both girls to look at me in surprise.

“What? What’s wrong?” Twilight asked.

“Someone stole the Diplomat,” I replied, glaring at the tabletop.

“WHAT!?” Twilight hollered, putting a scowl on her face that was surprisingly intense. “After all that work we did? SON OF A BITCH!”

I huffed and picked the phone up again.

ME: When? RAINBOW DASH: About a week ago. Maybe more.

With a noisy exhale, I switched to the app and scrolled backwards through the dates to check the camera footage. “Motherfuckers are gonna get it. I’ll do to them whatever they did to that car. They better hope for their sake they didn’t ‘chop-shop’ it or some shit.”

Twilight leaned closer. “Golds? What are you doing?”

“Looking for the car.”

She paused for a moment, rolling her jaw back and forth. “OK.”

I glanced up at her. “Alright… why don’t you ‘head out,’ Twi,” I said, tipping my head toward the woods behind the house, signalling her to go out to the Riverfield. “I’m gonna go look for the car.”

Then I stood and headed for the door, typing another message to Rainbow Dash.

ME: OK stay put. I’ll be there in a few hours.

*****

Mid-morning found Rainbow Dash alone, still in her apartment. Her hair was down, spread across her shoulders like a colourful shroud, dressed in minimal clothing as she sat in the centre of her couch, playing video games.

Indestructible, ageless, super fast. These three words now described Rainbow Dash perfectly, having been given the gift of magic and immortality, and this is what she was doing with it. Granted, she was told to stay home and wait—and to be fair, the others didn’t do much with their power either; they spent the majority of their time either watching movies or fucking.

And training. Sometimes.

She was supposed to be training, too. Some first night! She ended up spending it right here, wasting the hours away on the latest ‘Call of Duty’—which she guessed could be considered training… sort of? It was better than nothing, she thought. Plus, she was not looking forward to facing Fluttershy, so it was a relief to be able to postpone that awkward moment just a little longer.

So there she was, slouched down in her seat, resting on the controller on her lap, wearing a white T-shirt and a pair of Spider Man briefs that were meant for young boys—which was admittedly a but weird, but dammit, they fit good! She wasn’t the kind of girl who wore lacy panties, and she hated thongs; they felt too much like they were flossing her ass-crack.

A shot from some random signal in the game’s AI rang out, and her avatar was downed unexpectedly.

“FUCK!”

Rainbow Dash tossed the controller on the cushion beside her, wondering where the round had come from. After a short ponder, she slipped her middle finger through the hole in the front of the underwear and buried it in the warm groove between her legs. Idle touching like this brought about a sense of comfort to the rainbow-haired girl, and she often did this when she ruminated—when she was alone, of course; she did Kegel exercises as well, which she’d been doing for so long that by then, they practically happened on their own whenever she was deep in thought.

Her finger prodded at her hood as she shifted her eyes over to the window. The sun was bright and the sky was clear. It had been unseasonably warm ever since the day Golden Arrow confronted her in the soccer field, and a significant portion of snow had melted away as a result.

The thought of Golds brought her eyes back to the TV screen. I wonder if he’d be any good at this game? she wondered. Then, after a short pause, she withdrew from the briefs and, after a quick sniff of her finger, picked the controller up to start a fresh course.

Before she could press the button, however, her cell phone chimed from the far end of the couch.

DING-A-LING-A-LING!

Rainbow Dash leaned over and watched the screen for a moment.

It was the front foyer.

Curious, she picked it up to answer.

“Hello?”

”Hey, it’s Golds. I’m downstairs.”

“No shit, Sherlock. What’s up?”

”Just get your blue ass down here; it’s been a long night!”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine. Just give me a minute to get some clothes on.”

”K. See ya.”

*****

Outside, I waited patiently for her to come down, arms folded as I looked down at the pavement, studying the tiny rivers of water that ran from the piles of snow at the edges of the lot to the drains.

She was taking a quite a long time, not unlike the day I took her to unveil the Diplomat. The feeling of déjà vu I got from this was worrying, and illogically so, given the fact that her illness could no longer be repeated.

Then it struck me that if she hadn’t been turned, she would most likely have passed-on by now.

Just as the thought of what that would have been like began to play out in my mind, I heard the familiar rasp of the rainbow-haired girl’s voice from my right, near the front of the building. I turned to look in that direction and found Rainbow Dash standing motionless, mouth agape.

“Hey,” I said, giving her a little smile.

She stared a few seconds longer and then blinked several times. “You… you got it back!?”

I looked behind me at the black-and-rainbow-striped Diplomat, and then back at her again. “Yeah, of course I did. I put a lot of work into this car; I wasn’t about to let some asshole run off with it.”

Rainbow Dash promptly marched over and circled the car once to inspect it, as though she was suspicious that it wasn’t actually the same car. “Is it OK?” she asked, followed by a gasp when she noticed something terrible. “The fuck happened to my wheels!?”

I stepped back and glanced down at the driver’s front tire; unfortunately, the thieves had taken the nice tire and rim package I installed and replaced them with some shitty-looking steel wheels and weather-cracked rubber. “Gone, Dashie. Sorry. I tried to find them, but they must have sold them off or something. You’re lucky, actually; I’m pretty sure they were gonna chop this thing, but judging by all the extra miles on the odometer, they were probably having a bit of fun with it before they did.”

“Fucking dicks!” she grumbled as she rounded the front of the car and kicked the tire before standing next to me.

“It could be worse,” I said, facing her. “At least the car’s still in one piece, and they were kind enough to put some wheels on so you can at least drive it. We’ll just have to get you some nice-looking hubcaps in the meantime.” I pointed to the driver’s door. “They also tore the weather strip a bit when they jimmied the lock, but it’s not horrible.”

“Yeah… that’s not too bad,” she replied, leaning closer to inspect it.

“The ignition switch is messed up too; they broke it to get the car started, so it’ll just turn without the key now. I’ll see if I can find you a new one, but until then, I’ll put a security immobilizer in it for you so this doesn’t happen again.”

“OK.” she nodded.

I paused for a quick sigh. “But uh, the only thing is… you’ll have to pay for it.”

She looked at me with a raised brow.

“Ehh…” I rubbed the back of my neck somewhat sheepishly. “I… kinda used up the last of my money when the princess was here.”

Dash rolled her eyes and turned away. “Alright, fine. It’s my car anyway, so I guess it’s only fair.”

I nodded. “Cool.”

She went past me and opened the driver’s door to stick her head inside. “UGH! Those assholes were smoking in here!”

“Yeah,” I muttered as I draped my arm over the top of the open door.

“Still,” she continued, looking around the interior, “at least they left the stereo.”

“Yeah, I was surprised by that, actually.”

“Huh.” Satisfied that all was reasonably well inside the car, she was about to retreat and close the door when she noticed something: a cluster of crimson spots on the front seat. She turned to give me a suspicious look. “Uh… what’s that?”

“What’s what?” I asked, dipping my head to see what she was pointing at. “Oh…” I paused when I saw it. “Uh, yeah… that. I don’t know what that is; that’s kinda weird. Might be ketchup. Yeah, it’s probably ketchup. ... ... ... Nah, it’s blood.”

“Ugh!” Dash slapped a hand over her forehead. “Golds, did you kill someone to get this car back?”

I reached behind my head to scratch it, avoiding eye contact with her. “Uhh, maybe? I don’t really know. I didn’t exactly stop to check on him. I certainly hope he’s dead; I fucked him over pretty good, so his quality of life is gonna suck if he isn’t.”

With a roll of her eyes, Dash shook her head and closed the door. “You better not get caught doing that shit.” She looked at me, frowning. “How did you find this thing, anyway?”

I slipped my hands into my pockets. “That’s actually part of your training. Twilight’ll bring you up to speed on that. Basically, we have access to nearly every outdoor camera in the city, so I went back and checked the footage from a week ago, and I was able to find them breaking into it—and from there I was able to figure out where they took it.” I let out a chuckle as I patted my pocket, where my phone was. “I got there just in time, too; my phone died like ten minutes after I left.

With a brow raised, and she gave an impressed nod. “Huh… not bad.”

I folded my arms and put an index finger to my chin as I studied the car. This was followed by a mildly awkward silence, during which Dash inspected the paint job for scratches, running her fingers along the front fender. Finally, she looked up at me again and paused with her mouth open, ready to say something that seemed like she needed to gather her nerves for.

“Um… thanks, I guess, for getting this back.” She forced a smile. “I’m sorry I was neglecting it; it’s just that I was… kiiiiinda mad at you, and I didn’t really want to drive the car… because of who it was from. But then it got stolen, which served me right, I guess, since I was kinda being a jerk.”

I locked eyes with hers, surprised by the admission. “Eh… you were mad at us, and you had a right to be. We overstepped our boun—”

“No,” she cut in, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Just... Please, let me say this while I’ve got the nerve for it. I—“

A rather annoying chime rang out from Dash’s pocket, interrupting her. She closed her eyes, visibly bothered by the timing of it.

I nodded to her pants. “You gonna answer that?”

After a quick, exasperated sigh, she shook her head. “No. I’ll call them back; I need to say this.”

“OK.”

“Look,” she continued over the ringing of her phone, which eventually ceased on its own—but not before annoying her further. “I, uh… I never really thanked you for, um… saving my life.”

I raised a brow.

She gave an uneasy scratch to her earlobe. “I just… I mean, yeah, I was mad, but also… I’ve been pretty ungrateful; I get why you guys did what you did, and there was no way you could have known that I didn’t want help—which was… kinda messed up, now that I think about it. I was being kinda dumb about the whole thing.”

I shook my head. “Your feelings, and what you wanted to do with your life isn’t dumb, Dashie. We should have taken more time to consider whether or not you would want to commit to an existence that never ends.”

“I know, and… to be honest, the thought of that scared the crap outta me, but… it’s better than being dead, I guess. For now. And I get that Fluttershy didn’t wanna let me die—heh! She’s kind of a softie like that.” She ended with a nervous cringe.

I smirked. “She’s a sweetheart. And she loves you, Dashie. So... yeah.”

Dash smiled and then looked down at the ground, rubbing her forearm. “I… honestly don’t know what I was trying to prove; like, I was willing to let myself suffer and die. And for what? Because I was jealous of you?” She paused to rub her forehead. “Ugh… god, I was being pretty ridiculous. Some Element of Loyalty I am.”

I leaned with my back against the car, hands in my pockets. “It’s not ridiculous. People do all kinds of weird things when they have terminal diseases; some just give in, some fight to the bitter end, some won’t tell anyone and would rather be left alone—maybe because they don’t want to be treated differently. Who knows? There’s all kinds of reasons that people do what they do. It doesn’t always make sense, nor does it have to. When they know the end is coming, everything else just becomes less important.”

“Yeah but, the end didn’t have to co—“

DING-A-LING-A-LING!

Rainbow Dash and I deadpanned as her phone cried out for attention a second time, and we glanced around the parking lot impatiently, waiting for it to end.

When it was finally finished, I drew a breath to speak. “You were saying?”

“Sorry.” She cleared her throat. “Um… so anyway, I was gonna say that the end didn’t have to come; I had a way to fix it…” —her eyes rose to meet mine, then she quickly looked away— “b-but I chose not to, because I as acting all weird about... everything.”

I gave a shrug. “It’s fine, Dashie. It wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened to me.”

“I know, it’s just… I’m sorry I treated you like that. Now that I’m like you, it doesn’t really feel the way I thought it would; it’s like… I dunno. I kinda like it, though—other than not being able to take naps.”

“Yeah, well… I’m sorry about that, but I’m sure you feel a lot better now than you did before,” I said, to which she nodded. “Don’t worry. With time, you’ll come to realise that—”

DING-A-LING-A-LING!

“Jesus!” I waved my hand and turned away. “Just answer the fuckin thing, Dashie.”

She huffed noisily, reaching into her pocket to yank her phone out. Without even looking at it, she tapped the screen and brought it to her ear. “WHERE’S THE FUCKING FIRE!?” After a few seconds, her expression dropped and she rolled her eyes. “Ugh… sorry, AJ. What’s up?”

I let out a snicker and shook my head, watching as she stared at the ground, listening.

“Yeah… ... I’m at home,” she answered, pausing to listen. “Uhh, I dunno. I’m outside, actually. In the parking lot with Golds.” She glanced up at me. “Yeah, he’s right here.” Then she rolled her eyes. “No, I don’t have a bee in my bonnet about that anymore.”

I smirked and fished around in my pocket, but then I stopped when I remembered that my phone was dead. I looked at Rainbow Dash again, watching as she turned and ambled away, holding the phone to her ear.

“No, his phone’s dead. Why, what’s up?... … Who?” She continued to pace as she listened, but after a few steps, she stopped suddenly, her head perking up. “When?” she asked. “Last night?”

She turned around again, staring at the ground. Seeing her face, I was quick to notice her expression: her brow was marked with concern; whatever she was being told, it appeared to be quite alarming.

“Holy shit. Do they know what happened?” she asked, rolling her jaw as she listened. Then she shook her head. “Jeez.”

By then, I was watching intently, wondering what was going on.

Dash nodded, and then inhaled deeply. “OK. OK. Uh… what room is she in?” She listened, and then nodded again. “OK. Yeah, we’re gonna head over there now. ... Yeah. Thanks, AJ.”

Rainbow Dash lowered the phone to end the call. Then she stared at the ground, chewing her lip.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

She glanced up at me suddenly, as if she’d forgotten I was there. “Oh, uh… Maud’s in the hospital.”

I cocked my head. “Maud… Pie?”

She nodded.

“What happened?”

Dash shook her head. “Pinkie found her outside when AJ dropped her off this morning, laying in the grass by the side of the house. I guess she was all messed up or something.”

“Messed up how?”

“I dunno. She didn’t really say. But we gotta go; I told AJ we would meet them at the hospital as soon as we can.”

I stood and opened the car door. “OK. You wanna drive?”

Chapter 123: Maud

Chapter 123

Rainbow Dash and I scurried through the hospital’s vast interior, its air thick with the scent of sterility. We zig-zagged between random medicine carts and empty gurneys, making our way down the long, florescent-bathed hallway.

Correction: Dash was scurrying; I was struggling to keep up.

I had no doubt that she disliked being here again, and that she’d be worried that one of the nurses might recognize her—despite my constant reminders that we weren’t even on the same floor that she was. Still, she zipped along at top non-magical speed, her brain being gnawed at by curiosity and anxiousness.

Why was Maud here? Why was she lying outside in the grass so early in the morning? What did Applejack mean by ‘she was all messed up?’

It wouldn’t be long before we had the answer; the aqua-eyed robot’s room was just around the bend.

As we rounded the corner, Dash’s speed wavered when she saw Pinkie Pie standing in the hall, just outside the door.

She was talking to a police officer.

Both Dash and I slowed. We closed the distance at a walking pace, listening, but were unable to hear what the officer was saying. Pinkie’s change in appearance was immediately noticeable: her face was blank, her head low. A major difference was her hair, which hung straight and limp as can be, showing its true length by hanging past her backside.

Even when Rainbow Dash and I were only ten feet away, Pinkie had yet to notice us approaching.

This was when Applejack emerged from the room, holding her hat to her chest.

“Uh… Pinkie Pie? She’s awake.”

Pinkie’s mouth dropped open and she turned away from the cop —who was in mid-sentence— to shove past AJ and disappear into the room. After a glance through the doorway, the farm girl turned to face Dash and I, letting her hat hang at her side.

“AJ? What’s going on?” Dash asked apprehensively.

“She’s uh... in here,” Applejack answered absentmindedly, waving us inside.

The rainbow-haired girl and I glanced at each other before following her in.

The room was a private one, all white, with a small, blue cabinet on the right and a large window on the left, casting what would have been bright sunlight across the bed—if a blanket of clouds hadn’t rolled in on our way across town.

The room was cluttered with familiar people. Sunset was standing to the left by the window, where AJ had joined her; on the immediate right was Twilight, who glanced at us as we entered. Past her, sitting in a chair was Rarity, with Fluttershy standing behind her, squeezing her shoulders.

Pinkie had pulled a chair to the bedside and was holding Maud’s hand, being careful not to disturb the IV lines coming from her wrist.

Maud herself looked especially pale. Her eyes were open, but it didn’t look like she knew where she was. Her shoulder, on the same side as the hand that Pinkie was holding, was heavily bandaged, as was the opposite foot, which was wrapped in a cast and supported by a large, foam cushion.

“What… happened?” Dash asked, uncharacteristically quiet.

Her voice prompted everyone to turn and look at us.

When they did, I was quick to notice something quite consistent: they all had smudged make-up—those who wore it, at least. Those who didn’t had red eyes, aside from AJ, who appeared quite stoic, but was certainly not her usual self.

I was unsettled by this, obviously. Something was very wrong here.

It wasn’t long before I noticed that Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had locked eyes and were staring at one another. After a tense moment, followed by a few blinks, Dash made her move. She slipped past Twilight to approach the shy girl.

As Fluttershy turned to face her, Dash threw her arms over the taller girl’s shoulders and hooked them around the back of her neck, pulling her in for a tight hug. Saying nothing, Fluttershy returned the embrace and locked eyes with me as Dash’s head found itself on her shoulder.

I gave her a smile. She attempted to send one back, but was unable to force it, which served as a quick reminder of where we were, let alone why we were all in this room in the first place.

I brought my eyes back to Maud. Pinkie was still sitting next to her, lost in her own little world and completely oblivious to the reunion.

She leaned closer to Maud, whose eyes opened further as she tried to ascertain where she was. After forcing down an uneasy swallow, Pinkie finally spoke. “Maudie? Can you hear me?” she said, very quietly.

I had never Pinkie speak this softly before.

After a slow blink, Maud’s head turned to face her sister. “Hi, Pinkie Pie.”

Pinkie attempted a comforting smile, but it was quickly shattered by trembling lips. A quick glance down to the bed helped the party-girl gather herself. She drew a breath and looked at her sister again.

“How do you feel?”

“Tired. And sore,” Maud droned as she glanced down at her shoulder, studying the bandages. Then she faced forward, letting a heavy pair of eyes sweep across the room, pausing briefly on each of us. “Why am I here?”

Pinkie reached out to touch her sister’s face, but stopped short. Her chubby, pink fingers hovered there, trembling, and then she withdrew, balling them into a fist that she put against her chest.

Maud brought her eyes back to her sister. “Pinkie…”

The party girl glanced toward the door, past me. I looked over my shoulder to find the cop standing right behind me with a notepad and pen, waiting. Pinkie watched him for a moment, not moving until she was able to face her sister again.

Exhaling slowly, Pinkie swallowed and gave Maud’s hand a squeeze. “Do you... remember anything about last night?”

Maud stared at Pinkie for what felt like an eternity. Then her eyes sank to the sheets. “No.”

The party-girl glanced down at her lap, deflated. After a deep breath with closed eyes, she looked up at her sister. “We… I-I found you outside this morning, under your bedroom window—which was open.”

Normally, anyone else would have looked befuddled by this, but Maud just looked blank. “Why?” she asked flatly.

“We think…” Pinkie paused and inhaled deeply to steel herself. “We think that you were trying to… get away.”

Maud blinked once.

Reluctant to continue, Pinkie had to force herself to speak. “Maudie, someone... came into the house last night.”

A blank stare. “Who?”

Pinkie shook her head. “W— … we don’t know.”

This seemed to rouse Maud, and she was prompted to glance around the room a second time, making eye contact with each of us. Then she brought her eyes —which were more alert now— back to her sister. “Pinkie, why are your friends here? Where’s mom and dad?”

The party girl froze. She covered her mouth when her bottom lip began to quiver, and she stared at Maud with eyes that quickly began to fill with moisture.

I have no idea how long this went on for, but it had to have been one of the longest moments I’d witnessed in a very long time.

The room was silent, save for the ticking of the clock, which seemed, by my perception, to have slowed and now sounded more like a deep clunk each time another second dragged itself past, becoming outdated and irrelevant, despite being some of the longest in history.

I glanced over at Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, who had released one another to watch the conversation; Dash, who clearly shared the same fear as me, stared anxiously at the Pie sisters, hoping that what Pinkie’s silence alluded to wasn’t actually true.

“Pinkie,” Maud repeated, prompting her sister to lock eyes with her again. “Where are our parents?”

Pinkie didn’t move.

“Where’s Limestone?” Maud continued. “And Marble?”

The very mention of that final name caused Pinkie to shut her eyes, which squeezed a heavy stream of tears down her cheeks. They ran down, leaving wet trails and pooling on top of her hand, which was still sealed tightly over her mouth.

Maud became still when she saw her sister’s response; she slowly faced forward again, her eyes drifting down to her lap. She drew a deep breath. “Oh,” was all she said.

A gasp, broken into three rapid parts, found its way into Pinkie’s lungs when she knew that Maud understood, and she quickly lost her composure. She put her head down to hide her face in her arms, which were folded on the bedrail, her shoulders bouncing rapidly as she bawled in silence.

Maud simply stared down at her legs, still as a statue.

By now, Rainbow Dash’s head was whipping back and forth, searching the room for someone who might tell her something better. “No way,” she said. “This can’t—you guys!” She stopped when she met eyes with Applejack, who was glaring back at her sternly. To Dash’s horror, AJ stared for a moment, sighed, and then shook her head.

The message was heart-wrenchingly clear, and the athlete’s eyes widened as she turned the other way to look at Fluttershy, who, after only a second or two, turned away in time to hide her tears.

I stood by the doorway, arms folded, watching the scene take place. It was surreal; perhaps, if I slept, I could chock this up to being a bad dream, but no. Sadly, this was really happening.

I watched, feeling completely ineffectual as the pink girl cried at her sister’s side, her long, flaccid hair draped over the bedrail and most of the way to the floor while her sister sat in the bed, completely devoid of… anything resembling emotion.

I was no stranger to loss. I’d been through a great deal of it as I traveled throughout the centuries —while causing my share of it— but this, happening to these girls? This hit hard.

We, as a solid unit, had dealt with plenty over the past year. This group didn’t deserve this. Granted, most people don’t, but these women, who I’d gotten to know, who I’d become protective of, who I could trust, who I felt safe with, who I’d fallen in love with—they did nothing to earn this. Especially Pinkie: the happiest, silliest, most harmless, most innocent person one could meet; she deserved this least of all. It didn’t matter that her relationship with her family had been rocky as of late, she still loved them. We all knew this.

But now here she was, utterly destroyed, reduced to tears in front of all of us.

The smell of vanilla invaded my senses. My attention was captured by it, and I brought my eyes down to find the face of Rarity right in front of me. Her smooth, white cheeks were tracked with mascara, her eyes heavy and moist, staring into mine in search of comfort. When she found none, she simply leaned forward and buried her face in my chest, her arms snaking their way around my lower back.

As I wrapped her shoulders in a hug, I looked around the room while the heat of her face soaked through my shirt. Twilight was in the same spot; she stood motionless, staring into space. AJ was much the same. Rainbow Dash had taken a seat on the floor and leaned against the wall, hugging her knees as she stared downward with empty eyes. Fluttershy sat next to her with her feet sprawled out, resting her temple against the side of Dash’s head with streams of moisture lining her cheeks.

Sunset stood with her back to the window, mindlessly running her fingers through her hair, her eyes fixated on nothing in particular. I watched her for a moment; something seemed to click in her mind and she looked up at Pinkie for a few seconds, then she turned to lock eyes with me as if she could feel me looking at her.

She watched me with those turquoise eyes. Then she attempted a smile, but failed—presumably because a smile felt inappropriate, given the situation. She cleared her throat and approached me, slipping past an immobile Applejack to fill the spot next to me and the fashionista.

Our eyes never lost sight of one another the entire time, and the look she was giving me reflected the look I knew I was giving her; a look of resolve, a look that clearly expressed what we were both wondering:

Who was responsible for this?

I turned to look into the hall where the cop was standing, currently facing the other direction. Then I brought my eyes back to Sunset. “Did you, uh…?” I finished by tipping my head toward the officer.

Sunset sighed and then folded her arms, nodding. “Yeah. He doesn’t know anything.”

Pursing my lips, I glanced at the Pie sisters again.

The red-head reached out and tapped my arm. “Don’t worry. Whoever did this, they can’t hide from me.”

Rarity was prompted to speak up, her words muffled until she lifted her head to look at me. “But why? Who would do this? And to such a sweet family?”

“I don’t know,” I replied, after which I planted a kiss on her forehead. “But me and Sunny are gonna find out. And when we do, you’ll have a chance to practice your carving skills little more.”

“Indeed.”

Sunset raised a hand, eyes closed. “Just… hold on, you two. There’ll be lots of time to talk about that, but right now, we have no idea who did this.”

“Ohh…” Rarity grimaced as she glanced over her shoulder towards the bed. “I suppose you’re right, darling. So sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Sunset replied quietly.

Rarity sighed. “I suppose… we should be thankful, really. I mean, that we still have Pinkie Pie—and Maud, obviously. Fortunately, Pinkie Pie was watching movies with Applejack last night; I shudder to think what might have happened if she’d been at home.”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah. Thank Celestia for AJ.” She paused, and then raised a brow before looking at me with her eyes widened. “Wait… what about Sonata? Where was she last night?”

“She’s fine,” I replied. “She showed up at Flutters’ when Twi and I were… talking, and uh, you guys had already gone out to the field, so… you kinda missed her.”

Rarity paused. “Wait. Sonata was at Fluttershy’s last night?”

“Yeah. She showed up in Pinks’ car; said she went to the Pie’s first and Pinks wasn’t there, and I guess she didn’t know the way to AJ’s so she just came to Flutters’ to watch TV and hang out with Link.”

A light scowl marked the fashionista’s brow. “Hm. How very… convenient. For her.”

“Did you not notice Pinks’ car when you left?” I asked. “I’m kinda surprised you guys didn’t know she was there.”

Rarity rolled her eyes and huffed quietly. “For your information, we were just getting ready to leave the field when Pinkie Pie texted us to tell us what had happened, so we hurried back to the yard to get our cars and come to town. It’s not like we stopped to take inventory of whose vehicles were there!”

I took my hands from her shoulders to hold them up in defence. “OK, fine. Jeez.”

“Take it easy, you too,” Sunset cut in. “But yeah, anyway… you’re right, Rare; she’s lucky she didn’t stick around Pinks’ house or she might have ended up like the rest of them. Maybe.” She shook her head, frowning. “Or maybe not. Who knows? Sonata’s definitely been around the block a few times—it’s hard to say if she could have fended-off whoever that was. Not that it really matters now.”

Rarity began to rub her chin thoughtfully.

I faced Sunset. “You think ‘Us’ would’ve had anything to do this?”

Sunset bit her lip and thought about it for a moment. “No,” she said, giving her head a shake. “What would be the point? They wanted super-soldiers; they wanted us. They had no interest in murdering a family—even if they were connected to us. If anything, you’d think they would have threatened them, you know? Hold them ransom to try to get us to turn ourselves in. If they murder them right off the bat, they’ve got nothing to bargain with; plus, Chrysalis knows damn well I’d be on her doorstep in a heartbeat, ready to kill her ass if they did something like that.”

“Yeah.” With a sigh, I brought my hand up to rub my temple. “I dunno. It doesn’t make sense. Who else would do this?”

“No idea,” Sunset replied. “The Pies weren’t exactly known for having enemies.”

“Hm.” I stewed for a moment, chewing the inside of my cheek. “I take it there’s no footage on the app we can look at?”

Sunset shook her head. “Already checked. There’re no cameras out there in the boonies.”

“Shit.” I glanced down to the right to check on Fluttershy. Her eyelashes were wet, her cheeks glistening. Rainbow Dash looked numb as can be. “You’re probably right about ‘Us’ though, Sunny. This isn’t really their style, but we shouldn’t jump to any conclusions just yet. Not ‘til we at least know something. Still, I can’t see ‘Us’ having the balls to mess with us like this. They’ve seen what we can do when we’re pissed off, right Rar—“ I paused, expecting the indigo-haired girl to be there.

But she was gone.

“Uh…” I took a look around, including a quick glance into the hall, but the only thing left of the fashionista was her scent. “Where’d she go?”

“Not sure,” Sunset replied inattentively. “I didn’t see where she went.”

“Prolly went to the shitter to fix her make-up,” I figured, to which Sunset seemed to agree.

The red-head and I faced the bed again, watching the sisters mourn together as we submerged ourselves in contemplative silence. Pinkie had lifted her head and was wiping her eyes and cheeks with her hands. As soon as her vision was clear enough to see her sister, however, she covered her mouth and broke down again. After a few minutes of this, I turned back to Sunset again, unable to endure it all.

“So…” I said with a sigh. “Any ideas?”

Sunset pursed her lips, deep in thought.

I faced her. “Sunny?”

She turned to me suddenly, eyes wide. “Oh… uh, honestly? I’ve gotta wait to hear back from Shining Armor first.”

“Twi’s brother? Why?” I asked, raising a brow.

“Well, I sent him a message telling him what happened. He’s gonna see what he can find out about the case. If he could become the Crown, I’ll have access through him to the files, and all the evidence that the police have. I’ll know everything they know, which’ll give us a major advantage in finding whoever did this.”

“You clever girl.”

She folded her arms. “I might even be able to investigate the crime scene myself—but that’s kind of a stretch. We won’t know until Shiny gets the assignment; hopefully he does—and soon.”

“We’re gonna find this fucking guy, Sunny.” I said, nudging her arm.

“Yeah.”

A soft tap declared its presence on my shoulder, and I turned to see who it was.

Fluttershy. “Um… Goldie? Do you know where Rare went?”

After a quick glance into the hall, I locked onto those heavy teal eyes again. “Not sure. I think she might have gone to the washroom, but I’m not really sure. Why?”

The shy girl held her phone up. “I just tried to text her, but it said she was unavailable.”

I looked at the phone. She was correct; her message had been thwarted by a red exclamation point.

“Hm.” I took my own phone out and sent her a text—one that might rouse her attention.

ME: Ur missing the 4 way, sugarpuss

After the pinwheel of artificial thought made half a dozen revolutions, a smaller note popped up under my message.

’Not Delivered’

“Huh. That’s weird.” Sunset stood next to me to see the screen. I switched over to The App to track Rarity’s location, but unfortunately, her beacon was nowhere to be found. “Shit… she must have her phone off.”

Sunset shook her head, frowning. “Why would she do that?”

“I dunno, but…” I paused to count the beacons that represented the rest of us, all of which were in one spot: in this very room. “I have no idea where she is now.”

“W-what could she be doing?” Fluttershy asked. “And why doesn’t she want us to know where she is?”

I shook my head and switched to the outside cameras to see if her car had left the parking lot, but was yet again met with something unexpected.

“What the fuck?” I furrowed by brows at the screen.

“What?” Sunset asked, leaning closer to see.

“The cameras are off.”

“Damn it,” Sunset huffed.

“Yeah,” I continued. “They’re off all the way across the south end of town; I take it that was her.”

“What the fuck is she up to? Can you turn them back on?” Sunset asked.

“I don’t see why not,” I replied as I circled the area with my finger to highlight it. “I don’t get why she’d—“

Before I was able to hit the icon to turn the cameras back on, something struck me. “Oh shit.” I faced Sunset, mouth ajar. “We gotta go,” I said as I put my phone away.

“What? Why?” Sunset asked, surprised.

“I know where she’s going,” I said, prompting the red-head to raise a brow.

“Where?” she asked.

“Well where are you usually headed when you go through the south end of town?”

The red-head stared at me for a few seconds, then we both turned to look at Fluttershy, who shrunk into herself once she realised she was being scrutinized.

Then Sunset shook her head and brought her eyes back to me. “But… wait, why would she be going there?”

“What was the last thing she said before she left?” I asked.

“Uhh…” Sunset furrowed her brows, shifting her jaw side-to-side as she tried to remember. “We were… talking about the Pies, and how lucky it was that Pinkie was at AJ’s… uh… and then—“ She paused and then gasped suddenly; her eyes locked onto mine, wide as can be. “Oh shit, Sonata!”

“Is your bike here?” I asked quickly.

She nodded.

“Good. You’ll be able to get out there faster than anyone else.”

“Got it. On my way,” she said as she began to step past me to leave.

“And take Twi with you.”

Sunset stopped and looked back at me, confused.

“Just take her, Sunny,” I insisted. “If Rare gets violent, Twi is the only one who’ll be able to stop her.”

Her eyes widened at the thought, but she understood and gave a quick nod. “Right. Twi!” she shouted, turning to face her dazed friend. “TWI!”

The lavender girl snapped out of whatever it was she was staring at, blinked a few times, and then faced Sunset. “Huh?”

The red-head waved her along. “We gotta go. Now!”

“Why? What’s happening?”

“I’ll tell you on the way, just come on!”

Sunset rushed out of the room with a confused Twilight following close behind. With them now gone, Fluttershy and I locked eyes.

She looked worried. “Oh dear. You don’t think she would hurt Sonata, do you?”

“I dunno,” I said, pulling her into a hug. “Hopefully not, but Rare’s been untrusting of her since the beginning and, to be honest, I kinda see why she’d suspect her; it was a pretty lucky move for her to come to your house last night.”

“Hmm.” The shy girl rested her temple on my shoulder.

As we held onto each other, something blocked the light from the window on my left, and I turned to find Applejack standing beside us.

“What’s all the hoopla about?” she asked, nodding toward the door.

“We’re pretty sure Rare is blaming Sonata for this,” I explained, nodding to Pinkie and her sister as I spoke. “Sunny and Twi are gonna go make sure she doesn’t do anything crazy.”

“Whut? Shit…” AJ sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “That god-dang drama queen.”

I placed my hands on Fluttershy’s arms to separate us. “I should go, too.”

My girlfriend sighed, looked down, and then nodded.

“Can I come?” AJ asked. “Ya might need my help, and… I reckon I don’t like hospitals much—‘specially lately.”

I gave her a nod. “Yeah, you can come. How about you, Flutters?” I asked, facing the shy girl again.

“Um…” She turned to look at the sisters, then she looked over her shoulder at Rainbow Dash, who was still seated on the floor. “I… I think I’ll stay here with Pinkie and Maud. And Dashie.”

I nodded. “Fair enough,” I said, leaning in for a kiss.

“Text me to let me know everything’s OK,” Fluttershy requested.

“I will. Don’t worry; it’s gonna be fine.” I turned and waved AJ along. “Let’s go.”

Once AJ and I had left, Fluttershy sighed and headed back to where Rainbow Dash was sitting. She slid down the wall and then folded her arms on her knees, glancing up at Maud, who hadn’t moved a muscle since she’d learned her family was gone.

Then, Rainbow Dash surprised her by speaking.

“I am such a jerk.”

Fluttershy turned to her friend, eyes wide. “Why would you say that?”

After a sigh, Dash replied. “Because of… what I was gonna do.”

“What do you mean?”

“When I was sick,” she replied, studying her hands as she spoke. “I was ready to let myself go down in some dumb blaze of glory—to show everyone how awesome and brave I was… and for what?” She faced the shy girl, her eyes full of moisture. “No one would have cared about that. It wouldn’t have mattered to you guys how it happened; just that it happened, and you would have felt like…” —she looked up at the pair of devastated sisters— “like that.” She faced Fluttershy again, clearly struggling to keep her tears at bay. “I get it now. I see why you did what you did, Flutters: you didn’t want to feel like this, like I feel right now.”

Fluttershy was quiet. She glanced at the bed briefly, watching the pink girl stare vacantly at the sheets, cheeks soaked. “It’s so much more… real than you expect, when you actually lose someone. No one really thinks about it until it’s staring them in the face.” She returned her eyes to Rainbow Dash and sighed. “But... I still feel awful about what I did.”

Unable to keep it together, the rainbow-haired girl closed her eyes and began to sob, teeth gritted, bottom lip shaking. “I’m sorry, Flutters…” she squeaked, leaning into her friend’s shoulder. “I’m sorry I tried to do this to everyone. A-and… I’m sorry I was a jerk to you for saving me.”

“Oh, Dashie…” Fluttershy wrapped her arms around her friend, whose tears soaked her soft, pink hair. She’d barely made out what Dash had said through her sobbing, but she still got the message. “It’s OK,” she said, running her fingers through those coloured locks. “It didn’t turn out that way. And I’m sorry I did what I did, too, but I couldn’t stand the thought of having to live forever without you.”

Fluttershy slowly turned to face the bed, sighing as she let her friend cry on her shoulder. After a moment of rumination, she cleared her throat to speak again, softly.

“I may have saved you, but I couldn’t save us from this. It looks like the universe had other plans; like we were meant to suffer in some way.” She let her head tip back to rest against the wall, her eyes shifting to the ceiling. “It’s like Goldie always says: these things happen whenever they want. Death is never courteous.”

***

Outside, Applejack and I made the long run from the building to the parking lot. The wind was blowing hard, making AJ hold onto her hat to keep it in place, squinting her eyes as the rain blew in sideways, pelting us relentlessly with droplets that were just above freezing.

Once we reached my truck, I unlocked it as fast as I could and we both climbed inside, pulling the doors shut to find relief from the elements.

“Dang it!” AJ cursed as she removed her hat to straighten the brim, her hair blown into a soaking mess.

I glanced over at her as I slipped the key into the ignition to start the engine, feeling droplets of water run down my nose.

“Where in the hell did this piss-poor weather come from!?” AJ sniffled as she wiped her face and then plopped her hat on again. “Hard ta believe it was so nice just a little while ago.”

“I dunno,” I said, dropping the shifter into gear to head for the exit. “Hopefully it doesn’t slow Sunny and Twi down too much.”

She glanced over at me. “Ya don’t really think that… Rarity’ll hurt Sonata, do ya?”

I shook my head. “I hope not, but I can’t be too sure. People can do some weird things when stuff like this happens; everyone has their own way of dealing with it.” I looked over at the farm girl. “Rare’s just… upset. She needs answers. Someone needs to be held accountable for this, and since she saw a legitimate reason to suspect Sonata, she’ll be fixated on her, and she’s gonna act on it.”

AJ shook her head. “Ugh… dang it, Rarity. What d’ya always gotta be so dramatic fer?” She licked her lip and then paused, looking over at me, curious. “D’ya think Sonata had anythin ta do with it?”

“I doubt it,” I replied. “And this is why we gotta make sure Rare doesn’t hurt her; not just cuz she’s probably not at fault, but because Pinks in gonna need her. She’ll never forgive Rare if she takes Sonata away from her, too.” I gave a sigh and glanced at AJ. “I just hope Rare realises that before it’s too late.”

*****

After rolling into her girlfriend’s driveway, Rarity brought her car to a skidding halt.

She shut the engine off and opened the door to get out, glancing at herself in the rear view mirror before exiting. She took note of her appearance, which was atypically haggard—though this was one of those extremely rare instances in which she didn’t care one iota. The run from the hospital lobby to her car had all but destroyed her carefully crafted appearance, which had already been tarnished by her tears: those beautifully coiffed locks of indigo were blown down and nearly blackened by the rain. It hung straight and scraggly down the sides of her face, and her make-up had bled from her eyes and ran down her cheeks, looking like dark, poisonous flowers that stood on long, black stems.

But she didn’t care. There was only one thing on her mind right then.

Rarity exited the car in haste, re-entering the dastardly wind that would do well to add insult to her appearance’s injury; on her way to the front door the rain blew her hair, which whipped around her face, snagging a few dried leaves from the previous fall that happened to fly past.

She shoved the front door open and entered the house. Inside, sitting in the middle of the couch was Sonata, still watching TV. Rarity’s fists balled when she saw that blue bob peeking over the backrest, its owner enjoying herself like all was well in the world.

Rarity swung the door shut and marched forward, leaving wet prints on the floor, surrounded by a trail water of drops that fell from the tips of her hair. She approached the couch from behind; apparently Sonata was too engrossed in the show to notice the racket, and so she continued to face forward—right up until Rarity grabbed her shoulders and yanked her over the back of the couch, tossing her to the floor, next to the table.

Stunned and curious —and a little sore— Sonata looked up to see what had happened, but then let out a bloodcurdling scream when she saw the cadaverous aggressor standing over her.

“AAAAAHHH! Samara Morgan!”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Ugh! Shut-up, you… you… buffoon!”

Recognising the voice, Sonata’s breathing ceased, her eyes wide with shock. “R— … Rarity? What happened?”

“Yyyyyou!” Rarity snarled, stepping forward, which in turn caused Sonata to crawl backward a few inches. “I KNEW IT! I knew all along you couldn’t be trusted, but did they listen to me? Oohhh no!”

“What are you talking about?”

The frazzle-ista wagged a finger at the siren. “Can it! Your inexcusably lame acting does not fool me. D’you really expect me to believe you are THAT lucky? That you just happened to be here when it all went down? Ohh, how perfectly convenient it is!”

Sonata blinked, utterly dumbfounded and confused by the rant.

“Don’t think for a second that can’t see through it,” Rarity continued, holding a finger up as she stepped over Sonata, positioning herself so the siren’s hips were between her feet. “You came here to hide-out while the deed was being done; you didn’t dare go to Applejack’s either, because you didn’t have the gall to smile in Pinkie Pie’s face when you knew what was happening!”

Mouth open, Sonata shook her head. “I… I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“PPFFT! Please!” Rarity huffed. “Spare me your phony nonsense. You may have fooled the others —even Sunset— but you don’t fool me! They trusted you. PINKIE PIE trusted you! I tried to tell them, but they wouldn’t listen.” As Rarity spoke, she raised one hand above her head, ready to receive the weapon that she would summon. “And now, because of our naiveté, the Pies are DEAD!”

Sonata froze, a look of horror taking hold of her features. “What!?”

Rarity paused when she saw the reaction. Jaw clenched, she stared down at the siren through a curtain of stringy hair, polluted with bits of old leaf. Her fingers trembled in the air as they waited for a blade to appear… but it didn’t. Not yet.

While Rarity’s conviction was strong, Sonata’s response was so genuine, so believable, it had caused her to waver.

Could Sonata’s acting be this convincing?

Rarity closed her eyes and shook her head to clear the thought from her mind. She drew a breath and reached higher, but again, she stopped when she saw the devastated maroon eyes of her foe looking up at her.

Sure, she could do it. Rarity could conjure up a nice, long blade, and with one quick swipe, it would be all over.

But what if she was wrong?

As she pondered this, her fingers hung in the air. She wiggled them once, and then a second time.

Were the sirens trustworthy? No. Were they scheming, conniving witches with a thirst for power? Absolutely, they were. But was Sonata an orchestrator? A mastermind? Or even a good actress?

Hardly.

Rarity remembered back in high school, Sunset telling them after the battle of the bands about her first encounter with the sirens in the front foyer. She remembered her saying that Sonata had almost exposed their plans, right then and there.

It was a trait that was hard to ignore: Sonata was not very good at deception. And now, she looked completely shattered by what she’d just been told.

Rarity’s time for ruminating on this came to an abrupt end when the front door burst open and in popped a soaking wet Twilight Sparkle, whose eyes widened upon seeing the stance Rarity had taken over the siren.

She gasped deeply. “Rarity, NO!” Twilight quickly brought both hands forward, stepping into her attack.

A burst of magenta-coloured energy erupted before Rarity and she soared backwards over the couch, landing out of sight on the hard, wooden floor with a loud thud.

Twilight withdrew her hands as Sunset entered and slipped past her, running towards Sonata. The red-head knelt by the siren, unintentionally dripping water on her—although she didn’t notice as she was quite understandably shaken by everything she’d just witnessed. As quickly and inconspicuously as she could, Sunset put her hand on Sonata’s forearm, her body tensing as a millennium’s worth of memories tried to surge through her.

She released her hold after a few seconds, sighed, then looked up at Twilight as she slowly approached, hands clasped to her chest, anxious to know what Sunset had learned.

After a deep breath, Sunset shook her head.

Exhaling, Twilight’s shoulders dropped.

Sunset brought her attention back to the siren. “Are you OK?” she asked, placing her hand on her shoulder.

Sonata just stared at the back of the couch, her breaths short and erratic.

“Hey!” Sunset shouted.

This snapped Sonata out of her trance and she locked eyes with the red-head, her breath trapped in her throat. “S-Sunset?”

“Yeah, it’s me,” she replied softly. “Are you OK?”

Sonata looked down at herself. “Um… yeah. I think. My elbow kinda hurts, but other than that I think I’m OK.”

Sunset nodded and gave the siren’s shoulder a squeeze. “Good.”

After staring for a moment, Sonata gulped and looked up at the red-head. “What did she mean, ‘the Pies are dead’? Is that true?”

Sunset paused. Then she licked her lip, looked down, and nodded.

Sonata drew a breath and placed a hand in front of her mouth. “But… when? How?”

“Last night. They were murdered. We don’t know exactly how—and we don’t know why, either.”

The siren’s eyes began to shift back and forth, then they widened and locked with Sunset’s again. “Is… P…?”

Sunset shook her head and gave Sonata’s shoulder a rub. “No. Pinkie’s fine; she was at AJ’s last night.”

“Ohh… that’s right.” A sigh of relief. Then a furrowed brow. “But… everyone else?”

“Maud’s in the hospital. She’s hurt pretty bad, but she’s gonna be OK.” Sunset glanced up at Twilight before continuing. “But, uh, everyone else is… gone.”

Sonata’s mouth hung open, her face blank. She slowly faced forward and stared at the back of the couch, blinking randomly.

***

It was about this time that Applejack and I arrived; I pulled off to the side and parked in the spot that I had come to consider mine. We jumped out and made our way to the front door through the wicked wind and rain, AJ with a tight grip on her hat as she kept her head down.

Sunset’s motorcycle was there, which looked like it had been abandoned rather hastily; there were two helmets lying on the ground between it and the front door, which was standing open. AJ stepped inside first. I followed, closing the door behind me.

“Is e’erybody OK in here?” she asked loudly, removing her hat.

Sunset was kneeling behind the couch next to Sonata, who was on the floor, with Twilight standing nearby. Link was seated next to the siren, curious about what was going on. All of them turned to face us when they heard the farm girl’s voice.

“Everyone’s OK; we’re good,” Sunset answered after failing a smile.

“Where’s Rare?” I asked, noting her absence.

“Um…” Twilight unclasped her hands to point at the far side of the room. “She’s behind the couch… on the floor.”

I could see it in Twilight’s face immediately: she looked guilty. After giving her a quick glance, I nodded and started past her. As I did, she turned her head to follow me.

“Sorry.”

I stopped and faced her, then I gave her shoulder a pat. I made my way around the couch next, looking for my girlfriend.

She was on the floor in front of the couch, curled up in child’s pose, hugging her stomach. Her forehead was against the floor, surrounded by a scraggly fan of long, wet hair.

I sighed and knelt down beside her, using a finger to sweep the cold locks aside so I could see her face, which was stained with mascara and contorted by sorrow.

She was weeping silently.

I placed a hand between her shoulder blades, feeling the cold dampness in her clothing. “Rare?”

No response.

I leaned down, putting my face close to hers. “Hey… it’s me,” I said softly.

Still, she said nothing; only her sobs were audible, her voice squeaking out between her teeth.

I straightened up again and sighed. Then I reached around her and rolled her against me. “OK… come on, let’s get you off the floor,” I said as I scooped her up in my arms and carried her to the couch.

I sat Rarity on the middle cushion and knelt before her, resting my hands on her knees as she hid her face in her hands, not knowing what else to do.

The cushion next to her sank when Twilight sat, wringing her hands nervously.

“I… I’m really sorry, Rarity,” she said quietly. “I just… I panicked when I saw you standing over her like that.”

Rarity took a deep breath and let her hands slide away from her face. They flopped down to her lap as she let her head fall back to stare up at the ceiling. She sniffled and then shook her head. “She had no idea, did she?”

Twilight, chewing her lip, glanced over the back of the couch at Sonata, then returned her eyes to Rarity with a pause. Then she shook her head.

Rarity saw the response from the corner of her eye, and she brought one hand up to cover her eyes, leaving her mouth exposed, her lips stiff and quivering.

She was lost. We all were. Pinkie’s family had been destroyed, and none of us knew why. There was no one to hold accountable, and Rarity was just now realising what’d she’d almost done: she was desperate for justice, but in her haste, she had blamed the wrong person and was ready to end them.

Behind the couch, Sunset listened as Rarity began to sob all over again. She kept her eyes on Sonata, who was still in a daze and staring into space.

The red-head glanced up at Applejack next, who was still standing by the door. She held her hat by her side, which was dribbling water into a small puddle on the floor, next to her foot.

Her eyes locked with Sunset’s suddenly, and after a short stare between them, AJ tossed her hat onto the shoe mat and turned to open the front door. She stepped outside, leaving the door open behind her.

Sunset watched as the farm girl walked straight out, about fifteen feet into the driveway. It was a surreal sight: AJ stood, hands on her hips, the wind whipping her pony tail, the rain soaking her shirt as she stared off into the trees, not caring about any of it.

Then, out of nowhere, a burst of rage erupted from the farm girl; she stepped forward, wound her leg up and kicked a swath of gravel across the yard, leaving a long, deep groove in the driveway.

Sunset’s eyes widened when she saw this and she stood immediately, almost forgetting about the siren. She stopped and looked down at Sonata, who looked up at her curiously, but sadly. Sunset held a hand out to signal her to remain still. “Just… stay here, K? Everything’s gonna be fine.”

Sonata let her head fall, and she nodded silently as Sunset headed outside. Sitting next to the siren, Link lifted a paw and gently patted her leg, inviting her to pet him for a scrap of comfort.

Sunset folded her arms as she stepped into that unforgiving wind, her hair and jacket whipping violently around her. She stopped several feet from AJ, who was pinching the bridge of her nose, head down, eyes closed.

“How’re you holding up?” Sunset asked, having to shout over the roar of the wind.

Applejack opened her eyes and turned when she heard Sunset’s voice, and the two locked eyes.

“Eh… I’m fine.”

Sunset raised a brow and then looked down at the gouge that’d been dug by AJ’s foot.

Applejack followed suit, chewing her bottom lip as she studied the mark. Then she closed her eyes and swallowed. “I… uh…”

“You wanna talk about it?”

AJ paused. Then she sighed. “I… when I dropped Pinkie off this mornin, I drove away, not knowin what’d happened. I left her there, ta find her family… in the house like that. All by herself. She found Maud last, a’ course. Lucky she made it; she coulda froze ta death out there, ‘specially bleedin the way she was.”

Sunset scuffed her feet in the gravel as she listened.

Applejack paused, staring at the ground. Then she said something rather unexpected. “This whole thing’s my fault.”

Shocked, Sunset brought her eyes up to her friend. “What? AJ, why would you think that?”

“Cuz, I…“ Applejack’s hand waved in the air, trying to gesture her words out. “Pinkie Pie invited me ta go over there fer ‘Predator’ night, and... I didn’t wanna go, cuz I didn’t wanna hang out with ‘er family. You know how they been lately! Plus I thought it might be nice fer her ta get outta the house fer once… ‘specially since Sonata weren’t around. But then lookit… LOOKIT WHUT HAPPENED!”

Sunset shook her head, knowing where this was going. “You can’t blame yoursel—“

“I shoulda been there!” she shouted suddenly, taking the red-head by surprise. “But I wasn’t, cuz I was bein selfish and only thinkin a’ m’self.”

“AJ… there’s no way you could have seen this coming,” Sunset replied. “This is not your fault.”

“Well that’s easy fer you ta say. The Pies ain’t dead cuz a’ you!”

Sunset huffed and shook her head. Then she faced AJ again. “They’re not dead because of you either.”

AJ started to turn away, not caring that her face was being battered by the rain. “I shoulda been there, plain and simple! They might still be alive right now if I… I-I coulda did s-somethin…”

Those last words wavered when they came out, and she slapped a hand over her mouth, squeezing her eyes shut.

This took Sunset by surprise. AJ was not known to lose control of her emotions. She couldn’t even remember the last time she saw the farm girl break down. Not knowing what else to do, Sunset stepped forward quickly and wrapped her friend in a tight hug.

AJ was quick to return the embrace, struggling desperately to hold in her sobs. They held each other there, standing together in the driveway as the nasty wind and rain blew past them, soaking their clothes and hair.

“I… I fucked up, Sunset,” AJ whimpered, her voice right next to the red-head’s ear. “This was the whole reason I got turnt, so I could pertect the people ‘round me; so I could stop things like this from happenin.”

“You didn’t fuck up, AJ… anymore than the rest of us did. Nobody saw this coming.”

Applejack exhaled into Sunset’s hair, then she shook her head.

“Listen,” Sunset continued. “Remember Golds’ story from the Wild West. Remember the family he was trying to help.”

AJ swallowed, but said nothing.

“Do you remember what he said about that? He said, sometimes these things just happen. It doesn’t matter how much you try to stop it, you can’t keep everyone safe all the time. You can’t be everywhere at once, and sometimes the universe just has other plans.”

“But… I can’t help feelin guilty ‘bout it. If I could go back, I could—”

“But you can’t go back. What’s done is done; there’s nothing we can do about it now, so none of that matters. What matters is what we do next.”

Applejack drew a deep, shaky breath. “And what are we doin next?”

Sunset released AJ and backed away just enough to look her in the face. “I’m gonna find out who did this, and then we’re gonna settle the score.”

After staring for a moment, Applejack’s eyes closed and she let out a sigh. “Dang. What happened ta the good ol’ days when we used ta solve these things with friendship?”

“Those things from before? They were caused by Equestrian magic. They could only be stopped by magic—the magic of friendship. But this? This is not magic. This is something different; magic can’t fix this.” Sunset paused for a moment and reached up to wipe the rain from her face. “Besides… do you really wanna be friends with whoever did this?”

AJ’s eyes opened again. She cocked her head to the side, and then shook it slowly.

“Nah. Not really.”

Author's Note

And so begins our main plot.

Chapter 124: The Search Begins

Chapter 124

“Whaddaya think, Sunny?”

“I can’t really see that well,” she whispered. “It looks like they’ve got the whole property taped-off across the front, but we might be able to get in through the trees along the side.”

I shook my head. “It’d be nice if it was summertime. At least then there might be corn in the field that we could sneak in through.”

“Yeah, that’d be nice, but I think we’ll be OK coming in through the trees.”

“How many cops are there?”

“Not sure; shouldn’t be too many right now.” Sunset glanced up to the purple sky, then she brought her eyes down to the horizon behind us, where a mauve glow signalled an eventual sunrise. “If we’re gonna do this, we’d better hurry before more of them start showing up.”

“Are you gonna try to get inside the house?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so. They’re probably in there. If we get caught, we’ll get nailed for interfering with an investigation, which’ll be bad—especially if Shiny takes the case. We’ll be screwed before we even leave the gate.”

“Fair enough.” I exhaled quietly into the cold morning air, my breath just visible as it quickly drifted away. “OK then. We doing this, or what?”

Sunset nodded, the golden highlights in her hair reflecting the warm hue growing behind us. “Yeah. We’ll take a quick look around the house and see what we see. As much as I’d like to get inside, it’s just not worth the risk. This is all we can do for now, unfortunately.”

“Alright. Let’s go.”

It was the next morning, just before sunrise.

Lucky for us, the weather had decided to calm down. The wind and rain were replaced by a calm stillness, which gave the space we were about to invade an incredibly eerie atmosphere, especially knowing what had transpired during the previous forty-eight hours.

After travelling along the thick tree line that concluded at the left side of the Pie property, we emerged near the rear corner of the house. Sunset and I padded our way across the soggy, brown grass and then ducked under the police tape that stretched across the yard behind the house, which the red-head had failed to notice earlier.

Now inside the crime scene, we approached the side of the house, staying low as we slunk along the bushes. Eventually, we came upon a small gap in the shrubs; there was a wooden lattice attached to the side of the house with a length of vines snaked through its openings—dormant, bare, and devoid of life, waiting for spring before they would show their true colours again.

Sunset, who was leading the way, paused suddenly and put her hand back to stop me. She turned back and put her finger to her lips to signal me to be quiet, and then pointed upward at the side of the house.

Above the lattice was an open window.

“That’s Maud’s room,” she whispered very softly as she pointed to a flattened patch of grass in front of us, right next to the house. “This is where Pinkie found her. Like she said, Maud was probably trying to escape through this window.” Sunset pointed at the lattice. “I bet she was gonna climb down on that, but the suspect got to her before she got out—which would explain the bandages on her shoulder. She was either knocked or pushed out, and then fell here,” —she pointed at the grass again— “which is probably how she got the broken leg.”

I scratched my chin, studying the scene for myself. Everything Sunset was saying made sense, and was probably very close to the truth.

“I hope they got pictures out here before that storm hit,” she continued as she scanned the side of the house and around the shrubs. “There would have been blood in the grass for sure —and who knows what else— but all that rain we got would’ve washed it away by now.”

“Hopefully they did,” I agreed. “It’s hard to say though; that shitty weather came outta nowhere, especially with the forecast calling for a nice day.”

“Yeah, the weatherman totally shit the bed on that one,” she said as she pulled her phone out to use its flashlight. She stopped suddenly, however, furrowing her brows as she looked past me into the backyard, sniffing the air.

“What?” I asked, noticing her shift in focus.

“You smell that?”

I inhaled through my nose, paused, and then shook my head. “I just smell mud… and water, or whatever.”

“No…” She paused for a moment, running her tongue around the inside of her lips. Then her eyes widened, landing on mine. “That! Smell that?”

I took another whiff and paused. I narrowed my eyes at Sunset. “Yeah. Smells like smoke.” I looked up at the open window. “There wasn’t a fire in the house, was there?”

“Not that I know of.”

“It doesn’t really smell like house fire anyway,” I continued. “It’s more like, uh… kinda like a campfire. Or a brushfire.”

She glanced at the house and then leaned over to look past me, beyond the rear of the property. “It’s not very close, whatever it is,” she said, taking a few steps away to survey the backyard. “I’m gonna go check it out. Stay here; I don’t wanna leave too many footprints around here.”

“K,” I replied, squatting down next to the shrub. “Be careful, Sunny.”

“Yeah-yeah. I’ll be back.”

As the red-head’s footsteps squished away, I decided to follow the lead that Sunset was about to give by pulling my phone out and turning on the flashlight. I scanned the flattened grass where Maud landed for any traces of blood, but found none. I shone the light a bit father away from the house and then stopped when I saw something: three faint divots in the grass, forming a triangle at equal distances from one another.

A tripod, I figured. They must have gotten some pictures before it rained; that’s one good thing, at least.

A loud beep came from the front of the house, prompting me to cover the light with my hand. The sound of a voice broadcast over a radio came next; it was too far away to make out what was being said, but either way, the police were talking back and forth to each other, presumably unaware of mine and Sunset’s presence.

Once they finished and silence had returned to the yard, I waited several more seconds before uncovering the light to do a quick sweep along the edge of the house and under the shrubs.

Then something caught my eye.

I leaned closer to get a better look, making sure that it was in fact what I thought it was. I was tempted to go and pick it up, but ultimately decided to wait for Sunset to come back. She was, after all, the trained expert.

Several minutes later, Sunset returned, signalling her approach with the sloshy rhythm of her footsteps. She squatted next to me, pursing her lips. Then she exhaled.

“Find anything?” I whispered.

She shook her head. “Not really. I saw some smoke coming from that farmer’s field out behind the property, but it was around the bend past the trees, so I couldn’t see exactly where it was.”

“Probably burned some brush; musta been before the weather came in,” I said.

“That’s what I figured,” she agreed. “I didn’t bother going to see it up close; that field was way too muddy to walk through. I didn’t really see the point.”

“Hm.” I nodded to the bush next to the wall. “Did you see that?”

“What?”

“Under that shrub,” I replied, pointing at it.

Sunset pulled her phone out and turned the light on, squinting her eyes as she searched. She froze when she saw it. “Oh.”

“Is that what I think it is?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”

I raised a brow at her. “Wouldn’t the cops have seen that?”

“Eh,” She shrugged her shoulder. “Probably, but I doubt they’d think anything of it.”

“Do you… mind of I take it? Will that fuck anything up?”

Sunset scanned the area once more, then she glanced at me. “I guess. I doubt anyone’ll notice.” She looked up at the window again. “It’s not like it’s hard to figure out how it got here.”

“True,” I replied, following suit by looking up with her.

“This crime scene’s a lost cause anyway,” she said, bringing her eyes back down to the imprint in the grass and then shaking her head. “After all that wind and rain, any DNA samples or anything like that will be long gone. The only valuable evidence left will be inside the house.”

I approached the bush to retrieve the object while she said this, then I turned to rejoin her, wiping it off with my sleeve before slipping it into my pocket. “What do you think, Sunny?”

She paused for a moment, touching a finger to her lips as she ruminated to herself. Then she turned to me and sighed. “I wish I could get into the house. There’s really not much to see out here.”

I shook my head. “Well that ain’t gonna happen. There are definitely cops out front; I could hear them talking on the radio.”

Sunset nodded and glanced toward the road. “Yeah.” She turned to me next. “We might as well get outta here. There’s not much else we’re gonna learn sneaking around in the mud. Hopefully Shiny’ll get back to me soon.”

“Alright,” I nodded. “Let’s go.”

*****

Some time later, Sunset and I returned to my truck —with her motorcycle strapped down in the back— which was parked on the side of the next concession over. She and I had trudged through the farmer’s field, staying close to the tree line until we reached the road, having escaped detection by the police.

As expected, we didn’t learn much. Whoever murdered the Pies was still a mystery.

This was only the first leg of our investigation, however, and Sunset was determined to find out who did this. We were all driven by a thirst for retribution, one that needed quenching badly.

The sun was up by then, but it still hung low in the sky, casting a rich glow over the deceptively cold countryside. Sunset and I jumped across the ditch and then went to the back of the truck, sitting together on the bumper to discuss what to do next.

After staring down the deserted road with her for a moment, I drew a breath to speak. “So... what now?”

“I dunno. I need time to think.”

“How do you feel?”

She turned to me, her face bathed in the warm glow. “Fine, I guess. Why?”

“I’m just… I’m surprised your magic hasn’t kicked-in at all.”

“Oh…” She looked down at the ground, rubbing her knees. “Yeah. There must be some left in there—which is crazy. Who knew Flutters could get it that deep with her tongue?”

“Well, there was a lot of it.”

“True.”

We were silent for a moment, leaning on the back of that truck like a pair of old farmers as we watched the landscape gradually brighten.

“Um,” I finally said, “I’m guessing it’ll probably wear off anytime.”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah.”

“Well, we’re gonna have to make a decision then,” I said, glancing over at her.

She looked back at me.

“Either… you’re gonna have to deal with it when it comes back, or we’re gonna have to fuck again, or… we‘ll have to go our separate ways for the time being.”

The red-head looked forward again, sighing. “Well, I can tell you right now, I don’t wanna deal with being horny. And… to be honest, I don’t really feel like getting my tits out right now.”

I shook my head. “Yeah. I mean, no. I-I don’t want you to get your tits out right now.”

“It just… doesn’t feel right. Not with everything that’s going on—Pinkie sitting in the hospital with her only sister.”

“No. I agree.”

She paused and then took a deep breath, sitting up straight. “So… I guess that leaves us with option three. Which might be kinda good; I feel like I’ll be able to think more clearly when I’m on my own.”

I nodded and looked down at my boots, realising I’d gotten them a lot muddier than I would have liked. “OK. I don’t really like this kind of thing anyway. If you need some heads busted, you call me; but this? No thanks. That’s exactly why I brought you to find Flutters.”

Sunset sneered. “Come on, Golds. You’re good at this kind of thing. What about all that stuff you did during that trip; all your little strategies and stuff?”

I gave a shrug. “That was different. That was war… with a known enemy. We don’t even know who this guy is. And until we do, I’m not gonna be much use to you. Besides, I’ve got some stuff I gotta do.”

“Like what?”

“Like head back to the hospital and check up on Maud and Pinks; maybe give ‘em some company.” I glanced over at Sunset.

Sunset smiled. “OK.”

Just as she said this, a muffled buzz came from the pocket of her leather jacket. She pulled her phone out to check it, and her eyes lit up instantly.

“It’s Shiny!” she gasped as she read the message.

“What’s he saying?” I asked.

“He sends his condolences… and…“ She read a bit further before bringing her eyes up to give me a hopeful look. “He spoke to the police about the case! They said he can look over the evidence and all the files, and he says he’ll help Pinkie and Maud out any way he possibly can. D’you know what this means?”

I raised a brow.

“It means that if he has access to the information regarding the investigation, then I do, too!”

I stood from the bumper, prompting her to follow suit. “Well, shit, that’s some good news at least. Do you think you could get into the house now?”

She grimaced slightly. “Well… no, probably not. That’s a pretty tall order. But I’ll be able to see the case file, which will include photos and evidence taken from the scene; all that stuff. It’s not as good as being there in person, but it’s better than nothing.”

“How soon?”

She paused and rubbed her chin. “I’m not sure… days? He’s gotta meet up with Pinkie and Maud and talk things over with them at some point, which doesn’t really matter cuz it’ll probably take the police at least that long to build a decent case file anyw—”

I raised a hand to stop her. “Hold on a minute… you guys better be careful; you don’t want anyone else thinking there’s a conflict of interest if they see Shiny chumming around with the victims and their friends.”

“Yeah, no, don’t worry. He knows better than that,” Sunset replied. “Besides, talking to the victims will be part of the case, regardless.” She shook her head. “Soon enough, it won’t really matter anyway.”

“Why?”

She looked me in the eyes with a confident smirk. “Because once I see the evidence, it won’t be long before I track this asshole down.”

“Heh.” I shook my head and then looked over my shoulder to observe the sun’s progress. “So what you’re saying, Sunny, is that whoever did this is never gonna see the inside of a courtroom?”

“Not if I can help it.”

I turned back to watch her for a moment, then I stepped closer to the truck to open the tailgate. “Well… I guess you’d better be on your way then. We each have our objectives; we’d better get to it.”

“You’re right,” she said, raising her phone again. “The sun’s coming up fast.”

Sunset stood aside and replied to Shining Armor’s message while I lifted her motorcycle out of the truck and set it on the ground. She finished up and put her phone away, then she took her helmet when I handed it to her.

“Ugh… I hate that I still have to wear this,” she said, looking down at the glossy, black dome in her hands. “But if I don’t, I’ll get pulled over for sure.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s a pain in the ass, but it is what it is.” I reached out to clear some hair from her face. “Well?”

She nodded. “Yup.”

“Better get going.”

“Yup.”

We stared at each other for a moment.

She didn’t move. It seemed as though she was waiting for something.

Then it hit me. “Oh, shit. Sorry, I keep forgetting.” I leaned in, and she closed her eyes to receive the kiss.

“That’s better,” she said, before returning one to my lips. Then she turned away and put her helmet on.

“Good luck, Sunny,” I said as I turned to close the tailgate. “Let me know what happens, K?”

“Sure thing,” she said as she strapped her helmet in place. “Same with you.”

*****

I paused for a moment, standing in the hallway outside of Maud’s room. I had no idea what it was going to be like in there; as far as I knew, Pinkie hadn’t left Maud’s side since the incident. Hopefully, she wouldn’t be feeling so down that a little company wouldn’t lift her spirits a little.

After a deep breath, I entered the room to find both of them asleep. Maud was in bed with the backrest slightly elevated. Pinkie was in a chair on the right, slouched over with her head resting against the wall. Her hair was still flat and long, covering her face and shoulders.

There was a chair sitting next to hers, so I approached and sat quietly. I leaned closer to see her face.

She was snoring softly.

I brought my finger up and gave that pudgy arm of hers a poke. She didn’t move, so I tapped her again.

Pinkie inhaled through her nose suddenly, then she lifted her head and turned to face me, blinking repeatedly as she tried to focus through the pink curtain hanging in front of her eyes.

“Hey,” I greeted quietly as I ran a finger across her forehead to clear her face, revealing a pair of puffy red eyes with dark rings under them.

“Hi, Goldie,” she said. Her greeting was followed by a long, drawn-out grunt as she laced her fingers together and raised them high above her head for a stretch. She grimaced, squeezed her eyes shut, and arched her back sharply, projecting her mountainous breasts forward as the stiffness drained from her weary frame. Then she let her hands flop down to her lap and faced me again, smacking her lips. “What time is it?”

“Not quite noon,” I replied. “How are you feeling?”

“Um… tired.”

“How much sleep did you get?”

“A bit… I think. I don’t really know.”

“Oh, well… sorry I woke you up. Maybe I shoulda just let—“

Pinkie waved me off and shook her head. “No, it’s OK. It’s OK.”

I paused briefly. “You hungry?”

Pinkie hesitated for a moment and then shrugged. “I’m not sure.” She looked down at herself and pressed her fingertips to her chest, just below her bust. “It feels tight in here,” she said. “I can’t tell if I’m hungry or if it’s just how I feel.”

I placed my hand on her shoulder, giving it a rub. “OK. Just… if it’s been a long time since you’ve had anything, then you should try to eat—but don’t force it if you’re not feeling well.”

Pinkie sighed and nodded. Then she looked at me again. “What are you doing here?”

“Just checkin in on you,” I replied, folding my hands on my lap. “Plus, I uh… I brought some visitors to keep you company.”

Her eyes opened a little more. “You did?” she asked, her voice still low, but laced with curiosity.

“Yeah.” I stood and headed back to the door. “Hang on,” I said as I leaned out of the room and waved to someone in the hall. “Come on in.”

I stood aside as that person rounded the doorway and stopped just inside the room with her hands behind her back, standing toe-in.

Pinkie stared vacantly at the blue-skinned girl, blinking with a heavy pair of eyelids. “Hi, Notty.”

The siren forced a smile. “Hey, P.” She glanced down to the empty chair beside Pinkie. “Is it OK if I sit with you?”

The party-girl’s eyes went down to the seat, then she reached over to give it a pat as she looked up at Sonata.

The siren complied. She sat next to her friend, somewhat awkwardly, and folded her hands on her lap. After some hesitation, she looked over at Pinkie. “I… I’m sorry, P.”

Pinkie returned the look. “Thanks. But… it’s OK. I’m fine.”

Sonata cocked her head. “Are you sure?”

Pinkie said nothing; her eyes dropped to her lap.

This prompted Sonata to run a pair of fingers through one of Pinkie’s long, straight locks, feeling its soft texture, its limp smoothness. After studying her friend’s hair for a moment, she leaned closer and whispered, “are you stoned right now?”

I was on my way to the other chair —which sat next to the bed, on the opposite side— when I heard Sonata say this, and I threw my head back and groaned silently. Goddammit, Sonata! Don’t make me regret bringing you here.

Pinkie simply stared back. After an attempt at a little smile, she looked down at her lap again. “No.”

Sonata sighed and chewed her lip. “I know. I was just, uh, kidding. Sorry.”

“It’s OK.”

I was taking a seat on the bedside chair, close to Maud, when I glanced over and saw Sonata looking helplessly my way. Clearly, she was not equipped to deal with this—but she was Pinkie’s best friend. She knew this, and she knew that she was the one who had the best chance of keeping Pinkie from getting lost in that ever-deepening pit of despair.

After a short stint of eye contact with Sonata, I gave her a nod, signalling her to do her thing.

She sighed and then turned to face Pinkie, tapping her fingertips together rather nervously. “Um… so, how do you feel?”

“I dunno,” Pinkie replied quietly, after a pause.

Sonata was not overly encouraged by the response. She glanced at me once more, and then she returned her attention to Pinkie, mouth opened to speak, but after taking a breath, she found herself drawing a blank. She closed her mouth and turned away, giving her ear a scratch as she thought a little more about what to say.

Seconds later, however, she was alerted by the sound of sobbing, and she turned back to find Pinkie’s face distorted into a grimace, with fresh tears running down her cheeks.

“P?” Sonata said quietly, not knowing what to do.

Pinkie leaned forward slightly and covered her face, smearing her palms with warm tears. “I’m the worst sister ever,” she sobbed.

The siren was dumbfounded; she was not expecting to hear this. After regaining her bearings, she reached out to touch Pinkie’s shoulder, but then stopped short, second guessing herself. “P… Wh— … why would you say that?”

“Because! I wasn’t nice to them… we f-fought all the time… we said m-mean things to each other…” The more she spoke, the louder her sobbing became. Eventually, it became difficult to understand her. “I was ignoring Marble… and… Limes-s-s-… the last thing I said to Limestone was that I wish she would m-move away to Bulgaria and n-never come back!”

Sonata brought her fingertips to her mouth as she listened.

“And n-now, they’re—“ She paused when a row of rapid sobs forced themselves out. “They’re gone! Th-those were the last times I had with them… I never got to…” She shook her head, sniffling noisily. “Their last memories were of me being a jerk!” She paused to wipe her tears, and then shook her head. “I meant to be better to them, to make things right, b-but… but I put it off, again and again… and… now it’s too late.” She faced the siren, red-eyed and wet-cheeked. “They’re gone, Notty; they’re GONE!”

Pinkie broke down completely, sobbing and bellowing over and over about how she was the worst person ever, berating herself ad nauseam for not making an effort to reconnect with her siblings before they became lost forever.

Overwhelmed, Sonata sat there with a hand on her forehead. She didn’t know what to do. She was at a complete loss for words, and she wanted to run, but she knew she couldn’t—not when her best friend needed her. She couldn’t leave Pinkie like this.

The pain Pinkie felt over her family reminded the siren of her own sisters; she thought about how driven by vengeance they were, and how intolerant they were of her behaviour. This never stopped her from loving them, however, and she would have done anything to make them happy—even if it meant going along with their revenge schemes toward the Rainbooms.

Her eyes landed on Pinkie Pie once again, watching the poor girl cry her eyes out. This was exactly what Adagio and Aria wanted: to cause them pain. To hurt them. To take away everything they held dear —including their lives, ultimately, after watching them suffer— and Sonata was ready and willing to play into it.

And for what? To make her sisters happy? Would it have made them happy?

Probably not.

Nothing else ever made them happy, so why would revenge on the Rainbooms be any different? How could causing misery like this bring happiness to anyone?

Seeing the results of what her sisters had been planning firsthand filled Sonata with guilt, to the point where she felt sick to her stomach. As she sat there, watching the tears flow down her new best friend’s face, the siren vowed then and there that she would never be a source of such anguish.

From now on, she would be the cure.

With a deep breath, Sonata rotated on her chair to face Pinkie. She reached with her left hand to take Pinkie’s, lacing her fingers with the chubbier digits of her friend so their colours alternated —blue, pink, blue, pink— and she gave a tight squeeze.

“P... listen,” Sonata said softly. “Your family loved you. They knew you didn’t mean the things you said.”

Pinkie’s crying died down as she listened, but then it resumed as soon as Sonata finished. “No… they died thinking was a shitty sister!” she sobbed.

Undaunted, the siren wrapped her free arm around Pinkie’s shoulder and pulled her close, letting her heads rest together. “That’s not true, P.” She tilted her head slightly so she could see the side of Pinkie’s face. “You know what?”

Pinkie continued sobbing.

Sonata gave her hand another squeeze. “You’re the best sister I’ve ever had.”

This seemed to get Pinkie’s attention. She leaned away just enough to meet eyes with Sonata, blinking the moisture away while taking short, involuntary breaths. “W-what did you say?”

“You. Are the best sister. Ever. And my favourite person in the whole wide world.” The siren smiled warmly as Pinkie stared back with red eyes, rendered silent by the words.

“You…” —Pinkie sniffled— “you really mean that?”

Sonata nodded. “Of course I do. You are the funnest, silliest, nicest, most caring friend I’ve ever had. If my sisters actually came back, and I had to choose between staying with you or going back to them… I would choose you.”

Pinkie inhaled shakily. “For real?”

Sonata widened her smile. “Totally, for realz.” She released Pinkie’s hand to wipe a tear from that round, pink cheek using her thumb. “And you shouldn’t feel bad. Sometimes sisters argue and say mean things and they don’t get along, but that’s just part of being sisters. Believe me, I know! Your sisters loved you, P; and so did your parents. And so do your friends,” she glanced at me when she said this, then she returned her eyes to Pinkie. “And so do I. I love spending time with you. I love watching movies, and jamming, and getting baked on the things we bake, and hanging out in our undies making up conspiracy theories; the past few months have been the best times ever, and it’s all because of you. I don’t know where I’d be right now without you.”

The party-girl was quiet, her bottom lip trembling slightly as she stared back at her friend, trying to process what she’d said. Then, without warning, she threw her arms round Sonata and hugged her tight.

“Thank you, Notty,” Pinkie finally whispered, followed by a wet sniffle.

Sonata was surprised, but was quick to return the embrace, rubbing Pinkie’s back as she wept softly into the siren’s shoulder.

I watched the girls hug it out from my spot on the far side of the bed. After a moment of this, Sonata’s eyes opened and she turned in my direction with a look of accomplishment on her face. I gave her a smile and a nod, followed by a thumbs-up; after all, she did what she’d set out to do, and she did it well, which was the whole reason I brought her there.

Several moments passed before their arms finally unraveled from one another. Pinkie kept her head on Sonata’s shoulder while a set of blue fingers combed through her long, straight hair, relaxing her and bringing her comfort.

After a short sniffle, Pinkie finally spoke. “Notty?”

“Yeah?”

“Didn’t you say there were a couple of visitors here?”

“Yeah.”

“Well… who else is here?”

Sonata looked over at me and nodded, prompting Pinkie to look as well.

“Goldie-woldie?”

The siren shook her head. “You’ll see. But let’s wait for your sister to wake up, K?”

Pinkie sighed. “OK.”

Time passed. The three of us sat and made small talk; I remained seated next to the bed, while Pinkie and Sonata stayed in the same spot with Pinkie’s head resting on Sonata’s shoulder, her eyes fixated on nothing as the siren played with her long, pink hair.

Maud was still asleep, but none of us wanted to wake her, even though we were all curious about how she was feeling.

Fortunately, the time came for the nurse to read her vitals. He entered the room swiftly, wearing a black scrub shirt with white pants and rolling a cart with the supplies necessary for the job. He gave each of us a quick smile and a nod as he approached the bed, lifting Maud’s hand to clip the pulse oximeter onto her index finger.

The sensation caused the Pie sister to stir, and after rolling her head to one side and then the other, her eyes opened slowly. Despite their cloudiness, they quickly focused on the busy fellow for a moment, before the weight of her eyelids caused them to close again, momentarily.

“Ah,” the nurse said, smiling at her. “You’re awake; just gonna do a quick check on your vitals.”

“OK,” Maud replied flatly as he pulled a blood pressure cuff from his shoulder and wrapped it around her arm.

“How are we feeling today?” he asked.

Maud blinked slowly, watching him inflate the band. “I am in severe pain due to my injuries, and emotionally shattered over the loss of my family—but otherwise fine. I don’t know how you feel.”

The nurse nodded and chuckled as he turned the dial to let the cuff slowly deflate, watching the gauge closely. “So your pain control isn’t working?”

“No,” Maud droned. “It wears off before the next interval.”

“OK, I can let the doctor know,” he replied. “Maybe we can get that changed for you. Lucky for you, it’s actually time for your next dose right now.” He removed the blood pressure cuff and reached across her to remove the gown from her shoulder. “Just gonna take a look at these dressings,” he explained quietly as he inspected the bandages for any blood that may have soaked through, and to make sure they were still in place and applying plenty of pressure. Then he turned his attention to the IV bags.

While he was busy with this, Maud gave me a short glance and then looked the other way at Pinkie and Sonata.

“Hi, Pinkie Pie,” she said flatly, to which Pinkie forced a smile. “Hi, Sonata.”

“Hey, Maudie,” Sonata replied in a sympathetic tone.

The nurse finished hanging the new IV bag, adjusted the drip, and then he turned back to Maud once again. “OK then, everything’s looking good here. We’ve got a new saline drip going for you, your blood pressure’s good, oh-two sat is good, bandages are looking good; they’ll have to stay in place for a few more days before we can have a look underneath though.” He placed a hand on her good shoulder. “Do you feel OK? Anything out of the ordinary? Dizzy? Light-headed?”

Maud blinked once. “I don’t think so.”

He smiled and gave a nod. “Excellent. Tough cookie! You seem to be handling this whole ordeal pretty well; a lot better than most people would.”

She stared at him for several seconds before answering. “I’m actually a basket-case right now.”

He answered with a laugh, finding himself unsure if Maud was kidding or not and then hoping his response was appropriate. “Hahaha… OK, here. This will help with the pain.” He handed her a small paper cup with several pills in it, followed by a tall styrofoam cup filled with ice water and a straw. ”I’ll see you in a few hours. If you need anything, the call button is right there.” He pointed to the array of buttons on the bed rail.

Maud took a short glance at it, then she laid her head back. “Thank you.”

The nurse was gone shortly after, and the four of us found ourselves alone.

It wasn’t awkward in the least.

After drawing a deep breath, I leaned forward and folded my arms on the bedrail, resting my chin on them.

“Hey.”

Her eyes slowly shifted onto me. “Hey.”

“I uh… didn’t know they worked on mannequins here.”

Expressionless, Maud drew a breath and then released it. “Ha. Ha.” She paused for a moment to let her eyes explore the room before looking at me again. “What time is it?”

“Almost one.” I let my head roll to the side, keeping my eyes on her to see if I could detect any emotion. “I’d ask how you’re feeling, but we already heard you tell the nurse, so…”

She blinked. “You can ask me again if you want.”

I paused for a moment. Then I shrugged. “OK. How are you feeling?”

After a slow inhale, her answer followed. “I’m in severe pain due to my injuries, and emotionally shattered over the loss of my family…”

I rolled my eyes and looked away. “But otherwise fine; yeah, I get it.” I brought my eyes back to her, raising a brow. “How does it feel to be literally the only person who can successfully troll me?”

“Pretty good.”

“Hm.” I glanced at the other two girls with a smirk. Pinkie wasn’t paying attention, but Sonata looked rather amused. I shook my head and brought my eyes back to Maud. “Listen, uh…” —I paused to rub the back of my neck— “I’m really sorry about everything. Really. I don’t know why anyone would’ve... You and your family seemed like a good bunch; none of you deserved this.”

Maud’s eyes dropped to study the tubes that snaked from her hand while I continued.

“But we’re glad you’re OK. At the very least, whoever this was wasn’t able to take all of you from us—and that’s something that we can all be thankful for.”

With a sigh, Maud faced forward again. “Thank you.”

“And you know,” I continued as I slipped a hand into my pocket. “It’s also nice that you weren’t the only one to make it out alive.”

She glanced at her sister when I said this. “I know. It was lucky that Pinkie Pie was away that night. I’m glad she is OK; Sonata, too.”

Maud laid her head back and let her eyes close.

I watched her for a short time before reaching over the bed with a closed hand, which I rested upon her thigh as I looked into her face again.

“I wasn’t talking about Pinks,” I said as I opened my hand and withdrew it, leaving a small, dark-gray rock behind.

Sensing the weight on her thigh, Maud opened her eyes and looked down at it. She stared blankly, unmoving and silent.

Pinkie and Sonata watched intently, waiting to see what she would say.

Finally, her hand lifted, slowly, and it moved toward the rock, dragging the IV tubes along. She let her palm rest on the smooth stone and paused, then her eyes rose to meet mine, slightly wider than before.

“You found Boulder.”

To be honest, even though this was Maud, I was half-expecting some kind of reaction to this, but still, there was none. I told myself I shouldn’t have been surprised by this, and I gave her a solemn smile and nodded. “Yeah, it— … he was outside on the ground, under your bedroom window.”

She blinked and looked down, closing her fingers around the rock to give it a squeeze. “Yes… I think I remember. I was trying to get away…” Her eyes began to shift back and forth as she tried to recall exactly what happened. “But… I can’t…”

She became still again, and then she brought her eyes back to mine.

“Thank you… for bringing him back to me. I am glad to see he’s OK.” She turned her hand over and cradled the rock in her palm. “Boulder is more than just a pet. He is my friend, my confidant. He is dependable, trustworthy, and funny. I feel secure when he is around, because I know I can always lean on him for support; when I am weak, like talc or gypsum, he is strong, like orthoclase or corundum. He is my rock.”

After a small chuckle, I folded my arms on the bed rail again. “Well, when I saw him there, I just thought it would be the right thing to do, to bring him to you. I figured you two would be missing each other—plus, you know, he’s got… sedimental value.”

Maud remained still and expressionless, making me feel like an idiot for making such a stupid joke, and I was just about to look away when I noticed something in her eyes: her pupils grew ever so slightly and her irises sparkled, emitting their green hue like a soft energy.

This must have been what the others were talking about: for an outsider, Maud was indeed a tough individual to read, but when one learned to look for the subtle cues and how to interpret them, it was all right there—like reading a book.

The joke had amused her, and, unable to help myself, I gave her a goofy smile—something she more than likely needed after everything she and her sister had been through.

*Chapter 125: Not Enough, Yet Too Much

Chapter 125

“Oh my god, you two.” I huffed and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Pinks, I thought we talked you out of this idea.”

“You did,” Pinkie replied, her voice still lacking its usual shrillness. “But I told Notty all about it, and she thought it was a great idea.”

Sonata nodded. “Yeah! You guys shoulda been more supportive of her,” she sneered snidely. “P is a genius, and her double-barrel toilet idea is total win. I told her she should go for it and that I would help her, and now we’ve got specs and blueprints all drawn up and ready to go. She’s even about to finish writing her memoir: ‘Fifty Shades of Brown.’”

“Ugh…” I brought my hands up and covered my face to rub away the irritation. Then I sighed and faced Maud. “So how’s your lunch?”

They shifted their eyes onto the older Pie girl, who had the meal cart positioned across the bed, trying to enjoy her supper. Boulder was sitting on the tray, to the right of the plate with a piece of meat and a cube of carrot nearby. She appeared to be having difficulty eating, but it was hard to tell if it was because of the subject matter or the hindrance of having the use of only one arm.

“Oh… sorry, Maud,” Sonata said sheepishly.

“It’s OK, Sonata,” Maud replied, not looking over at the siren, instead reaching out and using her fork to sweep the meat away from the rock, leaving just the carrot in front of it, which she then pointed at with the fork. “Eat your vegetables.”

It was early evening —just after 6:00pm to be exact— not long after Maud’s supper had arrived. Pinkie, Sonata, Maud and I had spent the entire afternoon together in that room, chatting quietly and keeping each other company—and sane. I had left once to get coffee and food for Pinkie and Sonata; Pinkie especially needed to eat, but she wasn’t feeling very hungry and so she ended up picking away at her food over the course of the afternoon—which, really, was better than nothing. Sonata, however, scarfed her meal down in an instant.

Maud had just finished eating, and Pinkie was rolling the tray aside for her when a larger, balding man in a white shirt and tie under a thick winter coat entered the room.

“Evening, everyone,” he greeted, stopping just inside the doorway.

Three of us replied with flat hellos; Maud said nothing.

“I’m Detective Constable Francis,” he continued, pointing at the ID tag that hung from the lanyard around his neck. Then he reached up to adjust his glasses. “I’m here to speak about the Pie case, if you folks have a moment. I just have a few questions for Miss...” —he paused to glance at the notepad in his right hand— “Maud Pie, if you’re feeling up to it.”

Maud blinked once. “How long will this take?”

He shook his head. “Not too long, depending on what you’re able to remember. Has any of what happened come back to you?”

Her eyes went to her younger sister first, then down to the bedspread. “I remember… sounds; little snip-its. Nothing clear.”

The constable drew a pen from the notepad’s spine and clicked it. “That’s OK. Any little bit helps. And I’ll leave my card with you in case you think of anything else later. Sound good?”

After a short pause, Maud blinked slowly. “Yes.”

He nodded, and then glanced around at the rest of us. “I must apologize folks, but I’m gonna have to ask anyone who is not a member of the Pie family to kindly excuse us—for confidentiality reasons, of course.”

I drew a breath and stood. “Well, that’d be me.” I glanced at Sonata and tipped my head toward the door. “Let’s go.”

Sonata stood to follow, but was stopped when Pinkie grabbed her arm.

“Wait… I don’t want you to go, Notty.” The party-girl leaned over to look at Constable Francis. “Can she stay? Please?”

Torn, Sonata glanced at the constable and then back at Pinkie. “But… he said that—“

“This won’t take long, Miss Pie. Everyone can come back as soon as I’m finished here.”

Pinkie’s bottom lip slid forward to give the detective the most heart-wrenching pouty-face she could muster. “But, Notty lives with us; she’s a part of our family too.”

The constable locked eyes with the siren, whose eyes darted around awkwardly. “Your name, miss?”

She swallowed. “Um… Sonata Dusk.”

“And you reside at the Pie residence?”

She nodded. “Yes I do, captain, sir.”

“Constable.”

Her eyes shifted back and forth a second time. “Right.”

The officer looked at me next.

I raised my hands and made my way past him to the door. “I’m just a friend. Don’t worry, I’m gone,” I said, looking back at the girls. “I’ll be back, K? Just text me when you’re done, Pinks.”

“OK. Thanks, Goldie-woldie,” she replied.

After leaving Maud’s room, I made my way down the hall toward the corner to head to the right. Just before I reached the bend, however, a tall, pretty girl emerged from the other direction and nearly ran into me.

“Eep!” she yelped softly, skidding to a halt.

“Flutters! Hey.”

“Oh! Um… hi, Goldie,” she replied as she swept that fluffy, pink hair out of her face. “How’s it going?”

“Mm… OK. How was work?”

She shrugged. “It was fine. I couldn’t really concentrate on what I was doing, though. How’s Pinkie Pie?”

I drew a breath glanced around the hall once before answering. “She’s still not really herself.”

Fluttershy pushed her bottom lip out. “Poor thing. It’s so awful what’s happened to them.”

“Yeah. It’s pretty depressing in there. Glad I ran into you though; I really needed a pretty face to cheer me up.”

She smiled awkwardly and glanced around to see if anyone heard that. Then she looked back at me with rosy cheeks. “Well… um, I‘m glad I could help.”

I snorted. “Are you kidding? It’s helping more than I thought it would; either I was starting to forget how beautiful you are, or you’ve gotten even hotter since the last time I saw you, which… I didn’t think was even possible.”

Fluttershy rolled her eyes. “Oh, Goldie.” She took a step to the side, her face darkening further as she tried to pass me to continue to Maud’s room.

“Whoop.” I hooked my arm around her midriff to stop her, prompting her to look at me with surprise. “We can’t go in there right now.”

“W-why not?”

“There’s a cop in there asking questions; they don’t want anyone else in there right now. That’s why I’m out here.”

“Oh.” She pinched her bottom lip, scowling. “Hmph. I was just coming to visit her, too. How long are they gonna be?”

“They just started.”

Fluttershy huffed. “Oh dear.”

“It’s OK,” I said, taking her hand and lacing our fingers together. “Why don’t we go hit the cafeteria in the meantime? It’ll be nice to hang out for a bit, just you and me. It’s been a long day.”

After a soft sigh, she gave me a little smile. “OK.”

So we headed back the way she came, walking hand-in-hand.

“How’s Rare today?” I asked.

“I’m not sure. She went to work, but I don’t really know how she’s doing. I think she feels bad about what happened with Sonata.”

“Hm.” I shook my head. “Maybe we should go to the field tonight. What’s Dashie up to? Maybe she can come too.”

“We can text her, I guess.“ Fluttershy looked over at me with those big, sweet eyes. “Actually, you know what? I bet having Dashie try on her suit would cheer Rare up. We should go out there tonight—even if that’s all we do.”

I nodded. “Yeah, that’s a good idea. I think we all could use a little cheering up; I know I could.”

The shy girl let out a playful giggle. “Well… if you want some cheering up, why don’t we go visit that washroom again?”

I glanced inquisitively at her. “What washroom?”

“You know… the one on the floor that Dashie was on.”

A tingle down below caused me to slow my pace, and I looked over at her with a raised brow. “Seriously? You wanna christen that bathroom again after what happened last time? And at a time like this?”

Fluttershy shrugged. “You said we needed cheering up. Come on, let’s go make a stop there before we hit the food court.” She leaned close and whispered, “I know I’d be a much happier girl if I got fed from both ends.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “Well who could say no to a lovely proposition like that?”

*****

It was well after midnight in the Riverfield. The air was crisp and frigid and the moon was bright, casting a crystal clear glow over the dried grass-filled plain, where the five of us —Fluttershy, myself, Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash— all stood, admiring the athlete’s new suit.

Hers was like the others, sporting the tall boots and that signature V-neck with the long, winged collars, but the way it hugged her strong, little frame made her appear deceptively tiny—though Rainbow Dash was a small statured girl to begin with.

On her thighs was her own custom symbol: a white cloud with a lightning bolt comprised of the three primary colours. The pinstripes on her sleeves, however, received a treatment unlike any of the others; rather than a strip of what I thought would have been light blue, there was instead a much wider strip featuring the entire spectrum, from red, orange and yellow, to green, blue and violet.

“Dang, Dashie!” AJ smirked, tipping her hat back. “That lil outfit looks mighty fine on ya! I like it!”

Rarity piped up next, her hands clasped nervously to her chin. “How does it fit, darling? It looks rather snug.”

Rainbow Dash, who was looking down at her gloves, brought her eyes up to meet the fashionista through that dark mask. “Are you kidding? It fits perfect! And it looks totally awesome!”

Rarity smiled. “It does look superb on you. I’m glad you like it.”

“How could I not!?” Dash chuckled. “This is totally badass!”

“I can’t believe how fuckin big your tits are,” I blurted out of nowhere, prompting the four of them to go silent and slowly turn to face me.

“Uhh… weird?” Dash sneered.

“Well, come on! Look at them,” I said, gesturing towards her cleavage, bringing all eyes onto them, including Dash’s. “Where have you been hiding those things, anyway?”

Indeed, all this time I thought Rainbow Dash was flat as a board, but apparently I was wrong; the powdery, blue cleavage she was sporting told a completely different story, pushing up from inside that black valley, pressed together like a pair of oversized blueberries.

This revelation brought another shocking truth into my mind: Twilight Sparkle had the smallest bust of the group. Not that Dash’s was anywhere near the biggest; in fact, Twilight was the only one she had out-stacked, but still, on her minimal frame, they suited her surprisingly well.

Dash brought her eyes up to me, glaring through that mysterious black mask. “Uhh… they’re called sports bras, dude.”

“Why?” I asked, to which Applejack shook her head and groaned.

“Because!” Dash replied, throwing her hands out. “I don’t like them flopping around when I’m playing, or when I’m at work! Is that OK with you? Is that some kind of crime?”

“Yeah, it kind of is.”

“Hmm…” Rarity put a finger to her cheek, ignoring me. “I hadn’t thought of that, actually. Do they feel secure?”

“Yeah, they’re not too bad,” Dash replied, looking down at herself as she cupped her breasts and pushed them around. “They’re packed in there pretty tight; I don’t think they’ll go anywhere.” She started jumping in place to test the snugness of the suit while the rest of us watched. Satisfied by the results, she turned around, reached down into the grass and stood on her hands, pointing her legs toward the sky. She took a few steps like this, bending her head forward to watch her breasts to see if they might fall out. “Nope… looks pretty good,” she grunted, her feet waving around as she fought to maintain her balance.

Rarity clapped her hands rapidly. “Excellent, darling! We certainly can’t have our tits falling out in the middle of a battle now, can we?”

“I dunno,” I interjected. “I think we should talk about this more.”

“Shut up, darling.”

I rolled my eyes while Dash laughed, which caused her to lose her balance and fall over.

She stood from the tall, dead grass and brushed the bits of grass and dirt from the smooth, glossy material. “Heh! Good one, Rarity.”

“Alright, alright…” I said, rubbing my hands together. “It’s time to get serious, ladies.” I pointed to Dash. “OK. You’ve got the suit. Now, I know you never had a chance to get the app from Twi with everything going on with Pinks’ family, but as soon as you can, you need to make sure you get her to install it on your phone—and show you how to use it.”

Rainbow Dash nodded, barely able to contain her excitement.

Noticing this, I smirked at her. Then I pointed my finger into my chest. “And I’m gonna teach you how to be a proper warrior; how to fight, how to use your surroundings to your advantage, how to strategise, how to disappear, and most importantly, how to use your magic to its fullest.”

Dash’s expression went blank. “Huh? You don’t even have magic; how are you gonna teach us how to use ours? I guarantee we know how to use it better than you!”

AJ shook her head. “There’s still lots ta learn, sugarcube. Trust me, I wouldn’t be playin bass again if I hadn’t been fer what Golds taught me.”

“Indeed,” Rarity agreed. “With Golds’ ideas and training, I’ve become ten times the warrior I thought I could ever be.”

Dash furrowed her brows, surprised to hear this. “Really?”

I pointed at Rarity. “Why don’t you show her, Rare?”

“Certainly.” The fashionista took a step back and held her hand up. A bright flash pierced the air above her, and she reached up to grip the handle of a sparkling blue blade, which she brought down and swung around in a series of precisely curved arcs, its length whooshing through the cold air.

Dash’s eyes widened, and she slapped her hands to her cheeks. “Oh my god, AWESOME! You can make weapons out of diamond? Like the T-1000!?”

“Heh-heh!” Applejack chuckled. “Knives… an’ stabbin weapons.” Her impression of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s accent was hilariously hindered by her own drawl.

Rarity held the sword at her side, pointing the blade at the ground as she cocked a brow at the other two. “What on Earth are you two talking about?”

“Wait, wait,” Dash shouted, waving her hands in the air. “Can you make other things, like… like Mjölnir?”

“Well, I… suppose so, yes—though I’m not quite sure what that is.”

“Ooh! What about Wolverine’s claws?”

Rarity cocked her head. “I beg your pardon, wolverine claws?”

“Wolv—WHAT THE!?” Frustrated, Dash reached up to pull her own hair. “How the hell do you not know who Wolverine is? Do you not read comics!?”

“Is that a serious question?” Rarity deadpanned. “The last time I checked, Rainbow Dash, I was, in fact, not a ten year old boy.”

“Fer cryin out loud, Rarity!” AJ groaned. “They made, like, ten movies about the guy!”

The fashionista huffed and rolled her eyes. “Terribly sorry, everyone.”

“Here,” I said as I produced my phone and began to type. “I’ll show you.” After a brief Google search, I found a good image of the character, and I stepped over to Rarity to show it to her.

She tilted her head to look down at the screen, but then she recoiled in disgust. “GAH! What sort of hairstyle is that!?”

“Nevermind that,” I said, pointing at the picture. “Look at his hands. Do you think you could do that?”

“Hmm…” She rubbed her chin, studying the image. “I don’t see why not. Let me try.” She stepped back as the sword disappeared from her hand, and she held her fists up to watch them, concentrating intensely.

Suddenly, a bright flash engulfed each of her hands. What appeared after the light vanished was a trio of sparkling blades attached to the back of each hand, extending about twelve inches beyond her knuckles.

“OHH!” Rainbow Dash gasped, slapping her hands on top of her head as she staggered backwards. “Holy shit, Rarity! I totally just had an awesome-gasm!”

Rarity seemed to be ignoring the athlete as she studied her new creation, turning her hand over to study the sharp sides of the claws. “Hm.” She turned and faced the distant trees next, delivering a quick succession of rights and lefts, the claws making audible noise as they whipped through the air before ending with a rather overdramatic uppercut.

Then she turned back to face the group, studying the blades again.

“Hm!” Rarity sounded impressed. “I quite like these, actually. Very nimble!”

“Those r’ purty fuckin rad, I ain’t gonna lie,” Applejack agreed.

“Indeed,” Rarity muttered absentmindedly. She spun around to face her girlfriend, crossing the claws in front of face. “What d’you think, Fluttershy?”

The shy girl swept her hair aside and smirked. “I think whoever killed Pinkie Pie’s family is gonna be in deep… um, shit.”

*****

Saturday, February 4th, 2023. 11:30am.

Sunset Shimmer stepped into the Canterlot Police Department, led by her boss, Crown Counsel Shining Armor.

He stood tall and proud, holding his briefcase in one hand. His suit was a glossy, dark gray colour with a light gray shirt underneath, finished off by a dark red tie. He was clean shaven, and his streaky-blue hair was combed and gelled neatly in place.

Sunset was wearing a black suit top with a pearl-coloured blouse underneath. A red pencil skirt hung below, and her fire-coloured hair was tied into a loose bun behind her head with some stray coils hanging next to her temples. She was carrying a small file organizer under one arm.

Perhaps she would have worn the suit Rarity had given her for her incursion at the CIA… if it hadn’t been long since lost somewhere in the southern United States.

They made their way through the lobby in silence, approaching the front desk where a lone officer sat, doing paperwork.

“Morning,” Shining Armor greeted, bringing the officer’s attention up to him. “Officer… Perkins, is it?”

Perkins nodded.

“I’m Shining Armor,” he continued, placing a business card on the desk. “I’m here to speak to the detective in charge of the ‘Pie case.’” He gestured to Sunset next. “This is my assistant, Miss Shimmer.”

Perkins drew a breath. “You’d be looking for Constable Francis. He’s not here today, but Constable Wallis is here, if you’d like to speak with him.”

“Constable Wallis?” Shining Armor cocked his head.

Perkins put his pen down leaned back in his chair. “He’s not in charge of the case, but Wallis has been working very closely with Constable Francis since it started; he should be able to help you with any questions you might have about it.”

Shining Armor glanced at Sunset before turning back to Perkins, nodding. “That’s fine. We just made the drive here from the big city; wouldn’t wanna end up wasting a whole trip.”

“No doubt,” Perkins said as he leaned forward and pushed the intercom button to page Wallis. After he did, he folded his hands on the desk and looked up at Shining Armor. “I take it you’re gonna be the Crown for that case?”

Shining Armor nodded. “Nothing’s set in stone yet, but that’s what it’s looking like.”

“Whew!” Perkins shook his head. “I don’t envy you, man. This is gonna be an ugly one. Lots of publicity. That kinda thing doesn’t happen much around here.”

“Yeah, I know. I grew up in Canterlot. It’s uh… pretty scary when something like that happens in a town like this.”

Perkins raised a brow. “You’re from Canterlot? Did you go to CHS?”

Shining Armor drew a breath. “Uh, no. Crystal Prep. My little sister went to CHS for a bit though; and so did she.” He pointed to Sunset with his thumb, to which she smiled cordially.

“Oh, OK. Nice,” Perkins chuckled. “Are those hot sisters still the principals there?”

Before either of them could answer, another officer emerged from the hallway leading to the rear.

He was a younger fellow with short, curly blonde hair, wearing a regular police uniform. He approached quickly with an enthusiastic smile. “Hi there.”

Shining Armor turned to him and raised his chin. “Ah, I’m Shining Armor. I’m here to—“

Wallis brought his hands together with a loud clap and then pointed to the young attorney. “Oh, yes! You’re the lawyer that inquired about the ‘Pie case.’ C’mon in.” He opened the gate in the counter and waved them through. “Right this way. Thanks, Perkins!” he said, nodding to the seated officer as he lead the two into the back.

“So…” Wallis said, glancing back at them as they made their way down the dingy, wood paneled hall. “You’re gonna be the one to end up with the ‘big case,’ eh?”

“Yeah, well, hopefully. It’s uh… kind of a doozy, that one,” Shining Armor replied.

“Pppft! Are you kidding me? Four homicides and one attempted? This is huge! There hasn’t been a case like this in Canterlot for like thirty years! …I mean, aside from those men who were found hacked to bits in the warehouse district last fall; but that was just… I don’t know what that was—and we never found out because some weird internationals came and confiscated everything, bodies and all. Definitely something fishy going on there. This though, an innocent family murdered with no motive? It’s just crazy. Wait here one sec…” Wallis stopped abruptly and entered one of the offices. “I take it you’re here to see the case file? Heh! I guess I should have asked you that before I came in here to get it.”

Shining Armor glanced at Sunset. “Yeah. I just wanted to be brought up to speed on everything you’ve got so far. I intend to work closely with this department in the coming weeks until this person is brought to justice.”

“Oh, absolutely!” Wallis replied enthusiastically as he emerged from the office with a thick file folder under his arm. “I look forward to—oh jeez!” He slapped a hand over his forehead. “I’m sorry, I haven’t introduced myself!” He held his free hand out for a shake. “Sorry, I’m still pretty new at this. I’m Constable Wallis. Shining Armor, is it?”

“That’s right,” Shining Armor nodded as she shook the young officer’s hand.

Wallis nodded back and turned his attention to the lovely red-head. “And you are?” he asked, holding his hand out.

Sunset switched her booklet to the other hand. “Sunset Shimmer; assistant to the Crown,” she replied as she took his hand to shake it.

Shining Armor watched closely, fully aware that his assistant was diving in to swim a few laps in the young man’s pool of consciousness. He wondered what it must have been like—and what she was learning.

“A pleasure.” Wallis smiled, breaking the handshake.

“Likewise,” Sunset replied, ready to get down to business. “So, you guys have a suspect yet?”

Wallis drew a breath and held it. “Uh… no, not really. Sorry. Here, come with me.” He motioned for them to follow him. “No. Unfortunately, we don’t have much to go on. According to the witness —the only surviving victim— the perp was dressed from head-to-toe; gloves, ski-mask, boots, the whole nine yards. No description other than an ‘average height and build.‘ And she only caught a glimpse of him; unfortunately the hallway light was directly behind him, putting everything in shadow. No specific details seen. Add to that the fact that her memory’s still pretty fuzzy.”

“Hm. I take it that rules out fingerprints or DNA samples: hair, eyelashes, et cetera?” Sunset asked.

Wallis stopped and turned to face them. “That’s right. Whoever this guy was, he knew what he was doing.” He gestured to a doorway on his left. “Here. We can use the conference room. Come on in, have a seat.”

As the duo followed the young officer into the room, they glanced around to take in its rather outdated details: again, wood paneling walls, a single window on the right with yellowed blinds holding the outside world out, a long faux-wooden table with fold-down metal legs, surrounded by those shitty, old metal-framed chairs with the thin, wooden seats and backs.

In the far corner was an old-looking fridge sitting at the end of a counter, at the far end of which was a coffee maker, its carafe half-full of what appeared to be cold coffee. A set of dated cupboards resided above that, complete with stains around the handles accumulated from years-upon-years of being opened by unclean hands.

Wallis cleared his throat, set the folder on the table and then turned to them, gesturing for them to sit. Then he made his way around to the far side to sit across from them.

Shining Armor, after setting is briefcase on the table, pulled a chair out and sat down. Sunset sat on his left, placing her notebook on the table.

He opened the folder so both of them could see it, and they flipped through the first few pages. Sunset made some quick notes.

“So… you don’t have a suspect; obviously no motive either?”

Wallis shrugged with his hands and then folded them on the table. “Nothing. No one really knows why anybody would have it out for this family. I mean, by all accounts, they were pretty friendly; the parents were active in the church,” —he paused a second to cock his head and then winced— “mmmaybe a bit on the eccentric side? I dunno. But they kept to themselves for the most part. We honestly don’t know what they would have done to deserve this.”

“Mm.” Shining Armor nodded, looking down at the files again.

Sunset was running her fingers along the paper, reading the notes. “Hm.”

Shining Armor glanced over at her. “What d’you think?”

She continued to read for a moment, ignoring him. Then she glanced his way and shook her head. “Not much here. There was only one trail of bloody footprints, and it looks like the suspect ground the treads off his boots to hide their brand.”

He shook his head. “This was obviously not a spur-of-the-moment thing; someone put a lot of thought into it.”

Wallis and Sunset nodded in agreement.

Unsatisfied with the information in the first few pages, Sunset flipped ahead in search of more.

She froze, however, when she was met with a stack of photographs, the top of which featured a close-up of a woman’s light, grayish-green hair.

There was a gaping, red hole in the center of it.

The image caused the red-head’s gut to stir, knowing who this had happened to. She drew a deep breath and closed her eyes, not expecting to react this strongly to it. She should have expected it, and now she was kicking herself for not being more prepared—especially in front of a police officer.

Noticing this, Shining Armor glanced at Sunset first and then Wallis, to see if he had picked up on her reaction.

He did.

“Yeah… I had a tough time, too,” he said, naively assuming she was simply unaccustomed to seeing this sort of thing—which was true, in a way. “Take your time.”

Sunset opened her eyes again. “No, it’s fine. I’m just tired, not feeling the best today.” She cleared her throat and picked the stack of pictures up to remove the paper clip. After taking a moment to mentally prepare herself, she slid the top photo away and set it face-down on the folder. The next picture was a slightly different angle, showing more details of the blood-soaked hair.

The next picture showed the victim’s face, complete with gaping mouth and exit wound. Sunset drew a breath and concentrated on keeping her fingers from trembling.

On to the next picture. It was a knee, belonging to a grown man. It had been scattered by a bullet.

The next photo showed his throat, which had been slit; whatever instrument had been used was quite large, and was used with a lot of force, as evidenced by the gaping depth left in its wake.

Shining Armor looked on, his thumb and forefinger wrapped around his chin.

Sunset forced herself to continue. The next picture showed his face, bruised and beaten to a bloody pulp, his white mutton chops soaked with crimson.

"Err..." Sunset pursed her lips as she forced herself to study the image more closely. "Excessive trauma to the face; blood tracks in multiple directions suggest he was still alive and moving —or being moved— after the damage was inflicted." Taking a breath, she moved on.

When the next picture was uncovered, Sunset stopped. Her stomach lurched.

Shining Armor grimaced when he saw it. “Yikes,“ he said, rubbing his forehead.

“Hm?” Wallis asked, leaning across the table to see. “Oh… yeah. The mother. Um…” He snapped his fingers repeatedly as she tried to recall her name. “Uh… Cloudy. Yeah. Poor old gal.” He shook his head. “Hell of a way to go.”

The red-head swallowed and set the photo aside. Next up was a slender, light gray forearm with a puncture through it, created by a gunshot. Another photo showed the face of a pretty young girl with a small hole in her forehead, just off-center to the left. Her long, dark gray bangs were glued to her temple by a crust of dried blood.

“That one,” the young officer said, shaking his finger at the photo.

“What?” Shining Armor asked inquisitively.

“Well… after the witness gave her statement earlier this week, I noticed an inconsistency with something she said.”

Sunset raised a brow, glaring at him. “And that is?”

“Well, she was quite insistent that she heard four gunshots that night, including the one that hit her. As you might know, she was hit in the shoulder and fell trying to escape through her bedroom window, and of course her leg was broken in the fall. The problem I have is this:” —Wallis spread the photos out so they could all be seen at once. Then he pointed to each of the images that had a bullet wound in them— “how many do you see here? One, two, three…” —he pointed to the one in Sunset’s hand— “aaaaand four.”

“Yeah. And?”

“Well… Maud Pie is missing from these pictures, obviously, cuz she’s not dead. So that makes five shots, not four.”

Shining Armor shrugged. “Maybe she miscounted? Or doesn’t remember. I mean, she did say her memories were fuzzy, did she not?”

“That’s what I thought,” Wallis replied, “but Francis said that she was quite adamant that that number was correct; she was very explicit about the fact that there were exactly four shots fired… and yet we have five wounds.”

Shining Armor cocked his head. “I’m sorry, what are you getting at, exactly?”

Wallis folded his hands on the table and stared intently. “Either she is mistaken, or... she’s lying.”

Sunset and her boss glanced at one another, both looking quite dubious.

“That’s a pretty big leap to make, there, sir,” Shining Armor cautioned, returning his eyes to the young cop. “Why do you think she would be lying? You don’t honestly think she was involved in her own family’s murder, do you? Nevermind the fact the she herself was severely injured and is lucky to be alive.”

Wallis shrugged, brows raised. “Well… I mean, for me personally, what she said literally doesn’t add up,” he explained. “And, from what Constable Francis was saying, she was very emotionless during the whole questioning process. Kinda weird, don’t you think?—given that she’d just lost her entire family.”

Shining Armor shook his head. “OK… let me give you some advice, if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.”

The attorney raised a hand and paused, pinching the tips of this thumb and forefinger together. “You need to be very careful making assertions like this; the whole purpose of the judicial system is to bring the guilty to justice, not to endanger the innocent. One of the most basic and important rules in this system is that we would rather let ten guilties go free than send one innocent to prison. Everyone is innocent until proof of their guilt is found.”

“OK, fine,” Wallis conceded, raising his hands. “I just thought I should mention it, that’s all. The whole thing just seemed kinda fishy to me.”

“She was scared,” Sunset snapped, drawing the attention of both her boss and the officer. She’d been glaring from under her brows at Wallis during the exchange between him and Shining Armor, feeling her earlobes heat up when the young man pointed an accusing finger at Maud.

Wallis’ confidence wavered immediately when he noticed the fiery woman’s sharp glare locked upon him. He cleared his throat and then spoke. “I, uh… well, I mean, she had no reason to be scared, right? Not if she was telling the tru—“

Sunset shook her head to cut him off. “I’m not talking about the witness. I’m talking about the victim, Marble Pie.” She set the photo down and pointed to the dead girl. “Her.”

Wallis rubbed his chin, brows furrowed. “I… I don’t unders—“

“How many empty casings did they find at the scene?” Sunset asked, sitting back in her chair.

He drew a breath and paused. “Uh… none, actually.”

Sunset scowled. “What do you mean, none?” she asked, sneering dubiously.

Wallis shrugged. “We think the perp picked them up. Like I said: this guy knew what he was doing.”

The red-head sighed. “OK then, how many rounds did you find? He couldn’t have taken those; they’d either be in the bodies or lodged in the walls or something.”

“We actually only found three,” he admitted.

“Three…” Sunset repeated, leaning forward to fold her hands on the table. “OK. So where are the other two? Hm?”

Wallis paused, then he shrugged.

“Well we know that Maud was hit in the shoulder when she was trying to climb out of the window, correct? Since the bullet passed through her, I’d say it’s safe to assume that it ended up outside somewhere, and you guys will probably never find it. Would you agree?”

He tilted his head, and then nodded.

“So that’s the fourth round; now then, where’s your fifth? It’s got be in the house somewhere, right? Where else would it have gone?” She pointed to the report in the folder. “It says here that Marble’s body was found half in bed, upside down with her legs in the air, like she’d fallen out head-first.” She glanced up at Wallis, pointing at the hole in the victim’s forehead. “Does this look like a normal entry wound to you?”

Wallis studied the image for a moment. It was obvious that he had no idea. “Uh… I’m not… I can’t really tell.”

Sunset watched him for a moment. Then she cleared her throat and sat up in her chair. “OK. Put yourself in the victim’s shoes.”

“OK…”

“Now, imagine you’re laying in bed, and you hear a gun fire in the next room. You sit up. You’re probably scared, right? Then your bedroom door opens —or maybe it was already open— and a stranger walks in with his face covered, and he points a gun at you. What would you do? What’s your first instinct?”

Wallis’ eyes were wide. “I… I don’t know what I’d do. I’d be kinda screwed, wouldn’t I?”

“Probably the only thing she could think of was to shield herself,” Sunset continued. She brought her arms up and covered her face with her forearms. “Like this.” She uncovered her face and looked at him again. “He fires, the bullet goes through her arm and into her head, and the impact knocks her out of bed, into the position you found her in. One shot; two wounds.” She looked down at the papers again. “Maud Pie wasn’t lying.”

After hearing Sunset’s explanation and seeing the now vacant face of the young officer, Shining Armor couldn’t help but smirk, prompting his hand up to hide it. This was exactly the calibre of investigator he’d hoped for, and at that moment, he knew he’d made the right choice.

“Uhh…” Wallis stared into space, scratching behind his ear. “Wow. I, uh… guess I never thought of it like that. That’s—”

“You have to put yourself in their shoes,” Sunset said abruptly. “Facts and statements can be interpreted in different ways; it’s your job to piece them together in a way that makes sense, not to justify your first gut instinct.”

He nodded. “Right. Got it.”

With a deep inhale, Sunset gathered the photos up and clipped them together. After making a few notes, she turned to the next page. “OK. So you said there were three rounds recovered?”

“That’s right,” Wallis replied, clearing his throat. His voice was a bit quieter now.

“So were you able to figure what type of gun was used, or no?”

“Uh… yeah, actually, believe it or not.” He placed the edges of his hands on the table, thumbs pointing up, like he intended to create a figurative frame for what he was about to say next. "Often times, bullets become deformed or shattered when they hit their target. To what degree depends on the type of round it is, and this case is no different." He raised a finger. "Except for one: the round recovered from the oldest daughter was relatively intact, enough that we were able to identify what type of firearm was used. Uhh... one sec—can I just have a look at that?" He pointed to the folder and stood to reach across the table, turning the pages and then stopping to read for a moment. “Ah, yes. A Manestetter 391,” he finally said, facing Sunset first, and then Shining Armor. “Interesting choice for a weapon, as they are extremely uncommon due to their unique calibre, which makes our job easy in identifying it, but hard for the killer because sourcing ammo for them a pain. As fas as we know, no other weapon takes that size of round.”

“Hm.” Sunset made a note as Wallis cleared his throat to continue.

“So… as you know, handguns are extremely restricted here in Canada. Anyone eligible to own one absolutely must have it registered, so one of the first things we did was check the registry to see if we could find someone who owns that type of gun, or used to own one and had it stolen—or sold it illegally.”

Sunset glanced up at him. “And?”

He shook his head. “Nothing, as expected. No one in this area, or anywhere near it, has owned a gun like that for years. The weapon used in this case must have been unregistered; probably smuggled in. One thing that’s been going on for a number of years is the person importing the gun will have parts of it shipped in at different times, and once they have all the pieces, they assemble the weapon and BAM! They have an illegal firearm.”

Shining Armor shook his head at the concept.

Sunset continued to flip silently through the files for a few moments, taking the occasional note. At last, she closed the folder and pushed it to the center of the table.

“That’s good,” she said, standing.

Shining Armor stood with her. “You got everything you need?” he asked, to which Sunset nodded, slipping her pen into her suit pocket.

Wallis rose from his seat and scooped the folder up, holding it under his arm.

“OK then,” Shining Armor said as he turned to Wallis with a cordial smile. “Thank you for your time, constable. We’ll be sure to keep in touch so we can stay up to speed on the investigation. And if we happen to come across any information, we’ll be sure to pass it along to you or Constable Francis.”

Wallis nodded. “Sure thing. That sounds great. I’ll let Constable Francis know you stopped by, and I thank you for coming.”

“Thank you for your help,” Shining Armor replied with a nod as he and Sunset turned to exit the room.

After a few seconds of watching them go, Wallis took a hesitant step in pursuit. “Um… Miss Shimmer?”

They stopped and looked back at him.

Wallis paused for a moment and licked his lips nervously. “I uh… I just wanted to say that I was really impressed by that, what you just did there… with the gunshot count. And uh… “ —he rubbed the back of his neck— “I guess I was kinda jumping the gun there, being suspicious of the witness and all.”

Sunset sighed and forced a smile. “Don’t sweat it. You’ll get the hang of it; it all comes with time and practice.” She glanced at her boss and then reached into the pocket of her notebook to pull out a card, which she then set on the table. “Here. This is my business card; if you ever need help with anything, feel free to give me a shout.”

The young constable reached across the table and picked the card up to look at it. Then his eyes rose to meet hers. “Thanks,” he said with a little smile.

“Excellent,” Shining Armor said with a nod. “We’ll be seeing you, constable.”

And they made their exit.

Outside, Shining Armor and Sunset Shimmer made their way down the massive concrete steps of Canterlot Police Headquarters.

As soon as he was sure there was no one within sight or earshot, the attorney threw his arms into the air. “Oh my god, Sunset! Hahaha! That was amazing!”

Sunset’s only response was to scowl and fold her arms. “Ugh! Could you believe that pinhead, trying to accuse Maud after everything she’s been through? What a fucking idiot.”

“Well you sure put him in his place!” Shining Armor chuckled, after which he looked across the street, where he spied an Italian restaurant. He turned to Sunset again. “Hey, you wanna grab some lunch? I’m buying; after a display like that, you deserve it.”

“I’m not really sure after seeing all that,” she sighed, looking across the street for herself. Then she closed here eyes and gave her head a shake. “Alright, fine, I guess—if you’re buying.”

“Absolutely.”

They continued down the steps to the sidewalk.

“So… you, uh… wanna go to the morgue next, or…?” he asked, using a more sombre tone after slipping his hands into his pockets.

“To see the bodies? Not really—unless I have to. It might come to that if the things I have in mind lead nowhere.”

He nodded. “I hear ya. Seeing those pictures seemed pretty painful.”

Sunset drew a breath, her high-heels clopping along the sidewalk. “Yeah. More than I expected. It’s a whole different ball game when you knew the people in the pictures.”

“I’m sorry. And the worst part is, there really weren’t any leads in that file that I could see. There’s hardly anything to go on; whoever this guy was, he sure did his homework.”

“He did, but you’re wrong about there not being any leads,” Sunset replied.

Shining Armor stopped to face her. “What, you found something?” he asked, eyes wide, his face close enough to hers that she could smell him, causing her heart to flutter involuntarily.

“Uh, yeah…” She produced her notebook and held it up, opened to the page she’d been writing on. “The gun. It may be unregistered, but guns need ammo to work. Someone had to sell it to him —if he didn’t already have some, that is— so that’s gonna be my first move: check all the local gun shops; ask around for anyone who’s bought ammunition for that model. Should be easy for them to remember if it’s as uncommon as Wallis said. Then, if anyone has, I get a description, and we have our lead.”

Shining Armor stared in disbelief for a moment, then a smile slowly crept into his features. “HA!” He laughed, turning away and shaking his head. He turned back after a moment, grinning ear-to-ear. “Wow. Genius,” he said as she continued to hold the notebook up with a smirk on her lips. He approached her again and, rather unexpectedly, reached out to grab her hand. “I knew I was making the right choice by hiring you—”

FWOOOOOSSSHHH!

Sunset found herself disoriented for a moment, not expecting to be torn from her own consciousness like this. Then she realised she was no longer standing on the sidewalk.

Where was she? …Or where was Shining Armor, rather, since it was his memory she now occupied.

A quick look around gave her an idea; straight ahead was a brick wall, and above and behind was a canopy of windows, the view of the outside obscured by a heavy layer of snow that’d gathered on the glass. The lighting was dim. She brought her eyes down to find tables on both sides, covered with dozens of lit candles, their golden, flickering glow filling the space—which she had, by then, realised was a sunroom, or an enclosed deck of sorts. It was winter, obviously, so this couldn’t have been very long ago.

The soft sound of a woman’s voice drew Sunset’s attention downward. When she looked down at himself, she found, to her shock, that his chest was bare; it was white and muscular —more so than Golden Arrow’s— with a layer of dark blue hair covering most of his breastbone, the bare portions of his pale skin covered in beads of sweat.

His rippling arms were outstretched, his strong hands gripping the backs of a pair of knees that belonged to some very shapely and very pink legs.

Sunset looked down even farther and froze, finding herself in awe of what lied there.

Her eyes found themselves tracing the smooth, pink curves of Cadance, her skin soft and slick with perspiration, sparkling in the golden glow of the surrounding candles. Her long, soft hair was splayed in several directions, its violet, pink and yellow locks partly stuck to her temples. Her mascara had bled away from her eyes slightly, carried astray by the sweat she’d worked up with her lover. Her full, pouty lips were parted, letting her deep, hurried breaths pass between them.

Her eyes locked with Sunset’s —or Shining Armor’s, rather— putting the red-head into a state of unbearable discomfort. She quickly looked down to alleviate the awkwardness of being stared at by her friend’s sister-in-law that way. What she ended up seeing instead was no less embarrassing, and was certainly much more personal.

Down, past Candance’s glistening, swaying breasts, complete with erect nipples, past her flat belly with its pierced navel, adorned with a little blue heart-shaped jewel, past the little tuft of purple, pink and yellow pubic hair was a pair of thick, pink lips, spread to welcome the veiny, white shaft that was wedged deep between them, cloaked in her delicate, darker pink minoras.

All of it was soaked by the juices generated by their lovemaking. The candlelight danced along his length as it pumped in and out of her supple folds, drawing gasp after squeak after moan from Cadance’s lovely lips.

A deeper grunt came from his throat; Sunset could feel it in her own, alien, not her voice, but his.

“Oh my god, Cade… you feel so good; I’m so close… I… I’m gonna… OOOHH FUCK!”

“Mmmmnnh…” She bit her lip and squeezed her breast with one hand while reaching down with the other, touching his abs with her fingertips. “Ohh… yes! Give it to me, Shiny!”

He picked up the pace and speared that dripping, pink flower several more times until he was swollen and ready to burst, then he suddenly withdrew and let his twitching length project over her abdomen. Cadance immediately took it in her hand and stroked it vigorously, drawing his fire in short order; the first shot was powerful and covered some distance, landing between her breasts and mixing with the layer of sweat that waited there. The remainder of his load spurted onto her stomach, none of them matching the intensity of the first one, instead accumulating in a thick, white pool, covering that tiny blue jewel in her navel as she relentlessly pumped her little fist over his throbbing head.

An intense shriek roared from his throat as the pleasure shook his hard, white frame, served to him with glee by his beautiful wife.

Sunset’s heart thumped in her chest —or was it his heart in his chest? She couldn’t be sure— as she watched the scene unfold between her boss and his lover. Once his climax was through, with a stubborn strand of white goo hanging from his tip, she released him and placed her fingertips in the white pool on her belly. She slid it upwards, smearing it along her sweat-beaded skin, mixing the salty fluids together.

Cadance bit her lip and giggled at him. “You messy boy!” she teased as she cupped her soft, full breast, glazing it with his cum, its supple mass slipping between her fingers.

Then, to Sunset’s surprise, Cadance turned to her right and focused on something out of sight, grinning deviously; she raised her semen-glazed hand and coaxed someone in with her index finger. “Get over here and lick me clean, whore.”

FWOOOOOSSSHHH!

Sunset found herself standing on the sidewalk once again, the muffled sound of Shining Armor’s voice ringing in her ears. She focused on him; his eyes were wide, hands atop his head.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry! I forgot!”

“Huh?” Sunset replied, still in a daze.

“I didn’t mean to touch you!” he continued frantically, “God, I hope you didn’t see anyth—“

“NOTHING!” she blurted suddenly, eyes darting around. “Nothing-I-saw-nothing!”

Shining Armor paused, motionless, but nervous-looking. “Uh… y— … Are you sure you didn’t—“

“No! I mean, yes! I didn’t…” She gave her lip a hasty lick. “That’s bad English. I have to go. Bye. Let’s go. We should go now.”

Sunset shouldered past her boss, heading for the crosswalk to make her way to the restaurant across the street, leaving him standing there, worrying about what she saw.

Chapter 126: Discovery

Chapter 126

“What do you mean? How much faster can you go?” I asked.

“I dunno,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I’ve never actually tried to go as fast as I can, so I don’t really know how fast that is. It… kiiiinda gets to a point where everything’s happening so fast I can’t react quick enough.”

“Hmm…” I glanced to my right at Rarity and Fluttershy, rubbing my chin.

They watched me curiously, no doubt wondering what I was thinking.

“Is that why you attacked me the way you did that first night?” I asked, turning back to Dash. “When you were basically just shoulder-checking me really hard?”

“Ehh… yeah. I kinda use myself as a cannonball, I guess. It put you on your ass, didn’t it?” she gloated, adding a smart little smirk.

I rolled my head around in a circle and then sighed. “It packed a punch, I’ll give you that; but it was also predictable as hell, which why you ended up on your ass not long after.”

Applejack adjusted her hat and chucked. “Heh-heh! He’s gotcha there!” she teased, to which Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

It was the wee hours of Tuesday morning, the 7th of February. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and I were gathered in the Riverfield for training, spending some time exploring the rainbow-haired girl’s magic. The sky was clear yet again; it had been a lucky streak of good weather during recent weeks, which was favorable to teach in—especially with a new recruit.

“So what, like… basically, when you go too fast you can’t see what’s happening?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Nah. If I ran as fast as I think I can through town, I’d be bumping into all kinds of shit cuz I wouldn’t be able to see it coming.” She gave her shoulders a shrug. “There’d be no time to react, and I’d probably kill a shit-ton of people, too.”

“Hm…” I pursed my lips and stepped past her with my hands on my hips, pondering for a moment as I stared down at the moonlit grass. “That doesn’t really make sense.” I pointed to Fluttershy and Rarity, who were standing hand-in-hand, close to where I had been. “I mean, each of you have certain ‘rules’ to your magic, rules that you had to learn, that govern your limitations. Rules that, once you learn them —as well as how to break them— also let you take full advantage of your abilities.” I faced Dash again. “But you… not being able to use yours to its fullest seems like a contradiction. I don’t get it.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I dunno what to tell ya.”

“Well, I might point out, darling, that we have this massive, open field all to ourselves for a reason,” Rarity pointed out, gesturing around the place.

“That’s right,” I agreed, facing Dash again. “Why don’t you take a run around the tree line?” I swung a finger around the perimeter of the field as I spoke. “Let’s see how fast you can go.”

Dash took a tentative glance at the trees. “Ehh… I dunno.”

“Aw, c’mon, sugarcube! Ya got all the space in the world out here; no one’s gonna see ya fuck it up,” AJ chuckled, adjusting her hat again.

I nodded in agreement. “Yeah. Just take a loop around the edge and then come back along the river,” I said as I traced an imaginary path with my finger. “Show us what you got.”

Rainbow Dash sighed and looked to Fluttershy, who gave her a reassuring smile. She shut her eyes and shook her head. “Ugh… fine!” she growled.

“A’right! Giddy-up, partner!” AJ rubbed her hands together, eager to see what was going to happen.

“Where do I start? Right here?” Dash asked as she leaned forward, planting her toes in the ground, readying herself for takeoff.

“Whatever you want,” I replied.

“OK. OK.” She cleared her throat and let a few breaths puff through her lips. Then she took off like a shot, her path indicated by a five-foot-tall strip of colour.

It was fast, as always. We watched as the bright ribbon streaked toward the edge of the field, following its curve. It was quite obvious when she turned up the wick: the rainbow trail became significantly brighter and an audible whoosh became evident, but before we knew it, she peeled off into the woods, making a series of chopping sounds as she zipped through the dead weeds and low-hanging branches, ending with a heavy thud that shook the top of a tree roughly thirty feet in.

All four of us cringed.

“Dang…” AJ said, removing her hat to scratch her head. “Well, that sucked.”

“Oh dear…” Fluttershy strode forward suddenly, placing her hands to the sides of her mouth. “Um, excuse me, woodland creatures?” she announced, her voice barely audible even from a few feet away. “Um… my friend is practicing going really fast; I’m sorry to bother you all, but I think maybe you should find another place for tonight… for your own safety. Please and thank you—and, um… sorry.”

I glanced at Rarity and then Applejack when I realised what the shy girl was doing. “How can they even hear her?”

AJ shrugged and chuckled quietly.

Rarity rolled her eyes, smirking. “It’s Fluttershy, darling. There is simply no need to question it.”

Fluttershy was coming back by then, hands folded in front of herself with a satisfied smile on her face.

“Happy now?”

She nodded. “Mm-hm.”

Rainbow Dash had emerged from the trees in the meantime, picking twigs and dried leaves from her hair.

I threw my hands in the air and shouted in reply to the inaudible grumbling that drifted across the grass toward us. “HEY! WHAT WAS THAT?”

She paused for a moment and looked our way, her expression obscured by the distance and the darkness. ”UUHH, WELL, I THINK THAT WAS A FUCK YOU!”

Applejack snorted.

“Grace under fire, as always,” Rarity commented, inspecting her nails in the moonlight.

I chuckled and patted the fashionista’s shoulder, drawing a smirk from her. “HEY, DASHIE! YOU KNOW A TREE LINE IS THE EDGE OF THE WOODS, RIGHT? IT DOESN’T MEAN YOU MAKE A LINE THROUGH THE TREES!”

“I KNOW THAT! I WAS GOING TOO FAST! I CAN’T GO IN A CURVE LIKE THAT; I STARTED SKIDDING SIDEWAYS WHEN I SPED UP AND THE NEXT THING I KNEW I WAS KISSING WOOD!”

“Heh-heh!” Applejack chuckled as she put her hand next to her mouth to shout. “Y’ALL KNOW ‘BOUT KISSIN WOOD, DON’T YA, DASH?”

“OH, YOU MEAN LIKE HOW YOU KISSED THAT REDWOOD THAT YOU FOUND IN YOUR BROTHER’S BEDROOM THAT ONE NIGHT?”

AJ froze, then a scowl appeared on her brow. “God dang it,” she whispered. “’EY! I THOUGHT I TOLD YA TA LAY OFF WITH THAT INCEST SHIT!”

“YOU STARTED IT!”

I stood nearby, pinching the bridge of my nose. “OK!” I shouted, raising my hand. “YOU TWO SHUT UP! I DECIDE WHO KISSES THE WOOD AROUND HERE! GOT IT?”

Rarity rubbed her face and huffed. “Well, this session certainly has gone off the rails, hasn’t it?”

Fluttershy giggled. Her timing couldn’t have been more awkward, yet hilarious.

“OK… SO WHAT AM I DOING THEN?”

I scanned the moonlit field as I ruminated, running my tongue along the inside of my teeth. Then I faced the little blue spec next to the tree line and pointed at the river. “OK, JUST… GO ALONG THE RIVER; IT LOOKS PRETTY STRAIGHT.”

A pause, then Dash put her hands on her hips and shook her head. She said something in reply, but it was too quiet for any of us to hear it. She shook her herself off and kicked her feet, then she got into position, ready for another sprint.

And sprint, she did; a strip of colour sliced through the dark field like a razor, brightening after passing the halfway mark, its speed increasing exponentially.

Then it stopped.

The four of us stood there, watching Rainbow Dash, who’d stopped more than a quarter of the way from the opposite tree line.

“What happened?” I asked, not having to shout so loud since she was a fair bit closer. “Why’d you stop?”

Dash scratched her head. “I… I didn’t mean to! I was trying not to run into the trees again, but I was going too fast; it’s hard to tell when they’re coming.”

I glanced at AJ, who was chewing her bottom lip, thinking.

“You want me to try again?” Dash asked.

“Was that as fast as you can go?”

“No.”

I swung my arm and pointed to the other end of the river where she’d started. “Then go again! We’re not leaving here tonight until I see your top speed.”

“Ugh.” Dash took a deep breath and got into position again.

She took off, her spectrum-coloured trail beaming right from its starting point. In an instant, she disappeared into the woods at the far end, her sprint ending with a cacophony of rustling leaves and snapping wood.

“Whoop, she’s in the woods again,” AJ said.

Rarity sighed. “Oh dear. That’ll do nothing for her mood, I’m sure.”

Moments later, Rainbow Dash emerged from the trees once again, picking sticks and leaves out of her hair. Again.

“LET ME GUESS,” I shouted. “YOU OVERSHOT IT?”

“GEE, HOW’D YOU GUESS?” Dash gestured to the forest behind her. “IT’S TOO FAST! I CAN’T TELL WHEN THEY’RE COMING UNTIL IT’S TOO LATE; THAT THING THEY DID WITH THE MILLENIUM FALCON IN ‘THE FORCE AWAKENS’ IS BULLSHIT!”

“YEAH, NO SHIT, DASH!” Applejack shook her head and then faced me. “I been sayin that all along, and now she listens ta me,” she said quietly so Dash wouldn’t hear.

“Um… I don’t think the field is big enough for this, Goldie,” Fluttershy interjected. “Maybe we need to find a long road or something like that.”

I drew a breath, watching as the girl in the distance picked a few more pieces of brush from her hair. “Ehh… I dunno, Flutters.”

“We would have to find something very long and straight,” Rarity asserted. “And it would have to be deserted; if someone were to see us, or, heaven forbid, if she ran into someone, it could be disastrous.”

I rubbed the back of my neck, exhaling through my lips with puffed cheeks. “Yeah, that’s kinda what I’m worried about. I don’t know if it’s worth the risk. At least out here, we know we have privacy, you know?”

Fluttershy folded her hands and toed the ground, her face showing red even in the dark. “I-it was just a suggestion. We d-don’t have to—“

“It’s alright, darling,” Rarity cut in, stepping closer to wrap an arm around her girlfriend. “There’s no need to be embarrassed. T’was a fine idea; it just puts us at risk of exposure, that’s all.”

“And it doesn’t mean we can’t at least look,” I said, prompting the shy girl to look up at me as a pair of frosty-white lips planted themselves on her cheek.

Dash’s voice rang out in the distance. “UH… SO WHAT ARE WE DOING?”

I stepped past Fluttershy and Rarity, pointing at the far end of the river while facing Dash. “AGAIN!”

I could just make out Dash covering her face in the distance. “UUUUGH! WHY? THIS SUCKS, GOLDS! THERE’S NOT ENOUGH ROOM FOR THIS!”

I nodded and looked down at the grass. “I KNOW, I KNOW. TELL YOU WHAT: WE’RE GONNA TRY TO FIND A LONG ROAD OR SOMETHING FOR YOU TO USE. BUT FOR TONIGHT, THIS’LL HAVE TO DO, OK?” I held a hand out, gesturing to her position. “YOU’RE ALREADY STANDING AT THE FAR END; JUST GIVE IT ANOTHER TRY. AND I WANNA SEE YOU GO AS FAST AS YOU CAN THIS TIME. CRASH INTO THE WOODS IF YOU HAVE TO. IT’S NOT GONNA HURT YOU!”

Dash let her head fall back, her mouth hanging open as she stared into the sky. Then, after a moment, she looked at me again. ”FINE! BUT YOU GOTTA GIVE ME SOME MONEY FOR SOMETHING FOR THIS.”

“HE GAVE YA A FREE CAR. RUN, BITCH!” AJ yelled with her hands cupped around her mouth.

Dash paced around for a moment as some barely-audible grumblings floated across the grass toward us. Finally, she faced the far end of the river and dug her feet in to ready herself.

Then, Rainbow Dash took off like a shot, much faster than before. What the four of us witnessed this time was a streak of colour that zipped about a halfway along the river; then, right in front of our position, there was a bright flash that illuminated the entire field, followed by what sounded like the sharp crack of lightning.

This was the fastest the rainbow-haired girl had ever gone—by a significant margin. She knew damn well that, within the next instant, she would have a face full of sticks and dead leaves again, but she knew she needed to show the others what she was made of. Rainbow Dash does not disappoint, and no one ever called her a bitch without having to eat their words soon after.

This time, however, something happened. The instant after she launched, Dash expected to feel the whipping of branches on her face, or her body bouncing off of an unmoveable tree trunk.

This didn’t happen though.

Instead, there was a bright flash, and everything suddenly stopped.

There was nothing but total silence, save for Dash’s own breathing and the slapping of her shoes along the dried mud that lined the river’s edge. She was still running, but was no longer enhanced by her magic; only the power of her muscles propelled her now.

She slowed her pace to a jog, looking down at her legs. What the...? Why’d it stop? She looked forward and gritted her teeth, determined to re-activate her magic. Pushing to her very limits, she charged forward, her feet slamming along the ground as she went.

But that was all she could muster. Why isn’t it working anymore? Rainbow Dash became flustered, watching her feet after slowing to a jog once again. She glanced over at the others, who were all standing still, their faces blank. She closed her eyes and shook her head, her heart thumping in her chest as the anxiety began to boil; her power was lost, and the others couldn’t have looked more disappointed.

Ugh… great, she thought, looking up to the sky as she ran, desperate for her speed to kick in again, but it was an act of futility. Way to go, Rainbow Dash. You broke your magic—in front of everyone, too! Feeling a knot begin to form in her chest, she surrendered her resolve and veered to the left, away from the river to jog back to the group.

She kept her eyes down, unable to summon the nerve to look up at her friends. Through the tall, dried grass she tromped, approaching them with utter reluctance, embarrassed that her powers had konked-out and that she didn’t understand why.

“Ehh, I… Sorry, guys. I don’t know what happ—“

The sentence came to a halt when she glanced up and noticed something peculiar: the others weren’t looking at her; rather, they were still looking toward the waterfall, close to where she’d started out. That was when she noticed something even more peculiar: the waterfall wasn’t falling.

Rainbow Dash blinked and then rubbed her eyes. She squinted and looked again, focusing closely on the suspended sheets and droplets of liquid, sparkling in the moonlight like a curtain of diamonds—thousands upon thousands of them.

Maybe it was a trick; Rarity could create diamonds. Yes, that must have been it.

With a sly smirk, Dash turned to face the fashionista, ready to call her out on the prank, but she stopped when she noticed the look of indifference on everyone’s faces—and not only that, Rarity’s eyes were mostly closed.

The athlete sneered. “What the hell are you guys doi—“

She stopped when she noticed Rarity’s eyelids moving downward, very, very slowly. Rainbow Dash froze when she saw it; she gasped deeply, her eyes widening as the realisation set in: Rarity was blinking.

Time had apparently slowed to a near standstill, but not for Rainbow Dash. She was still moving about normally.

“Holy crap,” she whispered, a whisper that was nearly deafening in the cavernous silence that surrounded her. The sound of her breath echoing across the field caught her off guard, and she slowly turned back to study the still waterfall.

That was why the absence of sound was so overbearing: nothing was happening, at least not at a perceptible speed. This left Rainbow Dash’s world completely devoid of the white noise that is ordinary life.

Dash stared at the suspended water, her hand pressed to her forehead as the revelation continued to sink in. Then she combed her fingers into her hair and pulled on her bangs, her excitement rising along with her breathing as she began to giggle with wonder, and she took off through the grass, away from her friends to have a closer look at the waterfall.

It felt strange not having her magic kick-in. She’d grown accustomed to it over the years and not feeling that burst of speed at her toes was disorienting. She nearly tripped because of it, but was quick to regain her footing, having to remind herself intellectually that she already was travelling at tremendous speed—possibly even beyond that of light.

Or maybe it was a manipulation of time? Perhaps that made more sense than her perception simply speeding up. Rainbow Dash did not know, either way; she wasn’t that type of thinker. This would be a better question for Twilight.

As she sprinted along, Dash glanced up at the moon, wondering how long a single day would take to pass by in this state when something dark passed in front of the pale satellite, causing her to grind to a stop. Curious, she backed up several steps to search the sky for whatever had caused the eclipse.

She found it before long; the light illuminating its fur and glowing through its leathery wings made it easy to spot: a bat, suspended in flight, its wings locked in mid-flap. Dash’s mouth hung open as she gazed up at the floating spectre, her eyes widening with delight.

Rainbow Dash laughed out loud, her voice shattering the permanent quietude once again as she leaned back and to the side, lining the animal up with the moon to see how much it would look like the Bat Signal. It didn’t, really, but she was still ecstatic over her newfound abilities and promptly resumed her trip to the river.

“Hahaha, awesome!” she laughed to herself as she approached a particularly tall tuft of grass, through which she swiped her fingers as she passed. “This… is… SO… coo—“

She stopped suddenly. Another peculiarity had caught her attention: the grass. Rather than feeling the tough, dried-out stalks slip through her fingers like she expected, the sensation was more like passing one’s hand through a spider web, or stretched-out cotton candy.

Intrigued by this, Dash leaned down, squinting her eyes to focus in the moonlight as she studied the tall weeds that she’d passed her hand through seconds earlier—microseconds, to be exact.

What she saw amazed her.

There was a gap in the stalks; a clean sweep where her hand had passed through, and the tops were still floating above. Air filled her lungs —with some delay— when she realised what’d happened: she was moving fast, so fast that her hand had cut the grass clean off, and the tips hadn’t yet fallen.

What a weapon this could turn out to be! What else could she go through? Could she punch through steel?

Rainbow Dash continued on to the riverbed in search of something to test her theory on. She was immediately distracted when she reached the edge, however, by the water, its flow locked in place. The image differed from that of ice, which is often porous and white; this water was clear as glass, and the moonlight shone directly through it, illuminating every pebble and every creature that assumed was hidden below those flowing depths.

Dash’s mind was numb by this point, her sense of what the reality of physics had always been completely shattered. Something in the middle of the river caught her eye, though, and brought her back to the moment.

A pair of rocks sat there, parting the flow of the river; the water gushed around them, but was captured in a still-frame of the moment.

She could test her strength on this.

Dash looked down at the water at her feet. It was perfectly still, but was it solid? It certainly looked solid, but in reality she knew it was nothing more than thin fluid.

Was that still true?

Tentatively, Rainbow Dash reached out with her toe and let it touch the surface, testing its structure. She felt resistance; while not solid, it was quite firm. Seconds later, however, she could feel the support beneath her toe waning.

She was sinking. It was a liquid still, but the microscopic amount of time used to take a step was much too brief to allow it to give way, which meant it must have been possible to walk on it.

Rainbow Dash didn’t think on this for long. After a quick breath, she decided to throw caution to the wind, and across the water she went. The surface felt soft and smooth; not level by any means, but certainly slick to the touch, which made her steps very cautious as she didn’t want her feet to slip out from under her.

She perched herself on the smaller rock once she’d reached it, standing up straight and rubbing her hands together as she looked down at the larger rock, sizing it up.

“OK, Rainbow Dash,” she said aloud, “let’s see what you got!”

With that, she wound her fist above her head and brought it down like a hammer, dropping to one knee to amplify the blow. Her knuckles collided with the stone’s flat surface and stopped dead, the strike punctuated by a dull thud.

Withdrawing her hand immediately, Dash shook it and grimaced hard. It didn’t hurt, obviously —having Golds’ power made certain of that— but every bone in her arm buzzed, vibrating like a bell that’d been struck at midnight.

“Hooooooo… that feels weird,” she groaned, looking down at her hand before clenching it into a fist. She glanced at the rock again, noticing a faint mark left behind on its surface. Obviously, despite its real-time speed and momentum, the strike lacked significant weight or power. “Huh. I guess the big hits are still AJ’s thing,” she muttered to herself, slightly disappointed by the result. Still, the grass had been sliced off quite easily, and therefore it was easy to assume that a human body would be dealt a great deal of damage by an attack like this.

After a quick glance at the waterfall, Dash stepped off of the stone and walked calmly along the river, making her way to the curtain of glimmering droplets that hung before the jagged stone cliff hidden beyond.

She waded through the cold mist and stood close the shimmering wall of water, studying each drop, even touching a few of them, all of which shattered against her skin when she did. As captivating as the sight was, Dash found herself becoming frustrated by having to step in place repeatedly to keep her footing; standing still would cause her feet to sink into the water like quicksand, so she turned and made her way back to solid ground before her clothes got too wet for comfort.

She trudged back to the group, glancing up at the bat again as she passed under it, noting that its wings were now extended downward, ready to be brought back up for the next flap.

As Rainbow Dash approached the group, she watched their eyes to observe their stillness, their inability to see these infinitesimally tiny events taking place as they stood there like statues, unaware of what the rainbow-haired girl was doing with her new discovery—which she was eager to show off.

But Dash was still Dash, and she couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a little retribution…

Only a second after Dash’s streak had ended with that flash, there was another flash behind me to my left. Then Applejack was suddenly struck from behind by an unknown force. Knocked from under her hat, she toppled forward and skidded face-first along the ground before coming to a stop several feet ahead of us.

The screechy laughter of Rainbow Dash rang out from behind us, prompting us to take our eyes from the downed farmer to find Dash clutching her stomach with laughter.

Perplexed, I spun around to glance at Rarity and Fluttershy —who looked just as confused as I was— before looking back at the athlete again. “Whoa! Did you just teleport? How’d you do that!?”

“Psshh! Nah, man!” She waved me off. “I’ve been running around this place for like the last five minutes!”

“Pfft! What in tarnation!?” AJ growled and spat as she lifted herself and looked back at Rainbow Dash, her clothes, face and hair mashed full of dirt. “PPFFFT! Dick move! What in the hell was that fer?”

Rainbow Dash pointed and laughed. “Hahaha! Look at you! HAHAHA! I got you good! Call me a bitch again, AJ; I dare you!”

Applejack groaned and shook more dirt from her head as she brought herself to her feet, brushing herself off.

I raised a hand and closed my eyes, trying to understand what’d just happened. “Wait, wait, wait… what the hell, Dashie? What d’you mean ‘you’ve been running around here for five minutes?’”

Dash threw her hands in the air, her face overflowing with excitement. “Dude! I totally slipped into some other time zone… or something… but anyway, everything was moving super slow, like basically frozen still, and I was still moving around like normal. It was AWESOME! You guys were just staring off into space with that ‘Captain Marvel’ look on your faces, and there was a bat floating in the air…” She paused abruptly to stare at the waterfall, as if the sound of it was something new to her. Then she brought her arm up to gesture at it. “Even the waterfall was stuck there; it was like a bunch of jewels floating in space or something—I dunno, but it was so cool! I was running around, cutting things up just by touching them, and I was running on the water, and I—“

“I’m sorry, I beg your pardon, darling,” Rarity cut in, hand raised. “You did all that… just now?”

Dash nodded quickly. “Yeah!” She paused suddenly, curious. “Wait, how long was I actually gone for?”

The rest of us glanced at one another.

“Uh… like a second?—if that.” I replied, pointing to the edge of the river where she’d disappeared. “You were going across there, and there was this big flash and then you appeared behind AJ and knocked her down. Just like that,” I snapped my finger on the last word.

“Fer NO reason!” the farm girl added angrily.

Dash laughed at AJ’s expense. “HAHA! I totally got you! It was hilarious!”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Maybe fer you. Don’t worry; what goes around, comes around.”

“HA! You gotta catch me first!” the rainbow-haired girl chuckled as she leaned closer to me and gave my arm a nudge. “Am I right, Golds?”

I gave her a smirk. “I guess so!”

*****

It was close to morning, and we were back at Fluttershy’s house. Everyone, with the exception of Applejack, was seated on the couch, discussing Dash’s new discovery, which she was extremely excited about and was eager to learn to use more fluidly. Apparently, repeatability was something of an issue when trying to reactivate it.

I had to leave the conversation, however, when Dash, in her excitement, was bouncing on the couch and caused me to spill half a cup of coffee on my lap. After cussing Dash out in a different language and then chugging the second half, I headed to Fluttershy’s bedroom to change my pants and check on AJ’s clothes, with had been washed and were now in the dryer.

Applejack herself was using the shower after being unable to brush the mashed-in dirt from her hair. Her clothes were still damp, so I closed the dryer and pushed the button to restart it. It was then that I noticed the shower had stopped, and the sound of the curtain being pulled back could be heard.

Thinking little of it, I turned to leave the room, but stopped when I patted my pockets and realised I didn’t have my phone. “Shit.” I turned back to pick the coffee-soaked jeans up to search their pockets. Just as I found my phone and pulled it out to check for messages, I heard AJ’s voice, muffled inside the bathroom.

“Shucks… no dang towels in here,” she muttered aloud.

Then the doorknob turned, prompting me to spin around and warn her that I was in the next room. “Wait, I’m in here!” I shouted as I spun around to face the door.

It was too late though; she’d already swung it open, revealing her water-beaded, freckled and tan-lined figure. “Jeez!” she barked when she realised I was there, and she quickly reached out to yank the door closed. The knob snapped off in her hand, however, causing the door to bounce off the jamb, the latch rendered useless. It swung open again, slowly, revealing her a second time, standing there with wide eyes, cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

When she found herself in full view again, Applejack dropped the broken knob to the floor and folded her arms to hide her breasts, pinning her thighs together to hide her nethers—which really didn’t work all that well.

I held my hand out to gesture at the damage. “Dammit, AJ! You broke Flutters’ door! I thought you had that shit under control?”

“I-I do!” AJ stuttered as she adjusted her arms, which unintentionally created very pronounced cleavage. “I mean… usually I do; I… kinda panicked there, just now.”

I sighed and rubbed my forehead, then I slipped my phone into my pocket. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. It’s a pretty easy fix.” I shook my head. “Sorry I was in here; I was just changing my pants,” which were a little tighter than usual.

“Oh... it’s fine, I… I shouldn’a been bargin out here like that anyway.” She chewed her lip for a second before speaking up again. “Do ya... think I could get one a’ them fresh towels from over there?” she asked sheepishly, nodding to the basket that sat next to the dryer.

The question reminded me of her nudity, which placed a subconscious need on me to look at her again. “Uh… sure,” I said absentmindedly as I stepped closer to the basket of towels.

I didn’t get one step before something caught my eye, though, causing me to stop. Something was different about her.

“Uh… Golds? D’ya think ya could pick up the pace a little?”

Her words went in one ear and out the other, and I continued to stare at her naked mound.

Exasperated, Applejack’s eyes rose to the ceiling as she shook her head and huffed. “D’ya think ya could be any more obvious ‘bout starin at my cooter!?”

The nails in her voice caught my attention, and I met eyes with her again. “S— … sorry, I… what…” I paused again as my eyes dropped back down to her crotch. “What happened to your bush?”

“Mah—“ She looked down at herself, then back at me again. “Oh… that? Uh, well… funny story…”

“You trimmed it?”

She stared blankly, unprepared for my candidness. “Yeah.”

Indeed, her pubic hair had been groomed—somehow. It had been trimmed fairly short, with its edges brought inward to a trapezoid-shaped block just above her slit, with the wider end at the top. Everything else was bare, including her labia, which were decorated by a smattering of light freckles.

I shook my head and frowned. “How? You can’t… like… once you turn, you can’t do any of that stuff. You can’t cut your nails or any of those things.”

She nodded. “Yep.”

“So... how’d you do it?”

“Well…” She pursed her lips and thought for a moment. “It was b’fore I turned.”

Brows furrowed, I blinked a few times. “But… when we did it… like, at the shop, it wasn’t like this; it looked like you had an orange tabby fuckin curled up in your lap.”

AJ rolled her eyes. “I know, I know. It was big. I get it.” She paused to look down at herself once more. Then she sighed and, to my surprise, unfolded her arms to place her hands on her hips, apparently deciding that trying to hide only her breasts was pointless. “It was after that, when I came back here fer dinner and Fluttershy was fixin that cut on my arm,” she explained. “When I told her what’d happened, well, she was excited at first, but then all the sudden she got all serious and started askin me ‘bout my armpits n’ stuff likes that; said I should shave ‘em before I turn so I wouldn’t be stuck like that ferever, which I guess kinda made sense. But then she asked me about… that…” —she pointed at her crotch when she said this— “and started tellin me I should do somethin with it —which I thought was kinda weird, but anyway— she makes me show it to her and then she gets the trimmer and razors out ta start cuttin it herself, and I’s like: ‘ey, the fuck’re ya doin!?’”

I rubbed my forehead as I listened to her story, chuckling silently to myself. Oohhh my god, Flutters…

“So, I… I went at it myself while she watched,” AJ continued. “Seemed like a weird thing ta worry about at the time, what with bein about ta turn inta some kinda god er whatever, but Fluttershy had a good point, I guess. The problem was… I never done it before, so… it got kinda screwed up.”

“Screwed up? It looks fine to me.”

“I…” She looked down at it again. “I didn’t actually mean ta make it this small, but I kept gettin the edges all crooked, so I had ta keep fixin it and it got smaller and smaller… not ta mention my arm was hurtin like hell.”

“Why didn’t you just take it right off?”

AJ sneered. “Nah. I didn’t like that idea. I didn’t wanna look like a eight-year-old.”

“You wouldn’t have, but fair enough.”

I stroked my lip and watched as the farm girl talked. I always enjoyed seeing a beautiful woman in her most natural state, and as Applejack became more relaxed, she became more and more appealing to the eye. The way her wet skin glistened was quite enticing, especially when a drop of water would run down her abs or drip from her nose —or her nipples— and how her hair was stuck to the side of her face and shoulders, drawing the eye to her features, especially those innocent-looking freckles.

Seeing her from several feet away made her breasts look smaller than I remembered, but they were still lovely to behold; she was tall, with a strong, chiseled upper body, and that bust suited her well by not being too overbearing. They kept the eye on what made her build unique, while still being beautiful on their own with a neat, round shape, and by sitting proudly at a nice height on her chest.

I’d found myself captivated by how they bounced when she moved her arms around to emphasize what she was saying; this was when I remembered that she was actually saying something, and I brought my mind back to reality and locked my attention onto those green emeralds of hers.

“…such a pain in the ass gettin all a’ them little strays from ‘round my camel toe.”

The statement made my eyes dart downward to steal another glance at those smooth lips, pinched together between her thighs. Then, after a little boost of will-power, I looked her in the face again. “Uh… oh, yeah, well, you did fine. It looks great.”

Applejack froze. Her eyes darted back and forth, and her mouth began to make tentative movements to speak, but she seemed to be having trouble finding the words she was looking for. “I… uh… hmm.” Her gaze dropped once more, and she brought her hand up to place it on her hip. She shifted her weight onto that leg, letting her hips swing to the side to strike a pose far sexier than I thought AJ could ever pull off. “Y— … ya like it?” she asked, cocking her head.

My pants got tighter. Fast. “Um… uh, well I-I don’t not like it,” I said, my voice cracking like a thirteen year old’s.

AJ kept her eyes locked on me as she slowly bit her lower lip, then she ran the fingertips of her other hand down her chest, between her breasts and then down her midsection.

I felt a tingle erupt in my loins when I saw this. If it hadn’t been for my fear of the structural safety of Fluttershy’s house, I wouldn’t have been able to resist the temptation of walking right up to her, lifting her off her feet and plunging deep into that well-groomed slit. I’d already witnessed her busting a knob off in her hand; I’d have had no problem letting her bust my knob off in her—

“Oh, darlings? Is everything alright back there?”

The sound of Rarity’s voice from the front room frightened AJ out of the pose and she stood straight, folding her arms below her bust.

“Uh, yeah. We’re just chatting,” I replied, giving my head a shake to realign my thoughts. I then plucked a towel from the basket and then tossed it to her.

“Ah. Very well, then. Carry on.”

“Thanks, sugarcube,” she said quietly after she caught the towel and began to dry herself off.

I nodded and cleared my throat, watching her run that towel all over her skin for a moment before looking away. “So, uh... what do you think of Dashie’s new thing? Pretty crazy, eh?”

“Yeah, who’d a’ thought she could do that all this time and didn’t know it?” she replied, forcing a casual tone, her breasts dangling as she bent forward to dry her legs.

I took me a moment to gather a reply, as I was distracted yet again by the blonde’s figure. “Yeah. Um… all of you seem to have certain things about your magic that have yet to be uncovered... opened up, spread, and uh... probed… deeply, and repeatedly. Until I cum.”

“That sounds an awful lot like a sex analogy,” AJ said as she stood upright and wrapped her hair in the towel, her breasts perked up with her arms raised above her head. “’Specially that last part.”

I cleared my throat and furrowed my brows. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Applejack rolled her eyes as she finished wrapping the towel around her head and then placing her hands on her hips, her figure now smooth and dry.

We stared at one another for a moment. Then I drew a breath and looked down at the floor. “Uh, anyway… yeah. Dashie. I wonder if she’ll be able to learn how to—“

BUZZ!

I glanced down and pulled my phone out to see who’d messaged me. “Oh… it’s Sunny.”

SUNSET: I found a lead. Just letting you know. Gonna go after it today. It’s out of town, wish me luck.

“Huh. She found a lead.”

“Well that’s good,” Applejack said as she stepped over to Fluttershy’s bed and flopped down onto her back. “Ya knew she would b’fore too long; hopefully she’ll find that sum’bitch sooner rather ‘n later.”

“Yeah,” I said, looking down at the farm girl.

AJ’s arms were behind her head, acting as a pillow as she stared at the ceiling, focused on nothing in particular—perhaps wondering what having their revenge was going to be like. Her breasts had flattened a bit, with nipples that pointed outward slightly, like little beacons to attract horny dudes like me. She’d laid on the bed on an angle, separating her knees to let them straddle the corner, her left calf hanging over the side, and her right over the foot.

This put her in a position where her thighs were parted a fair bit, showing off just how thorough a trim-job she did on her nethers; that little blonde patch sat nicely on her mound, just above her crease, which had opened up enough to let those ruffled, pink layers peek out.

My pants were literally throbbing by then. “So… AJ? Uh, did you, by chance, happen to drop your modesty in the grass when Dash hit you?”

Her eyes shifted from the ceiling to me. “No. Why?”

I stared at her for a moment. Then, saying nothing, I brought my eyes back to my phone to reply to Sunset.

After a pause, AJ spoke as I typed. “I reckon by that tent yer pitchin, yer fixin ta plant my south forty, ain’t ya?”

“Shh.”

ME: Be careful. And if you find this guy, DO NOT engage. Read him, learn all you can, find out where and when he’ll be so we can all pay him a visit together. SUNSET: Got it.

Chapter 127: I Can't Drive 55

Chapter 127

The roar of an unusual-sounding ’81 Dodge Diplomat tore a rift in the tranquil quiet that cloaked the streets of Canterlot, the whine of a centrifugal compressor tracing the rumble of dual exhaust as it echoed between the surrounding buildings.

It was 5:30pm on Friday, February the 10th.

Rainbow Dash had just finished work and was now on her way to the hospital to visit Maud. Some of the others were supposed to be there as well, and there’d been talk of some take-out being delivered to the room for supper, which, for most of the group was no longer necessary, but was still a good way to bring people together. That, and old habits tend to die hard.

Still decked-out in her uniform, Rainbow Dash drove with one hand on the wheel, chewing idly on the index finger of her other hand as she thought about her time-warp a few nights back. She couldn’t believe that ability had been there the whole time and she’d never discovered it. Or perhaps it was something new that came with having Golds’ power. Either way, she was excited about the pros of her new arsenal, despite having no shortage of cons: for one, travelling in that state was not preferable to her since, from her perspective, she wasn’t travelling super-fast; for example, if she were to go on foot from Fluttershy’s house to town, it would essentially be like walking or running there as an ordinary person, which would take hours, even though in real-time it would only take a minute or so, which might be necessary if someone was in immediate need of help.

And Rainbow Dash knew this was a reality that she might have to deal with at some point.

The other and even bigger inconvenience was the distance required to slip into the speed phase. Even after multiple attempts, she was unable to make the jump in less than fifty or sixty feet. This shortcoming wasn’t much of a concern outdoors, but in a confined space, like inside a house, she would be limited to the regular super-speed that she’d been using for years.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a new song began to play on the radio: The Ramones’ ‘Blitzkrieg Bop.’

“Oh shit!” she exclaimed as she reached for the radio to crank the volume to sing along.

”OY! OH! FUCK YOU!
OY! OH! FUCK YOU!”

She made a right turn as she sang her way through the first verse, bouncing in her seat. As she accelerated away from the turn, however, she heard a noise amidst the music, which prompted her to stop singing. She furrowed her brow and listened; it was a whining sound, but it wasn’t her supercharger.

Dash turned the radio down again to hear it more clearly.

It was a siren. Not the sexy singing kind, but the kind that is attached to the roof of a vehicle.

A prickly sensation went up the back of her neck when she looked in the rearview mirror and saw the spinning red lights of a police cruiser following close behind.

“Aww shit,” she grumbled, turning the signal on to pull over to the sidewalk. After putting the shifter in park, Rainbow Dash rolled the window down and sighed, waiting for the officer to approach.

She watched in her side mirror as the cruiser’s door opened, letting its driver step out. It was a female cop, equipped with full uniform, belt, holster and hat, complete with blonde ponytail hanging from the back. Her skin was a light shade of gray and, when she approached the side of the car, it became apparent that her eyes were slightly askew.

Seeing this, Dash squinted and leaned closer to the mirror to focus on the approaching officer, then she closed her eyes and let her head fall back. “Oh fuck, it’s Derpy!” she whispered.

“Afternoon, citizen,” said the officer as she stepped alongside the rear door, hitching her belt up and puffing her chest out, making Dash roll her eyes at the inflated sense of authority. “Do you know why I pulled you over tod—“

THUD!

The Diplomat lurched forward, causing Rainbow Dash’s head to snap back. “What the hell!?” she exclaimed, sticking her head out the window to look back at the cruiser, which, while unmanned, had rammed its bumper bar into the rear of the old Dodge.

The officer turned and gasped. “Oh crap, I forgot to put the squad car in park!” she shouted as she jogged back to open the door and hop inside.

Growling to herself, Dash turned her car off and stepped out to assess the damage. As the police car backed away, she leaned down to run her hand along the bumper until her fingertips found a pair of dents where the bars hit.

“Aw, man! Golds is gonna lose his shit,” she sighed, backing away to take another look at the damage.

The officer was leaving the cruiser again, but stopped mid-step when she saw whose car it was. “Oh! Rainbow Dash, hi.”

Dash sighed and glanced at her. “Hey, Derpy.”

“This is your car?”

Dash nodded.

“Oh... sorry about that.”

Dash shook her head. “Eh… it actually doesn’t look too bad; maybe no one’ll notice.”

“Still… I feel bad for hitting your car,” Derpy replied. Then she covered her face and shook her head. “Ugh! And they just put me back in a squad car like, two days ago! Looks like it’s back to the bicycle for me.”

Dash glanced at her former classmate, feeling a twang of sympathy for her. Derpy had always had a tough time managing everyday things—though it usually was her own fault. “Look, how about I tell them I accidently backed into you?”

Derpy shook her head and pointed to the cruiser’s windshield. “Nah. The whole thing would’ve been caught on the dash cam.” She looked at Rainbow Dash and forced a smile. “Thanks though.”

“Mm.” Dash folded her arms and leaned on the rear of the Diplomat with her backside. “So? How’s it going with you, anyway?”

Derpy shrugged. “Not bad—aside from this. You?”

“Meh,” Dash replied, looking down as she scuffed her shoe on the pavement. “So why’d you pull me over, anyway?” she asked, looking up at the officer again with a sly smirk. “It’s cuz I’m blue, isn’t it?”

Derpy scowled. “What? No.”

“Oh, come on, Derpy! Tell me the truth,” Dash jabbed, laughing.

The officer shook her head. “No, Rainbow Dash, that’s ridiculous. You know my dad was half blue.”

Dash chuckled some more as she reached out to give Derpy’s arm a playful tap. “Ha! I’m just joshin’ ya, Derps. It’s all good.”

The blonde girl grimaced at Rainbow Dash and then shook her head. “Well, since you asked, I pulled you over because you were speeding. Excessively.”

Rainbow Dash recoiled. “What? Come on, I was only doing fifty-five!”

Derpy inhaled and cocked her head. “Uh, no, you were actually doing ninety… on Mane Street.”

Dash’s mouth fell open. “I was not! That’s crazy!”

Officer Derpy opened her mouth to speak, but the she stopped to eye the old car. “Where did you get this thing, anyway?”

“Oh,” Dash turned to run her fingers along the roofline. “A friend got it for me, from the States. Pretty sweet, eh?”

Derpy raised a brow. “From the States?” She went to the driver’s door and peered through the window to inspect the instrument cluster. Then she stood and faced Rainbow Dash. “Did you know your speedometer’s in miles per hour? That’s why you were speeding, Rainbow Dash.”

The athlete stared vacantly for a moment, then she groaned and let her head fall back. “Uuuugh! So that’s why it seems like everyone’s driving so slow.” Embarrassed, she pinched the bridge of her nose, shook her head, and then looked at Derpy again. “So, what now? You gonna give me a ticket?”

Derpy sighed and shook her head. “No. I don’t think you have any past infractions, so I can let you off with a warning—if that is the case.” She held her hand out. “I need your driver’s licence so I can check, though.”

Dash pulled her wallet out and handed the card to the officer, who headed back to the squad car. “So, where were you headed in such a hurry, Rainbow Dash?”

Dash folded her arms and stood by the cruiser door as the other girl sat in the driver’s seat to run the licence. “Eh… I was just heading to the hospital after work; going to visit Maud and Pinkie Pie.” She paused and looked at Derpy. “Did you hear what happened?”

Derpy looked up at her. Her eyes dropped to her lap, and then she nodded. “Yeah. I was really shocked to hear that. I feel bad for those two.”

“Yeah.” Dash nodded. “I probably shouldn’t be asking you this, but do you know if the investigators know anything yet?”

Derpy looked up at her, her eyes reflecting the warm glow of the sunset. Then she shook her head. “They, uh… they won’t let me anywhere near that case, but as far as I know, they haven’t found anything.”

“Oh. OK.”

After a solemn pause, Derpy returned to her task. “I heard you had a little brush with death yourself, Rainbow Dash.”

Dash stiffened, not expecting Derpy to be aware of that. “Uh… yeah. I got pretty sick around Christmas time. I got over it, but… yeah. A little too close for comfort for a bit there.”

Derpy held the driver’s licence out to Dash and smiled. “Here you go. And I’m glad you made it out OK.”

Dash returned the smile as she took her card. “Thanks.

“And tell Pinkie Pie I said hi. And… that I’m sorry for her loss.”

“Sure thing.”

*****

The sun could be seen disappearing behind the skyline from the window in Maud’s room, though I seemed to be the only one watching it. Everyone else, including Fluttershy —whose hand was joined with mine— Applejack, Sonata, and of course, Pinkie and Maud, were engaged in quiet conversation as we awaited the large order of Mediterranean food that would soon be delivered.

As far as anyone knew, Rainbow Dash was on her way, but was running late for unknown reasons—ironic, since she was supposed to be the fast one. Sunset was away on her search for the killer, Twilight was off at school, and Rarity was obligated to stay behind at the boutique, saying she had some last-minute orders to fill—though, if I was a betting man, I would say it was more likely that she preferred not to face Sonata after what happened the day after the murders.

As the last light faded into the evening, passing its duties along to the artificial lights of the city, I felt a light tap on my shoulder, followed by the soft voice of my girlfriend.

“Goldie?”

I turned to find Fluttershy facing me with the eye that wasn’t covered in a curtain of soft, pink hair.

“Hm?”

“Applejack was talking to you.”

I faced the farm girl, who was seated to my right, slouched down with phone in hand. “Oh. Sorry. What were you saying?”

Looking somewhat perturbed, Applejack pointed with her phone at Sonata. “D’ya think ya could tell Sonata that there was nothin goin on between you and me the other night?”

Confused, I looked over at the siren, who was seated on far side of the bed, next to Pinkie. “What? Why do you think that?”

Sonata shrugged. “I dunno!” She gestured to the shy girl. “Fluttershy just said she walked in on you and AJ in her bedroom the other night, and AJ was lying spread-eagle on the bed with nothing but a towel on her head.”

I looked down at Fluttershy, whose face was plastered with a crooked, awkward-looking smile. It was true; just after I texted Sunset that night, Fluttershy had come back to use the washroom and found Applejack naked on the bed with me standing there like it was nothing.

“Well… that is true, technically,” I said, facing Sonata. “But that doesn’t mean we were doing anything.”

Applejack, meanwhile, glowered at the shy girl, shaking her head. “Ya just had ta open yer yap, didn’t ya? Of all people!”

Fluttershy shrank into herself. “I-I’m sorry, Applejack. I just thought it was cute, you two hanging out in the buff like that.”

I raised a finger. “Uh, I actually wasn’t naked.”

“Yet…” Sonata smirked.

AJ glared across the room at the siren, her cheeks turning red. “We was just talkin! What does it matter that I had my goddamn snatch hangin out—”

As she said this, a pale-skinned man with tousled, blue hair entered the room and froze immediately, having walked head-first into the wrong end of our conversation.

“Aww, Christ…” AJ slouched and pulled her hat down to cover her face as the rest of us —except Maud and Pinkie— burst out laughing.

“Hi, Shining Armor,” Pinkie greeted. “Sorry about that.”

He cleared his throat and adjusted his suit jacket. “Uh, that’s OK. I was just stopping in for a visit; I uh, didn’t mean to interrupt anything…”

“No, you’re good. Come on in,” Pinkie replied, waving him closer.

“Thank you,” he said, shifting his eyes to the bed. “Hello, Maud.”

“Hi,” Maud said, blank.

He smiled and then brought his attention to Fluttershy, greeting her with a nod. “Fluttershy. How are you?”

She slouched down in her seat and squeezed my hand. “Um, hi. I-I’m good, thank you,” she replied softly, her free hand fidgeting with her hair.

He glanced at AJ next, who was still hiding under her hat. “Uh... hi.”

She waved quickly, keeping her head down.

His eyes landed on me next. “Hi there.”

I released Fluttershy’s and stood quickly. “Golden Arrow. Hi,” I greeted, holding my hand out for a shake.

He paused for a moment. “Ah!” He switched his briefcase to the other hand reached out to take mine. “The infamous Golden Arrow! So nice to finally meet you. I’m Shining Armor.”

“Ah, yes,” I smiled and nodded. “Sunny’s told me all about you.”

He chuckled and raised a brow. “Well, hopefully not everything.”

Just for show, I snickered as I studied his demeanor closely, trying to learn all I could about him. It was surprising that he was Twilight’s sibling; there wasn’t a lot of facial resemblance there, and his stature was much more imposing than hers—granted he was a fairly tall man. His handshake was firm and confident, and the way he stood and spoke told a story about his intelligence, a trait he obviously shared with his sister—considerably more than physical appearance. He had charisma, and was a good-looking man; it wasn’t difficult to see why Sunset wanted to take him for a ride.

Satisfied with my findings, I released his hand and returned to my seat.

Shining Armor turned to the siren next. “Hi. I don’t believe we’ve met.” He held his hand out. “Shining Armor.”

Sonata smiled and shook his hand. “Hi. Blue skin.”

He nodded and released the siren’s hand. Then he stood at the foot of the bed, resting his hand on the rail. “Anyway, uh, I apologise for not being able to pay you guys a visit any sooner; things have been… kind of hectic, lately,” he explained.

“It’s OK,” Pinkie said with a forced smile.

He smiled back, and then continued. “And I’m really sorry for your loss. Really. I can’t even imagine what you two must be going through.”

Pinkie sighed, her eyes drifting to the floor. How many times had she heard this exact line?

Maud didn’t move.

After an awkward pause, Shining Armor cleared his throat. “Uh... so anyway, the reason I’m here is I have some news; some of it’s good, and… unfortunately, some of it is not so good.”

Pinkie’s eyes locked onto him, glaring from under that flat, pink hair.

He squeezed the handle of his briefcase nervously. “Which would you rather hear first?”

The party-girl glanced at her sister first, then she returned her eyes to him. “What’s the bad news?”

Shining Armor drew a deep breath and held it, tightening his lips before smacking them noisily. “Uh… well, unfortunately, I’ve been barred from the case.”

The entire room locked eyes on him.

“Why?” Pinkie asked quietly.

He was unable to maintain eye contact with her, and his gaze went down to the foot of the bed. “They, uh… found out I have connections with you… through Twily—and Sunset, technically. And of course, the Crown is meant to be an unbiased presenter of facts, so my being an acquaintance to your family makes me… ‘biased,’ as they put it.”

“Oh dear,” Fluttershy said softly.

Pinkie scowled and looked down at her hands, which were resting on her lap. She studied her palms for a moment before shifting her attention onto her sister.

“I-I tried to fight it,” Shining Armor continued, “but… their mind was already made up, so…” He sighed. “I’m sorry.”

Pinkie shook her head. “It’s OK. I know you tried… and I’m thankful to you for that,” she said quietly, prompting Sonata to reach over and pat her thigh.

I spoke up next, hoping to improve the mood. “So what’s the good news?”

He quickly glanced at me, then he looked at Pinkie and Maud again. “Well, I can still help with your other legal matters, like when it comes time to deal with your parents’ will, the ownership of the house; things like that. I can look after all of that stuff for you, at very little cost, if any.”

Pinkie looked up at him again. After a pause, she forced a smile and nodded. “Thank you.”

Applejack, who’d finally gotten over her embarrassment, tipped her hat back. “That ain’t a bad deal, actually. It’s mighty fine of ya ta do that.”

He glanced at her and nodded. “Seemed like the least I could do, after… you know. That’s not all either,” he continued, facing the Pies again. “Before we got kicked-off of the case, Sunset and I managed to get a good look at the case file, and she seems to think she’s found a pretty solid lead. She’s been hot on the trail these past few days; fingers crossed she finds something. Lord knows the police haven’t found squat.”

I leaned forward in my chair. “Do you know anything about it?”

He faced me. “Not a whole lot. To be honest, she’s been avoiding me a bit lately, ever since I accidently touched her that one time last week.” He chuckled nervously. “Heh, hopefully she didn’t see anything too personal.”

“Well if she’s avoidin ya, she prolly did,” AJ surmised, leaning back in her chair.

Shining Armor rubbed his brow firmly. “Ugh… I was afraid of that.” He looked at me again. “But anyway, yeah. I don’t know exactly what she’s found, but she headed way out of town, past the big city, along the main highway. Whatever she’s after, she must be pretty sure of it if she’s going that far out of the way.”

I nodded. “Sunny’s good; she knows what she’s doing... but I guess you already knew that.”

He chuckled and nodded. “Yup. That’s exactly why I hired her.” He turned to Maud, drawing a breath. “So I hear you’re going home tomorrow.”

Maud blinked slowly. “That’s right.”

Shining Armor nodded. “You must be pretty excited about that, eh?”

“Of course. I can barely contain myself.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the response as I wrapped my arm around Fluttershy, prompting her to lean into me.

“So,” Shining Armor continued. “Do you have a place to stay? Obviously you’re not going back to the house.”

Applejack sat up straight. “Maud’s gonna be stayin with us,” she announced proudly. “Pinkie and Sonata, too; as long as they need ta.”

He smiled. “Well they’re lucky to have a friend like you.”

At last, with a groan, Rainbow Dash burst into the room, eyes rolling.

Applejack tipped her hat to her. “Well well well, if it ain’t ‘little miss speedy,’ the last one ta show up.”

“Sorry, guys, I got pulled over for sp—Shiny!“ She broke into a big smile when she saw Twilight’s brother standing at the foot of the bed. “What’s the haps?”

“Not much, just paying a visit,” he replied, giving her a tap on the arm.

“Fuck, I hope I didn’t miss supper,” Dash said as she went around Shining Armor to sit near the foot of the bed.

“It outta be here any minute now,” AJ said, checking the time through the cracks on her phone’s screen.

Shining Armor’s eyebrows went up. “Oh! You guys ordered food? I’d better get going then; I don’t want to impose,” he said as he turned to head for the door.

Applejack snapped her finger and pointed to where he was standing. “Applesauce! Y’ain’t goin nowhere. I ordered plenty extra, so there’ll be lots ta go ‘round.”

He paused and looked around at the rest of us. Then he looked at AJ again and nodded. “OK. I guess I don’t have much choice, do I?”

Applejack shook her head. “Nope.”

Author's Note

Chapter 128: A Lucky Catch

Chapter 128

“Mm-mm-mmm, we need to dress you up like this more often, darling,” Rarity cooed as she adjusted my tie with those dainty, white fingers.

“Oh?” I said, looking over the top of her head into the distance, past the rolling sea of dull grass and headstones.

“Most definitely,” she replied. “So handsome and dapper; it is refreshing to see you looking like the gentleman that I know you are.” She turned to her left, where Fluttershy was standing. “What do you think, darling?”

The shy girl smiled. “Mm-hm! He looks wonderful.”

“If only we could shave that five o’clock shadow…”

Fluttershy shook her head in disagreement. “I like it. It’s like a signature, to remind us that he’ll always be our rugged, dirty old Goldie.”

I shifted my eyes onto her. “Wow. Thanks, Flutters.” Then I let my eyes drop to re-explore my girlfriends’ outfits. “You two look pretty good yourselves… as usual.”

Both of them wore a simple black frock, snug fitting, but not overly revealing. Tasteful. Their make-up was the same as usual; where they differed was their headdress: Fluttershy’s hair was put up into a loose bundle behind her head, her face kept clear by a black butterfly-shaped clip. Rarity‘s hair was up as well, but was largely hidden by a black, wide-brimmed hat, her face shaded by a coarse, black blush.

Fluttershy’s cheeks became rosy and Rarity giggled, waving me off before placing her hands on my chest.

“Oh, pssh! These old things? There’s no need to pander, my love.”

Rainbow Dash’s voice stole our attention just then, sounding from a dozen feet away. “Hey, guys! It’s starting.”

A dull, cloudy Saturday, February the 18th. It was cold, but not unbearably so—although the occasional breeze that wisped through the cemetery certainly did its job of sending a chill up the spines of those who were susceptible to it.

A modest-sized group of darkly-dressed people were gathered around a row of four graves, each with a casket that had been placed upon them one-at-a-time by a group of eight busy pall bearers—Applejack and Big Mac being two of them. The big farm boy had become noticeably distraught when they were carrying Marble’s casket; it was explained to me afterwards that before he’d gotten together with his wife, Cheerilee, he had a crush on Pinkie’s twin sister, who may have reciprocated his feelings, but was unfortunately too shy to allow anything to happen. And so nothing came of it.

Apple Bloom was also present, as was Sweetie Belle and their friend Scootaloo. The only person who wasn’t present, who I thought would have been, was Sunset Shimmer.

Wherever she was, she must have been hot on the killer’s trail to be willing to miss this funeral.

With the service now underway, I stood between my girlfriends, hands folded. Fluttershy was to my left, Rarity on the right; next to her was Pinkie, wearing a black jacket with a red blouse and black skirt underneath, her long, straight hair tied haphazardly behind her head into a bundle of ribbons and loops. Maud was next. Sitting in a wheel chair with a cast leg extended from beneath a plain black dress, she stared vacantly at the row of caskets containing the remains of her family. Next to her was Sonata, and then finally, Rainbow Dash.

On the far side of the plots stood a group of unknowns —most likely friends and relatives of the Pies— as well as the pall bearers, including AJ and her brother. Next to them was their green apple-skinned Grandmother, along with the already mentioned Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, and finally, on the far end, stood a lonely-looking Twilight Sparkle.

At last, after much sobbing and sniffling, the service came to an end with the reverend pouring white powder on each of the caskets in the shape of a cross, followed by silence as everyone bowed their heads while the coffins were lowered into their graves one by one. I stared down at the dead grass somewhat impatiently, waiting for it to end. Religion was certainly not my forte; having personally witnessed the time period in which these events supposedly took place, I knew it to be a sham—nothing more than a form of control for the masses. The architects of these ideologies knew the truth: more powerful than any written law was the fear of a higher power and the threat of eternal damnation. Though, to be fair, the rules of general decency prescribed by these followings did have a positive effect on society—when they were followed properly, that is.

Despite this, and the fact that the impact of death had become passé to me, I obligated myself to show respect to my friend Pinkie, who’d been utterly shattered by this tragedy, this cruel turn of events.

Once all four caskets were lowered, the attendants turned to one another and began to mingle quietly.

Rarity faced me, her cheeks streaked with black. “Mm… a lovely service,” she sniffled. “Didn’t you think?”

I unbuttoned my suit jacket and put my hands in my pockets. “Yeah.”

Fluttershy took my arm, prompting me to face her. She too had dark run-marks dividing those pretty, yellow cheeks of hers.

“You OK?”

She forced a smile and nodded.

A sniffle came from behind Rarity, and she turned to find Pinkie facing her with red eyes and blotched eye-liner. The fashionista was quick to wrap her arms around the pink girl for a comforting hug.

“Oh, Pinkie Pie, darling, I am truly sorry. I simply cannot imagine how you must feel right now.”

Pinkie squeezed the fashionista. “Don’t worry, Rare-Bear. I’ll be OK,” she said, releasing her friend to face me and Fluttershy. “Thanks for coming, you guys.” She wiped her cheek, further smearing her make-up.

“We wouldn’t dream of missing this,” Fluttershy sniffled. “We’re all here for you, always. If there’s anything you need, all you gotta do is ask, OK?”

Pinkie forced a smile and then nodded, looking down at her feet. She swallowed hard, and then looked up the shy girl again. “Happy birthday, Fluttershy, by the way,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry I didn’t throw you a party.”

The shy girl’s jaw dropped. “Oh… no, Pinkie,” She stepped forward to wrap her arms around her friend, squeezing her tight. “You don’t have to worry about that right now. It can wait ‘til next year.”

A new voice came from our right.

“Hey, P? Did you want anyth—“

Sonata stopped immediately when Rarity, who she’d unknowingly approached from behind, turned to face her. The two locked eyes and paused, spawning an awkward tension that flew immediately skyward.

After a short moment, Rarity gathered herself and cleared her throat as she turned away to face someone —anyone— else.

Unable to stomach this drama, I let my eyes wander the cemetery. Before long, they made their way across the Pie family plot to study the group on the other side, watching the crowd of people conversing quietly.

Then, something caught my eye: Twilight Sparkle was looking directly at me.

I perked up when I noticed this.

Knowing she’d caught had my attention, she raised a hand to wave me over.

I glanced at Rarity and then Fluttershy, then back at Twilight, who waved again—more insistently this time.

I gave her a nod and then turned to Rarity, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, can you excuse me one moment?”

She glanced up at me, her sapphire eyes obscured by the black netting that hung over her face. Then she nodded. “Of course.”

After giving her shoulder a light squeeze, I turned and made my way around to meet the lavender girl, who was dressed in a simple, but nice black dress with a dark gray plaid pattern on the skirt, her hair tied into a simple pony-tail.

“Hey,” she said quietly.

“Hi,” I said, stopping in front of her, cocking a curious brow. “How’s it going?”

“Uh…” She scratched her ear, glancing at the gravestones. “I’ve had better days, I guess.”

I looked over my shoulder to study them for myself, struck by the cold, cruel reality when I read each one:

Igneous Rock Pie, 1956-2023

Cloudy Quartz, 1958-2023

Marble Pie, 1996-2023

Limestone Pie, 1990-2023

With a sigh, I turned back to Twilight, whose eyes, upon closer inspection, were glistening.

“I hear ya,” I replied. “I think we all have.”

Twilight paused for a moment, distracted by her thoughts.

“So what’s up?” I asked, prompting her to lock eyes with me again. “Why’d you call me over here?”

She blinked twice quickly, and then shook her head. “Oh, right. Um…” She paused as she reached into her shoulder bag, rooting around and then finally producing her phone. “So… I was scanning the city cameras last night, and I found something of interest,” she explained as she navigated through the app.

“Of interest how?”

She didn’t answer immediately; she was busy with her search. “Um… sorry. I’m just trying to find it… Ah! Here.” She turned to stand next to me, holding the phone so we could both see it. “OK, so this is actually from just over a week ago, as you can see by the date, but it’s… I mean… well, just watch.”

I drew a breath and moved my eyes from her to the tiny image on the screen. It showed a cement driveway across the bottom, set on a slight incline; the camera that filmed this must have been mounted on a pole or a rooftop, looking down from up high. Next to the driveway was a small ledge, with a ladder mounted off to the right, extending down out of sight. Beyond that was a moving darkness, which I presumed was water. The footage was obviously filmed at night, but a nearby lamp post and internal enhancement of the camera insured the image was clear enough to see.

“Where is this?” I asked.

“At the harbour, in the big city,” she replied. “Where many of the larger warehouses receive shipping crates by carrier ships.”

“Oh, OK. So what am I looking for, exactly?”

She pointed at the screen. “Just watch.”

Roughly half a minute passed, and I was about to ask again what was so significant about this footage when a large, black luxury car entered from the right and stopped with its front half cut off by the left edge of the screen, leaving only the trunk in view, covered in a thick layer of dust, which made the licence plate unreadable.

This grabbed my attention, obviously, and so I began to watch more intently. Two men emerged from the rear doors and made their way to the trunk, their faces obscured by the angle of the camera. After flipping the deck lid open, they both reached inside to grab something—something that appeared to be moving.

After wrestling the package into their arms, they extracted it from the car. It was wrapped in a blanket or tarp of sorts; while one of the men carried it toward the water, the other hoisted a pair of cinder blocks from the truck, which appeared to be chained to one end of the thrashing bundle.

I watched closely as they carried the load to the precipice and, without hesitation, dropped the entire works over the edge, into the deep water below.

“Huh... wow.” I looked at Twilight, who turned to me with a grim expression. “Looks like we just witnessed a murder.”

She nodded. “I would agree.”

I rubbed my chin and ruminated for a moment, looking down at the soggy, brown grass that surrounded the uncharacteristically shiny shoes I was wearing. After a sigh, I glanced at her again, wondering why she would show this to me here. “OK… so? Did you have a question about this, or…?”

Twilight nodded. “I wanted to ask if you could go check it out.”

A scowl creased my brow. “Me?” I glanced across the plot at the other girls. “But I—“

Twilight brought a hand up to stop me. “Look, I know you don’t want to do the whole ‘masked vigilante’ thing, and I can respect that. Normally I would ask Sunset to go, but she’s still away on her search, and I seriously doubt she wants to be interrupted from that to start another one. And the rest of the girls, well…” She looked over at the others. “They’re… kind of preoccupied right now. They’ve got a lot on their plate with Pinkie and Maud, and I don’t really think it’s fair to send them on a mission with all that going on.”

I pointed at her. “What about you? Why didn’t you go? It happened in your city.”

She cocked her head, surprised. “You think I’m ready to go out alone?”

I paused for a moment and chewed the inside of my cheek. “To check something like this out? Probably. Don’t get into anything too involved, though.”

She sighed. “Well, for starters, I just saw this footage last night and the harbour front is on the opposite side of town from the university, so I would’ve had to take a bus or cab to get there —which I can’t do with the suit on, obviously— and I couldn’t rent the car until this morning. There just wasn’t time for all that.” She paused and wrung her hands together. “That, and I... wasn’t sure if I was ready.”

I watched her for a moment, then I sighed and turned to look at the other girls, who were still talking quietly with one another.

“Golds…” Twilight continued. “Like I said, I normally wouldn’t ask you, but you’re the only person here who’s in the right state-of-mind, and who’s qualified to do it. I mean, if Sunset was here, I’d ask her—“

“Where is she, anyway?” I cut in. “Have you talked to her since she left?”

She nodded. “Not for a few days now, but yeah. She said she was heading out of town, along the highway that leads through the mountains.”

I shook my head. “That’s what your brother was saying. I wonder what would bring her that far out?”

Twilight shrugged. “I have absolutely no idea, but it’s Sunset. I’m sure she knows what she’s doing.”

I drew a deep breath and rubbed my forehead, groaning softly as I exhaled.

“Please, Golds?” Twilight pleaded quietly, leaning closer. “The person in that video, whoever they are, is dead. They have a family, just like them.” She pointed at Pinkie and Maud. “They’re probably worried sick. Someone they love is missing, and they need answers. It’s our job to—“

I raised my hand, stopping her. “OK-OK, fine. I’ll go. Tonight, after this thing is over.”

Twilight gave a grateful smile and then nodded. “Thank you, Golds. I know it’s not wh—”

Applejack stepped past us just then, interrupting the lavender girl. “I’mma go talk ta Pinkie Pie; you two comin’ er what?”

Twilight and I both studied the farm girl, noting how different she looked in a dress, especially with her hair so elegantly styled, rather than being squashed under that grimy old hat. Underneath all that dust, cigar smoke and profanity, Applejack really was a beautiful woman.

“Sure,” Twilight replied with an obligatory smile, and we followed the blonde to join the others.

*****

It was a few minutes past 9:00am when I pulled up to the harbour front in my truck, double-checking the app to verify that I was in the right spot. Twilight had relayed me the camera number so I could pinpoint its location by driving along the ledge until I saw my truck come into view on the screen—which is what just happened.

I hadn’t left home until 6:00am that morning, which was fine because I preferred to do this in the daylight so I could see under that murky water. This was also why I had a plastic sheet draped over the truck seats, because I knew I was going to get wet doing this.

It was actually not home that I left from at 6:00, but rather Applejack’s farm. After the funeral, we returned there to spend some time together and have a light dinner, and also because that was where Pinkie and Maud were staying.

Pinkie, being the sweetheart that she is, managed to cobble together a little festivity for Fluttershy’s birthday in the form of hijacking one of Granny Smith’s apple fritters and jamming a single candle into it.

Everyone joined in to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to her, but we quickly trailed off when we realised Sonata was drowning everyone out with… well… what sounded like actual drowning… of a cat.

She belted out the last few lines on her own, eyes closed, not noticing that everyone was staring at her, mouths agape. As soon as she finished and opened her eyes, however, she immediately turned a wicked shade of red when she realised everyone was watching.

The embarrassing silence that followed was eventually broken by Applejack, who said, “hold up… are ya sure ya ain’t still got yer magic? Cuz hearin that just now kinda made me wanna hit someone.”

After giving her friend a comforting hug, Pinkie, along the other ‘regulars’ retired to bed, and the rest of us stayed downstairs in the kitchen, wasting the night away in conversation until the time came for me to leave. After a kiss from each of my girlfriends, I hit the road to begin the three hour trip to the big city.

Which brings us to the present: me hopping out of my truck by the edge of the harbour on a Sunday morning. Looking down at my phone to use the camera angle as a guide, I approached the edge and looked down into the water. It had rained since the night in question, which had effectively erased any footprints and wheel tracks left in the sparse bits of dirt that covered the cracked, algae-ridden cement.

The view looking down to the water was no better. No marks from the cinder blocks hitting the breakwall on the way down, no scraps of cloth caught on anything sharp, nothing of interest to be seen at all. If it hadn’t been for the footage, there would have been no sign that a murder ever took place here.

Who were these people?

In all honesty, I really didn’t care. At all. There were plenty of other things to worry about.

I was interested in who killed the Pies, not whoever stiffed this poor schmuck. I left it to Sunset to figure that out specifically because I’d always disliked this kind of work, and now here I was, doing it anyway. And for someone I didn’t even know. Granted, I had considered the outside chance that this crime might have been perpetrated by the same people, and even though I knew the odds of that being the case were extremely outlandish —given that this crime scene was a three hour drive from the Pie house— that thought was really the only reason I was standing there, looking down into that heaving, dark green water. At the end of the day, Sunset’s journey had taken her great distances, so perhaps the idea wasn’t so far-fetched.

The deep blast of an air horn sounded in the distance, prompting me to bring my eyes up to look out across the water; a large vessel ambled by in the distant haze, loaded with shipping cans decked out in an array of colours, looking more like a stack of Lego bricks from where I stood.

After watching it for a moment, I sighed and looked back down to the water. As much as I didn’t want to go into those frigid depths, I had promised Twilight I’d check it out, plus I’d already made the long drive, so there was no point in stopping here. I knew what I had to do.

After a quick look around to make sure I was alone and then double-checking that I’d turned the camera off —just in case somebody happened to be watching— I put my phone in my coat pocket before taking it off and opening the passenger door of my truck to toss it inside. Then I grabbed the waterproof flashlight I’d brought along.

I approached the ledge once more, stopping to look down at the light as I turned it on one last time to be sure that it worked. Then, after drawing a deep breath, I stepped forward and dropped the ten or so feet before being hit by the harbour’s cold surface.

It was dark, grainy, and murky under that water. The current was strong. I couldn’t tell how deep it went. It was cold. The light didn’t travel far, so I reached back with one hand, searching for the wall to use as an anchor before the current had a chance to make me to lose my place.

My hand found the rough, slimy surface without much trouble. I held onto the metal rib to keep myself steady as I swept the light in a wide arc, away from the wall. I saw nothing of interest; though I couldn’t see very far, either. I aimed the light downward, feeling the grit of that filthy water begin to make my eyes grainy. I blinked a few times to clear them, but it was still difficult to see anything—including the bottom.

I needed to go deeper.

I shifted my grip on the rail and pulled myself farther down into those murky depths. It got dark fast, and the light penetrated less and less the deeper I got. Eventually, my feet hit the soft floor, its surface covered with seaweed, sand and rocks. Another sweep of the light revealed nothing.

After taking a moment to consider what to do, I decided to try going right. I made my way along, using the wall to keep me on course and at the bottom. I knew from the footage that they hadn’t thrown the victim very far; rather it was more of a straight drop, so the body must have been close.

I already knew what would happen when I found the body: it would be bloated beyond recognition after being submerged this long, and would likely have been nipped at by fish, meaning identification of this person would be difficult, unless he happened to have his wallet on him. If not, then it would have to be done via dental identification or a DNA test—not that any of that would have been my problem.

Just as I was thinking this, a shape emerged in the distance, roughly ten feet away. I paused for a moment to study it, noting its shape. I rubbed my eyes and blinked them a few more times to clear my vision, and after taking another look, I began to make my way toward it.

As I got closer, I could see the distinct shape and height of a person, wrapped in a shroud; below it was a length of chain, attached to a pair of cinder blocks on the floor, obscured by the surrounding plant life.

This was it; this was the victim in the video.

I left the wall to approach the corpse, shining the light on it to see if there were any openings in the fabric. None were obvious, so I decided to tear a hole so I could have a look.

I reached out to grab a handful of the loose fabric floating just under the chin, then I turned the light off and stuffed it under my belt. Next, I placed my other hand on the shoulder to hold the body still while I pulled.

As soon as I touched it, however, the body jerked and began thrashing around.

My heart leapt and I recoiled backwards, shocked into stupidity.

What the…!?

I gathered my thoughts as quick as I could and reached down to grab the chain with both hands, placing my foot between them and pushing with all my might. The link under my heel promptly snapped, freeing the thrashing body, which I wrapped my arm around and then brought back to the surface.

When I burst out of the water, I searched the wall for a way to climb out. There was a rusty, old ladder a short distance away; it didn’t look very stable, but it would have to do. Treading the water with one hand, I reached the ladder and pulled myself up and out of the water, reaching for the next rung after stepping up, holding the squirming bundle under my other arm.

At the top, I climbed over the ledge and laid the bundle down, then I grabbed two handfuls of material. I yanked outwards to tear the mucky, brown layers open, revealing a pile of tangled red and yellow hair, a pale, gray face, and a pair of turquoise eyes, full of terror.

My chest wound into a tight knot when I saw her. “SUNNY!?”

The second her eyes locked onto mine, her face contorted with panic and she began to thrash around. Her hands tore free of the wrap, bound together by handcuffs; a rush of anger went through me when I saw them, and I quickly grabbed her wrists and pulled them apart, snapping the chain. A sharp ting echoed off of the building and out across the water when Sunset’s hands were freed, and they began to flail about, grabbing at my shirt and then, unintentionally, the back of my neck.

When the inevitable yet unexpected rush of history forced itself upon her, she let go and arched her back, opening her mouth to let out what was meant to be a scream, but was instead a gush of filthy green water, spewing straight up from her mouth and then landing on her face, making her shut her eyes and grimace. She turned her head to the side, trying to shake it off.

The sight of her like this broke my heart, which raced along at full speed, driven by panic, fear, and rage.

How did this happen? Who did this to her?

“Jesus, Sunny…” I whispered as I placed my hand on her shoulder and turned her over so she was face down on the concrete, still flinging her arms around and squirming wildly. “Stop, Sunny; slow down!” I placed my hand between her shoulder blades, holding her steady as I leaned closer. “You’re full of water! I’m gonna try to squeeze it out. You’re gonna feel some pressure, OK?”

She didn’t seem to hear me. I didn’t know if it was because she was so flustered or if her ears were full of water. I bit my lip and paused, preparing myself for what I was about to do: something that would easily kill an ordinary person.

With a stiff jaw, I slipped my right hand beneath her, just under her bust, and with my left hand, shoved downward between her shoulder blades with all my might. A massive jet of cloudy water fired from her mouth and sprayed several feet, splattering the cracked concrete under my truck.

I released the pressure, but kept one hand on her back, watching the poor thing inhale deeply, her back rattling and gurgling as the air rushed in amongst the residual water and gunk that remained in her lungs.

It wasn’t going to come out that easily.

Distraught, Sunset turned onto her side, clenched herself into a ball, and attempted another scream. Again, there was no voice, only a stomach-churning gurgle that sounded from her throat, accompanied by a spattering of water droplets from her mouth.

Another rattly inhale and she rolled to her back again, grabbing at me with her hands. Fearing she would get another unwanted dose of my mind, I held her forearms and leaned close to her.

“Shh-shh… Sunny, don’t touch me. Just be still, OK? It’s gonna be alright. Take it easy.”

Her legs continued to squirm, her chest gurgled with each breath.

“I’m sorry,“ I said, pinning her arms to her chest. “Please try to calm down. You’re safe; I’ve got you.”

At last, she slowed, her movements reduced to random twitches and rapid, shallow breaths, her back vibrating as the air burbled through her chest. After lying relatively still for a moment, Sunset squeezed her eyes shut; a grimace found her lips, which then began to tremble as she sobbed in silence, tormented by her inability to speak.

I watched her, mouth covered. I didn’t know what to do. This was one of those moments when you are reminded that being invulnerable to damage cannot rid you of all types of torture.

It was an agonizing sight: her lying there with her hair a tangled, filthy mess, her skin gray after her blood had long since been depleted of oxygen. Unable to watch her cry any longer, I leaned down and put my cheek against hers, feeling the cold, wet clamminess of her skin against mine.

“Shhhh. Sunny… it’s OK; don’t be scared. I’m here.” I kissed her cheek, earning the taste of fish and polluted water on my lips. “I’m sorry…”

She quaked each time she sobbed, her lungs rattling as more air rushed in. I ran my fingers through her hair in a vain attempt to straighten it, hoping to clear it from her face.

“Come on, let’s get you outta here,” I said softly, cupping her cheek in my hand to get her to face me. “I’m gonna take you home, OK?”

I sat up again and ripped the cover open to expose her feet. Her ankles were cuffed as well, her boots removed so they would fit, leaving her barefoot.

“Son if a bitch,” I whispered as I grabbed the cuffs and snapped them to pieces. Then, after peeling the rest of the material away, I hooked one arm behind her knees and the other under her shoulders. “OK, babe. Let’s go,” I whispered, using the most comforting tone I could as I stood with her in my arms and then carried her to my truck.

Sunset pressed her cheek to my shoulder as I walked, her hands clutched together against her chest. She slipped into a vicious coughing fit after a few steps, prompting me to stop and watch her; slugs of water shot from her mouth, her body jerking violently in my arms.

Once she settled and rested her head on me again, I shook my head and continued to the passenger door.

Whoever did this is gonna pay…

*****

Two hours later, the door to Sunset Shimmer’s apartment burst open, and I stepped inside with the still-damp red-head in my arms. I swung the door shut with my heel and kicked my shoes off, then I carried her around the corner to the bathroom.

After using my foot to pull the shower curtain aside, I bent down and set her in the tub. Then I quickly left the bathroom to find the thermostat, which I cranked to the max.

I returned to the bathroom, shut the door and kneeled on the floor next to the tub. She was lying still, eyes closed. I leaned over and reached between her feet to plug the drain, after which I reached for the faucet to turn the hot water on.

Sunset’s eyes popped open the second she heard water running, and she sat up quickly, grabbing the sides of the tub while trying to shout ‘no,’ but her voice came out only as a raspy gurgle.

“Whoa, hey!” I placed my hands on her shoulders to hold her down.

She grabbed my wrists to pry herself from my grip, but in doing so touched my skin. She threw her head back and thrashed her feet, kicking water out of the tub and onto the floor.

“Sunny, stop!” I shouted, holding her in place.

Eyes closed, she shook her head and hissed from her throat. “Don’t want…“

“Shh! Don’t try to talk, OK?” I said, quietly this time. “Look, I know you probably don’t want to be wet anymore, but I’m using the hot water to raise your temperature so the water in your lungs will evaporate faster.”

She slowed her squirming and faced me, her chest rattling as she continued to pant.

“Please,” I said, just loud enough for her to hear me over the running water. I moved my hands from her shoulders to her cheeks, cupping their cold softness in my palms. “I don’t know what else to do, Sunny, just… please let me help you. Please.”

Sunset stared into my eyes, her irises the only part of her that still carried their true colour. After a raspy sigh, she allowed herself to relax and lay back against the tiles.

I placed my hand on her head and tried to smooth her hair out, to no avail. “Just rest for a bit; let yourself warm up. I know that water’s hot, but it won’t hurt you. K?”

She paused for a moment and then swallowed, followed by a nod. Staring down at herself, she noticed that as the water deepened, her filthy, tattered jeans were bleeding out their telltale filth, dark ribbons that wiggled and dissipated into the churning water. After watching it for a moment, she decided not to let the bath become too dirty, so she reached down to unbutton and unzip her jeans. Then she peeled them over her hips and down her legs, panties and all.

After handing me the ball of soggy clothes, Sunset sat forward and pulled her shirt over her head, handed it to me, then reached behind her back to unclip her bra, which then fell away, freeing her bust. She set it on top of the bundle in my hands and then laid back again, closing her eyes.

I took the wet clothes to throw them in the laundry bin before returning to the bathroom. Sunset was lying perfectly still, arms resting on the sides of the tub, her breasts slumped to the sides. I sat on the floor next to her, feeling the growing heat as the steaming-hot water rose around her skin, which had finally begun to regain its natural hue.

When the tub was full, I reached across and turned the faucet off, filling the room with silence, aside from the occasional drip that hit the water and echoed in our ears as if it was the loudest thing ever. Her breathing was noisy, her chest rattling softly as she lay there with her eyes closed, completely motionless.

I folded my arms and leaned on the tub with my shoulder, watching her. “Hm. You sound like a big old kitty-cat, purring like that.”

Her eyes opened and she turned slightly, staring blankly.

I gave her a playful smirk reached out with my fingers curved like claws, pawing gently at her shoulder. “Meow.”

After staring at me for another moment, Sunset rolled her eyes and closed them again.

Unsure if she was amused at all, I sighed and turned to face the other way. When I’d returned to the bathroom after disposing of her clothes, I had failed to close the door again, giving me a view of outside through the balcony doors. As I watched a blanket of gray clouds roll through the sky, I began to wonder what had happened during the red-head’s search, and how she ended up in the predicament she was in.

My thoughts were interrupted, however, when I felt something tap my shoulder. I turned to find Sunset looking directly at me.

After a short stare, followed by a blink, she raised a hand to place her index finger just below her right eye. She held it there for a moment, and then brought her hand down to lay it flat across her chest. Finally, keeping her eyes glued to me the entire time, she lifted her hand and pointed her index finger directly at me.

*Chapter 129: Literally Smells Fishy

Chapter 129

Hours had passed. It was mid-afternoon, and I was sitting on Sunset’s couch with the TV on, watching, but not absorbing the local news channel.

I had left Sunset alone in the bathroom following an unknown length of silence together, after which she decided to have a shower to wash away the stench of that filthy harbour.

It was a long shower.

Long enough for me to replay that gesture over and over again. Did she really mean it? Is that what she actually meant? Did I misinterpret it? Yeah, that must be it.

But what else could it have meant?

I sat in silence, scratching my stubble as I stared at the brand logo at the bottom of her TV when I heard the water finally stop, followed by the curtain being pulled aside. For the next minute or so, I heard nothing. Then came a bout of violent coughing, followed by the sound of spitting and then the flush of a toilet.

The next several minutes were filled with the sounds of a typical post-shower routine; the sink faucet running, the brushing of teeth, the soft crackle of a brush being drawn through severely knotted hair before it was eventually set on the vanity with a dull clunk.

My heart rate rose a few points as the anticipation of seeing that bathroom door open began to set in, and my eyes quickly developed a habit of darting to the left to see if it was still closed.

What was she going to do? How would she act? Would she acknowledge what she’d communicated?

My vigilance didn’t pay off, however; the door opened when I happened to be glancing out of the balcony window. My head snapped around when I heard the door click, and I found Sunset standing in the doorway, wrapped in a bathrobe with her dark, wet hair brushed back, leaving her face unobscured and quite vulnerable-looking—but at least that rich, amber complexion had returned.

We stared each other down for a moment. Finally, she blinked twice and looked down at the floor to take a few steps closer.

“Hey,” she said, her voice scratchy. She placed a hand on her chest and cleared her throat immediately upon hearing herself. “Sorry.”

“It’s OK,” I replied as I stared absentmindedly, waiting to see what she did next.

She clutched the robe with one hand, closing it over her chest, looking somewhat uncomfortable when she looked at me again. “Um… “ —she cleared her throat another time— “I, uh… washed my hair, like, three times and it still smells like that nasty water.”

I remained silent and nodded. It didn’t even sound like Sunset; she sounded like an old lady who’d smoked her entire life.

Her eyes darted around after receiving no reply, and she shifted her shoulders anxiously. “You probably smell, too.”

I looked at myself and then brought my nose down to sniff the shoulder of my shirt. “Hm… a little,” I replied, looking up at her again. “I wasn’t in there as long as you, though.”

She stared for a moment, those turquoise eyes sparkling in the light from outside. Then she cleared her throat and cast her gaze to the floor. “Mind if I sit with you?”

I glanced at the empty cushion next to me. “It’s your couch, Sunny,” I replied, looking up at her again.

Sunset forced a little smirk and approached to sit next to me.

For a brief moment, we both stared ahead in silence.

After trying several times to think of something to say, I found relief when Sunset drew a deep, raspy breath and then shifted closer to place her head on my shoulder.

This move surprised me a bit, but I welcomed it. The dampness in her hair quickly bled through my shirt, but that sensation was quickly dwarfed by the intense heat that radiated from her body, having been submerged in hot water for hours on end.

Not knowing what else to do, I carefully swung my arm over her head and wrapped her shoulders with it, pulling her close.

She sighed deeply, letting herself relax. Then she convulsed suddenly, bringing a hand to her mouth as she fired a row of loud coughs into her palm.

“Sorry,” she croaked softly, clearing her throat when it was over.

“It’s OK.”

We sat in silence for what felt like hours, which, in reality, was barely a minute. Then Sunset drew a breath and brought a hand up to place it on my chest, where she began to trace and pick at the wrinkles in my shirt.

After letting her do this for a bit, I drew a breath to say something, not noticing that she was doing the same.

“Uh…” “Um…”

We stopped. I looked down at her, and she looked up at me.

“Sorry, go ahead,” she said.

I shook my head. “No, you first.”

After staring for a moment, she brought her attention back to my shirt to resume playing with it. “Thank you… for getting me out of there.”

I gave her a squeeze. “No problem, Sunny. Sorry I didn’t come sooner; we had no idea you were down there until this morning.”

She nodded against my shoulder. “I figured that,” she replied. “I was totally freaking out down there. I knew you guys would have no clue where I was, or where to look. You probably thought I was still out looking for the suspect.”

I nodded. “Yeah, we did. We had no idea you were in trouble.”

She clutched a handful of my shirt and sighed. “I don’t know how you did it.”

I let my cheek rest on her head. “Well… you actually have Twi to thank for that; she’s the one who saw it on the camera—she just didn’t know it was you.”

Sunset shook her head. “I don’t mean that. I was talking about when you were trapped in that rubble… when the people destroyed your castle.”

I stared forward. “Oh.”

“Eighty years…” She shook her head. “I can’t even. I mean, I was only down there for…” —she lifted her head to look at me— “how long was I down there?”

“Just over a week.”

She paused, sighed, and put her head on my shoulder again. “Hm. I coulda swore it was longer. But… that was only a week. I don’t get how you did over eighty years like that: trapped, can’t see, not knowing if anyone will ever find you…”

“Like I said, there’s really no choice but to wait. It’s not very much fun.”

“Tsh… it sucks,” she added, letting her hand slide down my belly until it rested just above my belt.

“Yeah.” I sighed, feeling a bit of guilt over her experience as I watched her pick innocently at the hem of my shirt. “Sorry you had to go through that, Sunny. I kinda feel like I let you down.”

She stopped what she was doing. “What do you mean?”

“Like…” I paused to let my eyes wander the room. “I kinda made a promise not to let anything like that happen to you… and the others.” I shook my head. “Some job I’m doing. First, I let Flutters get captured, and now this.”

Sunset lifted her head to look at me. “It’s not your fault, Golds. It could have been a lot worse. I mean, it’s not like I was down there for eighty years.”

“I know, but... still.”

She lowered her head to let her cheek squash against my shoulder. “Trust me; I’m grateful that you found me. As much as it sucked being there for a week, it’s nothing compared to what it could have been.” She drew a breath and resumed playing with my shirt.

After watching her for a moment, I shifted my sights to the top of her head to study the dry strands of hair that’d begun to break away from the wet locks. “I uh… I’m sorry about putting you in the tub when we got back here, too. I’m sure the last thing you wanted was to be wet, but that was the only thing I could think of.”

“It’s OK,” she replied. “It seemed to work pretty good.” She tilted her head to look at me. “I know I usually joke around and give you a hard time, but… I could tell you were worried about me. I’m glad I have you to look after me. At the end of the day, after all the bad jokes and dick-ish things you do, you’re one of the biggest sweethearts I know.”

I gave a little smile and squeezed her again. “Well, I’m glad. And I’m happy that it worked—sort of. Your voice is still a bit… um… ‘horse’?” I raised a brow at her.

Sunset rolled her eyes and let her head drop.

“My jokes are pretty good.”

“Ugh… I knew I shouldn’t have said that.”

I chuckled quietly while she traced her fingertips over my belt buckle.

“You’re right though,” she continued. “I didn’t want to be anywhere near the water —especially that hot— but… when you told me why you were doing it, I was able to calm down… because I trust you. I knew you were doing your best to take care of me.” She paused for a moment, and then lifted her head to face me. “It doesn’t matter now anyway; I’m all dry now… mostly, so it’s all good,” she said softly. Her warm breath brushed my cheek, followed closely by a pair of soft lips caressing my jaw.

The tip of her nose grazing my cheek, along with a cool waft of air from her nostrils, sent a wave of goosebumps across my skin, especially when she left a light smear of saliva behind, which immediately began to cool as her lips traveled upward in search of my ear.

I closed my eyes, feeling her cool, wet hair against my neck. “You… should’ve just used a blow dryer and been done with it,” I said, distracted by the feel of teeth gently nipping at my earlobe.

“It’s not just that.” As her breath drifted into my ear, her hand slid past my belt and cupped itself over my crotch, causing me to tense up. “I’m still wet somewhere else.”

“Oh, wow…” I stopped when my chest fluttered uncontrollably, unable to think as she began to caress the rapidly stiffening manhood through my pants. “S-Sunny, you… are you serious?”

She released my earlobe and then flicked it with her tongue. Then she planted a soft kiss on my cheekbone. “Come on… you didn’t really think the magic would take a day off, did you?”

“I—well, apparently not, guess.” I faced her.

Sunset seized the opportunity and leaned in to kiss me with those unbelievably warm lips of hers. She broke away slowly, backing off just enough to gaze into my eyes. “It’s been happening ever since you put me in the truck. I need relief, Golds; are you gonna give it to me, or do I have to take it?”

I stared back at her for a moment, noting the faint smell of harbour water still on her breath. “You know… that would have been a lot hotter if you didn’t sound like Joan Rivers right now.”

Sunset paused and then narrowed her eyes. “Hm. Looks like I’m gonna have to take it.” Her fingers wrapped tightly around my length, and she leaned forward to nip the tip of my nose. Then she leapt onto my lap, sitting on my thighs.

“Jeez!” I exclaimed as her fingers frantically picked my belt open and then unzipped my pants, rising to her knees so she could slide them down my thighs. Freed, my erection flung upwards and slapped my abdomen as Sunset lurched forward, pressing her bust against my face through that soft, fluffy robe. “Just—HEY! Take it eas—“

“Shush!” she barked, gripping my shoulders tightly as she brought her hips forward to press that warm mound against my belly, her aching womanhood searching for the business-end of my erection. The quest ended shortly; under that long bathrobe, I felt my knob come into contact with something warm, soft and very slippery.

Sunset bit her lip and closed her eyes as she swung her hips, stroking me with her crease to spread the moisture around. Then she cocked her hips back and pressed downward, making my head slip to the back of her slit to get snagged in her entrance. Then, without hesitation, the red-head slid her knees outward and descended, impaling herself on me.

“Hooo boy, Sunny. That is… warm,” I said, placing my hands on her hips as I felt the fiery-hot texture of her interior swallow me up, its grip firm and exciting.

“Tell me about it,” she panted, reaching down to untie her belt and throw the robe open. Her swaying breasts were freed, nipples soft from the heat; she came forward and planted my face between them, reaching past me to hold onto the back of the couch as her hips began to gyrate, grinding her clit against my lap as her insides and my length lovingly massaged one another.

Her breasts were hot and supple, pressed firmly against my cheeks as she huffed on the top of my head, overwhelmed by intoxicating sensation as she rode me vigorously, like a wild animal, with zero inhibition.

“Ohhh ffffff… mmmm,” she moaned, her voice raspy, breath hot. “Fuck, I missed you.”

I was unable to respond smothered by her breasts; all I could do was feel her heat against me, rising alongside the steadily increasing pleasure of her lovemaking. I managed to sneak my hands inside the robe and slide them around her waist, feeling her hot skin beneath my palms as I made my way up to her breasts. I squeezed them from the outsides, pressing them together as I brought my head back to have a better look.

Her nipples were almost touching one another like this, inviting me to taste them—so I did. I reached forward and took one in my mouth; the bud was soft and supple, and her hot skin gave off the scent of fresh shower—along with the slightest undertone of fish-scented water, which was a little strange, but I could live with it. A quick lap around her areola with my tongue and a gentle suck on that nub made it answer by stiffening rapidly between my lips, and after several flicks of my tongue and a playful nibble, I released it with a quiet pop and moved to the other.

Before long, Sunset’s nipples both throbbed and tingled, her appreciation signaled by her chest rattling with each breath. Her hips churned incessantly, bathing us in a pool of bliss as her fluids smeared themselves against my lap, filling the room with the unmistakable squipping of unbridled passion.

Little time passed before she climaxed. It came fast and sudden, with a rush of warm fluid that soaked my lap, accompanied by the tight, pulsing grip of her interior and a husky moan as I squeezed her breasts together, sucking one nipple while the other poked my cheek.

Sunset pulled back suddenly and brought her mouth down to connect her lips to mine, making sure her hips never ended their sultry dance. Her tongue slipped in with a swiftness that caught me off guard; with it came her saliva, which quickly mixed with mine. She swirled around inside my mouth, licking everything she could reach.

She broke the kiss before long, but kept her parted lips against mine, panting into my mouth as her body continued to fuck, seemingly of its own accord.

Something was off, however. Something that that was calling my attention away from the soft, tight heat that stoked my manhood, something that I could not ignore. While I was thoroughly enjoying Sunset’s passion, her deep panting had stirred up the residue in her lungs, and her breath was beginning to smell like a swamp.

Not wanting to say anything, I turned my head to the side, hoping that she would kiss my cheek or nibble my ear. And the plan worked—for a short time. Before long, though, she leaned over in search of my lips. I turned the other way, passing her mouth so I could kiss her neck on the opposite side.

She giggled softly and let her head fall back, biting her lip as my hands left her breasts and slipped farther inside the robe to squeeze her backside.

“Mmmm… fuck, it’s so good,” she whispered, bringing her mouth down to land a surprise kiss on my lips, following with a fishy-smelling blast of air against my face.

Turned away, not realising I was grimacing.

Sunset’s eyes were closed, luckily, so she didn’t see it; she licked her lips and followed mine, trying to plant another kiss, but I turned the other way to avoid her. When she tried to follow and I evaded yet again, she finally realised something was amiss. Her hips came to a standstill and she looked down at me, brows furrowed, mouth open as she continued to pant softly.

“What’s wrong?”

I drew a breath and paused, avoiding eye contact. “Nothing.”

Sunset cocked her head. “What do you mean, ‘nothing?’ Something’s wrong. What is it?”

I stared off toward her bedroom door and chewed my lip, not wanting to say it.

“Golds,” she said, her scratchy voice still able carry that distinctive sternness.

Knowing I couldn’t avoid it, I let out a sigh and faced her slowly. “Your… breath. It smells like that nasty harbour water.”

She leaned back and sneered. “What?”

I cleared my throat. “You smell like one of those boats from ‘The Deadliest Catch.’”

Sunset stared for a moment, then she closed her eyes and shook her head, sighing. “You fucking guy,” she muttered as she placed her hands on my shoulders. “Why didn’t you just say something?”

“I didn’t wanna… you know, hurt your feelings.”

“PPPFFT! Someone threw my ass in the lake for a fucking week. Like I give a shit if someone says my breath stinks.” She stood. My erection slipped out and fell against my abdomen.

“Wait, you’re not mad?” I asked, watching her turn around as she slipped the robe off her shoulders, revealing that flawless, amber derrière of hers.

“No, I’m not,” she sighed. “You should have just told me.” She stepped backwards and straddled my thighs, bent forward —which exposed every lovely, delicious thing that lived between those cheeks and thighs— to reach between her legs, still holding onto the corner of the robe to use as insulation. She gripped my length and stood it upright, then she let herself drop. I watched those glistening lips separate as she descended; they came down against my head, stretching just enough to let it slip between to enter the hot, moist tunnel beyond.

The red-head let her weight do the work, taking me deeper until her backside came to rest on my lap, showcasing her long hair and toned back as her depths welcomed me back inside with a warm squeeze.

“Ahhhh… yes,” Sunset whispered, letting her head fall back as she allowed her interior to become accustomed to the new angle. “It’s so good.” She leaned forward and placed her hands on my knees —which were still covered by my pants— and lifted her backside from my lap before letting it drop with a slap, followed by a gasp after driving my mast deep into her loins once again.

I watched that ass hammer my lap, the rear-end of her crease wrapped around my shaft with that thin, delicate rim of pink skin gliding along my length while the tiny hole just above stared me down, surrounded by an aura of slightly darker skin. All of this was perfectly matched by the tantalizing, hot texture of her interior sliding down my length; it was enough to make my eyelids flutter, and it was tough keeping them open to watch her rise again for another stroke.

Sunset established a rhythm rather quickly, her derrière bouncing on my erection like a pogo stick. I watched those cheeks hit my lap, jiggling gleefully with each impact; she panted and moaned incessantly, letting her head fall forward as she endured the deep sensations being repeatedly speared into her.

It wasn’t long before she began to tighten, her depths trying to squeeze me out as her weight forced me in; over and over, each thrust laid the next stone in her path to climax until at last she reached it. Using her hands as leverage, she shoved backwards and drove herself into me as hard as she should, her depths pulsing tightly as her backside twitched and bucked against my abdomen.

A raspy howl filled the room as the orgasm ravaged every part of her body. Unexpectedly, however, she sat straight up before it was even finished and began to rock her hips, grinding her ass into my lap. Her gushing heat stroked my length vigorously, sending my pleasure up that steady incline to the finish. One of her hands found itself on her thigh to steady herself as she rode, and the other came up to grope her breast and pinch her nipple as she squeezed her eyes shut, forcing herself through the intensity of the orgasm, desperate to receive that hot filling.

I knew it wouldn’t be long, certainly not with the scenery I had: that long, fiery hair swinging behind that toned back, the narrowness of her waist transitioning into those shapely hips and that divine ass, the warm, slick layer of juice that lubricated our movements as it smeared around my lap. Feeling the pressure begin to build from deep down, I reached out to cup her cheeks with my palms, squeezing them, digging my fingertips into that firm flesh as she reciprocated in perfect rhythm, the same rhythm that slowly-but-surely drew the seed from deep inside me, coaxing it to the surface, ready for launch.

Sunset moaned loudly and threw her head back when I came, maintaining a gentle pace with her hips as she felt the barrage of hot spurts hit the deepest parts of her, matched by that long, stiff girth throbbing within her hot grip. My strong hands clutched her backside, holding tightly as that satisfying juice was pumped straight up into those hungry depths.

With that, Sunset Shimmer went limp and flopped backwards. She laid back against my chest, angled slightly to let her head rest on my shoulder so we could be next to each other. We were still for a moment, panting heavily as we savoured the hot, thick mess we’d created.

After a deep breath through pursed lips, I reached around her and placed my hands on her hips, running them up to her chest to cup her breasts.

With the back of one hand draped across her brow, Sunset shook her head. “Fuck. That was… That was exactly what I needed,” she huffed.

I looked over at her, watching her eyes when they came over to meet mine. “Yeah.” I swallowed. “Dammit, you could kill with that ass, Sunny.”

She smiled, reached over for a peck on my lips and then faced the ceiling, eyes closed.

I took the moment to absorb the situation: her deep breaths, her soft backside mashed into my lap, her shoulders pressed against my chest, her hair tickling my neck, her womanhood still wrapped around my length—which was keeping that thick flood trapped inside her. One of my hands left her breast to run down her stomach, past her navel until my fingertips gently raked over her smooth, moist mound before dropping into the crest of that soaked crease.

She jumped when I grazed her clit, but then relaxed again as I traced her folds with my fingertip, feeling exactly where they wrapped my manhood. Once or twice, I felt my finger graze my shaft as I followed those tender edges up to the point at the top, and then down the other side.

“It’s hard to tell where you end and I begin,” I said, glancing at her again.

A smile grew on her lips. “Mmm.” She opened her eyes and faced me. “You know… sometimes I feel like we belong like this. Like, all the time.”

This made my heart flutter, and my mind immediately went back to the gesture she made in the tub. I chewed my lip for a second or two, wondering if I should try to find out if that was how she truly felt.

“Sunny?”

“Mm?”

“Did you… I mean, what you said in the tub, did you mean it?” I shook my head quickly. “Er… like, not ‘said,’ I mean did. When you did that thi—“

“Yes,” she nodded, slightly apprehensive, but purposeful. “Yeah. I meant it.”

I stared into those turquoise eyes, motionless. My heart danced around in my chest. Was hers doing the same? Her eyes certainly were.

In the midst of all this elation, however, my thoughts suddenly went back to that little house in the woods, and the shy girl who lived within—not to mention a certain posh fashionista.

Despite this, my focus soon returned to the gleaming eyes right in front of me. “Um… Sunny? How is this gonna work? I live with Flutters… and I love her—and Rare.” I raised a hand and closed my eyes when I noticed her brow furrow. “Not that I don’t want… I mean, you and me… it’s just—”

Sunset interrupted me with a kiss. She pulled away slowly, keeping her eyes locked on mine after we’d opened them. “It’s OK,” she said quietly, letting her head rest on my shoulder again. “I don’t want you to do anything different; I like things the way they are. I like what we have, and I like that we’re not joined at the hip, that we still have our freedom—or at least I do. You have Rare and Flutters to deal with.”

I gave her a smirk. “You make that sound like a bad thing.”

She smiled. “It’s not. I know you love them; I do, too. And I’m happy that you have what you have with them, and I’m glad to have been a part of it,” She nuzzled her nose into my neck. “And I like what we have already, Golds. I don’t want it to change; it’s perfect the way it is.”

I turned to kiss her forehead. “If that’s what you want, then... alright. It’s kinda the same as before, except... now we know.”

Sunset sighed. “And… I want to say it, but…”

I paused. “It?”

“You know…” She pulled her head back to look at me again. “I wanna say it, but not with my voice like this. I want you to hear me say it with my voice.”

I wrapped my arms around her midsection and squeezed. “Fair enough.” After nuzzling her cheek with mine, I let out a sigh. “What made you finally decide that you… you know… felt this way?”

Sunset didn’t answer immediately. She thought on it for a moment, blinking her eyes and then finally licking her lip. “When I was under there… down in that cold water, in the dark, wrapped in that blanket, I was just… numb. Tired of thinking. Tired of not knowing what to do—tired of wondering how long it would be before I was found. Then I felt someone touch me.” She turned to face me. “I went crazy. I got flustered, worried that whoever was there might leave without me, which I know is nuts, but I kept picturing being stranded on an island, or in a desert, and there’s a rescue plane flying overhead… and no matter how much you wave at them, they don’t see you and end up flying away. But I knew I was being rescued when I felt the chain let go and I felt myself being held… and taken away.”

I watched her closely, listening to her perspective on what happened that morning.

“I knew I was out of the water when I felt… heavy. Like, unbelievably heavy; being underwater for so long, floating like that... you grow accustomed to it—more than you’d expect.”

“You were also pretty waterlogged.”

“Yeah.” Sunset looked down at herself, watching her right nipple point to the ceiling as she continued flatly. “I wondered if maybe it was you who was rescuing me… but I thought that was too good to be true, especially with the luck I’d been having. But then… when I felt myself lying on my back on the cement, and that cover was pulled open, I saw your face... and I knew.” She faced me again, eyes gleaming. “I knew I couldn’t deny it anymore. I can’t ignore how how you make me feel.” She smiled and bit her lip. ”Right then, your face was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen in my life, and I just knew. And I knew I wanted to tell you, but I couldn’t say it.”

I smiled at her. “I got your message in the tub. And there’s no rush, Sunny. Say it whenever you’re ready. I’ll wait a hundred years if I have to. It’ll be worth it.”

The red-head gave a quick smile, drew a breath and then stared at the ceiling, well aware that my manhood was still wedged deep in her nethers. After a long, relaxing exhale, she sat upright and began tidying her hair.

I watched intently as she combed her fingers through those red locks, my eyes travelling down her sculpted back, studying the curve of her waist and hips, to say nothing of that wonderful backside as it rested on my lap, my length projecting straight up into those tight, creamy depths.

“OK.” She sighed, draping her hands on her thighs before looking down to the floor to her right. She leaned down to pick the robe up by its sleeve, then placed it between her legs as she stood, using it as a towel to stop my load from dumping onto the floor or down her leg.

I watched Sunset’s hips sway ever so slightly as she made her way to the table, dragging the robe on the floor behind her. She plucked the stolen napkin dispenser from the table and began to clean herself while I watched; she leaned forward and supported herself on the table with one hand, letting me see a ball of fingers and napkin swirling around her crotch, plainly visible between the tops her thighs.

Glancing down at myself, I noticed my gradually softening length lying across my lap, glistening with the moisture from our lovemaking.

“Hey, Sunny? Toss me some napkins?”

She glanced at me for a moment. Then she pulled a bunch more napkins out for herself before tossing the dispenser to me. While I wiped myself off, she finished up and threw her soiled napkins in the garbage before returning to the table to pluck her robe from the floor, grumbling something about ‘more coming out.’

She headed to her bedroom next, bringing the robe with her. Once I was done cleaning up, I fastened my pants and got up to throw the garbage away before returning the dispenser to the table. Seated on the couch once again, I listened to the sound of Kleenexes being drawn, followed by drawers opening a moment later. Not long after that, Sunset emerged from her room, wearing a pair of black tights and a fuchsia T-shirt, brushing her hair.

“Lookin good,” I said as she tossed the brush through the doorway onto her bed and then headed back to the couch to sit on my right.

“I know,” she quipped, hugging my right arm as she leaned on my shoulder with her cheek.

The news was still on, but neither of us paid attention to it.

Instead, I looked over and studied the top of her head, counting the ribbons of yellow that highlighted that endless sea of red. Reminded that this was the first time in over a week that her hair was actually dry, I reached out to give her thigh an affectionate squeeze. “I’m sorry, Sunny.”

“For what?” she replied tonelessly.

“For what happened to you.”

“Eh, I told you it’s fine.”

I nodded. “I know, but… you were out all that time looking for the killer, then you ended up trapped at the bottom of the harbour, and now here we are: back at square one.” I let out a sigh.

Sunset lifted her head and looked at me, brow cocked. “Who says we’re at square one?”

I stared vacantly. “Wait… you found something?”

She gave me that signature smart-assed smirk. “If you consider ‘knowing who the killer is’ to be something, then yeah, I found something.”

My jaw dropped. “You know who the killer is!?”

She nodded. “Got a mind-read and everything. Confirmed it face-to-face.”

I sat up, slapping my hands on top of my head. “Holy shit! That’s fucking amazing! So you got a time and a place where we can pay him a visit?”

Her expression sank, and her eyes dropped to the side. “Well… no,” she cringed. “I wasn’t able to get that far. I was bombarded by… images. Images that I’m never gonna forget, if you catch my drift.”

My face went blank. “Oh… you mean…?”

“The murders.”

“You saw Pinks’ family...”

She nodded. “Yeah. First hand.”

I sighed, and then gave her knee a rub. “Sorry, Sunny.”

Sunset pursed her lips. “It’s OK. I’ve had other things to distract me lately.”

“So what happened?”

She drew a breath and looked at the floor. “Well… I had to break it off, and then… I kinda got flustered, and we got separated before I could go back for more info.”

I let my head fall back, rolling it side-to-side as I thought to myself. “Shit.”

“It’s OK,” she shrugged. “It’s not a total loss. I know the identity of the killer, which is huge. And everyone has friends, right?”

I smiled. “That’s right.”

“We’ll find out who they are, and they’ll tell me what we need to know—whether they know it or not.”

I nodded once and sat back, putting my arm around her. “Whenever you’re ready, Sunny, you and I’ll go find this motherfucker. It’s only a matter of time now.”

She put her head on my shoulder again. “Mm-hm.”

After sitting together for a moment and enjoying each other’s warmth, the TV droned along in the background. I turned my head to look down at her again. “So… where did you find him? Twilight said you were way out west of the city.”

“Well… I was, but that’s not where it happened. You have to understand, this person is part of something bigger, and they clearly didn’t like me snooping around—hence me ending up in the river.” She shook her head. “I dunno… I get the impression that I was on the verge of discovering something big. More than just a murderer. Simple criminals don’t have manpower like these guys had.”

I leaned closer. “They didn’t get a hold of your phone, did they? The last thing we need is a bunch of thugs having access to the app.”

She shook her head. “No. My phone got smashed—which, if it still worked, would probably have a message from the coffee shop telling me I’m fired for missing a whole week without giving any notice.”

My eyes dropped to the floor. “Oh... shit. Yeah, you’re probably not wrong on that one.” I chewed my lip for a moment, thinking. Then I looked over at her. “Um… when you say: where ‘it’ happened, what do you mean by that?”

She chewed her lip, brows furrowed. “Um…”

”The search continues. Investigators are still baffled by last week’s incident at the Wheels n’ Pipes Bar and Billiard Hall, located on Saddleton Road West, roughly sixty kilometers outside of the city.”

The headline stopped Sunset in her tracks, and her eyes immediately locked onto the TV.

Noticing this, I watched her for a few seconds before letting my eyes venture up to join hers. On the screen, above the banner that read ‘From Roadhouse To War Zone’ was an aerial shot of a bar, its parking lot littered with pickup trucks and rows of motorcycles. Three ambulances had been backed up to the building, their cherries spinning in concert with the pair of police cars that sat nearby. As the news helicopter circled the building, its side wall came into view, revealing a gaping hole. On the ground, just outside of the opening, laid what appeared to be an upside-down billiard table.

”A place well-known by biker gangs across the province; normally fairly quiet —as far as these types of establishments go— until just over a week ago, when a fight of ‘epic’ proportions broke out, resulting in one death, and dozens more injured. At the center of it all? A lone woman, described as tall, with red-hair and yellow highlights, wearing a short-cut black leather jacket. Her whereabouts are still unknown; according to eyewitnesses, she disappeared from the scene without a trace and hasn’t been seen since. The investigation into her disappearance is ongoing, and her motives are as yet unknown.”

Slack-jawed, I turned to face Sunset, very slowly.

She was still as a statue, staring at the TV, face blank, eyes wide.

“Sunny?”

She seemed to snap out of it and looked like she was about to face me, but then she stopped, purposely avoiding eye contact.

I leaned closer. “Sunny… what did you do?”

Her eyes darted back and forth, then she sprang from the couch. “You wanna go to the store? Let’s go to the store. I’m kinda hungry, aren’t you?”

I shook my head and sneered. “What? No. We don’t get hungry; you know that.”

She put a hand out. “You know what I mean. Like, I have a craving for something. You know… something crunchy… and salty. And cheesy!”

I stood and cocked my head, glaring sternly at her. “Sunny, what happened at that bar?”

“What bar?” she shrugged.

I pointed at the TV. “THE ONE ON THE—damn it, Sunny, I—“

“Look,” she cut in sharply, pressing her fingertips to her temples. “For an entire week, I’ve tasted nothing but that skanky harbour water, OK? Is it too much to ask for something to munch on? All I want... is to go to the store and get me some motherfucking... cheddar… BITS AND BITES!”

Jaw clenched in frustration, I stepped forward, grabbed her by the forearms and shook her. A tense look came over her as I held two fingers up in front of her face, saying, “Sunny, I’m gonna ask you two questions, and you’re gonna answer them. Got it?”

Knowing I wasn’t playing around, she nodded quickly.

“One: what happened at that bar? And two: how the fuck did you end up in the harbour?”

Chapter 130: Follow the Names

Chapter 130

Standing in the dingiest of hallways, Sunset reached out and knocked on the old wooden door, tagged with an oval-shaped faux gold plate that read: ‘3B.’

She sighed, bringing her hands to her sides to pat her fluffy, red sweater flat—her leather jacket again lost on a mission. No matter, it would undoubtedly have been cursed forever with the scent of fish if she’d still been wearing it while captured.

I stood next to her, staring at the door with a dubious frown. “You sure this is the guy?”

Sunset let her hands fall to the side. “Yeah,” she replied shortly. “I told you, that was him in a picture with the killer on his Instagram page.”

“And you’re sure that’s who it was?”

“I searched by name, didn’t I?” she huffed.

“Don’t get snippy, Sunny.”

A sigh was followed by silence as we listened to someone moving around inside the apartment.

“I cannot believe you,” I said.

“Ugh.” Sunset rolled her eyes. “Enough!”

I turned and jabbed a finger at her. “I specifically said in that text: ‘if you find the killer, do NOT engage! You figure out a time and place where we can all pay a visit.’”

She turned to me, lip curled. “I told you, I couldn’t help it! It wasn’t my—“

Click!

We went silent and faced the door, watching as whoever was on the other side unlocked it to see who was calling.

Finally, the door slowly opened until it was stopped by the security chain, which was pulled tight after only a few inches of the apartment was revealed. The mopey, gray face of an early thirties man peered out at us, his eyes lidded as he gave us the condescending look to end all condescending looks, his head topped by a stupid-looking brown bowl cut. He was slightly taller than us, but his build was gangly and frail, his cheap-looking striped sweater wrapped tightly around his frame.

“Mmmyes?” he said, his voice laced with insufferable smugness.

“Hi,” Sunset greeted. “Maybe you can helps us; we’re looking for someone by the name of Gage—who we know happens to be a friend of yours.”

“I know.”

Sunset stared at him for a moment. “Y— … Wait, you know that we know Gage is your friend, or you know that Gage is your friend?”

“Mmm… Before, I only knew the latter; but now I know both.”

After staring at him for a moment, Sunset turned to me with a cocked brow.

I returned the look, adding a clenched jaw. This guy was not my style.

Sighing, the red-head faced him again. “Alright, look: do you mind if we come in? We just have a few questions about your friend. It won’t take long.”

“As a matter of fact, I do mind.”

Sunset’s lips tightened. “Why?”

“Because you two are strangers. Letting you into my home would be a potentially unsafe course of action. Survival 101.”

Sunset sighed and shook her head.

“What do you want with Gage?” he inquired.

“It’s important,” she replied, licking the inside of her cheek. “We have a little… bone to pick with—”

“You know…” he cut in, “an answer like that is not going to help your case much. I am now even more reluctant to let you in after you’ve uttered such threatening language.”

After a deep breath, Sunset hardened her stare and leaned closer. “Listen, you’d better let us in right now, or your name’s gonna be Mud.”

He raised a brow. “Technically? It already is. So your threat means nothing.”

I’d had enough by then.

“Alright, that’s it,” I grumbled as I wound up and drove my fist through the door. With my arm through the hole, I grabbed a handful of sweater and pulled, slamming his head against the other side of the door. A ragged squawk sounded from him as I let go, after which Sunset and I heard a muffled thump inside the apartment.

I placed my hand on the door and pushed it open, snapping the chain and stepping inside. Before following me in, Sunset took a moment to watch me move ahead, eyes wide.

“Hot,” she muttered aloud, before entering the suite and closing the door behind her.

The smug little man looked up at me as I approached. Rubbing his brow —which already sported a growing, purple welt— and with hardly any expression, he pointed past me to the entrance. “You’re going to have to repair that door; such a lovely grain of dark mahogany should never, ever be treated so poorly.”

“Yeah, sure, I can fix that,” I said as I reached down, grabbed his shoulder with my left hand and hoisted him into the air. “But who’s gonna fix you?”

His eyes finally widened, staring back at me as he dangled helplessly from my grip.

Sunset, in the meantime, was making a circle around the apartment, scanning for anything of interest as she wrung her hands together. Then she faced us. “So… are you willing to answer some questions now?”

He turned to face her. “That would depend on the question.”

“You know,” Sunset said as she approached him. “We’re aware that you’ve been an accomplice of Gage’s for some time. That means you can be implicated in any wrongdoing that may have been committed; you know that, right?”

He stuck his nose up. “I know nothing of any wrongdoing. Gage is a fine person.”

Sunset, feigning anger, scrunched her nose and reached out to cup her hand over his chin. “Listen! You’re gonna tell us what we wanna know, got it!?”

“Mmm,” he mumbled back, unable to open his mouth.

I watched Sunset’s eyes closely, wondering what she was learning from him.

After a few seconds had passed, she released him suddenly. “Forget it,” she huffed. “This loser isn’t gonna talk. I don’t think he knows anything anyway.”

The skinny man’s brow furrowed at this, clearly confused by her sudden yielding.

Without a second thought, Sunset glanced at me. “Put him down. Let’s go,” she ordered before turning and marching toward the door.

I looked over at him, only to find a smug look on his face.

“You heard her. Put me down, thug.”

I shrugged. “OK.”

I raised my arm suddenly, thrusting him to the ceiling where he hit head-first, leaving a cranium-shaped divot in the plaster. He fell and landed at my feet in an unconscious heap, his hair sprinkled with bits of ceiling while a cloud of dust drifted down from above.

Hearing the commotion, Sunset spun around to find me standing there with the unconscious man on the floor next to me. She looked up at the hole above us, and then back at me, eyes narrowed. “What happened?”

I looked down at the heap of bony limbs, then at the red-head. “He fell.”

She folded her arms and gave me a scowl.

I let my head droop, putting my hands in my pockets. “OK, I threw him at the ceiling,” I admitted, scuffing my foot on the carpet. “And I called him a dickhead.”

Clicking her tongue, Sunset stepped aside and pointed to the door. “Go. Now. And shame on you, you bad boy.”

I shuffled past her, trying not to smile. As I did, she swung her other arm down behind me and slapped my ass, squeezing it. She leaned in close next, whispering, “you’re such a cutie.”

*****

“OK, ladies,” I announced, bringing my hands together to rub them firmly. “That’s the plan. Any questions? Everybody understand?”

The girls were gathered in the kitchen of the Apple farmhouse, seated around the table. Sunset and I were standing at the counter, reporting our findings.

Rainbow Dash raised her hand. “I have a question.”

I gave her the nod to go ahead.

“What am I doing again?”

I pointed at her, brows raised. “Nothing. You’re not going.”

“GAH!” She brought her heel back to kick the leg of her chair. “Why the hell not!?”

“Because you’re not ready,” I replied, to which she folded her arms and huffed.

“This is bullshit,” she complained. “I can fight just as good as the rest of you; I took martial arts all through grade school!”

I shook my head. “It’s not just about fighting, Dashie. You need to work on your teamwork. You seem to think you’re a one-man-army, and that’s not how wars are won. For a unit to be infallible, all of its members have to be on the same page; everyone has to be in agreement on the mission, and your reaction just now tells me that you’re not there yet.”

Applejack was nodding in agreement. “He’s right, sugarcube,” she said. “Yer still impulsive as hay.”

Dash rolled her eyes. “Shut-up.”

I put my hands up to stifle the fight that was about to brew. “Look, you just need more time, OK? We need you to learn some patience, how to co-operate with others, but most of all, you need to learn some stealth. Just cuz you can’t be killed doesn’t mean others can’t; you can’t just bust in, guns-a-blazin’ every time.”

Rainbow Dash sighed and slouched down in her chair. “This sucks,” she pouted, prompting Fluttershy to reach over and rub her shoulder.

AJ, unable to resist the temptation to tease her friend, tipped her hat back and chuckled. “Well, maybe if ya wanted ta be on Golds’ good side, ya shoulda got his rocks off ta get turnt like the rest a’ us.”

Sunset snorted and rubbed her brow.

“Oh, fuck you!” Dash fired back.

“Well it’s true! Besides, I don’t mind sayin, ya missed out on some dang good action,” Applejack continued, nodding my way. “That’s one hell of a pecker standin over there, ain’t that right?”

“OK...” I rubbed my forehead, feeling my cheeks heat up.

“Ugh!” Dash’s head fell back. “D’you think you guys could stop rubbing it in? Don’t you think it’s kind of unfair? Like, how you all got to have great sex and I got cancer?”

Rarity interjected. “Well… not to sound cold, but that was your choice, darling.”

“Yeah! Ya could jumped his bone whenever ya wanted!” AJ added.

Dash glared angrily at Applejack with her mouth open like she was going to rebut, but she ended up just folding her arms and turning away, prompting Fluttershy to pat her shoulder again.

“Oh, Dashie, if it bothers you that much, you can have a freebie with him whenever you want,” she offered.

Grimacing, Dash glanced at Fluttershy and then me. She stared tentatively for a moment, then she shook her head and turned away. “Nah, I… I don’t think so.”

AJ gasped and shook a finger at Rainbow Dash. “She was thinkin ‘bout it!”

“OK!” I raised a hand to stop them. “Let’s leave Dashie alone; she had her reasons for doing what she did, OK? Let’s move on.” I brought my eyes back to Dash. “Look, it’s not that you’re not doing well with your training, Dashie —cuz you’re doing great— but it’s just too soon. You’re not ready for a real mission yet.”

I gestured to Applejack, who, again, was nodding in agreement.

“Even AJ here; she’s been training for months now, and she’s just gonna have a minimal role in this job. She’s not expected to see any live combat—unless things happen to go south on us.”

AJ sat back and raised her hands. “And I’m OK with that. No need ta jump straight inta the big stuff.”

I put my hands on my hips and nodded. Then I looked at Twilight. “Twi has been coming along very nicely as well, and even she has a job that shouldn’t see much action—although it’s still essential to the mission. I’ve selected her for that role because of her technical expertise; without her, the plan doesn’t work.”

Twilight’s shoulders tensed. “Heh heh heh… ehh, no pressure!” she chuckled nervously while playing with her hair.

I gave her a smile. “You’ll do fine, Twi. I’ll be in verbal contact with you the whole time, so don’t worry. I’ll walk you through it.”

She nodded and sighed. “I know. It’s just…” She lowered her head to rub her temple. “I dunno.”

Rarity reached across the table to pat the lavender girl’s arm. “Not to worry, darling. I know you’ll do fine.”

I pointed at the fashionista. “Rare’s right. Your job is simple: sneak into the server room and install the transmitter into the building’s surveillance system. Then we’ll have eyes on the entire place, and more importantly, the ability to manipulate the feed to the security station. They won’t even know we’re there.”

Applejack raised a finger, brows furrowed. “One thing I don’t get: why the hotel again?”

Sunset and I glanced at each other.

“Well, as you know, our suspect is going to be at a banquet,” I replied, facing the group again.

“What sort of banquet is this?” Rarity asked dubiously. “What sort of murderer frequents hotel banquets like some kind of celebrity?”

I looked over at Sunset, scratching my chin with my thumb.

She looked back at me, then down at the floor, sighing. “OK. Here’s the scoop: our suspect, who we now know as ‘Gage,’ is due to attend a formal meeting at the Bronze Hoof Hotel, located in the north end of the big city; lots of big businesses up there, lots of rich people…” Sunset brought her eyes up to meet the group. “And lots of crime… and corruption.”

Twilight rubbed her chin. “I know the area. It feels well-off, but it lacks that certain air of… basic security. It’s an oddly frightening place.” She looked at Sunset. “I take it this ‘banquet’ is not quite on the level, and that some of its attendees are not what we would call model citizens?”

Sunset folded her arms and sighed. “You could say that.”

“And what exactly do we know about this… Gage?” Rarity asked with a sneer.

“Just the main stuff,” Sunset replied. “Abusive parents—both dead; high school dropout, in and out of juvie until joining the military, dishonorably discharged a few years in, now frequently unemployed with a tendency to commit crime—especially now.”

“Psh… you don’t say?” Dash rolled her eyes. “Is that what they call murdering an innocent family now? Having a tendency to commit crime?”

Sunset scratched her ear. “That’s not really what I was talking about.”

Dash raised a brow while Rarity leaned on the table with her elbows.

“I beg your pardon, darling; this may seem like an obvious question, but… why? Why target a family like the Pies? What was to be gained?”

Sunset drew a breath and reached behind her head to scratch between her shoulder blades, looking at me somewhat uneasily.

I gave her a nod. The girls needed to hear it.

Exhaling, Sunset faced the table again. “Are you sure you wanna hear this, Pinkie?”

All eyes went to the party girl, who sat at the center of the table, her still-flat hair covering all but the center of her forehead, nose and mouth. Her head rose slightly, indicating that she was looking up in response, peering through that flimsy, pink curtain.

“There are some things I’m about to say that… you may not like,” Sunset explained.

Pinkie didn’t move, prompting Rarity to lean closer.

“Darling… we don’t want you to be upset any more that you need—“

“It’s OK,” Pinkie replied flatly, barely loud enough to stop Rarity from speaking. “I wanna hear it.”

After watching her for a moment, Rarity nodded hesitantly. “Very well,” she said, facing Sunset. “Please, darling. Continue.”

Sunset laced her fingers together and paced a small circle in front of me, thinking about where to start. “Um… OK well, long story short, Gage has recently decided to join a drug ring.”

The girls glanced at each other, brows creased.

“A drug ring?” Applejack sneered. “What does that have ta do with the Pies?”

“Well, nothing really, except…” Sunset began, but trailed off.

“Exceeeeeept…” Rarity said as she waved her hand in a circle, coaxing the red-head along.

Sunset rubbed her forehead and sighed. “Look, you guys have to understand: this isn’t some little gang. This is a big organization. How big? I don’t really know, and I don’t know who is at the top of it all, but what I do know is that it basically has a monopoly over this part of the country. BC and Alberta are both major playing zones for this group; if you’ve ever bought drugs in this area, chances are you got it from them.” She gave her head a half-shake, looking down at the floor. “And if you didn’t, then whoever you did buy them from is gonna be tough to find the next time around, if you catch my drift.”

Rarity sat back and sighed. “Sounds serious. Tell me, darling, have you contacted our friends at the CIA about this? It is possible they may know more about it than we do—like who is at the top of it all.”

Sunset shook her head. “I’ve already been in contact with Special Agent Shadow. She said that’s not really CIA jurisdiction; the DEA handles that kind of thing. She said she could contact someone over there about it, but it’ll take time, and she doubts they’ll know much. Most of their time is spent on the southern border—not too many ‘El Chapos’ up here in Canada, if you know what I mean.”

Nonplussed, Applejack closed her eyes, hand raised. “Alright, so… again, what does all this have ta do with the Pies?”

Sunset paused to study the farm girl, squeezing her fists together in front of her chest. Then her eyes went to the party-girl. “Uhh, well…” She paused to chew her lip. “When Golds and I had a look around the house the day after the murders, I remember noticing the smell of smoke. I followed it to the back of the property, and I found the remnants of a fire at the edge of the farmer’s field. I didn’t think much of it at the time —basically me and Golds just chalked it up to the farmer burning some brush— but now…”

Sunset kept her eyes on Pinkie, who had yet to move.

“Pinkie…” she continued, “is there anything significant about that spot? Was there something back there that you’d like to tell us about?”

All eyes fell on Pinkie. We watched silently as she brought a finger up to sweep her hair back and hook it behind her ear, revealing one half of her pudgy, make-up free face.

“Back by the ditch,” she said softly, to which Sunset nodded. She then looked down at the table. “Marble was growing back there.”

All were silent.

“Growing what?” Dash asked, brows furrowed.

“Whaddaya think, Dash!?” Applejack shouted. “Weed!”

“What, in the middle of winter?” Dash sneered, facing Pinkie. “How does that even work?”

“They don’t really produce in the winter; she keeps them under little boxes with glass tops to keep the frost off of them so they can survive—like little greenhouses,” Pinkie explained quietly.

“Well, they didn’t survive,” Sunset added, folding her arms. “They were destroyed by the fire—on the same night the family was murdered. And now we know the killer is involved in a drug ring. Coincidence?”

Applejack turned in her chair to rest an arm on the table, index finger raised. “Hold up, you mean ta tell me that they did this ta the Pies cuz Marble was growin her own dope?”

Sunset shook her head. “Not quite; there’s more to it than that,” she replied, before looking at Pinkie and hesitating. “This… organisation —if you could call it that— learned of some ‘unsanctioned’ marijuana at a party in Canterlot a while back... from a member that attended said party. Can anyone guess who that member was?”

Twilight sighed. “I’m gonna go out on a limb and say it was Gage.”

Sunset nodded. “And, as usual, Twi, you are right,” she replied, prompting the others to glance around at one another. “And Canterlot is, of course, deep inside their territory, so they took exception to this and went after the source. Eventually, they tracked it to the Pie house and the little grow-op out back.”

Everyone at the table turned to Pinkie, whose face had completely drained of its colour.

Knowing the party-girl had connected the dots to a horrifying truth, Rarity reached out to place her hand on her friend’s forearm. “Oh, darling… n—“

“I remember that party,” Pinkie said, her voice cracking. “The guy I threw it for said he was looking for some weed, and I offered to supply some of Marble’s and just include it into the cost for the whole thing…” She looked up at Sunset, covering her mouth as her bottom lip began to tremble.

“Now, Pinkie—“ Sunset began, raising her hands when she saw her friends eyes fill with moisture.

“Is my family dead because of me?” Pinkie sobbed, moving her hand to speak.

Sunset raised an index finger. “No.”

“B-but you just said—“

“I know,” Sunset countered, standing firm. “But that didn’t give them reason to do what they did. You didn’t do this, Pinkie; it was them. OK?”

“Well, if anything, it was Marble’s fault,” Dash said, slinging her arm over the back of her chair to face the others.

“DASH!” AJ scolded.

“Sunset’s right, sweetheart,” Rarity agreed, wrapping Pinkie’s shoulders with her arm to give her a squeeze. “You mustn’t bear the responsibility for this.”

Applejack shook her head. “I can’t… I mean, who in the hell goes around killin folks over a little bit a’ doggone weed?”

Sunset faced AJ and sighed. “Like I said, they have the monopoly around here, and there’s a reason for that.”

Dash shook her head, sneering. “So… what are these guys, like Tartarus’ Angels or something?”

I shook my head. “No. The Angels at least have rules; a code... that they follow. They have honour. These people…” —I shook my head— “these people are ruthless. The idea that they’d be willing to destroy an innocent family just to avoid what they perceive as ‘competition’ is beyond chaotic; it’s utterly fucking tribal.”

Sunset nodded. “Exactly. It’s insane. But what they don’t realise is that they’ve made a fatal mistake by fucking with us, and now their days are numbered—especially Gage’s.”

Rarity slapped the table, startling Pinkie, whose eyes were red, her cheeks wet. “Hear! Live by the sword, die by the sword—quite literally, if I can help it!”

Applejack waved Rarity down. “Alright, alright, don’t get all wound up just yet.“ She turned back to Sunset. “So what’s the deal with this hotel hootenanny?”

“Believe it or not, they actually hold these ‘business meetings’ on a semi-regular basis,” Sunset explained. “They talk about sales figures, client and territory growth, achievements, things like that, like it’s a fucking legit business. And our friend Gage is going to be there, accepting some nonsensical recognition of a job well done; new recruits are generally sent on jobs like this to test their ‘commitment,’ how far they’re willing to go to serve the company.”

Twilight scowled. “So… what happened to Pinkie’s family was just a… test?”

The red-head pursed her lips and nodded. “In a way, yeah.”

“That is completely disgusting,” the lavender girl chided.

“Yeah, well,” I interjected, “tomorrow night, you’re gonna tap into their security system so the others can get in, and we’re gonna crash their little party in a big way.”

“OHHH!” Rainbow Dash pulled her hair and paddled her feet against the floor in frustration. “This is gonna be so awesome! I so wish I was going!”

Fluttershy patted Dash’s shoulder. “It’s OK, Dashie. You can hang out with me instead.”

“Ugh!” Dash glared at the shy girl. “I can’t believe you’re not going even though you totally could!”

Fluttershy recoiled slightly. “I… I don’t want to. I’ve been involved in enough violence. Besides, they don’t need me. They’ll be fine on their own, especially if Rare’s going.”

The rainbow-haired girl huffed. “Oh my god, Flutters.” She shook her head hopelessly. “Fine. We can hang out at your place, I guess.”

Sunset pointed at them. “Sonata, too. You guys have to make sure she doesn’t know about any of this.”

Dash nodded, but then looked at Sunset again. “Hey, where is she, anyway?”

“I sent her into town to get some groceries,” I replied. “Can’t have her here, being part of this conversation. She doesn’t know about the immortality or the suits, and we’d rather keep it that way.”

Dash scratched her head. “Ah. Fair enough.”

“Alright then,” Sunset concluded after a short pause. “You guys know what’s happening then?”

The girls nodded, except Pinkie, who was still sobbing quietly.

“Good. I’m gonna rent the van tomorrow morning, and we’ll all meet at my place at seven. Sound good?”

“Yep,” AJ said as she stood up. The others nodded and poised themselves to disperse.

I raised a hand to stop them once more. “Hold on, ladies,” I said, prompting them to freeze. “Sit,” I said to Applejack, pointing at her chair. After giving a befuddled look, she sat once again while I swung my finger over to Sunset. “You have to tell them about the bar.”

“Ugh!” Sunset rolled her eyes and let her head fall back. “I don’t… Don’t make me do this, Golds.”

“It’s important,” I said as I made my way to the table to find a seat of my own. “Your friends deserve to know what happened.”

Running her tongue along the inside of her lip, Sunset brought her eyes down to find a group of inquisitive faces staring back at her.

Rarity raised a brow and cocked her head. “What bar? What is he talking about?”

Sunset sighed. “Well... I suppose you guys should probably know what happened while I was away.”

Chapter 131: What Happened at the Wheels N' Pipes Bar and Billiard Hall?

Chapter 131

A typical day at the Wheels n’ Pipes Bar and Billiard Hall—Friday, February the 10th, to be exact. It was late afternoon, and many of the establishment’s regulars had poured in after finishing another long work week, many of them journeymen and bikers who’d left their motorcycles or work trucks parked outside, free of obligation as most of them had no one waiting at home with a hot meal on the table. No, it was time to unwind with some loud, profane conversation and a basket of fries and wings, washed down by pint after pint of cold, mind-numbing beer.

It was always a rowdy time on weekends, and this one was no exception—especially with the newcomer of the day: a tall, sexy woman, wearing a well-worn leather jacket and sporting a head of wavy, fiery-red hair.

None of the regulars had ever seen her before, but she certainly did make an impression, and had quickly become the center of attention after engaging in a drinking game with one of the veteran heavyweights—who she was in the process of drinking under the table like a fool.

The match had become such a spectacle, in fact, that the majority of the bar had gathered around to watch, pounding the small, square table that the pair were seated at as they cheered their champion on, despite the fact that he was obviously fighting the most miserable of uphill battles. The few people not watching were the two bartenders, busy with their work behind the bar, that one old plumber with the white moustache who came every night and sat alone, staring out the window with a half-empty mug before him, a small group of truck mechanics who were facing-off against some bikers at a game of pool, and lastly, a man and a woman, sitting quietly at a table in the back, near the washrooms.

The red-headed girl sat across from her opponent, arms crossed with a smirk on her lips as she watched the overweight drunkard slide his hand towards the nearest shot glass that wasn’t empty. As his sausage-like fingers fumbled with it, a half-cocked grin appeared on his lips, his droopy eyes fixed on her as he lifted the tiny glass to his lips, paused, and then sucked it back… slowly.

A roar of cheers followed countless fists into the air as he set the glass upside down on the table, signalling a successful turn.

The red-head pursed her lips and nodded, looking only mildly impressed. Despite the fact that everyone there was cheering for the big man, many of the bar’s patrons had taken a drunken shine to this young vixen; she was very beautiful after all, with big, turquoise eyes, a seductive smile and a body that never quit. Her charm was alluring as well, flirtatious enough to draw one in, yet she played hard-to-get with the best of them, and seemed to take joy in teasing every man there with a well-placed smile or an inviting wink.

And she knew exactly what she was doing. She knew precisely what all of them had in mind for her, should any of them be lucky enough to capture her interest. And why wouldn’t they have these thoughts? She was sending out all the signals: vapid giggles, lip biting smirks; and let’s not forget how touchy-feely she was. Every chance she got, it seemed like she was touching someone’s hand or grazing a stubbly cheek with her finger…

Ready for her turn, she drew a quick breath after waiting to see if her opponent would keel over. She reached for the next shot glass and, without hesitation, threw her head back and downed it with a single gulp.

The crowd roared as she plopped the glass down on the table. She re-folded her arms and sat back, listening to the gang begin to chant the name of their Champion Chugger, their Prince of Alcohol Poisoning, their Lord of Liver Damage.

“Come on, Dozer, you can do it buddy!” a denim-vested man shouted, patting his shoulder and nearly causing him to topple over. Barely conscious, he sat with a glazed stare at the smug red-head as the stomping of surrounding feet grew in both volume and speed, keeping time with the chanting of his name.

“Do-ZER! Do-ZER! Do-ZER! Do-ZER!”

After a series of heavy-looking blinks, his reddened eyes dropped to search the table for the next shot. He found it with reasonable speed, considering his condition, and with a deep breath, reached, or more accurately, dragged his hand across the table to retrieve the next round.

What appeared to be concentration of epic proportions, however, turned out to be a few too many brain cells being washed away in the smooth, brown undertow of Lake Daniels, and poor Dozer promptly collapsed on the table. He then slid off the side to the floor, surrounded by the clattering and bouncing of empty shot glasses.

Stunned, the burly, denim and leather laden crowd brought their eyes from the face-down Caterpillar to the red-head, who, after casual glance around, reached for Dozer’s glass and quickly dumped its contents down her throat. Then she set the glass down and stood.

“The trick is bread, boys. Lots of bread,” she announced as she tousled her hair and then adjusted her jacket.

“Take ‘er easy there, missy,” a fat biker with a long gray beard cautioned, placing a hand on her shoulder. “You just put back enough booze to kill a horse; don’t wanna see you fallin over.”

She cocked a brow. “What do you know about killing horses?” she replied with a smirk.

“Nothin, nothin; it’s just… I never seen anyone put old Dozer under the table like that before.”

“Heh heh, yeah!” a raspy voice said from somewhere behind her. “So much for his undefeated streak!”

After a glance over her shoulder, the red-head looked again at the bearded man, raising her hand. “Well, high-five to that.”

The man looked surprised for a moment, but then he took his hand from her shoulder and swung it to connect it with hers.

She caught his hand and held it for a moment, smirking at him as he shook his head incredulously.

“I don’t know who you are, lady, but damn, that had to be the craziest shit I ever seen,” he chuckled, glancing to his right as a few of the other patrons passed by; with the game finished, the crowd had begun to disperse.

“Yeah, well…” she replied modestly, maintaining a grip on his hand as she looked to her left to feign interest in what was going on around them.

Lives with his mother; pees sitting down; yyyyyeah… definitely not the guy. She released his hand and gave his shoulder a firm pat. “Well hey, I’m glad you enjoyed the show,” she chuckled, glancing around for her next subject.

He leaned over to follow her gaze. “You sure you’ll be OK, miss? In all seriousness, I really don’t know how you’re even standing right now.”

She brought her attention back to him, looking slightly galled by his concern. “Huh? Nah, I’m good. Don’t worry about it.”

“Pffft! OK then,” he said, cocking his head, hands raised in surrender. “That may be the case right now, but I get the feeling someone’s gonna have a rough morning.”

The red-head arched a brow. “Now, that I can guarantee—IF I find the right man,” she said, cocking her hips to one side as she gave him a suggestive wink.

Speechless, he stared back, his cheeks glowing overtop of that long beard.

This, of course, was a double-entendre on Sunset Shimmer’s part—one that only she would understand.

Her search for the Pies’ killer, after starting at a hunting and ammunition shop on the southern outskirts of the big city, put her on the trail of a single buyer of several boxes of rounds for a Manestetter 391. As it turned out, the buyer was not the killer, unfortunately, but rather an ‘errand boy’ of sorts, despite being of retirement age. No matter, he was glad to relay plenty of information along to Sunset—without realising it, of course.

That was two days ago, and now, Sunset knew she was zeroing in on her goal. She could feel it.

She would have him by sundown. That was the promise of the day, her self-affirmation; someone in this bar knew the whereabouts of her target and was going to lead her to him, whether they liked it or not.

First, however, she had to shake this big guy. His mind was devoid of useful information, and it was time to move on.

He was still stammering after hearing her remark, trying to find a response when she gave his arm a gentle slap.

“Hey, you’re right though: I am starting to feel the effects of all that booze,” she said, bringing her knees together. “Think I need to go visit the little girl’s room.” She glanced past him, spying the washrooms, which sat at the rear of the main room, situated to the left of the bar itself. “Ah, there. If you’ll excuse me.”

He chuckled and stepped aside to let her pass, stuttering stupidly as he tried to think of something clever. “Heh, you… uh… well, I’m not really surprised after all those shots you put back!”

Sunset looked back at him as she weaved between the tables, dodging chairs and burly bodies along the way. “Heh. What else did you expect?” she replied with a smile.

While Sunset was saying this, a man’s voice sounded from somewhere ahead of her.

“Where are you going?”

A woman’s voice replied. “I’ll be right back! Jeez! I’m just going to the ca—“

The voice was alarmingly close, making Sunset face forward again when she realised she wasn’t watching where she was going. It was too late, however; her momentum was opposed by the young purple-haired woman who’d been sitting in the corner with her male acquaintance. She was looking back at him to answer while she walked, and so her head ended up colliding with Sunset’s rather forcefully.

The two women stumbled backward, grunting loudly as the man watched from the table with an annoyed scowl. A few chuckles came from the crowd, during which the pair took a moment to steady themselves.

“Sorry about that, I guess I wasn’t looking where I was going,” Sunset said quickly as she approached the girl, who was pressing her palm to the side of her head, grimacing.

She hissed through her teeth, prompting the man to stand and make his way over, looking annoyed by the whole ordeal.

The red-head placed a hand on her shoulder. “Are you OK? I bumped you pretty good th—“

The girl jerked her shoulder away, scowling. “Fuck!” she growled. “Stupid drunk bitch! Why don’t you watch where you’re going?”

Sunset recoiled at the outburst. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…” Feeling bad, she reached out to touch the girl’s temple. “Lemma have a look at thaaaaaa…”

FWOOOOOSSSHHH!

This did happen on occasion, where, in a hectic moment, Sunset would forget about her magic and touch someone. This was one of those cases; she felt bad for headbutting the young girl and was quick to check and make sure she was alright. She was too quick, however, and before she knew it, she’d found herself in a headspace that wasn’t hers—gone from the bar, and gone from that tangible weight of reality.

She was inside the young girl’s mind without intending to be, and it took her a moment to get her bearings.

Stairs. This was the first thing Sunset saw.

She looked down at the girl’s boots, adjusting to her alien proportions as she ascended the steps, wondering where this was.

Is this where she lived? That was a surprisingly nice carpet laid over those steps; surely the house they belonged to was out of this rough-looking girl’s price range. Maybe she lived with her parents.

The final step was at eye-level now, and Sunset, who’d become interested to see more of this girl’s home, cast her eyes upward to observe the long, dark hallway that waited ahead.

Who was this girl anyway? Why was she at the bar? And who was that man she was with?

The man! He was a suspicious character if Sunset ever saw one. Sunset had noticed him right away when he arrived, at which point he headed directly for the table where she was seated. Sunset had made a mental note to study him, and was formulating a plan to get close enough to do so—not the easiest thing to do with the pair of them looking so unapproachable, hence the drinking game, which had given her the excuse to use the washroom so she could pass their table, close enough to touch them.

And it gave her cause to get away from the bearded guy, so it worked out well.

The man’s behaviour —unsurprising, given his appearance— was as surly as she suspected once she’d gotten within earshot, and as it turned out, the girl was no peach herself. Once this probe into her mind was finished —she was already inside, after all— the next move was, without a doubt, to get into his head next.

He had the answers. Sunset had a gut feeling about him, and she had to follow it.

Returning her attention to the memory, Sunset quickly realised the girl had left the stairs and was very slowly and quietly making her way down the hall.

It was then that an uneasiness came over the red-head. This hallway felt dreadfully familiar.

On the right was the first door. The girl stopped to peer inside, finding a dark bathroom. She continued quickly, and a feeling of apprehension came over Sunset as the girl made her way to the next door, which was also on the right.

A gloved hand reached out to push the plain, wooden door open, and she leaned inside rather cautiously.

What Sunset saw through that girl’s eyes nearly made her sick.

It was a bedroom. A messy bedroom, lit by a pink lamp on the dresser, with clothes and stuffed animals strewn about; the walls were pink, as was the bed, which was unmade and empty, with a set of pyjamas lying on top of the twisted bedspread—pyjamas that’d been tossed carelessly into place, pyjamas that were pink, and decorated with blue and yellow balloons.

Sunset knew exactly whose house this was now, she was horrified of what she was about to see next. One of the unfortunate effects of her power, however, was that information from a certain event would be ‘downloaded’ rather quickly, and whatever was received would then play out in Sunset’s mind, meaning that whatever she was going to witness in this girl’s mind, Sunset had no choice but to see it.

Finding the bedroom empty, the girl moved on to the next door, which was on the left this time, only a few steps past the first room. The door stood partway open —presumably to block the hallway light, should someone turn it on— showing only the lower portion of a bed, occupied by a pair of legs hidden beneath a green, white and gray plaid quilt.

Helpless, and knowing that what was about to happen had already happened, Sunset watched in horror as the girl slipped silently into the room without moving the door, making her way along the side of the bed. She approached the pillow and looked down upon the sleeping woman: straight, grayish-green hair was sprawled across the pillowcase, but was cut very short on the side that faced the ceiling, around her ear and temple.

The girl watched for a moment, listening to the woman’s soft snoring. She was hesitant to do the deed she was sent there for, and Sunset could feel her attempts at psyching herself up, trying to get the proverbial ball rolling. After clenching her fists several times in a row, she produced a pistol —a Manestetter 391— and paused to study it for a moment before looking back at her unsuspecting victim, whose peaceful slumber was about to be extended indefinitely, her life shattered with no chance to defend herself.

Unable to watch, but unable to look away, Sunset felt the girl take a deep breath before quickly reaching to grab the pillow and yank it from beneath Limestone’s head. The eldest Pie sister snorted when disturbed by the sudden movement, but had no chance to open her eyes before the pillow was plopped over her face. The gun’s barrel was shoved into the pillow and the trigger squeezed, sending a round through the fabric with a muffled BANG that rang throughout the house.

Limestone’s flailing stopped as quickly as it began.

Panting, heart racing, the girl stepped back and stared at the pillow, which now sported a blackened hole in the center. The woman laid motionless and defeated, her blood quickly becoming visible as it soaked the sheets from beneath her pillow.

A door opened at the far end of the hall, jumpstarting the girl’s mind when she heard a man’s voice call out, demanding an explanation for the loud noise.

This was it. She was committed. One of them was dead, and now she had to finish the job; no witnesses could be left behind.

With her adrenaline now at full throttle, she was about to turn to leave, but stopped when she remembered something. Frantic, she returned to the bed and pawed through the sheets in search of the spent casing. She was lucky enough to find it quickly, and so she pocketed it and spun around to leave the room.

Out in the hall, she turned to her left and met eyes with a gray mutton-chopped man, standing in the doorway at the far end.

The stare they shared was fleeting. She quickly raised the pistol, prompting Igneous’ eyes to widen as he raised his hands in surrender.

A shot rang out, followed by a gruff wail as the old man toppled over, the right knee of his blue-and-white striped pyjama pants instantly soaked in crimson. She took a few steps closer, passing another doorway on the right.

She heard the rustling of bed sheets from inside the room as she went by, prompting her to stop and assess the situation. The father was incapacitated for the time being, and she didn’t know how many more of the kids were present, so she decided she’d better find that out first.

Backing up a step, she used the gun to push the door open. It swung quietly out of the way, revealing a bed on the right, occupied by a young girl with striped gray hair and violet eyes—violet eyes that were wide with terror as she clutched the blanket to her chin.

The killer raised the gun to aim. Marble panicked, dropping the quilt to cover her face with her forearms in a heartbreakingly vain attempt to protect herself. Sunset had wondered if she was right about how this played out ever since she theorized the scenario to Constable Wallis, but she never thought she would have the chance to witness it like this. Here she was, however, watching helplessly as the girl fired the weapon without mercy.

A puncture instantly appeared on Marble’s forearm, and her head snapped back when the bullet entered her skull, her mouth and forehead agape as the force of impact knocked her off the far side of the bed; her head hit the floor first, leaving only her legs on the mattress, entangled in the bedspread.

After pausing for a second to study the splatter of blood that’d covered the wall, a laboured voice could be heard from outside, reminding the killer of the father.

“Marble…” he grunted, fearing the worst after hearing the shot.

She bent to pick the spent casing up before leaving the room. Back in the hall, a quick searched found the shell that’d dropped the father. She pocketed them both and turned to face him, finding a furious yet terrified glare on his face.

“Why?” he grunted, clutching his knee with a bloody hand as she approached, slowly and methodically. “For what hast thou murdered my youngest daught—“

His sentence was cut short when her boot suddenly met his chin, causing him to roll over and cry out, his voice gruff. She followed and raised her foot, watching him cup a hand over his jaw to adjust it back and forth, waiting to strike as he lied there, wincing in pain. Once he became aware of her, he stopped and turned slowly to look up at her, his eyes widening when he realized what she was poised to do.

Before a plea could be uttered, the killer dropped her boot onto his face. The heel collided with his cheek, the sole crunching his nose. Eyes watering, he brought his arms up to protect his face when she brought her foot back up to stomp him again. Igneous hollered and squirmed as his arms were repeatedly driven against his face, throbbing with pain as the boot jack-hammered relentlessly, but still providing a reasonable amount of protection.

The girl grew frustrated by this, and she halted the assault to glance down at his bloodied knee. A swift kick to the wounded joint caused him to jerk and reach down to clutch it with his hands, grunting in agony. With his face now vulnerable, she launched a full blown attack on it: stomping, kicking and twisting her heel; his head thumped against the floor under each impact. She could feel his hose collapse under her heel, followed by his teeth when she stomped his mouth in.

When he tried to reach up with one hand to protect himself, she used her other foot to pin his wrist to the carpet, then continued to drive her heel into his face, his temple, and his eyes. Then, when a particularly well-placed stomp landed on his jaw and broke it, even the killer’s stomach churned when she felt it crack and give way, and she felt her foot sink to the back of his mouth.

Igneous let out a bloodcurdling screech, one that Sunset would never expect from such a well-composed man. It rang down the hallway, filling the upstairs of that house with the sound of pure agony.

The killer paused for a moment to look down at him, surprised by how much his face had, although bloodied, sprung back into place to look somewhat normal—though she knew its structure was long gone, and a simple touch would surely cave it in.

“Igneous!” A soft, female voice came from the end of the hall, and the girl looked up to see who was there.

Horrified, Sunset locked eyes through the killer’s with her friend’s mother, who was sitting up in bed, clutching the quilt to her chest. A look of horror dominated her features, despite not being able to see clearly without her glasses; though her eyes were not very well focused, she knew her family was in danger by the fact that her husband’s form was lying on the floor, to say nothing of the terrifying shriek he’d just released.

Having grown weary of picking up empty shells, the girl holstered the gun and stepped over the bloody Igneous to approach the master bedroom.

Cloudy gasped and leaned back, too gripped with fear to leave the bed, too paralysed to try to fight or escape. Standing at the foot of the bed, the killer was now close enough for Cloudy to realise that she was wearing a ski-mask, though she could still see the sadistic smile through the hole in the lower half, revealing to the elderly woman what Sunset knew since the first life was extinguished: she was enjoying herself.

With a trembling jaw, Cloudy kept her chin down, eyes planted on the invader. “W-w-why?” she whimpered.

After a brief smirk, the killer snorted softly and looked down as she reached behind her. Slowly, as if to torture her victim with terror, she produced a knife from a sheath that’d been clipped to the back of her belt, it’s blade over six inches long, growing in width from the point to a fairly wide base.

“Because,” she said at last, eliciting a deep gasp from her victim, who beheld the shining blade with fright.

Then, without warning, she leapt onto the bed and shoved Cloudy down with her forearm, pinning her onto her back. Panicked, the old woman cried out as she was straddled and immobilized, terrified of what was to come next.

The girl reached to the head of the bed and snatched a pillow, which she used to cover her victim’s face, muffling her screams. Holding the cushion in place, she wound her arm up and paused, holding the knife firmly.

Sunset prayed for Cloudy, despite knowing this had already happened and that her efforts were completely futile. Still, witnessing the next few seconds was something she wanted desperately to escape.

But she couldn’t, and she was forced to watch the tip of that blade come down and jab through that pillow, into the frightened face below. The feeling of bone impacting the blade jarred the killer’s arm; once, twice, three times. Muffled squeals echoed from under that pillow, and that frail body squirmed and thrashed, but was unable to throw the girl’s weight off. Instead, Cloudy was doomed to endure more of those excruciating jabs to her face, leaving cuts in her skin: her cheeks, her nose, her forehead—even one of her teeth were knocked free when the blade sliced through her lip and jabbed her gums.

The ordeal must have been horrific for the poor old lady. On top of all the pain, she knew her assailant couldn’t see where she was thrusting that blade, and that it was only matter of time before she hit something vital.

That moment came before long; the girl had raised the knife and brought it down for another blow, but this time, instead of being stopped by the hard impact of bone, the blade sank deep into the pillow—unnervingly deep, and the girl froze when she felt the writhing body beneath her lock up, stiff as a board, but trembling slightly.

Sunset felt it too, and she likely would have vomited right then and there if she was mortal and occupying her own body. She already knew from the crime scene photos what had happened: the knife had landed in Cloudy’s eye, sinking deep into her head. The very thought of it was so profound, so sickening, that Sunset began to panic, not wanting to see anymore.

But she was stuck here. She had no choice but to bear witness to this horrific scene.

Grimacing when she realised what’d happened, the killer attempted to withdraw the knife, but was met with unexpected resistance. She frowned and tried again, only to find that it wouldn’t budge.

The base of the blade was stuck in Cloudy’s eye socket, wedged into the bone that surrounded the opening.

With a huff, she placed her hand next to the knife handle to hold her victim’s head in place, and she tried to pull the blade free.

It wouldn’t budge.

Growing frustrated, the girl began to jiggle the handle to try wiggling it free. When that didn’t work, she cranked it downward to pull it towards herself, then she pushed it forward, moving it back and forth like a lever. The blade, of course, sliced and stirred itself around inside the poor woman’s head.

Cloudy made no noises, but her limbs twitched and shook as the knife destroyed her brain, her breathing quick and random, not under any actual control.

At last, the blade popped free, sending the killer nearly toppling off the foot of the bed. Panting, she looked at the blood-smeared blade and then at the hole in the pillow, watching the spot of crimson grow as the old lady’s blood was mindlessly pumped out of her head and into the fabric.

A rustling from the floor next to bed alerted the girl, and she turned to find the father, gurgling, whimpering and crawling toward the bed in a futile attempt to protect his wife.

It was too late, however; she was long gone.

After rolling her eyes, the girl jumped off the bed, grabbed Igneous by the hair with one hand and raised the knife above her head with the other. She swung her arm down and slammed the blade into the side of his throat, burying it up to the handle in his neck.

He stiffened like a board as she switched hands to hold his hair with the other, reaching under his chin to grab the knife handle. After a deep breath, she yanked it firmly and quickly, drawing the blade through his throat with a rapid sawing motion until it ripped free from the other side.

Blood spilled onto the carpet as she shoved his face downward, and then stood over him to watch his final breaths gurgle their way out from below his chin. Before it was over, however, she bent down and used the tail of his pyjama shirt to wipe the blood from the knife, grinning smugly at herself for managing to find one last way to disrespect the man’s final moments.

Satisfied that he would be gone within a few seconds, she stood and reached behind herself to sheath the knife. As she adjusted the black wool mask, she heard a sound through the wall, prompting her to spin to the right.

It was coming from the next room: the sound of a window sash being pulled open. There must be one more daughter left, she figured, before drawing the gun and holding it up next to her face before making her way back into the hall.

Quickly, she noticed a door that’d she’d missed in her haste to go after the mother. Approaching quickly, she paused next to the opening, took a breath and readied herself, then swung into the doorway, aiming the weapon.

The room was dark, with two windows on the far wall that faced the tree-covered side yard; the killer was able to make out little more than a desk sitting in the rhombus-shaped beam of hallway light that cut through the center of the room. She furrowed her brows when she noticed the workstation covered in books, notes, and what appeared to be a rather diverse selection of rocks and stones, making her wonder what kind of shut-in loser must have occupied this space.

Just as her eyes began to adjust to the darkness, the girl heard a quiet scuff from the left. She aimed the gun, searching the darkness before quickly finding a shape that she hadn’t noticed at first, blocking the tiny bit of light entering through the left-hand window. The figure turned and looked back at her, eyes gleaming like jewels in the dark. The killer squinted, barely able to make out a face in the dim light—a face that was strangely expressionless, given the circumstances.

After a quick breath, the killer tilted her head and closed one eye to line the sights of her weapon with the victim, who quickly turned and squeezed forward, hoping escape out of the window. She was too slow, however, and a shot rang out, illuminating the room with a bright flash as if a photo had been taken, giving the killer —and Sunset— a fleeting glimpse of the escapee’s straight, purple hair, gray skin, her off-white T-shirt and baggy, lavender pyjama pants.

She lurched forward when the bullet impacted her right shoulder blade and she went limp, her body slipping from the opening and falling outside to the cold, wet grass fifteen feet below, the end of her journey signalled by a thump and a loud snap.

The girl ran to the window and looked down, trying to focus as she searched the darkness for her fallen prey. She found her before long, lying next to a shrub that grew against the house, twisted into a motionless pile of unconscious limbs and splayed hair, her shirt soaked with blood, coloured black by the darkness.

The killer reached outside and aimed the gun, ready to ensure that the job was complete. She stopped suddenly, however, and looked over her shoulder toward the bedroom door, noticing the trail of crimson footprints she’d left behind as she realised she would have to find the empty casing before leaving the scene.

She then looked back at the broken body, lying in the grass with her neck bent back at a sickening angle, surely broken by the impact.

Even Sunset was almost convinced of Maud’s demise, despite knowing she’d survived—which was quite a shock after seeing what the stoic young woman had endured.

The girl chewed her lip, feeling the chill of the outside air as she considered the idea of firing the gun outside: the shell would end up falling into the yard somewhere, and if she didn’t want the investigators to find it, she would have to go down there and look for it, which meant she’d have to risk leaving even more evidence, especially in the soft grass.

She pulled the gun back, deciding not to chance it. That girl had to be dead, she figured; the way she was laying, her neck must have been busted to kingdom come. Turning away from the window, she holstered her weapon and made her way back to the doorway to retrieve the last shell.

FWOOOOOSSSHHH!

Released at last from the nightmarish vision, Sunset peeled her hand away from the girl and staggered back, tripping over her own feet until she ran into a table with her backside, causing it to skid a few inches. Eyes wide, she gasped uncontrollably; all of that brutality, all that horror, that ruthless murder spree, all of it committed against people she knew, the family of her close friend, had barged into her mind in just a few seconds, and she was forced to get her bearings on the setback in time amidst the gruff, drunken laughter of the other patrons.

“HAHA! Oh shit, she’s feelin it now, boys! All those shots are finally kickin in!”

The tears began to flow, streaming down those amber cheeks as the red-head covered her mouth, trying to sort it all out and get a grip on herself. Her eyes rose to look at the girl, who had turned to face the man she was sitting with, still holding the side of her head.

“You OK, Gage?” he asked, sweeping her hand away to inspect for a goose egg.

With her jaw shaking uncontrollably, Sunset watched them for a moment. Her emotions continued to rise, despite her efforts to control them. It was hopeless though. After witnessing the merciless slaughter of that innocent family, every feeling in existence began to well up inside Sunset until they boiled over in her mind, which was still flooded with that terrible imagery.

She’d witnessed the entire thing, more than she ever expected to, or wanted to. And she saw it all through the eyes of the killer herself, and not only that, she felt the sick enjoyment the girl felt as she destroyed those lives, the deranged lunacy of feeling a sense of accomplishment after mangling their bodies. Sunset felt this herself, and it filled her with unbelievable guilt, for she could not distinguish the difference between her own feelings and the killer’s.

It was as though Sunset herself had committed the atrocity, and it felt like she enjoyed it.

Leaning back on the table with one hand, Sunset glared at the girl as she swatted her companion’s hand away and shook her head, muttering something about being fine.

Damn her.

Sunset’s fists balled tightly as she watched. Her hatred for this person grew exponentially, her rage causing her blood to course through her veins like fire; her jaw clenched, her nose crinkled, and her breathing deepened as her heart began to race.

Fuck Golds’ orders.

The red-head stood suddenly and approached the pair with ballistic intent, growling through clenched teeth.

“You… BITCH!” Sunset bellowed at the girl, who, at the last second, turned to look just as the red-head swung her fist hard and fast, connecting a right hook to Gage’s cheek so hard that it spun her around, and she landed face-down on the table behind her.

This caught the attention of everyone immediately surrounding them, drawing a sea of wide eyes, ‘holy shits’ and ‘whoas.’

Sunset ignored it all. She had tunnel vision; she was focused only on one thing: beat the living hell out of this Gage person. She stepped forward to grab the other girl’s shoulders, but was stopped when someone grabbed her from behind and pulled her back.

“Hey!” A man’s voice came from behind. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing!?”

Teeth bared, Sunset looked over her shoulder to find Gage’s partner pulling her back by her arms. Undeterred, she let her arms go limp and ducked out of her jacket, pulling the sleeves inside-out as she went. Holding onto the cuffs, she quickly twirled around and wrapped his arms in the jacket, binding them together; then she brought her foot up and drove her boot into his stomach, releasing the jacket to let him stagger backwards and eventually fall over, grunting and clutching his gut with his arms.

After bringing her attention forward again, she was met with Gage, who had drawn a knife —the same knife that ended the lives of Pinkie’s parents— to thrust it towards Sunset’s throat. The red-head was ready for it; she quickly brought her left hand up and swatted Gage’s hand down, then she drove the back of her fist into the other girl’s face, followed by a fast right jab and then a knee to the abdomen, sending her stumbling back and then toppling over a chair to the floor, falling head-first.

The downed girl grunted, kicking the chair away so she could roll over. Sunset took a step closer to continue the confrontation, but was stopped when the crowd of burly patrons closed in on her.

“Whoa there! Take it easy,” one of them chuckled as he and a few others placed their hands on her shoulders to guide her backwards.

“GET OUTTA THE WAY!” she shouted, pushing back.

Her strength, even combined with all her rage, was far from adequate to power through several large men.

“Bit of a mean drinker, are we?” another one of them laughed from somewhere on her right.

“Yeah, take it outside, missy!” someone else said. “Get some fresh air; walk it off!”

Frustrated, Sunset peered between the men to watch her adversary rise, rubbing the back of her head. Once on her feet, she turned to look at Sunset, and the two made eye contact for a brief moment, during which everything around them seemed to darken, slow down and fade to silence.

One set of eyes, turquoise, was filled with rage, and the brown eyes they were locked with were full of shock and confusion.

After a moment, Gage decided to get away and regroup, so she turned and headed for a door marked ‘staff only’ in the rear left corner of the bar, just beyond the washrooms.

Noticing this, and figuring there was a way out via a receiving door, Sunset became frantic and began to push harder, thrashing against the barrier of beards and denim that held her back. “No… NO! Let me go! She’s getting away!”

It was no use. None of them listened, and simply continued telling her to ‘calm down’ and ‘take it easy’ ad nauseam.

Sunset cursed and backed away to appraise the situation. When she did, something bumped the back of her thigh and she turned to look down at it.

It was a wooden bar stool.

After a glance through the wall of half-drunk guardians, she located her enemy and then quickly hooked her hand under the seat of the stool and, grunting noisily, whipped it into the air with all her might. The seat spun through the air as it arced clear over the heads of the crowd before finding its target, slamming Gage between the shoulder blades.

With a husky squawk, the purple-haired girl was knocked forward onto her hands and knees, gritting her teeth.

The successful hit made Sunset’s adrenaline pump, and she shook her fists in celebration before charging forward without thinking, intending to use the chance to break through the row of men to intercept her target.

The move was ill-fated, however, and the red-head was stopped in her tracks. Several hands grabbed her at once and lifted her from the floor to carry her back as she screamed frantically for them to release her.

Gage, meanwhile, had slowly risen once again, leaning on a nearby table. She looked back at Sunset, giving a nasty scowl before continuing her escape.

Seeing this, Sunset fought even harder to break free, kicking her feet and jerking her arms to escape their grip. “NO! LET ME GO! SHE’S GETTING AWAY!” she cried in frustration. “THAT PIECE OF SHIT KILLED MY FRIENDS!”

Gage looked back again when she heard this, brows creased with disbelief. There was no doubt she was wondering how Sunset knew this, and thusly, she was prompted to quicken her pace.

“FUCK!” Sunset yelled, squeezing her eyes shut as she squirmed vigorously, being carried toward the front door. “YOU HAVE TO LET ME GO!” she yelled again, opening her eyes in time to see the table they were passing, which had a half-empty bottle of beer sitting near its edge. Without hesitation, she brought her left leg up to kick the table, and the bottle tipped off of the edge where it met her right foot, which kicked it up to her.

Luckily, she’d managed to wiggle her right arm free and was able to catch it by the neck, and she swung it over her left shoulder to connect it to the forehead of one of her captors with a dull clunk.

He hollered and released her, clutching his face. Now half-freed, Sunset swung the bottle over her other shoulder to whack the face of another man, this time shattering the bottle. He released her as well, and he spun around to distance himself from her as a stream of blood drew a wavy line from his brow to his beard.

Sunset’s freedom was fleeting, however; she hadn’t even taken a single step when another strong hand grabbed her wrist to gain control of the weapon. The burly crowd was much less forgiving now; several of them tackled her at once, pinning her between their musky-smelling bodies and holding her arms against her chest as they shouted angrily at her.

“OK SETTLE DOWN, MISSY! THAT’S ENOUGH!”

Sunset fought valiantly, but she was hopelessly overpowered. She kicked, hollered and thrashed, but the gang of heavyset bikers were too much for her, and they were not interested in hearing her pleas as they continued to carry her to the front entrance.

“STOP! YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND! SHE’S A MURDERER!” she screamed, looking back to see where Gage was, finding her less than ten feet from the escape.

Frustrated beyond words, Sunset squeezed her eyes shut and thrashed her head around, whipping her hair into a frazzled mess. “AAARGH!” She arched her back and writhed like she’d been possessed.

How could this happen? How could she have been lucky enough to find the suspect here, only to have her escape because she was being imprisoned by these dumbasses? The rage she felt was unparalleled; frustration murdered her common sense. Tears filled her eyes. The thought of that terrible person taking the innocent lives of the Pies and getting away with it thus far was enough, but letting her escape a second time, after making Sunset personally witness the killings herself was infuriating. She felt the gun kick in her hand, she felt the cartilage snapping under her heel, that blade sinking through the eyeball of someone she knew.

It was too much. Sunset felt like she might explode. She was failing her friend, failing to bring justice to her family—and no one was listening. She was helpless, and didn’t know what to do.

But… just as that last glimmer of hope had slipped away, something happened.

Emotions had hit critical mass, and something seemed to snap inside Sunset Shimmer. A flow of warmth began to pour through her, permeating every cell in her body, like a sleeping demon had been awakened. She didn’t notice it at first with all her squirming and hollering, but it wasn’t long before she sensed something was different, changing; she opened her eyes and was immediately stunned by her hands—which were emitting a sparkling, phosphorescent glow that emanated from her skin.

Her ears tingled, as did the top of her head. Her hair began to feel fuller, heavier. Wide-eyed, she turned to look down her back and found a piercing white light coming from the tips of her hair, which was rapidly growing longer, like a fuse burning in reverse.

She faced forward again, stunned by the realisation of what this was.

Holy shit, it’s happening!

She’d barely finished the thought when something unexpected happened: a pinpoint of green energy appeared on her chest, just above her bust. It remained unchanged for a few seconds, just large enough to capture her attention.

Then it began to grow. It happened slowly at first, but before long, it was the size of a golf ball, then a baseball, and it continued from there. Ripples of energy could be seen washing across its surface, circling its basketball-sized perimeter, which had at last began to attract the attention of her captors.

They had little time to behold the anomaly, however; quite unexpectedly, it expanded rapidly and exploded throughout the bar like a shockwave in all directions, forcing everyone and everything in its path outwards with a deafening WHOOSH!

Freed, the red-head dropped to one knee, panting. Next to her laid a lock of red and gold hair. She reached out to touch it; it was indeed her hair, although significantly longer. Drawing a breath, she reached for the top of her head and found a fuzzy, pointed earlobe poking straight up out of her hair.

Her mind immediately began to race, unsure of what to do next as she took a scan of the bar. Everything —every person, every piece of furniture— had been swept away by the energy blast, arranged in a concentric ring of broken chairs, tables and groaning men.

How did that happen? she wondered, scanning the carnage. All the times I’ve ponied-up, I’ve never seen that happ—

It was then that Sunset noticed a flicker of turquoise light just above her field of vision, and her eyes shifted upward to follow it. She was surprised to find a small beam of energy emitting from her forehead; it was about ten inches long and tapered to a point, and it had a subtle flicker to it, like a Star Wars lightsaber. Sparks of phosphorescent energy rippled up and down its length, coaxing the red-head to reach up and touch it.

Open mouthed, she watched in awe as her fingers passed through it, feeling its energy, its warmth; it offered no resistance to her touch, but the power that surged through it was intense, raw, and magical.

Then it dawned on Sunset what this was: her horn. Not a physical manifestation, of course, but its presence was there, its energy, its advantages.

Just as she looked down at the floor again, eyes wide, she remembered Fluttershy’s story from the deep sea base and the pony-up she experienced, which had certain enhancements added to it.

She drew a breath when the realisation hit her, and she looked down at her hand, squeezing it into a tight fist.

Golds… she thought, shifting her eyes onto the painted concrete floor.

Perhaps a test was needed?

Biting her lip, Sunset raised her fist above her head and then brought it down like a hammer, slamming her knuckles into the floor. The entire building shook, rattling the mugs and shot glasses that sat behind the bar, as well as the few tables that were still standing. A web of cracks darted out from beneath her fist, surrounding the impact zone with a two foot radius of shattered concrete.

Holy shit! Sunset stood in an instant, faster than she ever had before. She felt light as a feather, like she could move around quick as lightning. This is intense… this is intense… She panted with excitement, glancing around at the recovering crowd, some of them still lying on the ground, some of them standing back and staring. OK, so… she continued, exhaling through pursed lips. There’ve been a few changes: strength… speed… this weird energy horn thingy—

She paused suddenly, her eyes crossing as they looked up at the glowing appendage again.

Waaaaait a minute… Sunset raised her right hand and pointed at a fallen stool, which was instantly bathed in a green aura and shot straight up into the air. Then it began to spin like a propeller when she twirled her finger.

Oohhhh… sweet Celestia, she gasped, my magic! My real magic; everything I could do in Equestria… I can do here!

Her attention was abruptly drawn from the twirling stool by a holler, and she turned to face one of the other patrons, who was pointing a finger at her, his face stuck in panic-mode.

“She’s… she’s fuckin possessed or somethin!” he shouted as more of them got to their feet and set their sights on her. “Or a alien!”

Sunset could see what was about to happen: this guy was trying to rally everyone against her. Rather than wait for the attack, she brought her attention back to the stool and swung her finger towards the raving lunatic.

The stool stopped spinning and rocketed toward him, seat first, hitting him square in the midsection with such force that his limbs wrapped around it and sent him flying towards the front wall, where he soared over one of the booths and crashed through a window, landing outside, out of sight.

“Ha!” she laughed, shaking her fist in celebration.

Ready for action, Sunset brought her attention back to her primary target. She faced the rear corner in search of Gage, who had stopped and looked back to watch the spectacle. The two locked eyes from across the room.

The red-head raised a finger to point at her adversary. “You!” That soft, beige tone quickly drained from Gage’s face as she watched Sunset turn her hand around and use her index finger to coax her over.

This was not a high priority for the purple-haired killer, and with a quick breath, she spun and sprinted for the back room as fast as her ripped jeans-wearing legs would carry her.

Undaunted, Sunset stepped forward and swung both arms ahead. Several tables and chairs responded by skidding noisily across the floor, passing the fugitive and slamming into the corner like they’d been shoved there by an army of poltergeists. They piled themselves up in a giant heap, blocking the door.

Gage screeched to a halt, her only escape now cut off. Trapped, she drew a breath and spun around to find Sunset watching with a victorious smirk.

Lowering her hands, Sunset cocked her head and raised her brows, feigning inquisitiveness. “Going somewh—“

CRACK!

The red-head stopped when something struck the back of her head, followed by the thinner half of a pool cue flying past her to land on the floor, clattering and then rolling into the ring of fallen tables. Scowling, she quickly turned her head to find Gage’s tablemate, holding the other end of the stick.

The bold look on his face was quickly replaced by panic when he realised his attack had no effect, and he raised his free hand, backing away.

“No… wait!” he cowered. “I didn’t mean to— … I-I…”

He grimaced and flinched when Sunset’s foot snapped up and knocked the cue out of his hand; it spun a few times in the air before she caught it. Then she raised it with the sharp, broken end pointed his way, and, without hesitation, thrust it through his shoulder.

He cried out as the wood emerged behind him, protruding nearly six inches from his back. The agony then increased ten-fold when Sunset lifted him from the floor by the cue to bring him closer; she held him directly in front of her, gripping his collar with her free hand to hold him steady.

“Let’s see who you fuckers are,” Sunset said as she brought her other hand up and covered his face with it.

The bar was locked in pandemonium by then; some men were running for the exits, some were paralysed by either fear or shock, standing motionless. Others were braver, and were tentatively circling the red-head, trying to make sense of what she was doing, holding her hand to the face of her prey, eyes closed.

After a short time, she sneered at the man. “That’s it?” she growled, taking him by the shirt with both hands and shaking him. “WHO DO YOU WORK FOR!? WHO’S AT THE TOP!?”

Before he could answer, one of the larger bikers approached from the right and tried to pull her off. She swept his hands away with ease, and then drove her palm into his chest, knocking him back into the ring of debris over ten feet away. This caused the rest of the stalkers to grant her some space by backing away, not knowing what else to do.

The commotion was then punctuated by the click-clack of a twelve-gauge being pumped, which came from behind Sunset. She turned quickly and found the older, more heavy-set bartender aiming a shotgun with its barrel sawed-off directly at her.

He fired without hesitation, unaware that his shot was destined to miss its intended target.

With a flash of green light, the red-head vanished, leaving her hostage exposed. The spread pelted his chest, tearing him open and knocking him off his feet.

A second burst of energy came from behind the bar, delivering Sunset to the immediate right of the bartender. Wasting no time, she grabbed the shotgun and yanked it upward, cracking his chin with the stock. His head snapped back from the impact, but she caught it with her left hand and proceeded to drive his face into the bar top.

As he slid unconsciously to the floor, Sunset brought her attention to the other, more nimble bartender, who was in the midst of making his escape by climbing over the far end of the bar. She wound up and threw the gun like a Frisbee; it connected with his heels just as he stood upon the counter, knocking his feet out from under him. The force of the impact threw him into a backflip, at the end of which he landed with the back of his head on the bar before disappearing behind the other side amidst the clatter of empty glasses and toppled stools.

After a brief glance at the cautiously approaching crowd, Sunset decided to bring her attention back to her target. She placed a hand on the bar and leapt over it with ease, surprising even herself with her agility. The second her feet touched the floor, she charged forward and clotheslined the first man she passed.

He was flung into the air by the impact, spinning head over heels before being caught by Sunset; one hand gripped the collar of his leather vest, the other the rear of his belt, and he was tossed off to the left, knocking down two other men.

She turned her attention to the rear corner again, but stopped in her tracks when she found no one there. Shit! She began to scan the room for Gage, but was unable to spot her. Where in Tartarus did she go?

This was a question that would be answered later, for the sound of feet scuffing the floor behind Sunset drew her attention. She turned, and was fast to duck when she saw a quick-approaching fist from the corner of her eye. A muscular arm, belonging to a large man in a tight, black T-shirt, swung over her head, missing its target.

Now facing him, Sunset bowed her head slightly, and a thick, rippling beam of turquoise energy fired from her horn and collided with his chest, blasting him clear across the bar, past the billiard tables, where he smashed into an old jukebox and fell to the floor in a bulky, but ultimately ineffective heap.

The red-head spun around again to search for the fugitive, giving her arm a quick wave to send two more men through the front windows and into the parking lot. A second scan confirmed that Gage had in fact disappeared, which made Sunset’s jaw clench with annoyance.

Where did she go?

Dammit. I shoulda just teleported to her when I had the chance.

Hindsight is always 20/20. Distraction had gotten the better of Sunset, and now her target had slipped away.

The tables and chairs were still piled against the rear door, so she didn’t go that way, and it was highly unlikely that she’d made it to the front door with all the commotion going on. Her eyes returned to the freshly broken windows next, and she suddenly remembered the man she’d torpedoed with the stool; that window had been wide open for some time now, and it was significantly closer to where Gage had been standing.

Shaking her head, Sunset took a glance at Gage’s accomplice, lying dead of the floor with his chest blown open. As dead as he was, he had been able to occupy the red-head long enough to allow his partner to escape. Sighing, she faced the window again and took a step in its direction, but was stopped yet again by the front door bursting open.

In came a man in a camouflage coat and a bright orange hat, holding two hunting rifles. “Jerry! Catch!” he yelled as he tossed one of the weapons to another man, who was standing near one of the pool tables.

With a phosphorescent flash, Sunset instantly appeared before the second man before he was able to catch the rifle, which was instead intercepted by Sunset.

Oh, how she missed teleporting!

Wasting no time, she pulled the bolt back, aimed and fired at the man in the doorway, who yelped and dove back outside, narrowly escaping the shot.

Sunset then spun around with the gun raised above her head; she brought it down like a sledgehammer, breaking it over the second man’s shoulder. He crumpled to the ground in a broken heap, motionless, and she tossed the remains of the weapon on top of him.

Before she even had a chance to think about her next step, something heavy hit her shoulder. She turned to look down at it, just as a yellow blur zipped past her face. It landed on the floor a few feet away with a sharp crack, and rolled across the empty circle where the brawl had started.

It was a billiard ball.

Frowning, she turned the other way to find the source: a modest crowd of bar patrons who, as a last resort, had armed themselves with the balls.

Sunset let her head droop as she stared at them, deadpanned. “Really? Wow.” With a sigh, she glanced down at the pool table and then reached down to hook her hand under it. She heaved the massive slab into the air, standing it on end, nearly touching the ceiling with it. Extending her arm, the red-head engulfed the table in her magic and launched it toward the group.

In a panic, the men hollered and dropped the balls, parting like a denim sea as they dove in both directions to avoid the velvety green projectile. The table punched through the wall of the bar and landed face-down outside, legs pointing to the sky.

The place was mostly empty by then—and practically destroyed. Sunset was glad for this; now she could finally go after Gage with no further disruptions. She approached the booth to leave through that same window, hoping there might be some footprints in the gravel outside, but stopped at the end of the table when she found, to her surprise, the old plumber still sitting there with his half-empty mug.

She paused, watching him as she slowly looked up at her. “Uhh… mind of I pass through?”

He sniffed and wiggled his moustache, glancing out the open window before looking back up at her. “Oh… yes.” He sat back and brought the mug to his chest, clearing the table for her. “Pardon me, miss.”

With a smirk, Sunset leapt onto the table and made her way to the opening. She stopped, though, and looked down at him once more. “Hey… thanks for not trying to attack me.”

He cocked his head and shrugged. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

With that, the red-head smirked and ducked outside.

Outside, once her feet hit the gravel, Sunset found herself disappointed to find it far too coarse to have any distinctive tracks imprinted in it. She took a moment to scan the parking lot, which was littered with men running to their vehicles, or the vehicles themselves —be it motorcycle or work truck— making their escape. Clouds of dust had been kicked into the air as they peeled out one after another, leaving behind their nebulous signatures that’d been set ablaze by the falling sun.

Had Gage already gotten away?

Worried about this possibility, Sunset took off toward the road, her legs carrying her much faster than ever before; pedestrians and vehicles alike changed course when they noticed the red-head charging across the yard, desperate to avoid crossing paths with her.

At this speed, her long hair trailed behind her like a comet tail, the wind whistling in her ears. It was a bizarre sensation, but Sunset had little time to observe it before coming to a halt at the edge of the pavement. She looked to the north first, but couldn’t see far due to a curve in the road, which was bordered by thick trees on both sides. To the south, she saw several vehicles speeding away, but had no idea if any of them were carrying her target.

Biting her lip, Sunset turned back and scanned the parking lot to locate her motorcycle. She was fast on foot, but not as fast as her bike, so she sprinted back into the parking lot to retrieve it. Halfway back, however, she happened to glance at the building and then stopped when another thought hit her: what if Gage was still there? What if she was hiding in the rear lot?

Sunset stopped for a moment to consider her options. If Gage had already hit the road, it would be impossible to tell how far she’d gotten, or which direction she’d gone; if Sunset tried to give chase, there was a fifty percent chance she would be going the opposite direction. And if she was still on the property, leaving to go find her would give her the perfect chance to escape.

“Shit,” she sighed, “if she’s on the road, she’s good as gone. But if she’s here…”

In the moment, it made more sense to stay and look for her. The road was a fool’s venture, and it likely made no real difference if Sunset left now or after a quick search around the building.

With her resolve solidified, the red-head launched into another sprint. After several steps, though, it felt as if a weight had been dropped on her, as if gravity had suddenly became that of a larger world’s. The extra burden caused her to stumble, and she fell to her hands and knees, scattering stones as she skidded into the gravel.

Her hair felt less substantial, and the sound of the commotion around her had changed, prompting her to reach up and touch her ears. They were gone, replaced by the human lobes on the sides of her head.

“Dammit, magic!” she cursed, climbing to her feet—with considerably more effort than it took just seconds earlier. “I wasn’t done with you!”

It was no use; she was back to normal. With little choice but to continue, Sunset resumed her sprint to the side of the building at a comparatively slow pace. She’d already passed her bike, and going back to make use of it would waste valuable time.

After passing a row of parked work vans, Sunset came face-to-face with one of the other patrons. They both skidded to a halt, and after staring for a moment, he turned to run.

Sunset gave chase, diving through the air with her arms outstretched before he could gain any ground; she managed to snare his ankles with her forearms and trip him up, causing him to fall forward onto his face. She climbed over him as quickly as she could to trap him in a head lock, putting her weight on his back so he couldn’t move.

“No! Please! Don’t kill me!” he pleaded.

“WHERE IS SHE!?”

“Please! I swear, I won’t— … please d-d-don’t—“

“SHUT-UP!” Sunset hollered into his ear, silencing him. “Where is she!?”

He stopped panting for a second. “W-who?”

“That girl,” Sunset replied. “With the purple hair. What was her name? Gage?”

Taking shallow breaths, his eyes began to dart around. “I… I’m not sure. I think I might have seen her go that way” —he glanced at the far corner of the building— “b-but I don’t know for sure.”

Wasting no time, Sunset released him, got to her feet, and took off in the direction he’d indicated. As she made her way across the front of the building, Sunset noticed the sun had dropped to the point where it was just touching the treetops across the road. This filled her with apprehension; having to search in the dark would make finding the perpetrator many times more difficult.

She approached the corner as she thought this, noting the presence of a driveway that ran along the side of the building when the sound of a V-8 engine filled her ears from somewhere out of sight.

She found the source soon enough. When Sunset rounded the corner, she was met with the headlights and grille of an early-nineties Ford Bronco coming right for her at full throttle. Metal and plastic slammed into the red-head before she had a chance to change course, knocking the wind out of her; her arms and face slammed against the hood, and she was carried backwards across the lot, her heels dragging through the gravel.

She struggled to stay aboard, but the smooth, metal hood was difficult to hold onto. With a tentative grip, Sunset managed to raise her head and get a glimpse through the windshield, and was astonished to find its pilot to be none other than Gage herself.

They locked eyes and stared at one another, shocked to have found each other once again. It was Gage who broke eye contact first when she scanned the parking lot, making Sunset look over her shoulder to see where they were headed.

The truck swerved abruptly, catching Sunset off guard as the engine began to roar through the grille at her, accelerating the truck directly towards a parked van.

Sunset’s eyes widened when she realised what her adversary’s plan was. “Oh, shit,” she gasped, turning forward again, eyes squeezed shut, teeth gritted as she braced for impact.

The Bronco slammed into the side of the large, white van, caving its sliding door in and shoving it sideways several feet before the whole commotion came to a sudden end.

Inside the cab, Gage was hunched forward, her aching forehead resting against the steering wheel. She winced and rocked her head slowly, drawing a deep breath as she lifted her brow from the wheel and looked through the windshield to assess the damage.

On the hood was a pair of arms and a pile of red and yellow hair. Gage watched intently, hoping that her attacker would remain motionless, and that this terrifying ordeal would be over. Unfortunately, however, the red-head’s fingers began to curl, and she slowly lifted her head to look through the windshield, tangled hair hanging in her face as she glared at the girl in the driver’s seat—who immediately noticed the absence of injuries on the woman’s face, in stark contrast to her own.

“What the fuck are you?” Gage whispered as her chest filled with that same hopeless terror she experienced as a child, watching slasher films in which the villain couldn’t be killed.

She looked down at the instrument cluster when she realised the engine was still running, noticing then that the transmission was still in drive. When she looked up again, she saw the red-head struggling, but unable to move, and it suddenly hit her:

She was trapped.

Gage drew a breath and, knowing she had the upper hand as long as she left the vehicle as it was, reached for the door handle.

Sunset ceased her squirming when she heard the door click, and she looked ahead to find Gage stepping out with an anxious expression, thinly veiled by a smug smirk. Knowing she was at a disadvantage, she quickly reached into her pocket in search of her phone, but her heart sank when she found nothing but shards of glass and plastic.

“Shit,” she whispered, placing her hands on the hood to try forcing her way out. It was no use, however, and Gage had approached the fender, lifting a pistol that she’d brought from inside the cab. She pointed the barrel at Sunset’s forehead, prompting Sunset to scrunch her face up and turn away as the gun fired.

She could feel the round ping off her skull, accompanied by a deafening ricochet that rattled through her brain. Enraged, Sunset slowly turned back to face her enemy, jaw clenched firmly—but it just wasn’t enough to reignite the pony-up.

“Huh…” Gage muttered, rolling her jaw as she lowered the weapon. “Don’t see that everyday.”

Helpless, Sunset watched as the beige-skinned girl tucked the gun into her pants and then produced a cell phone. After hitting the screen a few times, she held the device to her ear and began to pace back and forth alongside the truck.

After about half a minute of this, she froze and lifted her head. “Uh… hi. It’s Gage.” A pause. “I’m good… kind of. You?” Another break. “Good. Um… so listen: you said I could call you anytime I needed help, right? Well… I think this is as a good a time as any.”

Grunting, Sunset tried to wiggle free, but any freedom gained was immediately eaten up by the truck, which maintained a steady pressure and kept her pinned against the crumpled van.

“Well…” Gage continued. “Some chick came sniffing around the bar; she knew about the thing at the house —you know, with the family— and she knew it was me who did it.” She paused for a moment to listen. Then she looked over at Sunset. “Uh... well, just tried that, but… it didn’t work.” She was quiet for a second, then she shrugged. “It didn’t work! I don’t know, what do you want me to say? This whole thing’s kinda fucked-up.“ Her eyes landed on the red-head again. “I’m lucky this crazy bitch didn’t kill me.”

Sunset chewed the inside of her lip and listened, wondering who was on the other end of that conversation.

And Gage watched Sunset as she listened, licking her lip. “Yeah… I kinda need a hand with this. How soon can you be here?”

*Chapter 132: On the Eve of Retribution

Chapter 132

To anyone who didn’t know Rarity, they would assume that this was just an ordinary Tuesday afternoon—Tuesday, February the 21st, to be exact. The fashionista was making her way through the winding streets of a residential area in Canterlot, on her way to deliver a gown to a client. The garment in question was hanging in the back seat, wrapped in clear plastic that bore the Carousel Boutique’s watermark.

This was the final job of yet another busy day at the shop, but the fashionista’s mind was nowhere near the task at hand; it was elsewhere, partly on the story told by her friend the day before, but more so on the evening ahead.

Sunset’s story had taken everyone by surprise, to say the least, and much of the remainder of the evening was spent asking questions about her abilities to the point where she was practically pulling her hair out—or trying, at least.

The news made Rarity wonder —or fantasize, rather— about her own capabilities if she were to pony-up. Even in her current form, she was an extremely dangerous individual, but if her counterpart was a unicorn like Sunset, would she have the same abilities? Just imagine, she thought, having the power of telekinesis, teleportation, force fields, beams and more, on top of Golds’ physical strength and the endless array of weaponry she could create out of thin air.

She was wary, however, of what it took to achieve the pony-up state. Both Sunset and Fluttershy had to hit an extreme emotional state in order to trigger it: Fluttershy, hit by some space ray nonsense while fighting for her freedom, and Sunset, forced to witness the murder of Pinkie Pie’s family so vividly that she felt like she’d committed the act herself.

As tempting as it was to want such power, Rarity was forced to tell herself that her magic and her training were sufficient, and the emotional impact needed to achieve such power overkill wasn’t worth enduring.

She needed to focus her attention on the night ahead. By dawn, the objective was to infiltrate the hotel owned by this drug organization, find out who was at the top, and most importantly, exact revenge on Gage: the young woman who destroyed the Pie family.

But first, a personal delivery had to be made, and she was anxious to have it finished before the ominous clouds and rising winds settled in. It’d been an unusually warm winter thus far, and a rainstorm happening within the next hour was a very real possibility.

She pulled into the driveway of a fairly large and well-kept house, located on a crescent lined with many homes just like it. After studying the invoice to confirm the address, Rarity exited the car and retrieved the goods from the back seat before heading to the front door.

She rang the doorbell, cleared her throat, and waited. Alerted to the sound of the deadbolt sliding back, Rarity straightened up and added a smile, ready to greet her customer cheerfully and professionally.

When the door opened, however, the fashionista’s smile wavered, and she hesitated to introduce herself after being met with a fair visage and a head of two-toned hair: blue on one side, pink on the other.

“Ah, Rarity. You made it,” she said, snapping the fashionista out of her trance.

After a few blinks and a quick shake of her head, Rarity smiled. “Bonbon, hello! My apologies, darling, I wasn’t expecting…” She glanced at the invoice. “The invoice I have here is for a ‘Sweetie Drops;’ is that correct?” she asked, meeting eyes with her customer again.

Bonbon nodded. “Sweetie Drops is my given name, but a lot of people don’t know that because I’ve been going by Bonbon for... pretty much as long as I can remember.”

“Ah. Myself included, it seems,” Rarity replied with a forced chuckle, followed by a quiet cough. “Er… so, anyway, here is your gown, all pressed and ready to wear,” she continued, holding the item up for Bonbon to see.

“Oh yes, thank you. It looks great!” Bonbon replied as she took it by the hanger and studied it through the clear wrapping.

“It should fit, so long as the measurements you posted in your online order are correct,” Rarity explained. “It’s not how I prefer to do things, but with the advent of online shopping I’ve had to accept the fact that I can’t always give the ‘in person’ experience to everyone anymore.” She paused and held the paperwork out to her customer. “And here is your invoice; paid in full by credit card at the time of purchase.”

“Thanks,” Bonbon replied as she took the paper and gave it a quick scan. Then she hung the package over her shoulder and looked at Rarity. “Would you… like to come in? Maybe have some tea?”

Rarity’s eyes widened. “Oh… I, uh…” She glanced over her shoulder at her car. “I’m afraid I have prior engagements this evening, perhaps another ti—“

“It doesn’t have to be long,” Bonbon insisted. “Just a quick chat to catch up. Whaddaya say?”

Not wanting to disappoint, Rarity chewed her lip. “Well…” she began, just as a quiet pitter-patter began to surround them, which quickly progressed into a full-on downpour. “Ooh!” Rarity squealed, stepping inside to avoid getting her hair wet. “Well then... it appears the decision has been made for me,” she quipped as her host closed the door behind her.

Chuckling, Bonbon slid the front closet open to hang the dress up. “Don’t worry, I won’t hold you up all night. Follow me.” She closed the door and waved Rarity along, prompting her to follow her host into a rather large and well-designed kitchen, decorated in a modern white and dark brown motif.

Following a gesture to sit, Rarity pulled a chair out from the table while Bonbon went to the counter to start the kettle.

“Which tea do you like?”

Rarity drew a breath. “Oh, er… whatever you have is fine. I’m not picky.”

Bonbon looked back with a smirk. “Not picky? Who are you and what have you done with Rarity?”

A short pause later, Rarity let out a reserved laugh. “Oh! Haha! Yes, I suppose that was a bit rich, coming from me. ” She gave her hand a quick wave. “In all seriousness though, whatever you have is perfectly fine.”

Bonbon turned back to the counter. “OK. Let’s see what I’ve got.”

Rarity sat quietly, watching as her host set a pair of mugs on the counter with a tea bag in each. Waiting for the kettle, Bonbon turned and leaned on the counter, arms folded. After a short, but awkward pause, during which the only sound was the rain outside, Bonbon glanced over at the far doorway and her eyes immediately lit up.

“Hey, big guy!” she said, squatting down with her arms outstretched, making Rarity lean over to see who Bonbon was addressing.

It was a young boy, unmistakably Bonbon’s child.

He tromped ungracefully along the tile floor like all toddlers do, and was promptly scooped up by his mother, who carried him to the table.

“I want to you meet, Miss Rarity,” she said, keeping her mouth close to his ear. “She went to high school with mommy, and now she runs the nice dress store uptown.”

Rarity smiled nervously as the kid stared her down suspiciously.

“Say hi,” Bonbon said.

He didn’t.

The fashionista sat up and licked her lip, forcing a reply. “My goodness, he sure has grown; it seems like only yesterday you were posting his newborn photos on Facebook.”

“Tshh… I know!” Bonbon rolled her eyes and sat across from her guest, setting her son on her lap. “It all goes by so fast.”

“Indeed it does,” Rarity agreed.

Just then, a flash could be seen through the windows, followed by the rumble of thunder. Surprised, both women’s eyes travelled to the ceiling, noting the oddity of witnessing lightning in the month of February.

Pointing past his mother to the window, young boy finally spoke. “The whitning’s taking pictures, mama!” he exclaimed quietly, but excitedly.

“Yes, it is!” Bonbon played along, smiling as she leaned down to face him.

Rarity cocked her head. “Taking pictures?”

“The lightning looks like a camera flash to him,” Bonbon explained.

Brows raised, Rarity drew a quick breath and placed her fingertips over her mouth. “Oh! Oh my, that is so adorable; what a sweetheart!”

“He sure is,” Bonbon replied before looking over her shoulder at the kettle, which was starting to boil. Needing to tend to her guest, she set her son on the floor and stood. “OK buddy, why don’t you go find daddy so you two can get some pictures together?”

Excitement filled the boy’s pudgy features, and he took off running, his feet tromping along the tile as he went.

“Say buh-bye to Rari—” Bonbon began, but stopped when the kid left the room before she could finish. “—ty.” She looked at the fashionista and smiled. “Sorry.”

Rarity closed her eyes and waved it off. “Not to worry, darling,” she chuckled.

After filling the mugs, Bonbon brought them to the table and set them down before returning to her chair. “We’ll just let those steep for a few minutes.”

“Perfect. Thank you,” Rarity said, watching the steam rise from within the cup. Then she looked at Bonbon again and smiled. “He certainly is lovely, your son,” she complimented, to which Bonbon smiled. “I dare say he’s going to grow into a handsome man someday—and a well mannered one, too.”

Bonbon chuckled softly. “Well, he can be a bit of a bugger some days, but still…” She paused and drew a breath. “We do our best to raise him right.”

Rarity reached out to trace the rim of her mug. “I’m sure you’ll do just fine. He’s lucky to have a mother like you,” she said as she looped her finger around the handle and lifted it to smell the tea.

“Mm.” Bonbon sat with her arms folded, staring down at the table. “He’s lucky to have a mother at all, to be honest.”

The fashionista paused with the rim touching her lips when she heard this, her eyes staring over the cup. Then she quickly forced herself to take a sip, rubbing her lips together as she set the cup down. “Oh?” she replied, feigning ignorance.

Bonbon reached out and wrapped her hands around her cup to feel its heat, shrugging her shoulders uneasily as she chewed her lip.

This did little to lower Rarity’s stress level.

After drawing a breath, Bonbon cleared her throat and spoke again. “Look, I, uh… I have a confession to make.”

Rarity listened, eyes wide.

“I… didn’t order a dress from you because I needed one,” Bonbon explained as she stared down at her tea. She pursed her lips for a moment before continuing. “I did it because I wanted to see you… to say thanks, for what you did.”

What little colour Rarity had in her face quickly drained away; her heart thumped heavily, and she tried to hide it with a shaky smile. “I’m afraid I don’t understand, darling.”

Bonbon smiled. “It’s OK, Rarity. I know it was you that night; in the black suit, when me and Ly were trapped in that alley.” She kept her eyes locked on the indigo-haired girl. “You saved us... from them. Ly and I, we knew it was you. We recognised your voice, and… we recognised your magic when you made that… that sword out of diamond.”

Rarity had sunk down in her chair by then, her eyes darting around the table as she listened.

“I remembered that from the camp, when Gloriosa was possessed by that magic. You could make those big diamonds out of thin air.” She paused and looked down at the tabletop, brows furrowed. “But they were just simple shapes back then, like shields,” she continued, meeting eyes with Rarity again. “It looks like you’ve been practicing.”

Rarity sighed and then swallowed, accepting that her secret was out. “You could say that.”

Bonbon reached across the table, placing her hand next to her guest’s cup. “Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with us, Rarity. We don’t wanna mess this up for you; what you’re doing is a good thing. Every time I see the Dark Mistress on the news, or hear a story about her at work, I can’t help but smile because I know I can feel safe, and I know my family will be safe as long as you’re watching over our town.”

“Hm,” Rarity murmured, looking down at her cup. “Not all families are safe, unfortunately.”

Bonbon paused, taken aback by the statement. Then she retreated to her side of the table, rubbing the back of her neck. “You’re talking about Pinkie Pie’s family, aren’t you?”

The fashionista brought her chin up to face her host. “Heard about that, did you?”

Bonbon sighed. “It was on the news.” She shook her head. “Terrible. And shocking. I can’t even imagine what that must be like. I feel so bad for Pinkie.”

“It… has been rather difficult for her. And Maud, I’m afraid.”

“Do they have a suspect yet?”

Rarity sat up in her chair, pausing. “The police don’t—but we do.”

“You’re going after him yourselves?”

“It’s a ‘her,’ actually; and yes, we are. Tonight, in fact.”

Bonbon cocked her head. “A woman did this?”

Rarity nodded. “A very stupid one.”

The other girl sat back, exhaling through pursed lips. “Wow.” Then she looked up at the fashionista. “So… wait, those ‘prior engagements’ you spoke of: did you mean…?”

The fashionista gave a single nod. “Yes.”

Bonbon paused for a moment, trying to grasp exactly what those engagements would involve. After a taking a moment to glance around the kitchen, she brought her sights back to Rarity. “Do me a favour?”

“Of course.”

“Tell Pinkie Pie that Ly and I are thinking of her, that our hearts go out to her and her sister.”

After a quick smile, Rarity lifted her cup and downed the hot tea. Then she set the empty mug down with a clunk, leaving Bonbon wide-eyed. “I will be sure to relay your message to her, darling. I promise it will not go unappreciated.”

Bonbon nodded and smiled, but then her face turned grim once again. “And, um… do you think you could do me one other favour?”

Rarity cocked her head. “I suppose.”

“Whoever she is, the person who destroyed Pinkie’s family…” —she nodded, her stare sharpening— “give her hell.”

Rarity smirked. “Not to worry, darling. Hell will be a relief next what I have planned,” she replied as she stood from the table and pushed her chair in, leaving her hands on the backrest. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have preparations to make.”

Bonbon stood. “Absolutely, go. Yes,” she replied, waving Rarity along. Before Rarity could turn to leave, however, Bonbon reached a hand out to stop her. “Wait; just one more thing.”

Rarity stopped to look back at her.

The other girl retracted her arm slowly, appearing to consider what she was going to say and how to say it. “Um… I didn’t just bring you here tonight to thank you. I also wanted to point out that… if I was able to figure out who you were, then maybe… I’m not the only one.”

Rarity paused, her eyes dropping to the floor.

“I just… wanted to you be aware of that,” Bonbon continued. “And to consider that possibility.”

Rarity, feeling a bit less cunning now that she knew her disguise hadn’t quite fooled everyone, met eyes with her host and forced a shaky smile. “Thank you, darling… for the insight.” She gave a small bow and then turned to head for the door. “I shall bear that in mind.”

*****

It was just after 6:00pm, and I was in the process of grabbing my wallet and putting my jacket on to head to town to meet the girls.

“OK, I’m heading out, Flutters,” I announced, directing my voice down the hall to her room.

With a soft murmur came the light pitter-patter of bare feet making their way down the hall. She emerged just as I turned for the door, wearing nothing but a tiny pair of plain, white panties.

I paused, my eyes shifting to the side and then back onto her, noting how her bare breasts had been strategically hidden behind her hair, which hung down both sides of her face and in front of her shoulders. That, and her big, sparkling eyes of teal were just about the most inviting thing one could imagine.

It was rare for Fluttershy to hang around the house like this—and I knew exactly why she was doing it.

I shook my head, sighing. “Listen, Flutters… I know you want me to stick around tonight —and believe me, I’d like to when you look like that— but you know I have to go with the others.”

“Oh, well…” She used her fingers to sweep one side of her hair back to hook it behind her ear, revealing one of those luscious breasts, hanging from her chest like a cantaloupe. “Do you really have to go, though? I mean, you’re just monitoring them over the app, aren’t you? You could do that from here, couldn’t you?”

After a moment of staring at that peach-coloured nipple, I bit my lip and turned away to slip my boots on. “Yeah, Flutters, but I want to be close by, just in case something goes wrong and they need my help. This is Twi and AJ’s first mission, remember.”

Fluttershy cocked her head. “It’s not Twilight’s first mission.”

I rolled my eyes. “You know that I mean. Her first real mission.”

The shy girl’s shoulders dropped. “Oh... um, OK then,” She turned and leaned against the table with her back. “I guess I forgot about that. I just thought maybe we could… I don’t know… spend time together and watch them on the app.” She looked at me and gave an innocent shrug. “I thought maybe we could do another twelve hour challenge, too.”

I paused for a second and then exhaled loudly, rubbing my face. “God.” I looked at her again, hand raised. “OK, as much as I’d like that, we couldn’t do it tonight anyway; it’s kinda hard to pay attention to what’s going on on the app when I’ve got my dick in you the whole time.”

She gazed longingly for a moment and then sighed, looking down at the floor.

As important as tonight was, I couldn’t stand to see Fluttershy looking so rejected. I hung my head and stared at the floor, rubbing my temple. Then I looked up at her. “Look, Flutters: as much as I love spending time with you, I need to be there for them. They’re our friends, and plus… I mean, this is Pinks’ family we’re talking about here.”

She shot me a look when I said this, making me put my hands up in defense.

“Hey, I’m not trying to guilt you or make you feel bad for not wanting to go. I totally understand you reasoning for wanting to stay here; Cody put you through a lot of bullshit, so of course you’ve had your fill. You deserve to feel the way you do, and I both respect and love you for it, but me?” —I put my fingertips to my chest— “I have to go. They asked for my help; they wanted me to be there as a safety net. And as much as I’d love to stay here and see how loud I can make you scream, making those fuckers pay for what they did to Pinks’ family is more important.”

Her eyes sank to the floor again as I spoke, and she continued to stare aimlessly into space even after I’d finished. Finally, she let out a despondent sigh. “You’re right, Goldie. I’m sorry I tried to talk you into staying.”

“Hey,” I spread my arms wide. “Come here.”

Fluttershy quickly left the table and shuffled toward me, hands folded in front of her lap, which had the effect of squeezing those lovely breasts together. When she came against me, I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her slender frame tightly, feeling her soft, warm skin under my hands as she slid her arms around the small of my back.

After holding the embrace for a moment or two, she pulled her head back to look at me.

I kissed her forehead and then brought my hands up to cup her cheeks in my palms, kissing her lips several times.

This made her smile, and she brought her hands up to place them on my chest. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” I said, giving her another kiss.

She sighed, looking down at my chest as she wriggled her fingers in my shirt. “Go get ‘em. After what they did to the Pies, they deserve whatever you give them. I-I know that’s not a very nice thing to say, but—“

“Nice doesn’t have anything to do with it,” I cut in. “They made their bed. It’s time to make them lay in it.”

With one more kiss and a quick whiff of her wonderful scent, I turned and headed for the door, stopping one more time to look back before finally leaving.

Fluttershy stood there, mostly naked, alone in her house, hands folded loosely as she listened to that noisy truck start up and then fade away into silence. With a sigh, she looked around the empty room and eventually locked eyes with Link, who sat on the couch and watched her, cocking those pointy ears.

Fluttershy smiled. “You wanna go outside, big guy?”

He immediately hopped over the back of the couch with a thud and then trotted to the door.

“Oh my, wait a minute, silly!” she giggled. “I can’t go outside like this.”

Link watched her for a moment and then sat, waiting patiently.

Moments later, they were in the backyard. Link was sniffing around the tree line and Angel was huddled next to the shy girl, nibbling on a piece of carrot. Fluttershy herself was wearing little more than what she had on inside; in her haste, the only piece of clothing she’d added was a plaid pyjama shirt—which she hadn’t even buttoned up, leaving the inner curves of her breasts visible.

It was cold out, but it didn’t bother her. Despite it being harmless, the other girls still preferred to be comfortably warm, but ever since she’d been locked in a frozen chamber for hours on end, standing outside in an open shirt and bare legs didn’t faze her in the least—in fact, she rather enjoyed the feel of her rock-hard nipples raking the inside of that shirt.

Plenty of other critters had joined the visit as well: squirrels, birds, a fox, two raccoons, and dozens more. She decided to make a circle around the fire pit, giggling and chatting with the furry crowd as the light continued to fail, the sun well below the tree line by then.

As she looped around the fire pit once more, watching Angel turn his attention to a stick of celery, the raucous screech of a cardinal sounded from behind, prompting Fluttershy to turn and look up into the trees.

“Oh! Hello, Mr. Do-Right,” she greeted after spotting the bird perched in a nearby maple. “How are you toda—“

The cardinal sounded off again, silencing the shy girl.

“Goldie? He, um, went to go help my friends.”

More chirping.

“Well… um, yes, it has to do with Pinkie’s family,” she replied.

The bird made some more noise, hopping closer to the end of the branch.

“Why didn’t I go?” Her eyes darted around as she thought about her answer. “I just… I didn’t want to.“

The cardinal flared its wings and chirped louder.

“I know they’re my friends,” Fluttershy replied, “but they’ll be fine on their own. Rare’s gonna be there, too; between her and Goldie, I know they’ll be in good hands.”

The bird was clearly not happy with the answer. It began squawking and flapping its wings, causing a cluster of little red feathers to shed and flutter down from the tree.

Fluttershy shrank back, placing her fingertips to her chest as she watched the bird spazz out. “Are you… chirpin’ me?” she asked, appalled by the bird’s behavior.

Again, the bird scolded ferociously, flailing about in a storm of wings and feathers.

She spread her hand out to lay it flat on her chest. “Well… I’m sorry you feel that way, Mr. Do-Right, but it’s… um, my decision to make. They’re my friends, and I care about them a lot, and they understand my reasons for not going.”

The cardinal folded its wings and watched her for a moment. Then it turned and took flight, circling the yard once before disappearing over the trees.

Fluttershy sighed and looked down toward the edge of the yard at Link, who’d been watching the conversation rather intently. She pursed her lips and scowled. “Am I a bad friend, Linkie?”

The cat twitched an ear, then it lowered its head to resume sniffing.

“Hm,” the shy girl mumbled, folding her arms as the rumble of an aggressive-sounding V-8 began to echo from the front yard. Some of the animals fled, while others stopped what they were doing to stare curiously in the direction of the sound. Some didn’t even seem to notice. “Don’t worry, everyone,” Fluttershy said sweetly, putting her hands out to settle their nerves. “It’s just my friend, Rainbow Dash.”

She made her way around the house to meet the other girl, who had parked her supercharged Diplomat next to the little SUV and shut the engine off. The door opened and the rainbow-haired girl stepped out, brushing her bangs aside as Fluttershy stopped in front of the car, smiling.

“Hi, Rainbow Dash.”

“Oh hey, Flutt—GAH!” Dash recoiled, grimacing at her friend. “The hell are you wearing!?”

Fluttershy looked down at herself. “Oh…” She quickly brought her knees together, looking up at Dash again with glowing cheeks. “I just… I was just visiting the woodland creatures out back for a minute; I was gonna get dressed when I went inside. …Sorry.“

Rainbow Dash relaxed a bit. “Oh… OK, well... I mean, it’s fine. You look good. Er...” She paused, chewing the inside of her cheek as she stared dubiously at the shy girl, noting her hair, make-up and choice of panties. “Wait a minute…” She narrowed her eyes at her friend. “How long ago did Golds leave?”

“About twenty minutes ago. Why?”

A grimace slowly re-emerged on Dash’s face. “You guys didn’t just have a ‘going away fuck,’ did you?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “No.”

Dash pointed a finger at her. “I ain’t messing with you, Flutters; I’m not gonna sit on your couch and end up with a cum stain on my ass, am I?”

Fluttershy crinkled her nose. “Ew, no! We didn’t do it, Dashie, OK?”

Dash took notice of the sharp response, and it piqued her interest; that tone used by the shy girl, that telltale sign of sexual frustration, was always the same, no matter who it belonged to. Dash could spot it from a mile away. She lowered her hand slowly, looking the shy girl over once again. “Wait a minute… is that why you’re dressed like that? Were you trying to get him to stay home tonight?”

Fluttershy froze, brandishing a ‘deer in the headlights’ look. “Um… u-um—“

“That’s it! That’s totally it, isn’t it? You were trying to get Golds to stay home tonight for…” Dash stopped suddenly. “Wait a minute…” She raised a suspicious brow. “You… knew I was coming tonight, right?”

Fluttershy nodded.

Dash sneered, shaking her head. “So… what, you were planning on banging him while I was here!?”

The shy girl shrugged. “I don’t know. We didn’t have to do it tonight if it was going to bother you. Or we could… ... well, um, actually, nevermind.“

“Hey, whoa, whoa!” Dash grimaced and brought her hands up, waving them at the shy girl. “Just… stop there! That’s never gonna happen.”

“Oh.” Fluttershy cleared her throat softly. “OK.”

Placing her hands on her hips, Rainbow Dash chewed her bottom lip and studied the shy girl for a moment. “Fluttershy? You… knew that Golds was gonna go help them tonight, right?”

Fluttershy locked a pair of shrunken pupils on her friend. “Um… I-I kn— … I mean, yeah.” She looked down at the ground, fidgeting her toes in the gravel. “It’s just that… I-I didn’t wanna be… um…”

Dash raised a brow as she watched her friend stammer incoherently. “Hey…” she finally cut in, gently. “Do you feel bad for not going?”

Fluttershy froze.

Dash took a step closer. “That’s it, isn’t it? You’re the only one not going—who chose not to go, anyway.”

Fluttershy scowled and drew a breath. “I… I thought that if Goldie stayed home, then I wouldn’t be the only one.” She met eyes with Dash, looking slightly ashamed of herself. “Am I a bad friend, Dashie?”

Rainbow Dash sneered. “Ppfft! No. Why would you think that?”

Fluttershy scratched her ear, letting her eyes shift to the side. “Um… a little birdie told me I was.”

Dash furrowed her brows and gave her head a quick shake. “What birdie?”

“A cardinal. In, um… in the backyard.”

“Oh, pffft!” Dash waved her off. “Don’t listen to him. Cardinals are assholes; you know that! Listen…” Rainbow Dash rounded the front bumper to approach the shy girl, offering a reassuring bump on the arm. “If anyone has the right to chose to sit this out, it’s you. You’ve been through a lot, and I know it was hard—especially for someone like you. I honestly don’t know how you did it, but you proved to me, and the rest of us, that you can be totally awesome in the face of disaster. You took down an international syndicate; it’s time to pass the reins to the others and let them take care of this!”

A smile slowly grew on Fluttershy’s lips as she listened. “Thanks, Dashie. You always knew how to give a good pep talk.”

“Eh… it’s a sports thing,” Dash shrugged smartly. “Besides, if you weren’t around, I’d have no one to hang out with tonight.”

Fluttershy giggled as she brought a hand up to sweep her hair from her face. Just as she was about to reply, however, a cool breeze swept through the yard and peeled one side of the shy girl’s pyjama shirt aside, exposing her bare breast to the athlete.

“GAH!” Dash closed her eyes and turned away. “Dammit, Flutters! Button your shirt!”

Blushing, Fluttershy pulled her top together and folded her arms over it. “Sorry, Dashie. W-we should probably go inside anyway.”

“Yeah.” Dash craned her neck to look up at the deep, purple sky. “It’s starting to get pretty dark.”

After turning to call for Link and Angel, Fluttershy led the way to the front door.

*****

Roughly an hour later, the childhood friends had perched themselves on the couch to watch a movie. Fluttershy was now wearing the complete pyjama set, which included matching plaid pants —plus, the shirt was now buttoned up— and Rainbow Dash was wearing a dark padded vest over a long-sleeved white T-shirt with dark blue tights covered in multi-coloured slashes.

Link was curled up on the end of the lounge between Fluttershy’s feet, which sported a pair of pink bunny slippers. Angel, as usual, had gone into hiding.

Rainbow Dash, keeping her eyes on the TV, tilted her head toward the shy girl. “D’you uh… d’you think they’re there yet?”

After a short pause, Fluttershy shook her head absentmindedly. “I don’t think so. The city is a few hours away. And if I know Rare, she probably held them up getting ready.”

“Hm.” Dash nodded slowly. “Do you wanna check the app to see if anything’s happening?”

Fluttershy turned to face the rainbow-haired girl with one eye, the other concealed by her hair. “Yeah.”

Both of them drew their phones like they were in a shootout, their faces aglow as the screens came to life. After a quick perusal, Dash sighed and shook her head, disappointed.

“Nothing.”

Fluttershy nodded, still looking down at her phone. “I figured that. They must still be driving.”

“You wanna send them a text to see where they are?” Dash offered, after a glance at her friend.

The shy girl shook her head. “No. Texting’s not secure; if you’re gonna talk to them, do it through the app.”

“Oh, right.” Dash let her head fall to the side as she stared at the screen. “What do you think I should say?”

As she said this, Fluttershy looked up from her phone suddenly, listening. “Shh.”

Dash glanced over at her. “What?”

Fluttershy waited a moment, eyes darting around. “Someone’s here,” she finally said. “Put your phone away.”

“Oh.” Rainbow Dash leaned over to stuff the device in her pocket. “It is so weird that you can do that.”

Sure enough, the front door opened. “Is anyone here?” a familiar, but unexpected voice called out.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy quickly glanced at each other.

“Sonata!” Dash whispered. She then raised her hand so it would be visible over the back of the couch to answer casually. “Hey. It’s just me and Flutters.”

“Oh, hey.” The siren kicked her boots off and approached the couch. “Thank frick. I thought everybody disappeared or something; no one was home at the farmhouse,” she said, leaning on the backrest to look down at them.

“Oh… weird,” Dash replied flatly, looking ahead.

Sonata chewed her tongue for a moment. “Howcome you’re out here on a weeknight, Dashie?”

Dash shrugged. “I dunno.”

The siren’s brow furrowed slightly at the response. Then she shifted her attention to Fluttershy. “Where’s Gold Boy?”

“Um…” It took the shy girl a few seconds to peel her eyes from the TV. “He’s just… he had to go to town for something.”

“Oh.” Sonata’s eyes drifted along the couch and then rose to the TV to see what was playing.

”...cats rule, and dogs drool!”

After blinking several times, she frowned and looked at Fluttershy. “You’re watching this again?”

“Mm-hm.”

“Yeah… it’s uh… awesome,” Dash added, keeping her eyes on the screen.

Sonata was quiet. She studied the pair for a moment, noting their behaviour as being a little off. She couldn’t quite put her finger on why, though; all she knew was that she was a little weirded-out by it. “O… K?” She stood and wrung her hands together. “Well… I think I’m gonna head out then,” she announced as she slowly turned away, wondering if they were even listening.

“OK.” Dash tossed a quick wave over the back of the couch.

Fluttershy tilted her head to speak over the backrest. “Where are you going?”

Sonata stopped and looked back. “I’ll probably go catch a movie, maybe check out that ‘Last Jedi’ remake; see if it’s any good.”

“Oh… OK, well, have fun,” Fluttershy replied.

The siren stood for a moment, ruminating on the strange reception she’d gotten. Then she shrugged and went to put her boots on. As soon as they heard the door close, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash relaxed, looking over at each other as a long exhale escaped their lips.

“Whew,” Dash said. “Thank god she left—not that I have anything against her; I just didn’t wanna have to deal with keeping the mission a secret all night.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Same here. I wanna be able to keep an eye on what’s going on. If it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t mind if she stayed. I kinda like Sonata, actually.” She paused for a moment to scratch her earlobe. “I mean, even though it’s, um, kinda awkward when she says things that… don’t really make sense.”

Dash chuckled. “Yeah, she comes out with some next-level shit, that’s for sure.”

*****

After parking in the guest spot, I exited my truck and headed for Rarity’s front door, passing under a row of pole-mounted lights that bathed the sidewalk in overlapped circles of cold, buzzing light. After using the spare key she’d given me a few weeks back, I stepped inside and slipped my boots off, closing the door behind me.

I called her name when I emerged from the front hall to her living room, and was answered by a distant murmur from one of the back rooms. Following the sound, I made my way up the stairs and rounded the corner to head to her bedroom. As I passed the dining area, however, I spotted a pale figure in my peripheries and stopped.

Backtracking a few steps, I found Rarity standing in front of the kitchen counter, leaned forward slightly to let the crumbs of the pastry she was biting into fall into the sink. Her hair had already been tied into a violet bun, but she was dressed only in a lacy black thong; her milky curves practically glowed in the soft light, including that round little derrière, divided down the center by a narrow, black strip. Above that was the enticing side-view of her breasts, pointing out over the sink as it rang with the dull, metallic thuds of falling pastry flakes.

I shook my head, smirking. “I take it you’re not quite ready yet?”

She huddled down slightly and froze, then she slowly turned to face me.

“Mmm,” she mumbled, placing the tip of her index finger to her pursed lips. She raised her other finger, signalling me to wait while she chewed the mouthful and then swallowed it. “I beg your pardon, my love. I was simply indulging in a little treat before the festivities.”

“Over the sink in your underwear?” I asked as I approached the counter and leaned against it with my hip, next to her. “What’re you, in college?”

“Mm. It’s the only way to enjoy a Passion Flakie,” she replied, winking as she brushed the corner of her mouth with her thumb.

I shook my head as I watched her lean forward for another bite. “What is it with you two tonight?”

Rarity looked at me as she chewed, brow cocked.

“Flutters,” I clarified. “When I left, she was wearing literally the same thing as you—except her underwear was white. And her hair was down.”

Rarity swallowed and then let her eyes roll back in their sockets. “Mmmm… those little white cotton panties? Oh my goodness, I love, love, love those. They look so cute on her; I could just pinch those cheeks all night long!”

“Which ones?” I asked, to which she turned and leaned over the sink for another bite, but pausing to speak first. “Take your pick, darling.”

I folded my arms and waited for her to finish the last two bites as I stared at the far side of her kitchen. When she was finished, she brushed her hands together, drawing my attention back to her; I studied the back of that slender, white neck—something I didn’t have the luxury of seeing very often, which was a shame because it was exquisitely beautiful, like the rest of her.

“Are you ready for tonight?” I asked, prompting her to look up at me, licking her lips one last time.

She looked unsure for a moment. Then, with a sigh, she stepped in front of me and reached around the back of my neck, pressing her naked breasts against my clothes as she let her head rest on my shoulder. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit apprehensive of what I might have to do; taking someone’s life, for instance,” she said, tickling my throat with her breath.

I reached down to rest my hands on her hips, enjoying their soft, smooth warmth while I ruminated on her confession. Then I bent to plant a kiss on her forehead. “You’ve done that before, Rare. I’m sure you can handle it.”

“It’s not so such a question of ‘if I could,’ but whether I should.”

I furrowed my brows slightly. “What do you mean?”

She nuzzled her face into my neck, stroking my skin with her nose. “I don’t… er, what if what we’re doing isn’t right? I mean —even though I feel justified in not trusting her— perhaps I was crossing the line when I advocated for Sonata’s execution? In the past, we always overcame adversity using the power of friendship; we didn’t kill someone simply because they did bad things, and often times we found that that person was misguided, and needed help… or just a friend.”

I let my eyes drift around the room while she spoke, considering her perspective on the matter. When she was finished, I drew a breath to speak. “Did any of those people destroy one of your families to protect a business that destroys countless other lives?”

Rarity paused for a moment; I could feel her eyelashes brushing my neck as she thought about it, her thumb slowly sweeping back and forth through my hair. “No. I suppose not.”

I wrapped my arms around the small of her back and gave her a squeeze. “Listen, Rare, I understand where you guys are coming from with the whole ’if we kill them, then we’re no better than they are’ sentiment, but the problem with that is… not everyone is misguided, or lonely, or misunderstood. Some people are just bad. They’ll never change, and trying to reason with them will only lead to more innocent deaths.”

I paused to draw a deep breath.

“Some people just need to go—and I say this from direct experience,” I continued. “They don’t care about anyone but themselves. They can’t be beaten by your virtues; they see it as a weakness, and they will use it against you.”

Rarity sighed, blowing air from her nostrils down my collar.

“Look, I don’t see your methods as being naïve or anything like that; in fact, I admire them in a way, as long as it’s applied in the right situation. I think that what you guys did for Sonata was a fine thing —even though you didn’t think so— but it’s very important to see the distinction between someone like Sonata and someone like Agent Cody, or Gage. Taking the moral high ground can’t save lives sometimes; giving credence to the wrong enemy can get people killed, and then you’ll truly be no better than they are, which negates everything you were trying to achieve by not killing them in the first place.”

Rarity leaned back to gaze into my eyes, keeping her hands on my shoulders. “Have you ever seen that happen?”

I nodded. “Firsthand. Young, naïve leaders —usually Monarchs who were put in power too early because their parents were dead. They were notorious for this, and they learned the hard way that not everyone thinks like they do. And it changes them forever.”

Her eyes drifted downward, watching my lips.

My hands returned to her hips and gave a gentle squeeze. “Don’t worry, Rare. I won’t think any less of you if you skewer every one of those bastards tonight.”

Those sapphire eyes shot up to lock with mine again, and a little smirk found itself in the corner of her mouth. “I know you wouldn’t, darling.” She leaned up to plant a kiss on my lips and then backed away afterward, her hands fidgeting with my shirt.

Rarity still looked troubled. She seemed absent.

I cocked my head suspiciously, looking into her eyes. “Is there something else bothering you?”

She snapped out of the daze and stared wide-eyed for a moment, then she shook her head and looked to the side. “Nothing.” She paused, sighing. “Well… not nothing, per se; it’s just…”

I watched for a moment after she trailed off. “Juuuuust…?”

Rarity cleared her throat. “It’s come to my— … er, I-I’ve been wondering lately: what if my disguise hasn’t fooled everyone?”

I shrugged and shook my head. “Why wouldn’t it?”

“I don’t know,” she muttered as she brought her hands in to adjust my collar. “It’s just that… if anyone knew who the Dark Mistress really was —someone bad, I mean— then they might go after someone close to me, or my boutique.” She paused to look upward, scanning the ceiling above us. “Or my home. The thought of it frightens me, but not only that, I feel foolish, like I’ve been walking around with a false sense of security this whole time.”

I raised a brow. “What’s got you thinking about this all the sudden? You don’t think what happened to the Pies is because of you, do you? Cuz I seriously doubt it. I mean, Sunny said that Gage had no idea who she was when she found her at the bar.”

“I know, I know,” Rarity pressed her fingers to her temple. “It’s just that… it worries me, and I feel helpless about it.”

I shook my head. “There’s really not much you can do about it, frankly. You’ve already put yourself out there, and you can’t take it back now. We’ll take it as it comes—if it comes. No sense fretting about it.”

She scrunched her chin. “I suppose so.”

I gave her a smile. “Don’t worry about it right now. Focus on tonight,” I said, to which she forced a smile and nodded. I then let my eyes drop past her chin to study her nude figure, where I spotted a small bit of pastry sitting on her right breast, giving me an idea to cheer her up. “Oh hey, you got a crumb there,” I said as I bent down to suck the flake from her skin.

Rarity wrapped her arms around my head, nails dug into my scalp as she threw her head back and giggled playfully. She closed her eyes and took a moment to savour the feel of my mouth on her skin, looking at me again when I pulled back and licked my lips.

I shifted my eyes onto her other breast, noticing that lonely, pink nipple as it pointed forward in search of attention. “Whoop, there’s another one,” I said before closing in to seal my lips around the warm little nub to give it a firm suck.

“EEK!” she squealed, two octaves higher than normal. “That stays, darling! Hehehe! That stays!”

She bit her lip and drew a deep breath through her nose, her skin becoming riddled with goosebumps. A soft moan escaped her throat, relishing the sensation of my tongue as it swirled around that sensitive bud, tracing the perimeter of her areola.

After parting my lips and drawing her breast deeper into my mouth with a firm suction, I let it withdraw slowly until the only thing left hidden was the tip of her nipple, hugged tightly between my lips.

It popped free with a quiet little squip, and after planting a kiss on the underside of her breast, I stood upright again to look down at her. She shook her head and smirked, gazing into my eyes with those sparkling sapphires.

“My goodness, darling, you certainly can play me like a fiddle, can’t you?”

I shrugged and gave a little smirk.

She giggled softly, tousling my hair with her fingers as she kept her eyes locked on mine; her smile began to fade, however, and her eyes drifted closed as she leaned in, tilting her head so our noses would miss, her lips parting when they closed the gap between hers and mine. The kiss was unexpectedly warm and passionate; her arms tightened their grip around me as her tongue invaded my mouth with aggression, her bare skin pressed against my clothes, breasts squashed flat to my chest.

“Mmmmm…” Her breathing elevated quickly, blowing from her nostrils as the sweet flavour of icing and fruity jam filled my taste buds, which, although delicious, failed to distract me from her hips when they began to thrust forward, grinding her mound against the bulge in my pants.

She broke the kiss with a hot exhale and then proceeded to plant several firm, wet kisses on my lips before merging our mouths once again for another round. This time, when her tongue slipped in, her left hand slipped down; her fingers raked the front of my pants to explore the landscape, including the peak that protruded forward, which she was quick to close her fingers around and squeeze tightly.

My hands had become busy as well. With one planted on the small of her back, the other slipped from her shoulder to her breast, which I cupped and lifted slightly, massaging that soft, warm mass while I enjoyed the tight, massaging grip on my erection. Separated by clothing, her strokes were firm, and the pleasure it created buzzed through me like an alarm, making me want to return the favour.

After rolling her moist nipple between my thumb and forefinger, I let my hand slip away from her breast, raking her skin with my nails as they trailed down her belly to the waistline of her panties. With my palm facing her navel, I slipped my fingers inside that lacy, black fabric; my middle finger traced that strip of coarse hair as I traveled down her otherwise smooth mound, eventually reaching the cleft at the top of her slit.

We continued to kiss. Our tongues mingled freely, pleasure racking my brain as my index and ring fingers traced a soft pair of labia, my middle finger riding in the groove between them. Reaching under her, I cupped her crotch and squeezed gently, a move that elicited an excited yelp that reverberated in my mouth. Encouraged by this, I drew my hand to the top of her slit again while letting my middle finger dip a little deeper—and I was rewarded with a coating of warm, slick moisture when my fingertip grazed that soft, delicate hood.

Her grip on my length tightened in response, her strokes more vigorous.

I took this as an invitation to go deeper. I slid my hand under her again, using my outer fingers to separate her lips to let my middle finger slip into her. She was hot as ever inside, and absolutely dripping with desire; it was astounding, quite frankly, that she could be this wet without having it leak out and soak her panties—though I’m sure that would have been the case within the next minute or so.

Lips still locked, our tongues danced together in a flood of sweet and fruity saliva while I sank deeper into Rarity’s hot interior, pressing my palm against her hood to tease her clit as I stroked her deeply. Her body shivered with delight each time I withdrew from that velvety warmth, only to thrust back inside to tease her with even more pleasure, making her break the seal between our lips to pant hot breaths into my mouth.

“Ooohh god, darling,” she gasped, once again squeezing my manhood through my pants. “I… mmmmm, I fucking want you.”

“Yeah?” I replied, swirling my finger inside her while I ground her clit with the heel of my hand. “How bad?”

Her eyes widened, and she gritted her teeth. “Nnnnghh! SO bad! I want your cock inside me so much, it aches.”

“Good!” I said rather abruptly, withdrawing my hand from her panties to lick her juices from my finger. “Let’s go.” I turned to head for the door, leaving the fashionista in a wide-eyed, frazzled, horny fuck of a mess.

“What!?” she panted as she watched me walk away, utterly bemused. “Where are you going!?”

I stopped and turned back at face her. “I can’t have you all satisfied and mellow tonight; I need you pissed off.”

“But—”

I held a hand out. “You said so yourself: you were having reservations about killing people tonight. Well, now you can!”

Rarity blinked and then shook her head. “Wait a minute… darling, that’s why you got me aroused like that just now? To FRUSTRATE ME INTO A MURDEROUS RAMPAGE!?”

“Well, yeah…” I shrugged. “There’s no time to fuck right now; we gotta get going. You’re not even dressed yet,” I said as I gestured to her bust.

She glanced down at her breasts, and then quickly folded her arms to hide them. Then she looked at me again, scowling. “You… that’s… AAAAUUGGH! You’re cruel, Golds!”

I sighed, understanding exactly how she felt. I was pretty aroused myself, and would have loved nothing more than to bend her over that counter and pump her full.

But we had important business, and she needed to go in with a deadly mindset to do her job.

“I know, Rare.” I rubbed my hands together. “Tell you what: when this whole thing is all said and done, I’ll meet you back here and we can finish what we started. Sound good?”

*****

“Well you’re mighty quiet there, Rarity,” Applejack announced as the hard-faced fashionista climbed into the back of the rental van and sat on the bench opposite her.

I leaned on the rear door with my forearm, facing the blonde girl. “She ‘s just… she’s ready to throw down, you know? Can’t wait to show these bastards that they’ve fucked with the wrong crowd; right Rare?”

Rarity smacked her lips and raised a set of splayed fingers to inspect her nails. “Hm.”

An elbow suddenly jabbed my ribs from the side, and I quickly turned to face its owner. “What’d you do to her, Golds?” Sunset asked with a smirk.

“Nothing!” I shrugged innocently, but then shifted gears rather quickly by scratching my ear, frowning. “Well… maybe not nothing; I just gave her some, uh…” —I waved my hand in a circle, facing the sky— “let’s call it… motivation. Yeah, that works.”

Rarity rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, I’ve seen how you motivate people,” Sunset replied dubiously.

I faced her and smiled. Then I looked past her at my truck, which was parked in the next row. Beyond that was Sunset’s apartment building, the parking lot of which was our chosen meeting place once the red-head and Twilight had rented the nondescript white van.

After a reflective sigh, I peered inside once again, this time past the farm girl to Twilight, who was seated quietly and looking down at her laptop. “How’re you doing, Twi?”

Oblivious to the question, she continued to stare at the display, her face illuminated by the pale light.

AJ looked over at her, then she reached to give the lavender girl a nudge. “’Ey,” she muttered, prompting Twilight to look away from the screen, eyes wide.

“Huh?”

Applejack pointed at me. Twilight’s eyes followed, locking with mine.

“Sorry, Golds. What’d you say?”

“I asked how you’re doing,” I said. “You feeling up to it tonight?”

She paused, and then nodded confidently. “Absolutely. I was just re-checking the hotel’s blueprints to confirm their type of video surveillance and security system, particularly how their electronic locks are configured.”

I nodded, pretending to know exactly what that meant. “Sounds good. Are all your little ‘tech tricks’ gonna work for us tonight?”

“A hundred percent,” she replied quickly, patting the laptop’s display. “And the reason for that is attributed to what I’m doing right now, which is triple checking their software.”

Applejack turned away from Twilight to face me, grinning confidently. “That’s how we do things ‘round here, partner. We check everythin triplicate.”

I chuckled at the farm girl. “How about you? You excited for your debut in the suit?”

She nodded enthusiastically. “Hell yeah! I even came up with a name fer myself.”

I raised a brow. “A name?”

“You know,” —she gestured at Rarity— “like how she’s the ‘Dark Mistress,’ and Sunset is ‘Knight Mare’—which I think is kinda lame, but whatever…”

The red-head took a glance around and then faced AJ again, scowling. “Watch what you’re saying out here!” she whispered loudly. “And it’s not lame, it’s badass!”

I patted Sunset on the shoulder. “Sure it is, Sunny. It’s super badass.”

“Hey, fuck you!” She swatted my hand away. “It IS super badass. I don’t see your cool-ass suit, Golds. Where is it, huh?” She gave the tail of my coat a tug. “Oh, you’re just gonna wear this crap again? That’s too bad.”

Applejack jabbed a finger at me, eyes wide. “We oughta get ya suit, sugarcube; then ya can come out and whoop some ass with us! We can even give ya a name, like ‘The Human Combine’ er somethin like that—cuz that’s purty much what ya are.”

Sunset and I laughed out loud.

“I’ll think about it, AJ,“ I chuckled. “So what’s this name you chose?”

The blonde puffed her chest up with pride. “’Alphajack.’ Ya know, cuz I’m the big strong one a’ the group. I’m the doggone ALPHA!”

I scrunched my chin and nodded. “I like it.”

Sunset, meanwhile, scowled and shrugged with irritation. “Wh— … w-wh… How is that better than Knight Mare!?”

“It just is, Sunny! OK? Take notes from AJ; she knows what she’s doing,” I teased, making Sunset give a sharp kick to my ankle—which I ignored. “How about you, Twi?” I asked, cocking my head to see past AJ.

She looked up from the screen again. “I’m sorry?”

“Did you come up with a name for your alter ego yet?” I asked.

“Uh, no… I haven’t.” She scowled and gestured to the laptop. “I’ve been kinda busy, actually.”

I put my hands up. “OK, fair enough. You want me to think of one for you?”

Twilight shrugged and shook her head, returning her eyes to the computer. “If you really feel like it—though I don’t see the use.”

“OK, I’ll mull it over and then I’ll get back to you.” I brought my hands together and rubbed them. “Well, that’s enough chit-chat for now, ladies. We’ve got a job to do.”

“Let’s git on it,” Applejack agreed, slapping her knee before settling back into her seat.

I climbed in and leaned on the bench next to Rarity, bringing my mouth close to her ear. “Make ‘em sorry, Rare,” I said softly.

She turned to face me with a blank stare.

“Love you,” I said.

“Love you, too,” she replied. Then she closed her eyes and puckered her lips.

After a little smirk, I leaned in for the kiss. At the last second, though, she turned away, and the smooch landed on her cheek instead.

“Ooooh…” AJ grimaced. “Snubbed.”

I huffed, giving my girlfriend a stern look, which she returned in kind. “I’ll remember that later,” I said ominously.

Even through that diamond-hard stare, the fashionista was unable to hide the desire in her eyes. She knew this, apparently, and she quickly turned away to hide it.

As I backed out, I gave the others a nod. “OK. Time to go. I’ll be close by at all times; you won’t see me, but I’ll see you—and if you need help, I’ll be there quicker than you can say ‘oh my god, Golds, you’re so big.’”

AJ burst out laughing as I shut the doors one at a time and then gave them a send-off pat, leaving just Sunset and myself standing outside.

“Well, Sunny…” I said, facing her. “It all goes down tonight.”

She drew a breath as she fished the keys out of her pocket and then studied them. “Yeah,” she replied quietly, looking up at me.

“You’ll do great,” I said with a reassuring smile.

She smiled back. “Thanks.”

Then she stepped past me to head around the driver’s side for the door.

I turned to watch her go, holding my hands out and shrugging. “Sunny… aren’t you forgetting something?”

She stopped and looked back, confused, then she chuckled and rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah. How could I forget?” she said as she made her way back to wrap her arms around my shoulders, planting her lips on mine.

After a kiss that seemed a tad longer than necessary, she pulled back just enough to look me in the eyes while chewing her lip somewhat tentatively.

I rubbed the small of her back and sighed, followed by a smile. “Good lu—“

“I love you.”

She said it so quickly and unexpectedly it almost didn’t register. I stared at her for a moment, feeling dazed, like I wasn’t quite standing on solid ground. Those big, turquoise eyes of hers snapped me out of it soon enough, however, and I gave my head a quick shake.

“I love you too, Sunny.”

Chapter 133: Got One Chance, INFILTRATE THEM!

Chapter 133

“…And there you go, sir: ten cheeseburgers,” said the fat young lady who passed the heavy, greasy bag through the drive-through window to me.

“Ah, thanks,” I said as I took the bag and set it on the passenger seat. “Have a good night.” I gave her a nod as I rolled the window up and pulled away. After swinging around the bend, I located a parking spot to stash the truck in, then I shut the engine off and reached into the bag to extract a warm, yellow package.

“Fuck yeah! Dollar sixty-nine cheeseburgers?” I bragged to myself as I unwrapped the low-rent morsel. “Fuck of a deal; haven’t seem ‘em this cheap in years.”

I took a bite and glanced around the lot, realising rather quickly that I probably shouldn’t have bought ten of these things.

I’d been to the big city several times before, enough to know the general way around, and in my search for a good location to set up a temporary base of operations, I happened upon this burger joint advertising cheap slop, so I figured it was as good a place as any. And the hotel was only a block and a half away—plenty close to intervene, should the need arise.

I took a second bite and leaned over to slip my phone from my pocket. I turned it on and set it on my lap as I chewed, opening the center console to pluck a small package from within. I tore it open to extract its contents —an earpiece— then I placed it in my ear and turned it on. After taking a moment to connect it to Ingram’s app, I swallowed the third bite to speak.

“You read me, Twi?”

”Loud and clear.”

*****

Nestled in a breezy alleyway that ran behind the grand hotel and the adjacent building, a petite, nimble-looking woman with lavender skin, dressed in a tight, black outfit crouched in the shadow of a pair of dumpsters. She held two fingers to one ear, listening as her violet eyes darted around from behind the dark mask she was wearing, scanning the rear of the next building.

“Loud and clear,” she said softly, glancing down at her chest. Unlike her teammates, her cleavage didn’t quite pack the same punch; her breasts didn’t have the mass needed to touch together in the point of that deep V, but still, the round, lavender bulges squeezing out from each side surely managed a certain appeal to those of the male persuasion.

”Perfect,” came the voice of Golden Arrow from her earpiece. ”What do you see?”

She brought her eyes up to scan the building directly across from her. Just below a wall-mounted outdoor lamp was her way in. “I can see the rear door, which, according to the blueprints, leads through the kitchen to the lounge and bar area; just beyond that is the server room. Once there, I can tap into their surveillance system, as well as their home wi-fi network. Once I do that, we’ll be able to monitor and manipulate the cameras, and we’ll be able to control the security system: unlock doors, disable alarms, lights and so on.”

A short pause, then: ”Sounds good. When I search the city’s surveillance, I find no cameras in that alley, so you’ve got a clean shot to go for that door.”

“There’s just one problem,” she said, leaning out from the dumpster to peer around the corner, looking above and to the right of the entrance. “As stated by the blueprints, there is a camera monitoring this door. I can see it right now, and unfortunately it’s part of the building’s system, which means we can’t access it yet. It’ll take time to get into that door; it’s locked by a code reader and needs the proper security card to be opened—similar to a hotel room door. I need time to decode it, which’ll put me in view of the camera for waaaay too long.”

”Shit. And I suppose if you use your magic to destroy the camera or even aim it away, it’ll rouse suspicion.”

“Right.” She leaned back behind the dumpster again, sighing.

“And there’s no other way in?”

“Well, there is, but this way provides the shortest route to the server room, and it has the fewest cameras watching. When I studied the blueprints, I was able to find a number of blind spots created by the placement of the cameras, which should allow me to slip through undetected.”

”Unless they’ve added cameras since then, without updating the blueprints.”

She dropped her head and grumbled. “Yes… I’ve thought of that too, but we really have no other choice. I need to get in through this door, or this whole thing isn’t going to work.”

”Well... not to be a dick or anything, but everyone’s kind of depending on you to get them inside, Twi. No pressure.”

“Ugh...” She faced the ground and shook her head just as a gust of wind carried a cluster of dried leaves and garbage by. “I’m well aware of that,” she said, rubbing the tension from the back of her neck. “Thank you for the reminder, Gol—“

She stopped suddenly as she watched the dried leaves clatter past. Her brows furrowed beneath the mask, and her eyes began to dart around as the wheels in her head began to turn. “Wait… I have an idea.”

”What’s that?”

“Shh… stand by; I just need a minute to figure this out.” She stood cautiously, looking above the bin. The camera’s angle was tight to the wall to watch the door, which put her just outside of its view. After looking inside the bin for a moment, she reached in and snatched a crumpled chip bag from the top of the heap and quickly crouched behind the bin again. “This alley is fairly long and narrow, which creates something of a ‘wind tunnel’ effect,” she explained. “I think I can use that to my advantage, to interrupt the camera in a way that appears a little more… natural.”

”I trust your judgement. Make it happen.”

“Got it,” she nodded, before peering past the edge of the can again. She waited patiently, empty bag in hand, keeping a close watch on the camera. With her other hand, she unclasped the small pouch on the front of her suit to extract her phone, readying it for use.

After a brief pause, another gust swept through the alley, bringing with it another littering of leaves and trash. Twilight seized the opportunity and released the bag, using her magic to send it up toward the camera. The item was light, so the amount of force used was minimal; this kept the glow around the bag to a minimum, easily drowned out by the yard light. Being sure to give its path a twirl or a zig-zag to make it look natural, she guided the piece of trash upward as though it was being carried by the breeze.

The bag slapped itself over the camera lens, blinding it.

“Yes!” she whispered, balling her hand into a fist.

With the door now unmonitored, her black, spritely figure darted across the alley, holding her phone close to the electronic lock. Numbers flashed across the screen for about half a minute before finally stopping.

’CODE OBTAINED. HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO PROCEED?’

Twilight quickly punched the boxes entitled: ‘UNLOCK’ and ‘INHIBIT DOOR OPEN INDICATOR.’ The latch clicked, but the red light stayed on. She opened the door and stepped inside, releasing the bag from her magic after closing it behind her.

“OK. I’m inside,” she whispered, looking around the dark hallway she’d found herself in.

”Oh shit, really? Nice! What d’you see?”

“There’s a hallway…” she replied softly, narrowing her eyes as she peered into the next room, which appeared to be furnished with an abundance of stainless steel. “I can see the kitchen from here—exactly as the blueprints showed. Proceeding with caution.”

“OK. Be careful. Remember what you were taught and you’ll do fine.”

“Got it,” she whispered as she approached the eerily quiet kitchen. Squatting down at the entrance, she slinked across the tile floor and crouched behind the first counter.

Her heart was nearly beating out of her chest, terrified by the prospect of being caught wearing a superhero outfit in the kitchen of a hotel owned by a drug syndicate. She knew her fear was irrational; they couldn’t hurt her, but the consequences of being discovered were dire. It would ruin the entire mission, and the Pies would be deprived of justice.

After a deep, calming breath, Twilight looked down the length of the counter. At the far end was a swing door with a narrow window in its upper half, through which she could see the modern —and quite frankly tacky— dirty green, gray and pink colour scheme of the hotel’s lounge, which included a bar and coffee shop combined into one.

Having memorised the blueprint, she took a moment to imagine that room’s layout relative to her current spot. The cameras in there were aimed mostly at the bar, except for one, which was mounted on the right-hand wall to keep watch over the seating area.

After going through the motions in her head, Twilight decided to make her move, and she rose slightly to slink along the counter, staying bent enough to remain hidden. She’d only made it a few steps when a door on the opposite side of the room burst open, causing her to nearly jump out of her skin. She stopped and crouched again, listening to the sounds of two men having a back and forth as they entered the kitchen.

They stopped in the next aisle, just opposite of Twilight. One of them was on a tirade about something when he stopped suddenly.

“…because now we don’t even have enough time to—“ A few seconds of heavy breathing followed before Twilight heard this: “Wwwwait a minute…”

Twilight cringed and squeezed her eyes shut. Had she been discovered? How could that be possible? Could he smell her? Was the scent-free shampoo she’d used not quite odorless? Maybe he could hear her breathing!

“Where the hell’s Simmer? He’s supposed to be working on the scalloped potatoes!” the man hollered, making a slightly relieved Twilight open her eyes to stare at the floor, listening.

“Ugh,” the other, younger-sounding voice answered. “He was about to start them, but then he realised the potatoes had gone bad when he got them out, so he had to run out to the market to get some more.”

There was a short silence, followed by a frustrated groan from the older man. “Are you fucking kidding me? How many times have I told that fucking kid to check the stock every day!?”

“I know, I know. Simmer’s a good kid, and he tries, but he needs to start listening to instructions or he’s gonna end up at the bottom of the harbour.”

“Well, that’s not gonna help us right now; this is gonna put us way fucking behind. The banquet starts in less than two hours!”

Twilight bit her lip and drew a breath as she looked upward, trying to decide what to do. The colour drained from her face, however, when her eyes locked onto a stainless steel pan that hung from the rack above the next counter, showing the side profile of one of the men in its reflection. Logically, if she could see them, then they would see her as well—if they happened to look that way.

She had to move.

Slowly and quietly, she rose to a crouched position and moved along the counter, being careful not to make a sound. When she reached the far end, she crawled around the corner, glancing at the door as she went—and praying that no one would come through, as it was right next to her. Cautiously, she peeked her head around the other side of the counter to observe the men: one of them was overweight and wearing a chef’s coat, the other a suit.

The older, overweight man must have been the head chef, and the younger one a manager of some sort. After a deep breath, Twilight turned to sit with her back against the end of the counter, staring at the entrance to the lounge. She needed to get through that door, but even if she remained crouched down as she went, its opening would surely catch their attention.

She chewed her lip, knowing that she needed to move fast or she would eventually be caught. An idea struck her suddenly: if their attention was directed elsewhere, her escape would have a better chance of going unnoticed.

She peered around the corner at them once again, then she directed her eyes to the hooks above their heads, where she spied a large pot hanging by its handle. She raised a hand and summoned her magic, using every degree of control she had to carefully lift the pot from its hook without making a sound. Once she had it suspended above the counter, she shuffled to the door and then released the magic.

Sure enough, a deafening CLANG rang through the kitchen, followed by the startled yelp of both men. Twilight seized the opportunity to push through the door, closing it behind her as quickly as she could.

Now leaning against the wall in the next room, her breath suddenly caught in her throat when she realised she’d burst in without checking first to see if the coast was clear. It could have been check-mate right there, but tonight, fortune was apparently on Twilight Sparkle’s side.

The room was empty. The only sound was the fat chef’s voice coming from the kitchen, complaining about how no one knew how to hang the pots properly.

”How’s it going?”

After a blowing a long exhale, Twilight whispered her reply. “Good. I got kinda hung up in the kitchen; a couple of guys came in while I was in there, but I managed to get out without being seen.”

”I figured. I thought I could hear voices, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. Something about potatoes.”

“It was… intense,” she said, reaching up to adjust the mask and then scrunching her nose. “I have no idea how Sunset did this at the CIA headquarters; I have a completely new respect for her now.”

”You’re doing just fine, Twi. Just stay sharp, and you and Sunny can both reminisce about this stuff one day. So where are we now?”

“I’m in the lounge,” she whispered. “There’s a door on the right that I have to get to, just past the camera. Should be easy going from there.”

”OK. I’ll leave you to it.”

She nodded and then craned her neck to check the right-hand wall. Sure enough, the camera shown in the blueprints was there, aimed across the sea of white and black tables, on the far side of which sat the bar itself. After checking the rest of the room, she could see no cameras other than the ones in the blueprints, all of which were aimed everywhere but the wall where the camera on the right was mounted. This design flaw left the kitchen door and lower portion of that wall vulnerable, and Twilight was going to exploit it, as planned.

But she had to hurry before someone came in and found her.

Quickly and quietly, she scampered along the right-hand wall, passing under the camera with ease and continuing until she came face-to-face with a door marked: ‘STAFF ONLY.’ Looking down at the knob, she found the door locked by a simple deadbolt. After one last scan of the room, she brought her hand up and used her magic to manipulate the lock’s internals, lining up all the tumblers so that she could turn the bolt and gain entry.

She grabbed the handle and pushed her way through, closing the door behind her when she found herself in a long hallway with cinder block walls and bare light bulbs hanging from the ceiling.

“OK, I’m in the utility area,” she whispered as she locked the door again by turning the knob—no key required on this side.

”Perfect. You’re doing great, Twi.”

“Eh… I made a few mistakes back there,” she admitted, “but luckily no one was around.”

”Fair enough. Just don’t get comfortable, OK? This is when most people screw up because they get that ‘home free’ feeling. Don’t let your guard down; you’re not home free until you’re outside.”

“Got it,” she nodded, making her way down the hall, which was lined on both sides with metal doors. “OK… the server room should be the third door on the right,” she muttered aloud, counting the doors in her head as she went.

”How long will it take to tap into their system once you’re in there?”

“Not long,” she replied. “I did quite a few trials with Mr. Ingram, and several more on my own, just make sure I could do it without help. Usually takes two or three minutes, tops—depending on the configuration.”

”OK, sound’s good. I— ... Ooohh shit.”

Twilight froze immediately, her skin set ablaze by goosebumbs. “What?” she asked, her voice trembling.

”There’s a homeless guy walking around the parking lot.”

After the few seconds it took to process this, Twilight exhaled, went limp and rolled her eyes. “Is that really important right now? You scared the crap outta me!”

”Twi! What if he comes over here begging for shit? I don’t have any cash!”

“Why don’t you just kill him like you do everyone else?” she chided.

“Uh, it’s gonna be kinda hard to stay parked here with a dead guy laying next to my truck, you know.”

She closed her eyes and waved her hands about. “OK… I need to concentrate right now. Stop talking.” She continued until she reached the third door, marked ‘SERVER ROOM.’ Producing her phone, she used the app to decode and copy the keycard signal needed to unlock the door. With a soft beep, the door clicked, and she grabbed the handle to go inside.

The room was small, roughly the size of three phone booths, but its walls were loaded with steel boxes and wires on both sides, floor to ceiling. She started along one side, tracing her finger through the air as she searched for the system she needed. “K… telephone, network, cable…”

”Dammit. He saw me.”

Twilight ignored her earpiece as she searched.

”Fuck! He’s coming over.”

She stopped suddenly, eyes widening when she found the panel marked: ‘SECURITY/SURVEILLANCE.’

“This is it!” she said with a little gasp. She dropped to one knee and opened the other end of the little pouch that housed her phone, producing a tiny, transparent device with a pair of fibre-optic leads. After consulting the schematic on her phone, she set it on the floor and began the search for an inconspicuous spot to mount the device.

”Hey man, I don’t have any money. Sorry. ... ... What?”

With a roll of her eyes, Twilight snorted softly as she resumed her work.

”I dunno, I wish I could help you out, but... Oh, hey! You want a cheeseburg?”

Sighing, the lavender-skinned girl did her best to ignore the conversation; in fact, she’d considered muting the speaker, but eventually decided it best to not to break comms. In the meantime, she’d found a well-hidden spot for the transmitter, and had already secured it using an adhesive strip.

”Really? Why not? ... ... Oh... yeah, they’re not very good. You got me there.”

After tracing the signal wires down from the panel, Twilight spliced the device’s leads into them using a pair of tiny hooked pliers with one fat handle that contained a battery, which were specifically designed by Ingram to ‘pinch and fuse’ the specially designed fibre optic lead into the system’s line.

”OK, how about this? I got one of these McCafe Rewards cards. See? Look, it says: ‘Buy seven hot drinks and get a medium FREE—at participating McDonald’s restaurants, see details in-store or at mcdonalds.ca.’”

Despite concentrating on the delicate task at hand, Twilight couldn’t help but giggle at the pitch.

”And look! It’s got all seven stickers, baby! Whaddya say? How does a hot coffee sound to you? ... ... Yeah? Go for it; it’s all yours, buddy.”

Unable to shed the smirk from her lips, Twilight hooked the second lead into the pliers and slipped them around the wire.

”No, god bless YOU, sir! ... ... OK. Sorry, Twi, I had to get rid of that guy.”

“It’s OK,” she replied. “Did you manage to fulfil your civic duty?”

”He’s fuckin lucky. He probably won’t use it, though. There’s a reason they always ask for money.”

“Hm. Poor guy.”

“Yeah. So... anyway, where are we?”

“Should be online in under a minute,” she replied as she squeezed the pliers together. “Just have to pinch the lead in, and we’ll be online.” After a little grunt, the telltale click of a successful splice rang through her arm, followed by a muted flicker of light, and she withdrew from the cluster of wires.

After slipping the tool back into her pouch, she reached in again and gave the device a squeeze to turn it on. A blue LED illuminated its clear plastic shell with three flashes before going dark again. She picked her phone up next, tapping the screen. “Yes, I wish to pair with new device,” she mumbled with a quick tap of the icon, which then prompted a progress bar to appear. “OK… their system should be synching onto our phones now. Do you see it?”

A short pause.

”Yup. A bunch of new camera options are popping up h— ... holy shit, there’s a LOT of ‘em.”

“I know,” she whispered. “A bit excessive for what’s supposed to be an ordinary hotel.”

”True that. OK, Twi: excellent job. Now get your shit packed up and start making your way out. I’ll look after the cameras for you.”

“Got it.”

With that, she holstered the phone and stood, checking the area for debris or dust prints before turning to leave. Satisfied that her tracks were hidden, she turned and headed for the exit.

After quietly opening the door and having a peek in both directions, Twilight entered the hall and closed the door behind her, being careful not to make too much noise. Then she made a light-footed run back to the door that led to the lounge room.

Just as her hands gripped the door handle and its lock, a warning sounded from her earpiece.

”Heads up, Twi; you’ve got company in the next room.”

The masked girl froze. Her heart twisted into a knot as she stared wide-eyed into the cold steel door. “What kind of company?”

”Bunch of dudes.”

“How many?”

”A few. Nothing you can’t handle. Don’t worry, I managed to freeze the camera before they came in, so the boys in the security room won’t see what’s going on—but I WILL.”

“What about their comms?” she whispered.

”Already disabled, but that won’t stop them from using their phones to warn others, so you’ll have to drop ‘em all before they have the chance.”

Twilight’s eyes closed as an exasperated breath escaped her mouth. “Great. Can’t I just stay in here?”

”Hey, you’ve GOT this, Twi. You’ve got the element of surprise; it’s gonna take time for them to process the fact that a masked vigilante just burst into the room, then it’ll take them a minute to realise their comms are down before they even think to use their phones. That should give you lots of time to incapacitate them—but keep it quiet. There’s a couple guys in the kitchen cooking. You’ll have to sneak past them the same way you came in. OK? Any questions? You ready?”

Twilight closed her eyes and let her head fall back, sighing. “I guess,” she said snidely, rolling her shoulders to loosen up.

”Clock’s ticking, Twi.”

She pursed her lips and let several puffs escape to psyche herself up, then she yanked the handle and shoved the door open. When she burst into the lounge, however, she screeched to a halt when she came face-to-face with nearly three dozen people—men, wearing suits, jeans and blazers, golf shirts and khakis, and every combination thereof.

“Holy shit!” she cried aloud, making those who hadn’t yet noticed her turn to see who was talking.

Twilight stood, frozen in place, her big purple eyes staring through that mask at the sea of faces locking their sights onto her, looking understandably confused.

”Uhh... Twi?”

The voice in her ear snapped her from the initial shock and self-consciousness of busting into a room dressed as a superhero. After blinking a few times, she parted her lips to reply.

“What is this!? You call this a FEW!?" she growled under her breath as her eyes began to dart around, scanning the crowd to size them up. Her escape route had been cut off, unfortunately; the door to the kitchen had been blocked by a dense group of unfriendly-looking chaps.

”A few dozen, yeah. But Twi... time is of the essence here. Remember, they’re just as surprised as you; use that to your advantage!”

The apparent words of wisdom entering Twilight's ear barely registered. She kept her eyes on the crowd, nearly slipping into a panic. A soft scuff from her right prompted her to look over her right shoulder. A man who’d circled behind her was approaching cautiously, and so she stepped forward as she glanced over her left shoulder to find that she’d been flanked by two more.

”OK... Twi, don’t let them surround you.”

One of the men in front of her spoke, his arms open as he swaggered a step or two closer, brows furrowed. “What do we have here? Is there a show tonight or something?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” said the man to his left.

The lead man raised his chin at her. “Who are you? What are you doing sneaking around here?”

Petrified, Twilight’s heart raced. She stood motionless and surrounded, huddled into herself with her hands clasped to her chest, her knees and toes pointed in.

”OK, you need to look more imposing than that. Remember, this isn’t Canterlot; these people don’t know about the Dark Mistress. YOU need to introduce them to the legend.”

“Hey!” the lead man barked, sharpening his tone. “Did I fucking stutter?”

She locked a pair of violet eyes onto his, intimidated by him, but also perturbed that her mentor had downplayed the size of the crew that had awaited her.

”Don’t take his shit, Twi! You OWN these bitches! Come on, stand up straight, show ‘em who’s boss! Don’t look like a victim: chin up, shoulders back!”

Growing frustrated, she drew a deep breath and did as advised. She straightened her stance and puffed her chest out, staring back at her interrogator with a stiff upper lip.

”That’s good! MORE! Put your hands to your sides, ball your fists; take a stand! But make it quick—I can’t keep them off their phones for you.”

Following the command, Twilight unclasped her hands and balled her fists tightly as she lowered them to her sides. She narrowed her stare at the presumed leader, trying to ignore how ridiculous she felt by poising the way she was told. It felt increasingly unnatural to her, like she was posing for a movie poster or something, and it caused her patience with her mentor to deplete rather quickly.

”That’s it; you’ve got it! Now stand with your feet apart like you’ve got big, hairy balls!”

This was the tipping point. Twilight gritted her teeth and snapped back. “I don’t have big, hairy balls!”

Then she slapped her hands over her mouth.

The entire room stopped instantly, collectively dumbfounded.

”HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHA! What the fuck, Twi!? HAHAHA!“

She rolled her eyes, feeling her face begin to bake under that mask, the rosiness in her cheeks surely visible everyone else.

After a little sneer, the leader tipped his head to someone on the right. He waved his finger toward her, signalling them to advance.

”Oohhh shit, that was funny. Haha... whoop, seven o’clock, Twi.”

“Huh?” She spun her head to the left to look behind her. A hand was coming fast, presumably to grab her hair. She brought her forearm up and dipped back, deflecting the attack above her head before swivelling forward with both fists ready, one high, one low. Both strikes hit their mark; one to his throat and the other to his crotch, and he quickly dropped like a sack of potatoes.

Twilight took a step back, surprised by herself. Then she turned to face the leader again, who raised a brow in response.

”That’s it! See? You’ve got nothing to worry about. Your training will kick in on its own. Give ‘em hell!”

After a short stare-down, the leader let out an imperious chuckle. “Looks like we got a scrapper here, boys.” He snapped his finger and then pointed at her.

”TWI! BEHIND Y—shit.”

Before Twilight could move, two pairs of hands grabbed her by the forearms. She grunted and struggled against them, but she was vastly outmatched by her captors, who were indeed much larger than her.

But this was Twilight Sparkle, and if anyone lived by the mantra of ‘mind over matter,’ it was her.

Before the two men had a chance to drag her a single step, she closed her fists, using her middle fingers press on the heel of each hand, on both of which lived a dark gray circle. A loud hum emanated from her suit, and blueish-white sparks arced from their fingertips; with a loud yelp, both men released her immediately and fell to the floor, clutching their hands to their chests.

”Oh shit! You weren’t kidding when you said that stuff is a good conductor!”

Free again, Twilight faced the main group, ready for action.

It appeared at last that the leader’s confidence was beginning to wane.

After taking a breath through gritted teeth, Twilight charged the group head-on. Without hesitation, three of them launched a counter attack; she dodged the first one by spinning to the right to miss his fist and then drove her heel into the back of his knee, causing him to stumble and fall forward onto his hands. The second man threw a right jab, but missed the mark when she leaned back to avoid it, after which she grabbed his wrist and pulled him off-balance while leaning down to avoid the third man’s attack, swinging her foot up to bury it just below the second man’s armpit. He dropped quickly, clutching his side.

Once the third man got his bearings, he turned back to face her, joined by the first man. After a short standoff, she raised a finger at the third man and used her magic to take hold of his hand, which became bathed in a lavender field and swung unexpectedly to his left, where it connected with the jaw of his teammate and knocked him over the back of a nearby chair.

“What the hell!?” he cried, horrified when he saw the other man go down, but not as horrified as when his own hand turned on himself, its knuckles driving themselves straight into his nose.

When she spun around, Twilight was met with the leader coming at her with a chair over his shoulder. She swiped her hand from right to left, and the chair flew out of his hands and smashed into another individual, leaving the addled leader unarmed and caught by surprise.

Eyes wide and teeth bared, he charged at the little masked girl and threw a right hook. Her left forearm sprang up and stopped the attack; then her right fist drew back, bursting with a brilliant aura of violet light. With the use of her magic, Twilight threw the punch like a battering ram; her fist collided with his chest and sent him flying backwards, carving a swath through the crowd as he went.

”You’re doing awesome, Twi. Keep it going.”

Despite the adrenaline rush, she paused for a moment to evaluate the rest of the group.

Many were left standing. Dozens, in fact. She could take them all, sure, but how long would it take?

“Ugh… this is hugely inefficient,” she muttered aloud. With a big inhale, she bit her lip and raised both hands above her head.

A flood of lavender energy engulfed everything in the room —every table, chair, and person— and all of it suddenly rocketed straight up and crashed into the ceiling, leaving the floor completely empty. After holding them there for a moment, Twilight swung her arms downward; everything under her influence followed suit, and it all dropped to the floor with a deafening crash.

The entire place had been transformed from a modern lounge into a pile of debris. Smashed tables and chairs, splintered wood, and groaning bodies layered the carpet.

”NOICE!”

Twilight looked over her shoulder at the kitchen door, alerted by voices coming from beyond. “I think the guys in the kitchen heard that.”

”Uh, yeah. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say you’re probably right.”

“What should I do?”

”Just get outta there.”

She turned to face the door, brows furrowed beneath her mask. “Are you sure? I thought I was supposed to sneak ou—“

”Nah, fuck it. It’s too late for that now; just get your ass outta there.”

Twilight drew a deep breath. “OK,” she breathed. She rushed for the kitchen entrance, weaving between broken furniture and tangled limbs. She slammed through the door hands-first, much to the surprise of the fat chef and his helper.

“Whoa!” he shouted, backing up a step as the masked girl took the left side of the counter, opposite him.

She raised her hand as she charged, dousing the chef in her magic and levitating him from the floor. Using her other hand as a booster, she leapt onto the counter and slid across it on her backside, connecting both feet to his chest to knock him out of the air. He flew over the second counter, crashing through the pots and pans that hung from the racks.

Twilight landed in the center aisle and headed toward the second cook, who’d grabbed a knife and pointed it at her. Again, her hand raised as she approached, and a pot unhooked itself from the rack and rushed him from behind. It collided with the back of his head with a dull clang, causing him to drop the weapon as she swung her hand a second time, forcing him to bend to the side and bounce his head off the counter.

He staggered backwards, disoriented, and was then knocked to the ground when her heel swung up and slammed into his jaw. She ran right over him, stepping on his chest as she went, headed for the dark hallway that lead to her freedom.

After reaching the exit, she grabbed the handle, shoulder-checked the door open, and at last, made her escape.

Back in the alley, she made a hard right and ran past the dumpsters, cupping a hand over her earpiece. “I’m out!”

”Beautiful, Twi! Make the call!”

She rounded the corner into another alley, putting some distance between her and the soon-to-be under siege hotel. “Attention:” she announced, “Elvis has left the building. Repeat, Elvis has left the building. We are online; you may now begin.”

”Wooo-hoo! Giddyup, partner!”

“Marvelous, darling!”

“Nice work. We’ll see you at the checkpoint.”

Chapter 134: Get It Right, PERMEATE THEM!

Chapter 134

Two suited men stood, waiting for the elevator at the intersection of a long, luxurious hallway, surrounded by its dark wood and gold-laced walls, their polished shoes parked on a carpet of red, black and bronze.

“I take it you didn’t get invited to the dinner either?” one of them asked, breaking the silence as he glanced over at the other.

The other man glanced back, unable to help but gawk at the obscene tattoo of a spider web that covered the other man’s neck and cheek. “No,” he replied. “I’m supposed to head over to the Mane to see about a delivery.”

“Mm,” the tattooed man nodded. “No rest for the wicked, eh?”

“Yep.”

At the far end of the hall, unbeknownst to them, a spectre lied in wait: a sleek, strong figure wrapped in gleaming black, topped with a dark mask and a head of wildfire. Smooth amber cleavage poured from the V in the front of her outfit like the spout of a pitcher as she huddled deep in an alcove that housed a pair of vending machines, bright turquoise eyes peering out to watch the unsuspecting pair.

Just past them sat the elevator door, sealed shut like a vault while the indicator above crawled across the row of backlit numbers. The elevator was coming, and they would surely be watching its approach, hiding their impatience with forced silence.

This was the perfect time to strike.

She darted from her hiding spot and swooped toward the goons like a bad dream, her high-heeled boots padding silently along the carpet. She slowed her pace when she approached from behind and paused for a moment, reaching out with her hands to tap them both on the opposite shoulders.

Attentions drawn, they looked away from one another to see who had touched them while the black figure slunk between, putting herself between them and the elevator. Confused by finding no one there, they turned back to look at each other, but were shocked by the presence of the masked woman in tights.

She gave them no chance to react; her boot swung up and caught the jaw of the man on the left.

“Jeez!” the one with the spiderweb tattoo shouted as he plunged a hand into his suit jacket to produce his gun. Out it came, silencer and all, but its aim was thwarted when she grabbed his wrist to deflect it, followed by a swift chop to the throat.

He croaked noisily, stunned and defenseless as she took his wrist in both hands, turned her back to him and aimed the gun at the other man. The weapon fired with a soft thud, punching a hole in the other man’s thigh. Then she twisted the gunman’s arm around, forcing him to bend forward as the other man screamed and fell to one knee to cover the wound. She gripped the back of his neck with a bare hand, closed her eyes, and waited.

Seconds later, she opened them again and drove her knee into his face. Then she shoved him away, sending him staggering toward the wall next to the elevator door. He collided head-first with the wood and slid to the floor.

She turned her attention to the other man, being sure to note the position of the elevator as she went.

He was on his knees, panting deeply, teeth gritted. She approached, her eyes glaring sharply through that dark mask with a contrasting brightness that was downright unnerving. She reached out and placed her hands on his cheeks, closing her eyes as her mind invaded his, searching the cavities of his consciousness while he waited for her to strike, wondering what she was going to do to him—unaware that she was already doing it.

Without warning, she opened her eyes and then swung her face downward. Her forehead impacted his with a thud that echoed to the far end of the hall and back, then she dragged his unconscious body to the wall next to the elevator. He was abandoned there, straight across from his comrade.

She then sprinted past the elevator and headed down the right-hand hall, bursting through a door marked ‘STAIRS’ just a soft DING! rang out from the elevator, which had finally arrived.

The doors slid open, and a lone maid peered out from inside, brows furrowing when she saw no one waiting. The men had been placed out of sight after being knocked out, and the blood on the carpet was camouflaged by its red pattern, so the maid simply shrugged her shoulders, uttered a little ‘hm,’ and stared up at the ceiling as she waited for the doors to close again, tapping her fingers on the handle of her supply cart.

Knight Mare ascended several flights of stairs to distance herself from the carnage before finally stopping on a landing, next to a door that led into another hallway.

She needed to read more people; so far, her search for information about the top dogs in this gang had come up short. Someone around here had to know who was running this thing. Just as she was about to reach for the door handle, however, a voice entered her head through the earpiece.

”OK everyone, I apologise for the delay. There’s been a hold-up in the kitchen, apparently; they’re not telling me what happened yet, but apparently there was a scuffle in the lounge or something like that. HEH! We all know how those thugs can get when they get a few drinks into them, am I right? No big deal, I’m told. Dinner should be on the way soon, so just hold tight. In the meantime, we can get started with announcements.”

The banquet was beginning—the same banquet that was about to be crashed in a big way.

Knight Mare, placing her fingers to the earpiece, backed into the corner and crouched down to listen. Clearly, Twilight’s antics had thrown a wrench in their meal being on time, and they were still trying to figure out what had happened. They hadn’t yet figured out that the assault had come from an outside invader, nor had they figured out why their security system was acting glitchy, preventing them from seeing what exactly had taken place. Logically, they were keeping it under wraps until they knew more about it.

The time it would take for them to figure this out would give her and her team plenty of time to accomplish their mission—and to return the devastating blow that’d been dealt to Pinkie’s family. By the time these people would figure out what was happening, it would be far too late.

*****

“…Which gives us one of the best first quarters we’ve had for quite a few years,” said a suited man, standing before a sea of tables filled with people in many different styles of dress. Some were wearing suits, others looked like nothing more than filthy hoodrats. All, however, were surrounded by lavish place settings; fancy plates flanked by heavy silverware sat before them, with centerpieces of flowers and candles surrounded by a row of beautiful crystal wine glasses, one for each person seated.

Among those in attendance was a beige-skinned, purple-haired young woman, seated near the far corner, wearing a dark gray hoodie and torn jeans. Her eyes wandered the ballroom as the speaker continued, taking in the golden trim that surrounded the ceiling, broken by burgundy curtains that hung in hoops partway down the walls—except for where the windows on the wall behind her sat; they hung long and straight around the large grids of glass and framework, drawn partway shut to douse the city lights outside.

It was a simple arrangement, this space: rectangular in shape, with windows on one end only —that being the only exterior wall— and a set of double doors on the left side, opposite the low-set stage on the right, which was occupied by a long table with a DJ seated behind a laptop computer.

“That’s pretty good,” the speaker continued, “considering the traffic this time of year; although…” He paused for a moment, then cocked his head thoughtfully. “Convincing the city officials to remove all the supervised injection sites paid major dividends for us; people in recovery are bad for business, am I right?” he chuckled.

“What about the lost shipment from last year?” someone shouted from the far corner.

The speaker paused, his gaze settling onto the crowd as he prepared his response. After a brief moment, he looked into his wine glass and shook it to swirl the dark red liquid around. “I think it’s safe to say that that… rather large shipment is gone, which is unfortunate, because we lost a good chunk of money on that—not to mention a major market.”

“Where’s the little fucker that lost it?” another voice asked. “Did he make off with it or what?”

The speaker looked up and drew a breath. “We don’t know… but we will soon enough. It’s taken longer than we thought to track him down, but we’re hot on his trail. And when we find him, he’ll be having little a chat with the boss man himself…” —a grin slowly crept across the speaker’s face— “and I’m sure he’ll be delighted to answer any questions he may have for him.”

“Like: ‘how d’you wanna die!?’”

The speaker laughed. “Very possible, although the boss may not give him many choices on that.”

A soft roll of laughter drifted over the crowd as the speaker took a sip of wine, rolling his lips together as he sampled its flavour. Then he swallowed. “Speaking of young recruits, I have the honour of introducing a few here tonight—one in particular,” he said, gesturing toward the corner table.

Everyone’s attention shifted that way, onto the nervous, beige face of the young woman, whose wide eyes darted around rapidly.

“Gage came to us a little while back,” the speaker explained, glancing around the room. “I was skeptical at first —what with her being a woman and all— but after hearing about her military experience, I figured there might be a chance they’d made the right choice by bringing her on. Turns out... they did!”

Gage slouched down in her chair slightly, using her fingers to hook a purple lock behind her ear.

“Not long after joining, Gage came to me with some interesting information: apparently she happened to attend a little party over in Canterlot the previous night, and she pointed out that there were some substances being passed around there—and we all know what happens to people who bring foreign objects into our neighborhood, right?”

The speaker raised a hand to silence the soft murmur of chuckling that came from the crowd. “Now... normally, we would have let this one slide. Turns out it wasn’t a dealer, just a lone person with a little grow-op, but...” He paused with a little smirk. “Gage was kind enough to bring it to our attention, and since she was so eager to prove herself, I said to her, I said: ‘handle it.’ Show us what you got.”

The room was silent; all eyes were on the speaker as he looked over at her.

“And she did it.” He paused, shaking his head incredulously. “She fucking did it. She went back, walked right in and took every last one of that family out. BANG! BANG! BANG! Dead. Well… the one sister survived, but she knows nothing. And we’ll finish her off soon enough.”

A dry-sounding cackle rang out from the opposite end of the room when an emaciated woman with too much make-up and an ill-fitting, but revealing miniskirt decided to interject.

“You missed that pink piggy though, Gage! She got away Scott-free!” she laughed, using her thumb to push her nose up and oink like a pig.

A dozen or so people laughed at the frazzled woman, who Gage concluded must have been someone’s prostitute—probably a regular, since she seemed to know the inner workings of The Ministry. Possibly even a salesperson of sorts. She was right, though: one of the four sisters was absent that night. The one from the damn party—and her moron friend! It was a miscalculation on her part, and she would be careful not to make that mistake again. Everything else went well, though; and The Ministry seemed overall pleased by her performance.

The speaker nodded and shrugged. “Yeah, the fat one got away; you’re right. I’m sure she learned her lesson though.” He turned to Gage. “Unless you wanna go back to finish her off along with the injured sister?”

Gage shrugged and gave a blasé smirk.

“If she hasn’t killed herself by then,” he added with a chuckle. Then he raised his glass. “A toast.”

Everyone followed suit by raising their glasses.

“To our newest, and most promising enforcer. I see a bright future for you here with us—especially if you continue to show the kind of resolve you did that night.”

“Hear, hear!”

Glasses clinked together, and murmurs of conversation were exchanged.

“Alright,” said the speaker, after swallowing and then licking his lips. “What else is there to discuss while we wait for dinner?”

*****

Crouched down in the stairwell, Knight Mare took her fingertips from her earpiece and let her head fall back against the wall.

“Mother fuckers,” she whispered, shaking her head. “You there, Mistress?”

***

Outside, a black figure with a ghostly, pale face was perched on a ledge in one of the nooks of the building’s exterior, keeping an eye on the traffic far below while she listened carefully to the feed.

A familiar voice entered her ear.

“You there, Mistress?”

She drew a breath and peered up into the night sky, sapphire eyes piercing through her black mask. “I am, darling.”

”Did you hear that little talk just now?”

After a short pause, she looked back down to the street. “Every word.”

”These people are pieces of shit.”

“Indeed,” the Dark Mistress replied, shifting her position slightly. “I think it’s about time we teach them some manners, wouldn’t you say? How would you like to proceed?”

”The main objective is to get some ‘alone time’ with Gage. So either you get her out of that room so we can have a little chat her, or you get everyone ELSE out.”

She cocked her head. “I believe I shall choose option B: clear the room. Any suggestions on how to accomplish that?”

A long exhale sounded from her earpiece, followed by: ”After hearing that conversation, I would say with EXTREME PREJUDICE.”

The Dark Mistress narrowed her eyes. “Well now… that doesn’t sound like the tolerant and forgiving friend I’ve known all these years; are you certain your kind would approve of such a thing?”

”Well, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that the app might crash and I lose the video feed, which would mean I’ll be unaware of everything that’s going on in there—wink, wink.”

“Hm.” A playful smirk graced those full, frosty lips. “Very well, then. I shall make my descent. Wouldn’t wanna miss the ball now, would I?”

”Nope. You’d better get down there before you become a little more than fashionably late.”

The Mistress stood from her spot and turned to make her way to the nearest window when she was stopped again by her partner’s voice.

“Oh, and one other thing...”

The Dark Mistress paused, glancing down at the street. “Yes?”

“Pay special attention to that whore that called Pinkie a fat pig. Make sure she gets a send-off that leaves a bad taste in The Ministry’s mouth for years to come.”

The pale vigilante smiled. “Not to worry, darling. I see a closed-casket affair in the very near future for her.”

Chapter 135: Break Their Pride, DEVASTATE THEM!

Author's Note

Chapter 135: Break Their Pride, DEVASTATE THEM!

Chapter 135

The banquet hall was filled with the low murmur of conversation. Tablefuls of career criminals conversed about any number of topics —some halfway decent, others not so much— over glasses of wine and craft beers, served by the hotel’s busy catering staff in an attempt to keep the guests content as they waited for dinner to arrive late.

It was well past 10:30pm when a polite knock sounded from the set of double doors that resided on the west wall. After a quick glance toward the sound, one of the caterers set the wine bottle they were holding on ice and slung a towel over their shoulder to approach the door in haste, relieved that the dinner carts had finally arrived.

Upon opening the door, however, he was confused to find a lone woman instead. No carts, no chef, just this mystery person wearing a long, brown coat and a dark fedora. The coat’s collar was popped and her head was lowered to keep her face concealed, hands buried in her pockets. The only things visible were the tall, black boots protruding from the beneath the tails of her coat —which was tied closed— and a small patch of bare chest, coloured in pale alabaster and visible through the opening at the top.

The caterer glanced down the hall in both directions before looking down at her, seeing only the top of her hat. “Can I help you?”

“Perhaps it is I who can help you, darling,” the woman replied, keeping her head down. “I’ve been summoned by your employer to provide a bit of… ahem, entertainment? ... while your guests await their dinner—which I am sorry to hear has fallen dreadfully behind schedule.”

“Oh!” The caterer’s mouth dropped open. He was surprised to hear this, but was relieved that help had arrived to distract the guests. He’d already had a knife pulled on him by someone demanding their steak; surely there would be more threats before the night was over. “OK, sure. C’mon in,” he said as he stepped aside, gesturing for her to enter.

“Ah, much appreciated. Thank you.” She strode confidently into the room, her face hidden under the hat and collar, hands still buried in her pockets.

The door was promptly closed as her heels clopped along the hard floor, and the server retrieved the bottle from the ice bucket to make his way to the next table.

As the mysterious figure weaved her way toward the center of the room, the speaker —who sat close to the DJ table— took notice of her presence and stood, glaring inquisitively. “Uh, excuse me…?”

She stopped dead in her tracks, face still obscured.

“To what do we owe the pleasure?” the speaker asked, picking his glass up to take a sip.

“I was invited here to entertain your guests,” she replied from under the hat. “Do you... object to this?”

“Why the sneaky get-up?” he asked. “What are you, some kind of stripper?”

Her reply was a soft giggle. “Perhaps.”

Smirking, he swung a finger her way. “Well? Let’s have a look at you; let’s see what they sent us.”

“As you wish,” she said, removing her hands from her pockets to unravel the belt and then flip the coat from her shoulders. It fell to the floor around her feet, revealing a slender body wrapped in a black, skin-tight outfit. The guests had only a moment to take in the blue diamonds on her hips, the milky-white cleavage that sat nearly bursting from the valley of the outfit’s low-cut front, and the sharp collars that projected outwards and hung above her shoulders before she brought one hand up to flip the hat from her head and throw it into the center of an adjacent table.

A number of wolf whistles and thirsty groans came from the surrounding tables as the room beheld the mysterious woman in all her glory: a lovely face, it’s upper half hidden behind a shiny, black mask, a sly, confident smirk covered in jet-black lipstick, bright sapphire eyes that sparkled beneath the chandeliers overhead, and a substantial head of indigo locks, tied tightly behind her head.

“OWW!” one of the scruffier-looking men howled from a corner table, followed by some gruff laughter and a number of rather tasteless catcalls from others.

“Lookit that!”

“Take it off, baby!”

A table directly behind her was pounded by an excited fist, and she turned to find a spiky-haired individual with a number of facial piercings staring shamelessly at her backside, which, to be fair, did look quite amazing wrapped in that smooth, black material.

Knowing this, she glanced around the room, lips pursed. As much as she enjoyed being the center of attention —being ogled like the goddess that she was— she had expected more of an awed hush upon revealing herself.

“Hm,” she mumbled. “I keep forgetting that I’m a bit out of my jurisdiction here. I suppose none of you are aware of my work.” She laced her gloved fingers together and began to saunter between the tables, letting her hips swing as she moved. “You may be disappointed to learn that I am, in fact, not an exotic dancer, nor will you be seeing any more of me than you already are. I apologise if this does not please you; if you are disappointed, or are not interested in learning why I have made myself present here, you may leave now.”

She gestured at the door when she said this, drawing a number of confused glances to it before coming back to her again.

No one got up to leave.

“Tsk, tsk…” She shook her head. “Brave souls, refusing such a generous offer—a decision you will come to regret, I’m sure.”

This generated a few scowls, as well as some whispers between members.

She resumed wandering amongst the tables, glancing around at the guests. Then she raised a finger. “Now, I know I said that I’m not a dancer, but that doesn’t mean I am no fun; do any of you, by chance, enjoy magic?” She paused to look around a silent room. “No? So you’re telling me that something like this wouldn’t tickle your fancy?”

She raised her hands, pointing one at the windows and one at the doors. With a bright flash, both openings were suddenly encased in a thick layer of impenetrable gemstone, transforming the place from a banquet hall to an inescapable fortress in an instant.

As everyone gaped at the new architecture, one man began to clap, but then slowed to a stop when several others gave him a bemused look.

“Impressive, wouldn’t you agree?” the Dark Mistress gloated, smirking at the crowd. “Now then, on with the show.”

“What the hell is this?” the speaker interrupted, having finally lost his patience.

She whirled around to lock eyes with him. “Ah-ah!” She taunted, wagging a finger in the air. “We’ll get to that in a moment, but first: I have a short story to regale you with.” She took a few steps more, rubbing her chin while looking around the place once again. “This was first told many years ago, by one David Foster Wallace, and it goes as follows:

”‘There are two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says: “Morning boys, how’s the water?” The two young fish swim on for a bit, and eventually one of them looks over at the other and says, “what the hell is water?”’”

She took a moment to chuckle at herself while everyone else watched in silence. An awkward tension was beginning to grow throughout the place.

“Oh my, so clever,” she giggled, before becoming serious again. “But what does it mean?” she asked, rubbing her hands together as she resumed her stalking. “Simply put, often times the most obvious and important realities can be the hardest to see—or discuss. And why shouldn’t they be? In some cases they surround us at all times —like the air we breathe, or the warmth that comforts us— but they are invisible to the naked eye, and so we tend to take them for granted. And yet... without them, we would perish.”

She paused for a moment, but then continued to amble, her heels clopping on the floor like gunshots in the cavernous silence.

“Some of us have epiphanies in regards to these things, for numerous reasons—perhaps a near-death experience, or a terrible illness.” She spun on her heel to head back the way she came. “In the past year, I’ve had a realisation of my own; a realisation that has made me very aware of a quaint little thing called... ‘time.’

“Sure, we are all aware of it. We know what it is. We set our watches to it, we use it to keep appointments, we understand its structure—we even theorise the possibility of controlling it, despite the fact that we cannot. Yet. Now…” She brought her hands together and squeezed them, sucking on her bottom lip as she took a moment to glance around the room. “Although we are aware of time and are able to measure it, like the fish and the water, most of us have failed to grasp the sheer gravity of it.

“Like water to the fish, time is always there. It surrounds us, it keeps us afloat, its current carries us along. We cannot fight it, and we cannot disobey it; to swim against the current is not possible, and we are likely to destroy ourselves trying. And yet, we seem helpless to understand its importance.” She raised a finger. “I have come to realise the indestructible finality of time in recent months: its ability to take us from conception to the grave, and then to continue on as if we never existed.

“What is done… cannot be undone.

“This is what the average person fails to truly grasp: that time is infinite. We are limited. A moment passed is a moment spent, and it cannot be relived. Once it is behind us, it is gone forever. This is a fact of life —and it should be an obvious one— yet, everyday, I see people wasting it as if there’s an unlimited supply just for them. They take it for granted. They squander it on petty disputes and frivolous pursuits of recognition across social media, not realising that the time they spend with their noses buried in their touch-screen prisons is lost forever in page-after-page of the useless history they concoct, and they go on shuffling about like zombies, sleepwalking to the gallows like brain-dead fools. Instead, they could use it to create something fantastic, to spread joy, to hold someone’s hand to make them feel warm—or to make love to them. Sadly, so much time goes to waste, and it cannot be exchanged for anything greater.”

She paused for a moment to draw a deep breath. Then she scanned the crowd again, her eyes sharpening, jaw clenching.

“This alone causes me frustration, but what irks me much more… is when I see the crooks of society engage in the thievery of other people’s time.” She shook her head, heels clopping along the floor as all eyes watched her every move. “Unfortunately, there are people who endeavour to cut short the precious time of others for their own gain—for money, or power… or simply because they are sick. Or evil. They exploit the power of addiction to manipulate innocent people into being their unwilling patrons, uncaring of the damage they cause to their lives, to their families, or to the community itself.

“And for what? Money to buy a worthless hunk of gasoline-powered metal? A fancy mansion with an indoor pool? Pfft! How about a high-class hotel, a glamorous façade to hide their filthy dealings? Are the lives of countless others worth all this?”

Many brows began to crease when she crossed into this line of reasoning. These people did not appear to appreciate being lectured by some masked harpy.

Nevertheless, she continued, indifferent to their dismay.

“For shame,” she scolded, shaking her head slowly. “It is not an even trade-off; not by a long shot. You destroy the lives of others and rob them of their precious time, for coloured paper stamped with numbers, or a figure on a screen. How selfish!” She stopped in the center of the room, shifting her weight onto one leg as she glanced around at the sea of eyes, all growing with anger. With a click of her tongue, she gave her head another shake.

“Silly. You take one of the most important things in existence from others, and you can’t even keep it for yourself. The days you’ve stolen? They cannot be spent like the sodden cash you’ve attained; no, they simply fall like sand through the hourglass. Wasted and destroyed, it cannot be recovered. And you are no better for it. Such waste sickens me, and the punishment I intend to exact upon you will be swift and severe—for that which you take from others… I can take from you. Is this hypocritical? Perhaps. But consider this: many of the lives you’ve ruined were innocent. Yours, however, are not. And to that, I say: vengeance is bliss.”

She gestured to the barricaded windows and doors as she locked her sapphire gaze onto the beige-skinned girl sitting in the corner, who instinctively broke eye contact and looked down at the table.

“Like this room, you cannot escape time, anymore than your victims could. You can try to run, you can try to hide, but inevitability will find you, one way or another. Time is relentless. It will always give chase; and when you are weary, it will creep up from behind, ruthless... and indifferent. You cannot run forever, because time waits for no one…”

She paused briefly, letting a smirk curl the corner of her mouth.

“…except for me.”

She spun around and pointed a finger at the clock that hung above the stage, the hands of which were both pointed at the eleven. “Now then, if I could bring your attention to the clock; I shall teach you all the value of a minute. Observe the time, please.” She gave them a few seconds to glance at the clock before continuing. “Here’s how this is going to work: by the time that clock strikes the eleventh hour, I shall be alone in this room.” She withdrew her finger and held it next to her temple, mouth open and smiling. “But here’s the kicker: none of you will be leaving.”

The room fell into a vacuous state that could almost make one’s ears implode. The Dark Mistress took a quick glance to her left, and then to the right. “Does everyone understand?”

The question was met with more of the same still, uneasy silence.

She responded with a nod. “Good. Then we can begin.”

With that, her arms shot outward as each hand was enveloped in a flash of light, and she was suddenly armed with two long, translucent sabres, their edges sparkling under the lights that hung above.

The gangsters were not unprepared, however; during the speech they’d readied themselves for action. Many of them sprang to their feet when she made her move, weapons drawn. Without hesitation, they filled the room with the deafening roar of gunfire.

The Mistress responded quickly, ducking her head and crossing the blades above her head. A shimmering dome of flawlessly cut diamond appeared, surrounding her like a cocoon.

Bullets pinged and ricocheted off its surface and scattered throughout the room, piercing walls, curtains, and flesh. Forced to duck down to avoid being wounded, they ceased fire while others scrambled for cover, hollering in fear —and in some cases, agony— while the speaker yelled at his henchmen to hold their fire.

It was then that the glittering dome vanished, and the woman in black charged forward, blades ready. She dove across the nearest table, drilling through the air with her swords outstretched like a razor-sharp cyclone, slicing the table and its occupants into thin parts with little resistance.

She landed just beyond the table, somersaulting across the floor between the next two tables as the one she’d just leapt over collapsed into a heap of splintered wood and flesh, bathed in a mix of blood and wine.

As she rolled up into a sitting position, she swung her swords outward to cut the legs out from under the chairs on either side of her. They fell backwards, dumping their occupants onto the floor, and she quickly buried a blade in each of their chests, using them as crutches to pull herself to her feet again. At the table directly in front of her, a man had kicked his chair out and whirled around to face her, brandishing a handgun. He took aim, but she’d already swung her foot up by then, kicking the weapon to the side just as he fired.

Sent askew, the round sailed across the room toward the DJ table, where it found it’s new home inside the maestro’s temple. His head snapped back under the impact and then he slumped forward, landing on his laptop keyboard, which inadvertently selected a new track as the weight of his head came to rest on the volume button, causing the percentage bar to fill all the way to the top.

The soft plucking of what sounded like a harp filled the spaces between gunfire, building slowly in volume as the slender, black figure mowed its way through the crowd with unnerving efficiency, flinging blood, shreds of clothing and flesh this way and that.

Several people flinched when a loud BWAAAAAAAAA! blared from the room’s sound system, though most were too distracted by the murderous rampage to notice it. After another round of quiet notes, the buzz sounded again, and was eventually accompanied by the crash of cymbals and then a voice shouting a single word:

”SAIL!”

With a beat now established, the song was fully underway, giving a soundtrack to the macabre spectacle that slowly made its way through the room. Hands brandishing guns were lopped off, as were heads—or sometimes only the scalp. Bodies were impaled, legs were swept away, and intestines were spilt. She did not discriminate. She did not favour anyone. It mattered little whether her victim was wearing a suit or ripped jeans and a T-shirt, or if they were a man or woman.

No one was spared, and their signatures of resignation had begun to accumulate on the Dark Mistress’ cheeks and chest; dots of crimson peppered her pale skin as her attacks began to synch unintentionally with the song’s tempo.

🎵This is how I show my love...🎵

That pair of blades flailed mercilessly —seemingly out of control, but in fact hitting their marks with frightening precision— dismantling yet another body amidst the screams of terror and pain. She continued her sabre-dance around the next table, towards the fortified window.

Just as she approached the table of her primary target, a deafening BANG rang out immediately behind her. A spray of metal collided with the back of her head with such force that she was knocked off balance, causing her to stagger forward. Everyone nearby tried to maintain some distance, making sure to keep clear of her blades as she fought to stabilize herself.

To everyone’s horror, the strike hadn’t felled her; in fact, once she regained her foothold, she spun around to face her attacker. The blast had blown the ribbon that tied her hair to pieces, letting those dark, flowing locks fall free. It swung in a wide swath when she turned, surrounding her face and shoulders with long, silky strips of indigo.

Facing her was a man holding a sawed-off twelve-gauge, smoke pouring from its barrel. She cocked her head and scowled through her mask at him, causing his eyes to widen as he watched her use the heel of her hand to wipe away the hair that’d stuck to the blood on her cheek.

Too far away to reach him with her weapon, she swung a blade at the floor. A large, sparkling slab sprang up beneath his feet in response, and he was catapulted into the air, almost to the ceiling. As he sailed across the room, the Mistress raised her arm and flung one of the sabres, which skewered him in mid-air before he dropped again. He crashed through a table when he landed, causing everyone in the area to scatter.

She turned back to face a tattooed punk who’d raised a chair with foolish intentions of trying to attack her from behind. Undaunted, she raised her right arm and a large, convex shield appeared on her forearm, blocking the attack. The chair smashed to bits and fell to the floor, leaving him standing with a broken piece of wood in each hand. She then moved the shield aside and countered with a quick thrust from her left hand, running him through the chest with the sword.

A pistol was pointed at her from the right, to which she responded by quickly raising the shield next to her head. The bullet bounced off and punched a hole in the forehead of a woman to his right; after watching her crumple to the floor, he looked back at the Dark Mistress just in time to see the shield coming at him sideways. Its razor-sharp edge buried itself deep into his face, separating his forehead from the bridge of his nose.

The strike had now lodged the shield in his skull. Unable to pull it free, she raised a leg and drove her boot into his chest, ripping the shield free and letting him fall back over a chair with a gaping trench in his face where his eyes once sat.

Finding the weapon cumbersome, the Mistress decided to rid her self of it by winding up and throwing it like a discus. It sailed through the air like a flying saucer, heading straight for a man in a blue suit, who saw it coming just in time to duck, letting the hapless lady behind him get beheaded by it instead.

He stood slowly, looking over his shoulder to watch the elegantly-dressed body crumple to the floor. Then he turned to face the Mistress again, only to find her blade rocketing toward him. It buried itself in his left eye, the point bursting from the back of his head as the sabre passed through, stopping only when the hilt hit his face.

Now disarmed, the Dark Mistress found herself in need of a new weapon, so she held her right hand above her head to conjure one.

Blinding light pierced the air above her, its beam long and narrow. It subsided quickly, and in her hand was a long, straight staff that she held in the center. Each end consisted of a blade much like the sabres she’d been using before, however these were attached end-to-end by the handles. The weapon was longer than she was tall, and she showcased it by bringing it down and twirling it around like a propeller, much like a certain red-faced character that she remembered seeing in that one space film as a child.

She held it behind her back and paused, smirking as she looked around at the crowd, who stood back and watched with faces filled with terror.

Without warning, the masked woman charged Gage’s table with the six-foot blade poised for action. Using both hands, she whirled it around like a walking blender, hacking the beige-skinned girl’s tablemates to pieces. Gage’s chair faced the corner behind her, and with nowhere to run, she panicked, froze and closed her eyes, shielding her face with her forearms as she waited for the end, hoping it wouldn’t be too painful.

To her surprise however, the sound of screams, falling bodies and that blade whipping through the air seemed to be moving away. Now hearing only the song as it blared from the speakers, Gage cautiously opened her eyes to look, and was surprised to see the murderous spectre continuing on in the other direction, cutting a bloody path though the crowd as she went.

She released the breath she didn’t realise she’d been holding, unsure if she should allow herself the luxury of feeling relief. Had she been cut and not realised it? Looking down, Gage ran her hands around her front. When no wounds were found, she looked up at the Mistress again, brows furrowed.

Why had she been spared?

Confused, she watched with a churning stomach as more of her comrades became corpses, dismembered by this violent horror film villain—deadly, cold, and indestructible. Then a thought suddenly struck the young survivor: this wasn’t the first time she’d encountered a being like this…

🎶Blame it on my ADD, baby!🎶

The song chugged forward as the Mistress ploughed through to the far end of the room, butchering everything in her path. None of these people expected to get their comeuppance like this, and not on this night—and certainly not with such an unexpectedly haunting melody filling their ears. Not one of these people would have suspected it’d become the sound of their doom, the anthem of their demise, accompanying them to the grave before the night was through.

Tables, chairs and humans alike were sliced to bits, their blood flinging from the tips of that long blade, warming the masked warrior’s face as it sprinkled her skin. With a slight gap carved out, she paused when she noticed a slamming sound across the room, coming from the west wall. A lone man in a suit was swinging a chair at the diamond barrier that covered the doors in a desperate attempt to break free.

The Dark Mistress shook her head and rolled her eyes. Deciding to put an end to his panic, she hoisted the weapon above her head, wound her arm up and then launched it across the room like a spear. It hit its mark dead center of his back, impaling him.

He immediately dropped the chair and looked down at himself, stunned by the sight of three feet worth of blade protruding from his chest. He turned to face the rest of room, mouth hanging open as he met the eyes of his assailant. He convulsed suddenly, and after a stream of blood poured from his mouth, collapsed onto his side.

With a stern expression, the Mistress turned her attention back to the remaining group, which had mostly gathered in the far corner, by the north wall. They exchanged glances with her for a moment, and then watched in terror as she raised her fists in front of her face.

With a flash like that of a camera, the gloved knuckles of the Mistress each found themselves equipped with a trio of twelve-inch claws—translucent, blue, and sparkling with ominous beauty.

Needless to say, the crowd looked unsettled by this, but they had little time to imagine what she had in store for them before she charged, stepping up onto a chair and then a tabletop, which she sprinted across before diving headlong into the group, claws first.

A roar of panicked screams broke out as she slashed and sliced about, disfiguring, dismembering, removing terrified faces with her nimble new weapons. Individuals tried to slip away to no avail; a kicked chair would trip them up, and then they would suffer the agony of either three or six blades buried in their chest or abdomen, or worse yet, having their throats gashed open, after which they would bleed out and expire rather quickly.

After driving a high-heel into the jaw of one last tattooed punk, followed by a punch to his underarm to pierce his heart and lungs, she yanked the claws free and had a look around as her latest victim collapsed to the floor.

A couple of strays were making their way toward the door, thinking in error that they could make an exit, slipping and stumbling along the bloody floor as they went. Only one person remained in the north corner: a woman, wearing a wrinkled miniskirt that hung from her bony frame, held up by an asymmetrical set of phony breasts. A pair of wide, thickly-lined eyes stared out from beneath her frizzy, two decades out-of-style hairdo.

The Mistress fixed her gaze on the petrified hooker, her face streaked with gleaming crimson. Holding the claws at her sides, she took an imposing stride towards the woman, who staggered backwards until she bumped into the table behind her, her whimpers of terror inaudible under the sound of piano that now filled the room.

🎵La, la-la, la-la... la, la-la, la-la OH!🎵

Shaking her head frantically, the woman raised a hand in defense, her pleas for mercy lost in a mess of stuttering and cries.

“We shall see who the pig is,” the Mistress barked as she approached swiftly. “Let me hear you squeal!”

The woman leaned back, holding her hand out. “No… no! Please!”

Her blubbering went ignored by the masked killer, who raised her right hand and swung her claws across to the left. They passed through the woman’s forearm like warm butter, and her hand fell to the floor as the Mistress followed through with the attack, spinning in a full circle and bringing her foot up on the way around to strike the hooker across the face with her heel.

”SAIL!”

The woman spun around after the impact and found herself sprawled across the table, blood leaking from her stump onto the tablecloth.

The Dark Mistress wasted no time in continuing the assault. She quickly reached up and raked the claws down the woman’s back from neck to tailbone, splitting her skin all the way down.

The escort arched and threw in head back, letting out a raspy screech as unbearable pain rang through her body.

Her attacker showed little remorse, however. She grabbed her shoulder and spun her around to plant a hard backhand across her face; she stumbled back and fell to her knees, but was stopped from falling to the floor by the Mistress, who’d caught her by the shoulder and was now holding her in place.

”SAIL!”

She leaned close, putting her masked and blood-splattered face close to her victim.

“That… ‘piggy’… has been a dear friend of mine since we were children,” the Mistress explained on a low tone. “Making light of her not being murdered with her family —and then insulting her appearance— has earned you a special place in hell, darling.”

🎶Sail with me, into the da-ark...🎶

Panting heavily, the prostitute’s eyes widened when she saw the masked woman wind her arm back. The Dark Mistress then delivered a mighty uppercut to the woman’s chin. Her body stiffened and shook when the tips of the three claws protruded from the top of her head, passing just behind those staring eyes as they glazed over, draining rapidly of what little life remained.

”SAIL!”

With a scowl on her face, the Mistress released the woman’s shoulder, letting her weight hang from the claws that threaded through her head. The blades were too sharp to support her weight, however, and they began to slip forward until they broke through her face, leaving behind three ruts that ran from chin to forehead as she fell to the floor, dead as dead can be.

The masked vigilante stood. There were only two gang members left, not including her primary target. They were sure to keep their distance, though; whenever she moved, they would move in the opposite direction. She rolled her eyes at this, knowing that their attempts to evade her were futile—nothing more than a sad waste of time.

After an exasperated sigh, she wound her right arm up and, after a quick flash, flung a dagger-like projectile at one of the remaining men. It happened too fast for him to react, and before he knew it, the spike had buried itself in his forehead. Stunned by this, the last survivor watched in shock as his associate crumpled to the ground, wasting valuable seconds that the Mistress used to conjure up a second projectile, which ended up buried in his own temple an instant later.

The room was empty now, other than Gage and the Mistress herself.

Crouched behind a chair, the beige-skinned girl watched helplessly, her racing heart stricken with terror as the masked woman glanced around the room for a moment, admiring her handywork. There were bodies, limbs and entrails everywhere. There were smashed tables, broken chairs, torn table cloths and shattered dishes strewn about.

And there was blood. Everywhere. An ocean of it, in fact, covering the floor in a layer of slippery, crimson warmth, soaked into everything.

After taking in the carnage, the women both looked up at one another.

Gage had locked eyes with the Mistress a second or two sooner, giving her enough time to take in the state of her appearance: the black material of her suit glistened with a red hue, and her face and chest were obscured, her formerly ivory-white skin completely covered in crimson. Her hair was matted and sticky; blood dripped from the ends of her locks, nose and chin, and from the tips of her claws.

Just as Gage was becoming hypnotised by the red droplets, falling softly to the ground as the song faded into silence, her heart froze like ice when the Mistress’ eyes suddenly rose to meet hers. Such a stare might have been the most frightening thing the young woman had ever witnessed; those sapphire eyes seemed to bore a hole directly into her very existence, their whites the only things not covered in blood. As such, they stood out from beneath that mask as though they were glowing.

After a tense moment, the Dark Mistress pursed her lips and blew, spraying the drops of blood that hung from her nose before slowly turning to glance at the clock, prompting Gage to follow suit.

It was 11:00pm.

With a bloody smirk, she returned her eyes to her frightened prey. “Hm… I suppose I’m not completely alone, am I? After all, you’re still standing.”

Gage stared back in silence for a moment, forcing a scrap of courage to the surface to speak. “W-why me?” she asked, jaw trembling. “Why didn’t you kill me too?”

“An excellent question,” the Mistress replied, raising a finger—which was accompanied by those bloody claws. “I have been instructed to keep you in one piece for the time being, as the others would like to have a little chat with you. Nevertheless, I think I’ll first indulge myself a little bit, of course.”

Gage straightened up slightly, brows furrowed. “How?”

“You and I are going to have ourselves a little dance.”

That beige tone quickly drained from Gage’s face. “Dance?”

“Not to worry, darling,” the Mistress said. “I’m not a complete monster; I am willing to, at the very least, give you a fighting chance.” She held her fists up, and the claws suddenly vanished.

Gage gave a sideways look and then shook her head. “Now… j-just wait a minute…”

“Oh, come now, it’ll be fun!” The Mistress giggled as she made her way around the left side of the table.

“No!” The beige-skinned girl shuffled around to the right, keeping herself directly across from her adversary. “I don’t wanna fight you! I’ll talk to your people, but I’m not gonna—“

“I’m afraid you do not have a choice, my dear,” the masked woman said as she advanced further, prompting Gage to continue evading her.

They stopped again; caught in a stalemate, they stared across at one another—Gage’s expression one of apprehension, her stalker’s one of exuberance. After a short face-off, the Dark Mistress poised herself to head the opposite direction, and Gage began to retreat as expected. This prompted the masked woman to make her move, and she stepped up onto the adjacent chair to give chase.

Unexpectedly, Gage seized the opportunity to gain the upper hand; she’d faked her retreat, figuring that her enemy would have to go over the chair in order to follow her. The ploy worked, and she quickly darted back to kick another chair towards the Mistress as she stepped down, causing her to adjust her descent to avoid tripping herself.

She landed somewhat awkwardly and rolled her foot—an injury that would put an ordinary person at a severe disadvantage. She stumbled to her left, unhurt, but having to catch her balance by leaning on the adjacent table.

When she turned to see where Gage was, she found the girl charging full speed, shoulder first. Stepping back, she avoided the attack and swung a right hook, but again, Gage was slicker than expected; she caught the Mistress’ forearm and yanked it over her shoulder, hip-tossing the masked woman onto the table.

The Mistress’ bloody frame slammed onto the table, face up. Gage wasted no time in bearing down on her, hammering her throat and face with a closed fist. This had no effect, much to Gage’s dismay, and the masked woman brought her knee up and drove it into her opponent’s forehead.

Grunting noisily, Gage turned and staggered away, clutching her face with blood-smeared hands as the Mistress reached toward the floor, slipped off and cart-wheeled from the table to pursue the other girl.

Hearing footsteps approaching, Gage took her hands from her face in time to see a black fist rushing towards her. She turned to sidestep the jab and countered with a backhand—which was the only attack she could manage from this position.

Anticipating this, the Mistress ducked and spun on her heel; her other foot swung up, and Gage, having nowhere to retreat with a table close behind, took a bloody, black high-heel to the chin and was knocked straight off her feet. She flipped over backwards, landing on the table with her legs before slipping off to the floor, head first, with a heavy thud.

She paused after rising to her hands and knees, teeth gritted as her face and neck throbbed with pain. Her clothes had become smeared with blood, and although this disgusted her, she was more worried about the Mistress’ whereabouts.

Wincing, she forced herself to look around. Her search wasn’t long; the masked girl was standing back, watching, waiting for her to return to her feet. Looking at the floor again, she gave her head a shake, wishing for anything but to continue this hopeless fight.

With a sigh, she rose to one knee, and then grasped the edge of the table to pull herself up.

The Mistress waved her over. “Again!”

Gage hung her head and exhaled. Then, after steeling herself, she drew a breath and stepped away from the table, leaving its protective support behind. Being careful not to slip, she approached the masked girl and brought her left foot up for a kick, followed by a hard jab with her right.

The Mistress countered rather casually, raising her leg to kick Gage’s foot back down and then throwing a punch of her own, which met the knuckles of her adversary with a dull thud.

Gage barely had time to yelp and grab her fist when a second jab from the Mistress found its mark on her throat, causing her to stagger back and cough violently. She doubled over, trying to catch her breath; this was a mistake, she soon learned, as the Dark Mistress used the opportunity to grab her hair and yank her forward.

Grabbing those bloody, gloved hands, Gage let out a shriek as she was swung around in a circle before being flung into a chair. She stumbled over it, falling onto her hands and face on the blood-soaked floor as the chair clattered over behind her, entangled in her legs.

Groaning, she slowly turned over, her body aching. After kicking the chair off, she sat up to face the Mistress, who was patiently standing by, waiting for the next round. Drawing a deep breath, Gage steeled herself and, feeling her clothes becoming soaked in blood from beneath her, stood once again, slowly.

The pair stood for a moment and watched each other, after which the Dark Mistress cocked her head.

“You look weary.”

Gage sneered and looked down at herself. She was about to bring her hand up to touch her bottom lip, which was stinging profusely —she was pretty sure it’d been split wide open—but she stopped, noticing that her hand was covered with blood. She looked back at the Mistress and exhaled.

“Hm. I am surprised, actually,” the masked woman said, taking a step closer as she rubbed her hands together, noticing how sticky they’d become. “I must commend you. You did better than expected; you showed cleverness, resourcefulness and bravery—it’s too bad you won’t use those traits for good, rather than murdering an innocent family.”

Gage froze, her eyes locked with the blue irises of her adversary.

“Yes. I know what you’ve done,” the Mistress said. “It is precisely why I’m here.”

The beige girl watched her for a moment, and then, looking defeated, lowered her head and closed her eyes.

The Mistress dipped her head to look at the other girl’s face. “I take it you no longer wish to spar with me?”

After a pause, Gage slowly looked up and shook her head.

The Mistress stuck her nose in the air. “As you wish.”

And with that, she quickly raised one hand, materialised a sword and slashed Gage’s left knee with it, causing her to shriek with pain as she dropped to the floor.

Chapter 136: Take No Prisoners, CREMATE THEM!

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 138: It's the Canterlot Movie Club!

Chapter 138

The noisy old V8’s rumble coughed into silence.

“Alright, whadda y’all wanna watch?” Apple Bloom asked, peering through the dirty windshield at the marquee from behind the wheel of her big sister’s truck.

Both Sweetie Belle —who was sitting in the middle seat— and Scootaloo narrowed their eyes as they scanned the large, backlit sign.

“Not ‘Star Wars,’” Scootaloo said quickly.

Apple Bloom shrugged. “Well, what then?”

“What about ‘The Unfortunate Pregnancy of Teen Medusa?’” Sweetie Belle suggested.

“Ugh!” Scootaloo stuck her tongue out. “Modern horror movies suck. Next!”

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. “You scared, Scoots?”

Scootaloo scowled. “What? No, that shit doesn’t scare me! I… uh, I just think that Hollywood’s… lost touch with what makes a horror movie good.”

“OK, sure. Whatever.” The ivory-skinned girl folded her arms and sat back. “What else is there then?”

Apple Bloom sighed. “I wish we could text Pinkie Pie. She always knows what’s good!”

The other two girls looked at her.

“What?” the farm girl asked awkwardly.

“Do you think we should?” Scootaloo asked.

Apple Bloom scrunched her face, deep in thought. “We shouldn’t,” she finally said. “She’s goin through some tough times right now; prolly best ta leave ‘er be.”

Sweetie Belle huffed impatiently, slapping her hands on her lap. “Can we go inside to talk about this!? It stinks in here!”

“No it don’t!” Apple Bloom fired back.

“It kinda does, actually,” Scootaloo agreed. “Like butts or something.”

“Ugh… fine. We ain’t gonna figure nothin out sittin in here anyway.” The farm girl reached across the cab and opened the glove box. “Phones.”

The other girls glared at her, confused. “What?” they said in unison.

Apple Bloom shook her head. “Ya ain’t bringin yer phones inta the theatre—not this time.” She pointed at the open compartment. “Put ‘em in there.”

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. “I’m not leaving my phone out here for someone to steal. We’ll just turn them off, OK?”

Apple Bloom stood her ground. “Do I look like a nitwit ta y’all? I ain’t fallin fer that one again—and no one’s gonna steal ’em. They won’t even know they’re there.”

After a silent stalemate, Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “Fiiiiine,” she growled, pulling her phone out and tossing it into the compartment. Sweetie Belle followed suit with much reluctance, and the three of them climbed out of the old truck to make their way through the chilly parking lot to the theatre lobby, the style of which was modeled after an Aztec temple.

It was Tuesday, February the 21st—the same February 21st that the young trio’s older sisters had, for reasons unknown, left town to visit a certain hotel in the big city. It also happened to be cheap night at the Canterlot Cinema, so the three friends had decided to catch a flick, not expecting such a lackluster choice of titles.

Eventually, they settled on an unfunny-looking comedy and, after a visit to the concession stand, entered the auditorium to find their seats.

It was close to 11:00pm when the movie ended. The crowd had begun to spill into the lobby with three disappointed-looking young ladies amongst them. They stood near the wall and studied the movie poster while discussing it, waiting for everyone else to disperse.

Then they made their way to the washrooms once the traffic had thinned.

“Yep, that sure was a bust,” Apple Bloom said as she pushed through the door and entered the turquoise-coloured room, its walls and floor lined with tiny tiles that formed a mosaic of waves at a beach, locked in a motionless crash from one side to the other.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo approached the row of sinks that lined the left-hand wall, while Sweetie Belle entered one of the stalls and closed the door behind her.

Sighing, Scootaloo leaned on the counter with her back, arms folded. “Yeah… I was hoping it would be one of those ‘hidden gem’ kind of movies, but no.”

“If it is, they sure hid it good,” the farm girl replied, glancing toward the stalls when a hollow trickle echoed from within. “Sweetie Belle had the right idea, spendin half the movie in here.”

“Oh, god!” the ivory-skinned girl’s groan came from inside the booth. “I had to piss like five times during that!”

“That’s cuz ya drank too much pop!” Apple Bloom scolded, directing her ire at the pair of feet that were visible under the door, their toes pointed inward.

Scootaloo nodded in agreement.

“Why do the cups here have to be so big?” Sweetie Belle asked, her voice accompanied by the tearing of bathroom tissue after the trickling had subsided. “It’s like drinking out of a barrel!”

“That don’t mean ya gotta chug it all,” Apple Bloom pointed out.

Sweetie Belle’s response was little more than a murmur, followed by the flush of the toilet. After taking a moment to adjust her clothes, she emerged from the stall and marched to the sink to wash her hands.

She dried off while the others waited, and then returned to the counter to inspect herself in the mirror.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes as the ivory-skinned girl gave several diligent flicks to her hair, and then leaned closer with her eyes stretched wide to inspect her lashes. “You know, you can act as edge-lordy as you want, but you’ll always be your sister’s sister.”

“Shut-up,” was Sweetie Belle’s response. She reached into her handbag and produced a mascara brush, which she used to make some touch-ups while the other two watched.

“I hope ya ain’t planning on doin a whole makeover in here,” Apple Bloom said dryly. “We ain’t got all night, ya know.”

“Also shut-up.”

The young farm girl snorted and shook her head, folding her arms. After a long sigh, she spoke again. “It sure was nice hangin out with you two tonight; it’s been a long time since we had a ‘Canterlot Move Club’ night. I’m juss sorry the movie wasn’t that great.”

“Meh, it wasn’t your fault,” Scootaloo shrugged. “And neither was that stale-ass popcorn.”

“Ugh… it was SO gross,” Sweetie Belle complained, looking down to reload the brush. “And there wasn’t even any decent guys here tonight!”

Scootaloo nodded, but Apple Bloom rolled her eyes.

“Is that all ya think about anymore?” the farm girl scoffed. “I swear, ya got bratwurst on the brain!”

“That’s all I think about,” Scootaloo interjected as Sweetie Belle went back to fixing her lashes. She leaned on the counter with her hands and swung one leg up, placing her foot on the marble top. “I could actually go for some of that right now,” she chuckled, closing her eyes and mimicking the movements of getting nailed from behind. “Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!”

Sweetie Belle laughed, trying to keep her brush steady as she worked. Apple Bloom just groaned and rubbed her face.

Just then, they heard the bathroom door open, prompting Scootaloo to drop her foot and stand up straight again. The three of them looked down at the counter as they tried to stifle their laughter—but a few quiet snorts still made their way out.

They waited patiently for the newcomers to do their business. Sweetie Belle replaced the mascara brush and twisted the tube shut, listening to what sounded like at least two pairs of high-heeled boots clunking along the floor. Instead of making their way into the stalls, however, the footsteps approached them from behind, and then stopped.

After placing the make-up back in her purse, Sweetie Belle glanced up at the mirror to double-check her lashes and promptly froze. The other girls’ amusement began to fade when they noticed this and, keeping their heads down, glanced back and forth at one another, wondering what was going on.

A voice came next, one that caused their blood to run cold. It was a voice they hadn’t heard in a long time, yet they recognised it immediately—and it made the hair on the backs of their necks stand on end.

“Huh. Fancy meeting you here.”

The voice was unmistakably directed at them. As much as they didn’t want to, they knew they had no option but to turn and face the invaders, who stood between them and the only exit. Eyes wide, the three of them slowly rotated in unison, praying that the person standing there wasn’t who it sounded like.

Unfortunately for them, it was.

The trio stood with their backs to the counter, hearts thumping in their chests. Somehow, by some cosmic miracle —or curse— they’d found themselves trapped in a bathroom, face-to-face with none other than Adagio Dazzle and Aria Blaze.

And boy, were they an imposing sight. Adagio easily stood as tall as Sunset Shimmer, but that massive heap of curly, orange hair had an effect similar to that of a cobra, making her appear even larger. Aria was shorter, but the tone in her bare arms could clearly be seen, and that perpetual look of distain on her face disturbed the young girls—more so than the conniving grin that Adagio was wearing.

That grin disappeared suddenly, however, when it was replaced by a pouty lip. “Aww! After all these years, we don’t even get a simple hello?”

Apple Bloom drew a quick breath. “Oh... uh, hi. Sorry.”

Sweetie Belle gave a quick glance to her friend before facing the sirens again. “Yeah… hi.”

Scootaloo, wide-eyed and unable to speak, just gave a quick wave.

This brought the foreboding smile back to Adagio’s face. “There. That’s better. I Knew you three were more polite than that. Why wouldn’t you be, with such positive role models to look up to?”

The girls were silent for a moment. Clearly, the passive-aggressive mention of their sisters was a sign that these two still had a chip on their shoulder, and it didn’t sit well with the young trio.

After being allowed to chew on that thick silence for a few moments, it was Apple Bloom who was finally brave enough to spit it out so she could speak. “Y— … So, ya’ll here catchin a movie, er…?”

“We are, as a matter of fact,” Adagio replied, rubbing her hands together as she took a step closer. “We actually caught a few—did a little theatre hopping to see what Hollywood had to offer.” She cocked a brow. “Not much, apparently.”

Apple Bloom cringed. “Nothin good, eh?”

Adagio simply stared her down, as if it was her fault.

The young girls glanced at one another.

Adagio suddenly waved the thought away, scowling. “But enough about that,” she said, fixing her eyes on the trio once again. “How have you little fillies been doing, anyway? You’ve certainly grown since we saw you last.”

The girls remained motionless—aside from Sweetie Belle, who was tapping her fingertips together nervously.

“Uhh…” Apple Bloom rubbed the back of her neck. “We’re… good?”

Sweetie Belle agreed. “Yup. Great, actually. Been really great.”

Scootaloo just nodded.

“What about, er…” The farm girl paused, and then gestured to the sirens. “I mean, how’ve you all been?”

Adagio placed her fingertips to her chest. “Us? Oh, well!” She closed her eyes and cocked her head. “I suppose we’ve been worse…” Her eyes popped open suddenly, her face deadpanned. “But we’ve also been much better; what do you think, Aria?” she asked, raising a brow at her sister.

Aria said nothing. Instead, she continued to glare at the girls as she ran her tongue along the inside of her cheek. Then she smacked her lips.

“Ehh… heh heh,” Sweetie Belle chuckled nervously, inching away from the purple siren.

With a sigh, Adagio brought her hands together; her diabolical grin had been replaced by a much more serious —and frightening— expression. “Alright, let’s cut the crap, ladies. We don’t have a lot of time; I’m sure by now you know what’s about to go down here.”

The siren turned and nodded to her partner, who promptly reached into her vest and produced a wood-finished handle, from which a shiny blade flicked out when she pressed the release.

Scootaloo, who happened to be standing closest to Aria, began to shove against Sweetie Belle, clamouring frantically to get away. “Nope! Nope! Fuck this!”

Sweetie Belle stumbled against Apple Bloom, who, after nearly being shoved over, began to push back. Scootaloo’s efforts were in vain; there was no way out. The sirens stood between them and escape.

“Why are ya doin this?” the farm girl asked Adagio, her voice trembling.

Adagio shrugged. “Because we can, partly; but also…” Her hand snapped out and grabbed the red-haired girl by the shirt to yank her closer. “Because of what your rotten fucking sisters did to us!” she snarled, putting her face just inches from Apple Bloom’s.

The farm girl stood little chance against this woman. Even Sweetie Belle, who was the tallest of the three, was dwarfed by the orange-haired siren. The only one of the three who was even remotely tough was Scootaloo, but she had no chance against these two, not by a long shot—to say nothing of being too frightened to act.

“B-b-but why!?” Apple Bloom stuttered as she hung from Adagio’s grip, her feet barely touching the floor.

“The Rainbooms destroyed our first and only chance at real power here,” Adagio replied. “And now our days are numbered, thanks to them. But that doesn’t mean we haven’t vowed to get even, to pay them back for what they did to us.”

Without warning, she shoved the farm girl away, causing her to bang her hip on the edge of the counter. Clutching her side, Apple Bloom groaned, gritted her teeth and glared at Adagio—frustrated, but helpless.

“The only problem is…” the siren continued, ”they’ve become too powerful for us. We’ve become ordinary, and they have Equestrian magic. How are we supposed to compete with that?”

Petrified, the girls found one another’s hands and held on tight as the condescendingly-toned speech continued.

“But that doesn’t mean we can’t hurt them,” Adagio continued, raising a finger to point at them. “And that’s were you ladies come in.”

“You wanna hurt us? Just to get back at our sisters?” Sweetie Belle asked, unable to keep her voice steady.

Adagio folded her arms, sneered and waggled her head arrogantly while glowering at Sweetie Belle.

“But… that ain’t fair!” Apple Bloom protested. “We didn’t do nothin to you!”

“What happened to us wasn’t fair either! We never asked to come to this world; we were PUT here. Did you ever think of that?” the siren snapped, making the girls cower back. “Mark my words, we’re gonna make the Rainbooms sorry for what they did to us, one way or another. They took something precious from us; now let’s see how they like having something precious taken from them!” Adagio gestured to the exit, using her other hand to motion the girls along. “Now come with us, and w—“

The restroom door opened just then, prompting all five sets of eyes to swing in its direction—two out of annoyance, the other three out of desperation.

In walked a young woman with a bouncy, blue bob, wearing a burgundy jacket and pink boots, humming to herself—somewhat off-key. She stopped in her tracks when she looked up and saw the room full of people.

Familiar people.

“S— … Sonata!” Adagio greeted, stumbling on her words ever so slightly. Clearly, she was not expecting this turn of events, but was nonetheless quick to recover. And so, she begin manipulating the situation into her favour. She put her hands out, smiling warmly to her long lost sister. “So nice of you to join us!”

Sonata was hesitant. “Dagi?” Her eyes shifted onto the purple siren next. “Ari?” Her eyes shifted down to the knife in Aria’s hand, which Aria quickly moved out of sight. Her attention shifted to the three young girls next, and she was quick to notice their demeanor: huddled together by the counter, hands clasped, eyes wide with terror.

Sonata’s eyes returned to Adagio, brows furrowed with suspicious confusion. “What’s going on?”

After a moment of thought and a glance at the girls, Adagio faced the more naïve siren with that trademark disingenuous grin. “We were just having a little… reunion… with our old friends from Canterlot High.”

Sonata narrowed her eyes and paused. Even for someone as simple as her, it was fairly obvious that something dubious was afoot; any reason that her sisters would be having a ‘reunion’ with people so close to the Rainbooms couldn’t have been a good one, and Sonata’s suspicions were answered when she glanced at the three girls again. They were clearly frightened and looking to Sonata for help. In fact, when the siren locked eyes with Apple Bloom, the farm girl gave her head a tiny shake, which quickly contradicted Adagio’s story.

Sonata’s eyes widened and she faced her bigger sister again. “Why do they look so scared?” she asked with a scowl. “What’s really going on here?”

With a sigh, Adagio rolled her eyes and then shook her head. “Oh, all right. I guess there’s no fooling you.” She folded her arms and shifted her weight onto one leg. “You know the M.O., Sonata. You’ve always known it: make the Rainbooms pay for what they did to us.”

Sonata’s mouth fell open. “Wait… you’re gonna kill these girls to get back at them?”

Adagio let out a condescending laugh. “Oh wow, no! Hahaha! Taking their siblings from them altogether won’t do them proper justice.” She suddenly turned quite serious. “We’re gonna maim them,” she growled, prompting all three of the girls’ breathing to stop. “We’re gonna cut them, remodel them; we’re gonna leave them so disfigured they’ll end up as mangled, pathetic outcasts. No one’ll wanna see them, and no man will ever wanna fuck them. They’ll live out their lives in isolation, away from prying eyes, and the Rainbooms will know—they’ll know it was them who caused it.”

Adagio paused, letting that grin slowly return, which could only mean that she was preparing to say something particularly nasty. “On the bright side, though, these young ladies will have a much easier time cleaning their teeth without those pesky cheeks in the way.”

As a collective, but soft gasp sounded from the girls, a look of disgust quickly plastered Sonata’s face. Was Adagio always this vile? This vindictive? What a horrible thing to aspire to. How did Sonata not see it before?

After studying the floor for a moment, Sonata’s eyes drifted onto the frightened girls. So innocent and cute they were; who would want to destroy that? Her thoughts drifted to the last thing Adagio said: her new friends would believe it was their fault that their little sisters were mutilated beyond recognition.

Then she thought about Pinkie. She thought about the devastation wrought by the death of her family. She hadn’t been the same since. The grief had nearly killed her. Sonata could hardly stand to watch it. The siren had no choice, however; without her support, Pinkie may have descended far deeper into despair than she already had, and it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility that she might have done the unthinkable.

What an awful place to be. It was unbearable to live through, and Sonata hated having to bear witness to it.

What if she had to do it again?

What if this happened and she had to go through the ordeal all over again, but three times over? What a nightmare. That was the only way to describe it. Seeing Applejack have to swallow the fact that her sister had been put through such agony as a revenge for her actions was an ugly image.

The same went for Rainbow Dash. Even though Scootaloo was not her blood sister, Sonata knew they were close. It would be no less devastating. All of them would be profoundly and forever changed by it, in fact, after what’d already happened, it might even destroy them—which was exactly what Adagio and Aria wanted.

It wasn’t what Sonata wanted, though. The Rainbooms had been good to her, and she didn’t want them to have to deal with any more pain—even Rarity. Sonata clenched her fists, knowing that she was all that stood between freedom and agony. She had to act.

“No!”

To Adagio’s surprise, Sonata marched between her and Aria and the three young girls. She stretched her arms out, blocking the stunned sirens from their prey.

“You can’t,” Sonata said firmly, glaring at her sisters. “These are girls are nice. They didn’t do anything to us; I won’t let you hurt them.”

The young trio glanced nervously at one another while Adagio stared at her sister, equally astonished. Even Aria appeared surprised by this.

As one would imagine, the tension in that turquoise bathroom had become palpable. The girls had received nothing less than a gift in the form of Sonata, but this was hardly a chance to breathe a sigh of relief. Sonata, after all, was only one person—one person facing two opponents, both of whom were larger than her, Adagio especially. And what Aria lacked in dominating size, she made up for with a deadly weapon.

The odds were stacked high. From where the young girls stood, their would-be saviour’s chances did not look good.

Finally, Adagio’s shock faded and she pursed her lips. “Well. Isn’t this precious.” She drew a breath, pointing her nose up as she turned to pace around. “It seems your new friends have poisoned your mind with their… ‘moralities,’” she said snidely, facing her sister with an arched brow. “Tsk tsk, Sonata; I had no idea you could be this gullible.”

“Or weak,” Aria scowled, breaking her silence at last.

Sonata’s expression wavered.

Noticing this, Adagio dove headlong into more tactics. “That’s right, we know you’ve been chumming around with the Rainbooms, Sonata.” She gave her head a slow shake. “Shameful, leaving your own sisters without so much as a goodbye, and then this is what we find? You… sleeping with the enemy?”

Disarmed and feeling guilty, Sonata’s eyes dropped to the floor. After ruminating for a moment, however, she blinked and shook her head quickly. She straightened up and faced her sister once again, drawing a deep breath.

She needed to be careful. Adagio was a master manipulator, a dastardly puppeteer of the weak-minded, even without the magical voice. Sonata knew Adagio’s playbook: she would say whatever she needed to evoke a feeling of guilt, or the worry of being in the wrong; she would appeal to Sonata’s loyalty in an attempt to get her way, and worst of all, her ‘way’ would usually involve the most satisfying of outcomes—like convincing Sonata to turn on the young girls herself.

This couldn’t happen.

The only problem was that Adagio was much smarter than Sonata, who was nowhere near as versed in the art of mind games, and so it was extremely unlikely that she would be able to outwit her.

Luckily, she didn’t need to outwit her to save these girls; she just needed to stand her ground and not allow Adagio to get inside her head.

“It doesn’t matter what I’ve done,” the blue siren replied. “These girls don’t deserve this, and I’m not gonna let you hurt them—or the Rainbooms. They’ve been nice to me, a lot nicer than you ever were.”

Adagio rolled her eyes. “Oh, Sonata! So foolish,” she chuckled, to which Aria echoed. “While I gladly acknowledge that we may not be all ‘sunshine and roses’ all the time, at least we were honest with you.”

Sonata scowled. “What does that mean?”

Adagio tsked and shook her head. “The Rainbooms have been keeping secrets from you, Sonata. They don’t care about you one iota; they’re just using you to get to us, to keep us divided. They’ve been lying to you since day one. The sooner you realise this and come home to your loving sisters, the better.”

Sonata shook her head vigorously. “No! That’s not true, they wouldn’t lie to me! They took me in, gave me shelter, food, a place to shower. Pinkie Pie even let me live with her. She’s my best friend now! She lets me be myself —they ALL do— and they don’t judge me for it, like you did. Why would they lie to me? What secrets would they be keeping?” She narrowed her eyes at her sister. “You’re trying to trick me, Dagi, and I’m not gonna fall for it!”

Adagio smiled at Aria and then shook her head. “What secrets would they keep?” she asked, facing her sister again. “How about being the Dark Mistress?”

Blindsided, Sonata went blank.

The lead siren cocked her head and grinned smugly. “That’s right. They’ve been playing you for a fool this whole time, and you didn’t even know it.”

The blue siren shook her head, scowling. “No way! You’re lying!”

“Am I?” Adagio folded her arms and bent at the hip to lean closer. “Are you sure about that? You haven’t noticed any of them acting strange toward you, like you’ve done something to irritate them, but you don’t really know what?”

“No.” Sonata stood her ground. “I already told you, they’re really nice to me!”

“All of them?”

“Yes!” Sonata shouted. She balled her fists, offended by the implication of being so gullible.

Then she paused, her face going blank when she realised something. “I mean… most of them.”

“Has one of them been… less than inviting to you? I wonder why.” Adagio tapped a finger to her lip, letting her eyes drift to the ceiling. “Now… what was it the Dark Mistress said to you that night in the alley? Do you remember?”

Sonata let her eyes drift to the floor. “She said… ‘don’t ever come back.’”

“And what did you do?”

“…I came back.”

“Hmmm…” Adagio shook her head. “Who is it, Sonata? Which one of them is the Dark Mistress?”

Sonata hesitated. Brows furrowed, she brought her hand up to tap her teeth with her nails as she tried to process this.

“Think about it,” Adagio urged. “Think about her voice, the way she carries herself…”

“Yeah, I know who it is,” Sonata snapped. Then she brought her eyes up to meet her sister. “Rarity,” she said softly.

Stunned, both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo faced their friend, whose mouth hung open in disbelief.

“What!?” Sweetie Belle scowled. “My sister’s not the Dark Mistress! Why would you even say that? She’s a seamstress, not a... a masked vigilante!”

“Guess again, sweetheart,” Adagio replied arrogantly, leaning sideways to look past Sonata. “Rarity IS the Dark Mistress, and from what I hear, there are more of these masked heroes; perhaps ALL of the Rainbooms have this night time persona—even your good friend, Pinkie Pie.”

The very thought of it twisted Sonata’s heart into a knot. Could her best friend really be keeping something like this from her? Was Pinkie Pie not who she said she was? Is this why they act so strange at night? Feeling cheated, she stared at the floor, mouth agape.

How could the Rainbooms do this to her? Did they not trust her enough to know this?

“Sonata…” Adagio spoke more softly now, stepping closer. “I… need to ask you something.” Her eyes filled with vulnerability, making Sonata’s guilt that much stronger. “Why? … Why did you leave us for the enemy? What made you think that leaving your sisters behind was a good idea? We didn’t know where you went; we didn’t know if you were OK; we didn’t know what we did to deserve it. We were worried about you. We had no idea where our little sister was.”

Sonata swallowed. “I’m sorry... but… that night, the Dark Mistress told me I was sweet; she told me that you guys were bad for me, that I don’t belong with you.”

Adagio drew a breath and raised her chin, pausing. Then she closed her mouth and deflated. “Ah. You see? They’ve been trying to divide us from the very beginning. That was their plan all along.” She cocked her head, scowling at Sonata. “The Rainbooms can’t be trusted. Just look at what they’ve done to us.”

Sonata’s head hung in despair. She was divided, and Adagio knew it. Thus, it was time for the master stroke.

Placing her hand on Sonata’s shoulder, Adagio moved closer—so close that their foreheads nearly touched. “Come back to us, Sonata. We’ve missed you these past few months. I know that sometimes Aria and I can be a tad moody, but we don’t want you to take it personally. In fact, you were the only thing that brought any positivity into our lives. You kept things interesting. I mean it when I say this, Sonata: without you, things have been so dreary lately.”

The young trio watched in horror as their only hope of escape was dashed to pieces. Their saviour’s naïveté was being ruthlessly exploited, and their hearts sank when the realisation that they were unlikely to make it out unscathed began to settle in.

Shaking her head, Sweetie Belle reached out to touch the small of Sonata’s back. “D-don’t listen to her. Please, Sonat—“

Aria moved closer. “Shush!” she growled, silencing the pale-skinned girl.

After the small interruption, Adagio brought her attention back to her sister. “Listen, Sonata. We have to stick together. The Rainbooms tried to separate us because they know that we are weak on our own. We can’t let that happen. We must stay united. When we do that, we will prevail against those girls, those snakes… hiding behind those ‘friendly’ little faces of theirs. And it all starts here, right now.”

Sonata looked up to lock eyes with Adagio, who then smiled.

That smile… so deceptive, so perfectly crafted to lull one into a false sense of trust. Sonata never thought she’d find herself on the receiving end of it, but even so, it was no surprise that it had such immense power. Why did she have to be placed in this situation? Why did she have to make such a difficult choice? And above all, why was she being drawn in by that big smile, the same smile that she’d seen countless others fall victim to?

Adagio and Aria were her sisters, that’s why. Together, they’d been roaming this world for centuries. They knew each other better than any other sisters could possibly dream of, and because of this, there was a loyalty that was intrinsic, one that could not be simply ignored. They were a part of one another, and to tear that bond would be extremely painful for any one of them—whether they knew it or not.

After a moment of agonizing consideration, Sonata had finally made her choice. She drew a deep breath, looked down at their feet and nodded. While Adagio gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze, Sonata swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat and then turned slowly, knowing full well that what she was about to do was one of the most difficult decisions she’d ever have to make.

She looked over her shoulder at the young girls, all of whom stared back in terror.

“I’m sorry…” Sonata said softly, her eyes moistening.

The girls’ eyes widened, and the colour drained from their faces. Their skin turned cold and clammy in an instant. The only one that moved was Apple Bloom when she shook her head in disbelief, unable to speak out against the betrayal.

“There, there,” Adagio said, giving Sonata’s shoulder another squeeze, followed by a gentle shake as the blue siren’s eyes drifted shut.

Sonata’s hand rose and came to rest on Adagio’s, caressing it softly.

“Don’t feel bad, Sonata, you’ve made the right decision,” Adagio continued. “Tonight is the night we turn the tides in our favour. These little rodents are nothing more than the first stepping stone to retribution.” She gave her head a shake. “You don’t need to apologise to them.”

Sonata sighed. “I wasn’t talking to them,” she whispered.

Not hearing this, Adagio cocked her head, smirking. “Hm?”

Poor Adagio; so used to being ahead of the curve, she hadn’t even realised she’d spun out until it was too late.

Without warning, Sonata’s hand clamped down on Adagio’s, and she tore it from her shoulder to yank her arm in a circle, twisting it around so her elbow faced the ceiling. Adagio bent forward and roared in pain; teeth gritted, she brought her eyes up to face Sonata just in time to see a little blue fist collide with her nose.

Her head snapped back, her expression dazed.

Aria, who clearly did not expect this, sprung into action with knife in hand.

Sonata was already upon her, however; still holding Adagio’s arm, she raised her foot and kicked the weapon from the purple siren’s hand. The knife twirled through the air and bounced off the far wall with a sharp clack before landing somewhere out of sight.

With a hand cupped over her nose, Adagio focused a pair of furious —but watering— eyes onto Sonata. She dug her feet in to yank Sonata’s arm, intending to use her superior size and strength to fling her sister against the stalls.

The move backfired, though, when Sonata saw it coming and simply let go. Adagio had thrown herself off-balance as a result, and she stumbled backwards until her back slammed into one of the stall doors.

All three of the young girls’ mouths hung open in shock, watching in wide-eyed disbelief as Aria went on the offensive and charged the blue siren, launching a right hook so hard her fist made a noise as it whipped through the air.

Sonata leaned back to miss it, and she countered by swinging her arm around the back of Aria’s neck, trapping her in a headlock. Using her hip, Sonata leveraged Aria into a stumbling run toward the counter, making the three youngsters yelp and scatter to the right, where they gathered before the mosaic that ran the length of the rear wall.

The exit lay opposite them, so they were trapped for the time being, helpless to do anything but watch these ancient titans battle it out.

With Aria’s head trapped under her arm, Sonata rammed her sister against the counter and then drove a fist into her face. Grunting, Aria reached up and grabbed Sonata’s arm to peel it from her head, but not before a second punch found her forehead. The strike, though dizzying, did allow Aria to escape her sister’s grip, and after slipping free, she staggered backward, covering her face.

When she opened one eye to look, she found Sonata on swift approach. Not wanting to be caught in a back-step, Aria bared her face and charged, nose scrunched as she threw another mighty hook. She failed again, however; Sonata raised her forearm to block the attack and quickly countered with a right.

Aria’s head spun to the side after impact, but was unexpectedly snapped the opposite way when Sonata grabbed one of her ponytails and yanked downward, bouncing her skull off of the marble countertop. Disoriented, Aria staggered back, eyelids fluttering. Not wasting her chance, Sonata stepped forth and shoved the purple siren with both hands, making her stagger backward several steps before falling to the floor.

Catching some movement in the mirror from the corner of her eye, Sonata quickly turned to find Adagio approaching, fist cocked. A sharp jab was thrown, but it missed its mark when Sonata sidestepped and grabbed Adagio’s wrist with both hands; she pulled the larger siren’s arm down, twisted and then swung it behind her back, pressing her knuckles between her shoulder blades.

Adagio hollered, gritting her teeth when the tension in her shoulder caused a sharp pain to radiate through her arm, but it didn’t end there. Sonata had begun to hammer her fist into her sister’s ribs again and again, just below her armpit; she then lifted her heel and stomped the back of Adagio’s knee, causing her to collapse to the floor on her backside.

The blue siren wasted no time continuing the assault. She grabbed two fistfuls of curly, orange hair and pulled, dragging her big sister across the tiles toward the stalls.

“AAAH! SONATAAA!” Adagio roared, reaching up to grip her sister’s hands to relieve the tension.

Once Sonata had reached the stalls, she yanked Adagio forward by her hair and then swung her back, slamming her head against the solid section between the doors.

“NNNGH!” The siren grimaced, squeezing her eyes shut. “Stop!”

The blue siren clenched both fists, bent down and screamed directly into her sister’s face. “THE RAINBOOMS WERE NICER TO ME THAN YOU EVER WERE! YOU WERE MEAN! YOU TREATED ME LIKE SOME KIND OF PROBLEM, LIKE YOU THINK I’M A TOTAL IDIOT! I WON’T LET YOU DO IT ANYMORE, YOU HEAR ME!?! I HATE YOU!”

With her temper at critical mass, Sonata brought her knee up and drove it into Adagio’s cheekbone. That big head of orange hair bounced back and slammed into the steel with another crash, then she crumpled forward, clutching her face.

“We took care of you,” Adagio whimpered, her voice muffled.

Sonata shook her head. “You never cared about me! The only reason you kept me around is because you’d be fifty percent less powerful without m—OOF!”

Sonata was knocked face-first into the stall door, having been shoulder-checked from behind. Grunting, she began to turn around, but a purple hand had grabbed her by the hair and yanked her away from Adagio.

Aria wrapped Sonata’s throat in the crook of her elbow, dragging her backwards. “That doesn’t even add up, you idiot!” she growled before twisting hard to the right and flinging the smaller siren toward the counter. Sonata stumbled against the momentum, but not before hooking her foot around Aria’s ankle and grabbing the collar of her vest, bringing her along with her.

Aria ended up staggering a step or two before losing her balance, and the sirens fell to the floor together, Sonata landing on top of Aria’s right shoulder. The blue siren was quick to climb on top, pinning her sister down to gain the upper hand yet again. She raised her fist above her head and then dropped it onto Aria’s face like an anvil, pounding her around the eyes and nose. Aria could do nothing but shield her face with her forearms to protect herself.

“QUIT BEING SUCH A BITCH, ARIA!” Sonata screamed, raising her fist for another blow. “THIS IS WHY NOBODY LIKES YOU!” The assault ended abruptly, however, when her arm was stopped by a powerful hand grabbing her wrist. A second hand gripped her shoulder and yanked to her feet before tossing her like a sack of potatoes through one of the stall doors.

Sonata burst into the cubicle and landed in a seated position on the toilet, her back slamming against the stainless plumbing behind the seat. She squeezed her eyes shut and winced, gripping the seat with her fingertips as she endured the pain; air hissed in through her teeth as she opened her eyes. Adagio was approaching, fists at her sides as she marched along with a snarl on her face—which was now sporting a busted lip and a split cheek.

Sonata reacted swiftly by kicking the door shut just as her sister entered the stall. It swung and smacked her face with a dull thud before bouncing open again, revealing a stunned Adagio staggering back, eyes squeezed shut as she brought her hands up to cup them over her nose.

The blue siren drew a breath and sprinted from the toilet, shoulder forward as she charged full tilt. She speared the lead siren in the midsection and knocked her clean off her feet, driving her backwards until she landed atop the counter on her backside. The back of Adagio’s head collided with the mirror and fractured it, causing a massive web of cracks to streak across the pane as the room was filled with an ear-splitting report.

Adagio groaned and leaned forward, clutching the back of her head. Sonata didn’t stop there, however; she stepped back, gripped her sister by the ankles and yanked her off of the countertop. With a surprised yelp, Adagio flailed about, searching for something to hang onto, but ultimately failing as her shoulders slipped away from the edge, letting her drop to the floor.

Her head hit the tile with a sickening thud, finally relieving the siren of her consciousness. She laid motionless and silent, her face at last finding a relaxed state.

Sonata bent over her sister, leaning on her thighs as she studied her handy work, panting heavily. She was just about to return her attention to Aria when a young voice came from behind.

“Look out!”

Alerted, Sonata spun around to find Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle standing against the backdrop of pixilated waves; Apple Bloom was pointing directly at Sonata in wide-eyed panic.

“No, behind you!”

Before Sonata had a chance to move, a purple arm slithered over her shoulder to enfold her throat, followed immediately by a searing pain that rang out from the left side of her waist.

The siren gasped sharply and went stiff as a board. Eyes wide, she watched the pair of young girls cover their mouths in horror. She couldn’t breathe; for a reason she’d not yet grasped, all she could manage was a slight exhale, which would be quickly cancelled by another sharp gasp, keeping her lungs at capacity. The pain was too intense to let her breath escape—in fact, any movement at all resulted in complete agony.

Something sharp had pierced her side, penetrating her abdomen just beneath her ribs. It threw her into a trembling shock with its cold depth, turning her legs to rubber as the pain —which grew by the second— continued to fill her body.

Slowly, Sonata looked down to her left. Pressed into her waist near her back was a purple fist, wrapped around what appeared to be a wooden handle. Her brows furrowed as she watched the dizzying sight of Aria’s hand pulling away, revealing a shiny steel blade, streaked with crimson.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the blade withdrew. Sonata winced as the pain intensified; the blade further slicing her flesh as it slipped free was stomach-turning, and it was followed by a sudden gush of crimson that poured from the open wound. Its warmth ran down her skin beneath her clothing, soaking the burgundy fabric of her jacket.

She quickly covered the wound with her hands, reaching around with her right to press it over the left. This was futile, however, as she was unable to stop the blood from pouring out. Beads of it seeped from between those blue fingers, dripping from her nails as she looked up at Aria, who stood behind her, panting through gritted teeth. Her left eye had already swollen shut and her nose was bleeding, covering her upper lip in a glistening, red moustache.

After a series of rapid, shallow breaths, Sonata grimaced at her sister. “Ari…” she whimpered, before her knees finally gave out and dumped her onto the floor like a sack of bricks, still clutching her side.

Aria stood over her sister, victorious—but only for a few fleeting seconds. The sight of her sister lying on the floor, wincing in pain and bleeding all over herself quickly wiped the ferocity from the violet siren’s face, leaving a vacuous stare in its absence.

She looked down at the knife in her hand, studying its shape, its length. Then a horrific revelation suddenly came to her: he had just shoved that entire thing inside her sister’s body, and it was now covered in her blood.

The realisation of it hit her like a locomotive; her body went numb, save for the pain caused by the beating she took, and now, the growing ache in her chest.

“Aria…”

Sonata’s weakened voice drew her attention once again, and she looked down at her sister, locking her sights with those sad, maroon eyes.

“Dlaczego to robimy?”

With a soft gasp, Aria stared vacantly at her sister. Her eyes brimmed with moisture when the language swept into her mind and, like dust in an old cabin with its door blown in by the wind, stirred up memories of many years past. Without thinking, she opened her hand, looking down just in time to see the knife fall to the floor, leaving smudges of blood on her fingers.

Shamefaced, Aria stared at her trembling hands, her breath shaky. Her eyes moved onto Sonata next, and she covered her mouth with her clean hand before taking a step closer to kneel down next to her. ”Sonata, przepraszam...”

Before she could, however, the voice of young Apple Bloom stopped her in her tracks.

”You... you stabbed her!”

Aria froze, staring like a deer in the headlights. Apple Bloom was glaring at her, face aghast, while Sweetie Belle stood to the side, hands covering her mouth.

”How could ya do that? She’s yer sister!”

Aria’s lips moved rapidly, searching for an answer. ”I... I didn’t mean—”

WHAM!

Blackness.

Aria Blaze crumpled to the floor in an unconscious heap, sprawled out alongside her sisters. Behind her stood Scootaloo, holding a large, stainless steel trash can at each end. Their impromtu plan had worked: keep Aria distracted long enough for Scootaloo to approach from behind and knock her out.

Shaking with adrenaline, Scootaloo dropped the can to the floor, causing both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom to jump when the resulting clang filled the room. She brought her hands up and stared at them, her fingers splayed and shaking like leaves. ”Hooh! ... Holy shit, I can’t believe that just happened.”

Sweetie Belle, after finally uncovering her mouth, shook her head in disbelief. ”That was crazy... like, fucking... I can’t even.”

Apple Bloom rubbed her forehead with a shaky hand. ”I... she...” She closed her eyes for a moment to gather her thoughts. ”Sonata... she stood up to both a’ them fer us! Did y’all see that?”

”I, uh...” Scootaloo stared into space. ”I totally didn’t see that coming,” she droned, shaking her head.

”It was amazin!” Apple Bloom added, just as a deep groan came from the heap of bodies on the floor.

The sound snapped Sweetie Belle out of her trance. She gave her head a shake, looking down at Sonata before quickly making her way over to her, stepping over Adagio’s legs as she went. ”Hey! You guys, she needs help!” she cried, kneeling down next to Sonata.

Scootaloo, still in shock, looked down at their friend.

”Aw, dang it! Yer right,” the farm girl said with a smack to her temple before stepping over Adagio to crouch down and join Sweetie Belle, along with Scootaloo.

The three of them surrounded Sonata, who continued to wince in pain, eyes shut tightly as she held onto her side.

Apple Bloom placed her hand on the siren’s shoulder. ”Are you OK?”

The answer was little more than a groan.

”I-I’m sorry I distracted you,” Apple Bloom continued with a tiny voice, leaning closer. ”I was just tryin ta help; I didn’t mean ta get ya hurt.”

The siren coughed and then cried out immediately after, her legs squirming as a surge of pain forced itself upon her.

Sweetie Belle cringed. “Does it hurt bad?”

Sonata’s eyes stayed shut and her teeth were gritted, but she managed to respond with a stiff nod.

The girls glanced at one another.

“It’s prolly not safe ta try and move ‘er; might tear the wound er somethin. We gotta git ‘er an ambulance,” Apple Bloom said, but was unexpectedly met with a pair of deadpanned faces. “...What?”

“It’s gonna be kinda hard to do that without our PHONES!” Scootaloo barked.

The farm girl’s jaw dropped, and she quickly faced Sweetie Belle when she added her piece.

“Yeah… I was kinda wishing we had them when they first came in here!”

Apple Bloom threw her hands up. “How was I supposed ta know this was gonna happen?” The closed her eyes next, waving the fact away. “Look, it don’t matter; we’ll just hafta use the phone in the lobby er somethin.”

“Yeah,” Scootaloo muttered as the three of them stood. Before they could turn to leave, though, Sweetie Belle stopped them.

“Wait! What about them?” she asked, pointing to Aria and Adagio. “What if they wake up?”

The other two paused to study the sirens. Then Scootaloo scratched the back of her head.

“Shit. You’re right.”

“Well, first of all… let’s get rid a’ this,” Apple Bloom said, kicking the knife away after a glance downward. It skipped along the tile floor and disappeared under a stall door, where it clacked against the wall behind one of the toilets. She paused to think for a moment, scanning the sirens and then her friends until Sweetie Belle’s handbag caught her eye.

“We’ll tie ‘em up!” she blurted, pointing at the long, thin leather strap that was slung over the ivory girl’s shoulder.

Sweetie Belle glanced down at the accessory, and then gave her friend a confused scowl. “How are we gonna tie both of them up with this?”

Apple Bloom rubbed her chin. Before she had any time to think, however, Scootaloo reached down to grab Aria’s ankles and began to pull her closer to Adagio.

“Let’s put them back-to-back!” she shouted as she rotated the purple siren so her back faced Adagio’s. “We’ll tie their arms together like this.”

“Good idea,” Apple Bloom agreed, turning back and reaching out to Sweetie Belle, who rolled her eyes and slipped the bag from her shoulder to hand it over.

After a few minutes of finessing the unconscious pair into position, the girls placed all four of their wrists together and then began to argue over how they were going to tie the strap.

“Should we just wrap it around all four?” Apple Bloom asked.

“They might be able to slip out—unless we can get it super tight,” Scootaloo replied. “What if we, like, weave it around each one?”

The farm girl shook her head. “It ain’t long enough fer that!”

“Hey! Don’t get blood on my bag, you guys!” Sweetie Belle shouted from above.

Behind them, they heard the restroom door open. All three girls snapped their heads around to see who’d caught them—but there was no one there. As the door floated shut with all the innocence of an elderly Sunday School teacher, their eyes dropped to the floor where Sonata had been, only to find it empty.

A few smudges of blood were all that remained.

The girls spent a moment staring at the empty room, mouths agape until at last, Apple Bloom’s shoulders sank in exasperation.

“Aww, sheeit…”

*****

The theatre lobby was quiet and dimly lit, its archaic yet majestic décor casting long shadows from the backlit concession stand, which was the only major source of light in the place. Behind the counter was a young lady with green hair and pointed, purple glasses, wearing the red uniform vest provided by the theatre, topping a red and yellow striped apron.

She sighed and then licked her finger to flip the page of the magazine she was reading, her ears filled with the background noise of multiple films playing at once. The slushie machine behind her was leaking onto the floor, but no shits were given.

The sound of the washroom door opening caught her attention, and her eyes rose from the page to find a woman with short, blue hair staggering across the dark plum carpet, hunched forward and hugging her midsection.

After watching the stranger for a few seconds, she rolled her eyes and went back to the article. “Hit the road, drunkie,” she said under her breath.

Seconds later, the washroom door opened a second time and three girls frantically poured out, chasing and shouting after the first girl.

“Sonata, hey! Stop!”

“Git back here! Where you runnin off to!?”

Interrupted again, the girl behind the counter peered over her glasses at them, arching a brow as she watched the three girls reach the blue-haired one just in time to catch her as her knees gave out, letting her collapse to the floor.

All three of them were talking hurriedly over one another while they rolled her onto her side. The red-headed one with the big bow in her hair turned to face her suddenly, shouting.

“HELP! Call 911, she needs help!”

The employee furrowed her brows and stood straight, reaching over to snatch the cordless phone from its cradle before pushing through the gate at the end of the counter to approach the group.

“Is there a problem here?” she asked as she approached, noticing the blue girl’s hands clutching her side. She froze suddenly, however, when she saw those pale fingers covered in blood; the colour of her jacket had camouflaged it from a distance, but up close it was quite obvious that something was very wrong here, and it invited a cold tingle to crawl up her cheeks. “W— … what happened?”

“She’s been stabbed, Miss…” the short-haired one turned to face her with narrowed eyes, focusing on her name tag. “… Jupiter!”

The employee glanced down at her lapel and then scowled at the young girl. “It’s Juniper!”

Irritated, the red-headed girl spun around again. “Whatever! Just call an ambulance! We got jumped in the bathroom over there, and she got sss…” She paused suddenly and furrowed her brows. “Wait… how did you not hear the ruckus they was causin in there!?”

Juniper shrugged, feeling somewhat on the spot. “I dunno! It probably sounded like one of the movies playing.” The stress of the situation had raised her pulse by then, which wasn’t helped when she locked eyes with that bloody hand a second time. “Hoooooly crap,” she said, starting to hyperventilate. “OK. This is crazy, this is crazy; when she first came out, she was like… it was like that scene in ‘Kickass,’ when he was trying to stop those car theves…”

The three girls stopped what they were doing and turned to stare incredulously at her.

“At… at the seventeen minute and forty-eight second mark, Aaron Taylor Johnson’s character got up after getting stabbed in the stomach and started walking around…” Her gaze dropped to the siren again. “… Just like her—it was exactly the same.” Juniper’s eyes widened suddenly. “Then he got hit by a car,” she said quickly, taking a quick glance around the lobby. “She should be OK in here, tho—”

”CALL 911!” all three girls shouted in unison.

Startled, Juniper nearly dropped the phone. After fumbling with it for a moment, she dialed 911 with shaky thumbs and then put the phone to her ear. As it rang, she turned and jogged back to the counter to fetch a wad of napkins to put over the wound.

*****

A crowd of about a dozen people had congregated in the time it took for the police and ambulance to arrive. They gathered around the scene, watching the girls look after their friend, keeping her wound covered with a wad of bloody napkins while telling the crowd ad nauseam to ‘give her space.’

The paramedics came in with a stretcher in tow, immediately following a pair of police officers who swept the scene first—one of them a blonde female with a pair of goofy eyes.

After some quiet reassurances to Sonata that everything would be alright, the trio backed away to let the paramedics work.

The police approached them next. “Ladies?” the male cop said with a tip of his cap. “We were told by dispatch that there are two suspects still in the building, incapacitated. Is that correct?”

Apple Bloom nodded. “That’s right, officer.” She pointed to the washroom. “In there.”

After a quick glance, he gave his partner a nod. “Go check it out.”

After she’d disappeared into the restroom, the girls turned back to watch Sonata being placed on the stretcher and then hoisted up on its legs so the paramedics could roll her out, but were interrupted once again by the cop.

“Excuse me again, ladies, I just have a few ques—“

“Hey!”

He was interrupted by his partner, who was standing in the washroom entrance, holding the door open.

“There’s no one in here,” Officer Derpy announced.

“What!?” Sweetie Belle cried as the male cop faced them again.

“You sure that’s the right washroom?” he asked.

“Yeah! They—” Apple Bloom started to reply, but then she slapped a hand over her forehead and groaned. “Uuggh! Dang it, we never got a chance ta tie ‘em up!”

The officer looked at Derpy again, who nodded to confirm the girls’ claim—of the location of the scene, that is. “This is definitely the room. There’s some damage in here; broken mirror, dented stalls—and there’s a bit of blood on the floor.” She turned around to show a reddish, wet smudge on her backside. “See?”

He rolled his eyes and then paused for a moment to think.

In the meantime, Sonata’s stretcher was being rolled toward the door.

Scootaloo pointed. “Can we go with her?” she asked the cop, who glanced over his shoulder before facing her and shaking his head.

“Not just yet. You three have to be checked out and cleared by the paramedics as well.”

“Why? We’re fine!”

“Yeah! There ain’t nothin wrong with us!”

He raised his hand to stop their protests. “It’s procedure; we gotta do it. After that, you three are gonna come with us so we can get a statement from each of you. Then we’ll make sure you get a ride to the hospital to see your friend. Understood?”

The girls glared at each other, unimpressed by this.

After a sigh, Apple Bloom finally conceded. “Fine.”

“OK. Follow me,” he instructed. He turned to head for the front doors, pointing back to Officer Derpy as he went. “Take a quick look around, see if they’re still in the building. I’ll have the others search the surrounding area.” The girls followed closely, eyes downcast as they went.

“Well?” Scootaloo stuffed her hands in her pockets, looking over her shoulder to see which way Officer Derpy has going.

“Well, what?” Sweetie Belle asked, glancing over at her.

Scootaloo faced her friend. “How was that for a Canterlot Movie Club adventure?”

The ivory girl faced forward and rolled her eyes. “Shut-up.”

Chapter 139: A Taste of Humble Pie

Chapter 139

This FUCKING hospital…

Sighing, I rounded the corner and made my way down the hall, dodging a porter moving an empty stretcher as I went.

Wednesday, February the 22nd, roughly 7:30am.

Before long, I found the room I was looking for. It was like any other hospital room: small, square and white, with a picture window, a bed, monitoring equipment and a few chairs for guests to sit on. Upon entering, I found Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash standing close to the door; Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom surrounded the bed, which was occupied by Sonata Dusk. Her eyes were closed, her skin was pale, her hair was flat, and there was an IV threaded into her right wrist.

Fluttershy wrapped me in a tight hug on sight, professing her night-long yearning for me in soft whispers, failing to hide the urgency in her tone, as she was clearly worried about the siren. Rainbow Dash responded with little more than a dead glance.

At last, the shy girl released me and took my hand as we faced the bed.

“Wow,” I sighed, shaking my head. “So... they found her—or she found them, more accurately.” I glanced at the young girls. “Luckily.”

“No thanks to us,” Dash said flatly.

“Rainbow Dash, you stop!” Fluttershy scolded, with all the fury of a sleepy butterfly.

I sent a glance Dash’s way, along with an arched brow. Then I faced the shy girl, who was rolling her eyes. “What was that all about?” I whispered.

“She’s… a little peeved that everyone else saw some action last night, and me and her were just… um, sitting around at my place,” Fluttershy replied softly.

“Doing literally nothing,” Dash added.

I drew a breath and rubbed my brow. “Patience, Dashie. You’ll get your chance. And acting like this isn’t gonna get you into the action any sooner—just saying.”

She snorted and gave her head a little shake.

“How long you guys been here, anyway?” I asked.

“About an hour,” Fluttershy answered. “Um, is Rare with you?”

I nodded. “She is, but she drove her own car cuz I was gonna head straight home after this.” I glanced over my shoulder into the hallway. “She was right behind me; I don’t know where she went, though. Maybe she had a hard time finding a parking spot or something. I dunno.” I faced my girlfriend again. “So how’d you guys find out about this?”

“Well, um, we didn’t know until we heard about it on the police scanner just a little while ago.” She stopped to tap her fingers together timidly. “We… um, probably would have heard it sooner, but… it happened last night, around the same time you guys were at the hotel, so we were following that instead.”

I glanced at the young girls. “Didn’t they call anyone?”

“They don’t have their phones,” Fluttershy replied. “They left them in Applejack’s truck, which I think is still parked at the theatre —oh, and by the way, someone’s gonna have to give Applejack a ride there to get it— um, but still, I’m surprised they didn’t at least try to call from the police or hospital phone.”

“Yeah,” I nodded, but then I stopped. Remembering something from a few hours earlier, I tipped my head back and exhaled noisily. “Ahh… there was a call from a private number on Rare’s phone. How much you wanna bet that was them?”

Fluttershy agreed. “Yup. There you go.”

I folded my arms and put one hand over my mouth, observing the siren. After a sigh, I glanced over at the shy girl. “So does AJ know what happened?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure they’re still at Sunset’s with Pinkie Pie; I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea for her to know just yet.”

“Pinks?” My eyes went to Sonata again. “Yeah… no, I think you made the right call there. She had a pretty rough night; the last thing she needs is to hear that her best friend got stabbed.”

“That’s what I was thinking.”

I pulled my phone out to check the time. “She might be asleep by now, though. I’ll text Sunny in a bit to let her know what happened. AJ at the very least deserves to know that her little sister was attacked.”

Fluttershy nodded in agreement as the rapid clopping of high heels echoed through the hall behind us.

“And that would be Rare,” I said with a smirk.

Sure enough, the fashionista herself burst in, eyes wide with panic. She was dressed rather smartly that morning, her thighs wrapped in a violet pencil skirt, topped by a fancy, sleeveless light blue top with faux gold trimming and jewels around the neckline. Overtop all of that was a thick, fuzzy white coat to combat the nasty drop in temperature that morning. Her hair and make-up were done to perfection, as usual: her face powdery and her eyelashes like whips.

She quickly scanned the room and then gasped when she located the lavender and pink ringlets of her sister. “Sweetie Belle!” She then proceeded to shuffle-clop around the bed with her arms outstretched, looking for a tight embrace.

Rolling her eyes, Sweetie Belle stood and braced for impact by raising a pair of limp hands. Rarity slammed into her and squeezed her tight, pinning her arms to her sides. “Thank goodness you’re alright!” she cried, releasing her sister to take her by the shoulders and peer into her eyes. She then placed her finger on her sister’s chin to turn her head side-to-side, inspecting her for injuries. “Are you OK? Did they hurt you!?”

“Yeah… I’m fine. It’s OK,” Sweetie Belle replied flatly, her words marred by her sister poking her face.

“Oh my, I simply cannot believe this happened!” Rarity continued as she pawed at her sister—who looked increasingly irritated already.

“It’s OK, I said I’m fi—“

“Do you need anything?” Rarity cut in, cupping her sister’s cheeks in her palms. “Are you hungry?”

“No, I don’t need—“

“Are you warm enough? I can get you a sweater if you—“

By this point, Sweetie Belle had had enough, and her arms burst into the air, batting Rarity’s hands away. “OH MY GOD, RARITY, I’M FINE! JESUS!”

Stunned, the fashionista backtracked a step, tapping her index fingers together and staring with a pair of tiny pupils while her little sister fixed her hair and then exhaled slowly, hands out, fingers splayed.

“My apologies, I… suppose I came on a bit strong there,” Rarity said, her face reddening. “It’s to be expected when someone learns a loved one was in danger.”

This made me think about the many families that lost a loved one at the hands of the fashionista herself the night before.

Sweetie Belle folded her arms and looked to the side, feeling bad for the outburst. “It’s OK. I get it. We’re fine though.” She turned to face the bed, observing Sonata as she slept. “Thanks to her.”

At this point, Rarity had little choice but to acknowledge the siren. She sighed, folded her arms, and faced the bed. “Yes.”

“Yes!?” Scootaloo exclaimed from the other side of the bed, gripping the rails tightly. “You shoulda saw her, Rarity! She was all like: HWAH! BAM! BAM!” She threw a pair of air-jabs when she said this.

“Yeah!” Apple Bloom agreed. “Sonata’s an amazin fighter! I couldn’t believe it!”

Rarity faced the pair for a moment before forcing a smile. “So I’ve heard.” When she turned to her sister once again, she found the young girl staring inquisitively —albeit somewhat nervously— at her.

“It is true?”

The fashionista cocked her head. “I’m sorry?”

Sweetie Belle leaned closer to speak softly, keeping her eyes locked on Rarity’s. ”Are you really the Dark Mistress?”

Rarity froze. Her skin begin to tingle. Of all things, this was the question she’d least expected. She glanced across the bed at the other two girls, who were also listening with baited breath. She turned to look over her shoulder at me next.

I just stared back, rubbing my forehead. Then I shrugged.

Sighing, Rarity faced Sweetie Belle. “Later, you and I will have a conversation.”

Scootaloo, gasping excitedly, placed her fist in front of her mouth. “Oh shit! It’s true! I can’t believe it!”

Rarity quickly raised a finger. “Now wait, darling, we mustn’t discuss this here; it is a rather sensitive topic.”

Scootaloo nodded, struggling to contain herself as Rarity’s attention returned to her sister, who appeared to be at somewhat of a loss, before turning to the siren. Then she glanced around at the rest of us. “Would it be alright if everyone excused themselves? I’d like a moment alone with Sonata, if I may.”

The girls glanced at one another, and then gave the fashionista a shrug.

“Sure… I guess,” Apple Bloom muttered as they shuffled away from the bed.

“Go with Fluttershy,” Rarity whispered to her sister, handing her a twenty dollar bill as she slipped past. “Get yourself something to eat, then she’ll take you home to get some sleep.”

“K,” Sweetie Belle sighed.

“And I shall see you later.”

As the girls exited, Rainbow Dash passed me on the way out while I stayed put, waiting for the shy girl to approach Rarity for a hug and a kiss. After an encouraging smile, Fluttershy returned to take my hand.

“Let’s go, mister. You can I need to discuss a certain picture I got last night,” she said as we exited the room, leaving Rarity alone with the siren.

The fashionista paused for a moment, sighing. Then she slid a chair next to the bed, removed her coat and sat. After laying the thick, fuzzy garment across her lap, she folded her arms and leaned on the bedrail, watching Sonata with a weary expression.

After a long, thoughtful pause, during which she ran her tongue along the inside of her lip, Rarity finally summoned the courage to speak.

“It seems I’ve… misjudged you,” she said quietly, exhaling through her nose and then swallowing. “Rather severely, in fact.”

Rarity paused briefly to reflect on the obviousness of that statement before rolling her eyes at herself. She tilted her head to the right, staring at the pale blue hand that laid on the bedspread, noting the tape covering the spot where the clear tube entered her skin.

After a deep breath, she reached down with one hand and, being careful not to disturb the IV, wrapped her hand around Sonata’s to give it a soft squeeze. “I have been… dismissive toward you, unkind, and rude. And I’ve been untrusting, most of all. And I was wrong.” She sighed and shook her head, looking down at the sheets. “Because of this, I am… ashamed—both of myself, and of my behaviour.”

Rarity shifted in her seat and glanced into the hall. “Hm.” A tiny smirk curled one side of her mouth. “It’s amazing really. Golds. The things he has seen, the things he has learned about life; it has given him this uncanny ability to call it like it is, even when no one else can see it coming. Sometimes, I swear that man can see the future—or at the very least, has a copy of life’s playbook on ‘how to be cruel.’”

She faced Sonata again. “He told us a story once —back in the fall, over breakfast around the campfire— about his time in the Old West; there was a family that he was trying to help. The ranch they lived on was not doing well, and they were starving, so he’d taken it upon himself to go on a trip across the desert to fetch a wagon full of food for them, but upon his return he found them all murdered.

“This saddened him, obviously. It left him feeling trapped. On one hand, he had to go… to find them food, or they would starve, of course, but in doing so, he left them unprotected. It seems, for whatever reason, that poor family was doomed, and Golds —bless his heart— was helpless to stop it.”

Rarity paused for a moment to stroke Sonata’s hand, watching her thumb skip over those bony, blue knuckles, which were rough and bruised from the fight.

“Ever since he told that story, I’ve noticed that same pattern myself. Take Pinkie Pie’s situation, for example: how on Earth does a family who is acquainted with a group of immortal warriors end up murdered? I mean, my goodness! It was her and Applejack’s movie night! Applejack could have been there to save them; it was literally a fifty-fifty choice that sentenced them to death—no fault of Applejack’s of course. The poor thing, I know she felt terrible about it, but how was she to know?”

The fashionsta drew a breath, watching the cold contrast of white fingers wrapped around blue ones, but feeling the surprising warmth that was actually present between them.

“And now there’s this,” she continued. “There we were, off in another city, committing mass murder to avenge Pinkie Pie’s family—which I think really just screwed her up even more.” She gave her head a shake. “And back home, our sisters found themselves in grave danger and had to be saved by a... regular person.”

Rarity sighed and shifted again, reaching down with her free hand to adjust her skirt. “Hm. Some superheroes we are. Perhaps Golds and Fluttershy were right not to join us.” She then folded her arms on the bedrail, resting her chin on them. “It would seem that making the world a better place is an impossible battle. It’s almost like you get penalized for trying.”

She tipped her head toward Sonata, leaning closer with a smirk on her face. “Which is exactly what Golds said, and we didn’t listen. He was right, like always.”

She paused for a moment, brows furrowed as she thought to herself. “Actually, this time... he wasn’t. Not quite. Even Golds —and he knows this himself— is not always right about these things, because this time, just as the stage was set and everyone was in place, and disaster was about to strike… along came a miracle.”

Rarity smiled and gave the siren’s hand another squeeze. “Along came you. You stepped in at the last minute, and not only did you save those girls, you upset the universe’s plan; you went against the status quo. You stood your ground to protect my Sweetie Belle, even though it meant permanently cutting your ties with your own sisters. You faced them with bravery and selflessness, you didn’t let them fool you, and no matter the cost, you didn’t let them win. You should be proud of what you did, because I certainly am. Compared to what we did last night, it was a magnificent accomplishment. You put your own life on the line to make sure that my baby sister was safe—even after the way I treated you.”

Rarity sighed deeply. Then she cleared her throat. “I have been a complete twat to you, and I’m right disgusted by my behaviour these past few months. It is unconscionable that I even considered the idea that you had anything to do with the Pies’ murder —especially without a shred of evidence— and it is truly sad that it took something like this for me to finally accept you.”

Rarity paused for a moment, then she drew a deep breath, her eyes cast down to the sheets. “And for that… I apologize. From the bottom of my heart, Sonata, I apologize for the way I’ve treated you, and I apologize for not encouraging your choice to join us. Such a fool I was. All this time I rejected you, I was actually putting Sweetie Belle in danger. If I’d gotten my way, if we’d gotten rid of you, then who knows what might have happened—and it would have been my fault. I’ve learned my lesson, Sonata, and I promise, starting right now, that things will be different between you and me.”

After giving one more squeeze, Rarity released Sonata’s hand and stood to lean over the bed. She wrapped her arms around the siren as best she could and held her firmly, pressing her cheek against Sonata’s forehead.

Closing her eyes, the fashionista stayed like this for about a minute, until a small burst of air came from Sonata’s nose, blowing some of Rarity’s hair from her face. The fashionista’s eyes popped open when she felt the ancient girl stir, and she loosened her grip, wondering what the siren would think if she found her like this.

“Pachniesz naprawdę dobrze...”

Rarity backed away slightly to look down at Sonata, brows furrowed. “I… I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

Sonata’s eyes were open, but heavy; she didn’t look up at the fashionista just yet. “Pachniesz— … er, I mean…” She reached up to rub her face with her untapped hand. “You… smell really good.”

Rarity, unable to help herself, smiled as warm moisture filled her eyes. She leaned in again to hug Sonata, squeezing the groggy siren’s head into her bosom.

After a short moment —presumably to gather herself and absorb the situation— Sonata reached up and hooked her fingers over Rarity’s forearm, letting her own arm hang limp from it. This was the very best hug she could muster in that moment, but it was more than enough to get the point across.

“Thank you,” Rarity whispered, holding the siren tight. “And I am SO sorry, darling. For everything.”

“Mmmmhhh… ten outta ten... would destroy a millennium of sisterhood again.”

Rarity smiled, a burst of air coming from her nostrils. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. I think we’ve had enough excitement for the time being.”

Chapter 140: Moving On

Chapter 140

“Alright, Pinkie Pie, is that everythin?” Applejack asked, adjusting her hat as she scanned the almost empty room.

“Yeah, pretty much. Just these boxes here and that’s it,” Pinkie replied, reaching behind her head to tighten her ponytail before wiping her brow.

“Sweet! Let’s load ‘em up!” Rainbow Dash clapped her hands and stood before a pair of stacked cardboard boxes. She exhaled noisily as she looked down at the cargo, cheeks puffed. “Betcha I can get both of these at once,” she gloated.

AJ rolled her eyes. “Go fer it.”

Squatting down, Dash wrapped her arms around the boxes and wriggled her fingers under their edges. She grunted noisily, teeth gritted as she hefted the weight from the floor. She staggered back a step after adjusting her grip, and then faced Applejack with a toothy grin.

“Huh. Say, that’s purty good,” AJ said, before turning to approach two stacks of three boxes, which she proceeded to hoist into the air like they were nothing. “Ya’ll ready ta go?”

Deadpanned, Rainbow Dash let out a sigh. “Yeah, fuck. Whatever.” She turned to head for the door, but then stopped to face Pinkie. “You got that last one?” she asked, nodding at a single box sitting next to the doorway, its flaps open, with a desk lamp and her toy alligator pointing out the top.

Pinkie looked down at the box, scratching her brow with her thumb. “Uh… yeah. I got it.” She looked up at Rainbow Dash, and then Applejack. “You guys go ahead. I’ll be right there.”

“Alright. We’re gonna go throw this stuff in the truck. You go ahead and take yer time. We’ll wait.”

Pinkie nodded silently, and her friends exited with boxes in hand. Now alone, the party girl sighed as she scanned the room once more.

She didn’t look her usual self that day, which was somewhat the norm in recent times, in all honesty. Her hair was still straight and flat, and it was pulled back into a ponytail for the day, which threw her proportions out of whack. For those who’d known her for a long time, it took some getting used to.

The lack of curly, poofy hair made her head look unusually small, especially compared to her massive bust, curvy hips and thighs, despite her round, smooth cheeks—which, sadly, had lost those lovely dimples in the absence of her bright, bubbly smile.

Pinkie Pie neither looked nor felt like herself anymore, and she desperately wished she could travel backwards and return to her old ways of unconditional happiness and the celebration of all things fun.

She swallowed and turned to pick the box up. Then she paused once more to look around her former bedroom. It saddened her to see it like this after years being decorated with her brightly coloured furniture and stuffed animals, all illuminated under multiple strings of red Christmas lights that’d been strung around the perimeter of the ceiling.

After a deep breath that failed to alleviate the knot in her chest, Pinkie turned and switched the light off using the corner of the box before entering the hallway, where her nostrils were met with the awful scent of high-powered cleanser, which the clean-up crew had used to erase the horrors that took place in the upstairs of that old country house. Pinkie had grown to despise that smell; it carried the terrible implication of what it was being used to clean up, so she hurried to the staircase and made her way down to escape it.

The day was Thursday, March 9th—over two weeks after the hotel and the incident at the theatre.

Nothing was ever heard about the ballroom massacre on any of the news stations, and so far, nothing had been traced back to the girls—though they did opt out of brandishing their suits during the following weeks to minimize attracting attention to Canterlot. No coverage was expected, though; no footage was captured of them, thanks to the app, and the individuals who actually saw any of them —just Twilight, to be exact— and lived to tell about it, were presumed unable to identify anyone.

No forensic evidence was left behind either, other than the possibility of Pinkie Pie losing a hair or two. And even if she did leave something behind, the hotel was, for the most part, a public place with countless visitors per week.

Not that any of this mattered; it was highly unlikely that The Ministry would want the police snooping around their operations, so it was likely that the whole ordeal had been covered up. They would almost certainly be conducting an investigation of their own, however, and it wasn’t out of the question that one of them might stumble upon some obscure internet videos showing previous reports of the Dark Mistress aired by the local press. The girls and I were mindful of this, making sure to keep an eye on the city cameras for anyone suspicious snooping around Canterlot.

Still, we had considered it safe to call the mission a success for the time being—other than the anguish Pinkie endured after accidently exploding another human being, which she honestly seemed to be handling better than the rest of us expected.

Sonata, in the meantime, had been released from the hospital only a few days ago. Although she was expected to make a full recovery, she would be laid-up for quite some time, and would need to stay with someone who could look after her.

While Rarity, who had the most space, volunteered her home to the siren, she was unable to look after her full-time due to her obligations at the boutique. That duty fell upon Sunset, who was once again jobless after not showing up to the coffee shop for a week without so much as a phone call to tell them she was stuck at the bottom of the harbour. She was still employed by Shining Armor, but she’d barely heard a peep from him over the past few weeks as far as work went; he’d had several meetings with Maud and Pinkie, however, dealing with the house and their inheritance.

Sweetie Belle and her friends were also present when they weren’t working. After what’d happened, they all but worshipped the ground Sonata walked on and were happy to wait on her hand and foot, which Sonata didn’t mind one bit since they were feeding her all the tacos she could handle.

Speaking of Sweetie Belle, she and Rarity did have a sit-down to discuss being the Dark Mistress, and what rules that entailed. It wasn’t just them having the conversation, however; Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were also present, as well as Sunset, Applejack and Rainbow Dash. The talk went as one would expect: the young girls were practically bursting with curiosity and excitement, and it was difficult to maintain their concentration long enough to relay the gravity of the situation to them. Luckily, Rarity and the others managed to keep their immortality a secret for the time being, attributing the suits for their ability to absorb inordinate amounts of damage—though this was only a temporary solution to a problem that was, unfortunately, inevitable.

In the end, the girls promised to keep everything a secret, which was far from ideal, as their involvement complicated things and jeopardized the secrecy of the group, but there really wasn’t much that could be done about it. And to make matters worse, they weren’t the only people who were aware of the suits.

Pinkie Pie also did her best to spend time with the siren, but was in no shape to actually look after her, given her own condition; she was also quite busy taking care of Maud and dealing with their parents’ will, which had been written under the assumption that all of their children would be alive when they passed.

No one knew what happened to Adagio and Aria. The police were unable to track them down that night, and it was assumed that they fled town immediately to avoid arrest. No one had seen them since, but we had our doubts that they’d be gone for good.

In the meantime, Pinkie had acquired an apartment not too far from Sunset and Rainbow Dash’s area, that being one of the more affordable areas of town. She’d managed to scrape together enough cash for her first and last month’s rent, but was unsure of how to afford utilities and food, not to mention insurance and maintenance on her car. It was also intended that Sonata would move in with her once her condition had improved, but with only Pinkie’s meager income, both of them living there was simply not feasible.

Fortunately, she and Maud had come to the agreement that she could have their parents’ car, since Pinkie’s car was getting on in years, and was not wearing them well. So the plan was that she would take their parents’ car, which was much newer, and she would sell her car and use the money to live on until she could obtain a better income.

While her party throwing brought in enough money to live at home, it was not enough to survive in the real world, especially with the occasional short-changes and sometimes outright non-payments her clients would drop on her; a frustration, yes, but Pinkie had long accepted it to be the nature of the beast.

Unfortunately for her, she had yet to find a better job, and after having her car listed for sale for over two weeks, she’d received nothing but low-ball offers and no-shows. And now, moving day was upon her and she needed money right away, so she’d managed to talk Golden Arrow into taking the car to the wrecking yard to get whatever she could in scrap money for it. He was sure to warn her that she wouldn’t get nearly as much as what she had it listed for, but she begrudgingly insisted since it was better than nothing.

When Pinkie reached the bottom of the stairs, she found Maud sitting in her wheelchair in the doorway by the front room. She stopped and turned to face her sister, holding the box against her abdomen.

“Hey.”

Maud blinked. “D’you have everything?”

Pinkie nodded. “Mm-hm.”

A pause.

“So… first night in the new place?” Maud asked.

“Yup.” Pinkie nodded again. She drew a breath to say something else, but was interrupted when the front door opened and Rainbow Dash poked her head in.

“You comin or what?”

Pinkie glanced at her friend for a moment, then at her sister again. “Uh… in a minute. I just— … Actually, here.” Pinkie turned to set the box on the bottom stair and turned back to Dash, shoving her hand into her tight-fitting jeans. “I’ll give you the key; you guys go ahead and unload that stuff. I’ll be there in a bit. I just have a few things to do first.”

“Uh… OK,” Dash replied, reaching out to take the key from Pinkie. “We’ll, uh… see ya there, I guess.”

Pinkie nodded. “See ya. Thanks, Dashie.”

“No problem,” Dash said as she disappeared for a second, but then popped her head back inside. “Hey, where do you want this stuff, anyway?”

Pinkie waved dismissively. “Just put it in the front room. I’ll figure it out later.”

“OK,” Dash said with a nod, and then she was gone.

With the door closed, Pinkie faced Maud once more, folding her arms over her stomach, making it look like she was cradling her bust. “Well?”

Maud blinked.

Drawing a breath, Pinkie looked around the place. “I’m, um… gonna miss living here. I liked this house.”

“It was a nice house.”

Pinkie looked down at her sister for a moment, then she cleared her throat and cast her eyes to the floor. Outside, the sound of Applejack’s truck rumbled when it started, and then slowly faded into silence as they drove off.

The party-girl drew a breath when they found themselves drowning in that awkward silence once again, and she put her arms behind her back, joining her hands just above her derrière. “So… are you just gonna hang out here then, or…?”

“No. Big Mac’s coming to pick me up in a bit,” Maud answered.

Pinkie cocked her head. “Big Mac?”

“Yes. I’m staying at the farm for the weekend. Next week Cheerilee is off for March Break, so she’s gonna take me to my physiotherapy appointment on Monday.” Maud paused for a moment to blink slowly. “They’re supposed to upgrade me to crutches.”

“Oh!” Pinkie actually managed a little smirk. “That’ll be bonus. Good for you, Maud. I can tell you’re really excited about that.”

“Thanks. It’ll be nice not having roll around in this thing all the time.”

Pinkie nodded. “Yeah.”

The conversation fell into limbo once again, and an idle Pinkie began to poke at the floor with her toe, not knowing what to do other than fidget. She was always a fidgety person.

Maud just stared at her.

After Pinkie let out a deep, forlorn sigh, her older sister spoke up.

“Why don’t you cut the act, Pinkie?”

Surprised, Pinkie stared vacantly at her sister. “What are you talking about?”

Maud glared at Pinkie for another moment before replying. “The thing at the hotel.”

Pinkie shook her head and shrugged. “What about it?”

“It wasn’t an accident, was it?”

“What?”

“What you did to that girl. You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”

The colour quickly drained from Pinkie’s face, a reaction she tried to hide by putting on a grim expression. She raised her arms to fold them across her bust and brought one hand up to chew her thumbnail as she stared back at Maud. Then she moved her hand away from her mouth, blowing a sliver of nail from between her lips to speak.

“How do you know that?”

Maud blinked. “I knew you didn’t want to be there just to tell a sob story. You had bigger plans.”

“Like what?”

The older sister sat up and drew a breath. “When we were staying at the farm, I saw you practicing... on living things.”

Pinkie furrowed her brows.

“Out behind the barn,” Maud continued. “I saw you catching spiders and taking them outside where no one would see you. You were using your magic on them; that’s when I knew what you were planning.” She paused for a moment to watch Pinkie, slowly tilting her head to the side. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen ‘her’ come out.”

After a short staring match with her sister, Pinkie sighed and looked down at her hands, studying her chubby, pink digits, contemplating just how deadly they’d become since that fateful day at the camp all those years ago. “I’m sorry.”

Maud stared at her sister. “Don’t be sorry, Pinkie,” she replied, which earned her a surprised look. “I heard what happened after you did it; you felt bad, even though she killed our family. You still hated the thought of sinking to her level, but she deserved it, and I don’t blame you for doing it.”

Pinkie drew a breath and nodded. “I couldn’t help it,” she said softly, sounding ashamed.

“I doubt I could either. I was here, Pinkie. More of that night has been coming back to me. I heard the whole thing. I can’t judge you for what you did… because I too wanted her to suffer for what she did to our family... and to me.” Maud continued as she stared off into space, recalling that terrible night. “Now that the memories are coming back, I wish I could get rid of them all over again. The gunshots, wondering if everyone was OK—then I heard Dad, out in the hallway.” Her eyes were blank, unmoving. “I heard that horrible scream. I’d never heard Dad make a sound like that before.”

Maud’s eyes drifted shut, and she drew a deep breath, listening to that heart-wrenching sound as it played back inside her head. Then her eyes opened and locked onto Pinkie. “I’ll never forget it, Pinkie. That sound will haunt me ‘til the day I die.”

Maud looked up to the top of the stairs, exhaling through her nose. “That’s why I’m selling this house as soon as Shining Armor gets the papers together. I don’t believe in ghosts, Pinkie, but… the memory alone is… enough. It’s enough to make me never want to sleep here again.”

Pinkie brought her eyes up just in time to see a stream of moisture roll down her sister’s cheek. The sight of this, something rarer than a UFO or bigfoot sighting, twisted the party-girl’s heart into a knot. “Oh, Maudie!”

Dropping to her knees before the wheelchair, Pinkie wrapped her sister in a tight hug and began to sob while Maud returned the embrace with her good arm.

“I’m so sorry,” Pinkie whimpered, her face buried in her sisters shoulder. “I never meant for things to get as bad as they did. I wanted things to be better; I wanted to fix it, but now we’re never gonna see them again! I’ll never get to tell them how much I love them, and how much I’m gonna miss them.”

Maud swallowed as she rubbed her sister’s back. “I miss them too, Pinkie. And I’m sorry for how things were. I know I wasn’t a very good sister either. It probably would have been preferable if someone else had survived, in all honesty.”

Gasping, Pinkie leaned back and took Maud by the arms. “No! Maud, I’m glad I still have you. I don’t know what I would do without you. Even when we fought, I still loved you—and I love you now.” She reached up to wipe the moisture from Maud’s cheek. “I know I didn’t say that enough before, but from now on, I promise I’m gonna say it every time I see you. Mom and Dad, Limestone and Marble; they might be gone, it might be too late to tell them, but I still have you, and I promise I’m gonna be a better sister going forward.”

Maud blinked. “Thanks, Pinkie. I love you too, and I’m glad I’ll still have you around to bug me when I’m sorting my andesites from my diorites.”

This made Pinkie smile. She let out a blubbery laugh, accidently spattering Maud with a mixture of tears and saliva. “Sorry,” she croaked, brushing the moisture away before taking a thoughtful pause. “And don’t worry about ‘her.’ She’s not coming back; I’m still in control.”

Pinkie stood and wiped her cheeks with the heel of her hand, exhaling nosily. Then she cleared her throat and swallowed, glancing at the box sitting on the stairs. “Ehh, I should probably get this outside; Goldie-woldie’s supposed to be here soon to get my car.”

Maud watched for a moment as Pinkie peeled the hem of her shirt up to wipe her eyes, exposing her pink belly and deep navel. “Couldn’t find a buyer?”

“Ughh…” Pinkie lowered her shirt and patted it flat, sniffling. “No, just a bunch of cheap-skates. The only promising one was that one guy who kept calling about it. He called again yesterday, but he’s been a no-show this whole time so I’m not holding out for him anymore. Goldie’s gonna take it for scrap to see how much he can get, and that’ll be the end of it.”

“That’s too bad,” Maud replied. “How much were you asking?”

“Twenty-eight hundred.”

“Hm. Seems more than reasonable. I’m surprised no one bit. I wish I could say the inheritance was coming soon, but I have no idea how much longer that’s gonna take.”

“Yeah, same here,” Pinkie sniffled as she tightened her ponytail and then approached the stairs to retrieve the box. “But I can’t rely on that. I need money now.”

As the party-girl bent down to pick the box up, Maud asked a rather vague question.

“Why don’t you do it?”

Pinkie froze. She glared at her sister, confused. “Do what?”

“Why won’t you become like your friends?”

After looking down at the box again, Pinkie closed her eyes and shook her head. “I don’t— … what are you t—“

“Your friends can’t die, Pinkie. Only you can. Why don’t you want to be like them?”

Pinkie stood again, rubbing the back of her neck. “Uh… you do know how that works, right?”

“Of course. You have sex with that Golden Arrow guy, and your magic spreads his power to you.”

Hearing the rather frank description made Pinkie’s cheeks redden, and she cleared her throat awkwardly. “I don’t know. I told you before why I didn’t wanna do it: because I didn’t want to deal with living without my family after they’re gone.”

Maud stared vacantly for a moment. “Pinkie… that doesn’t make any sense. For one thing, you’ll still have your friends—and for another, your family is gone.”

Pinkie scowled. “That’s not true. I still have you.”

“You need to think of it from my perspective,” Maud replied. “I just lost my entire family, except for one sister—and she has the chance to make it so she’ll never die. I’d feel a lot better if that’s what she decided to do.”

Pinkie watched her sister for a moment, lips pursed. Then she looked down at her feet and sighed.

“And staying mortal just because you don’t want to deal with living without me doesn’t change the fact that I’m still going to die one day,” Maud continued. “You growing old and dying along with me helps no one, plus you’ll be putting your friends through the exact same thing that you’re trying to avoid.”

“I don’t kn—”

“And besides… where would the world be without Pinkie Pie?”

The question brought the party-girl to a standstill, and, instead of protesting further, she simply stared at her older sister, who, once again, blinked slowly.

“Your friends need you, Pinkie,” Maud insisted. “Don’t make them live out an eternity without you. Besides, a good romp would probably do you some good.”

Pinkie was more embarrassed by the last part than she normally would have been, but then again, she’d been anything but normal lately. She folded her arms under her bust and looked up the stairs, her cheeks burning brightly as she tried to appear casual by running her tongue along the inside of her bottom lip.

After a sigh, she bent once again to pick the box up. “Fine. I’ll think about it. It’s kind a big decision, you know? I need to be sure it’s what I really want.”

“Of course.”

After approaching the door and hooking one arm around the box so she could open it, Pinkie stopped once more to face Maud. “Are you gonna be OK here by yourself?”

“Yes. My ride’ll be here soon. I’ll probably just sit in Dad’s office and sort my sedimentaries by Mohs hardness.”

Pinkie paused for a moment before forcing a smile. “OK. Have fun, Maud. I’ll see you later.”

“Bye, Pinkie.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Outside, the party girl approached her new-to-her car, opened the rear door and set the box on the back seat. Then she swung the door shut and leaned against it with her back, folding her arms to fight off the chill that hung in the air. It was an unusually warm day for that time of year, but even so, the breeze could still gave one goosebumps, especially in the shade.

Her face was where she felt it most; the moisture left behind by her tears took most of the blame for that, but having her cheeks filled with hot blood after that conversation was certainly a contributor as well.

Pinkie furrowed her brows and chewed the inside of her cheek, wondering if Maud had made a better point than she originally thought. Much of it made perfect sense, but the idea of such an irreversible decision made her anxious.

That wasn’t the only source of stress, either. Looking down at herself, she unfolded her arms and placed one hand just below her navel, feeling the slightly convex shape of her belly. What would happen if she presented this to Golden Arrow? She thought about the lovely, wonderful ladies that he normally kept company with. Each of them stood within inches of physical perfection—or what modern humans consider perfection, at least.

Would he want to sleep with a chubber like me? she thought as she slid her hands around to her hips, letting them rest upon those pink muffin tops, feeling the indent where pants sat. She looked around the yard for a moment, listening as a gentle wind whispered through the trees, making them wave back and forth as though they were gossiping under their breath about her.

The caress of chilly air made her skin tighten as it became riddled with more goosebumps, and she felt a tension building inside her bra, on the peak of each of her breasts. Looking down, she saw a pair of bumps where her nipples sat, having become erect and poking through her clothes. It looked spectacular, and oddly enough, it gave her a small boost of confidence when she saw it.

If there was anywhere she had it going on, it was her boobs! None of her friends could touch her in that department, and she knew she’d caught Golds looking at them more than once in the past.

The little spark she felt when she imagined Golden Arrow having a sexual interest in her suggested that perhaps Maud was correct. After all, it’d been many moons since the party-girl had seen any action.

Not that her life was completely devoid of sexual experiences, because it certainly wasn’t. Being a paid party planner meant that throwing high-school and occasional college parties was a common occurrence, and they had a tendency to become pretty wild at times—not that Pinkie orchestrated or promoted it; most often the guests themselves would get a bit carried away and she would end up bearing witness to some rather shameless acts.

Or sometimes she would find herself in the middle of them. Sometimes the hand of some half-wasted freshman would end up squeezing her backside or fondling her breasts, and Pinkie, being a well-experienced veteran of situations like these would usually find an amicable way to dissuade him—though some parties would be so out-of-hand with rowdiness, sex and drugs that after several warnings she would pull the plug and distance herself from it before the police arrived.

Sometimes, however, the party girl would find herself in a certain mood, and certain advances, if handled well enough on his part, would be allowed. Under the right conditions, it could be rather difficult to resist letting a stranger slip his hand down her pants to give her a bit of free pleasure; sometimes a girl just needs to get off, after all, and sometimes, if she was feeling generous enough, she might even return the favour.

She drew the line at intercourse, though. Pinkie respected herself too much for that.

That didn’t stop others from engaging, however. Couples, or even random pairs, would often disappear into a bedroom or bathroom for about fifteen minutes, and it wouldn’t be hard to figure out what they were up to.

Pinkie shook her head, remembering one of the crazier, if not the craziest act she’d ever witnessed. It happened many years ago, just weeks after high school graduation. The party was going along as usual: loud music, people dancing and talking, lots of red Dixie cups everywhere; then, out-of-nowhere, Sandalwood and Rose Heart started making out, got naked and started fucking on the couch right in front of everyone—with Pinkie sitting next to them.

It was awkward at first, to be sure, but Pinkie avoided moving simply because she didn’t want to appear put-off by it, even though they were so close that an elbow or a knee would occasionally bump Pinkie’s arm.

After a while, though, Pinkie grew comfortable with all the moaning right beside her, half drowned-out by the music. Feeling adventurous, she actually made a point of craning her neck to see if she could get a better look at the action; it turned out that Rose had a lot of pubic hair, and it unfortunately obscured the actual penetration.

In Pinkie’s mind, it looked like he was banging a piece of Red Velvet cake.

She could, however, see Sandalwood’s length every time he withdrew for the next thrust. The creamy coat of Rose’s fluid covering his length set the party-girl on fire, forcing her to make a conscious effort not to let her hands wander too much, and as soon as she witnessed him pull out to sprinkle her belly and breasts with his cum, Pinkie darted from the couch to find the nearest bathroom to masturbate in.

She figured at least a half dozen knew what she was up to, but she didn’t care. She needed to get-off immediately, and get-off she did, eyes closed with one foot on the toilet as she stroked the orgasm out, imagining how amazing it would have felt to have that dick inside her instead of Rose.

Before she knew it, the memory of that bathroom-fantasy had transformed into an exciting new vision, featuring the man who had the power to make her life an eternal one. The very thought of being ploughed by Golden Arrow caused her loins to stir in a way that she hadn’t felt for weeks; she’d already witnessed firsthand the effect he had on Fluttershy, and the curiosity of what it would feel like to have him inside her made her temperature rise, even while standing out there in the cool breeze, leaning against her late parents’ car.

It was then that she realised that under the wind was the sound of a diesel engine approaching, punctuated by the clatter of an empty trailer as it bounced over a row of potholes. It caused her heart to flutter, knowing who that sound was associated with. She stood from the car to face that direction, but as always, couldn’t see past the large trees at the edge of the yard.

*****

I released the accelerator to coast around the final bend before the Pie house’s driveway, which was laid out more like a wide, shallow parking lot than a narrow lane. As the trees passed by, I was greeted by the sight of two cars, one of them Pinkie’s, the other her new one—which she was standing beside. She watched me approach, not wearing a coat, which surprised me a little.

I gave her a nod as I drove by and looped the truck and trailer around the lot, ending up facing the way I came from. After idling for a moment to let the turbos cool, I killed the engine and opened the door to hop out.

“Hey, Pinks,” I said as I approached.

She forced an awkward smile. “Hi, Goldie,” she replied with an especially quiet tone.

I returned smile and gestured to her inheritance. “So these are your new wheels? Nice.”

“Mm-hm,” she hummed absentmindedly as she watched me circle the car one time, giving it a quick check-over.

“Looks good! You’re gonna look like a classy dame driving around in this thing,” I continued as I reached the front bumper and paused to glance at Pinkie. “Granted, it’s a little bigger than you’re used to—but I’m sure you can handle it.”

“Hm?” She stared for a moment. Then she blinked a few times and shook her head before looking down at the hood. “Oh… the car? Yeah. Yeah, I’m sure I’ll get used to it after a good… uhh, ride.”

I raised a brow in response. Heavy emphasis on the word ‘ride’... hmm. As with every other time I saw Pinkie, my eyes dropped to that huge bust of hers, and I was quick to notice she was sporting a pair of hard nipples.

I brought my eyes back to hers next; she was looking at the car still, which gave me a chance to study her a little closer. Having her hair pulled back the way it was made her features appear extra round and cherub-like —not in a bad way, it was definitely a cute look— but it didn’t take me long to notice the redness around her eyes.

I glanced over my shoulder at the house. Pinkie was moving out under less than positive circumstances, after all; it wasn’t difficult to imagine that she would have had a ‘moment’ before leaving for the last time. And of course, a good cry was never a bad thing.

I faced her again, noticing that she’d folded her arms across her bust.

“Where’s your coat, Pinks? Aren’t you cold?”

She shook her head. “No, I’m… plenty warm, actually.”

It was then that I noticed she was standing with her toes pointed in and was pressing those shapely thighs together inside those tight jeans.

Suspicious, I chewed the inside of my cheek as I watched her a few seconds more before changing the subject by turning to nod at her old car. “Well? You got that thing all cleaned out? Said your goodbyes and all that?”

She looked over at the other car. “Yeah.” Then she returned her attention to me. “So how much do you think they’ll give me for it?”

I scrunched my face and sent my eyes upward, bouncing my head side-to-side. “Eh… scrap prices aren’t that great right now. Probably… like two or three hundred?”

Pinkie deflated slightly. “Aww… major bummer. It’s better than nothing, though… I guess.”

I rubbed my temple, watching the poor girl. She’d been through so much lately; I wished there was something I could do for her. “No luck with the listing, eh?”

She shook her head. “Nah.”

I waved dismissively. “Those online classifies are useless. The only responses you get are people who wanna waste your time.”

“Yeah.”

After watching her for another moment, I sighed and glanced at the car once again. “OK, well… I guess I’ll get ‘er loaded up then.”

Pinkie forced a smile and nodded, and I made my way over to the trailer, opened the box at the front and pulled out a bunch of chains and tie-down ratchets, which I tossed onto the deck with a loud, metallic thump.

As I untangled the mess of steel links, the sound of a car coming down the road entered my ears. A moment later a large, navy blue SUV rounded the bend and came into view. After figuring it would pass by, it surprised me and Pinkie both by slowing down and stopping on the side of the road.

I glanced at the truck first and then Pinkie, who watched curiously as its engine was shut down, followed by the driver’s door opening. Out stepped a taller man in a long, gray fleece coat and shiny shoes, wearing a pair of sunglasses on his forehead.

“Hi, there!” he greeted as he jogged across the road. “I’m looking for someone named Pinkie Pie; would I find her here?”

Pinkie looked surprised, but she nodded nonetheless. “Yeah… uh, that’s me.”

“Ah!” He approached her and held his hand out to shake hers. “I called about the car.”

I stopped what I was doing to glance over my shoulder at them. Pinkie, as expected looked surprised.

“Sorry I stood you up the last couple times. Heh! Life. Gets busy, you know?”

“Oh! Uh…” —she shook her head and waved it off— “it’s OK, I just figured… you know.”

He put his hands on his hips and chuckled. “Yeah.” Then he looked over at the car and nodded to it. “So is that it?”

She followed his glance. “Yeah, that’s it. It needs to have a few things fixed, but overall, it’s not that bad. I’m only getting rid of it cuz I was given something better.”

“It looks pretty decent,” he replied. “It’s actually for my daughter. She’s going away to college in the fall, but she’s moving there for the summer so she can get used to the city and make some friends before school starts. I’ve been looking for something like this for her, but I couldn’t find anything in my price range.”

“Oh, well…” Pinkie shrugged. “That’s weird. I haven’t actually gotten any offers on it at all; and I’m moving out today, so I really just need it gone.”

I turned back to face the trailer, groaning softly as I pretended to fiddle with the chains. Ugh, don’t tell him that.

“Hm,” the man hummed to himself and went for a quick walk around the car. He looked inside through the windows, kicked the tires and bent to look underneath—basically everything that a person who doesn’t know how to buy a car does. “Hm,” he muttered again as he made his way back to Pinkie. “It looks pretty nice, actually.”

Pinkie nodded and smiled. “It’s been a good car. Good on gas.”

He stopped and folded his arms, pressing a finger to his lips as he thought for a moment. Then he moved his hand away to speak. “Would you take thirteen hundred?”

Pinkie’s shoulders sank. “Ohh… that’s a lot lower than asking price,” she said timidly.

He sighed and thought for another moment. “How about fifteen?”

The party girl sighed, clearly not happy with the offer.

Noticing her reaction, the man shrugged and shook his head. “Sorry, miss. I can’t go much higher. That’s all I can afford. But my little girl needs a reliable car, and I really hate to see her go without one in a strange city.”

I didn’t like this. I glanced over at his truck, sitting on the side of the road. Its paint was spotless and sparkling in the sun, and it sported a set of twenty inch chrome wheels, along with a full limousine-style window tint package.

I looked at him again, eyes narrowed, noticing how he was dressed. This guy’s driving around in a brand new Suburban and he expects me to believe he can’t afford any more than fifteen hundred? Give me a fuckin break.

I brought my attention to Pinkie next. It was clear that she was disappointed, having this guy show up and giving her false hope for a decent deal. She was desperate enough, though, to settle, since the only other option as a meager few hundred from the scrap yard.

“Whaddaya say?” he asked, brow cocked smartly. “I can cut you a cheque right now. It would make my little girl so happy to hear she’s finally getting a car.”

This guy... wow. I turned back to face the trailer, chewing my lip. Pinkie was in no condition to be negotiating with someone like this. She wasn’t her usual bubbly, confident self, and he was taking advantage of her; he was gonna rip her off, and on the day she moved out of the house where her family was murdered.

Unless…

I spun around to face them. “Hey, man? You’re too late, I’m already taking this car.”

Both he and Pinkie spun around to face me. He looked surprised; Pinkie looked like she wanted to ring my neck.

“I’m sorry?” he said, scowling.

I pointed at the car. “The car’s mine. I was just about to load it up, pay the girl and be on my way,” I said, gesturing to the trailer.

He looked at Pinkie again, confused. “Wait… you already sold the car?”

Her eyes darted around. “Uh… I, uh…”

“Damn straight!” I said, drawing their attention again. I shrugged and cocked my head at him. “Sorry bud. You snooze, you lose.”

He stared at me for a moment. Then, after a quick glance at Pinkie, he licked his lips and faced me. “Can I ask how much you’re paying for it?”

“Twenty-five hundred,” I replied.

Pinkie’s head whipped around to face me, eyes wide.

The man cursed under his breath. “What was the asking price again?”

“Uh… twenty-eight hundred,” she replied, facing him.

He nodded. “OK. I can do that. I just… I need this car. My wife and daughter are gonna kill me if come home empty-handed again.”

Is that a fact? I thought, arching a brow.

Pinkie, in the meantime, was staring in surprise. “Uh… OK, sure—”

I held my hands out, scowling. “Hey! The fuck you doing, man?”

He raised his brows at me, pointing his finger. “You just said you haven’t paid her yet. That means the car isn’t officially sold.”

“I was—“ I raised my hand to object, but then stopped to face Pinkie. “I’ll give you three!”

Pinkie looked at me again, eyes even wider.

The man scrunched his lips, clenching his fists in frustration. “Thirty-one—No! Thirty-two fifty.”

Pinkie turned back to him, her jaw nearly hitting the gravel.

The man looked over at me, waiting for my counteroffer. I paused for a moment, rubbing my chin as I turned to look down at the trailer deck. Holy shit, I didn’t think this dumbass would go that high. I glanced over at him again. Better not push my luck.

With a roll of my eyes, I sighed and shook my head. “Shit.”

“HA!” He clapped his hands victoriously and then pulled a chequebook out of his coat pocket. “Thirty-two fifty. Do we have a deal, miss?”

Pinkie snapped out of her daze, blinking. “Uh... yeah! Sure. Thirty-two fifty sounds good.” She glanced over at me as he busied himself with writing the cheque, and I gave her a little wink, followed by a smirk. She was too shocked to smile back, so she instead faced him again when the sound of a cheque being torn away caught her attention.

After handing an incredulous Pinkie Pie the cheque, the man threw a hand out and grinned smugly at me. “Sorry, bud, but you gotta bring bigger chips to the table if you wanna play with me.”

I sneered and turned away. What a fuckin idiot. I was just about to gather up the chains when his voice drew my attention once more.

“Hey, man?”

Feigning annoyance, I dropped the chains into a noisy heap and turned to face him again.

“You were gonna take the car home on this?” he asked, pointing at my trailer.

I nodded.

“OK, how about this? I need to get this car home,” he explained. “How about I get you to trailer it home for me?”

I raised a brow.

“That way, I don’t have to get a temporary permit and make a second trip out here to get it, and you won’t have wasted your day coming out here for nothing. I’ll even pay you a hundred bucks for your time. Whaddaya say?”

I glanced past him at Pinkie, who was now hiding a smirk, then I hung my head and looked at the ground. After one more sigh, I ‘begrudgingly’ held my hand out for the cash.

Chapter 141: You Can't Run

Chapter 141

“No! No, please! Rutherford innocent! Me told you, me don’t know what happened!”

No response was given by the two suited men who dragged the young auto apprentice down the long, quiet hall, their arms hooked under each of his. They passed several other suited men along the way, none of whom averted their eyes from a straight-forward position as the pleading captive went by, his feet dragging on the carpet behind him.

At the end of the passage, they passed through the frame of a thick, steel door, much like that of a bank vault, to find themselves in a large room with another steel door on the immediate left. The space to the right was much deeper, with various artifacts decorating its dark gray marble walls, most of them religious in nature. Along with those hung large-framed photographs of old churches, some of them with people standing in the foreground.

As Rutherford was dragged deeper into the room, he noticed one picture in particular, featuring a pair of bearded men who looked similar enough to be family —brothers, most likely— standing side-by-side and smiling proudly. Mounted next to it was a golden plaque, engraved with scripture that read:

’”We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”
- 2 Corinthians 4:8’

Conveniently enough, one of the men in the image appeared to be a younger version of the man who was seated at the desk in the center of the far wall. Behind the desk was a violet shroud that ran the length of the wall, flanked by a dark, marble pillar in each corner and centerpieced by a large, embroidered yellow cross.

Rutherford stopped struggling when the man caught his eye, and he peered through his dreadlocks at the scene as the men dragged him across the smooth, solid red carpet—until they abruptly tossed him to the floor, next to a chair that sat facing the desk.

The young man groaned as he rose to his hands and knees, looking over his shoulder to see the pair that’d deposited him there heading back to the steel door. He faced forward again, using one hand to move his dreadlocks from his face so he could see clearly.

Immediately, he noticed a second man standing beside the desk. He was middle-aged, wearing a gray suit with a red tie, sporting a short, gray buzz cut.

Rutherford recognized him immediately.

“Uh! Uh, M-Mr. Hopper—“ he stammered as he jumped to his feet, one hand outstretched. He was silenced, however, when the older man scowled and put his finger to his lips.

Hopper then pointed at the large man at the desk. Rutherford hadn’t noticed that he was talking on a cell phone, which was all but hidden within the grip of his massive, sausage-like fingers.

Rutherford ducked his head apologetically and faced Hopper once more, who pointed to the chair that faced the desk, directing him to sit. The young man complied, side-stepping in front of the chair and lowering himself slowly into the seat. He folded his hands between his knees, trying to hide his nervousness as he listened in on the big man’s conversation.

“Yes… yes, Mrs. Crinkle,” he was saying. His voice was deep and gruff, but he spoke in a manner that was strangely soothing. “I understand. These things can be difficult to deal with, but we must remember to keep faith, and that the word of God will prevail. I’m reminded of Psalm sixty-two, verses one and two: ‘My soul finds rest in God alone, my salvation comes from Him, He alone is my rock and my salvation.’”

He paused to listen as a tinny voice rang out from the phone’s speaker, too quiet for Rutherford to understand. His free hand came up to adjust the collar of his black shirt, which was adorned with a clean, white square just below his Adam’s apple.

Drawing a long breath, he nodded. “Yes…” he said softly, letting his dark, vacuous eyes rise from the desktop to meet Rutherford’s.

Making eye contact with this individual haunted the young man, and it caused his breathing to stop. He looked down at his lap almost immediately, unable to maintain it.

“You are more than welcome, Mrs. Crinkle,” the man continued. “Help is always a phone call away. You can get a hold of me any time, or, for true inspiration, the Lord Himself is there, through prayer and reflection.”

CLANG!

The sound made Rutherford jump. He nearly fell out of his chair as he spun around to find the steel door now closed. One of the men who’d dragged him in remained inside, standing next to the large, metallic panel. He faced the desk once again when he heard the big man talking, his breathing accelerating to match his heart rate.

“…Yes, all my love, and the love of the Lord as well. And I’ll see you at this Sunday’s sermon, bright and early.” He followed with a little nod. “Yes. Goodbye, Mrs. Crinkle… and God bless.”

He then took the phone from his ear and touched the screen with his thumb before setting it on the desk, keeping his massive hand on it. He stared into space for a moment, then he let out an exasperated sigh.

“Stupid old bitch,” he grumbled. “Why don’t you just die, huh? No one cares about you.” Raising a brow, he turned the phone over once more to verify that he had in fact ended the call properly. Then his eyes rose to meet Rutherford’s again. “Mr. Hopper. What is this animal you’ve brought in here? He a pet of yours?”

Hopper cleared his throat. “Ah… Reverend, this is young Rutherford. He is, unfortunately for him, the young chap who botched the Rakyat deal.”

The reverend kept his eyes on Hopper for a moment, rolling his jaw. Then his head slowly turned to face Rutherford. “I see.” He folded his massive hands and set them on the desktop with a soft thump. “Well...” he asked, shrugging by pointing his laced fingers outwards, brows raised. “Do you have anything to say to me, my son?”

The poor kid’s mind was paralyzed with fear, so much so that he failed to answer. Instead, he simply moved his hands to his knees to stop them from shaking.

“HEY!” Hopper shouted, making the young man jump. “The reverend just asked you a question; don’t be disrespectful!”

With a trembling jaw, Rutherford forced a reply. “M-m-me don’t know what happened! Rutherford follow direction exactly!”

The reverend looked unimpressed. He drew a breath and took a moment to think, running his finger along the cleft that ran from his nose to his upper lip. “The Ministry took a very large loss over that deal, did you know that? That was a major international proposition; an untapped market we could have broken into—a whole new continent!” He raised his hands as a gesture to the world at large. “An entire market that we lost, because of one stupid delivery boy.”

Rutherford shook his head, eyes wide. “No! Me telling the truth!” He brought a pair of trembling hands up to emphasize his point. “Rutherford deliver package; in exact spot he was told; at exact time! Me don’t know what happened! M-maybe someone intercept… o-or maybe receiver go to wrong place?”

“Our directions to the receiver were very clear,” Hopper chided, silencing the young man, who simply stared back, jaw chattering.

The reverend drew a long breath and then released it, letting a deep growl accompany it on its way out. “I don’t think you understand the gravity of your mistake, my son. Bottom line, the client did not receive the product. Ten million dollars worth of product has vanished —while in your charge— but that number pales in comparison to potential sales lost when the arrangement went south.“

Rutherford folded his hands like he was praying, shaking them rabidly. “Me sorry!” he pleaded. “Rutherford know this was big deal; he would never mess up on purpose!”

“If it was an honest mistake, then why didn’t you come back to inform us of the fact? If a competitor truly did steal the package, we might have been able to track them down, retrieve the package, and eliminate them for good. But instead, you run off and leave us in the dark while everything goes down the toilet.”

Rutherford gripped the edges of the chair, his forehead beginning to glisten with cold sweat. “Rutherford... scared.”

The reverend tapped his temple. “Rutherford wasn’t thinking,” he grumbled. “You realise that when we learn about the client not receiving the package and that you’ve run off, we’re gonna assume that you’ve stolen it, right?”

The young man stared, wide-eyed and terrified. It was difficult to know if he was shaking his head in protest or if he was trembling. “No… No, Rutherford would never do that! Ministry took good care of Rutherford, but me was scared! Me didn’t know what Ministry would do!” He raised a hand in search of mercy. “Me was scared and ran away! Don’t want trouble! Rutherford just want to start over, make new life…”

As the young man spoke, the reverend looked down to open one of his desk drawers, from which he quietly produced an old —and rather large— revolver. After pushing the drawer closed with the barrel, he set the gun on the desk, letting his hand rest on the handle.

“…promise me won’t tell anyone… about…” Rutherford trailed off when he saw the weapon pointing at him. After staring at it for a moment, he brought his eyes up to meet the dark stare of the minister. “No… please…” he whimpered, his whiskered chin shaking, eyes moistening behind those dreadlocks. “Let Rutherford go, he cause no more trouble.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, my child,” the reverend said softly. He waved to himself with his free hand. “You’ve seen me. You know who I am. Once that happens, you can’t go back. You know, like the rest of us, that all members of The Ministry are members for life—which may or may not be a long time, depending on their loyalty. I’m afraid, son, that you cannot be trusted to work for us anymore; your sins have tarnished your reputation, and I can’t allow you to simply go forth into this world to… ‘start a new life.’ You can’t be trusted to go out on your own. If word of my business here got out, it would tarnish my reputation in the public eye. Irreparably.”

“Please… p-please…” Rutherford’s jaw trembled as he leaned forward in the chair, reaching his hands toward the desk as he begged for forgiveness. “Please, Father! Let Rutherford work for you again. Me do good job, me swear!”

With a disgusted scowl, the reverend glanced over the young man’s shoulder and nodded to the guard, who was no longer standing by the door, but rather right behind the chair, holding a length of rope in his hand.

After receiving the signal, the guard reached above Rutherford’s head and shoved the noose down onto him, causing him to stop mid-sentence and cry out in panic. The guard yanked the line backwards, bending Rutherford’s head over the back of the chair, his screams stifled when the rope pinched his airway shut. With his other hand, the guard tossed the middle of the rope over a large cast iron hook attached to the ceiling.

He pulled hand-over-hand, threading the rope through the hook until it pulled tight, at which point he leaned back, hoisting the young man out of his seat. Rutherford hacked and wheezed, grasping at the noose to try and relieve the pressure; his legs kicked in a circle, making his knotted hair swung about. Hopper and the reverend watched with a frightening sort of collective boredom, like watching a kid hang to death was as normal as watching the morning news over breakfast.

Eventually, Rutherford was able to wiggle his fingers under the rope and hoist himself up enough to speak. “Please…” he coughed, “Rutherford don’t wanna die, me do anything!”

The reverend, leaning on the desktop with his elbow, was resting his chin in one hand, looking quite unmoved by the plea. After watching the desperate young man for another moment, he, keeping his forearm on the desk, angled the gun upward and pulled the trigger.

The resulting BANG! filled the room with its deafening ferocity. The round hit Rutherford low in his abdomen, just below his belt buckle. His body jerked and then went stiff when the pain struck him, and he released the rope to reach down and cover the wound with his hands.

The men watched through the thick cloud of gunsmoke as the poor kid strangled to death, blood and urine gushing from between his fingers and soaking his jeans. Gurgles of agony filled the room as the reverend drew a breath and opened the drawer to put the weapon away, after which he began to recite scripture, folding his hands on the desk once again.

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures…”

His voice lowered to an inaudible grumble as he continued under his breath, watching his victim twitch violently as his short life drained onto that red carpet—the colour of which was chosen for this very reason. Seconds before his consciousness faded away, Rutherford removed one hand from the bullet wound and reached up for one last pitiful attempt to pull some slack into the rope, but his hand stopped only partway. There he hung, stiff, twitching for one last horrid moment before finally slipping away. His body went limp, his head and limbs hanging lifelessly as he swung gently from the ceiling.

“...surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord… forever.”

After waiting in silence for another moment to be sure the deed was done, the guard released the rope, letting Rutherford’s corpse fall. It hit the chair on the way down, kicking it violently to the side before coming to a rest in a heap on the floor.

The reverend leaned back in his chair, waving a dismissive hand. “Clean that mess up.” He turned to face Hopper as the guard complied without question, bending down to hook his hands under Rutherford’s armpits to drag him away. “Well?”

Hopper shrugged. “I guess that’s that.”

The reverend nodded slowly as he drew a breath through his nose, renewing the smell of gunpowder in his senses. “Where did they find him, anyway?”

“Canterlot.”

He turned in his chair to face Hopper, brows furrowed in confusion. “Canterlot?” he sneered. “The boy had balls going there; it’s barely two hours away. Was he really that stupid?”

“Yet another mistake on his part,” Hopper replied. “Making excellent decisions was clearly not his forte.”

The reverend chuckled softly as they watched a second goon approach to check the floor for blood and then take the chair with him as he went to fetch the cleaner. He poked the inside of his cheek with his tongue, ruminating quietly as the chair left his sight, followed by the steel door swinging shut with a sharp clang. Then he faced Hopper again.

“What was he doing there? Living with someone? Someone he might have run his mouth to?”

Hopper shook his head. “We don’t think so. It looked like he had an apartment to himself. BUT… if he could afford a place to live, then he must have had a job.”

“Or he was selling the product he stole—if he did in fact steal it.”

“We didn’t find any product in his home, Father. It’s possible he was keeping it somewhere else, but I honestly don’t think he stole it, otherwise he would have been able to afford to get farther away.”

The reverend brought his hand up to scratch his jaw. “Hm.” Then he cocked his head and gave Hopper and inquisitive look. “Think he had anything to do with the massacre at my hotel?”

Hopper shook his head. “No, sir. I don’t think so.”

“Have we learned anything new about that?”

“No,” Hopper replied quickly. “Nothing yet. All we have are eyewitnesses who said there was a masked woman; maybe even a few of them. We ordered urine tests from all of them and they came back negative, so that checks out—still doesn’t make sense, though. Other than that, there was no camera footage, nothing left behind, no messages or communications whatsoever. We have no idea how or why they did what they did.”

“Could they be the ones that intercepted the Rakyat package?” the reverend asserted.

Hopper looked up to the ceiling, considering this. “It’s possible. There’s no way of knowing, though.”

“Hm.” The reverend rubbed his forehead to dull the stress. “It’s been an interesting few weeks, hasn’t it? This,” —he gestured to where the kid was sitting— “the hotel, and before that, two of our people attacked at a bar in the outskirts.”

Hopper nodded. “A pair of low-tiers, nothing major. One killed at the bar, the other we’re not sure —we think maybe she died in the hotel— but on the bright side, the attacker from the bar has been looked after. The young lady who picked that fight is literally swimming with the fishes, as I understand it.”

The reverend looked up at his right-hand man and sighed. “Well, at least that’s one problem solved. Perhaps it’s a sign of good fortune to come; the Lord works in mysterious ways, after all,” he said as he stood, towering over Hopper. At over six and a half feet tall with broad shoulders, the pastor was a beast; closer in size to a bear than a man.

“You could be right, Father.”

“In the meantime, I want you to find out where that little piss-ant was working,” he ordered as he took his suit jacket from the back of his chair to slip it on. “I want you to see to it yourself, Mr. Hopper. I’m trusting you to make sure he didn’t leak our secrets to anyone. Find the place, have a friendly chat with his coworkers, and find out what they know.”

Hopper gave an obedient nod. “And if they know too much?”

The reverend, who was in the midst of adjusting his collar, paused to glance over at Hopper. “Then may they rest in peace.” He straightened his cuffs and headed around the desk toward the exit. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to prepare this week’s sermon.”

Author's Note

I’m just gonna preemptively point out that Rutherford was not the minister’s son.

*Chapter 142: Starship Troopers

Chapter 142

Rarity was already outside when Fluttershy and I pulled up in her little SUV, which we normally didn’t drive in a group because it smelled a little too much like animal fur inside. Fluttershy was driving, and so I opened the passenger side door to hop out and hold it for the fashionista.

“Ah,” she said as she approached with a smile, her tall heels clopping on the asphalt as she went. “Good evening, my love,” she greeted, reaching up for a smooch. “And thank you.” Once she was in the seat with her feet inside, I closed the door and then hopped into the rear seat, sliding over to the middle to lean forward between the girls.

I had to wait a moment, however, for my girlfriends to finish their greeting kiss, which lasted a lot longer than mine. It was OK by me, though; watching these two in liplock was one of the most breathtaking sights a guy could witness. Especially tonight, because they were dressed to kill.

Their make-up was spot on: Rarity, with her cheeks powdered and perfect, lips coated in frosty-white lipstick, complimented by that light blue eye shadow and those spiky, black lashes; and Fluttershy, with that natural yellow glow, her eyelids shaded in glossy pink, her lashes understated, but effectively complimenting those big, doe-like eyes of hers. Both of them had their delicious-smelling hair done perfectly as always.

As for attire, the fashionista was dressed in a form-hugging light blue top with long sleeves and a low neck, showing just the tip of her cleavage between its lacy borders. With that, she wore a pair of black skin-tight pants with long, ruffled cuffs that hung loose from her ankles, which were tightly wrapped in the straps of her gray high-heels. The shy girl was dressed simply as always, but no less lovely; a tight pair teal yoga pants covered her hips, legs and backside, while up top she wore that plain white tank top under her fuzzy, green spring jacket.

When they broke the kiss, Rarity reached up with a dainty white finger to sweep Fluttershy’s hair aside.

“You look positively gorgeous tonight, darling.”

Fluttershy smiled and looked down at the center console, her cheeks flooding with rosy warmth. “Um… thanks, Rare. You too.”

“What about me?” I asked obnoxiously, leaning forward between the seats. “How do I look?”

They looked back at me, smirking.

“You look the same as always, Golds: scruffy, and perfect,” said Rarity.

“And he doesn’t smell like truck exhaust for once,” Fluttershy added.

Feigning a gasp, Rarity placed her fingertips to her chest. “My, my! How very dapper,” she quipped.

*****

On the drive across town, the three of us maintained a conversation about the night ahead—which had been sprung on us rather unexpectedly, but even so, we weren’t about to miss it.

I had paused to take my phone out and check the time.

’8:34 PM
Wednesday, March 22, 2023’

I put the device away, noticing a gap in the girls’ conversation, so I jumped in to fill it. “So what’s the deal with Pinks asking us over tonight?”

Rarity glanced over her shoulder at me, those violet coils of hair bouncing when Fluttershy drove over a pothole. “I presume she just wants some company, darling. The poor thing’s been there well over a week and she has yet to see anyone, as far as I know.”

I narrowed my eyes, thinking. “Well… that’s not true. She was there for the Saturday thing. Plus, me, Sunny and Dashie were there to help her unpack her stuff. Speaking of which…” I pulled my phone out a second time.

Rarity raised a finger at me. “But no one’s been there since then—and Saturday doesn’t count; it wasn’t at her place.”

I glanced down at her and the shy girl’s hands, the fingers of which were laced together on the center console. After some brief rumination, I sighed and leaned my elbows on the front seat backs, letting my hands dangle between them. “Hm… well, either way, I’m down with hanging out there for the night. Maybe watch a movie or something—Pinks usually has pretty good taste in that kind of thing.”

“Indeed,” Rarity agreed, twisting in her seat to face me and Fluttershy. “She also mentioned playing some games—which would certainly be par for the course with her.”

“What kind of games? Did she say?” Fluttershy asked as she stopped at a corner with her right turn signal on.

“I’m not quite sure, darling. She was a bit vague on that,” Rarity replied, furrowing her brows as she looked through the windshield. “Er… Fluttershy, darling? I believe you have the right-of-way.”

Fluttershy nodded. “I-I know. I just wanted to let him go first.”

I leaned over a bit to see what they were looking at; there was a car sitting in the oncoming lane with its left signal flashing. “Uh… pretty sure he’s waiting for you, Flutters.”

“Mm, that’s OK. I’ll just—“

BEEP! BEEP!

Gasping, the shy girl looked to the right and hit the gas—harder than she meant to. “Oh, dear!” she squealed, her tires chirping as she rounded the corner in haste. “Sorry! Sorry!”

Rarity let out a giggle. “Oh, darling. I love you, but you need to learn to drive a bit less timidly than that.”

“I know. I-I’m sorry.”

“It’s OK, Flutters,” I said. “Just drive like you did that day in the desert—only without the shooting.”

*****

Pinkie Pie answered the door only a second after Fluttershy knocked, and we were immediately blown away by her appearance—or at least I was.

She was clearly wearing an unusual amount of make-up; her face was smooth, her cheeks round and soft looking, but she wore black eyeliner that made those baby blue eyes pop from the rest of her features, including the soft red lipstick she was wearing, which was just dark enough for me notice. She greeted us with a bright smile, one that we hadn’t seen in weeks—although I was quick to wonder how genuine it was, as her hair was still completely flat and straight.

Straight, but beautiful. For the most part, it was tied up on the back of her head; long, soft ribbons of dark pink looped this way and that, held in place by a sparkly black hairclip. Only one lock hung loose from her forehead, infused with pink glitter and set to one side so it hung past the outer corner of her left eye.

She was lightly dressed, wearing only her white T-shirt with the big red heart on the front, its upper half stretched out of shape by her hefty bust. Below, she wore a pair of faded, cut-off jean shorts that fit very tightly; they were quite low-waisted and allowed her belly and hips to bulge slightly around the top, leaving roughly two inches of her pink midriff showing. A pair of smooth, but juicy-looking thighs squeezed out of the bottom, followed by a set of shapely calves with ankles covered in green and yellow striped socks.

Never before had I seen the party-girl look this amazing. She was a positively enticing sight: curvy, warm and delicious-looking, like a luscious dessert after the perfect meal.

“Hey, guys!” she greeted, using a voice closer to her old shrillness, though still not quite the same. “Come on in!” She spun around to lead us inside, revealing the very tip of her butt-crack, which was showing out the top of her shorts.

My eyes caught it immediately and I clenched my jaw, palpitations fluttering through my chest. Mother of— … what, is it like, hot… girl... day…? I paused for a moment, scowling a bit before giving my head a shake and closing the door behind me.

The apartment was quite small —and the building itself was somewhat of a dive, to be honest— but she’d done a decent job of turning it into a cozy place to live. To the immediate left was the bathroom with the bedroom next in line, and beyond that was a living room area that extended around to the left, out of sight past the outside corner of the bedroom. The right-hand wall was a straight line all the way to the little balcony door, lined with closets first and then a kitchen counter, sink and cupboards at the far end, with a small space in between for a two-person dinner table. The whole thing, other than the bed and bathrooms, was one single open space.

The décor was quite minimalist, due to Pinkie simply not having enough things to fill it properly; most of what she had at her parents’ house was in her bedroom, which was the case here as well. As we followed her in, I was quick to detect the subtle humidity and fragrance of a recent shower—which only made sense since she knew company was coming.

“Whaddaya think?” Pinkie asked after spinning around to face us, arms outstretched.

“It’s lovely, darling,” Rarity replied as she scanned the dim, lamp-lit space before bringing her attention back to the party-girl to look her over. “You as well, I must say—positively ravishing!”

“Oh yes, um… it’s good to see you smiling again,” Fluttershy added softly, hands folded in front of herself.

Pinkie nodded and smiled, showing off those cute dimples. Still, something wasn’t quite right; her eyes were giving something away. ”I lllllllove it here! Being in a new place is really helping me move on—a fresh start, amirite!?”

Rarity leaned a bit closer. “You… are feeling much better living here?”

“Yup! I am absolutely hunky-dory!” Pinkie replied, swinging her fist like an 1800’s prospector.

Rarity watched her for a moment before slowly shifting her eyes onto Fluttershy. “Hm,” she muttered, not entirely convinced.

It was obvious that my girlfriends shared my suspicion: that Pinkie’s smile was merely a façade. But it wasn’t the same as before. It wasn’t hiding the same overpowering air of grief she’d been giving off for the past few weeks; it was almost like she was nervous about something.

“Look!” Pinkie squealed, tearing us from our thoughts. She was pointing into the deeper part of the living room, where that same TV and sound system from her parents’ basement was mounted on the wall, flanked by a pair of tall, ceiling-facing lamps. “Maud let me take the home theatre system, which makes sense cuz I’m the one who loves movies!”

“Congrats, Pinkie Pie. Well done.” Rarity gave a little golf clap. Then she placed her hands on the couch, which sat facing the TV, its back to the kitchen area. “I don’t recognise this; where did you get it?”

“Oh, that’s new!” Pinkie answered, caressing the length of the backrest while I stole another peek at her butt-crack. “I bought it from the Bargain Bin Warehouse Barn and Great Deals Gallery! There’s a little cut in the fabric on the one end, so I got it super-duper cheap—and I just put the end table there so you can’t even see it!”

Rarity swung a finger. “Novel Idea, darling!” she said, Fluttershy nodding in agreement.

“I also got those lamps super cheap,” Pinkie continued as she pointed at them first, followed by the kitchen cupboards. “And I had to buy some dishes and silverware n’ stuff, and that little table and chair setup —it’s actually a patio set— and… hmmm…” She put a finger to her lips. “That’s kind of it for now. I had to limit my spending until I get some solid cash flow—but I wouldn’t have been able to afford this much if it wasn’t for Goldie-Woldie!”

My girlfriends both turned to me with a smirk.

“Ah yes…” Rarity tittered. “We heard all about his Tomfoolery with the car.”

I shook my head. “It wasn’t Tomfoolery, it was awesome.”

Pinkie nodded enthusiastically. “He’s right, Rare-Bear! You should have seen him; it was AMAZING! I still can’t believe how much he got for that car!”

“Just spend it wisely, Pinks,” I said, glancing around the place once more. “The place looks great just the way it is. I would leave it be for now.”

Pinkie responded with a smile, folding her hands in front of herself and shrugging demurely, which made her arms press her breasts together—a sight that made my balls tingle like crazy. Then she gestured to the counter. “Hey!” she shouted, marching over to a tin foil covered platter. “You guys want a snack? Look what I maaaaade!” She peeled back the wrap to reveal a pile of brown logs.

My mouth dropped open with an over-exaggerated gasp. “You made bear shits!?”

“Yeah I did!”

Rarity raised a finger. “Turds, darling,” she corrected, before grimacing immediately. “Gah. I can’t believe I just said that.”

Pinkie held the tray out for me to take one. Then she offered it to the girls. “How ‘bout you two? You want one?”

Both Fluttershy and Rarity raised a hand to decline politely.

“Later, perhaps.”

“OK!” Pinkie set the platter down and faced us again. “You want something else? I could microwave some Chef Boyardee for you!”

Rarity shook her head and waved the offer away. “It’s quite alright, Pinkie Pie. Thank you.”

Pinkie stood and stared for a moment. Then she shrugged. “OK! You guys wanna watch a movie? I’ve got a good one picked out!”

“Is it old?” I asked, leaning closer while chewing on a bite of chocolate feces.

She nodded. “Mm-hm!”

I bowed my head at her. “Let’s do it, then. You have excellent taste in classic films.”

As it turns out, the film Pinkie Pie inexplicably chose was a late seventies piece called ‘Phantasm’… which is a horror movie.

Obviously, this did not sit well with Fluttershy. She sat between Rarity and I with her knuckles pressed to her cheeks, eyes wide as saucers, her entire body vibrating like a phone on silent, despite being huddled by Rarity and me for comfort.

Myself, I was enjoying the movie, as was Pinkie; Rarity seemed indifferent, which was no real surprise, and it was also no surprise when she’d finally gotten fed up with putting Fluttershy through such needless torture.

She leaned over and whispered to the party-girl. “Er… Pinkie Pie, darling, would it be possible to cut this film short? It would seem that Fluttershy is not enjoying it.”

“She’s not?” Pinkie leaned forward to look past Rarity at the shy girl. “Fluttershy, are you scared?”

Fluttershy, keeping her hands against her cheeks, faced Pinkie and nodded.

“Really!?” Pinkie seemed surprised. “But I thought you didn’t get scared anymore. Didn’t you fight your way out of an underwater base to earn your freedom? Wasn’t there a big army guy with a robot arm that you had to fight in order to escape?”

“That was just for jerking-off,” I joked, trying to lighten the mood.

The girls just stared at me, so I cleared my throat and returned my attention to the TV.

“Um… i-it’s not the same,” Fluttershy whispered. “I-I-I don’t like spooky stuff like this. Those flying metal ball thingies are so… so… EEP!”

“You want me to turn it off?”

Fluttershy nodded quickly.

Pinkie let out a long sigh. “Aaaaaalright,” she said dejectedly as she picked up the remote.

She aimed and clicked, and the image on the screen turned to blank silence. Looking down the couch, I watched those three beautiful faces, glowing radiantly by the TV’s light.

Fluttershy settled almost immediately, and I was left wondering why Pinkie would have chosen a film like this. Surely she knew that Fluttershy wouldn’t have liked it.

“Sorry to rain on your parade, darling,” Rarity said to Pinkie. “That’s just how it goes, I suppose.”

Pinkie smiled. “It’s OK, Rare-Bear The Poet. I’ll just watch it with Notty sometime.”

Rarity cocked her head, thinking for a moment. “Say… I was wondering, Pinkie Pie: why didn’t you invite Sonata along with us tonight?”

Pinkie froze. “Uuuhhh… I just… didn’t know if it would be hard for her to travel across town—you know, with her injury and all.”

Rarity drew a breath and glanced at the TV. “I’m sure she’d have been able to handle it, darling. A bit of discomfort wouldn’t stop her from spending time with her dear friend, I’d wager.”

Pinkie paused for a moment, staring at the floor. Then she shrugged. “Oh well. It’s too late now!”

I was about to ruminate on the strangeness of such a dismissal, but before I had the chance, Pinkie leaned closer to us, grinning.

“You guys wanna see my room?”

The three of us glanced at one another.

“Uh… sure,” Rarity replied, facing her again.

Pinkie stood and marched past us, waving us along. “Yay! Let’s go!”

After leaving the couch one-by-one, we followed Pinkie as she led the way to her bedroom, flicking the light on as she went. The ceiling light came on, illuminating all of her brightly-coloured possessions, including a bed that was stacked with stuffed animals of all sizes and colours, and a dresser that housed a spread of make-up and other feminine products, along with some papers, notebooks and a laptop.

Around the perimeter of the ceiling was a string of Christmas lights —all with red bulbs— accompanied a pair of red flood lights mounted at opposite corners of the room. A miniature disco ball hung from the light fixture, but the lights themselves were mounted in such a way that there was little effect given.

A work in progress, I figured.

“Well? Whaddaya think!?” Pinkie asked, spinning around with her arms outstretched.

“It’s… a lot like your old room,” Fluttershy said, before perking up to finish quickly. “Which is great.”

“Yes. I was thinking the same thing,” Rarity agreed, finger to her chin. “It’s nice that you were able to re-create a space that you can feel comfortable in.”

“Oh, totally.” Pinkie approached the bed, which was situated with the headboard facing the wall right next to the door, and using both arms, swept the pile of stuffed animals onto the floor on the far side. “Have a seat, y’all!”

Fluttershy crawled to the middle and sat with her legs folded while Rarity sat on the edge and crossed her legs, letting her foot swing casually. I sat next to her and leaned back on one elbow, watching as Pinkie continued.

“Yeah, no, you’re totally right, Rare-Bear. This room is almost the exact size and shape as my old one; even the door is in the same spot! The only things that are different is having no windows and the closet’s on the other side.” She crossed the room quickly, her breasts bouncing as she went; she grabbed the accordion door handles and flung the closet open. “See?”

Rarity nodded. “Yes. Good size, too. Well done.”

“I know, right?” Pinkie giggled, looking into the little space for a second before facing us again, her eyes lit up with excitement. “HEY! You guys wanna play a game?”

Rarity straightened up and smiled. “Sounds like fun, darling; what did you have in mind?”

“I actually just came up with one that I wanted to try with you guys,” Pinkie replied as she reached into the closet and dragged out, to our surprise, a full-size stand with a whiteboard mounted on it. Across the top were the girls’ names, hand-written in red marker: Pinkie, Fluttershy and Rarity. My name was strangely absent.

Below each name were four boxes with a letter inside: H, M, B, and P. Every name had the same letters, in the same order—with the exception of Pinkie’s, which was missing the P.

By this point, I was scratching my head. My girlfriends looked rather confused as well.

“Er… I don’t think I’m familiar with this one,” Rarity admitted.

After dragging the chart to the foot of the bed, Pinkie paused, tapping her chin. Then she slid it back a foot or two and faced us with a toothy grin that went from ear-to-ear, hands clasped before her chest. “That’s because it’s brand new! I call it—”

BUZZ! BUZZ!

Everyone looked at me when my phone vibrated unexpectedly.

“Whoops,” I said, reaching into my pocket. “That’s probably Sunny.” I took a brief moment to read the message. “Yup. She’s here.”

Pinkie stared blankly. “Sunset Shimmer?”

Her expression caught me off-guard, and I stopped with my phone slid halfway into my pocket. “Uh… yeah,” I replied, my eyes shifting back and forth. “I was talking to her on the way here and I happened to mention that we were hanging out here tonight, and… I… might have invited her to stop by.”

After staring a bit longer, Pinkie blinked a few times. “Oh.”

“Uh…” I cringed a little, unsure of her reaction. “I hope I didn’t, uh... I mean, I hope that’s OK.”

Pinkie’s brows went up when she heard this, and she drew a quick breath. “Oh… no-no! It’s OK, um…” She paused and turned to look at the chart, licking her lips. “That might work, actually… it’ll add to the challenge; make things more interesting.”

She grabbed the red marker from the trough and pulled the cap off, stepping in front of the board to add Sunset’s name next to Rarity’s—and I had yet another peek at her butt-crack.

Damn, those shorts were tight, and barely long enough to cover the bottom of her backside.

“There,” she said, capping the marker and setting it in the trough before staring thoughtfully at the updated chart. “Yeah… this is gonna be fun.”

“Um… so how do we play?” Fluttershy asked, stroking her hair hand over hand.

“It’s, uh…” Pinkie stopped to scratch her ear. “It’s pretty simple, but a bit complicated to explain if you don’t know how it works.”

I pointed at the chart. “Howcome I’m not on there? Am I not playing?”

Pinkie nodded, eyes wide. “Oh, you’re playing all right.”

I glanced over at my girlfriends. “OK...”

Pinkie waved her hands to clear the air. “It’s OK, I’m gonna explain it all, but we might as well wait until Sunset is here.”

“She’s here now,” I explained. “I told her to buzz your suite number so you can let her in—not sure what’s taking her so long.”

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

All of our heads spun to the direction of the front door. I turned back to face Pinkie, surprised. “Huh… someone musta let her in.” Since I was the closest to the door, I slid off the bed to exit Pinkie’s room. “I’ll get it.”

At the main entrance, I unlocked the door and pulled it open. “Hey, Sunn—HOLY CRAP.”

In the hall stood Sunset Shimmer, looking to me the way a steak dinner looks to a starving hobo. She was wearing tall, black boots with a tight pair of dark blue jeans, their low-cut top held fast by a wide, back belt with metal studs lining its perimeter. Above that was a bright red T-shirt under that old leather jacket with the studded collars—her ‘bad girl’ jacket, as she called it. Around her neck was a black leather choker that featured a buckle similar to a belt, lined with studs that also matched her belt.

Her hair was styled as usual, but her face was smooth and radiant: a layer of concealer gave her skin that element of flawless purity, boosted by the contrast of dull red lipstick. Her eyelids were shaded in a colour similar to that of her skin, only darker and smokier, while a generous application of mascara made her lashes stand out with an added air of femininity.

Sunset cocked a brow and folded her arms, shifting her weight onto one leg. “Well… that’s one way to greet someone.”

Realising I was staring, I blinked a few times and then gave my head a shake. “Uh… yeah. Sorry.” I stepped aside to let her in, at which point she proceeded to slip her boots off. “I just, uh… I swear, there’s some conspiracy going on tonight where every woman I know is trying to look as fuckable as possible.”

Sunset looked at me, sneering. “Huh?”

“I dunno,” —I gestured towards Pinkie’s room— “everyone looks fuckin amazing tonight; I don’t know what it is. Like, did I miss a wedding today or something?”

Boots off, Sunset stood straight and drew a breath. “Golds, is this your way of telling me I look nice?”

My eyes shifted to the left, then back onto her. “...Yes.”

“Hm.” With a little smirk, she placed her hands on my waist, leaned in and planted her lips on mine, surrounding me with those fiery, wavy locks, which quickly flooded my senses with the sweet scent of root beer.

After the kiss, I took a moment to drink in those bright turquoise irises. “So… uh, this place is pretty small, Sunny; what are we gonna do when your magic kicks in?”

She shrugged. “I’ll deal with it. I can’t stay long anyway, so…”

I nodded. “Fair enough.” I turned to head back to the bedroom. “Here, we were just about to start a game; the chart’s all ready and everything.”

Sunset followed, looking somewhat confused. “Chart? Is Twi here?”

“No, it’s something Pinks made up.”

“What’s it for?”

“I actually have no idea.”

I returned to Pinkie’s room with the red-head in tow, a sight that prompted Pinkie’s eyes to light up.

“SUNSET SHIMMER!”

“PINKIE!” Sunset replied in kind, throwing her hands up for a hug—which the party-girl gladly accepted after bouncing across the room to collide beasts-first with her friend.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you here tonight! You’re just in time for the big game!” Pinkie squealed, turning to head for the dresser. “Ooh! This is gonna be so much fun!”

“Can’t wait,” Sunset replied, facing Rarity and Fluttershy to greet them with a nod. She paused suddenly, however, her eyes lingering on those heads of pink and indigo and accompanying flawless faces; then she faced me with her brows raised. “Wow… I see what you mean.”

“Right!?” I said, before stepping closer to whisper. “Hey, check out Pinks’ fuckin shorts!”

By then, however, Sunset was no longer paying attention; her interest had been drawn on the chart. “What’s this?” she asked, studying the names and lettered boxes. “A scoreboard?”

Pinkie giggled. “Well, no, not really—but I guess you could call it that!”

Sunset furrowed her brows. “Wow, that’s not confusing. Is it a scoreboard or isn’t it?”

Pinkie spun around to face us with an armful of cups—three, to be exact: a black one, a gray one, and a white one. “It’s not, really,” she replied. “It’s more for keeping track than anything.”

“Track of what? The score? Cuz that would make it a scoreboard—just sayin.” Sunset pointed at the chart. “And why isn’t Golds on there? Is he not playing?”

Pinkie stopped to look at the chart. “He is…” she said, facing us again. “Actually, he’s technically the only one playing—I guess in the sense that only he can win.” She cocked her head and shifted her eyes to the ceiling. “Actually… I don’t know if ‘win’ is the right word. More like… he has a goal that he has to achieve, and we have to help him. Like a quest!” She gestured to the chart again. “And this is to help track his progress!”

“Huh…” Sunset folded her arms. “Sounds interesting. So what do you call this game?”

“Starship Troopers!” Pinkie giggled, bouncing on her heels.

The red-head nodded. “Hm. And how do we play, exactly?”

As Pinkie began to explain the process, I sat on the edge of the bed again, next to Rarity, feeling slightly nervous about what the party-girl had in mind for me. Hopefully it was nothing embarrassing.

“OK, so…” Pinkie held up one of the cups. “It’s a game of chance, kinda like… with a dice, except Goldie’s gonna draw from these cups instead.”

“Which one, darling? Any of them?”

“Nope, all three!” Pinkie replied. “Each paper he draws will say something different, and he has to put them together and do whatever they say, then we mark that thing off on the board once it’s done.”

I drew a breath, unsure if I liked the prospect of this. It was already starting to sound like a recipe for humiliation.

Sunset chuckled, glancing at me, presumably thinking the same thing. “Sounds like fun.”

Pinkie nodded slowly, eyes wide. “Ohh... I think it will be. Here. Let’s do a test run so you can see how it works!”

The party-girl circled the corner of the bed, holding the black cup out. I drew a breath, looked the other way and reached in. Inside, there were a bunch of small, folded strips of paper. I picked one and took it out to read it.

’FLUTTERSHY’

“What does it say?” Rarity asked.

I looked at her, then the shy girl. “‘Flutters.’”

The fashionista cocked her head. “That’s all? Just her name?”

I nodded. “Yup,” I replied as Pinkie shook the cup, signalling me to put the note back.

Then she offered me the gray cup.

Again, I reached in and drew a piece of paper.

’1:00’

“Uh…” I frowned. “One o’clock?”

Pinkie shook her head. “No, silly! One minute!”

The rest of us glanced around at each other. Fluttershy looked mildly nervous.

After a shrug, I replaced the paper. Pinkie held the white cup out next, and I drew a slip of paper to read it, but what I saw made my heart jump into my throat.

’PUSSY’

Rarity leaned closer, noticing my expression. “Is everything alright?”

I looked over at the fashionista and then turned the paper around so she could see it. Her eyes flew open and she gasped sharply, slapping a hand over her mouth.

“What does it say?” Sunset asked, leaning over to see it, looking surprised when she did. “Does that say ‘pussy’!?”

This was when Fluttershy gasped as well.

All eyes shifted onto Pinkie, who shrugged innocently. “What? That’s the game! The black cup is a name; all of us are in there. The gray cup is an amount of time. There’s four different lengths: thirty seconds, one minute, two minutes, and three minutes, and the white cup has different parts of the body, which we use on… well, Goldie-Woldie’s ding-dong.”

Four sets of female eyes landed on me, and a tingle that I could not control quickly stirred below my belt.

“It’s a fucking sex game,” Sunset muttered incredulously, turning to Pinkie.

“Yup, hehehe!” Pinkie giggled as she pointed at the chart. “Now you see these, the four letters under your names?”

Everyone looked at the chart.

“Notice how there’s a P, and Goldie just drew ‘Fluttershy,’ ‘one minute’ and ‘pussy?’ That means that when she’s done fucking him for one minute, we cross out the P under her name. Then we draw again!”

Sunset, by then, was glaring at the chart, deep in thought. “So… what are the others? H is… what, hands?”

Pinkie nodded. “Yup. Handjob!”

“And I take it M is mouth?”

“Yup. M is blowjob!”

I hooked my index finger inside my shirt collar to adjust it. I think I might like this game, actually…

“What’s B? Butt?” Sunset asked, her lip curled slightly.

“No,” Pinkie replied in a slightly more serious tone. “I was thinking of having that too, but then I thought: ‘what if someone draws ‘mouth’ right after ‘butt?’”

Rarity grimaced. “Er… a wise decision, darling; good call.”

“So… um, what does B stand for?” Fluttershy asked.

“Boobs!” Pinkie squealed, throwing her hands in the air, which caused hers to bounce. “Titty-fucking!”

My eyes widened with excitement, and I glanced around at each of the girls’ busts, ending with Pinkie’s.

Oh my god, Pinks, you are AMAZING. To hell with your double-shit toilet, this is fucking genius.

“Wow…” Sunset said, arms folded. “This is, uh… unexpected, to say the least. A little heads-up would’ve been nice.”

Pinkie shrugged. “I didn’t even know you were coming, silly! I got you worked in though, so it’s all good.”

Sunset rubbed her temple. “No, I know, but… like, I literally just walked in the door, and all the sudden I’m about to play a sex game with four other people.”

Pinkie raised her hands, eyes closed. “You don’t have to play if you don’t want to…” —her eyes opened and her lips slowly grew into a smile— “buuuuut I think it’s gonna be super fun!”

“No, it’s… it’s fine. My magic’s actually starting to kick in, so I’m down, I just… I wasn’t expecting this,” Sunset replied. “Plus I can’t stay too long; I was supposed to take AJ out for her first patrol tonight.” She faced me next. “I think it’s been long enough since the hotel, eh?”

I shrugged. “Just don’t draw too much attention to yourselves, that’s all.”

Pinkie waved us off. “AW! We shouldn’t be that long; there’ll be plenty of time left for that!”

Hiding behind a curtain of soft pink, Fluttershy raised her hand to point at the chart. “Um… Pinkie?”

She faced the shy girl.

“Um… why does your name only have three letters under it?”

The rest of us looked at the board to see what she meant.

“She’s right, darling. Where’s your... ahem... P?”

Pinkie was quiet for a moment. Then she sighed and looked around at each of us. “Well… remember when I said that Goldie has a goal to achieve?”

Some of us nodded; others stared, wondering where she was going with this.

“Well, that’s the goal. My P is the main objective. He can’t draw it from the cup—and if he does, he has to put it back and draw again. It’s like… an ‘achievement unlocked’ kind of thing: Goldie has to draw, do, and cross off all the other boxes first —without busting his nut— before he does that with me at the end. No draw for that one; it’ll be the only thing left. But if he shoots his load before that, he loses.”

I snorted softly. Wrong…

“But, darling,” Rarity interjected. “If he doesn’t draw, then how long does he… you know… with your, er... your P?”

Pinkie shook her head. “There is no time limit once he gets there. He goes until he’s finished.”

Realising what that meant, the rest of us sat in silence, staring at Pinkie.

“Pinkie…” Sunset said, stepping closer. “Are you saying you… wanna be turned?”

Pinkie drew a breath, tapping her fingertips together as her cheeks turned from pink to red. “I… think so?”

Rarity furrowed her brows. “What d’you mean, you ‘think’ so?”

“What’s got you thinking about this all the sudden?” Sunset asked. “Because of your family?”

“Um…” The party-girl suddenly seemed to have trouble keeping eye contact with anyone. She now looked like she had for the past several weeks. “Partly, yeah. Plus… it was something Maud said the day I moved out, and it made a lot more sense than I thought it would. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since.”

“But… why the game, Pinkie Pie?” Rarity asked. “What if Golds doesn’t make it?”

Pinkie glanced over at the chart. “I… because I don’t really know what to do. I can’t decide if I really wanna do it or not, so I came up with this game to decide for me.”

“Oh, but darling, that’s hardly something you should be leaving up to a game to decide.”

“I know, but…” Pinkie sighed. “These last few weeks have been really, super-duper hard. Tons of police asking me questions every day; lawyers too, and doctors, and therapists, and landlords. I’ve had to make a lot of unexpected choices and answer a lot of poopy questions, and I’m tired of it. Just this once, I want to let fate decide for me.”

Rarity glanced at Fluttershy and sighed. Sunset looked over at me, looking somewhat dejected on behalf of Pinkie.

“And…” Pinkie continued, “I just wanted to do something fun with you guys. It’s been a sucky few weeks, and I miss having fun—like the time me and Dashie tried to start a mosh-pit at that Enya concert and ended up getting thrown out.” She paused to let out a sigh. “Plus I know how much you guys like your sexy times, so I thought this might be something we could do together.”

It all made sense now. Pinkie’s unusual behaviour, the poor choice in movie —which she knew would be ended early, leading to a convenient segue— and her not wanting Sonata there because she didn’t yet know about the immortality. This whole thing was a setup, orchestrated by Pinkie, because presumably, she didn’t know how else to approach us about it. Or it was because she was a little crazy.

“Ohh, darling,” Rarity said, her voice laced with compassion. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean…” She turned away for a moment, eyes closed, before looking at Pinkie again with a comforting smile. “Very well. If you think doing this will make you feel better, then who are we to challenge it?”

“Yeah.” Sunset nodded. “I think it sounds fun. I say let’s go for it, and even if you lose tonight, you can always take more time to think about it. We just want you to be happy again. We miss the old you.”

A warm smile grew on Pinkie’s face. “Aww... thanks. I knew you guys would understand.”

None of this felt strange at all. Honest!

Sunset brought her hands together. “Alright! Let’s play this thing. You guys ready?—except Golds. We already know he is.”

“Word,” I replied.

Rarity sat up straight and regal. “I certainly am. The more I think about this idea, the more arousing I find it to be.”

Sunset tilted her head to look at Fluttershy. “How about you, Flutters?”

The shy girl stared back for a moment, cheeks blazing. Then she looked down at the mattress, letting her hair slip in front of her face as she nodded.

Pinkie looked concerned by this. “Are you OK to do this in front of this many people?”

Sunset raised a hand to dispel Pinkie’s concern. “Don’t worry, Pinkie. She’ll come out of her shell once things get moving. Ask me how I know.”

Pinkie stared vacantly for a few seconds, then she perked up and rubbed her hands together. “OK!” she squealed, returning to her high-energy self, real or not. “Before we start, we have to go over some ground rules.”

“Like what?” Sunset asked, sweeping her hair aside.

Pinkie raised a finger. “Rule number one: Goldie does nothing. Meaning, he lays back, and we do the actions to him. So if he draws someone’s punani, he doesn’t get to drive; the girls do all the work. That way he can’t control it, like if he needs to slow down because he’s getting close. This has to be a true test!”

I rubbed my chin, nodding slowly. “I think I can handle that.”

“GOOD! Rule number two: no interference. This is kind of like rule number one, only for the girls. You guys can’t go easy on him; do your thing like you normally would, and don’t back off if you can tell he’s getting close. That’s cheating! Same goes the other way; you guys can’t do anything that might make him get there sooner, like if one girl is doing her thing with him, don’t be coming over and making out with him or sitting on his face or anything like that.” Pinkie leaned in with her index finger raised. “One girl at a time!”

I slapped the mattress. “This game sucks!”

Pinkie giggled at the joke while Rarity gave my shoulder a light slap.

The party-girl continued. “Rule number three: because I’m not totally heartless, I will allow Goldie-Woldie to have a lifeline that he can use one time.”

“What kinda lifeline?” I asked, intrigued.

“A cool-down break.”

I raised a brow. “For how long?”

“You’ll draw from the gray cup. So it could be anywhere from thirty seconds to three minutes.”

I drew a breath and glanced around at the girls. “Interesting… but, fair enough.”

“Technically, you get a little break every time you draw the next name too, so… there’s that. No dawdling, though!” Pinkie clapped her hands together loudly. “OK! Is everybody on board? Do we all understand the rules?”

Rarity put a finger up. “I have a question, actually.”

“Shoot.”

“Why did you call it ‘Starship Troopers?’ That doesn’t seem to... er, fit... very well.”

Pinkie paused, brows raised. “Oh… well, d’you remember in the movie when Rico joined that infantry unit that his old teacher led?”

I furrowed my brows and scratched my ear, trying to recall it. It’d been many years since I’d seen that movie. “You’re talking about Rasczak’s Roughnecks?”

Pinkie pointed at me, excited that I remembered the name. “Yes! And do you remember what their war cry was?”

I thought about it for a moment or two before it hit me, and when it did, I closed my eyes and let my head fall back. “Ahhhh… I get it now.”

“Get what?” Rarity asked, confused. “What is it?”

I looked over at the fashionista. “Whenever they went into battle, the leader would say: ‘Come on, you apes, you wanna live forever!?’”

Rarity’s mouth opened, her brows raised slightly. “Ah… I see. Very clever.” She turned to Pinkie. “Why not call it ‘You Wanna Live Forever?’ Would be a bit clearer, don’t you think?”

“Um, can we start now?” said a soft voice from behind.

The rest of us turned to face the shy girl, who was looking somewhat impatient.

“Ah. Yes, of course,” Rarity said quickly as she stood and looked at me, gesturing to where she’d been sitting. “Here, take my spot, darling. Probably best you lay with your legs off the edge… for at least some of the… er… activites.”

“Sure.” I scooted over to her spot, which was about halfway down the left side of Pinkie’s bed. I sat on the edge, lying back so my feet hung down with my toes just touching the floor. Sunset crawled onto the bed on her hands and knees, passing over my old spot to lie close to Fluttershy, leaning on one elbow. Rarity remained standing for the time being while Pinkie fetched the cups and set them near the foot of the bed, arranged from darkest to lightest.

“OK, Goldie-Woldie! Time to draw the first round!”

Unsurprisingly, my heart rate had become elevated with anticipation; it was actually quite thrilling to reach over, knowing that I, at completely random, was about to dictate which of these gorgeous women was going to perform which sex act on me while the others watched.

Not many things had the ability to get my heart going like this. Well done, Pinkie. Well done.

I drew the first name and read it aloud. “Rarity,” I said, looking up at her after a pause.

The fashionista’s lips tightened, and she glanced around at the others somewhat nervously.

I drew the next one. “Two mintutes… of something.”

“OOH! This is so exciting!” Pinkie squealed, shaking her fists in front of her chest.

I drew the third one, read it, and then locked eyes with an anxious Rarity. “Mouth.”

Blushing, she drew a quick breath while placing her fingertips to her chest. “Oh my! Well… I supposed that’s as good a way to start as any.”

“Yeah, that’s perfect, actually,” Sunset agreed as she watched Rarity approach me and drop to her knees, placing her hands on my thighs.

Pinkie was having an elation overload. “EEEE! This is so wild! I’ve never seen Rare-Bear gobble the knob before!”

Rarity looked over at the party-girl, brow cocked. “And what else you haven’t seen?”

Pinkie froze, her face blank. She watched the fashionista run her hands up my thighs until they covered my crotch, rubbing my package to elevate its status from semi-flaccid to rock hard.

The conversation thus far —as well as the imagery in my head— had maintained a low level of arousal in me until now, but seeing it actually playing out in reality, as well as the feeling of those dainty, white hands rubbing my manhood through my jeans quickly turned me into an eager, raging beast.

Pinkie’s eyes lit up when she saw the tent in the front of my pants, suddenly realising what Rarity was referring to. “OOH! Goldie’s wang!”

“You want to see it?” Rarity asked as she reached for my belt.

Pinkie nodded enthusiastically.

“Hm. Just you wait…”

Everyone watched intently as the fashionista flipped the ends of the belt aside and then went after the button, including me, having to lift my head to see. Just as she grasped my zipper, I felt movement behind me, followed by something soft being slid under my head.

“Here, Goldie,” said Fluttershy in a soft voice, and I turned to find a pillow nestled under me.

I looked up at her and smiled. “Thanks, Flutters.”

She smiled back and stroked my forehead with her fingertips. “Have fun.”

When I looked back, my zipper was undone and pulled open. Rarity reached up and hooked her fingers over the top of my pants and shorts, and then began to work them down together.

I lifted my hips to help her, and within seconds, she’d yanked everything down past my knees, revealing my erection to the four of them.

Sunset bit her lip and gave her head a shake. “Mmm… there it is.”

Steepling her fingers around the base of the shaft, Rarity pointed it up at the ceiling. There it was for all to see: tall, rigid, and hot with readiness. Rarity took a moment to appreciate it before glancing at Pinkie with a smirk. “Well? What d’you think?”

Pinkie, nibbling on her bottom lip, nodded slowly.

Rarity giggled. “Precisely.” Then she brought her attention back to me. “Now then, my little friend,” she said, leaning close to my erection so that her eyes crossed slightly, “tonight is your lucky night… because you are about to get a lot of attention.”

I leaned to the side a bit, rubbing my lips together as the anticipation continued to build.

She giggled and then bit her lip, glancing over at Pinkie. “Er… so when do I begin?”

“Oh! Here…” Pinkie reached into her pocket to produce her phone. Quickly, she opened the stopwatch app. “Whenever you’re ready. I’ll start the timer when you start.”

“Perfect,” Rarity replied, facing me again. After a lick of those frosty white lips to prepare herself, Rarity opened her mouth and leaned in slowly.

When her lips were just millimeters away from contact, however, her eyes began to move around the room, and she quickly took notice of everyone watching. A sudden feeling of apprehension came over her, making her laugh and turn away, putting the back of her hand over her mouth. “Oh my goodness,” she said softly, looking back at her friends reluctantly. “I’ve never done this in front of such a large audience before.”

“You can do it, Rare,” Fluttershy encouraged softly.

“Yeah.” Sunset shook her head. “You’ve basically done this before. This is only one more than the night we came home; remember?”

“True, true. But still... this is a lot of people watching me put a cock in my mouth.” Rarity licked her bottom lip once more, tilting her head as she examined the hard mast in front of her. After a deep breath to steel herself, she spoke again. “Well, here goes nothing.” Closing her eyes, she leaned in, opened her mouth and wrapped her lips around that warm, swollen head.

The other three girls watched in silence, totally riveted to the sight of those smooth, alabaster cheeks collapsing under the suction, her lips drawing a tight seal just above the ridge. With those satin-blue eyelids on display, Rarity backed off, leaving a glistening patch of saliva behind as her lips slowly slid off the tip with a soft squip.

She went back for another mouthful, this time closing her lips around the shaft just past the ridge, making sure the entire head disappeared inside her warm mouth. Every nerve ending cried out with delight as those soft, full lips popped over the edge and dragged over my head again, moistening it further.

After letting it slip out a second time, the fashionista kissed the underside of the head a few times and then flicked it with her tongue, causing my breath to hitch when a snap of sensation shot through me. Then, without warning, she dove in, taking my length into the back of her hot mouth so deep that it made her gag. She pulled back very slowly, letting me feel those lips slide along the shaft until they flared once again over the ridge.

“Mmmmm…” She paused there for a moment to let her tongue flutter against the tip, making my eyelids twitch with delight.

In the meantime, Pinkie had knelt at the foot of the bed and folded her arms on the mattress, letting her chin rest on her forearms as she watched her friend’s head begin to bob rhythmically, making those indigo fiddleheads sway along with the motion.

I released a deep exhale, struggling to keep my eyes open as I felt that hot mouth stroke my length, teasing me with growing pleasure when she would pause to massage the head with her lips and tongue. A bead of saliva had begun to run down my length from the corner of her mouth, so she paused and dipped her head to the side to press her lips to the side of the shaft, slurping the moisture into her mouth before returning to the top to swallow the head again.

“Mmm!” She squealed with delight when she was rewarded with the taste of pre-ejaculate, a bead of which had seeped out while she was cleaning her spit from the shaft.

Pinkie lifted her phone to check the time, then returned her eyes to the bouncing head of her friend. “Five seconds, Rare-Bear.”

Hearing this, Rarity furrowed her brows and thrust herself deep onto my length, letting me feel the back of her throat press against the tip. Slowly, she dragged her lips up the shaft one last time before sliding them over the head, her cheeks fully depressed until she released me with a loud pop, leaving her mouth open. “Ahhhh...”

Dropping her phone, Pinkie applauded the fashionista. “Wow, Rare-Bear! That was super sexy!”

Rarity blushed and rolled her eyes. “Oh... thank you, darling,” she replied, wiping the corners of her mouth with her thumb and forefinger. “I try.”

“She always does a good job,” Fluttershy agreed.

“What’d you think, Goldie?” Pinkie asked me. “Did that feel as good as it looked?”

I looked over at her, exhaling through pursed lips. “At least.”

After jumping to her feet to draw an X over the M under Rarity’s name, Pinkie grabbed the black cup and held it out to me. “OK, let’s go! Next draw!”

Rarity leaned on my knees with her forearms to watch as I reached over to draw again. After plucking the next slip, I read it and shook my head, chuckling. “Heh… Rare.”

The fashionista’s eyes widened. “Me again? Oh my…”

“A two-fer? Lucky slut,” Sunset smirked.

“Don’t be jealous, darling, you’ll get your turn,” Rarity snipped, pointing her nose up as she poked at her hair.

“Keep going, Goldie!” Pinkie urged.

I drew from the next cup. “Three minutes.”

“Ooh…” Rarity replied with a lidded smirk. “Of what?”

“Let’s see,” I said, reaching into the third cup, my heart beating quite heavily. I cocked a brow when I read it. “Pussy.”

Rarity gasped and covered her mouth. “Oh my! Diving right in, are we?”

I gave my head a shake. “Looks like it,” I said, returning the paper to the cup.

“Well that escalated quickly,” Sunset remarked, to which Fluttershy nodded.

“It did, but that is the genius of it, I suppose,” Rarity said.

I couldn’t disagree with that.

The fashionista stood and made her way around the foot of the bed towards the shy girl. “A little assistance, if you could, please,” she said as she stood with her back to the bed, showing off her little derrière wrapped in those tight pants. “These trousers are rather snug, as I’m sure you can see.”

Fluttershy was quick to scooch across the bed and sit at the edge, placing Rarity’s tight booty directly in front of her face. Grasping the zipper at the back of the pants, she pulled it down, revealing a lacy, blue thong. With modest effort, she managed to wiggle the skin-tight pants over her girlfriend’s hips and then halfway down her thighs, bearing those snowy-white cheeks for all to see.

Fluttershy giggled. “I just love this cute little bum,” she said, leaning in to kiss the right cheek. She reached up and drew the thong down to mid-thigh, and then planted a second smooch on the other cheek.

Rarity giggled, looking down to watch her pants drop to her ankles, at which point she stepped out of them one leg at a time. “Thank you, Fluttershy,” she said as she turned back to face then shy girl, reaching down to dip her finger between her legs. “I’m not sure if I’m quite ready yet. Would you be so kinds as to… you know?”

“Oh, um… sure,” Fluttershy nodded, gathering some spit on her tongue as Rarity lifted one knee to place her foot on the bed, next to the shy girl. Fluttershy leaned in and, with a tongue loaded with saliva, licked the entire length of the fashioista’s slit, moistening it for her.

Rarity shuddered at the warm sensation and then looked down at the other girl as she withdrew, licking her lips.

Watching, Pinkie raised a finger. “Uhh... this is technically cheating, you guys.”

“Just wanted to make sure I was prepared, that’s all,” Rarity replied, returning her foot to the floor.

“Um, I think you would have been OK,” Fluttershy said, wiping her mouth. “That seemed pretty wet to me.”

Smiling, Rarity bent down, grasped the shy girl’s chin and kissed her. “I know,” she whispered. She then turned away, looking back with a wink before walking around to the edge of the bed, where I laid waiting.

She stood before me for a moment, putting a finger to her chin as she shifted her weight to one side; naked from the waist down, that dark strip of violet hair and little white cleft between her thighs was plainly visible for all to see.

“I suppose it’s safe to say I haven’t done this in front of this many people either,” she said.

“Yeah, having dick inside you is usually kind of a private thing,” Sunset remarked.

“Indeed,” Rarity said as she leaned forward and crawled over me, straddling my hips while her hair hung down and brushed my face, its vanilla goodness wafting into my senses. “I wonder how many more I could handle before feeling weird about it.”

“Quite a few,” Pinkie blurted, making us all turn her way, causing her eyes to widen. “I mean, not me personally!” she said quickly.

Sunset furrowed her brows. “The fuck are you talking about?”

“I just…” Pinkie cleared her throat and lifted her phone to redirect the conversation. “OK, Rare-Bear. Anytime.”

“Mmm.” Rarity closed her eyes and rose slightly. Biting her lip, she reached down between us, using her fingertips to prop my erection up and aim it between her thighs, placing the head against her soft folds; she stroked the length of her slit with it, spreading my pre-ejaculate around her crease to mix it with Fluttershy’s saliva, along with her own juices.

After locking eyes with me to see if I was ready, Rarity closed her eyes and pushed backwards, pressing that warm moisture against my throbbing head. Some resistance was encountered at first, but her flesh soon gave way and parted to allow my entrance, and from there my length slipped into her with little fuss.

The fashionista’s abdomen eventually met mine, sheathing my entire length in that hot, velvety tightness, making her blast my face with her sweet breath, eyes opened wide. “Oh, how I love it!” she whispered, lowering herself to kiss my lips, her still-clothed breasts pressed against my chest. “That feeling… when it first slides in; mmmm, I never get tired of it.”

“Mmm. Can’t disagree with that,” Sunset’s voice came from behind.

“Indeed,” Rarity replied, stealing another kiss as her moist heat continued to soak my manhood.

“Uh… Rare-Bear?” Pinkie cut in. “Time’s running.”

“Ooh!” Those sapphire eyes popped open at this. She lifted herself from me, leaning on the mattress with her hands so her bust hovered about an inch above my chest. “Apologies, darling; I suppose I’d better get busy.”

That elegant, white frame began to sway above me, causing that delicious-smelling hair to swing around our faces like a silky, indigo curtain. That thin, purple landing strip ground against my abdomen as her hips thrust against me, stroking my length with that tight, heavenly texture, sending a warm shiver throughout my body as her breath blew against my face, a good sign that she was enjoying herself as well.

The other three girls watched in silence, Fluttershy with one hand already buried inside those yoga pants. Pinkie cocked her head as she watched, letting her eyes flow over the gyrating body of her friend until they reached that bare, white backside, pointing shamelessly into the air.

The party-girl leaned over for a better view, but when it yielded little more, she quietly slipped her arms from the bed and crawled around to the side, looking to satisfy her curiosity.

The view from behind was much more graphic; below that round, little derrière and between those milky thighs was a pair of thick, white lips, stretched wide to accommodate that hard, veiny girth, which by then had been coated in a layer of her glistening wetness.

“Welp… they’re definitely not faking,” Pinkie muttered to herself. She returned to her spot at the foot of the bed once she’d had her fill, placing her arms once again on the edge of the mattress to continue watching her friends fuck while the feeling of heat grew steadily down below.

Seconds later, Rarity sat upright and threw her head back, combing her fingers through those silky locks as she panted into the air, relishing the feel of that hot, stiff girth pointing straight up inside her before reaching down to lean on my chest, her nails digging into my shirt. I reached up in response, cupping my hands over her breasts to squeeze them through that tight shirt; she used this to her advantage by leaning into my arms for leverage, grinding her clit against my lap, taking my length as deep as possible while massaging it with those tight, hot depths

She rode me like this for the better part of a minute, whimpering incessantly, her pretty face contorted with bliss, curling her hips forward with each thrust—faster and faster, harder and harder, to the point where the entire bed began to sway with her motions, rocking everyone on board.

“Hooohhh…” she moaned, eyes closed and brows furrowed, her fingernails digging into my chest as an orgasm began to creep in, prompting her to grind even harder, desperate to coax it out. “Ahhhh!”

“Ooh…” Sunset bit her lip as watched Rarity’s face, hearing her moans of delight. “Look at her; she’s totally gonna get off.”

“Uh-huh…” Fluttershy panted in agreement, fingers busy with her clit. “I’d know that fffff… face anywhere.”

They weren’t wrong. Seconds after I heard these words, the fashionista’s body stiffened, and she began to quiver with delight. Her eyes slammed shut, mouth open wide as she released a howl that filled the room with the sound of utter bliss. “OOOHHHH!” Clutching wads of my shirt in her fists as her hot, pulsating interior clenched my manhood like a vice, the fashionista gleefully soaked my lap with a wave of fresh, warm fluid.

She flopped forward when the climax ended, panting hard as she kissed me numerous times, sending her frantic tongue in between my lips to show her gratitude. After licking my mouth out, she broke the kiss and brought her hand up to stroke my cheek with the backs of her fingers, giggling breathlessly.

“Bravo, darling,” she panted. “That was wonderful!”

“No, you were wonderful,” I said, returning her kisses as I reached down to squeeze her backside.

“Ooohh,” she moaned as she began to grind her body against mine once again, making us notice the smooth layer of juice that’d been spread during her orgasm. “Such a sweetheart you are,” she whispered, bringing our mouths together for another kiss while her movements showered us both with fresh waves of pleasure.

But then, Pinkie made a terrible announcement: “Five seconds, you two.”

Rarity’s brows furrowed, her face creased with disappointment as her body slowed to a modest rhythm. “Ooh,” she whined. “How I wish there was a four minute card.”

“There’s always later,” I replied, just as Pinkie called the time.

Rarity stopped and went limp, letting her forehead rest on mine. “Thank you, darling. That was lovely,” she smiled, before dropping one last kiss on my lips and then lifting her hips, letting my erection slip out of her.

Rarity stood next to the bed, revealing my manhood to the others, glistening with the evidence of what she and I just did together. After a vain attempt to straighten her hair, the fashionista bent forward to lean on her knees, trying to hold them still. “Oh my…” she huffed, looking down at herself. “Look at me, I’m shaking!”

“Well, fuck…” Sunset shook her head. “I practically felt that too.”

“Mm-hm,” Fluttershy agreed, putting her fingers in her mouth to clean them off.

“Yeah, that was hot!” Pinkie squealed as she leapt to her feet to mark another X on the chart. “And Goldie,” she continued as she added a star above Rarity’s name, “because you made Rare-Bear cum, I’m gonna add thirty seconds to whatever you draw for your cool-down lifeline!”

“Sweet,” I replied, watching her plump backside as she replaced the cap.

After setting the marker down, she turned to me again, grinning with excitement. “OK, Goldie-Woldie, next draw!”

Taking a deep breath to calm my body, I reached over to draw from the first cup, wondering if the girls were paying attention to that or the fact that my manhood was bobbing along with my pulse.

After drawing, I paused when I read the name, arching a brow as I released the breath I’d been holding. “Rare.”

“Jeez!” Sunset threw her hands in the air, glowering at the fashionista. “You gonna let us play, or what!?”

“Oh, psh! Kh! It’s not my fault!” Rarity scowled back, her voice husky.

I glanced at Pinkie. “Isn’t there a rule against drawing the same name too many times?”

The party-girl shrugged. “They all have to be done eventually, so… it doesn’t really matter.”

“Ooh! But I’ll soon be eliminated at this rate!” Rarity whined.

It was hard to take her seriously, though, standing there bottomless with her slit in full view.

I rolled my eyes and threw the paper back. “Whatever. Let’s just do it,” I said, reaching for the second cup as Pinkie dipped a finger into the first cup to stir it around. I read the second note. “Thirty seconds.”

The girls glanced at one another, looking glad that it would be a short round.

I drew the third card and raised a brow when I read it. “Hands.”

Rarity stood for a moment. “Oh.”

Sunset clapped her hands impatiently. “OK! Thirty second handjob; let’s go!”

Rarity rolled her eyes and then kneeled down before me. “Alright then,” she said as she licked the web between her thumbs and forefingers and then took the shaft by the base, pointing my manhood at the ceiling. She closed her fingers around the head next, giving a gentle squeeze.

A sparkling bead of clear fluid grew on the tip, eliciting an awed gasp from the girls as they watched it run down over Rarity’s delicate little knuckles.

“Well at least you know Golds is into it,” Sunset quipped, prompting Pinkie to giggle as she stared the timer.

After brushing the backs of her fingers along my manhood to distribute the slick fluid, Rarity closed her fist around the head and began to stroke. Biting her lip, she cocked her head to watch that little white fist pump away, blasting me with jolt after jolt of sharp sensation; this was a different sensation than the gentle caress of a mouth, or the uniquely perfect texture of a vagina.

Her hand was soft and delicate, but it focused its pressure in a way that other methods couldn’t, and it provided an intensity that made my legs tremble, and if continued for too long, would undoubtedly make me erupt like a volcano, shooting a generous load of white lava straight into the air before it landed on her hands, face, or, god forbid, her hair.

Luckily, it was only a thirty second round, and it seemed like it’d just started before Pinkie gave Rarity a heads-up.

“Five seconds, Rare-Bear.”

Rarity looked at me with a smirk, knowing that what she was doing had an intense effect. She paused for a couple seconds, winked, and then broke into a rapid shake, squeezing my knob tightly as her fist blurred into obscurity. My legs quivered under the overload of sensation, causing me to whimper out loud just as she released me, following with an evil cackle.

“Ohh, haha! Too much, darling?” she giggled.

“Fuck,” I huffed, rubbing my forehead with the back of my hand. “Just a little.”

“Rare-Bear’s gettin mean!” Pinkie giggled as she rose to update the chart. Then, after dropping the marker in the trough, she knelt at the foot of the bed again. “Go, Goldie.”

I was starting to have a sneaking suspicion that I wasn’t going to make it through this entire game; these women were too beautiful and too good at what they did for me to have any hope of holding my load back until the end.

Watching Rarity, who looked rather like she expected to be going again, I drew from the black cup. When I read the paper, I raised a brow, smirked and looked up at Rarity.

Her arms fell to her sides when she caught my glance, her head tipping back. “Ugh! Again? I fucking knew it.”

I shook my head and held the paper up. “Nope. It’s Sunny’s turn.”

“Yes! Finally,” Sunset cheered, shaking her fist.

Surprised, Rarity looked at me again. “Oh…”

“Take a break, Rare. You’ve earned it,” I said, arching my neck to lock eyes with the red-head. “Let’s see what you’re doing.”

She bit her lip in anticipation as I turned to reach for the gray cup.

“Two minutes.”

“You’d better draw ‘pussy,’” Sunset demanded, shaking her head. “I am so fucking wet right now.”

“I’ll try,” I chuckled as I reached into the white cup, stirred the papers around to randomize them and then picked one out to read it. My heart fluttered a bit when I saw what it was.

I looked up the red-head again, holding the paper aside. “Boobs.”

Sunset covered her mouth. “Oh shit, really?” she said, her voice muffled by her hand.

“You’ve never done that before?” Pinkie asked curiously.

Sunset shook her head. “No. I’d never even heard of it until I saw Flutters do it that one night. I mean... I’ve thought about it since then, but...”

Rarity coaxed Sunset off of the bed. “Come on, darling, get up here! It’s not so bad.” She paused for a moment, putting a finger to her lips. “It’s kind of invigorating, actually, doing something like this in front of a crowd. In fact, I would entertain the idea of fucking in front of more people; all those eyes watching my body writhe with pleasure, begging to be filled to the brim with his hot cu—”

“Alright, just… one step at a time,” Sunset cut in, hand raised as she slid from the bed. “Let me get used to this first.”

With a little shrug, Rarity put her nose up and headed for the bed. Still bottomless, she crawled on her hands and knees to claim Sunset’s spot, rolling over onto her back while Sunset stepped into the middle of the room, facing away from us.

Sighing, she slipped the leather jacket off and dropped it next to her feet. Then she peeled her T-shirt over her head to reveal a black bra, which was quickly hidden when those fiery locks slipped from the shirt and fell down her back. What it failed to cover, however, was the waistband of the black thong that showed above the top of her jeans; all of our eyes were drawn to it, even as she reached behind her back to unhook her bra.

That perfectly sculpted ass was stolen from our view, though, when she turned to face us, smirking, her arms folded under her breasts to keep the bra in place, cradling those soft mounds as she stepped closer and kneeled before me.

“Ready?” she asked with a smirk.

I watched silently as she allowed the garment to fall away, revealing those full, amber breasts, each topped with an erect nipple. She kneaded them a few times, pursing her lips at me, teasing me with the anticipation of what was to come.

She leaned back and looked down at herself, puckering her lips to let a large, bubbly drop of saliva fall and land between her breasts, which she then squeezed and rubbed together to spread it around.

Rarity, who was lying on her side, propped on her elbow with one knee in the air, shook her head. “I think you’ll find him plenty slippery, darling,” she said, reaching between her legs, her middle finger buried between those fleshy, pink petals, stroking idly.

“Just wanna be sure,” Sunset replied as she shifted closer to me, positioning herself between my legs, her fingers wrapped around those bulbous tits, cupping them from the bottom. “Little help?” she said to me as she held her bust above my abdomen.

I looked down at her, noticing my erection lying down, aiming at my navel. “Oh…” I reached down and slipped my thumb under the shaft to pivot it upward so it pressed against her chest, right between her breasts.

Sunset squeezed those soft mounds together, wrapping my manhood in their smooth, fluffy warmth. She blushed, giggling playfully at the feel of that hot, slick rod buried in her cleavage. “Eek… it feels weird—but also kinda hot.”

“It looks hot,” Fluttershy said softly, her eyes fixated on the swollen head peeking out from between those amber pillows.

“Totally,” Pinkie agreed, glancing at her phone. “OK, Sunset Shimmer; two minutes, starting now.”

Arching her back, the red-head hoisted her bust from my lap. They bulged upward toward her collarbones as my length was swallowed between them, slipping down and out of sight. She dropped them again, treating me to a smooth, relaxing sort of pleasure as my head re-emerged from her cleavage, only to recede once again as she rose for the next stroke.

Her breasts looked amazing squeezed together like this; their softness extruded slightly through her fingers, her hard nipples peeking out from between.

Like each method used thus far, this one had a unique sensation; distinctively smooth like satin, the pressure was quite gentle, despite how tightly she appeared to be holding them. The combination of Rarity’s nectar and Sunset’s saliva allowed for a silky motion against her skin, and it became that much smoother when more pre-ejaculate began to flow from my tip.

At the base of each stroke, each of us caught a glimpse of that swollen head, a trail of clear fluid gushing from the opening on its tip, flowing down between her breasts to be spread around by the next stroke.

“How’m I doing?” she asked, biting her lip as she watched me with those big, turquoise eyes.

I let my eyes drift shut, shaking my head. “Amazing. Are you sure you haven’t done this before?”

Sunset gave a coy shrug, which caused her grip on one breast to slip. “Crap,” she muttered, stopping briefly to reposition her hand. “There. Yeah, I’m sure.”

I blew through my lips, brows raised. “Coulda fooled me. If you keep going like this, I’m gonna end up shooting that little choker you’re wearing.”

Her eyes became lidded as she continued to bounce those warm, fleshy pillows up and down my length. “Ooh… that’d be hot, but we’ll have to come back to that another time; right now, you need to last long enough to get inside that pink pussy over there.” She nodded towards Pinkie when she said this, causing the party-girl’s face to darken several shades.

Despite how right Sunset was, the temptation to explode all over those glorious amber tits was unavoidable, and I had to bring my fists up to press them to my forehead to concentrate on keeping myself calm.

It was quite difficult, feeling that soft, warm satin gliding along my length, fueling my heart rate with gallons upon gallons of pleasure.

“Five seconds,” Pinkie’s voice rang out from my right, granting me a slight sense of relief.

I opened my eyes again, not wanting to miss the final seconds of those lovely breasts wrapped around me. Her cleavage glistened and her nipples were stiff; Sunset panted with delight as my head poked out from between those golden mounds several more times before Pinkie called the time, signalling the red-head to stop just as a tremor rang through my loins, causing my length to twitch with excitement.

Sunset chuckled when she felt that hot mast writhe between her breasts, signalling how intense my arousal had gotten. “Wow... this is like torture for you, eh?”

I closed my eyes and drew a deep breath. “Eh... not quite yet; it’s getting there, though.”

Smirking, she held her breasts together as she lifted herself up, letting my erection slide out from below. Visibly swollen, it toppled over and landed on my abdomen with a wet slap.

Sunset and Pinkie stood simultaneously—Pinkie to update the chart, and Sunset to find a seat on the edge of the bed, looking down at her shining chest. After a moment of running a finger between her breasts to feel the slickness, a breathy voice prompted Sunset to look behind her.

“Mmm… bra… bravo, darling…” It was Rarity, lying with her eyes closed, her middle finger buried knuckle-deep in her vagina. “That was absolutely gorgeous!”

“Yeah?” Sunset smiled, feeling a sense of pride. She faced Fluttershy next. “What’d you think, Flutters?”

The shy girl’s hair was covering her face, hiding her expression, but her hand being down her pants again made it obvious that she wasn’t listening.

“Oh, she’s busy,” Sunset mumbled to herself, glancing at Pinkie as she drew an X over the B under her name.

Pinkie turned to face her with a smile and a thumbs-up. “That’s one down for you, Sunset Shimmer! Now you’ve just got—“ She paused when she turned back to face the whiteboard. “Hm…”

“What?” Sunset asked, curious.

Pinkie pointed the marker at the H and faced Sunset. “You can’t do this one, can you? Doesn’t it mess you up when you touch Goldie with your hands?”

“Oh, well…” The red-head glanced at me. “Its, well…”

Pinkie shrugged and faced the chart again. “That’s OK,” she cut in. “We’ll just cross that one off. We don’t really need it that bad.”

Sunset raised a hand as Pinkie marked the letter off. “Oh… no, I can still—“ She was interrupted by a swift kick to her hip, and she turned to see Rarity glaring sharply, shaking her head. “Oh… I mean” —she faced Pinkie again— “yeah. That’s fine.”

Pinkie capped the marker and dropped it. “OK! Draw, Goldie!” she commanded, dropping to rest her arms on the bed once more.

With a deep inhale, I reached into the black cup and drew a name.

“Pinks.”

Sunset, Fluttershy and Rarity glanced at one another, realising their friend had been selected for her first sexual interaction with me while simultaneously noticing how disheveled they all looked. This did not detract from their beauty, however; quite the opposite, in fact.

The party-girl’s face went blank for a moment, and then it quickly filled with crimson. “Me?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “Your name’s on the chart, is it not?”

Pinkie gave a brief glance to the board and then looked around at her friends. “I just… I didn’t expect to be this nervous in the moment,” she giggled anxiously. “I don’t really know why I am…”

“Wait until he’s done drawing, darling; I can tell you from experience the anticipation is the worst part.” Rarity tapped the top of my head. “Come, Golds, don’t leave her hanging like this!”

“Yeah-yeah,” I said, drawing the next slip. “Two minutes. Again.”

“OOH!” Pinkie squealed, fists clenched. “What’s it gonna be?”

“Don’t worry,” I said, hand raised. “It’s gonna be fun. I’m up for doing anything with you, Pinks.”

“Aww,” she cooed as I reached into the third cup.

Please be the tits, please be the tits, please be the tits…

I selected a piece of paper and brought it out to read it. Then I mouthed an F-bomb and glanced at Pinkie. “Hands.”

She returned with a crooked smile, unsure if she was relieved or disappointed that she wasn’t doing something more intimate. “OK… I guess I can ‘handle’ that. Haha! Get it?” she giggled anxiously.

“Go for it, Pinkie,” Sunset encouraged, adding a chuckle to acknowledge the joke. Then she leaned over and reached a hand over me, letting her bare breasts hang just above my face. “Here, gimme your phone; I’ll run the timer.”

Pinkie handed the phone to Sunset while I reached up with my mouth to give the red-head’s nipple a quick bite, causing her to grab her breast and jump back in surprise.

“Hey!” she barked, cradling her breasts in her arm as she held Pinkie’s phone in the other. “You see what we have to deal with, Pinkie?” she said as the party-girl moved around the corner of the bed to position herself between my knees, giggling. “You gotta keep your head on a friggin swivel around this guy.”

“Well you did put your boobs right in his face,” Pinkie asserted before bringing her hands up to moisten them with her tongue, one at a time.

“Yeah-yeah,” Sunset mumbled, thumbing the phone screen. “OK, Pinkie. Two minutes, whenever you’re ready.”

I looked down at the party-girl as she rested her forearms on my thighs, getting into position for the job. The sight of her down there was an alien one, as Pinkie and I had never interacted in this way before; granted, she had masturbated in front of me —right after hearing the sound of Fluttershy fucking me against the table until I pumped her full of cum— but even so, the idea of her giving me pleasure directly was an unfamiliar, albeit exciting, feeling.

The feeling only elevated when those chubby, pink fingers wrapped themselves around my slippery rod, one around the shaft and one around the head. “It’s big,” she whispered softly, biting her lips as she gave it a gentle squeeze. A large bead of fluid gushed from the tip, and her eyes lit up when she saw it.

“Ooh…” she cooed. “There we go.” She swept one hand over it, spreading the slick juice down the head and across her hand, adding it to the slippery coating that was already present. Now fully lubed, her hands began to stroke that hot, rigid mast, sweeping its full length while simultaneously twisting her grip in opposite directions, like she was removing the cap from a bottle.

The sensation threw my mind into a tailspin; never did I expect this girl’s hands to be so effective at giving pleasure, yet they slammed my body with a wave of sharp sensation while making it look like it was the easiest thing she’d ever done.

Those soft hands caressing my entire length made every nerve ending sing, making my breath catch in my throat with every smooth, tight twist of my knob, contrasted by the tickle of gentle fingertips when she changed her methods, brushing the perimeter around the ridge to grant a short respite from that mind-shattering bliss, only to return to the more aggressive grip only seconds later.

After what seemed like an eternity of this, Pinkie switched to a new style: staring at the base, she pulled her fist upward, stroking towards the head while replacing that hand with her other hand at the base, which she would then bring upward to follow the first hand as it slid over the head and off the end, coming back down to the base to start over again.

This one direction, hand-over-hand method was like one long continuous stroke, sending a rush of pleasure through my length and up my spine, causing me to bite my lip and stiffen my back in a poor attempt to endure it.

“Damn…” Sunset muttered, watching with wide-eyes. “That looks… intense.”

“I’ll say…” Rarity agreed, the sound of her fingers squipping in her slit blending with the sounds of Pinkie’s wet hands sweeping over my erection.

Without warning, Pinkie changed direction, and she began stroking from the head downwards, but continuing the unidirectional hand-over-hand technique. Air hissed in through my teeth as the reversal threw me for a loop, and I kept my eyes shut tightly, trying to keep a lid on the pressure that had begun to boil up in my loins.

Then, once again out of nowhere, Pinkie adopted a new style. One hand grasped the head and gave it a continuous feed of short, steady stokes while she opened her other hand flat and pressed her palm against the tip, rubbing in a circular motion.

The sensation was beyond intense and nearly unbearable, to the point where my entire body jerked, my legs trembling against the party-girl’s sides.

“Holy fffff...“ I bit my lip and looked down at her, past a pair of fluttering eyelids. “How… how the fuck— … where the hell did you learn this?”

“Oh, Goldie!” Pinkie giggled, smiling at me with those cute dimples, that sparkly lock of hair hanging over her heavily-lined eyes, which she used to stare seductively at me. “I’m a party-girl! Do you even know how many handjobs I’ve given?”

“Jesus Christ…” I let my head fall to the pillow, eyes shut tight as I reached over to grab Sunset’s thigh and squeeze it firmly.

“Jeez, Pinkie,” the red-head smirked. “You do want him to last to the end, right?”

Pinkie shrugged. “Those are the rules, Sunset: we can’t go easy on him,” she replied, looking down when she noticed the thickening layer of fluid forming against her palm.

Sunset cocked her head, lips pursed. “Fair enough.” After checking the phone, she glanced at me next. “Well, the good news is there’s only ten seconds left.”

“Ohh, you lucky guy,” Pinkie teased, switching back to her original double-fisted stroke, presumably to ease me out of it.

Panting, I gladly took the offer of mercy, placing the back of my hand over my brow as the final seconds of bliss filled my body. It was a good thing I didn’t draw the three minute card for this, or Pinkie Pie would’ve had quite a mess on her hands.

“And that’s time,” Sunset announced, signalling Pinkie to drop my erection like a hot potato.

It landed with a slap against my abdomen, twitching with excitement, a thread of pre-ejaculate running from the tip to form a small puddle on my belly.

The girls stared at it for a moment before turning their attention to Pinkie, who was still kneeling with a pair of wet hands in the air.

“Well… I certainly didn’t see that coming,” Rarity said, glancing at Fluttershy. “She tortured him nearly to death!”

“Hm-mmmm…” the shy girl hummed seductively. “I’m gonna have to try more of that later.”

I shook my head, but opted out of saying anything.

After removing her fingers from her slit and licking them off, Rarity leaned closer to tapped my shoulder. “Darling? Do you think perhaps it’s time to use your lifeline?”

I moved my arm to look up at the ceiling, considering the idea. “No,” I said, shortly. “Not yet.”

Rarity looked surprised. “Really? Are you certain?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I mean, I’m pretty far along, but not right on the edge yet. I think I can do a few more—as long as they aren’t all three minutes long.”

Rarity sighed and sat back. “Alright, darling. Your call.”

In the meantime, Pinkie had approached her dresser for some tissues to clean her hands with. After that, she made her way to the board to update the score. Then, after putting the marker down, she leaned past me to retrieve her phone from Sunset, who was quick to notice that Pinkie’s hands were still noticeably damp.

“OK, Goldie, draw!”

Sighing, I reached for the black cup.

“Sunny again.”

By now, the thrill of being drawn had dulled slightly for the red-head, and she simply nodded in acknowledgement.

Next draw.

“Thirty seconds.”

This time Sunset cocked her head, wondering what she’d be doing for such a short stint.

Third cup.

I let out a sigh before reading the note out loud.

“Pussy.”

Immediately, the red-head slapped the cushion, making her breasts jiggle. “Oh, COME ON! Thirty seconds!? That’s all I get?”

Pinkie shrugged. “Sorry, Sunset; thems the rules.”

Sunset huffed and rolled her eyes before leaving the bed. “This is bullshit,” she grumbled under her breath, looking down past her breasts to unbuckle her belt, facing us mostly with her back. The rest of us watched as she flipped the belt aside and then unzipped her jeans, pulling them down past her knees and then bending down to pull them off her feet, giving us a fantastic view of her bare ass—which the thong did little to hide.

She stood upright again and slid her fingers inside the skimpy undergarment to slide them down past her hips, letting them fall to the floor from there. Up until this point, the smell of female arousal had made a point of gradually making itself known throughout the room, but once Sunset’s underwear were removed, the lot of us were hit with the heady scent of womanhood the very second it was uncovered.

Her magic was alive and well, it seemed.

She turned to face us, the first of the group to be completely nude. Her breasts and glistening slit were in full view, her soft lips pinched delicately between those smooth, strong thighs.

“You look positively gorgeous, darling,” Rarity complimented, rubbing her own clit in a circular motion.

“Thanks…” Sunset replied absentmindedly. She closed her eyes, revealing those shadowy eyelids as she adjusted her stance to spread her feet apart, reaching down to slip a finger into what sounded like an extremely moist slit.

“Uhh…” Pinkie furrowed her brow suspiciously as she watched the red-head lick and then bite her bottom lip. “What are you doing, Sunset?”

“Getting myself close,” she replied, panting, her breast jiggling against her arm as she stroked herself rapidly. “Thirty seconds isn’t long enough.”

Pinkie shook her head, putting her hands in a ‘T’ formation. “Nope, NOPE! Hold on! That’s interference!”

Sunset’s eyes popped open and her finger stopped. “What? How!?”

Pinkie pointed at my throbbing, seeping erection. “Because, A: you’re putting on a sexy show for him; and B: you’re giving him a longer break than he’s supposed to get.”

The red-head sneered. “Don’t those things cancel out?”

Pinkie turned to point at the chart. “No! And not only that, if Goldie-Woldie makes you cum, then I have to add another thirty seconds to his lifeline—which isn’t really fair if you’re getting yourself close.”

Sunset’s head fell to the side. “Come on, Pinkie…”

“Sunset!” Pinkie roared unexpectedly, repeatedly slapping the bottom of her chin with the back of her hand. “I’ve had it up to HEEEERE with you breakin the rules!”

“Ugh!” Sunset huffed and rolled her eyes at the cartoonish and quite frankly insane response, taking her finger from her slit to suck the juice from it before marching toward me. “What a crock of shit,” she grumbled as she placed one knee next to my hip and then swung her other leg across me, planting her foot on the mattress. “Help,” she demanded flatly, looking down at my erection.

Drawing a breath, I reached down and propped my manhood up, aiming it between her thighs. In this position, her legs were spread wide, as were her labia, letting that fleshy hood and moisture-covered minoras poke out from between.

Sunset looked down, her hair obscuring her face and breasts as she lowered herself slowly to let that throbbing, swollen head nestle itself between those warm folds. With everything in position, Sunset threw her head back to toss her hair over her shoulders, biting her lip as she descended.

The other three girls and I had as clear a view as one could ask for; my head disappeared first, slipping between those fleshy petals with little argument. After that, we watched in silence as those fleshy, glistening ruffles slid down my shaft, swallowing inch-after-inch into her warmth until she reached the base. Once there, her labia pressed firmly against my body, hiding my entire length from sight.

Fluttershy swallowed. “Oh my… th-that was so hot.”

Pinkie and Rarity said nothing, the latter being so distracted by the scene that she forgot to keep stroking herself.

Sunset exhaled loudly and folded her leg in to straddle my hips, and, since I was still wearing my shirt, leaned on my chest to make the most of a short ride.

Even I was dazed to the point where I hadn’t realised she’d started; she must have been a thousand degrees inside, and was completely flooded to the point where it squipped noisily, smearing her juices onto my abdomen with every thrust of her hips.

Sensations of warmth and electricity rang through me as Sunset’s tight depths stroked my length, and I suddenly found myself quite positive that I wasn’t going to make it all the way through this game.

Reaching up, I cupped those naked breasts in my hands and squeezed them, feeling her stiff nipples tickle my palms as she gyrated aggressively, hoping desperately to get herself off within the time allotted. Times like this, when Sunset was eager beyond reason, were stark reminder of how strong she was; the bed rocked violently under her trusts —much harder than when Rarity was on top— its poor wooden frame groaning and complaining while its occupants above were nearly jiggled right off the edges.

“Good heavens, darling!” Rarity cried, grabbing the headboard with slippery fingers.

“HAHAHA! EARTHQUAKE!” Pinkie laughed as she lifted her phone, trying to hold it still so she could read it. “Whoop! Five seconds, Sunset.”

Sunset’s hands closed into fists at the announcement, gathering the fabric of my shirt into her grip as she moaned a mixture of ecstasy and distain. “Oohhhh…” She came forward and kissed me, the warmth of her soft breasts soaking through my shirt. “I need more,” she whimpered, sounding almost like she might cry. Her tongue slipped into my mouth and flailed about, licking everything within reach.

“Aaaand that’s time,” Pinkie announced.

That tall, amber figure stopped its seductive slithering—far sooner than it would have liked. Sunset broke the kiss and stared into my eyes for a moment, panting against my face.

“You didn’t make it, did you?” I asked, feeling my length twitch inside her, which was in response to the pressure she’d begun to build in me, fading slowly now that she’d stopped.

Sunset shook her head. “No,” she breathed as she rolled off to my left, lying at the head of the bed with her legs hanging over the edge.

I looked down at myself. The red-head’s turn had done a number on me: my entire abdomen —to say nothing of my manhood— was completely soaked in a layer of female arousal; my erection throbbed with excitement and desperation, having been driven closer than ever to orgasm.

“How’s it going, Goldie-Woldie?” Pinkie asked, setting the marker down after marking the board.

“I, uh…” I panted, waving the question away. “It’s going.”

“Great! Draw!” Pinkie shoved the black cup toward me.

“Ugh…” I reluctantly reached over to fish through the black cup. Then I read the note.

“Flutters.”

A quiet gasp came from behind when the shy girl heard her name, and I arched my neck to look up at her. She gave me a crooked smile, trying her best to hide her nervousness.

“Let’s see what you’re doing…” I said as I drew from the second cup. “…For one minute.” I drew from the third cup. “Mouth.”

“Oh… I think I can, um… handle that,” the shy girl said in a tiny voice, stroking the hair that hung next to her face.

“Go for it, Fluttershy!” Pinkie cheered. “All you’re doing is sucking your boyfriend’s dick in front of most of your friends; how hard could it be?”

“Need I remind you, darling, that Fluttershy is quite timid in front of a crowd—remember the Battle of the Bands?”

Pinkie slapped a hand over her forehead. “Oh yeah! She was afraid of a light! Remember that!?” She then slapped a hand over her mouth and looked up at Fluttershy with wide-eyes. “Oh crap! Sorry Fluttershy, I didn’t mean…”

“It’s OK, Pinkie,” the shy girl replied softly as she stepped in front of me and kneeled down, running her fingers through her hair to clear it from her face. “I’ll be OK. I’m not so shy when I’m really, um, turned on. Plus, it’s not like I’m going first; you guys have all done lots of stuff already.”

“Wow, what a trooper!” Pinkie said, raising her phone. “Whenever you’re good, Fluttershy; ready, set, blow!”

Smirking, I shook my head as my eyes went to my girlfriend, who gave an oddly sweet smile in return. This draw was a good thing, actually. Fluttershy had a tendency to give very gentle blowjobs, and while they generally took a long time to complete —and usually ended with an incredibly pleasurable load being sucked out— this was the perfect time to receive one as it was highly unlikely that she would be able to finish me off within a minute.

Gently, the shy girl cradled my length with her soft, graceful hands and stood it upright, feeling Sunset’s wetness on her fingertips. “Hmm.” She leaned down and licked my tip to take a sample of moisture, smacking her lips as she analysed its flavour. “Good, like always,” she said, glancing over at Sunset.

Fluttershy closed her eyes and leaned forward, placing her tongue at the base of the shaft and slowly licking her way upward, sweeping Sunset’s flavour into her tastebuds until she reached the head. After failing to contain a shiver when her tongue flicked across the tip, I opened my eyes and looked down to see Fluttershy pressing her lips against the underside of my erection, kissing the frenulum first before making her way back down the shaft.

I felt some movement on the bed behind me as I watched my girlfriend stroke my manhood with puckered lips, followed by Rarity’s voice sounding from my right.

“Come here, darling; I cannot bear to watch you suffer like this.”

I was only pay half-attention when she spoke, so the meaning of her words didn’t really register at first. My mind was far too occupied by the sight and feel of Fluttershy’s soft lips wrapping around that juicy head to suck the flavour from it. I was also only vaguely aware when Sunset’s naked form moved out of my peripheries.

That soft, cherry blossom hair slipped in front of the shy girl’s face, hiding what she was doing as I felt her lips slide over the ridge, engulfing the entire head in her mouth.

Pinkie appeared vexed by this, and she quickly hopped to her feet to fetch a small hairclip from her dresser. She then returned and leaned over Fluttershy’s side to tie her hair back. “Don’t mind me,“ Pinkie said as she worked, to which the shy girl’s glossy, pink eyelids lifted so she could look up at her friend, her lips still wrapped around my shaft. Once the clip was snapped into place, Pinkie backed away and gave a thumbs-up. “There. Better?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Mmm.” She was unable to speak, but attempted a polite smile nonetheless.

Pinkie went to return to her spot, but when she happened to glance across the bed, her eyes popped open and she pointed a finger at Sunset and Rarity. “HEY! INTERFERENCE!”

Fluttershy, who’d stuffed more than half of my length into her mouth by then, also looked up, her eyes wide with surprise.

“What’s going on?” I arched my neck to look behind me to see.

This prompted Pinkie to throw her hands out to stop me. “Goldie! Don’t look!”

“What? I have to look now!” What I found on the far side of the bed was Sunset, lying naked with her head on a pillow, her thighs spread wide. Rarity was lying on her belly between those long, golden legs, her tongue buried deep in Sunset’s glistening folds.

Pinkie clapped her hands rapidly. “Stop it! You two are in violation of the… inter… ference rule… THING!”

Without opening her eyes, Sunset raised one arm and showed Pinkie her middle finger. “Fuck your interference. I NEED this,” she panted.

“Hmmph!” Pinkie growled, dropping to her knees at the foot of the bed again.

I continued to watch in the meantime, fighting a pair of fluttering eyelids brought on by the shy girl’s lips massaging my knob, her tongue tracing circles around the ridge as I watched Rarity’s tongue flick away at Sunset’s clit, which she’d exposed by using her fingers to spread the layers apart.

The fashionista’s other hand was between her own legs, letting us know what she was doing by audibly squipping her fingers in and out of her slick womanhood. It wasn’t long, however, before she decided to focus all of her efforts on Sunset; she removed her index and middle fingers from herself, brought them up and slid them inside Sunset.

Holy shit. My mind could hardly think of anything better to say, especially with the sensation of Fluttershy’s soft lips bringing me pleasure while I watched Rarity pump her fingers into the red-head, fluttering her tongue against her clit and sucking on her hood until she closed her eyes, arched her back and cried out in ecstasy.

“Ohh… fuck, Rare! AAAHHHH, YES!”

Exhaling slowly, I turned back to Fluttershy when Pinkie made the five second call. At first, I felt somewhat bad for not paying attention to my girlfriend while she worked, but then I was relieved when I noticed that she herself was watching the action as well.

“OK, time’s up,” Pinkie announced, which prompted Fluttershy to back out slowly, letting me slip from between her lips with a soft smack.

“Hm,” Fluttershy giggled, before planting one more kiss on the tip. “All done.”

Surprisingly, the shy girl’s session had stirred a surprising amount of pressure down below—though I would guess that everything that’d happened prior to her blowjob had boosted me along, not to mention the scene that was playing out on the other side of the bed. Speaking of which, Rarity’s voice sounded once again from behind.

“Better?”

“Oh yeah…” Sunset panted. “That was… just… wow. Thanks for that.”

“Not a problem,” Rarity replied. I turned to look up at her as she sat upright, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “I’m sure it wasn’t quite the same as... you know… him, but I couldn’t sit by with you so pent-up like that.”

“Nah, it was good, Rare. Really.”

With the chart up to date once again, Pinkie replaced the marker and faced me. “OK, Goldie-Woldie, you ready?”

“No,” I replied as I reached for the black cup. “Oh, look at that,” I said, after seeing whose name it was. “Rare.”

“Oh my, I certainly am busy tonight!” Rarity swooned as I drew from the next cup.

“One minute—again.” I looked over at Pinkie. “Do I even need to draw the third one? She only has one thing left.”

Pinkie craned her neck to look up at the board. “Oh yeah, I guess you’re right.” She faced the fashionista, throwing a thumb over her shoulder. “Get those titties out, Rare-Bear!”

Rarity rolled her eyes, looking mildly indignant to the order —or its delivery, really— and she slid off the bed to make her way to what we had unofficially come to consider the ‘staging area.’ Reaching behind her head, she swept her hair aside and undid the clasp at the back of her shirt, then she peeled it over her head to reveal a slender, white figure, covered only by a lacy blue brassiere.

She dropped the garment to the floor and took a moment to fix her hair. Then, facing us, she reached between her breasts to unclip her bra and smirked as she slowly swung it open, releasing those perky, white breasts, complete with hard, pink nipples.

“Ohh dammit,” I whispered as that pale, nude figure strode toward me, breasts bouncing, hips swinging, drawing everyone’s attention to that dark landing strip and the glistening slit below, which quickly sank from view when she knelt between my knees.

“Now then…” she said, rubbing my thighs with moist fingers.

“I take it this is a first for you as well?” I asked.

“Not quite, darling—but in front of this many people? Yes.”

Saying nothing, I watched quietly as she nestled her body in close, letting her breasts come to rest on my abdomen. Holding onto one, she reached down with the other hand, scooped her fingers under my erection to pick it up and press it against her chest.

“My my, such a mess you are,” she remarked as she squeezed her breasts together, wrapping them around that hot rigidity, lacing her fingers over them to lock them in place.

The timer was started, and Rarity began to bounce.

While not as well endowed as Sunset or Fluttershy —and certainly not Pinkie— Rarity’s bust still possessed more than enough of that soft, fluffy tissue to do the job. Granted, more of my head protruded from her cleavage at the base of each downstroke when compared to Sunset, and there was less of a cushion between her grip and my manhood, but still, it felt wonderful—maybe too wonderful, given how late into the game we were.

There was plenty of juice to keep things moving; those milky-white mounds slid up and down my length as smooth as silk, and the warm, soothing pleasure it created sent an endless flow of delight through my body. I had to be careful not to lose myself in it, however; there were a lot of unmarked letters left on that whiteboard, and it was far too soon to let myself myself get Spartan-kicked into the climax pit.

The first half-minute went well, I was able to endure without much issue while enjoying its obvious benefits, but it was at the midway point that her juicy fingers allowed one breast to slip free, exposing her nipple from under her hand. This forced her to stop momentarily and re-adjust her grip; this time, she was able to swaddle my length much more tightly—the effect of which became apparent very quickly when she resumed working her bust up and down.

Smooth, tight, and warm. For the latter half of that minute, this became my world. Mind-numbing sensation began to pour over me, calling an unbelievable amount of tension to the surface from deep within, where it’d been waiting to pounce at just the right time. The pressure built rapidly with each stroke, and I could feel my manhood begin to stiffen and swell, prompting me to look down at the action.

I bit my lip tightly, trying my best to suppress the impending release as I watched those fluffy, warm marshmallows slide up and down my manhood, slapping the moist skin of my abdomen each time they hit bottom. I held my breath, heart pounding in my chest as I prayed for the sound of the party-girl’s voice calling the final five seconds, lest I wind up raining all over those beautiful ivory tits with hot, ropy globs of glorious defeat.

Rarity clearly felt it as well; the sudden growth and added firmness would have been hard to miss. Her eyes widened and locked with mine. She bit her lip, nervous that she was about to feel those relentless, scalding shots against her throat and chin, but in honour of her friend’s rules —unlike Sunset— she continued on at full steam.

Fortunately, the sound of a miracle filled the room.

“Five seconds, Rare-Bear.”

A look of relief swept across the fashionista’s features, followed by a warm blast of air over my stomach when she released the breath she was holding. Without thinking, she slowed her strokes and loosened her grip slightly, that intrinsic generosity granting me the tiny bit of mercy I needed to survive the round.

When Pinkie called the time, Rarity immediately released her breasts and leaned back, hands raised and looking somewhat apologetic as my manhood toppled over like a felled tree.

“Oh… you poor thing,” she said, her bottom lip sticking out as she watched me rub my eyes with the heels of my hands, panting deeply. “Has this become torture yet?”

I paused, drew a deep breath and then lifted my hands to look down at her. “Yes… but also no. The only thing that’s making this hard is not belong allowed to cum; what you just did there, that felt fucking amazing. One of these days I gotta let you finish the job.”

Rarity licked her lips and straightened up, looking down at her breasts. “Hm.” She thought quietly to herself as she pinched her nipples, rolling those stiff, pink buds between her fingertips. “I had no idea these little ladies had so much power.”

“They’re tits, Rare. Of course they do,” Sunset snorted. “And they’re not little; just because you’re the smallest one here doesn’t mean you don’t have a nice rack—especially for your build.”

“Yeah!” Pinkie squealed as she marked another X on the chart. “You’ve got some of the cutest little titties I’ve ever seen!”

Rarity’s cheeks flushed. “Oh… well. Thank you, Pinkie Pie. I… appreciate the compliment,” she said as she rose to crawl across the foot of the bed.

“No prob, Bob!” the party-girl replied, dropping the marker and then facing me. “Ready for the next round, Goldie-Woldie?”

“Ehh…” Rarity cringed, raising a finger. “As much as I hate to speak for Golds, darling, I do believe he was quite close at the end of that.”

Sunset nodded in agreement. “Yeah. I know that face when I see it.”

I furrowed my brows at the red-head. “I don’t have a face, do I?”

“You totally have a face.”

“What?” I turned to Rarity and Fluttershy. “Do I have a face?”

“Hm-hm,” Fluttershy nodded.

“You do, darling, but I happen to think it’s very cute.”

“And it’s a good signal to brace myself cuz I know I’m about to get blasted,” Fluttershy added.

Pinkie leaned over the bed, waving her hands to cut the conversation short. “Off topic, you guys! We gotta make a decision.” She pointed at me. “Goldie, you wanna use your lifeline now or d’you wanna draw?”

I paused, sighing. “Can I draw first and then decide?”

Pinkie shook her head. “No. If you draw, you have to do the round.”

I chewed my lip, looking up at the chart. Then I shook my head. “Ppppppppffff… fuck. Well, I was getting close on that last one… but then again we’re barely halfway through. Honestly? I’m probably gonna need the lifeline later more than I do now.”

Rarity looked worried by this. “You’re going to draw then?”

I glanced at her and nodded. “Yeah. Let’s just hope I draw a shorter time.”

“Ooh… this is quite risky, darling; I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Um…” Fluttershy chimed in, stroking her hair. “Is it bad that I kinda wanna see him cum all over somebody?”

Sunset shook her head. “No, not really. That would be hotness for sure.”

Rarity shook her finger. “As arousing as that sounds, we need to stay focused on the goal, which, need I remind you, is to make Pinkie Pie one of us tonight.”

“I know,” Sunset replied. “But still… it’s hot to think about.”

“Well, we’re about to find out,” I said as I reached for the black cup.

I read the name, and then looked up at the party-girl. “Your turn again, Pinks.”

“Heh heh…” The chuckle sounded forced, possibly because she knew she might be the one to finish me off—in front of my girlfriends.

I reached for the second cup. “Hm,” I cocked my head. “Thirty seconds. This might actually be doable.”

“Possibly…” Rarity said, looking down at her breast as she fondled it idly. “But you have been teetering rather close lately; it may not take much to bring it back.”

“We’ll see,” I said, dipping my fingers into the third cup. Come ooooonn titties! Let’s see them big, pink titties!

I drew a card and read it, then I put it back in the cup. “Already did that one,” I said as I fished around for another. After finding another one, I took it out and read it. “Mouth,” I announced, looking up at Pinkie.

“Hmm…” Pinkie looked at her friends, brows furrowed. “Does the immortality work if I swallow it?”

The girls shook their heads.

“Oh.” She looked at me, her cheeks turning rosy. “Just asking.” Then she smiled and shrugged nonchalantly. “Welp! Let’s see what happens!”

I rubbed my temple as she tossed her phone to Sunset before making her way around to approach me; I found myself frustrated by the possibility of losing this game and going home without getting to see those amazing tits. My attitude changed, however, when a pair of pink hands came to rest on my thighs, drawing my attention down between my legs where the party-girl was kneeling, giving me an awkward smile.

A light flutter breezed through me once I actually considered what was about to happen. Hang on… Pinks is about to suck my dick, I thought as I locked onto those baby blue eyes. Shit... this might be good, actually.

“Ready, Goldie?” She didn’t wait for an answer —not that I cared to give one— and instead picked my erection up with her fingertips, grimacing slightly at the slippery texture.

“Don’t worry,” Fluttershy said, noticing Pinkie’s expression. “I licked most of Sunset’s stuff off.”

“Most…” Rarity clarified.

“That’s OK,” Pinkie said, lips parted as she leaned to the side to observe the small river of clear fluid running from my tip. “I think most of it’s his anyway.” Wrapping her fingers around the base to hold it steady, Pinkie leaned in and licked the tip, her tongue connected to me by a string of clear goo as she pulled away.

She licked her lips and then smacked them noisily, sampling the flavour before giving me a flirtatious grin. “Not bad. Could use some sugar though,” she giggled, reaching up to sweep that sparkly lock of hair behind her ear.

Before I had a chance to wonder what that would taste like, Pinkie closed her eyes and came down, wrapping her lips around the head to clean the rest of the juice from it. When she slipped off the end with a sloppy squip, she came back for more, her mouth open wide to take the entire head inside; she wrapped her lips around the shaft and then proceeded to push forward—and she didn’t stop until her nose came up against my lap, making my entire length disappear.

This was a shock, to say the least. I stared down at her, wide-eyed as I felt my manhood slip right down her throat, a feat that all of the other girls had yet to achieve. Granted, they liked to gag themselves on it from time-to-time, but none of them could ever swallow the entire thing like this.

The other three were no less surprised than I. Fluttershy’s mouth was covered, and Sunset and Rarity, after staring slack-jawed for a moment, slowly turned to face each other. Then they both nodded.

“Party girl,” they said in unison.

Pinkie backed away only seconds after hitting bottom, those round cheeks indented by the suction as she dragged her lips up that stiff girth, making my eyes roll back when she reached the head and paused to massage and lick away at it.

She dispensed with the pleasantries after this, however; her head began to bob rather vigorously, making those ribbons of hair on the back of her head bounce and sway along with it; her lips swept rapidly and relentlessly from the ridge to halfway down the shaft, saliva sloshing in her cheeks as she sucked firmly, ringing every bell in my body.

Rarity’s prediction that my orgasm would return quickly turned out to be accurate, unfortunately, especially when the party girl’s hand joined in the action to tease in concert with her lips. The pressure rose rapidly; I could feel the tension build, making my length stiffen inside the party-girl’s mouth: swollen, rigid and ready to burst.

It was only a thirty second blowjob, but it might be more than enough to finish me off; the only question was: would I be able to hold it until the time was up, or would I end up firing every bit of the hot, thick tension I’d built up during this game right down Pinkie’s throat?

The question was answered, oddly enough, by Sunset, just when I thought I was about to explode. “OK, five seconds.”

Pinkie slammed her mouth to the bottom again when she heard this and, after a soft moan, decided to spend the final five seconds dragging her mouth off of my length, very slowly and deliberately.

Damn it, if it wasn’t the longest five seconds I’d ever witnessed. Wrapped tightly around my mast, Pinkie’s lips slid up that swollen, trembling shaft, dancing over every distended vein as they went, before eventually popping past that over-pronounced ridge. The sensation of Pinkie’s lips gradually sweeping over the head caused my entire shaft to jerk once, violently; I bit my lip, wondering if I’d spurted a bit onto her tongue. I prayed for the strength to hold back, to make sure I didn’t cross into that free fall zone where there was no turning back and the juices started flowing—after all, there was enough pressure in my loins that I might have blown Pinkie’s head right off if the climax decided to proceed.

At last, Pinkie Pie’s mouth slipped off of my trembling manhood with a tiny smack. Then she looked up at me, eyes wide. “Wowee! That thing is like the size of the space shutt—“ She stopped suddenly, smacking her lips, brows furrowed. “Hm… that tasted a bit different at the end.”

Each of the girls brought their attention to my erection, where, on the tip, sat a large white pearl, which slowly stared to run down toward the ridge.

“Wow,” Sunset mumbled, gazing dreamily at it. “You don’t get much closer than that.”

“Hooh! Indeed,” Rarity added as she fanned herself with her hand. “That, I dare say, has to be one of the hottest fucking things I have ever seen.”

“Mmmm…” Fluttershy agreed.

I just laid there, panting, with my forearm covering my eyes, my heart still pounding in my chest as I waited for the pressure to fade. I had no idea how I held out through that, especially given how badly I wanted to pump those pink cheeks full of my load.

Cringing, Pinkie laid my erection down gently. She clearly wasn’t expecting to get me that close within thirty seconds, but the salty traces of cum in her mouth told her otherwise.

Noticing this, Rarity watched as Pinkie rose to approach the chart. “Did you really need to be so aggressive with him, darling? You know how close he is.”

“That’s just how I roll,” Pinkie shrugged as she marked the M off from under her name. “Can’t go easy on him, remember?”

Rarity sighed and shook her head. “You’re lucky he even made it through that,” she said, reaching out to give my shoulder a gentle pat, prompting me to look up at her. “I think, perhaps, that now might be a good time to use your lifeline, hm?”

I gazed at the fashionista for a moment, exhaled, and then nodded. “Yeah… I think you’re right.”

Pinkie set the marker down and spun around. “You’re using your lifeline?”

I nodded.

“Good choice, Goldie! Draw a time and we’ll take a moment to relax and cool our dicks.”

I snorted and reached for the gray cup, hoping for the three minute card. What I got was one minute.

“Shit.”

Pinkie leaned in to read the slip. “That’s not bad! Remember, it’s actually a minute and a half. You earned an extra thirty seconds for making Rare-Bear quiver!”

I scratched behind my ear. “Oh… yeah, OK. Alright, let’s hang loose for a minute and see what happens.”

A few seconds passed before Fluttershy spoke up. “Um… Goldie?” She pointed at the chart, looking somewhat skeptical. “Do you really think you can make it through the rest? There’s quite a bit left; I mean… I’ve only done one thing so far.”

I looked up to appraise the board, tracing my tongue along the inside of my lower lip. She was right. I was barely two-thirds of the way through.

“I’d say it comes down to what times he draws,” Sunset asserted. “Like… if he’d drawn a full minute on that last one, this whole thing would be over already.”

“I agree,” Rarity said, facing Pinkie. “Do you think, Pinkie Pie, that maybe we could… remove the three minute card from the game?”

Pinkie scowled. “That sounds like cheating, Rare-Bear.”

The fashionista’s hands rose in defense. “It was only a suggestion, darling.”

“Here,” I cut in, “can I draw now to see what’s next? At least then we’ll know; the suspense is kinda killing me.”

“Sure! I don’t see why not,” Pinkie shrugged.

Taking a breath, I cleared my throat and then reached for the first cup.

“Flutters.”

The girls glanced over at her, causing her cheeks to flush as I drew the next slip.

“Aw, crap,” I said, drawing their attention back to me. “Three minutes.”

“Uuuugh!” Rarity threw her head back. “I told you!” she growled, turning to face Sunset. “Didn’t I tell her?”

“Calm down, Rare. Let’s just see what act I draw before we freak out,” I said, pulling a slip from the white cup. I looked at the note. Then I sighed. “Pussy.”

Sunset and Rarity groaned in concert together, looking down at the bedspread.

“Welp, that’s it. It’s over.”

“Yup, he’s done.”

Pinkie stared at them, brows furrowed. “Wait… you think so?”

Sunset huffed loudly, gesturing to my manhood. “Pinkie, look at it. It’s fucking still twitching. You really think you’re gonna take that, and” —she pointed at Fluttershy— “stick it in her for THREE MINUTES and expect him not to bust?”

Pinkie rubbed her chin and looked the shy girl over, looking somewhat analytical. “Hmm…”

I arched my neck to look across the bed, locking onto the teal eyes of my girlfriend, who stared back with a hopeless sigh. “Well… it’s not like it’s one of my favourite things to do or anything.”

Fluttershy smiled briefly, but turned serious again. “I know, but…” She paused for a moment, and then turned her attention to the party-girl. “I’m sorry, Pinkie.”

Pinkie Pie giggled and waved her off. “It’s OK, Fluttershy! That was the whole point of the game: to let the universe decide if this was the right choice for me.”

Fluttershy sighed and turned away, clearly not thrilled by the answer.

There was an apparent sombreness in the room now, one that no one really wanted there; but it was there, nonetheless. I sighed, knowing that I should have seen this coming from a mile away, however none of us gave it much credence until it was staring us in the face.

What now? Do we simply end the game? Or do I insist on getting off despite feeling extremely guilty about it not being with Pinkie?

As awkward as that sounded, though, I REALLY needed to finish. For that to happen, I needed to find a way to change the mood, and fast.

Chewing my lip, I looked over at the amber body to my left, propped up on one elbow with that fiery hair hanging down over her shoulder; she appeared vexed by the situation, staring off into space with those beautifully shaded eyes, laced with thick, black lashes. I took a moment to study her breasts; how they drooped lazily to the side, her narrow waist and toned belly, the swell of her shapely hips as they transitioned into those lovely thighs.

Then, when my eyes landed on her hands, an idea struck me.

“Hey, Sunny?” I said, snapping her out of whatever she was thinking about to look at me. “Since it’s pretty much guaranteed that I’m not gonna last this round, d’you wanna do that mind-reading fantasy thing you have where you get to see what it’s like to cum inside Flutters?”

Sunset’s eyes widened. Then her cheeks darkened as she looked around at her friends, noticing them all staring inquisitively at her.

“Um… w-what was that?” Fluttershy asked, her cheeks reddening as well.

I turned to face the shy girl. “Well, Sunny does this thing where she can tap into my mind, and she can see and feel whatever I’m feeling in that moment.”

“Wow! You can do that?” Pinkie asked Sunset, her eyes filled with intrigue.

Sunset rubbed the back of her neck. “Well… I, uh—“

“Yeah,” I cut in. “It works… uh, really well when she’s giving head—cuz then she knows exactly what works and what doesn’t.”

“Crazy!”

I pointed over my shoulder at the fashionista. “She did it with Rare one time, the night we got home from the States with Flutters.” I turned to face Sunset. “How was that?”

“Uh… pretty good?” Sunset replied, her cheeks darkening even more.

“Tsh… well!” Rarity giggled, waving us off. “Should I really be surprised by that?”

“And she’s got… kind of a fetish,” I continued, “for seeing what it’s like to shoot a load in Flutters—you know, because of the whole ‘innocent girl doing a naughty thing’ thing. Heh! She had three chances to do it the night you guys came home from the camp that one week, and she totally forgot!”

Rolling her eyes, Sunset huffed with embarrassment. “Yeah, I know. I realised that, like, the next day.”

“OOH! OOH!” Pinkie stared bouncing on the edge of the bed. “You could TOTALLY do it right now, Sunset Shimmer! Tonight could be your lucky night!”

In the meantime, Fluttershy was staring at the red-head, rubbing her chin with her fingertips. “Is this true, Sunset? Do you really want to cum inside me?” Her eyes shifted to the side, brows furrowed. “Um, or... sort of.”

Unable to make eye contact, Sunset cast her eyes downward, picking at the blanket. “Um, kinda—I mean... I guess so?”

Fluttershy cocked her head curiously. “And… you’ve been thinking about this for months?”

Sunset drew a breath and nodded.

Furrowing her brow, the shy girl shook her head in confusion. “Well… why didn’t you just say something?”

Sunset looked up at Fluttershy and froze.

“All you had to do was ask, and I would have done it.”

The red-head stared for a moment, lips parted. “Oh?”

“Mm-hm,” Fluttershy nodded sweetly before facing Pinkie. “How much of his break is left?”

Pinkie lifted her phone to check it. “About twenty seconds.”

“Oh! I’d better go get ready then.” Fluttershy proceeded to swing her legs off the side of the bed to stand, making her way to the staging area.

Standing before us, she hooked her thumbs over the waistline of those tight pants. She paused suddenly, staring at the bedroom door for a moment before stepping over to close it.

The rest of us glanced at each other.

With a satisfied nod, Fluttershy backed herself into place once again, and then proceeded to slide her pants down those long, yellow legs, leaving only a pair of plain white panties covering her backside. After stepping out of the pants, she kicked them aside and faced us.

Everyone’s eyes fell to the crotch of her panties, which were completely soaked through, making those sweet, yellow labia plainly visible through the thin material.

“Hm,” she giggled softly, looking down at herself. “I’m, um… a little wet.”

“You don’t say, darling,” Rarity murmured, her eyes fixated on her girlfriend’s ladyhood.

Fluttershy then proceeded to slide her underwear off. Down her thighs they went, taking a thread of fluid with them, which didn’t break until they were past her knees. Now dressed in nothing but that skimpy white tank top with a bra underneath, Fluttershy approached the bed and placed a knee on the mattress next to my hip.

“OK,” she said, sounding more confident than usual—usually a sign that she was ready to run the show. She reached down and raked her fingertips over my length, causing it to jump involuntarily. “Mm. He’s ready,” she said, licking her index finger off before pointing it at the floor in front of me while looking at Sunset. “Sit.”

Sunset looked at the floor and then at Fluttershy. “Right there?”

“Mm-hm. You’re gonna have the best seat in the house, Sunset.”

“Uh… OK.” Sunset slid off the bed and knelt on the floor, positioned between my knees.

Fluttershy faced Pinkie. “Is it time yet?”

Pinkie nodded. “Whenever you’re ready,” she replied, readying her phone.

Fluttershy reached over and covered the screen with her hand. “I wouldn’t bother with the timer; he’s not gonna last three minutes.”

Surprised by the reply, Pinkie set the phone on the bed, face-down. “Wow. Fluttershy’s taking charge... I like it!”

The shy girl faced Sunset again. “Ready?”

Sunset drew a breath and nodded.

With that, Fluttershy leaned on my thighs and swung one leg over my chest; she sat backwards on my hips, facing Sunset, her wet folds pressing on my abdomen. Sunset watched intently as the shy girl lifted herself above me, straddling my erection with her legs far enough apart to make those custard lips separate, revealing the soft pink petals that hid inside, soaked with arousal.

Fluttershy reached down to lift my manhood, aiming it between those delicate folds. “Here it goes.” She let herself sink, biting her lip when she felt that swollen head push her lips aside to slip into those warm depths.

Sunset’s breathing stopped as she watched the shy girl’s tall, slender frame impale itself on that stiff mast, shrouding it in that pink flesh just inches in front of her face. She was close enough to see every detail, every single drop of moisture; she could smell Flutteshy’s arousal, hear her soft voice as she stifled a moan, and she could feel the heat radiating from her womanhood. If it was that warm here, what was it like on the inside?

Once the shy girl’s derrière had come to rest on my abdomen and most of my erection was buried inside her, she let a soft breath escape and looked down at Sunset. “OK, do your thing, Sunset. I’ll wait.”

“You know,” —Sunset pointed at our intertwined sex— “I’m not gonna be able to see this once I go into his mind; I’m gonna see what he sees.”

Fluttershy nodded. “I figured. That’s why I let you watch me put it in first.”

Sunset cocked her head. “Oh. Fair enough.” She drew a deep breath and then exhaled it through pursed lips, making Fluttershy giggle when it wafted over her moist womanhood. “OK…” She wagged her fingers, preparing herself for the bombardment that came whenever she connected with my mind. Slowly, she reached down to wrap her fingers around my right ankle, and her body suddenly arched, stiff as a board.

FWOOSH!’

As always, she had to fight off the random imagery that rushed into her mind’s eye: stone castles, pirate ships, Buddhist monks praying in a garden, surrounded by exotic flowers. She scrunched her face, frowning, trying to sort through it all, and eventually she zeroed-in on Golden Arrow’s real-time perception. She found his thoughts, heard what he heard, smelled what he smelled. Visuals came into focus: the now familiar ceiling of Pinkie Pie’s room, his shirt, which had been pulled up to keep it from getting wet.

Further down, she found a bare, beautifully-sculpted butter-coloured backside perched on his lap, with a long cascade of light pink hair hanging down to cover the narrow waist that sat just above. The sensation of high temperature made itself known between his skin and the underside of Fluttershy’s thighs and derrière, but it was quickly paled when Sunset noticed the extra appendage —the one that she wasn’t accustomed to having— pointing straight up into that graceful body, wrapped in a hot, moist texture that nearly took her breath away.

As things became even more vivid, Sunset quickly began to realise how much sexual energy had been built up in his body throughout Pinkie’s game. His erection was tense as a bridge cable, his knob unbelievably sensitive; his balls were heavy, and the pressure waiting in his loins was so eager to be unleashed, Sunset could hardly fathom the idea of enduring all the acts he had thus far.

Acts that were still fresh in his mind. Sunset could see flashes of recent memory: Pinkie’s wet mouth sliding up and down his length, Rarity’s soft, warm breasts wrapped around it; Sunset even witnessed her own interior squeezing down on him, tearing him to shreds as she soaked him in her slick juices. She couldn’t believe how close she’d put him to the edge, or how close he still was; and right now, she couldn’t believe how it felt to be trapped inside Fluttershy’s depths with her not moving. Sunset knew, without a doubt, that as soon as the shy girl started to ride, it wasn’t going to take long to make him burst. Such a tease was no different than holding a gun to someone’s head, she thought.

Seconds later, Fluttershy did begin to move. Her hips rocked forward, blasting both Golden Arrow and Sunset Shimmer’s minds with a wave of delicious pleasure that caused their hearts to pound wildly, and in near-perfect synch. She could sense his excitement, the rise in anticipation of the knowledge that this time, the girl servicing him wasn’t going to stop. Finally, he would be allowed his climax, and it was going to happen in an amazing place.

Sunset watched as that graceful, yellow body gyrated above him, that long hair swaying gently against her back, stirring its flowery scent into his nostrils while her backside thrust to and fro, flashing quick glimpses of the tight little hole between her cheeks every time they swung back to peek at him.

A sharp pinch bizarrely made itself known on Sunset’s lower lip, and, forgetting that she currently wasn’t in control of any physical body, she tried to reach up to see what it was until she realised it was actually Golden Arrow biting his lip, trying his best to endure the intense pleasure created by Fluttershy’s tight, slick depths, massaging and teasing his manhood into oblivion.

Thirty seconds was all it took to haul him back to the brink. Sunset witnessed every second of it, awed by how fast the sensation rose, how quickly the pressure built inside his loins, how immense the tension in his manhood became with every stroke of that ruthless flesh. She noticed him holding his breath when the image of Fluttershy flickered behind his quivering eyelids—quivering because the release was finally upon him.

Everything had hit critical mass, and Sunset could feel that powerful, hot rush of juice surging through him, rushing upward through his length to erupt inside the shy girl; sensations exploded into a sharp crackle of pleasure and delight as he throbbed violently, pumping his thick, hot load straight up into those tight depths.

Fiuttershy’s pussy was electrifying.

There was no other way to describe it. Sunset’s mind was unable to piece together a more eloquent way of putting it; she could hardly believe how breathtaking it felt, and in her current state of bliss, she let out a moan of delight. The sensation was strange, however, because she couldn’t feel her voice in her own throat, rather she heard it through her ears—or Golden Arrow’s ears, to be more accurate.

At the same time, she could feel him pursing his lips to stifle himself as Fluttershy continued to rock her hips, making sure to fuck every last drop from him —not that she didn’t deserve it; she’d earned every shot she received— and she found herself wondering why he chose to stay silent in the heat of the moment. Screaming during sex was fun!

At last, his erection ceased its jerking, and Sunset suddenly felt very spent—not to mention relaxed, and extremely satisfied.

A flash of indigo appeared in his left peripheries, and he turned to find the white forehead, beautiful blue eyelids and flawless eyelashes of Rarity as she leaned in to plant a soft kiss on his cheek. Fluttershy’s backside had come to rest on his hips by then, leaving herself impaled on his length. The sensation was extremely vivid to Sunset, still intense, his length twitching at random within her body’s grip, surrounded by the sea of hot, heavy seed that he’d just filled her with.

Just as he faced forward again, Fluttershy was reaching up to flip her hair behind her back, and she turned to peer over her shoulder at him, her eyes sharp, her smile wicked…

FWOOSH!

Sunset blinked rapidly when she found herself once again in her own body, her heart racing and her womanhood throbbing. “Www… wow,” she breathed, realising she was face-to-face with mine and Fluttershy’s crotches, still locked together in the afterglow.

She looked up to see Fluttershy looking over shoulder, just as she was in the vision, giggling and saying something inaudible with that soft voice of hers. The shy girl spun forward when she heard Sunset’s remark, realising she’d returned to her own reality.

“How was it?” Fluttershy asked, biting her lip.

Sunset nodded, brows raised. “That was… amazing, Flutters. I mean, wow.” She shook her head, but then paused to think. “Granted, I’m sure it was… intensified… by everything leading up to it; I mean, he’d already had his dick sucked, stroked, licked, squeezed and fucked —multiple times— so, like, he was READY. I would even go as far as to say it was worse than my magic.”

“Really?” Fluttershy replied. “What was it like? Did it feel just like it was happening to you?”

“Uh…” Sunset bit her lip and furrowed her brows as she reached down to slip a finger between her sopping folds. “Kind of… it’s not exactly the same, but it’s still pretty good.”

“That comes as no surprise to us, darling,” said Rarity from somewhere behind Fluttershy. “We all heard that moan you let out when he came.”

“Oh… yeah,” Sunset gasped, striking herself with a bit of pleasure as her finger brushed her clit. “That was… yeah. It’s kinda like talking in your sleep when that happens; but yeah, it was good. The only thing missing is that I couldn’t see it like I can right now.”

“Here!” Pinkie’s voice rang out from right next to Sunset, followed by a phone being thrust into her view.

Caught off-guard, Sunset looked down at the device to find the same image on the screen as what was right in front of her, with the addition of a little white triangle in the center. Realising what it was, Sunset faced Pinkie, eyes wide. “You took a video of it!?”

“YEAH, I did!” Pinkie cheered, tapping the screen.

There was no sound, presumably because the phone was muted, but Sunset could see the image of Fluttershy’s pink folds sliding their way up and down that long, glistening mast, prompting the red-head to stroke herself more vigorously as she watched.

The video was short-lived, and the climax was reached before Sunset expected. Pointing her finger at the screen, Pinkie gestured to the pulsing rail that ran the length of the underside of the erection.

“Right there is when he cums! You can totally see it pumping in!”

Sunset nodded, staring at the image in a horny daze. “That’s hot…” she muttered, her breath hitching when her middle finger slipped into her scorching depths.

The video ended, prompting Rarity to speak up. “Do you mind if I see it?” she asked, shifting up to lean back on the headboard.

“Sure!” Pinkie chirped, leaping onto the bed to sit next to her naked friend.

After a deep breath, Sunset looked up at Fluttershy. “How about you? Did you enjoy it?”

The shy girl blushed faintly. “It was nice—too short for me to get off, but that’s OK; I always love being filled up,” she giggled, wiggling her hips playfully.

Sunset smirked, letting her eyes fall to her friend’s womanhood again. “Yeah… it’s not something to—”

The red-head froze when she noticed something. Slack-jawed, she stared at the single bead of thick, white fluid that had emerged from between Fluttershy’s folds, which was now running down the shaft that protruded from her. “Oh, fuck…” she whispered, “it’s leaking out.”

Before Fluttershy had a chance to lean forward to see it for herself, Sunset acted on the sudden urge that took hold of her, and she leaned in with her tongue to steal a taste.

My eyes widened when I felt something warm contact the base of my shaft and lick its way upward. The feeling disappeared when she crossed over from me onto Fluttershy’s hood, causing the shy girl to shudder and moan softly.

Sunset pulled back to swallow what she’d collected, licking her lips as she stared hungrily at those moist, pink ruffles, flanked by a pair of thick, yellow lips that stretched open to accommodate that manhood. “Nnngh…” Biting her lip, Sunset leaned in again and wrapped her lips around Fluttershy’s hood to suck the juices from it.

She pulled back to let the delicate flesh pop out of her mouth, and then she slipped her tongue beneath it, teasing and licking Fluttershy’s clit, making her throw her head back and coo with delight.

I couldn’t see past my girlfriend’s slender figure and long pink hair —which hung low enough to tickle my stomach when her head came back— but I had a pretty good idea of what was happening when I felt Sunset’s breath on the exposed portion of my shaft, along with the occasional flick of her tongue when it ventured below Fluttershy’s petals.

“Ooooohhh… Sunset!” Fluttershy gasped. Her breathing intensified, and her cum-soaked interior began to contract, squeezing my still-hard and still very sensitive erection. “That’s so good!”

It wasn’t long before that tall, yellow frame stiffened and trembled with ecstasy, announcing the arrival of the orgasm Sunset had coaxed out of her. She panted deeply, squeaking with excitement as her depths closed in on my length, pulsing sharply, which undoubtedly caused some of my load to be pushed out.

Sunset backed away when the shy girl began to come down, wiping her mouth with her forearm and feeling quite proud of herself. Even with her finger still inside her, her womanhood throbbed with desire; the sight of that erect mast lodged in her friend drove her mad, and she knew right then and there that she needed it for herself.

The red-head stood suddenly and placed her hands on Fluttershy’s waist, above her shirt, pushing her onto my belly. “Get back, Flutters, I need some too!”

“EEP!” Fluttershy yelped in surprise, reaching back with her hands to stop from toppling over as a pussyful of cum dumped into her butt-crack and onto my belly, covering it in a warm, slippery mess.

Sunset mounted me rather hastily, wedging her knees under Fluttershy’s thighs so her legs ended up slung over the red-head’s hips while she searched for my erection, eager to bury it in her burning depths. Without hesitation, she endured the surge of energy when she used her fingers to hold me in place so she could shove herself onto it, slipping it deep inside her with a triumphant howl.

I couldn’t see anything by this point; Fluttershy’s hair dangled in my face in this position. Despite this, even with the vivid sensation of that yellow backside sliding around on my abdomen on a slick patch of cum, I could feel, plain as day, Sunset’s red-hot depths envelope my erection, swallowing it up and slathering her fluids all over it.

“Oh, fuck!” I reached up to brush the shy girl’s hair from my face, but to no avail. “Sunny! Sensitive!”

“Shut-up, Golds; I need this!” she fired back, panting wildly as she began to thrust her hips, clinging to Fluttershy’s waist for leverage. “I only got thirty seconds!”

“Hnngh… Shit!” I grunted as I endured the sharp torture-pleasure I was being force-fed while the pair of nude backsides slid around on my lap.

Fluttershy, being held in place by those strong, amber hands, stared in shock at Sunset as she rode, her face contorted with pleasure. She was trapped there, unable to escape—and, not knowing what else to do, decided she had no choice but to go along for the ride.

Not that it was a bad ride. Both she and Sunset were seated on a pool of cum, which made them slip every which way against my skin; in the position she was in, with her bare, yellow feet pointing out past Sunset’s back, put her crotch at such an angle that every time the red-head’s clean-shaven mound rammed forward, it bumped her crease, giving her a little jolt of pleasure with each meeting of the flesh.

In fact, Fluttershy began to enjoy it so much that she used her arms to push herself closer to Sunset, looking for even more contact so her slit would rub firmly against her friend’s lap. Sunset didn’t seem to notice or mind; she was too busy enjoying the buildup to a long awaited climax using that long, hard girth inside her.

It didn’t take long for her or Fluttershy to reach that mind-shattering greatness, both of their loins had filled with warm, wonderful pressure—pressure that was suddenly released by both of them at once in the form of hot, clear fluid, squirting hard from their slits.

Because of her position, Fluttershy’s sprayed upward, soaking Sunset’s belly and the underside of her breasts as she cried out softly, letting her head fall back while Sunset’s orgasm gushed downward under the shy girl’s backside, washing away some of the cum that’d been spread across my belly.

Finally, both girls went limp and flopped down on top of me, lying at an odd angle, which put Fluttershy on her back, partway on my shoulder, and Sunset on top of her, face down and panting, her face buried in the shy girl’s bust.

I stared at the ceiling, soaked in the warm juices of multiple girls and half buried under their extremely satisfied bodies.

“Ohh…” Sunset voice came first, muffled by Fluttershy’s tank top. “Fuck, I love this guy…”

“Mmm…” was the shy girl’s response.

Sighing, I reached down with one hand and swept the pair of slippery asses off of me. I lifted my head to appraise myself and the bedspread, both of which were a total disaster. Then I faced the head of the bed, where Pinkie and Rarity had been sitting while the whole thing went down. “Sorry, Pinks; I guess we forgot to warn you about the mess.”

Pinkie Pie was staring silently, eyes wide, mouth open. “Wow… that was some crazy shit that just happened up in here.”

Rarity was looking at the back of her hand, inspecting her nails. “Not to worry, darling. Happens all the time. You’ll get used to it,” she said, unconcerned by the scene.

*Chapter 143: Another Conversation With Pinkie Pie

Author's Note

Recently, in light of waning interest/views and growing negativity from readers, I’ve come to the decision that I no longer have the drive to spend time on this story. Therefore, I will be publishing the rest of it unedited. This means that most of what you will be reading (after the next few chapters) will be first draft, so expect errors in syntax and continuity, etc. I tend to revise a lot of the nuances when I revisit chapters for proofreading, so certain scenes or ideas might seem a little off from here on out.

Thanks and enjoy.

*Chapter 143: Another Conversation With Pinkie Pie

Chapter 143

“It’s OK, guys... I…” Pinkie Pie trailed off to deliver a deep, wide-mouthed yawn. “Humm… sorry.”

Rarity reached out to pat the party-pooped girl’s shoulder. “Still, darling, I feel obligated to apologise for things not working out. I know Golds tried his very best.”

Pinkie shrugged. “But that was the whole point, Rare-Bear. That’s obviously how it was meant to be.” She raised a finger. “The universe has spoken!”

“Hmph!” Fluttershy scowled. “Well I disagree. The universe is a big meanie.”

Pinkie giggled. “It’s OK, Fluttershy! It’s nobody’s fault, not even yours—since you’re technically the one who ended it.”

Fluttershy hung her head and sighed, making Pinkie cringe at herself.

I was leaning on the door with my boots on, ready to leave. “No, you’re right. It was nobody’s fault. There was no way I was getting through that —not with you four. Plus the order was completely random; anyone could have ended it.”

Rarity sighed, reaching around Fluttershy for a one-armed hug. “That’s right. It happened the way it was meant to. And whichever unorthodox method Pinkie Pie wants to use to decide her future is her choice, and I respect that.” She faced the party-girl, smirking. “And with you, darling, I should have expected nothing less. If nothing else, we at least had an exciting time.”

“Thanks, Rare-Bear,” Pinkie replied, stifling another yawn. “And yeah… it was pretty… aaauugh!... Pretty crazy.”

Rarity stuck her bottom lip out when she saw her friend yawning again. “Oh dear, you poor thing! We’d better be on our way so you can get some rest.”

“Oh…” Pinkie looked somewhat vulnerable, like she wasn’t fond of the idea of being alone. “OK, uh… well, thanks for coming over. It was super fun!”

“And thank you for having us. It’s a shame that Sunset couldn’t stay longer, but as we know, she had prior engagements.”

Pinkie shrugged and waved it off. “Nah. It was still super-cool of her to stop by. It was fun having her play with us.”

The four of us stood in silence for a moment, unsure of how to end the visit without discomfort or awkwardness.

Finally, Pinkie drew a breath and shrugged. “Well… I guess I’d better change the sheets if I’m going to bed.” She spun around and disappeared into her room, leaving me and my girlfriends to look around at once another, concerned.

“Er…darling?” Rarity said to me. “Would you mind… staying with her?”

I furrowed my brows. “Me? Why?”

The fashionista glanced over her shoulder at Pinkie’s room before leaning in to whisper. “I’m worried about her. Someone should stay behind to keep an eye on her—in case she does something to harm herself.”

I raised a brow. “You think she’d do that?”

“I don’t know, darling. I know that she was more cheery than usual tonight, but something is still not right. It didn’t feel genuine. After everything that’s happened, I simply cannot believe that she’s gotten better just like that; and there’s no telling how she’s really feeling after her little game ended in failure.”

I drew a breath, looking up at the ceiling. Rarity had a point. “So… why don’t we all stay then?”

Rarity and Fluttershy glanced at each other.

“We… have some things to discuss, my love. Girl things; you wouldn’t understand.”

I nodded dubiously. “Right. And it has nothing to do with you two being a couple of horn-dogs after Pinks’ game?”

“Tsh!” Rarity tapped my shoulder, tittering at the remark. “Oh, darling! We’re just going back to my place for a bit to… express some things… to each other.”

I rolled my eyes, looking to the side. “Yeah.” I faced the girls again, swirling my fingers next to my temple like a psychic. “For some reason I’m envisioning the number sixty-nine. Now why would that be?”

Rarity shrugged and shook her head. “I’m at a complete loss, darling. I don’t know.” She turned around to step into her boots, prompting Fluttershy to do the same.

I sighed, stepping aside to give them space. “Fine.”

“Don’t worry, Goldie.” Fluttershy patted my shoulder. “I know you’ll take good care of her. And it’ll make me and Rare feel a whole lot better knowing you’re here with her.”

“Sounds like you two’ll be feeling pretty good regardless,” I replied.

Fluttershy smiled and leaned closer. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll be thinking of you while I’m eating her out for the next four hours.”

I drew a breath and nodded. “Fair enough.”

The shy girl plopped a kiss on my lips, and then put her cheek to mine to whisper into my ear. “Now you be a good boy and look after Pinkie Pie; and if you get the chance, make sure you inseminate the shit out of her.”

My head fell back when the shy girl withdrew, reaching out to open the door. “Aaaand the truth comes out.”

Rarity approached me, giggling. “Motives, darling. Everything has a purpose. Besides, you don’t need us here for that.” She leaned in to plant those soft, white lips on mine. “Mwah! Good luck!” Fluttershy was already in the hall when Rarity stepped through the door, pausing halfway to look back. “Good night, Pinkie Pie! Rest well!”

Pinkie emerged from her bedroom just then, carrying an armful of bedding. “Bye, guys!” she said, dropping the pile onto the floor by the front closet. “Thanks for coming!”

Rarity pointed at me. “Er… actually, Golds is going to stay behind to keep you company, if you don’t mind. Fluttershy and I have some business to attend to.”

The party-girl’s face went blank. “Really?” she asked, looking at me.

“Uh…” I had to think fast. “I kinda wanted to… finish watching ‘Phantasm,’ if that’s cool.”

Pinkie’s mouth dropped open. “Oh… OK. Sure!” she said, forcing a smile.

“Alright then, ta-ta!” Rarity sang, abruptly closing the door behind her.

Pinkie Pie and I stood motionless in the dark, staring at one another.

After an awkward moment, I cleared my throat. “So? Uh…”

“Uh, right.” Pinkie spun on one heel, pointing to the living room. “’Phantasm.’”

Stepping out of my boots, I watched that curvy figure head for the couch, her shapely legs and backside squeezed into those tight jean shorts, the profile of her impressive bust protruding past her arm, bouncing in step as she crossed the room. Her hair was still up, an array of pretty, pink loops swaying from the back of her head.

“I’m actually kinda glad you’re sticking around, Goldie-Woldie,” she said as she glanced back toward me, making me wonder if she’d noticed me ogling her figure. “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to finish the movie by myself!”

I scratched my temple, taking a step to follow her. “Yeah. I, uh—“ I stopped suddenly, reaching down to adjust my pants, reminded of how the game ended by the damp feeling under my clothes. “Actually… Pinks?”

She stopped to look back at me.

“Do you mind if I use your shower real quick first? My junk is kinda crusty... er, slimy, I guess… from the game.”

She stared for a moment. “Oh… yeah, go ahead. I guess those girls messed you up pretty good didn’t they?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Thanks, Pinks. I’ll be quick.”

“Eh…” She sighed and moped her way back from the couch. “I’m kinda tired, actually. I don’t know if I wanna stay up that long.”

This surprised me. “You sure? I won’t be long.”

She shook her head. “Nah, take your time. It’ll be too late to finish the movie if you’re gonna have a shower first.”

I paused, my eyes darting around until they found the clock on her microwave. It was 12:05. This was strange behaviour coming from Pinkie; she was never one to call it a night so early. “Alright, if that’s… I mean, if you’re tired, then… yeah. I guess I’ll see you in the morning.”

Pinkie smiled and nodded. “OK. Night-night, Goldie-Woldie.”

And with that, she disappeared into her room and turned the light on to find a fresh bedspread.

I watched her through the open door for a moment and then shook my head, stepping into the bathroom. Rather than take a quick shower, I made use of the building’s unlimited supply of hot water to soak for nearly twenty minutes. This wasn’t very responsible of me and I knew it; for all I knew, she could have left or jumped to her death off the balcony —despite not having the impression that she would do any of these things— but still, I found my mind too preoccupied by the events of the night to push myself to get out and check on her. It was hard not to replay certain parts of that game in my mind over and over again—it’s not every day a guy has four gorgeous women take turns trying to get him off using different parts of their bodies.

It was hard to believe that even Pinkie herself had pleasured me. That in itself was exciting, but I was still disappointed that she remained fully clothed the entire time.

Eventually, I shut the water off and stepped out. I found a pink towel to dry off with, and as I did, I took a look around her bathroom. It wasn’t the most organized space I’d ever seen, but it wasn’t a mess, either.

Hm. She gets naked in here, I thought, wishing the walls could talk or somehow show me pictures of what they’d seen. I gave my head a shake, trying to remember the fact that the poor girl had been through some extremely challenging times, and that I should be concerned for her well-being rather than wanting to see her tits.

After re-dressing in clothes that smelled like sex, I quietly exited the bathroom and took a quick look around. Her apartment was quiet and dark. Pinkie was nowhere to be seen, and her bedroom lights were off, leaving it bathed in pitch blackness.

Not wanting to disturb her by shining a light in there, I turned to look at the front entrance. My boots were still sitting right in front of the door, which meant she couldn’t have gone anywhere; it would have been impossible to open the door without moving them first.

I glanced at the balcony next. It looked undisturbed, but I still felt the urge to go check. On my way past the couch, however, I spied a set of headphones. Figuring I could listen to some music, I grabbed them and headed for the balcony, sliding the door open to step outside into the brisk wind.

After putting the headphones on, I took my phone out and plugged them in. With a classic rock playlist underway, I placed my hands on the railing and leaned over to look down at the parking lot below.

As expected, all was quiet.

I turned around and leaned with my back on the rail, facing into the apartment. Despite being satisfied that my prediction was correct, I still felt a slight pang of guilt for staying in the shower for so long. My girlfriends had charged me with looking after their friend, and even though the risk was small, I took it nonetheless, and I probably shouldn’t have.

Everything was well, though, so I figured there wasn’t much use in dwelling on it. I spent some time listening to music as I kept an eye out for activity inside the apartment—sounds, movement, lights coming on, et cetera.

The cold breeze latched onto the moisture that remained after the shower, chilling my skin. I smacked my lips, noticing my mouth felt pasty and dry. This made me stop and think: when was the last time I drank water?

This would happen to me front time to time; the need to drink water to survive didn’t exist for me, and sometimes I would go for long periods without realising it until I noticed myself becoming dehydrated. A night like this certainly didn’t help, either; Pinkie’s oddly-named game did a good job of relieving me of a fair bit of moisture.

Even though I rather enjoyed standing outside listening to music, the wind was quite effective at sweeping away whatever dampness was left in me. Annoyed by my dry lips and a pasty mouth, I decided to go inside for a glass of water.

After sliding the balcony door shut, I set my phone down with the headset and headed for the sink. I opened the cupboard in search of a glass, but found plates instead. After closing that one, I moved to the next one and opened it.

Jackpot.

I took a tall glass from the shelf, and when I did, I noticed a pair of baby blue eyes peeking out at me from the darkness beyond, one above the other.

“Hiya, Goldie! Whatcha doin?”

“Why’re you in the cupboard, Pinks?” I asked sternly.

“I dunno,” she replied. “Are ya thirsty?”

I sighed and closed the cupboard door. After filling the glass from the tap, I began to chug the water down, watching over the glass as the cupboard door opened slowly, pushed by a pink index finger from the inside. I’m sure this would have been frightening to most people.

“Sooooo…?” she said, as if I somehow knew the answer.

I set the empty glass on the counter. “So… what?”

“You wanna do it?”

Flummoxed, I gave my head a quick shake. “What!? I thought we lost?”

Pinkie giggled. “That was just a game, silly! It’s over now; we can do whatever we want!”

“Ugh!” I huffed, rubbing my face in frustration. “Lemme get this straight: we went through that whole thing, lost, and now you just wanna go ahead and do it anyway?”

“Yeah, basically.”

I smacked my lips, deciding I needed a second glass of water. After a refill, I lifted the glass to drink.

While I did, I ruminated on this revelation, and the shock and frustration I initially felt began to melt away. This was a good thing. I could finally see Pinkie naked! After almost a full year of waiting patiently, biding my time, this was finally my chance to see those massive, pink tits.

After emptying the glass a second time, I set it down with a clunk, resolving to not look pathetically eager. “OK. Let’s go.”

As I turned to walk away, however, Pinkie called out to me.

“Uh, Goldie?”

I turned back to look into the cupboard at her.

“Do you think you could help me get out of here?” she asked, her body shifting around behind the other doors. Obviously, she was lying on her side, and the cupboards didn’t have dividers inside them, allowing her to stretch out from one end to the other. She grunted softly, looking down at herself. “It took me like, half an hour to get in here.”

I sighed, rolling my eyes. “Why… like… how did you even know I was gonna want a glass of water?” I asked as I returned to the counter to remove more dishes, setting them on the counter.

“I didn’t!” She replied, sticking her head out to see what I was doing. “I was gonna throw the door open to surprise you, but then you went outside…” She paused for a moment before her eyes lit up again. “But then you came in and went right to me! Haha! It was perfect!”

I shook my head as I removed a stack of bowls and set them down on the counter. “Pinks, d’you wanna know how Flutters propositioned me the first time? I’ll give you a hint: it was nothing like this.”

Pinkie gasped. “She ignored my advice!?”

“Yes, thankfully! No, she came out in her bathrobe and pretended to get lightheaded so I would come and grab her. Then she put the moves on me, and it kind of went from there.”

“Oh, wow! That’s a way better idea! Fluttershy is SO unbelievebaly sexy. Who knew!?” Pinkie exclaimed.

“Yes, she is.”

“Now I’m kinda glad she didn’t listen to me!”

“Yeah… I woulda thought she had brain damage or something.”

Pinkie scowled. “So do you think I have brain damage!?”

“No, you’re just Pinkie.” I reached my hands up to the opening. “Here. Give me your hands.”

Pinkie reached out and put her hands on my shoulders while I looped my arms under hers, placing my hands on her back to drag her out. She grunted as I extracted her from the cupboard, her feet clattering against the dishes as they slid by. When her feet were the only thing left to come out, I shifted my grip on her to hook one hand behind her knees, catching her in my arms when she finally slipped free.

“Wooh!” She threw her head back and giggled, her hair intoxicating me with the scent of strawberries and cream. “Good catch, Goldie! You’re so strong!”

I was unnaturally strong, but Pinkie Pie was also much lighter than she looked; her shapely frame was fluffy and soft—and invitingly warm.

“Ooh!” She tensed up suddenly. “You’re cold!” Pinkie lifted a bare foot to point to her bedroom door with her big toe. “Let’s get you warmed up!”

I carried her across the apartment and entered her room, pausing at the door so she could flip the light switch on with her foot. I set her down next to the bed —which was bare, except for a comforter that’d been draped across it— and she scampered off toward her dresser.

As she rummaged through her belongings, I let my eyes wander the now familiar room and was quick notice a stack of dishes along the left side, next to some white boards leaning against the wall.

“Hey, what’s all that?” I asked, pointing to the stash.

“Hm?” She turned around to see what I was asking about, and then waved it off as she turned back to the dresser. “Oh, I had to take some shelves out so I could fit in the cupboard.”

I paused for a moment, then I looked down at the stuff again. “Wow. That’s dedication.”

Giggling, Pinkie scanned the dresser top once more. “Here it is!” She grabbed a small black box and held it up, spinning around to face me. “You wanna get the lights, Goldie-Woldie?”

I looked over my shoulder at the switch and reached back to flip it off, plunging the room in darkness. After a soft click, the string of Christmas lights, as well as the flood lights, came to life, bathing the room in an intense red glow.

“Huh,” I said, scanning the new surroundings. “These are some quality slut-lights you got goin on here.” I turned to look over my left shoulder, feeling the heat from the flood light that was mounted in the corner, just above the door.

When I returned my eyes to Pinkie, I found her standing with her weight on one leg, letting her hips sway to one side—somewhat awkwardly. “You like?” she asked alluringly, biting her lip. After looking me up and down once more with lidded eyes, she turned around to lean on the dresser, showing off the dimples of her elbows as she let her backside stick out, her jean shorts looking deceptively dark under the red lights.

“Now witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational BOOTY,” she growled, wiggling her hips to shake her derrière for me.

I reached up to rub my forehead. “Oh my god, Pinks,” I chuckled. When I looked up at her again, she was facing me, staring off into space with furrowed brows.

“I’m not sure if that came out right,” she confessed. “Did I make it sound like I was gonna shit myself?”

“Uh…” I scratched the back of my head. “It… could’ve been interpreted that way, I guess, but I knew what you meant. It was good line.”

“Oh… OK.” She nodded.

For a moment, we stood in that deep, red glow, staring at one another in silence. My eyes darted around at nothing in particular, my lips scrunched tight. Pinkie was chewing her thumbnail, staring at my feet.

Finally, I drew a breath, hoping to kill the anxiousness that was building between us. “Is, uh… everything OK?”

Pinkie snapped out of her trance to look up at me. “Huh? Oh… no, I… I think I’m just a bit nervous.”

“Since when do you get nervous?”

She shrugged, looking rather timid. “I dunno. It’s just… I mean…” She looked down at herself. “You get to sleep with really hot women all the time, like Rare-Bear and Fluttershy; but me?” She gave her head a shake. “Look at me.”

I shook my head, scowling. “I am. What’s the problem?”

“I don’t look like them.”

“So?”

“So… it’s been a long time since I… you know.”

“Got laid?”

She nodded.

I gestured to her. “And you think that’s because of how you look?”

She put her hands behind her back and shrugged.

After glaring at her for a moment, I closed my eyes and shook my head. “That’s not why. You look amazing—especially tonight.”

“It’s probably some of it, though…”

“No!”

She sighed and looked off to the side. “Why is it then?”

“I dunno, Pinks.”

“It’s probably that I come on too strong. I scare people off; they think I’m a weirdo, or some kind of serial killer because I’m so wacky and happy all the time.”

“Well…” I rubbed my chin thoughtfully, sighing. “I have seen you hit on married men, and men who live really far away; so you probably shouldn’t do that, but as for everyone else?” I gave my right shoulder a shrug. “Fuck ‘em. If they don’t like you, or if they’re scared of you because you’re a happy, cheerful, lovely, fun and caring person, then I’d say they’re the ones with the problem, not you.”

She took a moment to consider this while she spun her big toe in the carpet. Then she looked up at me. “You think so?”

“Yeah, of course. You deserve better than that, and you could get any guy you want… if you look in the right place.”

She sighed and looked down at the floor. This was surprising; either she didn’t believe me, or something else was bothering her.

“Pinks?”

She looked up at me, forlorn.

“This has nothing to do with being nervous, or self conscious about your looks, does it?”

She immediately began to avoid eye contact when I said this.

I rubbed my temple for a moment, drawing a deep breath as I looked over at the bed. With a long exhale, I went over to sit on the edge of the mattress and then patted the spot beside me—which also happened to be where I was during the game. “Sit down.”

Hands folded, Pinkie reluctantly came over and sat beside me.

I drew a breath and looked down at the floor. “You, uh… seemed cheery tonight. Kinda like your old self.”

She nodded, but said nothing.

“You were smiling, which was nice to see,” I continued. “But… not all of you was happy. Your eyes weren’t smiling. We could all see it, and even though it was nice to see you having fun again, we knew it wasn’t real.”

Pinkie sighed, looking over at my hands, which were resting on my lap. “I did have fun,” she said, very softly. “But you’re right, I wasn’t really happy.”

“Because of your family?”

She closed her eyes, sighed, and nodded.

After watching her for a moment, I reached around the party-girl and pulled her close, hugging her shoulder against my side. “You’ve been through a lot, Pinks. I know it hurts. I’ve lost a lot of people, and I know it’s hard to let go, and you just want to get over it so the pain goes away. But you can’t rush it. It just makes things worse in the long run.”

“I... it’s not just that they’re gone,” she whispered. “It’s how things were left between me and them.”

I nodded. “You weren’t getting along.”

“Yeah. I wanted to fix it, but I didn’t get the chance.”

“But you meant to?”

Pinkie nodded. “Yeah. I just never got around to it; I put it off… I think because I knew it was gonna be hard.”

“So… what, you think that makes you a bad person?”

She paused. “I dunno.”

“If you were thinking about it, that means you cared. You knew things weren’t right, and you wanted to make it better because you loved them. They were your family.”

“I shouldn’t have put it off though.”

“Hey…” I lowered my head so I could look her in the face. “Just because someone else came along and took them away doesn’t make you a bad person. That was on her, not you; you didn’t know that was gonna happen.”

“But… now they’ll never know how I felt.”

“Maybe they felt the same way. I doubt very much that they died not loving you, don’t you?”

Pinkie sighed. “I dunno.”

“Listen…” I straightened up, shifting in my seat to get comfortable. “This might sound a bit harsh, but… they’re gone. They don’t dislike you, and they aren’t mad at you, but they also don’t love you either—because they can’t. Literally. You have nothing to prove to them. It doesn’t matter anymore. What does matter is that you know how you felt, and that the people around you, who are still alive, know how you felt. Your friends, Sonata, me, your sister: we know you loved your family, and that you wanted to make things better.

“You are a positive, wonderful, loving person, Pinks; and the last thing anyone wants is to see you let your own guilt destroy you—and it will, if you let it.” I sat up straight, holding my hands up to frame my next point. “Not dealing with these things properly can mess you up for a long time, if not for good.” I faced her again. “It’s like a broken bone. You can’t leave it the way it is. It needs to be set in place, even though it hurts like hell, because if you don’t, it’s never gonna heal right.”

She paused for a moment, and then looked down and nodded. “I know. You’re right, Goldie.”

I bumped her thigh with mine. “Don’t beat yourself up over how things went—or never went. It makes no difference now, and I’m willing to bet they way they felt about you wasn’t as bad as you think.”

Pinkie looked over at me, swallowing the lump that’d formed in her throat. “Thanks, Goldie,” she said, forcing a shaky smile. “That… some of that was kinda harsh, but… in a weird way, I think I kinda needed to hear it.”

I reached over to give her hand a squeeze, letting my temple rest against hers. “Hang in there, Pinks. I know it sucks, and sometimes there is no easy answer. But you need to remember that the rest of us love you, and that you are and will always be the best sister we’ve ever had.”

Pinkie squeezed my hand in return. She lifted her head to look up at me, her eyes glistening, but heavy-looking. Then she nodded and sniffled. “OK,” was all she could muster before she turned to look past me toward the head of the bed, spying a tempting pair pillows. “I kinda wanna lay down, if that’s OK.”

I glanced in the same direction before releasing her hand so she could move. “Sure,” I said as she crawled across the bed on her hands and knees to the far side, where she rolled onto her back, keeping her head off the pillow just long enough to remove the clip from her hair.

Long, wavy ribbons of pink silk sprawled across the pillow when Pinkie laid her head on the pillow, folding her arms across her chest as she stared wearily at the ceiling.

After watching her for a moment, I sighed, stood and faced the door, looking back at her. “Here, why don’t you get some rest if you’re tired? It’s getting pretty late, and… you look like you could use a good night’s sleep.”

Pinkie’s eyes shifted onto me as I spoke.

I pointed to the door. “I’ll be right out here if you need me, OK? I’ll just hang out on the couch or whatever; and I’ll keep the headphones off so if you need any…“

I trailed off when the party-girl reached over to pat the mattress beside her.

“Could you stay here… with me?” she asked softly. “I would make me feel better if you did.”

The question set off a pang of nervousness in my gut, a solid knot tied tight by her words—and her unusual vulnerability.

After grinding my teeth for a moment, I decided I’d better not make her wait for what would be the inevitable answer. “Sure thing,” I said as I reached down to crawl onto the bed and lie down next to her.

For the next few moments we laid in silence, staring at the ceiling. After a soft sigh from my right, I could see her turn to face me from the corner of my eye. Not knowing what else to do, I turned to face her; even with her face ablaze under those bright red lights, she looked cold and empty.

“I’m sorry, Goldie.”

I furrowed my brows. “For what?”

“For not being much fun tonight. And for… pretending to be OK when I really wasn’t. I was jus trying to…” —her eyes fell to the mattress— “I dunno.”

I shook my head and waved her off. “Don’t be sorry, Pinks. I don’t blame you one bit,” I said, facing the ceiling again. “Sometimes life likes to walk up, hand you a shit sandwich and say: ‘here, eat this.’” I gave a little shrug with my hands. “And sometimes you gotta eat it.”

Pinkie drew a deep breath and released it. “Yeeeaah…”

Not knowing what else to say, I let my eyes wander around the ceiling, studying the cluster of red lights that adorned its border until I felt movement beside me. I glanced over to find Pinkie rolling onto her side, facing away from me as she reached for the nightstand. The sound of a drawer sliding open came next, followed by the sound of crinkling plastic.

She rolled back a moment later with a large red lollipop in her hand. “Do you mind if I…?”

I lifted my hand to wave at the treat. “Not at all.”

Pinkie brought her attention back to the candy to grasp the wrapper, letting the thin, white stick spin loosely between her fingers as the packaging was torn away. After setting the garbage on the nightstand, she stared at the lollipop, spinning by rolling her fingers back and forth.

Then she looked over at me. “Sugar makes me feel better.”

I gave her a smirk. “Go for it, then.”

After one last look and a smack of her lips, Pinkie put the candy in her mouth, leaving only the stick protruding from between her lips. A series of muffled clunks rang from her head as she shifted the sucker around, banging it against her teeth until it ended up stuffed in her cheek, the stick poking out from the left corner of her mouth.

She faced me, her cheek bugled out. “Sho yummy.”

“What kind is it?”

“Scherry watermelon.”

“Nice.”

She pulled the sucker from her mouth and held it toward me. “You wanna try it?”

After staring at the glistening ball of sugar for a moment, I shook my head and gave her a smile. “I’m good.”

Pinkie shrugged one shoulder and popped it into her mouth again.

“Thanks, though,” I added, returning my attention to the lights while she continued to enjoy the rush of flavour. The sensation of formidable warmth drew my attention to the corner above the door, where one of the floodlights was mounted. “Those things kick out some serious heat, eh?”

Holding onto the stick as she sucked, Pinkie let her eyes wander the edges of the ceiling with dozens of glowing, red pinpoints reflecting in her eyes. “Yeah… ish prolly kind of a fire hashard, acshually.”

“You should switch to LEDs.”

“Mm,” she agreed, lips puckered around the stick.

After a short, but content silence, I faced the party-girl to watch her suck noisily on the lollipop. “Good on you, Pinks.”

She turned to me, brow arched. “Hm?”

I pointed at her mouth. “For seeking out ways to feel better; it shows me that you haven’t given up.”

She pulled the sucker from her mouth to look at it. “Well… like I said: I love sweets.” Then she lifted her head to look down at herself. “Of course, that’s also probably why I look like this.”

“Oh, stop.” I rolled my eyes.

She looked at me. “What?”

“You look fine, Pinks.”

She paused for a moment and then sighed, putting the treat back in her mouth. “Goldie?”

“Yeah?”

“What did you mean when you shaid I could have any guy I wanted?”

I looked over at Pinkie, noting again how striking the black eyeliner made her look. “Exactly what it sounds like.”

She scowled in disagreement. “But… I told you, I shcare guysh off. Sho I can’t get any guy I want.”

“I don’t think you really want them, then.”

She watched me for a moment. Then her eyes began to wander the room as she rolled the sucker around in her mouth.

I lifted one hand and continued. “I think you know how to handle yourself. You’ve got the confidence, and you’re certainly not shy; I bet if you came across someone you really wanted to be with, you would have him, hook, line and sinker.”

“You shink sho?”

“Pinks…” —I raised my index finger to being counting my points— “you’re funny, you go out of your way to do nice things for people, you never forget a special occasion, you’re a hell of a baker, AND… you are fuckin sexy as hell.”

Any change of colour in her cheeks would have been impossible to see, but the expression on her face made it obvious she was blushing.

“It’s true,” I insisted. “That first night I met you guys, I remember seeing you at the far end of the table, and I was like: wow! Who’s that?”

She furrowed her brows and smiled dubiously. “No, you didn’t! You were looking at Fluttershy.”

“Well…” I scratched my ear. “I was looking at all of you, to be honest; you guys are all pretty hot. But, yeah…” I drew a breath, tapping my lip as I gazed at the red lights, thinking back to that night. “I was looking at you too, Pinks, make no mistake. You sitting there, bouncing in that chair, and I remember thinking how great it would have been if I saw more of you.”

Pinkie paused at that. Then she looked down at her bust for a few seconds before looking at me with one of those mischievous ‘I know exactly what you’re saying’ kind of grins.

My face began to heat up when I saw this.

She knew. Pinkie Pie was fully aware that I’d been obsessing over her tits for almost a year now.

“I can’t say I’m surprised,” she confessed after pulling the sucker from her lips with a pop. “I have noticed you taking little peeks at them from time to time.” Once again, she held the sucker out to me.

“Sorry,” I said, shaking my head, to which she popped the treat back into her mouth. “I’m a dude; sometimes I can’t help myself. Plus, they’re amazing.”

“Why didn’t you jusht shay shomething?” she asked. “I probably woulda showed then to you if you’d jusht ashked.”

I looked over at her, surprised. “What, that night!?”

“Well…” She glanced up at the ceiling. “Maybe not that night. Rare-Bear would’ve had a hisshy fit.”

“So… what, you just go around showing your boobs to whoever asks?”

“No, not anymore.”

I snorted and rubbed my forehead. “Wow.” Then I brought a hand up and shook it. “Wait, wait… hang on. So… are you saying there a bunch of dudes out there who I am officially jealous of now?”

She let out a soft giggle. “Oh, Goldie! What you even do if you shaw them?”

“What would I do?” I paused and glanced at her. “I dunno. I wouldn’t even know where to begin. I’d probably wanna see the rest of you, to be honest.”

“Really?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“And then what would you do? Do you think you would like it?”

“Uh… yeah.”

She giggled again, louder and more girlishly this time. “Sho then what would you do?”

I drew a breath and turned to look Pinkie in the eyes, wondering if I was about to go too far. “I would drink you up like a strawberry milkshake.”

Her eyes widened when I said it, and she was still for a moment before rolling the sucker around her mouth again. “I don’t really know what that meansh… but it shoundsh nice.”

“I’m not actually sure either,” I confessed. “But I would make sure it was nice. For you.”

“Hm.” Pinkie stared thoughtfully at the ceiling for a moment. Then she looked over at me. “I can’t remember the lasht time shomeone did shomething nice like that for me.” She snorted suddenly. “I mean, it’sh been, like, forever shinsh I’ve had hot guy in bed with me.”

This time, it was my turn to feel my cheeks heat up. “Me?”

“I… well…” Pinkie actually stammered a bit. “I mean… yeah. You.”

“Hm.” I looked down at myself. “Well… thanks. I do OK, I guess.”

Pinkie rolled her eyes. “Come on, Goldie; now you’re the one who’sh being modest!”

“No, I’m not.”

“Yesh, you are!” Pinkie insisted with a giggle. “The way you hide all your shecretsh like that, behind a normal-looking guy? Ooh! I think that’sh shuper myshterioush and shexy—and don’t even get me shtarted on that five o’clock shadow.” She reached over to stroke my jaw line with the back of her index finger. “Sho-o-o-o-o rugged…”

The sensation made the corner of my mouth curl up involuntarily, and I quickly turned away when my heart began to flutter. “You’re just… uh…” I cleared my throat and looked at her again. “Anyway… going back to the other, uh… I mean, it’s not like being in bed together is any crazier than some of the things we’ve done already.”

“What do you mean?” Pinkie asked, rolling onto her side to face me. The new position gave an excellent profile of her figure; the slope from her shoulder down to her waist and then up again, over her hip, continuing down her mostly bare thigh.

That curvy landscape caused me to hesitate momentarily, and I had to give my head a little shake to remember exactly what I was saying. “Um… like…” I licked my lip and brought my eyes up to meet hers. “Oh! You masturbated in front of me once.”

Her brows furrowed. “I did!?”

I leaned away slightly and glared at her, surprised. “Yeah, at Flutters’ house. Remember? Right after you heard me and her fuck.”

Her mouth opened suddenly, letting the sucker stick hang loose. “Oh yeah! I forgot about that.”

I smirked and shook my head. “Well, there’s that, and there’s the stuff that happened tonight.”

Pinkie paused for a moment, pursing her lips around that white stick as her cheeks indented, sucking firmly on the candy. “Mm, yeah. Ha! You almosht came in my mouth. Remember that?”

“As a matter of fact, I do.”

“That was crazy.”

“Yeah.”

A soft silence followed. The only sounds were of Pinkie slurping on the lollipop, punctuated by the sound of it clattering against her teeth.

“Sho… what elsh would you do?”

I glanced over at her. “Hm?”

She pulled the sucker out and smacked her lips. “Like… aside from drinking me up like a milkshake.”

Another shot of excitement rang through my midsection; the fact that she had steered the conversation back to this was a welcome one. “Well…”

I hesitated for a moment to watch her, still lying on her side: she’d since brought one knee forward to accentuate her figure, her massive breasts falling to one side and resting on the mattress while she spun the sucker between her lips—which was not symbolic of anything whatsoever. Even so, watching her suck on that shiny red bulb as she gazed at me with those baby blue eyes, bordered by that black lining and those spiky lashes caused a stir down in my pants.

“Um…” I cleared my throat, trying to decide where to begin. “So… you’re totally naked in this scenario?”

She nodded. “Yup.”

“OK… well, I guess I’d start with my hands; and, knowing me, I’d probably go straight for your tits.”

Her brows went up slightly, and she appeared to bear down on the lollipop a little harder. “Would you shqueesh them?”

I nodded. “Oh yeah. I’d squ—wait, no. I’d kiss them all over first, actually. Then I’d squeeze them, and massage them, push them together, pinch them; I would, like, lift them… to feel their weight, to see how heavy they are.”

“Pretty heavy,” she said. “Jusht ashk my back after I’ve been up for twelve hoursh.”

“I don’t doubt it.”

She pulled the sucker out to inspect it. Then she popped it back in her mouth. “Then what?”

“Um….” I rubbed my forehead, thinking. “I’d probably move down from there. I’d let my hands slide down your waist and over your hips; I’d wanna memorise every inch of those curves so that every time I close my eyes I can picture them exactly like they really are.”

“Wow,” she breathed. “That’sh kinda hot. You good at thish, Goldie.”

I gave her a little smile and used the encouragement to continue. “So, from there, I would run my hands down your thighs, past your knees and over your calves to feel their shape. I might even tickle your toes a little—if you’re into that kind of thing.”

“Maybe,” Pinkie giggled. She lifted her leg and pointed it straight into the air, pointing her toes at the ceiling. “Do you like shapely legsh?”

I took a moment take in the sight of that leg, appreciating its smooth skin, the swell of her calf and how it transitioned into that narrow ankle, the girth of her juicy thigh, squeezed tightly by the hem of those short, tattered cut-offs. “I like these ones,” I said, looking at her again.

She giggled softly and brought her leg down. “Then what?”

I smacked my lips. “I think… I would go behind you and kneel down so I could check out your butt.”

Pinkie’s brows shot up. “Check it for what? To shee if it’sh too big?”

I rolled my eyes. “No. I mean, it’s bigger, yeah, but that doesn’t mean it’s not nice. It still has a nice shape, and it’s proportioned well with the rest of your figure.”

“What would you do to it?”

“I’d squeeze it first. Then I’d give a spank, just to see it shake. I might even bite it a little.”

“Ooh, naughty! Hehe! Then what?”

“I might kiss it. Maybe even lick it, too.” I drew a breath through my nose and faced her. “Then I would grab your cheeks and spread them apart so I can have a peek at your small thermal exhaust port, only two meters wide.”

“Hahahaha!” Pinkie placed her hand on my shoulder and buried her face against my arm, her body bouncing with laughter. “Right below the main port! Good one, Goldie-Woldie! Hehehe!”

After a quiet chuckle of my own, I looked down at her and was hit by a wave of strawberry cream scent, delivered to me by her new proximity. “All Death Star jokes aside, where would you want me to take it from there?”

Pinkie moved her head from my arm to let it rest on the pillow —the same one I was using— while her hand stayed on my shoulder. “Um… I dunno. What’re you thinking?”

“Hmm…” I pursed my lips thoughtfully. “I think… maybe I would put my tongue in your butt-crack and lick my way up your spine?”

Her eyes widened, the sucker stick protruding from the corner of her mouth. “Mmm…” Her eyes darted around for a moment before focusing on me again. “What about the front?”

“The front?”

“You know… ‘the front.’ I bet that main port would probably need shom attention by then.”

This suggestion caused my blood-flow to redirect itself, and the stirring down below quickly graduated to a rapid stiffening—one that would soon be discovered by the party-girl when she brought her knee forward to slide her thigh across me, letting it come to rest on the front of my pants. I swallowed, but stayed silent for a moment, wondering if she would say anything about the persistent prodding against her inner thigh.

It was then that I noticed her hand had left my shoulder to drag her fingertips across my chest, stopping directly above my heart.

“Sho?” she said, urging me to continue as she played with the wrinkles in my shirt. “What would you do?”

I drew a deep breath and held it, blinking at the ceiling. “I, uh…” I cleared my throat. “I would probably stay put for a minute; maybe while I run my tongue up your back, I would slide one hand up between your legs.”

“Yeah?”

“And, um…” I paused for a second when she began to draw little circles on my chest with her fingertip. ”At the top, I would… run my fingers between your pussy lips, to see if you’re wet enough.”

“For what?”

“To slide them inside.” I closed my eyes and drew a breath, intoxicated by her scent as she let her cheek rest on my shoulder. “To see what it’s like in there: how warm it is, how tight, how wet…”

Next to my ear, I heard a breath rush in through Pinkie’s nose, followed by a firm pressure on my hip—which I quickly realised was her mound grinding against me.

“Then what?” she whispered, her breathing noticeably elevated. “Would you put your fingersh in your mouth to shee what I tashte like?”

“Heh…” I snickered softly. “I already know, technically.”

I felt her face shift to look up at me. “How?”

“At Flutters’ house; after you… you know. You handed me the remote.”

She held her breath for a moment to think about it. “Oh yeeaah… You liked it, didn’t you?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“Sho you’d be down with having another tashte?” she asked, propping herself up on one elbow. “Shpeaking of which…” She pulled the lollipop from her mouth and offered it to me again.

I chuckled softly and shook my head. “Alright, fine. If I taste it will you leave me alone?”

She nodded. “Mm-hm.”

“Fine.” I opened my mouth for a sample, only to have it nearly shoved down my throat. “Gaagh!” I gagged, reaching up to grab the stick before I accidently swallowed it. “Jeesh, Pinksh! I almost choked to death.”

She giggled. “No you didn’t, silly!”

“It’sh a figure of shpeech.”

Holding onto the stick, I drew the sucker forward until it was just behind my teeth, resting on my tongue so I could observe its flavour. Granted, I was more interested in the fact that Pinkie’s saliva was all over it, but still, it did have an interesting hue to it: tart from the cherry, but refreshing from the watermelon—and it was damn sweet.

I faced her, letting the stick protrude from my lips like a cigarette. “Pretty good.”

“See? I told ya!” Pinkie giggled as she laid herself down again—not on the bed beside me, though. She rolled even closer, letting her body drape over my right side, the soft, warm weight of her bust pinning my arm and part of my chest.

I smiled at her.”Do you feel better now, Pinksh?”

“Uh-huh.” She nodded, letting the soft, fragrant ribbons of her hair tickle my face while she brushed her fingers back and forth on my chest.

“Are you having fun?”

After a short, but thoughtful pause, Pinkie smiled, showing off those sweet dimples. “Yeah. Thanks, Goldie… for staying with me tonight.”

“It was the leasht I could do,” I replied, watching those wholesome, but lustful baby blue eyes gaze down at me.

“So… what happens next? You get a taste of me from your fingers; then what?”

I shifted the sucker into my left cheek so I could speak clearly, letting the stick extend from the corner of my mouth. “I think I’d go for more... straight from the source.”

“Yeah?” She bit her lip softly, her mound involuntarily pressing down against my hip. “You’d wanna eat me out?”

“Absolutely.”

A long exhale escaped her lips, brushing my face. “Mm… for how long?” she asked, bringing her face closer to mine.

“As long as it takes.”

Another deep breath caused Pinkie’s breasts to press against me; the tip of her nose was almost close enough to touch mine, and a suggestive smirk tugged gently on one side of her lips. “For what?”

I shifted the candy around inside my cheek. “To get you off.”

Pinkie’s eyes closed slowly, her tongue poking out to lick her bottom lip as a breath wafted from her nostrils against my face.

I watched her for a moment to see what she’d say, but she didn’t say anything. Instead, she let her eyes drift open partway; they remained lidded as she descended slowly, tilting her head so our noses would miss. Her lips planted themselves against mine, spreading their warmth and sweetness, along with a bit of stickiness from the sugar.

The lollipop stick poked that round, pink cheek, but did nothing to stop her from deepening the kiss. Her lips parted slightly, her eyes closing once again as she prodded with her tongue, demanding entrance into my mouth. I was glad to grant it, and as soon as I did, that moist, sweet-tasting tongue shot in to meet mine, wiggling, slithering, licking; air rushed into her nose as she probed even deeper, her soft, warm body grinding against mine as I closed my eyes and lost myself in the moment.

Pinkie Pie was the ultimate trifecta: she looked sweet, she smelled sweet, and she tasted sweet. She was warm and cuddly, like a plush toy; but at the same time, she was deliciously sexy, and having her curvy body railing against mine with her tongue buried deep in my mouth was unbelievably arousing.

Her fingertips slipped daftly below the hem of my shirt to slide it up, exposing my stomach. She broke the kiss and let her forehead rest against mine as she panted into my mouth, her nails digging into my chest.

“I am SO fucking horny right now,” she whimpered, biting her lip.

I licked my lips, unable to articulate a response before she continued to work my shirt upwards. Pinkie rolled away for a moment while I lifted my arms to help her peel the shirt over my head, being careful not to snag the stick that protruded from my mouth.

Once removed, the shirt was discarded to the floor and Pinkie swung a leg over me to straddle my hips, letting her weight press her womanhood down against the bulge in the front of my pants as she placed her hands on the pillow, just above my shoulders, to lean over me.

“I want you to make it so I can be with my friends forever.”

I swallowed a mouthful of fruity, sugary saliva. “You do?”

“Hnngh…” She bit her lip, closing her eyes as she thrust herself against me, teasing us both with enticing sensation. “After everything that happened tonight; after thinking about this for the past two weeks, I am on fire. I am so fucking wet right now, Goldie—you have no idea.”

My brows went up. “It was a pretty crazy night.”

“Ohh… I’ll be honest: I didn’t think they’d actually go through with it, but they did.”

“Yeah, we’re uh… pretty loose about this kind of thing.”

“You… It was SO hot seeing my friends do those things,” she panted, eyes closing. “Especially Rare-Bear.”

“Really? I would have thought Flutters…”

“Her too, but… I’ve known Rarity for so long —I mean, I’ve known them all for years— but I’ve known her since, like, the third grade. She’s always been so prim and proper; it was so amazing watching her suck your cock like a high-priced whore and then ride it until she got off…” Pinkie clenched her fists and let them slide upward to the headboard, lowering herself until her breasts just touched my chest. “The way she moaned... I’ve never heard her make noises like that before; it made me so fucking hot to hear it.”

“Yeah, she’s… pretty hot,” I said, watching Pinkie’s face hover just above mine, blasting me with her warm breath. “Flutters loves watching her too.”

“It wasn’t just her, it was you too.” Pinkie licked her lips. “When I had you in my mouth, and I could tell you were really close, you have no idea how bad I wanted to keep going after the timer went off; I just wanted to keep on sucking your big, hard cock until you came inside my mouth. I wanted to feel you shoot your hot cum right down my throat.”

My erection throbbed inside my pants when I heard this, feeling her weight pinning it against me as I sucked on that hard ball of sugar inside my cheek.

“It would have felt so good for you,” she continued, followed by a bite to her bottom lip. “But I’m also glad I didn’t do it… because what happened after was super amazing. I swear, I’m never gonna delete that video of you filling Fluttershy up with your cum. I could watch it over and over and over again.”

“Heh… remember when I thought it was weird that you took a picture of us sleeping on the couch?”

Pinkie answered the question by slamming her lips against mine, her tongue sweeping in to taste the sweet flavour in my mouth. I kissed her back, and after a few laps around my tongue, she withdrew and sat upright rather suddenly.

I looked up at her bust, heart racing, captivated by her curves, saturated by the red glow of the lights. I reached my tongue into my cheek to move the sucker to the other side of my mouth, but was surprised to find it missing. After poking around the other side of my mouth, I reached up with my fingers to search for the stick.

It was gone as well.

I looked up at Pinkie just in time to see her pull the lollipop from between her lips with a sharp smack, cocking her head with a playful grin.

“Huh,” I said, resting my hands on her thighs. “Neat trick.”

“You like it?” she asked, popping the sucker in her mouth once more before reaching down to cup her breasts, lifting their wonderful mass. “You wanna see some more?”

My heart leapt with excitement. “Yes. Definitely.”

“Hm,” she smirked, reaching behind her back to unclip her bra through her shirt. “I thought you might. And you deserve it; let’s be honest. You’ve been very patient this past year, so I think you’ve earned this.”

“I totally agree,” I replied, watching her bust drop ever so slightly when the bra was unfastened.

Pinkie reached down, crossing her arms as she hooked her fingers under the hem of her shirt. “Are you ready, Goldie?” she asked, lifting her shirt slightly.

My eyes were quickly drawn to her waistline: in this position, seated on top of me, those tight jean shorts dug into her abdomen, making the curve of her belly protrude past them. It wasn’t off-putting or unattractive, though; it was cute, and her skin looked smooth, soft, and kissable.

Despite my forgetting to answer, Pinkie Pie lifted her shirt very slowly until she reached the underside of her breasts. She paused to adjust her grip so she could peel her shirt and bra away together, and slowly, she slipped the clothing upward, exposing the plump undersides of her breasts.

Up her shirt went, hiding her face, but revealing more of her impressive bust until the lower border of her areolas became visible. The garment seemed to snag her nipples on the way up, making her pull just a little more firmly, lifting those smooth, round bulbs from her chest until finally, one of them fell free and bounced into position on her chest, followed a few seconds later by the other.

What a sight to behold, bathed in that vivid, red light. Pinkie Pie certainly did not disappoint: her breasts were round, smooth and utterly spectacular. Each one was the size of her head; they sat higher on her chest than one would expect and, despite my awareness of their heft, appeared much lighter and fluffier than they looked under her clothes.

Even at their size, they were not saggy or droopy. In fact, they maintained a slightly pointed shape that ended at each nipple, which were quite lovely themselves. Her areolas were only a bit darker than the rest of her and were quite large in diameter, and the buds themselves were nearly the size of a mini marshmallow, yet they were perfectly suited and well-proportioned for the size of her bust.

Below those spectacular pink orbs was a lovely, smooth hourglass figure that was padded by a modest layer of chubb; her skin was smooth and soft-looking, and the little paunch that poked out above her shorts was just begging to be pinched—very cute, and an important contributor to a total package that was extremely sexy indeed.

“Jesus fuck…” I whispered, staring open-mouthed at those jiggling, pink mammoths for what felt like ages. It’d only been seconds, however; her head was still inside her shirt, her arms rising above her head to peel it off. “Wait!”

I reached up, not for her breasts, but for her shirt, to pull it back down over her bust, revealing a confused face, donning a furrowed brow.

“Do that again, Pinks; that was fucking amazing.”

Pinkie arched a brow and gave me a playful smirk before adjusting her grip on her shirt, pulling it up over her breasts a second time. She rushed the reveal a bit this time, sliding that tight, white shirt over those soft mounds, squishing them out until they slipped free and jiggled playfully—simultaneously this time. The effect was somewhat lost on the second reveal, probably because of her bra not being hooked under her breasts like it was the first time, but I enjoyed the show nonetheless.

This time, Pinkie managed to slip the shirt over her head and pull it to the side, threading her long, silky hair through the neck hole before tossing it aside. She then reached up and cupped her breasts, her hands unable to cover much as she squeezed them, letting her fingertips sink into that soft flesh.

I shook my head. “Beautiful.”

Giggling, she placed her hands on her hips. “You know what’s fun?” she asked.

“What?”

“Being worshipped by a super-sexy ancient warlord guy… thing.”

I raised a brow. “You deserve to be worshipped.”

After licking her lip and then biting it, Pinkie came down suddenly to plant her lips on mine, poking my cheek with the lollipop stem. The soft, heavy warmth of her bare breasts pressed against my skin, squashing between our chests as her tongue slipped into my mouth once more. Long, delicious-smelling ringlets of pink draped around our faces, brushing my cheeks with their softness as she snaked her arms around my head to lean on the pillow with her elbows.

She broke the kiss with a sticky, wet slurp and then licked her lips, glaring directly into my eyes. “I think you need some worshipping too. Like before, when I was sucking you off; it was so big and hard… and hot.” She closed her eyes and pressed down with her hips, grinding her mound against my erection through our pants. “Ohhh… if it felt that good in my mouth, I can’t wait see how it feels inside me.”

I stared up into those hungry, blue eyes, my heart pounding against the weight of those warm breasts. “You’re sure that’s what you want?”

She smirked, lowered her head for a kiss, and then turned to look up at the flood light, shining down from the corner. “These lights sure are kicking out a lot of heat; I think it’d be a good idea to get out of the rest of these clothes, don’t you?”

I licked my lips. “If you say so.”

“Alright then.” Pinkie narrowed her eyes and came down to touch our noses together. “Let’s do this.”

*Chapter 144: A Sweet Piece of Pie

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 145: It Is Done

Chapter 145

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

I reluctantly turned my attention from the TV to the front door of Pinkie Pie’s apartment, running my tongue along the inside of my cheek. “It’s open.”

The door opened with a click, and a head of long, ravishing indigo hair poked in, led by a pair of curious sapphire eyes. “Good afternoon, darling,” she said, after spotting me sitting on the couch.

“Hey, Rare.” I waved my arm to motion her inside, and she opened the door to come in, revealing the tall, but timid shy girl directly behind her. “Hey, Flutters.”

Fluttershy gave a friendly smile, despite looking somewhat apprehensive as she stepped in and slipped out of her boots, probably wondering how the night had gone. They approached the couch, hand-in-hand like the pair of cuties that they were.

I looked up at them and smiled, smelling their combined fragrances. They smiled back somewhat expectantly, no doubt eager to hear some good news about their friend—so I decided to mess with them.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket to look down at it.

’3:30pm

Thursday, March 23, 2023’

“How was work? You guys get out early?” I asked, looking up at them.

“It was, er... fine,” Rarity replied, looking predictably impatient. “And yes, I left the boutique in Coco’s capable hands so that Fluttershy and I could stop by and… find out what happened.”

“Oh, cool.” I nodded, watching the TV for a moment before looking up at them again. “How was last night?”

Rarity and Fluttershy glanced at one another, their expressions briefly switching to amorousness. “It was… We had a lovely time, as a matter of fact.”

Fluttershy smiled in agreement.

“You get lots to eat?” I asked tersely.

Rarity’s eyes widened at the question, and she and the shy girl glanced at each other once again before Fluttershy looked away.

“Er… well, after the game last night, Fluttershy and I, we… had both worked up quite an appetite.”

I stared at her for a moment. “For... pussy?”

The fashionista rolled her eyes and sighed. “Yes. Yes, darling. For pussy,” she admitted before squeezing her eyes shut and shaking her head in frustration. “But enough about that! What happened with you and Pinkie Pie last night? That’s the whole reason we’re here; we’re simply dying to know!”

“But you can’t die.”

Rarity stamped her foot, fists clenched. “I KNOW THAT!”

Just then, a muffled squeal come from Pinkie’s bedroom, making the girls turn to look behind them. Seconds later, the door opened and out popped the party-girl herself, dressed in a blue shirt that hung loose from her pink frame, nipples painfully visible through the thin material. Her hair was frazzled and curly, surrounding her face with a massive pink poof like the Pinkie Pie of old.

“RARE-BEAR! FLUTTERSHY!” she screeched, her baby blue eyes peeled open with excitement.

“Ah,” Rarity smiled cordially. “Good afternoon, Pinkie P—GAH! … Where are your pants?”

Pinkie stopped smiling to look down at the exposed slit pinched between her thighs, topped by that darker triangle of pink pubic hair. “Oh… sorry!” she replied, looking up her friends with a giggle. “I was just changing!”

Rarity waved her fingertips at the party-girl. “Ah. Why don’t go ahead and finish up, darling? We’ll wait.”

Pinkie stared for a moment. Then she shrugged and reached into her hair to pull out a pair of green and yellow striped panties, which she held open while lifting one leg to thread it through. When she lifted her other leg, though, she stumbled sideways and drove her head against the wall with a thump. “Oof! HAHAHA! Whoopsie-doodle!” she giggled to herself, leaning on the wall with her shoulder to steady herself while she pulled the underwear up.

Fluttershy cleared her throat softly. “Um… Pinkie? Does this, um, mean you’re… one of us?”

Pinkie gave the shy girl a wide, toothy grin. “It sure does!”

Rarity and Fluttershy looked at each other and giggled excitedly. Then Rarity faced Pinkie again, clapping her hands softly.

“Congratulations, Pinkie Pie.” The fashionista brought a finger to her lips next, raising a brow. “I take it the transition was… enjoyable?”

Pinkie’s eyes went wide and she put her hands out. “OH! Holy shit!” she bellowed. “Fluttershy, you are so lucky to live with that guy; I can’t believe you get to hop on that boner whenever you want!”

Fluttershy’s cheeks became flushed and she stroked her hair hand-over-hand, looking down to the floor. “Oh… um, yeah. It kind of is… I-I guess.”

Pinkie then bounced past her friends to stand in front of the couch to see what was on TV. All three of us kept our attention on her panties, however, noticing how loose they fit, causing them to slip partway down and expose the top half of her butt-crack.

“Is ‘Max and Ruby’ still on?” she asked, reaching back to hitch the underwear up again.

“It’s almost over,” I replied, looking at her calves.

“Is there another one coming on?”

“I hope not.”

Pinkie turned suddenly, glaring at me past a shoulderful of curly hair. “Why? You don’t like this show?”

“Not really,” I replied. “It kinda drives me nuts. Max is a fuckin jerk and Ruby is a moron.”

“Huh.” Pinkie turned back slowly, facing the TV again. “Well… you can change the channel, I guess. If you want.”

I drew a breath and looked over at my girlfriends. Fluttershy was covering her mouth with one hand, looking past Pinkie, likely to get a look at the cartoon rabbits. Rarity, on the other hand, had her eyes narrowed and locked squarely on Pinkie’s backside, rubbing her chin suspiciously.

“Wait a minute,” she said flatly, holding her thumbs and index fingers up to form the lower half of a box to look through as she gauged her friend’s posterior. “Something’s not right…” Quickly, she slipped her handbag from her shoulder and reached inside, rooting around for a moment until she retrieved a roll of yellow measuring tape.

She set the bag on the floor and approached Pinkie from behind, dropping to her knees to place herself before that pink booty. “What is going on here?” she asked softly as she reached past her friend’s hips to wrap the measuring tape around them, prompting Pinkie look down briefly to see what was happening before returning her attention to the TV.

Rarity’s jaw dropped when she crossed the tape over itself and read the number. “Oh my… Pinkie Pie, you’ve dropped three inches!”

“I did!?” Pinkie squealed, looking down at herself while Rarity and Fluttershy looked at me in shock.

“But… how did this happen?” Rarity asked, placing her fingertips over her mouth as she looked back at the loose underwear before her. “Did you notice this, Golds?”

I shrugged and scratched the back of my head. “It thought I did, but I couldn’t tell if my eyes were just playing tricks on me.”

“It doesn’t make any sense!” Rarity placed her fingertips to her temple, staring off across the room.

“It kinda does, actually,” I said, prompting her and Fluttershy to look inquisitively at me. “You think about the rest of you when you turned; what happened? Injuries: gone. Health issues: gone. Twi’s vision: perfect.” I turned to Fluttershy. “You remember when Dashie turned? Remember how emaciated she was? And then when she turned: boom! Back to normal proportions… within seconds.”

Rarity stood and approached the couch to sit next to me, hands sitting limp on her lap, palms up with the tape rolled up in one of them. “You’re right, darling,” she muttered, staring vacuously at the party-girl, who turned around to look down at herself. “It has been a consistent fact, that when we become immortal, our bodies achieve peak physical condition.”

Rarity’s brows furrowed suddenly when Pinkie lifted her shirt to appraise her new figure, noting the remaining presence of a subtle paunch, to say nothing of the pair of shapely thighs that protruded from those loose panties. “I don’t understand though; the change isn’t a hundred percent.” The fashionista aimed a finger at her friend’s more modest, but still present curves. “She is still a bit —if you’ll pardon the expression, Pinkie Pie— a bit… thicker than the rest of us. Why is that?”

I drew a breath, rubbing my chin. “Well… technically, a little bit of body fat isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but… I guess the immortality saw fit to drop whatever it deemed to be on ‘excessive’ side; so now she’s still basically the way she was before, except nature decided to ‘take a bit off the top,’ I guess.”

“Um… I think you look nice,” Fluttershy said to Pinkie, who returned with a smile.

“Absolutely,” Rarity agreed, “there’s no disputing that, it’s just…” She let out an exasperated sigh. “You understand this means I’ll have to alter her suit because of this; I had tailored it to her old size, but now it won’t fit properly at all. UGH!” She covered her face with her hands. “Do any of you realise how difficult that material is to work with?”

Pinkie made a pouty lip. “Sorry, Rare-Bear. I didn’t know this would happen.”

Rarity waved her off. “No-no, it’s quite alright, darling. It’s not your fault. Besides, Fluttershy is right: you do look quite smashing—if I do say so myself… that is, as long as YOU think so as well. What is most important is how you feel, darling.”

“Me?” Pinkie looked down at herself again. “Yeah, it’s fine, I guess. It’s not like I have much of a choice anyway.”

“A fair point,” Rarity nodded. “So you’re OK with this form, then?—you do realise you’ll be stuck with it forever, you know.”

“Nah, it’s all good,” Pinkie giggled, spinning around to spank herself on the butt. “As long as I still got my badonkadonk and my big titties, that’s all that matters! See!?” She spun back around and hoisted her shirt up, bearing her breasts to the three of us.

Rarity turned to the side and brought a hand up to block her peripheries. “Oh my… yes. Lovely. Thank you for that, darling.”

Fluttershy pursed her lips and looked awkwardly down at the floor.

I stared right at them until she pulled her shirt down again, trying to hide the slight disappointment I was feeling. Her bust had diminished noticeably, and despite still reigning as the largest rack in the group while being excellently proportioned with her slightly trimmer figure, their raw size had lost impact, now only marginally bigger than Fluttershy’s.

They did look amazing, nonetheless, and I had to remind myself that if I hadn’t seen them before their downsize, I would have thought they were the best thing ever.

After dropping her shirt, Pinkie pointed at me, eyes wide. “Goldie-Woldie!” She lunged forward and dropped to her knees in front of me, placing her hands on my thighs. “You wanna mushroom-slap my tonsils again!?”

Fluttershy and Rarity locked eyes with each other, jaws lowered.

“Uh…” I shook my head and put my hands on hers before she could move them to my crotch. “No… that’s OK, Pinks. The last one was good, thanks.”

“OK!” she shrugged. “You just let ‘Miss Pinkie the Dinkie-Dyson’ know if you’re in the mood and she’ll get you looked after! DINKIE-DYSON! Get it!? You know what that means, right?”

“Never loses suction; yeah, I get it. It’s good,” I said, nodding.

Rarity drew a breath, sighing through pursed lips. “My goodness, darling, you’ve certainly gotten your spunk back, haven’t you?”

“HAHA! I know, right!?” Pinkie’s voice came from behind us, making Rarity and I turn to look over our shoulders at her, now leaning on the back of the couch. “Interesting choice of words, by the way; it’s actually kinda funny because last night I got a TON of spunk pumped in—“

“UH, YES! I understand, darling, I…” Rarity paused after cutting in to shake her head. “That’s not exactly what I meant by that.”

I snorted softly as I turned to face forward again, where I found Fluttershy biting her lip while staring at my crotch. Clearly, Pinkie’s comment had sparked an image or two in the shy girl’s mind, and by the look in her eyes when they came up to meet mine, I knew I would eventually end up having to give a detailed account of my experience with Pinkie.

Rarity continued. “It’s lovely to see you back to your old bubbly self again, darling, but… I am curious —and you’ll forgive me for asking, but— er… does this mean you’re no longer… upset about your family?”

Pinkie’s smile faded quite suddenly, prompting Rarity to place her hand on her friend’s arm. “Oh, I-I’m sorry, darling; I knew I shouldn’t have opened my big mouth.”

Pinkie was quick to take Rarity’s hand in hers, shaking her head. “No… no, it’s OK. You didn’t upset me. The truth is… yeah. I’m still sad about my family, and I still miss them. I’ll always miss them. But last night, Goldie-Woldie taught me something that… was kinda hard to hear—but it was true.”

She drew a breath and released it. “My family is gone. And they’re never coming back. It’s super sad, and I’m gonna miss them forever, but… I still have Maud, and I still have you guys, and I have Goldie-Woldie, too. I realise now that I can miss them, but I don’t need to be sad all the time. I don’t want that, you don’t want that, and if my family was here, they wouldn’t want that either. If I spend the rest of my life all sad and poopy, then the terrorists have truly won.”

Rarity arched a brow at the last part, but after a glance at Fluttershy, she came back to Pinkie with a smile. “Good on you, Pinkie Pie. It is good to hear that you’ve found the strength, and the drive, to come out of this funk.” The fashionista faced me next, and reached out to rub my leg. “And we’re glad that someone was able to help you through it.”

“Yeeaahh…” Pinkie let her cheek rest on her forearm, shifting her dreamy blue eyes onto me. Then she looked at Rarity again. “But getting boned for almost two hours helped a lot too!”

Rarity nodded slowly. “Yes. I suppose that does help as well… from time to time.”

A short silence followed, one that lasted only a few seconds before Pinkie perked up. “Welp!” She sprang to her feet, breasts bouncing inside her shirt when she reached full height. “I’m gonna get some fresh air!” And she spun around and headed for the balcony.

My girlfriends and I watched as she slid the door open and stepped outside. As the party-girl stood facing out across the lot at the neighbouring building, she ran her fingers through that poofy, curly hair and held it up in a massive bunch on the back of her head.

Slowly, Rarity turned back to face me and Fluttershy. “Goodness…” she said, still absorbing the situation. “It certainly is wonderful to see that her spirits have lifted; I haven’t seen her this spritely in a good, long while—months; years, even.”

“Mm-hm.” Fluttershy nodded in agreement. “It, um, kind of reminds me of how she was in high school.”

Rarity snapped her fingers and pointed at Fluttershy. “That’s right! She’s got that same… er, mindless… random… err…” She swirled her fingers in a circle, looking up to the ceiling as she searched for the right word.

“Mindfuckery?” I suggested, to which she stopped and considered it.

“I suppose. Yes.”

I shook my head. “You don’t think she was wacky before? Like… it takes a ‘special’ mind to come up with a game like the one from last night and then decide to call it fucking ‘Starship Troopers,’ AND…” I pointed over my shoulder with my thumb, bringing the girls’ attention to the array of glasses and plates on the counter. “D’you know why all those dishes are out? Because she propositioned me from inside the cupboard.”

Rarity sneered at this. “She did?”

“Yup.” I nodded. “I opened the door to get a glass out, and THERE’S her fucking face. Like, right there.”

Rarity snorted and rolled her eyes. “Well, I don’t recall saying she was ever normal, darling. If it were anyone else, I would say they need to see a professional, but for Pinkie Pie?” She finished the statement by shaking her head, eyes closed.

“It’s actually the opposite with Pinkie,” Fluttershy added. “We were starting to think she needed to see a therapist because she was acting too normal.”

I chuckled and turned to face Rarity, who was rubbing her chin.

“It does worry me slightly, however,” the fashionista said, “that she’s suddenly stopped mourning her family; is that… a good thing, or…?”

I shrugged the thought off. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I mean, you two know more than anyone that the immortality seems to… lessen the impact of death. It doesn’t mean she doesn’t care about them anymore; it just means she’s not gonna let it destroy her. She’s not the only one to go through changes since turning, either. I mean, think about Flutters: do you really think she would have gone through with convincing you and me to fuck in front of her in the hot tub that night?”

Rarity raised a brow. “Certainly not. It was obvious from the start that something had changed in her—we just didn’t know what.”

“And you, Rare: do you really think you would have butchered a roomful of people without freaking out over getting their blood in your hair?”

She placed a painted fingernail to her bottom lip. “Hmm… I suppose that I—“

”GERRRRONIMOOOOO!”

The holler quickly prompted the three of us to face the balcony just in time to see Pinkie Pie leap from the railing and disappear from sight, arms outstretched. It also important to note that she was still in her underwear.

Rarity and Fluttershy both leapt to their feet, mouths covered.

“What the fuck, darling!?” Rarity screeched, spinning back to face me. “Did she just do a swan dive from the balcony!?”

“Looks that way.” I cleared my throat as I grabbed the remote and stretched my feet out to cross them. “Heh! That’s like the third time she’s done that,” I said, reaching out to change the channel.

Rarity scowled at me, confused, while Fluttershy scampered outside to look down to the yard. “But… b-but how can you be so blasé about this? What if someone were to see her?”

After changing the channel, I laid my arm across the back of the couch. “Listen, Rare; lemme tell you something: last night, I had my dick in three different mouths, between three sets of tits, and inside four different pussies—two of which I shot my load in.” I faced the TV again, raising my hand from the backrest to emphasize my point. “I am so fucking chill right now, I don’t even… like, she can jump off that balcony all day long for all I care. I don’t even give a shit if anyone sees her.”

Rarity huffed and shook her head. “How irresponsible! That’s not like you at all, Mr. Arrow.”

I shrugged one shoulder. “Eh. Pussy overload’ll do that to a guy. Once he’s had his fill, he stops trying to impress anyone until he’s ready for more. One nice thing, though, I think we can skip her ‘anti-flinch training. I literally just had to tell her that she couldn’t get hurt anymore and she was like: ‘OK!’” I glanced over my shoulder to see Fluttershy sliding the balcony door shut. “You see where she landed?”

The shy girl shook her head. “She was already gone,” she said as she circled the couch to sit on my left knee, looking down at me.

“Maybe she flew away.” I turned to look at Rarity, brow cocked. “Can she fly?”

The fashionista shook her head. “No. That ability belongs to Fluttershy, remember? And Rainbow Dash and Twilight, I suppose—IF they ever pony-up, that is.”

After a short pause, Fluttershy slid her derrière up my thigh to sit higher on my lap, wrapping her arm around my shoulder, her breast brushing my temple. “Um… Goldie? How, um… did it happen?”

I glanced up at her. “The sex?”

“No. I meant… how did she turn? Could you tell when it happened?”

“Oh, uh…” I wrapped my arm around her waist while Rarity sat on the cushion on my right. “Well, she fell asleep after the… you know… and she ended up sleeping ‘til mid-morning, and… she still hadn’t turned yet. She said she was hungry, so she had a quick shower and we went to McDonald’s for breakfast and, uh… that’s where it happened.”

Rarity and Fluttershy glanced at one another.

“Darling… you mean to tell me she began her eternal journey in… a McDonalds restaurant?”

“Oh my…” Fluttershy placed her fingertips over her mouth. “That’s so ironic.”

“I know, right?” I chuckled. “How often do you see someone come out of a McDonald’s thinner than when they went in?”

“Touché,” Rarity agreed.

“So… what happened?” the shy girl pried. “Did you actually see her turn?”

I drew a breath and nodded. “Yeah… actually. We were pretty much done eating, and we were just sitting and talking, and, like, all the sudden her hair just went POOF! It went all poofy and crazy-looking, and she started talking louder and faster, and was giggling a lot… and then, uh… she… tried to suck my dick.”

Both girls’ eyebrows leapt up in surprise.

“Goodness!” Fluttershy exclaimed softly. “Did she try to take you the washroom or something?”

“No!” I jabbed my finger into the cushion beside me. “Right there in the restaurant—right next to the fucking PlayPlace.”

Rarity covered her mouth. “Oh my! Were there any kids there?”

I paused and then shook my head. “I don’t… really wanna talk…” I let out a sigh. “I kinda wanna forget about that part, actually.”

The fashionista responded with a grimace. “Yikes… sorry, darling.” She licked her lips and pursed them. “So… what did you do?”

“Well… I got her outta there, of course, and uh… I just brought her back here before someone called the fucking cops on us or something.”

“Then what?” Rarity asked.

I shrugged. “I let her suck my dick! What else was I supposed to do? Be like: ‘No, Pinks…” —I continued in a monotone voice— “Please. Don’t give me a blowjob. It’s wrong.’” Then I scowled sardonically and shook my head.

A shrill, but familiar voice echoed down the long hallway outside Pinkie’s front door, followed by the rapid thumping of feet that grew louder as they approached. The door handle rattled violently next, shaking in the frame before bursting open. The party-girl stumbled inside and swung the door shut, then she leaned against it with her back, eyes wide, pupils like pinpoints, arms spread like she was trying to keep someone out.

“Whoa,” she announced incredulously. “That… was crazy, y’all.”

Both of my girlfriends and I stared at her from the couch, wondering but simultaneously not wanting to know what she was referring to.

Then her underwear quietly slipped down to her knees.

“Ugh…” Rarity rubbed her face with both hands. “My goodness,” she groaned. “Darling… do you have anything to wear that still fits you?”

Pinkie had reached down to pull her panties back up in the meantime, and she looked up at Rarity when she heard the query. “Um… no. Probably not, I guess.”

Rarity stood from the couch suddenly, shaking a finger in the air. “Ah, no-no-no-no-no! Pinkie Pie, new rule: before anything else happens, I insist that we get your fashion situation in order, post haste!”

Just then, an intermittent buzz came from my pocket. I slid a hand under Fluttershy’s backside to hoist her from my lap, drawing a soft yelp from her as I shifted myself sideways to fish my phone from my pocket. I cocked a brow when I saw the number and then quickly stood from the couch, pausing to set Fluttershy down before heading for the balcony.

On my way there, I noticed my girlfriends watching me inquisitively at me, so I raised a finger at them. “Sorry, I gotta take this.” I slid the door open and stepped out into the gentle, but chilly breeze, tapping the screen on my phone to answer it. “Hey.”

”Hey, tough guy; it’s Gord from the shop.”

I nodded. “Yep.”

”How you been doing?” he asked.

I drew a quick breath. “Uh… good. I’m good. You?”

”Ohh, you know, same old. Just tryin to keep my head above water.”

I turned to look out across the way, keeping the phone to my ear. “Yeah, I hear ya. What’s up?”

There was a pause, followed by a long inhale before his answer. ”Eh... I uh, need to ask you a favor—if you’re willing.”

I furrowed my brows. “Uh… sure. What is it?”

”I wanted to ask if you could come back to work for me... starting tomorrow.”

I drew my head back, surprised. “Tomorrow?”

“Yeah.” His reply was followed by a long, noisy exhale.

I glanced into the apartment at the girls, chewing my lip. “I… guess I could. I don’t think I had much planned for tomorrow.”

”Well, thanks, tough guy. That’ll help me out a lot.”

“What’s going on? You really busy or…?”

”Well... no, uh...” He paused for a moment. “My apprentice—the young fella that replaced you; remember him?”

I sighed. How could I forget the shithead who took my job? “Yeah.”

”He hasn’t shown up to work in over a week.”

“Oh?” I replied, intrigued.

“Yeah. He just... stopped showing up. No phone call, no nothin.”

“Hm.” I reached up to rub the back of my head. “He ever do that before?”

”No, not at all. He was pretty good about booking days off ahead if he needed them, and he made sure to call in the one time he was sick.” Gord replied. “But this week? I dunno. He just... disappeared, I guess. Jim’s been doin OK keeping up on his own, but the problem is he’d booked tomorrow off in advance because his wife is having some procedure done that she can’t drive home from, so he has to drive her.”

“Oh… so you’re on your own tomorrow?” I asked, glancing into the apartment when I heard Rarity’s voice come out at me.

“Oh! She’s coming your way, darling!”

Sure enough, when I glanced inside I was met with the image of Pinkie Pie charging full speed for the balcony, her eyes lit with excitement and her braless breasts bouncing wildly inside her shirt. I rolled my eyes and switched the phone to my other hand.

When she passed through the door, Pinkie dove over the railing, but I quickly reached out and caught her by the ankle, causing her to jerk to a sudden stop and swing down to slam against the railing with a loud wham!

”Yeah. And you know me; I can’t exactly get much done on my own these days,” Gord continued as I lifted Pinkie over the rail and dropped her by the balcony door, head first.

Rarity was at the door, ready. She bent down and reached out to hook her hands under Pinkie’s arms, dragging the giggling girl inside as the fashionista looked up at me, mouthing the word ‘sorry.’

I nodded and turned to face the neighbouring building, reaching back to slide the door shut behind me. “No, I hear ya. But yeah, that’s not a problem. I can be there tomorrow—as long as all my tools are still there.”

”They’re right where you left ‘em. I kept a close eye on them; if anyone borrowed anything, I made sure they put it back.”

I let out a short chuckle. “Perfect. So I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

”I’ll see you then. Thanks.”

“Alright. Bye.”

”Bye.”

With the call ended, I pocketed my phone and opened the door to go inside, where I found Fluttershy handing Pinkie an armful of clothes.

“Um, who was that?” the shy girl asked me after approaching to stand at my side.

“Uh, well, it looks like I’m going to work tomorrow.”

All three girls looked at me, wide-eyed.

“Really?” Rarity asked, surprised.

“Yeah. I guess that goof that replaced me bailed, and he needs helps tomorrow or he’s pretty much screwed.”

“Well, that’s good,” Fluttershy smiled.

“Yes,” Rarity agreed. “Good on you, my love—though I will miss your services at the boutique; it was lovely having you around during those long days.”

I cleared my throat. “Rare? I know you’ve been breaking shit on purpose as an excuse to get me to there.”

Rarity’s jaw dropped at the insinuation. “Oh pshh! That’s… heh! Such nonsense, darling! You and your imagination, I swear!” She quickly turned her attention to Pinkie. “Get dressed!” she ordered, shifting her weight onto one leg as she watched the party-girl slip her arms out of her sleeves to peel her shirt up, bearing those pink jugs once again so she could put an ill-fitting bra on. “And then it’s off to the mall with us! This evening, we shall hit every fashion stop like never before! We will not stop until your wardrobe is replenished with top-notch style and exceptional comfort and fit; and I, Rarity, will ensure perfection every step of the way!”

“Ooh, sounds serious!” Pinkie giggled, adjusting her breasts in the oversized cups before slipping her arms back into her shirt sleeves and pulling it down. “But… I gotta watch my spending though; all I really need is about a week’s worth of clothes for now, then I’ll get more later when I have more m—“

“Nonsense, darling!” Rarity cut in, hand raised, nose upturned. “I will gladly spot you whatever you need to meet your fashion needs, no expense must be spared!”

Pinkie, with one leg slipped into some previously tight but now relaxed-fitting jeans, stopped to give the fashionista a dubious look. “Hm… are you sure you aren’t just using this as an excuse to do an excessive amount of shopping?”

Gasping, Rarity placed her fingertips to her chest. “Sacré bleu, darling! How could you make such a suggestion? I would never use one of my dear friends to wallow in such pursuits! It’s because I care, darling.” She clapped her hands rapidly to egg Pinkie along. “Now come on, get yourself dressed so we can go!”

Rarity turned to face me and Fluttershy next. “Are you two ready?”

Fluttershy faced me as I let my head fall back, sighing. “You know, Rare, in my life I’ve witness a lot; seen some horrific shit. Villages burned, families —men, women and children— killed; hung, burned, hacked to pieces. I’ve seen it all, lived it all, but... going clothes shopping for an entire evening with a bunch of women? Everyone has their limits.”

Rarity looked stunned and confused. “You… don’t want to come?”

I shook my head. “Nah. I’ll just hang out here, if that’s cool with Pinks.”

Pinkie zipped her jeans and looked up at me. “Sure! Stay as long as you want!”

Shrugging, Rarity turned her attention to Fluttershy, who was shifting her sights back and forth from me to her girlfriend. “What about you, Fluttershy?”

“Um, I… actually, I think I’ll stay here and keep Goldie company,” she replied anxiously. “I would just slow you guys down, anyway.”

“Oh,” Rarity looked slightly disappointed, but understanding. “Very well; fair enough. I suppose it wouldn’t be a very nice way to thank Golds for his… *ahem*… services if we left him here by his lonesome.”

I put my hands in my pockets and smiled. “Thanks, Rare.”

She smiled back. “Anytime, my dear. OK then, are you ready?” she asked Pinkie after turning to face her.

“Abso-tively!” Pinkie giggled as she scampered to the door to get her shoes on.

“Perfect. We’ll have to take your car, Pinkie Pie; Fluttershy drove me here, and we should probably leave it here in case they want to go out.” Rarity said, following her friend as she looked back to blow Fluttershy and me a kiss. “Ta-ta, darlings! ”

“See ya, guys. Have fun,” I said as I felt a soft hand take mine, prompting me to look over at the shy girl, who was gazing a me from behind that curtain of pink hair. The sight made my chest flutter, and it struck me that even after all these months, she still had that kind of power over me.

“Where do you wanna go first?” Pinkie asked excitedly as she opened the front door.

“We shall sweep the stores alphabetically, darling. No stone must be left unturned; and when we are finished —or when the mall closes— we must go to the boutique and make some much-needed alterations to your suit so it will properly fit your new figure.”

“Wow! Won’t it be kinda late by then?” Pinkie asked as they stepped out.

“Nonsense, Pinkie Pie! Remember, sleeping is for weaklings.”

Pinkie gasped, her eyes lit with elation. “Oh yeah! We can pull all-nighters every night now! OOH! THIS IS GONNA BE SO MUCH FUN! FUCK REGULAR PEOPLE!”

CLICK!

Pinkie’s voice became muffled when the door closed behind them, leaving the shy girl and me alone in the party-girl’s apartment.

“Hm. Kind of off to a bad start there,” Flutterhy said softly.

“Yeah,” I replied with a chuckle.

A moment later found us sitting together on the couch, flipping through the channels in search of something to watch while I prayed that ‘Homeward Bound’ didn’t happen to be on.

“There’s not much to choose from,” Fluttershy said softly.

“Nah. Her TV package is pretty basic.”

Fluttershy sighed.

Unable to find anything, I eventually gave up and turned the TV off, then I set the remote on the cushion beside me. After sitting in silence for a moment, I looked over at my girlfriend.

She looked back at me and smiled.

“Well?” I chuckled.

“Well… we did it.”

I raised a brow. “Did it?”

“We got everyone turned,” Fluttershy replied before leaning in to whisper. “Thank you, Goldie. You’ve been a very good boy.”

I smiled and shrugged. “It was the least I could do, banging all your friends—I mean, except for Dashie.”

With a soft giggle she leaned in for a kiss, and then placed her head on my shoulder. We sat together for another moment, listening to one another’s breathing. Her body heat soaked through her clothes and into my side, her fragrance filling my senses.

“So, um… did you have fun playing that game last night?” I asked.

She nodded. “Mm-hm. I kinda wish I got to have more turns—but I did get to finish you, so that was nice.”

“You weren’t nervous about it?”

“Mm… maybe a little, but I was so turned on it didn’t really matter. Once I started doing it, it was actually kind of fun; and having you cum inside me with a bunch of my friends watching was kind of exciting, especially with what Sunset was doing.”

“Yeah.” I nodded, replaying the craziness that followed in my mind.

“What about after?” Fluttershy asked, tilting her head up to look at me with those big, teal eyes. “Did you enjoy the, um… Pie?”

I smirked at the wording. “I did enjoy the Pie, in fact. It was good Pie.”

After an innocent smile, Fluttershy turned, swung a knee across my lap and sat facing me, straddling my legs. She let her arms rest on my shoulders, pressing her mound against my abdomen, which did a quick job of waking my manhood. “Did you have enough?” she asked.

“I got lots,” I replied. “And so did she.”

“Mmm…” she cupped my cheeks with those slender hands and dipped her head for a kiss, slipping her tongue into my mouth to re-familiarize me with her flavour. When she took her soft lips from mine, she swept a swath of hair from her face and then glanced at the back of her hand, noting her yellow skin tone before gazing at me again with a seductive smile. “What about custard? Do you like custard too?”

I drew a breath, placing my hands on her hips and then running them up her waist, reminding myself of how slender she was compared to the girl I spent the previous night with. “I do like custard—a lot, actually,” I replied, bringing my hands inward to squeeze her sizable breasts, feeling the tent I’d pitched poking her between her legs.

She looked down between us when she felt the pressure against her. “Oh… I guess you do,” she giggled, biting her lip. “You know Rare and Pinkie are gonna be busy all night, right?”

“I would expect nothing less.”

“Hm…” she planted a smooch on the tip of my nose. “D’you wanna go home? I’ll cook you a nice dinner for being such a good boy, and after that I’ll feed you all the custard you can eat—All. Night. Long.”

I shook my head incredulously. “Now that… sounds amazing. Let’s go.”

Chapter 146: Fuck Around and Find Out

Chapter 146

A full day’s work followed a long night of smashing custard, and despite being out of the job for several months, I was able to jump right back in with both feet and get down to it. They day went smoothly, and every job was finished without issue, aside from a five year old Camaro that needed more work than the customer was able to afford.

The shop was in similar shape to the way it was when I left, albeit messy around the area where dumbass Rutherford worked, which I was sure was no coincidence. My tool box was as I’d left it, though it’d been buried behind a bunch of shop equipment, including the apprentice’s service cart, which was covered with cheap and mostly broken tools.

Gord was surprisingly chipper throughout the day, aside from the slight awkwardness felt by both of us when I first arrived in the morning; after that, though, he and I exchanged a good bit of light-hearted banter—more than he usually had in the past, which to me meant that he was happy to have me back and that dealing with a hot-headed apprentice had been a bit of a burden for him.

The jokes I traded with the old man differed from the ones Jim and I told one another; Gord was an older and slightly classier fellow, unlike the more colourful mechanic that I shared the floor with, so I was reluctant to bring him up to speed on how shriveled my nuts were, nor did I comment on how my girlfriend’s sperm count was likely higher than mine after the previous night. Instead, ‘dad jokes’ were the order of the day, which was fine by me. According to the girls, I was an expert in that kind of humour anyway—whatever that’s supposed to mean.

Before I knew it, the day had drawn to an end, and at 5:30 it was time to close—as soon as the last customer came to pick his Camaro up. The young, bearded man arrived a few minutes after closing time, and when he stepped into the customer entrance and nodded at me and Gord, I recognized him immediately and was quick to let out a chuckle.

“Fancy meeting you here,” I said as I rounded the end of the counter to lean on it with my elbow.

“Oh,” he replied, slowing his pace while forcing a nervous smile once he recognised me. “Hey man, I didn’t know you worked here.”

“Once in a while, I guess,” I said, glancing over at Gord.

The young man ran his fingers through his spiky blue hair. “So… were you the one who worked on my car?”

I nodded. “I did, yeah.”

“So what’s the deal with it? I need a new exhaust system?”

Drawing a breath, I looked down at the counter in search of his work order. I picked it up when I found it and approached Flash, reading over the service notes to refresh my memory. “Not the whole system; just the front pipes. You have a four-twenty code stored in your engine computer —which is a catalyst efficiency code— and if you watch the data monitor, you can see the front and rear oh-two sensors are reading pretty much the same, meaning your catalytic converters aren’t doing their job. The wavelength for the rear sensors should be pretty flat, not jumping all over the place like the fronts.”

He folded his arms and shook his head. “Wait, so… all that money is just for the catalytic thingies?”

“Catalytic converters, yeah.”

He sighed, bringing one hand up to pick at his beard. “Why is it so expensive?”

“Well, they only sell it as a front pipe assembly, which is a lot of money,” I explained, holding my hands up to mimic the shape of the part I was describing. “Plus we quoted all four ‘oh-two’ sensors, just in case the old ones don’t come out; and if they do come out, then we’ll just take them of the bill. I prefer to quote worst-case so there’s no surprises.”

“Hmm.” Flash sighed again. “So there’s no other way to fix it?”

I shook my head.

He looked down at the floor and nodded, slipping his hands into his pockets rather sheepishly. “Well… that sucks. I, um… can’t really afford that right now, so…” He looked up at me again. “Will it be OK to drive it like that until I can get it fixed?”

I nodded. “Oh yeah. It’ll run fine, it’ll just fail emiss—“ I stopped suddenly, noticing something peculiar about the young man. I leaned closer, eyes narrowed, which prompted Flash to stiffen and lean back slightly.

“Is… something wrong?” he asked nervously.

“Is your… beard sparkling?” I asked, crinkling my nose.

“Oh…” He looked down at himself, cupping his chin between his thumb and forefinger. “Uh, yeah, actually. My aunt got me a hipster kit for Christmas; it came with the hair gel and the plaid shirt n’ stuff… and uh…” —he paused to clear his throat— “and some... uh, beard glitter.”

I stared at him.

Flash cringed and looked away. “It’s the first time I’ve used it though.”

I nodded slowly. “Make sure it’s the last.”

He pursed his lips, eyes darting back and forth. “K.”

“Seriously,” I insisted. “You remind me of that sparkly vampire from that one movie; you know the one, where that grumpy fuck falls in love with the zombie?”

Flash nodded quickly. “I know the one.”

I looked down at the work order once more before continuing. “So anyway… yeah. You can drive it like that; your emissions will just be higher, that’s all.”

Flash scratched his temple, brows furrowed. “Um… don’t they sell, like, universal ones that you can just weld in? Would that be cheaper than buy that whole pipe thing?”

I rubbed my cheek, exhaling thoughtfully. “They do… but the labour cost goes up quite a bit cuz of all the extra work. And they generally don’t last as long, either.” I glanced at Gord and then back at Flash, holding a hand up. “But... I guess I can do a quote for that if you want. See if it’s any cheaper.”

“Sure. That’d be great, thanks,” he replied with a smile.

“Alright, just give us a minute,” I said, stepping behind the counter once again. As I took a seat to begin searching the computer for parts, I noticed a pair of dark figures outside, heading our way. “Who the fuck are these dicks?” I muttered, nodding at the door when Gord glanced at me.

“Aw shoot,” he grumbled. “I didn’t get a chance to lock the door yet.”

The men approached the door, which set off a chime when it was opened, and they stepped inside, removing their sunglasses and slipping them into the inside pockets of their suit jackets. The first man was older, with a graying buzzcut that matched his gray suit. His companion was noticeably younger, sporting a goatee and an all black suit, with a black shirt and a dark red tie.

“Afternoon, fellas.” The older gentleman stepped up to the counter and folded his hands on it, facing Gord. “We could use a little help, if you don’t mind,” he said as the younger man stood behind him, off to the right a bit.

Flash had moved aside when they entered, standing next to the chairs in the waiting area.

Gord gave them a polite smile. “I’m sorry, sir, but we just closed a few minutes ago.”

The older man waved a dismissive hand. “Oh no, we don’t need anything fixed; we’re actually wondering if you could help us find someone. Is anyone here familiar with a young fella named Rutherford?”

I glanced up from the computer at him, my interest piqued by this.

Gord’s brows rose. “Rutherford? Yeah, he was working here up until recently—hasn’t shown up for a week though. Why? You boys know him?”

The older man took a moment to look over his shoulder at the one in the black suit, who raised a brow in return. He turned back to face Gord, cocking his head inquisitively. “You say he stopped showing up to work; do you know what happened to him?”

Gord shook his head and shrugged. “Not unless you do.”

The gray man shook his head. Then he drew a breath and licked his lips, studying the countertop. “Tell me, when the boy worked here, did he ever say anything about where he worked before? He ever talk much about his past?”

Gord sighed deeply, rubbing his chin. “No… he was a pretty quiet guy—I mean... mostly. Bit of a temper on him, heh! But uh... yeah, he was here about six months or so and I never heard him say much about his previous employment.”

The man lifted his brows, locking eyes with Gord. “You sure about that, old man? The kid worked here for six months and you don’t know anything about him?”

The rise in hostility caught my attention, and I looked up from what I was doing once again to study the gray man. Something about this person’s demeanor was fairly unnerving.

Brows furrowed, Gord rubbed his chin thoughtfully, apparently unaware of the other man’s forcefulness. Then he nodded and raised a finger to shake it. “Actually, now that you mention it, I think I may have overheard him talking to Jim once about living in the big city; said he was doing deliveries or something like that?”

This earned a scowl form the gray-haired man. He glanced over his shoulder at his partner again before reaching inside his suit jacket, facing Gord. “Here, I got something I want to you to have a look at—tell me what you think.”

To everyone’s shock, aside from the man in the black suit, the gray man drew a silencer-equipped pistol and aimed it directly at my boss’ chest, the barrel standing only inches from his heart.

A gasp came from my right, and I faced that way to find Flash standing by the chairs in terror, mouth covered and eyes wide, his pupils like pinpoints. A quivery wheeze drew my attention back to the left; Gord was standing perfectly still and stiff as a board—though it wasn’t difficult to notice his hands shaking uncontrollably. Finally, my attention went back to the gray man, whose lip curled with distain as he aimed his gun with a steady hand—a good sign that this was not his first rodeo.

“What d’you think Hunter?” he asked, turning his head toward the younger man, but keeping his eyes on Gord. “Do these clowns know more than they’re letting on?”

“I dunno, Mr. Hopper.” The younger man folded his hands in front of himself. “Maybe they need a little more… persuation.”

Gord brought his hands up slightly. “N-n-now, boys… just take it easy. I already told you everything I know.” He shook his head. “We don’t want any trouble.”

Hopper cocked a brow. “I dunno, old timer. I’m having a hard time believing you, now why is that?”

Still in my seat, I kept my head down, but watched closely from under my brows as Gord struggled to find an answer. My eyes shifted onto Hopper next, and then onto the younger man, appraising the situation. Being behind the counter put me at a slight disadvantage; any action I chose to take would require extra time to move around it. Even Gord was over three feet from where I was sitting, which would give the assailant more than enough time to blow a hole in the old man’s heart before I could remove him from harm’s way.

And then there was the man in the black suit. Hunter, as the gray man called him. It would be naive to think he wasn’t armed as well, so even if I was somehow able to protect Gord, Hunter would have plenty of time to draw his weapon and take Flash out, or possibly Gord as well, depending on how I handled Hopper.

What I needed was for him to take the gun off of Gord.

“I… I-I really don’t know what you boys are getting at,” Gord stammered, his breathing elevated, which worried me. This would have been a stressful situation for anybody, and he was an old fellow, not in the best shape, admittedly; it was anybody’s guess if his heart could handle racing the way it surely was.

Hopper jerked the gun closer. “You said you overheard a conversation between Rutherford and someone named Jim!” he hollered. “What other conversations would they have had, HUH!? Did they talk a lot?”

Gord shook his head quickly, causing his jowls to wobble. “I have no idea, h-how would I know what they talk about?”

“THEY WORK FOR YOU, DON’T THEY!?” Hopper shouted, raising the gun to point it right between Gord’s eyes. “Where is this Jim, anyway!?”

The old man leaned back instinctually, his eyes crossing as they focused on the barrel right before them. “Uh, h-he’s uh…”

I clenched my jaw and looked down at the papers in front of me, trying to resist the urge to lunge at Hopper. Sure, I could tear both of these men apart—that wasn’t the issue. The issue was being able to do it without anyone else getting killed.

As I listened to the sound of my boss’ hyperventilating beside me, I looked into the computer monitor, noticing the faint reflection of my face behind the list of parts displayed on the screen. It was a stark reminder, sometimes, of how young I looked. Centuries, ages, eons later, this is how I looked, despite racking up lifetimes worth of experiences and wisdom; so young and fresh-faced—and deceptively naïve.

That’s when an idea hit me.

I was reminded of the ancient Chinese General Sun Tzu, who said: ‘Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.’ This, in my experience was one of the most effective strategies; I wish I could have taken credit for it myself, but even someone like me had to learn from the best. And now, 2500 years later, it was still being put to use.

“SPILL IT, OLD MAN!” Hopper shouted, shaking the gun with a tight fist.

Hunter rolled his eyes. “Come on! Just drop him, Mr. Hopper. Drop ‘em all and let’s get outta here.”

Hopper sighed angrily. “We will,” he growled. “We can’t let them go after this, but we need to make sure there’s no one else that knows the kid’s story.”

The younger man sneered and pulled out his phone to check it.

This exchange was very telling; after many years in the criminal trade, it was quite clear what the gray man thought of his younger cohorts. This solidified my idea, as I could use it perfectly to my advantage. I just needed the right entrance…

Meanwhile, Hopper brought his focus back to Gord. “Don’t make me lose my patience and make and example, old timer; you’re not the only one here who can answer questions around here. NOW WHERE IS THIS JIM YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT?”

I sat up in the chair, drawing a deep breath. “It’s me,” I said, trying my best to look scared, but also like I was putting on a brave face. “I’m Jim.”

Both Gord and Hopper shifted their eyes onto me, bemused by the confession. Hopper lowered the gun and stepped sideways to put himself before me, albeit slightly to my left, and he leaned on the counter with this forearms, laying the gun on its side while keeping a hand on it.

“Nice of you to finally speak up,” he said quietly, but condescendingly.

The distain in his eyes was abundant; I could tell exactly what he thought of me, which was perfect. I could only imagine what this asshole was going to be thinking in just a few moments, and now that Gord was out of danger and I had the advantage, it was open season to fuck with these two soon-to-be corpses.

One thing was sure: I was going to enjoy myself.

“So you’re Jim…”

I nodded timidly. “Yes, sir.”

He drew a long breath. “Alright. Tell me, Jim, were you and the kid good buddies, or what? Butt-buddies, maybe?”

I scowled slightly, avoiding eye contact to feign nervousness. “We… got along, I guess—not like that, though.”

Hopper snorted at his own joke and shook his head.

Before he could speak, however, I raised my hands to stop him. “Look… let me cut to the chase: Rutherford told me everything.”

The gray man gave pause at this, his face suddenly vacant.

“And…” I continued, “I know why you’re here, but… it’s OK. I promised him I wouldn’t tell anyone what he told me; he said it would be really dangerous for me to go around telling people about you.” I gave him a reassuring nod. “Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me; you don’t have to do this. I’ll never tell anyone.”

After staring for a moment, Hopper furrowed his brows and looked over his shoulder at Hunter. “You believe this fucking punk?” he asked incredulously, to which the younger man stifled a laugh. After turning back to me, Hopper snorted and shook his head. “Well… you’re right about one thing, son…” He stood straight and held the gun up to study it before looking at me once more. “You won’t be telling anyone about us.”

And without hesitation, Hopper aimed the pistol at my chest and fired.

Pew!

I felt the round ping against my sternum, and then what followed were several seconds of awkward staring between Hopper and me—my face blank, his of fading satisfaction.

The room was silent. All eyes were on me as I looked down and fingered the fresh hole in the front of my shirt, and then looked up at Hopper with an intentionally confused look on my face.

“I’m sorry, uh… it’s been a while; am I supposed to die now?”

Oh man, what I wouldn’t give to have Sunset’s powers sometimes! It always killed me to wonder what must be going through people’s minds during situations like this.

After staring wide-eyed for a moment, Hopper gritted his teeth and raised the gun to aim it at my face.

Unfortunately for him, I was more alert than I appeared. Quick as lightning, my hands shot up; grabbing his forearm with my left, I took his wrist and bent it backward, snapping his arm like a twig. Crying out, Hopper looked down at the pair of jagged bones that poked through his sleeve as I quickly placed my finger over his and pulled the trigger, firing a round that grazed his other arm before sailing across the room toward Hunter.

The bullet hit the younger man’s shoulder with an audible smack just as he reached for his own weapon, causing him to spin around under the impact, his blood splattering on the wall behind him.

Still holding Hopper’s arm, I rose from the chair and leapt clear over his head, landing on the open floor behind him while bringing his arm with me, which I then used to yank him over my shoulder and fling him against the cinderblock wall next to the entrance.

He hit with a dull thud and dropped to the floor in a groaning heap, clutching his fractured and bleeding arm. Standing in the middle of the reception area with Hopper’s gun in my left hand, I turned my attention to the younger man next, who, despite being hunched over with a bleeding shoulder, had managed to draw his gun and straighten up to aim at me.

I raised my right hand to block the barrel from my view. He fired, his unsilenced weapon filling the room with a loud bang; the instantaneous impact of the round hitting my palm rattled through my arm, followed by the dull clunk of the bullet hitting the tile floor. I lowered my hand slowly, glaring intensely as he stared back, his face draining of its colour.

“Wanna try again?” I asked.

Hunter stared for a moment, his hand visibly shaking as he continued to hold the gun outstretched, his wide eyes darting around as he considered his options. With a quick huff, he glanced to his left at a petrified Flash Sentry, who stood with his hands atop his head. Then he turned the other way, eyeing the large bay window that stood next to the coffee machine, stacks of dusty old magazines on its sill; he knew I stood too close to the exit for him to make an escape, so in an act of desperation, he swung his weapon around and fired two shots through the window.

The glass shattered and fell noisily to the floor, leaving a jagged, but sizeable gap for him to escape through.

Hunter brought the gun back to me again, backing slowly towards the opening. “Stay back!” he ordered, teeth gritted, his arm shaking with adrenaline. By now, it must have dawned on him that I was also armed and could not be harmed by bullets, and that if wanted him dead, he would be. Obviously, he was reluctant to turn his back on me to make his way out; he’d convinced himself he would need some cover, or a distraction in order to buy himself the time to get away.

Like clockwork, his eyes shifted from me to Gord, who was still standing behind the counter, hands raised. Knowing what he was going to try, I readied my hand, and when he quickly raised his gun at the old man, I countered by raising Hopper’s gun. The Wild West was still fresh in my mind, despite being a century and a half ago, and I had my experiences there to thank for the ability to whip that gun up to fire a round through his wrist before he even had a chance to aim.

Hunter dropped his gun and wailed, gripping his wrist, which proved difficult with his other shoulder already wounded.

I raised my brows and gave my head a single shake. “Too slow, bud. What now?”

He stared helplessly for a moment as he dripped blood onto the floor, his jaw trembling in frustration and terror before he suddenly turned to make a break for it. After kicking a chair out of the way, he leapt through the glass, his toes breaking a few shards away from the bottom of the opening before landing outside, stumbling to his knees, unable to use his arms to balance or catch himself.

I stepped closer to the window to watch him run, his hands clutched to his midsection. I raised the gun and fired a shot to the left of his feet, making sure he could see the divot as the gravel flew into the air in front of him. Panicking, he changed course to the right and lead himself into the side yard, which wrapped around to the rear of the shop, where there was a modestly-sized yard filled with scrap cars surrounded by thick woods and a fence on the far side.

There was no escape. Hunter was falling into a trap.

I couldn’t let him go, of course; for one thing, I had questions of my own for him—though I had the impression that Hopper would be a better source of information, given his perceived rank—but not only that, I needed to follow him outside to see if there were any more members of this little posse.

After Hunter disappeared to right, passing the row of parked cars that would funnel him into the rear yard, I brought my attention back to Hopper, who was sitting up against the wall, clutching his arm while glowering at me, jaw clenched. The sight of this miserable turd caused a surge of fury to run through me, matched by a flow of adrenaline—an efflux of energy that rang through to my core. This feeling of power would happen whenever I found myself in situations like this, especially when bad folks attack innocent people without provocation.

Who did these people think they were, and who were they really? This became the question of the hour, and I intended to answer it before that hour was up.

It was time to act my age.

I spun around to face Flash, raising my index finger to coax him over. “Come here, boy.”

Flash seemed to snap out of the terrified daze he was in, only to re-freeze upon realising he’d been addressed. “Wha?” he breathed, staring with tiny pupils.

I tightened my lips and pointed to the floor next to me. “NOW.”

With a shallow gasp, Flash shuffled closer, stopping at my side to look down at Hopper, his face turning pale when he saw the shards of bone protruding from his arm.

“Here,” I said, holding the gun out to him. “I need you to keep an eye on this piece of shit while I go ‘Hunting.’”

He glanced down at the weapon. “Me!? I don’t know how to use a gun!”

I shook my head and huffed, grabbed his hand and slapped the pistol into his palm. “It’s easy. Look…“ I placed my fingers under his forearm and raised it, making Flash point the weapon at Hopper. “Just keep it on him, just like this. If he moves, shoot him, preferably in the leg or something. Safety’s off; you should be good to go. Stay close enough that you won’t miss, but don’t get so close that he can disarm you…” I paused to glance thoughtfully at Hopper. “Though I don’t think he’ll be able to move very quickly right now.” I faced Flash again, patting his shoulder. “OK. You got this?”

“No,” he replied while nodding ‘yes.’

I rolled my eyes impatiently. “Well do you or don’t you?”

“Uh… yeah. Yeah, I do. Sorry,” he corrected, his eyelids fluttering with a mixture of embarrassment and resolve, both tainted by the stress of the situation.

“Good.” I turned to face Gord, who remained in the same spot, his hands still raised. “It’s OK. I’ve got this,” I said, to which he nodded quickly, his jowls jiggling.

He was clearly not relaxed.

Sighing, I raised my hand and gestured to the chair behind the counter. “Everything’s gonna be fine, just… sit down before you have a fuckin heart attack.”

As the old man shuffled over to sit, I bent down to pluck Hunter’s pistol from the floor and pulled the magazine out to see how many rounds were left. Only one was gone. “OK,” I said, facing the other two as I headed for the door, reloading the clip before opening the door part way. “Both of you keep an eye on him. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

They both nodded, and I stepped outside.

The sky was just staring to darken, preparing for another long, chilly night. Visibility would soon be diminished by the failing light, making battle difficult--for those who weren’t used to it, that is. The first order of business, however, was to protect Gord, Flash, and the hostage. If there were more of these men --which I had yet to ascertain-- they would be vulnerable in that front office, especially with the front window blown out.

After a quick glance at the building behind me, I turned to my left to find the heavy, corrugated steel walls of an old sea-can leaning against the old fence that ran along that side of the yard, which had been grown through by trees. Knowing this would make a perfect barrier, I pocketed Hunter’s gun and jogged over to the end of the slab, grabbed it with both hands and dragged it away from the fence.

The massive panel of steel left deep, curved ruts in the gravel as I swung it around toward the front of the building like a door, covering both the front door and the shattered window with an impenetrable metal shield. Regular men would not be able to move it out of the way, nor could they shoot through it. Luckily, being that it was closing time, the bay doors in the shop were locked as well, so no one would be able to sneak in that way to gain access to the office.

“A little protection for you, boys,” I said through the narrow opening between the wall and the steel slab. “Just hang tight; I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“O-O-OK…” Flash’s shaky whimper came back.

After a deep breath to clear my mind, I drew the pistol and turned away to head to the right, following the broken trail of blood drops while keep an eye on the parking lot and road, searching for any other members of their little gang. As I made my way along, I paid special attention to the left side of the lot, where an old RV that Gord bought years ago, but never used; it was a nuisance, especially now, for it blocked my view of the road coming from that direction.

Sure enough, though, after taking several steps toward the corner of the shop, beyond which Hunter had just cornered himself, a black luxury car came into view from behind the camper, parked on the shoulder on the far side of the road. I recognised the car immediately as the one from the surveillance video that showed Sunset being dumped into the harbour; the driver’s door was open and a man was standing with one leg on the ground, looking over the hood, probably curious, having noticed Hunter running around the corner of the shop.

Without hesitation, I raised the gun and fired as soon as he was in view, planting a bullet in the center of his forehead. He tumbled backwards to the gravel as I emptied the rest of the clip on the car, flattening its tires to prevent its escape--its windows, unsurprisingly, were bulletproof and did not shatter, but the shiny, black body work managed to earn a few decorative holes.

Through the tinted glass I could see two more figures moving about inside the car. Figuring they were looking in my direction, I made a point of visibly releasing the clip from the gun before throwing the weapon over my shoulder and onto the roof of the shop; killing one of them, spraying their car with bullets and then making it known that I was now unarmed was my way of luring them into my territory, where I would make quick work of their pointless little lives.

I raised my hands and gave double middle fingers to the car, which, seconds later, prompted one of the rear doors to open. Yet another suited man stepped out, aimed his weapon and fired in my direction. I chuckled as the round zipped past me and ricocheted off the wall behind me, and I turned --just as the other rear door opened-- to round the corner, following the dotted red trail left behind by Hunter.

Ha! Predictable thugs; so easy to provoke, so easy to trick. They think that because they have a gun and their opponent doesn’t that they have the advantage--that they cannot possibly lose. Just wait until they get a load of me!

The side yard was full of cars that’d been given up on, too expensive to fix for what they were worth, and so were left behind by their owners in search of something new. Gord always meant to take them in for scrap, but it simply never happened, and they sat here to finish out their days rotting in the weeds, some of them even being cannibalized for parts.

I slowed my pace when I reached the rear corner, stopping to peer around the corner; the cars, arranged in neat rows got progressively older the deeper one ventured, but they did just as good a job as the newer ones of providing plenty of places to hide--that is, if the dummy doing the hiding hadn’t left a massive, bloody hand print smudged across the deck lid of an old seventies-era Cadillac that sat a few feet from the corner.

I had to act fast with the other two approaching in angry pursuit of the man who shot their car up, and so I was forced to proceed without knowing where Hunter --my future bait-- was. Crouching down, I slinked between the cars, side-stepping dried weeds and stray body panels to maintain a silent stealth as I searched for my victim--who by now must surely have realised he was trapped.

The cars continued to get older as I slithered along, and the weeds between them got taller and taller. It was like I travelling back in time; the long, straight lines of the 1960’s styling gave way to the extravagant fins of the aviation-inspired fifties vehicles, which themselves soon transformed into the bulbous curves of the 1940’s era bodies. The fading day, along with the canopy of trees above cast an eerie glow across the yard, casting an alien greenness on the glass and steel corpses as their own colours faded into dull grays and rusty browns.

The deep sound of silence coming from the dense woods added to the claustrophobia-inducing space, and I felt myself becoming giddy at the thought of what must have been going though Hunter’s mind, to say nothing of the terror he would surely feel when I would eventually drop in on his position.

There were four rows of cars behind the shop, the first one running along the rear wall, with a four foot wide path separating each line. I was between the first and second row, roughly two thirds of the way to the tall fence at the far end when I heard the sound of rapid breathing in the next aisle.

Hunter was hiding in the center row, crouched down by the opposite end of the vehicle I was now beside. I stopped at the rear corner, and then bent down to have a peek under the car; sure enough, I found him sitting on the ground next to the driver’s front wheel.

I took a quick breath to ready myself, and, without further hesitation, leapt clear over the roof of the car, landing next to Hunter with a heavy thud when my feet hit the ground. He was cradling a phone in his bloody hands, struggling to send a message to get help. He yelped like a teenage girl who’d seen a spider when he felt the ground shake beneath him, dropping the phone between his feet as he looked up at me.

“Who ya talkin to, buddy?” I asked with a sadistic smile.

He shook his head, and then --to my surprise-- looked down at the phone, which was sitting on the edge of a clay brick, brought his foot up to stomp the phone with his heel, snapping it in half.

I watched the screen flicker into darkness from behind a web of cracked glass before look at Hunter again, my brow marked with distain. “I take it there was something on there you didn’t want me to see,” I growled, bending down to grab the collar of his shirt, yanking him to his feet. I put my face close to his, staring into those tiny pupils. “You, my boy, have just lost a lot of value.”

He cried out when I chucked him further down the aisle, landing in the weed-covered gravel on his wounded shoulder. As he laid there, wincing in pain, I glanced at the old Buick Roadmaster as I made my approach. Its wheels had sunk half a foot into the ground after decades of slumber, the tires rotted almost completely away, leaving the bare, rusted rim behind.

The sound of voices approaching from around the corner hastened my next move, and I reached out with my other hand and hooked my left hand under the edge of the fender, hoisting that corner of the car out of the dirt, much to Hunter’s shock. I reached down and grabbed his leg just below the knee next, pulling him closer to the car; after placing his ankle under the hovering wheel, I opened my left hand to release the wheel well from my hold.

The steel edge of the wheel drove his foot to the divot forged by years of sitting, pinning it in place. The young man threw his head back and screamed in agony as the weight of the old iron cut into his ankle, crushing the bones within.

I clapped my hands once, bending down to smile rather sadistically. “Yeah, atta boy! Make some noise! Make lots of noise!” I said, like a mother to a child before making my way around the car to hide in the third row from the building.

The issue with facing foes like this: they tended to keep a distance in favour of using their firearms to fight; they needed to be lured in, partially so I could get close enough to take them out, but also because it was fun. Eons worth of killing had diminished the thrill of victory for me, being that there were no stakes, so I had a tendency to play games and hone my trapping skills, to continue to challenge myself with new and more complicated tasks.

It made no difference at the end of it all, so long as none of them got away to inform their cohorts--which meant that I would have to take these guys down fast, while they still believed they had the upper hand and felt to need to use their phones to call for help.

Staying low, I scurried along the third aisle until I was about three car lengths closer to the entrance, listening to the sound of footsteps approaching from the around the corner.

“What is that?” a voice said, prompting me to drop next the rear end of an old Ford Falcon. A single figure rounded the corner and paused, listening to the screams of his teammate. “It’s Hunter!” he shouted suddenly as he made his way across the rows until he reached the center aisle, freezing in his tracks when he spotted the young man at the far end, seated next to a car. “Hey!” He yelled, charging forward to intercept his comrade.

Hunter, with a face contorted in pain, heard the other man’s voice and turned to see him approaching, and he quickly threw his hand out to stop him. “No! Silas, stop! Look out!”

By then, I had leaned back and place my feet on the rear fender of the Falcon, listening to the approaching footsteps. When I saw him sprint past, I shoved with both feet, launching the car across the path.

It collided with a vehicle on the other side with a loud crash, pinning Silas between them.

“AAAAAHH!” He threw his head back in pain, unsure of what just happened. He placed his hands on the deck lid of the Falcon, looking down at his legs, which were crushed between the two hunks of old metal. “What the fuck,” he grunted, scanning the area to try to figure out what happened.

I planted my feet on the ground to stand, pausing to scrape a handful of gravel up before slowly rising to my feet. Silas froze immediately when he saw me rise into view on the far side of the car, staring in shock when he suddenly realised what Hunter was trying to warn him about.

“Who are you?” he huffed, teeth gritted.

“You don’t need to worry about that,” I replied, bringing the handful of gravel up to my chest. Silas watched helplessly as I wound up like a baseball pitcher, lifting one leg while twisting my arm back; I swung my fist through the air with a loud whoosh, flinging the stones at his face.

The spread whipped through the air with the force of a shotgun blast, splattering the top portion of Silas’ head all over the car behind him; his body snapped backward as his blood and chunks of his skull rained across the dusty glass and sheet metal.

Bearing witness to such violence forced Hunter into silence, making him temporarily forget about the pain that rang through his own body. “Holy shit…” he whispered shakily.

“Silas?” A second voice came from around the side of the building. “What was that?”

Figuring they must have split up to look for me, I leapt over the cars into the next row and sprinted for the corner of the building. He must have been searching the side yard when he heard the cars slam together, followed by his partner’s cries, and was prompted to come and find out what was happening.

Hunter, in a weak voice, tried to holler out a warning, but it was to no avail. “Enoch… stay away…” he panted. “Go… get help!”

Enoch couldn’t hear him, however; the footsteps of his running were all he could hear. He wasn’t the only one who could hear them, though. From my hiding spot just around the corner, I could hear his approach loud and clear, and so I waited patiently, like a spider waiting for a fly to get caught in its web.

When the last man emerged, running full tilt from behind the corner, I swung my right fist up to catch his chin with a mighty uppercut that sent him several feet into the air, flipping head-over foot. I brought my left foot up as he descended, catching him square in the back with a massive kick; a loud crack rang out when his spine snapped under the impact, and he was sent sailing over all four rows of cars like a ragdoll, eventually disappearing into the trees amidst the rustling of leaves and crackling of broken twigs, his landing signalled by a soft thud when his body hit the forest floor.

I made my way back to a frightened Hunter, who seemed to be in a state of shock. He began to squirm when he saw me approaching, trying to fight me off with flailing arms; a vain attempt, especially with the injuries he’d sustained already.

“Wha… who are you, man!? What do you want with us!?” he squawked, unable to keep me at bay as I grabbed him by the shoulders.

I paused, furrowing my brows at the question. “Me? You assholes came here, remember?”

He stared up at me, his jaw trembling. “W-what the fuck are you?”

I pursed my lips, glancing up at the canopy of leaves as I thought about it. “A veteran, I guess you could say.”

Hunter stared, his face contorted with pain and confusion as he could no-doubt see the discrepancy between my appearance and the lack of recent wars.

“Ah, you are probably wondering which war I fought in,” I said, nodding. Then I leaned closer, causing him to pull back slightly. “Pick one. I was in pretty much all of them. How about… the Civil War? Sure. Let’s go with that.” As soon as I said this, I yanked him upward, tearing his foot out from under the rusty, old rim.

He cried out in pain --with good cause as his foot hung from his leg by a few tendons and some skin-- but was silenced when I wrapped my hand around his throat and brought his face close to mine. “Now to answer your other question: what do I want with you? … Nothing. I don’t need you anymore. Bye!”

Then, with near comical aloofness, I hoisted Hunter into the air by his throat and spiked him into the gravel head-first, crushing his neck under his own weight. A muffled crunch echoed through the yard as his body flopped to rest amongst the iron artifacts, allowing me a short moment to reflect on my handiwork.

I brushed my hands together to dust them off, stepping over the fresh corpse to make my way back to the driveway. “Hm. I forgot how nasty I can be when I get riled up,” I muttered to myself as I passed the splattered brains of my previous victim, scattered all over the rear of a rusted out sixties-vintage Mercedes. “Oh well. They came here looking for trouble--and they found it.”

Out front, I first headed out to that black car of theirs, hoping that no passers-by had noticed the dead guy lying next to it. Luckily, this road was a quiet one, and nothing appeared to have been disturbed. After tossing the corpse in the back seat, I drove the car into the yard on two flat tires, parking it aside and out of sight from the road.

I made my way back to the office next, sliding the massive wall of steel aside before stepping into the office through the front door as if nothing had happened. Inside, Gord was now standing next to Flash, who was holding Hopper’s gun with both hands, shaking uncontrollably.

Hopper was still seated on the floor, clutching his arm and scowling defiantly at the three of us.

“How’s it going?” I asked Flash, approaching him slowly.

“Uh… g-good?” he replied, to which Gord rolled his eyes.

“Just relax, son; you did fine,” the old man grumbled.

“That’s right,” I agreed, glancing at Hopper again. “Everyone’s still alive--which is good, cuz I need this clown alive to pick his brain; I can’t help but be a little curious about why he came here, and who he works for.” I reached for the gun to slowly pluck it from Flash’s hands. “Here, I’ll take this.”

He realised the weapon slowly, his knuckles white as snow after unwittingly gripping it so tightly for so long. I turned to approach Hopper next, tucking the gun into my pants before crouching down in front of him. I paused for a moment to watch him, waiting to see if he would fold under the pressure.

He didn’t. This guy knew how to play the game at least somewhat, despite knowing he was hopelessly outmatched; maintaining image was important, however, no matter the situation. I could respect that--if he hadn’t just tried to attack an unsuspecting old man and his customer, that is.

I sighed, cocking my head. “Well?”

He continued to scowl.

I smacked my lips and then rolled my eyes, reaching into his pockets in search of a phone. “I don’t suppose you plan on telling me who you work for?”

He remained silent, even when I found a smartphone in the inside pocket of his suit jacket.

“Your boys are dead; … just thought you should know,” I muttered absentmindedly as I watched the screen light up and ask for a password--or a touch ID. I turned the phone so it faced Hopper. “Would you be so kind as to give me your password, please?”

No response.

“OK.” I shrugged nonchalantly, reaching down to grab his hand. “Maybe I’ll just take a finger then,” I said as I snapped his index finger and gave it a tug.

“AAAHH!” He jumped suddenly, a vein bulging in the center of his forehead as he winced in pain. “I’ll do it! I’ll do it! Here!”

I held the phone out for him to place his thumb on the sensor, unlocking it.

“Perfect,” I said, turning the screen toward me to open his contact list. I paused briefly to look over my shoulder at Gord and Flash. “Hopper and I are gonna take a step outside for a quick chat, but then we’ve got some work to do. There’s a pretty big mess to clean up; you guys better start cleaning that blood off the floor and sweeping that glass up, and when I’m done with him, I’ve got a car to hide and some bodies to dispose of before it gets dark.”

Gord looked a bit sour. “You don’t think we should call the police?”

I gestured to Hopper. “That’ll depend on what I learn from this idiot. Something tells me this isn’t the type of thing the police can handle.”

Gord sighed and then nodded. “Fair enough, tough guy.” He then waved Flash along, turning to head for the back room. “Come on, son. I’ll show you where the cleaning supplies are.”

Flash, who looked less interested in cleaning than he did in leaving, rolled his eyes and followed the old man into the back. Once they were gone, I reached down to grab Hopper by his tie and dragged him out the front door. After tossing him onto the gravel, I began scrolling through his phone.

“Well now… let’s see who you really are, Mr. Bunny Rabbit,” I muttered as I scanned the contact lists. At first, I saw little more than names: presumably friends, family members, et cetera, but it wasn’t long before I found a sub section, the title of which made my hair stand on end.

’Ministry Contacts’

I looked over at him, incredulous. “You’re with The Ministry? You son of a--“ I stepped forward and swung my foot, catching him across the face and knocking him unconscious. Then I shook my head, looking back at the phone as I tapped to enter the list and began scanning the list. “Mother fucker,” I whispered to myself, reading the names aloud to myself. “Abel… Dixon… Enoch… Hunter… Juno… Silas…” I paused suddenly, my attention stolen by a contact that wasn’t a name, but a title. “The Reverend…”

I took a quick glance around the yard, considering the significance of this contact. Then I remembered something that Sunset had mentioned: The Ministry was led by a public figure--she just didn’t know who. Until now, we had nothing but assumptions to go on, but now… a minister made perfect sense, given the gang’s name. It was clever, I had to admit; a pastor would be far less suspicious than a politician, cop or even a well-known business owner. Who would guess he or she would be the leader of a massive and extremely violent drug ring?

Now equipped with this new information, I did the only thing I could think of: I pressed the ‘call’ button and put my phone to my ear. After only one ring, there was an answer.

“Hopper,” a gruff voice said on the other end. “What have you learned?”

A little smirk came across my face as I looked around the darkening yard, preparing my answer. “I’d say he learned to mind his fuckin business.”

Silence for a moment, followed by a gust of air blowing into the receiver. “Who is this? Where is Hopper?”

“He’s with me,” I said, glancing down at the unconscious suit. “But I’m afraid Silas, Hunter, Enoch and ‘Dude Number Four’ have expired.”

The reverend was quiet, so I continued.

“I’ve been keeping an eye on your boys, father; they shouldn’t have come here. Chasing your boy Rutherford was a mistake.”

The sound of a throat clearing could be heard on the other end. ”How do you know these things?”

“I know everything. We’ve been watching you, zeroing in, punishing you for your transgressions.”

”What transgressions?”

“Senseless violence. Corruption. Prostitution. Money laundering. It’s all there; we know all about it, and we know all about you.”

”Why don’t you come and get me then, instead of ambushing my men like a coward?”

“All in good time, father. You’ve had your fun, but you know the old saying: all good things come to an end.”

”Tsh! What are you, some kind of saviour of humanity? A disciple of justice?” His voice suddenly became louder and more menacing. ”Who are you to preach to a man of the cloth, my son? Huh!? What next, are you gonna quote scripture to me? Perhaps: ‘No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it?’”

“Hebrews twelve-eleven? Nah. How about: ‘You’ll know my worth when you praise my architecture of aggression.’”

”Impressive. But… I am not familiar with that particular verse; I do not believe it is from Christian teachings.”

“It’s from a song.”

“I see…”

“Listen, father,” I continued, pacing across the lot with the phone to my ear. “You can choose to continue with your business if you wish, but be aware of this: we’ll be watching you. The more transgressions we witness, the more punishment you will receive. I’d say it’s safe to say you’re never going to see your boy Hopper again after this unsolicited attack, and if you’d rather avoid another butchering like the one at your little hotel, then you’d better think long and hard about everything you do, and consider this: is it worth it?”

”Do NOT tell me how to run my dealings, my boy!? he growled. ”You don’t frighten me. I have resources. I have more POWER than you realise, and if you’re not careful you’ll end up waiting in line at the great gates in the sky--you AND your people. The only being I fear is the almighty God, for he is great and powerful.”

“That actually sounds like a stripper I know. Is god a stripper, father?”

”EVERYONE… who fears the Lord is blessed, who walks in his ways. He is a power higher than all who walk this Earth--even to upstarts like you who think their lowly beings are elevated. As I stated without equivocation, I fear the Lord, and the Lord alone.”

“That’s just cuz you haven’t met me. I used to bully your pussy god back in grade school.”

”AAARGH--“

The bellows anger coming from the phone’s speaker were halted when I ended the call. I took a moment to glance around the yard, its details obscuring in the failing light.

There was much work still to be done.

With a sigh, I glanced down at Hopper as I took my phone out to send a message.

ME: Sunny, meet me at Flutters house in two hours. Don’t be late.

Chapter 147: The Ministry Explained

Chapter 147

After a deep inhale through her nose, Rarity let out a blissful sigh. “Ahhhhh… this is lovely, darling. A brilliant idea, I must say.”

“Mmm. I’m glad you like it, Rare,” Fluttershy replied softly.

Another relaxed sigh. “How did you think of it again?”

“Oh, um… well, partly because of that night I tried to get Goldie to stay home from the hotel mission, but also because I was watching that show about newborn babies and how the moms like to do ‘skin time’ with them.”

“Mmm. You’re a genius, Fluttershy.”

It was late in the evening, and Rarity and Fluttershy were sprawled out together on the couch, listening to some relaxing music. The fashionista was laying face-down with her arms folded in front of her, resting her cheek on them. She was nude, save for a black lace thong that stretched across her hips and disappeared in the crack of her derriere.

Fluttershy was sprawled out on top of that pale, white form, but lower down; her hips rested on the cushion between Rarity’s legs while her head rested on her back, her long pink hair pouring down and mixing with the silky indigo locks of her girlfriend. The shy girl was dressed the same, wearing nothing but a pair of plain teal panties, her full, yellow breasts mashed against the white cheeks of Rarity’s backside.

Skin time was a happy time for these two lovers, a new favourite avocation that they’d tried tonight for the first time, and it was a winner indeed. Miles of bare skin --white, yellow-- that seemed to go on forever; soft, smooth, and delightfully warm to the touch; add to that the soft tickle of fragrant hair, and this had quickly turned into one of the most relaxing bonding activities they’d ever engaged in.

The only real test was how long they could hold out before things got heated.

Rarity closed her eyes after noting the time in the corner of the dormant TV screen, smiling at the cool tickle of Fluttershy’s breath on her back. “They’re certainly keeping Golds late on his first day back; it’s after eight o’clock already.”

“Hhmm,” Fluttershy sighed. “They’re probably just catching up. I think Goldie really likes his boss. He missed working there a lot; it really bothered him when they let him go.”

“Mm, yes. It easy to tell he was despondent about it,” Rarity replied, lifting herself onto her elbows to look back at the girl, who lifted her head to see what she wanted. “D’you mind of I turn over, darling? I’d like to lay on my back for a while.”

“Sure,” Fluttershy said, sitting up on her heels to watch that slender, elegant figure turnover, revealing those ample, yet perky white breasts, complete with soft, pink nipples that began to harden immediately once the air hit them.

Rarity laid on her back, using her hands to sweep her hair over one shoulder before getting comfortable. The shy girl shifted backwards slightly before lying down on her side, placing her shoulder on the cushion between those milky thighs and resting her cheek on the fashionista’s lace-covered mound.

Sighing, Fluttershy stared at the blank screen for a moment before letting her eyes wander across the slope of Rarity’s hip, noting the smoothness of that powdery skin. She tilted her head upward to follow the slender shape of her figure, stopping when she’d reached the sudden rise at the base of her breast; from this perspective, it was like floating in an ocean of vanilla soft-serve, aside from the comforting warmth that radiated from her skin.

With a content smile, Fluttershy tilted her face down to bury her nose in the lacy fabric of Rarity’s panties, inhaling deeply through her nostrils. A subtle musk rushed in to fill her senses, a smell that, while not the freshest when taken at face value, Fluttershy loved. It was one of the fashionista’s most intimate scents, and it reminded the shy girl that even someone as seemingly flawless as Rarity was subject to the laws of nature; it made her that much more real.

“Mmmm…” the shy girl moaned, brushing her hair aside with her fingertips.

“Mm-hm…” Rarity replied, eyes closed to show off those powdery blue eyelids.

“This is nice,” Fluttershy said, running her fingers up her lover’s thigh, absorbing their warmth as she lay between them.

“Indeed.”

After several seconds of silence, the shy girl shifted her head back to let it rest closer to Rarity’s hip, looking down at those elegant, black panties as she brushed her fingertips over them, feeling their embroidery beneath her touch. She traced her index finger along the far edge, slipping it underneath to pull them gently aside, revealing that white mound with its decorative strip of short, violet hair.

Rarity did not react to having her womanhood uncovered.

“Rare?”

“Yes, darling?”

“Why don’t you like your little landing strip?”

The fashionista opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling. “I don’t know. To be fair, I wouldn’t say I dislike it, per se; I simply wish that I’d gone with something different--having none at all like you, for instance. Had I known it would be permanent, I would have put a little more thought into it.”

“Hm.” Fluttershy, still holding the panties aside, reached out with her middle finger to caress the strip of hair, feeling its coarseness, its wiry, purple curls under her fingertip. “I think it’s pretty; it compliments your colour perfectly. You made a good choice, Rare, you shouldn’t worry about it.”

Rarity smiled. “Aww. Thank you.”

With a smile of her own, Fluttershy peeled the underwear further aside to uncover the smooth, white lips that lived lower down between Rarity’s thighs, and she reached down to plant a gentle kiss on them. After letting her upper lip linger in that cute little cleft for a moment, the shy girl withdrew and stretched the panties back into place, covering the fashionista’s womanhood once again.

After giving a soft pat to that lacy mound, Fluttershy rested her cheek on it once again, dragging her fingertips up and down Rarity’s thigh, making her tense up as she grazed that snowy-white skin.

“Hm!” Rarity stifled a giggle. “Tickles.”

“Oh. Sorry,” Fluttershy said softly, laying her hand flat on that white skin.

Rarity then relaxed and followed suit, a soft breeze exiting her nose as she closed her eyes once more. Then they popped open again. “Seriously… how long Golds planning on staying at work? He’s gonna regret missing out on some lovely skin time.”

“{i]And what’s gonna come after,” Fluttershy added, smiling as she reminisced on the previous two nights. “This week has been amazing,” she continued. “Pinkie Pie got turned--on the same night you and me… um, you know… all night…”

“Mm-hmm…”

“And then last night it was me and Goldie… you know… all night.”

“Mmm…”

“And tonight --whenever her gets home-- I get to have both of you.”

Rarity raised a quick finger. “Not all night, though, I’m afraid; there is training later on, and everyone is expected to be there--even Pinkie Pie. It’s her first night, and…” --she reached down to jiggle Fluttershy’s shoulder excitedly-- “we’re gonna reveal her suit to everyone! EEEE!”

“Oh! You got the alterations done already?”

“You’re surprised by this?” Rarity replied, running her fingers through the shy girl’s hair.

Fluttershy giggled. “How does it look?”

“Oh my goodness, darling, she looks absolutely smashing in it! Her new figure is positively stunning!”

“Well, that and you’re an amazing designer.”

“Ohh…” Rarity reached down to squeeze the shy girl’s shoulders, pursing her lips to speak in one of those ‘I wuv you’ tones. “You so sweet!”

Fluttershy rose to one elbow in response, facing downward so she could plant a row of kisses from the top of those black panties to the other girl’s navel. She paused briefly to poke her tongue into that cute little knot, causing the fashionista to squirm and stifle a squeal before continuing upward, leaving a kiss every couple of inches.

Silky, pink hair tickled Rarity’s luscious skin as Fluttershy crawled over her, reaching down to flick her nipple with her tongue and then closing her lips around it for a soft suckle. She repeated the process with the other breast before kissing between them, making her way over those delicate collarbones and eventually burying her lips in Rarity’s neck, tracing a moist line up the side until she reached her earlobe, giving it a playful nibble.

The fashionista giggled and bit her lip, gasping sharply through her nostrils as the shy girl tickled and teased her. Their lips met soon after, as did their tongues when Fluttershy entered Rarity’s mouth to share some saliva with her. A soft moan escaped Rarity’s throat as their tongues licked one another with growing enthusiasm, their panties rapidly heating up as their bodies prepared for the incoming affection.

Fluttershy broke the kiss eventually, licking the other girl’s saliva from her lips as she stared down at her and admired that stunning visage. “I’m, um, having trouble being patient waiting for Goldie…”

Rarity nodded, her breathing elevated slightly. “Same here.”

“You don’t think he’d mind if we got the ball rolling without him, do you?”

“Not at all, darling,” Rarity replied, watching the shy girl look down at her breast as she dangled it above her own, letting their stiff nipples brush together. “I’m sure he’d appreciate coming home after a long day’s work to a pair of hungry mouths sliding all over his cock.”

“Ooh… I bet he’ll love that.” Fluttershy grinned amorously as she leaned in to reconnect their lips.

During the ensuing make-out, the sound of a diesel engine began to grow in the distance, louder and louder still as it approached. The girls stopped mid-kiss and opened their eyes to stare at one another, and then they began to snicker into each other’s mouths.

“How does he do it?” Rarity asked, her hand hooked around the back of Fluttershy’s neck. “How does he always manage to be in the right place at the right time?”

Outside, the engine went silent, followed by the faint sound of a door opening.

“He’s just a lucky boy,” Fluttershy giggled. “And he’s gonna know it in just a--“ She stopped suddenly, her brow marked with a measure of curiosity and concern.

“What is it, darling?” Rarity asked, noticing the sudden turn to seriousness.

“He’s not alone,” Fluttershy answered, sitting upright to look at the front door over the back of the couch.

“What!?” Rarity gasped, leaning up on her hands.

“There’s someone with him.” Fluttershy’s eyes were wide.

“Who?”

The shy girl shook her head. “I don’t know.” She paused for a moment, listening to the ‘feed’ given from her minions outside when her eyes widened suddenly. “They’re coming inside!”

Rarity gasped as both girls jumped to their feet, covering their bare breasts.

***

Outside, I turned the handle of Fluttershy’s front door and threw it opened, leading Hopper along by the scruff of his neck. Once inside, I shoved him toward the table, causing one of the chairs to skid noisily when he bumped into it. He groaned and clutched his arm, which was wrapped in an old shirt covered in a black garbage bag.

“Sit down. Shut-up,” I ordered, kicking my boots off. I glanced around the main room, wondering where the shy girl was; my search was short, however--and it ended with a rather surprising find.

Both of the girls were standing by the couch, wearing nothing but a pair of panties each, Fluttershy with her hands cupped over her breasts, and Rarity with her arms folded across hers.

“Oh, hey… sorry, I uh…” I glanced over at Hopper once again, thinking about how to begin explaining my day when I noticed him staring at the pair of gorgeous, scantily-clad women. “Hey!” I stepped closer to smack him across the forehead. “Don’t be looking at them!”

He grunted, looking back at me with a face twisted into a defiant grimace. His attention was quickly diverted, though, when he heard the soft padding of big, furry feet coming around then end of the couch. Link paused with one front paw in the air when his eyes landed on the haggard man, eyes glaring wide, ears laid down flat.

A husky snarl came from the lynx as he took one step forward, bearing his teeth, followed by a second snarl and a throaty cry of aggression, causing Hopper to shift backwards and stumble over the chair behind him.

“What the hell is this!?” he complained as the big cat thumped another step closer.

In the meantime, Rarity swiped her hand near Fluttershy’s chest, using her magic to conjure up a sparkling bra to cover her breasts with before doing the same for herself. Now somewhat covered and free of self-consciousness, the girls were able to relax a bit so they could bring their full attention onto the unwilling guest.

“He belongs to her, Mr. Bunny Rabbit,” I was saying to Hopper as I pointed to Fluttershy, double-taking when I noticed the diamond top she now sported. “And if you don’t behave, she’ll tell him to eat your ass--and he will, since snowshoe hares are the lynx’s number one prey.”

“Darling, i-if I may…” Rarity said as she took a step closer, finger raised. “Who… is this gentleman?”

“Oh, this piece of shit showed up at the shop today and pulled a gun on my boss,” I explained rather curtly, glancing at Hopper and then the fashionista, who covered her mouth in response.

“Oh my goodness! Why would he do that?” Rarity asked with a sharp glance at Hopper.

“Well, as it turns out… you remember our boy Rutherford who took my job?” I asked, to which the girls nodded. “It seems he had a bit of a… dark past, I guess you could say--a past that apparently, he couldn’t escape from.” I pointed at Hopper with my thumb. “Looks like they tracked him down and buried him, but they couldn’t just leave things alone…”

Fluttershy covered her mouth at this. “Oh dear! He… he’s dead?”

I nodded, glancing over at Hopper. “That’s my guess. And apparently these assholes were worried that he might have spilled some of their secrets, so they came by the shop to make sure the people he was working with were silenced.” I stepped closer and put my face next his temple, making him flinch slightly. “But they done fucked up! You didn’t expect to run into me there, did you? Now, instead of keeping all your secrets, you’ve exposed ALL of them!”

Rarity cocked her head. “What does that mean, darling? What secrets?” she asked, fanning herself with her hand in response to the inexplicable heat that suddenly washed through her.

“What secrets?” I raised a brow at the fashionista. “You wanna take a wild guess who this fuck-head works for? How about a little drug ring known as ‘The Ministry?’”

The girls’ eyes went wide for a moment, but then narrowed as they both focused their distain on Hopper, Link growling all the while.

“I see…” Rarity said flatly.

“That’s right,” I continued, swinging a finger at him. “And their leader is a reverend from the big city.”

The girls looked at each other.

“A reverend?” Fluttershy repeated, looking at me again.

“Well, Sunset did say that he was a public official,” Rarity said, rubbing her chin. “Such a façade would make sense. I mean, who’s going to expect a preacher to be part of all of this? To be part of an organisation that would murder families for nothing. It’s ironic, really; given how religious the Pies were.”

Hopper cocked his head when he heard the name. Clearly, he was aware of whom we were speaking.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “And I’m sure that was reason they were so adamant about making sure Ruthers hadn’t told anyone. Their whole business would come crashing down if people knew the truth.”

“Hoo! Indeed,” Rarity agreed, exhaling through pursed lips as she fanned herself once again.

I took notice of her doing this once again, and after watching her for a moment I shifted my attention to Fluttershy, who also looked a bit distracted, thighs rubbing together as she stood pigeon-toed, nibbling on her bottom lip as she stared at my chest.

“Are you two alright?” I asked, making them snap out of their trances to look me in the eyes.

“Er… yes, darling,” Rarity answered after a deep breath. “I’m just… feeling a bit flushed for some reason. It’s quite strange; it just… started happening.”

“Mmm,” Fluttershy nodded. “Same here. I don’t know what it is.”

I scratched my ear, watching them in confusion for a moment before gesturing at the hallway. “Well… why don’t you take a minute to go get some clothes on? Your nips are kinda showing through those tops.”

Both girls looked down at themselves, then back at me with alarm.

“Ah… right,” Rarity said, raising a finger as she turned for the hall, placing hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder to guide her along. “We’ll be right back; come along, Fluttershy!”

The two girls quickly exited the room in a single-file, with Rarity taking up the rear. I was quick to notice Hopper watching that bare, white ass bounce away, covered by nothing more than that thin, lacy T-bar across the top, so I reached over to smack him across the forehead.

“HEY! I catch you gawking at them again, you’re gonna lose those peepers. Got it?”

The girls returned moments later, each dressed in a pair of dark, tight pants. Fluttershy had chosen a light blue sleeveless top with a frilly neckline, and Rarity a flowing silk blouse that crossed over itself in the front, showing plenty of cleavage--much to Hopper’s dismay.

“Hoo! OK…” The fashionista rubbed her hands together as she watched the guest keep his eyes on the table. “So. Two questions. One: why did you bring him here?”

I pulled my phone out to check the time. “Uh, because if my hunch is right, this guy is pretty high up in the Ministry, which means he’ll be chock full of valuable information--which is why I texted Sunny to meet me out here.”

Rarity brought her chin up, brows raised. “Ahhhh… smart, darling. Sunset will be able to learn all we’ll ever need to know to take them down in a matter of seconds. Mmmm…”

“Yeah…” I furrowed my brows in response, watching the fashionista slip one hand up her shoulder and under her hair to rub the back of her neck, eyes closed as she tilted her head to the side. “Are you sure you’re feeling OK? You’re kind of acting a little, uh…”

“I don’t know, darling…” Rarity breathed a long, soothing sigh. “It’s strange, I… I feel a certain déjà vu, like I’ve felt this before.”

“Um… m-me too,” Fluttershy added, wringing her hands together. “In the desert… when we fought those guys on the bikes. I remember after that, I felt… warm --like I wanted to… um… you know-- except I didn’t do anything about it because I was so upset. I mean… I almost did; in the hotel, in the shower, but… I-I didn’t.”

Rarity shook a finger. “Yes! That’s where I’ve felt this before: when the three of you returned home. There was something different about Golds. There was an energy about him; I don’t know what it was, but it was very alluring. We all felt it, but… it was nowhere near as strong as it is now.”

The fashionista looked at me next, those violet brows furrowed. “What exactly happened there today? How many of these men were there?”

“Five, including this guy,” I replied, pointing at Hopper with my thumb.

Rarity raised a brow. “And the others are… where?”

“In the back of my truck.”

“Dead, I presume?”

“Well if they’re not, they are excellent fakers,” I snorted. Then I waved over my shoulder at the front door. “I was gonna carry them out to the Riverfield to bury them when we go for training tonight.”

Rarity paused from chewing her thumbnail for a moment to think. “So… you saw some significant action today then?”

I shrugged. “I guess.”

“Do you feel any different?”

“Uh… a little, maybe? I dunno. Other than feeling a sort of… adrenaline rush, I guess you could call it, when things like this happen, I don’t really feel any different.”

Rarity snapped her finger and pointed at me. “Wait, go back! What did you say about an adrenaline rush?”

I let a breath blow from between my lips, subbing the back of my head as I thought about how to describe it. “It’s like a… like a surge of energy; like whatever power I have gets like… amped up or something. I’ve always assumed it happens to normal people too--only different, I guess. Maybe not as strong though.”

“Yes…” Rarity mumbled absentmindedly as she tapped her lips with her fingers. “I can… feel it, in a way; it’s like a beacon of some sort, and it makes me feel somewhat, er…” She paused for a moment, trying to think of a discreet way of putting it. “Warm. In my, er, personal space.”

I gave her a sideways look when she said this. “What, you mean like Sunny’s magic?”

Hopper looked more confused than ever.

“Perhaps,” Rarity replied as she rubbed her thighs together. “The feeling is rather… urgent.”

My eyes moved down to her crotch as she pinched her womanhood between her thighs, trying to keep herself together. Just then, something soft pressed against my arm and I turned to find the shy girl standing next to me with her breasts squashed into me, biting her lip and staring at me with a pair of sparkling eyes.

“Hey…” I said, watching her lick her lips. “I take it you’re having the same issue.”

“Um… maybe a little,” she replied, after which I felt one of her hands grab my backside, squeezing it firmly.

For me, it was safe to assume that ‘maybe a little’ actually translated to ‘holy shit, yes!’

Rarity continued. “Goodness me,” she breathed, fanning herself yet again. “Such an inconvenience this is, especially in the middle of a rather serious situation,” she said, gesturing to a perplexed Hopper. “I can’t imagine how Sunset dealt with this through that entire rescue mission!”

I faced the fashionista again. “Wait… what about Sunny?” I asked, trying to maintain composure when I felt the shy girl’s lips graze my neck.

“What d’you mean?”

“Well… she’s on her way here right now; if she already has the magic… you know… is it gonna be like… double?” I asked, feeling a soft hand take mine.

“Oh dear,” Rarity said before covering her mouth. “My goodness, you’re right! This could be… oh my, she’ll be a mess!”

“That’s what I’m thi--“ I looked down suddenly when I felt an intense heat against my hand; Fluttershy had taken it and placed it between her legs. “Hey!” I pulled it free, making the shy girl look at me in surprise. “Seriously, Flutters! Boundaries!”

Rarity raised her hands to wave the shy girl over. “Here, darling, come stand by me.”

Fluttershy complied and scurried over to the fashionista with her hair covering her reddened face. She stood next to her girlfriend, tapping her fingernails together. “S-sorry, Goldie. I-I couldn’t help it.”

“It’s OK,” I said in a softer tone. Admittedly, I felt bad for snapping at her. It wasn’t so much that I was irritated about it; I was just surprised. “It’s just… now’s not the time for this kind of thing--and yes, I did just say that.”

Rarity nodded. “Right. You’re right, daring. We must stay sharp.”

I nodded in return, and then the room went silent. I cleared my throat after a short moment. “Uh, so… what was your second question, Rare?”

She cocked her head. “Hm?”

“You said you had two questions about this guy.”

“I did?” she asked, surprised. She glanced at Hopper next, her brows jumping up suddenly. “Oh! Why is there a garbage bag on his arm?”

I glanced over at the arm in question. “Oh, I broke it. The bone’s like, sticking out n’ stuff.”

“Ah.”

Another round of silence followed, made slightly awkward in light of the pain our guest must have been enduring. Link had taken a seat in the meantime, his ears twitching as he watched the stranger with alert eyes.

Interestingly, he was the one who broke the silence with his haggard voice.

“Who are you people?”

The three of us looked at Hopper, watching him look around at us with an expression of helpless curiosity.

I shook my head and stepped closer to the girls. “The only thing you need to know is this,” I said, pulling Hunter’s gun from my pants to hand it to Fluttershy. I then reached for the fruit basket that sat in the middle of the table and plucked an orange and two apples from it before turning to head for the door.

“Ready, Flutters?” I asked as I opened the door to look outside, making sure there were no vehicles in direct line with the door.

She pulled the magazine from the weapon to see how many rounds were left. “Mm-hm,” she replied sweetly as she shoved the clip back in and pulled the slide back.

“OK. Here!” Holding the fruit in one hand, I flung all three of them outside.

Fluttershy raised the gun and fired in an instant.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Hopper, who’d rotated around in his chair to watch, looked on in shock as all three pieces of fruit burst into a spray of chunks and sticky juice. He spun back to see the shy girl hold her free hand out to aim the pistol at it, firing the last remaining shot into her palm. Her arm jostled under the impact and the bullet hit the floor with a tiny thud, after which she released the magazine and removed the slide from the gun.

She set the pieces on the table one at a time, arranging them into an exploded view of the weapon until it was fully disassembled. Then she folded her hands and smiled innocently, pressing her thighs together.

Hopper stared, his mouth hanging open.

I swung the door shut, causing him to jump when it slammed. “That’s not all,” I said as I approached, making him jump when I reached into his back pocket to retrieve his wallet. After flipping it open, I removed his ID and a few cash notes, which I set on the table before folding it closed again. “Rare,” I called out, tossing the wallet over my shoulder.

The fashionista sprang into action with a sudden flash of light; a sparkling sword had appeared in her hand, which she swung in a formation that resembled a lower-case ‘e’ turned on its side. The first swipe sliced the leather pouch in half, and the subsequent swings cut both pieces in two, effectively quartering the wallet.

She then took a step closer to Hopper and flicked the blade at his chest, making him flinch and then look down just in time to see his tie fall way, sliced off clean just below the knot. He looked up at her again, wide-eyed, to find the tip of that sparkling blade inches from his face.

“Does that ring any bells?” I asked, toeing one of the chunks of wallet.

He glanced down at the floor as his hands slowly rose. “Why… would that ring a bell for me?”

“Well…” I wagged a finger into the air as I stood next to Rarity and faced Hopper. “What if you imagined the wallet was a pile of bodies, and this house” --I guestured around the room-- “was a banquet hall.”

Hopper’s expression went blank when I said this, and his eyes slowly shifted to meet Rarity’s. “At the hotel… that was you?”

“Indeed it was,” she replied, sliding her hand down to cup her crotch through those skin-tight pants. “Mmm…” She withdrew her hand suddenly, balling it into a fist and scrunching her lips, mouthing the word ‘fuck.’

Hopper scowled, cocking his head slightly. “Why?”

“Why?” Rarity snorted, brow raised. “Because there was a young lady in attendance that night; a fresh member of your organisation, who was being celebrated for the… apparent ‘success’ of what gather was meant to be her initiation, which consisted of murdering the family of a dear friend of ours--a friend who’s abilities are not so different than the ones we possess, unfortunately for you.”

Hopper’s eyes began to shift around, putting the story together in his mind. “The Pies… Wait, what was that kid’s name?” he muttered, his eyes coming up to meet Rarity’s. “You’re talking about Gage?”

“That’s right,” Rarity replied. “She --and the rest of you by extension-- made a grave mistake by murdering our friends. We sought her out, tracked her down; the banquet hall? That was simply to repay the debt your group had so ungracefully dropped on us. In searching, however, we found you to be much more far-reaching than we thought; your little ‘Ministry’ brings unneeded suffering to far more people than we originally realised, and it quickly became apparent that the ballroom massacre was just a down payment.”

Hopper shook his head. “Good luck with that. We’re too big to be taken down--even for you. We’ve been around for decades; our foothold is deeper than you think. What do you think you’re gonna accomplish against us?”

Rarity gradually lowered the sword, watching Hopper with a chilling stare. “We’re going to destroy you.”

After a short, grim stare-off, the sword disappeared from sight and Rarity turned to step away, grimacing. “Hngh!” she grunted, adjusting her pants. “My undergarments have gotten rather moist.” She turned back to face me, placing her hands on my cheeks. “Ohh… please, darling, couldn’t we just have a little quickie?”

“Look…”I took her by the wrists and placed her hands on my chest. “I know it’s tough, Rare, but now’s not the time. Sunny’ll be here any minute.”

Just as I said this, the high-pitched buzz of a sport bike became audible from outside. Evidently, the red-head had found a new bike after losing her old one at the bar, and this would have been the first time she’d brought it to Fluttershy’s house.

“See?” I said, after a quick glance at the door. “Speak of the devil.”

“Oohhhh… fine!” Rarity whined, rubbing her temples as she turned away.

Outside, the sound slowly got closer and then eventually stopped. The room stood in silence, listening to the click of a kickstand coming down, followed by the scuffing of feet on gravel. I glanced over at Fluttershy, who had moved to the far side of the table with one arm reaching down in front of her, her hand out of sight behind the tabletop.

Her eyelids ceased their fluttering when she noticed I was watching her, and she quickly brought her hand up and put her finger in her mouth to lick it off.

I sighed and shook my head, rubbing my brow as the front door swung open.

Sunset stepped inside, wearing a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt under a red jacket sporting a fuzzy hood and cuffs. “Hey guys,” she greeted, failing to notice the stranger at the table as she closed the door, standing next to the shoe mat before slipping out of her boots. “Sorry it took me so long. I just got your text about half an hour HOLY CRAP I’M WET.”

She turned suddenly to look at me, eyes wide. Hopper had turned in his seat to face her, brows furrowed with befuddlement.

“Our, uh, powers, “ I began, prompting him to look at me, “have some… glitches, I guess you could call them.”

Hopper brought his attention back to Sunset, who was now looking at him.

“Who’s this?” she asked, biting her lip as she stepped closer to me. “And why do I feel like my… you-know-what… has been supercharged?”

I brought my hands together and rubbed them. “You’re gonna love this, Sunny: we’ve caught ourselves a top dog from a little club called the Ministry.”

“What!?” she gasped, facing Hopper with wide eyes. “How?”

“They attacked Golds at his work today,” Rarity explained. “Quite coincidentally, it seems.”

Sunset looked confused. “Coincidentally?”

I nodded. “Yeah. They were after someone else who worked there, not me--which sucks for them.”

After a short pause, Sunset folded her arms and studied the stranger thoughtfully like she always did. “Huh… that does suck. I take it they didn’t make out too well?”

I cracked my knuckles, giving her a smug smirk. “Let’s just say brain and spinal injuries were the order of the day.”

“Hm…” The red-head nodded slowly, lips pursed. The she drew a breath, leaving her mouth open for a moment before speaking. “One more question: un… why do I wanna fuck you through a mountain all the sudden?”

“Because I’m awesome.”

Sunset huffed and rolled her eyes.

“No-no, that’s… literally it, darling,” Rarity explained. “He saw some action today and… it seems to have caused something of a surge within him, which has caused some very specific… urges… in us.”

Fluttershy nodded. “It’s like an ‘urge surge.’”

Sunset’s brow furrowed as she watched her friends, noticing how squirmy and keen they were. “Wait… you guys are feeling it too?”

The girls nodded.

“Yes,” Rarity replied. “And I assume it now goes double for you, Sunset; don’t you recall after the mission, when we noticed Golds putting off a type of energy--though I think it only extended to those of us who shared his… er, life situation?”

Sunset rubbed her chin, thinking to herself. “Yeah, actually, a little. I couldn’t really tell though, with all the… you know, stuff I was dealing with.”

Sighing, I threw my hands up and waved them impatiently. “OK, can we talk about this later? There’s some shit we kinda have to deal with here.”

Sunset rubbed her brow. “Alright…” she sighed, peeling her coat off and folding it over her arm.

I gestured to Hopper, looking at the red-head. “I’m sure it’s no mystery why I called you out here.”

She pursed her lips and nodded. “Yeah, I kinda figured.” She glanced over at me, smirking. “You know, sometimes I kinda get the impression that you only like me for my mind.”

Appalled by the accusation, my mouth dropped open and I put my hands out, shrugging. “I--… what!? Sunny! You know I like your tits too!”

“Well it wouldn’t kill you to say it more often,” she chided playfully, tossing her coat next to the boot rack. “OK. You got his phone?”

“No,” I replied shortly, to which she looked back at me, sneering.

“What? What d’you mean ‘no?’”

“I smashed it before I left the shop.”

She huffed rolled her eyes. “Why would you do that!?”

“GPS. I didn’t want anyone to be able to track him here. Plus I didn’t want anyone listening through the mic; you know, Big Brother and all that shit--which is exactly why I made Pinks get rid of that Alexa thing.”

Sunset tapped her teeth with her fingernail. “Huh. Makes sense, I guess. Now that you mention it, I’m pretty sure Ingram added something to the app that disables the GPS and the microphone when it’s not being used; the only other devices that can track our phones are other phones that have the app.”

I pointed a finger at her. “That’s exactly why he did it. You never know who’s listening. And don’t call me paranoid for saying that.”

“You’re fucking paranoid,” Sunset replied. “So what about contacts n’ stuff like that? That might have been helpful, you know.”

“I know,” I fired back, nodding, brows raised. “I took pictures of his screen. Don’t worry, I got all kinds of shit: names, addresses, schedules, photos--everything.”

She sneered. “You took pictures of his screen? Why wouldn’t you just send them to yourself?”

“I didn’t wanna put my number in his phone in case I got added to some ‘shared contact’ list or something. Fucking phones are tricky, man; and I wouldn’t be surprised if they had some extra provisions built into theirs, given their profession.”

“Alright, fine.” Sunset waved me off and approached Hopper. “We’ll look at those in a bit. Let me see what I can find out from this guy.”

I gestured to him. “Go for it, Sunny. Let’s get this show on the road.”

Fluttershy, Rarity and I watched silently as Sunset laced her fingers together and turned her hands inside-out to crack her knuckles, after which she curtly reached out to place her palm against the side of Hopper’s neck, closing her eyes.

She kept still for a moment, brows furrowing under the pressure of all the memories that flowed in while Hopper sat stiff, looking rather nervous about what was happening.

Roughly half a minute passed before Sunset removed her hand and stepped away, looking down at the floor. She sighed, rubbing her chin; it was fascinating to watch her organize everything she’d been fed. Her eyes came up finally to meet mine first, then moving onto her friends’.

Then, out of nowhere, her face scrunched up in anger and she spun around, driving her fist square into Hopper’s nose.

He grunted noisily, his head snapping back after the impact. He leaned forward after, eyes closed tightly, cupping his nose as blood began to paint his upper lip.

“Wow,” I said, glancing at Rarity and Fluttershy to see their reactions. “I take it you found some stuff?”

Sunset exhaled through her lips, making her cheeks puff out. “Yeah.”

“Career criminal?” I asked, stroking my chin with my fingertips as I cocked my head.

“Oh yeah.”

I nodded. “I kinda figured; he has that look about him.”

“He’s a piece of shit.” Sunset put her hands on her hips, shaking her head. “So many innocent people dead because of this guy; so many lives ruined--like Pinkie’s. Whether he was indirectly involved or not, it’s because of him that the Pies are gone.”

Rarity shook her head, while Fluttershy simply stared sharply at Hopper.

“He has no qualms about killing people… or beating them to the point of permanent damage. He doesn’t care if it’s a rival, a client, or even one of his own underlings. He even killed his own brother-in-law.”

I scowled at him and shook my head. “Fuck, man,” I huffed. “Your brother-in-law? Dick move.”

Hopper took his bloody had from his face, squinting at Sunset through watering eyes. “How… how do you know all this?”

“She reads minds,” I replied, waving dismissively. Then I pointed at him while looking at Sunset. “OK, are we done with this guy or what?”

Sunset paused, glanced at Hopper, and then waved him off. “Yeah.”

I gave her a little nod and then stepped over to Hopper, grabbing him by the shoulders. Hauling him out of the chair, I yanked him closer and then violently shoved him away, causing his head to whip forward and snap back. A loud crack filled the room, and when I let Hopper go, he collapsed to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

I turned away next, dusting my hands off. “Good.”

Sunset bit her lip as her eyes went up to the ceiling. “I’d rather not admit that watching you break that guy’s neck was kinda hot… but that was kinda hot.”

Rarity cleared her throat. looking down at the corpse as she massaged her own breast. “Er… everything is pretty hot right now, honestly.”

Sunset sighed. “Yeah…”

“Hey, d’you guys remember friendship?” Fluttershy interjected, rather facetiously.

Sunset rolled her eyes and then covered her face. “Flutters… don’t even go there right now,” she said her voice muffled by her hands. “This is, like, not even close to a normal situation.”

The red-head approached the chair previous occupied by Hopper, pulled it out slightly further and sat, leaning on the table with her elbow.

I raised my hands and brought them together with a clap, causing Link to jump as he sniffed the dead body. “OK, Sunny. What’s the scoop? How, and why does a drug lord become a minister? Was it just to taunt everybody?” I turned to face Rarity and Fluttershy. “Some people get off on that shit; they like to flaunt themselves for all to see while they do this illegal stuff. It’s like: ‘haha, I’m right here in front of you and you can’t see shit!’ Pretty sick.” I faced Sunset again. “Or did he do it cuz he actually needed a good cover?”

Sunset shook her head. “It’s the other way around, actually; he was a minister first.”

I cocked my head, surprised. “Huh. Do tell.”

“OK… so, it’s like this…” Sunset paused for a moment, biting her lip. She squeezed her eyes shut as though she was concentrating on something, but then she brought her fists up and shook them. “UGH! I can’t deal with this!” she said as she reached down to unbuckle her belt. “Do you guys mind if I, uh…?”

Our eyes widened in unison when the red-head unzipped and then slid her hand inside the front of her jeans.

“Oh my,” Rarity averted her eyes, rubbing her temple to block her view. “Well I suppose, darling, if you think it’ll help.”

Sunset drew a deep breath, her eyes drifting shut as her hand gyrated rhythmically inside her pants. “Ahhh… OK. Before I start, the first thing I wanna point out is that this guys is bad news.”

“How so?” I asked, glancing over in time to see the shy girl follow suit by shoving her hand down her pants as well. I shook my head, facing Sunset again.

“Well…” She paused to swallow. “There’s a version of him in Equestria as well… and he’s not someone you want to give a whole lot of power to. That’s exactly what happened a few years ago, and he caused a LOT of trouble for… well, pretty much everyone.”

“Does this man have a name?” Rarity asked, approaching the table to sit across from her friend, which conveniently blocked the view of what the red-head was doing.

Upon hearing the question, however, Sunset paused and looked over at the fashionista, and, after a long inhale, gave her answer. “They call him… Father Tirek.”

Rarity and Fluttershy glanced at one another, brows cocked while I rubbed my chin, watching Sunset pause to adjust her hand.

“So what’s this guy’s story?” I asked.

“Uhm…” Her eyelids fluttered slightly. “It goes back a long time--forty years, to be exact; in the early eighties, Tirek and his younger brother were youth pastors who devoted all of their free time to the church, when they weren’t attending classes at the University--the same one Twi is going to now. They were well-liked by the community, and they were known for volunteering at retirement homes and soup kitchens, as well as lending an ear to listen to members of the congregation who needed advice, whether it was about relationships or work or family.” Sunset paused, and then shook her head. “But it all came to an end in 1983.”

“What happened?” I asked, leaning on the end of the table.

“Drug gangs,” she replied simply. “Back in those days, there were several gangs that competed for dominance--violently, in many cases. They would carry out ‘hits’ on one another for dominance, each of them hoping to gain a monopoly, which would essentially make them a superpower; if they were the only ones dealing, they would make more money than any one person could even dream of--much like the Ministry does today.

“Unfortunately, this gang war crossed paths with the young pastors. This one night, they were at the church late counting the earnings from a local pork roast fundraiser they’d held that weekend, when a bunch of men busted in through the main doors and hid in the sanctuary. Tirek and his brother heard the commotion from the minister’s office, and so they went to investigate.

“They entered the sanctuary from the side door, trying to see if someone was there, and… right then, another group came in through the same door and opened fire on the first group. The first group fired back, and the brothers were caught in the crossfire--right in the middle of a gang war. Tirek’s brother, being the peacekeeper that he was, threw his hands in the air and stepped between them, shouting for them to stop, ‘this is a house of god, yada-yada’ --you know the shtick-- but they didn’t listen, and he was shot multiple times. Neither gang seemed to care. It was just collateral damage to them.

“So Tirek had to find cover on the sidelines, and was basically helpless to watch his brother lie there and bleed to death. He didn’t dare try to go help him for fear of being hit himself. The police didn’t show up until the fight was over; everyone in the first group had been shot dead, and by the time Tirek was able to get to his brother, he was already gone.”

Fluttershy covered her mouth. “Oh my, that’s so sad!”

“Indeed,” Rarity added, lacing her fingers together in front of her chin. “Such a heartbreaking story.”

“But it doesn’t end there, does it?” I asserted, to which Sunset’s eyes widened.

She shook her head. “Nooo. Not by a long shot.”

“So what happened, darling?”

“Well… there was an investigation that followed, obviously, and it was found that the gangs involved were the two biggest in the city, but the side that won the shootout happened to be the smaller of the two. The police were able to determine who that gang’s leader was and they made an arrest, which led to the rest of the members dissolving and joining other gangs, leaving only the largest gang in the city to contend with a group of way smaller ones. In a way, even though they lost the fight at the church, they won the war when the police made the arrest--which they were able to avoid themselves due to lack of evidence.”

“So what happened with Father Tirek?”

Sunset drew a breath. “He basically withdrew. His grades a school began to suffer, and he spent less and less time at church and with his parishioners. There was an outpouring of public support for him, but it didn’t help much--in fact, he avoided it.” She looked around at the three of us. “D’you know what something like that does to a person? It messes with their mind, especially if they’re unable to cope and they avoid seeking help, which is exactly what Tirek did. He became hateful and angry; he became vengeful towards those who were responsible for his brother’s death. He became deranged.”

Sunset closed her eyes for a moment, her brows furrowed as air puffed from her nose. She shifted in her chair, separating her thighs more to grant her fingers better access.

I let my head hang, trying to be patient with her. “You’re doing fine, Sunny. Take your time.”

“It feels amazing, actually,” she breathed, pursing her lips afterward. “And it’s helping me focus, believe it or not.”

I waved my hand in a circle. “OK then, keep going.”

The red-head drew a breath. “Hoo! Ok… so, I gotta talk about the dad to explain the next part.”

I raised a brow at her. “Whose dad? Tirek’s?”

She nodded. “He was a Vietnam vet. He raised his boys military style; taught them how to shoot, how to handle themselves in a fistfight, and he taught them stealth tactics. They did well, especially since Tirek and his brother were big boys, but this was also the one area that the brothers differed.”

“How so?” I asked.

“Well, Tirek, like his father, believed it was important to know how to defend yourself and your loved ones, but his brother was more of an idealist. He believed that peace and understanding was the answer, that force was rarely necessary. Their father also held this belief; in fact, he held both sides of this dichotomy as being true and that there was a balance to be maintained between them. It was like his sons were himself, split in to two people.

“Unfortunately, this belief was also why Tirek survived the shootout at the church that night and his brother didn’t, and Tirek’s beliefs are what led him to the revenge that he eventually sought.”

“What revenge?”

“With the second leader in jail and his gang dissolved, there was only the first gang left, and their leader became Tirek’s target. After some basic research, he went out posing as a client looking for a dealer, and upon meeting with one from that gang, he surprised and overpowered them with ease, and he tortured them for the identity and home address of the gang’s leader.

“Long story short, he was able to sneak into the gang leader’s mansion in the middle of night. Surveillance technology was a lot easier to get around back then, which left the place vulnerable to someone like Tirek, who used the things his father taught him to get himself inside with ease. He entered the gang leader’s bedroom where he slept, woke him up by covering his mouth --so he would be awake to see his own demise-- and he stabbed him straight through the heart with his father’s combat knife.”

“Oh dear,” Fluttershy said, covering her mouth with her free hand. “What does something like that do to someone like him, a man of faith?”

Sunset drew a shaky breath. “Well, usually, with revenge you see the person left empty, mostly because killing the person who wronged you hasn’t brought back the person they lost, and plus they feel guilty for taking a life on top of everything else.” She paused a moment to shake her head. “No Tirek, though. He actually felt a sense of satisfaction after the avenging his brother--something that his brother and his late father wouldn’t have condoned.

“Whether Tirek knew it or not, this was when his faith in the lord died, even though he continued on as pastor; he returned to church every Sunday and began to help the community again, spending his free time talking to those who needed help and guidance. Even his grades at the university got better again.

“But… little did he know, his interactions with the crime world were just beginning. You can’t take down the leader of the biggest gang in town and not expect that to set a whole new turn of events into motion.”

Rarity shook her head. “Certainly not; violence as an answer to violence simply breeds more violence--unless you are able to completely eradicate the opposition, of course.”

“That’s true, usually,” Sunset agreed. “But things didn’t play out the way most would think. You see, that particular gang had some… unusual codes of conduct; they operated in a way that was similar to a monarchy, meaning that: if you kill the king, you become the king.”

Rarity’s eyebrows rose when she realised what this meant. “Oh…”

“This became apparent to Tirek, when a large case of cash mysteriously appeared in the minister’s office. As it turned out, this was his ‘share’ of the profits for the month as the new leader, which at the time he didn’t understand.

“It happened again a few weeks later, and so for the third delivery he hid in the church and was able to catch them in the act of delivering the money. He asked them why they were doing this, and they explained it to them. The answer obviously enraged him, as it was a slap in the face to his reasoning for taking revenge on them in the first place; the last thing he wanted was to take profit from the group who were responsible, as he saw it, for his brother’s death.

“After beating the ever-loving shit out of them, he sent them back with a message to leave him alone. A few weeks later, though, another case of money was delivered, and another one after that, and another and another, and so on.”

“So he became the unwilling leader of a city-wide drug ring? Wow,” I said, shaking my head at the prospect. “So what’d he do?”

“He didn’t really know what to do,” Sunset replied. “He did his best to ignore it, and he hid the money in the storage closet, but eventually problem that arose was that he ran out of space. The room was literally full of money, from floor to ceiling, and it became a source of stress for him, even though he kept the room locked at all times to keep anyone from finding it.

“Things eventually changed though. There was a bad storm about a year later that damaged the roof of the church pretty badly. There was a chunk that’d been torn off, and the rain was coming into the sanctuary and causing water damage. The problem was, there was no insurance coverage on the roof, so he was left high and dry with no way to pay for the repairs--except for the drug money, which, after resisting for a week or two, he finally broke down and used it fix the damage.

“And this is when he started to see the benefits of having this cash. He started to actually meet the delivery men when they came, even going as far as to ask what the figures were. He looked forward to their visits. He was becoming involved in their world.

“But his newfound pleasure didn’t last. Eventually, the numbers began to diminish, and he was seeing smaller and smaller deliveries each time. This became a source of disappointment for him, and he enquired to his delivery men as to why profits were falling. The interesting thing is, he’d been taking business and marketing at the university, which was a course he excelled at, and he began to apply that to the drug trade, telling the delivery men what to do in order to boost the returns.

“Lo and behold, it actually worked. The deliveries began to grow, which encouraged Tirek to use his knowledge to direct them even further, and eventually the profits doubled… and then tripled. But it didn’t stop there.”

I shook my head. “Of course not. If there’s one thing that’s always been true of people, it’s that the more power or money you give them, the more they want. They’ll never have enough to satisfy them.”

Sunset pointed at me. “Bingo. Tirek became greedier the more he made, and he became obsessive about profits and how to increase them. He was ruthless to the smaller competitors; he had them eliminated either by recruitment or simply making them ‘disappear,’ but at the same time, he obsessed about his own safety and his image. He maintained his squeaky clean image as a reverend and performed his duties every Sunday, as well as ensuring his physical safety in order to prevent what he did to his predecessor from happening to him. He bought properties and built on them, his main ‘headquarters’ being solely designed to maintain his safety and secrecy.”

I closed my eyes and shook my head when I heard this, waving my hand to stop her. “Wait, hang on, how was he able to do all this without raising suspicion? Didn’t anyone wonder where he was getting all this money from?”

Sunset shrugged. “In a city that size, corruption is not hard to find. He made sure the real estate agents and contractors he dealt with were willing to be bought, and they became members of his payroll--I mean, it’s not like he couldn’t afford it. If there was one thing Father Tirek understood, it was that you have to spend money to make money. So his base of operations --a large office building in the high end of town-- is still in use today, and has received several upgrades over the years to stay ahead of the tech curve.”

“Nothing Twilight and Ingram couldn’t overcome, I’m sure,” Rarity pointed out, to which I nodded in agreement.

Sunset nodded as well. “We’ll see how that goes. We’ll have to get her working on it.”

After rubbing my chin for a moment, I raised a finger to ask a question. “What about the church? Doesn’t that make him vulnerable? He would have to appear in public in order to fulfil his duties, would he not?”

“That’s right,” Rarity said. “What would stop me --or anyone else, really-- from waltzing in there during his sermon and taking him out?”

Sunset shook her head. “The problem is his image. We might know the truth about him because we read someone’s mind, and yeah, any one of us could go in there and take him out pretty easily. But how would that look to the public? We can’t definitively prove that he’s a massive drug lord, and if we could, then he would just be arrested. We’re trying to make the Dark Mistress a symbol for good; we want the public to see us as being on their side, not a psychopath that goes around killing ministers. Even if the truth came out later, most people will still have that image of you killing the reverend ingrained in their minds.”

Rarity gestured to Hopper’s body. “But what of these men? Surely they could be used to link the crime ring to Father Tirek? We could expose them to the police, who would help us by making his transgression public.”

I quickly shook my head. “I don’t want the authorities involved in this. First of all, I’ve already killed them and brought their bodies out here, which would raise too many questions straight off the hop, and it brings too much attention to me--as well as you guys, by extension. If we’re gonna expose Father Tirek, we have to do it ourselves.”

Sunset nodded. “That’s right. We can’t trust the police anyway. Tirek has many politicians, judges, cops and Celestia knows who else in his back pocket. Dirty cops keep him protected, and they actively obstruct the good cops who try to investigate the drug epidemic; they keep them away from the truth, and if any of them persist, they end up silenced for good. Going to them for help would just put us a risk of being exposed.”

Rarity sighed. “Hm.”

“The Sunday services are the only time he appears in public anymore,” Sunset continued, “and I can tell you he makes sure he is safe: he wears a bullet proof vest under his garb, and he keeps himself armed in case of an emergency--which he has yet to use since no one will dare try to murder a reverend in front of his congregation, IF anyone other than the insiders knew the truth about him. ”

“And where is he the rest of the time?” Rarity asked, pressing her thighs together to try to subdue the throbbing in her womanhood.

“He never leaves his safe house,” Sunset replied. “He is obsessive about security, but like you said, Twilight and Ingram might be able to have a look at the blueprints for his building, but there will most likely be things in there that are not showing in the documentation, whether it was kept secret in the first place or added later. So getting in there without making a huge scene would be easier said than done.”

“That doesn’t sound very promising,” Fluttershy mumbled, biting her lip and exhaling softly. “I think it would be a lot easier to just take him out in the church, but we’d have to expose him first to do it.”

“I agree,” Rarity said, pointing at the shy girl. “I think it is important to expose him to the public as our alter-egos rather than taking him out under the radar. People need to know that he is behind so much of the issues that plague that city, and it would solidify us as the bringers of justice; I couldn’t imagine a better way to enhance our optics as heroes.”

“I totally agree with that,” I said, looking at Sunset. “We have to expose him for what he is, take down is empire and out his partners in crime--the police and so on. But we need real proof; I know it’s easy for you to learn their secrets just by reading his mind, but we can’t tell everyone else based on that. They’ll never believe it.”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah, I know. We have to do this the right way.”

“And we must do it quickly,” Rarity added, her resolve strengthening. “We cannot allow a tyrant to run an entire city. He is destroying the lives of vast amounts of people; just imagine the audacity it would take to go around having innocent families like the Pies murdered, when this whole thing started by a member of his family being killed in the same way. That is the very definition of hypocrisy!”

Sunset raised her brows. “Oh, believe me, he’s aware. He may be sitting pretty in his castle, safe and secure, but deep down he is extremely conflicted. Only those who are extremely close to him are aware of this--like Hopper here. The idea that he has become the very thing that he swore to destroy for taking his brother from him has made him despise himself. He knows damn well what he’s become; he feels he’s betrayed his brother for immense personal gain, and it’s left a hole in him that he tries to fill with more money, power and the false morality that he puts on every Sunday, but that only makes it deeper and deeper.

“He longs to return to the days when he preached the good word to the masses alongside his brother, who he misses to this very day, and he has contemplated suicide many, many times, thinking that if he did it, they might be reunited. He is a very sick man--a sick man with a LOT of power.”

I let out a sigh. “It’s pretty normal. A lot of people become the exact thing they hate when these things happen. They are driven by anger and revenge, but most often they are irrational beyond reason.”

Sunset raised a hand at me. “Oh, believe me, this whole thing terrifies me. The fact that someone like this has been running an organisation like this all these years is a nightmare. The Tirek from my world is exactly the same way: he is a power-hungry sociopath, and he will stop at nothing to be on top; add that to how this world’s Tirek was raised, plus the education he has, and you have the perfect recipe for what exists today. What went down in that church that night couldn’t have happened to a worse individual.”

I pointed at the body on the floor. “How’d this guy come into the picture?”

Sunset sighed, looking down at Hopper. “He was a troubled young teen whose parents brought him to the church for guidance. Father Tirek quickly saw the wrong kind potential in him, and he introduced him into the world of crime, drugs and money, using him as a violent hitman to do his dirty work. His parents became suspicious when their son’s behaviour didn’t improve, but before they were able to figure out what was happening, a tragic ‘car accident’ was arranged for them, and they were silenced forever.”

“That’s awful,” Fluttershy gasped.

“So Father Tirek and this man were quite close then?” Rarity asked. “It would be safe to assume then, that we have dealt a rather devastating blow to the reverend by taking this man out. Could this be the catalyst that may draw him out, making him easier to expose?”

I shook my head. “I don’t think so. I think after today he’ll be laying low for a bit.”

“What makes you think that?” Sunset asked.

“Because I called him from Hopper’s phone before I destroyed it.”

“What!?” the girls exclaimed in unison, eyes wide.

“Yeah,” I chuckled. “I trolled him a bit just for fun, but I also made sure to put a little fear into him to buy us some time.”

“How?”

“I told him I took his guys out, and I told him that we’ve been watching them and we knew they were coming--I even told them that we were the ones who butchered their little banquet.”

Sunset and Rarity gasped.

“Darling! You told them that!?”

“Yeah.”

Sunset pinched the bridge of her nose. “Ugh! Why would you do that? You just linked yourself to the hotel massacre, and since they know you work at that shop, they can trace you back here to Fluttters’ house, and then from here to the rest of us!”

I shook my head and shrugged. “What? No, I never said I worked there. I made it sound like I followed his men there, which goes back to us keep tabs on them. He can’t trace us, and he has no idea who we are, so like I said, he’s gonna lay low until he knows more.”

The girls calmed down slightly, glancing at one another.

“I see,” Rarity muttered, rubbing her chin as she looked down at the tabletop. “Clever.”

I raised my hands to continue. “Like I say, we’ve got some time to work with, so we’re gonna use it to find a way to expose the good reverend, and Twi is gonna try to figure out that building of his. In the meantime, I’ve gotta get Pinks trained so we have a full team when the time comes to make our move. What do you guys think?”

“How much time do you think we have?” Sunset asked.

“Weeks. Maybe even months.”

“That long!?”

I nodded. “We’ve hit them pretty hard. They’re gonna be watching their step for the next little bit. In the meantime, we keep an eye on them while we get ready to take them down for good.”

Sunset exhaled through pursed lips, her cheeks puffing out as she pulled her hand from her pants. She held it up and splayed her fingers, showing us the webs of thick moisture that stretched between them. “Wow… that is one wet fucking pussy.”

“I say, darling,” Rarity said leaving her spot to approach me, placing a hand on my shoulder. “It’s going to be a while before the others arrive; perhaps you could put that time good use by scratching our… *ahem*… itches?”

I put my hands over my face to rub it. “Oh my god, you guys. I’ve a long couple of nights already, and today was kind of a shit-fest, so I’m honestly not in the right mood for that right now, if you can believe it.”

“Are you fucking kidding me!?” Sunset snarled. “You’re seriously gonna turn the three of us down, especially when you’re the one causing this?”

“Yes, darling… you cannot leave us in this state; it’s not fair!”

Just then, the front door opened, which prompted the four of us to spin around to see who it was.

“Howdy, partners!” Applejack greeted with a tip of her hat.

Gritting her teeth, Sunset raised her fists and shook them. “GRR! What the fuck are you doing here, AJ!?”

Applejack paused after closing the door, glowering at the red-head. “Uhh… just comin ta visit my friends? That a crime now er what?”

Sunset slapped the table and threw her hands in the air, standing from her seat. “OK, I gotta go. I can’t deal with this; I’m just gonna sit this training night out,” she rambled as she headed to the door to get her boots and jacket.

“Wait, Sunset,” Rarity pleaded. “You’re going to miss Pinkie Pie’s suit unveiling!”

“I’ll see it another time,” she said, quickly as she pushed past AJ to leave.

As the door closed behind her, the farm girl looked back at it and then at us, pointing over her shoulder with her thumb. “So what’s up her ass?”

“Nothing, unfortunately,” Rarity replied, folding her arms despondently on the table as she accepted the fact that neither she nor Fluttershy was going to receive any relief.

“What’s that supposed ta mean?”

I pointed at the farm girl. “How’d you sneak in here like that? We didn’t hear your truck coming.”

“Ah, well…” She put her hands on her hips. “I put a new muffler on my truck so it’d be easier ta sneak out at night.”

I paused for a moment, and then nodded, understanding her point.

“So what’s goin on here anyway?” AJ asked as the sound Sunset’s motorcycle buzzed away into the distance. “Why’d Sunset just storm outta here like that?”

“Give it a few moments, darling, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

“Eh?” Applejack replied, confused. Then she narrowed her eyes and sniffed the air.

We hadn’t realised it due to olfactory fatigue, but the room had in fact been permeated by the scent of female arousal. Being polite as she was, AJ decided she didn’t want to know the answer, so she shook it off and pointed to the man on the floor. “Who’s this?”

“It’s a long story,” I replied.

She cocked her head at the response, looking suspiciously at me. “Does it have it anythin ta do with that tarp in the back a’ yer truck?”

“Possibly.”

“Whatcha got under there?”

“Bodies.”

“Huh?”

“Dead bodies.”

She raised a brow, and then glanced down at Hopper again. “He dead too?”

“Yup.”

Applejack stood for a moment, licking her lips thoughfully.

“As we said, darling, there is something of a long story to be told here.”

Sighing, AJ removed her hat and dropped it on the table. “Yeah, I’m startin ta get that impression.”

“Why don’t you have a seat and we’ll bring you up to date?” Rarity offered, gesturing to Sunset’s former seat.

“Alright,” AJ said, raising her hands. “Just gimme minute ta go ta the can; I feel like I gotta piss all the sudden.”

Rarity cringed, drawing a breath that hissed through her teeth. “Yyyyeah… I that’s not it, darling.”

Author's Note

Not the easiest thing to describe, so here is what a pissed-off lynx sound like.

Chapter 148: Pinkie's First Training Night

Chapter 148

The sound of stones scraping steel echoed across the Riverfield, its undulating landscape illuminated under a full moon. I released the handle of the shovel I’d just stabbed into the pile of dirt I made, and I turned around and bent down to grab two of the corpses by the ankles to toss them into the mass grave like a pair of full garbage bags.

Once they were all nestled into the pit, I grabbed the shovel and began scooping the dirt on top of them.

Not far away, a group of enamored young women --all except Sunset, who’d been ‘pressured’ to opt out for the night-- stood in silence, admiring the perceived grace and power of each and every one of my movements.

Eventually, Rarity brought a closed hand to her mouth and cleared her throat rather intrusively. “Ahem, er… are any of you going to look at Pinkie Pie’s outfit?”

One by one, the other’s snapped out of their daze and turned to look at the party girl, whose luscious, pink curves had been stuffed into the tight, shiny black material of her very own mistress suit. Like the others, it featured the pointed collar and deep V-neck, her plump, pink cleavage nearly popping out of that low-cut valley. On her hips were three balloons--one yellow, two blue. Down each of her arms was baby blue pinstripe.

“What do y’all think, homies!?” Pinkie squealed, throwing her hands into the air to present herself, her baby blue eyes sparkling with excitement through that dark mask.

“Um… oh!” Fluttershy cooed, pausing for a moment to glance back at me once more. “I, um… I like it.”

“Yeah, you look totally awesome, Pinkie Pie,” Rainbow Dash agreed.

“Ya sure do,” Applejack added, tipping her hat back with her thumb. “Except… hey, Rarity? D’ya think ya got that top tight enough? Her titties ain’t quite touchin her chin yet.”

Brows furrowed, Rarity glanced at that pink bust and then looked back at Applejack. “What ever do you mean, Applejack? I think they look splendid!”

“Yeah!” Pinkie interjected, striking a rather amateurish-looking stance. “I could use them as some sort of attack mode,” she continued, speaking in a deep voice to sound like the Mortal Kombat announcer. “A sexyyyy victory!”

Rainbow Dash chuckled at the joke, and the girls’ attention slowly returned to me to watch dreamily as I tossed scoop after scoop of dirt onto a pile of dead bodies. Moments passed in silence, save for the sound of soil being scooped and thrown; it was Twilight who finally spoke, after glancing down at the pair of phones she held in her hands.

“Oh… Pinkie Pie, it looks like the app is finished uploading on your phone,” she said, turning to approach the party girl. “OK, so this is the application that connects us when we are suited up. It also allows us to interface with various security and surveillance systems throughout the city.”

“Ooooh! Sounds fancy!” Pinkie giggled, leaning down to see the screen more closely.

Sighing at the lack of attention her latest outfit had received, Rarity approached the other girls and stood next to Fluttershy to take her hand and join in watching me bury the bodies.

Applejack drew a breath and folded her arms. “Golly, I… didn’t know diggin a hole could look so good.”

“It’s fucking hot,” Fluttershy added, staring like a catatonic person.

“Indeed.” Rarity swallowed.

Rainbow Dash was watching as well, but remained silent as she tapped her chin with her thumb.

I could practically feel their eyes burning into me from behind, and I sighed as I slapped the loose dirt with the back of the shovel to pack it down. Then I stabbed the tool into the undisturbed grass next to the grave, dusting my hands off as I turned to approach the group. I stopped though, when I noticed how intently they were staring at me, aside from Pinkie and Twilight, who were busy talking over the app.

“Why don’t you guys take a picture? It’ll last longer.”

Fluttershy, Rarity and Applejack quickly drew their phones and did exactly that.

I just rolled my eyes and walked through them to fetch my jacket, which I had set aside to keep it from getting dirty.

“Ooh! Let me help you with that, darling.” Rarity approached quickly and snatched the coat from my hands to put it on me. “There we go,” she said as she smoothed the shoulders out, followed by the back. “Oh dear, you’ve got some dirt on your pants, my love. Here, let me get it for you.” The fashionista brushed her hands down my backside to knock the alleged filth away; the slaps got harder and harder, however, to the point where she was practically spanking me, ending with a hard slap to my left glute that remained planted and slowly became a tight squeeze.

I turned to look at Rarity, only to find her biting her lip as she dug her nails into my ass. “You, uh… need to stop.”

Her eyes shot up to meet mine suddenly, staring vacantly for a moment before forcing an awkward smile. “Of course, I was just… er…”

“Molestin him?” Applejack finished for her.

Rarity scowled at the farm girl. “Certainly not! I was just… cleaning him off,” she replied, giving a few more gentle pats to my rear.

“I’d like to clean him off too,” Fluttershy confessed, licking her lips as she stared me up and down. “With my mouth… right after he pulls out of you, Rare.”

“Ugh! Jeez!” Rainbow Dash quickly turned and marched off toward Twilight and Pinkie.

“Um… too much?” the shy girl asked, watching her friend walk away.

“Eh… yeah. Maybe a little bit,” AJ answered, adjusting her hat nervously. “Yikes.”

Rarity placed her hand on my shoulder. “So sorry, darling, but you must understand: these feelings your power is causing are rather difficult to suppress. It’s very easy to let our guard down and let something lewd slip out, like if I were to, out of nowhere, say it would be sublime if you took me behind that bush over there, tore my pants off and stuck that wonderful cock up my--“

I raised a hand to stop her. “Just… seriously.” I stepped away to stand alone in the dead grass left over from the previous year, taking a moment to myself by drawing my phone to check for messages.

In the meantime, Twilight was bringing Pinkie Pie up to speed on the app.

“Right, so you see here?” the lavender girl said, holding the phone so Pinkie could see it. “You actually have access to nearly every security camera in the city--most private servers are unavailable unless I tap into them manually, which we do on a case-by-case basis.

“Through this app, you actually have the ability to select any camera by scrolling through the list, or you can even split-screen up to four cameras at once if you need to see more than one place at a time. Not only that, you can disable any camera you like, or you can pause the footage, loop it, garble it, play it backwards, or… you can… have him pin you against the wall and… pump you full of semen.”

Pinkie narrowed her eyes and leaned closer to the screen. “What? Where does it say that?”

Twilight cleared her throat and looked around the group, her cheeks darkening when she realised everyone was looking at her. “Sorry… everyone, I… I-I’m a little distracted tonight. I’m beginning to see why Sunset decided to sit this one out.”

Rarity smacked her lips. “She… did not handle it well.”

“I’m actually feeling kinda funny too!” Pinkie squawked, twisting her body around inside that tight suit. “It’s like my poontang has its own heartbeat, and it feel really warm, too! Look!” she said as she grabbed Twilight’s hand and cupped it over her crotch.

“AAH! PINKIE, I…” Twilight gasped before pausing suddenly, brows furrowed. “Oh my gosh, that is warm.”

Shaking my head, I stuffed my phone into my pocket having heard the entire exchange. Looks like tonight’s not gonna be very productive, I thought as I turned to face the girls. On my way around, however, I caught a glimpse of Rainbow Dash, standing still, biting her lip as she stared intently at my lower extremities.

I paused, surprised by this, prompting her eyes to come up to meet mine, realising she’d been caught.

“Fuck, man; you too!?”

Dash sneered, folding her arms. “No!” she replied defensively. “I was just… thinking about something.”

“Would that somethin have anythin ta do with smashin gash? Heh heh!”

“Hey, shut-up, AJ!” Dash snapped, flipping the bird at Applejack, who laughed some more.

I raised my hands to stop them. “OK, look. I know you guys are having a tough time with the... energy, or whatever it is, but we’ve gotta get serious. We’re not out here to goof around; we’re here to train. This isn’t a game. When our plan to take out the Ministry is ready, we[/i[ need to be up to snuff or it’s not gonna work.”

Applejack nodded and clapped her hands, rubbing them together. “Golds is right. We gotta get this show on the road!” she announced as she tilted her hat and marched towards me. “Alright, Pinkie Pie, this is how ya fight. Now watch closely: I’m gonna attack Golds, with a left hook, like this.” The farm girl demonstrated by raising a fist and slowly thrust it toward me. “Now, he’s gonna counter it,” she continued, glancing back at Pinkie. “Like this.”

Applejack reached out with her other hand to take my arm by the wrist, and then she proceeded to place my hand on her left breast.

“Now ya see? He’s stopped me from gettin any closer.”

Sighing with frustration, I let my head fall back to look into the sky.

AJ raised a finger at Pinkie. “So here’s whatcha do: you go in quick and hold ‘em so he can’t move.” She reached out, cupped her hand over my crotch and groped my manhood, which I couldn’t fucking believe.

I jerked to the side, pulling out of her grasp.

“Ah, now ya see? He’s parried the attack, so what yer gonna do now is take his arm,” --which she did-- “and get yerself close, so he can’t swing at ya.” Taking my hand from her breast, AJ held my arm and spun herself in close, coming up against me with her back. “Now whatcha gotta do is grind. Just grind.”

Applejack did just that, grinding her backside against my junk, while Rainbow Dash covered her face and groaned.

“Alright, ENOUGH!” I barked, shoving the farm girl away. “Goddammit, AJ! What the fuck was that!? Who the hell grinds on someone’s dick during a fight?”

Now several feet away, Applejack turned slowly and tapped her fingers together, looking rather sheepish about herself. “I… I dunno…”

“You--“ I stopped to shake my head, my eyes downcast. “I literally just said we need to get serious, and the first thing you do is come at me with that nonsense?”

Applejack sighed, rubbing her brow. “I’m sorry, sugarcube, it’s just… UGH!” She shook her fists suddenly. “IF I DON’T GET ME SOME PECKER REAL SOON I’MMA START PUNCHIN THROATS!”

Exasperated, I took a moment to rub my face with both hands in an attempt to relieve he tension. Then, after a sigh, I raised one hand. “Ok… just calm down, AJ. Now look, I know this is hard for all of you, but I need you guys to stay focused, OK? We need Pinks to be ready in time or the takedown, and not only that, I am really not in the mood to be gang-raped by you guys right now. It has been a very long day.” I gestured to the freshly-covered grave. “I had these assholes show up at my work, trying to kill innocent people--my boss included. And it wasn’t just him that was there; your friend Flash was there too. You guys do realise that if I wasn’t there he’d probably be dead right now, right?”

The girls were surprised by this news.

“Wait, Flash Sentry was there!?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, eyes wide.

“My word,” Rarity said, covering her mouth with her fingertips. “What was he doing there?”

“Picking his car up. Lucky for him, I was there.”

The girls took a moment glance around at one another, after which Twilight faced me again.

“Sorry, Golds. We weren’t trying to be disruptive, or… uh, rapey, I guess. Is that a word? I-I’m sorry, it’s just… this feeling we’re having is really… really distracting.”

“Yeah. And havin wet britches ain’t helpin neither.”

“It’s doesn’t matter!” Rainbow Dash burst out suddenly, pointing at the others. “I’m not into all this shit, and if you guys are gonna try and start some weird gangbang shit, I’m outta here!”

I nodded and pointed at the rainbow-haired girl. “Yes! Thank you,” I said, facing the other girls. “See? You guys are making Dashie uncomfortable; me and her aren’t like that, so you’re making this whole thing kind of weird for her.”

“Exactly.” Dash said, folding her arms.

Sighing, Rarity’s arms fell to her sides. “Alright, darling. We’ll try our very best to behave.”

I gave a little bow with my head. “Thank you. Now let’s get started.” The girls parted as I approached Pinkie, rubbing my hands together while taking a moment to look her over. Then my eyes stopped at the little black pouches on her lap. “I see Rare made the additions that I requested to your suit; that’s good. Can you guess what those are for?”

The party-girl looked down at them for a moment, then back at me. “Is iiiiiiiit… to carry bus fare?”

I stared at her for a moment and then sighed. “Uh, no. I don’t foresee a time when you’ll be taking the bus while in suit. I’ll give you a hint: it has something to do with your magic.”

“Ummmm…” She rubbed her chin thoughtfully, they her eyes suddenly lit up. “OOH! Are they to keep oats in!?”

I stood still, mouth agape. “Oats…” I muttered incredulously, to which Pinkie threw her hands in the air.

“Well I don’t know! I give up!”

Frustrated, I took a step closer, holding one hand out and chopping my palm with the other to emphasise my words. “They’re to hold weapons, Pinks! I need you to pick something that you can fill them with; something small, that you can hold a lot of. Then you have a ready supply of things you can charge with your magic --however that works-- and you’ll basically have a plentiful stock of what are essentially hand grenades.”

Pinkie’s eyes widened with excitement at the idea. “Ooh! That’s a great idea! What if… what I filled them with candy?”

I cringed a bit. “Uh… preferably not, cuz if you eat them all then you’ll be unarmed.”

“Hmm…” Pinkie rubbed her chin, looking very serious. “You know me well, Goldie-Woldie.” Then her face lit up again. “Ooh! This is so cool! It’s just like X-Men; you’re like Professor Xavier, and we’re all like the X-Men, but with titties, and you’re teaching us all how to control our powers and use them to their fullest, just like in X-Men! WE’RE THE X-MEN!”

Raised my hands to wave her off, shaking my head. “No, Pinks; this is nothing like X-Men. Not even remotely similar. Now I was thinking: you could maybe keep a deck of cards in those pouches; you could carry lots of them, and they’d probably get some pretty good distance if you learn to throw them good.”

Pinkie gasped and reached up to grab two fistfuls of curly, pink hair, gritting her teeth. “What!” That’s exactly like X-Men!”

“What?” I sneered.

“She kinda has a point, Golds,” Dash interjected. “Throwing exploding cards is literally identical to what Gambit does. And my speed thing is pretty much like Quicksilver. And Rarity did the Wolverine claws…”

Gasping, Pinkie looked over at Rarity. “Rare-Bear! You have Wolverine claws!? Let me see!”

“Oh yeah,” I muttered, rubbing my chin while the fashionista held her hands up and summoned the blue claws, making Pinkie giggle with glee. “Jeez, is there anything out there that hasn’t already been done?”

“I dunno, man,” Dash shrugged. “Nothing’s really original anymore.”

I placed my hands on my hips and looked at the rainbow-haired girl for a moment, nodding. “Hm. And let me guess, the ‘Us’ base was probably in a game or something, right?” I asked, gesturing into the air.

She shrugged again. “Could be; I dunno.”

I shook my head and faced Pinkie again. “Ok, well, anyway… give it some thought, Pinks; you don’t have to make a decision tonight. Remember, it has to be something you can carry lots of, and it should be easy to throw with at least some accuracy.”

Pinkie placed a finger to her temple. “Not to self: do good.” Then she grinned and gave me a thumbs-up.

I snorted and shook my head, glancing over at Rarity and Fluttershy, both of whom looked rather embarrassed about the mockery their friend was making of her first training session. After a deep breath, I faced the party-girl again. “OK, Pinks, let’s get started on some hand-to-hand.”

***

A fair slice of time passed, and surprisingly, Pinkie had progressed quite well.

Oh who am I kidding? Things were going terribly.

Pinkie was standing in the tall, dried grass several feet from the group, swinging her hips back and forth, their shape accentuated by the tight material. Her fists were raised, and she was stirring them around in a circular motion. “Ooh! Mm! Ah! Yeah!”

I sighed noisily. “Pinks… what the hell are you doing?”

“Cabbage patch!”

“Why.”

“Cuz you told me to!”

I shook my head rapidly, caught off-guard by this nonsense. “What!? I never once told you to cabbage patch!”

She stopped suddenly, her sky blue eyes shining in the moonlight, their playfulness contrasting powerfully against that dark mask. “You didn’t?”

I marched toward her, hands raised. “How would that be helpful in a fight? Come on, Pinks; it’s been over a half hour and we haven’t done a single thing yet.”

She raised a finger. “Not true; we’re well on our way to inventing a new martial art: dance fighting!”

I spun around to face the others with my hand on my forehead. “God, I liked her better when she was depressed!”

Applejack was shaking her head, standing with her arms crossed. “Yeah, she was purty much like this in high school too--don’t know how she ever graduated, ta tell ya the truth.”

Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement. “Totally. I haven’t seen her act like crazy in years.” She faced the party girl, holding her hands out. “Pinkie! You gotta pay attention and be serious! Golds is trying to teach you some awesome shit--and it’s pretty bad when I’m the one having to tell you that.”

Pinkie responded with a jolly giggle. “Yeah, what the heck, Dashie! You used to be all about the goofing off!”

“This isn’t time for goofing off though, darling,” Rarity interjected.

“That’s right,” Twilight added. “What’s Golds is teaching you requires serious commitment. His training isn’t a game; it’s a lot of work, and at times very intense. If you can’t listen and focus to what he’s showing you, then this is gonna be a long and difficult process.”

“Actually it’s gonna be super easy, barely an inconvenience!” Pinkie stated, rather matter-of-factly.

Looking up at the moon, I drew a deep breath and reached up to rub the back of my neck. While I appreciated the girls’ help, I was beginning to wonder if Pinkie was going to be teachable. It wouldn’t have been the first time I’ve run into someone like this--well, maybe not exactly like this.

AJ approached and removed her hat to scratch her head thoughtfully. “I’m sorry about her, sugarcube. I didn’t expect her ta act like this.”

Dash stood on the other side of me, arms folded. “She’s kind of being a pain in the ass. Hey AJ, remember how Principal Celestia used to get the teachers to talk about things that would keep Pinkie’s attention, like using cupcakes in their word problems and stuff like that?”

Applejack put her hat on and pointed at Dash. “Hey, yeah! Mr. Cranky fuckin hated havin ta do that.” She turned to me with a tap on the arm. “That’s what ya gotta do, Golds: ya gotta teach her in a way that’ll get her interested; ya gotta make it fun fer her or she won’t be inta it.”

I closed my eyes and huffed. “I am NOT teaching her to fight while cabbage patching.”

“Not like that,” Dash said. “Just… take what you gotta teach her and… just, I dunno, blend it together with shit she likes.”

I shook my head and rubbed my brow. How the fuck do I do that? I thought, trying to think of something Pinkie liked that I could use to capture her interest. Then I paused abruptly, looking off across the field.

“Hey… Pinks,” I called, stepping over to the party-girl.

“Hey, Goldie-Woldie!” she replied quickly, swinging her hips back and forth.

I stopped a couple paces ahead of her, folding my hands behind my back. “Kick me.”

Rainbow Dash shook her head and Applejack groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Ugh… that ain’t gonna work, sugarcube. Yer basically doin the same thing.”

I kept my eyes on Pinkie, ignoring the advice coming from behind. “I said, kick me.”

Pinkie brought a finger to her chin, narrowing her eyes. “Hmmm…” Then out of nowhere, she kicked my shin. “YA!”

I stepped closer, looking down my nose at her. “What was that? An exhibition?” I brought a finger up to tap my temple. “We need… emotional content. Try it again.” I stepped back and waited.

After a moment’s pause, Pinkie raised her hands into the air --along with one knee-- and she stood there, balancing on one foot.

“What are you doing?”

“Crane kick. It’s super effective, right?”

This was good. She was on the right track, but not quite there yet. “Oh sure, it’s super effective against morons who run face-first at you. But what about people like me, who can do this?”

Without warning, I lunged at Pinkie and knocked her onto her back. The other girls gasped at this, but they remained silent and watched.

Lying in the dried grass, she looked up at me, surprised, as I stood over her.

“I said emotional content, not silliness.”

She was still for a moment, and then, out of nowhere to anyone but me, she scrunched her face and thrust her foot upward to kick me in the stomach--which had no effect, of course. I looked down at myself, and then back at Pinkie before offering my hand to her. She took it, and I brought her to her feet once again.

“How did that feel to you?” I asked, stepping forward, which made her retreat a step.

Pinkie furrowed her brows and looked down at the ground, rubbing her chin.

I reached out and bopped her forehead with the heel of my hand. “Don’t think!” I barked, Feeeeeeel…” I turned and put my hand to my cheek point into the sky, looking down my index finger like it was the barrel of a gun. “It is like a finger, pointing away to the moon.” I looked back at Pinkie and gave her boop on the nose, drawing her attention from my hand as I gestured to the starry night sky. “Don’t concentrate on the finger, or you will miss aaaallllll that heavenly glory.”

The party-girl’s eyes began to widen, and she drew a long, deep breath of excitement; by then, it was obvious that she’d figured out what I was doing. “’Enter the Dragon’…” she whispered with a wondrous smile plastered across her face.

“But more importantly, Bruce Lee.” I hooked my fingers together behind my back and took a few thoughtful steps from Pinkie before stopping to look back at her. “Probably the only man I ever respected as a fighter… who wasn’t trained by me. The speed, the power; he was as close to superhuman as anyone ever got. Truly an amazing accomplishment.”

“Oh yeah, the guy was totally awesome,” Dash agreed.

I pointed at the athlete. “And his philosophies weren’t that much different from mine, at least when it came to the mindset of battle.” I turned to face Rarity and Fluttershy next, snapping my fingers and then raising my hand to stir it around in the air.

The gesture quickly got their attention, and they quickly darted away in opposite directions, circling the group with a silent swiftness.

I turned back to Pinkie and slowly swept my hand in front of her face, making her eyes follow my fingertips as they slid by. “It’s an unacting acting, or an acting unacting… you see?”

Pinkie’s eyes darted back and forth. “Uhh…”

“Heh! Lost you have I?” I took a step back and raised a finger. “What you need is a combination of both. Natural instinct and control; you must combine the two in harmony. If you stray to either extreme, you become either unscientific, or you become too mechanical--no longer a human being. You need a successful combination of both: not pure naturalness or unnaturalness. The ideal is unnatural naturalness, or natural unnaturalness.”

I paused for a moment to let that sink in through all those pink curls, to which Pinkie replied: “Uh… could you repeat that?”

I brought my fists up and clenched them tightly, shaking them before her. “You’ve got to train. You’ve got to keep your reflexes, so that when you want it, it’s there,” --I snapped my fingers when I said this-- “and when you want to move, you’re moving. You become one with the idea of ‘you think… it is.’

“Empty your mind; be formless, shapeless--like water. If you put water into a cup, what happens?” I paused for a moment to hear a response, which turned out to be a simple shrug. “It becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle; you put it into a teapot, it becomes the teapot. You see?”

Pinkie tilted her head to the side, pursing her lips as she contemplated this. “It adapts to its surroundings, which means I should too, right?”

I nodded. “Yes. Running water never goes stale, so you gotta just keep on flowing, but most importantly, water can flow…”

When I said this, Rarity and Fluttershy came seemingly out of nowhere and surrounded Pinkie, swiping and kicking at her without ever touching her, but coming close enough that the party-girl could feel the breeze from their fists and feet. She shrunk into herself, surprised by the attack, but before she knew it, they were gone as quickly as they came. Pinkie looked at me, her eyes wide with befuddlement as I continued.

“Or it can crash.”

The girls shot out of the darkness again, this time striking the party-girl, one across the back of her knees and one across her shoulders, causing her to flip head-over-heels in mid air before landing face-down in the dead grass. She quickly rolled over to find me standing over her, hands behind my back.

I bent down to face her more closely, smirking. “Be water, my friend.”

Applejack chuckled suddenly, shaking her head and slamming her right fist into her left palm. “Dang it, I just love hearin this shit.”

I stood and glanced over my shoulder at her. “It’s not really my shit, to be fair, but it’s a hundred percent demonstrably true. I should know, I’ve been living it for centuries. Mr. Lee was one of the few who got it, aside from myself.”

Facing Pinkie again, I reached down to offer her my hand. “Ready for more?”

She stared at my hand for a moment, then her eyes met mine as a resolute grin found itself on her lips and she reached up to take my hand to be brought to her feet.

*****

Not long after sunrise, Fluttershy’s front door opened and the seven of us stepped inside, our lively chatter and laughter filling the room as we entered. We were met by Link, who was sitting in the center of the floor, waiting patiently for our return.

“Ooh!” Rarity approached him and dropped to her knees, pressing her lips to the cat’s forehead while she tousled his shaggy jowls. “Look at you, you beautiful sweetheart!” she swooned, drawing a deep purr from the animal while some of the others made their way to the couch, and others to the counter or to the back room to use the facilities.

“That was an awesome training session,” Dash said, sitting back on the couch and aiming the remote at the TV.

“It sure was,” Applejack agreed, sitting next to the rainbow-haired girl. “Once Golds finally got Pinkie Pie under control, anyway.”

“I say, darling,” Rarity said as she stood to approach Fluttershy, who was at the sink filling Link’s water dish. “Would it be easiest to simply have the weekend dinner here, since we’re all here already?”

“Of course,” Fluttershy replied, bending down to set the bowl on the floor by the end of the table. “Everyone’s welcome to stick around for the day.”

“Makes sense ta me,” AJ said over the back of the couch. “No sense leavin just ta come back again.”

“Yeah, as long as everyone can keep their pants on,” Dash warned.

Everyone paused at the remark, and then, one by one, their eyes all moved onto me. I was by the door still, hanging my jacket up while suddenly feeling quite nervous about being stared at like a piece of meat.

Rarity sighed and waved Dash off. “Oh, darling! We’ll be fine; the effect is noticeable, but I for one am getting used to it. I’m sure all of us will be in complete control, so there is no need to worry.”

“Oh yeah?” Dash challenged, lowering her voice as she pointed to the hall that led to the bathroom. “You really think Twilight had to go to the washroom that bad?” she queried, after noting how quickly the lavender darted out of sight when we entered the house.

After a short silence to contemplate what this might have meant, Pinkie was the one ot break the silence. “Dashie… are you saying you think Twilight went back there to flick her bean?”

“Well, obviously! Why wouldn’ty I think that-- GAH!” Dash turned away from the party-girl suddenly, raising her hands to block the view. “Come on, Pinkie! Jeez!”

“What?” Pinkie shrugged, her hand shoved down her own pants.

“At least Twilight had the decency to go do that alone!”

Pinkie glanced down at herself, and then, with a roll of her eyes, sighed and pulled her hand from her pants, putting her finger in her mouth to lick it off.

“Well…” Rarity was tapping her fingertips together. “I suppose… we all deal with it a little differently; there’s no need to make fun of anyone over it.”

“I’m not making fun,” Dash replied. “I’m just pointing out that it’s proooobably not the best idea to have all of us cooped up in this little house with Golds with all these… uhh, feelings going on.”

Fluttershy, who was leaning on the table to watch Link lap water from his dish, spoke up. “Um… well, actually, I was thinking: since it’s so early still, and dinner won’t be until later afternoon, that gives us all day to, um… let Goldie look after us--you know, one at a--“

I waved my hands to stop her. “Whoa whoa, wait, w-w-w-wait, Flutters. First of all, I don’t think I’ve got enough gas to fill all your tanks, if you catch my meaning. And also, you guys need to understand that what you’re feeling isn’t real. None of you actually want to fuck me; it’s just a product of… magic, or whatever it is, and I don’t feel right about taking advantage of you all because of that.”

“I dunno, sugarcube. It feels purty real ta me.”

“Yeah, and besides,” Pinkie added, “isn’t this basically the same thing that happens to Sunset all the time? And you’ve been feeding her the mushroom soup for months now! Aren’t you being a bit inconsistent here?”

I shook my head. “No, cuz when she first told me about it, I didn’t do anything with her. We had an understanding about it. The problem was that we ended up stuck in a car together for like two months straight, and she could only hold out for so long.”

Dash turned around and aimed a finger at me. “See, now that I can respect! The fact that you won’t take advantage of us when we’re clearly under this weird influence shows that you’re a classy dude --surprisingly-- and to me it means that you actually care about us, and not just our pussies.”

“Our sticky toffee pussies?” Pinkie added with a giggle.

I cocked my head, hands raised. “I appreciate that, Dashie, but to be honest, if this happened on another day and I was in a different mood, I might be game for it; but after what happened yesterday with those guys attacking the shop, I’m just a little… I dunno.”

Just then, Twilight emerged from the hallway, looking slightly more content than the other girls. She stopped suddenly, however, when all eyes fell on her.

“Uh… hey. What’re you guys talking about?” she asked innocently.

“Nothing, darling,” Rarity assured her. “We were simply discussing what to do about our… er, sexual appetites, if that’s what you’d like to call it.”

“Ah,” Twilight said, after a pause. “Right.”

“Look,” I sighed, rubbing behind my ear. “Why don’t I just go?”

The girls looked surprised by this.

“Oh, no-no, darling. That won’t be necessary,” Rarity said, approaching me with a somewhat hurt expression.

“Well, I was just thinking,“ I explained, ”if what you guys have is like Sunny’s, then it should go away if I put some distance between me and you guys. I could go hang out at the shop or something, that way you guys can enjoy yourselves without having to go through the torture of… you know, like--”

“Having a throbbing wet pussy that yearns to be filled with hard cock?” the fashionista blurted suddenly, slapping her hands over her mouth afterward.

“Uh, yeah. That.”

“Ugh…” Applejack shook her head. “Don’t worry ‘bout it, sugarcube,” she said, waving me over. “Come on and have a seat with us and we’ll watch a movie er somethin. We’ll be fine. We were fine out in the field all night; we’ll be fine here too.”

“Yes.” Rarity smiled. “Have a seat and relax, darling. The last twenty-four hours have been taxing on you; why not enjoy a movie with us, and Fluttershy and I will make a lovely breakfast for you? Sound good?”

I drew a deep breath and then nodded. “Alright. Thanks, rare.” I leaned down and gave her a kiss, then she headed for the counter while I made my way to the couch. I sat at the far end, next to AJ, looking down at the other three girls--four if you counted Twilight, who, seconds later, sat between Rainbow Dash and Pinkie.

“OK, let’s see what’s on,” Dash said, aiming the remote at the TV to flip through the channels.

We sat in somewhat awkward silence as the images and sounds flickered by, feeling the tension build between us as the girls’ bodies radiated unnatural levels of heat, their musky yet inviting scents filling the air.

Only a few moments had past when Pinkie leapt from the couch, throwing her fists in the air. “RUSH ‘IM!”

*****

Sighing, Sonata Dusk watched despondently as she watched the end credits roll across the TV screen. She looked down to the end of Rarity’s couch, spying the remote sitting on the armrest, just out of reach.

After a deep breath to brace herself, she leaned over to reach for the device. He body tensed up suddenly, however, when that frustratingly familiar pain fired through her side, dull, deep and intense. After a brief hesitation, she grimaced and stretched for the remote, forcing herself to endure the pain so she could have the freedom to find something new to watch.

After a successful retrieval, Sonata straightened up and sighed, letting her head fall back to stare at the ceiling while she waited for the pain to fade. Sweetie Belle had been there to look after her earlier that morning, but Sonata had encouraged her to go out with her friends, insisting that she would be fine by herself for a few hours.

She was now beginning to realise this was a mistake.

The siren rubbed her side for a moment and then exhaled noisily, raising the remote to search the movie menu.

Then she heard a noise. It sounded like the front door unlocking.

Sonata hit the mute button, listening closely as the sound of Rarity’s front door opening drifted down the hall. “Who’s there?”

“It’s me,” a familiar male voice replied, making Sonata scowl with confusion.

“Gold boy?”

“No, Gold man.”

After kicking my boots off, I made my way down the hall to Rarity’s front room, pausing when I found Sonata sitting in the middle of the couch with the TV remote in her hand.

“Hey.”

“Uh… hey?” she replied.

“Mind if I hang out with you?”

Sonata raised a brow. “With me? … I guess so, if you want.”

I nodded quietly and then made my way to the couch to sit next to the siren, watching her continue to scroll through the menu.

“So… where is everybody?” she asked.

“At Flutters… for the Saturday thing.”

“Oh, yeah.” She nodded. Then she looked at me again. “Howcome you’re not there?”

“They, uh… tried to gang rape me--well, except for Dashie.”

“Yeah, Dashie’s pretty cool.”

I turned my head slowly to look over at her. “Is that all you have to say about that?”

“About what?”

“Being raped by the Rainbooms.”

She lowered the remote and looked back at me, furrowing her brows. “Hm. That is kind of weird. Why would they do that?”

I shrugged, knowing I couldn’t tell her the truth since she wasn’t privy to the whole immortal thing. “I dunno. Something in the water I guess--or maybe it’s the right time in their cycles.”

“Maybe. So you came here to get away from them?”

“Yeah--well, more so cuz I needed a safe space.”

“Oh, heh.” Sonata chuckled softly, facing the TV again. “Well you don’t have to worry about that here; I won’t try to bang you. It’s been like three days since I’ve showered --or is it four? I can’t remember-- but anyway, yeah. I’m not exactly fresh downstairs, if you know what I mean. It’d be like pulling apart a day-old grilled cheese or something.”

I crinkled my nose at the image. “Nasty. Thanks.”

She continued to search the menu in silence while I watched.

“Is Rare’s sister here?” I asked.

“Nah. I told her to go out and have some fun.”

“Oh…” I glanced at her and nodded. “That’s cool.”

Eventually, she picked out something to watch. The two of us sat contently, watching the film, making the occasional small talk between interesting scenes. About a half hour in, Sonata has become engrossed in the story and was rather quiet; I, however, found it rather uninteresting, and so my mind began to wander.

Grilled cheese… Jesus, that’s gross. I sighed, letting my head flop to one side. For the first time since the attack at the shop, I was starting to feel relaxed, and some of my perspectives were beginning to change with respect to some recent events--the girls’ behaviour in particular. I can’t believe ALL of them were all riled up just like Sunny. What a clusterfuck. Although… I wonder what would’ve happened if I actually stayed behind.

Curiosity began to flood my thoughts as I explored the possibilities further. How would that even work? Would I go back to Flutters’ room with them one at a time? Would I even be able to cum that many times in a row? What if it happened with all them at once? Like in the front room on the couch…

A light fluttering made itself known in my midsection when the images started flowing through my mind. What if… they all got naked and sat back on the couch and put their legs up over their heads? It’d be like a smorgasbord of pussy--wet pussies that have been horny all damn night. I could just start at one end and sink my dick into each one; maybe fuck her until she cums then move on to the next. What order would they be in? Twilight first? Then AJ? Then Pinks, then Rare and Flutters...

I cocked my head brows furrowed. What about Dashie? Would she do it? Would the magic be strong enough that she would give in or would be just leave? Dammit, now I’m curious. Not just about that, but what would it feel like to bottom out in all of their pussies one after the other; would I be able to feel a difference between them? Like in tightness, wetness, temperature, texture… fuck! Imagine if Sunny came back and I poked all seven of them in a row like a fucking pogo stick bouncing along…

My manhood began to stiffen the more I thought of this. What if I went from one to the other for like… thirty seconds each? How long would I last? Who would get filled with my load while the others watched, wishing it was them getting it?

I turned to study Sonata. Ever since she’d mentioned her hygiene situation, it was easy to notice the gleam on oils on the bridge of her nose and across her forehead, not to mention the dark, stringy greasiness of her hair. Plus there was a hint of body odour coming from her, which had become noticeable from this close a proximity from her.

WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING HERE!? I thought, facing the TV again, biting my lip. “What was I thinking coming here? I could be at Flutters’ right now, having a massive fuck fest with a bunch of horny, sexy women, but nooooo! I had to be all moralistic and triggered by those thugs from yesterday, and now I’m sitting here with this greasy fuck watching a shitty movie.”

“Are you OK?” Sonata asked, snapping me out of my rant.

“Huh?”

“You seem a bit fidgety.”

I drew a breath, rubbing the back of my neck. “Um… well, to tell you the thruth, I’m not really sure why I came here, instead of… uh--”

“Having a gang bang with a bunch of hot chicks?” she finished.

I let my hand fall to my thigh with a dull slap. “Yeah, pretty much.”

“I was kinda wondering that myself,” the siren confessed. “You’re kinda weird sometimes.”

“Well… it was kind of overwhelming in the heat of the moment,” I defended. “I had some things on my mind and I just… I wasn’t… I dunno.” I huffed and ran my fingers through my hair, looking down at the floor. Then, after a moment of chewing my lip as I ruminated on my options, I quickly stood and turned to look back at the siren. “I’m gonna go back.”

Sonata was taken aback. “Really?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “I mean, how often does a guy get the chance to fuck a room full of beautiful young women? I feel like I’ll be kicking myself later if I don’t do this.”

She looked down at the floor, her face blank. “Huh… yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Exactly,” I replied, turning to head for the front door.

“Wait--OW!”

I stopped to look over my shoulder at the siren, whose left arm was outstretched, with her right arm clutching her side. A painful grimace marked her face.

“Don’t go.”

I furrowed my brow at her, caught off-guard by the request.

“Please?”

“Something wrong?” I asked, turning to face her with my whole body.

She withdrew her left hand and chewed her fingernail, looking to reluctant to speak. “It’s hard… being alone, having to look after myself.”

“I thought you said you told Sweetie Belle to go because you’d be OK?”

She sighed. “I thought I would be. But it hurts to move around--a lot more than I thought it would.”

Sighing, I glanced toward the front door again, and then back at Sonata. The desperate look on her face caused a pang of guilt to run through me, and it suddenly became very difficult to want to abandon her to go get my rocks off with a bunch of magically-crazed women. Not only that, but --and I hadn’t admitted this to anyone-- I had gained a tremendous amount of respect for the siren when she defended the young trio against her own sisters, putting what could have been her very life on the line to do so.

She was a brave a hero as any I’d seen in my time; I couldn’t leave her behind like this.

“Alright,” I sighed, putting my hands in my pockets as I glanced over at the TV. “I’ll stay.”

A smile appeared on her face. “Thanks, Gold b--um, Golds.”

I forced a smile in return. “No problem.”

“Sorry about keeping you from… you know. I’m sure they’ll try to rape you again sometime.”

I chuckled, looking down at the floor and a scuffed my toes against the carpet. “Thanks. Yeah, fingers crossed, eh?”

She snickered back, but then her eyes went back to the TV. “We don’t have to watch this if you don’t wanna; I can tell you’re not really into it.”

I drew a breath and held it, glancing once again at the screen. “Uh… yeah, I mean, we can watch it if you want.”

“Nah.” Sonata lifted the remote and turned the TV off. Then she tossed the device aside, looking at me again.

I cleared my throat, not knowing what to do or say next. “So, uh… what’s the plan then?”

She looked down at herself. “Well, like I said, I haven’t showered in, like, for-EVER; I should probably have a shower and change my bandages before it gets infected or something.”

I nodded, looking to Rarity’s big chair for a place to sit while I waited. “OK.”

“Could you, um, help?”

I looked at the siren again, my face going blank. She was looking up at me somewhat sheepishly. “Help? How? Can’t you do it yourself?”

She shook her head. “I need help getting undressed. It hurts too much to do it myself.”

I felt a little swirl of tension down in the pit of my stomach, and my eyes darted back and forth nervously.

“Please?” She shrugged innocently.

I sighed and rubbed my face. “Alright, alright. I’ll give you a hand. Hey, if you’re gonna keep me from the girls, at least seeing you naked will kinda make up for it, right?”

She rolled her eyes. “I guess--just don’t get any funny ideas,” she replied, reaching out with both hands. “Here, hang on to me, but don’t pull; I have to lift myself up or I’ll hurt.”

“K,” I said as I stepped closer to take her hands.

Once in Rarity’s bathroom, I closed the door behind me and then turned to face her.

“Here,” she grimaced, lifting her arms above her head, the left one hesitating slightly.

I approached her to take the hem of her shirt with my fingertips and I lifted it upward, slipping it over her head, causing her to grunt slightly when I jostled her arm a bit.

“Sorry,” I said, dropping her shirt on the floor.

She was wearing no bra under that shirt, and with it now removed, her breasts stood bare before me. They were more petite than some of the other girls’, but they were quite perky; carrying a subtle crescent shape that came to a point at her nipples--one of which was pierced with a silver barbell. They were soft and shaded in a slightly darker than the rest of her, but also laced with a slightly pink hue.

They jiggled rather sweetly when Sonata took a step back and twisted herself to look down at the bandage that was taped to her side. Gritting her teeth, she picked at the corner with her fingernail until she was able to get a hold of it and slowly peel it away, revealing a two inch wound, held together by a row of stitches.

My brows furrowed as I watched her inspect the wound for a moment. “How does it feel?”

“It’s a lot better than it was,” she sighed, “but it still hurts quite a bit when I move.” She stood straight again and looked at me, her nipples having gone erect in the cold air. “OK,” she said, reaching out with her hands to place them on my shoulders. “Pants.”

I nodded and, feeling a bit self conscious on her behalf, slipped my thumbs inside the pyjamas she was wearing and pushed them down past her hips, panties and all before letting them fall to the floor on their own.

Sonata cleared her throat as she stepped out of them with one foot and then kicked them against the wall with the other. She then turned and lifted a foot to step into the tub, shamelessly revealing her little blue butt to me in the process, which, to be honest, was cute as a button.

In the tub, she stood and waited as I dropped to my knees to turn the faucet on. While I positioned my hand under the tap to test the temperature, my eyes wandered over to the siren’s shins; I lingered there for a moment, noticing the remnants of a large bruise just below her knee that I presumed was a result of the fight, but then I let my sights travel upward, following her smooth thighs to her abdomen, at the center of which was a cute little cleft created by a pair of chubby, blue lips. Above that was a dark blue patch of hair, trimmed into a neat landing strip similar to Rarity’s, only wider.

My eyes continued upwards, tracing her slender figure until I reached her breasts, watching them point forward like a pair of soft spears, one of them decorated by that shiny metal piercing.

That was when I noticed she was watching me.

I quickly looked down at the faucet again. “Sorry.”

“It’s OK.”

I removed my hand from the stream and shook it off. “That should be good,” I said as I pulled the knob to turn the shower head on. As soon as I did, though, there was a burst of icy water that sprayed the unprepared siren’s bare skin, making her flinch violently and tense up.

“AAH! COLD!”

“Sorry again.”

*Chapter 149: Taste the Rainbow

Chapter 149

The moon shone down over the Riverfield’s rolling landscape, broken cloud formations creating dark patches not unlike those of a dairy bovine. In the midst of it all, two female warriors were locked in battle--one of them intense, ferocious, and the other looking rather bored as she fought off her attacker. Both of these women sported a full head of pink hair: one bouncy and curly, one smooth and light, complimenting her buttery-yellow skin.

I pulled my phone out to check the time--and for messages.

’1:15 AM
Saturday, May 6th, 2023’

Hm… where the hell is she?

Six weeks had passed since the capture of the reverend’s right-hand man, and in that time the girls and I had made astonishing progress on many fronts. Pinkie’s training for one, had gone very well after an unpromising start; once I’d learned how to maintain her attention, however, she turned out to be a much more focused and enthusiastic student. Her fighting style had become refined yet simple, like mine, while adding in her own little flavours, which could be described as ‘unorthodox,’ for lack of a better term.

This was a good thing, in my opinion, as very few opponents would able to contend with the curve balls she would surely hurl their way--sometimes in hilarious fashion.

The Ministry, as predicted, had been quiet; we, however, were not.

Twilight and Sunset, with the help of Mr. Ingram, had made significant strides in learning the layout and security systems of Father Tirek’s tower, the fortress from which his entire operation was run. Obtaining information was not as easy as other buildings, though. Blueprints taken from the city database were largely incomplete and simplistic-looking--far too simplistic for what this structure was used for.

More investigation was needed, and even though it took more time to do, it was really no challenge for the brilliant duo. After learning who the contracting company behind the fortresses design was, Sunset got into contact with them to discuss a phony project of her own, and in doing so was able to join her mind with the man behind the blueprint, harvesting a great many secrets from him in the process.

As for me, the ‘vibes’ I’d been radiating had fortunately only lasted a few days before reducing to a low-level signal. This was a good thing, since the amount of ‘service’ expected from me was unmanageable; luckily I had the excuse of having to go to work until things returned to normal--or near normal, to be accurate. As with before, the energy didn’t disappear completely, rather, it was expected to hang on for several weeks, just as it did after the rescue mission: strong enough to notice, but not so strong that the girls couldn’t control themselves.

Overall, things were going well. Training was progressing on schedule, and the plan to take down the Ministry was nearing completion--assuming they didn’t make a move that would require us to change our strategy.

I slipped my phone back into my pocket, returning my attention to the fight. Pinkie continued to advance on the shy girl, forcing her back, but unable to score any actual hits on her. Fluttershy was a step ahead, every single time; every punch was blocked or missed the mark entirely, every kick was stopped by a slip-on shoe and frilly sock wearing foot.

Pinkie responded by turning up the throttle, which I knew would be futile against such a precise opponent like Fluttershy. What she needed was to employ one of her little tricks, but I said nothing--Pinkie needed to learn for herself that the only way through a locked door is to escape through a window.

With a weighty thrust, Pinkie drove both fists at the shy girl’s chest, which was blocked when Fluttershy crossed her forearms to absorb the blow, which had enough power behind it to knock her back a few steps. Using the space created, Pinkie threw her hands to the ground and cart-wheeled forward, using her feet to kick on their way down.

The attack missed, however, and after returning to her feet, Pinkie threw a right hook that was blocked by a slender, yellow forearm, followed by an attempted uppercut, which was also thwarted when Fluttershy caught Pinkie’s wrist, stopping her fist just inches from her chin.

Face-to-face with eyes narrowed, the girls stared each other down, locked in stalemate.

I cocked my head, rubbing my chin as I waited to see how Pinkie would handle the situation.

“You’re getting better,” Fluttershy said softly. “But you need to be faster, and you’re, um, patterns are becoming too easy to predict.”

“Oh yeah?” Pinkie replied with an arched brow and a smirk. “Even this?”

The shy girl’s eyes dropped when the captive fist opened before her chin, revealing a small stone sitting in its palm, shimmering with pink energy. “Oh dear…” Fluttershy murmured, her eyes widening suddenly.

BOOM!

A bright flash illuminated the field in an instant, and the two girls were blown in opposite directions, landing and rolling in the mixture dried and lush, freshly sprouted grass that covered the ground.

“HA!” I laughed, bringing my hands together in applause as I stepped forward into the battle zone. “Beautiful, Pinks! Now that’s what I’m talking about! Think unpredictably, fight around your opponent’s strengths, use your magic, and you WILL win, every time.”

The party-girl sprang to her feet, grinning from ear-to-ear. “You liked that!?”

I snapped my fingers and pointed at her. “It was perfect, Pinks. Brilliant. Anyone who’s able to take Flutters down like that had got to be on their ‘A’ game, so you should be proud of yourself.”

Giggling, Pinkie brought her hands together and clutched them to her chest, bouncing with glee.

“I must ask though, darling,” Rarity said, raising a finger. “Where did you get that stone from?”

Pinkie shrugged. “I picked it up when I did the cart-wheel. That was the whole reason I did that.”

“Heh!” Apple chuckled, tipping her hat back. “Now that’s usin the old noodle!”

“Agreed,” Rarity added, along with a golf clap. “Very clever.”

I turned to look over my shoulder at Sunset and Twilight, who stood together a short distance away, their faces lit by Twilight’s phone. “D’you guys see that?” I asked, prompting them both to look up at me.

They looked up at me one at a time, then shifted their eyes onto the party-girl.

“Oh… hey yeah, that was great, Pinkie,” Sunset said.

“Yeah, good job,” Twilight added somewhat absentmindedly, before the both of them returned their attention to the screen.

I shook my head, knowing that was about all the reaction we would get from them. Clearly, they were discussing the building --as they had been for weeks-- and as usual, they tended to become so engrossed in it that they became oblivious to what was happening around them.

“Are you OK, Fluttershy?” Pinkie asked from behind me, prompting me to look in the shy girl’s direction, some forty feet from the party-girl’s position.

“Ugh…” The shy girl groaned softly as she got to her feet, blinking her eyes widely. She forced a smile and nodded after a moment, giving a thumbs-up in Pinkie’s direction.

“Heh heh heh!” AJ laughed, clutching her stomach when she saw the shy girl’s hair, which had been blown straight back behind her during the blast. “Fluttershy --heh heh!-- ya look like ya just did a space jump er something! Heh heh!”

Grimacing, the shy girl reached up to smooth her hair, her cheeks beginning to darken in the moonlight.

“Oh, darling,” Rarity cooed, stepping toward the shy girl while facing Applejack. “Don’t make fun of her, Applejack! You wouldn’t like it if you were laughed at after having an explosion go off in your face.” The fashionista pulled a white and gold brush from her handbag as she approached Fluttershy. “Luckily, I come prepared for just such an emergency.”

“Tsh!” AJ sneered as she watched Rarity run the brush through the shy girl’s hair. “I was just having a lil’ chuckle, Rarity; it ain’t no big deal--right, Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Um, no. I guess not.”

“Hold still, darling.”

I shook my head, having a little chuckle of my own--not because of my girlfriend’s hair, but the irony of it all. A year ago, when I first met these girls, during our little misunderstanding, one of Pinkie’s explosive rocks had landed right next to the shy girl, putting her life in extreme danger. At the time, it was a big deal; now, the exact same thing just happened and it was actually kind of funny.

Applejack reached up to adjust her hat. “You think I’m bad, just imagine if Rainbow Dash was here! She’d be teasin ya ‘til the cows came home.”

“Where is Dashie, anyway?” Pinkie asked, marching through the tall weeds to approach me. “Have you heard back from her yet?”

I shook my head. ”No. I just checked a minute ago.”

“You did send out the notification fer tonight, right?” AJ asked.

“Yeah,” I replied. “Like, four days ago--and she said she would be here, so I dunno.”

“You don’t suppose she went out in suit, do you?” Rarity asked, turning away from brushing Fluttershy’s hair.

“I think she knows better than that,” I said. I turned to face Twilight and Sunset again. “Hey, Twi? Can you see where Dashie is?”

Twilight glanced up at me for a moment. “One sec…” She swiped and tapped at her screen for a moment, and then looked at me again. “It looks like she’s at home--or her phone is anyway.”

“That still doesn’t mean she hasn’t gone out and simply left her phone at home,” Rarity pointed out.

“I dunno. I don’t think she’d do that,” Applejack said.

I raised my hand to wave the topic away. “It’s fine. I’ll go find her in the morning. Right now, we gotta keep going.” I brought my hands together and rubbed them. “Ok, Pinks, who’re you gonna spar with next?”

“I don’t care!” Pinkie shrieked, sweeping her finger across the field to point at each of us. “I’ll take any one of you on!”

I pointed at myself. “How about me?”

Her face went blank suddenly. “Uhh…”

*****

Morning. The sun had risen over an hour ago, and its warm, comforting light flooded into Rainbow Dash’s apartment windows in the form of wide, rectangular beams that cast glowing squares on the carpet.

The athlete herself was slouched down on her couch, staring at her laptop screen. Thinking the night was free, she’d started out by playing video games for several hours, unaware that she was supposed to be at the Riverfield with her friends. By about 5:00am, however, she’d gotten bored with gaming --or more accurately, less interested in light of something else-- and she turned the TV off in favour of opening her laptop in search of a different type of entertainment.

The type of entertainment she desired was a very specific one; something that would help her to relieve the bit of tension she’d noticed building up in her nether regions. This activity had become a more regular habit in the past few weeks, ever since the incident at Golden Arrow’s place of work, the result of which was an irresistible energy that caused Rainbow Dash and her friends an insatiable craving for sex--a craving that she relieved by herself the very second she was along in her apartment.

The sensation it created was phenomenal, and if left her wanting more. It had faded over time, though, and she was left with watching cheap pornography in hopes that it would generate the same level of arousal--which it never did.

Still, it never hurt to try. Repeatedly.

“Awww yeah…” she smirked to herself, slipping her hand under the laptop and inside her pyjama pants. “Mother’s teaching her daughter how to fuck.”

Dash bit her lip, watching the poorly acted scene play out; a nervous looking young man sat on couch in a fancy-looking living room, his body tense as a young, small-breasted girl with braces pulled his pants down, revealing his erection while a botoxed woman with mismatched implants watched on, coaching her ‘daughter’ to suck the young man off.

“Yeah, suck that big dick,” Dash whispered as her finger slipped into the moist slit between her legs, sending a jolt of pleasure through her body as she watched that veiny mast disappear down the young girl’s throat. Oh god, what I wouldn’t give to have one of those in my mouth right now… she thought, biting her lip as she stroked herself slowly, but firmly. Hngh… I’d take it in my mouth first, then in my p--

The video froze suddenly, much to her dismay, taunting her with that infuriating pinwheel, spinning perpetually in the center of the screen.

“UGH!” she growled, teeth gritted. “Fuck, the wi-fi sucks here!” She brought her free hand up to rub her temple, hoping to relieve her frustration. “They’d better fix this shit soon or I’m gonna move out.”

Just as she began to circle her clit with her middle finger to pass the time, Rainbow Dash was interrupted by a firm knock at the door. Holding her breath, she turned her head to face the source of the sound, furrowing her brows. Who the hell is this now? she wondered.

“Who is it?” she asked, after clearing her throat.

“It’s Golds,” a familiar, but muffled male voice answered through the door.

It was probably the best and worst voice Dash could have imagined hearing right then, all at the same time. “Golds? What are you doing here? Am I getting another free car?”

“Answer the door, Dashie.”

Sighing, she slid the computer to the side, setting it on the cushion before hitting the pause button, which had no effect. She hit it again--still nothing. The pinwheel just kept spinning. “Shit!” she whisper-yelled, hitting the button several more times.

“Dashie?”

“Dammit!” Rainbow Dash shook her fist at the computer, gritting her teeth in frustration. “Come on, you fucking thing! PAUSE!”

“Dashie!”

“Ugh!” She reached up to pull her hair, standing from the couch to make her way to the door. After just two steps, she spun around again to point at the laptop. “You better fucking be paused,” she threatened, “or so help me, god!”

“The fuck’s going on in there?”

“Yeah, I’m coming! Hold your horses!”

Outside in the hall, I listened as the athlete shuffled around inside the apartment, making her way closer to the door, the locks of which eventually clicked so it could be swung open, revealing the rainbow-haired girl herself.

She looked somewhat flustered, which was odd, considering her casual outfit. Her muilti-coloured hair was pulled back into a ponytail, leaving just a few of her bangs to hang loose across her forehead. She was wearing a white T-shirt with a red collar and short, red sleeves, its front decorated with a rainbow-coloured lightning bolt protruding from the bottom of a cloud.

Below that, she was wearing a pair of dark blue yoga pants, decorated with multicoloured triangles. Her feet were bare, showing off her little toes, the nails of which were surprisingly decorated with purple nail polish.

“Hey, s’up?” she greeted, trying and failing to look casual.

I put my hands out, shrugging my shoulders inquisitively. “Forget something?”

Her brow became creased, her eyes darting side to side. “Uh… no?”

“Oh, really?” I replied, folding my arms. “You don’t remember getting a text a few days ago saying to meet us at a certain field? And you don’t remember saying ‘yes, you’d be there?’”

Dash’s jaw dropped. “What? There was training last night!?”

My brows went up. “Uh… yeah.”

“I thought that was tonight!”

“No, it was last night.”

“But I coulda swore you said ‘Saturday!’”

“I did.”

“Well… that’s tonight!”

“No, it was last night; most of it takes place after midnight, which makes it Saturday--morning, technically.”

“What? That’s stupid! When you say Saturday, obviously I’m gonna think Saturday night.”

I shook my head. “That’s how we’ve been saying it all along.”

Rainbow Dash stood there for a moment, then she rolled her eyes and let her shoulders drop. “Ugh… fine. Whatever. Sorry I missed it, are you happy?”

“Are you happy?” I fired back. “Pinks blew Flutters sky-high with one of her explosives; it was fuckin hilarious, and you missed it.”

“AWW!”

I gave her a shrug. “Hey, I tried texting you --multiple times, actually-- and you never answered me. Did you go somewhere and leave your phone behind?”

Dash huffed and folded her arms. “No, I was here. My phone died, so I plugged it in in my room. I guess I didn’t hear it go off; sorry.”

“You didn’t hear it? What were you doing all night?”

“I was playing some games n’ stuff, and uh…”

She hesitated for a few seconds, but when the she did, the sound of a recorded voice rang out from the couch.

”Oh my god, mom! His cock looks SO good inside of you!”

Dash’s eyes widened, and the colour promptly drained from her face.

I lifted my head to peer over her, listening. “The fuck is that?”

Her head whipped around to face the couch, her ponytail nearly slapping me in the process. “Aw crap…”

This embarrassing little twist of fate quickly piqued my interest, and, curious to know what she’d been up to all night, I reached out to grab her arm, figuring she would use her magic to speed off and stop whatever she was watching.

Sure enough, she tried to dart away, nearly yanking me off my feet when a burst of colour shot out of her back and then puttered out when she didn’t go anywhere. She looked back at me, not expecting to be held in place like this.

“Hey! Let me go!”

“No-no, I wanna see what you’ve been up to all night,” I replied as I swung the door shut behind me before heading for the couch, pulling her long by the arm.

We stopped in front of the couch for a moment while I watched the laptop, trying to figure out what was going on in the video.

“Huh…” I released Dash’s arm and reached down to pick the computer up, sitting down in its previous place and resting the device on my lap. “What is this, like, some mother/daughter shit?”

Dash huffed and folded her arms awkwardly, unsure if she wanted to run away or try to take the laptop from me.

I glanced up at her for a moment. Then I reached over to pat the cushion beside me. “Sit down.”

Rainbow Dash cringed. “Seriously?”

“Yup. You missed training last night; the least you could do is make your time up by sharing some free porn with me.”

“Ugh…” She looked around the apartment, tapping her foot anxiously. Eventually, she sighed, evidently deciding that the cat was already out of the bag as far as her watching porn went, and there was probably no physical way of getting the computer away from me so she might as well just roll with it.

Plus, she did make a legitimate mistake by missing training night.

“Fine,” she said, sitting reluctantly next to me and folding her arms as she looked over at the screen.

“So, you didn’t answer my question,” I said, watching the screen.

“What’s that?”

“Is this supposed to be one of those ‘mother teaching her daughter’ kind of videos?”

“Ehh… yeah. You can read the title, can’t you?” Dash snarked.

“Well yeah, but… why do the women look the same age? The only difference is that the supposed ‘mother’ has really bad implants and a bunch of tattoos.”

Dash rolled her eyes. “Well, they’re not really mother and daughter; they’re just actors.”

“Actors, sure.”

She snorted. “Yeah, they’re pretty bad, but you know what I mean.”

I glanced over at her, raising a brow. “Is this the kind of thing you’re into?”

Dash looked a bit defensive. “No--I mean, not usually. I was just… kind of in the mood to see a dude get piled on by chicks, and this is what I found… so far.”

My eyes began to drift around the athlete’s messy apartment when I heard this. She wanted to see a dude getting ridden by a bunch of women? This scenario sounded awfully familiar to me. Snapping out of my thoughts, I turned to face Rainbow Dash again.

“You’d think that, as a woman, you’d rather see a woman with a bunch of guys,” I suggested, making her cheeks glow slightly. ‘It’d be more relatable for you, wouldn’t it--or a more likely fantasy, I guess?”

“Uhh…” Her brows furrowed slightly. “Well… that’s kinda hot too, I guess. Sometimes.”

I faced the screen again. “Here, let’s find some.” I clicked on the search bar and began to type. “Gang… bang…” I muttered to myself before hitting ‘enter.’

Dash pinched the bridge of her nose, keeping her eyes closed while I read through the list of matches.

“Hmm… Oh! Here we go,” I said, clicking on a video. “I bet this one’ll be messy.”

Dash opened one eye to read the title. “Eight guy creamp--OH GOD!” She turned away and shook her head.

“Hey, this is your fantasy, Dashie, you just don’t know it yet.”

The video was fairly long --just over half an hour-- during which time both Rainbow Dash and I had become engrossed in the video. I myself had been maintaining a low-grade erection throughout most of the film, which I was able to keep hidden under the laptop.

Dash, in the meantime, had huddled closer and closer to me--for a better view, of course. The assumption that she was also turned-on was an easy one to make, given that she’d been watching for what must have been hours already, which I now understood was the reason for her odd behaviour when she answered the door.

The nice thing about Rainbow Dash was that she was easy going, which meant I could be comfortable doing something like this with her since she and I weren’t sexually attracted to one another in the least; we could just hang out and have fun without complicating things.

And we were having fun. It didn’t take long for her to loosen up once the video started, and she was cracking jokes and making fun of the male actors’ hairy asses as they each took a turn with the young female star. One thing that was a bit odd, though, which I probably should have picked up on, was how quiet she got as the end of the video drew near.

The two of us stared at the screen, me rubbing my chin as we watched the latest male star quiver and moan as he unloaded inside the messy young woman, eventually withdrawing to reveal yet another white river that dumped down into the girl’s backside.

“Jeez, they sure made a mess of her,” I said, glancing over at Dash, who was biting her lip and watching intently.

“Mmhh…” she mumbled, nodding slowly.

“How many’s that?”

“I’m not sure; I lost count.”

“Is that it then? I can’t remember if--Oh, there’s another one,” I chuckled.

Dash exhaled through a pair of pursed lips. “Fuck, man. I wonder what it feels like to get jizzed in that many times…”

I looked over at her with half a mind to tell her to ask Fluttershy, but ultimately decided against it. After the last load had been delivered, the camera backed away for a wider shot of the young starlet, whose entire abdomen was, by that point, sprinkled copiously with gobs of white. She reached down to use her fingers to spread herself open, letting more of the multi-man semen mixture run out of her as she smiled for the camera in an oddly polite manner.

I shook my head, scowling. “I don’t know why they have to do this part. They should just end it after the last dude pulls out; now it just looks like she’s posing for a graduation picture or something.”

“Just stop the video,” Dash said, with a hint of condescension.

“Oh… good idea.” With the video over, I glanced over at the rainbow-haired girl. “How was that?”

“Iiiiit was kinda hot,” she confessed. “Having all those guys get off in her; it made her seem kinda powerful in a way. Like she called the shots, and they weren’t allowed to finish until she said they could.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t bad,” I agreed. “So…? What do you wanna watch next? Gloryhole? Lesbian? Cumshot compilation?”

I looked to my left and found a large pair of cerise eyes staring mindlessly into mine. I stared back for a few seconds before breaking contact to let my eyes dart around the room.

“Uh… Dashie? You there?”

She stared a brief moment longer, and then she blinked several times quickly, snapping out of her… whatever it was.

“Uuhmm… sorry,” she muttered, looking down at herself and shaking her head. “I was just… thinking about something.”

“Ah… yeah.” I nodded. “I was just asking what you wanted to watch next--if anything.”

Rainbow Dash drew a breath and looked at the screen, her brows furrowed a tiny bit. “Oh… weeeeell… I don’t know if the thing actually I’m thinking about is on this site.”

“Is there another site you use?” I asked, like an idiot.

With a quick glance at me, she reached for the keyboard. “Yeah… here.”

I withdrew my hands from the keyboard to let her type, and after letting her little blue fingers hover over the keys for a moment, she suddenly reached up and grabbed the top of the screen to slam the laptop shut. Then she shoved it off my lap.

My head turned to the right to follow it, watching as it slid across the cushion until it bumped softly against the armrest. When I faced Dash again, I was surprised to find her thigh sliding across my lap, those little blue hands grabbing my shoulders as she quietly straddled me. Biting her lip and looking somewhat torn by what she was doing, she let her weight settle on top of me, pressing her surprisingly warm crotch against my abdomen.

Befuddled by the unexpected advance, I placed my hands on her thighs and then quickly removed them again, closing them into loose fists as I kept them in the air. “Uh… hi. How are you?” I said, very slowly.

“Alright, look,” she said, exhaling through her nostrils as she licked her bottom lip. “I’m gonna level with you.”

“OK…”

“See…” She paused to bite her lip again, her eyes shifting up to the ceiling. “The thing is, you’ve… kiiiiinda caught me at a bad time--which is awesome for you.”

“It is?”

“Oh yeah,” she nodded, looking at me again with wide eyes.

“When--I mean, why, er… how did this, uh…?” I stammered. “I thought you and me were just… like… I dunno, buddies or something?”

“We are!” she blurted. “I mean, yeah. We’re cool. We’re not like that. It’s just…” She paused to clear her throat. “I just--… ever since the other week, when you had all that magic, I dunno, energy stuff going on, I was just like… ooooooh, fuck. It made me CRAZY.”

“Yeah, uh… sorry about that. It was kinda getting to everyone, I guess. Trust me; I wasn’t doing it on purpose.”

“Yeah well, it went away… mostly,” she explained, crossing her forearms behind the back of my neck, which placed her elbows on my shoulders, bringing her face that much closer to mine. “But now I keep getting all hot and bothered just thinking about it, and… it won’t go away.”

I cleared my throat. “It won’t?”

“It’s OK,” she said quickly. “I don’t think this should change anything between us, it just that… just this once, I was wondering if maybe you could… I dunno… do a friend a favour?”

“A favour?”

Rainbow Dash came even closer, close enough that those multi-coloured bangs of hers brushed my forehead, and that I could feel the warmth of her breath hitting my face. “You know… help a girl out.” She wiggled her hips just a little, letting her crotch rub against the bulge in my pants.

I drew a breath, trying to wrap my head around the fact that this was Rainbow Dash, seated on my lap, rubbing her junk against mine. “I, uh…”

She gritted her teeth suddenly, pressing her forehead against mine as she glared into my eyes. “GRRR! You can’t leave me like this! I haven’t been able to shake that feeling you gave me ever since it happened; I’ve been watching porn for like… the last FOUR HOURS, and then you show up here with your sexy vibes bullshit and your… fucking hot… I--… FACE!”

“OK, OK!” I said, placing my hands on her shoulders to calm her down. She kept her forehead on mine, however. “Relax, Dashie. Take deep breath, OK? Let’s just, we should talk about this, because you and I aren’t really… I mean, you’re only feeling this way because of--“

“Golds…” Rainbow Dash sighed and shook her head, rolling it against mine. “Fluttershy said I get a freebie. Are you gonna fuck me, or what?”

I was at a loss for words, which seemed fine with Dash, as it became clear within the next few seconds that she had other plans for my mouth. Eyes closed and head tilted, she came in and touched her lips to mine, sharing their warmth and surprising softness with me as my nostrils became filled with a scent that reminded me of Froot Loops cereal.

Her hands suddenly gripped the back of my head to pull me into the kiss, a soft whimper coming from her throat as her mouth pressed aggressively against mine, her hips thrusting forward to grind her extremely eager lady parts into me.

Once her tongue decided to make its entrance, my hands eventually relaxed and settled onto her hips, squeezing their petite shape between my fingers. Rainbow Dash was a tiny girl; short and small-framed, but lean and firm. There wasn’t a single inch on her body that didn’t consist of solid muscle under that soft, blue skin--not bulky or heavy muscle, of course, this girl was streamline-built for speed and finesse.

Her voice cracked, just like it always did when a soft moan slipped from her throat. Her breathing had become heavy, and it blew nosily from her nostrils across my face while her tongue slithered around the inside of my mouth. After licking every inch of my tongue to make sure it was covered in her saliva, Dash separated our lips, creating a soft smack when the slight suction was released. She followed this with a playful nip on my bottom lip, pinching it gently between her teeth.

Then she leaned back, panting with excitement as she reached behind her head to yank the hair elastic out, freeing her ponytail and then shaking her head to loosen it up with a flash of bright colour and a gust of fruity scent. It spread across her shoulders like a curtain, surrounding that azure face with the entire spectrum, its edges ratty yet soft, both around the bottom edges and across her forehead.

“Wow,” I muttered as she glared hungrily with those intense cerise eyes.

“Damn right,” Dash huffed, placing her fingertips on my cheeks and leaning in to reconnect our lips for another group of noisy, wet kisses. After a short pause and a stare, she dove in deeper; our mouths opened in synch this time, our tongues meeting in the middle to swirl and dance around one another, tasting each other’s favours.

In the meantime, my fingertips had slipped inside the hem of her shirt, sliding it up to expose her back. A quick breath shot into her nostrils when she felt the cool air on her skin, and she quickly straightened her posture as the shirt was slipped past the light gray sports bra that she wore underneath.

Dash made a little noise when she broke the kiss once again to finish the job for me. After pulling the shirt over her head, she tossed it over the back of the couch and then took a moment to brush her bangs from her eyes, giving me a moment to observe the constrictive undergarment.

It was no wonder I thought she was flat-chested. That sports bra pressed her bust flat like pancakes--save for the little bump in the center of each one; I could understand her not wanting them flopping around, but this alternative looked far more uncomfortable.

She came in again to reconnect our mouths while I set about removing the skin-tight garment. I reached around and clawed at the bottom elastic, trying to slip my fingers under it so I could pull it up, but the edge was extremely stubborn.

“Jmmft rrrp mtmf,” Dash mumbled, her words garbled by the lip-lock.

I pulled back, breaking the kiss. “Wha?”

“Just rip it off,” she panted. “Quit fucking around.”

After giving her a quick scowl, I plunged my fingers into the center of the bra at the dip of her collarbone and pulled, tearing the fabric away as easily as a paper towel. A firm pair of powdery-blue breasts promptly flopped free, modest in size, but very-well suited for Dash’s small frame; they weren’t much larger than Twilight’s breasts, surprisingly, but they carried a much rounder, fuller shape.

The difference was obviously more apparent when wearing the Mistress suit, as the added mass given by the shape of Dash’s made them bulge from the neckline much more than Twilight’s. When bare, however, the pull of gravity created the illusion of a lesser mass advantage over the lavender girl, but like the lavender girl, this made them no less lovely to behold.

Completing each of the fleshy, blue masses in front of me were a pair of prominent and very stiff nipples; their colour was closer to a royal blue, somewhat darker than the mauve-ish nips of the other blue-skinned girl I’d seen recently, with small areolas that were barely larger than the nub itself--though they were surely bigger when the nipple was relaxed.

They were honestly quite lovely, but I had only a split second to gaze upon them before my nose ended up between them. In a fit of excitement, Dash had wrapped her arms around the back of my neck and hugged my face straight into her chest, tipping her head back to pant into the air as her abdomen ground against my stomach.

The feel of her hot, smooth skin against my cheeks triggered my instincts, and I began planting kisses up her sternum and then across her left breast until I found her nipple, which I took between my lips, sucking, licking and nibbling away at that throbbing little bud.

Dash’s chest heaved with each breath, squashing her soft breast against my mouth as it remained latched to her nipple. She bit her lip, feeling her electric blue skin tingle under my touch, my hands brushing gently up her bare back, rainbow-coloured hair tickling the backs of my fingers and knuckles as they traveled upward toward her shoulder blades.

A sharp gasp rushed into her throat when I switched to her other nipple, warming it with my saliva as she let her head tip to the side, eyelids fluttering uncontrollably. After a moment’s worth of teasing, I left that stiff bud behind to tingle in my wake as my lips made their way up her breast to her collarbone, where I nipped at her skin, making her skin become riddles with goosebumps in response to the air coming from my nostrils.

My manhood, meanwhile, pressed against the inside of my pants, which in turn poked the underside of Dash’s backside. Her hips continued to gyrate ever so slightly, generating a small measure of sensation that crawled up my spine, enticing me to continue my journey up her neck, kissing her soft, warm skin until the tip of my nose brushed her earlobe.

With her hair tickling my cheek, her fruity scent quickly entered by nose, a scent that enticed a certain playfulness in me--maybe because the cereal it smelled like was meant for kids? With my arms around her back, I buried my nose deep in her neck and sniffed rapidly, like a hound dog on the trail of a delicious treat.

Dash immediately stiffened and shrugged her shoulder to push my face away, a giddy, squeaky-sounding giggle sounding from her throat. “HEE HEE! Fuck off, man! What’re you doing!?”

I pushed my nose in for a few more sniffs. “Smells like… Froot Loops. Is it breakfast time, Dashie?”

Another giggle came, this one much slower and sultry sounding as she let her head tip back again, savouring the feel of my lips tickling her throat. “Aaahh… yeah, it will be pretty soon.”

My eyes opened when I heard this, my vision filled with colourful strands of hair. I withdrew from her neck, looking for her lips to connect them to mine so I could have another taste of her saliva. By then, I was completely on fire, my libido fully charged; I was beyond ready to take this girl --who was FAR sexier than I’d ever dreamed, or noticed-- and feed her body a feast of deep, hard ecstasy, something I never realised I needed to do this badly before.

As our lips wrestled, filling the room with the sounds of moist squips, smacks and panting, I became aware of little fingertips curling inside the bottom of my shirt. Dash worked it upward very slowly while sucking on my tongue, until I was forced to lift my arms and break the kiss to let her tear the shirt over my head and then throw it away.

Wrapping her arms around me, she connected our lips once again, this time pressing her bare breasts against my chest, their soft warmth molding with my skin, delicious and enticing, adding just the right amount of tease by poking me with her hard nipples.

Eventually, she’d had her fill of tongue and saliva, and her hands cupped my cheeks while she delivered one last kiss, followed by a nibble and pull on my bottom lip using her teeth. She slid off my lap after releasing me, sitting back against the cushion as she brushed her bangs from her forehead, panting softly.

“Holy fuck, that was hot,” she whispered, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand after. She cupped one of hers breasts to give it a squeeze, those hungry, cerise eyes landing on me next. “I am SO fucking horny right now--you don’t even know.” She turned in her seat to face me, shifting closer and reaching out to caress my chest with her hand. “Come on, man, take your pants off. I wanna see this unit everyone’s been raving about.”

I glanced over at her with a raised brow and then shrugged, reaching down to unbuckle my belt and unzip my pants. “Alright. I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into.”

“Pfft! I’m not getting myself into anything; it’s gonna be the other way around there, bro.”

I cleared my throat, mixing the sound with a chuckle. “That’s actually what I meant. Ok, you ready?” I asked as I reached into my shorts to pull my erection out.

“Dude, you don’t need to worry about me; you’re the one who’s about to get the ride of your--WHOA, HO HO HO!” Dash’s eyes widened suddenly, covering her mouth when she spotted the veiny pole standing tall from my lap, its tip decorated by a bead of pre-ejaculate that shone in the morning light like a jewel. “Jeez, man! Look at you, Mr. Pornstar Dick!”

“Me?” I said, glancing down at erection. “Eh… I dunno.”

Rainbow Dash sneered. “Are you kidding me!? Dude, it’s no wonder my friends are so obsessed with you; it totally makes perfect sense now!”

“Well there is a method to my madness, Dashie.”

“Oh, I’m sure, but that thing… like, I feel like I should wrap some duck tape around my hips so I don’t split apart when you fuck me.”

“I promise you won’t split apart. He’s a nice boy,” I said as I griped the shaft and gave it a squeeze, which caused a small river of clear juice to gush from the tip and run down the head, stopping at the ridge.

Dash bit her lip and furrowed her brows when she saw this. “Hnnngh… that, wow. I want some of that.” She leaned down over my lap, holding her hair back with one hand as she brought her tongue out to brush the head of my erection, causing it to jump in response. “Mmm.” She smacked her lips, tasting the little sample of fluid she’d licked up.

Dash slid off the couch next, landing on the floor with her knees before shuffling in front of me, biting her lip as her eyes remained locked on that throbbing mast. “You know what? It’s kind funny, like, literally two minutes before you showed up, I was watching that video and jonesing for a cock in my mouth so friggin bad--and now here I am.”

I shrugged one shoulder, watching those little blue fingers wrap around the base of my shaft. “Look like it’s your lucky day.”

With a quiet chuckle, the rainbow-haired girl leaned down and licked my fraenulum. When she pulled back, a long, glistening thread of juice stretched from her tongue to my head, eventually breaking and falling when she licked her lips.

After wiping her chin with her palm, Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and leaned down, opening her mouth to take my erection inside. I drew a breath in response to the heat of her mouth, which engulfed my head completely, her lips sealing tightly around the shaft just below the ridge. She moaned softly as she sucked the slippery juice free, cleaning me off before continuing to stroke that sensitive knob with her lips, bombarding me with a steady wavelength of warm pleasure.

She paused briefly to tease the tip with her tongue, making my knees tremble. Then she massaged my head with her soft lips, making my eyelids flutter. After removing it from her mouth to run her puckered lips up and down one side of the shaft, slobbering all over it to leave a generous layer of saliva behind, Dash opened her mouth wide and plunged my length deep into the back of her mouth.

Her head began to bob vigorously, her lips stroking the length of my erection; she sucked firmly the entire time, drawing more juice and more rigidity from me. I had difficulty keeping my eyes open to watch that blur of colourful hair bouncing over my lap. The sensation was wonderful, and it grew in intensity surprisingly fast.

This wasn’t something I’d expected to walk into this morning and evidently, the excitement of it had gotten to me, the surprise of receiving a blowjob with this level of enthusiasm after such arousing foreplay had a powerful effect. This became even more apparent when she brought her hand into play, stroking my shaft by following her lips with the firm, moist grip.

I could feel the pressure begin to rise from deep inside, a hot batch of seed that was helpless to resist being sucked out by the blue-skinned athlete. I knew it wouldn’t be long before that load would end up flooding her hungry mouth at this rate, and so, after licking my lips to gather my wits enough to speak, I gave her a warning.

“Dashie… getting close… so good…”

“Mmm…” Rather than slow down, she tightened her grip and continued, drawing me even more swiftly to the edge.

“Is this… you want this?” I panted, letting my head fall back, eyes closed.

“Mm-hm,” she replied, maintaining pace.

I bit my lips together and squeezed my eyes shut, feeling the tension build in my loins. The pressure and heat continued to rise, my erection swelling in preparation for release. Dash could obviously feel this stretching her lips, and with a short, broken moan, she took her hand out of the equation, using it instead to hold my shaft by the base while she continued to suck on the upper half, stroking with her lips relentlessly as the head continued to grow, ready to fire that thick payload down her throat.

The moment finally hit like a lightning strike. A soft groan slipped from my throat when the electricity suddenly exploded throughout my body, and my erection began to pump furiously, firing massive white torpedoes into Dash’s mouth, filling it --along with her taste buds-- with the hot, distinctive flavour of satisfaction.

Luckily, I managed to open my eyes to watch it happen; holding my length by the base with that little blue fist, Dash kept her lips wrapped around the head, just above the ridge, bobbing her head just enough to maintain enough stimulation to keep me pumping. The shaft visibly flexed and jerked with each shot, covering her tongue and filling her mouth to the point where I could feel it pooling around me, held inside by the tight seal of her lips.

Her brows furrowed as she took it all, surprised by the volume delivered, as well as its temperature. She moaned softly, no doubt viciously aroused by the feel of having that pulsing manhood in her mouth, knowing that she’d pleasured me far beyond what I could handle before bursting.

At last, the throbbing subsided, leaving the rainbow-haired girl’s mouth full to the point where a portion had escaped; a thick, white bead had seeped from the corner of her mouth, making its way down the side of my shaft. She’d been patient and calculating, waiting for every last drop to be delivered before sliding her lips from my hyper-sensitive head, making a sound similar to that of a kiss when they slipped free.

For a moment, Dash fought to hold back a smirk, and then she opened her mouth to show off her prize: a hazy, white pool of cum that surrounded her tongue, which she used to stir it around as she kept her bottom lip high to hold it inside. She closed her mouth next, pressing her lips together tightly as she swallowed, opening her mouth once more to show that it was indeed gone.

Then she leaned down once more to lick the escaped bead of cum from the side of my shaft, causing it to twitch in response to her tongue’s warm touch.

After swallowing the scraps, Rainbow Dash placed her hands on my knees and stood, bring those cute, blue breasts into view once again. She wiped her mouth and sat on my right, leaning back against the cushions, looking over at me.

“So? Was that an awesome BJ, or what?”

I exhaled nosily, lips pursed as I looked down at my spent manhood, watching it fall to my lap in slow motion. “I think you already know the answer to that. You’ve got a belly full of it.”

Dash chuckled. “Yeah, I did. That was a crazy huge load, man.”

Taking another breath, I scratched my ear as I looked over at those pert, blue breasts. Then my eyes traveled down to her pants, curious to see what she was hiding underneath. “So… Dashie, you know I can’t let you get away with that without a little payback, right?”

She raised a sly brow, and then gestured to her crotch. “Go for it. I ain’t gonna stop you.”

“I didn’t think so,” I said as I slid to the floor, much like Dash did moments earlier.

She scooched down in her seat to offer me better access, biting her lip in anticipation as I knelt between her thighs and reached for the waistline of her pants. Her eyes widened with excitement when I slid the clothes down, and she arched her hips upward to lift her backside from the couch, allowing me to slip them down her thighs and past her knees.

I slid them off her feet one leg at a time, and after taking a second look at what I thought looked like a Superman logo on her underwear, I tossed them aside and turned my attention to the naked girl before me. I placed my hands on her thighs, and was about to lean in when something made me stop.

“What… the hell… is that?” I asked, staring down at her nether regions.

Dash sat up slightly, brows furrowed. “What?”

I pointed to her mound, on which sat a patch of red pubic hair, shaved into the shape of a lightning bolt. “That.”

“Oh, uh…” Dash paused, looking down at herself. “Yeah, that. Uh… that was actually because of a bet that I lost at work, which happened right before Christmas--you know… when I ended in the hospital.”

I raised a brow at this. “Wait, so… a bet? You mean… it wasn’t supposed to be permanent?”

Dash smacked her lips. “Uh, no. No, it wasn’t. But I wasn’t expecting you and Flutters to come along and turn me. Now I’m stuck with it forever. Cool, huh?” she said flatly.

I reached up to scratch the back of my head. “Wow, I uh…”

“That’s actually one of the reasons I was so mad at you guys,” she continued, “but it’s not like I was gonna bring it up to you. It’s kind of a personal thing, you know?”

“No. No, I get it,” I replied, sighing. “Sorry… I guess. It wasn’t something we were really thinking about at the time.”

Dash waved me off. “Meh. It is what it is.”

“Actually…” I paused, rubbing my chin when her mention of the hospital brought back an odd memory from that night. “That reminds me of something; Flutters, when she pulled back the covers to inject you with the, uh… stuff, she made a face. Like a weird face. I was standing by the door keeping watch, so I couldn’t see.”

Dash gave a smug smile. “Yeah, she was probably scoping out my lightning bolt.”

I placed a hand on my cheek. “Fuck, that makes more sense now. I was wondering what the hell she was looking at.” Shaking my head, I looked down at the curly, red lightning bolt again, furrowing my brows slightly. “Still… there’s something else that’s bugging me now.”

“What’s that?”

“How come it’s just red? Why isn’t it, like, rainbow coloured?”

She shrugged, adding a faint sneer. “How the hell should I know? I’m not a pube-ologist! Sometimes the curtains just don’t match the drapes, I dunno.”

“Huh… weird.” My eyes dropped to the fleshy pair of blue lips between her thighs. Sandwiched between them was a little scrap of red, peeking out from within and glistening with moisture. I cupped my hands under the backs of her knees and lifted her legs up and apart, revealing more of those bright red ruffles as her lips separated. “Let’s see what else you got down here.”

“Oh yeah, check it out,” Dash said with a casualness that was almost comical, like she was showing off a new apartment or car. She reached down, used her fingertips to spread her vulva wide open and then peeled her hood back to show everything off, including her clit, urethra and the entrance to her vagina.

Striking; it was hard to believe how red it was. Her minoras were bright, like the petals of a rose, even brighter than the lightning bolt that sat on her mound, just above--though it was a little pinker the deeper it got.

“Damn, Dashie,” I said, pinning her thighs to the cushions to spread her legs as far as they could go. “That is the most colourful pussy I think I’ve ever seen.”

“I know, right?” she replied, leaning forward to look down at it. “It looks like a Fruit Rollup or something.”

“It does, actually. It looks like it would taste like fruit punch,” I snickered, watching the morning light glisten across that cherry-coloured flesh.

Dash gave a seductive, but sly smirk. “Why don’t you give it a try?”

I cocked a brow at her. “Don’t mind of I do,” I replied, leaning in closer. On my way in, my mind almost believed that she would taste like some kind of candy or fruit, despite the heady musk she was emitting, having been soaked with arousal for hours leading up to this moment.

With those little blue fingertips holding her open, I decided to go straight for her clit. Dash’s breath hitched sharply when my tongue lapped across that swollen bud, causing her hips to jerk uncontrollably.

“Ohhh, dammit,” she gasped as I traced circles around her clit, biting her lip and letting her head fall back, eyes closed. Her breathing increased and she licked her lips, releasing her labia and bringing her hands up: one combed its fingers into her colourful hair to pull it, the other grasping a breast, pinching her nipple between her thumb and forefinger. “That’s good…”

Her flesh wrapped around my tongue more, now that she wasn’t holding them back, and I had to thrust a little harder to keep it tucked under that soft, delicate hood. Rainbow Dash didn’t taste like Skittles or Jolly Ranchers, unsurprisingly; she did taste creamy and a bit metallic, though, and after a few moments of rooting around between her folds with my tongue, I swore I was beginning to detect a hint of sweetness there.

Strange, one would think Pinkie Pie would have been the sweet tasting one.

Dash’s back began to arch, her breaths becoming broken and out of rhythm. He transferred her hand from her own hair to mine, gripping the back of my head to shove my face deeper into her womanhood, feeling the electricity rush from between her legs to the tip of every limb.

I continued to concentrate on her clit and nothing else, licking, teasing, and sucking on it; I refused to relent, not until I’d fully returned the favour she’d given me, not until she filled the room with her crackling voice, her shrill cries of delight as her womanhood popped like a firecracker, sending her interior into a frenzy of throbbing, pulsing satisfaction.

I slowed my pace in synch with her climax, bringing her down slowly to leave her a limp, panting wreck.

“Mmmm…” Dash hummed, closing her eyes and shaking her head slowly. “Shit, dude.” She lifted herself to lean on her elbows to watch me withdrawal and wipe my mouth with my hand.

I sat upright, swallowing the slick feeling left behind in my mouth as I appraised the rainbow-haired girl’s crease. There was a small river of clear fluid, pouring ever so slowly from her entrance and running down from the base of her opening toward her backside.

They don’t get much more ready than that.

Looking down, I quickly noticed that my erection had returned full force, throbbing, desperate to occupy someplace warm and tight.

It wasn’t long before it caught Dash’s eye as well.

“What d’you think?” I asked, noticing her sudden fixation on my length. “You wanna go for it?”

Lips parted, she scowled slightly, bemused. “Are you kidding me? Dude, you gotta fuck me. Right now.”

“I had a feeling you’d say that.” I released her legs to reach past them, grabbing her by the hips to pull her closer to the edge of the couch. She moaned with excitement, sitting up a tad higher so she could watch with anticipation as I placed my swollen head between those fleshy, red petals, positioning myself for entry.

Both Rainbow dash and I held our breath when I brought my hips forward slowly, watching intently as I sank into her, the ridge disappearing first, followed by that long, stiff shaft. There was plenty of wetness present to let me slip into that tight passage with little resistance, and her interior promptly welcomed me with a firm squeeze along with a generous soaking of heat and slick moisture, swallowing more and more of me until our laps came together, finally stopping me from traveling any deeper into her body.

Dash’s jaw had fallen, her eyes wide as saucers as her body adjusted to its new inhabitant. “Whoa…” she breathed, savouring the wonderful new fullness she was feeling.

She was still sitting up partway, leaning back on her arms, prompting me to take my hands from her hips and place them on her breasts, giving them a squeeze while her depths squeezed me in return.

“How do you like that?” I asked, circling her nipple with my thumb.

“Whew… that is one awesome dick, man,” she smirked, shaking her head incredulously.

I cocked my head at her. “It doesn’t feel weird--like, with the whole ‘centuries old guy’ thing?”

“Pppfft!” She shook her head, sneering. “I don’t know what I was thinking; I was an idiot! I should’ve been jumping this thing long ago.”

“But what’s different?” I asked. “Why doesn’t it bother you now? What’s changed?”

Dash furrowed her brows and bit her lip, looking up at the ceiling as she thought about it. I let my hands slide down to her waist in the meantime, wondering what her answer might be when I noticed something that made me look down between our legs.

That warm, juicy interior of hers was pulsing, rhythmically and firmly. I withdrew an inch or two so I could watch that red flesh throb around my shaft, making sure it wasn’t just my imagination. “Hey…” I looked up to meet her eyes when she brought her attention back to me. “Are you… cumming?”

Dash cocked a brow and then snorted. “Pfft… no!”

I looked down between us again, noticing the twitches had stopped. “Well… then why are… er, were you pulsating?”

Dash looked down at her mound. “Huh? Oh, haha! I was probably just doing kegels.”

“Oh?”

“I’ve been doing them for years,” she continued, “and uuuhh, sometimes I start doing it without even realising it, just cuz I’m so used to it.”

“Huh. Interesting.”

Dash sneered at me. “Interesting? Dude, I got the strongest fucking pussy in town! Here, check this out…” She scrunched her face up, balling her fists at her sides; an immense pressure suddenly clamped down on my erection, and it was promptly expelled from her depths, landing just to the left of her lightning bolt with a dull slap.

“Heh,” I chuckled quietly as I reached down to tuck my manhood back into her depths. “Neat trick.”

Again, Dash scrunched her nose up spit me back out of her vagina with a wet squip sound.

“Hey! Cut that out!” I said, reaching down a second time, drawing a laugh from her.

Just as I placed my head against her folds to slip back inside, however, Dash sat up and placed a hand on my shoulder to stop me.

“Just sit down, man,” she said, reaching over to pat the cushion next to her. “I actually kinda wanna ride it; you’re gonna find out what this pussy can really do!”

“But I haven’t even--“ I stopped and let out a sigh, rubbing my brow. I already knew there was no use in arguing, and besides, it wasn’t like this was a terrible proposition. “Alright, fine. You twisted my arm, Dashie.”

“Heh! Twist your dick is more like it,” Rainbow Dash chuckled with an evil grin, watching me rise, turn around and then sit down next to her. She swung a muscular, blue leg across my lap and mounted me, her cute, blue breasts positioned right in front of my face. Biting her lip, she placed her hands on my shoulders and rolled her hips around, searching.

I soon felt the warm, slick caress of her womanhood gliding along my erection, spreading more of her moisture onto me before propping my head against her entrance. She closed her eyes and descended slowly, letting that stiff mast sink into her slick heat, letting her knees slide outward until her body came to rest on mine.

Rainbow Dash was impressively tight--not quite as much as Twilight, though, but with her small stature and muscle tone, it was not a surprising thing to find out. It was a safe bet that most guys who ended up mounted by the athlete didn’t last long wrapped in slick, heavenly flesh like hers, especially if she were to employ her mag--

I looked up at her and raising a finger when I realised something. “Hey Dashie, before we start you gotta promise me something.”

Confused, she swept her bangs from her brow. “What’s that?”

“Don’t be doing any of that super speed shit on me; I don’t need to you finishing me off in two seconds and then thinking you can tease me about it after.”

“Oh, PPPFT!” Dash rolled her eyes. “I’m not gonna do that; I wanna enjoy this too, you know! Besides, I only do that if I’m bangin a guy who’s really lame and I wanna wrap things up quick.”

“Wow. You are heartless.”

“You won’t think so when I‘m done with you,” she replied, putting her face close to mine, eyes narrowed. Then, after a little lick to the tip of my nose, Rainbow Dash was off to the races.

She wrapped her arms around my head and hugged my face into her chest, burying me between those little, blue bulbs. She rode my manhood with every bit of power and aggression one would expect, stroking every inch of my length with that tight, moist heat; she breathed deeply, her hips gyrating, grinding her clit against my body as it slowly became smeared and coated with her fluids.

I reached around her, crossing my forearms over the small of her back while I turned my head to free it from her embrace, searching for one of those stiff, cobalt nipples to suck on while my mind struggled to process the sensation of her hot interior teasing every nerve ending in that swollen knob.

Reaching around her, I cupped my hands over that firm, gyrating derriere, squeezing those muscular glutes as they rocked furiously back and forth. Locks of every different colour tickled my cheeks, hot blue skin rubbed and melted against mine, body parts throbbed in interlock with one another, and the sound raspy voices, creaking furniture and hot breaths filled the room.

“Mmnnghh…” Dash’s jaw was clenched as her head rolled back, and then came forward to press her lips against the top of my head, breathing noisily into my hair through her nostrils as she delighted in the overwhelmingly full sensation her little body experienced, feeling the pleasure emanate from every inch of the rigid girth that stretched her open, at depths so great she could almost feel it in the back of her throat. Her clit buzzed against my lap, her nipples tingling incessantly from being licked and teased.

At last, Rainbow Dash paused and grabbed my hair to yank my head back so she could look down at me. Her body took a pause and she sat still, straddled on my lap, impaled deep on my length as she panted into my face, studying my eyes with hers.

“Fuck, dude…” she huffed, her breaths pausing briefly so she could swallow. “I am such an idiot for holding out on this.”

“I take it that means you’re enjoying yourself?” I asked, to which her eyes widened, and she nodded slowly, blowing an exhale from her lips.

“Oh… totally. Totally,” she replied, resting her cheek on my forehead while I gave her backside another squeeze. Then she lifted her head again, looking to her left down the hall for a moment before looking at me, smirking mischievously. “You, uh… wanna take this to the bedroom?”

I stole a quick glance over my shoulder. “Maybe,” I replied, looking back at her. “It’d be cool if you wanted to keep bouncing on my dick right here too.”

Dash cocked a brow. “Eh… this couch kiiiiinda limits my uh… moves--if ya know what I mean.”

“Hmm,” I narrowed my eyes and pursed my lips at her. “You have me intrigued, Dashie. Let’s go.”

“Sweet,” she said, rising from lap, looking down to watch my erection slip from between those crimson ruffles and fall to my abdomen.

I followed the short, blue girl with the messy rainbow hair around the couch, watching that little blue ass as she went while remarking on little it jiggled when she stepped. She spun around unexpectedly to face me, making me bring my eyes up quickly to meet hers in hopes that she hadn’t caught me gawking at her caboose.

“Hang on,” she said, finger raised. “I wanna try something. Come here.”

Standing beside her, Dash placed herself between me and the back of the couch. She turned her back to me, placed her hands on the backrest and bent over it; one foot suddenly swung up behind her, kicking high into the air and then coming to rest on my shoulder.

“Whoa…” I tilted my head to look down at her crotch, which was split as wide as it would go. “That’s some impressive flexibility,” I said, taking in the sight of her womanhood, spread wide and waiting; this, along with her cheeks, revealing the other little hole she had hiding back there.

Dash twisted her head around to look back at me. “Put it in me. I want you to fuck me like this.”

“Heh, if you say so.” I bent my knees slightly, bringing my length down to her height. I had to reach my hips forward slightly to reach her, holding onto the shaft with my fingertips to aim the head at that gaping entrance so I could slip back into that hot interior.

She moaned softly and buried her face in the backrest cushion when my length invaded her once again, and I wrapped my hands around her thigh to hold her steady as I thrust into that tight wetness, feeling the pleasure it created ring from my manhood.

I was very aware of that blue foot on my shoulder, its toes curling with delight as it rocked back and forth, echoing her body’s movements every time her soft depths took me in; those blue lips and bright red folds gripped me tight, dragging along my long girth each time I withdrew for the next thrust.

One of my hands left her thigh to migrate downward, gripping one of her butt cheeks and holding it firmly as I fucked her harder and harder, listening to her muffled cries of delight rising in pitch by the second.

Her tightness was mind-numbing, and the flood of slick moisture she’d spread across my length was delightful. Eventually, I brought my hand back up to her thigh, and moved the other hand down between her legs to trace her wide-open slit with my index finger, massaging that tender hood to tease the throbbing clit within.

Her body jerked, and she let out a sharp squawk, panting heavily as I let my finger continue down to her entrance until I felt it touch my shaft. I paused there for a moment, at the exact spot where I slipped into that tight little passage, feeling precisely where she ended and I began.

The leg that supported Dash’s began to wobble from the electric sensation that shot through her, and so she slipped her foot from my shoulder and brought it to the floor with a thud, stabilizing herself.

I was forced to withdrawal my finger from her slit when she made the move, so I opted to grab her by the hips and continued to drill her from behind. Her squeals of delight were muffled by the cushions as I spanked that sky blue ass with my hips, watching my soaking wet length disappear between those cheeks again and again.

Surprisingly, that tight flesh began to win over me, and I began to feel that orgasmic tingle slowly returning. I ended the round by holding her hips tightly and thrusting hard and deep, burying my erection entirely within that wonderful heat, pressing my hips firmly against her backside.

“OHH!” she grunted, bringing her head up in surprise. It wasn’t often she was filled with hard, swollen rod this completely. “That is some serious cock.”

Panting, I looked down at her slender figure; it was easy to appreciate such a sight: that slender, muscular back, narrow waist and the comparatively bulbous shape of her hips and rear end, inside which my length was wrapped tightly in her soft, velvety flesh.

It was rather surprising to me that she hadn’t climaxed yet, especially after the pounding I’d just given her--and it wasn’t like she wasn’t enjoying it, either.

Rainbow Dash turned her head around to face me. “K… you wanna hit the sack now or what?”

“Sure,” I nodded, withdrawing from her as she stood upright to lead me down the short hall to her bedroom, passing the bathroom along the way. Her room was messy, unsurprisingly, with laundry littering the floor and papers, along with hygiene products, covering her bedside table.

The bed was unmade, which made me wonder how long it’d been like this since didn’t sleep anymore. She grabbed the bedspread and threw it aside unceremoniously, pointing to the exposed and very wrinkly sheet.

“Lay down,” she ordered.

“Face up or down?” I asked as I approached the bed, winking at her.

“What?” she sneered. “Face up, obviously!”

“Oh OK,” I mumbled as I rolled onto the bed and laid on my back, putting my hands behind my head.

“You’re weird, Golds,” Dash remarked as she leapt onto the bed and stood over me, placing her hands on her hips and looking down at me. It was kind of weird, her doing this, especially after calling me out for being weird.

I looked her up and down, taking in that short, blue figure; well-proportioned, round breasts, a flat, muscular belly, that fuzzy red light bolt that topped a pair of glistening lips, and a pair of strong, shapely legs, ending in feet that stood on either side of my hips.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Point your dick up,” she ordered,

After raising a brow, I reached down with one hand to stand my erection upright. “You know, you’re getting pretty bossy, Dashie.”

“It’s for your own good,” she quickly fired back. Her knees began to bend next, her hands sliding down her thighs as she descended slowly; he thighs parted as she came down, making her slit widen, exposing those glistening, red folds. As she got lower, she reached down with one hand to place her fingertips on my chest for balance, looking down at her womanhood to make sure her aim was on the money.

She and I both watched as those fiery-coloured petals came down and pressed against my throbbing head, nuzzling it between her folds by wiggling her hips before continuing downward. A hot breath blew from her mouth as she impaled herself on my length, enveloping me in that hot flesh, squeezing firmly when she stopped just short of her backside touching my thighs.

Using her legs as a spring, Rainbow Dash began to bounce; her strokes were short at first, but it wasn’t long before she gave in to the urge and indulged herself in fast, long and powerful thrusts. The view from my perspective was perfect, and I was content to just lay there and watch that brightly coloured hood slide along my manhood from tip to base, her tight interior stroking relentlessly, causing it to twitch with excitement.

Friggin athletes… I thought to myself as I glanced up briefly to watch her breasts dangle from her chest, her colourful hair tickling my face every time she came down.

Eventually, she let her derriere come to rest on me, and she slid her feet back to let her knees take their places, wrapping my hips in her thighs as she straddled them, my entire length hidden inside her. She placed her hands on my chest and began to rock her hips, grinding my length to pieces with her tight yet supple interior.

“Uh… hey, Dashie?” I said, watching her bite her lip as the pleasure created by her movements continuously washed over me.

“Yeah?” she panted, keeping her eyes closed as she rode.

“Have you… I mean, did you cum yet?”

“Ohhh… no--well, other than when you went down on me.”

I furrowed my brows. “Is uh… is it--like… are you liking this?”

“Yeah, of course…”

“So you’re enjoying yourself?”

She opened her eyes and looked down at me. “Aw… dude. Best. Dick. Ever.”

“Then howcome you’re not--“

“Golds, don’t worry about it!” she huffed, throwing her head back. “Ahhhh, you just, I uh… I’m kind of a tough egg to crack like that--I mean, I can... mmmmm, I can get myself off with my fingers, and usually when someone eats me out --if they’re good at it-- but… I never cum on the dick.”

“You’ve never gotten off riding a dick?”

Dash reached down suddenly, grabbing my hands to put them on her breasts, holding them in place with hers. “Came close a few times, but the guy always finished before I could get there.”

I paused for a moment, looking between my arms to watch that red lightning bold gyrate above my abdomen, realising that this would probably be the case with me as well: I would become another statistic, just another dude who failed to get this girl off before busting himself.

I was already beginning to feel the next orgasm on the horizon. In that moment, being ridden by this incredibly fit and energetic young woman while I head onto her breasts for dear life, I decided I couldn’t be ‘just another guy’ to Rainbow Dash; I needed to be the first to fuck an orgasm into her.

That was my new mission--because everyone needs goals, right?

To her surprise, I placed my hands on her sides and tossed her onto the bed next to me.

“Hey!” she panted as I climbed over her, grabbing her by the ankles to hold her legs apart while I placed my length against her slit, and, without any hands, re-entered her with ease.

“I’m driving for a bit,” I announced, gripping her ankles tight as I began to thrust into her. “I was getting kinda close, so I wanna be able to control it.”

A tiny smirk curled one corner of her parted lips, and she watched amorously with those bright, cerise eyes as I rammed her insides relentlessly, knowing she’d been an effective lover, a potent giver of pleasure.

“How is it?” she asked breathlessly.

“Huh?” I panted, hoping I could keep it together long enough to send her into an orgasmic frenzy, but simultaneously caught off-guard by the question.

“My pussy. Does it feel good?”

I shook my head. “It’s amazing, Dashie. Top notch pussy.”

“How close are you?”

“Eh… It’s still a little ways off,” I replied, looking down at her breasts as they rolled up and down her chest. “Hey… where do you want it? When I cum, I mean.”

She furrowed her brows, her eyelids fluttering uncontrollably. “Does it matter?”

“I dunno; I guess not. I just thought I should ask, is all--after what happened before.”

“Oh…” She reached up to fold her hands behind her head and looked down between our legs, looking quite relaxed. “No, I don’t care. Cum in me if you want.”

I continued, encouraged by the invite. One big thrust after another, hilting myself in her each time, filling her with pleasure that caused her to moan, roll her eyes and throw her head back in delight. Unfortunately, the same was happening to me, and I knew that my time would be up if I kept this up.

I honestly had no idea how to get this girl off; she wasn’t kidding when she said she was a tough egg to crack.

After a short pause, I reached down, slid my hands around her waist and picked her up off the bed, sitting upright on my calves and then letting her perch herself on my lap, sitting erect with me.

“Whoa… sexy!” she chuckled, leaning down to plant her lips on mine, slipping her tongue into my mouth.

I gripped her backside as she began to gyrate her hips, her arms wrapped tightly around my shoulders as she massaged my length wither insides.

“Mmmm!” Her movements became increasingly vigorous; apparently the position did well to stimulate her clitoris and seemed to drive her to ride harder, drawing as much pleasure as she could while her moans echoed into my mouth.

Unfortunately, the same was true for me as well, and, desperate to hold back from flying to close to the sun, I slid my legs out from under me one at a time to extend them out before me. Then I lowered her until her backside came to rest on the mattress, making her break the kiss to let out a little ‘hm?’ as she unexpectedly found us in a position where we were both sitting, facing one another, her legs slung over mine.

“You’re getting fancy, Golds,” she taunted, leaning back on her arms as she looked down between us. Our legs formed a diamond-shaped space between our laps, which were connected by that stiff, glistening shaft, one end of which disappeared between those ruby folds.

“Hey, you’re the one whose all about the wild positions,” I fired back, leaning back and propping myself on my arms to watch her push closer, sliding her backside on the sheets, the underside of her thighs rubbing the tops of mine as she went.

The motion caused my length to sink deeper into her, and then she backed away again for another thrust, repeating the motion over and over again. She bit her lip, watching that veiny rod pump into her like a piston, and I bit my lip, alternating between watching that and watching her perky blue tits bounce on her chest, nipples hard as glass.

Again, there was no escaping nature. The sensation of that soft, tight grip siding along my swollen manhood became too much, and I began to feel that familiar stiffening, that rise in pressure from deep down inside. There wasn’t much left to do at this point, aside from hoping that she might miraculously reach climax before me.

But somehow, I knew that wouldn’t be the case. Pinching my lips together, I gave my head a quick shake. “I… getting close…” I grunted.

Her eyes came up to meet mine, highlighted by a gleam of excitement. “Yeah? I kinda thought so--I can feel it getting bigger.”

I nodded. “Yeah…”

The anticipation prompted the rainbow-haired girl to speed her thrusts, hurling me toward the finish even faster. The angle of entry created by this position bent my erection downward slightly, putting a great deal of pressure on the topside of her interior, which I had hoped would tease her G-spot enough to get her off, but all it really did was bring me there faster by stroking my head more firmly.

I bit my lip, feeling my length swell, ready to release a healthy dose of hot, white seed into the little blue athlete. “Here it comes, Dashie…”

“Aw yeah, give it to me!” she panted, hammering her ass against my thighs as she delivered the final tease that set me off.

My eyelids fluttered when the sensation quickly spiked and my erection began to throb furiously inside her depths, pumping gush after hot, thick gush into Rainbow Dash’s interior. Her mouth dropped open when she felt that liquid heat being injected inside her, and she shoved herself into my lap to ram me even deeper, desperate to have it delivered as deep as possible.

“Ahhhh…” She closed her eyes and threw her head back, elated by the volume and heat she was receiving. “Holy shit, that feels amazing.”

Admittedly, it was a lot--more than I expected to conjure up after already having one sucked out of me not long earlier. Still, nothing compared to the satisfaction one gets from filling a hungry lady to the brim.

The orgasm had begun to subside by then, but before it was completely finished, Rainbow Dash slid back, letting my manhood pop out from between those swollen lips. Still in the final throes of climax, my erection jerked, slinging a thick rope across her lightning bolt, followed by a second one that landed right next to it.

“Oh my GOD, that hot!” Dash exclaimed when she saw her fuzzy symbol slathered in cum, watching as my length finally ran out of ammo and dribbled a lazy, gooey thread onto the mattress below. “Sorry, Golds. I thought you were done.”

“Meh. Close enough,” I replied, exhaling noisily. “Damn…”

“Is you sack empty now, or what?” she chuckled.

I let out a snicker of my own and shook my head. “You know… I think Rare might have you beat, as far as sexy talk goes.”

Dash closed her eyes and shrugged. “Nah, I ain’t as poetic as her, but I got a pussy, don’t I?”

I cocked my head to the side and nodded. “I suppose.”

“Then what’s the fuckin problem?” she shrugged.

Chuckling, I looked down between her legs, taking in the sight of her well-used womanhood; that red lightning bolt was streaked with pearl-coloured goo, and there was a thick river of cum flowing from between those ruby-red petals, running down between the blue butt-cheeks below.

“I don’t see any problems from this angle,” I said, before flopping down on my back to stare at the ceiling.

In my lower peripheries, I saw a foot swing over me, followed by the bed jiggling as Rainbow Dash crawled to the edge and dismounted to the floor. I arched my neck to watch that naked, blue figure step between the laundry on her bedroom floor before stopping to bed down, her backside parting as she reached down. A pair of thick, blue lips peeked out at me from between the tops of her thighs, covered in a white glaze that extended up between her cheeks, as well as running down one of the legs.

“Ugh…” she groaned as she stood again with a T-shirt in hand, which she promptly used as a rag to wipe her crotch clean. She arched one of her feet so that only her toes touched the floor, giving her access to shove the shirt into her deepest crevices--not the most flattering sight I’d ever seen, to be sure, but then Rainbow Dash wasn’t exactly the most ladylike individual either.

“Damn, Golds,” she said turning to face me as she wiped her hands on the last remaining dry part of the shirt before tossing it into the hilariously empty laundry basket. “That’s some impressive volume you got there; same with when you came in my mouth--heh! I could barely keep it all in my mouth!”

“Oh… yeah, I uh…“ I sat up and turned to face her, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed. “I tend to make a big mess. Sorry.”

“Aw, no, don’t be sorry. I pretty hot actually,” Dash replied, running her fingers through those colourful strands to sort them out. “Definitely a satisfying feeling getting filled up like that.”

I scrunched my lips and looked down at the floor. “Satisfying… even though you didn’t get off?”

“Oh, totally.” She waved dismissively. “Why’re you so worried about that? It was still one hell of a good lay.”

I shrugged. “I dunno. The other girls all do it--some more than others, in fact I can basically turn some of them into lawn sprinklers.”

Dash rolled her eyes as pulled her hair back and tied it into a pony tail, drawing my eyes to her breast, which had been perked up with her arms raised, jiggling along with her movements. They weren’t much of a handful, but they looked absolutely perfect on her little frame.

“Eh, everyone’s different, man.” She put her hands on her hips. “I’m impressed that you got me there with your tongue; even that doesn’t happen very often.”

“Yeah…” I patted the edge of the bed a few times before standing up. “I’m just gonna go get my clothes.”

She nodded. “Sure.”

I stepped past her to head out of the room, but then I paused when I remembered the short time we spent behind the couch. I had been reaching around her hip and stroking her slit as I fucked her, and her leg was twitching because of it--in fact, she put her leg down shortly after, which stopped me from continuing to use my fingers to augment the experience.

Did she do this on purpose?

I turned to look back at her; she was standing by the bedside table with her back to me, holding her phone in her hand--probably just now reading the messages I’d sent the night before. I glanced down at myself next, noting that my manhood was still hard for the most part. Then I approached her from behind, taking her by the arms and hauling her close to the bed, bending her over.

“Hey! What’re you doing!?” she growled, looking over her shoulder at me.

“I wanna try something,” I replied, using my hand to tap her backside with my rubbery length to re-stiffen it. “I can’t leave it like this; no lady walks away unfulfilled--that’s the Golden rule!”

“Ugh!” She rolled her eyes and then faced forward again. “Dude, I’m fulfilled!”

“Prepare to be corrected, Dashie.”

“Pfft,” she chuckled, leaning on the bed with her hands, her phone pinned beneath one of them. “Alright, I guess. Go ahead and get it out of your system, if it’ll make you feel better.”

“You’ll be the one who feels better,” I replied as I used my newly re-stiffened erection to probe her lips, wriggling it between those warm, slick folds.

“Heh, good luck--OHH!” She yelped sharply when I pushed into her hot, sloppy depths, feeling my length surrounded by the layer of thick juice I had injected moments earlier.

I reached around her hip with one hand, slipping my finger into her slit to search for that sensitive little bud as I began to pump away at her juicy interior, forcing myself to endure the orgasmic hypersensitivity that was left buzzing in every single nerve ending.

“Oh my--…fuck!” she gasped, her right leg twitching in response to the intense pleasure, the powerful jolts of electricity from her clit as I teased it with my fingertip, augmenting the deep, penetrating blasts of that hard girth ramming her interior.

I sped my thrusts up, watching that multi-coloured ponytail bob each time my hips collided with her derriere, my shaft becoming coated with a creamy white glaze each time I withdrew for the next thrust.

“Ahhh…” She squeezed her eyes shut, clutching the sheets in her fists. “SO good… I love the feeling of your cum in there… so wet and sloppy…” she panted, listening to the wet squipping that filled the room each time I speared her.

“You like that?” I asked, rubbing her clit more rapidly.

“AAAHH! I fucking love it! Keep going!”

With no danger of popping anytime soon, I granted her wish and continued to hammer away at that tight, red pussy, feeling the gooey threads of cum dribbling between her legs as they were forced out around my shaft. Her legs trembled, her muscles were tight, and her breathing was intense, her voice high, cracking each time she howled with delight.

This might actually do it, I thought, feeling her interior begin to tighten around my manhood, giving some resistance to my thrusts.

“Oh my god, oh my god… holy shit, DON’T STOP!” she screamed, panting through her gaping mouth.

“You getting close?”

“I… hhhhaah! I think I… I…” That fit little figure suddenly trembled rather violently, every muscle stiff as a board. “AAAAAHH!”

I knew the exact moment it happened; I could feel that interior clench down with a crushing force, followed by a rapid pulsing that I thought might actually cause my erection to be ejected from her. Those exercises she did certainly paid off!

Dash howled wildly, reaching back with her hands to grab blindly, searching for my arms to hang on to as she endured the mind-numbing sensation. She pulsed tightly around my length, flooding herself with her own fluids this time, while I continued to thrust and stroke her clit.

When the intensity finally began to die off, I slowed the stroking of her clit and reduced my thrusts to very short ones, teasing that quivering flesh that wrapped my soaked shaft.

Dash responded immediately to this by tapping my arm rapidly. “No! Don’t stop! There’s more!”

“Another one?” I asked, surprised. Apparently I’d opened the flood gates, and the orgasms were gonna start pouring out of her now.

“YES! I feel like… there’s another one coming; feels like… pressure!” she panted as I resumed thrusting fully, plunging into her hot, sloppy depths while I jiggled my fingers rapidly across her clit.

She wasn’t kidding. Another climax hit within the next few seconds, causing her body to lock up once more, her interior clenching down once again as I felt a massive gush of hot fluid splash down the fronts of my thighs. Pulling the plug, I backed away quickly and stood to the side so I could watch the cascade of clear fluid shoot out behind her, splashing down on the bedroom floor as she cried out with delight.

“Jeez, Dashie!” I chuckled incredulously, watching her petite, blue body quiver uncontrollably. I reached over to give her ass a sharp spank, causing her to yelp, her hips jerking as one more gush fired from between her legs, soaking the bedroom floor with a flood of clear fluid, laced with thick, white ribbons of cum.

Dash laid still as the pulsating in her womanhood slowly subsided, her back heaving as she panted heavily, left breathless after being hit my tandem orgasms; her legs hung limp from the edge of the bed, her feet draped across the floor, straddling the intimate mixture of fluids that’d puddle on the floor between them.

“Now I feel better,” I said, sighing with satisfaction as I sat next to her and laid back on the bed. “How was that?” I asked, looking over at her.

She looked up at me with those cerise eyes for a moment, then she closed them and lifted one hand to give a thumbs-up.

“Well then I guess my work here is done,” I concluded, facing the ceiling again, eyes closed.

Chapter 150: Conflict Then, Conflict Now

Chapter 150

“You don’t think it looks weird?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Nah,” I replied. “I think it looks good. The red totally reminds me of a fruit rollup. It looks a lot better than mine.”

She curled a lip. “Better than yours?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I’ve always thought that lady parts look a lot better.”

“Eh… I dunno,” she replied, looking down at her phone. “At least yours gets to wear a cool helmet.”

I let out a chuckle, tipping my head back to rest it against the wall.

I was sitting up at the head of her bed, still naked. Rainbow Dash was lying on her belly further down the bed, her powdery-blue backside facing the ceiling while her bare feet swung playfully in the air.

After taking a moment to absorb the moment --because I really wasn’t expecting to spend the morning hanging out in the buff with Rainbow Dash-- I let out a sigh and looked down at her, studying that colourful ponytail of hers.

“So Dashie,” I began, “you never answered my question.”

She looked up at me, arching a brow. “What question?”

“When we were just getting started; I asked you what had changed. Why you were able to look past your apprehension about me and my age.”

She paused for a moment, caught off-guard by the question. Then she rolled her eyes and sighed. “OK, look; before I say anything I just want to apologize for how I treated you back then. I don’t know why I was so creeped out by how old you are, it was just… I dunno. I was just being immature, I guess.”

I shrugged. “I get it. You wouldn’t be the first one to feel that way about me.”

“Well, still…” She sighed.

“So why’d you come around?”

She looked up at me for a moment, chewing her lip. “Um… well, back then, I couldn’t shake the idea that we were twenty-six years old, and you were, like, a couple thousand. And the idea that Fluttershy and you…” --she grimaced slightly-- “were gonna… ugh… get it on; it just made me queasy. Think about it! You’ve had your dick inside women who are now basically dust--and have been for, like, EVER.”

“That dust is way more satisfied than other dust, though…”

“Yeah, but…” --she smirked slightly as she spoke-- “it grossed me out, man. I didn’t know how Flutters could do it--and I was even more confused when everyone else started jumping on the Golden wagon.” She paused once again, ruminating. “But… after I got turned, even though I was really mad at first, I started to feel differently about age and time, especially when I started thinking about Fluttershy.”

I cocked my head. “Flutters? What about her?”

“Well…” She rubbed her nose. “You think about how old she was when she turned, and now, a year later, she’s twenty-seven, but… she’s still exactly the same as she was back then. She’s still living in a twenty-six year old body, and she always will be. And you’re the same way. And now, I am, too.”

“Right…”

“So, like, as time went on, I started to feel less like a ‘twenty-six year old,’ and more like… a ‘forever year old.’ Like, I don’t really have an age, I just am. And so are you. I don’t feel like you and me are that different anymore, and now you don’t seem that weird to me.”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “It’s hard thing to try to tell someone: that there’s a difference between being a certain age and how long you’ve been around. When you don’t age, those become two different things.”

“Exactly!” She pointed at me. “God, I’m so glad someone else understands that--though, I guess if anyone would, it’d be you.”

“OK so, what about what happened here today? How’d that come about?”

“Um…” Dash furrowed her brows and scratched her ear. “Well, for a long time, was still just kind of ‘meh’ about you. I mean, I’ve always thought you were good-looking n’ stuff, but that was about it. It was that… magic, or whatever that was, a few weeks ago, when I kinda felt the urge. And I couldn’t shake it, either.”

“It’s kind of still there, just so you know.”

“No, I know. I just… I couldn’t stop fucking thinking about it. It was like an itch I that couldn’t be scratched, no matter how much porn I watched or how many times I diddled myself.”

“Heh, diddled…”

“Even today,” she said, gesturing to the front room. “You showed up at the worst possible time; like, I’d been watching porn for fucking hours.”

“I bet you’re glad I showed up now, though.”

A little smirk crossed her face. “Just a little.”

“So with the time thing, does the whole ‘I fucked women who are now long dead’ thing still bug you? That’s not really the same hang up.”

“Eh… I can live with it. I mean, you shower, so… I’m kind over it.”

“I would have thought it was kinda cool,” I said. “Like, now you can say you got banged by the same dick that could have banged Cleopatra.”

Her brows went up. “You banged Cleopatra!?”

“Well, no… but I banged chicks from the same era.”

Dash snorted and shook her head. “For fuck’s sake, Golds,” she chuckled. “But no, the weirdest thing about banging someone as old as you is that… you can’t really tell you’re that old. Like, you look just like any other person out there right now.”

“Oh… yeah, people generally looked exactly the same back then--they acted the same too, it was just the lifestyles that were different.” I reached up to run my fingers through my hair. “I’m guessing by the haircut I was a soldier even before I turned; generally speaking, most men had longer hair back then, but soldiers had to cut it short so your enemies couldn’t grab onto it during battle. Mine’s not cut very evenly though, which is why I tend to keep it on the messy side.”

“Huh,” Dash nodded. “It must have been crazy to live back then.”

“People nowadays take a lot for granted, that’s for sure.” I reached my hand out to her. “Here, can I see your phone or a sec?”

“Sure,” she replied, holding it out to me.

I took it and began tapping away at the screen while Dash, folded her arms and rested her chin on them to watch me.

“It’s kinda funny seeing you use a smartphone,” she said, smiling.

“Yeah…” I replied absentmindedly. Not even I was immune to the zombification these devices caused. I turned the phone around and handed it back to her. “Here. This is an example I wanted to show you of how little humans have changed over the centuries. I want you to look at this picture and tell me how old it is.”

Rainbow Dash took the phone and furrowed her brows. “Hmm,” she thought aloud, rolling onto her back to expose her breasts, as well as that fuzzy, red lightning bolt. “Uh… I dunno. It looks like a Calvin Klein ad or something… like, from the nineties.” She slid one foot upward, raising a knee and waving it side to side as she studied the image. “I’m gonna guess, since you’re talking about people from long ago looking the same as now, that this is older… like from the 1960’s. Or the forties.”

I shook my head. “That guy’s name is Lewis Powell. He was one of the conspirators in the assassination of President Lincoln. That picture was taken in 1865.”

She looked up at me, eyes wide with surprise. “Whoa, seriously!?”

“Yup,” I nodded, before raising a finger to make another point. “Well, that picture was digitally coloured, but yeah. It’s cropped, too; he was actually in handcuffs in that shot.”

Dash brows went up. “This is after he got captured?”

“Yeah, not too long after. We were on a ship when they took that photo, hence the metal backdrop.”

“Whoa, hang on,” Dash said, closing her eyes as she waved her hand at me. “You were there?”

“Yeah. Who d’you think he was giving the stink-eye to in that picture?”

She looked at the picture again. Then she snorted and shook her head. “Yeah, actually… you must have been there; I’ve seen Rarity give you that exact same look.”

“I guess I have that effect sometimes. But no, seriously, I was there that night they went to the Surratt’s house to talk to Mary, and he just happened to show up --you know… wrong place, wrong time kind of deal-- and we got ‘em both in one lucky swoop. They both hanged for it eventually, along with a few others.”

“Wow,” she said, still studying the picture. “For conspiring to kill the president?”

“Not just that, but they tried to kill the vice-president and the secretary of state--but obviously only succeeded in killing the president.” I replied, folding my arms and leaning back against the wall. “He was a Confederate soldier before that--the guy in the picture there; he even fought in the Battle of Gettysburg, and he got wounded there or something. I can’t remember what he got up to after that, but after the war ended, he met up with Booth and they started putting together their plot of kidnap Lincoln, which failed, so they tried again with the assassination.”

“Huh. He fought at Gettysburg, eh?” Dash looked up at me. “Did you fight in the civil war?”

“A little. Not at Gettysburg, though; I was too far away at the time. I could have been there for the Gettysburg Address, which was a few months later, but I decided not to go cuz I didn’t think it was gonna be that big a deal. Boy, was I wrong.”

“Wait, what happened at the Gettysburg Address?”

“That’ was when Lincoln did that speech that starts with: ‘Four score and seven years ago…’”

Dash’s eyes widened. “Oh, shit! You could have seen that speech in person and you chose not to!?”

I shrugged, shaking my head with a defeated look on my face. “Who knew it would turn out to be one of the biggest events in American history?”

“Pfft! Yeah, man. You tooootally shit the bed on that one.”

“One of the many things I wish I could go back and change,” I replied, looking down as I picked idly at the sheets.

“So what side were you on?” she asked.

“Union,” I said, glancing up at her.

“That’s the North, right?”

“Yeah. Yankees.”

“So you were on the side that was trying to free the slaves?”

I let out a sigh. “Well, that war was about a few different things, but yeah, for me personally, it was about slavery. It just… UGH!” I sat forward suddenly, putting my hands together to emphasise my point. “Look, Dashie: I’ll tell you right now --and you’ll probably encounter this one day yourself-- but if there is one pet-peeve that I have, that I keep seeing repeated over and over again throughout history, it’s fucking slavery. It is one of the most idiotic ideas humans have ever come up with.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty bad,” Dash agreed. “No one deserves that kinda life.”

I shook my head. “It’s not just cuz it’s inhumane, it just… it doesn’t work the way people think, no matter how many times they try it--and believe me, EVERYONE’S tried it. Here, put it this way: it’s easy for people to look at it and say ‘hey, free unlimited labour! This is a great idea!’ Ah, but it isn’t,” I explained finger raised. “I mean, maybe if you were a king of something, and you had some slave servants to feed you grapes and wash your ass n’ stuff, that might make sense, but as an economic platform, it is pure garbage--especially in an industrial place like the US.”

I raised a hand to begin counting on my fingers as I continued. “Look, let’s say you want super cheap, or even free labour; you go buy a bunch of slaves. Great! Now what? Remember, they have to be well enough to actually be able work for you. That means you have to pay to house them, clothe them, feed them, look after them when they’re sick or injured, you have to look after their newborn babies, you have to take care of them when they become elderly--it costs a lot more than you think. Now, what do you think would be cheaper? All that, or just paying someone an hourly wage for a day’s work?--Then they go home and look after themselves. They’re not your problem!”

Rainbow Dash scratched her forehead. “Wow. I never really thought of it like that; it kinda makes sense, though.”

“It makes perfect sense,” I replied, leaning back against the wall again. “Why do you think the North was historically more prosperous? No slavery! Not to mention, there’s the fact that it’s a gigantic humanitarian nightmare; I mean, in terms of productivity, who d’you think is going to be more productive? Someone who’s imprisoned and being forced to work his entire life, which in the end is a massive waste, or someone who is actually being compensated for his work and has the freedom to do what he wants?”

Dash sat up partway with her legs curled to one side, leaning on the opposite arm. “Obviously the guy getting paid.”

I threw both hands in the air. “Right!? Man, when I started hearing talk of them bringing slaves over, I… fuck. I was pulling my hair out, telling EVERYONE the same thing I just told you. I’d already seen it fail countless times by then, and I told every politician I met, or anyone with any pull whatsoever: don’t. Fucking. Do it. It won’t work. But do you think they listened to me?”

“Ugh… obviously not,” Dash grumbled.

“No.” I sighed, looking off into space.

After taking a moment to look down at her sideways-drooping breasts, Rainbow Dash glanced up at me. “You seem pretty passionate about it though; I guess that’s a good thing.”

I looked back at her. “Yeah. Trust me; you’ll encounter the same kind of infuriating crap as the years go on. Human beings have a very annoying habit of repeating mistakes.”

“Huh… well, still. I’d hate to be any Confederate soldier who treid to go toe-to-toe with you. Heh!”

“Yeah…” I reached up to scratch my forehead. “Ugh… that war was such a goddamn mess. I was glad to see it end, but then, just as things were looking up, those assholes went and killed the president and it all went o shit again.”

“Yeah, that sucks.”

I raised my hands and looked up at the ceiling, shaking my head. “I… Dashie, I tell you, I was so fucking done at the point, I just hopped on a horse and fucked off to the west. Spent the next decade or so hanging out with the gunslingers.”

She cocked her head, scowling at me. “That’s how you ended up in the Wild West?”

I nodded. “Yup. That’s’ where I learned to shoot. I’ve already told you some of those stories. The lawlessness out there was kinda fun, in a way. I could take my aggression out some of those guys --the ones who deserved it, anyway-- but when bad things happened to good people, like that family I was trying to bring the food to, it sort of cancelled out. Eventually, it cancelled out more and more, and things got so bad that I had to get out, and eventually I returned to the north--but I stayed away from DC.”

“Whew…” Dash shook her head. “Your stories, man. I could listen to them all day.”

“Yeah,” I nodded and looked down at myself, suddenly realising I felt somewhat exposed with my manhood flopped out like this. Drawing a breath, I stood from the bed. “I’m just gonna go grab my clothes. Hey, do you know where the dinner is this week?”

“I thought Pinkie was doing it, but I could be wrong,” she replied, lying back down again to stretch out. “Ahhh… hey uh, you mind grabbing my clothes too?”

I turned back and waved her off. “Nothin doin.”

Her head popped up suddenly, brows furrowed. “Huh?”

I paused, my eyes darting around before landing on the naked blue girl again. “Sorry. All this talk of the old days is making the lingo come back.”

“That’s totally weird,” Dash replied, narrowing her eyes at me before lifting her phone again to look at it.

“What I meant was ‘get your own fucking clothes,’” I said, turning away once more to head out of the room.

“You what’s kinda crazy?” Dash said, stopping me once again.

“What?”

“How you’ve gone from using, like, swords n’ spears n’ stuff, to guns and revolvers or whatever, and now you have sophisticated technology to fight your battles, like using smartphones to tap into the cameras n’ shit.” She held her phone above her face, swiping through the app. “Like, I’m here, laying naked on my bed, and I can see anywhere I want in the entire city; the mall, the Wondercolt’s arena, Sunset’s apartment, Carousel Bouti… holy shit.”

I was turning away when she said this, and something about the tone in her voice made me turn back yet again. “What?”

“The boutique is on fire!”

A sudden shot of tension went through my chest. “What!?”

She turned the phone so I could see it. “Look!”

I stepped closer to get a better look. Sure enough, the camera that faced the shop from the traffic pole out front showed the heart-wrenching truth: Rarity’s boutique was engulfed in flames.

“Shit!” I staggered back a step to turn away, but was unable to peel my eyes from the horrific sight. After forcing myself to turn away, I darted down the hallway, shouting. “Dashie, send Rare a message, then get your fucking clothes on! We gotta go right now!”

*****

Not twenty minutes later, Rainbow Dash and I were outside of the boutique, unable to get very close to it as the area had been blocked by emergency vehicles. We’d been joined already by Sunset and Pinkie Pie, who had both left their apartments to join us. Sonata, who was now living with Pinkie, stayed home as she was not yet physically prepared for any real excitement.

Rarity, who’d remained at Fluttershy’s for the day, took considerably longer to arrive. Rainbow Dash’s message alerting her of the fire was the first she’d heard of it, which led us to believe that the blaze had just started--not that it mattered, sadly; as soon as Dash and I arrived on the scene, I knew the boutique was beyond salvation.

It was nearly forty minutes later when Rarity car sped onto the scene and screeched to a halt in the middle of the street. The driver’s door flew open and the fashionista stepped out, her eyes wide with horror, her skin reflecting the orange hue from the blaze. After covering her mouth and taking a moment to absorb the reality of it all, she broke into a run while Fluttershy stepped out of the passenger side, her mouth covered as well.

Rather than approach us as expected, Rarity pushed right past us and charged straight for the burning building. Sunset and I both reached for her when she slipped between us, but were too slow to catch her; Dash was ready to give a hot pursuit to stop her, but I put my hand in front of her to hold her back, nodding at the firefighters and surrounding crowd when she gave me an irritated look.

“Not in front of everyone,” I warned.

After glaring for a moment, Dash breathed a sigh of frustration, her shoulders slumping. Fluttershy joined my side to watch helplessly as Rarity charged her way inside the store, the firefighters calling after her as she ducked in through the broken glass of the front door.

The shy girl gripped my hand, prompting me to look over at her; the look of terror and helplessness in her eyes was heartbreaking. I couldn’t even begin to imagine the worry she must have felt for her girlfriend right then.

I squeezed her hand in return, but it didn’t seem to offer much comfort. There was little we could do, standing there on the street with the oppressive heat beating our faces, beams of light from the afternoon sun cutting through the massive brownish-gray cloud of smoke that billowed into the sky above.

“Come on, Rare, don’t do anything stupid,” Sunset grumbled aloud, shaking her head as she watched the alarmed firefighters pointing and shouting out orders about the crazed woman who’d entered the inferno.

Just then, however, the fashionista re-emerged. Her clothes and face were smoke stained, her hair frazzled; watering eyes had caused her eyeliner had run down her cheeks, and her hair was a frazzled mess. She stood there for a moment, looking devastated, exhaling a cloud of smoke from her mouth and nostrils like an elegant dragon.

When she noticed a pair of firemen approaching, she quickly put on a phony spell of coughing and shook her head, jogging away from them while waving them off. “I’m fine! Leave me be!” she shouted as they changed course to pursue her.

“Ma’am, you need to be checked out!” they shouted through their helmet speakers.

She approached the group and circled behind us to hide from them, while I put my hand out to signal them down. “We got her; she ‘s fine,” I said.

One of the men shook his head. “She needs to be checked out. There’s a lot of smoke in there.”

Indeed, the smell was horrendous; there was a wide range of materials in the place that didn’t exactly burn very cleanly.

“OK, we’ll take her to the hospital,” I suggested.

He pointed down the street. “There’s an ambulance over there, they’ll look after her.”

I nodded, and the two men, having little other choice, returned their attention to the fire. I turned to face Rarity, who stunk horrendously of smoke. “What the fuck was that all about!?”

“I… I-I couldn’t help myself. I’m sorry!” she cried, fresh tears gushing down her blackened cheeks. She slammed herself against Fluttershy next, wrapping her arms around the shy girl and squeezing her tightly. “It’s gone, darling, ALL of it! The place is destroyed! All of my life’s work, going up in smo-ho-hoke! How did this have happened!?”

Fluttershy held the fashionista tight, struggling to fight back the tears. “I know. I’m so sorry, Rare!”

Pinkie Pie latched onto the back of Rarity, adding to the embrace. Rainbow Dash joined the group hug next.

Before Sunset had a chance to join in, she felt a buzz in her pocket. Huffing, she stopped to fish her phone out to see who it was. “It’s Twilight,” she said to me as she read the text. Then her eyes widened. “Oh shit…”

“What is it?” I asked, standing beside her so I could see the screen.

“Look,” Sunset replied, showing me the message.

TWILIGHT: I just heard about the fire, so I went back in the city footage and found this:

Below that was video box. When Sunset pressed play, it showed the boutique before the fire had started. Aside from the dull, orange flicker growing in the front windows, nothing was happening at first, but after watching for a few seconds, I noticed something very peculiar: from around the corner of the building came a woman, running down the sidewalk with a long black garment under one arm, wearing tight pants with a loose leather belt and a light-coloured vest, with a pair of big ponytails that bounced as she ran along, each one sporting a light-coloured tracer that ran its length.

Another message popped up.

TWILIGHT: Tell Rarity I’m sorry

I looked at Sunset. “Isn’t that, uh…?”

She nodded. “Aria…”

“Who?” came Rarity’s voice from the side, causing Sunset and I to spin around to face her.

“It’s uh…” Sunset fidgeted and chewed her lip, clearly reluctant to tell her friend about the image, lest she lose control of her temper.

I sighed and shook my head. “Just show her, Sunny.”

Swallowing, Sunset handed the phone to Rarity, who reached out to take it as the others released her from the hug. We watched in silence for a moment as the fashionista viewed the footage, feeling the heat of the flames on our backs.

It was obvious when she saw it. Her eyes widened when she saw the figure running from her store, and her jaw clenched tightly, her fingertips trembling violently, barely able to hold onto the phone.

“Rare?” Sunset said, grimacing.

“That bitch…” the fashionista whispered, lowering the phone and turning to watch her store burn to the ground.

The rest of us watched, not know what to expect.

After staring vacantly into that blaze, her eyes reflecting the dancing orange light show, she faced Sunset and I, speaking in a very calm, low voice. “She tried to take my little sister, then she took my livelihood.” She paused, huffing deeply before continuing. “I will find her… so help me god. And when I do, I shall skin her alive!”

As she spoke, an electric blue light began to emit directly from the fashionista's skin, and she levitated from the sidewalk, her feet hovering a few inches from the concrete.

Sunset's eyes widened suddenly, and she quickly stepped forward to grab the fashionista to pull her back down. "Rare, NO! Not in front of everybody!"

It was too late, however; a beam of blue energy emerged from her forehead, tapering to a point roughly ten inches long. Her hair began to grow rapidly, a massive indigo coil that extended down behind her back, nearly reaching her feet.

The other girls had joined Sunset in trying to hold the fashionista down by then, but despite this, the situation worsened when small objects began to rise from the ground: little rocks, bits of garbage and the like began to float around us at knee height, prompting me to move in and pull her downward.

Luckily, after a quick look around, it appeared that most of the people present were focused on the fire, so I turned to Sunset and the others.

"We gotta get her outta here before someone sees this shit!"

"Ya think!?" Sunset fired back.

I looked to my left, noticing Rarity's car parked several feet away. "There! Get her in the car!" I said, pointing toward the vehicle, just as it began to creak and it's front wheels began to lift from the ground, along with a garbage can that was chained to a nearby light post.

Panicking, I faced Rarity, whose eyes were ablaze with a blinding glow. "Come on, Rare, get it together! We can't do this here!"

Chapter 151: Dealing With the Blaze

Chapter 151

Rarity’s car pulled into its parking spot and stopped, its engine quietly cutting into silence a moment later. Inside, Fluttershy sat behind the wheel, a smoke-stained Rarity sitting in the passenger seat next to her, arms folded, eyes downcast.

Sighing, the shy girl glanced over at her girlfriend, her soft brow marked with concern. “Um… are you OK, Rare?” she asked quietly, folding her hands on her lap as she bowed her head slightly to get a better view of Rarity’s face.

The fashionista didn’t move. She simply sat staring at her knees.

After waiting a few seconds for a response, Fluttershy faced forward again, only to turn back when Rarity spoke.

“It’s gone… Fluttershy,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “All of it. My life’s work, my passion; destroyed… by petty vengeance.”

The shy girl reached over to pat Rarity’s forearm. “I know. It’s… I feel awful, Rare. It broke my heart to see it burning like that. But… on the bright side, you were smart --just like we all know you are-- and you had really good insurance on it, so… um, you’ll be able to build a new boutique--one that’s even better, cuz you’ll be able to build it in your own brilliant vision, right?

“There were things in that boutique.” Rarity shook her head. “Irreplaceable things. Heirlooms. Things that belonged to my customers. And most of all… memories.”

Disheartened, Fluttershy stared for a moment before sighing and looking down at her lap.

Outside, the loud clatter of a diesel engine approached, accompanied by a pair of headlight beams that swept across the front of Rarity’s townhouse.

Fluttershy glanced over her shoulder and then at Rarity. “Um, looks like my ride is here… I guess. Are you sure you don’t want us to stay with you?”

Rarity nodded slowly. “Yes. I’d much rather be alone.”

Fluttershy paused for a moment, rubbing her nose as she worried silently about her girlfriend. In the end, she decided not to worry and that she should trust Rarity; after all, it wasn’t like she could hurt herself. “OK, Rare. Just promise me one thing.”

Rarity looked over at her, her eyeliner washed down her cheeks by her weeping, mixing with the soot on her face.

“Make sure you have a shower,” Fluttershy said with a coy smile. “You smell like smoke.”

Rarity looked down at herself, sighed and then nodded. Then she opened her door to step out of the car.

After shutting my truck off and hopping out, I headed towards Rarity’s car. She emerged from the passenger door first, followed closely by Fluttershy from the opposite side. The fashionista glanced up at me as I approached with a comforting smile; her eyes were the only part of her that was left white.

Saying nothing, I put an arm around her and pulled her into my side, rubbing her shoulder.

She sighed, her eyes dropping to the sidewalk.

“I’m not sure how I feel about leaving you here alone, Rare,” I confessed. “You should have someone around to talk to.”

She shook her head. “I’ve already told you --multiple times-- that I wish to be alone. I do not wish to be bombarded with ‘it’s going to be OK’ and ‘we know how you feel’ all night long. I would much rather have the freedom to wallow in misery on my own.”

After a pause, I withdrew my arm, rubbing her between the shoulder blades before stepping in front of her to face her. Placing my index finger beneath her chin, I brought her face up until her eyes met mine. “Just promise me one thing, Rare…”

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Yes, I‘ll have a shower.”

I hesitated for a moment, furrowing my brows. “No, that’s not-- … well, actually, yeah, you do need a shower, but that’s not what I was going to say.” I used a finger to sweep her frazzled hair out of her face. “I need your word that’ll you’ll stay home. Don’t go out looking for her. We’re getting close to finalizing a plan to go after the Ministry, and we can’t have you going out and getting yourself into trouble. I know this is bad, and I can’t imagine how you must feel right now, but we need to stay focused.”

Her brow creased slightly. “I don’t care about the Ministry right now.”

I closed my eyes and nodded. “I know, and I’m not saying you have to. I’m just saying don’t do anything stupid, OK?”

Her eyes dropped downward. “Fine.”

I took my finger from her chin and wrapped my arm around her back to pull her in for a kiss on the forehead. “Don’t worry, Rare. I know it seems like the end of the worked right now, but we’re all here for you. We got your back. Now go inside; relax; have some ice cream. Take a dip in the hot tub. If you need anything at all, just text me or Flutters and we’ll be here.” I faced the shy girl. ”Right?”

Fluttershy nodded and smiled warmly.

After glancing at the two of us, Rarity looked down at the sidewalk and nodded. “Thank you… my darlings,” she mumbled, giving me a squeeze and then releasing me to approach Fluttershy for a hug.

“I love you, Rare,” the shy girl said softly, her chin resting on the fashionista’s shoulder, eyes closed.

“I love you too, Fluttershy,” Rarity replied, backing out of the embrace and turning to face me. “Both of you.”

I gave her a smile. “Love you too.” Then I gestured to her front door. “Now go on inside, have a shower and take some time out for yourself. Message us if you need something. K?”

She nodded and then turned slowly. After one last look at Fluttershy, she headed up the sidewalk, her boots clopping softly along the concrete. Once the door was opened, she paused to look at back at us, and the shy girl and I each waved at her. She stared blankly for a moment, and then disappeared inside, closing the door behind her.

Fluttershy and I stood outside on the sidewalk in the failing light, which was slowly being superseded by the lampposts. We looked at each other, sighing.

“Do you think she’ll be OK?” she asked.

I nodded slowly. “I think so. Maybe not tonight, but… I dunno. Sometime.”

“What do you wanna do?”

I rubbed the back of my neck, scanning the parking lot. “Uhh... not sure. We should stay in town though--in case she wants us.”

She nodded her agreement. “Um, where did everyone else go?”

“Sunny’s, I think.”

“You wanna got here?”

After a little glance at Fluttershy, I gave her a nod. “Sure.”

*****

Inside, Rarity closed the door behind her and leaned against it. She stared down the hallway into the dim front room, her mind’s eye overlaying the quiet scene with images of fire and smoke. She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath, hoping to extinguish the memory, only to be reminded of it when the smell of smoke entered her nose.

After staring at the floor for a moment, she quietly slipped out of her boots and set them aside before heading down the hall, combing her fingers into her hair in a vain attempt to tame its disorderly tangles. As she reached the end of the hall, she withdrew one hand to reach over and flick the light switch, illuminating the front room.

Rarity was only a few steps into the room, however, when she realised she wasn’t alone; the movement of a figure standing from the couch caught her eye, causing her to look up and freeze in place, her eyes wide as saucers as they locked onto that faded lavender skin, green vest, violet studded jeans, and those twin purple ponytails, each one lined with a phosphorescent strip.

“YOU!” Rarity bellowed, marching toward the intruder.

“Wait, wait!” Aria shouted, raising her hands to dissuade the fashionista from approaching.

Without hesitation, Rarity outstretched a hand of her own, summoning a large block of diamond that appeared before the siren that encased her hands within its depths. The sudden weight of it pulled Aria down by the arms, making her grunt when she instinctively tried and failed to resist its draw.

The block thudded to the floor, and Aria’s chin collided with the hard, transparent surface, causing her to grit her teeth and wince, eyes squeezed shut. After sucking a bit of blood from her lip, having bitten it when her fall ended, the siren looked up to find Rarity standing over her, looking down with utter distain on her blackened face.

Rarity shook her head slowly. “The gall… the absolute GALL! Coming here, after what you’‘ve done! Did you inhale a bit too much smoke? Hm? What would possess you into thinking coming here was a good idea?”

Helpless, Aria switched between looking up at Rarity and down at the transparent cube, her trapped hands visible at its core.

“You do realise what you’ve done, right? “ Rarity continued. “You know who I am, or rather, my night time persona; is exacting your revenge on us really that important to you? Is it important enough to die for? You lucky I haven’t gutted you like a fish already!”

“I had no choice,” Aria muttered, keeping her eyes downcast.

“Oh, pshh!” Rarity scoffed, waving the siren off. “Such nonsense! You MADE a choice--a very stupid one, at that. How easy would it have been to choose a better, smarter path? That’s all it would have taken --your sister is evidence of that-- and now, your vindictiveness has finally caught up with you. Your arrogance has been your undoing and you’ve been caught in the act; my boutique wasn’t enough, was it? Hm? You felt the need to come here and destroy my home too?”

Aria’s eyes rose to meet Rarity’s when she said this. She stared anxiously with those dark, violet eyes, her face draining with colour when the fashionista’s arm extended to the side, followed by a flash of light that pierced the air. Seconds later, there was a long, sparkling blade in Rarity’s hand, its gleaming edges sharp enough to put a razor to shame.

“I’m afraid it’s the end of the road for you,” Rarity said, bringing the sword forward to point it at Aria’s nose. “You had a good run, you and your sisters, but this ridiculous vendetta of yours has run its course; I’ve had quite enough of this nonsense, and it is my duty to bring it to a close… right now.”

As the fashionista spoke, a series of flashes surrounded the two of them, making Aria look up at the spectacle, watching as four walls, a ceiling and a floor materialized under her feet. Bemused, the siren brought her attention back to Rarity, who was admiring her blade as it swished quietly through the air before being pointed at Aria once again.

“The enclosure, in case you were wondering, is for protection,” she explained. “I’m told that my methods tend to be… rather messy, so…” She gestured around at the sparkling walls with her free hand. “This little space is to keep your blood from staining my carpet, which is a delicate shade of macaroon cream--not cheap!”

Aria’s eyes began to dart around, and she fidgeted somewhat hastily, trying to pull her arms free of the diamond restraint block.

“It’s no use, darling,” Rarity said flatly, watching the siren struggle helplessly for a moment, before letting the tip of the blade rest on top of the block, just in front of her captive’s shin. “Now then… do you have anything to say before I excuse you?”

Aria paused suddenly, staring at her soon-to-be executioner. Her lips were parted, moving slightly as though she was trying to come up with something to say. Ultimately, though, she closed her mouth and exhaled through her nose, closing her eyes and slumping down, defeated.

“Very well,” Rarity said with a sneer. She then lifted the sword above her head, holding it with both hands. “And don’t worry; when I find your sister, I shall be sure to send her to meet you in oblivion--though I don’t suppose you’d be willing to make things easier by telling me where she is?”

“They took her.”

“Fine then. Brace yourself,” Rarity announced, closing her eyes as she wound up to strike. “I promise I will make this relatively painle--“

The fashionista’s eyes popped open, her body frozen in place. She’d been so caught up in the moment, it’d taken several seconds to process what was said, and now that it had sunk in, her curiosity had been piqued enough to keep the siren alive long enough to find out what she meant.

She lowered the sword to her side, looking down at her captive. “What did you say?”

Aria kept her head down, avoiding eye contact. “Dagi’s gone.”

Rarity cocked a brow. “What does that mean, gone?”

“They have her.”

After a brief pause, the fashionista lowered herself to one knee, letting the tip of her sword touch the floor so she could lean on it, using it to steady herself as she came down and leaned in close to Aria to ask the million dollar question.

“Who?”

Swallowing, Aria finally looked up at Rarity. “It’s a gang, but not really a gang; it’s a bunch of men in suits… calling themselves ‘The Ministry.’”

Rarity’s eyes widened when she heard this, and in a bright flash of light, the diamond enclosure, the sword, and the block that held Aria’s hands captive all vanished. Freed, the siren fell forward slightly, catching herself by ending up on her hands and knees.

“Why?” Rarity asked, leaning forward on one knee. “Why have they taken an interest in you?”

Aria took a moment to collect herself before taking a seat on the carpet, facing the fashionista. “After… after the thing at the theatre, Dagi and I went to the big city to hide; we needed time to regroup and figure out what we were going to do. About a week ago, we were at a bar, looking for prospects for… making money --rich men, basically… to rip off-- but anyway, we found this bunch of dudes in suits. Rich-looking dudes. Good prospects to make a bit of money off of… and we needed it.

“So Dagi and I, we approached them and made some small talk; did the whole flirting thing, arm touching and all that, and things were going pretty good until one of them noticed you on one of the TVs.”

“Me?” Rarity asked, brow raised.

Aria nodded. “As the Dark Mistress. One of the guys got kinda fired up about it; started bitching about how you’re a menace and a danger to the city. The other guys mocked him a about it, calling him a ‘comic book nerd’ n’ stuff, but her insisted it was real. He said that someone dressed like you attacked him in a hotel bar or something like that, and that there were others who witnessed it too.

“Dagi and I were surprised to hear this, obviously, and we looked at each other, kind of thinking the same thing: rather than going the seductress route, we could probably make some huge bank by showing them that we had valuable information. So Dagi, turned to them and flat-out said, ‘what if we told you we know who the Dark Mistress is?’”

Rarity gasped and covered her mouth. “Tell me you didn’t!”

Aria bit her lip and looked down at herself. Then she nodded.

The fashionista moved her hand from her mouth to her forehead, her eyes wide with horror. “Oh god… they know who I am!?”

“Uh… yeah.”

Rarity squeezed her eyes shut, rubbing her brow firmly. “Oh my… this is a disaster. This is not good.” She looked up at Aria again, shaking her head. “You sirens… you have been a thorn in our sides for a long time. This, however… you’ve gone too far this time.”

Aria shrugged. “We didn’t know who these guys were. We needed money bad, and we thought this was our big shot.”

Rarity huffed, letting her hand drop to her lap as she stared at the floor shaking her head. “So what happened next?”

“I… well it obviously got their attention,” Aria continued. “They were all staring at us, and Dagi put on her little swagger, saying she could fill them in for the right price and all that; so they agreed and asked if we would come with them--which we did.”

“Where did they take you?” Rarity asked, listening intently.

“We went with them in a couple of big black cars, and they took us to this big building in the high-end district. The place was huge. I thought I’d seen it before, but never really knew what it was; there’s a lot of big buildings in that part of town, and I always figured they were all corporate offices or government buildings… but this place?” Aria paused to shake her head. “It was not what we expected at all. The place was like a fortress; steel doors, key carded locks, armed guards… it was like something out of a movie. I don’t know about Dagi, but I knew right away that it was a mistake going there.”

“Mistakes seem to be something of a specialty of yours,” Rarity jabbed, to which Aria gave a sour sneer. “So then what? Where did they take you?”

“We took an elevator to one of the upper floors, to a big room with weird curtains and pictures of churches n’ stuff, and there was this huge old guy sitting at a desk doing paperwork or something. The guys from the bar had us sit in front of the desk, and they told the old guy that we had some important things to tell h--”

Rarity raised a hand to cut her off. “Wait. This… rather large fellow, did he, by chance look like a man of the cloth?”

Aria nodded. “Yeah. That’s what they were calling him: the ‘Reverend. How do you know about him?”

“We’ve… garnered something of a history with him in recent times,” Rarity replied. “So what did he say to you?”

“He asked us what our business was there, and what was so important that he had to be interrupted from what he was doing, and… Dagi just came right out and told she knew who the Dark Mistress is. He changed his tune quite a bit after that.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Rarity sighed, rubbing her brow.

“So, we talked for a bit… about our beef with the Dark Mistress, and how we were attacked one night for no reason…” Aria trailed off as she spoke, cringing slightly when she noticed Rarity’s expression when she heard this. “We… might have lied a little bit.”

“A little bit?” The fashionista raised a brow.

“Eh…” The siren rubbed the back of her neck, her eyes shifting to the side. “So anyway, he told us that you guys attacked his hotel unprovoked; said you messed up a bunch of rooms and killed his people, and that you were overdue for some payback--which Dagi liked the sound of.”

“Hm…” Rarity replied with a scowl. “It seems everyone was telling tall tales that night.”

“So… you didn’t attack his hotel?” Aria asked, brows furrowed.

“Oh, we did,” Rarity nodded. “But it was in retaliation.”

“To what?”

Rarity paused for a moment, drawing a breath. “They murdered Pinkie Pie’s family.”

Aria stared vacantly, clearly shocked to hear this. “Oh…”

“Yes. The good reverend is not as innocent as he plays himself off to be.” The fashionista cocked her head. “So what next? You regaled one another with tales of the dreaded Mistress, and then what?”

“He pretty much assumed that we wanted something in exchange for your identity, and he asked us to name our price. So Dagi did… and he looked kind of pissed about it, to be honest.”

“Ugh…” Rarity moaned softly, rubbing her temple. “How much did she ask for?”

“Half a million,” Aria replied, “which we thought seemed reasonable since they looked like they could easily afford it.”

“No.” Rarity shook her head bluntly. “Despite his net worth, Father Tirek is quite frugal with his wealth. It was rather foolish of Adagio to request such a figure.”

Aria shook her head. “We didn’t know what kind of people they were--obviously. We thought, with such a big place, that they at least operated with at least some honor; like, we have over the identity of their enemies, they reward us handsomely. Everyone wins. It would have been mutually beneficial.”

“Unfortunately, as we’ve learned, the Ministry’s M.O. is not to have things mutually beneficial; they only want what’s good for them.”

The siren paused, rubbing her chin as something appeared to have occurred to her. “Wait… did you say Father Tirek?” she asked, before facing Rarity again, who was nodding. She then shook her head. “I thought something seemed familiar about him.”

“Yes, apparently he is something of a ‘problem child’ in Equestria, according to Sunset Shimmer.”

“You could say that,” Aria agreed. “He would destroy everything if he was allowed to.”

Rarity nodded, and then gestured to the siren. “So he was incensed by the offer?”

“Uh, right,” Aria continued, getting back on track with her story. “I think Adagio knew she’d overstepped her bounds, so she tried a lower offer, and then an even smaller one, but the minister still looked pissed. Then, uh… he snapped his fingers and the bar guys grabbed us from behind; there were too many of them to fight off, so we couldn’t get away --not that we could have escaped that place on our own anyway-- and… then they tied our hands together and strung them above our heads to a couple hooks on the ceiling.”

The siren paused, breaking eye contact with Rarity. “Then… Father Tirek told us we were in no position to bargain, and that he had the means to get what he wanted for free. And… so, he ordered his thugs to start hitting us. It didn’t take long for Dagi to spill the beans--I mean, she cared more about protecting herself then you, so she told him who you are. She told him who ALL of you are.”

“Oh dear,” Rarity said, anxiously rubbing her cheek.

“But he didn’t stop there,” Aria continued. “One of the guys took a knife and slashed Dagi’s hip open, and she was bleeding all down her leg. I thought they were going to do the same thing to me, but they didn’t. He told me instead that he had a job for me.”

Rarity’s face went blank for a moment. Then she looked down at her smoke-stained clothes. “My boutique…” She brought her attention back to the siren, her face softening when the realisation hit her. “It wasn’t your idea, was it?”

Aria shook her head. “No. But it was me who did it. I had to.”

“Why? Why you?”

Aria licked the little split on her lower lip, wincing slightly when she tasted its sting. “These guys… they apparently have a habit of making other people do their dirty work if they can.”

“Well, they do have a reputation to uphold,” Rarity interjected, with a roll of her eyes.

“So they sent me back to Canterlot to burn your store down. And they told me that if I didn’t go through with it that they would cut Dagi’s stomach out and then come after me.”

Rarity drew a deep breath and released it noisily, rubbing her face with both hands. Then she let her hands drop to her lap, staring at the siren. “You haven’t come here to start another fire, have you? You came here to ask for help.”

Aria sighed. “I didn’t know what else to do,” she shrugged. “But I don’t have very much time; your boutique wasn’t the only target I was supposed to hit tonight.”

This caught Rarity’s interest. “I’m sorry, did you say there are more targets?”

Aria nodded.

“Where?”

“Your friend’s animal shelter.”

Rarity gave pause to this, turning her head slightly to look sideways at Aria, eyes narrowed. “Fluttershy’s shelter? You were meant to burn Fluttershy’s shelter? With the animals inside!?”

“Yeah,” the siren sighed.

The fashionista chortled incredulously as she looked away and shook her head. “My goodness,” she muttered, facing Aria again. “It is fortunate for you that you didn’t go through with that.”

“Well… like I said, I don’t have much time,” Aria reiterated. “There gonna be expecting a fire before the night is up.”

Rarity furrowed her brows at this. “Alright, just… forgive me for not understanding; could you please explain to me how they know that you’re doing what you’re meant to be doing?”

“They have guys out in cars… watching from a distance to make sure I’m doing it.”

Confused, the fashionista raised a brow. “But… how can you be certain they haven’t followed you here?”

“It’s kind of confusing to explain,” Aria said, bringing her hands together in front of her chest. “First off, they know you guys have access to the city’s surveillance cameras; they saw how you were able to manipulate the security cameras before, and because of this, they told me specifically that after I start the fire, make sure that I’m seen on camera when I run out, that way you guys know it was me.”

“Hence why they had you do it, so we wouldn’t retaliate on them,” Rarity said. “Devils!”

“Exactly,” Aria replied. “And that’s what I did, but before I left the store I grabbed one of those long coats and a gaudy hat” --Rarity gasped when she said this-- “to use as a disguise once I was out of sight. With the disguise I was able to lose them, and so I snuck across town to come here, while staying away from the cameras as best I could. I figured this was the best place to cuz it was the last place they’d look. Plus… I thought that… there might be a small chance you might actually help us--if you didn’t kill me first.”

“Mm, yes…” Rarity thoughtfully tapped her bottom lip. “You do appear to be somewhat in over your heads.”

“Also… Sonata is with you guys. I figured, if anything, she’d be my best chance at convincing you guys to give me a hand.”

“Perhaps,” Rarity said, rubbing her chin. “But unfortunately, Sonata is not here; she lives with Pinkie Pie now.”

After a brief pause, Aria brought her eyes up to meet Rarity’s. “How is Sonata, anyway?”

Rarity folded her arms and stuck her nose up. “She’s doing well--though I find it amusing that you would care, since it was you who put her in that condition to begin with.”

For once in a rare occasion, the purple siren’s tough exterior cracked; not by any significant margin, but it was enough for Rarity to take notice and immediately feel remorseful about it. Perhaps she was too quick to judge. There was no way to know how she’d been affected by what she did to her sister.

“I… suppose that was… a bit uncalled for,” the fashionista admitted. “My apologies. I shouldn’t have said it.”

Aria shrugged. “Meh. I did burn down your store. You’re being a lot nicer than I would.”

“Still,” Rarity replied. “And yes, Sonata is healing wonderfully, and, as I said, she is quite happy living with Pinkie Pie. My apologies if you were expecting to find her here. I, however, AM here, and if there’s one thing Sonata has taught me, it’s that I shouldn’t write you girls off without giving you a chance. So yes, I will help you; unlike the Ministry, I can see when a situation can be mutually beneficial, and we can help one another to take them down. Their arrogance will be their undoing.”

“Good,” Aria nodded before freezing suddenly. “I mean… thank you.”

Rarity paused briefly and then stood, raising finger at the siren. “You are welcome,” she said, drawing her phone with her other hand. “Perhaps this situation will be the means through which we can finally… ahem… settle our differences?”

“Maybe.”

Rarity looked down at her phone screen, somewhat let down that she didn’t get more of a reaction. “Right…” She tapped at the screen with her thumb.

“Um…” Aria stood and rubbed the back of her neck. “Look… the thing with Sonata: I just want you to know that I didn’t mean to do what I did.”

This caught Rarity’s attention, and she looked up from her phone to face the siren.

“It was a mistake. I was just… I did it because I panicked; she was just… going nuts on us, and I didn’t know what else to do. But… as soon as I did it, I knew I shouldn’t have.” Aria laced her fingers together and fidgeted, looking rather uncomfortable to talk about that which obviously bothered her immensely. “I think that’s probably the only reason I felt like I could come here: because of Sonata. Not just because she’s with you guys, but… because of how she stood up to us. I’ve never seen her fight for anything like that before, and… it was kind of an eye-opener for me. I don’t know about Dagi, but ever since it happened, I’ve been thinking more and more about it and I started to wonder: if she sided with you guys, then… maybe it’s not really you who are the problem.”

Rarity, after taking a moment to reflect, sighed and lowered the phone to her side. “With us, Sonata has been allowed to… be herself; to express herself freely, and to share her talents without fear of judgement. And as such, she has flourished. She has found a new friend who she can relate to and has come to love like a sister, and who she has had to support through a very difficult time. She has learned the importance of true friendship, and she has found contentment that she hasn’t had in a very long time--if ever. She knows what she values now, and she will defend it to the bitter end--fiercely, if necessary.”

“Tssh!” Aria looked down at the floor, brows raised. “You’re tellin me.”

“I know she seems a bit dense,” Rarity continued, raising her phone to continue what she was doing. “But you’d be surprised what you could learn from her… if you just watch what she does, rather than listen to what she says.”

Aria nodded and looked down at her feet as she scuffed them on the carpet.

A short silence followed as Rarity tapped away at her screen, while Aria stood awkwardly, twiddling her fingers together.

“Can I ask you something?” the siren finally asked.

Rarity looked up at her, saying nothing.

“If you know who this minister guy is, why don’t you take him out?”

The fashionista lowered the phone slightly, drawing a deep breath as she stared thoughtfully into the distance. “We are working on it, as a matter of fact,” she replied, bringing her eyes back to Aria. “It’s rather complicated, I’m afraid. You see, that building is, as you’ve already seen, is quite secure; we’ve been studying it for weeks now, trying to formulate a plan. We were getting close to having a half-decent strategy, but there were still a few question marks remaining.” She brought one hand up to point at the siren. “But! You, having been inside the place, will be very invaluable to us indeed.”

Aria furrowed her brows. “Why do you have to attack him while he’s in the building? Can’t you just get him when he goes out?”

“Because he doesn’t go out.”

“What, never?” the siren sneered.

“The only time he goes out in public is to do his sermon on Sundays,” Rarity explained. “It would be easy to take him out then, but the problem with that is we’re trying to show the public that the Dark Mistress is a force for good; waltzing into a church and butchering a minister in front of his congregation, which would certainly appear to be unprovoked, presents some issues with optics, wouldn’t you say?”

Aria folded her arms at this. “Hm.”

“Regardless, if Adagio is in that building, we need to get inside,” Rarity said, going back to her phone. “You must give me a moment; I must call in some help.”

The siren arched a brow. “Who?”

“The best strategist I know.”

Another pause, which didn’t last long. Aria coughed quietly, scratching her cheek and fidgeting as though something was on her mind.

“Uh… about the church thing,” she finally said. “I think I might have a solution for getting the people to turn on Father Tirek…”

Rarity turned to Aria once again, brow cocked. “And that would be?”

Sighing, Aria reached inside the neck of her shirt and pulled a necklace out, revealing a large pendant with a sparkling, red ruby at the center.

Rarity’s eyes widened. “What is that?” she asked, suddenly looking very guarded. “Some sort of magic?”

“You could say that,” Aria said, looking down at the jewel as she cradled it in her palm.

*****

I sat alone in the dark, in the cab of my truck. It was parked on the street, just across the road from the townhouse complex that Rarity lived in, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious or, for the fashionista herself if she decided to sneak out in search of revenge.

Granted, I didn’t need to be doing this, nor was I guaranteed to see her if she actually did go out. The issue was that everyone had gone to Sunset’s, which is where Fluttershy and I went after dropped Rarity off at home, and it wasn’t long before the issue of Sunset’s magic arose. Given the circumstances of what’d happened that day --as well as Sunset’s small living space-- I decided to simply leave so she could have some relief.

With nothing else to do, and at the girls’ suggestion, I decided to come back here and watch over the fashionista alone, having left Fluttershy with the others. It wasn’t a bad idea, and a little quiet was a welcome change; plus, there was no harm in keeping tabs on Rarity. It wasn’t like she would know anyway.

My pocked buzzed, prompting me to shift in my seat to produce my phone.

RARITY: Come inside, darling

I recoiled at the message.

ME: What do you mean? RARITY: You’re outside, watching me from your truck.

Brows furrowed, I switched to the settings folder to make sure my locator was turned off--which it was.

ME: How did you know that? RARITY: Oh please, give me some credit! Don’t think I wouldn’t have expected you to keep an eye on me. Now come in here, I want you

I looked ahead through the windshield. Wow… This was unexpected.

ME: Are you sure?

RARITY: Yes. I’m afraid it is an issue of some urgency. Please hurry.I shook my head, chuckling.

ME: OK, but your ass better be dressed up as Snow White or something

Ready for some unexpected good times, I slipped my phone away and opened the door to step out onto the street.

*****

“Where did you get this?” I asked, looking up from the bright red gem in my hand to face the siren with wide eyes while she shrugged, about to answer when Rarity cut in.

“It’s doesn’t matter, darling, this is our chance! We can use it against Father Tirek to make everyone turn on him; then we move in!”

I raised a hand to wave her down, keeping my eyes on the pendant. “Just… hang on. Don’t get ahead of yourself, Rare; I need to think for a minute.”

“But… b-but don’t you think it’ll work!?” Rarity cried, balling her fists at her sides and tapping her foot rapidly.

“Hey! Settle down!” I barked, putting my hand up at her again. “Of course it’ll work, but the problem is…” I paused for a moment to rub my chin. “It’s too slow. You can expect retaliation before the effect sets in--and you can be damn sure that it’ll be a retaliation that we can’t afford.”

“Oohhh!” Rarity shook her fists in frustration. “It’s not fair! How much more do you want, darling? It’s the perfect weapon!”

“I know, Rare, but the cost of using it is too high,” I replied, lowering the necklace to my side.

“He’s got a point,” Aria agreed. “It’s just too big of a sacrifice.”

Defeated, Rarity sighed after a moment of desperate staring and then let her arms drop to her sides. “Fine.”

I turned to the siren, looking her up and down once more. It’d been a long time since my last encounter with her, and she was just as hot as I remembered--but twice as bitchy looking. I can’t believe I had my dick in that… I thought as I raised a finger at her. “So… the boutique wasn’t your idea? You were forced to do it?”

She nodded.

I faced Rarity. “How do you know this is all true?”

“She described the building, darling,” she shrugged. “And she knew the leader was a minister.”

I looked at Aria again. “OK, fair enough.” Then I faced Rarity again. “We gotta get her over to Sunny’s; make sure her story checks out.”

“Ooh!” Anxious, Rarity clutched her fists to her chest. “There isn’t time! She is set to burn down another location, and if they suspect she’s skipping out then they’re going to kill Adagio.”

I furrowed my brows, facing Aria again. “They wanted you to hit two targets!?” I asked, to which she nodded. “Where?”

The siren shrugged innocently. “Your friend’s animal shelter.”

“With the animals inside!” Rarity added.

After a quick glance at the fashioinista, I faced Aria once again. “Are you fucking crazy!?”

“Why do you guys keep saying that? Isn’t she the super timid one?” Aria asked with a confused sneer.

“She is timid, and you DEFINITELY wanna keep it that way,” I said, hand raised. “OK, we’ll look after this first, then we go to Sunny’s. So first off, how are they monitoring you?”

“They have people watching the locations,” Aria answered. “They’d be the ones reporting to the minister whether or not I set the fire--which, if I don’t, they kill Dagi.”

“They’re gonna kill you both once they’re done with you, you know that, right?” I said, putting my hands on my hips.

The siren sighed and folded her arms. “I figured. That’s why I’m here. I wouldn’t be here, mingling with Rainbooms and their fuck-buddies if I didn’t absolutely have to.”

“Touché,” Rarity snipped while I rolled my eyes and tossed the necklace to Aria so I could pull my phone out. The fashionista turned to me next. “So how are we supposed to stop them from killing Adagio in the meantime? Obviously we can’t just kill the men watching the shelter; their absence will alert Father Tirek.”

“No, we can’t,” I agreed, looking down at my phone as I tapped my way through the app. “But if he’s got people out there, we can work with that…”

*****

Perched on the roof of a strip mall in Canterlot’s lower end, two men in suits looked out across the street, keeping an eye on the local animal shelter as it sat peacefully amongst a cluster of trees. The place was quiet and dark, illuminated by a single lamp post that stood near the parking lot entrance. Blackness filled the building’s windows, its furry tenants either asleep or restless, depending on the length of their residency or how badly they missed their pink-haired, custard-skinned master.

Sighing, the man on the left sighed, raising his phone to his mouth like a two-way radio. “OK, here it goes,” he said, somewhat nervously as he tapped the contact icon to dial out.

The phone rang, its electronic buzzing echoing across the rooftop, followed by an abrupt click.

“Yup?”

The man on the left drew a breath to speak. “Uh, yeah… Ab here. Just checking in from Canterlot, me and Tobias are staked-out across from the second target.”

“Oh, hey. Any activity there yet?”

“Uh, yeah, actually… and not the kind we were hoping for,” Abner said.

”Oh?”

“Yeah, we got a bunch of people there, mingling inside and out. There’s some music going on and it’s all lit up; they’ve got those paper lanterns going across the lot n’ stuff,” Abner explained as he glanced across the road at the building, which remained in dark silence. “There’s definitely a party going on, and they’ve got a table set up with a box on it--maybe a findraiser of some sort, I can’t really tell from here.”

”Huh. How long’s that been going on for?”

“Quite a while now. Probably close to an hour now, and it doesn’t show any signs of slowing down,” Abner replied.

”Shit. That’s gonna make it a tough target then.”

Ab nodded subconsciously. “Yeah… yeah, I say so. It’s gonna be tough for our little arsonist to sneak in there and start a fire, if ya know what I mean.”

”Yeah... Where is the girl? Have you seen her yet?”

“Not yet,” Abner replied, glancing around the general area. “And we’ve got a pretty good vantage point from here; there’s a fence just behind the shelter with some trees around it, so she would have to come in from the street. I don’t think there’s any way we would miss her.”

”well, she’s probably gonna be keeping her distance, by the sound of things.”

“Probably,” Ab said, scratching his head. “Look, I uh… I was thinking: me and Toby have been hanging here for quite a while already, and like I said, this party looks like it’s gonna be going on for a while. We’ve been kinda bored to tears waiting around here…”

As he said this, Abner glanced over at his partner, who was gazing across the road at the building with his mouth agape, his eyes glazed over and staring wide.

“…I was thinking,” he continued, “maybe we should call this off for tonight.”

”Call it off?”

“Yeah, I mean… we don’t know how long their little soiree is gonna go on for,” Ab reasoned. “Not only that, I was kinda thinking about starting torching two places in one night; it might seem a bit suspicious, do you think? Especially when the authorities realise the victims know each other.”

”Hm… that’s a good point, actually. I mean, it doesn’t implicate us at all, but we wouldn’t want the dumbass Canterlot cops catching our girl before she’s done her job, do we?”

“No.” Abner shrugged a bit. “And, like, I know it’s not the best cuz now we gotta go find her, but I don’t think there’s much point in waiting around here all night when we can tackle it tomorrow. Plus, we took out the boutique today, so that’s a pretty good start.”

”Yeah, I’ll bet that Dark bitch is reeling tonight, eh? Heh! What was it you said about that place? It looked like a hole in the wall filled with gaudy shit that only out-of-touch old ladies who don’t understand modern styles would buy? HAHAHAHA!”

Abner squeezed his eyes shut, letting a long, silent grunt escape through his nose.

”But anyway… yeah, might as well call it a night. Find the girl and bring her back--you said she hasn’t shown up yet?”

“Not that I’ve seen,” Ab replied. “She is running a bit behind, now that I think about it.”

”Is it possible those vigilante bitches already got her?”

“Uhh… yeah. Possible. But… that’s what she’s here for, right?”

”Exactly. Let HER take the heat. We can’t have a repeat of what happened at the hotel now, can we?”

“No…” Abner replied, glancing out over the parking lot once again.

”But… anyway, yeah. Bring her in and we’ll let them stew for the night and then we’ll hit ‘em again tomorrow.”

“Sounds good,” Ab nodded. “We’ll probably just stay in town though; it’s a long drive back to base just to come back here again. We’ll just get a motel room and keep her there for the day.”

”Alright. Thanks, Ab. And hey… if you guys are keeping her in a room all day, with a bed, try to go easy on her--gotta leave her with enough energy for tomorrow. HAHAHA!”

Abner cleared his throat. “Heh… yeah. Will do. Alright, catch you later.”

“Perfect. I’m out.”

“Bye,” Ab said, before raising the phone over his shoulder.

I took the phone from him and checked the screen to make sure he’d ended the call, then I lowered it and looked down at him. “Perfect. Just like we rehearsed--right, Rare?” I said, turning to face the figure that stood in the shadows behind Ab’s partner, her fist resting on the top of his head.

With a sound that sounded like a blend of scraping and a moist schlop, she raised her hand to withdraw a long blade from the top of his head, after which he folded like a wet noodle and flopped to the rooftop.

Then she glared at Abner, jaw clenched. “Gaudy, is it?” she asked, before stepping forward and pointing the sword in AB’s face, shaking it angrily. “I’ll have you know that the Canterlot Weekly had my spring lineup slated as this season’s hottest new style!”

“Rare… hey,” I said, placing my hand on her shoulder. “Just relax. Your designs were awesome. Really.”

The fashionista stared a moment longer, her soot-stained nose crinkled with distain as she stood there, still wearing the same smoke-damaged outfit. At last, she sighed and lowered the blade to her side. “I… suppose I shouldn’t be offended; judging by that suit, you wouldn’t know a properly coordinated ensemble if it bit you in the arse.”

“There, see?” I said, turning to my left to find Aria, standing with her arms crossed, not looking very impressed by Abner’s conversation. “You got something you wanna say before we go?”

Ab turned on his knees to face the siren, clearly unnerved by how she leaned forward to put her face in his.

“So… you and you cronies like to think you can lock me up in a motel room and rape me all day?” she growled.

“W-well… I… technically, I didn’t say tha--OOF!”

His answer was cut short when Aria drove a right hook directly into his nose, breaking it. Abner hunched over cupping his nose in both hands while Aria gritted her teeth wagged her hand. “Shit,” she grunted, hold her hand still to inspect her knuckles.

Abner straightened up again, blood seeping between his knuckles.

“Hm! It serves you right, darling,” Rarity said, sticking her nose up. “I appears this pig has outlived his usefulness, wouldn’t you say, my love?”

After a quick glance at him, I raised the phone once more to check the screen. “Yeah… I’d say so.” Then I wound up and swung my arm, ramming the phone through Abner’s forehead and burying in his skull so only the very end showed.

Stunned, Ab stared off into space with wide, glassy eyes, then his body hunched down and he toppled to the ground in a dead heap.

“There,” I said, dusting my hands off. “Now he’s got a direct line.”

Rarity stared at me, deadpanned, making me freeze in place.

“Cuz… the phone’s in his head,” I explained.

Rarity sighed and rolled her eyes. “Ugh… let’s go, darling,” she said as she stepped past me to leave.

I turned to follow her, but ended up facing Aria as a consequence. “That was a good joke, wasn’t it?”

“Pfft! No.”

“Fine!” I sulked, stepping past her. “We gotta get over to Sunny’s anyway.”

Rarity stopped and spun around to face me when she heard this. “But why, darling? We know her story checks out; those men were here just like she said.”

“I know, but she’s also been inside their headquarters. She’s seen it on the inside, and Sunny needs to see it too so you guys can have a better idea of what you’re walking into,” I explained. “Everyone’s there anyway, so it’s the perfect time to bring them all up to speed, and then we’ll figure out a plan. We have to act tonight; this little trick we just pulled will only work ‘til tomorrow, after that they’re gonna get suspicious, which’ll put the hostage in danger.”

Rarity paused, sighed, and then nodded. “Right. Then, let’s get a move on, shall we?”

Chapter 152: A Common Enemy

Chapter 152

After knocking on Sunset’s door, Rarity, Aria Blaze and I stood silent in the apartment hallway, waiting for an answer.

Aria looked apprehensive.

Several seconds passed before the deadbolt clicked and the door swung open, revealing a somewhat high-strung looking Sunset.

“Hey,” she said quickly. “You better get in here; they’re talking about the fire on the news.”

I put my hands out to slow her down. “OK, Sunny, just… wait a sec,” I said, to which she responded with an impatient scowl. “Is Sonata here?”

“What!?” she sneered. “Golds, you need to get in here; you’re not gonna believe what they’re saying on TV!”

“Just… Sunny! Is Sonata here or not?”

She paused again, confused and frustrated. “No, Pinkie took her out to Flutters’ house to hang out with Link until this blows over. Why?”

“Oh. Well… she, uh… has a visitor,” I said, placing a hand on her shoulder to get her to lean her head into the hall, where Rarity and Aria stood just out of her sight.

“Oh. Shit,” Sunset said, eyes wide.

“Yeah. Turns out there’s a lot more going on here than we thought,” I said, prompting Sunset to look at me.

“You don’t know the half of it,” she replied.

I cocked my head at this. “Huh? What does that mean?”

“Like I said, you need to get in here. They’re talking some crazy shit on the news,” she explained.

“What kinda crazy shit?”

“I--just get in here!” she barked, grabbing my shirt to pull me inside.

***

It was a full house inside the red-head’s apartment. Everyone, including Twilight and Pinkie --who’d just returned a few minutes before we got there-- was present.

Most of the group was gathered near the table and partway into the living room, where those who had a view of the screen had their eyes glued to it. This, of course, included Rarity and I.

Aria stood off to the side, looking extremely out of place, having just been examined by Sunset.

As Rarity and I were immersed in the news’ bizarre reporting of the fire, I felt something thin and stiff brush the side of my head, accompanied by the scent of cigar smoke. I turned my head to find Applejack leaning in close, her hat inadvertently bumping the side of my head.

“How’s Rarity doin?” she asked.

“Um…” I glanced at the fashionista. “About like you’d expect.”

“Huh.” The farm girl folded her arms and brought her eyes back to the TV. “Whaddaya make of all this?” she asked, reading the headline banner yet again.

’A New Side of the Dark Mistress’

I shook my head, slowly. “I dunno. I don’t get it.”

Rarity stood next to my right with Fluttershy on her right, glaring at the TV with her hand covering her mouth as she listened to the report.

”Again, the city of Canterlot, stunned to see its would-be hero turn on one of her citizens,” the reporter said, holding with a microphone to her chin with the charred and soaked remains of the shop in the background. It was still light out, indicating this coverage was not live. ”The Carousel Boutique, a mainstay of the city’s landscape since 1973, has been reduced to ashes by the masked vigilante, but why? And who will her next target be? This unprovoked attack has left the people of Canterlot not only frightened, but also confused.”

The shot cut away to several short interviews with random citizens.

”I… I just can’t believe it. It makes me really sad to see this. I thought she was here to help people. Why would she go and do this? I don’t get it.”

“It’s gotta be a mistake. I think someone set her up. There’s no way she would do this!”

“Man, you people actually put all yo’ faith in some crazy bitch in a leather suit? Y’all are so dumb. You really dumb. For real.”

The footage then returned to the reporter, still standing in front of the site. ”Now, the row buildings behind me have stood since the early days of this city and have housed many businesses that have some and gone: a bakery, a pharmacy --which is still in business to my right-- and the long standing, iconic boutique that is now little more than rubble. And not only are the citizens devastated to see the shop gone, its workers have also been stripped of their job, and are feeling the loss particularly hard. Just moments ago, Channel Four was able to catch up with the only employee of the boutique, Miss Coco Pommel.”

Another cutaway placed the timid, young lady on the screen, already in mid-sentence. ”…really hard, yeah. Seeing it go up like this is... it’s tough.” She paused for a moment, nodding as she listened to the reporter’s next question. ”Yeah, I mean, it’s not the end. Like, this place was obviously insured, so it’s not like it can’t be rebuilt, but… the time and the work, the heart, and the memories… those things can’t be replaced,” she said, giving a solemn nod before the screen cut back once again to the reporter.

”The owner of the boutique, a young entrepreneur know only as ‘Rarity’ could not be reached for comment, but according to sources who claim to be in the know, she has taken the news of this destruction very personally. A third generation operator, Miss Rarity inherited the business --which was opened by her grandmother in the early seventies-- from her mother directly after high school, and has been taking the company in a forward direction ever since. One can only imagine the pain caused by something like this, seeing what is essentially a family heirloom destroyed by a mysterious figure, for mysterious reasons. From Channel Four: Big City News, this is Trisha Horsename. Back to you.”

Rarity and I faced one another, completely flummoxed by the story being put forth. Then the fashionista began to glance around at her friends, her brows creased helplessly as she searched desperately for answers. “Why? Why are they saying this? Who would believe that I--er, the Dark Mistress would do such a thing?”

No one had an answer. The only response she got was Twilight, shaking her head and shrugging.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” Fluttershy said, placing a hand on Rarity’s shoulder. “Why would they want to make you look bad?”

Rarity simply shook her head, looking even more defeated than she did before hearing Aria’s story.

“I dunno,” Sunset said, standing next to me with her arms folded. “They’ve been playing this same crap on a loop ever since it happened. I have no clue why they’re blaming it on the Mistress.”

As they talked, a dubious frown had grown on my face as I watched the TV, noticing the unfamiliar anchors and set. I pointed at the TV. “What channel is this? This isn’t Canterlot news.”

“It’s channel four--Big City News,” Sunset replied. “She literally just said that.”

“Well, I wasn’t really paying attention to what channel it was, Sunny; sue me!” I drew a breath, scratching my ear as I looked at the screen again. “Why are we watching this channel instead of the local news anyway?”

Sunset shrugged. “Canterlot News wasn’t talking about it.”

I faced Sunset. “What, the fire?”

“Yup,” she replied. “They haven’t said a peep about it all day.”

Folding my arms, I left one hand free to rub my chin thoughtfully as I watched the screen again. “Huh…”

“Yeah. It’s fucking bizarre,” Sunset agreed. “That’s why we had to go to this channel… because we literally had to search for coverage of it.”

I glanced at the red-head to say something, but I stopped when I noticed her gazing amorously with those big, turquoise eyes and sucking on her bottom lip. I looked down at the zipper of her jeans and then back at her face. “It’s starting, isn’t it?”

Sunset stared for a moment, and then she cleared her throat and gave her head a little shake. “Yeah, it’s fine, though. I’ll be fine.”

“Hey, guys! Listen,” Rainbow Dash suddenly shouted, waving everybody’s conversations down as she faced the TV, standing front and center. “Hey, SHUT UP!” she shouted, when Pinkie Pie failed to comply.

Everyone then brought their attention to the TV.

”After hours of investigation,” the male anchor was saying, “we are told that new evidence in the Canterlot fire has been released. Security footage from the site of the blaze, showing plain as day who was behind starting the heartbreaking fire--confirming initial suspicions.”

Everyone present glanced around at one another, confused, but saying nothing before returning out attention to the screen.

”Now, this footage is being released exclusively on Channel Four. For anyone who was in doubt of their supposed saviour committing an act as heinous as this, well… I am sorry, but the evidence doesn’t lie. Ladies and gentlemen, the Dark Mistress is NO saviour.”

The entire room was silent as the screen changed to the familiar grainy blue-tone camera footage that we saw on the app many times, showing the front of the boutique from the street light post.

It was the same footage we’d watched earlier.

The orange flicker was visible through the front windows, growing silently yet menacingly. I watched the corner of the building from behind which Aria was about to emerge, utterly confused as to how or why they would place the blame on the Dark Mistress. I found myself begrudgingly looking forward to seeing the anchors stumble frantically over their words after having this footage blow their narrative wide open.

That didn’t happen, however. A figure came around that corner, as expected, but it wasn’t Aria.

It was the Dark Mistress. She darted out from behind the building and sprinted down the sidewalk, exactly as Aria did, clad in that black, skin-tight outfit, mask covering her face, hair tied back.

You could hear a pin drop in Sunset’s apartment; not a breath was taken as each one of us gaped at the screen in disbelief. All we could do was watch helplessly as the footage was replayed at half speed, freezing in place when the Mistress was halfway across the shot so that everyone watching could have a good look at her.

Her reputation was being shattered right before our eyes.

As the image shrunk back in the top right of the screen to reveal the anchorman’s face as he continued to drone on about vigilantism, each of us slowly turned to face one another and then quickly drew our phones, opened the app and re-watched the footage to make sure our minds weren’t playing tricks on us. Sure enough, on the app, the footage showed Aria.

Rarity and Aria were the only ones that still hadn’t moved--the siren because she didn’t have the app, and Rarity because she was, quite frankly, in shock.

Rainbow Dash looked up from her phone to scowl at the TV, raising a hand at it. “The fuck is this shit!?”

“It ain’t the same!” Applejack said, looking rather perturbed as she faced the rest of us, pointing down at her phone screen. “I don’t git it!”

“It’s CGI!” Pinkie shouted from the back of the group, prompting us to groan and turn to face her. “What? How else would you explain it!? Think about it; you guys don’t really think Peter Cushing was in ‘Rogue One,’ do you?”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

“Hm…” Twilight rubbed her chin as she studied the footage another time. “Actually,” she said, raising a finger, “Pinkie Pie might have a point. I mean, they’ve been recreating dead and de-aging elderly actors in cinema for years now. The example Pinkie gave, although well done, still didn’t look quite real, but that was nearly a decade ago. The technology has come a long way since then; in fact, even more recently, there were a series of animations of the ‘Mona Lisa’ portrait created by Samsung, through the use of artificial intelligence. You would be shocked by how real it actually looks.”

The lavender girl turned her phone around after doing a quick search on her browser, showing Dash and AJ the animation.

“Oh god… that’s friggin creepy!” Dash grimaced, to which Applejack seemed to agree.

“Yer right though, Twilight,” the farm girl said. “It’s purty convicin, ain’t it.”

“It wouldn’t have been difficult for the station to obtain this footage with a simple phone call to the city, and I’d say it’s well within the realm of possibility that they’ve altered the footage to show Rarity instead of Aria--which is exactly what it looks like they’ve done.”

I glanced at Sunset while this was happening, watching her stare at the TV with a hand covering her mouth. “Sunny,” I said, prompting her to look at me. “Canterlot News isn’t talking about this. Why?”

She paused for a moment and then shrugged.

“There’s gotta be a reason. This whole thing is fishy as hell,” I said, gesturing to the TV. “What channel is this again? Big City News? This might be a dumb question, but I assume they’re located in the big city, right?”

“That’s right,” Twilight replied, having overheard the question. “The station is just a few blocks from the university. In fact, the school offers a communications course where students can job shadow at the station; it’s a deal the school has with the network.”

I sighed and rubbed my brow. “OK, so… does it strike anyone as odd that the only station talking about the fire is the one that just happens to be located in the same city as the Ministry? Not to mention the fact that they’re saying things that happen to be extremely damaging to us.”

Sunset rubbed her chin thoughtfully, eyes narrowed. After a few seconds, she froze and then looked at me again, her eyes widening. “Shit… it’s him.”

“Um, who?” Fluttershy asked, joining the growing conversation.

“Father Tirek,” Sunset replied. “He’s behind this. He’s gotta be.” She turned to me, putting a hand on my shoulder. “You remember when I read Hopper’s mind, and I said that he’s got tons of people bought out, like cops, politicians, contractors?”

“Yeah,” I nodded.

“Well, the other thing he’s got influence in is the media,” she continued, “but I didn’t mention it before cuz I didn’t understand the significance of it. But now…” --she shook her head slowly-- “now it makes perfect sense. He uses them to control public awareness; that’s why you never see stories about drug trafficking on the news, despite how bad it’s been in recent years.”

“Ok, but why is the local news not saying anything about it?” I asked, to which Twilight spoke up.

“I’m pretty sure both stations are owned by the same parent company, which would mean that Big City News would have influence over local station. Now, whether Canterlot News was told to be quiet about it, or if they opted to keep quiet rather than report the lie is unclear; either way, I have serious doubts that we’re gonna see the local news airing the correct information.”

I folded my arms and sighed, watching the news anchors blather on. “So he’s been paying the news off to cover his own ass… and now he’s using it to throw shade at us, trying to turn the public against us.”

“That’s fucking dirty, man!” Dash growled, clenching her fists. “That’s like a double-whammy: first he has the boutique burnt down, then he uses it to ruin our reputation? Ohhh, this guy’s going down hard!”

For the first time since the footage was aired, Rarity managed to peel her eyes from the TV to look over at Aria, her brows furrowed with suspicion. “Wait a minute,” she said in a flat tone. “I thought you said Father Tirek told you to let yourself be caught on footage so that we would think you started the fire, not so that he could use it to destroy our image on the news!”

Aria, looking rather nervous, shook her head. “I… that is what he said! He never said anything about using the footage for this.”

“She’s telling the truth, Rare,” Sunset interjected, having already read the siren’s mind. “There was no reason for him to tell her that; quite frankly, from his point of view it was none of her business.”

“Hmph!” Rarity folded her arms and faced the TV again, her eyes filling with moisture. “It’s like… it’s like my whole world is being brought down,” she said, her voice shaky, cracking.

“Oh, Rare,” Fluttershy said, wrapping the fashionista in a tight hug. “Please don’t be sad. We’ll figure this out; we always do.”

“Fluttershy’s right, sugarcube,” Applejack, said, standing beside the pair. “We can do this; ya can’t go and give up now.”

“Perhaps…” Rarity sobbed, struggling to keep her composure. “Perhaps, now that my reputation is ruined, I should just march into that church tomorrow morning and butcher him in front of everyone.”

“No! Rare, don’t do that,“ Sunset cut in. “That’ll ruin your image forever. This fake news we can disprove; we have the original footage, and we can pass it along to the Canterlot police, and we could put it on YouTube or whatever we can to spread it around.”

“But it’s too late for that, darling!” Rarity cried, breaking the hug with Fluttershy to gesture at the TV. “The damage as already been done; how many people have seen this? How many people now think the Dark Mistress is little more than a petty arsonist!?”

“I know it looks bad, Rarity,” Twilight said, raising her hands to calm the hysterical fashionista. “But like Sunset said, we can’t just go in and kill a minister in front of the people without exposing him first. Unfortunately though, we have no tangible evidence to give, only wild claims.”

I drew a deep breath and brought my hands up to rub my face, listening to the hopeless conversation taking place. Twilight was only half-right, however: we did have evidence, but so did Father Tirek. If we exposed him, what would stop him from exposing us?

Admittedly, the Ministry had dealt us a heavy blow; they’d created a compelling --albeit deceitful-- case against the Mistress, and put us in a position where we had little time to act. Even with Aria coming forward to help, we still needed to move quickly in order to rescue Adagio before they realised that Aria had defected--if they hadn’t already. We had to act tonight, but by the time we scrambled everything together and actually drove to the city to implement an incursion plan that was still incomplete, it would be almost morning.

Father Tirek was likely to have left the building by then, making his way to the church, where, although exposed, he would be immune to attack without justification.

Sighing, I turned slowly to watch the group talk back and forth, trying to maintain their frustration as they discussed their options. Eventually, my eyes landed on the siren, who was watching the TV, which was replaying the altered camera footage yet again, her hand raised to her chest, clutching the red pendant in her fist.

She must have noticed me watching her from her peripheries, because she turned to lock eyes with me, likely wondering what I was looking at.

I let my eyes drop to her hand, which was squeezing the jewel tightly, prompting her to look down at it as well. She opened her hand to cradle the red stone in her palm, and then she looked up at the TV to watch the image switch back to the reporters once again. Slowly her eyes crawled back onto me, her expression indicative of deep thought. Then her eyes widened slightly, and she held the pendant out, squeezing it in her hand before giving me a nod.

I narrowed my eyes when I saw this. What was she thinking about? Aria, like me, was centuries old, and anyone who’s lived that long, who’s had to fight plenty of battles and outwit plenty of foes, more than likely had an arsenal of tricks up her sleeve.

But what?

I faced the TV again, trying to see what she saw, trying to analyse the situation. What was the purpose of the phony report? To place the blame on the Dark Mistress for the fire. To generate outrage toward her. To add to the blow of losing her boutique, her livelihood, the thing she loved…

And then it hit me.

Eyes wide, I faced Aria again, which elicited a little smirk from her, followed by a second nod.

This time, I nodded back. Then I faced the rest of the group while drawing a breath to speak. “Ladies? I think the good reverend has just dug his own grave.”

Everyone stopped immediately and turned to face me.

After a pause, Rarity narrowed her mascara-smeared eyes and looked at me sideways. “What… do you mean, darling?”

I pointed at the TV. “That. He was trying to hit you where it hurt, but in doing so, doesn’t realise that he just fucked himself.”

“What are you suggesting?” Twilight asked.

“We go. Tonight.”

“Tonight?” Sunset replied, brows raised. “As in, right now?”

“We have no choice,” I shrugged. “If we don’t, then her sister” --I gestured to Aria-- “is gonna get a shadetree gastric bypass.”

“But… we haven’t finalised the plan,” Twilight protested. “There’s still a few things I have to figure out in terms of securi--“

“It’s gonna have to do,” I cut in. “There’s no time; plus with what we’ve learned from Aria, we should have enough inside information to pull this off.”

“Wait, is she coming too?” Dash asked.

“No, she’s gonna stay here--… actually, wait…” I paused for a moment, glancing at the siren. “We shouldn’t leave them here alone in town… not with Tirek’s men out looking for her.”

“Um, why don’t we stay with her?” Fluttershy asked, looking at me.

I nodded. “Yeah. Good idea, Flutters. You and I will stick with Aria, and in the meantime the rest of you’d better get ready; go over the plan a few more times, and then get yourselves on the highway. We need to be there by morning.”

“Wait, you’re not coming!?” Dash barked at me.

“We already got a full team, Rainbow! Y’already knew he wasn’t coming fer this one.” Applejack replied for me, tipping her hat back.

“Plus, I can’t help you guys if a rescue mission goes bad; it’ll be too late before I’ll be able to do anything,” I added.

“Exactly,” Applejack agreed. “We gotta get it right on our own--and we WILL get it right, won’t we?”

“OK OK, fine,” Dash said, folding her arms. “So how are we getting there, anyway? Can’t rent a van this late at night.”

Twilight raised a hand. “I rented a car to come down here, but I can’t fit everyone in it.”

“The rest of you can take an Uber,” I instructed. “I didn’t wanna use the rental van again anyway; don’t want them catching on to any of our patterns.” I turned to Rarity next, gently tugging the shoulder of her shirt between my thumb and finger. “I thought you promised to have a shower and change your clothes?”

She cocked a brow at me. “Pardon me, darling, but I was a bit distracted, if you do recall.”

Welp,” I said, pointing to Sunset’s bathroom. “You’d better get showered and dressed up, cuz you gotta go to church tomorrow.”

*****

Outside a pair of stainless steel elevator doors stood four dark figures. The dank smell and grainy walls of an underground parking garage surrounded them as they waited patiently, watching the light above the door move across the row of numbers.

Each of them wore a tight black outfit and mask of identical design, aside from having a different coloured pinstripe down each arm and a unique emblem on each of their thighs: a red and yellow sun, a trio of red apples, a rainbow-coloured lightning bolt coming out of a cloud, and three balloons--one yellow, two blue.

For them, a tinny voice rang into their heads from the earpieces they wore.

”OK, I’m on my way out. Cameras are online, you guys are good to go; I’ve commanded the elevator to come and pick you guys up.”

Knight Mare glanced up at the numbers. “We see it. Thanks… uh, you.”

”Uh… thanks. Sorry, Twilight replied. ”Actually, you know what? I need a name for my persona and I still can’t think of one, so… to heck with it, I’m just gonna go with Midnight Sparkle.”

After a short pause, the group of masked women began shaking their heads in protest.

“Aw, no… come on, sugarcube,” Alphajack pleaded. “Ya can’t use that.”

”Why not?”

“Because, Twilight! Don’t you remember what that name symbolizes?” said the girl with the rainbow hair that was gelled up into a spiky mohawk, prompting Knight Mare to spin around to shush her.

“Shh, hey! No names!”

Dash slapped a hand over her mouth. “Shit! Sorry.”

”It’s OK,” Midnight said over the earpiece. ”What I had back then was a magic-induced form of D.I.D. --or dissociative identity disorder-- which meant that my other personality, Midnight Sparkle, was constantly trying to regain control. Now, with the immortality, I am free of the condition, as it was a mental disorder, which we no longer suffer from. Trust me, guys; I have done extensive study on this in private, trying to trigger the real Midnight Sparkle, and I am glad to report that all attempts have failed.”

The group stared at each other for a moment, unsure of how to follow up on that.

“I like caaaandy,” the girl with the bulging, pink cleavage and massive, curly ponytail finally said.

“Ugh…” Knight Mare rubbed her brow--or the mask that covered it, rather. “Alright, fine. Midnight Sparkle it is.”

“Yeah, if you’re down, then I’m down,” Dash said. “Hey, what do you think of the name I came up with for me?”

”I do, actually. I like it a lot.”

“Me too,” Knight Mare agreed, turning around to give her much shorter friend a nod. “Black Prism… it’s got a great ring to it.”

“I know, right!?” Black Prism screeched with excitement. “It’s like, the awesomest superhero name EVER!”

“Second awesomest,“ Knight Mare corrected, before turning a bit further to point at Pinkie. “And you still need to think of a name, by the way.”

Pinkie shrugged, confused. “I already did!”

Knight Mare shook her head. “I already told you, you can’t use Fandango. OR Slam Jam.”

“Aww!” Pinkie folded her arms across that bulging bust. “OK… how about Big Pink Boom?”

“No.”

“Magenta Ninja?”

“No.”

”Tits Magee.”

“You stay out of this,” Knight Mare barked.

“OK… how about… the Killer Covfefe? Sugar Shadows!?” Pinkie suggested, to which Knight Mare groaned and shook her head.

“Uuuggh! You--” She paused for a moment, however, staring at the concrete floor. “Actually…” she nodded, looking up at Pinkie. “Fine. Yeah. Go with Sugar Shadows.” Then she raised a finger suddenly. “But just for tonight; this is a tentative name only.”

“I kinda like it, actually,” Alphajack nodded, rubbing her chin.

”Me too!”

A smile crept across those pink lips. “And so it is,” Sugar Shadows said with a hint of dramatic flair as she slammed her fist into her palm. “Sugar Shadows, ready to whoop some ass!”

“Well I hope you’re ready, cuz the elevator’s almost here,” Knight Mare announced, facing the doors again.

”Oh! That reminds me, there are some weird things going on in this building. Lots of strong signals and some pretty hefty framework around some of the rooms, which means our signal will be spotty, depending on where you are, so we may lose comms from time to time, and your ability to see the security footage might come and go.”

“Noted,” Knight Mare said as the elevator let out a ding, which preceded the steel doors sliding open. She stepped inside, turned and faced her comrades, reaching out to hold the door button. “Ready; you guys coming or what?”

The other three stepped into the elevator, with Black Prism hanging back slightly.

“What’s yer problem?” Alphajack asked once she was inside and noticed her friend’s hesitation.

Black Prism sighed. “I still don’t get why you guys won’t let me use the laneway down here to go into my super speed mode; like, I could literally just walk in with everybody’ll be stuck in place, so I could just grab Adagio and get out!”

Knight Mare scrunched her lips. “Won’t it kill her to move her that fast?”

Back Prism paused, mouth open. “Uh… yeah. I guess. Well I could just take everyone out on the way in and then drop back into normal speed when I get to her; then we just walk out, right?”

”Um, you’re forgetting that there are several security doors between your current position and where they’re keeping Adagio. Sunset is gonna have to use the app to decode the locks in order to get through, so you’re not going to be able to just ‘walk in.’ Sunset needs to her job before any of you will be able to continue. Even if YOU knew how to decode the doors, you can’t use your phone in your speed mode because the signal speed would be far too fast to communicate with their security locks, and if you drop out of speed mode to do it, I can’t guarantee there’ll be any hallways long enough to re-enter it. During my short time in here, I’ve already noticed several changes to the blueprints kept in the city records, so navigating this place may not go exactly as planned.”

Huffing, Black Prism looked up at the ceiling. “Ugh… you know, I could still switch to speed mode and just walk alongside you guys while Sunset opens the doors. Then once we find Adagio it’ll be a piece of cake for me to get to her in time.”

”Um… are you sure you want to do that?”

Prism folded her arms and shrugged. “I’ll wait,” she said smugly.

”Huh. OK then. Well, maybe you’d be interested to know that I’ve taken the liberty of figuring out your speed mode ratio compared to real time; during your first experience, you noted that to took Rarity nearly the entire time to blink. The average time it takes for a human eye to blink is three-hundredths of a second, so, given that, compared to the ten minute span it took for Rarity to blink, I was able to figure out your time’s ballpark speed. So… for the estimated twenty-five minutes or so it’ll take for Sunset to get you guys upstairs --assuming nothing goes wrong-- you’ll be ‘waiting’ in your speed mode for approximately thirty-five days, give or take.”

Black prism paused for a minute, her face going blank as the others watched from inside the elevator.

”Sun’s coming up, ladies. Time to make it happen.”

“He’s right,” Knight Mare said, nodding her head to motion Prism inside. “Let’s go.”

After one final stand of stubbornness, Black Prism groaned and rolled her eyes. “Ugh! Fine. Let’s fucking do this,” she grumbled as she stomped into the elevator and turned around.

Ding!

The doors slid shut, and Knight Mare pushed the button to send the elevator into motion.

“OK, we’re off, Midnight.”

No reply. The masked girls glanced quietly at one another.

“Hm. Guess we’re on our own for a bit,” the red-head muttered.

The anxiety-inducing statement was followed by the feel of heaviness in their guts as the lift accelerated upwards. After a few moments of tense silence, Alphajack turned to Sugar Shadows.

“Well? Whaddaya know fer sure?”

Sugar faced the tall blonde. “Huh? Lots of stuff.”

“She’s asking if you remember the plan,” Knight Mare said, watching the numbers above the door.

“Oh!” Sugar Shadows perked up. “I’m gonna get off on the eighteenth floor and create a diversion!”

“Why?”

“Because I’m good at creating diversions!”

Black Prism turned to face the pink girl. “Who’re you gonna be?”

Sugar looked confused. “What d’you mean?”

“Like, you know how you like to pretend to be characters from certain movies?”

Sugar Shadows brought her chin up, mouth open. “Ooohhhh… you want me to act like somebody?”

“Yeah!” Prism replied. “Like, go in there pretending to be Thanos or something.”

“Naw, Thanos is too serious,” Alphajack interjected. “It’s gotta be someone funnier… more wacky.”

“Give me a minute to think about it,” Sugar Shadows said, tapping her chin.

“So, while she creates a distraction, what do we do?” Knight Mare quizzed.

Prism and Alphajack turned to face her.

“We go on up ta the twenny-fourth floor and get off there,” Alphajack replied. “This is the cargo elevator, so it should drop us in a purty quiet spot, and we’ll make our way ta the room where they’re keepin Adagio while they’re distracted by Pink--… uh, Sugar Shadow.”

“Right,” Knight Mare nodded.

Ding!

The girls looked up to see the number ‘18’ lit up.

“This is it,” Prism said, facing the pink girl. “You’re up, Sugar.”

Sugar Shadows glanced back, sneering. “Sugar? J’you wanna see some sugar? I got more fuckin sugar than j’you can do in a hundred fuckin j’years!” she said as she stepped past prism to exit the elevator once the doors had opened.

Prism stared open-mouthed at the response, watching her friend disembark. “Hey… did you pick a character? Who is it!?”

Sugar stopped and turned to face her friends, her upper lip snarled slightly as she glanced at her friends one at a time, watching them stare back in anticipation.

“Who’re ya s’posed ta be, sugarcube?”

Sugar nodded, her head bobbing somewhat arrogantly. “Antonio… Mon-TANA!”

Ding!

As the elevator doors closed, Black Prism’s eyes lit up and she threw her fists into the air. “YES!” she shouted, her voice muffled slightly by the closing doors

Chapter 153: Operation: Distract

Chapter 153

The halls of the eighteenth floor were quieter, than expected. Granted, it was early in the morning and there were only a scant number of people on duty, which, admittedly was convenient to the plan, but not on purpose; ultimately, the timing of the incursion was more so for Adagio Dazzle’s sake.

Through these quiet halls slunk a dark female figure: shiny, black material wrapped her body like a coat of paint, hugging the inhale of her waist as well as it did the pronounced, yet alluring curves of her hips, thighs and derriere, all of it topped by impressive cleavage that poured from the deep V-neck of her outfit like a strawberry milkshake. Her bust jiggled with each bound, despite being packed so tightly into the outfit, as she made her way silently along the wall of the long passage, passing locked doors as she went.

The black mask that covered the upper portions of her pudgy cheeks concealed her identity to her imminent victims, allowing only her baby blue eyes to peer through the disguise as the mass of frizzy, pink hair that projected from the back of her head swayed with her movements, light as her footsteps.

The faint smell of freshly brewed coffee filled her nostrils. This was the reason that floor eighteen was chosen for her part of the mission: there was a small lobby in the center, complete with a self-serve coffee station, a pair of vending machines, and several couches with coffee tables to sit at. It was a place where Ministry members could congregate and help themselves to a hot drink and a bite to eat during their breaks or downtime between assignments.

The location was ideal for creating a distraction as it would likely be more populated than other places in the building, and it would generate maximum attention, which in turn would allow the others to move in on Adagio’s position undetected.

There was noise in the distance, not in the same room. Several yards away was a door. Pinkie Pie --under the tentative moniker ‘Sugar Shadows’-- paused briefly, listening, then she pranced softly across the tiles to press her back against the opposite wall.

“Sneak… sneak… sneak…” she whispered with each step as she shimmied along the wall, stopping when she reached the corner, where she turned and leaned over slowly to peer down the long hallway beyond. There was no one there.

“Ninja! Ninja! Ninja!” she whispered hurriedly, sprinting quietly across the opening.

On the far side, Sugar Shadows pressed herself into the corner beside the door, eyes wide and darting around. It was difficult keeping her adrenaline down; she was, by nature an excitable creature after all, and all she wanted to do at that moment was run down the hall with her arms flailing, shouting ‘I’M HERE, MOTHERFUCKERS! COME GET ME!’

But she couldn’t do that. The commotion needed to start in the lounge to attract the most attention, and not only that, to hide her point of entry. The enemy’s attention needed to be kept away from that elevator, which meant that she had to circle around and enter the lounge from the opposite side. This would allow the others time to extract Adagio and get her out via the elevator.

Reaching over, she pulled the door handle slowly to avoid the latch clicking. She pulled the door open slowly, teeth gritted as she prayed it didn’t squeak, which it eventually did, forcing her to stop with it only part way open. After mouthing the word ‘fuck,’ Sugar Shadows bit her lower lip and proceeded to squeeze her way through the narrow opening.

It’s didn’t go as silently as she would have hoped; her ample bosom managed to elicit two small creaks, one for each breast as it pushed past the edge of the door. Once free, she let the door close very slowly, satisfied that her ingress hadn’t alerted anyone.

The smell of coffee intensified as she turned to face the next hallway entrance. The murmur of male voices sounded much closer now.

She must have been close.

After a short breath to psyche herself up, Sugar Shadows approached the corner and, like before, leaned out slowly to peek past the edge to see what was waiting for her in the next room. There was a hall about thirty feet long, decorated much like the previous ones. At the end, however, it opened up into a larger room; part of a dull orange couch could be seen, with a small dividing wall standing just beyond. Stacks of paper cups sat on the top, accompanied by bowls of sugar packets and creamers, as well as a carafe of what smelled like very fresh coffee.

No one could be seen, and the voices could no longer be heard.

Did everyone leave? she wondered. She knew there was only one way to find out, so with a deep inhale, she slipped out from behind the corner began to quietly pad her way closer to the lounge.

She’d only gotten five feet or so, though, when two men entered the hall from the right, each carry a cup of steaming coffee as they conversed about the upcoming day. Sugar Shadows gasped and screeched to a halt when she saw them while they, simultaneously, froze upon sight of her.

“Shit!” one of them shouted as they both dropped their cups, splashing the dark, steaming liquid on the tile floor as they reached into their suit jackets to draw their guns. They fired without hesitation, filling the hall with the roar of gunfire as she turned and scampered back to hide behind the corner.

Panting with adrenaline, Sugar Shadows rounded the corner and slammed her back against the wall, staring wide-eyed at the fresh bullet holes in the wall at the end of the corridor, directly across from where she’d just been.

“Call for backup; we got company!” one of the men yelled, presumably into a phone or radio. “One of those ‘mistress’ chicks is here--not the one from before; this one’s a bit chunkier!”

Pausing, Sugar Shadows stopped breathing and narrowed her eyes. She wasn’t chunky, she was curvy and sexy! Golds said so! She clenched her jaw at the insult, while at the same time suddenly remembering the promise she’d just made to Rainbow Dash: she had a character to portray, and it was time for her to immerse herself in the role!

“Da fuck jou call me, fucking cock-a-roach!?” she muttered as she reached down to unsnap the little satchel on her belt. She dipped her fingers into the pouch and scooped out a handful of its contents before holding her hand up to study what now sat in her palm.

It was a handful of marbles.

She stared distantly at the colourful glass orbs for a moment, feeling a slight pang in her chest, a mourning for whom these simple objects represented. After a sigh, she closed her eyes and wrapped her fingers around the marbles, squeezing them tightly.

You and me, baby sis. Let’s DO this!

Drawing a breath, she opened her eyes and scrunched her face, her eyes shifting toward the corner, around which her foes awaited.

“Cummon; jou wann' fuck wi’ me?” she grumbled under her breath, bringing her free hand up to take the wrist of her glove between her teeth to peel it off, revealing the bright pink hand underneath. She then took the glove from her mouth and stuffed it into her belt, turning her head to face the corner as she passed the marbles into her bare hand. “Jou wanna play ga’es? OK, I play wi’ you.”

This was it. Commence operation: Distraction!

Drawing a deep breath, Sugar Shadows leaned closer to the corner and shouted at the top of her lungs. “JOU WANNA PLAY ROUGH? OK!” With no futher delay, she lunged into the center of the hall to face her foes, winding the fistful of marbles up above her shoulder.

“SAY ALLO TO MY LIL’ FRIEN’!”

The men raised their guns to fire, just as she hurled the cluster of shimmering pink marbles in their direction. With a rapid succession of bright flashes, the spread of little orbs exploded around the men, filling the hallway with the report of thunderous crackling, pulverizing the walls and sending the men to the floor, screaming and covering their faces.

The drop ceiling above had been blown out, pieces of fibreglass and dust raining down onto the floor as the florescent light fixture swung from it wires, spewing sparks this way and that.

The dark, curvy figure approached confidently and methodically, shouting and taunting the stunned pair. “OK, HUH!? JOU LIKE THA’? GEH! JOU WAN’ SOME MORE!?”

Shaking their heads, the men slowly rose to their hands and knees, their ears ringing as they peered at one another through the thick cloud of smoke and dust.

“What the hell was that!?” one of them coughed while the other looked up in the direction of the shrill shouting to see how close she was.

But the hallway was empty.

He narrowed his eyes and coughed, waving the cloud away to get a better look. Sure enough, the girl was nowhere to be seen. “What the--… she’s gone!”

“What!?” the other guy scanned the hall as well, and then grimaced as he struggled to stand, his body aching like it’d been through a train wreck. “Where’d she go?” he asked as his partner stood as well, leaning his hand against the wall for support.

They stood for a moment, staring through the dust, panting heavily before coughing once again. “I don’t get it,” one of them said, squinting at the other. “What just happened?”

The other man shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“Where’s our back up? We need more--”

“No, wait!” The other man shook his head and waved behind himself. “Tell them to stay back! STAY BACK! We have to find out where she went first.”

“She must’ve went back the way she came,” his partner said. “We should send some guys around the other way to head her off; trap her in that doorway.”

“Yeah,” the other man nodded, facing his comrade to agree.

As he did, however, an upside-down pink face, obscured by that black mask, dipped down between them. “Jou know who you fuckin wi’?”

Both men gasped. “SHIT!” She dropped from the ceiling before they could react, splitting her legs outward on the way down to connect her boots with their faces before landing on her hands and somersaulting to her feet.

Quickly, she rose to her feet as the men staggered back and covered their faces. “CUMMON, JOU WHORES! I TAKE YOU ALL TO FUCKIN HELL!” she hollered, approaching the man on her right before either of them had a chance to recover.

He saw her approaching through his tear-filled eyes, and, having misplaced his gun, was left with little choice but to take a desperate swing at her. The ill-fated right hook missed by a mile; she simply leaned back and then swung her fist upward, looping her arm under his to connect a sharp swat with his jaw.

The sound of shuffling feet behind her alerted Sugar Shadows of the other man’s approach, and after a quick glance, she wrapped one arm around the neck of the man she’d just hit, using him as a support to swing both of her feet into the air so she could drive both heels into the face of the charging man.

He stumbled back, his nose immediately pouring blood down his chin as he slammed into the wall and slid to the floor, unconscious. The impact of the kick threw off the balance of the man she was holding onto, and he too staggered back and hit the opposite wall, sliding down to the floor with her on top of him. His shouts were muffled against the side of her bust as she tightened the headlock, and when he continued to struggle, she simply wound a fist back and then dropped a swift jab onto the bridge of his nose like a hammer, subduing him instantly.

Springing to her feet, Sugar Shadows threw her hands in the air, standing over the carnage. “GEH! WHA J’YOU THINK!?” With a final kick to the limp man’s foot, she turned to make her way to the lounge to see if there were any more Ministry goons waiting for the attack. She jogged to the end of the hall, but then gasped, screeching to a halt in the entrance when she came face to face with a roomful of armed henchmen--easily over a dozen of them.

“Whoa!”

They opened fire without hesitation, spraying her with countless rounds of lead. Bullets pinged and bounced off of her, hitting her thighs and hips, bouncing off of her bulging cleavage and smacking against her forehead, making a deafening [i}crack sound ring through her skull. Each impact felt like it should have stung, but it didn’t.

The force brought down on her by the barrage caused her to stagger back, but she quickly regained her footing and pushed forward again, hands outstretched to her sides, mouth open, eyes glaring with intensity through that black mask.

“GEH! I STILL STANDIN, HUH!?” she hollered over the roar of gunfire, her balance wobbling against the continuous impacts of bullets. “CUMMON! I TAKE YOUR FUCKIN BULLETS!”

They continued to fire without relent, causing the masked girl to stagger around with her hands in the air as the walls on each side of her were torn to shreds, filling the air with thick dust. Sugar Shadows continued to shriek and taunt, waving her hands in the air, pointing at them to call for even more.

Before long, their magazines had emptied, and the roar of gunshots quickly tapered down to an ear-splitting silence. The group of suits stared incredulously, not bothering to reload their weapons as no blood could be seen on neither the girl’s outfit or her creamy, pink skin as she continued to thrash about, waving at herself to invite more fire.

“GAAAAH I TAKE YOUR FUCKING BULLETS! JOU THINK YOU GET ME WI’ BULLETS!? GEH YOUR FUCKIN BULLETS! GEH--”

Sugar Shadows froze suddenly, her eyes going vacant as she stared off into space. Something was calling her attention; a tingle on the back of her neck. She didn’t know what it was--a sixth sense, maybe even a seventh? A Pinkie sense, perhaps.

Or maybe it was the simple memory of this scene in the film, where the character she was portraying was approached from behind by a man with a double-barreled shotgun.

She spun around suddenly, swinging her leg up to deliver a swift kick. Sure enough, there was a man behind her, holding a shotgun --only a single barrel, sure-- pointed at the small of her back. Her foot knocked the weapon upward against his chest, and, quick as lightning, she grabbed the barrel, placed it against his chin and pulled the trigger with her other hand, redistributing his face across the ceiling in an instant.

She then yanked the shotgun away as he fell backwards, robbed of his visage, and she spun back to face the room, throwing the shotgun like a Frisbee. The long weapon spun end-for-end through the air, its black form transforming into a shimmering pink glow, brightening exponentially as it approached the center of the room, which would soon be illuminated by a bright flash and a rumbling BOOM as it released a massive burst of energy.

A massive, pink shockwave grew from the point of explosion, spanning the entire room in an instant; it blew everything and everyone outwards, slamming all of it against the walls and shaking the floor, smashing tables and collapsing drywall, filling the room with darkness, dust and smoke.

A pair of emergency spotlights mounted high in opposite corners of the room ignited, casting two beams of white light through the cloudy air, casting long shadows and obscuring everyone’s vision. The eerie silence that filled the ringing ears of the few men left conscious created a frightening ambiance.

Only four of them remained, coughing and groaning in pain as they climbed to their feet, squinting through the beams of illuminated dust.

Where was the girl?

Two of them, once they’d reached their feet, glanced at one another as they listened to the shuffling and coughing of their comrades of the far side of the room, obscured by the dust and debris.

“What the hell was that?” one of them grunted as he clutched is arm, noticing it’d been skewered by a large splinter of wood. “Where’d she go?”

The other man shook his head. “I don’t kno--“

BZZZZZT!

A massive burst of sparks poured from the center of the room suddenly, illuminating the cloudy space with an orange glow, which revealed the ceiling had all but collapsed into the center of the room, leaving a twisted column of wires and ductwork suspended from above.

The men stared in shock at the destruction, marvelling the destructive power of their intruder when a movement in their peripheries caught their eye: a curvy female figure could be seen charging in their direction, silhouetted in the smoke and dust as the orange glow faded away, hiding her from sight once again.

Gasping and wide-eyed, the men scrambled around the rubble in a panic, searching frantically for their guns. It was no use, though; the spectre was on them in an instant. Her sleek, black figure leapt over a toppled couch, forcing them to abandon their search to swing at her with their fists in a miserable attempt to fight their attacker off.

A wild left hook from the first man was knocked upward by her forearm, allowing her to ram her shoulder into his ribs, effectively knocking the wind out of him. She spun around on her heel as he staggered back to deliver a swift kick, driving her heel into his throat, which sent him backwards over a table, the far side of which he slid off and fell to the floor on his head.

“JOU THINK YOU CAN TAKE ME!?” she shrieked, turning to her next opponent. “JOU NEED A FUCKIN ARMY, YOU GONN’ TAKE ME! JOU HEAR!? CUMMON!”

After retreating a step or two, the thug lunged forward and swung at the masked girl with an empty carafe, which he had found during his search for a gun. She side-stepped the attack, of course, and brought her foot up to kick the metal can, causing it to bounce against his face with a dull clang! He grunted noisily, his head snapping back as Sugar Shadows drove her foot into his knee, collapsing his leg underneath him.

He dropped to his other knee in time to take her knee to his solar plexus, denying him of this breath before he was knocked out cold by a mighty heel to the temple. Before he hit the ground, she was gone; off like a shot in search of the two men on the far side of the room.

The two remaining men crouched down in silence, keeping themselves out of the light in hopes that the masked vigilante wouldn’t find them. They listened intently to the skirmish of the far side of the room, trying to stay quiet as the girl’s aggressive shouting filtered its way through the dust to fill their ears with the sound of unstoppable doom.

It wasn’t long before there was silence, aside from the light shuffling of the vigilante’s feet moving around the room until it faded into silence. The men waited, listening; neither dared speak. Then they turned to face each other, wondering if she’d left.

Finally, one of them mouthed the words ‘is she gone?’ to which the other man opened his mouth to reply. He paused, however, squeezing his eyes shut when he felt a sharp tickle dancing inside his nostril. Unable to contain his natural reflexes, he let loose a loud sneeze and then quickly covered his face.

The other man stared angrily at him, wishing he could belt him over the head with a stool. They both waited in utter silence, terrified to move or say anything. Moments passed without a sound to be heard, allowing the pair to exhale slowly, letting their shoulders relax.

“She must be gone,” one of them whispered.

“I think so,” the other replied quietly, scanning the dark, cloudy room. “Good thing too, with you sneezing like a fucking idiot!”

“Sorry!” the first man shrugged. “The place is full of dust.”

“Whatever,” the second man said, waving him off as he took another look around. “Fuck, I can’t see shit. You think we should try to get outta here?”

“Yeah,” he replied. He stood, prompting the other man to stand along with him. “I don’t know which way she went, though; don’t wanna run into her in the halls or something.”

“No…” the other man said, just as a light scuff sounded directly behind them, causing them both to freeze. Neither man dared to breathe, let alone turn around to see if anyone was there.

The answer came on its own, in the form of a female voice--with a Cuban accent.

“Jou think you ca’ hi’e from me?”

“AAH!” Both men yelped and spun around face her. Survival mode had kicked in, prompting one of them to charge and swung a fist at that curly head of hair, its frizzy edges lit by the emergency lighting.

Sugar Shadows ducked and stepped into the attack, letting him topple forward to slide across her back. She reached up to grab his collar and pulled him off the far side of her hip as she stood upright, dumping him to the floor on his head.

Turning her attention to the other man, she found herself the target of a stiff jab, which she quickly defected with her left palm before wrapping her right arm around his head. After securing him in a tight headlock, she bent him forward and drove her fist into his face several times, but was quickly alerted by the sound of the first man approaching, having gotten up after being thrown to the floor.

Apparently, he’d found a gun, which was empty, evidently; unable to find a full clip, he was instead holding the gun backwards and charging with it wound up over his shoulder. Sugar Shadows leaned back slightly when he swung the butt-stock at her face while simultaneously tossing a glowing marble between his feet, which promptly exploded and sent him flipping head-over-heels into the air.

Oh way back down, head-first and facing the other way, she brought her leg up and thrust her foot into the small of his back, knocking him forward, where he crashed through an already half-smashed table. With him now lying motionless in a pile of splintered wood and metal brackets, she turned her attention back to the head trapped in her armpit.

After hammering his nose with three more punches, she brought her knee up to drive it into his face, followed by a slam to the back of his neck with a balled-up fist, which finally dropped him to the floor, collapsing in an unconscious heap.

With everyone down, Sugar Shadows stood in the center of the debris, flanked by a pair of bright beams that cut through the floating dust, her fists balled tightly as she surveyed the carnage that surrounded her.

Down the hall to the right, she heard the pitter-patter of dress loafers on tile, accompanied by voices barking orders and the cocking of guns.

“In there! She’s in the lounge!” a voice shouted, making the corner of her mouth curl upward in a mischievous smirk as she peered down the hall with those bright blue eyes, surrounded by that dusty, black mask.

Operation: distraction was, apparently, going well.

Flashlight beams began to pierce the darkness, dancing around the room like fireflies as the next wave approached. Not to be intimidated, Sugar Shadows stood front and center, ready to face her foes head-on.

“JOU WANN' FUCK WI’ ME!? OK!”

Chapter 154: Storming the Castle

Chapter 154

“I didn’t read that, Midnight, sorry,” Knight Mare said, pressing a fingertip to her earpiece.

”I said... ... inkie Pi... ... ... ell of a mess... ... ere. She’s doing her jo... ... ... m.

The red-head sighed and shook her head, facing her blonde and rainbow-hawked teammates. “You guys get that?”

Alphajack shook her head while Black Prism rubber her chin thoughtfully.

“Actually, it kiiiiiinda sounded like Pink--er, Sugar Shadows is making a ‘hell of a mess,’ which is good, right?”

“I guess so,” Knight Mare said, looking down at her shoulder to adjust the point of her collar, making sure they hung symmetrically over her shoulders.

“Ugh…” Alphajack rolled her eyes. “Will ya quit messin with that? Ya look fine!”

“It’s just… thing thing’s never fit right,” the red-head grunted, rolling her arms around in their sockets to get the suit to sit naturally. “I keep telling Rare--I mean, the… you know who to fix it, but she keeps telling me it’s fine.”

Black Prism scratched her cheek. “OK, one question: if these guys all know who we are, why can’t we just say our real names?”

Knight Mare paused for a second, staring at the wall, and then turned to face the rainbow-haired girl. “Cuz… it’s just… it’s a good habit to get into.”

Black Prism folded her eyes and rolled her arms.

“That’s a good point, actually,” Alphajack said, pursing her lips. “Not everyone is gonna know who we are; might as well git used ta usin our superhero names.”

“Thank you,” Knight Mare said, bowing slightly to the blonde.

Each of them drew a breath and waited, watching the numbers above the door. The ‘24’ button had been illuminated for some time; Twilight was keeping the door shut remotely, and they were waiting until the time was right.

“Sunset Shimmer,” Black Prism blurted suddenly, prompting Knight Mare to huff angrily and turn to face her.

HEY! Shut-up, you asshole!” she shouted, making Prism cackle with laughter.

Even Alphajack couldn’t help herself. “Heh heh heh! Now that was funny!”

Sighing, Knight Mare folded her arms and faced the numbers again. “Come on, guys. This is serious.”

“Oh yeah, totally super cereal,” Black Prism mocked. “That’s why our friend is downstairs fucking things up while pretending to be Scarface.”

Aplhajack shook her head. “Dang. What I would’a given ta see that.”

PSHHH! I have... ... on film. I’ll... ... ow you later. It wa... ... ... cking crazy!”

“Sweet! Thanks, Midnight!” Black Prism said.

”... ... problem. OK... ... time to go. I’ll open the d... ... ou.

Alphajack shook her head and faced the red-head. “Dang, she wasn’t kiddin ‘bout the interference in here.”

Knight Mare nodded. “Yeah. Hopefully we don’t lose her when we’re in the middle of it.”

Ding!

All three girls readied their stance.

“OK, look alive, guys. This is it. The way should be clear; Midnight would have checked before opening the doors, but be ready just in case.”

They stood, frozen in place as the doors slid open, ready to charge forward into the proverbial Beaches of Normandy that potentially awaited them. The hallway, as it turned out, was deserted.

The trio relaxed, looking almost disappointed, but they had to remember: this was the whole reason for Pinkie’s role in the mission, of which she was clearly doing a job.

Knight Mare glanced at Alphajack and then Black Prism, nodding to each of them. “Let’s go,” she whispered.

With the red-head leading the way, the three of them filed out of the elevator one-by-one. They slipped quietly across the hall, huddling close to the wall as they slunk along; moving around like this would have been much more difficult if the cameras had been operational, but thanks to Twilight and Ingram’s app, the cameras were telling lies to whoever might have been watching.

Stopping at the corner to the next hall, Knight Mare glanced back at her teammates. “Prism, is there enough room in here for you to go into your speed mode?”

Black Prism glanced back the way they came, then leaned out a slightly to look forward before shaking her head. “I don’t think so. These hallways are too short.”

“Shit,” Knight Mare whispered, chewing her lip. “I guess we’ll have to stick to the original plan then.”

“You and AJ clear the way for me to use my magic to get to Adagio?”

Knight Mare nodded. “Yeah. Make sure you take out anyone covering her first; remove any danger to her first, then we’ll form a barrier around her while we get her out. Understood?”

Alphajack and Black Prism nodded.

“OK.” Knight Mare peered around the corner for a moment, then she turned back to face them. “There’s a coded door at the end of this hall. I think this is the last one; once I get us through, it’s pretty clear sailing from here. Security won’t be as tight with Father Tirek out of the building, but we should expect some coverage on Adagio, regardless.” She made eye contact with the rainbow-haired girl. “Prism, if you see a chance to go into your speed mode, do it.”

Black Prism saluted. “Done.”

Knight Mare nodded. “OK. Let’s move.”

Quietly, they shuffled around the corner, single file. The hall they found themselves in was more brightly lit, but was still devoid of any human presence. With Black Prism taking up the rear and watching their six, they made their way to the door at the end, its handle equipped with an electronic lock that required a coded card to unlock.

Drawing a breath, the red-head drew her phone from the pouch in the center of her belt and opened the app. “OK…” she sighed. “One more. Hopefully this works; this lock looks a little different than the others.”

“I’m sure ya can handle it,” Alphajack said, giving a firm slap to Knight Mare’s shoulder, almost knocking her down.

After regaining her balance, she turned back to face the blonde with what was probably a scowl hidden under that mask.

“Sorry,” the bigger girl said, withdrawing her hand.

After a moment, Knight Mare went back to what she was doing, saying nothing. She swiped through the app, looking for the lock decoder; then she held the phone close to the scanner and waited.

A tense moment passed slowly as she waited for the scanner to do its thing, and the other two girls glanced around, keeping a watchful eye.

“Hey, guys?” Black Prism said quietly.

“Yeah?--Come on, you fucking thing,” the red-head whispered at the phone, which seemed to be taking longer than usual to decode the lock.

“Um… Golds and I fucked yesterday.” Both Knight Mare and Alphajack’s heads snapped around to face her, their eyes wide with surprise. “I, uh… just thought you should know,” she continued.

After staring for a moment, Knight Mare closed her eyes and shook her head. “OK, first: why are you telling us this right now? And second: WHAT!?”

“Yeah, I thought ya weren’t interested in him?” Alphajack added.

Black Prism shrugged. “I dunno. I wasn’t, really. But he came to my apartment yesterday to give me shit for missing training, and… I’d kiiiinda been watching porn all night, so… I was in serious need of some dick…”

“Ugh…” Knight Mare rubbed her brow, cutting in. “Can we talk about this later?”

“…and then some dick literally knocked on my door, so I took it,” Prism finished,

Alphajack sneered. “Whaddaya mean, ‘literally?’ He knocked on the door with his pecker?”

“No!” Black Prism sneered back. “He used his fist --not on me, on the door-- and uh, so I let him in and we hung out for a bit, and uh… I was pretty horny, so I just said, ‘hey, you wanna fuck?’ and he said ‘sure,’ so I sucked him off and then rode the shit out of him.”

Alphajack looked skeptical. “Are ya sure it went just like that?”

“Pretty much,” Prism shrugged.

With a quiet snort the blonde turned back to face Knight Mare, shaking her head. “Dang it, man; that boy’s just fuckin everybody over here.”

“What else is new?” the red-head grumbled, just as the lock beeped and the LED turned from red to green. “There. We’re in--let’s get our heads in the game, K? You can brag about banging Golds later; right now we need to be on our toes.”

“What? I wasn’t bragging!” Prism protested. “I was just trying be, like, honest n’ shit, so I’m not keeping things from you guys.”

“No, you were totally bragging.” Knight Mare pulled the door open. “OK, let’s go,” she whispered.

One by one, the trio slipped through the door and made their way down the next hallway, keeping close to the wall. They were getting close, and tension in their bosoms all rose in unison as they made their way closer to an opening on the right which led to a large doorway, framed in stainless steel. The feeling the Adagio was near rang inside their heads, like an intrinsic radar; their apprehension not only stemmed from the moment of revealing themselves being nigh, but none of them were quite prepared to face one of their long-time greatest foes.

This thought resonated particularly with Knight Mare, who was instrumental in bringing down the singing trio, dooming them to a life of mortal misery--their days numbered, their power gone.

The red-head stopped suddenly and raised a fist above her shoulder, prompting the other two to freeze. After slowly peering around the corner, she turned back to face them, those turquoise eyes sharp and focused, whispering: “OK, this is it,” she said, reaching up to fiddle with her hair. “There’s one guy around the corner, I‘m gonna take him out first…”

As the red-head spoke, she pulled a thin lock of red hair free from its tie and began to separate the strands. “While I do that, Alphajack: you’re gonna move ahead and make sure the path is clear, then Prism: you use your magic to head straight for Adagio; take out anyone who is close enough to hurt her, then get her outta there. Make sure you stay ahead of her. Alphajack and I will cover your backs on the way out; we gotta keep her covered so she doesn’t get shot or something.”

Black Prism and Alphajack stared at their comrade as she spoke, watching incredulously as she looked up at her hair, pulling more strands free.

“Did you guys get that?” Knight Mare asked, her eyes crossing slightly as she focused on the few remaining hairs that remained pinched between her fingers.

“Uh… yeah, we did,” Alphajack replied slowly, mouth hanging open. “We’re just kinda waitin fer ya ta quit playin with yer hair.”

Knight Mare’s eyes shifted onto the other two, pausing. “Just be ready. I got this,” she said dismissively, before turning away to head around the corner.

Black Prism and Alphajack looked at one another for a moment. Then they shrugged and followed the red-head around the corner.

Knight Mare strode directly for her opponent with a confident stride, still holding a single thread of hair between her thumb and forefinger. Taken by surprise, the man stared at the approaching woman in black for a second or two, before blinking and quickly pulling a switchblade knife from his pocket.

“Hey!” he shouted, flipping the blade open as he stepped forward. “You bitches don’t know when to quit, do you?” Undaunted, she continued forward, so he raised the knife and lunged, thrusting it directly at her Adam’s apple.

Knight Mare side-stepped the attack and whirled her hand around his wrist, wrapping it in the strand of hair she’d so carefully picked out, yanking firmly to cinch it tight. The unbreakable strand sliced through his arm like soft butter, causing him to scream and step back as his hand, still holding the knife, fell to the floor.

Knight Mare was quick, however; she swung her arm down to catch the hand and then spun around to slam it into his temple, blade first, tacking it to his head like a morbid Christmas ornament. He stood there in wide-eyed shock, his fist stuck to the side of his head, his knife buried deep in his brain as the red-head spun around on one heel to deliver a boot across his jaw, knocking him against the wall, from which he slid to the floor, silenced for good.

Alphajack lumbered by while this happened, followed closely by Black Prism. They charged into the next room through that massive steel frame, pausing briefly to scope out the scene. The room was large, its walls lined with pillars and large photos of old churches; the rear wall was covered end-to-end by a curtain, before which sat a large, wooden desk.

Sat in a chair just before that desk was the siren herself, her orange mass of hair frazzled, the right side of her shirt tail and lavender pants soaked in blood, all the way down to her knee. Next to her stood a bodyguard, who looked equally as shocked as the several other men present.

Knight Mare joined her teammates only a second later, taking in the bizarrely decorated space just as Adagio turned around to face them, her eyes landing directly on the turquoise eyes that shone starkly from under that black mask.

The two nemeses paused when their eyes locked, everything around them going dark and quiet. Adagio knew exactly who she was exchanging glares with, despite the other girl’s disguise; she looked puzzled, nevertheless, no doubt contemplating the red-head’s presence there. Why was she here? To finish her off along with the gang? To kill two birds with one stone?

“Alright, let’s do this!” Alphajack shouted, snapping Knight Mare out of her stupor as she stepped closer to a man on her right, who’d just raised an automatic weapon at the three of them.

He was able to get three rounds off, which bounced pitifully off of the big blonde girl’s palm, before she reached out to grab the barrel of the gun, bending it upward to kink it shut, causing it to backfire. She then yanked gun upward and towards herself, pulling him onto her shoulders; she tossed him over her back and then brought her foot up, driving it into his back on his way down to the floor and send him across the room to the wall.

Two more men approached, one from each side. One threw a measly jab, which the blonde caught; with one arm, she dragged him closer to the other man and wrapped his arm around the back of his neck to tie them together. She then placed a hand in the small of his back and picked both men up at once, turned and launched them toward the opposite wall like a shot-put ball, smashing pictures and the drywall behind them.

The sound of gunfire heard from the right captured the attention of Black Prism, prompting her to look into the immediate corner of the room. There, stood a single door --steel, like the one they’d just entered through, with a similar frame, only smaller-- beyond which stretched a hallway that was occupied by three men, the closest of them firing at them with a rapid fire weapon.

“Oh on you don’t!” Prism smirked, blasting off from her position with a ribbon of colour in her wake. She zipped through the door and zig-zagged down the hall, delivering a fast hook of the each of them men in rapid succession, knocking them out of commission before they even knew what’d hit them.

Taking notice of this, Knight Mare’s eyes widened in panic and frustration, and she reached out with one hand, shouting after the speedster. “NO! DASH! YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO GO AFTER ADAGIO!”

Only half realising her divergence from the plan, Black Prism turned back to face Knight Mare with a smug smirk, giving a thumbs up before winding up to dart back into the main room.

Before she could do that, however, the green light above the steel frame switched to red, and the door slammed shut on its own with a loud CLANG, locking the rainbow-haired vigilante outside.

Knight Mare gasped and reached up to pull her hair. “NO!”

“Dang it, Rainb--fuckin…FUCK!” Alphajack hollered, stepping forward to slam on the door with both fists, hoping to break through. It’s didn’t budge, though, so the blonde planted her feet, wound up and threw a mighty fist at the door; the entire building shook under the impact, but the door didn’t budge, in fact, it barely even dented.

*KSSSSH!* “Applejack! That door... ... ... part of the structure ... ... never break!”

Alphajack placed her fingers to her earpiece and spun around to face Knight Mare. “What was that?”

Knight Mare shook her head. “That door frame is literally part of the building’s frame; you’ll never break through it. This room is like a bomb shelter,” she said, turning to see where Adagio was.

The guard had dragged the siren from her seat and was dragging her around to the far side of desk, where he reached under the edge to push a hidden button.

“COME ON! WE HAVE TO GET HER OURSELVES!” the red-head yelled as she sprinted toward the desk, Alphajack following suit.

The guard turned and quickly tore the curtains on the rear wall aside, revealing another steel door that promptly slid open. Inside was what appeared to be an elevator car; he stepped inside backwards, dragging the hollering siren by her arm as she fired shots at the charging vigilantes to slow them down. When his weapon emptied, he reached out and used the barrel to push the button, closing the door.

“NOOO!” Knight Mare hollered as she leapt over the reverend’s desk and slammed into the elevator door just as it clanged shut. Alphajack’s body hammered against the steel slap a split second later, rumbling the walls and the floor beneath their feet.

The blonde backed up a step and brought her foot up to drive it into the door, but even with her strength it was no use. It didn’t stop her from trying again, even though the best she could accomplish was turning the building into a makeshift earthquake simulator.

Shaking her head, Knight Mare raised a hand to stop the bigger girl. “Forget it. It’s no use.”

Midnight Sparkle’s voice, broken by poor reception, sounded in their earpieces again. ”... ... happened?”

“They got away,” Knight Mare sighed. “Prism got locked out, and he took her into an elevator before we could get to them.”

”Wha--levator!? There wa... ... ny elevator in the blueprints; where was it?”

“On the far wall,” the red-head replied. “Behind the curtain. AJ tried to break through it, but it wouldn’t budge. It sounded pretty much the same as the other door--probably integrated into the frame too.”

”...ost likely. How did they activate them?”

“Uh… they reached under here,” Knight Mare glanced down at the desk, and then she dropped to one knee to look underneath it. Next to the bank of drawers, there were a half dozen buttons, two of them glowing red. “Ah. Right here; there’s a bunch of buttons under the desk, ” she said, reaching out to push the illuminated buttons to see what would happen.

Nothing.

“Dammit,” she huffed, shaking her head as she placed a hand on her knee. “They must be locked out,” she explained, chewing her lip thoughtfully. “There must be an override or something.”

Alphajack, having knelt down beside her for a look, pointed at the rest of the buttons. “What about those? Ya think we should we try ‘em?”

Knight Mare glanced up at the main entrance, which was the only one left open. “We probably shouldn’t. I don’t know what these other buttons do, and I don’t really wanna end up trapped in here.”

”Agreed. Prob... ... a very good idea to g... ... ssing with them.”

The pair stood, sighing, hands on hips.

“Well? What now?” Alphajack said, looking over at the red-head.

“I dunno. This whole thing’s fucked now,” Knight Mare groaned, rubbing her brow. She paused for a moment, staring at the floor. Then she glanced up at her partner again. “Which way do you think that elevator went? Up or down?”

The blonde shrugged. “No idea.”

”It appears th... ... ... vator could go either way; there’s certainly room in th... ueprints to accommodate it.”

Knight Mare pursed her lips, considering this. “Can you see which way they went?”

”No. But... n’t forget, th... ... a helipad on the roof.”

The two girls locked eyes.

“Ya think they’d be callin fer a lift?” Alhpajack asked.

“It’s a good bet,” Knight Mare replied, heading around the desk to make her way back to the entrance. “Let’s go.”

“What if they went down, though?” the blonde asked, following along.

“Then we’re fucked,” the red-head replied, placing a finger to her earpiece. “Midnight? Are you in contact with Prism?”

“No. B... reception. Why?”

“Keep trying,” Knight Mare instructed as she stepped over the bodies to exit the room. “If you get a hold of her, tell her to head down to look for Sugar Shadows; when she finds her, they might as well get out. Their jobs are done.”

”Got it.”

*****

Out at Fluttershy’s house, Sonata was sitting, slouched down, on the shy girl’s couch with Link curled up at her side. We stood over her, having just been updated on the situation.

“So… they couldn’t rescue Dagi?” Sonata asked, looking up at us.

“Doesn’t look like it,” I said, handing her a couple of painkillers with one hand and a glass of water with the other. “They snuck out through a secret elevator that wasn’t in the floor plans; took the girls by surprise by the sound of it.”

The siren gulped the pills down, followed by a swig of water. She set the glass on her lap and stared into space, looking quite worried over the situation. Then she looked up at me. “So what now?”

I drew a breath. “Um… not sure. But don’t worry, it’s not over yet; we’ll get her out one way or another.”

Sonata sighed, staring down at her lap. “I hope so.”

“It’s gonna be fine,” I assured her. “But in the meantime, it’s gonna be Rare’s turn to make her move at the church. That shouldn’t take too long. Then we can concentrate on finding your sister again. I don’t think they’ll kill her just yet; if she was still alive when they stormed the room, then they must still think Aria intends to burn the shelter down, otherwise they wouldn’t till need her for leverage. Let’s just let Rare do her thing first, and then we’ll see what happens.”

The siren looked unsatisfied by this, so I reached down to give her shoulder a gentle squeeze, drawing her eyes up to meet mine.

“Do you think she can do it?” she asked.

I drew a breath, paused, and then nodded. “Absolutely, I do. She’s one of the best fighters I’ve ever seen.”

Chapter 156: Adagio

Chapter 156

A dingy and water-stained elevator door slid open, exposing its occupants to a dank underground parking garage, its moist pavement and cracked concrete walls lit by dull, buzzing yellow light.

Held by the arm, Adagio Dazzle was shoved through the opening and into the cold space, her nostrils immediately filling with the wet stink of mildew. She hardly noticed this, however; dull pain shot up her side from the gash on her hip, prompting her to look down at her leg, where her blood had dried and a good portion had flaked off. She reached down to press her hand over the wound, only to be yanked along yet again, renewing the pain all over again.

After a wince and a agonised grunt, Adagio soon noticed that there were several suited men standing in the small nook that bookended the first row of parking spots, standing under the buzzing florescent light boxes, some of them smoking cigarettes.

“Juno,” one of them said to the man who was dragging her along. “Didn’t expect to see you down here.”

“There was a breach,” he explained. “Those Dark Mistress bitches got into the boss’ office; I had to use the back elevator to get away. They obviously don’t know their way around here, so losing them was no big deal.”

Some of the men looked mildly alarmed, and others were indifferent; others still were gawking at the female captive.

“How’d they get in?” the largest of them asked, following that by blowing a stream of smoke from between his lips.

“I dunno,” Juno replied. “We haven’t had time to figure that out. There was a big commotion downstairs first, and then they stormed the office right after. Seemed like a deliberate distraction.”

“They tryin’ to come after the boss?”

“Probably. Joke’s on them, though: he’s not here! Haha! Stupid bitches” he turned to nod at his captive while the others had a chuckle over the perceived failure. “I just grabbed her and got the hell out; I know they don’t like her either, so I figured I’d better not let them take her out. Otherwise we lose our leverage over the sister.”

“She’s probably dead anyway,” the big man replied. “After she burned down that boutique I’ll bet they sniffed her out pretty quick.”

Adagio watched on, her lip curled into a sneer as she listened to the conversation. Somewhere close by, a dog suddenly barked, causing her to nearly jump out of her skin--which in turn sent a searing pain up her side as she turned to find a rather large Doberman only a foot or two away, its teeth bared with aggression as its owner strained to hold it back.

The group of men shared a laugh at her expense.

“HA! Watch out, little missy!” the large one shouted, flicking his spent cigarette to her feet. “That one hasn’t had lunch yet.”

Scowling, the siren turned away from the dog to face him for a stare down, only to notice a second dog of similar proportions sitting next to the man adjacent to him, not aggressive-looking, but watching her attentively nonetheless.

“Speaking of which,” Juno said, yanking her forward to shove her toward the group of men. “I gotta tell the reverend to stay away until the building’s clear.” The siren cried out as she staggered forward, bumping shoulder-first into the big guy, who quickly turned her around and held her by the shoulders so her back was against his front.

Juno produced his phone and lit the screen up, casting a pale glow onto his face as he let out a weary sigh, not unlike the sigh of a man dealing with typical workplace bullshit. After all, his life had experienced a significant uptick in stress ever since Hopper had left the picture. “He’s probably just staring the first service; hopefully he’ll get the text before the second one starts.”

“He always checks his phone after the first sermon,” said one of the other men who’d personally driven the reverend to and from church many times. “Usually he’ll come out to the car and--“

“Shh!” Juno shushed him into silence, looking up from his phone to stare into the darkness that bent around the bend and disappeared out of sight. “You guys hear that?”

The rest of them, including Adagio, paused and listened. One by one, they each held their breath, their eyes darting about as the sound of whistling drifted into their ears, echoing from somewhere off in the distance.

Bewildered, the men glanced at one another, wondering who could have been lurking in their parkade when the music changed from whistling to singing. It was a female voice--a very soft female voice, singing in a very soft and sweet tone.

”Where do bad folks go when they die?
They don’t go to heaven where the angles fly;
‘ Go to a lake of fire and fry,
‘ See ‘em again ‘til the Fourth of Ju-ly!”

Several of them had drawn their guns by then, watching the corner to see who might emerge from the darkness. Juno, phone still in hand, decided to make the first move by calling the intruder out.

“HEY! WHO’S THERE!?”

Silence.

Juno stared into the darkness, lips parted as he panted lightly. His breathing stopped suddenly, however, when he heard the faint sound of footsteps echoing through the darkness. All of the men listened keenly as the sound grew louder and more vivid; a slow but steady rhythm of heels on pavement coming closer with each agonising second.

At last, their eyes caught sight of a silhouette emerging from the darkness: a tall, but slender figure covered in black, moving with the same weightless grace of a ghostly apparition. Half a dozen guns were immediately raised in her direction, their owners watching intently as the intruder entered the pool of humming light at the edge of their proximity. The large man quickly took his hand from Adagio’s shoulder to cover her mouth, keeping her cries of protest muffled against his palm.

A young woman with her arms folded tightly under her bust to hug her midsection stepped into the scene; she walked rather timidly, keeping her knees close as she stepped cautiously, hunched forward slightly with her shoulders shrugged as though she was feeling chilled.

She was wearing a tight, black suit with three pink butterflies on her thighs, and on her face was a black mask, identical to the women who’d stormed the reverend’s office. She was tall like them, but noticeably thinner and lighter, though she sported a chestload of magnificent yellow cleavage that looked like it might explode clean out of her top.

On her head was a mound of candy-pink coloured hair, braided and wrapped intricately above her ears and around the back of her head. Her expression was stiff, like she had no wish to be standing there in that dark, musty place, surrounded by water-stained concrete with a slew of guns aimed at her as she stared back with a pair of teal, doe-like eyes.

“Stop!” Juno shouted, raising his hand at her with the phone still in its grip.

She complied and stopped dead in her tracks, hugging her midsection even tighter. “Oh… um--“

“What d’you think you’re doing here!?”

“Um… I-I-I’m trying to help my friends,” she replied, her voice barely above a whisper.

The henchmen gave each other a confused glance, wondering what such a timid creature was meant to accomplish here.

Juno brought his eyes back to her, arching a brow. “Help them do what? Take out the boss?”

The girl hesitated for a moment. She broke eye contact to look down at the damp asphalt. “Um… I don’t know.”

“Heh,” Juno snorted. “OK…” He turned to gesture at the siren. “Are you after her then?”

“No,” she replied flatly.

“Oh? Well then what--” Juno paused when his phone vibrated in his hand. He turned it toward himself to read the notification.

VIN: Got her

The message drew a tiny surge of adrenaline, and he brought his eyes back up to face the masked girl. Behind her, just above her left shoulder, Juno spotted the turquoise glow of a smartwatch floating several yards off in the distance.

She’d been outflanked.

Drawing a breath, Juno kept his eyes on hers to avoid alerting her to her stalker’s presence. All he had to do now was keep talking, keep her distracted until she was restrained, then they could easily lock her up--or better yet, bury her in concrete. As they’d already learned from the red-head in the bar, dumping her in the river was not a permanent solution.

“So what are you doing here then?” he asked, slipping his phone back into his pocket. “How did you find this place, anyway?”

“Um… you have rats down here--lots of them, actually. They seem to know their way around pretty well.”

This was an odd response, Juno thought as he glanced at his peers, who were all watching intently, weapons still drawn. The siren, with her mouth still covered, looked equally perplexed; not so much by the statement, but by the girl’s very presence.

What are the Rainbooms doing here? She wondered this to herself as best she could; searing pain and loss of blood had left her mind foggy, yet the girl’s appearance was enough to make her mind race with questions.

Why this girl? Adagio knew exactly who this was. She recognised the voice, the skin colour, and the mannerisms. This was the Rainboom who was afraid to even be on stage, so much so that she darted out of sight if the spotlight touched even the tip of her skirt. What did she expect to be able to do against a gang of armed men, hidden away from any witnesses? She looked terrified just standing there.

Juno watched the girl dubiously, clearing his throat. “You didn’t answer my question,” he said sternly. “Why’d you come here?” He turned to give a nod toward Adagio. “You sure you’re not after her?”

“Yes.”

He ran his tongue around the inside of his cheek, looking her up and down as he pondered to himself. “Even though it was her sister who burned down your friend’s little shop?”

The masked girl paused, her eyes dropping to the floor.

“Yeah,” Juno smirked. “We know who you are. All of you.” He pointed at the siren. “Your little friend here told us all about you.”

“She’s not my friend,” the girl replied with a soft curtness.

Juno chuckled. “OK, so… you don’t like her, but you’re not here for her, and you’re not here for the reverend. What are you here for?”

Squeezing herself tighter, she brought her knees together and looked down at herself.

“You need to use the washroom? Is that it?” Juno asked, prompting a chorus of chuckles from the others, which prompted her to look up at him again with a slight sneer on her lips. “Hey…” he asked, his hands raised in feigned defence. “I was just asking.”

Those teal eyes shifted onto the siren for a brief moment before returning to him. “Um… she might not be my friend, but I know that burning the boutique down wasn’t their idea. It was yours.”

Juno’s grin quickly disappeared, replaced by a more cautious one. “Alright. Now we’re getting somewhere.”

She nodded. “Mm-hm.”

“So… what, you’re here for us specifically? How do you know it was my idea? Why not someone else’s, or even the reverend’s?” he asked, struggling to keep his eyes on the girl as the man behind her silently slipped into the light. He moved slowly and silently, bringing his fingers to his lips to signal his comrades to stay quiet as her approached her from the left.

“I don’t know whose idea it was,” she replied softly, scrunching her face to shift the mask to a more comfortable position. “But it doesn’t matter. Father Tirek will be dead soon --if he isn’t already-- and I was just planning on killing all of you and taking her with me.”

To this, the group was silent.

The only reaction that differed was that of Adagio, whose eyes widened at the prospect of being rescued--even if it was by a Rainboom. It all made sense now: the ones upstairs --Sunset Shimmer, Applejack, Rainbow Dash-- were there for her. But why?

Aria. It had to be Aria.

Juno swallowed. “I’d like to see how you’re gonna do that,” he said, trying his best to buy time for the man sneaking up from behind to make his move. “We’re bigger than you, we have weapons, and there’s more of us.”

“You’d be surprised,” she replied, showing less of that timid attitude now.

The man behind her was barely ten feet away now. From Adagio’s position, he’d been hidden directly behind the masked girl until that point, but as he neared his target the siren caught sight of him, crouched down and inching his way closer. She drew a breath through her noise to make a commotion about it, hoping to get the masked girl’s attention even if her words were muffled by his hand.

Her captor saw it coming though, and he quickly reached down and grabbed her hip, digging his fingernails into the knife wound. Paralysed by the pain, she let a shrill cry resonate against his hand, her eyelids squeezed tightly together.

Paying no attention, Juno continued the attempt to cast shadows on her plan. “And what if we capture you here? Then what? Like I said, we know who you and your friends are; you do realise that we can come back on all of you, right? You each have homes, jobs, families--all of which can be easily destroyed. Just look at your little sweetheart’s dress shop. D’you want your little animal shelter to go up in smoke too?”

The masked girl glared menacingly at him, but then her eyes dropped to the ground. She flexed her cheeks back and forth, trying to get the mask to sit comfortably. She found it extremely uncomfortable to wear, especially in a potential combat situation, and she wanted nothing more than to take it off. Then she realised something: they already knew who she was.

With this in mind, she pulled one hand free and reached up, keeping her other hand tight to her body as she slipped her thumb under the mask and peeled it upward, slipping it over the top of her head before dropping it to the ground next to her feet.

“Ah… there you are,” Juno gloated as he watched her fold her arms to hug herself yet again.

Adagio, blinking rapidly to clear the moisture from her eyes, paused when she saw the shy girl’s bare face, confirming what she already knew: they’d sent the meekest, most naive and least imposing Rainboom to rescue her.

And she was about to get jumped from behind.

Hopelessness washed over the siren and she let a defeated exhale slip out of her nostrils, her eyelids drifting shut as she waited for it to be over.

Smirking, Juno brought a finger to his chin, his eyes shifting upward as he tried to jog his memory. “Hmm… now which one are you? Rarity owned the dress store… which one owned the animal shelter?” After a moment of thought, his eyes lit up and he snapped his fingers. “Ah! You must be Fluttershy. Is that right?”

Behind her, the stalker had come within a few feet of making his move.

The shy girl nodded, and then brought her eyes up to meet his, her brow marked by a light scowl. “My, um… my friends call me Fluttershy… but you can call me FS1.”

Juno gave an unimpressed sneer, shrugging. “What is that, like some kind of dumb code name?”

“Maybe,” she replied. “Better tell your boy to watch out.”

The smile disappeared from Juno’s face when, half a second later, a shot rang out from under the shy girl’s arm and echoed like a thunderclap down the long, dark corridors. A bloody wound suddenly appeared on the man’s thigh directly behind her, and he cried out, clutched his leg two-handed and fell backwards while the rest of the group looked on in shock.

Switching to a far more aggressive posture, Fluttershy unfurled her arms to reveal a pistol in her right hand. She aimed directly above Adagio’s shoulder and fired without hesitation, punching a hole in the large man’s forehead, causing the siren to jump and the grimace at the feel of warm blood spraying the side of her face.

Then, without warning, the pair of Dobermans began to snarl ferociously as they leapt up to latch their jaws onto their masters’ throats. The screaming men were dragged to the ground, flailing frantically and trying in vain to pull the powerful dogs away; it was no use, though, the vicious animals tore their throats to pieces, spilling their blood onto the ground below.

Juno, in the meantime, armed only with his knife, pulled the weapon out and wound it back over his shoulder to throw it at the shy girl, who was bringing her attention away from the blood-speckled and stunned siren, as well as the horrific carnage that surrounded her.

She swung a leg up and spun around on her heel as the knife soared in her direction, caught it with her toe and sent it off to the right, where it found a new home embedded blade-first in the throat of one of the other men. When Fluttershy came around to face Juno again, she raised her gun and fired the rapid shots: one hit his sternum, the next his Adam’s apple, and the third right on the tip of his nose.

The rest of the group had rushed the shy girl before the newly deceased Juno even hit the ground, and before she’d gotten the chance to turn her gun on them, she was overrun by a massive wall of suits. Her right hand --with which she was holding her gun-- was gripped by a pair of powerful hands, the gun pointed at the ceiling and rendered ineffectual; she fought against it, but helpless to overpower him and before she knew it, her left arm had been grabbed and yanked back as well.

Trapped.

Fluttershy was nowhere close to being strong enough to fight her way free from the restraint of two large men, who held her arms up and out to the sides. Granted, she knew the space was a tad small and crowded for an effective one-person assault; she’d been hoping that she could take all of them out before the swarmed her, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. Perhaps she was a bit rusty?

Just as she was thinking about this and the fact that her feet were still free, one of the other Ministry members stepped up and pointed his gun in her face. Fluttershy stopped her struggling and stared directly into the barrel as it hung barely a foot in front of her face, and as the man on the other end gave a smug smirk before pulling the trigger, she closed her eyes, lowered her head and angled it to the side.

A loud bang sounded just in front of her, followed instantly by a deafening thwack as the round hit her forehead and ricocheted off to her left, where it quickly tore its way through her captor’s throat.

This was a little trick that Golden Arrow once taught her: if you’re going to get shot, make sure they hit the hardest part of you so the bullet bounces off--it won’t hurt you, but it’ll probably hurt someone else!

Her left arm was quickly freed when he released her to grip his throat, gurgling and choking on his own blood. When she once again faced the shooter, she found him staring in shock at his dying crony. Fluttershy wasted no time in driving her high-heel into his knee cap, dropping him to his other knee with a yelp as she brought her free hand around and released the gun from her right, which was still help captive by the other man.

She caught the weapon in her left hand, reached below his arms to press the barrel into his midsection and pulled the trigger. He jerked backward and doubled over, giving the shy girl the opening to bring the barrel up to his chin and spray his brain across the ceiling. She then turned to the man whose knee she stomped, who was just rising to his feet again; she stopped him midway by pointing her gun downward against the back of his skull, pulling the trigger and emptying his head all over the floor through his mouth.

Emptied of rounds, the gun’s slide locked back. With a second thought, Fluttershy dropped the weapon and surveyed the scene; there were only two men left: one of them staring with his gun pointed at her, a look of terror etched on his face, and the other standing with his back against the wall, unarmed, frozen in place with the same expression on his face.

Adagio, was off to the side near the elevator door, leaning on the wall with one hand while clutching her hip with the other.

Clearly, both men had witnessed this harmless-looking young lady take a near point-blank shot to the forehead without so much as a flinch, and were no-doubt now wondering how they would go about dispatching her. After a short stare-off, the man with the gun heard a whimper from his right, and he turned to steal at a glance at the siren.

The wheels could be seen turning inside his head as he slowly turned back to face her, which prompted Fluttershy to quickly shift her eyes onto Adagio and then back at him.

She knew exactly what he was thinking.

They both made their move at the same time, him swinging his arm around to aim at the siren while the shy girl lunged at him to grab his wrist with both hands. She dug her heels in and pulled on his arm to prevent him from aiming; like the others, he was much bigger and stronger, however, and he was able to drag he slender frame along the asphalt until the siren was in his sights while Fluttershy threw her head back and pulled with all her might.

Her strategy was clearly not going to succeed, and so the shy girl shifted her weight and pushed his arm instead, causing him to overshoot his aim. She yanked backward again, shaking his arm back and forth to deprive him of a stable shot.

“HEY!” he shouted to the other man, who was simply watching on in shock. Snapping out of his daze, he looked up to focus on his partner, who nodded at the siren. “GET HER!”

The unarmed man looked over at Adagio, who was trying to distance herself from the scene, but was slow to move due to her wounded hip. He took a step to overtake her, but was quickly stopped in his tracks by the dogs when they lunged in front to protect her, teeth bared and growling viciously at him.

Looking back at his partner, her threw his hands up and shrugged. “What the hell’s up with these dogs all the sudden!?”

“I dunno!” the man with the gun said, still struggling with Fluttershy. “Just get over here and help me!”

Fluttershy brought her attention to the other man as he began to run toward them. There was no way she could contend with two male opponents; Adagio was going to end up shot if she didn’t think of something--and fast.

After taking a quick look at the gun in his hand, she shifted her hand up to his and pulled the release to eject the magazine, which promptly dropped out the bottom. She kicked her leg up next and bounced the clip off her toe, which sent it hurling toward the other man’s face, striking him on the nose.

As he cried out and spun around, face covered, the shy girl grabbed the pistol and slid it apart, leaving only the handle in his grip. Before he’d even realised what’d happened, she took a fast swing at him, nailing his brow with the steel barrel and splitting the skin open. He winced in pain as a stream of crimson raced down his cheek, and he brought his hand up to press on the wound with is palm while in the meantime Fluttershy whirled around and brought her heel across his face, knocking him around to face the other way.

She wasted no time in wrapping an arm around the back of his neck to place him in a headlock before bringing her feet up to place them on the concrete wall that stood nearby; using him as a prop, she ran up the wall and then along the massive cement rafter that ran across the ceiling just above them, flipping herself over backwards and twisting his head right along with her.

He hollered out in pain, but then went silent the instant the loud pop of his neck snapping rang out through the concrete compound. They hit the ground simultaneously, Fluttershy on her feet, her opponent on his back with his head at a rather unnatural angle.

One left.

She craned her neck to look up at the unarmed man, who’d just turned back to see what’d happened, his mouth and chin covered in blood that’d gushed from his nose. He gritted his crimson-soaked teeth as she rose to her feet, sizing him up one last time with those sharp, teal eyes.

He shook his head slowly, and then drew a breath to speak. “What the hell are y--ACK!”

He stopped suddenly, when a searing pain shot through his neck; when he tried to turn to see what it was, he found he couldn’t move. Shifting his eyes down as far they could go, he could see a blood-stained hand next to his throat, which was now rapidly filling with warm fluid as a mass of orange curls moved slowly into his peripheries.

The siren had retrieved Juno’s knife from one of the fallen corpses and rammed it into the side of his throat. She moved in front of him, slowly, just to show him the battered and bruised face of his killer; those glassy, maroon eyes of hers glared into his, her upper lip gradually curling into a disdainful sneer before her nose suddenly scrunched as she twisted the knife like and ignition key.

He grimaced in pain, his legs wobbling like jelly as a stream of hot blood gushed down inside his suit. He stared, not quite at her, but into space, mouth open as he sank to the ground and flopped onto his side, his head smacking the pavement with a dull clunk as his final breaths gurgled in his gullet.

Adagio had kept a tight grip on the knife as he fell, letting it slip from his throat while she watched. His life faded into silence, and she then turned to face Fluttershy, who stood watching, looking somewhat indifferent to the scene. Lips parted, the siren panted slightly as she eyed the shy girl with all the caution she could muster. Her balance wavered and she wobbled in place, her eyelids heavy as her eyes threatened to roll back in their sockets.

“What are you doing here, Rainboom?” she asked hoarsely.

Fluttershy cocked her head. “Is that any way to talk to your rescuer?”

Adagio took a moment to stare vacantly, too weary to show much expression. “Why?”

The shy girl sighed and looked down at the floor, shaking her head. “Are you really gonna ask me that now?” she asked, looking up at the siren again.

“How did you know I was here?”

Fluttershy rubbed her lips together, thoughtfully. “It was your sister. She came to us after she… burned down Rarity’s boutique.”

Adagio looked slightly more alert when she heard this, then her eyes dropped to the ground. “She actually did it…”

Fluttershy nodded. “Yeah.”

The siren closed her mouth to swallow, her brows furrowing in response to the pain. Then she drew a breath and faced the shy girl again. “Where is she now?”

“At my house,” Fluttershy replied. “With Sonata and Goldie.”

Adagio’s breathing paused. “She’s with Sonata?”

The shy girl nodded. “Mm-hm. Don’t worry, she‘s safe.”

Closing her eyes, the siren drew a deep breath and let her head hang, reaching up to rub her forehead as she let her brain absorb the news. Dizziness overcame her rather suddenly, and she teetered slightly, nearly dropping the knife as she threw her arms out to catch her balance.

Fluttershy took a quick step forward in response, reaching out with one arm before stopping just short of the siren, who’d regained her balance by then. “Oh my… you’re not looking well; we’d better get moving.”

“I feel… thirsty,” Adagio muttered, rubbing her temple.

“You’ve lost a lot of blood,” Fluttershy replied as she stood beside her, reaching around her shoulder, but not touching her. “Do you, um, mind?”

The siren moved her hand from her temple to look over at the shy girl, and, after seeing how she was postured, exhaled and reached over to wrap her arm around Fluttershy’s shoulder for support.

Fluttershy reached around and placed her hand on Adagio’s good hip, feeling the burned of the siren’s weight; Adagio Dazzle was not a petite girl by any means, her height and build very similar to Sunset’s, and it quickly dawned on the shy girl that if she passed out, she would have a very difficult time getting her out.

“OK… with me,” she coached, taking the first step and then waiting for the siren to follow suit. “We should hurry so we don’t miss the others,” she said, hoping to expedite the process.

Adagio simply nodded and limped along, being careful not to let her injured hip bump against Fluttershy’s. After a few steps, however, Fluttershy stopped when she saw her mask lying on the ground.

“Oh! Hold on,” she said, unwrapping their arms to bend down and pick it up. After taking a moment to re-attach it to her face, she shifted the mask around with her fingers, making strange faces to get it to sit comfortably. Then she faced the siren. “How does it look?”

Adagio stared for a moment. “Dumb.”

FS1 sighed and looked down at the asphalt. “I know. I don’t really like wearing this thing much at all.” She faced Adagio again. “Don’t tell Rare I said that.”

The siren blinked once or twice and then exhaled, letting a tiny smile coax the corner of her mouth upwards. “I guess I owe you that much, Rainboom,” she replied as she slipped her arm over FS1’s shoulder again.

As the pair shuffled off toward the darkness, Adagio raised her head to see where they were going. “Do you know the way outta here?” she asked.

“Not really,” FS1 replied. “But the critters will show us the way out.” She faced forward and nodded, prompting the siren to look ahead.

In the darkness, she could see dozens of beady little eyes gleaming back at her. After another glance at the masked girl, Adagio snorted and shook her head, facing the ground to watch her feet while FS1 turned to look over her shoulder to make a kissing sound, which prompted the two dogs to run to catch up with them.

Chapter 158: A Rather Important Meeting

Chapter 158

Three weeks had passed since the takedown of the Ministry and its leader, Father Tirek. News of the incident between him and the entity known as the Dark Mistress that happened during the early service at his church had spread like wildfire, and although public opinion on the Mistress were initially mixed, the slow but steady spread of information--like her not being responsible for the fire, and her accusation of Tirek as a massive drug lord being proven correct after a massive investigation.

Not only was the late reverend found to be a menace beyond anyone’s expectation, a massive swath of police officers, public officials, media members and many others were discovered as being accomplices to the kingpin, all of them having established a lucrative relationship with him in exchange for their services. The seeds of these discoveries were not planted by the police, however, but by anonymous tips given to them, presumably by the Dark Mistress herself or the ‘sisters’ she had referred to at the church.

It was unknown how many of them there really were, but no city official or public citizen could fathom how these women were able to go toe-to-toe with a massive and violent organisation like the Ministry and walk away unscathed, nor could they understand how they were able to gather so much damning information about the group and its associates; in fact, in a press conference, the Big City Chief Investigator made a point of saying it was ‘like they could read minds.’

Luckily, the identities of the girls were never made public, leading us to believe that no one who was privy to that information was left alive after the coup--either that, or they were simply too afraid of wiped from existence.

In the meantime, we had been busy setting up the meeting with the Princess. Time was required for Adagio to recover from her injuries, and so it was used to contact the Principals of Canterlot High to let them know what was going on. The meeting had been planned for the middle of the night to avoid attention being drawn, and we thought it only fair to apprise the sisters of the situation so they wouldn’t be alarmed by the news of a late night gathering on school property.

They gave the OK with no hesitation, but with one stipulation: they wanted to be present for the meeting. Their official reason for this was to meet Princess Twilight once again, which we had no doubt was true, but our suspicions also told us that they really wanted to meet their own counterparts from that world.

No harm was seen in this by Sunset or Princess Twilight, so it was quickly agreed upon and the meeting was set for the wee hours of Sunday, May the 28th.

It wasn’t a warm night, by any means, but it was comfortable, thanks in large part to the complete lack of wind. The air sat around us still as a statue, to the point where we could every little event happening in the surrounding city.

Odd as it was, no one present seemed to be bothered by it as they were anxiously awaiting the arrival of the other-worlders. I stood in row with the girls, Sunset and the front door of the school on my left, and Fluttershy and then Rarity on my right with the rest of the girls beyond, lining the edge of the sidewalk that led to the circular concrete pad that the Wondercolt statue sat upon. Most of them waited patiently with the exception of Rainbow Dash, who was visibly nervous, her hands constantly rubbing together in front of her chest.

When asked by Applejack what her problem was, she confessed that it was because of her behaviour that Princess Twilight had made a recent visit, and that she was worried that the princess would call her out for being angry and disloyal to her friends. To no one’s surprise, the farm girl shrugged it off and told her that she was just being an ‘igit.’

Across from us stood the sirens, looking somewhat nervous as well--aside from the odd time Sonata would wave back and forth with Pinkie Pie, giggling like a pair of little school kids. Their anxiety was justified, however; they were, after all, about to meet the ruler of the world they’d been banished from centuries earlier, and for reasons still unknown to them.

To the left of them stood the principals, the sisters Celestia and Luna. They stood calmly, hands folded as they watched over the event like they were still in charge. It was funny, to be honest, how the girls still treated these women like they were still in charge of them, despite the fact that any one of us could easily snuff them out of existence. All of them, even Sunset, referred to them by their title, listened attentively when they spoke, and answered promptly and politely each and every time.

At last, after waiting until nearly 2:00am, a soft shimmer of light emerged from the portal. Anyone who was talking went silent, and everyone turned to watched the pedestal as a purple boot sprang forth, quickly followed by the slim figure of Princess Twilight.

After a yelp and the frantic thrashing of arms, she fell to her hands and knees, prompting Rainbow Dash to dart forward to help her.

“Whoa! You OK, princess?” Dash asked as she helped Princess Twilight to her feet, temporarily forgetting her reservations about the meeting.

The princess groaned as she was helped to her feet, rubbing the ache from her elbow after it’d hit the concrete. Looking up, she quickly paused when she found herself face-to-face with the rainbow-haired girl. “I… Rainbow Dash,” she said, turning to search the rest of us until her eyes landed on me. Then she faced Dash again. “Hi,” she continued, smiling a bit. “It’s good to see you here… with your friends.”

“Uh…” Dash took a moment to give Princess Twilight’s blue blouse and violent skirt an awkward dust off before retreating to scratch the back of her head. “Yeah. Little bit of a hiccup, but it’s all good now. Everyone’s cool, thanks.”

The princess cocked her head, noticing the athlete’s trepidation. “Why so nervous? You didn’t do anything wrong; things like that tend to happen.”

Dash rubbed her arm, her eyes downcast. “I know, but… I was kinda being a jerk at the time. I know that now, looking back on it.”

Princess Twilight reached out to pat her shoulder. “It’s OK. You had your reasons. Golden Arrow understood this, but he didn’t know how to approach you. That’s why he came to me for help.”

“I was kinda wrong, though.”

“Pffft!” The princess waved her off. “Who HASN’T been?” she chuckled as she pulled Dash in for a hug. The two embraced for a moment, resting their chins on one another’s shoulders. “I’m just glad I was able to help; and I’m glad you allowed yourself to open up and let him in.”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes popped open and began to dart around. “Ehh… yyyyeah…”

The pair separated, and after a final smile, Dash backed into the lineup again while Princess Twilight stepped along, stumbling a bit along the way.

“Heh heh!” Applejack chuckled. “Getting yer sea legs again, eh Princess?”

“Every time!” the princess laughed, stepping in for a hug. “It’s good to see you again, Applejack. How are you?”

“Never better,” AJ replied, being careful not to hug the princess too hard. “No complaints here.”

“That’s great news,” the princess said as she backed out of the embrace and moved down line to Pinkie Pie. She stopped for a moment in front of the grinning, bouncing party-girl, shaking her head with a smirk. “My gosh… you girls all look so grown-up,” she remarked.

“I know, right!? TIME!” Pinkie squealed as her arms sprang out to snatch the princess up. “OOOOOH! It’s been so long! You wanna come over for a slumber party!?”

“Mmmmrrrph…” Princess Twilight managed to pry her face loose from Pinkie’s bust to answer. “Maybe, Pinkie Pie. But there’s some business to attend to first. Plus, I also wan--”

“HAHA! Okie-dokie, Lokie!” Pinkie giggled, releasing the princess to lean back and look at her. Then her face went blank, save for a pair of furrowed brows. “Hey…” she said, eyes narrowed as she leaned closer. “You still look… kinda young!”

“Oh, well… yeah,” Princess Twilight brushed her hair with her hand to straighten it. “It has to do with not spending time here,” she explained, reaching out to poke the party-girl’s arm. “And as I was about to say earlier: I’m glad to see you’re in good spirits, too. Not to dampen the mood, but what I was devastated to hear what happened to your family; I’m so sorry for your loss, but it’s good to see you moving forward.”

A warm smile crossed Pinkie’s lips. “Thanks, Princess Twilight. I do miss them --and I always will-- but I know I still have my friends, and Maudie…” She nodded across the walkway next, gesturing to the sirens. “And some new friends, too.”

The princess turned to face the trio to find Sonata smiling and waving back. The other two looked like a couple of kids who didn’t want to be at church. After a cordial smile was sent their way, Princess Twilight brought her attention back to the party girl. “Good for you, Pinkie Pie,” she said after a short pause. “Good to see you again.”

With a little pat on the arm of a smiling Pinkie, the princess took another step to stand in front of the slightly older-looking Twilight Sparkle.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hey,” Twilight replied, somewhat awkwardly.

“How are things?”

“Good. Good,” the lavender girl nodded.

The princess brought her finger up to wave it around her eyes. “You, uh… you got rid of the glasses.”

Twilight brought a hand up to brush her temple, missing, for the first time in a while, the feel of those thick, plastic frames. “Oh… yeah. I, uh… don’t need them anymore.”

“You got your eyes fixed?” the princess asked, cocking her head with interest.

Twilight nodded. “You could say that.”

“Wow, fascinating!” Princess Twilight chuckled. “How did they do it? Wait! Don’t tell me… I think Sunset was telling me about this once.” She paused for a moment, tapping her chin. “Oh! It’s lasers, right? Isn’t that what they use for something like that?”

“They do,” Twilight replied “but that’s not the procedure I used, which was… more of an injection, really.”

Sunset snorted and covered her face.

The princess poked her bottom lip out, giving an impressed nod. “Very nice. Well, you look good--not that I would say any different!” Princess Twilight chuckled, giving a small wave as she moved onto Rarity. “Wow. You… look… amazing.”

Rarity forced a modest laugh and waved the princess off. “Oh, come on, princess! You’re just saying that! This is simply me being casual.”

The princess shook a finger at her. “Now Rarity, don’t forget: I live with another version of you; don’t think I don’t know all your little tricks.”

Rarity placed her hands at her side and paused, smirking through a pair of pursed lips as her eyes went to the sky. “Alright, you got me,” she confessed, letting out a giggle as she leaned in to plant a kiss on each of the princess’ cheeks, followed by a hug. “You look wonderful as well, darling. Exactly as I remembered you.”

“Aw! Thank you, Rarity. Always the charmer, you are.” Princess Twilight reached out to give the fashionista’s hand a gentle squeeze. “It’s good to see you again,” she said, before moving onto Fluttershy with a friendly smile.

“Um… hi,” the shy girl greeted softly, her cheeks turning rosy before bring hidden by her hair as it slid in front of her face.

“Hi, Fluttershy,” the princess replied, smiling at the sweetness in front of her. Then she let out a happy sigh. “Wow. I can’t believe the amazing young mare you’ve grown into. Er… I mean--”

Fluttershy snickered as she cleared her hair from her face again, looking down at the princess with those big, doe eyes. “I know what you meant. And thank you, but you didn’t have to say that. I just try my best to be me, that’s all.”

“OK, now… unlike Rarity, I know you’re being modest,” Princess Twilight laughed. “But yes, really. How are things with the animals, by the way?”

“Oh, um… good.” The shy girl nodded and folded her hands. “I own the animal shelter now, did you know that?”

“I did!” the princess nodded. “Sunset told me all about it. I was so proud to hear it, Fluttershy. Good for you!” Princess Twilight reached out to touch the blushing girl’s arm as she turned to continue down the line. “I’m glad you’ve followed your passion, Fluttershy, and I know the animals will be in good hands with you in charge of the place.”

“Thank you, um… Twili-- … I-I mean, princess. … … Sorry.”

The princess chuckled. “That’s OK, Fluttershy. It was nice to see you again.”

“Um… you too.”

Princess Twilight stopped in front of me next, giving me a suspicious smirk.

“What?” I asked, shrugging.

She laughed. “Have you been staying out of trouble, Golden Arrow?”

“No, but… at least there’s no shortage of stories to tell,” I replied.

“Well I can’t disagree with that.” Her eyes took a deliberate trip downward to look me over. “I certainly went home with a few stories that night… some of which I couldn’t really tell anyone,” she said, sending a coy smirk my way before turning her attention to Sunset.

“Where’s Starbright?” I asked, drawing her attention back to me.

“Uh, StarLIGHT preferred not to come--I can’t imagine why.”

I glanced to my right at Fluttershy, shrugging, while the princess continued on to Sunset.

The pair immediately came together for a hug, with Princess Twilight giving the red-head several firm pats on the back. “It was so good to hear from you again. I’d been meaning to get in touch this past little while, but the time just isn’t there.”

“Tell me about it,” Sunset replied as they released each other and stood back enough to face one another. “Life’s been crazy, especially this past year. Like, you have no idea.”

“Oh, I’m sure I could imagine,” the princess chuckled.

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Sunset smirked, followed by a deep breath that she released very slowly between a pair of pursed lips.

Princess Twilight’s expression changed to one of slight concern. “Don’t worry, Sunset. I know you’re nervous, but everything’s gonna be OK.”

“I know, but…” Sunset raked her fingers through her hair. “I can’t help it. Even after all the times I’ve rehearsed this to myself over the years, now that’s it’s actually about to happen, I have no idea what I’m going to say to her. I [i[certainly didn’t expect it to be happening here, in this world.”

“Neither did I, to be honest,” the princess replied. “But… she insisted on it, for whatever reason, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned about Princess Celestia, it’s that she does everything for a reason and I probably shouldn’t question it.”

“True enough,” Sunset replied, drawing another breath to calm herself.

“Don’t worry,” Princess Twilight said, patting Sunset’s arm. “It’s going to be fine, I promise. Nothing bad is gonna happen.”

After a short pause, Sunset gave a trusting smile and then a nod.

Returning the smile, Princess Twilight took a step back, stumbled slightly, and then turned to cross the sidewalk after regaining her footing. The principals smiled cordially as she approached, each of them reaching out for a handshake.

“It is good to see you after all these years, Princess,” Luna said as the princess took her hand.

“Likewise,” the princess replied with a smile. “And thank you for hosting us here tonight.”

“It was the least we could do,” Celestia said, taking the princess’ hand. “Anything to witness an event from another world--so fascinating!”

“Well… heh! It would be a lot bigger if it was in Equestria, but hey, I guess we’re having it here. Princess’s orders!”

“Regardless, we are honored to be a part of it,” the principal insisted.

“You are always welcome, Principal Celestia. You as well, Vice-Principal.” With a nod, Princess Twilight gave one last smile before turning to approach the sirens.

Drawing a breath, she stood before the three sisters, locking eyes with each of them one at a time before ending with Sonata. The blue siren smiled nervously and raised her arms, stretching them out to offer the princess a hug, which she gladly took.

“It’s good to see you too, Sonata,” she chuckled, patting the siren on the back before retreating from the embrace. She then turned her attention to the other two, her smile taking on a more dubious tone. “Thank you both… for doing this.”

In a mild show defiance, Aria folded her arms and pursed her lips, licking teeth inside her mouth while Adagio shifted her weight onto one leg.

“I don’t think any thanks are owed to us, princess,” Adagio said, bringing a hand up to inspect her nails. “Are actions were a product of circumstance; our allegiance with the Rainbooms was one of convenience, not the desire for truce.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Princess Twilight smirked. “That may have been true three weeks ago when you had no other choice, but you had no obligation to be here tonight. You could have skipped town a week ago… but you didn’t, did you?”

After a sharp glance at the princess, Adagio rolled her eyes and let out a huff.

“Don’t worry,” Princess Twilight reassured, “no one will think you’re going soft. And I really don’t think Princess Celestia has anything bad in mind for you.”

“Where is ‘her grace,’ anyway?” Aria asked, adding that obligatory hint of snark. “Does she always have a thing for being fashionably late?”

“She’s not late,” the princess replied. “I asked if she could wait a few minutes for me to say hi to all my friends before she came through, which means she should actually be here any second.”

Just as she said this, a flash of light pierced the side of the pedestal, and everyone turned to see a long, white leg emerge, shrouded in silky, white fabric. A golden high-heeled shoe decorated the foot, which came to rest on the concrete step as the patch of energy expanded, allowing the tall figure of a robed woman to pass through.

Stepping into this world, Princess Celestia moved with a grace unattainable by most, her heels coming to rest on the sidewalk without so much as a stumble. As with the Twilights, she bore an uncanny resemblance to the principal, aside from her attire, which consisted of a long, white silk robe with golden lace lining the neck and sleeves; she had the same head of turquoise, blue and pink hair laced with hints of white near her ears, although it was a touch longer, nearly reaching her shoulders as opposed to the principal’s, which didn’t even reach the back of her neck.

Her height was the same, taller and both Applejack and myself, and she had the same face: big, bright eyes, the corners of which sprouted faint crow’s feet, matching the lines that went from the sides of her nose, past the corners of her mouth before fading into her chin.

Her age seemed to match that of the principal’s, which reminded me of the conversation I had with Princess Twilight at the Sweet Shoppe, and I was about to turn to Sunset to ask her if this was Princess Celestia’s first visit to this world.

Before I had the chance, however, I caught the sight of Princess Twilight dropping to one knee to bow to the taller, more majestic princess. The sirens followed suit rather quickly, surprisingly, and it was only a second later that I felt a tug on my left shirt sleeve, prompting me to turn to find a very pale Sunset signalling me to drop as well.

Not wishing to disrespect her world’s customs, I knelt down along with Sunset, glancing down the line as the other six girls followed suit, along with the principals across the way. I was quick to notice Sunset closing her eyes and bowing her head --something that Princess Twilight and the sirens were also doing-- so I, along with everyone else, did so as well--though, out of curiosity, I kept my eyes up just enough to see what was happening.

After taking a long look around with an expression of wonderment, Princess Celestia brought her attention to the strange-looking creatures that surrounded her. She appeared to recognise Princess Twilight first, at which point her eyes moved to the left to scan the girls, taking note of each of their defining features, like hair and skin colour, before moving on to the three siren sisters and then finally, the principals.

She stared inquisitively for a moment, her eyes fixated on the familiar colours of Principal Celestia’s hair as she contemplated the situation to herself; being thrust into a completely alien body and then coming into the presence of an identical version of that body was enough to throw anyone for a loop, even an ancient being of omnipotence like Princess Celestia.

She brought a hand up to touch her face, feeling its new shape: its lack of a muzzle, its bare skin. She paused suddenly, however, when her fingertips brushed over the lines at the corner of her mouth. Furrowing her brows, the princess felt her cheeks and the corners of her eyes, feeling the age in them, the lines forged by many years of raising other people’s teenagers.

“Oh my…” she said softly, her eyes dropping to her counterpart once again, noting her age compared to everyone else. “I didn’t expect to look so… mature… in this body.” The princess scanned the girls once again, followed by the sirens, who by then had lifted their heads to peer up at her. “Even you three still look young… and you’re just as old as I am!”

She abruptly covered her face with both hands, looking like she was upset by this. Everyone watched for a moment, wondering if she, the ruler of another world, was going to break down over her appearance, which she must have known was only temporary.

What happened instead was even less expected. Princess Celestia slowly wiped her hands upward, combing her fingers into her hair; when her face was once again uncovered, it was smooth and radiant, her skin tight and her lips soft and full. It was as if she’d washed the years away, but it didn’t end there: as her fingers reached the tips of her hair, it began to grow, following her hands outward as its colour became fresh and vibrant. Her hair continued to float in an invisible current, even after her fingers had slipped free of its soft locks, rippling slowly as if she was underwater.

The rest of us, including Princess Twilight, stared in awe at what now appeared to be a twenty-year old woman: tall, majestic and stunning.

I turned to face Sunset, quite impressed by the display of ability. “That was pretty cool.”

“SHH!”

Sighing, I rolled my eyes and shook my head, turning back to watch the princess. Sunset was clearly on edge; I figured it was best not to bug her.

“That’s better,” she said with a satisfied smile, bypassing Princess Twilight and the sirens, surprisingly, to make her way toward the principal and vice-principal. Standing in front of her counterpart, the princess held her hand outstretched, offering it to the bowing Principal Celestia. “Here,” she chuckled, prompting the principal to look up at her. “You don’t have to bow to me; you are me.”

Principal Celestia’s eyes locked onto the hand offered to her, pausing for a moment before reaching out to take it. The princess helped her to her feet and then proceeded to do the same for Luna, placing a hand on each of their shoulders afterward.

“You are looking well,” the princess announced, making the principal sisters glance at one another, brows cocked. “I am pleased to see that life in this world has afforded you both good health and fortune; well done. Also, it is with sincere gratitude that I am able to attend this assembly, here, on the steps of your great palace of learning,” Princess Celestia gestured to the massive tower of brick and glass behind them. “It is a pleasure to finally meet you both; I admit, I was quite thrilled to learn that you would be hosting Princess Twilight and myself for this visit.”

“Uh…” Principal Celestia blinked several times at the face looking back at her. To her, it was like seeing a photo of herself during her college years. “It was… the least we could do, your majesty.”

Princess Celestia laughed. “Oh my! You don’t need to call me that. Please, consider me your equal.”

The principal’s mouth dropped open. “Equal? But I’m not the leader of this world; I’m just the principal of a high school--and not even the best one in town.”

The princess took her hand from her counterpart’s shoulder to raise a finger. “Ah… but you and I are more similar than you think.” She swung her hand to the right, gesturing at me and the girls. “You were once a mentor to these bright, young individuals, as was I, in Equestria, to the very same bunch of fillies. In both worlds, it seems, they have become a significant force for good; without them, all would have been lost many times over.”

Principal Celestia drew a breath as she glanced over to study the row of girls, feeling a small bit of nostalgia as she remembered the countless acts of heroism they’d performed. “I suppose you’re right… in that particular context.”

“I would like to think we’ve both done well in our respective roles--for the most part,” the princess added, giving Principal Celestia a little wink before bring her eyes over to Luna. “I must apologise for my sister’s absence tonight; Princess Luna had to remain in Equestria, unfortunately, as she, like the rest of us, has a duty to protect the land. With Princess Twilight and me here, there would have been no one left to watch over Canterlot and the surrounding area. The only other princess, Cadance, is posted too far from the portal, and would be unable to act quickly if something were to happen in the capital.”

“I understand completely,” Luna replied with a respectful bow of her head, causing her glasses to slip down her nose a bit. “Another time perhaps?” she suggested, using a finger to lift the eyewear back into place.

“Perhaps,” Princess Celestia replied, giving Luna’s shoulder a gentle squeeze before turning back to approach the sirens. “Rise,” she commanded, waving her hand upwards.

The three sisters did as ordered, rising to their feet, Adagio in particular with a look of distain on her face as she had little choice to obey, which would have dealt a rather heavy blow to an ego like hers.

Celestia paid the siren’s arrogance no mind, and instead took a moment to observe all three of them one at a time. Smacking her lips, she drew a breath at last, preparing to speak.

“For centuries, you three led a rather sordid existence… until now. Tonight, you have gathered here in peace with you former enemies to meet with me, the ruler of the land you were banished from all those years ago. How did this happen?” She turned her attention to Sonata. “Someone took the first step.”

Sonata shrunk into herself, but was unable to hide the prideful smirk that tugged at the corners of her mouth.

“You, Sonata Dusk, should be very proud for what you’ve done,” the princess said, making the siren blush at the compliment. “Where the motivation, or the idea came from is irrelevant; it was you, and you alone, who made the heart-breaking decision to leave your sisters in search of something better for yourself, and in doing so, you laid the first stone in the bridge that would one day connect the three of you to the elements of harmony. Those first steps, it seems, did not go unnoticed.”

Princess Celestia’s eyes shifted onto Ari a next. “The noble acts of one can, will almost always, inspire others. When others see the brave path taken, and the goodness they find there, they will invariably follow. Aria Blaze, you, despite your mistakes, stretched yourself in two directions to reconcile with the sister you hurt in an act of desperation… in order to join forces with an enemy to help your other sister, who was in grave danger. This was an act of bravery on a level I haven’t witnessed in a very long time.”

Despite not even cracking a smile, her posture, raised chin and the pride in her eyes told a vivid story about how she felt inside.

Finally, after giving a smile and a nod to the purple siren, the princess’ attention came to the siren leader. “Adagio Dazzle. You stand here today by your own choice, but the events leading to this were not in your control, were they? It would be fair to say the same of Aria, I suppose, since her actions, although noble, were forced onto her by terrible circumstance. Do not feel small, though; your sisters know that, had you been given the chance, you would have swallowed your pride to do the same thing.”

Adagio drew a breath and sighed, her eyes dropping to the ground. She knew her role in everything had been minimal, and that as a leader, was helpless and had to rely on others to be saved.

“Your act of bravery,” Princess Celestia continued, “has yet to play out. You pride yourself on your ingenuity, your unbreakable focus, and your resolve to accomplish what you set out to do. These are fine traits, but recently you’ve learned that even you can be backed into a corner, to be out of options, to be unable to escape--to be a victim. This has made you feel weak, while those around you have accomplished great things. Weakness is not a bad thing, however; it can be a very enlightening experience, and it can teach you new things about yourself: like how to show gratitude to others for what you have.”

The princess turned partway to gesture across the walkway, directing the siren’s attention to Fluttershy. “You know, deep down, that you would not be standing here tonight if it hadn’t been for that young filly over there. Now, I know she is not someone you aspire to be: timid, unimposing, a wallflower. But you’ve learned that those things haven’t stopped her from doing what is necessary, and because of that, your very existence is owed to her. Do not be embarrassed that you needed help from such a meek soul; instead, I want you to open up to her. Show her what her actions mean to you. You can learn a great deal about kindness and humility from her. These traits can be powerful weapons, and I am sure she can learn much from you as well.”

The siren stared across the way at the shy girl, who returned the look with one eye, the other hidden by that soft, pink hair.

“You don’t have to do it right now,” Princess Celestia clarified, noticing the exchange. “When you are ready. Now then…” She looked down to her side, reaching into the folds of her dress to produce the necklaces, each decorated with a large amulet at the center, one amber, one violet and one blue.

After looking down at them for a moment, brushing her thumb over the sparkling jewels, the princess brought her eyes up to meet the trio of curious sirens. “I have heard about you struggles as of late. Losing your powers has left you floundering, unable to use your influence to get what you need to survive. It has been a constant fight, not knowing how to fit into this society.

“Because of this, you have focused the blame on the elements of harmony, holding them responsible for your hardships because they took away your magic. Deep down, you know the truth: your magic was taken for the good of the inhabitants of this world. Had you been responsible with it, and not power-hungry, bent on domination and the manipulation of others, you would still have your magic. It is time to accept this and move on. Become contributing members of society, earn your own way in life, take responsibility for yourselves.

“This will earn you the respect of others, in particular from the seven individuals behind me. It will also earn their trust, which will be an exercise unto itself, which is why what I am about to give you will be a challenge to them just as much as it is for you.”

She held the three necklaces up, turning slowly for all to have a chance to see them.

“What these are, are magical amulets that will give you back your singing voices like before, but with certain exceptions,” Princess Celestia said as she slipped the blue one over Sonata’s head. “First and foremost, you will not have the ability to absorb the negative energy of others--or any other energy, for that matter. Such a thing has no purpose; building yourselves up at the expense of others is an act of malice and cannot be allowed.”

She moved onto Aria next while Sonata held the blue jewel in her palm to study it.

“Secondly, your voices will have the power to influence the mood of others, but unlike before, where you could only sew anger and rage in your victims, you will now be able to make them feel happy, encouraged, or even sad. No emotion is off the table, however, you can inject whatever feelings you see fit.” She slipped the violet amulet over Aria’s head as she continued. “Therein lies the challenge to the others: they must allow you the freedom to act as you will, and you must earn their trust by not using these powers for malevolent purposes. Do you understand? Is this a fair compromise?”

Aria drew a deep breath and looked down at the sparkling jewel on her chest. Then she faced the princess and nodded.

Smiling, Princess Celestia moved on to Adagio, holding the amber necklace up and then pausing, pursing her lips as she sized-up that massive head of curly orange hair. “Hm… perhaps I’ll have to unclip this one,” she chuckled, opening the clasp at the rear before reaching over the siren’s shoulders to fasten it around her neck. “How about you? Do you agree with your sister?”

Adagio paused for a moment as she felt the weight of the amulet come to rest on her bosom, and she took a moment to look down at it before drawing a breath to give her answer. “It is… a generous offer, one that we don’t deserve.”

Smirking, Princess Celestia placed her hands on the siren’s shoulders. “You’re welcome.”

Closing her eyes, Adagio bowed her head to the princess, who withdrew her hands and turned toward me and the girls, reaching into her gown once again. She took a few steps in our direction, but then stopped midway to produce a golden bracelet, which was adorned with a red jewel in the center.

Everyone’s eyes were immediately drawn to it.

“This,” the princess announced, “is a control amulet. It has the power, if desired, to inhibit any one, or all of your amulets, thus removing your magic. It shall be worn by one of the elements; someone very special.”

The sirens gave a collective scoff, with Adagio looking particularly indignant. “I thought this was supposed to be about building trust?” she asked scornfully. “I must have missed the part where you said it was forced trust.”

Princess Celestia raised a finger. “Patience, Adagio Dazzle; let me explain before you jump to conclusions. This amulet is not meant to be a ‘leash’ for the three of you, to keep you under the elements’ control--granted, it could be used as such, but that’s the entire point.”

The sirens glanced dubiously at one another. Sonata looked more confused, unsurprisingly.

“There has been a longstanding feud between your groups,” the princess continued, gesturing to both sides of the aisle, “and the animosity went both ways. Therefore, it would be unfair to place the onus on one side to earn the trust of the other. The elements will be putting their faith in you, the sirens, not to use your magic for evil deeds, and now, you will be putting your faith in the elements of harmony to respect your ability to treat you as equals, to not strip your magic unjustly. Trust is not a one-way street, and it is now their job to earn yours well.”

Princess Celestia turned to face the girls once again. “Can the sirens trust you to this? Do they have your word that you will not abuse such power?”

The girls nodded immediately, Applejack reaching up to adjust her hat.

“You can count on us,” the farm girl said with a nod.

Celestia faced the sirens. “Is this satisfactory?”

Adagio and Aria hesitated slightly, but Sonata did not.

“Yes!” the blue siren said. “P is my best friend; I already trust her, and she trusts me. There’s no way they would do that to us!”

The response drew a smile from the party-girl.

“It’s settled then,” Princess Celestia announced, turning to head for me and Sunset. She stopped in front of the red-head, who was still kneeling along with the rest of us. Holding the bracelet in one hand, the princess waved Sunset to her feet with the other. “Rise, Sunset Shimmer.”

Keeping her eyes to the ground, the red-head gulped and gave a quick glance my way, to which I gave an encouraging nod. Drawing a breath, she stood slowly, looking like she might bolt in the opposite direction if anyone decided to make a sudden movement.

“To you, I bestow this responsibility,” Princess Celestia announced as Sunset reached full height, but was still unable to make eye contact with her former mentor.

It was a bizarre sight; Sunset was usually so calm and collected, so in control --except in situations of extreme peril, like anyone-- but I’d never seen her so intimidated by a person’s presence.

“This bracelet belongs to you now,” Celestia continued. “It is your responsibility… to guide these three, to help them when they find difficulty, and show them the magic of friendship.” She opened the bracelet like a butterfly and held it up, prompting Sunset to raise her arm to accept it.

As the Princess closed it around her wrist, her fingers touched Sunset’s skin, causing her to tense up quite noticeably. Celestia picked up on this, and she paused for a brief moment to glance up at the red-head’s face, which was still down, her eyes elusive. Then she squeezed the necklace shut with a click and brought her index finger to Sunset’s chin, bringing her up to meet one another face-to-face.

“Sunset Shimmer… is there something wrong?”

Those big turquoise eyes stared into those of the princess like they were searching for something --an easy answer, perhaps-- but before long, she faltered and her eyes closed, sending a pair of streams down her cheeks as the corners of her mouth pulled downward and began to tremble, and she quickly turned away.

I brought my eyes down and turned to look over at Fluttershy and Rarity, who were still kneeling beside me, watching on anxiously.

Princess Celestia lowered her hand and sighed. She turned to look over her shoulder at Princess Twilight, who returned a rather concerned look. After a moment, however, she closed her eyes and gave Celestia a nod.

After a brief hesitation, the princess turned back to face the red-head, reaching out to place her hands on those leather-clad shoulders. “While I haven’t forgotten our past --as one should never do, lest our mistakes be repeated-- it is precisely that, and is now exactly where it belongs: behind us. You don’t need to worry about judgement from me; your time in this world has proven one thing, which that you stand before me now, a changed mare. The pony you once were is no more.”

The princess tilted her head slightly, trying to see Sunset’s face. She reached out to place her fingertips on the red-head’s jaw with her fingertips, feeling the moisture of fallen tears as she gently coaxed her around to lock eyes with her again.

“Look at me; whatever happened between us, all those years go,” Princess Celestia said softly, “it is in the past. I have forgiven you many times over in the time since, and I have missed you so very much, Sunset Shimmer.”

Sunset brought a hand up to wipe her eyes with the heel of her palm, smearing some of her make-up across her temple. “I’m so sorry…” she sobbed, her bottom lip trembling.

“Shhh.” Celestia gave the red-head’s shoulders a squeeze. “There’s no need for that. You’ve learned from your mistakes, grown, and evolved into a new Sunset Shimmer. Your participation in this world has been one of bravery and selflessness, and you’ve made an astonishing impact of the inhabitants here by saving them from certain doom many, times over. If I am certain of one thing, it’s that you are not a shame to our kind; no, Equestria is proud to have you represent us here, and it is my honor to name you the official Ambassador to this world, effective immediately.”

Sunset paused suddenly when she heard this, blinking her eyes to clear the moisture from them as her mind quickly tried to process what she was just told. She looked down at me, eyes glistening and wide, and I gave her a little smile back.

Again, she faced Princess Celestia, mouth hanging open. “You… want to make me the official Equestrian Ambassador here? Is that even a thing?”

“It is now,” Celestia replied. “You would be the first to represent Equestria in an entirely different realm. And why shouldn’t it be you? You’ve already been doing an exceptional job of it for a decade now. The abilities you’ve displayed as a leader are second to none, which is also why I’ve charged you with this bracelet; it’s essentially your only new responsibility since you’ve already mastered your other one.”

Sunset looked down at the bracelet for a moment, running her fingers across the massive, red jewel as her eyes slowly rose to meet Celestia’s again. After gazing into those sparkling, violet eyes, the red-head stepped forward to wrap the princess in a tight hug. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Applause broke out from across the way, starting with the two principals and then quickly spreading to Princess Twilight, the girls and myself. Even the sirens joined in eventually, starting with Sonata, of course.

“YEAH! GO SUNSET!” the voice of a certain rainbow-haired girl shouted out from the far end of the line.

Laughing, Princess Celestia broke the hug to face the source of the cheer. “Haha! Now that must be Rainbow Dash,” she said, about to step off in that direction, but stopping briefly to look back at Sunset for one last smile. When Sunset finally cracked a smile of her own, the princess made her way along the line, heading straight for the athlete. “Rise. I would love to have a talk with you--ALL of you. How many chances will I have to meet the six of you for the first time all over again?”

Rainbow Dash stood and put her hand up for a high-five, a gesture that Princess Celestia turned out to need a bit of coaching on. After some small talk and a bit of casual laughter, the princess moved down the line, prompting Applejack to stand for her turn to speak.

I turned to look up at Sunset while the princess made her way down the line to greet the girls one-by-one. She was studying her new bracelet, rotating it back and forth slightly with her other hand when she noticed me watching her; stopping, her eyes locked onto mine, still sparkling with moisture, her makeup blotted slightly.

She looked beautiful, though, despite all this. The relief in her face was plain as day, the pride that beamed from the smile she gave me seemed to light up the night sky.

I gave her a smirk in return, pointing at my wrist to indicate the bracelet, followed by a thumbs-up.

She responded with a bite of her bottom lip, her eyes gazing deep and amorous. I knew precisely what this mean: as soon as she got me alone someplace, she was going to be all over me like a bear mauling a hapless camper.

I was OK with this.

The sound of Fluttershy’s voice drew my attention suddenly, and I turned to find her standing face-to-face with Princess Celestia. Stiff as a board, she stammered her respects softly while the princess listened, smiling warmly; logically, she already knew how to deal with this timid creature, which appeared to be the case as she was able to get the shy girl to open up before too long, and with seemingly little effort.

I was now the only person still kneeling and I felt a bit out of place over it, but I decided I’d better not break decorum. Everyone else, after all, had waited until they were addressed by the princess.

After a little nod and a “it was lovely to meet you,” Princess Celestia contined toward me, and I quickly brought my eyes down to the ground, waiting for her to give me the command to rise. Looking down at my boot and my faded jeans, I began to wonder if I should have dressed a little nice while I waited for her to address me. The seconds passed, however, longer and longer as I began to wonder if she knew who I was; maybe she would simply bypass me because I wasn’t one of the ‘elements’ as she called them. I knew she was right in front of me, though, as I hadn’t heard her walk away, and the temptation to look up to see what she was doing began to grow rather quickly.

I didn’t want to look up, just in case I wasn’t supposed to, but I couldn’t understand what was taking so long, or what she was doing, just standing there looking down at me. No one else was saying anything either, and eventually I began to wonder if they were playing some sort of prank on me.

Unable to endure the awkwardness of it all and not knowing what else to do, I made the decision to speak.

“It’s uh, an honor to meet you, Princess.”

A second or two passed before I got a reply, her voice startlingly close.

“No, the honor is mine, Golden Arrow.”

Alerted by the princess’ proximity, I raised my head to look and was shocked to find her down on one knee, her head bowed fully.

“Whoa… did you fall?” I asked, glancing up at a surprised-looking Fluttershy and then to my left at Sunset, whose eyes and mouth were gaped, wide as can be.

Laughing, the princess lifted her head to face me, our noses less than a foot apart. It was strange to see her this close; while she certainly was the same person as the principal, seeing her so much younger like this was striking to my male eyes.

She was pretty hot, I won’t lie.

“Haha, no,” she chuckled, shaking her head. “I must confess, while the main reason for me coming here was because of complications with letting the sirens through the portal, part of what helped urge my decision to come here was having the chance to meet you.”

“Me? Why? How d’you even know about me?”

“After Princess Twilight visited here a few moons ago, she told me of her encounter with you. At first, it struck me as odd that she would meet someone from this world who is so old, but there was something familiar about it, and something told me I should go check my personal library and sure enough… I found it.”

“Found what?”

“Before I continue, shall we rise first?” she asked.

“Oh, uh…” It caught me off guard that she felt the need to ask. “Sure.” I stood and reached a hand out to take hers, helping her up. She was tall, easily two inches above my height; it was strange looking up to her.

“Thank you,” she said, brushing her robe. “Now then, you want to know what I found. Well, quite simply, it was something from my youth, something that sparked a memory of mine, from long ago. You see, when my sister Luna and I were just fillies, we learned about you from our elders. I can remember the professors telling us many fantastic tales, tales of magic, distant places and parallel realms, and one time in particular, I remember hearing a story of the unbreakable being from another world--who, even at that time, was many, many centuries old.”

Hearing this sent a chill through me. My existence here on Earth had, for the most part, been largely secret, usually considered a fictional legend by those in the know. I had no idea that beings from other realms were telling stories about me.

“As I understand from what Princess Twilight has told me,” Celestia continued, “you are not aware of how you came to be, nor do you know how old you actually are.”

“That’s right,” I replied.

“Well…” She brought her hands together. “Perhaps I can help shed some light on at least some of these mysteries. Now then…“ Keeping her fingers laced, Princess Celestia began pace in front of me and the girls, looking like she was trying to find a point at which to start her story from. She stopped in front of me again, taking a moment to study my face before drawing a breath. “There have been tales told in recent history by the people of this world, tales that have been drawn from ancient paintings and sculptures. They theorize that the birth of your race was the result of ancient visitors from the stars; advanced cultures from other worlds that had the ability to engineer a race by splicing their own DNA with a more primitive version of you humans, a race that was intelligent and resilient enough to fulfill the role of slaves to these aliens.”

The girls, as well as the principals, glanced at one another, brows furrowed dubiously, prompting Celestia to shrug her own statement off.

“There is, of course, no evidence to support these theories, however --aside from circumstantial and contextual conveniences-- and as such they’ve been almost universally ignored.”

I raised a finger. “Not to disagree, princess, but this world has received a number of visitors--aside from you bunch,” I said, gesturing to the princesses and Sunset, and then the sirens when I said this. “And, I mean… it hasn’t happened very often, but it does happen.”

“And you would be correct,” Princess Celestia replied. “Many stories told, even the wilder ones, are borne out of at least some morsel of truth, but they invariably evolve into fairytales over time, or are misinterpreted by late discoverers who try to retell them to the world, either for fame and fortune or our of simple incompetence. But you are right, Golden Arrow: this world has been visited by advanced forms of life from elsewhere in your universe, and like you said, it has not happened often.

“The reason for this is quite simple: this world is one of the most dangerous places in the universe. The ground itself is unstable and will often unleash quakes, volcanoes and atmospheric storms upon its inhabitants, which themselves can be quite dangerous to those unaware of their nature. This world has dangerous plants and spores, massive powerful creatures armed with sharp claws and teeth, and even tiny creatures with dangerous venom that can prove deadly, even to creature many times their size. Equestria has many of these things as well, but they are much tamer by nature, as well as our magical ability to communicate with them; the creatures here live on pure instinct, and will lash out at anything that threatens their survival--or looks like a good meal.

“It is for this reason that many beings from other worlds refuse to visit here. Very few have the physical or technological ability to avoid attack or to be wiped out by disease, which is a testament to the resilience of your race. That is not to say, however, that no visitors were able to cope with this place; there is one race, one that hasn’t visited in a millennium. This race, Golden Arrow, is the one that fathered your existence, and they were able to come here at little risk because, like you, they are indestructible… and the live forever.”

I shifted in place as I listened.

Aliens. The answer was so simple, almost disappointingly so.

“Ancient Equestrian texts describe these being as being geometric in appearance; dark in colour, with flat, angular edges and sharp points at each joint. It is unknown how they flex or move, and those who witness them describe them as machines, although this comparison does not stand well. Machines can be damaged, they require maintenance, they can break down; these creatures cannot.

“Their bodies, and in fact, their entire world and everything in it, are comprised of an element that is not found on your prehistoric table; thus making it impossible for the scholars of this world to understand its properties.”

Princess Twilight cleared her throat at this and she raised a finger to interject. “Uh, it actually called the periodic table,” she said, to which Celestia turned and looked over her shoulder in response. “Heh… sorry,” Princess Twilight added, withdrawing her finger.

“It’s quite alright,” Princess Celestia smiled. “You’re the expert on these things; that’s why I always make sure to bring you along!”

Princess Twilight smirked bashfully and put her hands behind her back as Princess Celestia continued.

“Now, where was I? Oh! Since these beings do not die, their technological advances have been proven great, transcending most other races that must re-teach what they’ve learned from one generation to the next. With a lifetime that never ends, they are able to amass such knowledge that they were able to achieve expedient travel through space, and have been able to design a form of reproduction, which is where you come in, Golden Arrow.”

“They created me,” I said, head cocked.

“But not from scratch,” Celestia clarified. “Upon visiting this world and observing the durability and ingenuity of the human race, they decided to ‘convert’ several human beings over to their genetic makeup, which means that you, Golden Arrow, are made up of the same elements I mentioned earlier. Even though you still look human, you still share their appearance and many of their instincts, but you possess the damage-proof physical makeup and everlasting life of these beings. Functions like sensory and thought processing work on their systems, which allows your body to function as it should while avoiding the issues that would arise from the lack of cell change.”

This time, it was our world’s Twilight to cut in. “That’s interesting, actually; I’ve wondered myself how certain functions are able to occur, like the effect that the absence of sleep would have on learning, for example.”

“Right!” Princess Twilight interjected. “When we sleep --and this goes for ponies, too-- our short term memories, IE our experiences from that day are moved to long term memory during ‘deep sleep’ stage, which makes up about twenty percent of a person’s sleep each night--provided they get a full night’s sleep.”

Twilight snapped her fingers and pointed at her royal counterpart. “Exactly! And that is what’s been keeping me stumped all these months: without sleep, how do w-- er, beings like Golden Arrow retain their memory? How is able to learn anything?”

“I have several theories on this,” Princess Twilight replied, raising two fingers this time. “One: what if h--“

“OK… ALRIGHT!” Sunset shouted to stop the lavender duo, throwing her hands in the air. “You two can dork-out about this later. In the meantime, can we let Princess Celestia tell the story?”

Twilight folded her hands and nodded quietly while Princess Twilight rubbed the back of her neck and cleared her throat.

“Sure. Sorry,” the princess said.

Seemingly back on her A-game, Sunset faced Princess Celestia and gestured to her. “Sorry, Princess; go ahead,” she said, before suddenly waving her hands and shaking her head. “Wait, wait! Sorry, I have a question.”

“Go ahead,” Celestia giggled.

Sunset cocked her head, brows furrowed. “Did you say they converted… several other humans as well? Does that mean that there are others just like Golds running around somewhere?”

I was glad I wasn’t the only one who caught this, and the rest of the girls’ attention quickly focused on the princess as she gave her reply.

“Yes… and no,” Princess Celestia replied. “They did create more like Golden Arrow, but no, they did not remain here in this world. They were taken by the alien beings and distributed around other worlds throughout the galaxy, where they their progress was observed by their creators over the following centuries. Golden Arrow was the only one chosen to remain here, and he too was observed by these beings for many centuries--but this arrangement did not last. Fate, unfortunately, had other plans.”

I was standing with my arms folded, rubbing my chin as I listened intently, wondering how much I had actually forgotten over the centuries--and how much might be revealed to me during the next few minutes.

“Oh dear. What happened?” Rarity asked.

“As it turns out, Golden Arrow was not left completely alone in this world,” Celestia explained. “A small group of regular humans were carefully chosen to watch over him. They would assist him any way they could; they were to teach him, guide him, go out on scouting missions to find out what was happening in other parts--anything they could do to help him serve his purpose the best he could. The alien beings gave them explicit instructions, and as I said before, they returned every few centuries to check on his progress.

“The human guides served him for a lifetime, each generation passing the torch to the next, teaching everything they needed to know, but unfortunately… inevitably… they grew corrupt, and they sought to use Golden Arrow’s abilities to their advantage.” The princess faced me to address be directly. “They became greedy, power-hungry, but they could not force you to do their bidding; centuries of conditioning by their ancestors taught you the difference between right and wrong, so they resorted to manipulation tactics to convince you to do what they wanted.

“Gradually, they wore down your resolve, and over the years convinced you that the people were violent and crime-ridden, and that they needed to be forced into submission, that it would be for their own good. They told you that the people were plotting against you to remove you as a threat, so they could indulge in a lifestyle of decadence and debauchery, and at last you made your move. You took their capital by force, you bore down on them with a rule so violent they had no choice but to cower and submit.

“But they were innocent. And your disciples took every advantage of it, lavishing in the riches of hyper-taxation while using you as a control mechanism. They let you think it was you pulling the strings, but you weren’t the one in charge. It was them. And when the people became fed up, when they’d had enough of seeing innocents killed off, they revolted--not against their true aggressors, but against you.”

I froze when she said this. Everything was starting to click, and I knew exactly what event she was talking about.

And I was sure Sunset did as well.

“They stormed your castle,” Princess Celestia continued. “They bombed it to the ground with you inside, along with your beloved wife, Somnambula. She was crushed to death at your side, and you were buried there, helpless to escape, and trapped for… let’s just say ‘a very long time.’ The disciples were turncoats and joined the rebellion once they knew it could not be stopped, and they quickly left once the revolution was over and the dust had settled. They were left with a conundrum, however: what would they tell the creators when they returned to check on your progress?”

By then, I was rubbing by brow, deep in thought. I could only remember bits and pieces from those days, but after the princess’ retelling of it, it had begun to make much more sense. Realising I’d been asked a question, I looked up at the princess. “Hm?”

“What would your disciples tell the creators when they returned?” the princess repeated. “They hadn’t just failed their objective; they’d outright and intentionally dismantled it. Fortunately for them, they knew that the creators were not expected to return for nearly a century, so that was when they began ‘the big lie,’ which they told to their successors, erasing the true events of the revolution so the lie would be told to the creators when they finally arrived.

“It was assumed that the alien beings had the ability to read minds, so it was imperative that the next generations believed the lie to be true or the creators would see right through it--and that part of the ploy worked. When the beings arrived and found that you were missing, the disciples told them that you had found a way to leave this world and had ventured into space to explore the galaxy.

“To this day, it is unknown if the aliens fell for the scheme; it would not have been difficult for them to detect you buried beneath the rubble --if they felt the need to look, that is-- but either way, they must have viewed their project here as a failure, because they left after hearing the news of your ‘departure,’ and haven’t returned since.”

“What about the disciples?” Rainbow Dash asked. “What happened to them?”

“They continued on with their evil deeds and their lust for power, especially when they heard the news of Golden Arrows rediscovery by a foreign invasion, which had taken the city and was in the process of clearing away the rubble when they uncovered him.”

Celestia looked at me, and I nodded.

“I remember,” I said.

“It is unfortunate,” Princess Celestia said. “I am sorry that you had to struggle with these people for so many centuries, hiding and being found, and then being chased until you managed to hide once again. This group is relentless, and it continued on throughout history, wedging themselves into many significant event in your worlds history, interfering with governments, causing wars, poverty, controlling resources and information--right up to this very day.”

That last tidbit prompted Sunset and I to glance at Fluttershy and then at each other, our eyes widening when we realised who the princess was talking about.

“’Us’…” Sunset said softly.

“Ohh…“ the shy girl covered her cheeks at the thought. “I don’t like those people.”

“They came for you, didn’t they?” Celestia asked, rather candidly.

Fluttershy nodded quietly.

“Because you are one of them now. Correct?”

The shy girl froze, as did the others.

“Yes,” the princess continued. “I am aware that you have become like Golden Arrow… all of you,” she said, looking down the line at the others. “I can feel it in you--the energy.” She faced me again. “After all of your years here… the creators would be impressed if they were to return here. I can only imagine the knowledge you’ve amassed; it’s astounding to think about, really, especially in such an unassuming package.”

I reached up to rub the back of my neck. “Yeah… I uh, generally try to act like a dumbass to hide what’s really going on in here,” I explained. “Even those who think they know me well, don’t really know me all that well.” I glanced to the right at the girls when I said this, and then to the left at Sunset, who narrowed her eyes in return.

“Remarkable,” the princess smiled, shaking her head incredulously. “I can only imagine what the creators would think if they found out you’ve learned how to spread their power to others. What a thrill it must have been to achieve such a thing; I must admit, I am somewhat curious as to how you did it.”

The girls glanced around at one another, wide-eyed and tight-lipped.

I cleared my throat. “I could… maybe give you a demonstration later?”

Rainbow Dash snorted. Sunset pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned.

Princess Celestia bowed her head politely. “It would be my pleasure, thank-you.”

I chuckled in response, glancing over at Fluttershy, who just smiled, rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“There is much to discuss, I am sure,” Princess Celestia said, hand raised. “And we will, in time, but for now, we must move on. I believe Princess Twilight has an announcement she’d like to make, so I will leave her with the floor.”

“Thank you, Princess Celestia,” the much shorter and less imposing princess said as she stepped forward to take center stage. “Now, as we all know, Rarity’s shop --the Carousel Boutique-- was burned down.” She quickly turned to face the sirens, raising a finger before Aria could say anything. “It’s OK, we’re not here to punish or place blame; we want to offer a solution that would serve as a gesture of goodwill, from one group to the other.”

The sirens glanced dubiously at one another. Then Adagio folded her arms and faced the princess. “We’re listening.”

“OK…” Princess Twilight rubbed her hands together. “I’m assuming you remember our last encounter; does everyone remember what happened?” she asked, looking back and forth between the groups.

“Uh, we… fought?” Rainbow Dash replied, brow cocked.

Princess Twilight shrugged. “Well… yes, but how, specifically? What happened at the school?”

Pinkie Pie threw her hands in the air, bouncing up and don with excitement. “OOH! THE BATTLE OF THE BANDS!”

Princess Twilight pointed at the party girl. “That’s right, Pinkie Pie! And that is what I’m proposing again here tonight: a second battle of the bands.”

“What, like right now?” Applejack asked, looking understandably confused.

“No, not tonight, and not to battle as enemies,” Princess Twilight explained. “It will be held as a fundraiser to help rebuild Rarity’s boutique; I know the building is covered under insurance, but insurance can’t cover sentimentals, and it can’t bring back things that can’t be replaced. The money raised will go toward extra touches on the new boutique once it is built, and the event itself will be the start of a new era, a new set of memories that we can all share together. What do you say?”

The girls glance at one another and then shrugged, nodding to the princess afterward, which prompted her to turn and face the sirens.

“And how about you three?”

Sonata immediately brought her hands together and then gave two thumbs up, grinning with excitement. “Count me in!”

Aria nodded in agreement, surprisingly. “Same here. It was technically me who started the fire, and I do feel kinda bad about it, so… seems like the least I could do to help.”

All eyes fell on Adagio next. After glancing around at everyone, she rolled her eyes and sighed. “Fine.”

“Great!” Princess Twilight said, gesturing to Sunset. “I will leave Sunset Shimmer in charge of setting everything up, and stating the terms of the contest. And try to remember: the better the show, the more money you’ll raise.”

“Um… OK? Gee, thanks for the sudden huge responsibility, princess,” Sunset grumbled, giving a wink to Princess Twilight, who let out a playful giggle when she saw it. “OK…” The red-head rubbed her hands together, paused, and then pointed to Twilight. “Twi? I’m gonna put you in charge of setting up the fundraiser. Start a GoFundMe or something --or whatever you want to use; something the people can donate to on the spot-- and you, AJ and Pinkie will be in charge of advertising. Get the word out, use a tagline like ‘Carousel Boutique needs your help!’ or something like that. I dunno; you guys figure it out.”

By then, Dash’s face was completely lit, and she was shaking her fists with excitement. “Oh man, this is gonna be. So. Awesome! We haven’t played in public for like, ten years! What songs are we gonna play? Man, I can’t wait to shred in front of everybody again!”

Sunset nodded, folding her arms with a smirk on her face. “I don’t think it’s been quite ten years, Dash… but anyway, yeah. What do you want to play? I was thinking we could… um…” The red-head trailed-off suddenly, glancing over at the sirens. “Hang on,” she said quietly as she approached the rainbow-haired girl, prompting the rest of the girls to huddle in closer. “What about them? Their magic is literlly music; what if they try to misuse it?”

Pinkie scowled at this. “Notty wouldn’t do that! And I betcha she’d keep the others in check too!”

Sunset chewed her lip. “Yeah…” she sighed. “You’re probably right.”

“Ain’t we s’posed ta be trustin them anyway?” AJ asked.

She had a point.

Sunset rubbed her forehead, thinking about what to so. This was her job now: she had to trust the sirens while showing them that she and the girls could be trusted. “OK. Fine. But the problem remains: their voices are being magically enhanced. It gives them a huge advantage over us.”

“Well, we’ll just have to play better than them,” Rarity replied, giving her hair a little flip. “And write better music.”

“Pfft! Are you kidding?” Dash protested. “Don’t you remember how Sonata wrote that song in Pinkie’s basement that one Saturday? And that was just her! Imagine what all three of them could write?”

Sunset huffed and swore. “Fuck. How do we even the odds then?”

“What if we pick the genre?” Dash suggested.

“Like circus music!?” Pinkie squealed.

“Why in the hell would we play circus music?” AJ barked, facing the party-girl.

“What about metal?” Dash suggested. “Remember how at the first Battle of the Bands, the sirens played nothing but that pop shit? They’d be totally lost trying to play metal! We could blow their heads off with some good old fashion distortion; we’ll win this fucking thing by a landslide!”

“I’m not so sure that… a metal music fundraiser is quite right for a fashion boutique though,” Rarity pointed out.

“Pipe down, Rarity! This isn’t about you,” Dash waved dismissively.

“Er, it kind of is, actually, darling…”

“I kinda like that idea, actually,” Sunset admitted. “I mean, if you think about it, a lot of the people who will come will be people that we went to high school with, and a lot of them were into that kind of music, so… I think it’ll be kinda fun to be honest.”

“Let’s do it!” Pinkie grinned excitedly. “Thrash metal drumming is the funnest kind there is!”

“Exactly.” Sunset looked around at the others. “What do the rest of you think?”

Applejack, Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy all looked at one another, and then, one by one, faced Sunset and nodded somewhat reluctantly.

After a quick glance at each of them, Sunset nodded. “OK then.” She broke from the huddle abruptly to face the sirens. “Alright. These are the terms of the battle: we’re gonna be playing metal.”

The siren’s mouths all dropped open at once, and Adagio’s surprise quickly morphed into an irritated sneer.

“But that’s not all,” Sunset continued, folding her arms and taking that confident stance that she was famous for. “I’ve decided that the use of magic will be forbidden during the battle. That means no lyrics, no vocals.”

“What!?” Adagio roared. “How is that fair? I thought it was on you to trust us with these powers?”

“The ‘no magic rule’ goes for both sides,” Sunset explained as she looked over her shoulder at Rainbow Dash. “And that means that Dash can’t use her magic to shred on guitar.”

The athlete’s shoulders dropped, and she let her head fall back, groaning. “Uuuugh… seriously?”

“It’s only fair,” Sunset shrugged. “This battle is going to take place exclusively on instruments.”

Sonata perked up when she heard this, realising what it meant. Gasping, she brought her hands together, her face lit with elation. “Instrumental only? For realsies!?”

Sunset smiled and nodded.

“Yes! Did you guys hear that!?” she asked, turning to grab Aria arm to shake it. “This is gonna be SO much fun!”

Ignoring Sonata, the other two faced Princess Twilight and Celestia, looking somewhat disenchanted.

Princess Twilight simply shrugged. “Hey, don’t look at me; Sunset’s in charge. I will say, though, I think this is more than fair. You guys are pitting pure skill against skill--who can write and play the best music?”

At this, the three sisters faced one another, appearing to consider the terms in this context.

In the meantime, the girls had formed a circular huddle once again, hashing out their game plan.

“OK,” Sunset was saying. “We gotta get some song together and figure out what we’re playing. Dash, you and Flutters will be in charge of that.”

The shy girl recoiled slightly, putting her fingers on her chest. “Me? But… I don’t know anything about writing… metal music.”

“Aw, it easy, Fluttershy!” You just get a nice rhythm going with some power chords, and you throw in some guitar solos, like ‘squibbily pabbabow SQUEEEEE--“

“Shut-up,” AJ cut in, rolling her eyes.

Chuckling, Sunset faced Fluttershy. “Don’t worry about it, Flutters. You’re a great songwriter; you’ll do fine.” The red-head turned to Twilight next. “Well, I guess since there’s no vocals and you don’t play anything, that kinda leaves you out of the band, Twi. But there’s lot of other stuff for you, like stagehand--maybe you could even be the MC for the night.”

Twilight smiled at this. “I’d be OK with that. I’m sure there’s lots of stuff I could do, like lighting and pyro effects--the sky’s the limit, really.”

“Sounds good to me,” Sunset replied. “I know you’ll do a great job, Twi. You and anything to do with fire is usually pretty spectacular.”

“UGH!” Twilgiht groaned. “That happened ONCE! You’re never gonna let me live that down, are You?”

Stepping back and laughing just outside the circle, Pinkie Pie happened to glance over at the sirens and quickly stopped, having noticed a diabolical grin forming on Adagio’s lips as she watched the Rainbooms planning their show together. The party-girl’s smile quickly faded and she began to tap the shoulder of the nearest girl, her eyes widening as an ominous feeling began to overtake her.

“Guys? GUYS!” she shouted, prompting Rainbow Dash to turn and face her.

“What?”

“I don’t like this.”

“Don’t like what?”

“Adagio’s making a scary face!”

Dash snorted. “So?”

“I feel like… what if… What if they have something up their sleeves?”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Nah, Pinkie. We totally picked a genre that we’re better at; they’re gonna be totally lost, and we’re just gonna walk all over them.”

“But Dashie! They look like they’re gonna do something… and it’s gonna be really good!”

“No way!” Dash waved her off. “We got this!”

“DASHIE!” Pinkie stamped her foot, fists clenched in frustration. “Have you never seen ‘Space Jam’!?”

*Chapter 159: Battle of the Bands 2.0

Author's Note

Alright, so there's gonna be some music in this chapter. I know, there are some who think it's a cheap way to try to enhance a story, and I would agree for the most part, BUT... I just wrote a story of over a million words, and I think I've earned the right to indulge myself a little bit. And if you want to skip the songs, go right ahead.
If you do want to hear them, I might suggest opening the MUSIC links in a new window, that way you can keep reading while they play–but I've also found that on some mobile devices it can act a little weird, so you can go about it however you like.

Also, I have to give a BIG shout-out to YouTuber Krzysztof Słowikowski, who is the individual who recorded these songs. Krzysztof does excellent metal covers of older video games, with a focus on the Mega Man series in particular. I discovered his videos around the same time I started watching Equestria Girls, so the two things were always married together for me, and it was, of course, inevitable that I would envision The Rainbooms playing these songs. His work is absolutely spotless, and if you're into that kind of thing, go subscribe to his channel!

Enjoy!

Song composers: (in order of appearance)

Kenji Yamazaki
Naoto Tanaka
Yu Shimoda
Takuya Miyawaki
Naoto Tanaka
Naoshi Mizuta

*Chapter 159: Battle of the Bands 2.0

Chapter 159

“Fuck!” I was able to catch my balance after a few steps, and then I glanced back at the wire --one of many strewn across the floor-- that I had tripped over on my way across the stage.

“Are you OK, Goldie?” Fluttershy asked placing a hand on my shoulder as I brushed my shirt off, trying to look casual, like I didn’t just make myself look like a doofus.

Maybe I should have just stood outside with the others.

“Actually I, uh…” I paused to clear my throat as I glanced around to see who else saw my blunder. “I twisted my ankle a little; it kinda hurts now.”

“Oh dear. You poor boy,” she replied, leaning in to plant a soft peck on my cheek. “Maybe me and Rare can look after that later for you.”

With a little smile, I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into my side. “Sounds good. So, as I was saying: how are you doing?”

The shy girl glanced down at the tambourine in her hand and then out at the small sliver of crowd she could see from between the massive amps that lined the rear of the stage. “Ohh… nervous. It’s been a long time since we played for a crowd--especially one this big.”

“You’ll do fine, Flutters,” I said as I placed my lips on her temple, right next to the pink butterfly painted around her eye. “You’ve done it before; you can you it again. If anything, your experience at the ‘Us’ base should make it easier than ever.”

“Hm. Maybe. I won’t be singing, though.”

I looked over at her, brows furrowed. “God, your fears are so oddly specific.”

She gave a little shrug and a smirk. “They don’t call me Fluttershy for nothing.”

“HEY!” Dash’s voice burst out from across the stage. “Who’s fucking with the wires?”

“Uh… I dunno,” I said, releasing the shy girl to make myself scarce.

It was the night of the fundraiser, the Battle of the Bands: Part two. Several weeks had passed since our late-night meeting with the Princesses, which was how long it took to organize the event and to get some songs together to play.

The girls’ contact with the sirens had been minimal in order to prevent musical cross contamination, so, as a result, they had no idea what The Dazzlings were going to play --aside from wild guesses at what their attempt at metal would sound like-- nor did they know how they were going to sound with only three musicians. Sunset did allow them the option of recruiting extra members, up to a maximum of six to match the Rainbooms, but they were in the dark as to whether they chose to take advantage of that option or not.

Conversely, The Dazzlings had no idea what The Rainbooms were going to play.

I, on the other hand, after being chosen to be the only one able to talk to both groups in order to communicate important issues, had no idea what either band was playing, as I was not allowed in any jam sessions on either side.

“Here it is,” Dash continued as she bent down to plug the wire back in to the bank of amps, which I had inadvertently pulled out moments earlier. “How’s that, Vinyl?” she asked, turning to the spiky, blue-haired behind the mixing board and large, round shades, who simply replied with a thumbs-up. “Sweet!”

The rainbow-haired girl turned to face the rest of her band mates, her blue guitar slung over her shoulder. “OK, you guys ready?”

The rest of the band --Sunset with her orange flying-V, Applejack with her black bass, Rarity with her white keytar, Pinkie with a pair of drumsticks and Fluttershy with her tambourine-- all gave a confirming nod.

“Then let’s head out and meet the crowd!” Dash waved them along, leading the way between the sparkling, blue curtains that led to the center of the stage.

A chorus of cheers erupted from the amphitheatre when they saw the colourfully-dressed ladies disperse onto the stage, their clothes bright and flashy, the legs of their tights clad in different colours, their hair lines with black and silver highlights, their faces painted with colourful symbols that reflected each of their personas.

The stage itself was bathed in an array of bright colours by a row of powerful spotlights, backed by the massive concrete clamshell that stood tall in the background, ready to focus the sound of the upcoming showing directly onto the crowd. In the center of the stage was a space roughly fifteen feet wide; on the left stood Pinkie Pie’s drum set and the stands and wiring for the other girls’ instruments, and on the right stood a stand with a blue bass guitar of the Fender variety resting on it, along with a rather large drum set and a bank of keyboards that surrounded a small bench on three sides.

The more showman-like members of the band, like Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Pinkie Pie, approached the front of the stage to greet and wave to the crowd, which, as predicted, was made up of the many familiar faces of former Wondercolts, as well as many of Rarity’s younger clientele from over the years.

“Heeeeeey!” Rainbow Dash’s voice could be heard as she pointed at the center front row, which consisted of Maud Pie, Big Mac and Cheerilee, as well as Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, and finally, Princess Twilight and her light-skinned, purple and turquoise-haired companion, Starlight Glimmer. “How’re you guys doing!?” Dash asked, to which the three young sisters replied with a loud howl.

The more reserved members of the band hung back, like Fluttershy, who stood, hands folded, next to the drums while Applejack adjusted her bass straps, and made sure the patch cord was plugged securely into the wireless amp box strapped to her side.

A low-volume beat track began to play as the noise of the crowd died down, a pre-show appetiser courtesy of the DJ Scratch while the bands got situated on stage.

I stood behind the scenes, arms folded as I watched the blue-haired DJ bob her head to the beat, her fingers dancing over the missing board as a flashy-dressed Twilight Sparkle stood next to me, scanning wildly through a series of screens on her phone.

“You gonna be able to handle all this?” I asked, watching the somewhat flustered nerd, who quickly looked up at me in response.

After staring at me through a pair of pink lenses, wrapped in thick, sparkling frames for a moment, she looked back down at her phone. “I’ll be fine. I’m just organising; there’s a lot to go over before things get started.”

I nodded and looked out to the stage. Then I cleared my throat. “You know the girls are on stage already, right?”

Twilight looked up from her phone again, eyes wide. “Oh shoot,” she said, placing a hand to her ear. “Dazzlings, this is your cue.”

Out on stage, the Rainbooms turned to face the right side of the stage upon noticing the sudden drop in noise from the crowd; up the stairs on the far right climbed the three sisters led by Adagio, dressed much more regally than the punk-like attire of their opponents. Their hair was styled scantly different than the norm, but their outfits struck an obvious 1940’s vibe, albeit modernized significantly with lower necklines and higher skirt hems, along with a pair of tall boots rounding out the bizarre, but strangely alluring motif.

Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom became quite still when their eyes briefly met with the orange and purple-haired sirens, but a look of relief quickly washed over them when Sonata stepped on stage and greeted them with a smile and a coy wave, which they returned somewhat timidly.

The crowd as a whole remained fairly quiet during the siren’s entrance; a few boos and jeers could even be heard from farther back in the darkness of the rear seats. This prompted Sunset to glance over at them, feeling empathetic toward the reactions that their previous reputations had garnered, and she suddenly felt the need to change the mood, lest they become discouraged in their reformation.

She knew herself how this felt, all too well.

Facing the crowd, Sunset began to wave her hands upward, signalling the crowd to give a warmer welcome. Rainbow Dash quickly caught onto this, and after pointing at the sirens, clapped her hands above her head. It wasn’t until Pinkie joined in as well that the crowd began to react, sending an avalanche of cheers rolling toward the stage.

The Rainbooms faced the sirens with a collective smile, prompting Sonata to return he smile, along with a thumbs-up to her friend Pinkie, who she hadn’t seen in weeks due to prepping for the show.

Aria, looking entirely indifferent, simply turned and headed toward the rear of the stage to approach the keyboards. She stepped over the bench at the center and sat, picking up a pair of large headphones and hanging them around her neck before fiddling with the switches on the center bank of keys.

Sunset, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie approached Adagio and Sonata.

“Hey guys,” Sunset greeted, resting her hands on her guitar. “Long time, no see.”

“The gesture is appreciated,” Adagio replied, “but unnecessary. By the end of this show, we all know who the crowd will be cheering for.”

“Hell yeah, we do,” Dash fired back.

“We just figured you deserved an even entrance,” Sunset explained, to which Adagio raised her hand, eyes closed.

“Entrances mean nothing. It’s the performance that truly matters when all is said and done,” said the siren.

Sighing, Sunset leaned in close, smirking smugly. “Yeah… it’s called ‘gratitude.’ You should try it sometime.”

Eyes narrowed, Adagio sneered at the red-head as she retreated. “I know what gratitude is,” she replied, tight-jawed.

In the meantime, Sonata had made her way over to the stand to pluck the bass guitar from it. After throwing the strap over her shoulder, she reached the short cord around her back to connect it to the wireless amp on her belt.

Pinkies eyes lit up when she saw this. “Whoa! You’re playing bass tonight, Notty!?”

“Heck yeah, P!” Sonata replied, reaching up for a high-five.

Pinkie returned the gesture and her hand together with Sonata’s. “That’s so cool! Is there anything you can’t play?” The party-girl turned to face Adagio next while Sonata placed a finger to her bottom lip to consider the question. “What are you playing?” she asked, finding herself suddenly quite curious when Adagio reached into her pocket.

Under the curious watch of the three Rainbooms, the siren produced a pair of fingerless leather gloves and began to slip them on. After pulling the Velcro traps tight, she brought her hands together loudly before reaching behind her back to pull something from the rear of her belt.

It was a pair of drumsticks.

Pinkie gasped noisily. “You play the drums!?”

“No, these are for eating really big sushi,” Adagio sassed, rolling her eyes.

“From WHERE!?”

Adagio sighed. “It was a joke.”

“Oh.” Pinkie furrowed her brows. “Wait a minute… that seems like kind of a weird position for you--you know, since you’re the leader and all. I kinda figured you would be on lead guitar or something.”

“On the contrary, it is the perfect position for me,” Adagio replied. “The drums are the true lead; they set the beat, the speed at which the song is played. They are the foundation on which the music is built. That has been, and always will be, my role in this group, and with my sisters.”

“Wow! Did you hear that, Dashie!?” Pinkie exclaimed. “I’ve been the leader of the Rainbooms all along!”

“Yyyyyeah… no,” Dash replied flatly before facing Adagio with a dubious look. “Look, that’s all well and good, but you do realise that the theme tonight is metal, right? That’s gonna be kiiiiinda hard for you guys to pull off without a guitarist.”

Adagio arched a brow. “Who says we don’t have one?”

Sunset and Rainbow Dash glanced at one another.

“Are you saying you’ve recruited someone?” Sunset asked, facing the siren again.

Adagio shrugged. “Perhaps.”

“Well where are they?” Dash asked. “The show’s gonna be starting soo--“

“Hey guys!” a male voice said, coming from the same right-hand staircase that the Dazzlings entered on.

The Rainbooms all faced that direction to find a young man with spiky, blue hair and a full beard, wearing a pair of tattered jeans and a white T-shirt under a black jacket standing halfway up the steps. Slung over his shoulder was the strap of a red guitar with a white pick guard.

“WHAT!? Haha! Flash Sentry!?” Dash wailed.

“Heh… yeah.” Flash ascended to the top of the stairs and made his way across the stage towards them.

“Well I’ll be!” Applejack chuckled, approaching from the left side of the stage. “Yer gonna play with the Dazzlins tonight?”

“Yeah,” he chuckled, looking slightly nervous as the rest of the Rainbooms approached to see him. “I heard about the Battle of the Bands fundraiser for Rarity’s shop through some friends, and then I heard the Dazzlings needed a guitarist, so… here I am, I guess.”

“Playing with the enemy…” Dash accused, eyes narrowed.

Flash chuckled again, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well… maybe, but at the end of the day, this is really about helping Rarity. That’s why I’m here.”

“Aww…” The fashionista placed her fingertips to her chest. “Why thank you, Flash; that is too sweet!”

“Heh…” Flash’s eyes dropped to the floor, cheeks flushed.

I had been talking quietly with Twilight when I heard a vaguely familiar voice from the stage, and I stopped what I was saying to lean out past the stack to see if it was who I thought. Sure enough, I caught sight of Flash with his guitar, standing with the sirens and talking to the girls.

His eyes immediately shifted onto me when I came into view, and he gave a little smirk and a nod my way.

“Hey, man,” he said.

I returned the nod. “What’s up? You’re not playing with the sirens are ya?”

He just shrugged. “Just doing my part, that’s all. Ya know?”

I nodded and then faced Twilight. “He’s trying to score some pussy. Guaranteed.”

Twilight covered her mouth and giggled.

“You should give him some.”

The lavender girl’s laugher stopped instantly, and she face me with a pair of wide-eyes. “I’m sorry, what!?”

I gestured to Flash. “Well, you know… he’s got a thing for the princess, right? I was just thinking… I dunno, maybe you could help him out--you know, fulfill his fantasy.”

She sneered a bit.

“What?” I shrugged. “You’ve never thought about doing that for him before?”

“Uh… no. Flash isn’t really… my type, I guess you could say.”

I faced the young fellow again. “Hm. Bummer for him, I guess. Oh well; maybe Sonata’ll yank another batch out of him later. Who knows.”

Out on the stage, Rainbow Dash had brought her hand up and was stroking her chin, facing Flash. “So what’s up the beard, bro? You trying to be a lumberjack, or what?”

“Oh, uh…” He reached up to tug gently on his chin hairs. “It just… it helps me look --and feel, I guess-- um… more grown up. At least I think it does.”

“I like it!” Applejack announced with a nod.

“Same here, darling,” Rarity agreed. “I think it suits you well; it adds a certain ruggedness that was, frankly, very much needed.”

“Oh…”

“Dear me, I didn’t mean it like that!” Rarity quickly added when she saw his reaction. “I just meant…”

“Nah, man; don’t worry.” Dash cut in. “It looks badass.”

“Really?” Flash paused for a moment, glancing around at the Rainbooms as they smiled and nodded in reply. “Thanks,” he said smiling. “It’s good to see you all again; but I guess it’s time for the show to start, eh?” He glanced at Sonata and Adagio, and then his smile faded as he began looking around more intently. “Hey… where’s uh…?”

“Don’t even…” Adagio replied flatly, eyes rolling. “I have no idea.”

“What!?” Flash huffed incredulously, glancing at Sonata. “Are you kidding me?”

Sonata just shrugged.

This exchange led the Rainbooms to glance curiously at one another, wondering what the Dazzlings might have been stressing about. Flash was right, however: the show was about to start, so the Rainbooms migrated back to their side of the stage to get into position.

Backstage, I turned to face Twilight. “Looks like this is it. You’re up.”

She drew a deep breath and released it slowly, wagging her fingers to loosen herself up. “Hooo… nervous,” she giggled anxiously, glancing at me.

“Hey… you’ve broken into enemy buildings and tapped into their security systems,” I reminded her. “If you do that, this should be a walk in the park.”

After another breath, Twilight nodded. “You’re right. That is a logical comparison.” She turned to face Vinyl Scratch to give her a nod, receiving a silent thumbs-up in reply before queuing up the appropriate screen on her phone and then stepping forward onto the stage.

The coloured stage lights dimmed as she entered stage center, prompting a slight hush to waft over the audience when their attention was drawn to the sudden change in scenery. A bright spot light came on with a soft clang next, illuminating the lavender girl from above.

An energetic cheer rippled across the crowd when they saw the studious young woman standing between the two bands, holding her phone like a stack of cue cards. Smiling nervously, she reached out to pluck the microphone from the stand and held it to her mouth.

“Good evening, everyone. How are you all feeling?” she said, her voice echoing over a small bit of feedback.

The crowd responded with a surprisingly hearty roar.

“Excellent!” she continued. “I was actually just checking the weather for tonight. Here is the current report, last updated seven minutes ago: temperature is currently twenty-two degrees Celsius; wind speed is an easy point-five kilometres per hour; humidity is at seventy-one point-six, and possibility of precipitation is at a below ten percent.”

The crowd was pretty quiet.

“Um…” She paused to clear her throat. “W-what this means… iiiiiis that tonight is the perfect night for a great show!”

Still, there was very little reaction.

“… Gawd dayum,” Applejack’s voice grumbled from the darkness on Twilight’s right.

Twilight sighed, trying to play off the sudden lurching in her stomach and the heat in her earlobes as something other than embarrassment. “Please clap,” she begged, her voice echoing over the crowd.

Upon hearing the remark, small pockets of laughter broke out around the crowd, which prompted an applause that slowly grew into a deafening roar.

This made Twilight smile with relief. Once the ovation died down, she brought the microphone to her mouth again. “Thanks for that,” she chuckled, earning a few more laughs, plus a loud whistle from somewhere in the back. “Anyway, I’d like to thank you all for coming, and I wanted to welcome you to the Canterlot Battle of the Bands. For those who don’t know me, I am Twilight Sparkle, and I’m going to be your host for this evening--oddly enough, since apparently I’m not really cut out for this type of thing, as we just saw.

“But regardless of my discomfort,” she continued, “I can’t think of anything else I’d rather be doing right now, and there’s a good reason for that. As many of you know, this concert is not just for your entertainment, it is also raising money for a good cause. I’m sure many of you heard about the fire that destroyed the Carousel Boutique several weeks ago; this shop --run by the one-and-only Miss Rarity-- is an integral part of our town. It is part of who we are, and it is one of the many things that makes Canterlot great. We cannot take small businesses like these for granted, and I feel we must go to great lengths to help them in their time of need.

“While yes, the building was protected by an insurance policy, the coverage it gives will only bring the building back to code and to make the boutique workable again. But we --and Miss Rarity especially-- have much bigger plans: we intend to take the Carousel Boutique to new heights, to make it bigger and better than ever before. But we can’t do it alone; we need your help! Tonight, we need you to--“

Rainbow Dash’s voice rang out from the left side of the stage, cutting the lavender girl off. “Hey, Twilight! Are we gonna play some songs tonight or what?”

A murmur of chuckles echoed over the crowd.

After a quick glance at her friends, Twilight faced the crowd again. “Right… sorry. I tend to ramble sometimes.” She turned partway to gesture to the metal framework above the stage. Between the array of lights, a trio of large screens were mounted, each of them showing the figure: ‘$0.’

“If I could direct your attention to the displays above me, I will explain how this is going to work. As you know, when purchasing your tickets online, you were given a link via text message to a GoFundMe page, which is the fundraiser for the Carousel Boutique. During or after each song is played, you are free to donate; the more you like the song, the more money you can donate. It can be as much or as little as you want. It will be up to the bands to earn as much as they can!”

Twilight then braised her phone so she could have a look at the donation page. “Now, in the weeks leading up to tonight, and because this was an active GoFundMe account, many of you, the fine people of Canterlot, have already donated generously to the cause, to the tune of…”

She turned once again to point at the center display with the microphone while tapping the icon on her phone’s screen, which prompted the number to change from ‘$0’ to ‘$5430.’

“Fifty-four hundred and thirty dollars!” Twilight announced, facing the crowd again. “Thank you everyone, for your generosity; we --and especially Miss Rarity-- appreciate it very much!”

The crowd began to clap and cheer, especially when Rarity began to wave and blow kisses at the crowd while mouthing the words ‘thank you.’

“Now, these other two screens,” Twilight continued, “Are for each band, to track how much in donations they are able to bring in. Whoever has the highest dollar amount on their screens at the end of the show… wins the Battle of the Bands.” She then gestured to the groups of either side of her. “And who are the bands? Well, on my right, we have…” The coloured lights hit full intensity again, bathing the girls on the left in a dazzling glow.

“Rainbow Dash, Sunset Shimmer, Miss Rarity herself, Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Fluttershy,” Twilight announced, prompting each of the girls to wave when their name was called. “Together, they form the band many of you might know as ‘The Rainbooms.’”

The crowd cheered once again as the girls took a moment to wave at them.

“And on my left,” Twilight continued as she gestured that way, signalling the lights to illuminate Flash and the sirens in a blaze of colour. “Is ‘The Dazzlings,’ featuring Adagio Dazzle, Sonata Dusk, Aria Blaze and guest guitarist, Flash Sentry.”

Again, the audience responded with applause and cheers, albeit not as loud--possibly due to that fact that only Flash and Sonata waved to them. The other two didn’t bother to engage at all.

Facing the crowd once more, Twilight smiled and cocked her head. “OK then, without further adieu, let’s get on with the show.” She pointed to her friends and began to back-step to the rear of the stage. “Rainbooms, you’re up first!”

The girls formed a loose huddle as the lavender girl disappeared from view, quietly discussing their first performance over a soft applause.

“OK, Flutters,” Rainbow Dash was saying, “we’ll do your song first and then mine second?”

“M-m-mine?” the shy girl asked, her face draining of colour, even under the hue of the spotlights. “I don’t know. I-I’ve been thinking about it the past few minutes, and I don’t know if it’s really ready. I don’t know if I wanna do it.”

The other five glared at her, especially Rainbow Dash.

“What!?” the rainbow-haired girl shouted. “After all that work we did on it? Why are you chickening out now!?”

Fluttershy shrugged. “I-I dunno. What if no one likes it?”

“Nonsense, darling! The crowd will love it!”

“Yeah!” Dash agreed. “I think it turned out awesome! We gonna open with it; it’ll blow everyone’s socks off, and the Dazzling will have nothing to come back with!”

Sunset nodded, facing the shy girl. “It did turn out pretty good, Flutters. Dash is right; we should totally open with it.”

“Oh… I, I don’t know.” Fluttershy tapped her index fingers together. “I don’t think it’s quite right yet. I told you girls before I don’t know anything about writing metal. Why don’t we start with your song, Dashie?”

Dash slapped a hand over her face. “Ugh… no! We’re supposed to play mine second. We talked about this already!”

With a huff, Applejack gave the rainbow-haired girl a light elbow. “If she don’t wanna play it, then don’t make her!” she said, to which Dash groaned. Then she faced the shy girl. “Why don’t ya just pick another song?”

“She doesn’t HAVE another song!” Dash protested. “That was the whole point of doing this one!”

“Well, she ain’t comfortable with it, so we ain’t doin it!” AJ turned to Fluttershy. “You got anything else fer us ta play that we can do without fuckin up?”

“Um…” The shy girl brought a finger to her chin. “I guess, um, we could do ‘The Staff of Roll.’”

“Ugh!” Dash groaned, rolling her eyes and turning away. “That won’t work!” she protested, turning back to the group. “That’s, like, our normal stuff; it’s not heavy enough to pass of as metal!”

“What if, um, we just play it with lots of distortion?”

Dash’s jaw dropped. “That’s not how metal works! It has its own chords, scales--‘Staff of Roll’ is too happy-go lucky for that!”

“We’re wasting too much time, you guys,” Sunset cut in as she placed a hand of Fluttershy’s shoulder. “We’ll do it like you said: ‘Staff of Roll,’ lots of distortion on the guitars. It won’t be a big deal for me to do power chords in place of the usual rhythm. Sound good?”

“Gah!” Dash broke away from the huddle, pulling her own hair.

Fluttershy smiled. “OK, sounds good. Thanks Sunset.”

The group broke and went to their positions--except for Pinkie Pie, who approached Adagio to get right into her face. Nose-to-nose, the pair stared each other down, stone-faced, eye narrowed.

“OK… it’s oooooon,” Pinkie growled. “May the poopiest hair jam out the sickest beats.”

After staring for a moment, Adagio’s eyes narrowed further.

Pinkie, whose confidence had faltered slightly, shifted her eyes around and blinked a few times. “I… I meant to say poofiest.”

A tiny smirk tugged at the corners of the siren’s mouth. “Hm. You amuse me, Rainboom. I look forward to seeing what you’ve got.”

The pair parted, and Pinkie hopped behind her drum set, picked her sticks up and, after glancing around at her band mates to make sure they were ready, cracked the sticks together and counted down from three.

MUSIC

Starting with a single bass thrum combined with a soft splash of cymbal, the notes of a piano began to trickle out as Rarity’s fingers danced across her keytar, followed by a light-hearted guitar lead by Rainbow Dash. Pinkie joined in on the second line with the snare drum, pounding out a simple march that gave the feel of a buildup until eventually, the drums went silent and Rarity, adding the tone of a violin to accent the piano, played a staccato scale with Dash, progressing downward and then up, with Applejack joining in on the odd note to keep it grounded.

They went through the scale twice, hinting to the audience that they were about to be hit with a sudden crescendo as the main section neared. They did not disappoint; after sneaking in with a drum roll, the entire band hit at once, sending an intense rumble from the stage straight out across the entire swath of the crowd, earning a loud, but largely overpowered cheer in response.

Sunset and Applejack hammered the Earth with deep bass and full, powerful chords. Dash and Rarity took the lead with a smooth and inspiring guitar lead, which was matched by a string section and accented by the dance of the piano while Pinkie and Fluttershy kept it all on time with their percussive beats. They soon transitioned into a bridge section, the high notes of which were lead by the shrill, but emotionally-charged string section, bringing them back into the main riff for the coda.

The piece had plenty of grit and weight to pass off as metal, but it was indeed very light-hearted sounding, which, given the Rainbooms’ own stipulation for the type of music to be played, left Adagio looking rather perplexed as she stood and watched, arms folded, brow cocked.

When the music ended, the crowd replied with a chorus of cheers and whistles, followed by a sea of faces lit up by their phones as they made their donations to the page that Twilight had set up. Sonata and Flash were clapping enthusiastically while Aria just sat behind the keyboards, watching on; Adagio was clapping as well, although her expression failed to match the enthusiasm of the others.

Stepping across the stage, the siren’s clapping slowed as she approached Rainbow Dash and Sunset. “Very nice, ladies,” she said, not forgetting to add that Adagio-specific hint of machination to her voice. “But… I’m a little confused.” She furrowed her brows, feigning confusion. “I thought this was supposed to be a metal concert; that was a pretty cheery little tune--coming from the group who chose such a heavy medium. Perhaps a little lesson on what hard rock is supposed to be is needed?”

Sighing, Rainbow Dash turned away when she saw that sly grin on Adagio’s lips, and she turned to glare at Fluttershy, who quickly hid behind her tambourine with a faint ‘eep’ sound.

Twilight had returned to the stage by then, purposely taking position between Adagio and Rainbow Dash to separated them as she spoke hastily into the microphone. ”Wow, what a way to start off, am I right?” she chuckled, drawing a small applause of agreement from the crowd as she drew her phone to look at the screen. “Is everyone finished donating? Vote with your wallets, folks; that’s how this works!” She paused briefly, watching the numbers climb slowly.

Then she shrugged. “It seems to have slowed down for most part; I’d say that close enough to post the results.” She tapped the screen and then looked over her shoulder to watch the overhead displays update.

The screen on the left changed from ‘$0’ to ‘$2827’, while the center screen updated its total to ’$8257.’

“Eight thousand, two hundred fifty-seven!” Twilight announced, facing the crowd again. “That’s amazing, thank you! Let’s have a round of applause,” she said, waving to the Rainbooms, who faced the audience and clapped while Rarity blew more kisses.

“Amazing,” Twilight repeated, sidestepping closer to the Dazzlings. “Let’s keep this trend going! Up next, we hear from the Dazzl--“

The lavender girl paused and turned to her left when she heard someone speaking.

It was Adagio.

“Um… we’re still short a member… actually,” the siren said, biting her lip.

Furrowing her brow, Twilight put the microphone behind her back so the crowd wouldn’t hear her. “I’m sorry?”

“We’re missing someone.”

“What, you hired another band member?” Sunset asked, surprised. “For what?”

“Another guitarist,” Adagio replied with an exasperated sigh. “Who… seems to be fashionably late.”

“Fashionably late!?” Dash sneered. “From here it looks like you got stood up! What the hell, man! You’re bagging on us for our song choices, and your band can’t even show up to the damn concert!?”

With no response, Adagio looked away and rubbed her nose. Aria sat behind the keyboards, shaking her head.

The Rainbooms looked around at one another. This explained the display of unrest from earlier, when Flash had first arrived on stage and tried to ask a question that seemed to put the others off. Their frustration made perfect sense now.

“So what are you gonna do?” Sunset asked. “Are you gonna be able to do your set without your other guitarist? Who is it, anyway?”

Adagio drew a breath to answer. “Well, she wasn’t our first choice, for obvious reasons, but we were left with--“

POOF!

A large cloud of smoke suddenly erupted onto the stage, causing everyone to step back in surprise.

“Stand back in awe, everyone!” a familiar voice announced as the thick cloud quickly dissipated in the breeze. “The Great and Powerful Tr-r-r-r-r-r-rixie is on stage!”

The white-haired, azure-skinned magician came into view as the smoke was quickly swept aside by the breeze, standing with her hands in the air as a silver Flying-V guitar hung from the strap that was slung over her shoulder. She was dressed in a dark blue colonial-style dress with tall, blue boots

“Ugh!” Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and let her head fall back. “Serously!? You guys hired Trixie!?”

“We… needed another guitarist,” Adagio answered.

“The Dazzlings needed an edge,” Trixie stepped in, finger raised. “When Trixie heard they were facing off against you Raingoons again, Trixie KNEW she had to be a part of it! After having Trixie’s victory stolen from her at the first Battle of the Bands, she would love nothing more than to see the Rainbooms knocked down a peg to where they belong; and with the unspeakable talent and sheer stage presence of a dynamo like the transcendent and awe-inspiring Tr-r-r-r-r-rixie on their side, the Dazzlings are sure bet for the ultimate victory!”

Trixie threw her hands into the air again, but was met with silence as everyone stared at her, deadpanned.

She opened her eyes and let them dart around for a moment before lowering her arms rather sheepishly, tapping her fingers together in front of her chest. “And… also,” she said in a much softer voice, “Trixie heard about the fire at the boutique, and… she wanted to do her part to help.”

Rarity’s expression softened noticeably when she heard this.

“When Trixie was little,” she continued, sighing, “she… accidently set her room on fire practicing a trick. The rest of the house was OK, but Trixie’s room --all of Trixie’s things-- were gone. So she knows how it feels… to lose everything--and Carousel Boutique is a part of this town, so in a way, we all lost a little bit.”

Tilting her head to one side, the fashionista gave a starry-eyed smile. “Aww… why thank you, darling…” Then she paused, frowning. “Er, I think? I mean, you did come out of the gate talking a dreadful amount of smack.”

Backstage, I was seated on a stool behind the mixing board with Vinyl Scratch when I heard the new voice on stage, and I leaned over, closer to the DJ to get a better view. When I saw the white hair and blue skin and pointed hat standing amongst the others, I quickly turned to Vinyl.

“Who ordered the stripper? Was that you?”

She glanced at me and shook her head. Then she brought her hands up and did some ‘air guitar’ before pointing at Trixie.

I glanced at group on stage again, noticing the guitar strap on Trixie’s shoulder. Then I looked back at the DJ, finding myself face-to-face with a pair of red-tinted reflections of myself in her shades. “Get out! She’s playing tonight!?”

Vinyl nodded, smirking.

“Wow…” I said, facing the stage again. “This just got even more interesting.”

“OK wait, so… what does this mean? Are you guys good to go then?” Twilight was asking.

“It does look that way… now,” Adagio growled, leaning into the white-haired girl. “And if I find out you held out on purpose without telling us, just to make a ‘grand entrance,’ so help me, I will smash your knees with a crow bar.”

Trixie adjusted her hat and gave a care-free flip of her hair. “Mm. Nope, that won’t be necessary. Once I’ve lead The Dazzlings to a stunning victory here tonight --thanks to me-- you’ll be thrilled that you had the privilege of playing with the one and only, the Great and Powerful Tr-r-r-r-r-rixie!”

Sighing, Adagio turned to Sonata and Flash, both of whom rolled their eyes and looked the other way.

“Whatever,” the siren replied flatly, facing the lavender girl again. “I guess we’re ready; we’ll start with her song,” she said, gesturing to Trixie.

Twilight nodded while Rainbow Dash let out a snort. “What? You guys are playing one of HER songs?”

“It was her stipulation,” Adagio explained. “She said we had to play at least one of her songs, or she wouldn’t play with us at all.”

Incredulous, the Rainbooms shifted their eyes onto Trixie in unison.

“Wow,” Dash muttered.

“It’s a small price to pay for greatness,” Trixie said, inspecting her fingernails. “In fact, when you get me, and my brilliant song writing skills--it’s kind of a win-win when you think about it.”

“Hm. Looks like we’re not the only ones who came from and alternate reality, eh Adagio?” Sunset said, prompting the siren to meet eyes with her.

“For once, Sunset Shimmer, I completely agree with you,” Adagio replied with an amused smirk, which the red-head quickly returned.

“OK, fine. Let’s get on with it,” Twilight said, stepping toward the front of the stage as she brought the microphone to her mouth. “Slight change, ladies and gentlemen,” she announced. “As it turns out, The Dazzlings actually consists of five members: Adagio Dazzle on drums, Aria Blaze on keyboards, Sonata Dusk on bass, and Flash Sentry and Trixie Lulamoon on guitar.”

The announcement drew a few hoots and wolf-whistles, likely from consumers of Trixie’s other profession.

After leaning over to let Sonata whisper in her ear, Twilight nodded and faced the crowd again. “Alright. Now that everyone’s been introduced, it’s time to let The Dazzlings take it away with their first song of the night, entitled: ‘Dynamo.’”

Behind the drumset, Adagio was just finishing the process of tying her hair back to keep it out of her face. She then raised her drumsticks above her head and looked around at her bandmates. “On three,” she announced.

Then the siren counted to three, and off they went.

MUSIC

They started off with a thunderous chord on both guitars, led by a simple synth riff on the keyboards that was followed by a string of hammer-ons and then a quick pick-scratch, dropping into the main riff. The song continued on much the same; Aria led the tune on the keyboard while the guitars chugged out a heavy rhythm in unison with one another, eventually moving into a higher set of licks that moved them into yet another section.

As the guitars settled into another new riff, Aria launched into a keyboard solo that appeared to leave the Rainbooms somewhat slack-jawed as they watched her fingers dance up and down the keys like a pair of hyperactive tarantulas, all the while Sonata thrummed away on the bass, keeping a steady rhythm with Adagio’s surprisingly fast and precise drum beat.

The end of Aria’s solo switched seamlessly into a rather bouncy guitar riff that quickly turned hot, making both Flash and Trixie lean into it as they shredded a blindingly fast solo out together before the entire band hit a pair of chords, followed by a drum roll from Adagio. Two more chords, slightly higher, brought a second drum fill, then a third and finally, a forth, each higher in pitch, followed by a hard roll on the snare drum to take them back to the start.

They played through the same verse twice more, ending with the two highest chords on the final run, plunging the amphitheatre into an ear-ringing silence.

A sea of stunned eyes stared back for a moment before erupting into a massive ovation, taking everyone on stage, even the sirens, by surprise.

“Ugh…” Rainbow Dash pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. “Dammit. That was pretty awesome,” she grumbled--not that anyone heard it.

Twilight made her way back on stage, clapping with the microphone in one hand, which caused an inadvertent thump to echo across the place until she stopped to raise the mic to speak. “Ha! Wow, let’s hear it for the Dazzlings! That was amaz--” She froze when she happened to glance over and found a sour-looking Rainbow Dash staring back at her. “Uh… I mean, great.”

Flash was clapping softly to the compliment while Trixie gave her hair a little flip with her hand.

“What else would you expect from a superstar as great and powerful as me?”

“Ya know,” Applejack interjected as she scratched her temple. “I couldn’t help but notice the guitars were both doin the same thing; seems ta me that ya only needed one fer that song.”

Trixie rubbed her chin. “You are correct, Applejerk; it was, in fact, written for only one guitar.”

“Hey… the fuck d’you call me?”

Trixie waved a hand toward Flash, ignoring the farm girl’s question. “I suppose we could have done away with this… scruffy… thing.”

This comment made Flash scowl.

“But we do need two guitars for the other songs, so… he can stay,” she continued.

“That’s not your call,” Adagio growled from behind the drumset.

Seeing the unmistakeable tension building, Twilight raised the microphone and began to speak hastily. “Uh… l-let’s see how the numbers are doing on that one. Is everyone finished their donations?” She looked down at her phone and then cocked her head. “Looks about ready, I’d say.”

Holding her phone up like a remote --just for show, since it didn’t work that way-- she tapped the screen, and the displays above updated to the latest figures. The right-hand screen above The Dazzlings changed from ’$0’ to ’$3365, making the grand total in the center ‘$11,622.’

Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropped when she saw the totals. “What the fuck; we’re losing!”

“I TOLD you!” Pinkie’s voice sounded from behind her drums.

Sunset quickly stepped in with a pat on the athlete’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Dash. We’ll bring it back with your song.”

Again, Twilight was clapping as she turned to face the crowd again. “Amazing. Thank you so much, everyone!” she said, while Rarity stood not far behind her, bouncing on her heels and rubbing her hands together with excitement before waving at The Dazzlings and mouthing the words ‘thank you.’

“OK…” the lavender girl continued, glancing down at her phone and then pointing at the Rainbooms. “It’s time to give the stage back to the Rainbooms. You’re up, girls!” she said, before departing once again.

Drawing a deep breath, Dash turned around to face her bandmates. “Alright, guys. No more fucking around! We’re doing ‘Galaxy Fantasy’ next, OK? You ready!?”

The rest of the girls nodded.

Dash faced the audience again and took a wide-footed stance, her guitar pick ready. “Two, three, four!”

MUSIC

Following the countdown, the crowd was blasted with the crash of cymbals and a combination of rhythm and lead guitars, bass and the quick beat of drums, accompanied by a fast and rhythmic rattle of Fluttershy’s tambourine.

The riffs were fast, and the drums were full throttle and on point. The song was an assault on the senses, but it was catchy; it was difficult not to be thrilled by it, and it was even more difficult not to move along with the beat.

The only member of the band who was doing nothing was Rarity. She stood back a few steps, bobbing her head to the rhythm as she tapped her little, white fingers on the top of her keytar. Watching from backstage, I became curious of her part in the song; was she going to sit this one out? Was this a purely thrash song? I wouldn’t have put it past Rainbow Dash to write such a thing.

Just as I was thinking this, however, there was a fast lick that scaled upward following a catchy little verse, which led into a bridge that saw the bass drop out, leaving a light sounding drum beat in its wake. Dash dove into this section with both feet and a high-pitched chorus on her guitar, but just as it started, the fashionista stepped in, her fingers dancing wildly across the keys of her instrument, jumping up in key to match Dash’s lead while Sunset kept the whole thing grounded with a of tinny-sounding rhythm section.

The song then burst into a final chorus that ended each line with a fun scale that took the crowd’s sense for a ride not unlike a roller coaster, and after three of these fast yet smile-inducing rounds, Rarity’s fingers made a fancy trip from the bottom end of her keytar to the top, creating and effect similar to something one might hear in an old video game.

After the climb, the song began once again, and the girls played through the second and third verses just as fast, and with just as much energy as the first. The audience was right into it, cheering and fist-pumping as Flash, Sonata and even Aria bobbed their heads to the beat.

The piece ended with a bang, and the crowd threw their hands in the air, filling the place with a deafening roar. Looking out over the crowd, Rainbow Dash stood and looked out over the crowd, smirking with pride at her handywork.

Twilight emerged once again, clapping her hands --with the microphone tucked under her arm this time-- as she took position next the Rainbooms. “HA!” she laughed after bringing the mic up to her mouth. “Let’s hear it for the Rainbooms, everyone!”

Another roar lit the amphitheatre up; even The Dazzlings were clapping now.

“My gosh, that was fun,” Twilight said, bringing her phone up with her other hand. “How is the… oh wow. Looks like you guys liked that one.” She turned to look up at the displays, pressing the icon on the screen to post the results.

The screen behind the Rainbooms jumped up to ’$6529,’ for a center total of $15,324.’

“That’s up thirty-seven oh two, up from twenty-eigtht twenty-nine,” Twilight announced facing the crowd again clapping.

A high-pitched squealing could be heard over the applause, prompting Twilight to look over to her shoulder to find Rarity bouncing with giddiness, clapping her hands together rapidly, so elated with the results that Fluttershy felt the need to step in and place a hand on her shoulder to calm her down a notch.

Shaking her head, Twilight faced the crowd and laughed. “Great job, everyone, and thank you very much as always.” Then she gestured to the sirens. “Moving on. You’re up, Dazzlings; the ball’s in your court. You’re gonna have to pull out all the stops to top that one.”

“That’s shouldn’t be a problem,” Adagio said from the behind the drums, nonchalantly twirling a drumstick between her fingers. “Although the Rainbooms did step up their game by at least playing the right genre this time.”

This drew a scowl from Rainbow Dash.

If nothing else, Adagio Dazzle was an expert troll, and apparently her bait was far too delicious for Dash to resist, so she took it every time. I had already seen this time and time again throughout the show, and it was admittedly getting under my skin--partly because Adagio was trying to fluster the girls rather than just play a better set, and partly because Dash was not seeing the tactic being used on her. I taught her better than that!

“Excuse me,” I said to Vinyl as I stood and made my way out onto right of the stage, trying to stay out of view as much as I could. Approaching the drumset from the rear, I closed in on the siren, who turned abruptly when she heard my feet shuffling over the sound of Twilight’s voice as she announced the Dazzlings’ next song.

“Hey, knock it off with the psychological warfare,” I said, to which Adagio cocked a defiant brow. Seeing her up close caught me off guard; with her hair tied back, her smooth fair complexion was more visible than usual, her make-up accentuating her features to perfection, even after she’d built up a thin patch of perspiration on her forehead during their first song.

I shook it off though, resolving to stick to my guns. “Don’t think I don’t see what you’re doing,” I continued. “I wasn’t born yesterday, you know.”

The siren replied with an innocent shrug and a coy smirk. “Neither was I,” she said, looking down at the snare sitting before her.

“Yeah, well… you’re here to play music, not talk shit,” I fired back.

“Oh my goodness,” she sighed. “If you’re trying to get in my pants, who don’t you just come out and say it?”

I recoiled from this out-of-the-blue accusation, but then I quickly brushed it aside. I knew full-well what game she was playing, and I couldn’t let her draw me in too. Instead of giving her the reaction she was after, I narrowed my eyes and leaned closer, putting my face close to hers for a moment before turning my head to peer out across the stage between the cymbal stands. I locked eyes onto Fluttershy, watching her as she listened on to the conversations around her until I knew that Adagio was looking at her as well.

Finally, I turned back to face the siren. “You gotta pass the taste-test first,” I said, quickly turning away without waiting to see her reaction.

I made my way around to the rear of the stage where Twilight was standing, having finished her part. I stood next to her, folding my arms as The Dazzlings prepared for their next tune, which Flash was apparently having a little chat with Sunset and Rainbow Dash about.

“Yeah, the lead switches of between me and Aria, back and forth between guitar and keyboard. It’s pretty cool, actually; I think you guys’ll like it,” Flash was saying.

“Sounds cool,” Sunset said, arms folded. “I’m sure if the sirens wrote it, it’ll be pretty good.”

“Psh! Yeah…” Dash sulked. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

Flash rubbed his beard. “Eh, you guys have a pretty good lead on us now. We’ll see what happens, I guess.”

“What’s gonna happen is that Trixie and the Dazzlings are gonna mop the floor with you Rain-goobers,” Trixie interjected, placing her hands on her hips as she joined the small group. “That is, as long as Flashy-boy here doesn’t screw up like did CONSTANTLY during practice--unlike moi.”

This drew a disdainful scowl from Flash, which he sent her way. It was missed, however, because Trixie had already turned to saunter back to her place on the stage. After a quick glance at Dash and Sunset, he let his eyes fall to the stage, clearly ashamed of himself for being such a pushover.

“Hey, don’t worry about it, man,” Dash said, giving him a soft shot in the arm. “I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

As the Rainbooms retreated to their side of the stage, Flash drew a breath and reluctantly brought his eyes up to look around the stage, eventually landing on me of all people. After a little shake of my head, I raised a fist and gave it shake, signalling him to grow a pair and fire back at her.

He looked nervous when he saw the gesture, and his eyes wandered the stage once more before landing on me again, then Trixie for a moment before coming back to me.

I gave him a nod, hoping it would encourage him to go for it.

After staring anxiously for a moment, a look of resolve finally came over Flash, and he nodded back, drew a deep breath to puff his chest up and then exhaled as he turned to face the white-haired girl. “Hey, Trixie!”

She turned rather suddenly, caught off-guard by the sharpness of his tone.

He pointed a finger at her. “You know why I messed up more than you during practice?” He pointed at himself with his thumb. “Because I play lead guitar, and you play rhythm. Your part is just a bunch of easy-ass power chords. A retarded quadriplegic on ten pounds of mescaline could play your part--so yeah, you probably shouldn’t screw up!”

Trixie stared in shock, blinking a single time.

“Tell you what,” Flash continued. “How about you keep your little ‘tidbits of wisdom’ to yourself, OK? If I need advice on how to hang upside-down from a pole with my fucking balls hanging out, I might give you a call. Sound good?”

Trixie’s mouth dropped open.

I turned slowly, facing Twilight. She stared back, wide-eyed.

“Fuck, he’s gonna get his ass beat talking to people like that,” I said, shaking my head.

“I’ll say…” she replied, looking out at the blue-haired guitarist again.

“Good!” Flash said to Trixie, readying his guitar pick. “Now let’s play this goddamm song. Try not to choke, OK?”

Both the Rainbooms and the rest of The Dazzlings stared in shock--that is, until Sonata decided to speak up. “Wow. I’m actually kinda moist now. Let’s play!”

With a soft snort and a little shake of her head, Adagio reached up with her drumstick to tap the countdown on the hi-hat, adding a verbal ‘three, two, one’ once the tempo was set.

MUSIC

Adagio opened with a quick roll across the toms, and the song burst into existence with an intro that quickly and unmistakably distinguished itself as being dance track-inspired, blended seamlessly with the hard grit of metal distortion.

Aria came straight out of the gates with a dark-sounding synth lead, built on a foundation of thick, but cleanly separated chords provided by Trixie that were mirrored by Sonata on the bass. Unexpectedly, the purple-haired siren did not remain seated during this piece, rather she rose to her feet, kicked the stool out behind her and began to walk, her steps in time with the beat.

She didn’t go anywhere, however; under the keyboard bank was a treadmill that began to run at her command, which made her a bit of a spectacle to look at while she played--and the affect was hypnotizing, I had to admit. Many times, I had seen keyboardists try to look ‘the part’ while playing with a metal band, whether hitting the keys harder for banging their heads, and it never seemed to look right.

But this? This looked fucking cool, even more so that using a keytar--not that I would ever admit that to Rarity. Still, seeing Aria taking those long strides to the beat of the music made for an impressive spectacle on its own, even without the song. The simplicity of such a concept must have been frustrating to the Rainbooms; The Dazzlings had knocked it out of the park with this effect, the icing of the cake that was the already captivating music they were playing.

As the intro neared its end, Adagio laid down another drum fill, prompting the band to pause while Trixie hit a chord that rang out for a few seconds, followed by several notes on the keyboard to build up to the next section.

Flash, who as yet had played nothing, jumped in when the drums, bass and rhythm guitar resumed, taking a synth-backed lead with his guitar to move the verse along. For the first time during the show, he turned to face the crowd directly, having kept his back or side toward them while playing the previous song, and he took a step forward to lean into his playing, letting his head bang slightly as he played his part, which lasted a only few lines until Aria took over on the keyboards.

The rhythm changed during the pre-chorus, with Trixie and Sonata grouping the chords into fours, building the anticipation as they moved through, the notes rising higher and higher, matched by the rhythm until they reached a peak, followed by the entire band --save for the drums-- going silent, save for the keyboards repeating the same notes five times over, a groove that lead perfectly into the main chorus.

Standing with his feet apart, Flash threw his head back and launched into a smooth and melodic solo. The rhythm continued to punch away while he lead the catchy tune, and Adagio laid down a solid beat; her quick tapping back and forth on the hi-hats seemed to hypnotise the crowd like the steady ticking of a clock, and they bounced along with the rhythm like it really was a dance track. It was, in fact, but it was also metal. It was both: perfectly fused, perfectly married together in harmony.

As Flash finished out his end lick with a long final note, Aria jumped back in with the same opening synth riff that kicked the tune off, and they proceeded to go through the next loop.

It was hard not to feel bad for the girls, watching them stand there as The Dazzlings did exactly what their name suggested. If the sirens were good at anything, it was apparently putting on a hell of a show.

Sonata and Trixie stood side-by-side as they played in synch, the former letting her head bob from left to right as she fingered the deep thrums from her bass while Trixie let herself nod along to the beat, still looking quite put off by the verbal thrashing her bearded bandmate had just given her--and deservingly so.

Aria continued to stride along as she played, and Adagio hammered away behind those drums, her forehead and glistening with perspiration, breathing open-mouthed as her sticks swung down with perfect precision and timing.

Flash was the star of the show when the chorus returned, drawing on the newfound confidence he seemed to exude; the crowd threw their hands in the air as his guitar screeched into the night sky, seeming to reach beyond the edges of the amphitheatre to echo far across Canterlot.

Backstage, I leaned closer to Twilight. “SAY, HE’S PRETTY GOOD!” I shouted over the loudness, to which she smiled and nodded. “ARE YOU SURE YOU DON’T WANNA… YOU KNOW…?” I raised one hand to form a circle with my thumb and finger, and then proceeded to stick my other index finger through the middle of it.

She paused for a moment, sneered and then rolled her eyes, looking away.

“WHAT?” I shrugged. “THE PRINCESS IS IN THE FRONT ROW, DON’T FORGET; IF YOU DON’T GO FOR IT, I BET SHE WILL AFTER SEEING THIS.”

“FINE,” she replied, stepping away from me to get into position for the end of the song, which seemed to be drawing near.

Sure enough, the music drew to a close, and was quickly replaced by the roar of a thoroughly entertained crowd. Taking her cue, Twilight stepped out with the microphone raised. As she made her announcements, Fluttershy turned to face me, not looking to confident about the outcome of the battle.

After I gave her a little smile, she turned to set her tambourine on a stool that sat next to the drums and scampered gracefully over to me.

“I guess that’s it, eh?”

“Mm-hm,” she nodded, looking relieved that the show was finished.

“You did good,” I said, to which she lowered her eyes and shrugged.

“I dunno,” she replied. “I kinda feel like I let them down.”

“Nah.” I shook my head. “Your song was good. I liked it.”

“Mm. Sunset did make it sound pretty good.” She reached around the back of my neck for a hug, Following a little kiss on the cheek, she slipped behind me and began to pull on my shoulders.

“What are you doing?” I chuckled, looking back at her.

“Pick me up,” she said in my ear.

“What, you want a piggyback ride?”

“I wanna sit on your shoulders.”

I let out a chuckle. “You trying to get as far away from the stage as possible without actually leaving, or what?”

“Sure,” she said as I knelt down to let her climb up.

Once the backs of her thighs were planted firmly on my shoulders, I stood, letting my hands drape over her feet as the shy girl towered above the stage.

“Let’s see how they did,” Twilight was saying as she turned and gestured to the displays.

The screens updated as she did this, the one over the sirens changing to ’$7345’, with the total at ’$19,214.’

Rarity immediately clapped, and Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropped.

“We LOST!?”

“Heck yeah, we lost!” Applejack replied, stepping past the rainbow-haired girl to approach the other side of the stage. “The Dazzlins won fair and square, and they deserve it. They put on a hell of a show!” She reached over her bass to shake Flash’s hand, followed by Sonata and Trixie before heading over to the keyboards to reach across to Aria.

“But… we couldn’t lose!” Dash cried, hands outstretched in protest. “We chose a genre that we kick ass at!”

Sunset shrugged. “Well… hey, I guess Pinkie was right all along. Their songs were pretty awesome.”

Sighing, Dash turned to look behind the drumset to find a deadpanned Pinkie, sitting arms folded. After locking eyes for a moment, Dash rolled hers and groaned. “Ugh… we probably would have won if Flutters’d let us play her song.”

“Well, she didn’t, so…” Sunset replied, giving Dash a pat on the shoulder as she walked by to meet Flash and Sonata.

Adagio had emerged from behind the drums by then, being sure to add that victorious swagger to her step as she stood next to Trixie and folded her arms, listening to her band receive its compliments and congratulations.

Drawing a deep breath, Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes at the sirens. They were much better than she expected--but given their age and long-time relationship with music, she should have seen this coming, especially after seeing what Sonata was able to come up with in just a couple hours on her own.

The sirens had brought their A-game. But this is what irked her, because the Rainbooms didn’t. Dash turned to rear of the stage with a huff, spying Fluttershy sitting tall on my shoulders. “Hmph!” After watching the shy girl for a moment, she made a beeline in our direction, stomping her feet as she went.

“Fluttershy!” she barked, prompting the shy girl to look down at her as she stood before me. “We gotta play your song!”

Fluttershy stiffened instantly. “Um… w-why? I thought the show was over?”

“It IS over,” Dash fired back. “And they BEAT us!”

“Oh…” The shy girl ducked down, trying to hide behind my head, but only succeeding in letting her hair drape around my face. “I know, b-but… they did really good, we just--“

“We coulda did better!” Dash complained, fists clenched.

I put a hand out to get Dash to back down. “Hey, Flutters is right. The show’s over. It’s not the end of the world; besides, the whole point was to raise money for Rare, and both teams did a good job of that. You guys raised damn near twenty grand!”

“Ugh…” Dash started to turn away, but quickly came back to face us. “I know, but… there was more to tonight than just that. We were supposed to rock the sirens’ socks off, and we totally would have if you’d let us play your song!”

Fluttershy’s arms wrapped tightly around my head. “Oh… no-no-no, I think I made the right call on that. It wasn’t ready.”

Dash threw her head back in frustration. “Gah! Quit saying that! Your song is awesome!”

My eyes shifted upwards to hear her response, seeing those yellow forearms wrapped just above my brow.

“I-I don’t know, Dashie, but it’s too late now anyway.”

“No it’s not, fuck that!” Dash replied sternly.

“What seems to be the problem here, darlings?” Rarity asked as she approached, having noticed the commotion from the stage.

“Flutters won’t let us play her song!” Dash folded her arms.

After a short pause, the fashionista rolled her eyes. “Oh Rainbow Dash, it’s a bit late for that, I’m afraid.”

Dash stubbornly shook her head. “Nah, I say we go out there right now and play it!”

“What?” Rarity replied, surprised by the idea. “Right now?”

“Yeah…” Dash paused to look over her shoulder. “But we gotta hurry; Twilight’s gonna be done talking soon and then everyone’s gonna leave!”

Rarity rubbed her brow and sighed. “My goodness… why are you so strung-out on this, darling? I don’t see what the big deal is; we’ve accomplished what we set out to do.”

“Congrats on that, by the way, Rare,” I said, giving her a smile.

“Ah, thank you, darling,” she replied, flashing that heart-melting smile before facing Dash to hear her reply.

“I don’t like losing at my own game,” Dash said, pounding a fist into her palm. “It was my idea to play metal tonight, and we totally got beat by a bunch of pop stars!”

I cocked a brow. “Not Flash; that did was rocking it like there was no tomorrow.”

“True,” Rarity nodded. “He was spectacular.”

“That’s not the point!” Dash raised a finger to point up at Fluttershy. “We would have won if you’d let us play your song!”

The shy girl cowered, tightening her grip on my head. “Oh… I-I know but--“

“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity backhanded Dash arm. “Don’t blame her! It’s not her fault we lost!” The fashionista looked up to the shy girl next, softening her expression. “That said, I cannot understand why you refused to let us play it; it’s quite good, darling. I think it would have been a big hit with the crowd.”

Fluttershy relaxed slightly. “You think so?”

Rarity nodded. “Absolutely.”

“Dude, that song is totally crazy!” Dash agreed. “Come on, Flutters, let’s go out there right now and knock everybody’s fucking socks off with it.”

“Ohh…” The shy girl tilted her head to look down at me. “What do you think, Goldie?”

I shrugged, looking up at her. “I dunno. You guys wouldn’t let me in, remember? So I’ve never hear it.”

Rarity raised a finger at this. “Actually, darling, you have, technically.”

I furrowed my brows. “What? When?”

Dash waved her hands. “It doesn’t matter; we’re running out of time! Come on, Flutters, let’s DO it!”

Her grip tightened once again. “Oh… I don’t know.”

“OK… listen, Flutters,” I said, “I don’t know what this song sounds like, but if both Rare and Dashie are saying it’s good, I trust their judgement. And you should too.”

Pausing, Fluttershy drew a deep breath and groaned softly. “Why do let you guys put me through this stuff?”

“Because it’s good for you,” I replied.

“Hm…” The shy girl spent a moment sitting in silence, perched high on my shoulders. Finally, I felt an exhale blow against the top of my head. “OK. Fine.”

Rainbow Dash bit her lip and scrunched her nose, bringing her hands together loudly. “Alright! Let’s do it!” she shouted as she turned to head back to the stage, but then stopped to wave Fluttershy along. “You coming, Flutters?”

The shy girl tightened up again, shaking her head rapidly. “No. I’m just gonna, um, stay here.”

“What?!” Dash sneered, hands out in confusion.

“You don’t really need me for that song,” Fluttershy said. “The tambourine part really doesn’t add anything. You go ahead and play it without me.”

After watching the shy girl for a moment, Rainbow Dash looked somewhat torn as she finally nodded, and she turned to continue out onto the stage to approach Sunset and Applejack. We watched as she tried inconspicuously to get their attention, speaking quietly to them as they leaned down to listen before glancing backstage at Fluttershy and me, and then made their way back to the left side of the stage.

Rarity turned back to look up at the shy girl, looking rather concerned as she reached up to take her hand. “Darling, are you sure you don’t want to join us?”

Fluttershy drew a breath and paused. “I… I can’t. I’ll be too worried that they won’t like it.”

Rarity’s shoulders deflated. Then she closed her eyes. “Listen, Fluttershy,” she said, stroking the shy girl’s knuckles with her thumb, “promise me something, and I will make you a promise in return.”

The shy girl nodded. “OK.”

“Promise… that you trust us, to trust your friends, that when we tell you the song is good, that we’re not just trying to make you feel better. It really is very good!”

Fluttershy sighed. “Um… OK, fine.”

Rarity gave a little smile. “Thank you,” she said. “Now I suppose it’s my turn, hm?” Rarity paused to draw a breath. “My promise to you, darling, is this: this will be the performance of the ages! We will play your song, and we will play it well. We shall give it our all, and I promise you, people will love it. They’ll be talking about it for months to come, and they’ll remember it for years. You have my word, darling; you have nothing to be worried about.”

I looked up at Fluttershy. “That sounds like a good deal.”

The shy girl stared vacantly for a moment, and then she squeezed Rarity’s hand, smiling. “OK. Thanks, Rare. I-I know you’ll do good.”

Just then, Rainbow Dash came jogging back to us. “Hey, Rarity! You coming or what? We might be able to leave Flutters out, but we can’t do this one without you.”

After a quick glance at the athlete, Rarity looked up at her girlfriend as she released her hand. “Not to worry, Rainbow Dash. I’m coming.”

Excited, Dash clapped her hands together and pointed at Fluttershy with both index fingers. “Oh yeah! We’re so doing this! We’re doing ‘X vs Zero!’”

It took a moment for the title to ring a bell for me, but when it did, I quickly faced Rarity, brows furrowed. “”X vs Zero?’ Isn’t that that little diddy you played for me on the piano at the music store?”

She nodded. “Yes, the day you bought Applejack’s bass.”

My brows shot up. “You guys turned THAT into a metal song!?”

“Hell yeah, we did!” Dash laughed.

“With yours and Sunset’s help, of course,” Rarity admitted to the rainbow-haired girl before facing me again. “It actually translates quite well, surprisingly; I think you’ll be amazed at how good it sounds.”

“It’s awesome!” Dash added, giving the fashionista’s shoulder a pat to move her along. “You’re gonna love it. C’mon, Rarity!”

After one last smile, the fashionista turned to follow Dash to the stage as Twilight was wrapping up her monologue, and they got into position with the other girls, who were standing by and waiting to start.

“And lastly,” Twilight was saying, “I want to thank you all once again for coming out tonight, and thank you very much for the generous donations. You have no idea how much it means to us, and especially Miss Rarity. I have no doubt that she’ll put it to good u--“

MUSIC

Twilight’s eyes popped open when her sentence was cut short by Sunset and Rainbow Dash playing a tall, fast scale with Pinkie backing them up on the drums. Perplexed, the lavender girl turned to face her friends, and then she looked down at her phone to re-check her itinerary to make sure she hadn’t missed something. Coming to the conclusion that she hadn’t, she looked up at her friends again, shrugging.

None of them acknowledged her, though; they were too busy concentrating on their playing.

By then, they’d passed a section which was lead by Rarity, her keytar tuned to sound like a string section, before letting Dash take the lead on her guitar. The tempo was fast, making Pinkie flail wildly with her drumsticks as she kept pace, and Rarity had switched back to synth to back Dash’s lead while Sunset and Applejack shredded the rhythm apart like a pair wood chippers.

So far, I was unable to recognise the piece in this form. It had been months since Rarity had played it for me, so it wasn’t surprising that I couldn’t pick it out--that is, until a quick drum roll transitioned them into the next part, in which Dash backed down to let Rarity take the lead with the synth.

This part I recognised. This is where the piece began on the piano, although, now it was much louder and faster. It built itself up through the next few lines, preparing for the chorus, which I remembered as being quite upbeat and epic-sounding, and I began to wonder what they were going to do with it here tonight.

Dash took position next to the fashionista, readying her pick to join in on cue as Pinkie laid into another massive drum fill, followed by Rarity switching back to strings to play a little riff that lead into the main chorus.

And when that chorus landed, it caught everyone off-guard, including me--and I knew how it was going to go… sort of. Granted I’d already heard it on piano, but now, it was like they’d thrown gasoline on it and lit it on fire; it had been injected with pure energy.

Rainbow Dash and Rarity played the lead in unison, a smooth and beautiful, but massive and epic-sounding melody of guitar and strings combined, built on full, yet fast-changing chords from Sunset and AJ, and a relentless drum beat from Pinkie Pie.

I looked up at Fluttershy to see what she was doing, not noticing how tightly she was squeezing my head against her stomach. She simply stared out at her friends, not moving, but looking quite on edge.

I had no idea what she had to be nervous of though, it sounded amazing.

The chorus repeated a second time, this time ending on a darker note, which quickly jogged my memory of the first time I heard it. This led them back to the beginning, and they proceeded to make their way through the next loop, starting with Rarity lead on the strings.

This time I was able to hear that innocent little piano tune hidden inside this blazing musical insanity, and so I was able to appreciate it that much more this time around. Fluttershy and her friend’s really outdid themselves on this one.

I suddenly found myself thinking about that first Saturday dinner with them: how Fluttershy was so scared she could barely stomach the idea of sitting at the table with a stranger, making small talk with Rarity on the way to the parts store, playing video games with Applejack and Rainbow Dash. All of it seemed like a distant memory now, clouded by the events of the past year, to say nothing of learning many things about each of these girls--intimate things, seedy things, and, in some cases, unsettling things.

And now here they were, playing a superb piece of music in front of a huge gathering of people.

I was abruptly pulled from the reminiscence when I noticed Rainbow Dash and Rarity scamper to the front edge of the stage just in time for the chorus to begin. Once again, they played through that uplifting yet scorching riff as a pair of fireworks launched from both sides of the stage, illuminating the entire amphitheatre when they exploded while Dash stood below, her feet apart as she leaned into her playing, banging her head hard enough to thrash her hair around in a rainbow-coloured blur.

Just in front of her in the front row, Scootaloo threw her fists in the air and howled as her childhood idol played with all the energy and charisma she could muster. I smiled at the thought of Rarity thrashing her hair around in the same way, but both Fluttershy and I knew she wouldn’t dare mess it up after all the work she’d put into it before the show.

The song ended after the third round, finishing off with a long, rapidly-strummed chord that slowly climbed the necks of their guitars while Pinkie unleashed a drum roll that never seemed to end. I craned my neck to look up at the shy girl, watching her eyes widen in disbelief as the audience erupted into a massive roar; they rose to their feet in sections, some clapping, some pumping their fists in the air, whistling, howling, barking.

It was plainly obvious who Rarity’s patrons were, and who were there to see a metal concert.

I gave Fluttershy’s ankle a squeeze to get her attention, prompting her to look down at me. Smiling, I shook my head and chuckled.

“Flutters… that was fucking crazy. You did an amazing job.”

“You… you think so?”

“I think everyone thinks so,” I replied, nodding toward the stage. “Look.”

Standing off to the right, The Dazzlings stood with Twilight, applauding the Rainbooms’ performance, including --for the first time-- Adagio.

Fluttershy said nothing. Instead, she stared out at the scene, blinking.

Stepping forward again, Twilight slowly raised the microphone to speak. “Heh heh… I guess, uh… you got a little bonus tonight,” she said, facing the crowd. “Once again, everyone, let’s hear it for the Rainbooms.”

After a another surge of ovation, she continued--or was about to. “It’s not every day you get a--“

She stopped and raised her phone to check it, having received an alert. Then her eyes widened suddenly.

“Uh… this actually wasn’t part of the… uh, show.”

Rarity cocked her head when she heard this. “What isn’t part of the show?”

Mouth agape, Twilight looked up at Rarity, holding her phone up to tap the screen before looking back at the center monitor.

The total rose to ’$26,134’

Gasping, Rarity brought her hands to her cheeks and spun around to face the crowd. “Oh my goodness!” she squealed as she rushed over to swipe the microphone from Twilight. “THANK YOU! THANK YOU SO MUCH, EVERYONE!” she cried, her voice wavering slightly. “Thank you all so much for being here tonight and showing your generosity, and thank you for all the support you’ve given me over these past few months. I appreciate more than you could possibly know, and I want you to know that I love you all: my dear little sister, my associates, my employee and her family--each and every one of you!”

She turned to face the sirens, Flash and Trixie. “I also would like to thank The Dazzlings for their contribution tonight. Without them, donations would be down by one half, I’m sure--and let’s be fair, they put on a splendid show. A round of applause for them!”

Again, the crowd roared with appreciation as Adagio, Sonata, Aria, Flash and Trixie looked out across the sea of clapping hands, offering a few smiles, a wave and a blown kiss from Trixie.

Rarity faced her friends next, holding the mic with both hands. “And lastly, I need to thank my dear friends and fellow members of the Rainbooms. I don’t know where I’d be without any of you, and I’m certainly glad to have you at my side. I knew I could count on you throughout this whole ordeal, and you can certainly count on me to be there for you--anytime, through thick and thin, no matter what.”

By then, Rarity’s eyes had gathered a noticeable amount of moisture, and were threatening to send a pair of rivers down her cheeks to spoil her make-up. Dash, being the closest, reached out to offer a comforting pat on the shoulder.

“Oh!” The fashionista’s eyes widened suddenly. “And I have something else to say, before I forget: that song you just heard, it was written by my very dearest friend. She is someone I hold very close to my heart, and she worked very hard to bring us this masterpiece tonight.”

Rarity turned to face me and the shy girl, waving her arm to coax us out. “Come out here, Fluttershy! Come and receive the round of applause you deserve!”

I looked up at Fluttershy when she didn’t move. “Hey, she’s calling for you. Go on!”

She looked down at me, wide-eyed. “Right now?”

“Yeah, right now!” I said, slipping her thigh off my shoulder with my forearm.

She slid down my back and then scampered on a pair of feather-light feet to the front of the stage to meet her girlfriend, who wrapped her in a tight hug while the crowd exploded once more. The rest of the girls approached the front of the stage in a row, joined hands and raised them into the air, and then took a bow as the crowd remained standing, applauding the performance.

Elated, Fluttershy looked out over the sea of faces.

“You see, darling?” The voice that she loved said from her right. “They loved it!”

She faced Rarity, smiling, but then she turned to the left to look at The Dazzlings, who were standing off to the side, watching. Knowing they were deserving of their won recognition, Fluttershy extended a hand to invite them to take a bow with them.

After a short pause, The Dazzlings approached the front of the stage. Adagio joined hands with the shy girl, and the rest of the band followed suit --somewhat reluctantly in the case of Trixie and Flash-- and both bands, together, took one long bow that stretched from one end of the stage to the other, with Twilight standing just behind them, still clapping.

I watched from backstage with Vinyl standing next to me, nodding rhythmically to whatever was playing from her headphones.

Everyone stood to face the crowd, keeping their hands clasped. Turning to face Fluttershy, Adagio offered a little smile.

“I don’t say this often of someone else’s music,” she said. “But that was an impressive performance. Revel in this moment, for it is yours, and no one can take it from you.”

Fluttershy paused, surprised to hear this. “Um… thank you,” she said at last, with a heart-warming smile.

Something came over the siren when she saw this, and she let her eyes crawl slowly across the crowd in a daze, trying to figure out what it was. Gradually, it came to her. People were cheering for her. Not just for her, of course, but it was real cheering. Real appreciation.

These people weren’t under her influence, and their eyes were not glowing green. She was a part of something good for once; something positive, that made people cheer and applaud. Her eyes fell unintentionally onto Princess Twilight, who was standing in the front row, looking back at her.

Remembering what she was told that night in the front yard at Canterlot High, Adagio turned to face Fluttershy again, watching those pretty, demure eyes as they danced over the crowd, watching that proud smirk curling her lips. Such a peaceful, gentle creature, the siren thought.

And then she thought of what she saw in that parking garage, when this same girl leveled a group of full-grown men like it was nothing. What a deceptive appearance she had. Adagio found herself admiring this when it suddenly hit her: the only reason she was standing there right then, being cheered, was because of Fluttershy. If not for her, Adagio Dazzle would surely be dead.

After a moment of staring off into space, her eyes rose to meet Fluttershy’s once again, and after a short hesitation, she yanked the shy girl in by the arm and wrapped her in the tightest hug she could muster--right in front of everyone.

*****

“Nngh… I’m so close, Goldie--don’t stop!”

Biting my lip, I looked down at the shapely figure bent before me, watching that round, pink booty jiggle when it collided with my hips, again and again and again. I held her steady as I continued to drill, my hands gripping the swell of her hips, right where they began to flare out from that narrow little waist.

In truth, I wasn’t far behind. I was starting to feel that telltale stiffening, the tensions building in my loins as I watched my glistening shaft slip between those chubby, pink lips, leaving a creamy ring of fluid near the base of my length that’d accumulated during the course of the session.

I glanced to my left for a different view of the party-girl as she leaned over the vanity with her elbows, wearing nothing but a lacy bra and thong panties that were coloured in bright fuchsia, which clashed slightly with her skin colour--not that I cared. That curly, frizzy hair of hers draped over her shoulders and in front of her face, swaying along with my thrusts and blowing outward each time she exhaled.

Her bathroom mirror was beginning to cloud ever so slightly, the hiss of the tub faucet hiding the sound of Pinkie’s breathing and soft moans as her body quickly stiffened in preparation for another orgasm.

“Ohhh… here it comes,” she panted, her fingers gripping the edge of the sink as her head tipped back. “Ahh… now… NOW!”

I looked down at her backside when I felt those hot depths clamp down around my manhood, studying the lacy strap of her thong: it had been pulled to the side, stretched tightly across the left cheek of her backside to grant me access to that tight, juicy treat.

She howled with delight, her voice echoing noisily in that tiny apartment bathroom as I continued to thrust my rapidly-swelling length into her pulsating interior. The sensation of that slick, throbbing texture, hugging my erection as it swept along its length was becoming too much. That inevitable explosion, that satisfying release, was imminent; it was time to give the party-girl her prize.

“Getting close, Pinks,” I announced, my voice strained as the pressure was drawn right to the edge, my manhood tingling with anticipation. “You want it?”

“Oh… yes!” She ceased her moaning quite suddenly, her eyes popping open as she looked over her shoulder at me, reaching back to grab my wrist, squeezing it tightly as she begged for that hot filling. “Do it… DO IT, GOLDIE! Cum inside me! I wanna feel it!”

It didn’t take me long to oblige. Holding firmly onto her hips, I bit my lip as the pressure broke through that final barrier and overwhelmed me with pleasure, triggering my length to begin pumping my juice deep inside her.

The small portion of shaft left visible twitched violently, despite being hugged firmly by those pink lips. Feeling my delivery flow through me and into her, I looked up to watch Pinkie in the mirror; even with her face partly obscured by her hair, I could see a sense of satisfaction in her expression. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was open, the corners of which were pulled up by a little smile as she indulged herself in the sensation of that stiff girth throbbing within her depths, those hot, thick shots firing deep inside, relentless, flooding her completely.

Panting deeply, I closed my eyes and let my head fall back as I waited for the climax to finish, enjoying the feel of her tight, juicy warmth wrapped around me.

“Ooohhhh…” she moaned softly, her grip on my wrist finally loosening. “Wow, Goldie. That was good.”

I let a breath blow out between my lips. “You’re telling me,” I replied as I slid my hands back to give her backside a squeeze as I slowly began to withdrawal.

“Wait! Hang on a sec,” She let go of my arm to reach down past the edge of the vanity for the roll of toilet paper, giving it a yank with her fingertips to make it spin a length loose for her to tear off. She crumpled it into a ball and then slipped her arm under herself, reaching down between her legs until the tissue brushed the underside of my shaft. “OK… go ahead.”

I backed away from that beautifully plump derriere, letting my sex-glazed manhood slip away from between those pink folds. She quickly covered her crease with the ball of tissue as I stepped back to sit on the edge of the bathtub, watching the party-girl wipe the slick mess from her womanhood.

My eyes began to detect a visible haze in the air, and I turned to face the faucet, which was still dumping hot water into the tub. “Might as well turn this off,” I muttered, unsure if she heard it. I reached over and turned the knob with a squeak, plunging the little bathroom into relative silence. “Heh. Didn’t even make it into the shower.”

“Got a little distracted…” Pinkie said, giving her crotch one last wipe before withdrawing her hand, revealing a pair of squeaky-clean lips that peeked out from between her thighs as she dropped the sopping wad of tissue into the toilet.

They didn’t stay clean for long, though; seconds later, a thick, white bead of fluid emerged from her folds and oozed slowly down the length of her slit.

“Pinks, there’s more,” I warned.

“Huh?” She reached between her legs again to feel for it, her middle finger dipping into the stream and smearing it across her lip. “Oh crap!” She reached over to snatch another wad for toilet paper and resumed wiping herself again. “Jeez, Goldie-Woldie, you sure creamed the heck outta me!”

I shrugged. “Hey, every good pie deserves a good filling.” I smirked, looking down at the edge of the tub as she threw the second ball of soiled tissue into the toilet.

After hooking her thumb under the thong to pull it back to the center, covering her womanhood in hopes of trapping anymore cum that might escape, Pinkie stood upright, lowered the lid of the toilet and sat, staring at the ceiling as she exhaled between her lips.

Thin, but curly locks of hair hung in front of her face, obscuring her smooth, round cheeks. Her make-up from the days before was still there, slightly worn and faded away-- and smudged by a bead of cum that stretched the length of her cheek.

The way she sat, slouched down on the toilet seat, made her cute belly bulge ever so slightly; I was glad the transition into immortality, which had stripped her of some of her body fat, didn’t take so much that she’d lost that sexy, curvy appeal. The sight of her sitting like this, spent and completely satisfied, was so arousing it was almost enough to entice me into another round.

Her breasts, pink, full, and plump, were peppered with droplets of cum as well, which had run down like hot fudge on two big scoops of ice cream. Being bent over the sink and hammered from behind had caused her tits to bounce and climb their way out of that lacy bra, the left strap of which had slipped from her shoulder and down her arm, letting that cup sit lower than the other, which allowed the darker pink of her areola peek out above the lacy border, like the morning sun rising over the horizon.

As I let my eyes travel down her body, I noticed more of my juices next to her navel, having been smeared cross her belly during the session, and finally, a larger gob of it laid across her thigh.

After taking a moment to enjoy the afterglow, Pinkie drew a deep breath and then released it. “Wow, Goldie. Three times!” she said, facing me. “What’s gotten into you today?”

I shrugged and then leaned forward to reach across her lap, fetching some toilet paper so I could wipe the slick coating from my rapidly declining erection. “I dunno; just feeling frisky. One of those days, I guess.”

“We’ve been at it pretty much all morning,” she replied, reaching across herself to pull her bra strap over her shoulder before adjusting her bust so it sat properly in the cups. “What time is it, anyway?” she asked as she reached for her jeans, which were heaped on the bathroom floor.

After fishing her phone from her pocket and turning it on, Pinkie’s eyes bugged from the socket and she leapt from the toilet to her feet. “HOLY CRAP, IT’S ELEVEN-THIRTY! RARE-BEAR’S GRAND OPENING IS IN HALF AN HOUR!”

“Oh shit,” I said, lifting the toilet lid to throw the tissue in. “Here.” I reached over to turn the tub faucet back on before standing to tuck my manhood into my pants.

Pinkie paused, staring at the running water. “No! There’s no time for that!” she cried, pulling her hair in a panic. “We gotta go NOW!”

I shook my head and gestured to her midsection. “Pinks, you can’t go like this; your hair is all messy and you got nuts busted all over you.”

She looked down at herself for a second, and then shook her fists, growling. “GRR! Fine!” She reached behind her back to unclip her bra and then tore it away, releasing those giggling, pink masses before sliding her panties down to step out of them and then leap into the tub.

***

Pinkie Pie and I made pretty good time, honestly. We pulled into the rear parking lot and parked at about 11:57am, quickly hopping out of my truck to head for the rear door of the new rebuilt boutique.

It was the day of the Carousel Boutique’s grand re-opening, in the early weeks of October--just in time for the Fall Formal at Canterlot High. The store was set to open at noon, and the party-girl and I were just barely on time as we entered through the back door, Pinkie jogging through the back hallway in her tights and blue and white tu-tu, anxious to meet up with her friends.

We burst into the main showroom and found everyone else standing there, talking amongst themselves. The place was much more impressive than it was before the fire, with a ceiling that was now double the height, with a smooth-looking modernized arch at the peak, similar to a gothic cathedral, but without the intricate carvings and designs.

Rows of spotlights in alternating colours --pink, blue and violet-- illuminated the ceiling and upper portions of the room, showcasing large posters of famous or at least notable citizens of Canterlot who modeled various examples of Rarity’s work, while the floor and lower part of the space were flooded by clean white spotlights so as not to taint the colour of the pieces on display.

The customer service counter was in a similar position, although much longer and better decorated, with rows of violet LEDs running the length of its seams. Behind that was the doorway to Rarity’s much larger and more equipped work room, complete with wider shelves, poles to hang spools of fabric on, endless cabinets and of course, the latest and greatest sewing machines money could buy. Everything in both rooms sat atop a carpet that was back and white, with groupings of ‘floor tile’ checkers separated by straight, narrow strips that divided the design into a much larger grid--at the center of which stood the rest of the girls.

They turned suddenly, looking rather surprised when Pinkie entered, feigning laboured panting as she stopped to bend forward, leaning on her knees with her hands.

Then she quickly stood upright, smiling ear-to-ear. “Hey guys, did we make it on time?” she asked, no longer out-of-breath.

Rarity produced her phone to check the time, and then faced Pinkie with an arched brow. “You have less than two minutes to spare, darling.”

Pinkie’s shoulders dropped, and she exhaled noisily, letting her lips flap like that of a horse. “Oh thank goodness,” she breathed, swiping her hair way from her face as she looked around the place, listening to the soft thumping of bass of the song that wafted from the speakers hidden all around. “Wow, the place looks great, Rare-Bear! I…”

The party-girl stopped suddenly, and she began to scan the place rapidly, her brows furrowed. “Wait a minute… where’s all the party favours?” she asked, facing Rarity again. “Where’s the confetti cannons? The balloon bombs!?” She turned to face the massive, tinted from windows that looked out onto the main street. “WHERE ARE THE WACKY WAVING INFLATABLE ARM FLAILING TUBE MEN!?”

Rarity put her phone away with one hand and flipped her bangs with the other. “I’m quite sorry, darling, but I simply too busy for all that. Perhaps if you’d been here sooner, you could have looked after it, but I’m afraid it’s too late now,” she said, her eyes shifting onto me.

I gave her a smile and a little wink.

“Awww…” Pinkie slouched forward, letting her arms hang dejectedly as she walked away to approach Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

I put my hands in my pockets and approached Rarity and Fluttershy, who were both dressed to kill, clearing my throat before giving them a somewhat coy smile.

Rarity smirked and rolled her eyes, her long, black lashed whipping when she blinked. “Congratulations, my love. It appears your mission was a success.”

I shrugged. “Hey, you wanted her out of your hair. Ask and you shall receive.”

She stood up on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on my cheek. “Thank you, darling. Lord knows she would have had this place looking like a four year old’s birthday party, so I am grateful for your help. I take it you were able to find something to keep her busy enough to be late?”

I cocked a brows and nodded slowly. “Oh yeah… and let’s just say I made the most of it.”

Her expression faded slightly, and she stared across the showroom at nothing. “Ah… I see. Say no more, darling.”

“We fucked.”

“Ugh! I get it, darling.”

I let out a soft snort and looked up to have another look at the place. "So how's the drug racket going?"

Rarity turned toward me, mouth open, brows furrowed. "I beg your pardon, darling?"

I brought my attention back to her. "Well you know, when you killed Father Tirek, you became their new leader. That's how they work. Are they still trying to bring you your share?"

"Not lately. After I delivered that first two to the police, I told the next two when they came that I would outright cancel them if they returned."

"Hm." I nodded. "Not bad. I'm sure they're seeing diminishing returns by now. Twi was saying most of their business partners have pulled out since Tirek died--including the foreign ones. Which is understandable; I'm sure none of them really feel like dancing with a devil that can level a group like The Ministry almost overnight."

"Well said, my love."

This was when Sunset approached, pointing over her shoulder toward the front of the store. “Uh, Rare? You might want to keep an eye on Pinkie.”

The fashionista cocked her head, looking a bit perturbed. “Why? What is she up to?”

“She’s out front pretending to be one of those tube men thingies.”

Wide-eyed, Rarity leaned over to look past the red-head.

Sure enough, she spotted Pinkie Pie outside on the sidewalk, gyrating around with her hands waving in the air. Gasping, Rarity put her fists to her temples. “FUUUUCK!” she screeched, sprinting toward the front door.

I let out a chuckle as Fluttershy approached and took my hand with both of hers. “Poor Rarity. She’s so stressed out about today.”

“It’s gonna be great,” Sunset said, folding her arms as she shifted her weight onto one leg. “I tried telling her that, but you know Rare: she never listens.”

I nodded in agreement, facing Fluttershy as she cleared her throat, leaning closer.

“Um… did you, um… get some video this morning?” she asked, her voice lowered.

“Yeah, I got some pretty good stuff. I think you’ll like it.”

Elated, the shy girl scrunched he shoulders and squealed softly. “Yay!” she giggled. “That’s means I only have two more to get.”

Sunset shook her head, her upper lip curled. “You know, Flutters, you’re the only person I’ve met that likes to collect videos of her friends getting creampied.”

Fluttershy narrowed her eyes at the red-head. “You say that, and yet the three I have of you were some of the first ones I got,” she fired back.

“She’s got you there,” I said, looking sideways at Sunset, who rolled her eyes and looked away.

Outside, Pinkie turned to look over her shoulder when she heard the front door of the boutique open, but continued to wave in the imaginary breeze. In the narrow opening, she found Rarity staring back at her, brows raised, teeth gritted. “Hey. Look, Rare-Bear! Pinkie Pie, saving the day!”

“Pinkie Pie! Get back in here this instant!” Rarity whisper-yelled, her voice husky. “You’re making a mockery of my grand reopening!”

Pinkie stopped and turned to face her friend. “A mockery?”

“Get-- … Fuck!” Rarity threw the door open and marched out toward the party-girl. “Get your arse inside. Right now!” she shouted, grabbing Pinkie by the shoulders and giving her backside a boot.

“Ohh!” Pinkie stumbled toward the door, rubbing her behind as she looked back at the fashionista, who lifted and arm to point at the door. “Alright, alright! Jeez!”

Once Pinkie was inside, Rarity sighed, rubbing her temple as she glanced around to see if anyone saw that. There were a few people further down the sidewalk and across the street, but she was unsure if they’d noticed the commotion.

Then she heard a familiar voice from above.

“Rarity?”

The fashionista craned her neck to look up. “Yes, Adagio?”

On the roof of the boutique stood The Dazzlings --minus Trixie-- complete with guitars, stands, keyboards and a drumset, which Adagio was sitting behind.

“When is this big opening?” the siren asked. “We have another gig at four o’clock, you know. We have to be there on time to set up and all that.”

Rarity nodded, using her hand to shade her eyes. “Yes, I understand. We’re opening in less than a minute, actually, so I see no reason not to start whenever you’re ready.”

The sirens and Flash glanced around at one another, then Adagio faced Rarity with a nod. “Alright then.”

“Perfect!” Rarity said. Before she could head back inside, however, she paused to look up at The Dazzlings. “Now… don’t play anything too aggressive, if you don’t mind. This is a fashion boutique, not a metal concert.”

Adagio rolled her eyes. “Yes, we know. Don’t worry, we have just the thing.”

“OK.” Rarity nodded. Then she paused. “Er, darlings?”

The band looked down at her again.

“I just want to thank you once again for doing this,” Rarity said. “It means a lot to me; I just… wanted to you to know that.”

After a short pause, Adagio replied with a smile. “It’s the least we could do. And don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll draw plenty of people to your store.”

Rarity smiled, still shading her eyes. “I’m sure you will,” she said. “Best of luck you to!” She lowered her head and headed inside, hearing the sound of a hi-hat setting the tempo, soon to be joined by the siren’s voice.

“One two three, one two three, one…”

MUSIC

THE END

MLP EG FOREVER

STARRING

APPLEJACK

PINKIE PIE

TWILIGHT SPARKLE

RAINBOW DASH

SUNSET SHIMMER

RARITY

FLUTTERSHY

AND LAST, BUT NOT LEAST

THE GREATEST OC

OF ANY STORY

WRITTEN BY ME

THE ONE

.
THE ONLY

GOLDEN ARROW (stock photo)

THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR READING, AND FOR STICKING WITH ME UNTIL THE END

NOW FUCK OFF

"Hey, Sunset?"

“Yeah, Twi?"

“Can I get you to look at something?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“Handing Sunset my phone, which she accepts--before looking strangely at me.”

“Uhh… why are you talking like that?”

“Oh, well… the narrator is gone, so… we kinda have to describe what we’re doing or no one will know what’s happening.”

“Oh, weird.”

“So anyway, as you can see, I have the app open, and I’ve captured a shot from… when was that? I believe it was three days ago, but anyway, see if you can find anything of interest there.”

“… … …”

*Ahem*

“Oh… right. Um, I’m looking inquisitively --inquisitively?-- uh, at Twilight’s phone, and uh… there’s, uh … … … huh.”

“You see it?”

“I think so.”

“On the roof, next to that ventilation unit?”

“Yup.”

“What do you think?"

“Uh… I just sighed, and now I’m looking at you. Er... at Twilight, I mean. It looks like It’s time I paid a certain someone a little visit.”

“Agreed. And also, I’m smiling ominously... for anyone still reading."

BONUS

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 1: Car Trouble

Chapter 1

So there I was, driving down the road in the middle of the woods. Long and winding, trees on both sides with the odd grassy clearing or bridge over a small river occasionally passing by my side window. Another Saturday of work done, although it was only 12:30pm, since the shop I work at closes at noon on Saturdays. The drive home everyday is a long one, but I like it. It gives me a chance to have an enjoyable drive and think to myself.

There wasn’t much I had going on this weekend, so I kept the cruise in my truck set at a nice low 70km/h. I love this truck. I’ve had it for twelve years now: a mid 90’s Dodge pickup, with it’s Cummins diesel rattling along the highway as I drove. It’s like music to my ears. To be perfectly honest, at this point in my life, this truck is the only thing I really cared about; the closest thing to a friend I had.

Life has been quiet and uneventful these past half-dozen years, which is fine with me. I’ve had a bit too much excitement in the past, to say the least. I moved out here several years ago to settle and have some peace and quiet. Not much goes on around here in the mountains of western Canada…other than some talk of some weird happenings at a camp a few dozen miles from here. Everfree I think it was called? Supposedly there were some similar things going on at a local High School, but I don’t know much about any of it. Probably all rumors, you know how urban legends can get. I guess it all went down a year or two before I moved here.

I had been left a property pretty far out in the woods, just off one of the roads. Luckily it does have hydro and plumbing, but not much else. It’s basically just a barn. Well, maybe 'barn' is a bad word…it's more like a shop or a warehouse. I spent a few years making it liveable, and brought in what I need to be comfortable.

Normally, I'm not the type who really cares what people think, but the few locals I see on a regular basis think I’m kind of a weird loner who’s around twenty-five to thirty-ish years old, although the customers where I work seem to like me, and I talk to them like friends and I’m honest with them about their cars. I take pride in being a good auto technician, and some of the old guys appreciate that I’m very knowledgeable, even with old classic cars.

My mind was just lingering on the urban legends, thinking about how such stories get concocted and spread around when I rounded the bend and saw them. Their was a car pulled over and two young women were standing outside of it.

One was leaning on the passenger side door, and appeared to have a cell phone held to her ear.

"Good luck," I thought. "Coverage out here is pretty spotty. Sometimes it’s great, sometimes not so much."

The other woman was standing in front of the car. She had her arms folded and was standing with her weight on one leg, not looking very impressed.

Car trouble.

As I rounded the bend, they both turned in my direction. The one with the phone only glanced, then took the phone away from her ear and held it down at her chest to look at the screen. The other girl suddenly put her arms in the air and waved to get my attention.

“Shit,” I said out loud. “I’ve spent all week working on cars, fuck these two. They’ll be fine.”

As I got closer, I could see the one with the phone had a long pony tail that was rainbow coloured. She had a blue complexion and was wearing a darker blue collared shirt over a white t-shirt. The other girl who was waving at me had milky white skin and indigo-coloured hair which was styled like she was going to the prom or something. She was wearing a purple skirt with a silvery coloured, loose fitting shirt.

I gritted my teeth as I drove past them, trying not to feel guilty about leaving them there. As I passed, I sighed my relief out as I continued on to my free weekend.

That is, until I made the mistake of looking in my right hand mirror. The purple girl had her fists at her sides and was stomping her foot in the dirt next to her car. She appeared to be yelling something. The other girl hadn’t moved, she was still holding her phone and looking down at it. Except now, she was only holding it with one had and the other hand was holding her middle finger up towards me as I drove away.

“Shit.” I shook my head and stopped the truck. I put it in reverse and backed up to where their car was, parking in front of it on the side of the road. I waited a few seconds, letting the engine idle a bit before turning it off, feeling the familiar jiggle as the big diesel stopped running with the accompanying chirp of the fan belt that goes along with it every time.

I turned to open my door, but was startled to see with purple girl’s face just inches from my window. I felt a small jolt of butterflies go through my stomach and chest as I realised how attractive she was.

“Glad I stopped now…” I thought to myself.

Her face was one shade darker than white and her skin was flawless. She had very nice makeup on, almost as if it was her wedding day or something of that nature. Her eyelids had a vibrant shade of blue eye shadow on them, under which sat a pair of shiny sapphire eyes with many long, thick lashes surrounding them, and her dark, indigo hair was very nicely styled and swooped down one side of her face. She spoke, her voice muffled through the glass: “Can you help us?”

I pulled the door handle and my door popped, and she backed up so I could swing it open and get out.

“Sorry to bother you, darling, but my car has left my friend and I in a bit of a jam,” she said. She walked next to me as I approached her car.

“What happened?” I asked.

“We were just driving along and it started acting funny, like it was shutting down; the dash went crazy and it just stopped here.”

“Dead battery,” I thought to myself. I opened her driver’s door and was hit with a gust of vanilla-scented perfume that seemed to permanently flood the car's interior. I Looked to see if her keys were in the ignition, which they were. I tried to start the car, but the dash lights were dim and there was only a faint click when I turned the key.

“Your battery’s dead,” I said as I popped her hood.

“So what now?” she said, flustered.

“It’s no big deal, I have booster cables in my truck. I’ll just turn it around and get you going again,” I said as I opened her hood and set the prop rod.

I quickly got in my truck, fired up the engine and turned it around, pulling it up nose-to-nose with her car. I noticed her scrunching up her face as the strong smell of diesel exhaust filled the air.

I got back out, carrying the booster cables with me.

By this time, the rainbow-haired girl had put away her phone and was standing by the front of the car on the passenger side.

“Hey,” I said, glancing at her.

“Hi, thanks for stopping to help us,” she said, with a surprising genuineness.

“Well, you really got my attention. Most people wave with all their fingers,” I said with a bit of passive-aggressiveness.

She snorted a bit and chuckled. “Haha, yeah. Sorry about that, I was just a bit frustrated with our situation and then you drove right by us…”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said as I hooked up the battery cables to both vehicles.

I walked around to her driver’s door and reached in, starting the engine.

The rainbow-haired girl gave a victorious nod, “That’s awesome! Thanks, bro.”

The purple girl clasped her hands in front of her chest, “Splendid, darling!”
“How the fuck do these two know each other? They seem so different: the blue one is some kind of sassy tomboy and the purple one is all lah-dee-dah, and sounds like she’s…British? I’ve known many Brits in my day, but her accent seems a bit…off.”

Then I noticed her car had a loud buzzing noise coming from the engine, I walked over and placed my hand on the alternator which was vibrating badly.

I looked at the purple girl and informed her, “You need an alternator. That’s why your battery died. Was it making this noise before?”

“Well, yes…off and on for the past few days,” she replied. “Is that bad?”

“Yeah, your battery will die again. Where are you headed right now?” I asked.

“To our friend’s cottage for dinner,” she answered.

“Is it very far?”

“About 25 minutes from here,” she said, as look of worry slowly crept onto her face.

“You might not make it. You’ll need to get that replaced,” I explained, shutting her car off again.

“Well how on Earth are we going to do that now? How much is it going to cost?” She seemed to panic a bit.

I calmly said, “There’s a parts place back the way I came, they supply the shop I work at. They might still be open…depending on how busy they are. It is Saturday after all.”

“Are you a mechanic?” she asked with hope in her eyes.

“Yeah, I’ll go see if I can get an alternator for you and change it here,” I said, giving up my free afternoon.

“Oh darling, that’s so sweet of you, thank you very much! This is simply marvelous,” she gushed, bouncing with joy.

"This girl is so animated…” I thought to myself. “Is she for real? It’s like she thinks she's the Queen of England or something.”

“Whoa whoa whoa,” the rainbow-haired girl said, “What if you drive off and don’t come back and we’re stuck here?”

The purple girl waved at her dismissively, “Oh, pshh! Really, Rainbow Dash! I don’t think he’s the type to do something like that.”

“He almost drove past us in the first place,” Dash protested.

“But he didn’t,” the purple girl replied.

“Whatever Rarity,” Dash replied, seeming to give up and pulling out her phone again.

“How about this, I’ll go with him to get the parts. That way I can pay for it myself and I’ll know we’ll be back,” Rarity said.

Dash threw her head back. “WHAT? You’re gonna hop in a truck with some guy we just met and ride off into the woods? What are you, an idiot?”

I looked at the ground. Dash was being quite cautious, but she had a point. “Fuck, I should have just kept driving,” I thought to myself.

“Well, Rainbow Dash, you’re not leaving us with any other options. Our phones aren’t working out here so it’s not like we can call a tow truck,” Rarity said.

I finally spoke up. “Look, I have a tool kit in my truck. It’s expensive. I’ll leave it here with you along with my wallet and phone. Then I’ll have to come back. How’s that?”

Dash rubbed her chin. “Seems legit. That works for me.”

I walked over to my truck to unload the things I mentioned. I set the tool box on the ground and gave my wallet and phone to Dash. Up close, Dash was kind of pretty in her own way. She had very minimal makeup and I moticed mediately thy she had quite a well-toned body. She was actually quite small too, maybe about 5’5”, with a petite frame, but I would bet money that she could kick the shit out of the purple girl if she wanted to.

I got into my truck, shaking my head at the squabble I just witnessed between the girls. As I put the key in the ignition, my passenger door opened. I looked over to see Rarity trying climb in.

My truck is a 4x4, so it sits pretty high and she seemed to be having trouble getting herself up on the seat without being 'unladylike'.

It wasn’t working, evidently.

I could hear Dash outside, having quite a hearty laugh about it, which actually made me smirk a bit.

As she got into the seat and buckled herself in, she thanked me again and said: “now then, darling; lets go.”

I sat there looking at her, confused. “I thought you were gonna stay here since you know I have to come back for my stuff?”

“Darling, I insist. I want to pay for the parts and I’ll need to stop at an ATM to pay you for your time. Plus I could use a break from that Rainbow Dash.”

I Chuckled as she closed the door. “Don’t worry about paying me labour.”

“Oh, come now!” she insisted. “I-“

I cut her off. “Really, it’s fine.”

“Well, it is much appreciated,” she said after a short pause, followed by a smile.

I started my truck, and the loud engine made her jump. "Heh..." she chuckled, her cheeks flushing faintly as I pulled away from her car, heading back in the direction I had just come from.

“Good heavens, this monstrosity sure makes a commotion!” she said, loudly, so I could hear her. “And the smell!” she stuck her tongue out and made a gagging face.

This got to me a little. She was talking shit about my truck, and here I was, doing her a favour. “Hey," I said, "at least it moves.”

She looked at me somewhat stunned, realising she maybe had been a tad bit rude. “My apologies, darling. I’m just not used to these...types of vehicles.” She then continued, “My word, I have not properly introduced myself! I am...Rarity, and my companion back there is Rainbow Dash.”

I nodded. “Nice meeting you,” I replied, before returning my attention back to driving.

I noticed her looking my way still, so I looked over at her again. She had a half smile on her face still, then her eyebrows went up. “And you are…?”

“Oh sorry,” I said, suddenly realising my social faux-pas. “My name's Golden Arrow.”

“I’m delighted to meet you, Mr. Arrow,” she replied.

"Oh, Golds is fine," I said, glancing over at her.

"Golds?" Rarity cocked an eyebrow. "Not Goldie, or...?"

"Eh," I sneered a bit. "Goldie's a tad...flamboyant for my tastes," I explained.

"Ah," she nodded, giving her bouncy, swirled bangs a little flick. "I suppose that makes sense; what with this rambunctious-sounding truck and that scruffy-looking visage of yours."

I removed a hand from the steering wheel to rub my chin, creating an audible scraping sound as a my thumbnail ground its way through the rough stubble. "Who's scruffy lookin'?" I asked, giving her a playful smirk.

Rarity let out a giggle and waved her hand at me. "Oh! Hahaha! Well, it certainly isn't me darling!" she quipped, batting her long, thick eyelashes at me.

"No, I guess not," I replied. Noticing the flirtatious response I got, I looked at the road again as a light fluttering sensation rang through my chest.

"Not to worry," Rarity continued, "With a shower, shave and some fresh clothing, I bet you would look quite dapper; even handsome as a prince, I dare say."

I glanced briefly at the indigo-haired beauty, then returned my hand to the wheel and watched the road once again. "Hm."

After a short pause, Rarity spoke again. "Did I say something to offend you, darling?"

Unprepared for the question, I looked over at her again, noticing a rather concerned expression painted on her lovely features. "Oh," I replied, "no, you're good. I'm just a bit tired; I was on my way home from work when I found you guys pulled over back there."

Rarity nodded. "Ah, say no more," she said, followed by a gracious smile. "And I really do appreciate you stopping to help us, darling. It is quite sweet of you, giving up your Saturday afternoon for us."

I shrugged. "Think nothing of it. I've got all the time in the world."

We drove for a bit in silence, I went back to listening to the clatter of my truck until I passed the big mountain ridge to the west. I asked Rarity for her phone, saying: “Should be good reception here now.”

I called the parts place, gave the year make and model. They had one in stock, luckily, but the guy on the phone, who I was quite familiar with, told me they were closing in a few minutes.

“Come on, Al. I’ve got a little lady here who’s down on her luck. Can you stick around for a half hour?” I looked over at her for a moment as I listened to the phone. "Nah, she's finesse, bro," I replied, finally.

Rarity glared at me suddenly, raising an eyebrow as I began to laugh out loud at the reply I got over the phone.

"No Al," I said with a chuckle, "For fuck's sake, you know I don't really talk like that."

The indigo-haired girl smirked and looked down at her lap, realising I was just kidding around with the parts guy. Afterwards, she took to straightening her dress in a fidgety way as though she was flattered by what I said earlier; even though I said it in a douchey way, I had, intentionally or not, given her a compliment.

Al agreed to stay so we drove on. For the remaining half hour drive she started talking to me about different things. It turned out she liked clothing and fashion. A lot. She was talking about designers and fashion shows, and all kinds of posh shit, and after a while it became a bit like white noise. I was surprised, however, to hear she runs her own boutique where she designs and sells her own original work; she seemed quite young to have accomplished so much already. I didn’t want to ask her age, but she did end up mentioning her age in high school several years back, so I did the math in my head and figured she must have been about twenty-five or twenty-six.

At the parts store we got the alternator, which she paid for, and then we left. Al made sure to bat his eyebrows at me before we went, teasing me for bringing such a looker with me into the store. It made me chuckle to see Rarity there, looking like a fish out of water, surrounded by car parts and a few gruff male employees who hadn’t yet left work for the day. I’m betting they stuck around just to see the girl I mentioned to Al over the phone. Fucking perverts, I tell ya.

The drive back was about the same; she gaggled on like a rich school girl, and after a while I actually kind of liked her smooth voice and little accent. I started to think it wasn’t really an accent, but was just the way she liked to talk. It was the same as how she kept her hair and her make-up. All for image. The fact that she went to that much effort made me laugh a bit inside, but not in a bad way. She was very nice, after all.

Back at the car, Rainbow Dash was waiting, looking bored. She stood up from sitting on my tool box as we rolled up and parked. It was a pretty easy alternator to change; I had it done and started her car by about 3:30pm. After checking the instrument cluster to make sure the red battery light was off and listening to see if the new alternator was nice and quiet, I shut the hood.

“You’re all good,” I said. “You better get moving or you’ll be late for your dinner.”

“Oh we’re already late for that, darling. It was supposed to be an early meal,” Rarity said, “but, I’m sure they will understand.”

I packed the tools up in my truck and got my wallet and phone from Rainbow Dash, who gave a me high-five as a gesture of gratitude.

As I opened the door to get in my truck and drive off, I heard Rarity call my name. Looking back, I was met with the sight of her approaching me, saying: “Would you like to come along with us to our little soiree? Our other friends are there, I think you’d get along with them wonderfully. The young lady who owns the cottage is very quiet, much like yourself.”

“Fuck, there goes my whole day now…ah, what the hell. I’ll go. It’s been interesting so far, I’m actually kind of curious to see what the rest of these chicks are like,” I thought.

I must have taken too long to answer, because Rarity continued to speak. “It’s the least we could do. I simply must insist that you join us.”

“OK, lead the way,” I replied, then climbed in my truck and started it. I waited for her to head off down the road, then I pulled out and followed her.

Somehow -- and I don't know why -- I got the sense that following these girls to their little dinner was going to lead me into some kind of bizarre adventure.

Or maybe I just watch too many movies.

Either way, I was about to find out soon enough.

Chapter 8: Who Are You?

Chapter 8

I walked towards the metal door of my home, thinking of the girl who’d just kissed me. I thought about how I wished I was still there with her, pressing our bodies together, and how lonely I was already starting to feel walking up to my building, filled with nothing but cold, hard machinery.

There were no soft, warm, fragrant goddesses here. Why have I been living like this? Oh yeah, because I just met her a couple weeks ago. Before that, there was nobody. Nobody like her, anyway.

No one would ever find me here. There is a fairly large stone ridge with a forty foot drop that cuts through the woods, almost completely surrounding the area. No one hiking through the forest could ever stumble upon this place, and the only accessible way to get here is by driving on a dead-end road that no one uses. Nobody knows there’s someone living back here. It’s just an old logging road as far as anyone else is concerned.

As I approached my door, I reached my hand out to turn the doorknob…but then I stopped.

I don’t know why I stopped, but I did. I attempted to reach again for the doorknob, but I didn’t move. I couldn’t move. I tried to take a step back, but I couldn’t move my feet either.

It was as though an invisible force was holding me there, and all I could do was move my head to look around me, trying to figure out what had anchored me in place.

“Who are you?” a familiar, but strangely authoritative female voice sounded from my left.

I turned my head to see who it was. About twenty feet away, standing in my driveway was Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle. They looked the same as they did at the beach, except Sunset, who was now wearing a black leather jacket with orange chevrons on the sleeves.

Twilight was holding an open hand out towards me, which was emitting a dull lavender-coloured light from her palm. Unlike Sunset, however, she looked rather nervous, her eyes shifting continuously between me and her friend.

“I asked you a question,” Sunset urged, folding her arms as she lowered her brow at me.

With a shake of my head, I snapped myself out of the trance their presence had put me in. They were the first people, other than me, to set foot in this yard since I started living here. “Did they follow me here? They must have...and why does Sunset look so pissed?” As I was trying to figure it out in my head, I suddenly realised her question hadn’t been answered.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“What are you doing here?” she asked again.

“Uh, I don’t know?” I answered. “What are you doing here? And why can’t I move?”

Sunset glanced over at Twilight, whose hand was still outstretched.

Then it hit me.

“Wait...Twilight is holding me somehow; with…telekinesis? Is that actually a thing!?” The answer struck me like a lightning bolt.

“What are you doing here?” Sunset repeated.

My eyes shifted onto the building momentarily, and then back onto her. "I, uh...live here."

She and Twilight glanced at each other, brows cocked dubiously.

Then Sunset returned her eyes to me. "What do you want with Fluttershy?"

"Uhh...I thought that was pretty obvious, but I can get you guys some informative pamphlets, if you'd like."

Again, the girls glanced at one another, Twilight grimacing this time.

"OK, that?" Sunset said to me. "That is the 'way wrong' answer."

"Oh, come on!" I rolled my eyes. "I was just kidding! Jesus."

"Dude...seriously."

I drew a deep breath, then released an exasperated sigh. "OK, fine. What is it you want me to say? That she's a sweetheart? That she's loveliest thing I've ever met? That she's beautiful, and kind?"

"...And extremely trusting, at times," Sunset finished for me, eyes narrowed.

I stared back at her, feeling more than just a little perturbed by that statement. "She has no reason not to trust me. All I've ev-"

“Did you come here from Equestria?” she asked, stopping me in my tracks.

Dumbfounded, I stood, trapped in that invisible barrier as I stared vacantly at the tough red-head. “I...don’t actually know what that is,“ I said, slowly. "Can I ask you something? Are you completely out of your fucking mind?"

Sunset rolled her eyes, and then walked a few steps towards me.

“Please be careful, Sunset,” Twilight warned.

By now, I was becoming frustrated by these nonsensical questions, to say nothing of the invisible force not allowing me to move. “What do you want from me?”

“We want to know who you are, and what you are up to,” Sunset replied sharply. “I know you’re not human.”

These words made my mind stop. This was not true. “OK, so...that would make the answer to my previous question a 'yes.' OF COURSE I'M HUMAN!” I fired back.

“No, there’s something not right about you. I felt it; at Fluttershy’s, when you touched me,” Sunset explained, now standing only a few feet from me.

I knew it! Something did happen at Fluttershy’s, by the counter—but what?

“I didn’t do anything to you. Let me go,” I demanded.

She shook her head. “Not a chance. We want to know who you really are, and what you're planning on doing with Flutters.”

“I said let me go,” I repeated, my pulse rising.

Was I going to have to do this again? After all these years of peace and quiet, were these two women going to force me into this?

“Tell us what we want to know!” Sunset raised her voice.

“Don’t make me do this,” I pleaded. "I don’t wanna hurt any of you, if that's what you're worried about."

“Ah-ha! So there is something up with you; what is it!? What are you!?” Sunset demanded, after which Twilight glanced at her, appearing unsure if what they were doing was right.

“Fuck,” I said, closing my eyes. “Don’t say I didn’t give you a fair chance.”

Now, what most people don’t know about me is that I have something inside myself. Something that I’ve kept hidden from the world for many years; an unnatural strength that I know these women would not be expecting.

No one ever expects it. I have not used it for many years, and normally I refuse to let anyone see it—unless I have no choice.

I pushed against the unseen force, turning myself slowly away from my door to face them, meeting Sunset's eyes to see a twinge of uneasiness in them.

I used everything I had in me to slowly lift my foot to take a step, stomping my foot down ahead of the other, sending up a small cloud of dust from the impact. I pushed myself forward against the invisible force, my feet sliding in the dirt, leaving ruts and pushing up piles of soil behind my heels.

Sunset turned back to look at her friend, who’s hand was glowing much brighter now. She appeared to be using more power to try to hold me in place.

“Hold him still, Twi!” Sunset shouted, a look of worry spreading across her face.

“I’m trying!” she grunted. She appeared to stretch her hand out further, intensifying her hold on me. Her hand was glowing a very bright lavender-colour now, and there was a third point of blue light starting to emanate from her forehead.

I could feel the force on me grip tighter, but I fought against it. I bent my knees a bit, squatting slightly, getting ready to lunge, and after gathering all the determination and strength I could muster, I thrust myself forward. I could feel the force suddenly break away, and I stumbled forward on my hands and knees in the dirt.

Twilight fell backward unexpectedly, as though something had hit her, crying out as she went down. Lying on her back, she rubbed the side of her head as she tried to gather her thoughts and figure out what had happened, unable to see after her glasses had fallen off.

I was very close to Sunset now, who turned and ran for Twilight in a panic when I looked up at her.

“Let’s go, Twi! We’ve gotta tell the others!” she yelled, helping Twilight to her feet —interrupting the search for her glasses— and running with her to the bike.

“She’s gonna tell Fluttershy…” I thought, dismayed.

I stood up, brushing the dirt off my hands as I watched them hop onto a motorcycle that was parked near a tree, farther down at the edge of my laneway. As Sunset started the bike, I felt something move at my side. I looked down just in time to see my keys fly out of my pocket by themselves and soar through the air towards the girls. There was a dull lavender-coloured aura surrounding the keys as they flew towards Twilight, who was reaching back for them from her seat on the bike. After she caught them in her hand, the bike revved up and sped off down my laneway.

I pressed my hands on the top of my head and groaned, looking up to the sky.

“What the fuck!” I thought, defeated, and worried that my time with Fluttershy was coming to an end already. ”They know…”

I looked over at my truck, now useless to me without the keys. Mind you, there were ways to get it stared, but I would have to damage some parts, plus there just wasn't time to mess with that.

Chewing my lip, I looked off into the woods. I knew the direction to Fluttershy’s house; I could run straight through the woods. Nothing could stop me if I wanted to get there, not even the cliff. It’s a long way, however. Ten, maybe fifteen kilometers? But it is a straight line. Much more direct than the road that Sunset and Twilight were surely using on their bike. Still, I doubted I would make it to Fluttershy’s before them.

"Fuck it."

I started to make my way toward the treeline, but then I paused when I saw a pale glare coming from the ground before me, reflecting the moonlight into my eyes.

It was Twilight's glasses.

After bending to pick them up and inspecting them for damage, I shoved the thick-framed specs intomy pocket and then took off from where I was standing, each step flicking dirt into the air behind me. I had not made myself move like this in many years, but tonight it was necessary. I couldn't let the shy girl slip through my fingers and get away because of a little misunderstanding like this.

So I have superpowers. So what? I'm still a nice guy.

I crashed into the woods like a freight train, kicking up weeds, underbrush and rocks, snapping off three-inch-thick tree limps as I powered through, making my way to the shy girl’s house—being sure to protect the fragile item in my pocket.

*****

I ran for what seemed like about twenty minutes. I had already passed the cliff, handling the forty foot drop with ease and continuing on for bit longer before finally emerging from the trees onto a road, which I recognised immediately as the road that Fluttershy lived on. I had made it, but how far from her house was I? How accurate was my sense of direction?

I ran in the direction of her driveway for about five minutes before I saw the opening in the trees. I walked up the driveway, rounding the bend and arriving at the parking area in front of her house, noticing right away that all of the vehicles had returned. The old Ford truck was now there as well as Rarity’s car, and I could see the motorcycle leaning on its kickstand near the right-hand corner of the house. There was also Fluttershy’s SUV and the other vehicle that I assumed was Pinkie’s.

But there was no one around.

There was just one yard light on the front of the house, dimly illuminating the dark property. Only one dim light was on inside the house, which looked like the one above the table.

I stood there, unsure of what to do for a few moments, wondering where they were.

Finally, I decided to approach the house. When I was about halfway to the front door however, out-of-nowhere, a lightning fast streak shot past me, wafting a gust of air against me, stirred up in its wake. I didn’t see what it was, but it appeared to leave a rainbow coloured trail. It passed by me again, closer this time, causing another, stronger breeze to blow against me.

Then it came right at me, striking me in the chest with a powerful momentum.

Determined not to go down, I leaned into the impact as I slid backwards on the toes of my boots for about fifteen feet, leaving long, deep ruts in the ground. After finally coming to a stop, I looked up to see what it was that had hit me. To my surprise, it was Rainbow Dash, standing there with her shoulder down, having just rammed me in the chest at full speed with it. I was taken aback by this and hesitated, giving her the chance to shoot straight towards me a second time, shoulder-checking me again at lightning speed, causing me to slide backwards, this time staggering a few steps until I slammed up against the front of the old Ford, leaving a small dent in the grille.

I got off the truck and took a few steps towards Dash. “Stop,” I said, putting my hand out. Dash, appearing shocked that I was unfazed by her attack, let her mouth gape open in awe when I immediately stepped forward.

Just then, I felt two arms wrap around me from behind, pinning my own arms against my body. These arms were very effective at holding me still, possessing a strength like hydraulic rams with enough strength to crush a car.

“Just hold still there, partner.” AJ’s voice came from right behind my ear.

It was AJ holding me like that?. How was she so strong? How was Dash so fast? This wasn’t possible.

“Let me go, Applejack.” I gave only one ultimatum. She was unnaturally strong, but so was I.

“Can’t do it, sugarcube. Sorry,” she replied.

“No, I’m sorry. For this,” I said, shoving my elbows outward, away from my body, forcing her arms to slide upwards, off of my shoulders. Now free, I reached back with one hand, finding the back of her head to pull her over my shoulder, easily hurling her big frame overtop of me. She landed with her back on the ground in front of me, grunting loudly as her hat landed in the dirt beside her. I certainly didn’t want to hurt her, but I had to put her in a spot where she couldn’t get the upper hand on me again.

I looked back at Dash, who was lowering her stance as I stepped to one side so AJ wouldn’t be between us. I was anticipating another charge. It was easy to see it coming with her getting into position, winding herself up to come at me again with her mysterious speed.

Painfully predictable, in my opinion.

I quickly made the decision to lunge forward, and as anticipated, she charged at me again like a streak of lightning, however this time I had momentum against her, and she bounced off of me and fell to the ground like a pile of bricks.

“Ah, fuck!” she yelled, “What the hell!”

“HEY!” A shrill voice sounded from my left. I looked over to find the source of the voice to find Pinkie Pie standing near the left corner of the house. She quickly bent down to pick up a rock and prepared herself to throw it. As she did so however, it started glowing a sparkly pink colour just as she wound up and hurled it, sending the shimmering rock soaring at my head. I quickly ducked under it, then looked behind me to see where it would land. I watched the glowing object bounce a few times and land next to a tree on the far side of the driveway, where it sat for a few seconds, then flashed a bright, white light, exploding outwards with a surprising level of energy.

The shockwave hit me right in the chest, along with dirt, small rocks and other debris. I covered my face with my forearm to keep it clean, and then turned back to face the tree, watching with amazement as the trunk collapsed and split up it's entire length after being blown out at the base by the explosive. The tree creaked and started to slowly tip, gaining momentum as it fell across the driveway, the top of it crashing through the trees on the far side.

I looked back towards Pinkie, who now had her mouth covered.

Then I noticed the front door open. My heart stopped when I saw Fluttershy in the doorway glaring at me, not looking very happy to see me.

I was about to plead with them to stop what they were doing when something unexpectedly landed on my back. It wasn’t AJ this time, and it wasn't very heavy, but I could feel, however, that it was furry, and had large claws, which were reaching around me, digging deeply into my arm. I could hear growling and snarling right behind my head, and then hot breath accompanied by a wet mouth on the back of my neck, digging into my skin with long, sharp teeth while its sharp claws aggressively raked at my arms. As always, no harm was done to me, and I pulled my head forward, getting myself away from the attack. Finally, I turned my head see the snout of a mountain lion, which had jumped on my back to attack me from behind.

“Where the hell did that come from? Why would it come here in the middle of all this commotion?”

As the animal tried to hold me tighter with its claws and bite again, I swung my body hard to the left, causing the lion to slide off my right side a bit. I reached up with my left hand and grabbed its snout, shoving my thumb in its mouth and wrapping my fingers over the top of its nose to pull it off of me, throwing it on its side on the ground. It quickly returned to it's feet to face me, putting itself into an attack stance for a second, but suddenly, and without warning, it turned to escape into the trees and was gone as quickly as it came.

After taking a second to think, I decided I needed to get this situation under control before someone got hurt. "Stop this, you guys! I don't want to hurt you!" I shouted. "If I really wanted to hurt you, you'd all be dead by now!"

I squeezed my eyes shut as soon as I said it, instantly regretting my choice of words. "Damn, that was stupid. Why did I say that?"

I turned back to Fluttershy, who had stepped out of the front door and was now standing close to her SUV with both her hands covering her mouth. I took a step towards her, about to speak when I heard two voices ring out; one was definitely Pinkie’s, and the other voice sounded like Rarity.

All of this happened at the same time.

I noticed Pinkie with another rock, which was glowing pink like the last one. She didn’t hesitate to hurl it at me, screaming, “stay away from Fluttershy!”

At the same time, Rarity yelled from a place out of my sight. “You leave her be!”

As this was happening, a blue wall appeared before me, separating me from the shy girl. I ran into it with my face as I stepped forward, stumbling back after the unexpected obstacle appeared before me. It was smooth and clear, and appeared to be made of glass...or diamond?

Where did it come from?

As it wondered this, my attention returned to the glowing rock that Pinkie had thrown. It was still on the opposite side of the wall, flying in my direction. I watched it closely as it came and ricocheted off of the blue wall with a loud clack, then bounced away in the opposite direction.

Realising it posed no threat to me with the wall blocking its path, I had a very brief moment of relief; only to see that it had bounced back and rolled to a stop right at Fluttershy’s feet.

When the shy girl saw the pink bomb next to her, she covered her face in a panic with her arms and turned her back to it, too scared to have the presence of mind to run for cover.

I heard the rest of the girls scream, shouting at Fluttershy in a panic to get her to run away when they saw the danger she was now in.

“Oh shit, that's bad!” I thought, my stomach twisting up at the thought of the beautiful girl being injured, or even worse; killed. “I have to help her, I can’t let her get hurt!”

Without a second thought, I charged toward the clear barrier. Thrusting with my shoulder and using my legs for added power, I dug my feet into the ground and I slammed my body into the clear, blue wall with every ounce of strength I had; praying that it wasn’t stronger than me.

*Chapter 25: Lights Out at Carousel Boutique

Chapter 25

The next night, following our first training session out in the clearing -- which we had decided to call ‘Riverfield’ due to the fact that it was essentially just a field with a river through it -- Fluttershy and I were lying together on the chaise lounge watching TV. It was about 11:30pm.

We had decided to take the night off from training because Rarity had gotten a large order that day, and it had to be done in time for the weekend without fail. She had planned on working through the night to get them done, but as it turns out, luck was not on her side.

I received a text from her.

RARITY: I’m having an issue at the boutique. I need some help! It's late and I don't know who else to call. ME: What's the problem? RARITY: There's a light out in my work room. I put a new one in, but it's still not working.

I turned to Fluttershy. “Rarity’s got a light that’s not working at her shop, and she wants me to go help her.”

Fluttershy was too engrossed in the movie too look at me. “Hmm?” she mumbled. “Oh, you should go help her then…she’s got a lot of work to do…”

I glanced over at her for a second. “You wanna come with?”

My girlfriend shook her head.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

She nodded.

“Dang it,” I thought to myself. It had gotten awkward being around Rarity as of late. Maybe it was just my imagination, but it seemed to be getting worse as time went on.

I sighed, leaning over to give my lovely girlfriend a kiss on the cheek, and then I stood up to go put my boots on. I then went outside and hopped into my truck, fired it up and headed down the road.

It took about forty-five minutes to get into town, making it close to 12:30am by the time I parked behind Rarity’s boutique. I got out and locked my truck, then walked around the building to the front door, where I knocked gently and waited for her to answer.

It was dark inside the store. As I peered in through the glass door, I could see her coming through the showroom to let me in. It suddenly dawned on me, upon seeing her ghostly white face coming out of the darkness that it would actually be a pretty frightening thing to see if you weren’t expecting her to be there. That is, until you saw how beautiful she was.

When she arrived at the door, she smiled at me through the glass as she turned the lock and then opened the door to let me in. She had returned to her usual appearance with her styled hair and makeup for the work day, wearing the purple skirt with that loose fitting, light-coloured top.

“Thank you for coming, darling. I didn’t know what else to do,” she said in an elevated tone. “I have so much to do and I can’t see worth a damn in that room!”

Rarity led me into that messy room behind the counter to show me what was happening. On the ceiling in that room, there were three panels of fluorescent lights. One of them was very dim and flashing rapidly, making one side of her workspace very dark; not to mention distracting, due to the constant flickering and ticking noise coming from the fixture.

“I changed all of the tube thingys in that one and it’s still doing it. I simply cannot work in here like this! It casts too many shadows and I can’t see properly! How am I supposed to get everything done by tomorrow?” she whined, lacing her fingers together in front of her chest. She was fidgeting a lot, clearly stressed out by the situation.

“Why did you promise so much work so soon?” I asked.

She gave me a sideways glare for a second before flipping her hair and sticking her nose up. “I never turn down anyone; it is -- and always will be -- my never-ending generosity that sets me apart from my competition. Besides darling, everything would have been fine if it hadn’t been for this light!”

I waved my hand at her. “OK, OK…calm down. Let me have a look at it.”

She nodded. “So sorry, darling. I’m just completely stressed out tonight. I really do appreciate you coming to help me at such an inconveniently late hour.”

"Nah, it's not like I get tired or anything," I replied nonchalantly, climbing upon the stool that she kept in the room, fiddling with the tubes for a bit to make sure she had them installed properly.

Rarity watched with a look of worry as I climbed down after a moment, shaking my head.

“The ballast is gone. You need a new one,” I said. “Everything is probably closed right now so I don’t know where you’d get one, unless I took one from one of your showroom lights.”

She covered her eyes, groaning noisily. ”Oh this is just PERFECT!” she growled. Then, she perked up suddenly. “Wait a moment, the last time the electrician was here, I believe he said these particular lights go bad quite often, and he might have left me with a couple extras. I believe they’re in the stock room; let's have a look, shall we?”

I followed Rarity through the store into a back room full of many different items; rolls of fabric, boxes, cans of paint, spare lights, et cetera.

“Is this what you’re looking for?” she asked, pointing to a stack of boxes on the shelf.

I picked one up to study it. “Yup, this is it.” I looked at the rest of them on the shelf. “You’ve got quite a few here, which is good, but why did he give you so many?"

"A few bats of these eyelashes can go a long way, darling," she giggled, placing the tip of her index finger on her chin as she gave me a seductive stare; demonstrating the look she must have given the electrician when he handed over the extra ballasts.

I smirked and shook my head. "Hey, whatever works," I replied. "OK then, I’ll just have to run out to my truck and get some tools, and I'll have you fixed up in no time.”

The fashionista clapped her hands together excitedly, reminding me of the day I met her, when I fixed her car. In my mind, I suddenly pictured the image of her looking at me through the driver’s side window of my truck with that look of hopelessness on her face, after being stranded on the side of the road for who knows how long. Who could have expected the chain of events that followed: the girls finding out my secret, followed by two of them having sex with me a hot tub, eventually ending up eternally indestructible just like me?

“Oh my goodness! Thank you darling, you’re a life saver!” she cried, elated that we'd found a solution to her problem.

“Be right back,” I said, before heading outside to my truck to retrieve some tools. As I was unlocking my door, I felt my phone go off in my pocket, so I took it out and read the message.

FLUTTERSHY: How's it going? Is Rarity OK? ME: She's stressed. I think I got it figured out though. FLUTTERSHY: Oh good. How stressed is she? ME: Very, but she'll be fine when her lights are all fixed up. FLUTTERSHY: If u need to giver her something to calm down, then go right ahead, big boy ;)

I paused for a moment, my brows furrowing in confusion as I typed out my reply.

ME: Huh? FLUTTERSHY: Giver her some lovin if she needs it. ME: HA-HA very funny. FLUTTERSHY: ??????? ME: What FLUTTERSHY: U give her what she needs. That's an order, mister. ME: I don't think she needs that. lol FLUTTERSHY: DOOOO IIIIIIIIITTTTT! ME: OK crazy lady. I gotta get back to work. I'll c u later. FLUTTERSHY: :)

I grabbed a few tools out of the box behind my truck seat, and then headed back inside. As I walked in through the door again, I got another text from my girlfriend. I pulled my phone out to look at it and quickly snorted at the message.

FLUTTERSHY: U guys--> 8====D ({})

“Hahahaha!...what the fuck, Flutters,” I laughed, making my way through the showroom.

“Is that you, darling?” I heard Rarity ask from the back room. “What’s so funny?”

I cleared my throat. “Oh, nothing…just a funny email I got,” I lied, putting my phone back in my pocket.

I met Rarity in the work room, who was waiting patiently for me with the new ballast in hand. She had been messing around with one of the garments on the bench, and was now wearing her red-framed magnifying glasses.

Those glasses were cute. They made Rarity remind me of a sweet old lady when she was wearing them -- even though she happened be a young and completely gorgeous woman -- but even so, the charm and innocence remained.

I climbed up on the stool to start swapping out the ballast. Only a few seconds had passed before I heard Rarity’s phone buzz on the work bench.

She picked it up, turning to lean on the counter with her back while casually crossing her feet. She sighed as she tilted her head forward to read the message, peering over the red glasses with her sparkling eyes.

“Who could be texting me at this hour?” she wondered aloud. After a few seconds of reading, however, her eyes widened and her pupils shrunk down to little pinpoints.

I looked down at her, meeting her eyes with mine as she nervously looked up at me. Even in the dimly lit room, it was easy to see the bright blush colouring her face as her strikingly beautiful eyes locked on mine.

I knew immediately who had texted her.

“Fluttershy,” I thought, shaking my head. “Is that Flutters?” I asked her.

Rarity nodded quickly.

I rolled my eyes. “What did she say?”

Rarity suddenly hid the phone behind her back. “Nothing,” she replied innocently, her eyes darting around the room, purposely avoiding contact with mine.

I shook my head. “That crazy girl. I swear, she’s a fuckin nymphomaniac.”

Rarity sighed, realising that I already had a pretty good idea of what Fluttershy had sent her. “I'm afraid you're right, darling. I never knew she could be like this, even after all the time I’ve known her.”

“I guess I bring out the best in people,” I chuckled.

She smirked at me, then looked down at the floor. “I haven't the slightest idea why she would think doing...that...is going to help me tonight.”

I shook my head. “I know, right?” I agreed. “Like…maybe we could do that…or…OR, I could just fix this light so you can actually get your work done.”

Rarity laughed softly. “Precisely, my dear,” she replied, just a more serious look came across her face. “Should you be doing that with the power still on?”

I let my arms flop down to my sides, giving her a vacant stare.

“Oh, right,” she said, smacking herself in the forehead with the heel of her hand. “I forgot. I suppose it’s not such a big deal for you if you got shocked, is it?”

“You and me both,” I said, looking back up at the light before stopping again for a second. Then, I looked back down at her. “You know, maybe we should turn the power off, just in case I short something out. I wouldn’t want to fry the whole room.”

“Probably a good idea,” she agreed, setting her phone down on the counter to leave the room. “I’ll get it, darling. I know exactly where the breaker is.”

"OK, cool." I stood and waited on the stool for a few moments as I looked around, taking in the details of the room; there were scraps of material strewn about, scissors, measuring bands and pin cushions punctuating the sea of multi-coloured fabric that covered the countertop. It may have been organised chaos to her, but to me, it just looked like a fucking mess.

Suddenly, the power went off and the room went completely black. I could hear Rarity somewhere in the back of the store moving around, trying to find her way back.

There was a loud crash, followed by her voice.

“Whoopsie!” she called out, causing me to snicker at her cute reaction.

Finally, I saw her silhouette in the doorway, surrounded by the light coming from outside, cast through the front windows from the street lights outside.

“I wasn’t thinking, darling; I should have brought a flashlight with me,” she admitted.

“Here,” I replied, taking my phone out to open the app that uses the camera flash as a LED flashlight, handing it to her once the small bean of light pierced the darkness. “Hold it there so I can see what I’m doing, please and thank you.”

“It would be my pleasure, darling,” Rarity said, taking the phone and aiming it at the ceiling.

She watched in silence as I worked, removing the old ballast to swap in the new one, then connecting the wires and fastening it in place.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed two bright ovals shining in the darkness below, prompting me to turn and look directly at them, only to realise that it was her little red glasses with the light of the phone glaring in the lenses. I had forgotten that she was wearing them, and they were the only thing I could see of her in the darkness at that moment. As soon as I looked down at her, however, the bright ovals quickly swooped down out of sight. She must have thought that I had been gazing at her -- unaware that I couldn't actually see her face -- and had responded by bashfully turning away with her cheeks most likely blushing, which I wouldn't have been able to see in the darkness anyway.

I turned back to pay attention to the task at hand, smirking at the fashionista's coyness. When I was finally done, Rarity left the room, taking my phone light with her to turn the breaker back on. After a minute, the lights came on in full force, flooding the room in clean, crisp brightness.

She returned shortly after, gasping at the sight of her properly lit work space. “Perfect!” she giggled excitedly, walking over to the counter and setting my phone down beside her. “By the way, darling, you got another text from your girlfriend,” she informed me, with a flat tone.

I glanced at Rarity, slightly nervous about what Fluttershy might have sent. “Now what?” I asked.

“It appears she is quite insistent on us” -- she cleared her throat -- ”’doing it’ tonight.”

I shook my head. “Sorry. She gets a little crazy sometimes.”

“Oh, think nothing of it, darling. I understand.” Rarity waved it off. “I remember perfectly well what she was like in the hot tub.”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “Yeah, that whole thing was pretty crazy.”

After gazing at each other for a moment, reminiscing about that night in the hot water, she cleared her throat again and turned away from me to face the work counter. I put the cover back on the ceiling light and then climbed down to gather up my tools, setting them on the stool.

I walked around her roller chair -- the same one she was sitting in the afternoon I saw her swearing at that dress -- and headed over to get my phone, which was still on the countertop next to her. As I reached past her to pick it up, she turned around to go somewhere else in the room, not realising I was right behind her.

Rarity bumped into me gently, recoiling slightly when the tip of my nose hit her glasses, knocking them askew on her face.

"OOH!" she gasped, staggering back a bit, prompting me to reach around and put my hand on the small of her back to catch her. At the same time, she instinctively reached up to place her little, white hand on my shoulder to steady herself.

"Oh dear! Terribly sorry, darling," she said, her face flushing with embarrassment as she straightened the red glasses with her free hand. "How clumsy of me! I didn't see...you...th-th..."

Rarity trailed off, realising that our hands had found homes on each other's bodies. She stared over her glasses at me with those sapphire eyes of hers, her lips parted slightly, feeling her heart rate begin to increase as she leaned in slowly, tilting her chin up to meet my lips with hers. Her eyes closed when she pressed her lips against mine, drawing in a deep breath through her nose as she kissed me gently, reminding me how soft and full her beautiful lips were, and how intoxicating that vanilla scent of hers was. The kiss was brief, yet sweet; sending a wave of dizziness through my brain before she pulled back, breaking it off to look into my eyes again.

Hungry for more, she quickly came back for another, parting her lips for the second kiss to tickle my lips with her tongue, inviting herself into my mouth. I found myself unable to resist, and quickly granted her access as she lifted her hand from my shoulder to place it on my cheek, holding me steady as she drove her tongue deep into my mouth. My taste buds were flooded instantly with her sweetness when she danced around with my tongue, being sure to lick every bit of the inside of my mouth before she suddenly broke away, staring at me with worry in her eyes.

Shocked by her own actions, Rarity covered her mouth with both hands for a few seconds, then let them drop downwards, folding them against her chest “Oh goodness, I’m so sorry, darling! What am I doing? I should never have done that! I wasn't expecting you to be so close when I turned arou-”

I shook my head, stepping back. “It’s OK, I-I was reaching for my phone. It was my fault; I should have said something before coming up behind you like that."

After staring nervously at each other for about half a minute, I decided I'd better get out of there and head home, so I cautiously moved closer to her to try reaching for my phone again.

Rarity never took her eyes off of me. She was leaning with the small of her back against the counter, resting the heels of her hands on the edge as she watched me inch closer. Her face was expressionless, but I could see her beautiful eyes behind those little red glasses, blazing with arousal as she breathed softly between her full, parted lips. She wouldn’t move out of the way -- whether this was intentional or not was unknown to me -- and I was forced to reach around her again, having to look over her shoulder to see where my phone was sitting.

The fashionista kept her gaze locked on me, and I couldn’t help but look into her eyes as I reached past her, stopping when my fingertips were only inches from the phone. Frozen in place, my face was just above her right shoulder, and her head was turned to face me, putting us in a position where our noses were just barely an inch apart. Finally, after exhaling a warm, gentle breath against my face, her eyes slowly closed and she leaned in, opening her mouth slightly as our lips came together. Again, they were soft and warm, and I couldn't help but enjoy the feel of them against mine as her sweet, vanilla scent began to invade my senses all over again.

Rarity drew a sharp breath in through her nose, feeling the excitement rising within her as she turned herself towards me, wrapping her arms around the back of my neck to pull her body firmly against mine. She deepened the kiss, parting her lips against mine to let our tongues come together once again, slithering around one another in each other’s mouths, enjoying our sweet flavours as her perky breasts pressed firmly against my chest through our clothes.

As my heart rate began to increase, I placed my hands on the small of her back, feeling her tiny figure under my touch. She was smaller compared to Fluttershy, though not by a lot; her shorter height and small proportions gave her a similar figure -- save for a few minor differences -- just in an overall smaller package than my girlfriend. It felt strange having to adjust to this new girl, the amount that I had to lean down to kiss her was greater, and her frame felt tiny and delicate in my arms. Her scent was different, the sound of her breathing was different, and the way she kissed was different. All of it was new to me, and it sent a shiver of excitement up my spine, especially when she moaned softly into my mouth with her sweet voice.

She was delicious, like a piece of candy, and I couldn’t resist tightening my grip on her waist, pulling her against me, not caring that she more-than-likely felt my erect length poking firmly into her abdomen.

Just then, my phone buzzed on the countertop, causing both Rarity and I to stop. We opened our eyes, unable to move as we stood there, wrapped in each other’s embrace, looking at each other with our vision out of focus due to being so close.

She quickly released me and backed away, putting her fingertips to her mouth, looking remorseful for making out with her best friend’s lover. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be doing this; I mean, you and Fluttershy…”

I nodded, and then looked over at the phone for a moment before reaching out to pick it up. The message my girlfriend had sent shocked me.

It was as though she was reading our minds.

FLUTTERSHY: Remember, she spends every night alone now. Don't worry about me, just have fun ;)

I shook my head. “How does she do that?”

I turned the phone to Rarity, who then raised an eyebrow upon seeing the message.

“Maybe I should go,” I said, not knowing what else to do. I didn’t want to hurt my girlfriend. She might be saying it’s OK, but what if she changed her mind later?

Feeling rejected, Rarity stared at me with disappointment in her eyes. It was easy to see that she didn’t want me to leave her there by herself, and I couldn’t help but feel guilty for abandoning her.

Why was Fluttershy doing this? Why did she text Rarity ‘yes’ for me when she asked if I loved her? It seemed like a cruel joke.

I sent my girlfriend a text back.

ME: It doesn't seem right without u here

I looked again at the indigo-haired beauty after sending the message. She appeared to be struggling to accept the reality that she wanted someone who was taken; by her best friend, no less. She finally spoke. “It’s quite alright, darling. I’ll be fine here,” she said, looking down at the floor.

My phone buzzed again.

FLUTTERSHY: I love u. U love me. I love Rarity. It's OK for u to love her too. We're 3 of a kind. U might have made us the way we r, but I dragged her into it. She didn't ask for it, and we can't leave her out in the cold now. It's not fair to her ME: R u sure? I don't want to hurt u. FLUTTERSHY: I’m not jealous. I love u both.

I held my phone out to Rarity. She looked at it for a second, then briefly glanced up at me before reaching out to take it. She then read the texts.

A smile crept across her smooth, white face. “Isn’t she a sweetheart?” she asked, looking at me.

I nodded. “What do you think?” I asked.

Rarity pursed her lips, furrowing her brow as she thought about her best friend’s proposition. “She seems serious, not like her messages earlier. I don’t think she would push us so hard if she thought it might hurt her, would she?”

I shrugged, remaining silent.

“What do you think, darling?” she asked.

I sighed. “I don’t know. The last thing I want to do is hurt Flutters, but I also hate to see you like this, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel bad about what I did to you. Flutters is right, you didn’t ask for it.”

Rarity promptly shook her head. “You needn’t feel bad for me, darling. I have more energy, I feel fantastic all the time, I can eat whatever I want and I am more productive than ever. Not to mention I never have to fear pain or death” -- she looked me in the eyes and smiled -- “I will always be grateful for the gift you’ve given me.”

She leaned against the counter again, resting her foot on the seat of the chair, rolling it back and forth idly.

“Do you really mean that?” I asked.

She nodded and smiled, her eyes shining brightly as they looked over her glasses into mine.

I returned smile to her. We remained still for a while, gazing silently at one another.

Rarity finally turned to look at the door, then drew in a deep breath. “Oh, to hell with it!” she said as she suddenly kicked the roller chair across the room, where it slammed into the door at full speed, knocking it shut.

I watched as the door latched itself noisily, closing us in the room together. Next, I turned back to ask Rarity what she was doing, but was caught off-guard by the sight of her quickly coming towards me to grab the collar of my shirt, pulling us into each other and slamming our open mouths together. Her tongue came in again, invading me with unfettered passion, spreading her sweet saliva all over my mouth, moaning softly as her body melted against mine.

All of my worries quietly left my mind as the beautiful fashionista made her intentions known to me; turning loose every ounce of her pent-up arousal, ready to use her eager body to harvest every bit of pleasure she could from mine, with the simultaneous intention of returning all of it back onto me.

Giving in to desire, I gripped her backside and lifted her slender frame off the floor as she wrapped her arms around the back of my neck, giggling excitedly into my mouth while I carried her over to the counter to sit her down on it. As we continued to kiss each other deeply, her hands slowly travelled from my shoulders, up the back of my neck into my hair, where she lovingly twirled her fingers around in my short locks.

We then separated our lips, looking at each other briefly before she reached up and gently grasped my chin to stroke it with her thumb, enjoying the rough grit of my stubble against her dainty fingertips. “Fluttershy was right. You certainly are handsome, and so very rugged,” she said, with a slight pause and a tilt of her head. “You know, Golds; you’re not at all the type of man I would normally pursue. I have always made it my intention to be with someone more…clean cut, so to speak. Someone well-groomed and a smart dresser, and financially sound, but the problem is, it is difficult to find a good, genuine, loving man who fits that bill -- lord knows I wasted several years with that Blueblood imbecile -- but you, you carry a certain...allure, is it?” She paused briefly, her eyes shifting upwards as she thought for a second before locking those sapphire gems back onto me. “No matter. Your ancient life fascinates me, darling. It is so very exotic; and beneath your rustic, rough edges and deadly power lies a gentle and caring man…one who is protective and loving, and I see now that these posh rich boys did not possess the traits that I truly desired.”

“You mean, like…I’m the yin to your yang?” I asked, raising a sly brow.

“Precisely,” she replied with a smirk, reaching past me with her hand. There was a bright flash of light behind us, making me turn around to see what it was, only to find that the door now had a large, blue plate of diamond covering it, sealing us in the room securely. When I turned back to look at Rarity, she simply raised an eyebrow and smiled before opening her mouth to speak.

“I’m afraid you’re not going anywhere until I’m through with you, darling,” she said, with a seductive wink, after which she leaned back on the counter with her hands. Now in a reclined position, she put herself on display for me as I stood before her, taking in her beauty with my hips surrounded by her milky white thighs. She then shifted herself closer to the edge of the counter, bringing the warmth between her legs closer to me, her skirt bunching up between us as she pressed her crotch against the bulge protruding from the front of my pants.

Reaching up, she gripped the back of my neck and pulled me deep into another kiss, feasting on my lips and tongue with passionate vigor, moistening my face with her saliva each time her lips slid across mine. I broke away and dipped my head to taste her delicate, fragrant throat; nibbling my way down from her earlobe to her shoulder, eliciting a sultry giggle from her as I left a trail of moist dots on her sweet, white skin in the wake of each peck.

Once I reached her shirt collar, I stopped the stream of kisses and lifted my head to look into her eyes again. “Do you think this is OK?” I asked.

Her eyebrows went up. “Darling, I hate to think of what might happen if you were to disappoint our dear Fluttershy, hm?”

“I meant you, Rare,” I replied. “Are you OK with doing this, even though your best friend and I are…you know?”

Rather than answer my question, Rarity responded with stern instruction. “Darling, I would greatly appreciate it if you would refer to me as ‘Miss Rarity,’ if you wouldn’t mind, please.”

Surprised by the unexpected request, I stared vacantly at her for a moment, then gave my head a shake as I tried to respond. “I…Miss…what? You want me to call you Miss Rarity?”

“Mmmmm, yes,” she moaned, closing her eyes as she tightened her grip on the back of my neck, thrusting her hips upward to rub herself against the erection inside my pants, causing my eyelids to flutter when a jolt of blissful sensation shot through me.

“Uh…why?” I asked, swallowing hard as I tried to keep my concentration up.

She cocked her head to the side, sticking her bottom lip out while gazing up at me with puppy dog eyes. “Please darling, I just want to play a little game with you. I promise it will be fun.”

I sighed slowly, feeling slightly uneasy about what she might have had in mind. “This isn’t some kind of master/slave thing, is it? Cuz I’m not into tha-“

Rarity waved me off, closing her eyes as she shook her head. “Heavens no! That sort of thing is not my kink.”

“OK well, what did you have in mind?”

“I was thinking about something like…playing house,” she replied, pursing her lips.

“What do you mean?”

Rarity let her slender, white fingers slide from the back of my neck to poke her index finger into the center of my chest, where she drew an imaginary line straight down toward my navel. “Like…” -- she paused to bite her lip -- “I was thinking that you would pretend to be the repair man, and you’ve been called here to fix my light.”

We both glanced upward briefly, taking a quick second to look at the bright light fixture before bringing our eyes back down, locking them onto each other as she continued to explain.

“And I’m the lonely shop keeper who called you here,” she giggled, “and now that you’ve fixed my light, I might need you to fix me.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “Hm, this does sound interesting.”

The fashionista’s eyes lit up when she saw my interest in her game, and she drew in a little gasp of excitement before speaking again. “You’ll do it then?” she asked.

I drew in a deep breath and glanced at the light once more, then looked at her once again with a devilish smirk on my face. “OK Miss Rarity, what seems to be the problem?”

She gasped excitedly, licking and then biting her bottom lip. “I beg your pardon, sir?”

“Well your light’s all fixed,” I continued, “but I thought you said you had something else that needed fixing?”

“Oh! Yes, as a matter of fact, I do believe I may have a leak in my…” -- she briefly glanced down between her legs -- “in my basement.”

I followed suit, taking a quick look toward her crotch, hidden under her violet skirt. “Is that so? And what makes you say that?”

“Well,” she replied, letting a slow exhale escape through her teeth, clenching her jaw with arousal. “I couldn’t help but notice there has been a lot of moisture down there recently.”

“OK then, Miss Rarity,” I nodded. “Did you want me to take a look? Maybe I can plug it.”

Rarity covered her mouth, her eyes lighting up with a playful lust as she let out a high-pitched giggle. “Oh my, that sounds delightful! I think that’s a splendid idea, darling; perhaps you should have a peek then.”

She leaned back on the counter and brought her knees up, then straightened her legs so her feet were together, pointed at the ceiling, positioning her milky-white calves directly in front of my face. I gently placed my hands on the outer sides of her thighs and ran them downward towards her hips, letting my hands sneak inside her skirt in search of her underwear.

After hooking my fingertips over the top of her panties, I locked eyes with her again before proceeding any further. She was biting her lip with anticipation, her fiery eyes widening as she returned my gaze above the red glasses, which had slid down and were now perched low on her nose.

“Well?” Rarity said sternly, raising her eyebrows. “I’m not paying you to stand around and gawk at me, darling.”

“Yes, of course, Miss Rarity,” I replied, snickering at the absurdity of her game, but also finding it somewhat entertaining at the same time.

Backing up a step, I slid her panties off of her little, round ass, then proceeded to lift them upwards until I reached her knees. Her tall, purple boots were blocking me from going any further, so I let go of the undergarment with one hand to yank her footwear off one-at-a-time, then resumed sliding the lacy, black thong past her calves, reaching above my head to unhook them from her feet.

After dropping the skimpy underwear to the floor beside me, I brought my eyes back down to the backs of her thighs, catching a glimpse of the glistening white lips, peeking out from between her legs. Unable to peel my eyes away from it, I tilted my head to the side to keep her alluring sex in my sight as she brought her legs back down, but of course, it was covered by the purple skirt when her thighs found their homes at my sides again.

Rarity noticed my keenness and let out a playful giggle. “Did you see something you like, darling?” she asked.

I brought my eyes up to hers, feeling slightly embarrassed that she’d caught me ogling her privates.

Again, she giggled when she saw my reaction, followed by a raised eyebrow. “Perhaps you’d like to take a closer look?” she offered as she brought her thumb and forefinger up to lift her glasses up to the bridge of her nose, after which she reached down to delicately grip the hem of her dress.

She slowly lifted her skirt as I watched intently, separating her thighs to grant me a clear view of her moist slit. It was beautiful, like the rest of her; delicate, clean and well-kept, with her tender, pink folds peeking out from between those full, white lips, displayed in a vivid detail that had been absent in the dark, yet colourful hot tub. That night, the lighting on her deck was limited and she’d been under the water most of the time. In fact, the only time I actually saw it was when she stood out of the water, bottomless; however her thighs kept her lips pinned together, closing it up.

“What do you think, Darling? Do you like it?” she asked, catching me off-guard with the question. Snapping out of my daze, I tried to look into her eyes again, only to have my attention captured by her hands, which were making their way down between her legs. Using her fingertips, she gently peeled her shiny, white lips apart, opening herself up completely for me to see, revealing every detail of her anatomy to me.

It made me weak in the knees to witness such a beautiful lady putting herself on display like this, especially with such a gorgeous womanhood to show off. Every detail; every delicate, pink fold was perfectly sculpted. Surrounded by her smooth white skin, it was like seeing a fresh wildflower growing out of the snow, topped off by her neatly-kept, violet landing strip.

Instinctively, I dropped to one knee, positioning my face only a few inches from Rarity’s eager sex. “I uh…think I’ve figured out where the wetness is coming from, Miss Rarity,” I said in a daze, trying my best to keep myself immersed in her game.

She drew in a deep breath through her nose, her eyes widening in anticipation of what I was about to do. “What are we to do about it?” she asked innocently.

I had intention to respond to her, but the enticing, musky scent of her arousal had permeated my nostrils and taken control of me. So instead, I remained silent and leaned in to slip the tip of my tongue into her opening, avidly tasting the flavourful tartness of her warm depths before tracing upward to graze my tongue over her clit, which was still fully exposed by her prying fingertips.

As expected, she responded positively. “Ooh!” she cried, her breath hitching sharply as she pursed her lips and squeezed her eyes shut, relishing the sudden wave of pleasure that washed over her. “Mmmmm, that is…s-simply…oh dear!”

She tasted like heaven. Her juices were smooth and thick, carrying a slightly creamy, yet metallic flavour; not overly pungent or off-putting, just enough to remind me of what it was that I was tasting.

I continued to pamper her with my mouth, using my tongue to trace the soft, delicate ruffles of her minoras, encircling her opening and then her clit, which I would occasionally seal my lips around to suck on, drawing high-pitched squeals from the fashionista as her hips bucked against the sharp sensation that rang from her core and travelled up her spine. Eventually, her breathing became elevated, indicating the looming presence of an orgasm; ready to pounce on its helpless victim, overloading her senses with intense pleasure and limitless ecstasy.

At last, it came swift and sure, delivering a powerful explosion of bliss within her, racking her delicate, white frame as she tipped her head back and let out a high-pitched howl of delight. Acting on instinct, she released her grip on her swollen lips so she could run her fingers through my hair, thrusting her hips upward as she pulled my face firmly into her orgasmic flesh. I wrapped my lips around her supple folds in response, lapping up every drop of deliciousness that I could take from her.

As her breathing began to simmer, I slowly backed away from the pink delicacy; licking my lips in a vain attempt to clear away the slick moisture they had accumulated, savouring the sweet sound of her voice as her sharp cries of bliss slowly leveled off into soft moans of satisfaction. Her eyes reopened, gazing through the red glasses into mine as she collected her thoughts enough to form a sentence between breaths.

“Oh…oh my, that was lovely…” she panted, running her fingers through her swirled, indigo bangs.

I brought myself to my feet again. Unable to resist the beautiful fashionista, I quickly leaned in to connect her full, pale lips to mine.

She saw me coming and gasped excitedly in anticipation of the kiss, parting her lips as she reached up to grasp the back of my neck with one hand, supporting herself over the countertop with the other. The slick film of her arousal spread from my lips to hers, making the kiss infinitely more delicious than the ones that preceded it; a deep, lustful moan sounding from her throat as she tasted her own desire mixed with my saliva on the tip of her tongue.

Suddenly, Rarity broke the kiss and raised her index finger, holding it between our faces. “Wait darling, wait,” she panted, pausing to swallow, “you’re not playing along!”

With a furrowed brow, I drew my head back in confusion. “What?”

“With the game,” she explained. “I asked you a question, and you didn’t answer me.”

In all honestly, I couldn’t remember a single thing she’d said once that thong came off. “I…uh, my apologies, Miss Rarity,” I said, shaking my head. “What was it that you asked me?”

Keeping her face close, she let her finger rest gently on the tip of my nose. “I asked you how you were going to fix my…ahem, flooding problem.”

“Oh,” I replied, clearing my throat. “You need caulk, and lots of it. I bet that’ll fix you right up, Miss Rarity.”

Her eyes widened with excitement, followed by a tiny gasp. “Oh darling, you have no idea how thrilled I am to hear that; I hope you brought the biggest tube you have, seeing as how this wetness of mine is quite severe.”

I gave a single nod. “Absolutely. In fact I-“

My sentence was ended early when she struck like a viper, connecting our lips in another feverish kiss while reaching down to fumble with my pants. My heart leapt in my chest when I felt her trembling fingers claw frantically at my belt buckle, which she promptly made short work of, followed by the button and zipper of my jeans. Next, her dainty little hand shot inside my shorts and wrapped itself around my throbbing shaft, pulling it free from its confines while inadvertently squeezing a large drop of pre-ejaculate from my tip, sending it dribbling down her knuckles.

With a gasp, she broke the kiss to look down at the erection in her hand. “Oh dear, what a messy fellow you are!” she joked, releasing my length to turn her hand around to wipe the clear, slick fluid from the backs of her fingers onto my head. Afterwards, she resumed her grip on me, using the coating of juice to apply smooth, yet firm strokes, sending joyful shivers through my body each time her delicate fingers passed over the ridge and swept across the head.

Rarity brought her lips to mine once more; briefly this time, just enough to steal a taste my saliva before leaning back onto one elbow, looking down at herself. Her skirt was still flipped over and resting upon her midriff, leaving her delicate, pink slit fully exposed under the bright lights.

Pursing her lips, she brought my length down and pressed the bottom of my shaft against her crease, rubbing it back and forth over her clit, prompting her legs to quiver and shake with delight as I placed my hands on her milky-white thighs to gently rub my palms along them, feeling her muscles twitching under the skin.

After about half a minute of this, Rarity released her grip on me and leaned back on both elbows, peering over her glasses at me with a playful smirk on her lips. Those sapphire eyes of hers were on fire, and she appeared to be preparing mentally, readying herself to gorge on the pleasure she was about to receive.

I stopped for a moment -- a moment that ended up feeling like hours -- to look at the beautiful woman before me; leaned back on the counter with her legs around my waist, letting my erection lay against her exposed, wet folds as she gazed into my eyes, panting with arousal.

After seeing her in her natural state the previous night, it was striking to see her completely made-up again. Her was hair styled in those bouncy, coiled locks, her face powdered smooth like snow, with the stark contrast of her black eye-liner and thick lashes against her porcelain skin, along with the shiny, light blue eye-shadow that perfectly complimented the look. All of it made her completely gorgeous, but not in a phony sort of way like many people; now that I knew how beautiful she was underneath, it seemed to show through the façade of living the posh and seemingly stuck-up lifestyle that she did.

Still, her beauty was nearly untouchable. It’s not that she was more beautiful than Fluttershy; just beautiful in a different way.

Fluttershy seemed innocent. Her nurturing manner held an allure for someone who was looking for a partner who would be gentle and caring, and who longed to be held close and protected. As I learned, however, this was a bait and switch. Under the shyness was a devious she-devil who loved to be pleasured to the limits of what her body and mind could handle, as well as having a particular interest in seeing others pleasure each other right in front of her…while under her command.

Rarity was different. To the untrained eye, she was little more than an over-dramatic princess, who was vain and narcissistic, caring only of her clothes and appearance.

But she wasn’t like this at all. She was sweet; possibly even as sweet and loveable as Fluttershy, a fact that escaped many folks because her outward appearance indicated a very different personality. I couldn’t help but imagine how many male students at her high school must have viewed her as an unachievable goal; the majority of them figuring they had absolutely no chance with someone like her, unaware of the fact that she was far more personable than one might realise.

As my mind suddenly returned to the present, I found myself once again standing over her, resting my hands on her bare thighs with my rock-hard length nestled against her moist, eager slit.

How was it possible to for someone to be this beautiful? How had I not noticed it to this extent before? Looking down, I was struck once again by how exquisitely formed her womanhood was. To me, my erection looked grotesque in comparison to her lovely flesh, and I felt as though I would be soiling her perfection if I had my way with her right then.

Rarity had apparently noticed my hesitation. “What’s the matter, darling?”

Her question drew my attention back to her hypnotic gaze, and after staring at her for a few seconds, I blinked and rubbed my forehead to clear my thoughts. “Um…it’s just…” -- I bit my lip, then shook my head slowly -- “nothing, Rare.”

“Tut tut!” she scolded playfully, raising a finger. “That’s Miss Rarity.”

“Oh, right. Sorry, Miss Rarity.”

“Now what were you thinking about, darling?” she asked. “I can plainly see that you had something on your mind a second ago.”

“Ah, I was just thinking about how perfect you look,” I explained, “and how it would almost be a shame to make a mess of you.”

“We’ve made love before, darling. I simply cannot understand what you are getting at.”

I looked down at our sex, watching mine resting against hers. “Yours just looks so much nicer than mine,” I confessed. “I feel like…if I fucked you, it would be like walking through a spotless marble mansion with muddy boots on.”

Rarity furrowed her brows, glaring at me over her glasses. “Darling, what on Earth are you talking about? Don’t be ridiculous!”

I rubbed the back of my neck somewhat sheepishly, realising I was probably over-thinking things. “You’re right, that was pretty dumb. It kind of struck me just now is all; you’re like a goddess, Rare,” -- I shook my head quickly -- “er, Miss Rarity.”

She giggled, shaking her head. “Oh darling, what a cutie you are! Even at your age, and with such power, you’re still just like a puppy dog around a pretty lady. Such a romantic!”

I smiled, noticing her expression becoming more seductive as she reached up to stroke my cheek with her thumb. “Listen to me, sweetness,” she continued softly, “you are more than welcome to put that handsome cock inside me anytime you wish. Do you understand me?”

I wave of excitement and lust swept through me suddenly, and I couldn’t help but give her a dazed smirk in return. “Yes, Miss Rarity.”

“Now then,” she said, clearing her throat as she impatiently shifted herself on the bench. “What seems to be the holdup? It is quite rude to keep a lady waiting.”

“Oh shit, you’re right,” I said, “Let me, uh…”

“Ah-ah! Allow me, darling.” Rarity took her hand from my cheek, placed the tip of her index finger on the head of my erection and gently pushed it downward, sliding it down the length of her crease until it was pointed directly into her entrance. Then, biting her lip, the fashionista reached out with both hands to grab my belt loops, pulling me into her.

With a racing heart, I watched as my head disappeared between her soft, pink petals, followed by inch-after-inch of the shaft; marvelling at the intense heat of her interior blazing around me, enveloping me with smooth, hot moisture and heavenly tightness as I sank deeper into her.

Rarity’s lips were pursed, her brows furrowed as her flesh stretched to accommodate me, her eyes widening with delight when she felt the acute fullness of me occupying her supple, tight flesh. She didn’t stop pulling until our bodies came together, bottoming me out completely as she embraced my hard length inside her exquisite depths. A blast of hot breath came from her mouth suddenly, and we gazed into each other’s eyes, savouring the connection between us.

“Holy shit,” I muttered without thought, distracted by the feeling of her tight heat squeezing down on me.

She nodded in agreement. “Indeed!” she replied, swallowing hard, followed by a shaky exhale. “Now,” she panted, leaning back on her elbows again, “if you could be a dear and please fuck the living daylights out of me, it would be greatly appreciated.”

I leaned closer to plant a quick kiss on her lips, and then placed my hands on her waist as I pulled back, withdrawing from her pink folds until only my head remained inside her. Without warning, I thrust forward swiftly; our bodies slapping together when I reached deep into her with my length, drawing a sharp gasp from her, followed quickly by an ear-piercing yelp.

“AAH!” she cried, eyes wide with ecstasy and shock. “Again!”

I slid out once more, noticing the layer of glistening moisture on my shaft as I wound up and rammed into her even harder this time; causing the red glasses to slip down, ending up on the tip of her nose after the impact.

Rarity’s gleaming, sapphire gems locked onto me, and she shook her head as she spoke in a shaky, excited voice. “Oh god! How I’ve longed for this, ever since that night in the tub. Fuck me, darling!”

I didn’t keep her waiting. Continuing the deep, hard thrusts, I drew one loud moan of joy after another from her, watching as her head tipped back, letting her long, indigo hair pile up on the countertop behind her. Her eyes were closed, lips parted, breasts jiggling inside her bra under the light shirt as I hammered her body again and again, drilling deep in search of her orgasm, which I knew was waiting to be discovered just below the surface.

For me, Rarity felt like heaven. Each stroke was like a soothing massage; given by hot velvet wrapped tightly around me, sending waves of tingling pleasure from the head of my length, spreading throughout the rest of my body.

The fashionista’s breathing had now become shallow, her muscles stiff, and It was obvious that her loins were about to explode in a fit of ecstasy within the next few thrusts.

When it arrived, there was no doubt that she’d made it. It would have been hard to miss. First, she let out a howl that must have been audible from down the street, followed by her hips arching upward as her blazing womanhood clenched down around my length in a series of sharp, rhythmic pulses. Then, in a fit of wild passion, her eyes popped open and she sat up quickly, wrapping her arms around the back of my neck as she frantically kissed my throat, jaw line and lips between moans and soft whimpers.

Goosebumps came over me suddenly; the sensation of her sweet lips tickling and moistening my skin was exhilarating, combined with the cold feel of her glasses brushing against my face, contrasting with the tight, pulsating inferno that massaged my rigid length. Her hot breath wafted against my face as she gyrated her hips uncontrollably, her fully-lit body slithering violently against mine until finally, the orgasm released her and she leaned back, hanging from my shoulders by her fingertips briefly before slipping free, flopping onto her back with a dull thud on the countertop.

I watched in awe as she laid there, her bosom heaving with each breath as she stared incredulously at the ceiling; her heart hammering in her chest, punctuated by the occasional twitch of her insides, wrapped around my erection.

“Damn,” I said, with a small chuckle. “You OK?”

She shook her head slowly, her eyes staring off into space. “You, darling…are fucking magnificent,” she panted.

“Well, I uh…” I trailed off when I looked down, between her legs. As I took in the sight of her pink folds wrapped firmly around my shaft, it quickly became apparent that she had produced an abundance of fresh moisture in the wake of her climax, some of which had been spread from her crease to her inner thighs and across her mound, soaking her violet landing strip as well as my hard length in the heat of our love-making.

“Oh no,” I said.

“What is it, darling?” Rarity asked, sitting up part way to see, supporting herself on her elbows.

“I’m afraid your leak has gotten worse, Miss Rarity,” I said. “What do you think we should do?”

After a quick moment of thought, the fashionista gave a slap to the countertop next to her hip. “More caulk, darling! Right away!” she demanded.

“Coming right up, Miss Ra-“ I began to laugh at her response, unable to finish my sentence. “Hahaha! Oh god, I can’t take it; hahaha…that was fuckin funny.”

Rarity apparently found my laughter contagious, and she herself had started to giggle, covering her mouth with her fingertips as her hot interior squeezed me with every sweet titter, a sensation that I found rather enjoyable. Eventually, the funny moment had run its course, allowing us to regain our composure, only to end up gazing amorously at each other again, after which we leaned in and connected our lips once more.

This time, the kiss was tender and sweet. Our tongues came together, one caressing the other, licking the arousing flavour from one another’s mouths until we were interrupted by the fashionista, who had obviously been thinking about the source of our laughter from a few seconds ago. The corners of her mouth curled upward, smirking against my lips as a gust of air came from her nostrils and blew against my face, followed by a persistent giggle into my mouth from hers.

“So sorry, darling,” she giggled, breaking the kiss.

“It’s OK,” I replied, resting my forehead against hers. We laughed softly together, gazing into each other’s eyes with our noses almost touching as we enjoyed the humor all over again.

She took a deep breath after the laughter subsided, and then licked her bottom lip while exhaling through her nose. “Well, shall we continue?”

“It would be my pleasure,” I replied, standing upright and resuming my gentle grip on her hips as I began to work her tight flesh again.

My length was gliding through her effortlessly now; the additional moisture created by her orgasm became apparent to us very quickly once we’d resumed our activity, prompting Rarity to comment, as usual.

“Oh my, it did get wetter!”

One thing I was really beginning to enjoy about having sex with Rarity was how she liked to talk, even in the heat of the moment. She was never one to keep quiet in any situation, so it was really no surprise that she was like this, and to be honest, I was having fun with her. It was adorable in a way; how she maintained her poised attitude and classy politeness, despite the fact that she was spread-out on her work bench, lying on someone’s half-finished frock, having her wetness repeatedly drilled as the shameless, sloppy sound of our colliding bodies echoed throughout the room.

At first, it struck me as odd that she was so talkative now, compared to the hot tub incident. That night, she was fairly quiet. After some thought, however, it seemed obvious that the main difference there was the presence of Fluttershy, who had shocked both the fashionista and me into a state of mind where we mindlessly did as she commanded; which, to be fair, really wasn’t such a bad thing.

I smirked at her comment, gazing at her pretty face as she bit her lip and sat up so she could enjoy watching me disappear between her tender folds over and over again. Struck once again by her elegance, a vision of nature began to form in my mind; an image inspired by her smooth, pale skin and dark hair, an image that I suddenly felt the need to describe to her, knowing that she would more than likely be extremely flattered by it.

“You’re so beautiful, Rare,” I said, fighting to keep my voice steady as I primed her to be worshipped.

She shifted her sapphire eyes onto mine, breathing through her parted lips as she attempted a response, which proved difficult with her mind being shattered by each thrust. “That’s M-Miss…Miss…” -- she closed her eyes and shook her head -- “mmmm, oh forget it!”

I chuckled, struggling to keep my own mind from floating adrift in a sea of ecstasy as I continued to speak. “I mean it.”

“Ooohh…w-why thank you, d-darling, I…I…” -- Rarity paused to swallow, then continued panting -- “What is it that you ffffffind so alluring about me?”

After drawing in a deep breath to prepare myself, I began to speak. “You remind me of a clear winter’s night,” I said, feeling a wave of self-consciousness suddenly come over me. Despite this, however, I forced myself to continue. “Your dark hair is like the midnight sky, with the full moon casting a pale glow onto endless rolling hills of freshly fallen snow; its untouched surface sparkling and flawless, like your beautiful skin. The stars are shining down from above, trying in vain to mimic the alluring sparkle of those brilliant, blue eyes of yours.”

Even in the midst of pleasure, her expression went blank. Stunned by the compliment, her eyes eventually began to moisten and she cupped a hand over her mouth for a brief moment, before mustering a soft response. “Darling…that was lovely; thank you.”

I slowed my pace slightly, changing my methods to give her long, slow thrusts, enjoying the feel of her tightness sweeping over me inch-by-inch. “It’s true,” I said, to which she leaned up to plant a kiss on my lips.

Afterwards, she settled back onto her elbows, at which point I noticed how wild her hair had become. I had always wanted to run my fingers through her dark, silky locks; however I knew how anal she was about her hairstyle, so I had always resisted the temptation to touch it. Tonight, however, it was already a mess, so I decided to throw caution to the wind and dive in.

I reached out and combed my fingers through her bangs, feeling the cool smoothness of them as a wave of vanilla scent hit my nostrils, stirred up by my gentle tousling. She looked up and watched my eyes intently, allowing me to continue caressing her long, indigo locks -- much to my relief. One corner of her mouth curled up in a little smirk, giving me the courage to sink my fingers deep into the silky strands and run them down the length of her hair to her shoulder, after which I gently placed my hand on her cheek and used my thumb to give the red glasses a nudge, setting them higher on the bridge of her nose.

“My goodness, darling,” she panted, “you are such a fabulous lover; I can see now why Fluttershy enjoys herself so much with you. And those things you said earlier,” -- she paused to shake her head slowly -- “so sweet.” Her eyes went wide with concern suddenly. “OH! You mustn’t let Fluttershy hear you saying such things to me; she may not be too impressed with you.”

“Not if I can come up with one for her too,” I replied, quickening my thrusts again.

“There’s an idea!” she replied, her eyelids fluttering. “But how…oohh, how could you possibly top what you just said to me?”

“Hang on, let me think,” I said, chewing my lip as my eyes shifted to the ceiling. As I thought, I took my palm from her cheek and brought it down between her legs to dip my thumb between her slick folds, placing it directly on her clit.

“Oh dear!” she yelped, arching her back suddenly.

“Shh, I’m trying to think,” I said, smirking devilishly.

“B-but how can I…? Th-that’s not fair!”

“Shh!” I shushed her again, then looked down at her a second later. “I think I’ve got one,” I said, pressing firmly on that sensitive bud, wriggling my thumb rapidly as I pushed my entire length into her, drawing a series of quakes, frantic squirms and shrill cries from the fashionista. “How does this sound?” I asked.

“Let’s hear it, d-darling,” she gasped, gritting her teeth.

“OK, here it goes: Fluttershy, with her soft, pink hair and smooth yellow skin is like the sunrise; every moment I’m with her, I get to bask in the warm glow that she casts over me, reminding me that even when the world feels dark and gloomy, having her at my side will always brighten my day and make me feel whole again.”

The fashionista tipped her head to the side, a look of warmth on her face as she tried to stop her eyes from rolling back in their sockets. “Aww! Darling, that was…that was…aahhh…” her brows furrowed suddenly, and her body tightened up, prompting her to close her eyes tightly and raise an index finger. “A moment, if you p-please!” she squealed.

Her climax returned, ravaging her body a second time as I caressed her clit, continuing my mighty thrusts. Every sensation was intense; tearing her pulsating, porcelain body in every direction as her voice nearly ripped a hole in the very fabric of space.

Her legs trembled uncontrollably as the orgasm slowly subsided, during which I transferred my hand from her clit to her breast. Cupping my hand over it, I kneaded the soft tissue through her shirt as I shortened and slowed my strokes, giving her a much needed break from the powerful sensations.

“Oh god, darling, that was…” Rarity trailed off, closing her eyes for a moment to catch her breath. Eventually, she opened them again and gazed at me as she enjoyed the feel of my hand massaging her breast. “Umm…so where was I?” -- she perked up -- “Ooh! Fluttershy! You simply must tell her that! It was absolutely sweet, and lovely; and I believe it to be one hundred percent true.”

I nodded. “I’ll tell her.”

The fashionista wagged a loose finger at me. “See to it that you do!”

I raised my hands at her. “Hey, I said I’ll let her, OK?” I chuckled, receiving a playful smirk from her, after which I spoke again, changing the subject. “I’m sorry, Miss Rarity. I’m a shitty repair man.”

Her eyebrow rose. “Oh? Why is that?” she asked.

“Cuz your leak is worse than ever.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt it,” she said seductively. “What would you suggest then?”

I rubbed my chin for a moment. “I recommend applying the caulk from a different angle,” I said, withdrawing from her pink folds and backing up a step, gesturing for her to get down from the counter.

Rarity sat up and slid off of the counter, placing her feet on the floor. Her knees buckled suddenly, prompting me to catch her by the shoulders, holding her steady.

“Oh dear!” she giggled, reaching up to fix her glasses again. “It seems my legs have gotten a bit wobbly.”

I snickered and leaned in to give her a quick kiss. “OK, let’s get you into position then,” I said, turning her around to face the counter, her back towards me.

“Oh!” she replied, unsure of what I had in mind for her.

I placed one hand on her hip and the other on her shoulder, then guided her down gently, bending her over the counter so she was laying chest-down, bearing her weight on her forearms. Next, I grabbed that purple skirt of hers and flipped it up onto her back, exposing her lily-white backside to the room.

She had a cute ass. Smooth, round and petite, with flawless skin that was pale as the moon; silently inviting me to touch it, to grope it, and to enjoy it. Unable to resist temptation, I cupped a hand on each of her pert cheeks, kneading them firmly once or twice, before gently separating them to expose what was hidden in between.

What I found was a shiny streak of moisture that had migrated downward during the time spent on her back, along with a second opening; white like the rest of her, puckering tightly as though recoiling from the bright light. Below that resided her pink slot, spread wide by her open cheeks and glistening with moisture, inviting me to return to its heavenly depths.

“Ready, Miss Rarity?” I asked, positioning the tip of my length between the swollen halves of her entrance.

“I was born ready, darling,” she replied, looking over her shoulder at me.

I slid in without hesitation, burying myself in her moist heat until my legs came against the backs of her thighs, followed by my hands transferring themselves from her derriere to her hips so I could hold her steady.

“OOH!” she howled, squeezing her eyes shut. “YYYYYES!”

I resumed thrusting into Rarity from the new angle, savouring her tightness as I glided through it effortlessly, her wetness providing more than enough lubrication for me to charge full steam ahead without worry. Throughout the entire session, her interior felt nothing less than incredible, and by this point in the game I knew I was nearing the home stretch.

She knew it had to be coming soon as well, judging by my frantic breathing, not to mention the extra-rigid erection that ruthlessly pummeled her from behind. “Where do you want it?” she asked, followed by a blissful gasp.

“Sorry, what?” I asked in reply.

She turned her head partway to face me over her shoulder, keeping her eyes closed. “Where do you want to cum, darling?” she asked, licking her bottom lip.

I gulped and looked down at her ass as I considered the question. The bottoms of her cheeks were soaked by then, causing a lewd slap to echo around the room every time my hips collided with them, after which they would peel away from my skin like Velcro when I backed out for the next thrust. “I’m not sure, I…”

“I am yours to do with as you please. You deserve it, after everything you’ve done for me tonight,” she continued. “You can finish wherever you’d like; in my mouth, perhaps?”

“Uh…um…”

“Or if you prefer, I may even entertain the idea of letting you shoot it in my bottom,” she offered, much to my surprise.

I closed my eyes for a second, enjoying the feel of her deep, tight flesh inching me closer to release with every stroke. I knew it felt too good for me to leave, and even though her other offers were tempting, this was where I wanted it. “That's very generous of you, but I uh, I think where I am right now is as good a place as any,” I replied, letting out a long exhale.

She tipped her head back and closed her eyes again, letting her indigo hair wash down her back like a silk waterfall. “Ooohh, I couldn’t agree more, darling. I couldn’t agree more!”

“You want it?” I asked, egging her on. I had to admit; I loved hearing her saying these things.

“Yes!” she cried, followed by a long exhale.

“How bad?”

She shook her head frantically, stirring up another invisible cloud of vanilla scent. “SO bad!” she begged. “I can’t wait to feel it; when you drain yourself into my pussy…I’m aching for it, I want it so bad!”

These words drove me crazy. Her slang, her desperation, her anticipation; all of it turned me on even further, and in response, I kicked up my speed a notch and sprinted to my finish.

Rarity had turned to face forward again, her hair swaying around her face as she panted against the countertop, relishing the sensation of the girth that came into her again and again; stretching her, pleasuring her, carrying her swiftly towards a third mind-blowing climax.

At last, her eyes squeezed shut, her mouth opening wide to let out a scream of ecstasy as her loins hit peak pressure and then finally exploded, sending a shockwave of euphoric pleasure throughout her body. She balled her fists tightly in response, grabbing handfuls of scrap fabric on the countertop and squeezing them with all her might as she endured the overwhelming bliss that washed over her without end.

As this happened, I could feel her flesh tighten around me as she came again, and the unexpected firmness stimulated me to the breaking point, shattering the limits of my pleasure threshold. Triggered by the sudden spike of sensation, I tightened my grip on her hips as my manhood began to pump furiously, firing several thick jets of hot fluid into her, filling her pulsating depths in short order.

Rarity shrieked with delight when the felt the hot flood burst into her. “Ooooh, YES! Fill me up, darling; I love it!” she cried, gasping at the sensation of her flesh pulsing in harmony with my length as it finished delivering the load into her, leaving her breathless and completely satisfied.

Once it passed, we relaxed our bodies for a few moments. Rarity laid with her head turned, resting her right temple against the counter, her breasts squeezing flat beneath her as her lungs heaved her shoulders up and down, her hands now relaxed and laying palm-down on both sides of her head, having released the fabric that she’d latched onto during her orgasm.

I leaned into her, pressing my hips against her wet ass while protruding deeply into her flooded interior, drawing a sweet giggle from her each time the occasional post-orgasmic twitch struck my length.

Finally, she spoke. “Très bien, darling,” she said with a sigh, “that was, without a doubt, the most fun I’ve had at work, and I wholeheartedly thank you for that.”

“Anytime, Miss Rarity,” I replied. “Although, the leak in your basement still isn’t fixed; in fact, it’s WAY worse now.”

“Ah yes,” she nodded, giggling. “I distinctly felt one of the pipes burst…” She brought herself up to lean on her elbows and turned her head partway to look over her shoulder, but stopped suddenly when the movement revealed the sheer volume of fluid that had been deposited in her. “Ooh!” she gasped, her eyes wide. “That was a big one, wasn’t it?”

I let out a chuckle. “Let’s see,” I said as I started to withdrawal from her, prompting her to perk up in alarm.

“Oh! Wait, darling, wait!” she said quickly, “Give me a moment before you go, I just need,” -- she glanced back at me briefly -- “We mustn’t make a mess in here, you know,” she explained as she rummaged through the scraps on the countertop.

Finally, she selected a strip of red material and held it up to study it briefly before giving a little nod. “Ah, I won’t be needing this.”

With fabric in hand, she reached between her legs and cupped it over her mound, brushing the base of my shaft with the soft material. “OK, you may go, darling.”

As I slipped out of her, she quickly clamped the fabric over her crease, holding the load inside as she stood and turned to face me, leaning with her rear-end against the counter.

Rarity was slouched over slightly with her arm hidden under her skirt; her hair untamed and strewn wildly across her face, prompting her to run the fingers of her free hand through it to regain -- at the very least -- a small spec of composure. Clearing the hair from her face revealed her red glasses, which had fallen off one side, placing part of them in front of her mouth, resulting in a lens that had been fogged up after having her hot breath panted against it.

She adjusted the glasses with her free hand, daintily gripping them with her slender, white fingers to place them back on her nose. A slight grimace appeared on her face next, followed by a series of blinks when she realised she couldn’t see through the one side. She removed the glasses and held them about half a foot in front of her face, furrowing her brow as she studied them. Upon discovering the clouded lens, Rarity let her arm flop down, holding the glasses loosely at her side, looking at me with a loud exhale blowing from her lips, followed by a soft chuckle and a shake of her head.

“My goodness, this certainly is undignified, isn’t it?” she said, turning her head as she tossed the glasses onto the countertop.

Chapter 29: Fluttershy's Reveal

Chapter 29

Rarity was on her way to the Apple Family farm in her car, with Rainbow Dash in the passenger seat. They usually drove together when going out of town for the dinners, whether it was to Fluttershy’s, AJ’s or Pinkie Pie’s place.

“So what’s up with this text from AJ saying not to text Fluttershy or Sunset?” Dash asked.

“I don’t know, darling.“ Rarity replied. “I got it too, I haven’t the slightest idea what to make of it.”

Dash looked out the window for a moment, then back at Rarity. “Did you notice those two acting weird the other weekend at your place?”

Rarity stiffened. “I’m not sure what you mean. They seemed fine to me…” she answered.

Dash glanced suspiciously at Rarity. “…I wonder if this text has something to do with that.”

“I…I don’t know, darling.” Rarity replied.

They drove on in awkward silence as they continued heading down the road to AJ’s farm. When they arrived they saw Fluttershy’s SUV and Pinkie’s car already there. Sunset’s bike was there, too.

Big Mac and Cheerilee had gone out for the night, taking Apple Bloom with them to drop her off at her friend’s apartment.

“Oh, they’re both here…” Dash said. “Let’s find out what the hell’s going on.”

“Indeed, darling.” Rarity replied as she parked, taking her keys out of the ignition and getting out of the car. They walked toward the house, then entered through the side door, which led directly into the kitchen. It was a rustic old place, with light green cabinets that were worn and faded looking. The floor was black and white checkered tile and there was a large wooden table in the middle of the room. There were thin, lacy curtains in the window above the sink and tacky, peeling wallpaper all around the room.

Rarity hated it. As she and Dash entered the room, she saw Pinkie sitting at the table. “Hello, Pinkie Pie.” she said with a smile.

“Hi Rarity! Hi Dashie!” Pinkie greeted in her high-pitched voice as she waved frantically.

“Hey, Pinkie Pie.” Dash replied. “Where is everybody?”

“In there!” Pinkie giggled, pointing with her thumb to the doorway that led to the living room.

At that moment, they heard voices from the other room, coming towards the kitchen. Applejack came through the doorway into the kitchen first, followed by Sunset Shimmer, then Fluttershy last.

AJ and Sunset looked up at the two girls who just arrived as they entered the room. Fluttershy had her head down, looking at the floor. Her hair was covering most of her face.

Rarity became worried when she saw the shy girl looking like this. She hadn’t been this way for a few weeks.

“OK, are we all here?” AJ said loudly. The she turned to Sunset. “What about Twilight?”

Sunset shook her head. “Not coming. She ‘s finished her finals, but she’s staying in the city this weekend with her family.”

AJ clapped her hands together. “OK…we’ve got corn on the cob, pork chops and baked potatoes cookin. It’ll all be ready pretty soon.” she said as everyone started sitting around the table.

Rarity wanted to sit by Fluttershy to ask her if something was wrong, but she had already sat beside Pinkie and Sunset was sitting on the other side of her, so the indigo-haired girl sat at the opposite end of the table. As Rarity looked around the room at everyone, she noticed something didn’t seem right. Something was missing…or someone, rather.

“Oh, if I may, darlings…where is Golds?” Rarity asked.

The room went silent.

With a sigh, Sunset responded. “Well, Rare…that’s what we’re here to discuss."

Sunset and Applejack spent the next twenty minutes explaining what had happened that morning at Fluttershy’s. Sunset talked about the visit they got from Agent Cody and AJ talked about going to see me, explaining that I had left the area for the time being.

Rarity had her hand over her mouth the whole time, feeling a stabbing pain in her chest as she watched her shy best friend stare lifelessly at the table…knowing that the man who had changed her life was now gone, desperately hoping it was only for a short time. Rarity knew in her heart that she had developed feelings of her own for me, even though she knew she shouldn’t, nor could she ever admit it to her best friend. The shock slowly set in as they told the story, causing a lump to form in Rarity’s throat as she tried to hold back her tears. She tried her best to focus on the conversation.

“Doesn’t Golds live close to you, Fluttershy?” AJ asked.

Fluttershy nodded, lifting her head up to face everyone.

“Is there a chance that agent might be looking around and end up finding his place?” AJ continued.

“Um, no, probably not.” Fluttershy said quietly. “Even if he did, it doesn’t look like anyone lives there. It just looks like a shop.”

“That’s good then.” Sunset said. “One less thing to worry about.”

There was a short pause.

“I still don’t understand why Mr. Cody left so suddenly…” Fluttershy finally said softly. “He only asked me one or two questions…”

“Because, Flutters…” Sunset said, shaking her head. “He wasn’t there to ask questions. He was there to plant the bug. The questions were just a front…an excuse to get in the house.”

Fluttershy hung her head down again. “I’m so glad you were there, Sunset. It was amazing, the way you handled it. I wish I was more like you…” she said quietly.

Sunset smiled. “You did great too, Flutters. You just keep being you, OK?”

Fluttershy looked over at her friend, with a small glint of appreciation in her eyes after hearing the compliment.

After a short pause, Dash sighed, rubbing her forehead. “So, just like that, Golds is gone?”

Rarity saw Fluttershy close her eyes when she heard Dash’s words.

AJ put her hand out. “It’s only for a couple of weeks. Fluttershy just needs to go home, act normal, be quiet and everything will be fine. If Cody thinks she doesn’t know anything, he’ll leave and we can send a message to Golds, tellin him come back when the coast is clear.”

Sunset crossed her arms and looked at Fluttershy. “There’s something else you guys need to know.” She said with a sigh. “Come on, Flutters.”

Rarity’s eyes went wide. “Is she going to tell them?”

The shy girl slowly lifted her head to look under her brows at everyone. She had her arms wrapped around her midsection as if she was sick to her stomach. “Um…” she mumbled in a shaky voice.

AJ stood behind Fluttershy, putting her hands on her shoulders. “It’s OK…we’re here for ya, sugarcube.”

Fluttershy took a deep breath, but then decided not to speak. Instead she got up from the table and walked over to the stove. Everyone watched as she stood over the pot of water, boiling away as it cooked the ears of corn within. After staring at it for a few seconds, Fluttershy dunked her hands into the hot, steaming water and lifted out a cob of corn in each hand, then set them on a plate on the counter, next to the stove.

Everyone stared in shock as she pulled the oven door open, reaching in and grabbing the baking sheet with the pork chops on it. The water on her hands sizzled as she held the hot metal tray, lifting it out of the oven and setting it down gently on the stovetop. She turned back to everyone, who, with the exception of Sunset and AJ had their eyes open wide, their mouths gaping open in shock.

Rarity couldn’t believe she did it.

“Um…I’m like Goldie now.” Fluttershy said quietly. “I can’t die…just like him.”

“Holy shit…” Dash said in a low tone. ”Flutters…that was FUCKING AWESOME!” she shouted in amazement, throwing her fists in the air.

AJ shook her head at the blue-skinned girl. “I still wanna know how this happened…” she said to Sunset, folding her arms.

Fluttershy blushed.

Sunset knew Fluttershy would be too bashful to tell her friends how it happened, so she spoke up for her friend. “They had sex…his seed and her magic combined and made her like this.”

The rest of the girls looked at Sunset, then back at Fluttershy, who was blushing very darkly now.

“Whoa,“ AJ said, rubbing her forehead awkwardly at the new information. “So you guys bumped uglies…and that made you immortal like him?”

Fluttershy nodded slowly as everyone continued to stare at her. She finally spoke again, quietly. “He made me like this…and now he’s…gone…” The corners of her mouth curled down and her bottom lip began to tremble as the tears began running from her eyes. She put her hand over her mouth, squeezing her eyes shut, falling back against the stove…sliding to the floor as she wept uncontrollably. “I-I didn’t…even get…t-to say…goodb-bye…” she blubbered between sobs. She brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them and put her head down as she continued to cry.

“Aw…come on sugarcube,” AJ said, trying to comfort her friend. “He’ll be back soon...as long as we play our cards right. You have to stay strong, and most importantly you can’t let that Cody guy know what you are.”

“B-but…what if something happens…?” Fluttershy sobbed.

“Flutters…I know you’re scared…” Sunset said. “But even if the worst happens, just remember, you and Golds are going to be alive long after Cody is dead, so it’s not like you’re never ever going to see him again…”

Fluttershy sobbed harder. ”I d-don’t want t-to wait that long!” she cried, exposing her soaked face to everyone.

Rarity couldn’t take it anymore. Seeing her best friend crying like this was too much for her, especially compounded with the fact that someone she herself had started falling in love with was gone. She left her chair, sliding down on the floor next to Fluttershy…tears were already streaming down her face, leaving black lines on her white cheeks as the makeup washed down from her eyes with the moisture. They hugged tightly on the floor, weeping together.

The rest of the girls looked on in confusion.

"Uh, Rarity?" Applejack said, raising an eyebrow. "Don't ya think yer bein just a little but dramatic?"

“Yeah, Rare-bear!” Pinkie added, shaking her head in confusion. “Why are you so upset?”

Fluttershy looked up at her friends as Rarity continued to cry on her shoulder. “They might as well know…”

Fluttershy reached up with one arm, grabbing the pot of still-boiling water and pulled it down on top of Rarity’s head, soaking her with scalding hot water as a few ears of corn landed in her lap.

“AAAHH!” Rarity screamed at the sudden unexpected feeling. Her clothes and hair were soaked, her make-up washed down her face.

Everyone else stared in shock, even Sunset, who had her hand over her mouth in disbelief that the shy girl had just exposed her friend’s secret.

Rarity was about to scream in anger at Fluttershy when she realized that everyone had witnessed her getting soaked in boiling water with no affect to her body. She had her hands up with her fingers spread apart in front of her face as she slowly brought her eyes up to the rest of the girls sitting at the table.

After a minute of staring back and forth, Dash finally spoke. “Uhh…Rarity? You’re…?”

Rarity’s eyes darted around at everyone, realizing that they were now putting the pieces together in their heads.

Pinkie suddenly gasped loudly and stood up at the table. It quite was obvious that she had figured it out when she pointed her finger at the steaming fashionista and screamed: “HOLY CRAP! YOU RODE GOLDEN ARROW'S GOLDEN ARROW TOO?”

“…Oh dear.” Rarity said flatly, putting her wet face in her hands.

Sunset felt the need to speak up before the others jumped to any conclusions about Rarity. “Uh, they had a three way…that was initiated by Fluttershy...Rarity didn’t cheat with him…” she said quickly, as everyone turned to her. “Just so you know…”

Rarity and Fluttershy both sat there on the floor, their faces wet and red with embarrassment.

AJ glared at Sunset. “You knew about this too??”

Sunset cringed, tapping her fingertips together nervously. “Uh, yeah…kind of.”

“Whoa, what the fuck…” Dash said, getting up from the table to leave the room for some space to think. “This is the most fucked up dinner ever…”

*****

The evening continued on as the girls talked about the new power that Fluttershy and Rarity now possessed, as well as the agent who was stalking the shy girl. They went over the plan for the next two weeks several times…coming up with back-up plans as well, in case things went awry. Sunset pointed out that Cody was at a huge disadvantage since she already knew his entire plan after reading him, which he was unaware of, as well as the fact that his resources were extremely limited out there by himself with no support from CIA headquarters.

Eventually, after the sun had gone down, the girls started to leave for home. Pinkie had already left and Dash was sitting in Rarity’s car waiting to leave, not looking forward to the awkward drive home with the immortal fashionista.

Sunset and AJ remained in the house, talking about the situation.

Fluttershy and Rarity were standing in the driveway, facing each other.

“I’m sorry I dumped the water on you, Rarity,” the shy girl said quietly.

Rarity’s clothes were still damp, her hair was matted against her head with little yellow bits of corn stuck in her dark, purple locks. Her make-up had run down her face, almost making it look like she had melted. “Oh it’s quite alright; even though I still smell like corn,” she said flatly. Then she took a deep breath. “You know darling, you could have just TOLD them about my change into...immortalhood.”

Fluttershy sighed. "I...I'm sorry, Rare. You're right." She gave a comforting smile, but then her eyes were drawn to a small, yellow spec of corn stuck in the indigo bangs that hung next to Rarity's face. "Oh...there's a piece of corn in your hair; let me get it for you, Rare," she offered softly as she reached up to pluck the little bit from between the soft, damp strands. After doing so, the shy girl inadvertently let her thumb and forefinger graze Rarity's cheek and she gave pause to drink in the texture, mesmerized by the soft, silky smoothness of the fashionista's beautiful skin.

Even after all the years she had known Rarity, Fluttershy couldn't recall a time when she'd touched that flawless, white cheek, at least not like this; it was soft, warm and inviting, and it made the shy girl want to lean in and touch her own cheek to it, to take in her scent, her taste...her usual taste, that is. Maybe tonight was not the best night for this type of exploration.

It was then that she noticed the sapphire eyes of her friend staring back at her, wide and full of surprise, caught off-guard by the loving touch of her friend's graceful digits. Staring at each other in a daze, both of them suddenly experienced a flurry of butterflies in their stomachs; batting around within their chests as though trying to escape so they could meet in one large swarm in the tense space between where the girls were standing.

As always, nervousness had gotten the better of her, so Fluttershy forced herself to end a moment that she both loved and was simultaneously petrified of. She smiled and, out-of-nowhere, she swung her fist at Rarity’s face, stopping it just before making contact.

"Eep!" The fashionista squinted and quickly turned her head to the side. “Fluttershy! What on Earth?” Rarity shrieked, looking back at her friend.

“You flinched,” Fluttershy said flatly, changing her tone. “You failed.”

Rarity scowled for a second, then her face went limp as she remembered their first lesson at Riverfield.

“We need to get serious.” Fluttershy said in a low tone. “Goldie was right. These things -- like Mr. Cody -- they just show up whenever they want. They don’t wait for us to be ready. WE have to be ready.”

Rarity took a deep breath as a serious look appeared on her face. “You’re absolutely right, darling.”

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. “Have you been doing your homework?”

Rarity sighed. “A little,” she said. She then raised her chin, showing a new level of ambition. “But I shall double my efforts, starting tonight.”

“Good.” Fluttershy replied.

*****

Fluttershy had a very long week at home alone. She kept the TV on throughout the evenings, just to keep some white noise going in the background as she let the hours waste away alone in her house.

Cody never followed her to work, he would just stay parked at the edge of her driveway as she drove by in the mornings on her way to the shelter. She presumed he had a hotel room somewhere in Canterlot where he would likely go to sleep and shower during the day. Sunset had mentioned that the equipment in the SUV that received the bug’s data would continue to record even when he wasn’t there. He would most likely be reviewing it all at a later date.

Most nights when she got home from the shelter, he was there, parked in a slightly different spot in her driveway, indicating that he had left and came back during the day. Other times he would be parked out on the road, trying stay out of her sight. He did say to her before he walked out of her house that he’d be in the area…but he didn’t seem to be trying too hard to hide the fact that he was specifically watching her.

Each night she would make supper in silence, then eat at the table by herself before finally cleaning her dishes and sitting on the couch, trying to find something to occupy her mind on TV.

She would curl up on her chaise lounge, staring at the bright screen in the dark. Sometimes she would glance over at the empty couch cushions, imagining that I was there…then when the reality set in that I was gone, she would look back at the TV with a tear streaming down her cheek. She would wipe it away with her hand, only to have another one quickly take its place.

Bedtime was the absolute worst. Obviously she couldn’t sleep, and certainly didn’t want to reveal to the agent listening outside what she really was, so she had to lay in bed in silence all night, every night...laying awake in the dark, staring at the ceiling, waiting for the hours to endlessly drift by in slow motion. At times she had to stifle her sobs to keep the man outside from hearing them over the transmitter under the chair in her kitchen.

The loneliness was unbearable. One week, she was happy, living with the love of her life, without a care in the world for the future. She now realized that I was right, being invincible can’t stop bad things from happening. She continuously felt like there was a knife in rammed dead center in her chest as she spent every night sobbing alone in her bed in the dark for the entire week.

Even her phone was silent. Her friends knew not to text her, in case they accidently said something incriminating. Her phone was so inactive that she actually worried about Cody becoming suspicious about it, never seeing a single message coming through on his own screen would have seemed strange for any young woman with a cell phone.

No one came to visit her in the evenings. They knew that the minute they set foot in her house, their phones would also be permanently bugged as well. While it was true that they could have left their phones at home, it would still be difficult to talk in the house with Cody listening outside. Fluttershy never bothered to get another phone as Sunset had ordered…she didn’t see the use, since she wouldn’t be able to bring it home without it getting bugged as well.

It felt like the longest week of her life…an eternity of lonely hell. She had been so happy in the weeks prior to this one…how could it turn around on her like this? Why did this happen to someone like her? Someone so kind and gentle…

She finally rolled out of bed on Saturday morning. She sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the floor. She was thinking about the Saturday dinner with her friends…wondering if she could send a harmless text to Rarity or one of the others asking where the get-together would be this weekend. But she couldn’t work up the nerve to tempt fate…and she felt violated by the fact that Cody would see everything that they would be saying back and forth to each other.

She went out to feed her animals as she did every morning, but she made sure to let them approach on their own will…not wanting the man in the SUV to notice any of her unusual abilities, the last thing she wanted was for him to take a direct interest in her.

She showered and had a lonely breakfast, then settled back down on her chaise lounge, watching more uninteresting TV as she kept an eye on her phone, hoping desperately to hear from one of her friends. Deep down, however, there was only one person she really wanted to talk to.

She started to wonder if, because it was Saturday and it was almost noon, that maybe he’d leave her driveway to go wherever he went when he needed to go sleep or eat or shower, or whatever it was that he might have done during the day, when he wasn’t watching her house…invading her life.

She got up from the couch and walked alongside her table, allowing a small glimmer of hope to spark up inside her chest, looking out the window beside the front door…then her heart sank as she saw the black SUV still sitting there at the edge of the trees.

Her emotions welled up inside her, tears of frustration grew in the corners of her eyes as she turned and ran down the hall to her room. She flopped down on her bed, sobbing into her pillows to keep him from hearing her. After what seemed like another eternity of sadness, she finally got control of her crying and sat up on the bed, sitting with her legs curled up underneath her. She stared at her pillow, at the dark spot in the middle where she had just deposited her tears…as she watched it, he felt a fire start to rage inside of her. She could feel it spread up through her body, feeling like it was visible in her eyes as she watched her pillow morph into the face of the agent outside…staring at her, mocking her, turning her happy life upside down, into a lonely hell that she knew she couldn’t bear for another whole week.

She clenched her jaw, scowling as she wound her fist up and pounded it down into the pillow…directly into his face. She brought her fist up again, holding it above her head, pausing…then she hammered it down into the pillow again, then again, and again and again. She took her rage out on her pillow until she thought it would subside…but it never did.

She finally stopped, holding both of her balled up fists at her sides, breathing hard. “No more…” she thought to herself. “I’ve had enough of this…I’m unbeatable, just like Goldie. No one messes with him…and starting today, no one’s gonna mess with me either…”

Fluttershy quickly spun her head around, glaring down the hall towards the front room as her pink hair swung around and settled on her shoulders again. Her face was contorted in a dark scowl, her teeth gritted hard as her breath hissed in and out between them.

“This fucking guy’s not smarter than me…”

*****

Sunset Shimmer was sitting at the little round dinner table in her apartment. Her laptop was open in front of her, and her new cell phone was on the table beside her. She was working on her portfolio, now that she was done school she was ready to try to get her career in motion.

It was almost 1pm on Saturday.

She sat back, taking a break from her writing. Her mind started to wander, wondering how Fluttershy was doing out there, alone at her house with that CIA agent watching and listening to her. She wondered where I was…what I was doing. She thought about how close she was to becoming an immortal herself…and how she could have had the chance to have some no-strings-attached sex as a side perk. She had to admit she found me attractive, although it wasn’t a strong enough attraction to pursue me right away, certainly not after her shy friend had taken a shine to me. Fluttershy had become a great friend to her, even after all the hard times she had given her in high school. Sunset had been glad to see the shy girl finally have a share of the happiness that she deserved, so even the thought of pursuing me herself was out of the question.

She eventually started wondering who was hosting the dinner that day when she heard a buzz come from the other room.

She turned and looked into her bedroom doorway as her brows started to furrow…she knew it was her old phone that someone had messaged. She had set it on her bedside table for the time being, until the whole thing with Cody blew over…although she was enjoying the new phone and was starting to think she might keep it.

She got up from the table and walked into her bedroom to see who had messaged the phone…and what Cody was surely seeing himself at that very moment.

When she picked up the phone, she froze in place…a jolt of shock and fear shot through her as she saw the message.

FLUTTERSHY: The bug has been taken care of.

*Chapter 36: Just the Three of Us

Chapter 36

The weeks passed on. The eight of us enjoyed the summer together, continuing to spend time visiting and having dinner on the weekends. Not everyone was there every time, occasionally one or two of them would be away on holidays with their families or something like that.

Fluttershy’s mood had improved within a few days after the incident at Pinkie’s. She just needed some time to get over the fact that not all of her friends wanted the life that she had…in the end, it was her love for them that eventually helped her accept their decisions, and realize that she had to respect their wishes.

She never really got over her lack of confidence in her training, however. Rarity, Sunset and Fluttershy were coming out to the Riverfield a few times a week to continue developing their skills. Fluttershy would sometimes skip out and stay home however, even though the rest of us tried to tell her that quitting wasn’t going to help her get any better and that she needed to keep at it if she wanted to be on par with them, but she continued to be stubborn.

Sunset showed promise very quickly. She was physically powerful, even more so than Rarity. Her pervious fighting experience gave her a good head start, and she actually became helpful to me by helping the other two girls learn a few things for me. It didn’t take her long at all to learn not to flinch and to get used to not having to worry about pain…in fact she picked up that skill even faster than Rarity did.

Sunset’s magic also gave her an unexpected edge in a fight. While sparring, as she would block an attack from one of the others, she realized she would get a small piece of their thoughts when she used her hands to stop their fists. She quickly taught herself to use their thoughts to see what the attacker’s next move would be…once she got the hang of this, it became next to impossible to get any hits on her…until Rarity and Fluttershy got smart and started wearing gloves and long sleeves, but even then, Sunset was more than capable of defending herself against both of them in bare hands combat, even at the same time.

That’s not to say that she would ever be as deadly as Rarity…those weapons she was creating gave her an unbelievable edge. Once she became very skilled with them, I knew she could probably be even more dangerous than me, even without the super-strength that I possess. The girls wouldn’t have the physical strength that I have for quite a few centuries yet to come, which is how it happened with me. Still, Rarity was going to become very dangerous as her skills matured, even more so in about 1000 years when she’s also strong enough to pick up a car.

The fashionista was also getting very good at manifesting the swords. During our sparring matches, I would disarm her of the weapon and she would make it vanish and have a new one in her hand again almost instantly. Eventually, she was starting to create two at a time, one for each hand…which I found very unexpected, but impressive.

I started teaching her how to use them properly, mixing a few different techniques together, having used swords myself in different parts of the world throughout history, I knew many ways to wield the weapon. It was unlikely in this day and age for her to encounter someone else with a sword, but I knew it was good to teach her the classic ways of swordsmanship, then she was free to modify it to her liking. She had plenty of time to practice.

We had one exercise where she would create a sword for herself and I, and we would spar with each other while Sunset and Fluttershy ran around us in a circle, each of them holding a four foot long 2x4. It was their job to shout Rarity’s name out at random, then Rarity had to create one of her spike projectiles and throw it at whoever called her name, but she had to do it while continuing to sword fight with me without being disarmed or knocked down. This taught her to be able to quickly create multiple types of weapons at once, as well as multitasking by keeping the fight going with me and also quickly and accurately hitting the side targets with her projectiles. It was Sunset and Fluttershy’s jobs to catch the little projectiles by letting them stick into the 2x4s, which taught them to react quickly and hone their hand to eye coordination. On top of that, I instructed them to catch every third one with their hands…this would teach them to keep their minds sharp, to be able to pay attention to multiple things at once, to keep track of how many enemies they might be facing at a time, and teaching their minds to be aware of everything that’s going on around them.

It took some time to master this exercise, but once we did, it was impressive to watch. The other two girls would run around us, changing their positions as they shouted Rarity’s name…followed by her quickly flashing a spike into existence, then reaching up with her arm to grab it and fling it towards the target while either swinging her sword at me, blocking a swing of mine or doing some kind of evasive roll to clear herself of my range so she had time throw the weapon. This would be followed by the thud of the spike lodging itself into the 2x4 as one of the other girls would swing it up to catch the projectile, letting it jam itself into the wood…unless it happened to be that girl’s turn to catch it with their hand.

Lastly, there was Fluttershy…the least dangerous of the three. That’s not to say she wasn’t coming along nicely, but her lack of confidence continued to hold her back. She kept comparing herself to the others, which wasn’t fair to herself…the fact of the matter was that Rarity had abilities that made Fluttershy obsolete by comparison.

She was also jumpy still, random swings at her would still cause her to flinch, then she would get upset and put herself down about it, even though we told her that she would eventually get the hang of it. We could see it slowly improving, but it was going to take time.

Her hand-to-hand skills were pretty good…her reflexes were like nothing I’ve ever seen before, but her strength was still quite poor. I started to teach her to fight dirty, telling her to go for the eyes and knees as well as using leverage and her opponent’s size and momentum against them. She displayed the ability to be clever and quick thinking…the way she handled Cody was just one example of that.

She was also reluctant to use animals in a fight. She didn’t want to put them in danger on her behalf, especially when she couldn’t be hurt anyway…she felt that it was selfish of her to expect that of them.

Realizing that Fluttershy was going to have a major gap in fighting ability between her and the other two, I eventually got the idea to bring a handgun out to the field. I had a 9mm Glock 17 with a silencer that was a few years old which I kept in the shop...it wasn’t a type of weapon that I used very often, except for a specific type of mission where I needed to perform a kill from a short distance while staying hidden, or something similar to that. It wasn’t something I had done for many years, and this particular pistol had yet to see any real action.

I went out to the Riverfield alone with her one night to propose the idea to her, which she was quite reluctant to go along with. I leveled with her on the fact that if she wanted to be as effective as the other two, she needed to either learn to use technological weapons or accept the fact that she was going to continue to be surpassed by her friends. She finally agreed to try it out.

The first time Fluttershy fired it, she squealed and quickly dropped it on the ground. I had a little chuckle about it and gave her a comforting hug, then picked up the weapon and told her to try again. She did, and after a few weeks of practice, she started to become competent with firing it as well as handling it safely so she wouldn’t cause any accidents.

Once I felt she was OK with the pistol, I brought out a rifle with a long-range scope on it for her to try out, as well as a few other basic firearms. She tried them out as well and seemed to get a grasp on them decently, but she didn’t seem to like using them very much…

Even after her progress however, she expressed very little interest in using the weapons, stating that it 'wasn’t very nice' to shoot someone…even after I told her there may come a day when she has no choice but to do it. Eventually, I gave in and told her she didn’t have to continue training with firearms if she didn’t want to. Lucky for her, having to shoot people is not a common thing…especially for people like us. I speak from experience on this.

How had she grown up in this world with so little confidence? It sure was a tough habit to break…

*****

It was the last week of July. It was supposed to be a training night, but Sunset texted me at the last minute to bail, saying she had to do some paper work for a potential job she had lined up.

Fluttershy wasn’t feeling like going out either so she sent Rarity a text, telling her not to bother coming out, then me and her decided to lay down on her bed and spend time relaxing. We chatted for a bit about her work as well as a few other things…I was starting to say something about a big job at my work when we heard her front door open.

“Are you here, darlings?” we heard from the front room.

Fluttershy looked at me with cocked eyebrows, then turned back to answer. “Back here!”

Rarity appeared at the end of the hallway, looking at us laying on the bed. “What are you doing in bed, you two?”

“We’re not going tonight…” Fluttershy answered. “Didn’t you get my text?”

Rarity took out her phone to look at it, then she looked at us and shook her head.

“What?” Fluttershy took out her phone. “It’s right he-“ she paused, then looked back at Rarity, giggling. “Um, I forgot to hit send…sorry, Rare.”

“Ugh…” Rarity rolled her eyes, letting her shoulders droop. “I drove myself all the way out here now…why aren’t we going tonight?”

“Sunset cancelled…and I didn’t really feel like going tonight either. Sorry…I meant to text you.” Fluttershy explained apologetically.

Rarity folded her arms on her chest. She looked nice that night, she had a pair of light purple shorts on with that same tight black shirt that she liked to wear when she didn’t have make-up on. Her make-up was on though and her hair was styled…she must have just changed when she was done work and headed out soon after. “It’s OK, darling. Mistakes happen.”

Fluttershy patted the far side of the bed. “Why don’t you come and hang out with us now that you’re here? We haven’t spent much time just hanging out together lately.”

Rarity started walking down the hall towards us. “Well, I have no other plans now…and that actually sounds delightful.” She said as she rounded the right side of the bed and sat down with her legs crossed. I was lying in the middle of the bed with my head on the pillows. Fluttershy was on my left, wearing the same black yoga pants and blue V-neck shirt that she wore on our first date when we watched all those Marvel movies together.

As Rarity sat down beside me on the right, Fluttershy laid down sideways and rested her head on my abdomen facing towards me, holding her phone in front of her as she idly scrolled through some web pages…likely about animals.

Rarity took out her phone next, looking at something…so I eventually followed suit and took mine out to start looking something up. The last time I had checked my truck out, I noticed some thrust play developing in the smaller turbo, so I figured I would use the time to search around some of the forums to research what would be a more durable turbo to install before the current one decided to contact the housing and fly apart.

I was scrolling through a thread when I heard Rarity speak up. “Oh darlings…this isn’t much of a visit.”

“Yeah,” Fluttershy answered. “You’re right. What do you want to talk about?”

I kept my eyes on my phone screen, now intent on finding the information I was looking for.

“I don’t know…why did Sunset cancel tonight?” Rarity asked.

“I dunno…something to do with her job search…” Fluttershy responded softly.

“Oh good for her.” Rarity replied. “Those things are still important. Even for us.”

“Yeah, I guess.” The shy girl responded.

I started to tune them out as I continued scrolling through my phone in search of more information.

After a few minutes, I heard Rarity say something interesting.

“That looks quite comfy, darling…may I join you?”

“Sure!” Fluttershy replied in a friendly tone.

In the background behind my phone, I could see Rarity shift over and slide down into a laying position, sideways on the bed in the same manner as Fluttershy. Then I felt a weight come to rest on the right side of my chest. I moved the phone out of the way to look, and saw that Rarity had laid down and rested her head on me, facing the other way. All I could see was her purple hair on me as she laid, facing Fluttershy while continuing to chat.

I went back to my phone. I had to admit, I could waste a lot of time on these forums…I was looking for a specific topic, but I would run into an interesting thread about injection pump timing or injectors or something…then I would read through that for an unknown amount of time, before I got back on track and continued searching for the original topic. This whole diesel hobby of mine had become a bit of an obsession in the past few years…

“Um Rarity?”

“Yes, darling?”

“You wanna see something?”

“Sure…”

There was a pause for a moment. I could feel Fluttershy holding her phone again, letting her hand rest on my stomach, moving it around slightly as her finger scrolled through the device.

Then I felt her hand slide up my belly a bit as she turned her phone to show Rarity, followed by a loud gasp.

“Fluttershy! You took a picture of Sunset Shimmer and your boyfriend having sex?”

My phone slipped out of my hand, landing on my collarbone. “WHAT?” I asked, lifting my head up.

Rarity snatched the phone from the giggling Fluttershy’s hand, then turned onto her back so the back of her head was on my chest now as she faced the ceiling, holding the phone above her to look at the picture more closely. I could see the side profile of were white face as she looked up at the picture, her eyes wide, darting around at the image. “I can’t believe you did this! Does Sunset know you took this?”

“No…oh, please don’t tell her…I haven’t shown anyone except you…” Fluttershy’s voice said quietly from out of my sight.

Rarity shook her head. “You’re such a little devil…” she said with a giggle. She turned to me, biting her lip as she looked at me with her blue eyes, then she showed me the picture.

It showed Sunset laying on top of me, her fiery hair was covering both of our faces and her arms were reached up above our heads, it must have been when she was holding onto the pillows…she was glistening all over from the sweat, and the side of her breast was clearly visible, squeezing against my chest as she pressed against me. The picture was cut off below our waists, so I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t get to see her ass again.

“Wow…” I said.

“She sure was working hard…” Rarity said, bringing the phone back so she could see it again. “Look at how soaked she was…”

I nodded. “Oh yeah, she was sweatin’ like a whore in church.”

Rarity laughed, turning back to face Fluttershy and giving her phone back. “Well, who can blame her, darling…it’s hard work taking in that beast of yours.”

I chuckled. “Beast?...Nah, it’s nothing to write home about...”

Rarity shook her head against my chest. “Well, I suppose it doesn’t break any records, but it most certainly does get the job done.”

“Mm-hm.” Fluttershy agreed.

“OK, you two, settle down.” I said, picking my phone up. I started scrolling through the forums again for a few minutes as the girls continued to chat. I wasn’t listening to what they were saying, but I was hearing a lot more snickering and giggling between the two. I liked the sound of it, as well as the feeling of them laying comfortably on me…it made me feel a strong affection towards them in that moment.

I missed these easy-going times in the past month. We had all been so busy with work and training that the girls, especially Rarity, were starting to seem like different people. Her skills had been reaching almost frightening levels, which I was very impressed with…but I missed having the more affectionate moments with her. The last one was when she kissed me at Pinkie Pie’s house by the back door after she put Sunset down in the living room.

Fluttershy and I had been getting along very well at home…having sex with her hadn’t dulled out in the least and we still had great times together sitting by the fire or going for walks, but there was always some underlying tension when we were out at Riverfield. She still seemed to think her progress was poor, and seemed to expect that I was going to be upset or disappointed with her…which wasn’t the case at all. For what she started out as, she had become a great combatant…even if she couldn’t handle herself against the other two…which was nothing to be ashamed of, considering their abilities at that point.

As I continued reading on my phone, I let my right hand drift downward until I felt someone’s soft hair…not really paying attention to what I was doing, I started running my fingers slowly through it as I read page after page of tech talk, enjoying the feel of the velvety locks between my fingertips.

They continued to talk. Eventually I could feel them drawing circles on my stomach with their fingertips as they giggled back and forth to each other. I could feel them breathing on me…their body heat soaking through my shirt as they quietly talked back and forth.

I lifted some of the hair up to look at it past my phone while keeping it laced between my fingers. It was purple. “Oops, that’s Rarity’s hair…” I wasn’t even thinking about where each girl was while I was reading.

Upon realizing who it was, I let her hair slide out from between my fingers and switched my phone into that hand. With my other hand free now, I slid my hand along the mattress towards Fluttershy, who was laying further away, but still facing me. The first thing I found was her knee. I put my fingertips against her skin and started gently running them up and down her calf.

As I got lost in the feel of her smooth skin on my fingers, I continued scrolling through the forums on my phone. I had finally found some good information on the turbo I was looking for…my brain was puttering along absentmindedly as I read.

“Hmm…” I thought. “Lots of guys are saying good things about that 62mmSXE…huh, Rarity was letting me run my fingers through her hair…360 degree thrust bearing, that’s exactly what I need to handle the stress of compounded boost...damn, Flutters has soft skin…”

I was suddenly distracted by Rarity moving. She was shifting her legs downward on the bed so she was laying parallel to me, then she moved her head closer to my shoulder as her body came to rest against the right side of me. “Sorry darling, it was becoming less comfortable the way I was…”

“Yep.” I responded, only half paying attention to her. I had to switch my phone back to my other hand with her in that position because I couldn’t hold it where I could see it without putting my arm on her head…but then I realized I had taken my hand off of Fluttershy’s leg, so I finally decided to put the phone down, figuring I had found enough information for now about what I was researching.

Fluttershy sat up and crawled over beside me, settling herself against the left side of me, letting her leg drape across my thighs and resting her head on my left shoulder.

“This is kind of nice…” I thought, looking down at the pink and purple heads of hair resting on each side of me. I let a hand run down the purple-haired girl’s back, eventually letting it rest on her waist. With my other hand, I ran my fingers through my girlfriend’s soft hair, grazing the back of her neck with my fingertips every so often…causing her to shrug her shoulders a bit, giggling softly as she listened to Rarity talk. I could smell their scents combined now with their hair so close to my face…sweet vanilla mixed with the fresh floweriness…my eyes started to glaze over as I stared off into space.

I felt Fluttershy’s hand slide up to my chest and come to rest there as she let out a sigh of contentment. I looked down at them again, just in time to see Rarity rest her dainty white hand on the back of Fulttershy’s, then she laced their fingers together and squeezed gently.

As they held their hands clenched together against my chest, Rarity started to whisper. “Fluttershy…I think you’re amazing.”

The shy girl lifted her gaze to her sapphire-eyed friend. “What do you mean?” she asked softly.

“Everything about you…I know you think you’re not doing well in the field, but I think you are doing perfectly.” Rarity replied.

“But…I’m the weakest one…” the shy girl whispered back.

“That doesn’t mean you’re not amazing, darling.” The fashionista replied.

I nodded in agreement as I listened, staring up at the ceiling.

Fluttershy let out a long sigh before answering. “Thank you, Rarity.” She whispered.

I could feel both of their faces smiling against my chest as they looked at each other for another moment.

Rarity finally broke the silence. “You’re so beautiful, darling.” she cooed. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that night on the couch…in the dark.”

I could feel my girlfriend’s face get hot against my chest as she blushed at the compliment. “Same here…” she said softly.

They looked at each other for a second before Rarity let go of Fluttershy’s hand, reached over to her cheek, then pulled her in for a kiss. Fluttershy’s eyes opened wide for a second, then they drifted closed as their mouths remained connected, letting their heads rest on me.

Fluttershy was in awe as she smelled Rarity’s familiar vanilla scent, she could feel the warmth of her hand on her cheek, then Rarity’s tongue as it slowly snuck its way into the shy girl’s mouth. She responded by trying to hook the other girl’s tongue with her own and pull it in deeper…she could taste the sweet saliva of her friend in her mouth, driving her into a heated frenzy that shot a tingle down her chest into her loins.

Rarity suddenly put her hands on Fluttershy’s shoulder and pushed her onto her back, sliding her slender white body across mine as she found her home on top of the shy girl. She continued to kiss my girlfriend deeply, letting their tongues wrestle together as I laid there in awe, watching two of the most beautiful women I’ve ever known make out beside me.

Rarity used her hand to flip her hair over to one side of her head, giving me full view of what was happening. She was planting kisses on Fluttershy’s cheeks, then she worked her way down her neck, eventually leaving small wet kisses on the delicate collar bones under the custard-toned skin.

Rarity finally stopped for a breath, looking over at me as she breathed through her mouth. “Sorry, darling…I didn’t mean to climb over you like that.” Her blue eyes were sparkling as she looked at me.

I raised my hand off of my chest from its resting spot to give a small wave of forgiveness. “It’s OK,” I said. “Carry on...pretty please.”

Rarity giggled, then started crawling down on Fluttershy, sniffing her shirt as she went. When she reached the bottom of the light blue garment, she hooked her fingers under it and slid it up Fluttershy’s body, revealing her slender waist, then finally her white bra. Fluttershy grabbed the shirt with her hands and pulled it over her own head and threw it on the floor, then she propped herself up on her elbows as Rarity slid her arms around her back to unhook her bra.

Ever since the fashionista had those breasts hovering over her face that night on the couch, she had obsessed about seeing them. She had known Fluttershy for many years, and had seen them before…although not very often since the girl was so shy about showing off her body…but even when Rarity did have the chance to see them, she didn’t really pay close attention. She always knew Fluttershy was beautiful, but now things were different. She couldn’t get the shy girl out of her head.

Rarity hastily slid the straps off of the shy girl’s shoulders then lifted the bra away, revealing the beautiful, full breasts underneath. With Fluttershy on her back, they looked slightly flatter so Rarity quickly cupped them with her hands, squeezing them together from the sides, letting her hard nipples point straight up at the ceiling.

Rarity quickly closed her lips around one of the hard points, sucking gently on it and flicking it with her tongue inside her mouth.

I looked at my girlfriend’s face as she laid with her hands rested on the pillow above her head, she tried to look at me, but her eyelids were fluttering closed at the sensation of her friend’s advances. She suddenly reached over, grabbing me by the back of the head and pulling me in to press my lips against hers. Her mouth opened immediately, sending her tongue in for another war with mine. I loved kissing her; she was so aggressive, sometimes I could swear she was trying to lick the bottom of my stomach.

Rarity let the nipple pop out of her mouth as she moved over to give the other breast some attention. “My goodness, Fluttershy…these are so perfect.” She said, just before plunging her lips over the other nipple.

Fluttershy felt the fresh sensation which caused her to moan softly into my mouth as she continued to kiss me hard. She started rocking her hips, looking for something to grind against, but not finding anything with Rarity up on her hands and knees…to high for the shy girl to reach with her steadily increasing heat.

I could feel her movements starting, the sides of her hips were brushing against mine which let me know she needed attention down there. I slid my hand down her stomach to the top of her yoga pants, feeling the back of my hand squeeze past Rarity’s breasts under her clothes, which were hanging just above Fluttershy’s abdomen…then I slid my fingers inside the tight pants, continuing down until I felt the pair of soft lips between her legs. I stroked them side-to-side to get them so separate so I could plunge my finger down into her slit, which was soaking wet inside and hot as hell.

Fluttershy let out a soft moan as her body was stimulated by both her lovers at once, feeling the tingling of her wet nipple that had been sucked on already as it cooled, while the other was still inside the warm mouth of the fashionista, being flicked and nibbled on gently. I was kissing her neck now, which tickled her slightly, but was overshadowed by the sharp waves of sensation coming from her clit as I gently stroked my finger over her tender, wet flesh.

I pushed my hand deeper down Fluttershy’s pants so I could reach her opening, where I easily slid my middle finger inside, feeling her tightness and her warmth. I stroked in and out of her, thinking about how it feels to be inside her as Rarity finally popped her mouth off of my girlfriend’s hard nipple.

She rolled off to the side of Fluttershy, running her fingers through her purple hair to clear it from her face. I could see the shiny moisture of Rarity’s saliva on Fluttershy’s nipple, which looked like it was hardening even more as the cool air hit it. Rarity looked down at my hand down her friend’s pants, which caused her eyes to widen in reaction.

“Oh my, you’re certainly getting the full treatment tonight, darling…” she said, biting her lip as she slid her own hand down the slender yellow belly towards mine. I lifted my palm up, holding the tight pants away from Fluttershy’s body while keeping my finger inside her. Rarity’s little white hand slid in under my hand, running her fingertips over the shy girl’s slit, stroking her clit in a circular motion causing her to tense up even more…getting a shaky moan out of her. I loved hearing her soft voice make these kinds of noises, and I could tell by the expression on Rarity’s face that it was the first time she’d heard a moan this loud from her friend.

“Rarity…” she breathed. “I want your finger inside me too…”

Rarity raised an eyebrow at Fluttershy. “My, my…” she said, with a giggle. She slid her finger down, letting the back of her hand press against my palm as I felt her slender finger slide into the shy girl next to my own. She stroked in and out, immediately getting a response from the shy girl, who lifted her hips upward, pressing against our hands.

I enjoyed the feeling of having my finger inside my girlfriend, feeling her warmth, but there was something very arousing about having Rarity’s finger in there too, pressing against mine, rubbing together, sliding smoothly in the slick juice that was increasing its presence with every stroke. We continued to stroke the shy girl’s wetness, watching her tremble as she groped her own breasts, pinching her nipples as she kept her eyes closed. She continued to elevate her breathing as her orgasm crept up on her, he body continued to arch up until she finally locked solid, then flopped down on the mattress, trembling uncontrollably as we continued to stimulate her.

She came down from the climax after half a minute, then reached down, tapping my arm with her fingertips. “J-j-j…j-just…wait…”

“That’s one, darling.” Rarity said, as we both stopped stroking the shy girl.

Fluttershy had the back of her hand draped across her forehead. She opened her eyes. “Huh?” she panted.

“I’m going to count every time you cum tonight.” Rarity answered.

Fluttershy nodded. “OK. And I’ll count yours.”

Rarity turned to me, giving me a seductive smile. That was the signal to me that I was going to be inside her before that night was over. We kept our eyes locked as our fingers remained squeezed together inside our lover, almost like we were holding hands. I stroked the back of Rarity’s hand with my thumb, then gave it a little squeeze.

Rarity’s lips parted slightly as she leaned over the shy girl’s body to plant her lips against mine, immediately reaching in with her tongue, flicking my own tongue with it as her breathing started to elevate. I couldn’t decide who I liked kissing better, they both were very talented in their own way with their tongues…Fluttershy was more aggressive, which I liked, but I also enjoyed the playfulness of Rarity’s methods.

Fluttershy saw us kissing and immediately started grabbing at Rarity’s shirt, peeling it up to reveal a black lacy bra that had a very nice lift effect on her breasts. They were full and bouncy, and they actually looked quite ample, even though they were smaller than Fluttershy’s larger, rounder bust, they were perfectly suited to the fashionista’s more petite frame. In this bra they looked great…milky white, popping out against the black lace, pressing together to create beautiful cleavage, jiggling around as she removed her hand from Fluttershy’s pants to remove the shirt completely. It looked like they were going to spill right out of the garment, especially when she stood up to slide her shorts down. When she bent down, I was shocked that gravity didn’t pull those breasts right out of that bra…

As she stood up, I saw her lacy black panties, which I was pretty sure were the same ones I peeled off of her that night in the boutique. She crawled on her hands and knees over Fluttershy, stopping to flick they shy girl’s nipple with her tongue as she went to lay belly-down in the middle of the bed, revealing her bare white ass with only the thin strip of the black thong going between her cheeks.

What a sight she was…her slender, pure white body with the lacy, almost non-existent thong, letting her cute little ass show, the black straps across her white shoulder blades and of course that silky indigo hair draped across her shoulders and hanging down around her face…Fluttershy and I were in awe.

“Oh my goodness, Rarity…what are you trying to do to us?” my girlfriend said, shaking her head in disbelief of her friend’s beauty.

Rarity giggled…”This is the way I dress, darling.”

“You wear underwear like that when we’re training??” I asked.

She put her index finger to her chin. “Maybe…” she said with a smirk. “Is that going to be a problem?”

I shook my head with a smile. “Nope, carry on.” I said as I got onto my knees and grabbed the top of Fluttershy’s yoga pants, yanking them down.

“Woo!” she shy girl giggled as she felt the cold air hit her moist slit.

Rarity and I could smell her arousal almost instantly as I threw the pants on the floor.

“Oh my…” Rarity started saying as she got up onto her knees. “She is ripe, darling…” she said seductively as she started undoing my pants.

“You knew Sunset cancelled, didn’t you?” I said to her.

Rarity glanced up at me as she slid my pants down, setting my moisture-tipped erection free. “Why would you think something like that?” she asked with a wink.

“There’s no way you train in that underwear. No fucking way.” I said, reaching around her back and grabbing her ass.

“Well, maybe not in this particular bra…” Rarity giggled.

“Rarity, you came out here just to fuck, didn’t you?” Fluttershy accused her quietly with a smirk.

“Well… Sunset may have texted me herself, saying she wasn’t coming…so maybe I did come out for a little fun with you two…but is that a crime?” Rarity replied, shrugging.

“Nope!”

“Fuck no…”

Rarity laughed at the response, then pressed herself against me, wrapping her arms around the back of my neck. “Now darling, you have a job to do…” she said, as we both looked at Fluttershy laying there with her legs spread, exposing her pink folds to us both.

Rarity planted a quick kiss on my lips then backed away, looking down at her belly as she went to lay down. “Hey! You smeared your juice on my belly!”

I crawled overtop of Fluttershy. “Yeah, that’s what happens when you press up against a pants-less dude with a boner…” I said as my girlfriend wrapped her arms around the back of my neck, laughing softly .

“Well it’s a good thing I wasn’t wearing one of my expensive shirts…” Rarity replied with a smile as she ran her fingertip through the slippery streak on her belly, then put her finger in her mouth to taste it.

“Yeah, yeah…you just get ready to count…” I said, as I slid my entire length into the hot, moist depths of Fluttershy.

She let out a satisfied moan as she felt me penetrate her, then she wrapped her legs around my back, hooking her feet together behind me. We connected our lips as I started drilling into her warmth, feeling her flesh running along the length of me as her tongue came into my mouth again for another visit.

We continued thrusting together as Rarity watched, laying beside us on her side, supporting herself on her elbow.

It was barely a minute before Fluttershy’s body tensed up under me, shuddering as she clenched down on me with her insides, letting out a long moan of enjoyment. I stopped for a moment, kissing her neck, causing her to giggle as she looked over towards her friend, locking onto the sapphire eyes of Rarity, who raised her eyebrows as she spoke.

“That’s two…”

I gave my girlfriend one more little kiss before I leaned myself up on my arms, then she brought her legs up to rest her calves on my shoulders. I resumed thrusting into her as Rarity leaned closer and started planting little kisses on her friend’s neck and cheek, causing the shy girl’s eyelids to flutter against the onslaught of sensations that were hitting her from all directions.

I loved the feeling of being inside her: the tight warmth, the wetness, which was increasing with every second that went by, but having Rarity there, kissing her and touching her breasts as they bounced up and down made it so much more exciting.

Rarity raised her head and looked down at our connected bodies, watching it slide in and out of the delicate pink folds as she bit her bottom lip. “Oh my, Fluttershy, that is so-“ Her words were interrupted suddenly by Fluttershy’s arms wrapping around her head, pulling the fashionista’s face down against the her breasts, squeezing Rarity hard as she climaxed another time from the sensation of the hard length running into her again and again.

Fluttershy clutched her friend’s face against her chest as she trembled, keeping her eyes shut tightly…moaning softly as the orgasm slowly subsided. She suddenly released Rarity, letting her roll suddenly onto her back, beside us on the bed. The indigo-haired beauty had a stunned look on her face as she stared at the ceiling with wide eyes, and slowly held up three fingers to us.

“Uh… three…”

Fluttershy giggled, taking her legs off my shoulders and flipping herself over, getting onto her hands and knees and crawling overtop of Rarity to kiss her deeply…feverishly sending her tongue into her friend’s mouth to slide around together with her tongue.

I stayed where I was for a minute, watching them make out…looking at my girlfriend’s ass pointed at me, letting her glistening lips show from between her thighs. Fluttershy separated their mouths with a wet pop sound to look over her shoulder at me.

“Um, could you fuck me some more, please?” she requested, gazing at me with the one teal eye that I could see from where I was.

“Oh, right…what was I thinking?” I said, putting my hands on her hips and pulling myself closer to her.

I could hear Rarity giggle from underneath the shy girl. “I love hearing you use that word, darling…it makes you sound so naughty.”

Fluttershy snickered softly as I saw her head lower again to kiss the other girl, then she turned her head again, looking over her shoulder at me. “Oh, and try not to get too close…save some for Rarity.”

I smiled at her. “No promises, but I’ll try…” I said as I lined myself up to her glistening crease.

She smiled back at me, biting her lip for a second, then she turned back to lower her head again to continue kissing the pale-skinned beauty.

I slid effortlessly back into her, continuing the barrage of pleasure on her body…hoping that her telling me not to finish too soon wouldn’t jinx me. I could hear a muffled squeal from my girlfriend as I slid in and out of her tightness, followed by a soft giggle from Rarity, who was evidently getting enjoyment from witnessing her friend’s steadily increasing pleasure.

“Do you like tha-“ Rarity was starting to say when Fluttershy’s lips smashed against hers again when another orgasm hit her. I felt her squeezing me with her insides as she held her lips against Rarity’s, letting it run its course…and I kept pace, not letting her have a break from the pleasure.

Fluttershy suddenly thrust her body back towards me, smashing her ass against me, letting out a loud yelp as she buried her face into Rarity’s milky white cleavage. She quivered in place like this for close to half a minute, moaning into her friend’s breasts…then her body fell limp, letting me slip out of her, landing on top of the fashionista for a moment before she rolled off and laid on her back, next to her friend.

Rarity was laying there in front of me now, still wearing the lacy underwear. “That’s four, darling.” She said in a sultry tone.

Fluttershy was running her hands through her hair as she shook her head. She continued to breath hard as she kept her eyes closed, holding up her hand, raising two fingers.

Rarity’s eyes widened. “Two?”

Fluttershy nodded, keeping her eyes shut. “Close together…one after another…”

Rarity looked at me with an eyebrow raised. “You’ve just full of surprises, aren’t you darling?”

“I try.” I said, rubbing the back of my neck, suddenly realizing I still had my shirt on.

Rarity giggled, then turned back to the shy girl. “Well, then I guess that’s five.”

Fluttershy suddenly reached over and lightly slapped Rarity’s shoulder. “…I’m tagging you in, Rare.” She said, letting the back of her hand rest on her forehead, her eyes still closed.

Rarity looked at me with a little smirk on her lips as I peeled my shirt up over my head. “Well…it looks like it’s my turn now…”

I reached down and grabbed the sides of the little black thong and peeled it off, sliding it down her porcelain-white thighs, revealing her little purple landing strip with the moist pair of white lips nestled between the apex of her thighs. The crotch of the under garment pulled inside-out as I brought them down, and there was a little web of thick moisture soaked into them that stretched into a thin thread as I slid them down her legs.

“Oh my…they’re stuck to me!” she giggled as she lifted her feet to let me take them off and throw them onto the floor. She sat up suddenly, putting her hands on my shoulders…”Lay down, darling…”

I complied, laying down next to my girlfriend, who appeared to be quite content that that moment. She had her eyes open again, licking her bottom lip in anticipation of the show that she was about to watch.

Rarity straddled herself over me, letting her wet slit rub against my erection, which was still soaked in Fluttershy’s juices. She laid herself down on me, her nose only an inch from mine, her purple hair draping down, surrounding our faces in a purple curtain that smelled of her sweet scent.

“I’ve always wanted to ride you like this…” she said before pressing her lips against mine, flicking her delicate tongue into my mouth as she raised herself just a bit to press her wet opening against my tip, which she then let slide into her effortlessly. She took in the whole thing, gasping at the sudden feeling of her body being filled as she gave me another wet kiss on the lips. I could feel the fresh heat inside, her newly lubricated flesh, waiting to be stirred up by me.

The indigo-haired beauty started rubbing her petite body against mine, leaning on her elbows, keeping her face just above mine, staring into my eyes as she thrusted her hips with each stroke of my length into her tight flesh. Her breasts were pressed against my chest, still somehow defying physics by staying inside that bra while I reached around her and ran my hands down her slender white back to her little ass, giving it a squeeze as it gyrated back and forth with her hips.

I could see her eyebrows starting to furrow, her mouth was open, blowing hot shaky breaths against my face…followed by a high-pitched whimper as her eyes pressed shut. She buried her face into my neck as she let out a muffled cry of pleasure, her body convulsing on mine, clenching down hard on my erection…her hair was draped across my face, tickling my nose gently as the scent took me over.

I could hear the soft voice of Fluttershy beside us.

“Um, one.”

Rarity laughed softly against my neck, shaking her head slightly then sat herself upright on me, letting me point straight up into her. She slowly shook her head in disbelief as she sat there panting. “You get better every fucking time I have you, darling…how is that possible?”

“I actually think it’s you guys who are making it this so good…” I replied, trying not to brag.

Rarity smirked, looking down at her breasts. She cupped her hands under them, pushing them even further up out of the bra. She looked at me with one eyebrow raised, “Do you want to see them?”

Before I could answer, Fluttershy’s voice quickly sounded out beside me. “Uh-huh…”

I looked over at her with a chuckle, seeing her eyes sparkling with anticipation…then I looked back at Rarity. “What she said…”

With a sensual smile, the fashionista reached up with her fingers between her breasts to the center of the bra, unfastened it, then opened it like a book, letting her perky white breasts finally fall out. It had been a while since I’d seen them in the hot tub, and they were bigger than I remembered. I instinctively reached up and cupped them with my hands as she started gyrating her hips on me in an upright position, massaging my length with her hot depths.

“You’re so hot, Rarity…” Fluttershy whispered, reaching out to run her hand up and down Rarity’s smooth white thigh.

Rarity leaned back, reaching behind her, resting her hands on my knees and letting her head fall back as she rocked her hips continuously, her long indigo hair hanging down behind her, waving along with the movements of her body as she moaned into the air. I couldn’t reach her breasts in this position so I let my hands slide down her waist to her hips where I let them rest, staring at her purple landing strip as it bounced up and down over me, feeling her movements as she rode me into her next climax…tightening up around me as her sexy voice rang out, echoing throughout the shy girl’s house.

Rarity leaned forward on my chest with her hands, panting hard. She looked at Fluttershy, who had her head resting on my shoulder, still gently rubbing Rarity’s thigh. She noticed Rarity looking at her, then lifted her head suddenly.

“Oh! Uh, two.”

Rarity giggled for a second, then reached over to stroke Fluttershy’s cheek with the back of her index finger. “You’re such a sweetheart, Fluttershy…”

Fluttershy smiled back, then quickly sat up, reaching over me to embrace her friend. I watched their bare breasts press together as they locked lips, then Fluttershy’s hands slid down Rarity’s waist to her hips, pushing them back and forth, prompting the pale beauty to start riding me again.

Fluttershy was kneeling beside me as she held onto her best friend. I ran my hand up her inner thigh, eventually finding her moist core at the top, sliding my fingers inside her well attended-to opening, earning a moan that went into Rarity’s mouth as they kissed harder while Rarity continued to gyrate on me, bringing herself closer to catching up to Fluttershy’s orgasm count.

I felt Rarity tighten up again as she wrapped her arms around Fluttershy, resting her head on her friend’s yellow shoulder, clenching her eyes shut as her body twitched with ecstasy. Fluttershy held her friend close, resting her head on top of Rarity’s, running her fingers through her soft indigo hair as Rarity panted against her shoulder.

After a moment of embrace, Fluttershy released her friend. “Three…” she said with a smile.

Rarity smiled back as Fluttershy leaned down and gave her friend’s right nipple a quick suck with her lips, followed by a flick of her tongue which drew a little yelp out of the fashionista.

Fluttershy turned to me and came down for a kiss, letting me remove my fingers from her as she laid at my side. “Give her one more…then it’s your turn.” She said softly, licking the tip of my nose.

She laid back down beside us, foundling her own breasts as I sat up with Rarity to kiss her. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders, then started working her body up and down on mine, rocking her hips to work me in an out of her. I pushed my hips upward, letting myself go deeper into her as she gyrated…she immediately gasped as her clit ground itself against my body as I continued to slide in and out, her arms gripping me tighter and tighter, her speed increasing with every thrust.

She had stopped kissing me, but her face was still pressed against mine, breathing against me as I felt her face contort against mine…then it hit her again. She cried out, pressing her cheek against my face as her body shuddered against me…then I felt a warm gush of fluid against my abdomen that washed down between my legs and soaked the bed sheets.

Rarity put her hands on my shoulders, looking at me with her eyes wide. “My…FUCK!...d-dar…” she stuttered, then slammed herself against me, causing us both to fall back down on to the bed. She laid on top of me, breathing one deep, satisfied breath after another, resting the side of her head on my shoulder, keeping her sapphire eyes locked on Fluttershy through the purple hair that draped across her face.

“Four.” The shy girl smiled, gazing back into Rarity’s eyes.

Rarity continued to breath on me, her face blank. “I’m so sorry, Fluttershy…”

Fluttershy furrowed her brow at the statement. “For what?”

“I’m afraid I’ve…made a mess of your bedspread,” Rarity whimpered, her voice barely able to muster up the volume for us to hear her.

Fluttershy giggled. “Oh…that’s OK, Rare…it happens all the time…”

Rarity lifted her head again to plant a sloppy kiss on me, her lips were wet, her tongue slid in slowly and gently rubbed itself against mine. I had my eyes closed as the beautiful, but worn out pale beauty kissed me softly, then I felt another pair of lips kissing my neck, leaving small pinpoints of moisture as a signature everywhere they touched.

Rarity followed suit, rolling off of me as Fluttershy put her hand on her shoulder to gently push her off, then they both continued to kiss my neck as they laid on either side of me, letting their naked bodies rest on me.

Fluttershy finally came up and kissed my cheek. “Your turn…” she said softy, then she crawled down to my waist, leaned over me, picking up my soaked erection with her hand and holding it at the base. She wrapped her lips around it, then slid them down, tasting her friend’s juice as she sucked gently while sliding her mouth back up to the head, giving it a few quick sucks, flicking it with her tongue.

That last ride from Rarity had gotten me pretty close to orgasm; there was a moment when I thought she might have finished me off inside her, which wouldn’t have been a bad thing, but now I was glad to see where this was going. I could already feel the sparks starting with those lips sliding all over me.

Rarity finally peeled her mouth from my neck to look down at Fluttershy, who was now rhythmically moving her head around, running her puckered lips in circles on the tip.

She smiled at me with her blue eyes shining. “Oh, you lucky boy…” she said shaking her head, then she slid down to join Fluttershy.

The shy girl saw that her friend had joined her, so she let her lips slide off the end of me, making a little wet sound of suction as it left her mouth. Rarity leaned in and licked the side of it from the base all the way to the top, where she suddenly plunged her mouth over it, running her lips up and down the length, pausing on the sensitive head every so often to deliver short strokes while circling it with her tongue inside her mouth before she pulled her lips off of it, making a pop sound as the suction released.

Then both girls started running their lips and tongues up and down the sides of it, sometimes they would both pause on the head to suck gently on each side and run their tongues all around it as I started feeling the end explosion coming up steadily. One of them would run their lips up and down the length of it on the side of the shaft, while the other would seal their lips around the head and gently coax the orgasm from me, then they would switch places and continue on…

Rarity happened to be the one with her lips around my head when I reached the peak of my pleasure, her lips suddenly felt like they were electrified against me as I finally exploded; firing one, two, and three hard, thick shots into her hot mouth.

She made a surprised little ‘Mmm!’ sound as she suddenly backed off, letting the next shot fire straight up into the air, which landed on Fluttershy’s cheek as she continued to run her tongue along the length of me. Her eyes popped open when she felt the warm strand hit her face, then when she realized what was happening, she gasped and brought herself up to plunge her mouth onto me, taking the remainder of the shots on her tongue as she continued to give me all the intense pleasure I could handle, trying to coax as much fluid from me into her mouth as possible.

She ran her lips gently around on the head as the pulsing subsided, then finally let her mouth slide off of me. She put her fingertips in front of her chin, furrowing her brows a bit as she swallowed, then exhaled her breath against my stomach, looking back up at me with a smile.

“You guys…are my favourite.” I panted, staring at the ceiling.

They kneeled on the bed on either side of me, smiling slightly awkwardly at each other, knowing that as best friends they’d never done anything like that together before.

Rarity started running her fingers through her slightly frazzled hair. “My goodness, you almost drowned me.” She said with a wink.

Fluttershy looked at her, confused. “But, I thought I got most of it…?”

They both looked at me for a moment, then Rarity shook her head. “Really, darling…where do you keep it all?”

I smirked as I thought of a reply. “Due to a recent shipping error, I was currently overstocked and everything needed to go…”

Rarity smirked, shaking her head. "Oh darling; that was terrible!"

“I didn’t even think you got any, Rare.” Fluttershy said, starting to play with her messy, pink hair.

“Oh, I did,” Rarity replied. “But you wouldn’t have seen it, I never spill a single drop. A lady does not make a mess,” she said, sticking her nose up as she always did when talking about being a lady. It was ironic, given the subject matter. Then Rarity noticed the thick white strand on Fluttershy’s cheek. “Uh, darling…”

Fluttershy looked at her.

Rarity waved her index finger at her own cheek. ‘You’ve got some…uh…”

“Oh!” Fluttershy suddenly remembered one of the shots had landed on her face. She started to reach up with her fingertips.

Rarity put her hands out. “No wait! I’ll get it for you…” She said, leaning across me. She put her fingertips under Fluttershy’s chin to hold her still, then stuck her tongue out, placing it on Fluttershy’s lips, then she licked from there across her cheek, sweeping up the entire streak, then brought her tongue back into her mouth. After she swallowed it, she leaned in to give Fluttershy a small kiss on the lips. “There you go, darling.”

“Jesus fucking Christ these bitches are hot…” I thought to myself as I laid there, watching the two girls.

Both of the girls settled down on either side of me. We laid and stared at the ceiling for a moment before Fluttershy broke the silence.

“So, um…what was the score?” she asked, running her fingers through her hair.

“Five for Fluttershy…four for me…and one for Golds. Slacker.” Rarity quipped, sending a smirk my way.

“Hey,” I said, “I had most of the assists…”

Rarity snorted and shook her head as she cupped her own breasts with her hands. “I suppose I’ll give you that.”

Fluttershy giggled. “I think I’ll go out on a limb and say we were all winners tonight.”

After a short pause, Rarity let out a slow, content chuckle. “And for that, I say…thank you, darlings.”

Chapter 50: And The Road Becomes My Bride

Chapter 50

Sunset and I left Fluttershy’s house at about 8:30am on Monday morning.

We made our way across the province, chatting back and forth, telling stories from our pasts and making predictions of the future. It took about thirteen hours to get to Richmond, which is fairly close to the border of Washington state.

We sprung for the satellite radio feed in the rental car, and Sunset and I had listened to loud metal most of the way from home. I was surprised she liked that kind of music as much as I did, but it made sense after I remembered how good she was at playing guitar. It was nice having her with me, she was a cool chick and she kept my mind off of what might have been happening to my girlfriend at that moment.

It was dark outside when we entered Richmond. Sunset reached towards the radio to turn the volume down on ‘Road to Nowhere’ by Ozzy Osbourne to speak. “So…I have a question.” she asked.

“What’s that?” I replied, looking away from her, watching the other direction to see if it was clear to turn right.

“How are we going to pay for all this?” she asked. “Like, after we cross the border, we have to drive all the way across the continent to get to Langley…”

I shook my head. “Don’t worry about it, Sunny.”

She cocked an eyebrow at me. “Don’t worry about it??” she said dubiously. “The other thing is, Rarity just dyed my hair…and in my passport photo it’s still red.”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine. People dye their hair all the time. I’m sure the folks at the border will be fine about it. You still look like you.” I said, turning another corner in the white sedan.

“And what about you?” she asked. “I haven’t seen your passport yet…do you even have one?”

I looked at her for a moment, then put my eyes back on the road. “You’ll have your answers in a bit.” I said nonchalantly as I pulled into a parking lot behind a large building on the corner of a quiet intersection with a large Asian market across the street.

We parked the rental car, and I went to the truck to get a small gym bag out of my suitcase, then closed the trunk. We walked to the sidewalk, then to the intersection to a set of doors at the front corner of the building. There were glass doors with windows all around, but there was a grid of black steel bars behind every window.

I took my wallet out as I approached the entrance, taking out a white card and waving it in front of the little black box mounted next to the door. The little red LED on the box turned green, accompanied by a little beep as the door clicked, allowing me to open it, holding it for Sunset to enter. I stepped inside the vestibule with her, where we were met by a little box with a mirror inside it mounted beside the next set of doors. On the box was an illuminated blue LCD screen.

“What is this place?” Sunset asked me, looking nervous about the high tech security system.

“I have a safety deposit box here.” I explained.

The brunette’s eyebrows went up. “Ahh…”

I ducked my head slightly, looking into the mirror and staying still for a moment while it scanned my iris. A beep finally sounded from the machine, followed by the blue screen lighting up, reading:

‘User ID: Golden Arrow
09:44:37 PM
Monday, September 26, 2022’

The next door unlocked, and I pulled it open, again holding it for Sunset to enter before stepping in myself. A security guard was standing at the third door, who looked at us as we approached. I showed him my card that opened the front door, plus my driver’s license as a photo ID, then he took out a white card of his own and waved it over the box next to that door. The LED turned green as he opened and held the door for us both to enter the next room. In that room, there were two security guards, one with a large dog who stood off to the side, and another one who greeted us before he walked over to the large, shiny steel door. He swiped a card in front of it, then unlocked it with a metal key, then finally pulled a big handle and slowly swung the door open.

It was round, and Sunset could see once it was opened that the door to the vault was over a foot thick. The security guard escorted us in and followed us along the wall, which was covered in a grid of small metal doors with two lock cylinders in each. I handed Sunset the gym bag as I took my wallet out again, slipping a small key out of one of the card slots, then inserting it into one of the locks on one of the larger doors closer to the floor. The security guard took out a key of his own, then inserted his key into the other cylinder and turned it.

I turned my key next, then swung the door open and slid out a smooth steel box and carried it off to the side of the room, where there were a bunch of booths with dividers in between and a small shelf to set the box on. The security guard went back to the vault door and waited there for us to finish what we were doing.

Sunset stood off to the side, her arms folded across her midsection in somewhat of a defensive pose, looking somewhat intimidated by the place as I flipped open the lid on the box and started rooting around inside.

“How much should I bring?” I asked her over my shoulder. “Fifty?...” I thought for a moment, then shook my head. “No maybe a hundred…in case we have to buy someone off or something.”

Sunset frowned as she stepped up beside me. “A hundred…dollars? That doesn’t seem like very much….we’re gonna need way more than that.”

I shook my head and looked at her. “No…grand.”

Her big, beautiful aqua-coloured eyes almost bugged out of her head…then her pupils shrunk as she saw me pull out multiple stacks of hundred dollar bills of American cash. “Holy shit! Is this all yours?? Where did you get all this?”

“Shhh!” I shushed, looking over my shoulder to check that we were alone. “Yeah, this is my money. You don’t live for as long as I have without building up a few nest eggs…” I explained.

“Wow...” she mumbled in shock. “ I never thought about that…jeez Golds, can I have some money?” she joked.

“Actually,” I said, reaching in a pulling out a jewel encrusted pendant and handing it to her. “You can have this…I don’t really know why I have it in here.”

She frowned as I set it in her hand. “What is this?”

“Can I have the bag?” I asked, holding out my hand.

Sunset took her eyes off the jewel to glance at me, then handed me the gym bag. “Oh, here. Sorry.”

I set the bag on the ledge, then started packing the money into it. “That pendant belonged to Elizabeth Bathory.” I said, keeping my eyes on what I was doing.

Sunset chewed the inside of her cheek, looking at the jewel. “That name sounds familiar…but I can’t remember where from…”

“She was a Hungarian Countess in the 16th century.” I explained. “You’ve probably seen her on the History channel or something like that. She’s the one who supposedly killed hundreds of her maids and bathed in their blood to stay young…”

Sunset cocked an eyebrow, looking back down at the jewel in her hand. “Yeah…that’s right…I saw that on TV once, on some show about violent monarchs in history.” she said, then she looked back up at me. “Wow, this thing is old… you really want me to have it?”

“Yeah sure.” I said glancing at her. “Don’t worry, she didn’t actually do any of those things…Lizzie was actually a lovely lady. She was set up…the whole serial killer thing was a lie.”

Sunset’s eyes went wide. “Really? Who would set her up like that?”

“Catholics.” I said. “She was Protestant…” I shook my head at the memory. “People were so fucked about religion back then…they framed poor girl, and she ended up dying bricked up in a room with no windows…the only openings just big enough to let air in and to slip her food. All because they didn’t agree with her religion and they wanted her out of power.”

Sunset sighed. “That’s too bad…you knew her?”

“A little, yeah.”

The brunette paused for a moment before speaking again. “Well, thanks for this.” she said, running her fingertip around the outer edge of the pendant. “It’s really amazing.” She shifted her gaze to the steel box, wondering what else was in there. As she leaned forward, she could see stacks of American and Canadian money, as well as a pile of small leather books of different colours with gold seals on them.

“Are those all passports?” she asked in amazement.

“Yep.” I replied. “I had them all made up for me.”

“Really? By who?” she asked.

“Like I said at Rarity’s…I have connections.” I said. “I have my share of enemies, like Cody…but I also have lots of friends…although most of them are getting pretty old these days…”

She reached into the box and started leafing through the booklets. “Wow,” she said in disbelief. “You have one for like, every country in Europe…and Asia?...and these look legit…”

I nodded. “They pretty much are.” I said. “Can you find the Canadian one for me, please?”

“Sure,” she said, flipping through the passports, looking for the one that looked similar to her own. She found it, then pulled it out. “Here you go…”

“OK, thanks. Just put it in the bag.” I instructed.

“How old is this passport?” she asked. “Are you sure it’s not expired?”

I shook my head, “Nope. I had my guy make it a ten year renewal last time, right before I put it in here. That was just before I moved out to the woods, so there should a few years left on it.”

“Hm.” The brunette mumbled, before peering into the box again. “How much money do you have in here?”

“Uh…” I paused to think about it. “About three hundred Canadian and four-fifty American, I think.”

Her eyebrows went up in shock. “Thousand??”

“Yup.” I nodded, smirking at her reaction. “You should see the box I have in Switzerland…”

She let out a long exhale, shaking her head. “Why do you live the way you do if you have all this money??...I mean you drive a thirty year old truck and you live in a machine shop…”

“Low profile…” I said. “I’ve lived like a rich man before. It’s overrated, and it attracts too much attention...” then I looked at her with a slight scowl. “What’s wrong with my truck??”

She put her hands up. “Whoa…don’t get me wrong, it’s a sweet truck…I just, it’s surprising that you have all this cash sitting around.”

I smiled and nodded a bit at her as I re-counted the cash to make sure I had the right amount. Then I glanced at the brunette. “Part of the reason I don’t spend this money is so I have it when I need it…for times like this.”

“That makes sense.” Sunset said, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. “Hey,” she asked suddenly. “Why don’t you have guns ‘n stuff in here, like in the movies?”

I shook my head. “Not allowed.” I replied. “Can’t store guns, ammo, explosives, chemicals, illegal drugs…things like that.” I turned my head and nodded towards the vault door. “Why do you think they have the dog out there?”

Sunset glanced out of the vault in the direction of the guards for a moment, then turned back to me. “Ah, right. Makes sense.” she nodded.

I finished packing up what we needed for our mission, then put the box away, locking up the little door, then we left the vault. Once outside, we put the gym bag in the trunk of the white rental car.

We got back onto the road and left Richmond to head for the American border. It didn’t take long to get there, and we got our Passports ready as we pulled up to the customs booth.

I stopped next to the booth, rolling down the window and handing our passports to the customs officer as he stepped out of the small structure. “Evening folks.” he said, looking at our papers. “Where are you headed?”

“Washington DC.” I replied.

He glanced back at me suddenly. “Long way…what’s the purpose of your visit and how long are you staying in the country?”

“Going to visit an old friend for a couple weeks.” I explained.

He leaned his head down, looking through the car at Sunset. “You a natural brunette or what?”

She took in a breath as she looked back at him. “Oh, no…I just dyed it recently…”

He nodded. “I like the red better.”

She forced a smirk and shrugged. “Yeah, I just thought I’d try it out.”

I figured the customs officer assumed Sunset and I were a couple, so I turned to look at her, deciding to play the part. “I think it looks good, honey.” I said, reaching out to hold her hand.

She instinctually pulled back suddenly, reminding me of her magic, and what happens when she touches me. “Shit…” I thought, “That was bad…”

I looked back at the officer, who saw what just happened and was cocking his eyebrows at us now.

I shrugged. “We had a bit of an argument earlier…” I explained.

Sunset, who also realized our fuck-up, rolled her eyes and crossed her arms on her chest, looking out the passenger side window, pretending to be upset with me.

I glanced at her, then back at the customs officer, who shook his head and looked at me sternly. “You’d better just say sorry or it’s going to be a loooong trip…”

I nodded and smiled a bit. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

The officer looked at my passport for a moment next, then he looked at me. “You don’t dye your hair?” he said with a smirk.

I looked up at him for a second, then took in a breath as I answered. “Uh, no sir. I can’t dye. I’m allergic.”

Sunset smirked at my double-entendre, still looking away from us through her window.

He looked at the passports for another moment, then went inside the booth to scan and stamp them as I felt relief that he wasn’t going to search the car. Finding a hundred thousand dollars cash in the trunk would probably not be a good thing…

He finally came back, handing me both of the passports. “Have a good trip, you two. Enjoy your stay…and try to get along.” he said, winking at me.

“Thanks. Have a good one.” I said with a nod as I put the car in gear and drove away.

After a few seconds, I rolled the window up and looked at Sunset, who was looking at me now. I looked into her green eyes for a moment, then she snorted suddenly and started laughing. “Seriously? I’m allergic to dying? You just couldn’t help yourself, could you?”

“I thought it was pretty funny,” I shrugged.

The brunette shook her head as we began our long journey across the country. We drove through the night, listening to loud metal music on the satellite radio as we talked on and off for a couple hours.

Eventually she had her phone out and was playing with it. I could see her pretty face, lit up in the dark, framed by the wavy locks of her dark brown hair as she looked intently as the small screen.

“Wow,” she said suddenly. “That’s impressive.”

“What’s that?” I asked, glancing away from the road at her.

“This app…twenty questions.” she replied. “You pick something in your mind, then answer the questions it asks and it tells you what you’re thinking about.”

“Oh…” I mumbled, not really having my interest piqued by her reply. “What were you thinking about?”

“Your truck.” she said. “It guessed right, too. I don’t get how…the questions are so general…”

I took a deep breath. “Hm…” I hummed. “Why were you thinking about my truck?”

She shrugged, keeping her eyes glued on her phone. “I dunno, I guess because were we talking about it in the vault…”

I nodded, keeping my eyes on the road, watching each new foot of our journey pass through the illumination of the headlights of the white car. Sunset was quiet for about ten minutes, then she suddenly busted out laughing.

I glanced over at her. “What’s so funny?”

She continued to snicker as she spoke, blushing a little in the light of her phone screen. “I was doing another twenty questions…and uh…”

She paused for a moment.

“What?” I asked.

“The thing I thought of was…your…uh, dick.” she confessed.

I frowned as I kept my eyes on the road. “My…huh? Why is that funny?” I asked in confusion.

“That’s not what I was laughing at.” she snickered. “I was laughing cuz one of the questions was: ‘does it come in a box?’” she started giggling again, covering her mouth with her hand.

I couldn’t help but laugh along with her, watching the yellow dotted lines in the middle of the road pass by the left side of the car as we travelled. “That’s pretty good.” I chuckled.

She looked at me with her green eyes, giggling a bit more, then she looked back at her phone and continued to play.

I took a deep breath, wondering why she chose to think about that particular item for the game. I looked over at her. “Why were you thinking about my dick?” I asked.

She shrugged, keeping her eyes on the phone. “I dunno, probably cuz I have this ‘crippling arousal because of my magic’ thing…” she said, looking at me. “Remember that? How I have to deal with it constantly now that you and me are gonna be stuck together in this car for a fucking week?”

I furrowed my brows a bit, thinking about her conundrum. I honestly was so caught up in getting Sunset’s help to rescue Fluttershy, I never really thought about her arousal problem. That’s not to say I forgot she had it, but I hadn’t considered the scope of what I was asking of her. Now she was going to be stuck with me for a couple of weeks at least…and a shot of nervousness went through me after I remembered what she did to me on Fluttershy’s couch after only 24 hours together…and the trip to DC on its own was going to be two or three days.

“Didn’t you say you had a plan to deal with that?” I asked.

She turned her phone off, then set it down on her lap, plunging her face into the dark of the night. “Yeah…but I don’t think I need to break it out just yet…but speaking of which, I gotta change my pad soon…”

I looked at her with an eyebrow raised. “Pad? Like a menstrual pad? I hope you’re not…”

“No…I haven’t had my period since I turned. None of us have.” she replied quickly. “I’m just using them to keep my undies from getting messed up.”

“Seriously? You’re getting that wet?” I asked in surprise.

She nodded. “I told you, this is a pain in the ass.”

I took a deep breath and continued to keep my eyes on the road as I thought about the brunette and her issue. I finally summoned up some courage to make a suggestion to her. “Hey…”

“Yeah?” she answered.

“Why don’t you, like…take care of it…would that help?” I said.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Like…touch yourself.” I replied timidly.

She glared at me, her pupils shrinking down to pinpoints at the thought of my suggestion.

“I mean…” I said nervously. ”It was just a suggestion.”

“Well…” she started. “That’s actually…kind of what my plan was…” she said, looking down at the dash board. “I packed a vibrator and a shit-load of batteries…just in case of…you know.”

I shrugged. “Well, why don’t you use it?”

She shook her head. “I didn’t want to break it out unless I really needed to…I don’t want to use up all the batteries too fast…”

“Hm.” I nodded, suddenly hit by the reality of what we were talking about. It was one of those ‘how did I get here?’ moments…wondering how I ended up in a rented car, driving across Washington state with Sunset Shimmer in the passenger seat with brunette hair, contemplating the idea of masturbating in front of me.

She looked at me for a moment, biting her lip as she thought about what to do.

“Is it bad right now?” I asked.

She nodded slowly, her eyes locking on me. “Pretty bad, yeah.” she replied. “I kind of want you to pull over, hop in the back seat with me and tear me open with your cock…”

I could feel a wave of excitement wash through me upon me hearing her blunt, yet sexy words. I couldn’t help it, even though I knew it wasn’t right.

“Sorry…” she said, noticing she must have gotten to me a bit.

“It’s OK.” I said as I took a deep breath. “Why don’t you just…try using your fingers?”

She paused for a moment, staring at the radio as the song changed again…then she took a deep breath as she leaned back in the seat, letting herself slouch down as she lifted her hips up and slipped her right hand inside the front of her dark blue tights.

“Holy shit! She’s gonna do it…” I thought as I tried my best to keep my eyes on the road.

Sunset spread her knees apart, letting her hand slide down between her thighs, evidenced by the bulge in her pants caused by the back of her hand. She let her eyes close as she started running circles with her middle finger over her sensitive wetness.

I smirked as I thought of a little joke to mess with her. I turned to her and shouted: “OH MY GOD! ARE YOU TOUCHING YOURSELF??”

Her eyes popped open and she glared at me in shock for a moment…then she quickly pulled her hand out of her pants and sat up again, folding her arms across her chest as she scowled at the windshield.

I instantly regretted making the joke when I saw her expression. I looked back at the road for a moment, awkwardly wondering what I should do now.

After a moment I looked at her and smiled, trying to show her I was just kidding, but she just rolled her eyes and huffed as she turned and climbed over the backrest into the rear seat, leaving me alone in the front.

I sighed as I stared forward for a moment, watching as the car ate up more and more of the highway as we closed in on our destination.

“Sunny?” I said quietly, listening for a response.

There was silence from the back. I turned the music down so I could hear better.

“Hey…” I tried again, this time I heard a quiet sniffle from behind me. “Shit…she’s really upset with me…” I thought. I took a deep breath, then slowed the car down…pulling off to the side of the road and stopping on the shoulder. I put the four-way flashers on, and got out of the car, walking around to the passenger rear door to get in and sit with the brunette.

I shut the door and looked over at her. She had her face turned away from me, looking out the side window. Another vehicle went by in the other direction just then, its headlights illuminating her face as it passed, revealing a wet streak down the length of her cheek.

“Hey Sunny…” I said quietly. “I was just kidding around…”

She shook her head a bit, folding her arms across her chest again.

“Sorry…” I mumbled, shifting closer to her.

She looked down at her lap. “Golds...I’m scared.”

I recoiled a bit in surprise. “Scared?”

She nodded reluctantly.

“Of what?” I asked.

“Of all this…” the brunette replied. “This rescue mission…I don’t know how you do this…”

“Hey,” I said. “I get worried too…”

She shook her head. “I can’t do this…I’m not like you…I haven’t had 2500 years of experience.”

“Sunny, you can do this. You are brilliant in these situations.” I said. “Flutters has told me the story of how you read Cody’s mind like a hundred times…you were a genius, acting like an idiot and fucking up the coffee to get a chance to touch his hand…”

She shook her head. “That was different…he was at a disadvantage there.” she complained. “It’s the fucking CIA that I’m worried about…I’ve been freaking out ever since we went to get into your safety deposit box…when I saw how much of a fortress that place was, and all they do is store people’s shit for them…what’s the CIA headquarters going to be like?? How am I supposed to get in there?” she finally looked at me when she said this, showing me the worry in her eyes.

“I don’t know, Sunny.” I said. “I haven’t been there since the new building was added. We’re just gonna have to figure it out.”

“But what if I get caught?” she said. “What if they find out I’m immortal too?”

I rested my arm on top of the seat back and started playing with her wavy brunette locks with my fingers in an attempt to comfort her. “Don’t worry.” I said. “If you get caught, I’ll bust in there and tear the whole fucking place down.”

She paused to look at me for a moment. “You would do that for me?”

“I would do it for Flutters, and I would do it for you in a heartbeat.” I said. “Although, I prefer not to, because I don’t want the fuckers chasing us for another 60 years…which is why I want to do it quietly.”

She sighed slowly as she looked down at her lap, unfolding her arms to play with her fingertips. “You really think I can do it? You just said you don’t even have a plan…”

“We’ll come up with something.” I said. “And I know you’ll ace it, whatever it ends up being.” I tipped my head to look at her more closely. “It’s not like you to be doubtful of yourself…”

She took a deep breath. “It’s just…I’m having a hard time dealing with this…constant arousal.” she explained. “I came with you to help Flutters…there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for any of my friends, but that doesn’t mean it’s not hard.”

I nodded. “I know what you mean.”

“No you don’t…” she said, suddenly glaring at me. “You don’t know what it’s like to feel like this all the time I’m around you…with no way to relieve it.”

I took a deep breath and rubbed my forehead, trying to put myself in her shoes so I could understand.

“It’s fucking humiliating…” she said, shaking her head. “To feel like some kind of wild animal in heat…I feel like that’s how you think of me.”

I looked at her and shook my head. “No way, I have great respect for how you’ve been handling it. You hide it so well, sometimes I forget it’s even happening…plus the fact that you even agreed to come with me for this shows how tough you are.”

She swallowed, then continued to speak as if she didn’t hear what I just said. “And I was just getting comfortable enough to take care if it myself, and put myself out there…in front of you…because I thought you were gonna be cool about it, but then you yelled at me…” A fresh tear ran down her cheek when she said the last part.

I sighed slowly, feeling bad about what I did. I knew I was just kidding, but obviously I took it too far for her, and she didn’t think it was funny. I slid over on the seat and put my arm around her shoulders, pulling her in closer to give her an apologetic hug. “Sorry, Sunny. I was just being a goof. I didn’t mean to upset or embarrass you…I guess I wasn’t considering how you must be feeling…having to deal with this.”

Sunset rested her head on my shoulder and hugged me back, but remained silent.

We sat for a few moments, holding each other in the back seat as the coloured light of the hazard flashers continuously illuminated us on and off. The sweet candy scent of her hair slowly wafted up to me as I waited for the right moment to suggest continuing on our voyage to find Fluttershy.

She finally lifted her head and looked me in the face for a few seconds, striking me with her big, shiny aqua-coloured eyes.

“Dammit, why does Sunny have to be so hot?” I wondered, thinking about how she was the one and only person who could really help me rescue the shy girl.

Just as I was thinking this, she closed her eyes slowly and leaned in, pressing her soft lips against mine. She kissed me once, then twice…then on the third one, she opened her mouth and I could feel the tip of her tongue just start to touch my lips when she pulled back suddenly, opening her eyes wide.

“Shit! Sorry…” she cursed. “Fuck, I didn’t mean to do that…” She shifted back to her side of the seat, closing her eyes while rubbing her temples. She let out an exasperated sigh as she sat there, frustrated by her own body.

I looked ahead through the windshield and took a deep breath. “We should keep moving.” I said flatly, looking back at her. “You wanna stay back here?”

She nodded, folding her arms again and looking down at her lap.

“OK.” I replied quietly, turning to open the door to get out before I looked back at her once more. “It’s OK…please don’t feel bad.” I said softly, reaching across the seat to give her a comforting pat on the knee. “I can’t do this without you…because you can do things that I can’t. You’re amazing, Sunny. Don’t forget it.”

She glanced at me briefly, then looked out the window again.

I stepped out and walked around the outside of the car to the driver’s door, got in and put the car in gear to continue on our journey across the USA.

Author's Note

Road to Nowhere by Ozzy Osbourne.

*Chapter 76: It's Gonna Be A Long Night - Part 1

Chapter 76

“Where the frigg is Rare?” Sunset wondered as she walked along the hall, feeling the crotch of the suit sliding against her with each stride, completely soaked in her warm, slick juices. “Hopefully this horniness goes away quickly,” she thought. “Rare’s gonna be pissed when she sees the mess I made and she’ll be like: ‘you should wave worn underwear, darling!”

A sneer had subconsciously found itself on Sunset’s face as she imitated the fashionista’s voice in her head, and she reached down to pull on the pant-leg of the suit, trying to shift it to a more comfortable position. “Nngghh…fucking shit!” she grunted, whispering to herself while glancing into the empty bathroom as she passed.

"Where’d they go?” she wondered as she passed the dining area on the right, which was deserted as well.

Sunset looked straight ahead and made her way towards Rarity’s bedroom, which resided at the bottom of the small staircase at the end of the hall.

As the red-head descended the steps, she was looking down at the suit again, yanking on the collar to see if she could peel it open.

“Hey Rare, can I get a hand with this- OH!” Sunset stopped in her tracks when the saw Fluttershy and Rarity standing next to the bed, wrapped in each other’s arms, kissing each other furiously.

They were still wearing their suits as well, causing Sunset’s pupils to shrink down to tiny dots when she saw their shiny, black-gloved hands caressing each other’s smooth, black curves as they whimpered and moaned into each other’s mouths, sharing each other’s tongues in a heated fit of passion.

They promptly broke the make-out session when they heard Sunset’s voice, and then quickly turned to face her.

“Sorry guys!” Sunset cringed awkwardly as she put her hand up to block her view. “I’ll just, uh…get out of your hair.”

“No no, darling,” Rarity replied, putting her hand out to stop the red-head's retreat. “We really should be getting ready to go anyway. What is it that you wanted to ask me?”

“Oh, uh…” Sunset gripped the collar of her suit. “I can’t figure out how to get out of this thing.”

Rarity’s eyebrows went up. “Ah,” she replied, raising a finger as she stepped away from Fluttershy. “Allow me.”

As Rarity had made her way to the foot of the bed, presumably to retrieve something that was used to help remove the suit, Fluttershy stood next to the bed with her knees touching and her toes pointed inwards, clasping her hands in front of her, just below her bust.

Sunset quickly noticed that Fluttershy’s demeanor had returned, immediately recognising the shy girl’s unmistakably inward presence, her classic stance and quiet personality. The only strange new feature was the tight, black suit that she was wearing.

The sight of her friend’s bright, teal eyes brought a smile to Sunset’s face, and she walked toward Fluttershy to talk to her, thinking about maybe stealing a hug as well. As she took her first step however, the crotch of the suit pulled against the red-head’s swollen crease, causing her knee to buckle when the sharp jolt of pleasure shot up her spine, and she stumbled forward unexpectedly.

“Oh!” Fluttershy reached out with her hands to help, but Sunset was able to catch herself, stopping with her face only half a foot away from the shy girl’s full, plump cleavage. The red-head was leaned forward slightly after her misstep, putting her at eye level with the alluring yellow breasts.

“Shit,” Sunset cursed, swallowing hard when she saw the delicious package right before her eyes. “Come on, Sunset! Get a grip,” she coached herself, knowing full well that she’d had nowhere near enough time to cool her arousal, and that she’d better be careful not to let her thoughts get out of control like they did at the edge of the falls.

“Are you OK, Sunset?” Fluttershy asked in her soft, sweet voice.

Sunset had stood by then, but she paused when she heard the question, surprised to hear the shy girl speaking like her old self again.

“Sunset?” the shy girl repeated.

The red-head snapped out of her trance and returned the smile to her face. “Flutters,” she sighed happily, “It’s good to have you back to your old self again.”

“I’m glad to be back,” Fluttershy said, reaching up to sweep a lock of hair from her face. “And, um… I’m sorry I had you guys all so worried.”

Sunset snorted, shaking her head. “Don’t be sorry, I couldn’t imagine the nightmare you went through, but you’re back now and that’s all that matters.”

Fluttershy smiled and folded her hands in front of herself, shrugging her shoulders bashfully upon hearing her friend’s words of kindness. “I’m sorry I was no fun at the hotel, Sunset. I know you were really excited about being there, a-and I ruined it for you.”

Sunset couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt. Fluttershy didn’t need to feel bad about her mood at the hotel; her plight should have been paramount and Sunset’s interest in the location had at times caused her to forget about that. “No-no Flutters,” she said, shaking her head, “That wasn’t important. You were. The whole thing should have been about you, and we shouldn’t have forced you to stay there.”

The shy girl’s eyes dropped to the floor. “Oh,” she blushed, “That’s OK. You guys were right though, I needed to clean myself up. A-and I know Goldie was just trying to do something nice for us.”

Sunset smiled. “Yeah.”

Fluttershy brought her eyes up to meet the red-head’s, and they shared a warm smile together, finally giving Sunset a sense of accomplishment after her mission.

“Damn, she’s such a cutie,” Sunset thought to herself, feeling her heart warm up as she took in the details of the shy girl’s adorable visage. Without intention, she let her eyes drop down to Fluttershy’s cleavage, marvelling at how ripe they appeared, like two juicy melons pressed together, having the sweet nectar squeezed from them. Sunset found herself wishing she could be the one to extract those juices, and how she would rather suck it out than squeeze it.

A sudden tingle hit the red-head down low, and she quickly snapped herself out of her depravity. Pursing her lips, she looked down at her own cleavage, suddenly realising that Golden Arrow was right; Sunset’s breasts really were almost as big as Fluttershy’s, a fact made apparent by the tight, black suit she was wearing.

“…And voila!” Rarity’s voice came from behind.

“Huh?” Sunset replied, turning to see what the fashionista was talking about, only to find an unexpected sight. “Whoa! What the shit, Rare?”

Rarity was completely naked.

Sunset placed her hand beside her eyes to block the view as she spoke again. “What are you doing??”

“I was showing you how to take the suit off,” Rarity replied, her perky, white breasts jiggling as she shrugged. “Were you not paying attention?”

“I didn’t know that’s what you were doing,” Sunset defended, “I thought you were gonna help me take mine off.”

Rarity scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Well, I suppose that’s what we’ll have to do now, isn’t it?”

“Sorry Rare,” the red-head said as the very pale and very nude fashionista approached her to help peel the suit off. Sunset’s eyes couldn’t help but drop to Rarity’s abdomen as she stepped forward, her hips gently swinging with each stride, drawing Sunset’s attention to the well-kept, purple landing strip that adorned her mound.

“Why doesn’t she like that?” Sunset wondered, hypnotized by the dainty, marshmallow-coloured body slinking towards her. "Golds was right, it does look good.”

Waiting patiently, Fluttershy wandered idly towards the small flight of stairs at the entrance to the bedroom as Rarity brought herself in front of Sunset to begin removing the tight outfit.

Rarity and Sunset now stood beside the bed facing each other, with Rarity’s back to the bed. Sunset was standing with her back to the stairs, with Fluttershy standing behind her, waiting patiently.

The red-head inhaled deeply, staring at the ceiling as the fashionista’s little white fingers slipped inside the shoulders of the suit and pulled it outwards.

“Oh dear,” Rarity groaned. “My apologies, Sunset. This is tight! I had forgotten how stiff this material is when it’s new.”

“It’s uh, OK Rare,” Sunset replied absentmindedly.

“Not to worry, darling. These suits become much more pliable with use,” the fashionista reassured her. “But for now, it will be a bit of a wrestling match, I’m afraid. We’ll get you out of it though, one way or another.”

“I have faith in you,” Sunset chuckled, letting her eyes drop to look at her indigo-haired friend.

The red-head was struck suddenly by Rarity’s appearance. She couldn’t think of any previous instance in which she’d seen Rarity so candid, and Sunset couldn’t help but let her eyes explore the fashionista in her current state of vulnerability.

First off, her hair was different. It wasn’t styled in those perfectly sculpted curls that kept themselves suspended over her face, defying gravity as they bounced along with each of her elegant movements. Tonight, her hair was down, and straight as an arrow. It was parted in the middle, hanging down each side of her face, eventually disappearing behind her bare, white shoulders; dark, shiny and silky as can be.

As Sunset watched, a solitary lock of the smooth, purple hair slid from the side of the fashionista’s face in front of her right eye, prompting her to respond with a flick of her head to the side, throwing the hair out of the way again. The action wafted up a wave of enticing vanilla scent, which permeated Sunset’s nostrils, causing her eyelids to flutter uncontrollably in response to the intoxicating aroma.

“Oohhh that smells amazing…”

Sunset brought her gaze down to scrutinize Rarity’s face next, taking in the sight of her plain, white skin, flawlessly imperfect and completely free of her powdery-white make-up. The red-head inspected every pore, every light little freckle that adorned her pretty cheek-bones, previously unaware that any of them existed, having rarely seen the pale-skinned girl’s face not plastered with image-enhancing products, making her look more like a porcelain doll than a human being.

Rarity’s thin, purple eyebrows captured Sunset’s attention next, gently furrowed within the light scowl that she had unknowingly put on her face while she concentrated on removing the suit. This drew the red-head’s eyes down to the pair of sparkly sapphire eyes next. Without the eye-shadow and liner, they appeared more innocent and doe-like, giving her the air of someone who was ten years her junior.

Sunset was stunned by the level of beauty Rarity possessed in her natural state.

“Damn, I never knew Rare was so….cute.”

She was jolted from her thoughts when Rarity’s hands gave the suit collar a yank; yet another vain attempt to get the suit peeled from Sunset’s powerful frame.

“So sorry, darling.”

“Nah, it’s fine,” Sunset replied, making the mistake of dropping her eyes to Rarity’s naked breasts. They jiggled between the fashionista’s arms as she worked; hypnotizing the red-head with their soft, gentle movements. She marvelled at their size, which, compared her own or Fluttershy’s were nothing to write home about, but on Rarity’s slender frame, they looked full and large, with a perkiness that was fun to look at…and so very tempting to touch.

Sunset drew in a breath through her nose and looked over Rarity’s shoulder towards the wall, trying to ignore the persistent, throbbing heat between her legs, an act that Sunset knew was steadily becoming an exercise in futility.

“Damn…is it just me or is Rare really fucking hot?”

Then a thought struck the red-head. “What if I read Golds while he was fucking Rarity? What would that be like?” It was a thought that had never occurred to Sunset, who’d spent all of her time fantasizing about committing the act only with Fluttershy, at his suggestion.

Indeed, Rarity was an interesting prospect. Fluttershy had a certain allure with her cute, demure innocence, but Rarity…

She was the epitome of class, poise and elegance; and suddenly, Sunset couldn’t help but wonder what it would look like if Golds slammed her against the wall and ravaged her dainty, ivory body until she was reduced to a frazzled, panting mess; left exhausted on the floor, dripping with complete satisfaction as well as his thick, white load.

It quickly became apparent that this thought process was a mistake however, forcing Sunset to draw in a quick breath and hold it as she felt the tingling heat between her legs rip through the rest of her body like a wildfire.

“Shit! Nice going, Sunset,” she scolded herself. “I should not have been thinking about that…”

“I think I might have it,” Rarity was saying, having slipped her fingers under the collar of the suit to give it a pull, but her grip slipped free in short order, leaving the suit in place. “Rats!” Rarity cursed, pausing to rub her chin. “So sorry, Sunset. Let me think for just a moment.”

Sunset didn’t respond. Instead, her mind was struck by another dirty thought. “Rarity is undressing me…” The red-head’s mind was suddenly brought back to her state of affairs under the outfit: she was naked, and if Rarity manages to get this suit peeled off, both she and Fluttershy will see how wet she was, as well as the mess inside the suit.

The red-head glanced down at Rarity once more, watching the fashionista try to devise a way to remove the suit as she rubbed her chin with her index finger.

“Hmmmm,” Rarity hummed quietly, puckering her lips slightly as she thought.

Sunset’s eyes locked onto the full, pouty lips before her. They were plump, frosty-white and delicious looking, just begging to be kissed by her own soft, hungry lips. Sunset couldn’t help but think about how Fluttershy’s mouth was pressed against these tasty-looking lips only a moment ago when the tip of Rarity’s tongue slid out, slowly licking her lips as she concentrated on the suit, leaving a glistening trail of sweet moisture in its wake.

“UUUUUGHH!” Sunset moaned silently, clenching her fists at her sides. “Damn it, Rare! Why did you have to do that?” She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly in an attempt to clear her thoughts and calm herself down. The arousal was at full throttle by that point, and she had no idea how to get it under control. Even though Golden Arrow had left, it would take a long time to fade away in his absence, and lately it had been aggravated by her thoughts, which kept its momentum going around in perpetually endless circles.

At least it couldn’t get any worse…

“Oh Fluttershy! Could you give me a hand please, darling?”

Sunset’s eyes popped open when she heard the request. “Oh, mother-fucker,” she cursed as she heard the shy girl reply.

“Of course,” Fluttershy’s soft voice wafted into Sunset’s ears from behind, followed by the feel of her slender, yellow fingers gently slipping into the suit collar, inadvertently caressing Sunset’s neck and throat.

A sudden wave of dizziness washed over the red-head as the delicate fingers of four different hands found themselves on her neck, shoulders and chest. “Oooooohhhh fuck…” Her skin tingled with excitement under the touch, and so she let her head slowly tip back, inhaling deeply through her nose as she enjoyed the caress of the two girls’ hands on her skin.

At this point, she was indifferent to the risk of them noticing her reactions or behavior; she had lost her mind to the arousal, and she really didn’t fucking care anymore.

As the voices of the girls faded into the background, her heart rate elevated with each breath and her skin seemed to catch fire, accented by the throbbing sensation down below, begging desperately for attention.

“Like this, Rare?”

“Yes, darling, I think that’s got it!”

“Yaaaaaaaaaaay…”

Cold air bathed Sunset’s exposed left shoulder as the suit was finally peeled away, followed by the right, which slid off with ease once the first side had been removed.

“Success!” Rarity cheered. “My goodness, I had forgotten how difficult that was with a new suit.”

Sunset kept her eyes closed as she felt anonymous hands the peel the outfit downward, removing it from her arms while letting the gloves remain on her hands, finally stopping just below her navel. The red-head was now standing there in Rarity’s bedroom with the couple, naked from the waist up.

“There you go, darling,” Rarity concluded. “You should be able to remove it like a pair of pants from there.”

Sunset remained silent, keeping her eyes closed as the cool air in the room soaked her exposed breasts, hardening her nipples in short order while she chewed her bottom lip, feeling the firm buds tingling with desire, aching to be touched, pinched, or licked…

“Sunset?” Rarity’s voice could be heard, carrying a more concerned tone with it. “Are you OK, darling? You’re looking a bit flustered.”

The red-head opened her eyes to find Rarity’s beautiful sapphire gems staring up at her; wide with concern, yet still sparkling with an alluring sensuality that Sunset could no longer resist.

“Fuck it…”

Immediately after whispering the profanity, Sunset swiftly cupped her hands over the shorter girl’s cheeks and pulled her in, pressing their lips together in a firm, hungry kiss.

“MMM!”

Rarity, unprepared for the advance, squealed into Sunset’s mouth, her eyes wide as saucers as she reached up to grab the red-head’s wrists in a vain attempt to peel her hands from her face.

It was to no avail however; Sunset was much too strong for the fashionista to overpower, and it was only a few seconds later that Sunset’s tongue pried its way into Rarity’s mouth to rummage around, looking for another tongue to latch onto.

Rarity instinctively drew her tongue to the back of her mouth in retreat, but the red-head’s aggressiveness won over quickly, flicking the tip of the fashionista’s tongue with her own before reaching deep and rubbing them together in a frantic fit of saliva-sharing lust.

Although Rarity was caught off-guard and appalled by Sunset’s bold move at first, to which she was prompted to fight back and try to find an escape, her mind had eventually begun to swim, and she quickly became intoxicated by the sweet taste and surprising gentleness of Sunset’s kiss.

The red-head’s lips were surprisingly soft and her tongue was nimble, yet gentle; convincing the fashionista’s grip on Sunset’s wrists to slowly loosen as her eyes drifted closed, followed by a long, slow inhale through her nose. An intense tingling began to spark between Rarity’s legs, where there had already been a jump start in moisture after her make-out session with Fluttershy, and without thinking, Rarity slid her fingertips down to Sunset’s elbows, then moved her hands to the red-head’s waist to pull their bodies together.

Deep olive tone met firmly with creamy whiteness, sharing the heat of one another’s bodies as their soft, full breasts squashed together between them. Sunset’s breasts were higher than Rarity’s due to her added height, her hard nipples poking against the higher portion of the fashionista’s perky white bust, while Rarity’s rosy buds were grazing Sunset’s ribs, just below her breasts.

“Mmmm,” Rarity moaned again, this time in a more inviting tone, giving Sunset added gusto to deepen the kiss further. Keeping her hands on Rarity’s warm, soft cheeks, she tilted her head and dug deeper with her tongue, only to be met with Rarity’s tongue in return, which was now fighting back vigorously, playfully flicking and twirling around the red-head’s aggressive advances.

Just as the vanilla perfume had re-invaded Sunset’s senses and her heart rate had reached full throttle, a soft voice could be heard from behind.

“S-Sunset?”

Both girls froze, popping their eyes open when they heard the unnerved voice of Fluttershy.

Turquoise stared into sapphire at point-blank range as they remained locked in place; their naked breasts pinned together, their lips still sealed to one another’s with their tongues still intertwined, unmoving as they struggled to get their wits about them.

What…the…fuck…did I just do?” Sunset wondered to herself, unsure if she’d dreamed what had just happened.

They withdrew their tongues from each other’s mouths and backed away slowly, tethered together by a single thread of glistening saliva that bridged their lips together.

Rarity, with shock in her eyes, remained silent and covered her mouth with her fingertips.

Sunset turned slowly to see Fluttershy behind her, both hands covering her mouth with a look of devastation on her face.

A sudden, massive pang of guilt swept through the red-head’s body upon seeing her friend, who had only just minutes ago found the courage to recover from her traumatic experience and was now forced to see her lover being kissed by her friend. Looking down at her bare breasts, she was overtaken by modesty and she wrapped one arm around her bust to hide it, then quickly made her retreat toward the stairs.

“I’m sorry; I-I should go,” Sunset quickly said as she passed the shy girl.

Just before she set her foot on the first step however, something grabbed her free arm and spun her around. Sunset’s heart leapt into her throat when she was met with the sight of Fluttershy scowling at her, holding her by the forearm.

”Oh shit…”

“And just where do you think you’re going?” Fluttershy asked accusatively.

Sunset cleared her throat nervously, keeping her breasts covered with her forearm. “Look, Flutters…I don’t know what I…I don’t, I don’t-”

“How could you?” Fluttershy cut her off. “First, you fuck my boyfriend on the road, while I was locked in that awful place...”

The red-head’s eyes widened suddenly, her breath locking up.

“Oh yes, Sunset,” the shy girl scowled. “I know all about that.”

Sunset shook her head. “Now wait, we were gonna tell you…it’s just…with the mood you were in, w-we didn’t think it was something you really needed to hear just yet.”

“It was so obvious when I met you guys in the desert. I could practically smell the cum on your breath,” Fluttershy continued.

Stumped, Sunset leaned over to look past Fluttershy towards Rarity, who had yet to move and was still covering her mouth with her fingertips. “Rare! Little help?”

Rarity brought her eyes up and blinked a couple times before realising what was happening. “Oh! Wait Fluttershy, it’s not like that! I gave them permission! Poor Sunset had been dealing with her…um, m-magic problem, and I told her that she could…er, relieve herself if needed. I wanted her to be able to think straight so they could properly do their job of bringing you home safely.”

“Oh, she’s thinking plenty straight now,” Fluttershy taunted.

“Hang on, Flutters, I just-“

Sunset was cut off again by the shy girl before she could finish her plea.

“And as if that wasn’t enough, you go and make-out with my girlfriend right in front of me?”

Sunset drew in a quick, shaky breath, frantically shaking her head. “I…I’m sorry; I don’t know what I was thinking!”

Fluttershy, still holding Sunset’s arm, took a step forward, forcing the red-head to retreat a step in response. “And then you think you can just turn around and walk away, just like that?”

“No…” Sunset pleaded, drawing her head back when the shy girl began to raise her other hand.

“…And you don’t even offer me a taste?”

“Flutters, I swear, I…” Sunset stopped suddenly, raising an eyebrow after a short pause, wondering if she'd just heard what she thought she heard. “Wait, what?”

Fluttershy continued raising her hand, reaching around the back of Sunset’s neck with her slender fingers to pull her close, placing her nose barely an inch from Sunset’s. She paused, looking into the red-head’s eyes before dropping her gaze to her lips.

Then, the shy girl let a small exhale pass through her lips, gently wafting it against Sunset’s face as she spoke ever so softly.

“You let Rare have a taste of those sweet lips…but what about me?”

Sunset had intention to respond, but her lack of comprehension of the moment kept her silent. She watched the teal eyes before her slowly close as Fluttershy leaned in and delivered the softest, most gentle, yet sultry kiss the red-head’s quivering lips had ever tasted.

Fireworks began going off inside Sunset’s mind, as well as down below, spreading a feeling of euphoria all over her body as she removed her arm from her breasts to wrap it around the small of Fluttershy’s back, pulling her black suit-clad body against her own. As Sunset’s bare breasts mashed firmly against the smooth, shiny material, the girls frantically deepened the kiss, lashing their tongues into each other’s mouths with passionate vigor.

Fluttershy suddenly pulled Sunset’s arm, using her hand on the back of the red-head’s neck as a guide to spin them around so that Sunset was now in the middle of the room with her back to Rarity, with Fluttershy’s back facing the stairs, blocking the exit.

The shy girl relinquished her grip on Sunset’s arm and moved both of her hands to Sunset’s shoulders, all the while massaging the red-head’s lips with her own as their graceful tongues spun around each other in perfect synch.

After another minute of becoming acquainted with the inside of each other’s mouths, Fluttershy separated their lips and tilted her head to the side, inviting Sunset to sample the tender skin of her neck and shoulders.

Sunset did not hesitate. She brought her hungry mouth forth to leave a row of soft, wet kisses along Fluttershy’s cheek, heading toward her jaw line before nibbling playfully on her earlobe. After drawing a soft giggle from the shy girl, the red-head ran her tongue down Fluttershy’s throat next, tasting her sweet, yellow skin as she caressed the shy girl’s delicate, yet adamantine collarbones, running her fingers through the soft, pink hair that hung around she collar and shoulders of the black outfit.

Sunset paused for a moment to look down at the magnificent cleavage before her, almost popping out of the valley at the front of the suit, tempting the frantically aroused red-head with each rise and fall that accompanied Fluttershy’s excited breaths. She shook her head, biting her lip as she drank in the sight of the ripe bosom that presented itself to her, calling silently for her to dive in and feast away.

And feast, she did.

The red-head brought her face down, gently dragging her mouth along the shy girl’s chest, planting kisses on the soft, supple tissue of her breasts, tasting the saltiness of dried tears on the smooth skin before burying her lips and nose deep into the crease of Fluttershy’s cleavage.

Fluttershy responded with a giggle, followed by a deep gasp before letting her head tip back as she closed her eyes, enjoying the tickly sensation created by Sunset’s tongue poking deeply between her breasts, leaving behind a flood of saliva that began to dribble down inside the black suit.

The shy girl bit her lip as she ran her fingers through Sunset’s bright, wavy hair, relishing the feel of her friend’s frantic, wet tongue snaking and wriggling between her breasts. After a moment of feeling Sunset exhale onto her wet chest, chilling her tingly skin and causing her nipples to become hard as rocks inside the suit, Fluttershy opened her eyes to look over Sunset’s shoulder towards her girlfriend.

Rarity, who hadn’t moved a muscle yet, stood in awe of the sight before her, but still had the presence-of-mind to lock eyes with her shy girlfriend when she noticed she was looking at her. Befuddled by lust, the fashionista watched as Fluttershy shot her a sly half-grin, then reached around the back of Sunset’s head, sweeping the red and yellow locks aside to expose the back of her neck, and then raised her index finger to coax Rarity over.

Rarity, under her girlfriend’s spell, much like she was on a certain night in the hot tub, quickly stepped forward to accept Fluttershy’s invitation.

Sunset’s skin was riddled with goosebumps suddenly when she felt a pair of dainty hands on her abdomen, reaching around her hips from behind. She stopped her feast and backed her mouth from Fluttershy’s cleavage, gasping with excitement when she looked down and saw two dainty, white hands sliding up her toned belly. Next, a pair of soft, full lips found themselves on the red-head’s shoulder, planting wet kisses up the side of her neck, throwing Sunset into a fit of dizziness as the ivory-coloured hands suddenly gripped her hefty breasts, squeezing and massaging them with slender, gentle fingers.

As the alluring smell of vanilla wrestled Sunset’s senses into submission, she closed her eyes and let her head fall back slightly, enjoying the feel of Rarity’s lips on the side of her neck, accompanied by her warm, perky breasts pressing against her back. As if this wasn’t enough to overload the Sunset’s mind, Fluttershy’s soft, talented lips suddenly reconnected themselves to the red-head’s open mouth.

Taking advantage of Sunset’s distracted state, the shy girl’s tongue fired into the red-head’s mouth again, exploring every delicious nook and cranny, tasting Sunset’s sweet saliva while leaving a generous sampling of her own behind. They pressed their bodies together, sandwiching Rarity’s hands between their busts as she continued cupping Sunset’s ample endowment, feeling the tickle of hard nipples on her palms along with the contrasting smoothness of Fluttershy’s suit on the backs of her hands, containing the shy girl’s soft flesh packed tightly beneath.

Without warning, Fluttershy broke her lips away from Sunset’s and dropped to her knees, putting herself face-to-face with the red-head’s navel. Sunset’s suit was still wrapped around her hips at that point; something that the shy girl had full intention of changing in short order.

Fluttershy gripped the red-head’s ankle, prompting her to raise her foot so she could slide the tall, black boot from Sunset’s leg, followed quickly by the other one. With the boots gone, Fluttershy hooked her fingertips over the top of the suit and shimmied it downwards, one side at-a-time until it was past the tight area around her hips, after which it slid easily to the floor, leaving a trail of slippery moisture down the insides of Sunset’s thighs.

The shy girl brought her eyes up to the glistening slit in front of her, and was shocked by how much moisture had pooled up inside the crotch of the suit. The scent of Sunset’s arousal soon hit her nostrils, causing Fluttershy’s eyelids to quiver as the creamy, metallic aroma kicked her own arousal into high gear.

Next, the fashionista noticed the festivities had moved downstairs, and she herself knelt down to join her girlfriend, planting small kisses and gentle nibbles on Sunset’s firm derriere. Placing her delicate, white hands on the outsides of the red-head’s thighs, Rarity traced the tip of her tongue along the bottom of Sunset’s fleshy cheeks, inhaling the scent of aroused wetness for herself as she ran her lips up the left cheek, then gently bit down on the supple flesh with her teeth, drawing a quiet yelp and a jump from the red-head.

Rarity continued to keep Sunset occupied with her lips and hands, lending Fluttershy the opportunity to lean in slowly, letting her tongue protrude from her mouth, planting the tip just at the top of Sunset’s slit. She took in Sunset’s scent and flavour, giggling softly at the sudden reaction from the red-head, whose hips jerked violently upon feeling the small sample of stimulation given by the shy girl.

Always the tease, Fluttershy proceeded to run her tongue upwards over Sunset’s mound, through her navel, up her muscular belly, between her breasts and all the way to her chin, where the shy girl finished the long lick, then gazed seductively into Sunset’s desperate, turquoise eyes.

“More…please,” Sunset begged, panting like a wild animal. “Don’t stop, I want more…my fucking pussy is on fire!”

Fluttershy let her eyebrows rise slightly. “Oh, you want more?” she taunted, leaning in quickly to flick Sunset’s nose with the tip of her tongue. “Then more is what you'll get.”

The shy girl let her eyelids drift downward as she slowly leaned in, prompting the red-head to lean forward to accept the kiss; but suddenly, Fluttershy turned and walked briskly towards the bed. Sunset almost stumbled forward after missing the kiss, feeling only the air stirred up in the shy girl’s wake on her lips before turning to see where she had gone.

Both Rarity and Sunset watched Fluttershy crawl across Rarity’s bed on her hands and knees, showing off her picture-perfect ass in that tight, shiny outfit as she laid herself down on the far side of the bed.

“OK Rare. Give her some more.”

Rarity was still kneeling behind Sunset’s backside, raising an eyebrow as she looked inquisitively at her girlfriend. “I’m sorry, darling?”

Fluttershy pointed at the pair of naked girls. “You two; go. Have at it,” she ordered softly as she sprawled herself out on the bedspread. “And I'm gonna watch.”

Sunset turned to look down behind her at the fashionista, who was kneeling on the floor, looking up at her.

Rarity was suddenly reminded of the night in the hot tub, when Fluttershy shared her boyfriend with her so she could watch the two of them make love in the hot, churning water. But now, she was the one being shared by her girlfriend, which wasn’t something she’d ever considered happening, especially with Sunset Shimmer. On many occasions she had wondered what it must have been like to be in Golds’ shoes that night, remembering the pleasure that he’d brought her under Fluttershy’s orders, and she realised that it was now her turn -- her duty -- to pay it forward...for her girlfriend’s enjoyment.

Overcome with lust, Rarity leapt to her feet and wrapped her arms around the back of Sunset’s neck, pressing their breasts together as they connected lips and fed each other their tongues.

Sunset, now fully out of control, reached around Rarity to firmly grip her petite, white ass, then picked her up off the floor, prompting the fashionista to wrap her legs around the red-head’s waist as she was carried to the bed and slammed down next to Fluttershy.

Sunset crawled over the smaller girl, whose feet remained hooked together behind her back, and she kissed her with ruthless aggression; burying her tongue deep in Rarity’s mouth to taste every bit of her sweetness before running her lips along the fashionista’s soft, white cheeks to her neck. She left endless kisses all over Rarity’s throat and shoulders before working her way down to her collarbones and chest, where she paused to take in the sight of the perky white breasts beneath her.

Without a second thought, Sunset dove in. Grasping the soft, white mound in her gloved hand, she quickly wrapped her lips around the erect nipple, sucking gently while circling it with her tongue as Rarity gasped and arched her back in return, letting out a moan of ecstasy.

“Oh my, darling!” she gasped, “I didn’t expect you to be so…s-so talented!”

Sunset remained silent and continued to feed on the fashionista’s elegant breasts, her own dripping-wet crease aching with desire, beyond a level she thought possible. She let the firm bud pop out of her mouth so she could squeeze Rarity’s breast with her hand before switching her lips to the other nipple, intending to show it equal attention.

As Sunset licked and teased Rarity’s breasts, she reached behind her back to unwrap the pair of slender white legs from her, after which the fashionista let them down to the mattress with her knees spread far apart, allowing unrestricted access to her moist, swollen crease. Sunset ground her belly against Rarity’s crotch as she continued ravaging her breasts, picking up a long streak of slick juice across her navel: a clear indication to the red-head that her friend was ready for action.

Removing her hand from Rarity’s breast, Sunset pulled the black glove off with her teeth and then grazed her fingertips downwards, along the slender, white belly, past the thin, indigo landing strip to the delicate, white slit.

The thoughts of the fashionista began to flash through Sunset’s mind, and she was surprised how much easier it was to control the inflow of memories compared to Golden Arrow, making it easy to quickly tune into Rarity’s real time thoughts. Sunset could suddenly feel another aroused, wet crease in her mind, accompanying her own, and she could feel Rarity’s craving for touch; desperately begging to be pleasured by anyone or anything as soon as possible.

“OK Rare, let’s see how you like this.”

Sunset’s fingers slipped into the moist inferno between the swollen white lips, eliciting a sharp gasp from the fashionista, who’s mind was now adrift in a sea of ecstasy. She struggled to endure the shockwaves of pleasure emanating from Sunset’s fingers as they manipulated her sensitive folds, along with her hungry mouth teasing Rarity’s hard, tingling nipples.

The red-head stroked the entire length of the slick, tender slit between those quivering white thighs, overloading the indigo-haired girl’s brain with waves of pleasure while reading the feedback in her own mind, priming her for the next step as Sunset placed her index and middle fingers against Rarity’s entrance.

Sunset then lifted her head from the fashionista’s breasts so she could watch her fingers slide between the light pink folds into the warm, tight flesh beyond. The red-head’s eyebrows went up in shock when she felt the fiery heat inside, and she turned to gaze into Rarity’s face, biting her lip when she saw the look of euphoria in the fashionista’s sapphire eyes.

“Jeez Rare, you could cook a roast in there,” Sunset quipped, pumping her fingers into her friend’s flesh like a jack-hammer, creating a wet, sloppy sound that echoed around the room.

“Oh I know, Sunset,” Fluttershy giggled, her voice barely audible over Rarity’s howls of delight. “She’s a hot one.”

Sunset gave a quick smile to the shy girl, and then went back to work on the perky white breasts before her. She wrapped her lips around Rarity’s nipple again, sucking firmly on it as she adjusted her fingers inside the tender heat, setting the heel of her thumb directly on the fashionista’s clit to rub it in a circular motion while continuing to thrust her fingers into her depths, granting her every form of pleasure that Sunset knew she wanted.

Rarity responded with intense appreciation, arching her head back and pulling her long, silky dark hair as she gasped deeply, closing her eyes tightly. Her hips bucked, jarring her soaked sex against Sunset’s hand, increasing the stimulation even more while her legs shuddered and shook uncontrollably.

“Oh my goodness!” Rarity squealed, “S-Sunset, I’m…you’re gonna…I’m…I’m almost th-…oh it’s as if you know exactly what I want!”

Fluttershy leaned in, putting her lips just inches from her girlfriend’s, enjoying the feel of Rarity’s hot, excited breaths on her face. “Oh Rare, you naughty girl…do you like that?”

“I d-do, Fluttersh-shy,” Rarity nodded. “I love it!”

“Cum for Sunset,” the shy girl ordered softly. “And then I will kiss you, and then you will return the favor to her…while I watch.”

“Y-yes darling,” Rarity nodded, keeping her eyes closed.

Sunset continued to work her friend to her peak, listening to the conversation going on between the couple. Hearing the instructions given to Rarity to pay Sunset back with an orgasm once she’d achieved her own excited the red-head, and she kicked her motions into the next gear; effortlessly driving the fashionista head-on into her climax at full throttle.

Fluttershy watched her girlfriend’s pretty, white face as the orgasm approached, waiting for just the right moment to pounce on those full, juicy lips. Rarity’s thin, purple eyebrows furrowed and her expression steadily intensified with each thrust into her sloppy, hot flesh until finally, it came.

Rarity’s mouth opened wide as she began to howl with ecstasy, her hips convulsing violently with each wave of intense, overpowering sensation that rocked every nerve ending in her body.

“AAAAAHHH-mmmm!”

Her scream was muffled part way through when Fluttershy’s lips locked themselves onto her girlfriend’s, and she vigorously thrust her tongue into the fashionista’s mouth to help Sunset drive the poor girl completely mad with delight.

Sunset never relented; nibbling and flicking the nipple in her mouth with her tongue as the hot flesh around her fingers clenched and pulsated, surprising the red-head with the amount of pressure Rarity’s muscles were able to apply with the power of an orgasm driving her actions.

Rarity’s mind was torn in every direction. There were soft lips against hers, a tongue in her mouth, another pair of lips suckling on one nipple, along with a yellow hand squeezing her other breast, topped off by a pair of surprisingly talented fingers inside of her, setting her entire body on fire with each thrilling stroke.

The climax slowly subsided, leaving the fashionista a twitching, whimpering mess…accented by a satisfied moan from Sunset, who felt all of it as well, in every vivid detail.

Sunset gave one last suck to the rosy-pink nipple, pulling it outwards until it popped from her lips before slowly withdrawing her fingers from Rarity’s depths, finding herself alone inside her own head once again as she snickered incredulously, marveling at the wet mess that had been made of her hand.

“Wow Rare, you’re almost as wet as me,” the red-head quipped, looking over at the two girls as they finished their long, orgasmic kiss. As Sunset watched them, a smile grew on her face, knowing that she was partly responsible for reuniting these two passionate lovers.

When their mouths separated, they both turned to look at the red-head to return her smile.

“It’s really great seeing you two together again,” Sunset said, “You’re such a cute coup- AAH!”

Sunset’s compliment was suddenly stifled when Rarity lunged and wrestled her onto her back in a surprising display of strength. Before Sunset knew what was happening, Rarity had jumped on top and was straddling the red-head’s hips while rocking her own hips back and forth, firmly rubbing her still-twitching sex against Sunset’s hairless mound.

Rarity leaned forward suddenly, putting her face close to Sunset's, letting her dark, purple hair surround them as her breasts hung down and grazed Sunset’s own bust. “It’s my turn now, darling,” the fashionista growled, following up her announcement with a sudden, aggressive kiss before sitting back up to run her fingers through her hair as she resumed rubbing her wet, soft crease against Sunset’s body.

Fluttershy retreated with a satisfied look, lying back on her side of the bed to watch her girlfriend ride their friend cowgirl-style as Sunset reached up with both hands to cup Rarity’s breasts while she wriggled her petite, white body against Sunset’s well-toned frame.

With one hand still gloveless, Sunset felt Rarity’s sensations flash into her mind again as she squeezed her marshmallow-coloured breasts, inhaling deeply when she experienced Rarity’s post-orgasmic crease rubbing against her own soaking-wet mound.

“Mmmm…” the fashionista moaned, having her lust for pleasure fulfilled at last after enjoying the afterglow of the orgasm by rubbing herself against her friend. “Now then, all of this fucking has caused me to work up an appetite.”

Rarity crawled backwards, making her way down to Sunset’s slit, taking in the sight and scent of the arousal that had kick-started the whole session into motion.

Sunset let her head rest on the pillow, staring at the ceiling as she felt Rarity hook her hands under her knees to spread her legs as wide as they would go. It struck the red-head suddenly, realising that this was a position she never thought she ever find herself in: naked in Rarity’s room, on Rarity’s bed, laying spread-eagle with naked Rarity’s face only inches from her aching flesh.

She snapped out of her thoughts suddenly when the fashionista spoke.

“Dear me, Sunset, you are a mess, darling!” she gasped. “Is this because of your magical…ahem…problem?”

Sunset nodded with a sigh, keeping her eyes on the ceiling. “Yup…because of Golds. I was like this pretty much the entire time we were on the road.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “You poor thing, that must have been such a nuisance! It’s no wonder you guys had sex, I really can’t blame you.”

“We actually held out as long as we could,” Sunset replied, turning her head to look at the shy girl. “We tried, because we felt bad for doing it while you were gone, but it just became too much.”

“When did you do it, darling? The night you called me?”

“No,” Sunset shook her head. “It was over a week after that.”

Rarity’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “You waited that long?”

“Yeah,” Sunset nodded. “I tried, you guys. I swear, I tried my hardest, but I just couldn’t hold out forever.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Well, you can look on the bright side, darling…”

“What’s that?” Sunset asked.

“At least I won’t keep you waiting so long.”

The red-head snickered, letting her head flop back on the pillow. “Well thank fuck for that,” she said, pausing for a moment when she remembered something. “Uh, speaking of Golds, he’s probably going to be back any minute, you know.”

“Well then, he’s going to be in for quite a surprise, isn’t he?” Rarity replied, to which Fluttershy giggled wickedly.

Sunset put her finger in the air. “I bet you guys a hundred bucks he complains that we’re not ready to go.”

Rarity giggled. “I’m sure we can convince him to postpone the trip to Fluttershy’s for about an hour…or three.”

Fluttershy cut in suddenly. “Hey, are we doing this or what? Worry about Goldie when he gets here,” she ordered, receiving a soft laugh from her girlfriend.

“Ok darling, you win.”

Rarity, hungry for the taste of Sunset’s ripe juices, was ready to dip her head down to dive into the tender flesh sprawled out before her, but then an unexpected surge of boldness come over her, and she decided to play her girlfriend’s own game with her.

“Oh Fluttershy!” Rarity called, capturing the shy girl’s attention.

“Yes, Rarity?”

The fashionista raised her index finger close to her face and coaxed Fluttershy to come join her. “I’m afraid this in not a spectator sport, darling. Would you be so kind as to join me and lend me some…assistance?”

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow as Sunset listened in silence.

“Assistance?”

“Why yes, darling. You and I are going to do this together.”

Sunset, who was still staring at the ceiling, raised her eyebrows suddenly. “Huh? You’ll do what now?”

Fluttershy crawled to the foot of the bed and settled herself onto her belly next to Rarity, nestling themselves together between Sunset’s legs.

“Oh my, you dirty girl, you are wet!” Fluttershy exclaimed softly.

“Let’s take care of her, shall we?” Rarity offered.

“After you,” Fluttershy smirked.

Rarity shifted herself closer to Sunset’s waiting crease, reaching up to hook her dark hair behind her ear to keep it out of the way. She licked her bottom lip, appraising the feast that lay before her one last time, then leaned in and flicked Sunset’s swollen hood with the tip of her tongue.

The red-head’s hips jerked in response to the instant shockwave that ripped through her, giving Rarity the signal to keep going. The pale-skinned girl leaned in again, this time running her tongue from Sunset’s entrance, along the folds of her vulva all the way to the top, where she gently flicked the sensitive clit, drawing a deep, sharp gasp from the red-head. Rarity, enticed by the flavour, opened her mouth and sealed her lips around the entire crease, delivering a gentle suction to the tender folds, flicking them inside her mouth as she savoured the taste of Sunset’s delicious flesh.

Sunset fondled her own breasts furiously, squeezing her eyes shut as the fashioinista brought her to heaven with wave-after-wave of pleasure. “Holy shit, Rare! That’s…aaahhhh…wow!”

“Mmm,” Rarity moaned, circling Sunset’s clit a few more times before backing away to lick the slick juice from her lips.

Fluttershy, having a front row seat, was overcome with hunger and pounced on the throbbing flesh as soon as her girlfriend’s lips left its surface. She dove in with ruthless hunger, drilling the tip of her tongue against the red-head’s clit, flicking it aggressively, giggling at the sudden spasms that Sunset exhibited when the jolts of nearly unbearable pleasure shot up her spine.

Rarity had rested her cheek on Sunset’s inner thigh at that point, and was enjoying the sight of the shy girl flicking Sunset’s folds with her tongue. Fluttershy changed her methods before long, however; bringing her face even closer to dip her tongue deep inside Sunset, sampling the tart flavour of her interior, poking and swirling her tongue around in circles as she let the tip of her nose graze Sunset’s clit, setting off explosions in the red-head’s brain.

All Sunset could do was lay back and pinch her own nipples as the girls assaulted her body, marveling at the talents that each of them possessed. “That’s S-SO good, Flutt-eerrrr shit!” she gasped, as another jolt of electric bliss racked her body.

Fluttershy backed out for a short break, stealing a glance at her girlfriend, who was relaxing her head against the thigh beside her, looking back at her with a radiant smile.

They brought their lips together suddenly, kissing each other aggressively to extract the flavour of Sunset’s juices from their mouths and faces, savouring the taste of pure pleasure left behind from their feasts.

They stopped for a short moment to look down at the eager slit before them, throbbing with desire as the red-head waited for the next round of attacks to begin. The couple glanced at each other with mischievous eyes, biting their lips as they dared each other to do what they were both thinking.

“Should we?” Rarity inquired, raising an eyebrow.

Fluttershy returned a sultry smirk. “What kind of friends would we be if we didn’t?”

“Agreed.”

And with that, Rarity and Fluttershy dipped their heads in together, both of them running their tongues along each side of Sunset’s moist folds with full intention of casting the red-head over the edge of orgasm. Their cheeks were pressed together, their tongues rubbing against one another’s as they relentlessly licked and kissed Sunset’s tingling flesh, jolting her body with the largest waves of sensation yet.

The red-head let go of her beasts to grab handfuls of the bedspread. She popped her eyes open to look down and was shocked to find both girls’ mouths attacking her at once. “Ahh, whaaaaaa? You’re both…oh fuck! That’s SO…AAAHH!” she gritted her teeth and slammed her head back into the pillow, bracing herself against the barrage of sensation that tore through her again and again.

The couple continued to kiss the tender, wet flesh furiously; half of their lips would kiss Sunset, and the other half would kiss each other. Their tongues would occasionally find each other amidst the delicate folds and playfully flick at one another, drawing soft giggles from each other as they enjoyed the three-way kiss.

Rarity, intending to take things to the next level, brought her hand up and slid her index and middle fingers inside Sunset to begin pumping her sloppy insides while she and Fluttershy continued to eat together.

Sunset’s body writhed violently in response. “Oh ffffff…fuck, you guys are gonna…OOH!” she gasped, grabbing the pillow and yanking it from beneath her head to press it down over her face, letting out a muffled squeal into the fabric as the girls steadily brought her to her peak. After a moment of howling, she could feel the pleasure growing even more intense, prompting her to move the pillow down so she could bite the corner of it in anticipation of her inevitable explosion.

Rarity continued stroking Sunset’s warm interior as her and Fluttershy’s tongues and lips snaked, slithered and lapped at her flesh.

Sunset, feeling the pressure steadily building in her loins, ready to release it onto the pretty faces of her friends, pulled the pillow from her teeth to cry out once more before it came. “Ooh shit, you guys, don't stop! I’m gonna…I’m gonna cum!”

The two girls quickly chased down Sunset Shimmer’s orgasm like a pair of vicious predators, catching and mauling it wildly with their hungry mouths, their cheeks becoming coated with the red-head’s fluids as she thrust her hips upward against their faces, pressed-cheek-to-cheek between her legs.

Rarity’s fingers felt the powerful clenching of pulsating flesh inside her friend as she climaxed hard and expelled a jet of clear fluid from between her folds, coating the fashionista’s hand in the juicy fruits of their labour. Neither girl let up on Sunset however; they simply continued to hammer her body into a numb, twitching pile of quivering muscles and hot skin, and Sunset was helpless to do anything but hug the pillow tightly to her chest and tip her head back, opening her mouth wide to let out a fierce holler of approval.

Chapter 94: Back to the Grind

Chapter 94

At last, the time had come. Time to return to work, to a normal life.

It was early Monday morning and Fluttershy was bustling around the house all-a-twitter, both nervous and excited about returning to the animal shelter. She had mentioned in passing that Pinkie Pie had invented a special word that combined those two emotions, and I although I was fairly certain the pink girl had used it around me herself, I couldn’t remember for the life of me what it was now. Regardless, life was waiting for us to rejoin its pleasant monotony, and we didn’t want to be late on our first day back.

During my long drive to work, I had become slightly apprehensive as I had neglected to tell Gord, my boss, that I was going to be heading abroad before Sunset and I set out to rescue Fluttershy, leaving him short one employee for a full six weeks—and without notice, to boot.

When I pulled up to the shop, I let my truck idle for a minute to let the turbos cool. I told myself while I waited that Gord was a reasonable guy, and that he would more-than-likely understand once I brought him up to speed on the situation. After a deep breath, I shut the engine off and was met with a sharp jerk when all that rotating iron suddenly fell dormant. Then, I jumped out and headed for the front office.

I stepped inside and was quickly greeted with that familiar smell of metal, rubber and exhaust, masked poorly by a pot of coffee sitting in the waiting area.

The counter was manned by a single person: a middle-aged man, and the only other licensed tech who still worked on the floor. He sat quietly behind the counter with his head down, filling out a fresh work order. After glancing up when he heard the door chime, he looked surprised for a moment, but quickly recovered with a waggish smirk.

He and I shared a playfully competitive relationship, often spending entire work days engaged in the whole ‘tough guy’ routine with one another, always trying to prove ourselves to be manlier than the other, usually by putting each other down in some way.

“Hey Jim.”

“Hey,” he greeted with a friendly chuckle. “Decided to come back and try working for a living again?”

I put my hands in my pockets and smirked. “Well, someone’s gotta be here to give you a hand; wouldn’t want you to break a nail or something.”

He shook his head, looking back down at the work order. “My nails were just fine without you here, Golds.”

“Oh OK,” I nodded. “Sorry about that. You still look like a pansy, so I just figured…”

Jim continued to write silently for a moment or two, but then he stopped and looked up at me again with a smart-assed grin on his face. “Wait, I thought you were the one who looks like a total pussy?” he jabbed, pointing at me with his pen.

I shrugged dismissively and looked down at the floor. “Yeah well…you are what you eat, I guess.”

Jim guffawed loudly. He was one of those guys who had a very loud, raspy laugh; the kind that can be heard from the far side of a restaurant, drowning out the person you’re talking to, even when they’re sitting right next to you.

Just then, the gruff voice of Gord came from the office to the right of the counter.

“Hey Jim, is that Golds’ voice I hear?”

“Unfortunately,” Jim replied, to which I snickered quietly.

“Send him in here, would ya?”

Jim looked at me and tipped his head toward the office. “Gord wants to see you.”

“No shit, Jim.” I rolled my eyes. “I’m right here. I heard the whole thing.”

Jim held his hands up, glaring at me from under his brows. “Now, hold on! I just wanted to make sure you understood,” he said in a patronizing tone, followed by an instigating smile and a chuckle.

“Yeah-yeah,” I replied as I rounded the corner to the office doorway to find my boss sitting behind his desk, leaned back in his chair.

Unlike Jim, he didn’t smile. “Hi. Have a seat, tough guy.”

I did as requested and sat in the chair across from him, and we stared at each other over the desk for a few moments.

“Didn’t expect to see you here,” he finally said.

I shrugged and folded my hands between my knees. “Something came up,” I sighed. “Something important.”

Gord nodded. “Did that something have anything to do with that agent sniffing around here last spring?”

“Yeah,” I muttered, studying the dirty tiles under my feet. “He came back.” I paused to chew the inside of my cheek. “And uh, this time he...kidnapped my girlfriend.”

The old man raised a brow.

“I uh…I had to go find her,” I explained. “I was all over the states; Virginia, DC, Vegas, California, Arizona…” I shook my head after trailing off.

“I take it she’s back, safe and sound?” he asked, fillling the short silence.

“Yeah, she’s going back to work today, actually; same as me,” I chuckled.

“Hm,” he sighed, glancing down at the papers on his desk. “Good.”

I ground my teeth for a moment, wondering what he was thinking. “Look, I um…I’m sorry I didn’t let you know what was going on before I left. It happened on a Sunday, and me and a friend of mine pretty much had to leave straight away to get her ba-”

Gord raised his hand, stopping me. “Look, it’s fine. I know you have these kinds of things that...come up every so often, and I really can’t hold that against you. But…you were gone so long this time, I’m afraid I had to replace you.”

I sat motionless for a moment, my mouth hanging open. “Oh…”

Gord nodded and cleared his throat, glancing down at his desk. “Yeah.” He exhaled slowly. “I mean, it got busy and we couldn’t keep up without you, so…I did what I had to do.”

“Right…” I paused, cocking my head. “So, when you say you ‘replaced’ me…does that mean that I’m…out of the job?”

“’Fraid so, tough guy.”

I sighed through my nose, chewing my bottom lip. This was unexpected; granted, on the way here I was pretty nervous about this conversation, but I really didn’t expect it to come to this. “Um, you wouldn’t be willing to consider keeping us both on, would you?”

He shook his head. “Can’t, sorry. It’s not busy enough now to justify an extra full time wage.”

“Hm.” I hung my head and then raised my brows, wondering what I was going to do for the rest of the day…and the week. And so on.

“Wow.”

“Look,” Gord said, raising a hand. “It’s nothing personal; I have a business to run, and I needed someone on the floor to get things done. Jim just couldn’t keep up by himself.”

“Oh…no, it…it’s fine. I…um-“

“And it’s not like I don’t appreciate what you did for me, tough guy; you saved my life and I’ll never forget it, but...I can’t keep having you disappear like this all the time.” Gord paused to adjust his position in the chair. “Ever since you met those girls, you’ve had your head in the clouds, and you’ve missed a fair bit of work because of it. I did what I had to do, and to be honest, this young buck I’ve got working for me now is doing OK. I really don’t want to kick him to the curb just because you’re back. Know what I mean?”

I nodded quickly and gulped, trying my best to look nonchalant. “Absolutely. I-I totally get where you’re coming from, Gord. Heh, you know me: I’ve been around a long time; I get how business works.”

Gord forced a smile, then sighed, looking down at the stack of papers on his desk while I continued.

“And as far as the whole ‘saving your life’ thing, it’s fine. I never considered you to be in any kind of debt to me, and I didn’t take the job because I needed the money; it was more that I needed a way to spend my time—to have a sense of purpose.”

“I know,” Gord nodded. “And you’re a great tech and a good worker, don’t get me wrong; but it sounds to me like those lady-friends of yours will be keeping you plenty busy, at least for a while.”

“Yeah…that they will.” I began to chuckle, but then something else came to mind. “Uh…actually Gord, the other perk of working here was being able to use the dealer plate to drive my truck, you know…since I have a hard time with getting it licensed on my own. Uh, I don’t suppose that I could keep-“

Gord shook his head immediately. “Absolutely not.”

I paused, stunned by the fast reply. A weight quickly appeared in the pit of my stomach when it dawned on me that I wasn’t going to be able to drive my beloved machine anymore. “Um…I…wow, what-“

“Here.” The old man picked up a stack of papers and held them out to me.

“What’s this?” I asked, taking and leafing through the pages.

“Automated speeding tickets.” Gord answered sharply. “You know, the kind that get issued by traffic cameras and so on; all of these fines are issued to MY dealer plate, which happens to be bolted to a certain ’94 Dodge diesel pickup…”

My jaw clenched suddenly. Rare!

“You know, up ‘til now, I never had a problem with you using my plate, but this…” —the old man shook his head— “this cost me an awful lot of money...and headaches. I don’t know what kind of shenanigans you were getting into —and I don’t care, to be honest— but I can’t have you running around like that with my dealer plate, under my insurance.”

“Fuck…” I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Sorry Gord. It wasn’t me who was driving it; I left my truck at home when I was gone and…one of the girls borrowed it.”

He folded his hands on the desk and stared at me, running his tongue along the inside of his bottom lip. “Well, FYI: she’s got a lead foot, tough guy.”

*****

Shaking my head, I walked into the shop. I was no longer employed here, and I decided I might as well load up my tool box since I had one last chance to use my truck before Gord took his plate back.

Before leaving his office after a cordial handshake, he told me a little bit about the new guy: he was young, not quite licensed, in fact; he was still in the third year of his apprenticeship, but seemed fairly competent with his work, although he had nowhere near the experience that Jim and I had. Apparently, the young man had completed the first two years of his apprenticeship a while back and had left the trade for a time, but had recently decided to come back to complete the rest of his hours so he could write his certification.

And apparently he was foreign?

I couldn’t remember where Gord said he was from, but he supposedly had a fairly strong accent and a little bit of a temper.

As I made my way to my toolbox, I noticed him working in my bay; he had a car on the hoist with the rear wheels removed.

I decided to say hi to him.

I approached him from the side and paused to watch him pick away at removing a brake drum. He was a fairly big fellow, dressed in typical shop attire, but he had an uncharacteristic head of hair: a pile of light-brown dreadlocks hung down around his shoulders and across his forehead, covering his eyes, making me wonder how he was able to see what he was doing.

I cleared my throat. “Uh, hi…Rutherford, is it?”

He stopped what he was doing suddenly and turned to give me a deadpanned stare. Actually, all I could see was his chin, mouth and nose; his eyes and brows were covered, hiding their expression, so technically, it was only two thirds of a deadpanned stare.

“Uh…I’m Golds.” I held my hand out for a shake.

He didn’t move.

After a short, awkward wait, I gave up and put my hands in my pockets. “Looks like you’re my replacement,” I said, chuckling.

He continued to glare at me with the most indifferent of indifference, then he simply turned his back and continued working.

“Hm.” With a sigh, I slipped past him to head to my toolbox.

I glanced back as I passed, noticing that he seemed to be struggling with removing the drum. After decades of teaching countless up and coming mechanics, the natural instinct to offer some help kicked in.

“The shoes are hung up on the rust ridge there, bud, that’s why it’s giving you so much grief.”

The young tech stopped for half a second, let out a frustrated grunt, and then continued to pry on the brake drum.

I paused for a second to watch him, knowing that some young guys would rather keep on truckin the way they want, no matter what you tell them, but I could see that he was going to end up breaking a retainer if he forced that drum much more.

I cleared my throat and pointed behind the hub, making him stop and give me a frustrated look. “You know, there’s a rubber plug in the back-plate here; you can just pop that out and reach in with a screwdriver and adjust the shoes down, then the drum will just slip right o-“

I was interrupted by the sound of Rutherford’s pry bars slamming onto his tool cart, then my field of vision was filled with nothing but his face.

“APPRENTICE KNOWS WHAT TO DO! RUTHERFORD DON’T NEED HELP FROM WASHED-UP TECH WHO GOT FIRED FROM THIS PLACE! APPRENTICE CAN GET DRUM OFF ALL BY HIMSELF! APPRENTICE DON’T NEED ANY HELP!”

He spun around and snatched a large hammer from his tool cart and swung it at the brake drum with a loud BANG, followed by another, then another…and another.

Stunned by the rage-fest, I retreated a step and watched in wid-eyed disbelief.

Holy shit...

Rutherford wailed ruthlessly on the poor car; his hair came away from his face with each swing, allowing me several fleeting glimpses of his bloodshot eyes as he hammered the brake drum so hard the entire car jiggled like it might fall off the hoist.

With a loud grunt and a final swing, the drum cracked in half and fell to the floor with two heavy clunks, cloaked in a cloud of black dust. The young tech stood there with gritted teeth, panting and snorting through his nose, surveying his handy-work.

I really wanted to break him in half.

Instead, I made a little ‘hm’ sound and chewed the inside of my cheek as I stepped closer to inspect the damage. I let out a whistle and shook my head before glancing at Rutherford, who was already beginning to look regretful. “Wow,” I said, looking back at the hub, “well, I’ll just go tell Gord that you need a new drum and three new studs…and that he’ll have to pay for it since we caused the damage.”

Rutherford grumbled something to himself and tossed the hammer on his cart while I turned to look at my toolbox again, ruminating in silence. Hmm…maybe I should just leave my stuff here; looks like I might be getting a call to come back before long.

*****

“Oh NO!” Fluttershy gasped, covering her mouth with her fingertips.

“Darling! You…you lost your job!?”

I was silent, seated at the table with an empty dinner plate before me. Rarity and Fluttershy sat on both sides of me, their faces aghast after I told them what had happened that day. I stared at the plate and nodded. “Yyyyyup.” I said, followed by another long sigh.

“But…b-but how can he do that?” Rarity asked in a voice that was about an octave higher than normal. “He’s…I-I thought you saved his life?“

“I did.”

“Well…I mean, that’s…that is certainly some way of showing his gratitude!” the fashionista huffed.

I groaned, rubbing my forehead. “No…Rare, it’s his right to choose who he wants to work for him. Just because I saved his life doesn’t change that.” I glanced at Rarity to see her temple propped against her palm, her elbow resting on the table. “Besides, he was short-staffed; he did what he had to do. You’re a business-woman, Rare, think about it: if Coco disappeared without notice for over a month and you got really busy, what would you do?”

She sighed, and then paused. “I would have to hire someone,” she answered reluctantly. “I would have no choice.”

“Exactly,” I replied. “And to be honest, I never felt like he owed me anything just because I saved him; it was his choice to offer me work, and I took it because I needed something to do.”

There was a pause in the conversation. The three of us stared at the table top and sighed in unison.

"It just...it bugs me that he preferred to keep that new kid over me," I confessed. "Like...he's not even licenced yet, and he's...kind of an ass."

"An ass? What do you mean, darling? What did he do?"

"Well," I huffed, "when I was there, I tried to introduce myself to him and he pretty much ignored me, and then when I noticed he was having trouble getting that brake drum off, I tried to offer him some help and he starts yackin’ at me about how he knows what he's doing and doesn't need any help; so then he grabbed his hammer and went ape-shit on that lady's car and damaged a bunch of shit, and I was just like: 'what the fuck is this guy's problem?'"

"Hm," Rarity grimaced, "well, that certainly isn’t much of an attitude to have, is it?"

I shook my head. "No...and that's why I left my tools there, because I know sooner or later that kid's gonna hang himself, and Gord'll be calling me back."

Rarity sighed, then stuck her nose up. "Well that may be, darling, but you shouldn't rely on that. I would suggest you start looking for a new job as early as tomorrow, that way you-"

"I can't, Rare," I cut in, shaking my head. "I would have to find a place willing to employ someone without an actual mechanic's licence AND who'll pay me under the table. Because I don't actually have a social insurance number, I don't even exist in the government's eyes, so I can't get a job where I'm officially on the books. You know what I’m saying?"

"Hm..." Rarity moped, biting her lip.

After a moment, Fluttershy buried her face in her hands and moaned softly. “Ohh…I’m so sorry, Goldie; you really liked working there, and n-now you can't…and it’s all because of me!”

Surprised and confused, Rarity and I both turned to look at the shy girl.

“Because of you? Fluttershy, what sort of madness is this?” Rarity asked with a scowl.

“Because he had to come find me,” Fluttershy replied. “If I hadn’t let myself get captured-“

“No.” I put my hand up to stop her. “Flutters, you can’t keep kicking yourself in the ass for that, OK? It wasn’t your fault, and neither is this.”

Fluttershy looked down at the table, rubbing her arm. “I…still, I’m...really sorry you lost your job.”

I put my arm around the shy girl and pulled her close. The last thing I wanted was for her to feel bad. “I know, Flutters. Thanks. I’ll be fine though.”

Rarity folded her arms on the table and lowered her head, resting her chin on her forearm.

Fluttershy nuzzled her cheek into my shoulder. “But...I don’t want to you to be sad, Goldie.” She paused for a moment. “Um, w-what can we do to cheer you up?”

I shrugged the opposite shoulder. “I don’t really know.”

Fluttershy sighed. “Hmmm…” she mused as she traced her fingertips along my forearm. “How about…we play that game where me and Rare take turns riding you? You know the one: where we switch every thirty seconds until we see who gets your cum?”

Rarity perked up. “Ooh! That’s a splendid idea, Fluttershy!” she agreed, looking at me with an enthused smile. “I bet a game of ‘Ridin’ Roulette’ would be just what the doctor ordered, wouldn’t you say, darling?”

I furrowed my brows a bit. “Ummm…”

“And…um, we could up the stakes this time,” Fluttershy suggested. “How about, maybe, um…afterwards, you could watch the loser eat the cum out of the winner?”

Rarity gasped, her eyes widening. “Oh my…darling, that is an absolutely wicked idea! What do you think, Golds?” she asked, giving me a dainty tap on the shoulder.

I had to admit it was tempting, but there was a prevailing weight in the pit of my stomach that I couldn’t shake, and I knew it would keep me from truly enjoying myself with them. “Mm, it’s nice of you to offer, but I’m not really in the mood for that kind of thing right now.”

Both of them looked surprised and concerned that I would have turned down such a proposition.

“Um…I-I understand, Goldie,” Fluttershy replied, giving my hand a squeeze. “It’s OK if you just wanted to talk, or...snuggle with us.”

Rarity sighed, but then leapt from her seat suddenly. “Darling, I’ve got just the thing!” she said as she made her way to the fridge freezer with a confident stride.

“Ugh…you’d better not be offering me one of those mini-freezies,” I mumbled, watching her open the freezer door.

“Heavens no, darling! Those are disgusting,” the fashionista replied as she pulled a tub of ice cream from the freezer.

“I like the Arby’s sauce…” Fluttershy mumbled under her breath, scowling.

Oblivious to the shy girl’s comment, Rarity plopped the frost-covered tub onto the table and looked at me sideways with her eyebrows raised and smiling mouth open, like she was presenting a game show prize.

I stared at the label for a moment. Rocky road… Again, that feeling of lead in the pit of my stomach made the decision for me. “Thanks Rare, but no thanks.”

Defeated, Rarity’s face went blank and her shoulders slumped. “Oh…well, alright then,” she sighed.

I cleared my throat. “You know what might cheer me up?”

They both watched me, waiting for the answer.

“A nice, long drive in my truck.”

Rarity and Fluttershy’s brows rose in unison.

“Well, go then, darling!” She waved towards the front door. “Don’t stay here on our account, do what makes you happy!”

“U-unless you want us to come with you…” Fluttershy offered quietly.

“Guys, I can’t go. My plates are gone.”

They stared vacantly.

“What do you mean, gone?” Rarity asked, confused.

I shook my head. “That truck was never registered to me,” I explained, “I’ve been driving it with one of the dealer plates from work; I couldn’t put my own plates on it because, again, according to the Canadian Government, I don’t actually exist.”

“Oh dear.” Rarity put her fingertips to her cheeks. “And…your boss wouldn’t let you keep it?”

“No,” I snorted. “Why would he? I’m not working for him anymore. That was the main perk of working there; some of my earnings went into paying the insurance on that plate so its cost was covered, but now that I’m gone, he’s not just gonna let me keep it and pay my way to drive around with it. Especially after all the speeding tickets.”

Rarity froze, her eyes wide with horror. “Er…um…tickets?” she squeaked.

With a huff, I left my seat and headed for the coat rack, where I pulled a wad of papers from my jacket. I came back to the table and slapped the stack down in front of the fashionista, whose eyes dropped and scanned the papers.

“W-what is this?”

“Photocopies of automated speeding tickets, issued to my boss’s plate, which was bolted to my truck; all issued during the month of October—while I was away.”

“Oh dear,” Fluttershy gasped, shifting away from me and Rarity.

“Ohhhh shit…” Rarity whispered as her eyes darted around the papers. “D-did you say… automated tickets? As in…?”

“Yeah. You don’t get pulled over, you get caught speeding on camera and they mail the tickets to whoever the plates are registered to.”

Rarity cringed. “So...your boss?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “Over four thousand dollars worth of fines —which I paid him back for with the cash left over from the trip— but that wasn’t good enough in his eyes.”

“But…why not? If you paid him back-”

“Cuz his insurance company jacked his rates because of this, so this whole thing is gonna continue to cost him money as long as he’s running that shop.”

A silent Rarity paused, nibbling her lip as she stared in horror at the papers.

“It was one thing to roast my tires off, Rare, but this…” I shook my head.

Rarity drew a tiny gasp, shifting her attention from the papers to me. “Darling…are you…upset with me?”

I paused and looked away. Her face was too pretty for me to be able to say what I needed to, so I had to remove it from my sight. I clenched my fist in front of my chin, taking a deep breath. “I’m…trying not to be, Rare. I don’t want to be, but…”

Her eyes widened when I trailed off. “Ohh…you are!” Sobbing, she tore the lid from the ice cream tub, grabbed the spoon from her dinner plate and plucked out a massive scoop of the dessert.

“Oh Rare…” Fluttershy shook her head, watching her girlfriend shove the entire spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.

“Rare, just…relax,” I said. “I’m not that mad at you, I just-“

She gulped down the mouthful of melted treat to cut me off. “You are so! And I deserve iiiiiit!”

“Ugh…” I groaned, shaking my head. “Come on, Rare.”

“No, it’s true!” she cried. “I’ve been such a twat! I should never have taken your truck; everyone else told me it was a bad idea, but I didn’t listen, and now I can see that they were right ALL ALONG!”

“It’s not that you borrowed it,” I said, trying to console her. “It’s just that-“

“I drove recklessly!” she said, holding the spoon up, which was loaded with another bite. “I know! I was irresponsible, and disrespectful, and I deserve to be scorned!”

“Um…Rare? Y-you really should tone the drama down a bit,” Fluttershy whispered.

“But it’s true!” Rarity cried, stabbing the spoon into the ice cream and leaving it there. “I messed up, darling, and I feel simply dreadful about it; I’ve affected your relationship with your boss, you’ve lost your truck, and my selfishness has needlessly cost everyone money!” She quickly made her way around the table with her arms outstretched. “Please...forgive me, darling!” she begged, wrapping her arms around me and burying her wet face in the crook of my neck, sobbing noisily.

I turned to face Fluttershy with a deadpanned stare.

Fluttershy smirked and turned away to hide it, clearly amused by Rarity’s drama.

“I’m so sorry,” Rarity continued, much to my dismay. “I don’t know what got into me! I just couldn’t help myself. It was so enjoyable to drive; so deceptively fast and powerful, just like you! It was all I had left; with you two gone, it was the only thing left that made me feel like I wasn’t so…completely alone.”

The shy girl’s smirk disappeared and she looked back at me, disheartened by what Rarity said.

I returned the look, feeling a twinge of pity for the fashionista. I had forgotten about her time at home; how alone she must have felt, and how much she must have missed us.

Her fixation on my truck suddenly made more sense now.

I put my arm around her and rubbed her back. “Shh…it’s fine Rare. I love you. And don’t worry, OK? I’m not mad at you.”

She lifted her head to gaze at me with a black-streaked face, some relief showing in her eyes. “You…really?”

I nodded and leaned in to kiss her cheek. “Yeah.”

“Ohh,” she closed her eyes and whimpered, wiping the dark streak of moisture from her cheek as her lips curled upward a bit, struggling to form a smile. “I…I love you too, darling. And…I promise I’ll make this up to you, any way I can.”

“Don’t worry about it, Rare.”

“No, I insist,” she said, grabbing a handful of my shirt to pull me closer. “I simply cannot leave things the way they are. I…we will not rest until you are happy again, isn’t that right Fluttershy?” she asked, leaning over to see the shy girl’s response.

“Mm-hm!” Fluttershy nodded in agreement.

Rarity continued with refreshed enthusiasm. “No man of ours is going to be left unhappy; not so long as I have any say in it!” She gave a short pause to rub her chin thoughtfully. “How about this?” she asked, perking up. “I know you said you weren’t in the mood, b-but hear me out —we could even take a rain-check on this if you want— but um…what if I were to let you,” —she licked her lips— “er...punish me?”

I furrowed my brows; my eyes shifted to the left, and then to the right. “What?”

“Like the night you came home, with Sunset! You remember, don't you? Just like that! I-if you want, you can hold me down and rail the piss out of me all night long, hahaha! Hahaha! And…if you wanted to do it tonight, I could even leave these mascara marks on my cheeks, s-so it looks like I’ve been crying from being fucked so hard!”

I gave my head a quick shake and stared at her in disbelief. “Rare, what the fff...that's fucking psychotic!“

“YOU CAN CUM ANYWHERE YOU LIKE!” she screeched, grabbing my arm. “I-in my mouth, or...on my face…or or, i-in my fanny, perhaps? OOH!” —her eyes lit up suddenly— “I’ll even let you cum in my hair! Think of it, darling; that, with me, is truly the holy grail of taboos; such an opportunity only presents itself once in a-“

I put my hand up to stop her. “Whoa! OK, seriously…Rare, just...wow, that...I mean, you’re a sweetheart for offering —don't get me wrong— but I’m not sure if any of that is actually gonna help me.”

“Well, of course it won’t solve your employment issues, darling! T’would be foolish of me to assume so; I was simply trying to show you that there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you, and, I mean…those were only suggestions, that’s all. I would be more than willing to entertain any ideas you may have for me.” She leaned over again to speak to Fluttershy. “How about you, sweetie? What do you think?”

“I say cum in her bum, Goldie. She’s been bad!”

Shocked, I turned to face the shy girl, who had clamped onto my arm and was staring at me with devilish eyes.

“OK…no,” I shook my head and pointed at the shy girl. “First off, YOU need to settle down, and you” —I turned back to Rarity— “you can’t go around thinking you can solve life’s problems by letting people cum in your hair…OR your ass.”

Rarity rolled her eyes and huffed. “Fine.” She folded her arms. “But know this: I will NOT stop until I make this right.”

“Me too,” Fluttershy spoke up. “We just want you to be happy, Goldie. It makes me sad knowing you're sad.”

“It’s settled then,” Rarity resolved. “This is our new mission, Fluttershy: we shall not stop until we make things right for our dear Mr. Arrow here.”

“Deal!” Fluttershy replied, reaching past me to offer a handshake, which Rarity accepted, sealing the contract. They both closed in on me next, planting a kiss on each of my cheeks, which I have to admit made me feel pretty warm and fuzzy inside.

Chapter 100: An Interesting Dinner

Author's Note

As mentioned in previous chapters, the views and opinions expressed by the characters here are fictional and do not necessarily reflect those of the author. (ie conspiracy theories, historical references, etc; a mixture of real and fictional)

Chapter 100: An Interesting Dinner

Chapter 100

“So Danny boy,” I said, sitting at the end of the table between Daniels and Ingram. “You never answered my question.”

He paused, holding a cup of coffee halfway to his mouth. “What question?”

“How did you find Sunny?”

“Oh,” he said with a pause, “that.”

A couple hours had passed, and we’d spent a large portion of that time at the table, conversing with the agents. Rarity had, in the meantime, presented a bottle of wine that she’d found in the cupboard, but Daniels was quick to raise a hand to decline, stating that he was trying to quit using alcohol, so the bottle was stashed away in support of the agent's wishes.

Now, Fluttershy and Rarity were bustling around the counter, preparing supper. Sunset helped them for a bit, but another guest had arrived in the meantime, so the red-head joined her to watch TV instead.

“OOH! This is a super-duper fantastic movie!” Pinkie squealed from the couch, startling both agents out of their seats.

Not twenty minutes after the party-girl’s arrival, Ingram had already pointed out several of Pinkie’s manic tendencies and the fact that she mostly likely suffered from ADHD, which he adamantly insisted that she should be on several medications for.

“Well,” Daniels began, “the investigation to find Sunset turned out to be a runaround as expected, since they naturally tracked down that other girl first,” —he shook his head and chuckled— “boy did she ever get a surprise visit! But anyway, she didn’t know anything about it, obviously. They questioned her, had her do a polygraph —you know, the whole nine yards— but eventually they had no choice but to accept the fact that she wasn’t involved and was therefore a dead end.” Daniels took a moment to stare at the tabletop, then he looked at me again. “That poor girl; she thought she’d had her identity stolen. She was totally freaking out, thinking that we were gonna put her in prison or something until we told her that whoever was impersonating her had actually exposed a theft within the tech department, and that she —or whoever this person was— was something of a hero in our eyes.”

I nodded and glanced at Ingram, who listened intently. “So then what?” I asked, returning my attention to Daniels.

“Well, they put me in charge of the investigation, since she was my applicant, plus I seemed to ‘figure out’ more of the details of the case before everyone else,” —he leaned closer to speak softly— “because I already knew what went on…and believe me, I was pretty much freaking out for a few weeks there, thinking I was gonna get caught for helping someone break into headquarters.” He returned his voice to a normal volume. “So anyway, being that it was my department, I took the reins and began to search for my mystery applicant on my own.”

I was listening closely, rubbing my chin with my knuckles. “So…obviously you found a lead?”

He nodded, sipping his coffee. “Yes I did, but I’ll get to that.” He set the cup down and chewed his lip briefly. Then he drew a breath to continue. “So…over the next couple weeks, between worrying I was gonna get caught for what I did and trying to find a real lead on my own, I became obsessed with who she really was: where did she come from? How was she so slick? How did she find out about my ex-wife’s theft? Who was this girl she was looking for, and why did Agent Cody take her?” He glanced at Fluttershy and then took a deep breath as he rotated the coffee mug on the tabletop with his fingertips; then he looked at me again. “That’s when my lead popped up, like a gift from god,” he said, raising his hands in worship.

I raised a brow.

Daniels smirked and lowered his arms again. “It was about three weeks later —October 22nd, actually. Heh! That date is burned into my memory now because of this— but anyway, Agent Shadow brings to my attention a car crossing the border in Niagara Falls, and the name on the passport of the person crossing is none other than Sunset Shimmer.”

I gave a quiet chuckle and let my head tip back, closing my eyes. “Ahh, shit. That’s the way we came home.” I looked at Daniels again. “Fuck, I didn’t even think about you guys watching us by then; to be honest, the CIA was so far out of my mind by that point, what with all the crap we’d been through after leaving DC.”

“Yeah…well anyway, we were on it,” Daniels continued, “and naturally, we assumed it was her fleeing the country or something, so we called her home number to see if that’s what had happened, and lo and behold, she was still at home!” He swatted the tabletop to emphasise his point. “And of course, she started freaking out again when we told her what’d happened, thinking her passport had been stolen, and THAT’S when we looked a little closer at the passport that crossed the border and noticed that it was a Canadian one, which was…well, baffling, to say the least.”

“I can imagine,” I replied.

“Right?” Daniels shrugged. “I mean, that couldn’t have been our applicant’s passport; you have to be an American citizen to apply to the CIA, but on the other hand, how could there be a passport for someone who, by the looks of things, was the exact same person as our applicant, but comes from a different country?” He rubbed his forehead as he continued. “And I mean…she is literally identical, which makes sense now with how well the facial scan worked,” —he turned to face the couch, pointing at the red and yellow head of hair showing over the backrest— “and obviously, the brunette hair was just temporary; that’s what threw me off at the time. I mean, I just thought she looked a lot like the other girl, but as it turns out, she’s an exact double—same hair, same sass, same everything.

“And when we questioned her parents about a possible twin sibling, they denied it, and checking the birth records actually confirmed it, so…” He shrugged and shook his head. “Somehow, we had discovered a person who was a perfect copy of another person, and one of the few things we could figure was that she might have been some kind of clone, but we couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t have been considered American in that case, like the other one—among other things.”

I placed a hand over my forehead and ran it down my face, stopping at my prickly chin as I wondered if it was my place to tell him the truth. “I know the answer,” I sighed, “but that might be something you need to hear from Sunny, IF she wants to tell you. It’s uh…something of a paradox, as they say.”

Daniels nodded. “I already know.”

I cocked a brow, not expecting this reply. “Oh?”

He nodded. “Agent Shadow and I spent a great deal of time at Miss Shimmer’s apartment this morning—HA! You should have seen her face when she opened the door and saw me standing there.” He chuckled as he ran a finger around the rim of the mug before hooking it through the handle to lift it to his mouth. After taking a sip, he swallowed and then smacked his lips. “But yeah, we had a lengthy discussion about everything, and she told me about the rescue and all that; very interesting story to say the least-“

Ingram raised his hand to cut in. ”Pardon the interruption, but…where did she come from?” he asked. “How can she be a twin of someone she’s not related to?”

“Well,” Daniels chewed the inside of his cheek and shifted his eyes upward, considering how he should explain it. “She’s…not exactly from here.”

Ingram shrugged. “What do you mean, here? As in Canada?”

“No,” Daniels shook his head. “I mean, like…Earth.”

Ingram paused for a quick moment. “Hm,” he replied, glancing up to the ceiling.

Daniels noticed Ingram’s thoughts heading skyward, and he shook his head quickly. “No-no, she’s not from space; more like, she’s from a different realm.”

This time, Ingram frowned. Beings from other worlds he’d heard of, but beings from another plane of existence? That was completely different. “I’m sorry, Mr. Daniels, but are you saying…she’s from a different dimension?”

Daniels nodded. “Yup. She’s been here for about twelve years now. Apparently, her realm is kind of —but not really— parallel to ours, and there’s another ‘version’ of many people from here, living there. And apparently, she somehow found a way to cross over into this world, so now both Sunset Shimmers are living here on Earth.”

Ingram, after a pause, shook his head as a wondrous smile formed on his face. “Remarkable.”

“Trust me, gentlemen,” I interjected, “you are in the company of some pretty unusual ladies here.” I turned to Daniels again. “So…you’ve gone off topic here; how exactly did you find out where Sunny lives?”

“Oh, right.” Daniels sat up straight. “Well, when she crossed the border, they recorded the plate number on that old car she was driving, and we were able to track it across the country —you know, traffic cameras and all that— and we were able to trace her back here, to Canterlot.”

I nodded. “Hm. Nice.”

“They wanted someone to come here, of course,” Daniels continued, “and…I requested that I go, since it was my department’s case—and to keep her and myself from getting into trouble, like if someone else found her and figured out what happened at headquarters. They gave me the green light, but they wouldn’t let me come alone; I had to bring an actual field agent with me, so naturally, my first choice was Special Agent Shadow.”

I glanced at the front door, where the intimidating woman was standing guard just beyond. “Why her?” I asked, looking back at Daniels.

“Because she’s the best. Much better than Cody ever was.”

“Can we trust her?”

Daniels locked eyes with me. “Oh yes. Absolutely,” he nodded. “You see, when she started at the agency, I’d only been there for a few months. After she applied, the investigation that followed turned up a criminal record, which made her a no-go as a recruit. It was a fuck-up though, which I managed to figure out, luckily. If it hadn’t been for me, she wouldn’t have gotten in. It was her dream to join, and when she found out that I was the one who made it happen for her, we became close colleagues and good friends. There’s nothing she wouldn’t do for me, including this: what we’re doing right now.”

“So she’s basically covering for you.” I glanced at Ingram, who gave an approving shrug.

“Trust me,” Daniels reassured, “she’s on our side, which is a good thing. We definitely want her on our side.”

“Fair enou-” I started to reply, but was stopped when I heard a deep rumbling from out front.

Ingram and Daniels heard it as well, and they turned to face the front door.

“What’s that?” Daniels asked curiously.

“It would seem that the last of our dinner guests have arrived,” Rarity replied, glancing at the front door just as the rumble cut away to silence.

We listened for a bit. The sound of AJ’s truck doors closing were heard first, followed by the sound of muffled voices. A pause followed, then we heard more voices going back and forth, sounding slightly irritated.

Then Rarity’s pocket buzzed. “Ooh!” She squealed and then took her phone out to read it. “Oh dear...” She turned to Daniels, cringing. “I don’t suppose you could instruct your partner to let our friends in?”

“Oh, shoot. Sorry.” He put his fingertips to his earpiece. “Agent Shadow? They’re fine. Let them in.”

A moment later, the door opened and the Stetson-wearing blonde stepped inside, carrying a small basket of apples.

“Howdy, ya’ll!”

“Applejack, darling!” Rarity replied.

“Rarity. How’s it goin?” AJ nodded back. “Hey, Fluttershy, I got ya some-“

Another voice drowned out the farm girl’s, followed by a screechy laugh as the smaller-statured Rainbow Dash stepped inside behind AJ. “Hahaha! Holy shit! S’up ladies and gent?” she shouted, closing the door behind her and then peeling her jacket off. After tossing it onto the pile of other coats next to the shoe mat, Dash furrowed her brows and pointed with her thumb at the front door. “So…what’s the deal?”

“What is what deal, darling?”

Rainbow Dash raised a brow and shrugged. “Why is Dolph Lundgren’s sister hanging out by the front door?”

Daniels turned to the blue-skinned girl, looking slightly put-off. He cleared his throat first, then spoke. “That is Special Agent Shadow; CIA.”

Dash, having not noticed the unfamiliar men sitting at the far end of the table yet, locked a pair of wide, cerise eyes on Daniels. “Huh?” She paused briefly, then gave her head a shake. “Whoa whoa whoa, you’re saying we got a CIA superspy as a bouncer tonight? AWESOME!”

A slight sneer came across Daniels’ face. “Uh, no…actually, she’s standing guard.”

Applejack cocked her head when she heard this. “What, like…fer pertection?”

Daniels nodded.

After a short pause, AJ smirked and shook her head. “Heh. Listen sugarcube, we don’t need pertection ‘round here.”

“Well, it’s…” He paused and rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s really more for me, so…yeah. But…she is kind of looking out for everyone else just by being out there, I guess.”

“OK, aaaaand you would be?” Dash asked, raising a brow.

“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity scolded. “Don’t be rude! Agent Daniels and Mr. Ingram here are our guests for dinner tonight, so please do be respectful.”

Dash’s eyes lit up suddenly as she looked at Daniels again. “Whoa, Agent?”

Daniels smiled and brought his arms up, presenting himself.

“Wait, you’re from the CIA too?” Dash exclaimed, slapping her hands over her cheeks excitedly. “We…are so…COOL!”

By then, Sunset had left the couch once she’d realised what was going on; she made her way to the table and stood by Daniels to introduce him and Ingram to Rainbow Dash.

Applejack, in the meantime, had turned her to attention to Fluttershy. “I brought ya some fresh apples there, Fluttershy. I heard you was gettin low, so I grabbed a few from the late harvest fer ya. Nice and sweet, just like you.”

“Oh!” Fluttershy giggled and turned from the counter, eyeing up the basket of flawless, shiny apples on the table. “Th-thank you, Applejack! I was out, actually; I’m sure glad I didn’t go and buy some.”

AJ adjusted her hat and nodded with a chuckle.

“Um,” Fluttershy glanced back at the counter, and then looked at AJ again. “S-so, how was your week?”

“Ohh,” Applejack shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Long, that’s all I can say. All this business a’ not sleepin sure messes with yer internal clock.”

“It’s quite an adjustment, to be sure,” Rarity replied. “Not to worry, darling; you get used to it faster than you think.”

Close to an hour passed. Conversations between different people took place; whether it was Ingram and Daniels chatting while I listened, watching Fluttershy and Rarity move about the counter, or Sunset talking to Applejack and Rainbow Dash about the farm girl’s recent transformation, or Pinkie hitting on Daniels by sitting right next to him, letting her breasts sit on the table, intentionally pressing them against his elbow as she gazed at him with lidded eyes. The house was alive with conversation as new acquaintances were made, and new allegiances formed.

Eventually, dinner was ready and placed along the counter; hot roasting pans and pots were laid out using bare white and yellow hands, arranging everything in an enticing display, starting with empty plates for us to grab and fill as we made our way down the line.

“So what we got here, sugarcube?” Applejack asked, picking up a plate.

“Oh, um…I made a pot roast with onion, garlic and lots of thyme,” —Fluttershy paused and giggled, covering her mouth— “because for us, there’s no such thing as too much thyme, right?”

“Heh-heh!” AJ chuckled, holding the plate in front of her chest with both hands. “Oh shit yeah, you got that right! Good one, Fluttershy.”

The shy girl tittered once more, then gestured to the spread again. “Um, anyway, there’s that, and there’s baked potatoes, peas and carrots, and a nice caesar salad that Rarity made.”

“Dang. This all looks so good! And it smells amazin,” Applejack said, practically drooling as she began filling her plate. “Ya know, it’s mighty weird that I don’t get hungry no more, but I still love havin a good bite ta eat.”

“Mm-hm,” Fluttershy nodded and smiled. “I’m glad we can still do stuff like this.”

Applejack headed around the table and set her plate down, then hitched her jeans up as she watched the line-up slowly moving along the counter, chatting happily as they each filled their own plates. The farm girl placed her hand on the back of the chair to pull it out, but something crossed her mind, prompting her to glance toward the front door.

After a moment of thought, a look of resolve came across her face and she snatched her plate from the table and headed for the door.

Rarity noticed the blonde leaving the table, and she turned to see her heading outside. “Oh Applejack, darling,” she called, stopping the farm girl in her tracks. “Where are you going?”

AJ paused briefly, then she gave a quick nod. “I’ll be right back.”

*****

Special Agent Shadow stood outside by the front door. It was late afternoon, and the sky had turned a dull grayish purple by then, indicating that the sun would be gone within the hour, and with it, any semblance of warmth that may have hung in that brisk, November air.

A chill scurried up her legs and back as the thought of nightfall came to her, boosted by the soft breeze that crept by just then, slipping through the trees at a hushed pace. She was grateful for those trees, however; out in the open, the environment would have been much more harsh—the wind would have been ferocious and unforgiving.

No matter. Either way, she would have no issues braving these surroundings to fulfill her duties. Years of training had conditioned her body to be able to withstand such punishment; what she was doing now was nothing more than a regular day on the job, though she did wish she was wearing something warmer than that plain black suit, and she admittedly found herself hoping that Daniels would be coming out soon to say it was time to go.

That was the only way she would leave her post, however. She was a superspy. One of the best in the world. A relentless machine, loyal to the final breath.

Still, even with all her training, she found her mind wandering as she stood out there in front of that young, quiet girl’s house. Wandering, but not about her job, not Daniels, or the search for his red-headed friend; she was thinking about that young-looking man sitting at the table in there, whose appearance was as normal and harmless as can be.

Was that really him? Was that truly the individual who singlehandedly reshaped the-

The front door opened suddenly, prompting Agent Shadow to straighten her stance to maintain an unwavering appearance.

Applejack stepped outside, holding a steaming plate of food in one hand. “Howdy. Agent Shadow is it?”

The agent remained silent and did not move.

AJ watched her for a moment, then pulled the front door shut and ventured a few steps into the driveway, picking a carrot from her plate and popping it into her mouth. “Listen,” she said with a cheekful of food, “why don’t ya come on inside and fix yerself a plate?”

No response.

After a short wait, Applejack swallowed the mouthful and then used her tongue to clear some stray bits of carrot from the inside of her lip as she watched the stubborn agent stand at attention. Finally, she let out a sigh and spoke. “Alright look, I know yer just doin yer job —and I think that’s great— but trust me, us ladies can take care a’ ourselves just fine, so there ain’t no sense in you standin out here in the cold.”

As the farm girl spoke, she had unwittingly tilted her plate, and a tin-foil wrapped potato dropped to the ground and rolled under the front of her old Ford.

“Ah, dang it!” AJ cursed, catching only a glimpse of the shimmering ball before it disappeared under the truck. “Of all the…” Dropping to one knee, Applejack grumbled quietly to herself as she set the plate on the snow-dusted ground and grasped the front bumper with her other hand.

Groaning like the rusty old heap that it was, the truck was hoisted into the air by the farm girl, who then bowed her head to search for the lost potato.

Seeing this, Agent Shadow’s breathing stopped, followed by a single brow rising above her shades.

“So like I was sayin,” AJ grunted as she peered under the truck. “If there was someone or somethin that came here ta start a fight that WE couldn’t handle, trust me; you hangin ‘round out here like a fart in a phone booth ain’t gonna make a lick a’ difference, so why don’t ya come on in and help yerself ta some grub? We’d be more than happy ta have ya. Ah, there ya are!” She saw the potato finally, and she reached under the truck with her free hand and plucked it from the ground, studying it for a few seconds before pursing her lips to blow the dirt from it. “Heh, good thing it still had the foil on it, eh?” she chuckled, holding it up to show Agent Shadow.

Letting the truck down slowly, Applejack plopped the potato back onto her plate, then glanced under the truck again as the tires gently came to rest on the ground. “So...whaddaya say?” she asked, picking her plate up and standing to face the agent.

Shadow gave a short pause, then she straightened her shoulders and brought her chin up, folding her hands in front of herself, resolving to remain at her post.

Applejack hung her head and shook it when the saw the response, chuckling at the tall woman’s tenacity. She sighed next, then looked up at Agent Shadow as she stepped closer, walking with a confident swagger until the two of them stood toe-to-toe. With her plate in one hand, Applejack reached up and tipped her hat back with her thumb to look into the taller woman’s face. It wasn’t very often that AJ had to look up at someone, but it never stopped her from getting into anyone’s face before, and it wasn’t about to stop her this time either.

With a smug grin and a cocked brow, Applejack glared directly into Agent Shadow’s eyes through those dark shades, wearing the spy’s nerves down with each passing second until finally, she spoke once more.

“Don’t make me drag ya inside... sugarcube.”

Agent Shadow’s eyes darted around behind those shades for a moment until finally, she gave in and closed them, letting her head drop forward a bit. In this line of work, part of being the best was knowing when one was outgunned, and in this particular instance, that was definitely the case. She sighed and reached up slowly to remove the shades, revealing a pair of surprisingly beautiful eyes, framed by long, black lashes with bright blue irises as centerpieces, laced with the slightest hint of green.

“Fine,” she replied quietly, yielding at last to the farm girl’s invitation.

“Well alright!” Applejack nodded triumphantly. “Now we’re cookin with the toaster down!” she chuckled happily, gesturing toward the front door as Agent Shadow turned to head inside.

*****

Inside, Agent Shadow filled a plate —much to Daniels’ surprise— and leaned against the counter to eat. All of us were seated around the table, so there was no room left for her to sit; in fact, Rarity was already sitting on Fluttershy’s lap to make sure there was ample room for everyone as it was. There just wasn’t enough room for that one extra person.

Noticing this, Applejack was about to stand and offer her seat, but since I was almost done, I picked my plate up and told AJ to stay put, then I offered my seat to the plum-skinned spy. She accepted the gesture and sat, towering above everyone else around her.

She soon wondered if taking the spot was such a good idea, however. Being stuck between Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie turned out to be a trying prospect: one question after another was dumped on the spy, one from Dash first, then Pinkie, then Dash again, and so on and so forth, to which she replied with short, one word answers between bites.

“So have you ever jumped a Lamborghini from one rooftop to another? That would be totally awesome!”

“No.”

“Have you ever snuck in and thwarted the supervillain in his own lair before he had a chance to fire his super-duper city destroying space gun that he’s got hidden up in orbit because the UN wouldn’t give him his million bucks!?”

“No.”

“Have you ever gotten into one of those huge fights in…like, say, a warehouse or something, and you had to take on like three-hundred guys by yourself and you totally kicked all their worthless butts?”

“No.”

“Have you ever jammed a big pipe through someone’s belly and said: ‘let off some steam, Bennett!’”

“Yes.”

“DO YOU OR DO YOU NOT OWN A CAR THAT FIRES MISSILES FROM BEHIND THE HEADLIGHTS!?”

“No.”

“Wait, you’ve actually said ‘let off some steam, Bennett!?”

“Yes.”

“HAHA! That…is so…AWES-“

“GUYS!” Sunset finally barked, her voice accompanied by the loud clang of her fork hitting the rim of her plate. “Seriously, leave the deadly spy alone and let her eat!”

Disgruntled, Dash and Pinkie rolled their eyes and grumbled quietly, pushing food around their plates with their forks. After a few moments, Pinkie’s eyes darted around the table to see if she was being watched, then she leaned closer to Agent Shadow.

“Are you a fan of Schwarzenegger movies?” she whispered.

“Yes,” Shadow replied, giving the party girl a smirk.

Pinkie’s eyes lit up and she gasped excitedly, followed by a wide grin and a *SQUEE*

Once everyone was finished eating, most of us dispersed; some of us went to the couch and were searching YouTube for entertainment, and some hung around the counter to clean up while Ingram, Daniels, Shadow and Sunset remained seated at the end of the table, deep in conversation.

“So Mr. Ingram,” Daniels was saying as he folded his hands on the table. “I understand you are a former federal agent?”

Ingram nodded. “That’s right.”

“In the field, or…?”

Sighing, Ingram looked down at the table, frowning as he thought. “A little bit, but I mostly worked in the office. Mission control, tech specialist, shrink…whatever they needed.”

Daniels gave an impressed little hum. “You have technical experience?”

“Oh yes,” Ingram gave a stately nod. “I have several engineering degrees from numerous institutions around the country.”

“And I’m guessing after what just happened, you’re out of a job, right?” Daniels pried.

Ingram watched Daniels for a moment, knowing where he was headed with this line of questioning. Then he licked his bottom lip and nodded, letting his eyes travel to the ceiling as he answered. “Yes, I suppose so. To be honest, I hadn’t really thought about it since I wasn’t even sure how today was going to end.”

Daniels and Agent Shadow glanced at each other. Her tall hair swayed when she gave a little nod of approval, which prompted Daniels to return his attention to Ingram. “Well, we do happen to have an opening in the tech department at the moment; they still haven’t filled the position that came up when my wife was…‘let go.’” Daniels smirked at Sunset when he said this, to which she replied with a shrug and a smirk.

Ingram, in the meantime, raised a brow. “Are you offering me a job, Agent Daniels?”

Daniels nodded. “I am. And if your resume is as impressive as you say it is, then you’d be a shoe-in.” He paused to raise a hand. “Now, you will have to go through all the motions, like applying online and all that, but I can pretty much make sure you get the job. To be honest, it sounds like you would anyway, what with your level of education and experience.”

Ingram cocked his head. “Hang on now, I know how your agency’s hiring policy works. Your boys may have a slight issue with investigating me since ‘Us’ basically deleted me from society when they brought me on.”

Daniels folded his arms and looked upwards, rolling his jaw back and forth. “Hmm. Well, given your age, there must be a physical paper trail somewhere,” he said, looking at Ingram again. “Don’t worry, my department is staffed with very good people; we’ll get your affairs sorted out and the job will be yours…if you want it, that is.”

Ingram paused for a moment to glance to his left in Sunset’s direction. Fluttershy was directly behind her, looking back at him, having overheard the entire conversation.

Sunset, thinking he was looking to her for an opinion, spoke up. “I think you should do it. To be honest, a guy like you would be far more productive there than hanging around Canterlot, doing nothing.”

Ingram returned his focus to Sunset. “But…what about you guys?”

Sunset smiled and shook her head. “We’ll be fine. I understand that you’d probably miss us —especially Flutters— but I think you’d be much happier at the CIA. Trust me; I was there. It’s a fucking cool place.” She reached up and gave his shoulder gentle bump with her forearm. “Besides, you’d be a much better ally to us with all the extra pull you’d have there.”

Sighing, Ingram looked past the red-head again to see Fluttershy’s expression.

At first she was blank, appearing reluctant to let him go, but after a momentary pause she drew a breath and then smiled, followed by an encouraging nod.

Ingram smiled back, fighting down the sharpness he felt in his chest, brought on by the thought of having the shy sweetheart absent from his life again. He swallowed and reminded himself that she was safe at home all because of him, and now she had the comfort of knowing that he was alive and well.

At last, Ingram faced Daniels again, then he reached across the table to offer his hand for a shake.

Elated, Daniels put on a wide smile and took Ingram’s hand, giving it a vigorous shake. “Excellent! You won’t regret this, Mr. Ingram. I can promise you that.”

“Likewise.” Ingram released Daniels’ hand and held it out to the plum-skinned woman. “Agent Shadow.”

Shadow took the handshake, but didn’t smile; instead, she simply gave a respectful nod. “Call me Tempest. If we’re gonna be working together, you might as well get used to it.”

“Very well,” Ingram nodded as Sunset began to rub her hands together with delight.

“This is so great, you guys,” the red-head declared. “Now, with the things that Ingram knows about ‘Us’, you guys can expose them for all the crimes they’ve committed and we can put them on the run!”

The three of them looked at her, confused.

“Oh come on!” Sunset shrugged, looking at Ingram. “You must have seen some of the things they were up to while you were in there,” she insisted as she turned to look across the table at Daniels and Tempest. “Do you guys have any idea of some of the shit they’ve caused?”

“Like what?” Daniels asked, looking somewhat skeptical.

“Uh…try, I don’t know, 9/11?”

Daniels and Tempest put their hands up. Clearly they wanted no part of the conversation.

“Whoa, now! That’s a BIG claim to be making,” Daniels replied quickly. “What would give you such an idea? Why would they even do such a thing?”

Sunset shrugged one shoulder. “Money.” She glanced at Ingram, who raised a brow and rubbed his chin.

“Honestly…I wouldn’t put it past them,” he replied.

“Well yeah,” Sunset pressed, “I mean, think about it: ‘Us’ is ran by the world’s richest and most elite; all they want is more power and more money. With 9/11, they got both.”

Daniels began to look interested. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “OK…I’m listening.”

“Well…” Sunset chewed her lip for a moment. “I mean, as far as power goes, 9/11 prompted a whole slew of new laws and securities, all of which were in favor of ‘Us’, like having more cameras in urban areas and tapping phone lines and so on; it essentially enabled them to have way more control of the surveillance over the population.

“But mostly…it was about money.” She shifted in her seat as she decided where to start explaining. “OK, so…” —she brought her hands together— “you’ve got Olivier, currently the majority shareholder of General Electric, which owns MSNBC. They used the media to spread the false notion that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction to get everyone to support an invasion. GE also happens to be one of the world’s largest manufacturers of weapons guidance systems, which they sold plenty of during the war in Iraq, making our Mr. Olivier plenty of cash.”

“Hm,” Ingram shook his head. “So…essentially, he used the media to ‘sell’ the idea of an invasion to the masses, thereby guaranteeing his own business in the weapons sector.”

“Exactly,” Sunset gave him a gentle elbow. “Damn, you’re smart! Has anyone ever told you that?”

“Yes. Several times.”

“So anyway,” Sunset continued, chuckling. “We all know now that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but what they did have was oil, and lots of it.” She raised a finger. “This is where Mr. Sombra comes in; when those oil fields were finally re-surveyed and put back into use, who do you think gained control of them?”

“Wait, I know this,” Tempest said, rubbing her forehead for a moment before looking at Sunset again. “Wasn’t it…Globetrotter, or something like that?”

Sunset nodded, smirking. “Yup. And Mr. Sombra is the mother-fucking CEO,” she said as she cocked her head. “And guess who handles all of their finances?”

The other three shrugged and shook their heads.

“The HGBC, or: Horseshoe Global Banking Corporation, founded by none other than Madam Chrysalis; lifetime treasurer and head bitch.” Sunset chuckled, then shook her head as she looked around at the other three. “So, yeah…9/11 worked out pretty well for ‘Us,’ wouldn’t you say?”

“Hm.” Daniels chewed the corner of his mouth. “What about Bin Laden?”

“Patsy.”

The agent paused. “And Al Qaeda?”

“Patsies.”

Ingram put a hand up. “I…OK, I don’t understand. How could you possibly know all this?”

“Yeah,” Daniels agreed, “I mean, it makes sense, in theory, but I don’t-“

“I was right about your wife, wasn’t I?” Sunset countered, with a smug grin and raised brow.

Daniels sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck. Then he shook his head. “Yeah, I guess.”

Sunset cocked her head. “In fact, that chair you’re sitting on: that’s the exact chair that Cody planted the bug under—the bug your wife stole.”

Surprised by the revelation, Daniels glanced downward at his seat, and then he returned his eyes to the red-head.

“So between me and Ingram, we have enough info to potentially take the owners of ‘Us’ down,” Sunset continued. “There are people in your organisation as well, who’ve been working with ‘Us’ over the years; feeding them intel and loaning out man-power and tech.”

Daniels frowned at the implication, shaking his head. “What? In the CIA?”

Sunset nodded. “Yup. And Cody was one of them,” she said, folding her hands on the table. “Most of them are older; guys who’ve been with the agency longer.”

“Hang on,” Shadow warned with a finger raised. “We need to be damn sure before we start throwing accusations like that at the higher-ups.”

“Don’t worry, I know who they are. I’ve seen them with my own eyes—well…kind of,” Sunset reassured. “And when we have them, we’ll squeeze ‘em hard and get them to tell us where to find Chrysalis and the others. Then we’ll either catch ‘em, or at the very least, make it so they can never set foot in North America again.”

Daniels cleared his throat and shook his head. “OK...this is pretty ambitious, you know that, right?”

Sunset nodded and rolled her eyes. “Of course. I’m just thinking out loud, really. I’m not saying you guys should run in there, guns a blazin; we’ll have to make sure we have our ducks in a row before we make our move.”

Ingram adjusted his glasses as he listened. “It is feasible,” he agreed, “but like you said, Miss Shimmer, we need to take our time and be prepared. Let me get in there and establish myself first, then we’ll move on from there. Agreed?”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah, totally.”

Ingram looked at Daniels next, who paused and then gave a nod. “Agreed.”

Agent Shadow followed suit when looked upon by Ingram. “Agreed.”

Thrilled by the allegiance they’d formed, Sunset pounded the table with her fist. “Yes! Fuck I can’t wait to see that bitch Chrysalis go down! This, what we just started here: this is gonna be a good thing.”

Daniels smirked and then folded his arms, looking down at the table. Ingram nodded, then pushed his glasses up after they’d slid partway down his nose.

A moment passed in silence, the four of them unsure of where to take the conversation next.

It was Tempest, eyeing Sunset up, who finally broke the silence. “What was it like?”

Sunset looked back to her, confused. “What was what like?”

Tempest turned her head and nodded toward the couch, where I was seated. “Being trained by him…first hand. What was it like?”

“Oh,” Sunset’s brows rose, and she stole a quick glance at the couch as well before answering. “Uh…fuck, amazing? I don’t know…there’s not much else I can come up with to describe it, really. Golds is…something else.”

Agent Shadow nodded, her eyes filling with wonderment—which Sunset found surprising, given how stoic and cold she’d been since they’d met that morning.

Daniels looked confused by Tempest’s apparent admiration, and he turned to glance at the couch before bringing his attention back to the table. “I don’t understand…what’s so great about that guy, anyway?”

Ingram raised a brow.

Noticing this, Tempest cocked her head toward the spectacled man. “Daniels isn’t a field agent,” she explained, to which Daniels looked at her, bemused.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked.

“Well...not to sound Blunt,” Shadow replied to Daniels, “but guys who aren’t trained for field work: they just don’t get it. And you’re not, so I’m sorry to say: you don’t get it.”

“Ahh,” Ingram nodded after seeing the exchange, then he folded his hands on the table, facing an inquisitive Daniels. “Agent Daniels; you do realise that the majority of training that people like Cody or Agent Shadow here receive was developed from the techniques that Mr. Arrow brought to your organisation well over sixty years ago, right?”

Furrowing his brows, Daniels glanced at Agent Shadow. Then turned to look toward the couch a second time. “Sixty years?” he repeated, looking back at Ingram. “That doesn’t make sense. He barely looks twenty-five.”

Ingram shook his head. “Golden Arrow is not at all what he seems, Agent Daniels. Rather, he is a-“

“HAHAHA! What the hell?” A sudden shriek of amusement from Rainbow Dash obliterated the conversation, and the four of them turned to see what was causing all the fuss. “Why is there an orange on the ceiling!?”

Ingram let out a quiet chuckle as Dash turned and called Applejack over to join her under the spot where the fruit was. “AJ! Gimme a boost!”

Applejack stood from the couch and made her way to Dash’s position, tipping her hat back as she looked up at the trapped fruit. “Heh! What in tarnation is that doin up there?”

“I dunno,” Dash shrugged as she raised one foot. “Come on, lift me up there so I can get it down.”

“Alright,” AJ replied as she bent slightly and laced her fingers together to make a step for the rainbow-haired girl to stand on.

Rainbow Dash did just that, placing her hand on Applejack’s shoulder as she climbed up to grab the orange. Wrapping her fingers around it, she carefully slid the soggy fruit over the knife’s handle and then tossed it over the table, where it landed in the sink with a metallic thud.

“HA! Two points!” Dash cheered, pumping a fist into the air as she held onto the knife handle to steady herself. “OK, lemme just get this…” she muttered, turning her attention to the knife. With a firm grip, she pulled downward on the handle while pushing her other hand against the ceiling for leverage, but the blade was wedged in place tighter than it looked, and it wouldn’t budge. The playful smile disappeared from Dash’s face, and she looked up at the knife, contemplating her next move.

“Hmm,” she hummed, gripping the handle with both hands and yanking hard. Her foot left the support of Applejack’s hands and she dangled in the air, eliciting a hearty laugh from the farm girl as she flailed her feet around like she was pedalling a bicycle.

“Heh-heh! Now, just be careful, Rainbow; ya don’t wanna fall-“

“Nah, I got this!” Dash grunted.

Raising her hands, AJ put a slightly more concerned expression on. “Just watch that ankle, alright? If ya land on it the wrong wa-“

“I’M FINE!” Dash barked, irritated that her injury had been mentioned in front of the guests.

Unfortunately, the juice from the orange had made the knife handle slick. Without warning, Rainbow Dash’s hands slipped free and she plummeted to the floor, causing a loud thump when her derrière impacted the hard, unforgiving wood.

“OOH, HO-HO!” she winced, gripping her butt as she rolled onto her side. “God, that’s hard on the asshole!”

At the table, Sunset snorted and shook her head; she looked down at the tabletop while AJ bent down to check on her friend.

Agents Daniels and Shadow turned back to face the red-head, both of them struggling to hide their smirks.

“Your friends certainly are…colourful,” Ingram chuckled, “in more ways than one, I might add.”

Sunset chuckled in reply. “Yeah…and this isn’t even all of them.”

“Oh?” Ingram raised a brow.

“Yeah. There’s one more, but she couldn’t make it tonight; she’s away at school. Kind of a bookworm, that one, and a major techie. You two would prob-“

Sunset stopped suddenly, her eyes widening.

“What is it?” Daniels asked, noticing the pause.

The red-head glanced back and forth between the three agents, a smirk growing on her face. “Hey…you guys wanna go meet her?”

Ingram straightened up a bit. “What, right now?”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah…I mean, if you’re up to it. It’s a couple hours drive from here, but I guarantee you guys will love her.”

*****

“Just wait here a minute, K?”

The three agents nodded silently, watching as Sunset turned and quietly rapped on the door before them—one of many doors that lined the long hallway that they’d found themselves in. After knocking, Sunset waited a few seconds, then opened the door and poked her head into the unlit room.

“Twi? You in here?”

No response.

Sunset stepped inside, searching the room while her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness. On the floor, she spied a little round doggy bed with a curled-up pile of snoring fur lying within.

“Pst! Spike!” Sunset called, looking down at the aged canine.

The purple ball jolted slightly, followed by a loud, muffled snort. “Huh? The fuck is that?” came a scratchy voice, groggy after being pulled from such a deep sleep.

“It’s me,” Sunset whispered loudly, watching as Spike uncoiled himself and looked up at her, eyes cloudy with cataracts, his muzzle whitened with age.

“S-…Sunset?” he groaned, squinting his eyes as he struggled to see her clearly against the hallway light, beaming in from behind her silhouette.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

The old dog’s eyes widened when he recognised her voice—and her scent. “Hey!...” He reined his excitement in quickly and stopped himself, then lowered is eyelids partway and gave her a sly —no, make that creepy— grin. “You uh…back so soon, eh? You sure do smell nice, like you could use a little action, am I right?”

Sunset let out an uneasy sigh. Spike was correct indeed; Golden Arrow’s presence throughout the dinner had in fact left a lasting effect on her panties. “Uh...yeah, maybe, but…I’m actually here to see Twi. Is she here?”

“Maybe,” Spike replied in a sultry tone, rolling onto his back. “You sure you’re not here to give old Spikey a belly rub?”

The red-head cringed, unsure of how to respond.

“It’s OK, Sunset, don’t be scared,” he continued in a low voice, followed by a sloppy lick of his chops. “If the red rocket comes out, it won’t hurt you; quite the opposite, actually.”

“Ugh...” Sunset pinched the bridge of her nose. “Damn it, Spike! You used to be cool. What happened to you?”

Spike looked rather put-off by her words, and after a pause, he scowled and looked away. “I’m still cool…you guys just aren’t into me anymore cuz I got old.”

“WHAT?” Sunset recoiled, enraged. “We were nev-“ she stopped herself quickly, putting her hands out and closing her eyes, sighing. “Just…nevermind. Is Twi here or not?”

“Yeah, she’s in her room,” Spike muttered, rolling onto his side again.

“Thanks,” Sunset replied begrudgingly as she started towards Twilight’s room, but then she remembered the agents outside. “Oh, and Spike?”

“Yeah?”

“We have some guests—and they’re strangers, so you might manna keep it down, OK?”

“Pfft…whatever,” Spike grumbled as he nuzzled his face into the side of the bed, closing his eyes. “Bitches be trippin.”

Sunset let out a sigh and shook her head. “Fuck.” She headed back to the door and waved the agents inside. They made their way single-file through the dark room, heading toward the closed door on the far side.

“Watch your step, guys,” Sunset instructed, “there’s a doggy bed right in fr-“

Sunset stopped suddenly when she heard the unmistakable sound of flatulence escaping from behind her—and she knew immediately where it came from.

The agents had stopped by then as well, pausing cautiously when they heard the sound.

Sunset held her breath, waiting and hoping that the fart wouldn’t be a potent one.

Luck was not on her side.

“Aaugh!” Agent shadow, who was closest to the bed, cupped her hand over her nose and mouth. “God, that is fucking-“ She glanced down at the little dog, holding her breath. “That smells like…burnt broccoli!”

Gritting her teeth, Sunset turned and gave Spike a sharp glare. His face was barely discernible in the dark, but she was still able to make out that his eyes were closed, and that there was a devious smile curling the corner of his mouth.

“Asshole,” the red-head whispered to herself as she brought her eyes up meet Ingram’s. “Come on; this way. Hurry.”

As they resumed their trip across the room, Daniels was evidently next in line to sample the gaseous weaponry. “Oh jesus!” he gagged, nudging Ingram’s back. “Go! Go!”

In her room, Twilight Sparkle sat at her desk, reading a book with a pair of headphones on, filling the room with the faint and tinny sound of music. She didn’t notice the door opening slowly, nor did she hear her red-headed friend enter, followed by three other figures who stood behind her in the shadows.

“Twi,” Sunset said, leaning forward to tap the lavender-skinned nerd on the shoulder just as she reached into the bag of peanut M&Ms that sat next to her book.

Twilight looked up from her book, caught off-guard by the extra presences in her room. Her eyes widened when she saw Sunset standing there, and she quickly slid her earphones down around the back of her neck. “Sunset! What are you doing back here?” she asked, rotating sideways in her chair to face her visitor.

“Well,” Sunset began, “We had some unexpected-“

CLICK!

Just then, the metal stand that was positioned beside Twilight’s desk groaned and rocked violently as a two-by-four swung through the air with a loud whoosh, whipping over her desk towards the side of her head.

Before anyone even had a chance to react, Twilight calmly leaned away to let the wood pass by her ear, causing that curly lock of hair that hung down the side of her face to flutter in its wake.

The three agents jumped back, completely unprepared for this.

“Whoa! What the shit?!” Daniels exclaimed as Tempest stepped in front of him for protection.

Sunset just stood still with her arms folded, shaking her head as a smirk found its home on her lips. “You OK, Twi?”

“Of course,” Twilight replied, scowling. Then she popped the handful of M&Ms into her mouth and pointed at the agents. “Who’re these guys?”

The 118th Chapter Spectacular: A Date With the Princess

Chapter 118

As instructed, I had driven to Canterlot High School and was waiting next to the statue in the front yard. I wasn’t overly keen on this since it was early evening still; the sun had just sank behind the horizon, leaving the sky a mess of spilled oranges and violets in its wake.

It had taken close to twelve hours to get a response from the book. By the time it happened, I had long since accepted the fact that I must have been wrong in my hypothesis: that Sunset Shimmer and Princess Twilight corresponded with one another in the pages of that book, through which our worlds must have been connected.

It was mid-morning the next day when it came; I was sitting on Sunset’s couch, watching ‘The View’ —while wondering why— when the book, which I had left on the table after giving up on it, began to vibrate and emit a purple light from its edges.

When I opened it to the page I had written on, I was shocked to find the Princess’ handwriting below mine, asking who I was and what exactly I needed help with. She was well aware that I was not Sunset, given the unfamiliar handwriting, but she was curious and seemed more than willing to lend an ear, and to see if she could help with my predicament. I hadn’t been overly specific about what happened; after all, it was far too long of a story to explain in writing. Not only that, but there were certain details that I preferred not to come out of the gate with —or write down in Sunset’s book— like injecting semen into sick people.

After a short back-and-forth, she offered to come to this world to offer her services; nurturing friendship was her specialty after all, and she wasn’t about to turn her back on a bad situation over here—despite her extended absence, and even though the one who was asking for help was someone she wasn’t familiar with.

So there I waited: in the school’s front yard, loitering around the statue, giving it the occasional pat to see if the portal was there—only to find it solid. As mentioned, I wasn’t overly thrilled to be skulking around the schoolyard so early in the evening; faculty members were still leaving the building, some of them giving me suspicious looks as they headed to the parking lot, but ultimately not caring as the student body had gone for the night, chased away by the bitter cold.

Speaking of the weather, I at least had the foresight to grab Sunset’s winter jacket before leaving her apartment, just in case the Princess arrived ill-prepared for this biting wind.

The sky darkened by the second, and I continued to circle the statue with Sunset’s coat slung over my shoulder, waiting patiently yet nervously for the Princess’ arrival. I wasn’t quite sure why I was so anxious, but I was, despite telling myself that she was an exact double of the Twilight I already knew —essentially the same person— which meant that talking to her should have a somewhat familiar feel to it.

She just happened to be a princess from another dimension, that’s all.

As I turned the corner to make the next lap around the statue, a familiar blue-skinned figure in a long, black coat jumped out at me.

“BOO!”

Unfazed, but befuddled, I stopped and stared blankly at the visitor, who was now clutching her stomach and laughing giddily.

“Hehehe! Gotcha, Gold Boy!”

I rolled my eyes. “Ugh… you again?”

“Watcha doin here?”

I sighed and turned back to circle the statue in the opposite direction. “Waiting for someone.”

“For realzies?” she asked as she ran to catch up. “Who?”

“Nobody.”

Sonata let out a frustrated growl and then sniffled. “Oh come on! Tell me wh—“

She stopped and stared at the stone block beside us as I continued my journey around it, leaving her behind.

“Hey,” she mumbled, “isn’t this where the portal to Equestria used to be?”

I didn’t respond, but I also didn’t expect her to know this.

A gasp sounded from Sonata, and she ran quickly to catch up. “Hey! You’re waiting for someone from Equestria, aren’t y—AAH!”

I turned to look back when I heard the yelp, which was followed by the dull thump of a body hitting the ground. Sonata had slipped on some ice and was now lying on her side, groaning, her face crinkled into a tight wad. With a sigh, I went back to help her up. “You alright?”

“Eh…” She rubbed her elbow, then looked up at me, sheepishly. “Yeah. Stupid ice.”

I dusted the snow off of her shoulder and then turned to keep walking.

Again, she followed, but was a bit more careful with her footwork this time. “So… who’s coming here from Equestria? Someone you know?”

“No.”

“You don’t know them? Then how do you know they’re coming here?”

I stopped at the side of the pedestal that faced the street and turned to look at the siren. She deserved credit for figuring this much out already, so I decided to tell her the truth. “OK, listen: I’ll tell you who’s coming, but you have to promise not to get upset.”

Now face-to-face with me, Sonata furrowed her brows. “Why would I get upset?”

“Because she helped the girls beat you and your sisters.”

Sonata froze; her eyes widened. “Wait… you mean…?”

I nodded. “Twilight. The other Twilight.”

“The Princess?”

I nodded again.

The siren’s brows rose, a look of wonderment creeping into her features. “The princess is coming here?”

“Yeah,” I replied. “You gonna be OK with that?”

Sonata nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, totally! I’ve already made friends with the rest of the girls—well, except maybe Rarity. But they beat me too, and now P is my bestest BFF now! It would be the BEST if I got the chance to show the princess that I’ve changed, too!”

I was nodding profusely as I looked across the street, only half listening to her. “OK good. You can hang out with us for a bit, but at some point, you gotta give us some space.”

“Why?” she asked, looking somewhat put-off.

“Cuz I need to talk to her about Dashie.”

The siren cocked her head, eyes narrowed. “Oh yeah… what happened with her anyway? She hasn’t been around much since Christmas.”

“Well that’s what I need to talk to the Princess about, and it’s kinda personal, so…”

Sonata straightened up again, taking the hint. “Right,” she said with a nod. “Whatever you need. You just say ‘when,’ and I’ll leave you guys alone.”

“Good. Thanks,” I said, kicking a stone away as the siren put her hands behind her back and stood pigeon-toed. “Hey, how’d you find me here, anyway?”

She looked up at me and shrugged. “I dunno. I hung out at Fluttershy’s house most of the day, but then I got bored and came to town for something to do. I just happened to drive by the school —cuz the road from her house leads right through here— and I saw your truck parked across the street. So I stopped and found you hanging out here.”

“Hm.” I looked around the yard. “You have Pinks’ car?”

“Yeah. It’s around back.”

An idea to tease her came to me. I glanced at her with a serious face. “I thought you weren’t supposed to come to town? Isn’t the Dark Mistress gonna come get you?”

Sonata looked tentative for only a second, but then a sly smirk crossed her pretty, blue features. “Not if I’m with you.” She stepped closer and swung her hip, bumping mine with it. “You’ll protect me if she comes around, won’t you? She’s tough, but I bet you could handle her!”

I sighed and looked around the yard. “I’d like to think so.” I brought my eyes back to her. “You know, I wonder if—“

Sonata and I were interrupted by the piercing sound of energy. Surprised, we turned to see a flickering white light on the opposite side of the pedestal, illuminating the schoolyard for a brief moment before returning to darkness. After a glance at the siren, I turned and peered around the corner of the concrete block, listening.

Sure enough, I could hear talking—not one, but two voices.

First, an unfamiliar voice. “Oh wow, look at this place!” A pause, then: “Br-r-r-r-r-r-r! It’s freezing here! Whoever sent you that message is right: something must really be wrong with Rainbow Dash for her to let the weather get like this.”

Then I heard the unmistakable voice of Twilight Sparkle. “I don’t think that’s it, Starlight. Rainbow Dash doesn’t control the weather here. Nopony does; it controls itself.”

“What!?” the first voice exclaimed. “How are they supposed to plan anything? Weddings, games, picnics!”

“That’s one of the follies of living here, but there are many advantages as well: like their technology, which you’ll see soon enough,” Twilight explained.

“This place is a lot different from Equestria, Starlight,” a third, and what sounded like a young male voice said. “Aaaaand you might wanna stand up; everypony’s gonna start looking at you funny.”

Sighing, I turned back to lean on the statue, facing the street. Their Dashie can control the weather?

I was about to take a breath to psyche myself up and step out to introduce myself, but when I turned to my right to look at Sonata, my heart froze when I noticed that the space beside me was vacant.

Sonata was gone.

I stood quickly, eyes wide as they darted frantically around the yard in search of the blue idiot. There was no time to wonder where she’d gone though; that question was answered seconds later when I heard Sonata’s voice on the far side of the pedestal.

“Hiya, Princess!”

The response she got was a pair of out-of-synch gasps, followed by Twilight’s voice. “It’s the sirens! This was all a trick; we’ve been lured here! Go back! Go back!”

Hearing this, I groaned and cupped a hand over my brow. Shit!

“NO!” the siren pleaded. “Don’t leave! Please!”

“You won’t get away with whatever this is,” the first voice growled. “Now get out of the way!”

“Dammit,” I whispered as I quickly circled the statue to diffuse the situation. When I rounded the corner, I found Sonata facing a girl with soft pink skin who was on her hands and knees, her long, violet hair accented by narrow bands of turquoise. She was accompanied a small, purple dog with green ears, and Twilight Sparkle, of course—the same person, to be sure, but surprisingly, she differed from our Twilight more than expected.

Sonata was standing with her back against the pedestal, blocking their escape. As soon as I entered the scene, everyone turned to face me, eyes wide with confusion and panic.

Sonata actually looked rather embarrassed.

Twilight did not. She took an aggressive stance immediately, balling her fists tightly as she turned and glowered sharply at me. “You! Who are you? Why did you lead us here!?”

Her demeanor was a shock to the system; it was strange to see Twilight act this way. Our Twilight was never this ballsy or courageous in the face of an unknown and presumably dangerous person. This Twilight had a far more commanding presence: she stood with confidence, defending herself and her company with bravado and selflessness.

The dog stood next to her, growling, teeth bared and ready to pounce.

The first thing I did was retreat a step to appear less threatening, hands raised. “OK, calm down. This isn’t a trick. I’m a friend of Sunset’s.”

The princess cocked her head and glared dubiously. “And what about her?” she asked curtly, tipping her head towards Sonata.

“She’s cool, you don’t need to worry about her,” I said, my eyes temporarily leaving the princess to watch the pink girl use her balled-up hands on the corner of the pedestal to pull herself up onto a pair of wobbly legs.

Princess Twilight had taken a glance at the siren in the meantime, and was now looking at me again. “Oooo… K? Aaaaand... who are you?”

I placed my fingertips to my chest. “My name’s Golden Arrow,” I said, as politely as I could. “I’m a friend of the girls; I wrote you in Sunny’s book to ask for your help with Dashie.”

Her expression softened. “That was you? Where’s Sunset?”

“She and the others are gone this week—except Dashie, which is why I called you. I honestly don’t know what to do because... well, like I said, I kind of need your help.”

Twilight took a moment to glance down at the dog, who had sat down and was now looking up at her.

Behind the princess, the pink girl had gotten to her feet and assumed she was stable, only to teeter backwards, waving her arms wildly to catch her balance.

Seeing this, Sonata stepped forward and caught her by the shoulders, pulling her upright again. “Here, I gotcha.”

Instinctively, the pink girl hooked her fists over the siren’s shoulders to stabilize herself, but then she froze when she realised the two of them were now face-to-face. “Uh…” she cringed, unsure of this.

“No worries,” Sonata gave a reassuring, but nervous smile. “It’s OK. I don’t actually know who you are, but I… Yeah, uh, I used to be bad, but I’m not anymore, so you don’t have to worry.”

The pink girl considered this for a moment, then she let an exhale slowly escape, followed by a tiny smile. “Me too, actually. And thanks... for the catch.”

In the meantime, the princess had returned her attention to me. “Alright then. What’s happened with Rainbow Dash? Why is she so upset with you?”

I opened my mouth to answer, but I stopped when I noticed her chin trembling. Then I looked down to find her keeping her arms tight to her body. Evidently, the cold was getting to her.

“Shit,” I whispered, unravelling Sunset’s coat as I gave my answer. “We’ll talk about Dashie in a bit. Here, I brought Sunny’s coat for you. It’s been pretty cold here lately so I thought I should bring it just in case you didn’t have one. Better to be safe than sorry, right?”

“Oh… right. Yeah.” The princess looked down at herself. “Th-thanks.” Indeed, she was certainly not dressed for the weather; a light blue blouse with a red ascot was nowhere near warm enough for sub-zero temperatures like these, and neither was the star-spangled purple skirt she wore. The only thing she really had going for her were the tall, purple boots she was wearing.

I held the coat up and she slid one arm into it, then she turned away from me to slip the other arm in. Then she staggered backward quite unexpectedly and bumped into me, prompting me to catch her by the shoulders.

“Whoa! You good?” I chuckled as she turned to look sheepishly at me.

“Sorry about that, Golden Arrow,” she replied, stepping away to finish putting the jacket on. “It’s been a long time since I’ve visited this world; I’m bit out of practice with these things,” she explained, looking down at her legs.

“Uh-huh,” I replied, watching with confusion as she resumed trying to drag the sleeve up her arm with a closed fist. “Uh… hey? What are you— … why don’t you, like, pull it?”

She looked at me suddenly, a bit apprehensive. “Pardon?”

I pointed to her fist. “Open your hand and use your fingers to grab it so you can pull it up.”

The princess looked down at her hand, her expression filled with determination as she slowly splayed her fingers, then wiggled them around before closing her fist again. “Ugh… I completely forgot about these things. I never did learn how to use them very well.”

“You don’t know how to use your fingers?” I asked, stepping forward to pull the cuff over her fist.

“Well… no, actually. Everypony back home, including me and Starlight here, don’t have fingers; we have hooves,” Twilight explained, looking down at herself to watch me zip the coat up for her.

“Oh, right,” I said, rubbing the back of my head as I retreated, slightly embarrassed about overlooking this fact. Ugh… I should have known that. Also: what the fuck? Every’pony?’

“This is much better,” she said, shrugging her shoulders inside the fresh warmth of the coat. “That was very thoughtful of you, Golden Arrow. Thank-you. I’m starting to see why the girls would be friends with you.”

“No problem,” I smiled, “and please, call me Golds.”

“Golds? Sure.”

After a quick nod, I turned to see what Sonata and the other girl were doing. Then I realised she was only wearing a green V-neck shirt with fuchsia collars and cuffs under a charcoal-coloured vest. Her legs were no better protected; a pair of thin gray pants covered them—pants that were full of holes, leaving significant sections of her skin exposed to the biting air.

“Shit,” I said, rubbing my forehead as I looked her over. “I only brought one coat. I didn’t expect there to be two of you here.”

“Oh,” Twilight faced her comrade. “Well, she could just go back to Equestria. I mean, the portal is right th—“

“No way!” The pink girl fired back, stumbling clumsily when she tried to turn and face the princess. After regaining her balance —again with Sonata’s help— she continued. “I wanna see more of this world, Twilight. We can figure something ou—”

“Here,” I unbuttoned my coat and peeled it off. “Take my coat,” I offered, holding it out to Sonata. “Could you give her a hand with this?”

“Sure!” the siren smiled. She took the coat and stepped behind the pink girl to put it on her.

“Wait, aren’t you gonna be cold now?” Twilight asked.

I shook my head. “Nah, don’t worry about me. Let’s just say I’m not your average Joe. I’ll be fine.”

“Average who?”

I pointed at the pink girl, ignoring the question. “There’s really no sense in me wearing it when… uh…” I trailed off and then looked at Twilight. “I’m sorry, I didn’t get her name.”

“Oh!” Twilight’s eyes widened. “Sweet Celestia, how could I be so rude?” With an outstretched arm, she turned and gestured to the pink girl. “Golden Arr—er, sorry.” She let out a chuckle. “Golds, this is my friend, Starlight Glimmer.”

I gave her a nod and a smile. “Nice to meet you, Starbright.”

She paused to look up from what she was doing. “Uh, Starlight.”

“Ah. Sorry.”

Twilight gestured to the dog next. “And this little guy here is Spike.”

I looked down at the dog with a nod while trying to hide my annoyance. I always hated it when people acted like their dogs were people. “Nice.” I looked up in time to see Sonata fasten the last button on the coat and then turn to face the princess and me. I raised a hand to gesture to her. “Uh… I guess you already know Sonata.”

Twilight looked tentatively at the siren. “Yes…” Hand raised, she closed her eyes and gave her head a shake. ”I’m sorry, I must have missed something here; what… exactly are you doing here with Golden Arrow? Where are your sisters?”

The siren folded her hands in front of herself in an attempt to look solemn. “I’m, uh… friends with the girls now.”

The princess’ brows went up. “Really?”

Sonata nodded happily. “Yup. Me and P are BSFs!”

Twilight looked confused. “BSFs?”

“Best sisters forever!”

“Ah,” The princess glanced at Starlight, then back at Sonata. “And… P is?”

“Pinks. Er, Pinkie Pie,” I clarified, drawing the princess’ attention back to me. “Sonata’s been living with her for a few months now.”

Twilight faced the siren once again, a smile growing on her lips. “Wow. Wow! That’s so great!”

Sonata grinned and looked down at the ground, rotating back and forth on one heel. “Aw… thanks. I’m glad for it, too. The Rainbooms are the best.”

“Absolutely, they are!” Twilight agreed. “And what about your sisters? Where are they?”

The smile quickly disappeared from Sonata’s face. She let out a dejected sigh, which prompted the princess to look at me, wondering what was wrong.

“Um…” I rubbed my chin. “We… don’t actually know where they are,” I explained, gesturing to the siren. “Sonata left them behind to join us.”

Twilight’s mouth hung open, returning her eyes to Sonata. “Oh. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…”

The siren brought a pair of heavy maroon eyes up to meet the princess’. “It’s OK. You didn’t know.”

I spoke up again. “She showed up at Flutters’ house in the middle of the night a few months back. Said she’d had enough of living like a fugitive and wanted to improve her life, so she came to the only place she could think of.”

After watching the siren for a moment, the princess took a wobbly step closer and placed a closed hand on her shoulder. “You did the right thing. I’m sure it wasn’t easy, but I can already see that you’re glad you did it.”

It was now Starlight’s turn to chip in. “Twilight’s right. And believe me, she’s right about a lot of stuff. The most important thing is whether you’re happier now than you were before. Are you?”

Sonata looked up at the purple-haired girl and nodded. “Yeah… I am. But sometimes I still miss my sisters.”

Starlight gave a reassuring smile. “And that’s totally understandable; you were with them for a long time. Who knows, maybe someday they’ll see how much happier you are with your life, and they might come around too.”

The siren smiled. “I dunno… maybe. That’s what I’m hoping for.”

As I watched the conversation take place, I glanced at the princess to notice her looking at me. I cocked my head inquisitively and faced her directly.

Knowing I could tell she wanted to say something, she took the cue to speak. “So… what’s your story? How did you end up with the group?”

“Well,” I drew a long inhale as I looked around the darkening schoolyard. “It was pure chance, honestly. I was driving home from work one day and I happened upon Rare and Dashie on the side of the road; Rare’s battery’d died, so I pulled over to help them out, aaaand the rest is history.”

“Hm,” Twilight glanced downward and rubbed her chin with her knuckles. “Tragic.” She looked up to me again. “If I don’t see her this visit, could you please tell Rarity and that I’m sorry for the loss of her battery?”

I paused, eyes darting around. “Uhh... sure? That’s not what this is about, though.”

“Well... regardless, I’m glad to have met you, Golden Arrow. And I’d be more than happy to help you with your Rainbow Dash problem.”

“Awesome,” I nodded. “But… just call me Golds, OK?”

Twilight cringed slightly. “Oh right! I forgot, sorry.”

“It’s alright,” I said. The yard lights kicked on just then, casting circular portions of light on the walkways to and from the building.

“Well then...” The princess smacked her lips. “Let’s take it from the top. How did this whole thing with Rainbow Dash start?”

I raised a hand to wave her down. “Just... we’ll get to that. I think it’d be nice to get to know each other a little bit first.”

The princess looked inquisitively at me.

“I mean, Dashie’s not the only reason I asked you here.” I put my hands in my pockets. “I also, uh, just kinda wanted to meet you. I mean, I’ve heard a lot about you. The girls have talked about you so much, and I just…” I trailed off and scratched my forehead, facing the sidewalk. “I dunno. But… not only that, they’re all out of town this week, so I’ve been feeling pretty lonely… and bored—no offense, Sonata.”

The siren shook her head. “No, it’s OK. I know how you feel. I miss P, too. And I’ve still got the rest of her family to hang out with; you’ve been all alone at Fluttershy’s house all week.”

The other-worlders all looked at me, surprised.

“You’ve been staying at Fluttershy’s house?” Twilight asked.

I shrugged. “Me and Flutters have been living together almost a year now.”

Her brows leapt up. “Really?” she asked, to which I nodded. “So… does that mean you two are…?”

I nodded quickly. “A thing? Yeah. You could say that.”

“Huh.” She glanced at Starlight, who raised a brow and then smirked. “Well then, you brought us here to get to know us? OK. What do you want to do? Did you have something in mind?”

I drew a breath and held it for a pause. “Uh… not really anything in particular, to be honest—mostly just thinking about fuckin the dog.”

As soon as I said this, the little pooch yelped sharply and scampered behind Twilight, hiding behind her big, purple boots.

“What the hell’s his problem?” I asked, leaning over to see what was wrong.

Sonata clutched her stomach and doubled over laughing.

“Um, I beg your pardon?” the princess asked sharply, drawing my attention back to her, her face now plastered with an unimpressed scowl.

“Aw, shit,” I whispered, slapping a hand over my forehead. I turned away from her, realising the idiom must not have existed in their world. “OK, look: I’m sorry. That was a figure of speech,” I answered quickly, raising a hand in defense. “‘Fucking the dog’ doesn’t actually mean… what it sounds like. It’s a term for… uh, basically doing nothing; being lazy.”

The princess and Starlight glanced at one another, brows cocked.

“OK,” I rubbed my temple, trying to think of a way to explain it further. “Think about… You know when you’re passing by a construction site, and everyone there is working, except for that one guy, who’s sitting around, doing nothing. You ever seen that guy?”

Twilight was chewing her lip. “Uh, I guess I’ve seen… something like that. Except it was… not a ‘guy,’ as you call it.”

“Ok, fine. Pony,” I said. “But he’s sittin around, watching everyone else work, right?”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah, everypony has to work harder with him around.”

I raised a hand and pointed at her. “Right! See, that guy’s fuckin the dog. Get it?”

The princess rolled her eyes. “I guess so. It’s still not a very nice thing to say, though.” She looked down behind her. “Did you hear that, Spike? It’s OK; it was just a colloquialism. He didn’t really mean it.”

Slowly, the dog peered out at me for a second or two, but then he turned and headed for the statue, shaking his head as he went. I could have sworn I heard mumbling from under his breath as he sank headfirst into the concrete, sending forth a ripple of silver-coloured shockwaves from the centre of his passage.

“Hm… I guess he’s still a little put off,” Starlight said dryly.

Frowning, I pointed at the statue where the dog had just disappeared. “Wait a second, did that dog understand that whole conversation just now?”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah, well… technically, he’s not a dog,” she chuckled anxiously. “In Equestria, Spike is actually a dragon.”

I stared at the princess. Then I shook my head and shrugged. “Eh, you know what? Nothing surprises me anymore.” This was when I noticed Sonata looking at the pedestal, confused as usual. “What now?” I asked, drawing her attention.

After looking at me and then Twilight, Sonata drew a breath and shook her head. “I don’t get it; I thought the portal was open?”

Twilight shook her head. “It is open, as you just saw.”

“But,” Sonata faced the statue again, rubbing her chin, “when I was blocking you guys from going back, I was laying right against it… and I didn’t go through.”

Princess Twilight sighed. “You can’t go through. You and your sisters are ‘locked out’ of Equestria.”

Sonata scowled. “Locked out?”

“That’s right,” the princess replied. “When Starswirl the Bearded banished you to this world, he cast a spell on the portal that made it impossible for any of you to return.”

“Oh…” Sonata stared at the concrete again. “So… what, you guys just left it locked?”

“Well, technically, he put it on there, so only he can remove it. I mean, I could probably figure it out—if I really needed to.” Twilight chuckled and shrugged one shoulder, adding an overconfident and rather blasé smirk just to drive the point home.

Starlight rolled her eyes.

“But either way,” Twilight continued, “why would we bother to take it off? We though you three were still bad news—literally until just now.”

Slowly, Sonata reached out and placed her hand on the pedestal’s cold, hard surface. Unlike a moment ago, when Spike had passed through it like it was thin air, it remained solid for Sonata: lifeless, and inanimate. “Hm,” she sighed and lowered her hand to look at us again. “It’s OK, I guess.” She sighed and stepped away to stand next to Starlight. “There’s nothing there for me anyway.”

Princess Twilight glanced solemnly at her companion for a second or two, then she turned to Sonata with a reassuring smile. “There’s more for you here in this world. I promise. Especially with the new friends you’ve made.”

“Exactly,” I said, bringing my hands together and rubbing them firmly. The cold air was becoming a nuisance with only a T-shirt on, and I was feeling a tad antsy to get someplace warmer—for everyone’s sake. “What do you ladies say we get outta this nasty cold?”

Starlight and the princess nodded quickly.

“You know where the Sweet Shoppe is, right?” I asked Sonata, who nodded and grinned. “OK then, meet us there for hot chocolates. I’m buying.”

*****

Sonata had scampered off to Pinkie’s car. In the meantime, however, making my way to the truck with Princess Twilight and Starlight in tow had become a far more time-consuming task than I had anticipated.

“Jesus, people are gonna think I’m hanging out with a couple of drunkards here,” I muttered, after turning back to see Starlight go down again.

“AAH, that’s cold!” she screeched when her bare hands met the snow-dusted ground. “Why are these things so sensitive!?”

Twilight, who was a marginally more practiced biped, bent to hook an arm with Starlight’s to help her up. “It’s OK Starlight, you got this. Just take it one step at a time; one foot in front of the other.”

Starlight, on her feet again, nodded impatiently. “I got it, I got it.”

Minutes later, the two girls had finally climbed into my truck. I closed the door behind them, shaking my head and chuckling as I made my way around to the driver’s side. I opened my door and hopped into the driver’s seat, slipping the key into the ignition. Before I started the engine, however, I happened to glance over at the two; they were sitting still, unsure of what they should be doing, both looking at me with closed hands on their laps.

Aw, shit… I thought, realising they probably didn’t have anywhere near the dexterity needed to put their seatbelts on. I took a moment to consider what to do, staring at them, staring at me. Finally, I just shook my head and pulled the door shut. Fuck it. The Sweet Shoppe’s only a block away. We’ll be fine.

Twilight and Starlight glanced at each other, likely wondering what I must have been thinking when I turned the key to start the engine. The sudden clash of a million flame-fronts caused them to jump, and they both stared toward the source of the noise with eyes like saucers.

Finally, Twilight looked at me as I rested my hands on the steering wheel, sending a smirk their way. “Uh… is there something wrong with this vehicle’s power plant?”

I shook my head. “Nope. It’s supposed to sound that awesome.”

She raised a brow at me as I dropped the shifter into drive and then looked behind us before pulling onto the street. The Sweet Shoppe was indeed close, yet the travel time there was effectively doubled when we were caught by a pesky red light. As we sat, wordlessly waiting, hearing and feeling the vibration coming from under the hood, I glanced to my left when I happened to notice some movement on the far sidewalk.

A couple was walking along in the opposite direction. I was just about to look away, wondering why anyone other than us would choose to be out in this cold, when I realised that one of them looked familiar, despite being bundled up in a thick coat and a red toque.

I squinted, leaning closer to the side glass as I focused on him. When he passed under the next street light, his face was illuminated enough for me to recognise him. Holy shit! Is that Al from the parts store?

I honked the horn to draw his attention. When they looked over toward the truck, I knew he recognised me right away; a smile immediately appeared on his face, and I wasted no time in raising my hand to flip him off. He laughed when he saw it, and although I couldn’t hear him from inside the truck, it was clearly visible to me that he was amused, especially when he released his wife’s hand to raise his middle finger in return.

I chuckled quietly to myself, looking ahead just in time to see the light turn green. As I accelerated away, the princess’ voice sounded from my right.

“Do you know him?”

I glanced over at her, having briefly forgotten that the two of them were in the cab with me. “Uh, yeah. I… kinda-sorta work with him. Or I used to, anyway.”

“I see.” Twilight glanced at my hand. “And what was that thing you just did?”

“Huh? Oh, you mean this?” I held my middle finger up again so they could see it, and they both nodded. “Oh, that’s nothing; it’s just something friends do,” I explained, waving them off.

Twilight nodded quietly and pursed her lips, gazing thoughtfully through the windshield for a moment. Then she and Starlight faced each other, looking down at their laps to study their hands; Twilight managed to extend her thumb enough to hook it under her middle finger to peel it outwards. Once she had it pointed straight, she looked to Starlight, who was following suit—though she was having a tad more trouble with it.

Eventually, they’d both formed the gesture and were presenting it to one another, snickering quietly amongst themselves.

Unaware that this was going on beside me, I faced forward, watching as the Sweet Shoppe came into view. I pulled into the lot on the far side and parked next to Pinkie’s car, then I exited and quickly made my way to the passenger side to help them out so they wouldn’t end up falling—after all, it was a fairly long drop to get out of that truck.

The girls hobbled together, using each other for support. I followed behind until we approached the building, at which point I darted around them to open the door. Once inside, we took a quick look around to find Sonata sitting alone in a booth in the far corner.

We made our way over to join her.

“Wowee! What took you guys so long?” she asked, scooting over to let me in.

Starlight climbed clumsily into the booth and sat opposite Sonata, followed by the princess, who sat across from me.

“They’re still getting their sea-legs,” I joked, looking around at the three of them. Then I realised something. “Oh shit, the hot chocolates,” I stood up again. “I don’t know why the fuck I even sat down. Be right back.”

At the counter, I was greeted by the always-cheerful Mrs. Cake, who had turned away from what she was doing just in time to see me approach.

“Oh! Hello, deary!”

“Jeez, lady!” I smiled. “Don’t you ever go home?”

She let out a jolly laugh. “No siree! If this place is open, I’m here. That’s just how it is.”

I glanced at the clock above the kitchen doorway. “It’s pretty late in the evening; that’s a long day, isn’t it?”

Mrs. Cake shrugged and rolled her eyes. “Not really. We don’t actually open ‘til eleven thirty.”

“Oh… well in that case, get to work!”

“OK then! What can I get you?” she chuckled.

I held up four fingers. “I will have four of your best hot chocolates, please.” Then I laid couple of bills on the counter. “And you can keep the change, how about that?”

“You got it, sweetie,” she said, taking the money to put it in the register before scurrying off to prepare the drinks.

While Mrs. Cake was busy doing that, I turned my back to the counter to survey the place. It wasn’t overly busy, being a weekday evening —and a cold one at that— so the tables and booths were sparsely populated. As always, the TV was on, showing the local news.

Princess Twilight and Starlight were busy pawing at their coats to remove them while Sonata directed from across the table with a pointed finger, along with some verbal coaching.

It was barely a minute before I heard something slide across the counter behind me, and I turned to see a metal tray with four mugs on it, each one filled with a steaming, foamy, delicious-looking beverage.

“Ah,” I said, gripping the tray as I met Mrs. Cake’s smiling face. “Now, these are your best hot chocolates, right?”

“Absolutely!” she nodded proudly, folding her hands in front of herself. Her expression dropped suddenly, however, and she brought one hand forth to point at one of the mugs. “Well, actually… three of them are the best; this one here isn’t very good.”

I laughed as I picked the tray up. “Oh, heh! That’s OK. I’ll make sure Sonata gets that one.”

Mrs. Cake giggled and waved, turning away to return to the kitchen. “Thanks, deary. Enjoy!”

“Will do, thanks.” I made my way back to the table, where the girls had successfully shed their winter wear and were now talking quietly amongst each other. I approached and set the tray on the table, then I set two of the mugs in front of our guests before sliding into the booth next to Sonata.

The siren and I each took our first sip and then glanced across the table at the other two, who, unsurprisingly, were struggling with their drinks. Both of them were attempting to hold the mugs between their palms, but the heat was too intense for those unusually sensitive appendages to handle in this way.

“Here,” I said, drawing their attention. “Put two of your fingers through the loop, like this,” I explained, demonstrating how to lift the mug by the handle.

With a bit of intense concentration, they both managed to extend two fingers and hook them through the handles as shown. When Starlight lifted hers, however, the mug wobbled slightly and some of the beverage spilled onto the table.

“Aww shit,” Sonata said rather loudly after seeing the effort go awry. Then she took another sip.

“Grrrrh!” Starlight huffed, setting the cup down again. “This is Minotaur-shit! I don’t have to lift my cup like this even at home; I just use my magic!”

“Here, Starlight,” Princess Twilight said, “use your other hand to steady it. Like this.” She demonstrated for the purple-haired girl, using her right hand to steady the cup as she lifted it by the handle with her left to take a noisy slurp.

After watching the princess have a sip and then give a smirk of accomplishment, Starlight brought her eyes back to her own mug. “OK,” she said, clearing her throat and then rolling her shoulders. With a look of earnest, she drew a breath and slowly lifted the cup by the handle, keeping it steady with the thumb and forefinger of her other hand.

Sonata’s eyes widened as she watched the rim of the mug come against the pink girl’s lower lip, and she began to swat the tabletop rapidly, letting out a squeal of excitement. “EEEEEEK! Look at you go!” she cheered as Starlight took that first slurp of hot chocolate, trying her best not to smirk at the siren’s antics. Sonata then cocked a suspicious brow and looked at Starlight sideways. “Are you sure you haven’t been to this world before? Cuz you’re lifting that cup like it’s nobody’s business!”

Twilight giggled at Sonata as she watched Starlight, who lowered the mug and licked the light-brown foam from her lips.

“Wow, that’s really good!” she said as she raised the mug for another slurp.

Sonata gasped, her eyebrows rising with excitement. “OH! She’s doing it again! Man, you’re like a professional cup-lifter! Has anyone ever told you that?”

This statement made Twilight’s expression dissolve slightly and her eyes shifted onto the siren, brows cocked.

“You know what?” Sonata continued as Starlight took a third sip. “If lifting cups was an Olympic event, I bet you would get ALL the medals! You would totally lay waste to all those other cup-lifting clowns, just like a—“

Finally, Starlight snorted into the mug and lowered it from her lips to look at Sonata. “OK, that’s… good. Thank-you. I appreciate it, really, but that’s… enough. Please stop.”

Now silent, Sonata’s gaze dropped downward and her eyes darted around the tabletop, a smile still lingering on her face.

During all this, I found myself staring intently at the two girls from Equestria. It was fairly dark outside when I met them in the schoolyard, and again, driving to our current location in the truck, it was too dim to see them very well. It wasn’t until now, after sitting down with them under the bright lights of the Sweet Shoppe that I noticed something rather peculiar about these ladies—especially the princess.

“Can I ask you something?” I inquired, interrupting them from their drinks. “How… old are you?”

Starlight and the princess glanced at each other for a second, then they both faced me again.

“Excuse me?” asked Twilight.

I cocked my head. “Well… you look really young; like a teenager.” I paused to point a finger at Starlight. “Not her so much, but you…” I narrowed my eyes at Twilight next. “Are you a teenager?

Twilight hesitated while Starlight took another sip, her eyes shifting to the left as she waited to see how the princess was going to respond.

“Uhh… kind of. Well, no. Not exactly.”

I raised a brow. “I don’t get it; howcome you’re younger than this world’s Twilight?”

“I’m not. I’m actually older than her, if that makes any sense. It’s… kind of hard to explain.”

“I’ll say,” I replied, raising my own mug for a sip. “So what’s the deal? D’you guys age slower or something?”

“No, umm...” Twilight tapped her chin gently with her knuckles, looking up at the ceiling as she thought about it. Then she drew a breath, but paused briefly with her mouth open before speaking. “It’s like… when we come to this world through the portal, we almost always come out younger or older than we really are. I believe it somehow reflects the age of our counterparts here: you see, not everypony here is the same age as their double in Equestria —nor does everypony even have a double there— but either way, when we travel through the portal for the first time, our new bodies match the age of our counterpart here, be they older or younger.”

I set the mug down and rubbed my chin as I listened. “So… you said you’re actually older than this?”

The princess nodded. “Yes. I’m in what you would call my early thirties,” she replied as she looked down at herself. “But in this body, I appear to be about eighteen.” She tipped her head to the side next, nodding towards the other girl before continuing. “Starlight, having never been here before, looks to be in her early twenties, most likely because that’s how old this world’s Starlight is, wherever she is.”

“Huh. So what happens if the counterpart isn’t alive here? Like, what if they died centuries ago or haven’t been born yet? Would you just die, or disappear?”

“Or magically fly up your mother’s coochie?” Sonata interjected.

The three of us faced her, brows furrowed.

“Seriously,” I said sternly, facing Twilight with a shake of my head. “Go on.”

“What’s a coochie?” Twilight asked me.

“It’s nothing. Go on.”

“Oh. Well... I certainly hope that’s not the case—in regards to the ‘counterparts not being alive’ thing,” the princess continued. “But to be honest, I don’t know. I’m not aware of any cases of that happening, but that could just be because the individual never returned to tell about it. If true, then travelling here could be a dangerous prospect if you don’t know your counterpart’s situation.”

I had to admit, hearing Princess Twilight talk like this was really starting to remind me of our Twilight. I glanced at Sonata, wondering what she thought, but she was busy staring into her hot chocolate. After a sigh, I brought my eyes back to the princess.

Again, the bright lights gave my mind a chance to take a detailed mental snapshot of her.

It was strange seeing a duplicate of someone, knowing that it was that same someone, only not—and there were just enough differences between the two to remind me of that. Her face, although the same, looked just a tad more youthful, though not by much; generally, there is not much difference between a twenty-six and an eighteen year old in terms of appearance, though having them side-by-side would most likely have highlighted the contrast a little better. Her hair was almost identical, right down to the straight-cut bangs, the only real differences being the thin locks that hung by her ears, which lacked the spiral-shape of her human counterpart’s, plus the simple fact that she wasn’t keeping it in a pony-tail or a bun.

The rest of her varied noticeably, starting with her stance and the way she held herself, which I had noticed straight away, but on top of that, the princess’ muscle tone was much more pronounced. Unlike this world’s Twilight, who was quite wiry and thin, this Twilight had clearly led a very different life. Being a leader and a world saviour, it was probably no stretch to the imagination that she’d seen her share of battles, to say nothing of the general way of life there. With their apparent lack of technology, travelling and manual labour were probably much more strenuous than it is here, which may have explained her build.

A quick glance at Starlight gave traction to that theory; her arms also displayed a muscle tone uncharacteristic of a typical young woman here. Her face was quite pretty, however, and her bright, cobalt eyes were very cat-like in shape, giving her a rather sly, yet strangely alluring visage.

My thoughts ventured even further to Sunset, who just so happened to be the only other person I knew from that world; she also happened to have a fairly muscular build—and a damn sexy one at that.

As I pondered to myself about how the way of life there created a population of well-exercised citizens, something else struck me, and I locked eyes with Twilight.

“Hey…”

“What?”

“What about Sunny?”

Twilight set the cup down and furrowed her brows. “Sunset Shimmer? What about her?”

I shook a finger as I spoke. “Didn’t you and her come here at the same time? Like, you guys both had teenage bodies back then, did you not? In fact, I know Sunny did, I just saw a picture of her last night from when she was younger.”

Sonata perked up. “Wait… isn’t every picture of someone from when they were younger?”

“Shut-up!”

The princess nodded, and Starlight chuckled as she watched the siren roll her eyes in response.

“Anyway… fuck, where was I?” I muttered, rubbing my chin.

Twilight spoke up. “Were you about to ask why Sunset Shimmer and I aren’t the same age anymore—physically, that is.”

I snapped my fingers and pointed at her. “Yes.”

“Well…” she paused to glance thoughtfully at the lights above. “That’s because she stayed here and I didn’t.”

“So… what, there’s like a time displacement thing going on between our worlds, or…?”

“No-no.” She shook her head. “If that were true, then for me it would’ve been like I’d just talked to her, when in truth, I haven’t actually heard from her for years.”

“Hm.” I leaned back and folded my arms. “OK so, why are you still young then?”

She sniffled. “Like I said. I haven’t been here. You see,” —she leaned forward, leaning on the table with her arms folded— “this body only ages when I’m here, which is why it’s still so young. When I go back to Equestria, it essentially gets put on hold, and my real body there ages normally. Sunset, on the other hand, stayed here, so her human body has aged accordingly. But even so, her age displacement is probably no greater than mine.”

With a loud sigh, I let my head fall back to stare at the ceiling tiles above. “This is so fuckin confusing.”

The two girls from the other world giggled. Sonata just looked lost.

I lifted my head again to look at the princess. “OK, what about this? What if Sunny went back to that world; would her body there be younger? Like, did it stop aging when she left?”

Twilight chewed her lip and cocked a brow. “Hmm… that’s a good question. I don’t really know, to be honest. She’s never actually been back, so…” She paused to shake her head. “I mean, it would make sense; she is, after all, only one living entity, and she’s only occupying one body at a time, so I don’t see how she could age two different bodies at once, right?”

I shrugged and shook my head. “You’re asking me? How the hell should I know? This is some next-level shit we’re talking here.”

Twilight let out a giggle. “Hehe! I guess I can’t fault you for that.”

I hooked my fingers through the handle of my mug and lifted it partway to my mouth, but then I paused to look at Twilight once more. “So… wait, how old is Sunny, for real?”

The princess took a short pause before answering. “Uh, I believe, in your years, she would be pretty close to forty.”

Again, I stopped the hot chocolate on it’s way to my mouth and looked at her with raised brows. “Seriously?”

She nodded and smiled at my reaction.

“Wow,” I said, finally taking a sip and then reflecting for a moment. Then I swallowed. “So... Sunny’s a cougar, eh?”

Princess Twilight sneered. “What? No, she’s a unicorn.”

I huffed and rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I know she’s a unicorn. A cougar is… actually, nevermind.” I took another sip and then pointed at Sonata with my thumb. “At least Sunny’s not as old as her; she’s like, a thousand years old—although her body actually is aging now.”

Twilight studied the siren for a moment. “You know, I thought you looked older, but I wasn’t sure. I just thought maybe because it’s been so long...”

Sonata swallowed her latest mouthful and shook her head. “No, you’re right. Without our pendants, we’re just normal peeps. No more living forever—which is just the worst!” She turned to me next, scowling. “And you’re one to talk, by the way!”

Starlight cocked her head and looked at me while Twilight took a sip. “What does that mean?”

“Uh…” I felt a little on the spot. “Well, I… might be a little older than I look, too.”

The princess swallowed her drink. “Really? How?”

“Like I said at the school, I’m not exactly what you’d call ‘a normal person.’”

Intrigued, Twilight leaned closer. “Wait... Do you have… Equestrian magic?”

I shook my head. “No. I don’t know what I have, nor do I know how I got it, but it’s there.”

“Hm.” She straightened up again and licked her lips. “OK, so how old are you?”

I brought the mug to my mouth again, looking down at the table. “Uh, I dunno… two or three thousand maybe?” I said, trying to sound casual.

Both Twilight and Starlight’s eyes nearly bugged out. “WHAT!?”

I cleared my throat and took a sip.

The girls looked at each other.

“That’s even older than Princess Celestia,” Starlight whispered.

“By a significant margin!” Twilight agreed, looking back at me.

I swallowed the hot chocolate. “That’s why I was able to give you my coat outside; the cold doesn’t hurt me. Nothing can.”

Twilight rubbed her chin with her knuckles. “Hmm,” she smirked. ”I have to say: you’re quickly becoming quite the fascinating acquaintance, Golden Arrow.”

*****

Conversations continued to be had in the Sweet Shoppe, fueled by positive energy and hot chocolate, the latter of which was unfortunately running low.

I was holding my phone up for the three of them as they listened to the bizarre voice that continuously repeated the same word over again.

After a moment of focus, Twilight shook her head. “No, I still hear Yanny.”

Befuddled, Starlight glowered at the princess. “What? No, it’s clearly saying Laurel.”

Chuckling, I turned to Sonata. “What about you?”

Sonata drew a deep breath and paused, her fingers steepled thoughtfully in front of her mouth. “Sounds like Yorel,” she finally said.

“What?” I snorted and shook my head, as did the two sitting across from us. Then I turned the phone off and set it down to take my last swig of hot chocolate.

“What do you hear?” Twilight asked me.

I could distinctly hear two voices layered together: a higher pitched one saying ‘Yanny,’ and low-pitched one saying ‘Laurel.’ I always thought this particular gag was pretty dumb, however, so I decided simply to be a dick about it.

“I just heard fart noises.”

Twilight glowered at Starlight.

“So… my hot chocolate’s gone,” I announced, setting the mug on the tray. “How about you ladies?”

Each of them muttered their answers flatly, glancing down into their mugs to find the bottoms staring back at them.

Starlight, who’d already shown great improvement with her dexterity, ran her fingertips around the rim of the cup and sighed. “That was really good, actually. It reminds me a lot of the hot chocolate back home.”

Twilight looked over her shoulder to watch the jolly Mrs. Cake as she moved around behind the counter. “Well, it IS technically Mrs. Cake working here too,” she said, turning back to Starlight. “It only stands to reason that she would’ve come up with the same recipe.” The princess took a moment to look around the shop, chewing her lip as her eyes shifted around, taking in the brightly-coloured, warm and inviting environment. “Hmm. Even after all these years, this place is still very much like I remembered.”

“You’ve been here before?” I asked, folding my arms on the table.

“Of course I have,” Twilight replied. “Last time I was here was when the girls called me to help fight the si—” She stopped when she remembered Sonata was sitting across from her, but the siren was looking outside, oblivious of what was about to be said. The princess turned to look at the counter again, changing the subject. “Er… I’m honestly kinda curious to see if they have oats here now.”

I smirked and looked down at my forearms. “I’m gonna go with ‘probably not.’”

“Still…” she replied absentmindedly. “You know, to be honest… I could go for some ice cream right about now.”

“Really?” I asked, surprised.

She turned back to me. “Yeah. I mean, I’m nice and warm after that hot chocolate, and the ice cream here is pretty good, as I recall.”

I chuckled quietly. “Yeah, it is.” I pulled my wallet out to produce a bill. “OK. What do you want? I’ll go get it for you.”

Her hand rose to stop me, and she stood quite suddenly. “Here, let me do it.”

I remained seated, looking up at her. “Really?”

Twilight shrugged. “I just… I mean, you’ve been so great tonight, I feel like you should sit and take it easy for once.”

“Oh.” I glanced down at the note in my hand. “Ok, well... if you want to, sure.”

“Plus,” she continued, reaching toward me, “I really should get a little more practice on these legs.”

“Alright,” I chuckled, watching as she rather indelicately wrapped her fist around the bill and then glanced at the other two girls.

“What would you two like?”

“Uh, I’ll just have a shake,” Starlight replied. “Or anything I can have through a straw, so I don’t have to use these.” She held her hands up when she said this.

Sonata piped up next. “I’ll have a chocolate sundae.”

I glowered at the siren when she said this. The evening was moving on, and I still needed to talk to the princess about Rainbow Dash. Sonata was supposed to leave me and Twilight alone so we could have that discussion, but our agreement seemed to have slipped her mind, so naturally, I was a bit perturbed when she ordered more food rather than making her exit.

And then there was the matter of what to do with Starlight; she was an unexpected addition to the evening as well.

“How about you, Golden Arr—uh, Golds?”

Twilight’s voice drew me back to her. “Huh?”

“What would you like?”

I glanced around the table, realising the others could tell I was distracted. “Oh… I’ll just have what you’re having, I guess. No oats though… if they actually have them.”

The princess smiled. “OK then. Be right back!”

Once Twilight was gone, I placed my forearms on the tabletop and turned to face Starlight. “So, Starbright… what do you think of this place?”

She scowled at me. “Uh… it’s Starli—“

“OOF!”

Surprised, the three of us turned to look across the restaurant when we heard a grunt, followed by the heavy thump of bodies hitting tiles.

Halfway to the counter, Princess Twilight was sitting on the floor, leaning back on one hand while rubbing her head with the other.

Across from her sat a young man in the same position, his eyes squeezed shut as he pressed a palm to the side of his head, which was covered in spiky, blue hair that matched the beard that covered his face. He sported a black jacket with a tattered, white T-shirt underneath, the ensemble finished-off with a pair of worn-out blue jeans.

When I saw this from across the shop, it wasn’t hard to figure out that this guy had run into the princess and knocked her down, and given the fact that she was obviously not the best walker, his apparent carelessness didn’t sit well with me one bit.

“Son of a bitch.” I quickly left the table and marched toward them.

“Nnngh…” Twilight groaned, rubbing her head to dull the ache. Slowly, she opened her eyes so see what she’d run into, only to be surprised by who she saw. After a soft gasp, she leaned closer, eyes narrowed. “Flash?”

He was still rubbing his head when she spoke, but after hearing his name and recognizing her voice, Flash’s eyes popped open. He froze instantly when he saw Twilight sitting there. “Wow… Twilight? Is that y—“

“HEY!” I interrupted as I approached and bent down, grabbing him by the back of his collar. “Watch where you’re going, you fuckin douche!” I growled as I hoisted him from the floor with one hand and held him in the air.

”WHOA!” he cried, reaching behind his head to clutch my arm with both hands, his feet twirling in the air like he was riding an invisible bicycle. “Holy shit! Don’t hurt me, man!”

Twilight’s eyes widened when she saw what was happening, and she quickly climbed to her feet to intervene. “Wait! Golden Arrow! It’s OK, I know him!”

I turned to face her when she placed a hand on my shoulder. “You know this guy?”

“Yes!” she replied quickly. “Just… please, it was an accident; this is… kind of how he and I always run into each other, believe it or not.”

I looked at him again; he was perfectly still now, his mouth and eyes stuck open in a state of terror, like one of those crazy old men in the nursing home.

Twilight shook her head and sighed. Then she stepped forward to place her hand on his chest. “It’s OK, Flash,” she said, tipping her head toward me. “This is Golden Arrow. He’s a friend. OK?”

“Uh… it’s Golds,” I reminded her.

“Right,” she replied dryly, facing me again. “Golds, this is Flash Sentry. He’s an old friend of the girls, from high school.”

I shifted my eyes onto the blue-bearded kid again, rolling my jaw back and forth. “Flash?” This name sounded very familiar. “Wait a minute,” I thought aloud, looking down at the floor. Then I snapped my finger and wagged it at him. “Yeah… yeah, you’re Sunny’s ex, right?”

His expression turned to one of curiosity —anxious curiosity— and his eyes locked with mine. “S-Sunset Shimmer? You know her?”

“Yeah, I know her. Shit dude, it’s good to finally meet you. Sorry about all this; I thought you knocked the princess over.” I gestured to Twilight as I spoke.

“Well, I kinda did,” he admitted, scratching his temple. “Sorry about that, Twilight.” He studied her for a minute, like he was gauging her, sizing her up. “Um… so, wait, you are the other Twilight, right?”

She folded her hands and blushed. “The princess? Yeah, it’s me.”

“Heh. Wow, this is… Wow! Long time no see,” he said, finally cracking a smile as he combed his fingertips into the front of his hair to re-tousle it “This is crazy! I… I haven’t seen you in years—I mean, not including the other you. Um… soooo, how have you been?”

“I’m good!” she nodded, followed by a flirtatious giggle. Then she brought her hand up and touched her chin before pointing at him. “You have hair on your muzzle.”

“Oh, heh!” He chuckled sheepishly, scratching his beard. “Yeah… I grew this just so I would look older, basically. Without it, I still look like a seventeen year old; nobody would take me seriously.”

“I like it.” Twilight smiled. “It suits you.”

I had to admit, this young chap had charm, though he was a bit on the coy side. He was a good looking fellow, too; it was hard to understand why someone like him could be so unconfident, especially with the princess eyeing him up like a piece of meat the way she was.

After a short and somewhat awkward —but cute— silence, Flash cleared his throat. “So… what brings you here after all this time? Is something going on here?”

Her eyebrows went up. “Oh! No, nothing like that; I’m just here for a visit—and to make some new friends, apparently.”

“Oh, whew!” he replied, wiping some imaginary sweat from his brow. “I was kinda worried there for a minute. I thought maybe some magical beings were causing trouble again; or like, maybe the sirens came back to—“

Flash stopped rather abruptly when he happened to glance at our table and saw Sonata parked there, across from a girl with purple-hair, laced with green stripes. Both Twilight and I followed his gaze, then we quickly turned back to him when we realised the conclusion he’d likely drawn.

“Oh! No-no-no,” the princess said, waving her hands at him. “She’s with us, don’t worry.”

“Yeah, no,” I affirmed. “She’s cool. She’s dumb as a post, but she’s a good shit.”

He pointed at Starlight. “Both of them?”

“Huh?” The princess furrowed her brow as she glanced over at Starlight, then she returned her attention to Flash when she realised the misunderstanding. “Oh! No, she’s not a siren; she’s with me—from Equestria.” Twilight gestured to her hair. “I know they look similar —same hair colour n’ stuff— but yeah, no. Purely coincidental, heh heh! It’s all good, don’t worry.”

Flash’s expression relaxed. “Oh… well, that’s a relief. I guess I should have figured… you know, you guys and your whole ‘making friends’ thing.”

Twilight shrugged. “Well… I wasn’t actually aware of this one until tonight, but... I guess it’s a good thing either way, right?”

“Heh, yeah.” Flash rubbed the back of his head, still looking a bit nervous.

With a mildly stern look, the princess made eye contact with me. “Um, Golds? Do you think you could, um—“

“Buy Flash some ice cream?” I cut in, facing her. “Absolutely. I owe him at least that much. Have a seat, princess; I got this.” I turned to head to the counter, glancing over at Flash. “Come on, buddy, I feel terrible about this. Let me make it up to you.”

I brought Flash to the counter, where we waited for Mrs. Cake, who was out of sight in the kitchen. About a half minute passed, and I could feel a hint of awkwardness creeping in, so I took a deep breath and attempted some unawkward small talk.

“So… you and Sunny, eh?”

He faced straight forward, arms at his sides. “Uh… yeah.”

I chewed my lip. “Uh, do you mind if I ask what happened?—like, why you guys ended it, I mean.”

He was quiet, and he remained still.

I raised a hand. “Hey, if you don’t want me prying, you can just tell me to fuck off if you want.”

“Uh… no, I don’t think I’ll be doing that.”

“Fair enough,” I turned away to look at the bins of assorted candy behind the counter.

After a few seconds, Flash replied. “It didn’t work out because… she was kind of crazy…” —he coughed— “in bed.”

I faced him again, raising a brow. I agreed with him a hundred percent, by the way.

“And, it just… it wasn’t my thing,” he confessed. “Like, it was kinda fun at first, but… it got tiring. She never wanted to have a normal… you know—and sometimes I did.”

“That’s not the way she tells it,” I said, making him look over at me. “According to her, it was the long-distance thing that wasn’t working out.”

“Yeah well, that’s her version,” he clarified. “She doesn’t always like to admit when something’s her fault.”

“You don’t say...” I was quite surprised to hear all of this—and so quickly. Regardless, I completely understood where he was coming from. Sunset Shimmer was a crazy bitch in the sack, which didn’t always play well with the kind of guy that this Flash character seemed to be.

Personally, I thought it was fucking great—but that’s me.

“I hope it didn’t make you feel like you weren’t enough man for her,” I teased, which quickly drew his attention. “Cuz she certainly can be a handful… for any guy.”

Flash’s eyes went down to the countertop, then back to me. “Wait, have you and her…?”

I paused and then cleared my throat, looking away. “Maybe, like… a couple times.”

“Oh…”

I turned back to him after hearing the despondent reply. “Hey, listen:” —I gave his shoulder a reassuring tap— “now, this might sound weird coming from me, but I, for one, am proud of you, my man.”

Flash’s head whipped around, brows furrowed. “Errf?”

“You heard me.”

He looked more confused than ever. “…Why?”

“Because dude,” I leaned in to speak quietly, “seriously, anybody who can hop in the sack with Sunny and live to tell about it is a fuckin hero in my book.”

“Uh…” he turned away again. “Well, thanks. I guess.”

I leaned forward to get a better look at him. “You guess?”

Flash sighed. “I dunno. It’s just… she always said that I was too nice. Like, she would always—“

“She was mean,” I interrupted. “Like she would say mean things and slap your nuts n’ stuff, right?”

He paused and then nodded. “Yeah. And she was rough.”

I nodded.

“And she liked… ‘denial.’ You know the kind.”

“Oh, I’ve been there, buddy. You and me both.”

By then, I was completely blown away by how much I was getting out of this kid. We’d only known each other for all of four minutes, but I had to admit, although I was initially put-off by him knocking Princess Twilight over, I was already starting to like him. He wore his heart on his sleeve. I could see why Sunset gave him a second chance, but on the same token, I could also see why she ended it a second time.

“You know what I think?” I asked.

He shook his head.

“I think Sunny was right. You’re too nice.”

Flash looked dejected by this, and he exhaled slowly, hanging his head.

I pointed a finger at him. “But hey, that’s not entirely a bad thing.”

He lifted his head just enough to look at me. “No?”

“No, of course not. You just gotta moderate it a bit. Don’t be such a dork, you know?”

“Uh… OK.”

I shook my head and grumbled. “See, this is what I’m talking about. When someone calls you a dork, you don’t just say: ‘uh, OK.’ You get right in their face, and you say: ‘HEY! YOU SAY THAT SHIT AGAIN AND YOU’RE GONNA FIND OUT WHAT MY FUCKIN CHOAD TASTES LIKE! CAPISCE?’—not to me though, cuz I’ll fuck you up.”

“Right,” he nodded timidly. “Um… actually, I don’t know if that’s really something I would, uh—”

I knew where he was going with this, so I cut him off, eyes closed and nodding. “Nope. No, I get it. You don’t have to say it exactly like that. You do it your way, whatever that is; as long as it works. We all like to do things a little differently, right?” I took a quick glance around for Mrs. Cake. When I didn’t see her, I continued. “And the whole thing with Sunny: she wasn’t being rough with you cuz she wanted to make you endure it; she wanted to get a reaction out of you.”

Flash straightened up, showing some intrigue. “What do you mean?”

“She was trying to get you to do to her what she was doing to you.”

He raised a brow. “You mean… she wants it, like…?”

I looked him dead in the eyes. “Dude, this is what you do: you just fuckin shove her down on the bed, mush her face in the pillows and fuckin give her all you’ve got. Just pick a hole and start drillin; don’t even worry about it.”

Flash’s cheeks turned rosy. “Wow.” Then he swallowed and looked down at the floor. “I don’t know if I could do that.”

I let out a sigh. “Look man, change isn’t easy. Nobody can just flip a switch and become a new man. Everything we do takes practice. Bottom line: you’re a nice guy. I can tell. But being too nice isn’t necessarily a good thing either because then you basically become a magnet for all the psychopaths out there; all those manipulative, soul-sucking assholes who want nothing but to take advantage and abuse people, and they come after nice guys like you cuz no one else’ll put up with their bullshit.

“Now, I’m not saying ‘be an asshole.’ No one likes an asshole either; you’ve gotta be a good person, but you also have to stand up for yourself. Don’t take anyone’s shit, and don’t let people walk all over you. You deserve respect. Always remember that.”

By now, Flash was holding his head up as he listened. When I was finished, he puffed his chest up and was about to say something, but just then, Mrs. Cake emerged from the kitchen with a fresh smile on her face.

“Oh hiya, boys! What can I…” The smile disappeared from her face suddenly, and she slowed her pace. “...do for… you…?”

I glanced at Flash. “What’re ya havin, bud?”

He cleared his throat and then spoke quietly and politely. “Um, I’ll just have a chocolate shake. Please.”

Mrs. Cake was still for a moment. Then she slowly turned away and headed to the machine. “Coming right up,” she muttered in a rather strange tone.

I watched closely as she worked, noticing the sudden change in behaviour. Turning to Flash with an arched brow, I leaned close and spoke quietly. “Did she just look at you weird?”

His eyes darted about for a moment before he replied. “Uh, yeah. She kinda did.”

I looked over at the middle-aged woman again, sucking my bottom lip. “Hm. I wonder why.” My eyes went back to Flash, studying his full, yet well-kept facial hair. “You had that beard long?”

“Uh, yeah, quite a while. She’s seen me with it before. I don’t think it’s that.”

I went back to watching Mrs. Cake. “Huh. Weird.”

We were quiet for a bit, waiting patiently for the treat to be perfected.

Flash was the one to finally break the silence. “Um… hey, man?”

I turned to face him. “Yo.”

“W— … what’d you say your name was again?”

“Golden Arrow.” I replied, shifting my eyes onto the whipped cream being piled on top of the tall glass. “Call me Golds.”

“Ah, right,” he nodded. “So… uh, Golds?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think you could, um, put me down?”

My head whirled around to face him. Then I looked down at his feet, which were dangling a few inches above the floor. This was when I realised I still had a grip on the back of his collar.

“OH!” I set him down immediately. “Shit, dude. Sorry! I totally spaced-out there, what with all the excitement going on,” I said as I brushed the wrinkles out of his coat, him flinching each time I touched him.

“I-it’s OK,” he said timidly. “I uh... no, and... I mean, I actually appreciate the advice, man. Thanks. Really.”

Just then, the front door opened. An older man with a brown coat and gray dress pants entered. He approached the counter just as Mrs. Cake came over to hand Flash the shake.

“Excuse me,” the old man grumbled, drawing her attention. “I called this morning about an anniversary cake; I’m here to pick it up.”

“Oh, OK,” she smiled. “What’s the name?”

“Doodle.”

I snorted and gave Flash a smirk.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Cake smiled and raised a finger. “Ah, yes! It’s all ready, and it turned out great, too. She’s gonna love it!”

“Good.” The old man lowered his head and reached up to mess with what was quite possibly the world’s most obvious toupee. As I watched him, Flash made a little noise from my right.

“Heh…”

I turned to face him, finding something of a surprised smirk on his face.

“What?” I asked.

Flash pointed at the old man. “That guy: he was a teacher at my high school.”

I glanced at the old man and then again at Flash. “No shit; at CHS?”

He nodded and cleared his throat. “Uh… hey, Mr. Cranky?” he called out timidly, waving.

Surprised that he did this, I looked at the old man in time to see him face us.

From where I was standing, he looked just a tad on the miserable side, and the long, stray hairs on his chin certainly didn’t help his appearance any.

Flash gave a weak smile. “Hi. Uh… how’s it going?”

After a pause, the old man reached for his wallet. “Fuckin terrible, thanks.” And he turned away.

My eyebrows went up, then my attention shifted back to Flash to see his reaction.

“Mm.” He rubbed the back of his neck, wondering if he should say any more. Unfortunately, he did. “It’s me, uh, Flash Sentry.”

Cranky ignored us as he handed Mrs. Cake some money. She smiled and placed it in the register, and then lifted a modestly-sized cake to hand it over the counter to him.

“Do you remember me?” Flash tried again as he watched the transaction take place, thinking maybe the old man didn’t hear him the first time.

“Nope,” the old man replied indifferently. Then he turned and headed out the door.

Slack-jawed, I turned to face Flash. “Wow. You need more work than I thought.”

He shrugged and took a sip of his shake. “Yeah.”

“Was that guy seriously a teacher?”

Flash swallowed his second sip and then nodded. “Yup.”

I turned back, just in time to see the door slowly close behind the old grump. “Oh my god; and he actually kept his job?” I chuckled incredulously. “That’s amazing.”

*****

Minutes later, we returned to the booth with ice cream in hand. Flash took my spot next to Sonata, and I pulled a chair up to the end of the table to sit backwards on it, arms folded across the backrest while I listened to the conversations being had.

Inevitably, I found myself glaring at Sonata, who was still leading the banter rather than leaving as we had agreed. Her sundae was only half-gone, while everyone else’s glasses were already empty.

“I know, right?” the siren was saying to the other two girls. “Me and my sisters hated Christmas for a super-long time because of that!”

Twilight cocked her head, intrigued. “So... wait, that’s not the same pony?”

“Nope!” Sonata shook her head vigorously. “I know he totally looks like Starswirl, but he totally isn’t!”

Flash was facepalming by then, chuckling out loud. “Wait-wait… HAHAHA! You thought Santa Clause was some epic mage from your world!?”

Sonata took another bite, then she shrugged and swallowed it. “What else were we supposed to think? He’s like, the same exact guy!”

The princess rubbed her chin and shifted her eyes onto Flash. “So, who is this Santa Clause then?”

Flash shook his head and poked the bottom of his glass with the straw. “Nobody. He’s not real.”

Gasping, Sonata glared wide-eyed at Flash and slapped the table. “Dude, don’t say that! You won’t get any presents!”

The blue-bearded kid snorted and dropped the straw into glass. “Are you serious!?” he laughed.

After a short, but serious stare, the siren put a silly smile on and threw her head to the side. “Nah, I’m just joshin ya!”

“Ugh…” I rubbed my eyes with the heels of my hands. Then I gripped the back of the chair and glared at Sonata. “Uh, hey, weren’t you supposed to... I dunno, meet someone tonight?”

She cocked a brow, confused. “Me? No, I don’t think so.”

I let out a huff. “Actually, I’m pretty sure you had to be somewhere tonight, remember? You told me before the princess and Starbright showed up.”

Starlight rolled her eyes.

Sonata furrowed her brows and poked her chin. “Hm. Nah, you must be thinking of someone else.”

I sighed and rested my brow on the backrest. Thumb > forehead, I thought, taking a quick moment to stare into darkness behind my eyelids. When I lifted my head again, I was quick to notice Princess Twilight looking at me.

She was well aware that I wanted to talk to her alone. If there was to be any hope of making things right with Rainbow Dash, I needed this to happen. I had to think of a way to—

Then it struck me. I couldn’t be sure why —perhaps it was the thought of not having Rainbow Dash around— but I was reminded of the time before I knew the girls, and a place I used to go on a rare occasion. It wasn’t a place I normally had much interest in, however the show itself was able to capture my attention—enough to bring me back several times.

That was irrelevant tonight, but the simple thought of it gave me an idea: invite the group along to this place, then, unbeknownst to them, take Twilight someplace else—then we would be free to have a lengthy chat about Rainbow Dash.

Brilliant! There was no way this plan could fail.

“Hey,” I said, straightening up in my seat. Everyone turned their attention to me. “Who wants to go see Trixie?”

The reactions I received couldn’t have been more mixed. Flash scowled, Sonata sneered, Twilight looked unsure, and Starlight’s eyes lit up with intrigue.

“Ehh…” Flash rubbed the back of his neck. “Not… I mean, I’m not really a fan of—“

“Blegh!” Sonata stuck her tongue out. “Why? I don’t get why people like that stuff!”

I hung my head. Welp… that plan failed.

“Ohh!” Starlight leaned closer, eyes wide. “I forgot there’s a Trixie here too; she’s my best friend back in Equestria!”

I raised my head again, locking eyes with the purple-haired girl. “Really?”

Starlight nodded.

I could work with this!

“So… you wanna go see her?”

She inhaled and raised her hands, shaking them at me. “I would absolutely love to!” She grabbed the princess’ arm. “Come on, Twilight! Seriously, we have to go; it would be fascinating to see what she’s like here. Please, can we go?”

Sighing, the princess forced a smile and then nodded. “OK. Fine. We can go, if it’s that important to you.”

I raised a brow, wondering why most of them were so turned-off by the idea. No matter, if Flash and Sonata didn’t want to go, and the princess was willing to do it for Starlight, then that was all I needed. While I preferred to be alone with Twilight, I could live with Starlight being around as well; after all, she would be going back to Equestria once the night was over, and she would take the Dash story with her.

It was really just Sonata who I needed to keep the girls’ immortality from.

As Starlight hooked her arm around the princess’ shoulders for a hug, I brought my hands together and rubbed them, looking over at Flash and Sonata, quite certain that they would not be joining us. “Well, how about you two? You in?”

Flash gave me a short glance and then shook his head. “Nah, I’ll pass.” He sat back and scratched his beard. “I was just about to head out anyway.”

Sonata was giving a blank stare. It was quite obvious that she was annoyed by this turn of events.

I’d accomplished what I’d set out to do, which was to get rid of these two, but now I felt a tad guilty seeing them like this. I sighed and reached behind me to pull out my wallet.

“Alright, here. Look.” I produced a hundred dollar bill and slapped it down in front of Flash, who was surprised when he saw it. “Why don’t you two go bowling or something? My treat.”

Sonata’s eyes lit up immediately. “OOH! Yeah, let’s go!” she shrieked, slapping his shoulder repeatedly.

Flash turned to the siren. “What, really? You and me?”

Sonata nodded excitedly.

He stared at her for a moment, open-mouthed. He turned to Twilight next, who gave an encouraging smile. “Uh… O-OK,” he said at last, facing Sonata with a smile. “Let’s go.” He grabbed the money and slid out of the booth, nodding at me along the way. “Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”

“No worries, bud,” I said as Sonata slid off the bench behind him. She stood beside me and then bent to wrap her arms around my head.

“Thanks, Gold Boy!” she giggled, mashing her bosom against my temple.

After she released me, I looked up at her and then gave her a nod and a warm smile. Get the fuck outta here.

“Come on, Flashie! They have late-night tacos at the Canterlot Bowl-a-Rama!”

“Alright-alright,” he chuckled as he followed the siren to the door, looking back at us as he went. “Uh… bye, Twilight.”

The princess was looking over her shoulder, watching them leave. “Bye Flash; it was good seeing you again.”

“You too. And it was nice meeting you, Starlight.”

“Same here.”

He looked at me next. “Thanks again.” He nodded.

I nodded back and gave him a thumbs-up.

Once they were gone, Princess Twilight turned back to the table and used her straw to stir the last bit of melted ice cream, staring down into the glass.

“Are you cool with that?” I asked.

Her eyes rose to meet mine. “Hm?”

I nodded at the door. “Sending him off with her?”

She shrugged and shook her head. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I don’t know,” I replied, picking at the edge of the table. “It was pretty obvious, you checking him out.”

“Oh.” She glanced at Starlight first, and then at me with a smile. “It’s OK, Golds. I came to terms with the fact that I can’t be with him a long time ago; I do live in a different dimension, after all.”

“Right.” I nodded. “Isn’t there a Flash there, though?”

“There is,” she replied. “But he lives far away. Plus, he’s not exactly the same pony as this world’s Flash. He takes his duties very seriously—and so do I, for that matter. Neither of us have time for that sort of thing.”

Starlight rolled her eyes, which I took as her thinking that Twilight was just making excuses.

“Anyway,” the princess continued. “I could tell you were just trying to get rid of them so we could talk about Rainbow Dash, so it’s OK.”

I chuckled quietly. “You picked up on that, eh?”

She smiled and nodded.

The table was quiet for a moment; neither I nor the princess knew where to go from here, but Starlight apparently did.

“Um… so, are we going to see Trixie, or what?” she asked impatiently, practically shoving Twilight out of the booth.

I laughed and stood from my chair. “Yeah, we’re going. Hold your horses—er... whatever.”

*****

It was a long drive across town, so Twilight and I used that time to discuss the events of the holidays, and what led to the current situation with Rainbow Dash. I told her about the cancer, and my ability to cure it; however, I did not mention the lasting effect it had. I knew that if this Twilight was anything like ours, she would go off on an epic tangent if I told her about the immortality, as well as Fluttershy’s pony-up, so I —somewhat selfishly, I’ll admit— left that detail out to avoid having her ask me a million questions about it. Instead, I simply told her that my seed carried a curing affect because of my own immortality. This way, I could still bring up the issue of Dash feeling like she’d been violated—which, of course, was only half of the problem, but if the princess could tell me how to get through to her, then that was really all I needed.

During all of this, a bit of worry lurked in the back of my mind over where we were headed; I hadn’t seen Trixie’s show since before I met the girls, and I honestly had no idea if she would even be on that night. I hadn’t thought that far ahead, so I really hoped she would be, of course, because I did not wish to disappoint Starlight. Despite not knowing her very long, my instincts told me I should avoid upsetting her; she definitely gave off a vibe that she could turn psycho on a dime.

“Wow. That is quite a predicament,” Twilight was saying, rubbing her brow. “So… wait, did you tell Rainbow Dash that you didn’t actually… you know… apply your” —she cleared her throat— “medicine… uh, directly?”

“Yeah, I told her as soon as I could,” I replied as I made a right turn and accelerated down the next street. “I have no idea if she listened though. She was pretty pissed off.”

“Hmm.” She rubbed her chin and ruminated for a moment. “She’s a lot like our Rainbow Dash; it can be extremely difficult to get through to her when she’s angry about something.”

“Pfft!” Starlight rolled her eyes in agreement. “Tell me about it.”

“See, this is the problem,” I said, with a glance at Twilight. “How do I know what to say to her? I don’t even know what she thinks happened.”

She sighed, staring thoughtfully through the windshield. Listening to the chatter of the truck’s engine, the princess chewed her bottom lip and shook her head. Then she paused, raising a brow, as though something had crossed her mind. “You know, when I first came here looking for Sunset Shimmer, do you know what I had to do to get Rainbow Dash to help me?”

I shook my head.

“I had to play a game of soccer. She beat me, of course, but the fact that I tried and didn’t give up is what got her attention; that’s what got her to respect me, and she was on board with us from then on.” She turned to face me. “Maybe that’s what you should do.”

I glanced over at her, looking somewhat dubious. “You want me to challenge her to a game of soccer?”

Twilight nodded. “Yes. And when you do, remind her that that’s what she did for me. If she knows that I told you this, she’ll see that you’ve gone to great lengths to regain her trust —like coming to me for help— and she’ll realise how much her friendship means to you. Plus, I bet she won’t back down from the challenge. And tell her that if you win, she has to talk to you about what happened at the hospital.”

I shrugged. “And what if I lose?”

She paused. “Well… then hopefully she’ll have the same outlook with you as she did with me.”

I looked out through the windshield. “Let’s hope so.”

*****

Twenty minutes later found the three of us in line, outside on a busy strip just outside of downtown Canterlot. The girls were wearing the coats to brave the cold once again, and I was wearing a dirty flannel jacket that I found behind the seat of my truck—which garnered me a few strange looks, but it drew less attention than being in a T-shirt. Luckily, the line was moving quickly, which meant we would be inside before long.

“Listen,” I said to the princess, who was holding back a shiver. “I wanna thank you for your help tonight. To be honest, I’m not too sure about this whole ‘soccer plan’ you came up with, but I’m gonna do it because for one: I have no idea what else to do; and two: I trust you. I mean, I hardly know you, but something tells me that you know what you’re doing, so I’m just gonna follow your advice.”

She smiled, hugging herself tightly to keep warm. “No problem, G-Golds. I’m always glad to help my friends here in this world. And it’s always good to meet new f-friends, like you—and Sonata.”

I gave her a tap on the arm. “Hey, and you know what?” I pointed to the brightly lit building. “Now that we’ve got a plan figured out, we can go ahead and have some fun. Right, Starbright?”

Starlight sighed. “Sure thing, Golden Airhead.”

“Wow,” I said flatly. “I have nothing.”

Twilight laughed, her mouth emitting a vapour that quickly blew away in the frigid breeze.

I pointed a finger at the princess, smirking. “You know, I had a feeling we would get along like champs.”

“Yeah?” She smiled.

I nodded. “I mean, I already kind of know you, right? I’ve spent a fair bit of time with our Twi, and we get along pretty well too; she’s an absolute Delight to hang out with—even if she is kinda Bookish. ”

“Heh! Well, I guess I’m guilty of that too,” Twilight replied as the line moved ahead and we found ourselves next.

Next to the door, there was a tall —and quite buff— bouncer with a bull-ring in his nose, his head topped by a dark blue crew-cut with a small tuft of dark hair on his chin. He was looking our way now, waving us closer as he leaned over to hook the velvet rope in place, barricading the doorway.

“IDs?” he asked gruffly, folding those thick arms of his.

I stopped, looked at the two girls, then back to the bouncer again. “Uh… why?”

With a huff, he unfolded one arm and gestured to the building behind him. “How about: because this establishment serves alcohol!? IDs please.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, then I stole a glance at his nametag.

’Will’

“Listen, Will—“

“That’s ‘Iron Will’ to you!”

“Pfft!” I sighed and rolled my eyes. “Ok ’Iron Will,’” I said condescendingly, “we’re not here to drink. We’re here to see Trixie.” I cocked my head and leaned closer. “She IS on tonight, right?” I whispered.

“She is!” he replied gruffly. “But without IDs, the three of you won’t be seeing her. Got it!?”

“Why the hell do we need IDs?” I shrugged. “Do we seriously look that young?”

He pointed at the girls. “Those two look like minors, especially her!” he shouted, referring to Twilight. “And it’s Iron Will’s job to keep minors from entering this establishment, so you can either show Iron Will some IDs, or you can follow your tootsies and move along!”

I turned to have a look at the princess. In all fairness, she did look pretty young. After a quiet groan, I turned back to the bouncer. “Look dude, I’ll be honest: they don’t have IDs, OK? They’re not from around here.”

Will shook his head and waved us to the side, disgusted by the excuse. “No IDs, no entrance! Move along; Iron Will’s rule!” he barked. To my shock and awe, he raised one arm and flexed his bicep. Then he did the same with the other, except this time he brought it in and pressed his lips to it.

“Did you just kiss your muscles?” I sneered.

“Move along! You’re holding up the line!”

I held my hands up. “OK look, we just came to see the show. These ladies actually know Trixie, and they really wanna see her do her thing. Now, I know they look young, but they’re actually a lot older than you think.” I pointed a thumb at Twilight. “Believe it or not, she’s actually in her thirties.”

“HER THIRTIES!?” Will half-bellowed, half-guffawed. “DOES IRON WILL STRIKE YOU AS A RETARD!?”

“A little, yeah. If you see him, could you please tell him that for me?”

He shook his head and gritted his teeth. “WHAT!? I’M IRON WILL!” He pointed down the sidewalk. “Now for the last time, BEAT IT, LOSER!”

Patience: gone.

Before doing anything, however, I glanced over my shoulder to check the lineup behind us; everyone was either talking, staring at their phones, or just looking down at the ground as they endured the cold. No one was watching us, luckily, so I turned back to face Will. “Actually,” I stepped forward and reached for the wrought-iron gate that stood to his right, grabbed one of the metal vines from between the bars and plucked it off.

TING!

“Here,” I continued, holding the short length of metal up with my fingertips, making sure he could see it. “You wanna see what I really think of iron, Will?”

He watched with steadily widening eyes as I bent the piece of metal into a horseshoe shape with ease before holding it out to him. Mouth hanging open, he brought his hand up so I could drop the hunk of metal into it. The colour drained from his face when he felt its weight come to rest in his palm—not to mention how warm it had gotten after being reshaped so quickly.

I leaned closer to speak quietly. “If you don’t let us in, that’s gonna be your spine, bud.”

Backing away, I watched with a smirk as Will slowly reached over to unclip the velvet rope, keeping his eyes glued to the piece of metal in his hand.

“There’s a good man,” I said, patting his shoulder as I passed, making him jump. “Ladies?”

Will brought his eyes up to Twilight and Starlight. They both brought a hand up and flipped him off, each accompanying the gesture with a wide smile. He narrowed his eyes and growled as they made their way past him, using each other for support as they bumbled along.

*****

Goddammit. If I run into one more third-person talking motherfucker tonight, I’m gonna lose my shit.

After paying the admission, I led the way through the dimly lit room, weaving through a sea of round, black tables, each one surrounded by an irregular ring of chairs and centered with a fake LED candle inside a simple, red glass. At the front of the room was a smooth, black stage with a runway that protruded outward amongst the forwardmost tables.

After a quick scan of the surroundings, I noticed an empty table just to the right of the runway. It was the last remaining seat with a decent view, so I made a beeline for it, waving the girls along. As I made my way through the crowd, however, I heard the sound of unrest growing behind me. The noise grew; an angered huff here, a ‘what the fuck?’ there. More and more, the racket became louder until finally, curiosity got the better of me and I turned around to see what was going on. When I looked back, I saw Princess Twilight and Starlight Glimmer…

Flipping. People. Off.

Flipping everyone off. Literally everyone in sight. With both hands. And they were smiling while doing it!

Eyes wide, I gasped and ran back to them, waving my hands in the air. “Whoa-whoa-whoa! What the hell are you doing!?”

They stopped and faced me, confused.

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“What do I— You’re flippin everyone the bird!”

She and Starlight glanced at each other, brows furrowed. Then they looked at me again.

“What bird?”

“The bir— … GAH!” I pointed to her hand. “That! Your finger!”

The princess raised her middle finger at me. “You mean this?”

“Yes!” I cringed, waving her hand down.

She complied, still looking confused about it.

“But… you said it was a sign of friendship,” Twilight protested.

My mouth dropped open. “Whaaa!? No, I—when the hell did I say that?”

Twilight cocked her head. “Earlier tonight, on the way to get hot chocolate; you saw your friend walking, and you two did it to each other. You said it was something that friends do, so we were just—“

“No! I meant...“ My hands had found themselves on top of my head by then. I stared at the princess in total shock after realising that she was right. “Oh Jesus, I did say that.”

She creased a brow at me. “Golden Arrow, what’s the matter with you? Who is Jesus?”

After a short, vacant stare, I slowly lowered my hands and took a cautious look around the place, only to find dozens upon dozens of eyes glowering back at us. I glanced over my shoulder to see if that table was still free, which it was, so I stepped closer to them.

“Come on. Let’s go sit down.” I gestured to the table, letting them go ahead of me this time. “Just keep your fuckin hands down. And don’t look at anybody.”

We approached the table and sat, Twilight in the middle, me on her left, Starlight on her right.

“OK,” The princess cocked her head and frowned as she glared at the stage. “What just happened?”

I licked my bottom lip and then bit it as I turned my head to face her, very slowly.

After a few minutes and a quick explanation of what the middle finger actually meant, the princess and Starlight were both staring at me with eyes wide as saucers, their mouths covered by two hands each.

“Yeah.” I nodded, facing forward.

“Ohhh... my goodness…” Twilight began to turn around to look behind us, but I was quick to stop her.

“No. Just… keep your eyes forward, at least ‘til the show starts.”

She faced forward again, rubbing her temple. “I can’t believe we just did that to everypony; this is so embarrassing!”

I shook my head and leaned close. “Eh. It was kinda my fault anyway.” I gave her a little nudge and a smirk. “It’s OK. It’ll be one of those things we can laugh about later.”

She and Starlight each gave me a smile, but the moment was interrupted when a purple hand came to rest on my shoulder and gave a firm squeeze.

“Well well, lookie what the cat dragged in!” a male, but very effeminate voice said from behind us.

I turned and looked up to find a tall, lanky man standing behind us, wearing a gray double-breasted suit with bold pinstripes running its length. His skin was smooth, coloured in a rich, purple hue. His hair was a full-bodied coiffure of bright orange, as was his thick, curled moustache.

A big smile crossed my face the second I recognised him. “Stee-hee-hee... VEN!” I chuckled, reaching around for a handshake, which he granted. “What’s going on, buddy? You still runnin the show here?”

“Well of course I am! What else would I be doing? This place just wouldn’t be the same without Steven Magnet at the helm!” he replied with a limp-wristed wave and a sly smirk.

By then, Twilight had turned to see who was talking. She gasped when her eyes landed on him. “Oh my gosh!” she exclaimed, drawing his attention. “You! You’re Steven Magnet?”

“Well what did you expect, a sea monster?” he fired back dryly, raising a hand to inspect his nails.

“HA!” I chuckled, giving him a nudge. “How do come up with that crazy shit?”

“Oh, you know...” he giggled, waving me off. “So I hear you had a little trouble out front. Tell!”

“Oh.” I folded my arms on the table and shook my head. “Yeah, that fuckin ‘Iron Cunt’ wouldn’t let us in cuz he thought these two were under age,” I explained indignantly.

“Oh well, he’s just trying to do the job I hired him to do—you know, keeping this place nice and legal!”

“Fuckin unbelievable!” I declared, shaking my head. “The nerve of some people, eh?”

“OOH, hoo-hoo-hooo!” Steven giggled as he wiped an imaginary tear from his eye. “Oh, it’s true, it’s true! Oh, how I’ve missed having you around; the things you say, you magnificent prick!”

“Don’t call me that,” I muttered, letting my eyes wander the room before looking up at him again. “Listen, these girls aren’t as young as they look,” I explained as I waved a finger at them. “They’re kinda like me; well, not exactly like me, but… the age thing is kinda similar—only not.”

“Hoo-hoo! Clear as mud!” He cocked his head and looked at me rather sternly. “But still, without IDs, and how young they look…”

I rolled my eyes and groaned. “Come on, dude, you know you can trust me. How long have we known each other? How far back did me and your old grand-pappy go? Huh? Come on.”

He rolled his eyes and smirked. Then he gave his head a little shake. “I don’t know, Mr. Arrow; if I was to get caught with them in h—”

Before Steven had time to finish, I reached up and pinched one side of his moustache between my thumb and forefinger. Then I gave it a little tug, just enough to get his attention.

“OOH! My moo-stache!” he cried, bending forward slightly to relieve the tension.

“Listen, Stevie,” I said quietly, with only him close enough to hear. “It’s dark in here, OK? No one’s gonna notice,” —I nodded towards the stage— “especially once the show starts.”

“Mr. Arrow, relax!” he scolded, squeezing one eye shut and wincing. “I was just giving you the greased banana! I wouldn’t dream of asking you or your lovely ladyfriends to leave.”

“I know,” I chuckled as I released him and then pointed at his moustache. “That’s why I didn’t rip that fuckin thing right off.”

”Well then…” He took a few seconds to groom the orange tips with his fingers. “Anyhoo, for your information, I didn’t come over here just for a visit, you know.”

I raised a brow. “Oh?”

“No, silly!” He gave my shoulder a little tap. “I wanted to apologise for Mr. Will’s belligerence earlier; now, I wouldn’t do this for just any old somebody, but I wanted to offer the three of you something to drink to make it up to you. First round is on the house!”

I threw my hands up and let out a huff. “Isn’t that the reason for this whole hubbub in the first fucking place? That’s not even what we came here for.” I turned away when he shrugged innocently, shaking my head as I scanned the surrounding tables. “You’re all over the place, Steve.”

“I was just having a kid with you, Mr. Arrow, Calm down! What happened to your sense if humour?” He placed a hand on my shoulder, leaning closer. “Besides, you know you have a history with us; my family is in eternal dept to you. There is nothing you could ask for that we won’t accommodate.”

After a pause, I looked down at the table and sighed. “Fair enough.” Then I raised a hand to him. “Just make it two though, OK?”

Steven smacked his lips. “Ah, yes. You never were much of a drinker, were you?”

I shook my head and faced the stage as he took the girls’ order. “No.”

“What’re you sweethearts having?”

They glanced at each other and then looked at Steven with a shrug.

“I… have no idea,” Starlight admitted.

I looked up at him again. “You know what? Surprise us. Bring whatever you want.”

Steven closed one eye and looked at me sideways, like he was trying to size me up. Then after a moment of consideration, he snapped a finger and pointed at me. “I’ve got just the thing!”

I turned back to the stage and waved him off. “Yeah, man. Whatever. Bring ‘em chocolate milk, for all I care.”

“Oh, this’ll pack a much bigger punch than that!” Steven said as he slithered away, weaving gracefully between the tables.

I started to turn around again, but along the way my eyes landed on Starlight, which reminded of something. I quickly put my hand in the air and looked behind us. “STEVE!” I shouted, making him stop and look back. “Bring straws!”

He snapped his fingers, pointed my way and then continued on his mission.

I faced the stage once again, running my tongue along the inside of my cheek. Starlight and the princess were speaking quietly to one another, too softly for me to hear in the ever-present murmur of the crowd.

I cleared my throat and leaned closer to listen to what they were saying, thinking I might join in the conversation, but was stopped when I noticed the lights dimming. The three of us went silent and looked around before bringing our eyes to the stage, realising the show was about to begin.

A pair of spotlights flicked on next, placing two overlapping circles against the red curtains that hung along the rear of the stage. Music began to blare from the speakers next, a song that immediately made me chuckle.

Oh my god, she’s still coming out to this?

An unseen announcer came over the loudspeaker. “Alright everyone, it’s time to put your hands together for the amazing, the magnificent, The Great and Powerful Trixie! Awwww yeah!”

The three of us watched intently as a pair of azure hands slipped out from between the curtains and then tore them open, revealing the illustrious Trixie herself. With her hands on her hips, she traipsed forward to the front of the stage and stopped just before the runway, listening with her chin held high as the audience filled the room with cheers and hoots.

Not much of her act had changed since I saw her last; still the same classic —albeit cliché— song by Europe, the blue colonial-era frock she wore, the purple witch hat covered in yellow moons and stars, that single hook-shaped lock of white hair hanging beneath it, the way she swaggered around the stage—all of it was exactly the same as I remembered.

The spotlights followed her as she paced the stage from left to right while a swarm of smaller, multicoloured dots of light zig-zagged around her. She tossed a wink to someone in the crowd here, gave a coy little smile there; music pumped into the room, the bass rumbling the floor beneath our chairs.

A pair of purple hands passed over us from behind, distracting us momentarily as they set a pair of glasses down in front of the girls, followed by a pair of shots, which were dropped into the larger drinks. I glanced up to see Steven wink at me before placing a pair of straws on the table and then disappearing into the sea of tables and swirling lights.

I glanced briefly at the girls as they took the first sip and then looked at each other, their faces plastered with perplexity, followed by a grimace from each.

I smirked, figuring that Steven must have gotten them something that might prove to be interesting later—if they had enough of it, that is.

I brought my attention back to the show just in time to see Trixie remove her hat and flip it upside down. When she did, a fair-sized white dove emerged from within and flapped its way around the stage; it soared over the crowd toward the back of the room, no doubt completely and utterly panicked.

I returned my eyes to the stage after watching the bird disappear from sight. Huh. Well that was new.

Trixie placed the hat on her head and then ran her fingertip along the brim before sauntering to the far side of the stage, the audience’s applause barely audible above the deafening music.

This is when I felt something tap my shoulder, and I looked to my right to see Twilight leaning in to say something.

I leaned over, looking down at the table as I aimed my ear at her mouth.

“QUESTION,” she shouted, loud enough for me to hear. “WHAT DO YOU CALL IT IN THIS WORLD, THE PLACES WHERE THEY DO MAGIC?”

I raised my head to look at her with an arched brow. “MAGIC?”

She nodded. “YEAH. WHERE THEY PUT ON MAGIC SHOWS ‘N STUFF; WHERE THEY DO THEIR TRICKS. WHAT DO YOU CALL IT?”

I looked down at the tabletop as she took another sip. “UHH… I DON’T KNOW, THEATRES? CLUBS, MAYBE? SOMETIMES THEY JUST DO IT ON THE STREET. WHY?”

Twilight shook her head. “NO… THAT’S NOT IT. YOU CALLED IT SOMETHING DIFFERENT BEFORE.”

I was confused. “WHEN?”

“ON THE WAY HERE,” she replied. “YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT THIS PLACE; WHAT DID YOU CALL IT AGAIN?”

“THIS PLACE?” I asked, jabbing the tabletop with my finger. “NO-NO, THIS IS A STRIP CLUB.”

She cocked her head, brows furrowed inquisitively. “A WHAT?”

POOF!

A bright flash drew our attention to the stage, which was now obscured by a massive cloud of white smoke. The three of us watched with bated breath, waiting to see what might emerge.

To the delight of everyone in the room, what appeared seconds later was indeed Trixie, however her wardrobe had gone AWOL—all except for a light silver thong. Her fit, yet curvy blue figure was bared for the pleasure of everyone fortunate enough to be there that night; the hat was gone and her silvery hair bounced with each step, her hands on her hips as they swung to the rhythm of her stride, which was timed to the beat of the music. Her bare, full and yet perky breasts jiggled deliciously each time those high-heels clopped along the stage.

Twilight and Starlight’s jaws nearly hit the table amidst the overpowering roar of hoots and hollers. I, however, laced my hands together and then placed them on top of my head as I leaned back, watching those round hips swing to and fro; Trixie certainly did sport a nice layer of plumpness on those thighs of hers, not to mention that lovely, round caboose—not as pronounced as Pinkie Pie's, by any means, but enough to give her just the right amount of 'badda-boom' as she pranced along the runway. My eyes crept upward as she approached our table, taking in the sight of those dark blue nipples: erect and proud, casting shadows across her breasts in the bleaching flood of the spotlight.

“Ohhh man, I forgot how much I missed those big, blue titties,” I said, at a volume that only I could hear. I shook my head slowly, watching as Trixie approached the pole at the end of the runway —which I may have neglected to mention earlier— only a few feet from our table. She wrapped her hands around it and hung upside down, her hair swinging to the floor as she held herself in position, gravity forcing her breasts to ride high on her chest as she spread her legs and pointed her toes outward, her slit covered only by that narrow strip of shiny, silver material…

Author's Note

Also:

HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Don't laugh at my Photoshop skills

*Chapter 137: Meet Me In the Kitchen, Darling

Chapter 37

After stepping inside, I closed Rarity’s front door behind me and kicked my shoes off. Then, after removing my jacket, I made my way through the townhouse to find her.

It was close to 2:00am. The drive back to Canterlot was a long one, and it’d been rather difficult resisting the urge to speed in order to get here faster, given the subject of the meet-up that Rarity and I had arranged.

After ascending the stairs in a single bound, I made my way down the hall and rounded the corner to the kitchen area. The lights were on, but dimmed, casting a warm glow over the fashionista’s figure as she leaned against the counter —almost exactly where I’d found her earlier that evening— cradling a crystal goblet in her palm. She was dressed in a dark, wide-necked shirt with long sleeves and a pair of black slacks with gray pinstripes.

Unsure if the glass was real or a simply creation of hers, I scanned the counter to learn what she’d filled it with. Next to her was a bottle, a white wine of some presumably expensive brand.

“Trying to get wasted?” I asked with a smirk.

She turned slightly, her eyes in shadow cast by her brow. She sighed, and then spoke softly. “No. I was simply feeling nostalgic after seeing the place settings there tonight.” She took a small sip and swirled it around for a moment before swallowing it. Then she looked down into the glass. “It’s not as good as I remember, especially without the lovely side-effects.”

After a soft exhale, she set the glass on the counter and then faced me, arms outstretched.

“Come.”

A few quick strides brought me into her arms. She squeezed me tightly, burying her face in my neck. Up close, her scent was prevalent; not that wonderful vanilla perfume that I was used to —anything that might betray one’s identity was off-limits while wearing the suit— rather she was soaked with the scent of blood and death, as though the lives she took that night had followed her home.

Her hair reeked of it. Parts of it were still crusty; certain locks had been washed better than others. It looked much different than normal. Gone was that smooth silkiness, those bouncy, indigo fiddleheads that hung above her forehead, replaced by a straight raggedness that reminded me of Rainbow Dash’s hair, except that it was only one colour. And even that radiant hue was gone, tainted by the splatter of a busy evening, with a slight bronze tinge left behind.

I wrapped my arms around her lower back to return the hug, drawing her petite frame against mine. We remained like this for what seemed like several minutes, listening to one another’s breathing.

It had clearly been a taxing night for her; perhaps taking roughly eighty lives took a harder toll on her psyche then she’d expected.

Or maybe she just missed me and Fluttershy.

I eventually backed away to look her in the face. “How’s Pinks doing?”

Rarity sighed. “She is…” After a pause, she met eyes with me, keeping her hands laced behind my neck. “She has seen better days, I’m afraid. I fear this mission may have caused her more harm than good.”

I drew a breath through my nose. “Yeah. That was uh… unexpected. Like, I kinda half-expected her to freak out and scream at her —maybe even hit her or something— but I definitely didn’t see that coming.”

The fashionista shook her head.

“Where is she now?”

“At Sunset’s with the others,” Rarity replied. “They took her there so she wouldn’t be alone—none of us were comfortable with the idea of leaving her by herself in such condition. I offered to go, but they said it was fine; they told me to go home and get cleaned up” —she glanced down at herself— “which I probably should do.”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

Rarity looked up at me, letting her head tilt to the side. After an unenergetic smile, she spoke. “Well? How did I do?”

“At the hotel?” I drew a breath and let my eyes drift to the ceiling. After a short pause, I looked back down at her. “It was the most fucking unbelievable thing I’ve ever seen.”

Her smile became more genuine, and her eyes drifted down to my chest. “You think so?” She scrunched her shoulders nervously.

“Of course,” I replied. “I couldn’t have done it better myself—although, you do need to watch your follow-throughs; you leave yourself vulnerable when you swing your blade too far around.”

She scrunched her nose. “Vulnerable to what?”

I paused. “Well... not as much as a normal person—but still, it’s bad form. You’re not swinging a baseball bat.”

She rolled her eyes.

My position cast a shadow on her face, so, wanting to see her more clearly, I released her, turned, and leaned on the counter next to her, holding onto her hand. Then I gave her a little smile, prompting her to cock her head inquisitively.

“What is it?”

I shook my head. “Nothing. You don’t look your usual self, that’s all.”

Honestly, if it hadn’t been for the sound of her voice and the way she talked, one wouldn’t even know this was Rarity. Despite using one of the suite bathrooms for a hasty rinse, the presence of blood still shaded the corners of her eyes and around her nostrils, augmenting the tiny creases of her features. It’d faded to a dull bronze by then, contrasting against her alabaster complexion to make her appear rather ghostly.

Despite this, she was still beautiful. I thought so, anyway.

After a quiet sigh, she leaned closer and placed her temple on my shoulder. “Did you enjoy my monologue, darling?”

“Oh…” I closed my eyes and put my fingertips to my lips. “Mwah! It was perfect, Rare. That’s exactly what you do: remind them that their existence is fragile. Put ‘em on edge. Make yourself an enigma so they don’t know what to think of you. Are you dangerous, or just a crazy person? They’ll feed off of each other’s uneasiness, especially in a big group like that. It’s one of the best things you can do cuz once the shit hits the fan, their decision-making has gone down the toilet and they won’t be able to coordinate against you. For the most part.”

A soft burst of air came from her nostrils. “Thank you. Honestly, I… I had no idea what to talk about. On the way to the hotel, I had Twilight help me; she gave me that quote to start off with, and I simply took it from there.”

I squeezed her hand. “Yeah. No, it was perfect, the way you lead into telling them they were all gonna die. And the way you talk is so poetic, it just worked. I loved it.”

“Hm.” After a thoughtful pause, she took a step from the counter and swung around to face me, wrapping her arms around the back of my neck. “And I love you,” she whispered, reaching up to plant her lips on mine.

Scent of death aside, it was a perfect kiss. It was not aggressive, yet it carried a certain flame, a muted passion that could be felt without the use of force or excessive tongue. It was communicated instead by the softness of her lips and the warmth of her little body melting against mine.

She broke the kiss before too long, but gave off an air of reluctance about it. She kept herself planted against me, her breasts squashed between us.

I licked my lips and then smacked them, keeping my eyes locked with hers.

“Did that taste bad?” she asked, cringing slightly.

She remained close enough that our lips were barely an inch from one another, and the smell of alcohol wafted into my senses when she spoke.

I shook my head. “It was fine.”

She paused, but then reached up to rub the tip of my nose with hers, followed by another small kiss. “I must admit, your tactic earlier —although cruel and frustrating— seems to have worked; I’d be lying if I said it had no affect on my performance tonight.”

“See?” I chuckled. “It works. You know the old saying: hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. That shit’s true.”

“Indeed. Such a devil you are,” she replied, lips stiffening as she held back a smirk. Then she turned serious. “You must use it wisely though; if you ever did that to Fluttershy, I fear she would destroy half the country.”

“Heh, yeah… no, I’m not that stupid,” I said, scratching my temple before reaching down to latch my hands behind the small of her back.

She giggled softly. Then she drew a breath to continue. “All that aside, you did say you would meet me here after the mission was finished, and so I’ve been waiting right here for you, breathless with anticipation.” She cocked her head. “And now here we are. What is it that you wanted exactly? Oh! You wanted to finish what we started earlier.” She unhooked one hand from my neck for a coy tap of her chin, letting her eyes drift upward as she pretended to think about it. “Now what was it that we were doing?” Her face suddenly lit up, and she snapped her fingers. “Ah yes! I was about to drain those big balls of yours. Remember?”

I tipped my head back, mouth open. “Yes, that’s right, you were.” I looked down at her again. “I dunno, though. I’m feeling kinda tired. I think I might just head home and see what Flutters is up to.”

Her jaw dropped, face blank. “I beg your pardon?”

I shrugged. “To be honest, I really just feel like curling up on the couch and watching ‘Homeward Bound.’ Again.”

“Now I know you’re full of shit.”

When I shrugged dismissively and leaned forward to step away from the counter, she huffed immediately and placed her hands on my shoulders to hold me in place “What! Are you serious, darling!?” she screeched as her feet began to skid backwards along the tile.

“Yeah, I just really need some ‘me time,’ you know?” I teased.

“NO!” she snarled, throwing a hand backwards to plug the exit with a thick, sparkling barrier. “You’re not going anywhere until I’ve had my fill!”

“Jeez, Rare. Why can’t you respect my wishes?”

“Fuck your wishes!” she barked, swinging her hand to slap me across the cheek.

I stopped suddenly. Even though it didn’t hurt, the move stunned me nonetheless, and I stared at her in surprise. “Hey…”

“Hey what?” she replied. “What about my wishes? What about the thing I’ve been waiting for ALL NIGHT!?” Frustrated, she raised her hand to threaten another swing.

I reached out to pluck her hand out of the air this time, then I reached behind her back with my other arm to grab her hair and pull it downward. Her head yanked back, eyes wide as she glared up at me.

“You better watch yourself, little missy,” I warned, walking her backwards until she bumped against the island counter. I leaned down, putting my face close to hers. “Don’t think you can get rough with me just because of what happened in that ballroom.”

“Yeah? What are you going to do about it?” she hissed, bent backwards over the countertop. “Perhaps I need to be put in my place—wouldn’t want me getting too far out of line now, would you?”

“Put in your place how?” I inquired. “You got any suggestions on how I should set you straight?”

Teeth gritted, she drew a deep breath through them and brought her face close to mine. “Fuck me.”

I snorted at the suggestion. “That doesn’t sound like a punishment.”

“That would depend on how you do it,” she replied, wrapping her leg around the back of mine as she began to thrust her hips, grinding herself against me.

I leaned closer, putting our noses just close enough to touch. “And how would that be?”

“Rough,” she whispered. Then she flicked the tip of my nose with her tongue. “Tear my clothes off, hold me down, have your way with me. Use me like a worthless whore to get yourself off in, then toss me aside like a piece of trash!”

“And you think that’ll smarten you up?” I asked softly, so close now that my lips brushed hers when I spoke.

“Absolutely.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh y— MMMM!”

I cut her response short by slamming our lips together, sending my tongue deep into her sweet, but slightly bitter-tasting mouth. She arched her back in response, moaning softly as her leg squeezed mine, her free hand coming up to dig its nails into my shoulder.

Her tongue fluttered and thrashed around my mouth, giving away the frantic desperation for pleasure that possessed her; her breathing had become a wildfire of energy, blowing noisily between our faces as her body squirmed impatiently, starved for physical attention.

My pants had fully tented by then, my erection full, hot and buzzing, pushing forward in search of freedom with the ironic goal of ending up buried someplace far more constrictive. Her abdomen ground against it, drawing it forth like a magnet. There was no doubt in my mind that her womanhood ached hungrily by then, ready to soak her panties with that warm nectar—if it hadn’t already.

The kiss ended with several smaller kisses, leaving our lips moist and our tongues covered with each other’s flavour. Panting heavily, we stared into one another’s eyes, entangled in our limbs.

“My goodness,” she said, pausing to swallow. “My heart is racing! Don’t stop, darling, please. I need more!”

I leaned in to kiss her again, firmly, then I leaned back a bit, looking the rest of her up and down. I needed to see more of her, and since she was mine for the taking, I raised my hand and thrust my fingers down the front of her shirt, feeling the warm skin of her chest heaving against my knuckles. Once my fingers had slid between her breasts and hooked themselves beneath the center of her bra, I gripped it tightly and yanked, tearing the fabric away.

Rarity gasped sharply when her clothes were jerked free and thrown to the floor. She looked down at her bare breasts as they flopped and swung free, her nipples hardening rapidly when the cool air hit them. On her belly was a large maroon stain, formed by the blood that’d leaked inside her suit through her cleavage; it’d since dried and become crusty in the hours since the incident, and some of it had flaked and rubbed away.

This did nothing to put me off. I cupped her left breast in my hand, squeezing it, kneading it, rolling its soft, warm mass between my fingers while I leaned in to connect our lips once again. She whimpered and squeaked into my mouth, using a delicate, white hand to grip the back of my neck as the other reached behind her to grab the edge of the counter, leaving me plenty of access to play with her breasts. I pinched and teased her nipple, rolling it between my thumb and finger, causing her to shiver with delight as her mouth opened wide and pressed hard against mine, her tongue twirling vigorously in the back of my mouth.

After separating our lips with a soft smack, I leaned down and nipped that little pink bud with my lips and then, after circling her areola with my tongue, grabbed Rarity by the arm and spun her around. I bent her forward slightly, prompting her to place her hands on the countertop, eyes closing when her breasts hung down and grazed the cold surface. With a sharp inhale, she shivered wildly as I traced my fingertips down her spine until they dipped inside her waistline.

When I knew I had a good hold of her pants and thong, I drew my arm back swiftly, ripping them from her delicate frame. Her little white backside jiggled when the clothing was torn away, and then again when I brought my hand up and swatted her right cheek, causing her to jump with excitement.

“Ooh!” she squealed, throwing her head back. “Yes, my love… just like that! D’you want to know what turns me on?”

“What’s that?” I asked as I fondled the part of her backside that I’d just smacked.

“It’s that there’s no one —literally no one— on this planet who would dare treat me like this if they saw what I did in that ballroom tonight.” She let her head hang, exhaling as she leaned on her elbows. “You are the only man with the balls to push me around, because you know you’re the only one who could get away with it without ending up in twenty pieces—and it arouses me to no end.”

I reached under her derrière and slipped my hand between her thighs to cup her womanhood. “You mean a regular guy would be too scared to do this?” I squeezed firmly, feeling the heat of those soft lips against my palm.

“Mmmmm,” she moaned, lifting her head to tip it back, eyes closed. “Yes. If anyone else tore my pants off and grabbed my pussy like this, they’d lose their hand in an instant.”

This made me smirk. To my surprise, there was very little moisture on the surface, but I as soon as I ground the heel of my hand against her, a narrow bead of warm moisture quickly soaked my skin.

There must have been a tsunami waiting for me inside. I would find out soon enough, but first, I had a thirst that needed quenching.

I withdrew and cupped my hand over my mouth to gauge her scent. Her odor was surprisingly potent—granted, she most likely hadn’t showered since early that morning.

This didn’t stop me, however; the scent was strangely enticing. I placed my hand between her shoulder blades and shoved forward, bending her over the counter, her breasts flattened against the cold laminate. Rarity gasped with excitement, eyes closing as her nipples hardened like rocks against the smooth surface.

I dropped to one knee, positioning myself so that her backside was right in front of me. With the fashionista bent forward, I could see those thick, pale lips peeking out from between her thighs at me, inviting me in for a taste. I placed my hands on her cheeks and spread them apart to bury my face between them, reaching in with my tongue to lick her slit from front to back.

My taste buds were immediately flooded with the sour musk of a twelve-hour day, her scent many times stronger when taken straight from the source. This was Rarity, however, and she was always delicious. There was no such thing as an ‘acquired taste’ with her, and so I dug deeper in search of more.

My tongue pushed between those soft lips and raked over that delicate hood, causing her knees to tremble with delight. I reached in with my thumbs and pulled her vulva open like the pages of a book, exposing those lovely pink minoras and that tiny clit, which peeked out from beneath her hood, all of it glistening with moisture and waiting to be teased.

I reached in and flicked those soft layers with my tongue, earning a guttural moan from above the counter; the moisture inside tasted fresh by comparison, and despite the acrid scent entering my nostrils, I was quite enjoying myself.

I continued to feast on Rarity, fluttering my tongue against her clit, nibbling on her folds with my lips, even going so far as letting my nose poke at her entrance.

Her legs shook incessantly, sometimes making her knees bang against the cupboard doors. She moaned softly, eyes closed as she raked her nails across the countertop, enraptured by the blissful sensation of my tongue wiggling around in her crease. It didn’t take long for the sensation to rise, to feel that buildup to heavenly release; she knew it was coming, and she let her forehead rest on her arm, panting, waiting for it to come.

The climax came swiftly, and I gobbled it up like a hungry wolf. Even under the dimmed lights, I could see her contracting right before my eyes, powerful pulses that radiated through her flesh—which I’m sure would have felt wonderful had it been wrapped around my manhood.

After a chorus of piercing cries, the orgasm slowly subsided. Her vocalisations faded into deep, hard breathing. Rarity’s womanhood practically dripped with desire now, and I decided to leave the warmth and somehow endearing scent of her rear end to begin the next activity.

I stood, but not before giving a soft pinch to her right cheek with my teeth, followed by a kiss on her tailbone as I ascended. She spun around to face me as soon as I released her, wrapping her arms around my neck to come in for a kiss. She could both taste and smell herself on me, her tongue taking samples of it from my mouth and lapping the thick moisture from the tip of my nose.

Rarity paused and leaned back to peel my shirt over my head, her movements frantic, breasts perked up and jiggling excitedly as she wrestled the clothing off and then tossed it aside.

Her hands found themselves on my cheeks as she locked her lips onto mine again, feeling the grit of my stubble beneath her fingertips as she walked me backwards, guiding me until I came up against the counter with a thump. As she began to fiddle with my belt, I reached back to lean on the ledge, but instead knocked the wine bottle into the sink by mistake.

She and I both looked when we heard the clatter, and after watching the liquid glug from the neck to swirl down the drain for a moment, Rarity huffed and turned my face toward hers.

“No matter. It wasn’t that good anyway,” she panted before dropping another smooch on my lips. She squatted rather suddenly, putting her face directly in front of my bulge. Feet together and propped on her tip-toes, she sat on her heels, knees apart, her bare backside sticking out as she undid my belt and swung it aside. My button and zipper were breached in a matter of seconds, and the fashionista quickly gripped the top of my pants to slide them down.

My erection sprang up, missing her nose by millimetres.

“Ooh!” she squealed with surprise, followed by a soft hiss through her teeth when she gripped the shaft by the base. “Naughty boy…” she whispered, her tongue snaking out to plant itself on the underside of my length and then licking it, slowly, all the way up to the head. When she reached the frenulum, she let her tongue glide over the slick bead of pre-ejaculate that’d formed at the opening, which had been squeezed out by her hand.

She pulled away momentarily, letting a glistening thread stretch from my tip to her tongue, giving it a brief taste before opening her mouth wide and plunging it onto my erection. I bit my lip when I felt that moist warmth seal around me, watching her cheeks cave in when she drew a gentle suction, soft lips caressing that throbbing head, her little white hand tightly gripping the shaft.

Once she’d completed a number of short strokes on the tip, she began to venture deeper; her lips passed the ridge and dropped, sealing around the shaft as she continued to descend, swallowing me into that hot wetness. Pleasure began to wash over me. The warmth of her mouth soothed my mind. Aroused more than ever, I closed my eyes and tipped my head back, letting it come to rest on the cupboard behind me.

She stopped most of the way to the base, just when my head began to press against the back of her mouth. Her tongue teased the underside of my length, hugging it against the roof of her mouth as she slowly pulled back; the sensation was brain-melting, sending my eyelids into a fluttering frenzy as her saliva left a glistening shadow of where her lips had been.

She maintained a light suction as she worked, making sure her mouth remained in full contact as it reciprocated back and forth, drawing a continuous stream of pleasure from every nerve ending. A bead of saliva had begun to accumulate on the topside of my length, telling where each stroke stopped; from her bottom lip hung a bubbly thread of spit, swaying back and forth as she bobbed vigorously until it finally broke and fell away, landing between her breasts.

Eventually, once I’d begun to twitch from the sensation, she slowed and withdrew gradually. Her lips hopped over the ridge as it slipped out of her mouth as she lowered herself slightly, rolling her head back so she could let the full length of my erection lay on her face, sprawled upon her cheek, beside her nose and covering one eye.

She savoured its heat against her face, closing her eyes and exhaling through parted lips, which she then used to kiss the shaft after turning slightly. Several more smooches were planted until she reached the head, on which she landed one more kiss. Then she closed her lips around it for a quick suck, followed by a little flick with her tongue.

She leaned forward next to plant a kiss on my abdomen. Keeping her lips parted, she dragged them upwards, leaving a wet trail past my navel to my chest, where she began to kiss some more, warming my skin with her hot breath as her mouth danced over my collarbones, her lips caressing my neck before making their way across my cheek to my mouth.

I leaned in to prepare for a kiss, but instead received her tongue on my upper lip; she licked sloppily, smearing her saliva all the way to the tip of my nose. Then the kiss came. Her lips locked with mine and her tongue buried itself deep in my mouth, filling my senses with her flavour all over again.

Rarity had wrapped me in her arms, intoxicating me with her mouth and tongue as her warm skin pressed against mine, bare breasts squashed against my chest. A soft moan hummed in her throat when I reached down to cup her backside in my hands, squeezing firmly as her smooth belly ground my length between us.

After a soft exhale from her nostrils, Rarity finally broke the kiss and looked me in the eyes. “Oh god, I need you. More than you can imagine; I’ve never been so ready.”

I gave her a little kiss. “How d’you want it?”

“Vigorous.” Her eyes widened with excitement. “Ruthless!” She turned slightly, thinking about what was behind her for a moment before giving me a little smirk. “I want you to bend me over that counter and pound my white arse like there’s no tomorrow; like there’ll never be an—AAAH!”

Before she could finish, I grabbed her by the arms, spun her around and shoved her across the aisle, bringing her against the island counter with a hard thump. After placing my hand on the back of her neck to bend her forward, I swept my foot across the floor to kick her feet apart—first the right, then the left.

With the fashionista’s legs spread wide, I closed in and, gripping her hip to hold her still, aimed my erection between her folds. After a few strokes along the length of her crease to spread her moisture onto my head, I thrust my hips forward and buried the entire thing into that smooth, velvety grip, giving her no chance to prepare before my hips smashed against her derrière.

“Ngaaah!” she wailed, reaching across the counter to hold onto the far edge. “Oh my, YES!” she panted, eyes closing as her body adjusted to the girth lodged deep inside her. “God, I love you!”

Saying nothing, I responded by pressing against her backside even harder, pinning her thighs against the cupboard doors; I savoured the feel of her soft, moist heat wrapped around me, squeezing me with delight. No doubt she loved the feeling of fullness I’d brought into her. That slender figure of hers was tinted with a warm glow under those dimmed lights, her feathered, unkempt hair fanned across her back.

Holding Rarity’s hips with both hands, I withdrew slowly, watching that thin web of pink flesh at the rear of her slit drag along my length as I inched my way out, coated in her juices. I watched the light dance off of the veins covering my shaft as I pulled back, stopping when only the head remained inside; I was unwilling to remove the most sensitive part from that heavenly warmth, that soothing, wet texture.

It was a beautiful sight, and a beautiful feeling.

Eager for pleasure, I pushed forward and slid inside her a second time, and then a third, all the while watching her moisture gather around the rim of her entrance, building in volume with each stroke until it covered the short distance between her womanhood and the other little opening that neighboured it.

Rarity gripped the edge of the counter for dear life, moaning and howling with pleasure as she was drilled deeply from behind. She enjoyed it more than she thought possible, having ached for it all night long; each thrust was a miracle, every inch of that girth like a prayer being answered. She was more than content to just lie there, getting fucked hard while her forehead rocked on the countertop, feeling my hips smack her ass over and over as her nipples raked that hard, flat surface.

Delightful sensations filled us both, sensations that took a toll on the fashionista’s threshold—she was already beginning to tighten, and the pitch of her voice elevated rapidly, signalling the imminent bursting of the proverbial dam. I looked down at that white derrière to watch my erection reciprocate between the bottoms of those little round cheeks; the motion of our lovemaking had created a continuous feed of little gusts that wafted her musk into my nostrils, filling my mind with a vivid image of the soft flesh that I was wrapped in, making me appreciate the smoothness of her arousal and the tight warmth of her interior that much more.

I was torn from the imagery, however, when she lifted her head and cried out.

“Ohh! I… I’m getting close, darling! My god, fuck my pussy!” She shook her head rapidly, thrashing her hair about. “Don’t stop! Let me have it!”

Rarity let out an ear-shattering scream when her interior clamped down on my length like a soft vice, squeezing and pulsing violently as her legs quivered out of control, making her knees beat rapidly against the cupboards. “Yes… that’s it!” she gasped.

“You like that?” I asked, laying a swift spank across the right half of her backside.

“Ahh!” She jumped suddenly and perked her head up. “YES! YES! YES!”

Panting, she reached back and placed her hands on mine, squeezing them hard as I continued to hang onto her hips. Her womanhood had clenched so tightly I was forced to shorten my strokes to avoid being ‘spat out,’ and so I kept myself pressed against her hips, pulling back only an inch or two while I savoured those sharp pulsations, listening to her heavy breathing as she rode the orgasm to the end.

The sight of Rarity getting off this intensely was an unimaginable turn-on, and it sparked the beginnings of my own ascent to glory. Could I hold out until she’d had another? We were going to find out soon enough.

Her flesh was like heaven. Her nectar was smooth. It covered me completely, letting my length glide through that hot interior like it was nothing, teasing my throbbing head with her tightness, her soft, rippling texture; every thrust was like a long-jump towards the end, bringing me closer to bursting with surprising swiftness.

The sound of our movements had become wetter, and her cries were now softer and noticeably more hoarse. She was clearly in the middle of a blissful plateau; I, however, was raging with excitement, my loins building with enough pressure to blow a hole in a cement wall.

Panting, Rarity looked over her shoulder at me, her frazzled hair wrapping around her cheek when she turned. “Ohhh... You close? Are you gonna cum for me?”

Evidently, she could feel my erection flaring inside her, its ridges becoming more pronounced as it continued to move in-and-out, ready to unleash a furious spread of that hot, thick fluid all over her insides.

A small, but triumphant smirk found her lips, and she reached back to stroke my arm. “Yes… give it to me, my love; I want you to fill me with everything you have!”

My skin became riddled with goosebumps when her fingertips brushed my chest. By then, I could handle no more; the tension finally snapped and my orgasm had begun. I held her hips fast and thrust deep, forcing her against the counter as my manhood throbbed violently within her, pumping that hot payload inside.

Rarity grabbed my arm and squeezed it when she felt those powerful shots hit her cervix again and again, eyes closed, mouth open. I watched her, loving how those thin, purple brows furrowed as she no doubt pictured in her mind the white mess that was pouring into her, permeating her with its thick heat, soaking into every detail of her interior.

“Oohhhh…” she moaned, her eyes opening slowly to watch my face as the blasts gradually reduced to weak spurts. Her shoulders heaved with each breath; she smiled lovingly, giggling and then biting her lip when she felt me twitch inside her, signalling the arrival of the afterglow.

“Mmmmm...” Her hand slid away from my arm and flopped onto the countertop. “That was… fucking perfect, darling—a bit brief compared to the usual, but satisfying nonetheless.” She faced forward and put her head down, drawing a deep breath and then releasing it.

It was a bit brief, wasn’t it? I thought as I looked down at her backside. I was still pressed firmly against it; not one millimetre of my manhood was visible, all of it still lodged deep in that hot little chamber with its gooey new roommate.

I traced the inside of my teeth with my tongue as I stared vacantly at the puckered little hole between her cheeks, ruminating on my performance. Granted, she did have a pretty intense orgasm, but I was still somewhat disappointed in myself for finishing so soon.

She was so hot, though!

I just couldn’t handle it, despite her being rather filthy —covered in dried blood and, quite frankly, a tad unhygienic— along with her hair being totally out-of-whack. She was just so turned on it was hard not to be aroused by it.

My eyes traced her smooth, lovely back, amazed all over again by that smooth, snowy skin. She was still, other than her back rising and falling with her breaths, and I found it hard to believe that this beautiful young woman single-handedly murdered an entire room of people just hours earlier.

That was part of the reason I fucked her so hard. She’d been a bad girl.

I looked down at her backside again, chewing my lip. She deserved the punishment I gave her —or the reward, depending on how you look at it— but was it enough?

I shook my head.

She only came once. I placed my hand on her right butt-cheek and gave it a gentle squeeze, which caused her to open slightly. My erection was still firm, but was poised to begin receding shortly, and it was still quite sensitive, too.

But she deserved more. She earned it. I knew I could reinvigorate this erection if I had to—plus I was willing to endure a little self-punishment if it meant giving her a romp she wouldn’t forget.

After a deep breath, I bit my lip and withdrew slowly, watching my length slip out, coated in a thin, white glaze. Just when I could see the ridge peeking out from that thin, pink rim of flesh, I paused briefly, and then shoved myself back into that thick, sloppy canal.

Her head popped up immediately. “OH! Darling... what is this!?”

“I never said I was done with you,” I grunted as I resumed thrusting, trying to stop my knees from buckling under the sensation, hoping the post-orgasm sharpness would subside before too long.

“Ahh!… But…” She paused, her breath shaky. “You’re… you’re going to make a mess!” she cried, reaching back to touch me.

I quickly grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back, pinning it in place.

“Ohhh!” she moaned hopelessly, letting her head rest on the counter again. “So hot! Give me more!”

I gritted my teeth, looking down to watch my length glide in and out from between those glistening, pink petals. Her enthusiasm excited me, and the thick, gooey sensation of fucking her cum-filled pussy made quick work of bringing my erection back to full rigidity.

The sound had become extremely wet by that point, but I continued on. Eventually, the sensitivity faded into a dull numbness, which remained for a time —allowing me an ideal grace-period during which I hammered that ivory ass like it was my last day on Earth—until it was replaced by fresh pleasure that’d arrived by the time her next orgasm hit.

She cried out with unfettered passion when it took her. Her interior pulsed, squeezing some of the load out around my shaft with a noisy squip as I pummelled endlessly. Long, white ropes of cum swung between her legs, swaying and wobbling each time I jammed my hips against her, making her cry out when one of them swung to the side and stuck to her thigh.

It felt smooth and thick, almost completely obscuring the texture of Rarity’s interior. It was a much thicker lubricant than her arousal, or my pre-ejaculate. It was certainly not without its own appeal, however; a feeling of naughtiness accompanied the slick sensation, and the idea that my seed was being spread all over our sex and was being jammed even deeper into her set us both on fire.

The feel of it triggered another climax for the fashionista, and I slowed my pace slightly to let her enjoy it, looking down between her cheeks to find a creamy, white perimeter that’d accumulated around her entrance.

Once her depths had stopped pulsating, I released her arm and took her by the waist with both hands, standing her up.

After withdrawing from her, I turned Rarity around to face me. I found her face flushed with her hair strewn across it, blowing outward as she giggled breathlessly at the warmth that was now gushing down her leg.

I leaned in and kissed her, not caring that’d I’d pinned a few strands of hair between our lips. I turned her to the side so the island was on her left. Then I reached down to lift her by the legs, prompting her to yelp and grab my shoulders, hanging tightly as I lowered her onto her back. Her breath hitched sharply when her skin touched the cold floor, but her body heat warmed it quickly as I gripped her legs by the backs of the knees and held them apart.

“Yes…” she panted, noticing the white ring of cum around the base of my shaft, which had been formed by a countless number of thrusts.

Her womanhood fared no better; with her legs apart like this, those pink folds of hers separated, sporting a thick layer of icing like the gob that’d gathered at the rear of her crease.

After noticing more of it still seeping from within, I lowered myself and angled my hips to aim my length at her entrance. Rarity reached down to help, placing her fingertips on my head to push it down and place it between those soft petals.

I slipped inside and resumed thrusting while Rarity licked her fingers clean, watching the mess continue to unfold as more cum coated my manhood, building a frothy, white perimeter around her entrance with each thrust. Because of the low light, I hadn’t yet noticed how much of it had run down her thighs, but it wasn’t long before the gleams of light reflecting off her skin revealed just how much of the stuff had gushed out of her.

All of it —her heat, the slickness of her interior, her sex-glazed skin and frazzled hair, her breasts rocking with each thrust, her brows furrowed with pleasure as her soft moans filled the room— everything about this scene drove me crazy, and my pace had unwittingly gotten so intense that that telltale tingle had begun again.

The fashionsta was nearing another climax as well. It was obvious by the sound of her voice, by the way her body tensed, and how her nipples had stiffened and stood tall on her breasts.

I raised her legs to lift her backside from the floor, changing the angle so that my length hammered directly against her G-spot. This method seemed to have an immediate and positive effect; she reacted by squeezing her eyes shut, her voice rising in pitch as her interior clenched down on me. I was stiff as a board by then, my erection nearly bursting at the seams within her soaking wet flesh.

“I feel it… again…” she panted, teeth gritted. Her legs began to shake within my grip, signalling the arrival of another orgasm.

I had fallen over the edge at the same point as her, but just before that first shot fired, I withdrew from that gushing, pink heaven to unleash it upon her body.

Her climax stared just as I slipped out, and the sudden relief of pressure triggered a stream of hot, clear fluid to squirt from between her folds. She cried out with delight as it splashed onto her belly, soaking everything up to the underside of her breasts while, simultaneously, my first shot fired and struck her just above her left eye, dripping down and partly catching in her eyelashes before running down her cheek.

She flinched and then clenched that eyelid shut when the blast hit her; she let out a soft moan and tipped her head back, expecting more to follow.

Surprisingly, the second shot soared clear over her head and landed on the floor somewhere behind her, with just the very tip of its tail tracing a thread across her hair. Part of the third shot, however, hit her upper lip, with some of it entering her mouth and landing on her tongue while the rest of it ended up slung down her chin and throat.

Rarity’s panting came to a sudden halt when she her mouth snapped shut in surprise, her tongue rolling the unexpected treat around to sample its flavour before finally swallowing it. I released one of her legs to reach down as the fourth shot landed between her breasts, aiming my manhood downward to fire the final shots directly onto her crease, slathering it in a warm blanket of that thick, white syrup.

At last, I was drained, and Rarity was double-satisfied. We remained in our respective positions, panting deeply. Still holding her other leg, I let my eyes explore the mess of a woman that laid before me. Licking the cum from her lips, she kept her left eye shut tight so the warm, gooey streak, which had taken on a crimson hue as it ran down her cheek, wouldn’t get into her eye. Her breasts and belly were soaked in both of our ejaculates, which by then had become swirled with ribbons of dull red, having rehydrated the dried blood on her skin.

I drew a deep breath and exhaled through pursed lips. “Messy night,” I said.

She paused to give me a one-eyed glance. “Yes, well, I… was not expecting it to come to this,” she said as she reached up to wipe her eye with her fingers. When she looked down at herself, she let out an exasperated sigh. “Goodness, darling, look at me!”

I nodded absentmindedly. “Oh, I’m looking.”

She smacked her lips, still detecting traces of the salty flavour that’d been slung into her mouth moments earlier. “I thought I was messy before, but this...” She stopped suddenly, staring between her legs for a moment. “Oh, look at that. You came all over my pussy.”

I furrowed by brows. “Yeah. You didn’t feel that?”

“Pffft…” Her head fell back for a second, then she looked at me again. “Honestly? There was so much going on, I didn’t even know what was happening.”

“Fair enough,” I said, noticing her landing strip soaked that thick, white juice.

Then she interrupted me by reaching out and snapping her fingers repeatedly. “Phone!”

I looked up at her. “Huh?”

She pointed to the handbag sitting on the counter. “Fetch my phone please, darling; I want a picture.”

I cocked a brow. “Of what? This?”

She nodded. “For Fluttershy.”

I stared at her for a moment, then I stood to retrieve her phone. “That makes sense, actually,” I said, digging around in the bag. When I found the device, I held it out to her.

Rarity pointed at me. “You take it,” she said, “and make sure you get everything in the shot.”

“Right.” I knelt down and opened the camera app while she struck a pose by propping herself up on her elbows, spreading her legs to display that creamy prize. “I can’t believe we’re doing this,” I chuckled, receiving a giggle as I held the phone up to gauge the shot.

“How do I look?” she asked.

“Fucking filthy.”

“Mmmm… perfect.”

After a pause, I lowered the phone to give her a look. “Lose the duck-lips.”

Rarity rolled her eyes, but was quick to come back with a cocked brow and a sultry smirk.

I snapped a few pictures, which she demanded to inspect before texting them to the shy girl.

“Can you send them to me too?” I asked.

She cocked a brow at me, but then brought her eyes back down to the screen, shaking her head. “Very well.” She jabbed a finger at me. “But you must promise not to show this to ANYONE! How embarrassing would that be? Just look at my hair!”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, because that’s the focal point of the picture.”

After hitting send, she tapped the screen a few more times, furrowing her brows. "Hm. It appears I have a missed call."

"Who from?"

"I don't know," she replied, swiping her thumb at the screen. "It just says ‘private number.’"

"Hm."

"Thank you, darling. Here." She sighed as she handed the phone off to me, which I set on the counter.

“OK...” I knelt beside the fashionista, taking one last look at the wicked mess I’d made of her. “You seriously need to get in the shower. You’re covered in every bodily fluid known to man; the blood’s starting to mix with the jizz, and honestly? It’s kinda gross.”

“Very well, I’ll go have a shower... but only if you join me,” she giggled as I scooped her up in my arms.

“I can do that,” I said, rising to my feet to carry her out of the kitchen.

“Good,” she replied. Then she gave my chin a gentle stroke with her finger. “And perhaps… while we’re in there, we could see if you’re able to muster up a round three.”

“Jeez, man!”

Chapter 155: Sleep With the Devil and then You Must Pay

Chapter 155

“Go ahead, Agent Shadow, I’m listening,” Twilight Sparkle said as she looked down at her laptop, her fingers at the ready above the keys.

She was sitting in the driver’s seat of the rental car, parked in the rear corner of a strip mall parking lot. Her mask was removed, and she was wearing a knitted sweater to cover the black suit in case someone happened to walk by. Foot traffic was unlikely, however; it was still quite early in the morning, the sunrise casting its pink presence across the row of businesses, all of which were closed at the time.

”OK, his password is ‘Jesus loves you --capital J, all one word-- forward slash, forward slash, six six six.’” came a sleek voice from her earpiece.

The lavender girl furrowed her brows. “Hm. That’s an ironic password,” she said, typing it into the window and then hitting enter.

”Well, you have to have numbers and symbols, so...”

“Still, you’d think he would have chosen a verse or something,” Twilight reasoned.

”Yeah, well... this guy is clearly not your average minister. Are you in?”

A little smirk grew on Twilight’s lips as she watched the page load onto her screen. “I’m in. Is it the same password for the others as well?”

“Yeah, they’re all the same--which you should never do, case in point.”

“True. Although I don’t think it’ll matter much to him after today,” Twilight replied as she opened a new window to scroll through her files. “Tell Agent Ingram thanks for me, by the way; we really appreciate his help on this.”

”Oh it was no problem for him,” Tempest replied. “He hacked his way into the thing like it was an afterthought. Dude is a friggin wizard, like seriously. But I’ll tell him.”

“Thanks. And thank you as well… for all your help.”

”Don’t mention it. You guys have been through more than you deserve lately; it was the least we could do.”

“It works out in the long run, really; we’ll be ridding the city of a massive plague after today, which is ultimately a good thing, despite the high price we’ve paid. It’s ironic, really: I bet they never expected murdering some innocent family would lead to their eventual destruction.”

”If the world is smart, it’s gonna learn quickly that it’s a bed idea to mess with you guys. Like Ingram said: this is gonna be a turning point in human history, and your group is at the very center of it.”

Twilight paused, contemplating this. Then she nodded slowly, smiling to herself.

”OK.” A deep breath being drawn could be heard through the little speaker. ”Good luck today.

“Yup. Thanks, Agent Shadow. We’ll keep you posted.”

”Perfect.”

*****

🎶 Oh that old, rugged cross, so despised by the world,
Has a wondrous attraction for me;
For the dear Lamb of God, left His glory above,
To bear it to dark Cavalry.🎶

The out-of-synch and at times singing, made by weak, old voices filled the sanctuary, nearly drowned out by the massive organ that sat off to the right of the congregation, its golden pipes stretching to the ceiling like a vine climbing a lattice, the organist hidden behind a wooden partition.

During the opening hymn, a door behind the pulpit opened and out stepped the reverend himself, dressed in a black robe complete with a wireless microphone clipped to the front and the signature white square at the center of his collar. His light gray hair and large, shaggy mutton chops were shaggy and somewhat wild-looking, framing his red face and those dark, sunken eyes, with that distinctively long upper lip, centered by a prominent cleft that ran from his nose to his mouth.

As always, he stepped sideways and ducked slightly to fit his massive frame through the door before lumbering across the stage to approach the podium; his robe flowed as he went, holding a Bible under one arm with some extra papers protruding from its edges. He set the book down as he stepped up to the pulpit, opening it up to remove the papers, readying them for his opening announcements, which he always did once the opening him was finished.

He then stood with his hands clasped behind his back, looking out over his congregation with a warm smile as he waited for the hymn to finish.

🎶 So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross, ‘til my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross, and exchange it someday for a crown.🎶

The song ended with the final organ note held extra long, accompanied by that one old lady with the high pitched, high vibrato voice who always feels the need to hold the note longer than everyone else. The church echoed into silence at last, and the congregation quietly closed their hymn books and looked ahead to the reverend.

“Please be seated,” he said as gently as possible, with a smile and a nod. He made the same attempt to hide his gruffness each and every week; this was essential, in his mind, given his imposing size and intimidating outward appearance.

After the soft rustling of clothes and the creaking of old pews, Father Tirek drew a deep breath, filling his nostrils with the all too familiar scent of old wood finish and linens, mixed with the scent of whatever type of perfume it was that elderly women seemed to love.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning,” came the murmured reply, in unison.

After taking a moment to adjust his papers, he lifted his massive red hands into the air. “It’s the start of a beautiful new day, isn’t it? The Lord shines down upon us with his grace and warmth.”

A few nods were received from the congregation.

Looking down at his papers, he cleared his throat and began to leaf through them. “Announcements for this week,” he began and then paused, before facing everyone again. “Last week’s bake sale went well; apple and pumpkin pies, assorted pastries and cupcakes went as usual, sales on par with every other year--no surprise there.”

A few chuckles echoed through the sanctuary.

“Turkey pies, on the other hand, sold like crazy,” he continued. “Slightly more than double of last year. Good job, everyone; let’s see if we can double it again next year! This being the second year we’ve done them, I think we can make it happen.” He paused for a moment, flipping a few pages aside. “Ah, this year’s Crokinole Tournament will be held in the mess hall as usual, but… it will have to be moved to Thursday instead of Wednesday, due to scheduling reasons. I will try my best to attend, despite this change, but unfortunately I can’t make any promises. If I can’t make it, make sure to post the results on my Facebook wall; I wanna see who wins, so make sure the organizers keep me posted!”

Another round of low energy chuckles followed.

He cleared his throat next, scanning his papers. “On a more serious note, Mrs. Brays is still in hospital; the doctors have unfortunately discovered that she has pneumonia, and as such, will remain under intensive care for the foreseeable future. She is able to have visitors, however, so I encourage those of you here to go see her when you can. I’m sure it would brighten her day to see your smiling faces, and it may even give her the strength needed to recover more quickly.”

Father Tirek smacked his lips as he rifled through the last few papers, checking for any further notes of interest. “Ah, to anyone interested, there will be a--“

The pipe organ blared suddenly, filling the sanctuary with its shrill chorus and cutting the reverend off mid-sentence. Everyone in the congregation turned to face in the organ’s direction, unable to see what was going on behind the partition as the music continued to fill the room with its foreboding story.

At last, the music ended, leaving the place to drown in a vacuous silence as everyone stared expectantly at the end of the partition, wondering what had just happened, and why. After a tense few seconds, a little old lady shuffled out and smiled innocently, folding her hands in front of herself.

Father Tirek, struggling to contain his frustration, forced a smile toward the old woman. “Did you, uh… heh! D’you miss your cue?”

She shook her head. “I’m sorry, Father, but I tried to talk her out of it.”

The smile quickly faded from his face. “I’m sorry? Tried to talk who out of it? You’re the only one back there, are you not?”

The old lady shook her head sheepishly while, from behind the partition, came the clopping of heels on hardwood, slow and rhythmic, each step goading the curiosity of everyone present. At last, the footsteps approached the end of the wall, manifesting in the form of a slender, masked woman dressed in a tight, black suit with tall, high-heeled boots.

Everyone stared in disbelief at the woman --and her outfit, to be sure-- whose pale cleavage was displayed prominently in the valley at the front of the suit, branching off into a pair of wide, pointy collars that hung over her shoulders.

A smirk tugged at the corner of her jet-black lips as she locked eyes with the incredulous minister, after which she turned to face the little old lady beside her. “I hope I didn’t get you in any trouble, Mrs. … er, goodness me! I’m so dreadfully sorry; I can be terrible with names” she said, placing a hand on the old woman’s shoulder.

“EH!?” the woman squawked, turning slightly toward the masked girl.

The Dark Mistress huffed slightly, leaning closer. “I SAID I SEEM TO HAVE FORGOTTEN YOUR NAME!”

“Oh…” the lady turned back and nodded. “It’s Crowley, dear.”

“Ah, yes!” the Mistress said, bopping herself on the forehead. “Silly me; I knew that. Anyway, I was just saying that… I WAS JUST SAYING THAT I HOPE I DIDN’T GET YOU IN ANY TROUBLE JUST NOW.”

Mrs. Crowley glanced above her glasses at the masked girl. “Oh no, it’s fine, dear. I thought it was lovely, what you played. And don’t worry about the reverend; he might be big, but he’s easy to tame with a nice ham sandwich some juice.”

“Oh, ho ho!” The Dark Mistress giggled and leaned in, wrapping her arm around the lady’s shoulders as she pressed her cheek to her temple. “Thank you, darling! Such a sweetheart you are.”

She released the smiling old woman from the embrace a moment later, letting her hobble back behind the partition. Once she was out of sight, the Dark Mistress faced the reverend, her smile transitioning into a pair of tightly pursed lips. Drawing a breath, she began to make her way toward the aisle at the center of the sanctuary, her heels thumping heavily along the hollow-sounding wood as she passed between a pair of pews, keeping her hands on her hips as she walked.

Father Tirek watched her intently with a slight scowl upon his brow, trying to hide his elevated heart rate by maintaining his breathing--calm, slow and steady. He cleared his throat and then licked his lips, drawing a breath to speak. “I’m not sure that outfit is appropriate for church, young lady.”

“Whatever do you mean, Father?” she asked facetiously as she entered the main aisle and twirled around on her heel, making sure everyone got a good look at her tight little derriere, wrapped in that shiny, skin-tight material. “I always make sure I’m dressed in my Sunday best; and I like to make a grand entrance, as you can see.”

The reverend sneered as he watched her stand in the middle of his service with her weight on one leg to accentuate her sleek curves, folding her arms in such a way that squeezed those milky white breasts even further from the front of the outfit.

“I can see that. And so can the Lord above,” he grumbled. Then he cocked his head slightly, looking sideways at her. “You’re interrupting the service here; is there something we can do for you, miss?”

“Ah!” She raised a finger. “As a matter of fact, there is.” Keeping that black digit pointed to the sky, she stepped forward confidently, her hips swinging as her boots thudded softly along the aisle carpet. “I wanted to share with your congregation some of the ‘ins and outs’ of our recent correspondence.”

A number of people began to look around at others, a few of them whispering.

This prompted the Mistress to put her fingertips to her lips and giggle playfully. “Haha! Oh my, that came out wrong! No-no, I can assure you, it is nothing of that nature.” She faced the reverend once again, her face suddenly quite serious as she glared through that mask with those sapphire daggers. “It is far worse than that, I’m afraid.”

“I think you have me mistaken for someone else, miss,” Father Tirek interjected, glowering over his podium at her.

“I’m afraid not, Father.” She placed her hands on her hips and strutted forward confidently, closing about half of the distance between them before stopping. “But before we begin, I want to make it clear that I am not heartless. I have a penchant for being rather generous, you see; therefore I am giving you the chance to come forward on your own, to stay in control of your own destiny, to do the right thing.”

Drawing a deep breath, Father Tirek rested this big, red hands on the front corners of his podium, shrugging. “I am sorry to disappoint you, miss. But I have nothing to bring forward, other than being a loved member of this community, who donates his time to bring strength and the word of God to those in need.”

The Dark Mistress shook her head, slowly. “Are ‘strength’ and the ‘word of god’ code words for illegal substances?”

The entire sanctuary stood in silence, watching the stunned minister stare incredulously at the intruder, who then began to saunter around in a circle to face everyone as she continued.

“If you won’t come forward yourself, Father, then I am afraid I’ll have to do it for you,” she said, lacing her fingers together in front of her chest while she took a moment to decide how she would deliver her message. Then she drew a deep breath.

“Father Tirek is a criminal.”

“Urghh…” The reverend groaned, rubbing his brow. “Miss… I don’t know what has driven you to choose this path of madness, but it’s never too late to turn back and repent; as in Proverbs three, verse six: ‘in all your ways submit to the Lord, and he will make your paths straight.’”

The Dark Mistress rolled her eyes and waved him off. “Oh, spare me your disingenuous claptrap, Father! It’s not my[i/] path that isn’t straight, it’s yours. YOU are nothing more than a deranged psychopath, and you need to be exposed for all that you’ve done.”

Father Tirek stared at the remark, open-mouthed and dumbfounded.

“You are blight upon this city,” she continued, “responsible for countless lost and ruined lives. You take profit from the suffering of others, you murder innocent families, you destroy people’s livelihoods, and you do it all under this sickening guise of being a holy man. To do all of these things and still be able to sleep at night… you must have no conscience to speak of. Whatsoever.”

The congregation slowly turned from her to watch the minister, wondering how he would react.

Father Tirek stared intensely at the masked woman for a moment, his face slowly transitioning into an indignant sneer until he raised his hand to give the podium a thump before stepping out from behind it, pointing at her.

“How dare you! How dare you come in here and interrupt my service dressed like some harlot, throwing wild accusations at me--with NO PROOF whatsoever!” he shouted, pacing back and forth across the stage in retort. “You come in here and brand me with these terrible labels; do you have any idea how many years of service I have put into this community? How many I’ve helped? How many times I’ve restored faith in someone who’s all but given up?”

He pointed into the congregation next. “Do you realise how many of these people I’ve baptised? How many I’ve married? How many of their loved ones I’ve delivered eulogies for? I’ve been here for these people, tending to their spirituality for DECADES! And to think, I am going to stand up here and have wild accusations hurled at me by some two-bit arsonist!”

The Mistress stiffened when he said this, her fists tightening at her sides.

“That’s right,” Tirek growled, having noticed her reaction. “Don’t think I don’t know who you are. I watch the news. I saw what you did… to that little shop in Canterlot.” He turned to his parishioners next, holding his hands outwards. “Surely some of you saw it, just last night; this young lady was on every news channel in town.”

“Hey, yeah! That’s where I’ve seen you!” a middle-aged bald man said as he stood, pointing above his wife and kids at the Mistress. “You burnt down that little shop in Canterlot!”

She faced him, lips parted as she thought of a defense, but was prompted to turn and look the other way when someone behind her shouted.

“Yes! I knew it!” an overweight woman in her forties shouted, prompting more people to join in until the sanctuary was in an uproar.

The Dark Mistress took a step back, looking back and forth at the surrounding crowd as they closed in on her with jeers and accusations, only a fraction of which she was able to understand.

“You’re a monster! Those poor young ladies! What are they supposed to do now!?”

“Her name was Rarity, and she was a third generation owner!”

“You destroyed everything her family built--their entire legacy!”

“YOU’RE the only criminal here! Someone call the police!”

The masked woman cowered back even further, her hands balled against her chest as her eyes darted around at the angry mob. A grimace began to form on her face when she noticed one of them had pulled out his phone and was scrolling through the directory, searching for the number to call the authorities. He looked up from his phone, however, when the reverend’s voice boomed gruffly over the church’s sound system.

“STOP!”

Everyone including the Dark Mistress faced the stage, where Father Tirek stood with his massive arms in the air, sleeves hanging loose from his wrists.

“I do appreciate your… loyalty, everyone,” he said, his voice softer now as he slowly lowered his arms. “I am deeply moved by your coming to my defence. Proverbs twenty, verse six asks ‘many will say they are loyal friends, but who can find one who is truly reliable?’” Smiling, he gestured to the crowd. “Well… it appears I have found many. That is because those who are present today are the ones who truly know me; they know that I am an honest man, and honorable man. It’s for that very reason that, despite you coming in here, young lady, to accuse me of being a drug dealer without a shred of evidence, while you yourself have committed actual crimes --for which there is plenty of evidence for all to see!-- I shall grant you the same thing you offered me, which is the only amicable thing you’ve done here today: which is to offer you the chance to give yourself up.”

One by one, the congregation brought their attention back to the Dark Mistress to see how she would respond.

She stood, knees together, chewing her lip nervously as her hands fidgeted in front of her bosom, her eyes darting around at everyone. Then, to their surprise, she straightened her stance and let her hands fall to her sides, looking up at Father Tirek with a confident smirk.

“I never said you were a drug dealer.”

All eyes suddenly went back to the reverend, who stood frozen, his face pale.

“And if it’s evidence you wish to see,” she continued, after drawing a breath and stepping closer again, “then so be it.”

BUZZ! BLING! WHOOSH! DING-A-LING! BOOP!

A soft chorus of chimes and vibrations rang out from the surrounding crowd and their pockets, prompting them to look down and pause. The man who was about to call the police, phone in hand already, turned the device over to look at the screen.

’FACEBOOK: Father Tirek has posted a video.’

The man furrowed his brows while others reached into their pockets to retrieve their phones, prompted by the curiosity spawned by so many of their phones going off at once. Slowly, he reached to the center of the window to touch the play button in the center; he waited for a brief moment, watching the pinwheel spin around as the video loaded.

It started with a series of dark blurs before stabilizing on a young woman in a violet skirt topped with a dressy lavender jacket, who sported a massive head of curly hair that hung all the way to her backside. He hands were behind her back, held there against her will--as evidenced by her struggling; the angle from which the scene was filmed was bizarre, giving the viewer a rather low angle to look up at her face from.

It was then that a large, red fist flew in from the right, pounding the woman’s midsection just below her bust and knocking the wind out of her. She hunched forward, gasping and coughing as she fought to refill her lungs with air before lifting her head to glower to the right of the screen--presumably at her attacker.

She threw her head to the side to fling her hair out of her face, revealing a blackened and swollen eye, indicating that this abuse had been happening long before the video started. Teeth gritted, she glared furiously at her oppressor while a separate female voice spoke, its tone and bass somewhat overpowering, making it obvious that whoever was speaking was also the one filming.

“Stop! I said I’d do it!” The orange-haired woman swung to the left and out of view as the speaker turned to face the attacker, a large suited man whose head was cut off by the top of the screen, leaving his clerical tab the highest thing visible. “Just... don’t hurt her anymore.”

He paused for a moment, appearing to consider her pleas when one of his arms unexpectedly snapped up, his sausage-like fingers whipping past the camera in a red blur. The video jarred around suddenly, the sleeve of his suit filling the top half of the screen as the sound of wheezing and choking poured from the speakers, followed by a pair of thin, purple arms reached up in front of the lens to grab that massive arm, fighting in vain to pull it away.

A gruff, yet familiar voice could be heard next. ”You’re not the one gives orders around here; UNDERSTAND!?” he shouted, shaking the woman behind the camera by the throat. “This isn’t a--“

The sound of a cell phone ringing brought him to a halt, prompting him to pat the pockets of his suit to remember which one he’d put his phone in. He pulled the device out and cradled it in his massive red hand, holding it just in front of the camera; seconds later, his fist closed tightly around the phone, accompanied by a frustrated grunt.

He appeared to wind up suddenly, and the image was sent askew, the screen filled with streaks of random colours, followed by a hard thump and then: darkness.

“Why does this fucking lady ALWAYS call when I’m busy!?” he bellowed, his voice somewhat muffled. After some noisy shuffling, the image of a picture-laden wall zoomed past, followed by a blank ceiling, which then floated up and out of view as the person behind the camera sat up after being thrown to the floor by the large man.

The scene could be seen much more clearly from a distance; the orange-haired woman was indeed being held with her arms behind her back, with a second, less imposing man standing off to the left. The big man on the right, now clearly seen as Father Tirek, was scrunching his nose as he tapped the screen of his phone to answer the call, his expression quickly changing to a warm smile as he put the phone to his ear.

”Mrs. Crinkle, so nice to hear from you!” he greeted, looking down at the floor as the woman behind him was silenced by a hand covering her mouth. ”Ohh... the dreams again, eh?” he said with a shake of his head, eyes closed. ”I-- ... I know it can be frightening, but you need to remember it’s not real. I know the memories are painful, but you have--“

He paused for a moment, having been cut off by the person on the other end. Then he looked up at the ceiling and shook his fist, his mouth wide open to release a silent scream of exasperation before facing the floor with the phone to his ear once again. ”No... no, Mrs. Crinkle. I don’t believe he is haunting you; if anything, he is watching over you. I’m sure he would want nothing more for you than to be safe and happy.”

He paused and then closed his eyes, nodding. “Yes. The spirit is kind. It’s not malevolent in any way, and I want you to remember: whenever you are in distressed, confused or frightened, the Lord is always listening. Joshua one, verse nine says: ‘be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.’”

He took another moment to listen, impatiently running his tongue along the inside of his cheek.

”You too. Any-- ... anytime, Mrs. Crinkle. You don’t need to be afraid. ... ... Exactly. You are safe; watchful eyes are always guarding you from harm, I promise.” He nodded one more time. “Yes, you are welcome, and I shall see you this Sunday. You are more than welcome to talk to me then if it’s still bothering you. ... ... Yep. Goodbye, and God bless.”

He lowered the phone and tapped the screen with his thumb, ending the call. Then he brought it to his mouth like a CB radio. ”FUUUUCK! YOOOOOU! BIIIIIITCH!” he bellowed at the device. “Maybe he fucking died just to get away from your constant nattering! YOU EVER THINK OF THAT!?”

Huffing and growling, he stuffed the phone into his pocket. ”Anytime you’d like to go ahead and join him would be fine by me,” he grumbled to himself as he turned back to face the orange-haired woman first, then bringing his attention to the one behind the camera, pointing his finger. ”You. You have your instructions.”

His eyes shifted upward, looking past her. ”Take her. Get her to Canterlot immediately, so she can do her job.” The camera angle shifted upward as unseen hands grabbed her and hoisted her to her feet, and then he raised that thick, red index finger at her. ”Do NOT fuck this up, girl. You KNOW what’ll happen if you do, right?”

Her breathing could be heard as camera shook slightly, presumably from her nodding in reply.

”And just so you know how serious I am...” --he turned and pointed to the smaller man who stood next to the captive. ”Juno, cut this bitch.”

Juno reached into his pocket and pulled out a little black handle and pressed the release with his thumb, which prompted a shiny, steel blade to flick forth and, without hesitation, he swiped it across the woman’s hip, slicing her skirt and the skin beneath.

She threw her head back and screamed in agony, her knees wobbling and then quickly giving out. The man holding her arms behind her back was forced to catch her mid-fall, hauling her back to her feet to force her to stand as a gush of dark crimson gushed from the beneath hem of her skirt, running down her thigh, past her knee and over her calf.

Shaky breaths and wet sobs could be heard from behind the camera, making the reverend turn back to face her. ”You fuck this up, I’ll cut her a lot deeper than that. I’ll cut her so deep, her intestines will all over the floor, along with the rest of her organs, got it?!”

Nothing but sobs could be heard.

”GOT IT!?”

A shaky gasp, and then: “Yes! Yes, I’ll do it! Just don’t hurt her anymore!”

A tiny smirk appeared on the reverend’s red face. “Good. Now go,” he order, swinging his arm dismissively as he turned to head for the desk that stood in the background. The view swung around next, revealing a large, steel-framed door that began to grow closer as the camera girl was dragged from the room.

The video ended there.

Several parishioners had their phones out by then, each with several others watching over their shoulders. One by one, individual heads rose to face the reverend, mouths agape.

Father Tirek’s outward air of confidence faltered slightly as more and more horrified eyes landed on him, making him wonder what they were being shown on those tiny screens. Remembering that his phone was set to private --a must during his sermons-- he reached into his robe and pulled it out to check for notifications.

He found a text from an unknown number, showing nothing but a link to a Facebook page. He tapped the screen, and the windows flipped around, bringing him to his own posts, where an unfamiliar video began to play on its own. Only a few seconds in, when he saw the orange-haired siren being held captive, he knew exactly what he was seeing; his stomach twisted into a knot and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end upon realising what’d happened: the purple sister must have had a hidden camera on her and filmed the whole thing. And now his social media accounts had been hacked!

With big, shaky thumbs, he scrolled to the top to hit the ‘delete’ icon, but it was nowhere to be found. This was when he noticed that he’d been logged out. Frantically, he typed in his username --making several mistakes along the way, his large fingers having a harder time than usual due to their excessive trembling-- followed by his password. Upon hitting ‘go,’ a window popped up saying: ‘password error.’

Figuring he’d made a typo, he hammered the password in again, only to get the same message. “GRR!” He squeezed the phone in frantic frustration, gritting his teeth as he looked up at the crowd to find a sea of stunned and speechless faces staring back. His eyes darted from person to person, his lips moving silently in search of an explanation that wasn’t there.

In the center of it all stood the Dark Mistress, her weight shifted onto one leg with one hand on her hip, which was swung out to the side. She glared intensely with those sharp sapphire eyes, their brightness augmented by the black mask that surrounded them; she was not smiling or glowering, rather she showed no expression at all.

Clenching his jaw, Father Tirek scanned the crowd again, knowing he’d been backed into an indefensible corner. The only thing he could think of to escape it was a feeble lie.

“It’s some kind of trick!” he blurted, his voice booming over the sound system. “This footage must be doctored! Surely you don’t believe I could act this reprehensible?”

“Hm…” The Dark Mistress stepped closer, rubbing her hands together. “Doctored footage, eh? That’s rich, coming from you.” She turned to the crowd. “Is Mrs. Crinkle here today?”

After glancing at the Mistress, the crowd slowly turned to face one of the pews on the left side of the sanctuary, where a small group separated to reveal an old lady, still seated, with someone holding a phone in front of her, letting her watch the footage for herself.

The Dark Mistress approached the end of the pew to lean on it with her hands, leaning in to speak to the woman. “Mrs. Crinkle?”

She looked up from the phone just as the video was ending, her bony, vein-laden hands covering her mouth as she faced the masked beauty.

“Do you remember talking to Father Tirek that night?”

After a pause, the old lady nodded slowly.

The Mistress stood upright with a satisfied smirk stretched across those jet-black lips. “Well then… if that footage is in fact doctored, then I am impressed!” She turned to face the stage, where the reverend stood. “Tell me, Father, how does one go about ‘doctoring’ someone into calling you of their own free will?”

Father Tirek gulped, his face fading to a paler shade of crimson.

Mrs. Crinkle turned to face him, letting her hands down to cross them on her chest. “Father? Do you really want me to die?”

The question caught the big man off guard, and for the first time in ages, a pang of guilt rang through his chest. This was a situation he thought he’d never have to face, and yet, here it was. Perhaps, deep down, there was still a shred of humanity left in him.

Unable to face her any longer, Tirek drew a breath and turned his head away, clenching his jaw.

Noting his reaction, the Dark Mistress approached the stage, stopping with her foot on the first step. “Now is your chance, Father. You are still a human being… with a conscience, and with a sense of right and wrong. Despite my own generosity being stretched rather thin, I am still prepared to offer you the chance to do the right thing and turn yourself in; stand up and take the whips for your sins, and repay your dept to society.”

Keeping his head to the side, Father Tirek drew a deep breath and forced himself to turn face the crowd. He couldn’t afford to turn himself in; at his age, going to prison would be a death sentence. Not because of former competitors that he’d conspired to put away --he’d had them wacked years ago-- but because he simply didn’t have the years left in him to outlast the multiple life sentences he would receive. Considering all of this, he clenched his jaw and turned away once again. There was only one way to lash back now.

“I know who you are,” he growled softly, his eyes shifting sideways onto her. “And if you think you can just walk in here and dump my secrets out for all to see, then what’s to stop me from doing the same to you?”

The Dark Mistress remained surprisingly calm. She shrugged one shoulder. “Alright, Father, as you wish. Go ahead and tell everyone here who the Dark Mistress really is! Tell them who would so heartlessly burn down a young woman’s boutique; I’m sure your answer will be a perfectly sensible one.”

Tirek turned to face her, mouth open, ready to speak. But then he stopped, his face going blank.

She stared him down, head cocked and waiting.

Checkmate; cornered again. She’d used his own tactics against him, and won.

Defeated, he turned away once again, huffing angrily.

“I see. Very well, then.” The Mistress rolled her eyes and groaned. “My patience wears thin, Father,” she said as she climbed the next two steps onto the stage and approached the pulpit, hands in the air. With a great flash, a massive, sparkling sledge hammer appeared in her hands, which she swung down at the wooden podium, smashing its left side to pieces.

The reverend staggered back, covering his face with his forearms to shield himself from flying splinters while the Dark Mistress stepped forward, the hammer disappearing from her hands as she reached inside what was left standing of the podium. A moment later, she extracted a twelve-gauge shotgun, its barrel cut off flush with the pump handle. She held it with both hands and cocked the handle three times, each action ejecting a shell that flipped out and landed on the carpet with a thud, one of them going as far as rolling down the steps and stopping at a young boy’s feet.

With one hand, she held the weapon high above her head and faced the congregation. “I ask you, good people, what kind of minister keeps a loaded shotgun in his pulpit? Hm?”

The crowd was stunned, and they simply stood there, starting at the weapon in shock, saying nothing. The Dark Mistress dropped the weapon to her feet and turned to face the reverend, shaking her head slowly as she glared directly into his eyes.

“Your brother would be ashamed of you.”

Hearing these words caused Father Tirek’s shoulders to deflate, his face melting into from defiance in blankness as he felt his heart split wide open, broken by the thought of his brother’s disappointment, should he be looking upon him, watching what he’d become.

The Mistress faced the people once again. “I do not enjoy bringing you this news today, everyone; it was not my intention to turn anyone’s world on its head, but there has been cancer growing under the streets of this city for decades now, and I simply cannot allow it to progress any further…”

As the masked vigilante spoke, Father Tirek looked down at his hands, studying his massive red fingers and wrinkly palms, weather and calloused by years of violence, betrayal and torment, much like his soul. What did she know of his brother? How did she know how he felt about it? Everything Tirek did, it was for Scorpan.

Vengeance, power, control; all of it was for his lost brother, who was taken from him by force. An event that out of his control changed his life, and by taking control of the crime ring, Tirek felt he’d found a way to control his own destiny, to subdue the force that took his brother from him. It brought him a feeling of personal security, and it kept the memory of his brother alive.

What did this harlot know? How could she know his pain? Did she think he reallyenjoyed his life? His hands closed into massive fists as he asked himself these questions, feeling the pain created by the wound reopened by the Mistress slowly turn to rage, welling up from deep within. His teeth gritted, his fists clenched until they hurt, and with a snarl curling his upper lip, Tirek slowly looked up at the slender, black figure standing at the front of the stage, turning his own people against him.

Seeing this caused something to suddenly snap inside the reverend, and he reached into his robe to produce a brightly polished .44 Magnum, aiming it at the back of her head as she continued to speak.

“…and I can smell the asphalt--that is his own personal road to hell being pav--“

BANG!

It happened before the congregation had a change to react; the Mistress head jerked forward under the impact and she fell forward, down the stairs and all the way to the floor, her long indigo hair flowing free after the band tying it up was blown to pieces.

A roar of out of synched gasps followed the echo of the deafening blasts, some people covering their ears, some covering their mouths. Slowly, each of them looked up at the minister, who was shrouded in gun smoke, still holding the gun outstretched, his teeth gritted.

Reality had finally begun to set in for the reverend. There was no turning back now. After glancing around at everyone, he raised the gun and aimed at a cluster of people to the right. They shrieked and cowered back, raising their hand in defence.

He swung the weapon to the left next, pointing it at a family, the father of which wrapped his children in his arms to protect them--not that it would matter; a weapon like that would send the round through him and his children, and would likely end up embedded in the floor behind them.

But what good would killing them do? What he needed was to escape.

Father Tirek looked over his left shoulder, facing the door that he’d entered the sanctuary through, only moments earlier. He could go through his office, grab a few cases of money and escape through the rear door. That would be the best way to go about it, then he could use the money to get a private flight out of the country, even if he had to find someone to smuggle him out; once he’d found a country to hide out in, he could have someone back home begin to transfer is fortune to a new account so he could have access to it. Yes, that would work, but he had to get out of this fucking church first. Hopefully his driver wasn’t parked too far away--

A sharp pinch in his wrist interrupted his thoughts, followed by the realisation that his revolver suddenly felt much lighter. Tirek faced forward just in time to see his hand, still holding the gun, land on the floor with a dull thud.

Gasping, he looked up at the stump that protruded from his sleeve, gushing and dripping blood all over the carpet. Ahead of him, the Dark Mistress had risen to one knee and turned to face him, holding a long, sparkling sword in one hand, its blade smeared with crimson roughly halfway along its length.

He grunted, feeling the pain being to radiate as he brought his arm to his chest while squeezing it to slow the flow of escaping blood. The Dark Mistress, completely unscathed by a point-blank headshot from the massive gun, rose to her feet, her eyes glaring with irritation through that mask. "How dare you interrupt me in the middle of such a brilliant line!" she whined as she marched toward him, weapon ready.

Father Tirek staggered backward to keep his distance, but she closed the distance nonetheless, backing him closer to the wall at the rear of the stage. “S-stay back!” he pleaded, raising his hand when she raised hers.

The Mistress stepped forward, her fist wound above her right shoulder, the sword still in her left. When she thrust her arm forward, a mighty flash appeared as a massive block of diamond appeared before her, its massive weight rushing forward to collide with the big man’s midsection.

The wind was knocked from him with a grunt, and his back slammed against the wall as the huge block hit the floor. She stepped upon it to bring herself to his height, leading with the tip of her blade, which sank into his chest and passed through him like he was made of air, even penetrating the wooden wall behind him with little resistance.

He gasped shakily, his eyes widening as the piercing sting of being run through filled his mind and body. He stared forward, jaw shaking, watching that masked face come within inches of his, those sparkling blue eyes impaling his soul, much like the blade down below.

The Mistress shook her head when he let out a croak, trying to take a breath to speak. “Enough,” she whispered, leaning closer. “It’s all over, Father. You are finished. Your empire has fallen, your true legacy has been exposed, and your life is about to come to an end.”

His head shook uncontrollably. “You… pfffft!” he gasped, his cheeks puffing out.

“Shhhh… “ She came even closer, her soft, violet hair surrounding their faces. “Go to sleep, my love… and taste my sweet revenge on your lips--sealed… with a kisssssssss…”

She pressed her soft, black lips to his pale, cold ones, holding them there for just a moment before twisting the sword and drawing it upward, slicing his heart in half inside his chest. His eyes popped open and a sickening gurgle sounded from his throat, sending a spray of blood into his mouth.

The Dark Mistress withdrew with a soft smack, licking the metallic taste of death from her lips. “Mmm. The taste of retribution is most delicious; thank you, Father.”

Father Tirek did not hear her gratitude, however. He was already gone: his breathing silenced, his deep, black eyes glazed and lifeless.

“Hm.” She turned and stepped down from the block, which promptly disappeared as she headed for the front of the stage top face the audience. Before she could say anything, though, a loud THUMP sounded over the sound system.

She spun around to face the reverend again, only to find him face-down on the floor. When the block vanished, so did the sword that pinned him to the wall, letting him fall to the floor, where the microphone he was wearing had obviously slammed against the carpet under his weight.

It suddenly dawned on her that everything she’d just said to him could be heard by everyone, and she turned slowly, coming face to face with a crowd of horrified people. Despite being outed as a violent criminal only moments ago, these people had known him for years --decades, in some cases-- and seeing him killed right before their eyes was probably bad enough, let alone hearing her rather morbid comments.

Granted, she’d somewhat lost herself in the moment after everything that’d happened: the destruction of her boutique, the murder of Pinkie Pie’s family, the imprisonment of Sunset; given all of this, the Mistress had, until then, given herself credit for showing restraint. If it hadn’t been for the crowd, the coroner would have been picking the reverend up with a sponge.

Still, the events of that morning had probably caused trauma to these people than she’d originally anticipated--and, despite what they’d learned about Father Tirek, they still believed she was the one who burned down the boutique.

This was by far her most public appearance. It was time to let the people know what the Dark Mistress was all about.

She drew a deep breath. Her eyes scanned the crowd, studying the sea of elderly faces and nervous yet intrigued children, as well as rightly overprotective parents. Releasing her breath, she finally spoke.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly, looking down at the carpet. “I never meant to become a… a murderer. That’s not my business. I don’t want to harm or frighten anyone--I should like to help everyone if possible: mothers, daughters, green man, white.”

Her eyes rose as she spoke, her gaze locking onto the black-faced crowd, who stared back, listening curiously. “In this town, there is room for everyone and the culture is rich; the way of life could be free and beautiful…” She paused for a moment, and looked over her shoulder at the massive robed corpse on the stage behind her. “…but some of us have lost the way.”

She faced the people again. “Take the good reverend, for instance. Driven by grief from the loss of his brother, he sought revenge, but instead found himself inseparably joined with a world of crime. Greed had poisoned his soul, and barricaded his mind with hate. He thought too much… and felt too little.”

She made her way down the steps, finger raised. “More than money, he needed humanity. More than cleverness, he needed kindness. Without these qualities he became violent, and all faith was lost. But do not despair, this man’s hate has passed; a dictator has died, and the power he took the from the people… will return to the people, starting today.”

The crowd separated as she slowly stepped into the aisle between the pews, hanging on her every word as she continued to speak, her hands laced together in front of her bust as she sauntered along. “Today is the day we take back our city. No more living in fear and darkness, no more witnessing loved ones sick from dependency, running away or missing; no more senseless loss of life.”

The Mistress continued toward the rear of the sanctuary, passing through the gap off people as they parted like the Red Sea before stopping to turn back and face them. “People, don’t give yourselves to brutes: men who despise you, enslave you. It is time to rise up and take back your city! It has been ravaged by and epidemic of crime and drugs--no more! I am the cure, and you are the cure. We mustn’t take this lying down any longer; we mustn’t let them go on treating us like cattle.”

She raised a finger to point at the surrounding people, the conviction rising in her tone along with the volume of her voice. “Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men; machine men, with machine minds and machine hearts! We are not machines, WE ARE FREE!” She began to step backwards, continuing toward the large pair of wooden doors. “My sisters and I, we have a power… a power to make this life free and beautiful! Let us use that power for good, to tamp down those who seek power they do not deserve, to protect those you love; we have eyes everywhere, we can see when you are in danger and we will protect you.”

As she inched closer to the massive exit, the Dark Mistress raised a hand to gesture at the crowd. “In time, we will all stand together--for the good of the city, and against those who wish to control or bring harm to others. My sisters and I are not afraid to act, and in time, the same will be true for you.“ She threw her fist into the air, giving it a stiff shake. ”Together, we can make this world a better place, to make this life a wonderful adventure! LET US ALL UNITE!”

With that, she thrust one foot behind to kick the door open and she slipped out, leaving the sanctuary in silence, full of staring churchgoers, all staring at the slowly closing door with their mouths agape.

Outside, the Dark Mistress sprinted along the sidewalk to get herself out of sight. The church was on a somewhat busy corner, but its front faced a much quieter street, the main one running along its side. Cars rushed past, making her run as fast as she could; this was the first time the Dark Mistress had been out in broad daylight--on a Sunday morning in a very public place, at that.

Her suit gleamed brightly in the morning sun, her movements reflected by a blinding flash juxtaposed by that black material as she approached the cylindrical tower at the church’s corner. With her hand outstretched, she quickly conjured up a row of sparkling diamond steps, ascending in a spiral around the exterior of the round structure to bring her to the roof. Her heels clopped on each step, which promptly disappeared behind her as soon as her foot left its surface.

She’d reached the roof’s edge before long, and she charged forward along the slate surface to the peak before skidding down the other side to the valley. Now hidden from the city below, the Mistress put the back of her hand to her forehead and fell backwards, flopping down into a lying position on the stone tiles.

“Ohh my goodness…” she panted, staring into the sky as she covered her mouth with both hands, her bosom fluttering with adrenaline. “I can’t believe I just did that!”

He body shook with a strange combination of laughter and crying as her eyes pooled with tears of excitement, eventually overflowing and running down the sides of her mask, leaving glistening trails in their wake.

”Good job, Rare.”

Her eyes popped open upon hearing the voice, a quick breath rushing in as she was reminded that she was being monitored by her peers. “Ohh… darling! You heard that? Did I really do well?”

” Of course.”

“You don’t think I scared those people?” she asked, wiping the moisture from her mask.

”Maybe. But sometimes the truth is scary. Don’t worry; you did great. I’m proud of you.”

After a short pause, she let one hand drape across that white cleavage of hers and stared into the sky, her chin trembling. “Thank you,” she whispered, her breath shaking.

”No problem. Just don’t forget the rest of your job--or those people might get the wrong idea if the propaganda machine gets rolling before we stop it.”

Her eyes widened suddenly. “Oh! You’re right, I--“

”I’m on it guys, don’t worry.”

The Mistress sat up. “Oh! Twilight, you have the video prepared?”

”Absolutely. Unaltered version: ready to upload to all media platforms as well as the main page of Big City News’ website and their social media pages.”

“Any you blurred Aria’s face so she cannot be identified?”

”Of course. She’ll be safe from the authorities.”

“Perfect. Thank you, Twilight.” The Dark Mistress drew a deep breath and closed her eyes as she looked up at the sky, feeling the sun’s warmth on her face. “Mmmm… such a lovely morning. We are entering a new era, girls; I can feel it. Things are going to get better from here on in.”

“You might be right, Rarity. I hope so, anyway.”

“There’s nothing wrong with hoping,” she smiled. “Speaking of which, how are things going at the building?”

”Uh...” Sunset’s voice unexpectedly rang into her ear. “We... kinda ran into a problem, actually.”

The Mistress’ eyes popped open. “I’m sorry?”

“Well... they kinda got away... with Adagio.”

“Ugh…” She dropped her face into her hand. “How did that happen? I thought you had the whole thing planned out?”

”Well... I don’t wanna point fingers, but...”

“Wait… let me guess. Rainbow Dash?”

A breath could be heard being drawn over the earpiece. ”Uh... yeah. She got a little distracted and ended up getting separated from us, and they used a secret elevator to escape. It wasn’t in the blueprints, so we didn’t see it coming.”

The Mistress sighed and shook her head. “Rats. Do we know where they took her?”

”Well, we thought maybe the roof, but no. That’s where we are now--which is the only reason we’re able to talk to you. Reception is terrible in this place.”

“Where is Rainbow Dash now? Still inside?”

”Yes. I’ve had off-and -on contact with her; I told her to find Pinkie Pie and head back down to the underground garage, but I’m not a hundred percent if she heard me. I haven’t seen her on any cameras yet, so I have no idea what she’s doing. Same with Pinkie Pie.”

“Perhaps they’re already out?” the Dark Mistress asked, rising to her feet and brushing her backside off.

”Could be. I think maybe you and Applejack should head down as well, Sunset. You’re not accomplishing much up there anyway.”

”We’re not giving up just yet. Not until we find Adagio, dead or alive--hopefully the first one.”

“Just stay there,” the Dark Mistress instructed as she made her way back to the peak. “I’m heading over there now; I’ll meet you on the roof and we’ll head down together.”

”Sounds good.”

“Agreed, but hurry. We don’t know how much time Adagio has. I’ll keep an eye on the cameras for her.”

“Let us know if you see anything,” the Mistress said as a long, sparkling platform appeared in front of her, stretching from the church roof to the adjacent building.

”Will do.”

Author's Note

MUSIC

Chapter 157: The Great Escape

Chapter 157

Grumbling quietly to herself, Black Prism made her way down yet another long, empty hallway. After spending several minutes banging frantically on the steel door when she’d been locked out of the reverend’s lair, she received a number of garbled messages from Midnight Sparkle, from which, after several repeats, she managed to extract small fragments like: “find Pinkie,” and “get out.”

So, as instructed, she left the door to try to find another way around. It became apparent rather quickly that she would not be able to rejoin Knight Mare and Alphajack, as every turn she took led her farther from Father Tirek’s office, eventually leaving her no choice but to take the stairs down the next level, and then the next one after that, and so on, after giving up on finding the other two.

Sugar Shadows was last seen on the eighteenth floor anyway, so she continued downward, taking a quick --literally-- look around each level for her comrade, whose location had been unknown for the past while. Poor signal to her phone made checking the cameras next to impossible, but the lack of personnel indicated that they’d been attracted to something, which meant that the pink-haired girl must have been doing her job quite effectively.

Now on the nineteenth floor, Black Prism had found her path blocked by a large hole in the floor, which provided a window to the floor below. Looking down into the cavernous opening, she could see what appeared to be the ruins of a lounge or sitting area; shattered tables and chairs were strewn about, and a web wires and ductwork hung across the gap.

She drew a deep breath, realising this must have been where the ‘distraction’ had started when she heard the distant crackle of gunfire, making her look up across the pit, listening quietly.

A click sounded just behind her, the distinctive sound of a pistol being cocked. “Don’t move,” a male voice warned.

Black Prism turned slowly, peering over her shoulder to find a suited man pointing a gun at the back of her head.

“You and your friends think you’re pretty smart, don’t you?” he asked, to which she simply stared back for a moment. Then, with a sudden flash of colour, she disappeared, after which he felt the impact of a boot slam into the small of his back, sending him flying into the gaping hole to the level below, becoming entangled in the exposed wires on the way down.

Black Prism stepped up to the edge as he crashed into the rubble, leaning on her knee as she looked down to see where he’d landed. “Yeah, I do,” she said with a smart-assed smirk.

Again, the report of gunfire sounded again, followed by a loud boom, this time much closer, coming from behind. She spun around to look, just in time to see several suited men fly past the end of the hall, followed by the familiar screech of her friend’s voice.

“Cummon, cummon… CO’E TO ME!”

Another explosion, this time rumbling the floor under Prism’s feet. Two more screaming henchmen flew past the opening.

“Who jou think you fuckin with, mang!? I’ TONY MONTANA! JOU FUCK WI’ ME, JOU FUCKIN WITH THEE BEST!”

Black Prism’s eyes widened when she saw the sleek, curvy figure of Sugar Shadows enter her view, her hair frazzled and blow askew as she shook her fists in the air. “Pinkie?” she said incredulously to herself.

The other girl turned in her direction just as she spoke, spotting her through that black mask with her bright blue eyes. The arrogant sneer she wore disappeared suddenly, replaced by a bubbly grin.

“Oh hey! What’re you doing down here?”

“Looking for you,” Prism replied as she began to make her way over to meet her partner.

Sugar Shadows cocked her head, confused. “But… aren’t you supposed to be upstairs with the other?”

Black Prism paused, her eyes darting back and forth. “Uh… I, uh… kinda fucked up. I went after a couple guys instead of going for Adagio and I ended up getting locked out,” she explained, rubbing the back of her neck.

“Aww, poops.” Sugar Shadows folded her arms and sighed. “So what happened? Were they able to get her out without you?”

Black Prism shrugged. “I dunno. My phone reception has been shit. I assume they did, because I got some bits and pieces from Midnight telling me to find you and get out--which is why I’m down here.” She paused for a moment to glance over her shoulder at the massive hole behind her. “Speaking of which: it looks like you’ve been having fun down here. You know, all you needed to do was distract them, not destroy the place. This is, like, some nine-eleven shit right here.”

Sugar Shadows giggled. “Hehe! Yeah, I went a little overboard, didn’t I?”

“Heh! Yeah…” Prism stepped closer, smirking. “I see you were doing the ‘Scarface’ thing; Haha! What’d the bad guys think of that?”

“Uhh…” The pink girl paused for a moment. “I dunno… most of them seemed to scared to notice. I’ll tell ya one thing: getting shot is crazy!”

Prism’s eyes widened. “You got shot!?”

Sugar Shadows nodded. “Yeah.! Like a lot. Actually…” She began to shift her shoulders around, scrunching her nose as she slipped two fingers between the massive pink pillows that squeezed from the front of her outfit. Her tongue poked from the corner of her mouth while her fingers rooted around in that deep cleavage until finally, she withdrew to hold up a small, metallic object to show her friend.

Back Prism squinted at it for a moment, and then let out a hearty chuckle. “HA! You had bullet stuck in your tits!?”

Sugar Shadows giggled back, causing the boobs in question to jiggle.

“That’s awesome,” Prism smirked, holding her hand out for Sugar Shadows to drop the bullet into her palm. She smiled as she studied the object, rolling it around in her hand before facing her friend again. “When we get out, you should put this on a plaque with an inscription hat says: ‘I caught this bullet with my tits.’”

The other girl laughed as the round was handed back to her, and she placed it in her pouch with her marbles.

“Anyway…” Black Prism said, looking back and forth to survey the halls that branched off from their position. “Like I said, we’re supposed to get outta here. The problem is, there’s quite a few security doors; I had to take the stairs to get down here cuz I couldn’t get to any elevators.”

Sugar Shadows shook her head. “The elevators are crazy anyway; everyone’s been using them to come to the eighteenth floor, so we kinda have to steer clear of them if we’re trying to sneak out.”

“We should probably stick to the stairs, then,” Prism replied, rubbing her chin. “The problem is, the ones on this side will take us to the front lobby; we want the ones that go to the underground parking so we can go out the way we came, but on every floor there’s a security door keeping us from them.”

The other girl smirked and patted the small satchel on her belt. “I could always blow them open,” she suggested.

The rainbow-hawked girl chewed her lip thoughtfully. “No… that would make a lotta noise; they’d be all over our asses then. We gotta be quiet.” She let out a sigh and faced her comrade. “What need to do is take someone’s security card so we can get through those doors.”

They turned and looked at the pile of unconscious bodies beside them.

“Bingo.”

After a quick search of the men, however, the vigilantes came up empty-handed. A card could not be found on all of them, and the ones that were found were damaged in some way, either cracked, burnt, or otherwise destroyed and unusable.

“Crap,” Black Prism sighed as she stood again. “You couldn’t have gone a little easier on these guys?”

Sugar Shadows shrugged. “I wasn’t planning on taking their cards.”

Prism surveyed the bodies once more, scratching the back of her head. Then she shrugged, letting her hands fall to her sides. “Oh well. We’ll just have to find someone else.”

*****

Moments later, Black Prism and Sugar Shadows found themselves on the sixteenth floor via the stairwell. After opening the door a crack and taking a peek to make sure the hall was empty, they stepped out and jogged quietly to the right, stopping at the first opening on the left.

Placing her back against the wall, Black Prism leaned out slowly to peer around the corner into the next hall. Seconds later, she leaned back to face the pink-haired girl. “OK, there’s two dudes standing guard down there,” she whispered. “There’s a door about ten feet past them; it’s not a security door, but if this floor is like any of the others, there’ll probably be one after that.”

“So what’s the plan?” Sugar Shadows asked. “We take their cards and head through the doors to the other stairwell?”

“Yeah, but we gotta do it quietly,” Prism replied. “They’re pretty far away; even if I use my magic to rush ‘em, they’ll probably yell out and make a bunch of noise before I can take them out. Maybe if we lure them to--“

She paused suddenly, staring past her partner at the hallway beyond the stairwell door they’d just exited.

“What is it?” Sugar Shadows asked as Black Prism turned to look the other way.

“Hey… how long do you think this hallway is?” Prism asked, looking past the pink-haired girl again.

“Huh?” Sugar Shadows glanced both ways. “I dunno; pretty long. Why?”

“I wonder if it’s long enough to let me go into speed mode,” Prism replied as she turned to walk past her friend, heading back in the direction they came from. “Come on, let’s find out.”

“Ooh!” Sugar Shadows bounced after her. “You’re gonna try your super-speed thingy?”

“It’s the only way to do it without them making any noise,” Prism replied. “I’ll have to be careful with the card though; if I move it too fast it’ll fly apart and we’ll be fucked.”

“We could just find someone else,” Sugar Shadows pointed out.

“Yeah, but we don’t have all day. We gotta get outta here as fast as we can.”

Once they’d reached the far end of the hall, Black Prism peered through the narrow window to the door to check for more guards. Satisfied that there were none, she peeled one of her gloves off, stuffed it into her cleavage and then reached out to her friend.

“Here, I wanna try something. Take my hand.”

The pink-haired girl looked down at the bare hand for a moment, and then reached out to lace her chubby pink fingers with the blue ones of her friend. “What are we doing?”

“I’m gonna see if you go into speed mode with me,” Prism explained. “Anything that’s touching me when I go through comes in with me--which is a good thing because my clothes would rip off if they didn’t. That’s also why I had to stop wearing socks because my shoes kept flying apart.”

“Ohhhh! Because they’re touching your socks and not your feet?”

“You got it,” Prism said. “I’m kinda hoping that if I’m touching your skin, everything your touching will also go if it’s also touching your skin--buuuuuuut then again, I’ve never tried this, so I dunno. These suits are pretty tough, so hopefully they’ll stay in one piece if that’s not it works.”

“Here, what about this?” Sugar Shadows reached down with her other hand to move her friends hand so it wrapped her wrist, half on her sleeve and half on her skin. “Now you’re touching both!”

Prism Pointed at her face. “What about your mask?” she asked. “And your boots. I can’t hold on to everything, especially if we’re running. By the way, if you’re wearing socks, you should take them off.”

The other girl shook her head. “I’m not. They make my boots too tight. Hey! What about my marbles?”

“Oh shit, I never thought about that.” Prism rubbed her chin for a moment. “OK, just take your belt off and leave them here for now.”

Sugar Shadows looked hesitant. “You think it’ll be OK here?”

“Yeah. We’re literally gonna be a second--less actually.”

After a pause, the pink-haired girl nodded and unclipped her belt, rolled it up and then set it in the corner.

“Good.” Black Prism nodded. “Hopefully this works. The last thing we need is for your mask n’ shit to fly apart.”

“It’ll be fine. Like you said, this material is tough. It’s already been shot like a billion times, so…”

“OK, good.” Prism leaned forward, positioning herself for takeoff. “You ready?”

Sugar Shadows saluted, but remained standing upright, not considering the fact that she was about to get yanked off her feet.

Black Prism nodded. “Alright. Just don’t scream, OK?”

The pink-haired girl opened her mouth to draw a big breath and then hold it, her cheeks puffed out after pursing and sealing her lips.

The rainbow-hawked girl faced forward and drew a breath. “Here we go.”

She took off like a shot with a trail of colours in tow --as well as a friend whose feet barely touched the ground-- and raced down the long corridor like a streak, the end of which rushed up on them at an alarming speed.

See this, Sugar Shadows let the breath burst from her mouth and covered her face, about to shout at her friend to ‘look out’ when she was stopped by a loud noise that sounded like a thunderclap.

Everything went quiet. The girls were no longer rocketing forward; Black Prism skidded to a halt while Sugar Shadows stumbled clumsily, falling to her hands and knees.

Wide-eyed, she looked up at her friend. “What happened? Why’d it stop?”

“It didn’t stop, Pinkie,” Black Prism replied, reaching down to help her friend to her feet.

“Hey! You’re not supposed to use my name!” Sugar Shadows complained as she rose to her feet.

“Relax,” Prism said, giving her friend’s arm a little bump. “No one can hear us. Listen…”

The pair stopped for a moment. It was dead quiet.

“I can’t hear anything,” Sugar Shadows said, looking around.

“That’s cuz everything’s going to slow for us to hear,” Prism explained. “Come on.” She turned to head back to the hall where the two guards stood, dragging the other girl along by the wrist.

Black Prism dragged Sugar Shadows into the center of the opening to the corridor, standing brazenly in plain sight of the guards, who continued to stare straight ahead.

“Look. They haven’t even turned to see what few by yet,” Prism explained. “Let’s go.” She led Sugar Shadows down the hall straight toward the men.

They stood right in front of them, and Prism waved a hand on front of their faces to demonstrate to her friend that they were indeed trapped in a much slower time flow.

“See?” Prism smirked. “They don’t even know we’re here yet.”

“Ooooooooh!” Sugar Shadows leaned in close to stare into his eyes. “Time warpy!”

“OK,” Black Prism said, pulling her friend back. “I gotta search these guys for a security card, OK? But I gotta do it really slow, and I need both hands to do it.”

“You’re gonna let go of me?” Sugar Shadows asked, looking somewhat fretted.

“Yeah, but hear me out: your boots and mask are still in place, so my guess was right. Since you crossed over with me this time, you have my magic, too… for now, anyway,” Prism explained. “My guess is that if I let go of you, you should stay in here with me.”

“You think it’ll work? What happens when you take your clothes off in here?”

“Don’t know; never tried it. We’re about to find out, though. You ready?”

Sugar Shadows sighed. “Eh… I guess,” she replied hesitantly. “What if it doesn’t work?”

Black Prism shrugged. “Then you just knock these fuckers out! But I’m pretty sure it’s gonna work.”

The pink-haired girl let her head fall back to look up at the ceiling. “Ugh! Fine. Let’s do it.”

“OK. Here it goes,” Prism said as she opened her hand, releasing the other girl’s wrist. As soon as she did, Sugar Shadows went perfectly still.

Black Prism held her breath immediately, and she looked up into her friend’s face to watch her eyes. “Pinkie? … Pinkie? Hey!” She waved her hand in front of the other girl’s face and then snapped her fingers three times. “Pinkie!”

No response. Not so much as a blink.

Sighing, Black Prism placed her hands on her hips and shook her head. “Fuck. It didn’t work.”

“Yeah it did!” Sugar Shadows replied, making the other girl recoil.

“What the… PINKIE!” she hollered angrily . “Why didn’t you move?!”

“I dunno,” she shrugged. “I was just letting you do your thing!”

“My-- … how am I supposed to tell if it worked if you don’t move!?”

“Hahaha! Sorry, Dashie!”

Shaking her head, Prism let out a frustrated growl. “I swear to--UGH! Forget it. Let’s just do this and get the fuck outta here.”

She faced the first man, rubbing her hands together. “OK, bro. Let’s see what ya got for me.” Lacing her fingers, she turned her hands inside-out and cracked her knuckles. Then she reached in slowly, glancing up at his face to double check that he hadn’t moved. This was a difficult instinct to ignore.

Very slowly, she slipped her fingers inside the lapel of his suit jacket to move it aside. The fabric began to tear, however, making her pause for a moment.

She was going too fast.

After a deep breath and an exhale through pursed lips, Black Prism continued, making a conscious effort to take her time. Once the jacket was moved aside, she found a swipe card hanging against his chest by a black lanyard.

“Bingo,” she said aloud. “Now… I just gotta pick that card up without breaking it. Easy does it; not too fast.”

“You can do it, Dashiiieeeee!” Sugar Shadows whispered, shaking a loose fist in the air. She watched patiently as her friend slipped her fingers under the card with an extreme level of care, but, as always, being a person with a chronic shortage of patience, she lost interest and soon turned her attention to the man on the right.

She positioned herself so that his eyes were locked with hers--not that he’d had time to see her yet. She stuck her tongue out. Then she curled her upper lip and crossed her eyes. Then she projected her bottom jaw forward to create an exaggerated underbite while furrowing her brows. “Guuuuuuhhh… Hehehe!”

After clutching her gut for a little giggle, she brought on finger up and thrust it into the center of his forehead. “Poke, hahaha!” To her surprise, however, her finger sank into his forehead, two knuckles deep. Gasping, Sugar Shadows quickly withdrew her finger and looked over at Black Prism, eyes wide with shock.

Black Prism hadn’t noticed; she was too busy with the card.

Sugar Shadows faced forward again, peering into the new hole in the man’s forehead. She looked down at her finger, rubbing it together with her thumb. The sensation was strange; when her finger sank into his head, it didn’t feel hard at all. It felt soft, like a marshmallow.

It felt kind of neat, she thought.

She brought her eyes up to look into his face again, and after a short pause to ruminate further, she shrugged dismissively and brought her finger up again.

“Poke! Poke! Poke! Poke! Poke! Poke! Poke! Poke!” she chanted as she peppered his forehead with a slew of new holes.

This captured Prism’s attention, and she glanced to the right to what her partner was doing. Horrified by what she saw, she gasped, released the card and then reached over to slap the other girl’s hand down. “What the fuck are you doing!?” she shouted, to which Sugar Shadows returned a sheepish glance. “You totally just killed that guy, you do realise that, right!?”

Sugar Shadows gave her head a sly shake. “I don’t think so, Dashie,” she said quietly, eyes darting side-to-side. “Are you ready for this?”

“No.”

“I think… he’s actually made… of COTTON CANDY!”

Black Prism stared for a moment before closing her eyes and shaking her head. She brought her hand up to rub her forehead, groaning softly in frustration. “Ugh. How the hell did you even come to that conclusion? … HOW!?”

“Cuz is head is super-soft! Look!” She reached up to give the man’s head another jab, but Black Prism stopped her.

“It’s not soft, Pinkie!” Prism shouted. “You’re going super fast right now, remember? Your finger’s moving faster than a bullet when you do that; it’s like he’s getting shot in the head over n’ over!”

Mouth hanging open, Sugar Shadows faced the man again, his forehead now resembling Swiss cheese, thanks to her. “Oohhhhh! … Oopsie!”

“Ugh…” Black Prism rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Just… stand still, OK? And keep your hands to yourself! I need to concentrate on this.”

With a quiet huff, the pink-haired girl folded her arms and stood still, watching her friend do her thing.

After blowing a lungful of air from between her lips, Black Prism wiggled her shoulders around to loosen herself up. Then she reached out to cup her hand under the card, which was still suspended in the air, having not had the chance to fall back down to his chest. Once it was resting in her palm, she reached out with her other hand to flick the straps of the lanyard, cutting them off clean.

“There,” she breathed as she began to move the card closer. She quickly stopped, though, when she noticed the card had begun to flex and twist in her hand. “Shit.”

“Craziness!” Sugar Shadows proclaimed. “It looks like jello!”

“It’s cuz I’m going too fast,” Prism replied. “I gotta figure out a better way. I wonder if I…” She trailed off as she brought her other hand up to put it against the other, sandwiching the card in between. “Yeah… Gotta go super-slow, though,” she muttered, “don’t wanna break it.”

Sugar Shadows grew increasingly impatient watching her friend move with all the swiftness of the hour hand, and then this graduated into boredom that she announced with a sigh as she glanced at the sieve-headed man in front of her.

It was a strange sight, seeing a real person so still. It was like standing next to a mannequin--one with far more detail than usual. She pursed her lips and cocked her head to the side, taking more of this dead-but-not-yet person; he appeared to be middle-aged, as indicated by the white wisps in his sideburns, as well as the crow’s feet lining the corners f his eyes.

“Hm.” She looked him up and down once more; he was not overweight or unhealthy looking by any means, in fact he appeared to be in rather good physical shape.

She figured, since no one could see her anyway, that she might have a peek at his behind. What could it hurt? Just an innocent peek--after all, she did have a thing for older men, either with salt and peppered hair, in a uniform, or both.

Stepping to the side of him, she leaned over to have a look, but was quickly distracted by a strange shape on the back of his head. It caused her to pause for a moment, watching closely; there was a split separating his hair, lined by a thin red layer with a thicker off-white underneath, opening outward in pointed shards like an aperture of sorts. Amongst that was a red and gray mass, and as she watched it became apparent that it was moving outwards while the back of his head slowly opened like a flower.

Sugar’s eyes widened as she watched the mass inch its way outward, and she waved frantically to get the other girl’s attention. “Hey… Dashie? Dashie!” she called, becoming more flustered by the second. “DASHIE!”

“GAH!” Black Prism growled and separated her hands to release the card. “WHAT!?”

“Something’s happening!” Sugar Shadows screeched, bouncing anxiously on her heels. “This guy’s head is doing something!”

“What?” Prism sneered as she leaned in between the two men to see what the other girl was talking about. Once she saw it for herself, she immediately slammed her eyes shut and turned away. “Gah!” she cried, sticking her tongue out. “Ugh… huuugh!” She gagged violently, and then quickly slapped a hand over her mouth. “Nasty, man!”

“What is it!?” Sugar Shadows asked, standing out in front of him again.

“The back of his head is blowing out,” Prism explained as she kept her eyes facing the other direction, rubbing her temple.

Disgusted, the pink-haired girl grimaced. “Ew… WHY!?”

“Oh jeez, I dunno!” Black Prism replied sarcastically. “Maybe it’s got something to do with you poking a bunch of holes in his fucking forehead?”

Sugar Shadows paused, looking rather sheepish. “I… really?”

“Well, yeah!”Prism said. “Haven’t you ever seen what happens when some gets shot in the head? It creates, like, a pressure spike or something --I dunno, Sunset could probably explain it better than me; basically the JFK video-- so after what you did, jamming your finger in his head a bunch of times, especially that fast, you can imagine how much force you pushed his brain back with.”

“Uh… enough to blow the back of his head out?”

“Duh!” Prism shouted, before turning back to the card, which was suspended in mid-air. “Now for the last time, just be still and don’t… touch… anything!”

Sugar Shadows watched anxiously as her friend closed her hands over the card once again, clasping it between her palms with the utmost care and patience. Still bouncing on her heels, her eyes darted over at the man, trying to ignore what was happening. Curiosity soon got the better of her, however, and she leaned forward to take a peek at the back of his head.

“OOOH! DASHIE! IT’S LIKE HALFWAY OUT NOW!”

“Pinkie, shut-up!” Prism gritted her teeth, trying to keep herself steady.

“WHAT’RE WE GONNA DO!?”

“Nothing! Just leave it!”

“BUT… BUT IT’S GONNA COME RIGHT OUT!”

“Pinkie, I swear to god…”

“Ooh…” Sugar Shadows pranced on her tiptoes, rapping her knuckles together anxiously. “I can’t… I… I…” Panicking, she reached out with both hands, hesitated for a split second, and then reached round to the back of his head to push the brain back in.

Instead, his entire head mashed down into his neck, squashed as easily as cigarette smoke.

Her eyes bugged open, and she covered her mouth with her hands, drawing the longest, loudest and deepest gasp she’d ever drawn. “Oh… my… GOD!”

Prism did a double-take when she glanced over, seeing little more than some blood-soaked hair sitting inside his shirt collar. “Pinkie, FUCK! STOP TOUCHING HIM!”

“Holy crap, that other guy’s totally gonna freak out when he sees this! His head’s inside his CHEST!”

“Ya think!?” Black Prism barked, throwing her hands in the air. “Gah! You know what? We’re dropping out!” She reached over to grab the other girl’s wrist, and with a bright flash and a whoosh, everything returned to normal.

The headless man toppled to the ground, his blood and brains spattering the wall while the man with the card gasped, startled by the sudden presence of the masked girls. Black Prism wasted no time in planting a fist on his nose, knocking his head against the wall before reaching down to catch the card as it fell to the floor.

“Come on!” she shouted, grabbing Sugar Shadows by the wrist and zooming off with her, leaving a trail of colour filling the hall. “Get you shit!” she shouted after they stopped at the end of the hall so the pink-haired girl could pick up her belt and put it on. Then they zoomed back to the stairwell door, kicked it open, and took off down the steps to the next floor.

*****

After crossing the fourteenth floor to gain access to the rear stairwell, Sugar Shadows and Black Prism made the long trek down to sub level one and were now making their way through the halls in search of the underground parkade. It was quiet, eerily so; not many Ministry members could be found, and the place had an overwhelming feeling of impending doom about it--not for the girls, but for the place itself.

It was as if something catastrophic had happened, like the death of a king.

Staying close to the wall, the pair of masked girls wisped along in silence until they reached yet another corner, this one leading to another hallway on the right. They stopped for a moment to listen, and then Black Prism turned back to Sugar Shadows when she heard the sound of footsteps approaching.

She placed a finger to her lips to signal Sugar Shadows to be quiet, followed by the raising of three fingers, which meant there were three of them approaching, based upon the frequency of the footsteps. Sugar Shadows nodded, and then brought one fist up to drive it quietly into her other palm, suggesting that they go on the offensive.

Prism replied with a nod of agreement, and so they both approached the corner to listen, ready to pounce. Raising her hand, Black Prism counted by putting one finger up, then two, and then three, after which she whispered: “now!” And the pair of them lunged around the corner to attack.

They skidded to a halt, however, when they came face-to-face with Knight Mare, Alphajack and the Dark Mistress.

The five of them stood for a moment, wide-eyed, having not expected to run into each other like this.

“Oh… it’s you,” Prism said, standing easy. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Heading to the underground parking,” Knight Mare replied, before gesturing to the pair. “Which is where you two are supposed to be. What are you still doing here?”

“We were just on our way out,” Prism replied, her eyes shifting onto the Dark Mistress. “What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to meet us at the checkpoint after you were done at the church.”

“Slight change of plans, darling,” the Mistress replied. “I was forced come here after hearing about your little… ahem, mishap?”

Black Prism sneered. “What?”

“What do you mean, ‘what’!?” Knight Mare bellowed. “You were fucking around and you got locked out!”

“So? I--“ Prism stopped suddenly, noticing that someone was missing from the group. “Wait… where Adagio?”

Knight Mare threw her hands in the air.

“You guys don’t have her!?” Prism shrieked in surprise. “How fucking slow are you guys?”

“They got away,” Knight Mare explained. “There was a hidden elevator at the back of the room that we didn’t know about.”

The rainbow-hawked girl stared for a few seconds, then she threw her head back and groaned. “Awwww, shit! So now what?”

“We’re heading down to the underground parking to look for them.”

“How do you know that’s where they went?”

“We don’t,” Knight Mare replied. “But we already went to the roof to check the helipad and they weren’t there, so the only other option was to see if they were gonna get her out by car. That’s why you and Sugar Shadows were supposed to meet us down there; we need everyone’s help if we’re gonna find her.”

“I beg your pardon,” the Dark Mistress said, raising a finger. “Sugar Shadows?”

The pink-haired girl smiled and threw a hand up. “That’s me! Whaddaya think?”

The Mistress drew a breath, slowly. “I think… we need to work on a new name, perhaps.”

Sugar’s arm dropped back to her side. “Aww.”

In the meantime, Black Prism had narrowed her eyes, looking somewhat confused by something. “Wait… why was Midnight telling us to get out if we were supposed to keep looking for Adagio?”

Knight Mare shook her head. “You weren’t. You were supposed to get Sugar Shadows and meet us down here.”

“But she said…” Prism paused for a moment before deflating slightly. “Actually, my reception was pretty shit. I might have heard wrong; I thought she was telling us to get out, so I assumed you guys had Adagio.”

“No!” Knight Mare blurted. “We couldn’t get--“

“Listen, darlings,” the Dark Mistress cut in, hands raised. “We must keep moving if we hope to find her. Once that is finished, then you two can discuss whose fault this is until you’re blue in the face.”

Black Prism cocked her head at this, giving the Mistress a deadpanned look.

Knight Mare sighed and pinched the bridge her nose. “You’re right. We gotta keep moving.”

“Aw, hooey!” Alphajack waved dismissively, catching everyone’s attention. “Whut difference is it gonna make? They’s probably long gone with her by now! We already wasted a ton a’ time goin up ta the roof, and you guys are just getting down here now--“

Knight Mare cut in, facing Black Prism again. “Hey, yeah! What took you guys so long, anyway?”

“What?” Prism gestured to Sugar Shadows. “I had to find her, first of all, and then we had to get through the security doors…”

“UUUGH!” The Dark Mistress threw her hands into the air and marched off, heading down the hallway on the right. “I’m going. You’re welcome to follow me if you wish.”

The rest of them stood and watched her go, her hips swinging as her heels clopped along the tiled floor. With a deep breath, Knight Mare rolled her eyes and groaned. “Ugh… she’s right. Let’s go.” She then stepped away to follow the Mistress, waving the others along.

*****

The building, as large as it was, provided them with a longer than expected walk, but the smell of moist concrete and vehicle by-products eventually filled their senses, indicating that they were close. The hallway was now carpeted, which made moving along quietly a much easier task, not that they came across any Ministry members along the way--that is until they reached a point where the hallway floor took on a slight incline downward, leading to what they assumed was the entrance to the parkade.

After rounding a slight curve, however, they were forced to retreat and crowd the right-hand wall to hide behind the curve they’d just passed. About fifty feet ahead was a four-way intersection of hallways, at the center of which stood several men in suits, talking amongst themselves.

“So what happened? The boss is dead?”

“That’s the word going around.”

“At the church,” a third one said. “Right in front of fucking everybody.”

“Who did it?”

“Who’d you think? One of those masked bitches.”

Hearing the conversation, Black Prism reached ahead to top the Dark Mistress on the shoulder, prompting her to turn back to face her. “At least your job went off without a hitch, by the sounds of it,” she whispered.

“Ah. Yes, everything went as planned,” the Mistress replied.

“Sounds awesome; I’m sorry I missed it. Good job!” Prism said, offering her fist for a congratulatory bump.

After a glance at her friend’s hand, the Mistress gave a little smile. “Oh, why thank you!” she said, giving those shiny, black knuckles a soft pat with her fingertips before turning back to face the hallway again.

Black Prism paused for a moment and then rolled her eyes, letting her hand drop to her side.

Knight Mare, who was at the front of the line, turned back to face the others. “I say we take these guys out,” she whispered. “We don’t have time to sneak around anymore.”

The other girls nodded in agreement.

“Let’s kick their sorry asses!” Black Prism whisper-yelled, driving her fist into her palm.

Knight Mare nodded. “OK, let’s do it. On three. One… two… THREE!”

On cue, the girls lunged from their hiding spot and charged the unsuspecting group. The men were facing the other direction, so they were not immediately alerted to the attack, especially with the carpet padding their footsteps.

The team of girls had barely gone ten feet, however, when one of the men happened to face the hallway on the left and then gasped, shouting: “Holy shit!”

An instant later, a tall, slender figure in black emerged from the left. Brandishing a knife in one hand and a pistol in the other, the masked woman unleashed a whirlwind of flying heels, point-blank headshots and slashed throats onto the hapless gang of suits.

Seeing this, Knight Mare skidded to a halt and threw her arms out to stop the others. The girls stood there, wide-eyed and open-mouthed as they watched the nimble figure level the entire group within seconds, after which she stood quietly with her back facing them, amongst the bloodied corpses, surrounded by walls that’d been splattered in crimson like some kind of morbid abstract art.

After a quick survey of the scene, the figure disappeared to the left, into the hall from which she first appeared.

After blinking several times while trying to decide if she’d hallucinated the entire thing, Knight Mare slowly turned to face the others, only to find a sea of shocked faces, their many different coloured eyes staring out from behind those black masks.

Every one of them recognised that figure; that custard skin, that soft, pink hair. They knew exactly who it was, despite their logic trying to force them to deny it.

“Dang…” Alphajack muttered in awe.

After chewing her lip for a moment, Knight Mare finally spoke. “So, uh… is that who I think it was?”

The Dark Mistress nodded slowly. “I believe so, darling.”

Sugar Shadows pointed suddenly. “Look!”

Knight Mare spun around again. The girl had emerged from the left again, this time led by a pair of large dogs along with a companion, whose arm was slung across her shoulder as she limped along rather slowly. This companion also happened to have a very large head of curly, orange hair. The red-head’s eyes widened, gasping loudly. “Holy crap. HEY!” she shouted, waving a hand in the air.

The pair turned to look over their shoulders and then stopped, the dogs following suit soon after. “Oh… hey,” she replied, her soft voice barely making its way to them as she helped the other girl turn around to face them.

The group broke into a quick jog to catch up, but then slowed down to step through the scattered bodies and pools of blood before meeting the pair face-to-face.

Knight Mare dug her fingers into her hair, laughing incredulously as she approached. “Holy crap, you found her! How… how did you know where to look? What are you even doing here!?”

“It’s good to see you too,” FS1 replied with a warm smile. “But, um, we really need to--“

“Man, that was so… AWESOME!” Black Prism hollered, hands in the air. “Did you see how fast she took those guys out!? WACK! Fucking BAM!”

“Sure did, heh heh!” Alphajack replied. “And do even need ta ask where ya got the dogs from?”

“Pffft! Are you kidding?” Prism laughed. “Look who we’re talking about here!”

“Um, girls?”

“Oh my!” The Dark Mistress began fanning herself. “You simply cannot understand how delighted I am to see you here, wearing your suit!” she swooned. “You look absolutely stunning; even better than last time!”

“Thanks, but, um--“

“We’ve assembled an unstoppable team!” Sugar Shadows giggled. “Just like every eighties action movie EVER!”

“Girls?”

“Man, I can’t even,” Knight Mare continued. “How in the hell did you find--“

“GIRLS!”

Everyone stopped suddenly when the shy girl’s voice thundered down the hall with surprising weight, and each of them locked their eyes onto the shy girl, who gestured to Adagio.

“She’s in really bad shape,” FS1 explained. “We have to get her to the hospital, quickly.”

Knight Mare, who was standing the closest, took a moment to study the siren; her complexion was pale, her eyes glassy and distant, her clothes stained with blood.

“Oh shit,” she whispered as she quickly brought her fingertips to her earpiece. “Midnight? Midnight, what’s your location?”

No response.

“Fuck.” Knight Mare turned and pointed at Black Prism. “Get outside where the reception is good. Tell Midnight to bring the car to the rear garage entrance and that we’ll meet her there. Hurry!”

“Done and done!” Prism replied, before zooming off, leaving a trail of colour in her wake.

“OK, let’s get the hell outta here,” Knight Mare ordered as she stepped past FS1 to lead the way.

This prompted Alphajack to approach Adagio. “Come on, sugarcube. I gotcha,” she said as she gently scooped the siren up into her arms, eliciting a guttural groan from her when her hip flexed. “Sorry, sorry.”

As the group made their way toward the garage entrance, the Dark Mistress took a moment to wrap FS1 in a tight hug, followed by several smooches. “Thank you so much for coming,” she said, backing up a step while holding the other girl’s hands.

“Oh, um… don’t mention it,” FS1 smiled. “I felt bad after not coming for the last mission, so… I thought I’d take a position close by, just in case you needed help. And… um, it turns out you did.”

“We did indeed,” the Dark Mistress giggled, pursing her lips as her eyes slowly dropped to marvel at the plump, yellow cleavage nestled in the front of FS1’s suit.

“Hey…” FS1 said, pointing to her face. “Up here.”

“Oh!” The Mistress brought her eyes up again to meet her lover’s gaze. “Of course, darling! I… er…” Those alabaster cheeks of hers began to flush, partially hidden behind her mask. She glanced down the hall at the rest of the group, which had gained some distance on them. “I suppose we’d better get going, hm?”

With a nod from FS1, the pair jogged together to catch up to their teammates.

“OK, once Midnight has Adagio,” Knight Mare was saying, “the rest of us will go find our stuff, change, and disperse. Then we each call an Uber and head back home as planned.”

“Um… I actually have my car here,” FS1 pointed out, now walking hand-in-hand with the Dark Mistress, flanked by the two Dobermans as they trotted along. “It’s parked a few blocks away. “If one or two of us goes with in the car with Adaigo, then the rest of us should fit in my car.”

Knight Mare looked over her shoulder as she walked, her eyes dropping from FS1 to the dogs. “What about them?”

“Oh!” FS1 covered her mouth and giggled. “These cuties? They can lay down in the back; there’ll be plenty of room for them.”

The Dark Mistress giggled with glee, squeezing FS1’s hand tightly. “Oh god, I fucking love you, darling!”

Knight Mare smirked, then shrugged her shoulder. “Fair enough,” she said, looking forward again.

*****

It was now early evening on Sunday, May the 7th.

The entire group --plus the sirens-- was crammed into a small private room on the trauma floor of Canterlot hospital. The eight of us were either standing or sitting, watching quietly as Aria and Sonata sat on each side of the bed in which Adagio laid, each of them holding one of their sleeping sister’s hands.

Despite all the trouble these three women had caused over the years, their contemptible behavior, their manipulation, their thirst for power, it was difficult not to admit that it was a sweet sight, especially after their confrontation at the theatre. Even though they had a history of infighting, they were, at the end of the day, inseparable; all it took, it seemed, was the threat of losing each other permanently for them to realise it.

Aria and Sonata refused to take their eyes off of her. They were counting every second until she woke up.

She’d been battered and bruised, but there were no broken bones, luckily, so after a good stitching of her hip, she was given a blood transfusion and a slew of antibiotics to fight off infection. Adagio was expected to be fine--after a little recovery, of course.

Thanks to Fluttershy.

Speaking of which, she and Rarity were in a similar state of closeness, albeit with a slightly different undertone. It wasn’t difficult to see that Rarity was completely thrilled about the shy girl donning her suit and joining them on the mission; the two of them were stuffed into a chair together, giggling, nuzzling, and rubbing noses. One could practically smell the hormones cooking.

Sunset was seated in the only other chair available. On her lap sat the large, brown book that she used to write to the princess with. Hours earlier, she had done exactly that, believing that joining forces with the sirens was a newsworthy event. Now she was just waiting for a response.

I was standing next to her, letting her rest her head on my hip while I tousled those fiery locks with my fingertips. Bless her, she tried her best to look relaxed, but every one of us could tell that she was anxious to hear back from the princess.

The rest of the girls were scattered about, some of them leaning against the wall, some with arms folded, some with their phones out to pass the time. Rainbow Dash was apparently the first to tire of playing games, so she clicked the device off and slipped it into her pocket.

“So…” she sighed, folding her arms. “I’ve been thinking.”

“Uh-oh,” Applejack teased, head down and arms folded, her hat pulled down to cover her face.

Dash ignored her and continued. “I’ve wondering: how many of those guys actually knew who we are? Like, is there a chance that we could get exposed or something?”

Twilight rubbed her chin--thoughtfully, as always. “Hmm. That’s a good question. Unfortunately, there is no concrete answer. Chances are, with the sirens informing them so recently, there’s a good chance that only the higher-ups were privy to that information. If it’d been longer, it may have trickled down through the ranks more completely, but at the end of the day we have no idea who knows our real identities.”

“That ain’t too reassurin,” Applejack said, lifting her hat up with her thumb to look at Twilight. “It ain’t gonna be good if everyone finds out who we are.”

Sunset spoke up next. “I read quite a few of them while we were in there.” She shook her head. “I couldn’t find anyone who knew who we were. I think Twi is right--although I was pretty worried when that guy escaped with Adagio, but when we ran into her and Flutters I figured she had him looked after.” She turned to face the shy girl. “Right, Flutters?”

“Oh, um… yeah. I looked after him. Three times, actually.” She let out a soft giggle next. “And I got two sweet, adorable puppies out of the deal!”

“You think they’ll be OK at the shelter?” asked Pinkie Pie, who was standing behind Sonata with her hands on her shoulders.

“Oh, yes! They’ll make perfect guard dogs!” Fluttershy giggled as Rarity nipped at her earlobe.

AJ shook her head. “They gonna rip someone’s friggin leg off… HEY! You two wanna go find a room, er whut?”

The lovers froze upon being called out by the farm girl, their eyes darting around at the rest of us. Fluttershy’s cheeks quickly turned a bright shade of crimson while Rarity attempted to laugh the remark off.

“Ah, haha… that won’t be necessary, darling; we’ll be quite alright,” she said, clearing her throat as she looked down to smooth her skirt out.

“Yeah, sure,” Rainbow Dash grumbled after an eye roll. Then she faced Sunset. “Any word from Princess Twilight yet?”

Sunset shook her head. “No,” she replied, opening the book to check anyway.

“Hm.” The rainbow-haired girl sighed, letting her eyes wander the room for a moment before settling on the sirens, specifically Aria. Then she cocked her head, furrowed her brow and turned to Twilight. “So… what’s the deal with that pendant? Where’d they even get that thing?”

Twilight paused for a moment, caught off-guard by the question. “Her pendant?” she asked, pointing to the purple siren, to which Dash nodded. “Well, it’s pretty simple really; it has a camera in it, used for spying… or investigative journalism--whatever you want, really.”

“How about blackmail?” Sunset interjected flatly.

Everyone turned to face Aria, who, for the first time, took her eyes from Adagio to look around at us. After rubbing her lips together for a moment, she exhaled softly and looked down at her sister’s hand. “Well, first of all, we got it from someone we knew. It was part of a trade, where--“

“We stole it,” Sonata cut in, quite matter-of-factly, drawing a sigh from her sister.

“Yeah,” Aria said quietly.

“Fer what?” Applejack asked. “What d’ya need somethin like that fer?”

“Yes,” Rarity added, “and I am dying to know how you knew to wear it to your meeting with Father Tirek, since they managed to catch you rather off-guard in the end.”

Aria and Sonata glanced at one another for a moment. Then Aria faced the group once again. “It was a… source of income for us, I guess. So… yeah, Sunset is technically right. And no, we didn’t know to wear it to the meeting with Tirek; we just happened to be ‘working’ that night, so it was just luck, really.”

Twilight was tapping the tip of her nose, her curiosity piqued by this. “Define: ‘working.’”

Aria drew a breath, and then held it for a moment before continuing. “It’s like this: one of us will hit the bars --or clubs, or whatever-- wearing the pendant. We… then look for… rich-looking dudes, basically. Rich-looking married dudes, specifically. We mack up on them, flirt with them, touch them, whatever it takes to get them to take us to a hotel room or something where we can seduce them.

“Obviously, the whole affair gets recorded on the pendant, and we use that after the fact to get them to give us money--otherwise we send the footage to their wives. It worked pretty well, most times--as long as we could get them to sleep with us, or even just do ‘stuff’; got some pretty good payouts a couple times.”

The rest of us glanced around at one another, surprised, but not really surprised to hear this.

“Wow,” Dash snorted. “That’s fucking dirty, even for you guys.”

Aria shrugged. “What other options did you leave us after taking away our powers?”

“Gee, I dunno, maybe ya could try earnin an honest livin?” Applejack shrugged. “I woulda gave ya a job at the farm, if it came down ta it.”

The siren sneered at the prospect. “I’ll pass, thanks.”

“So… wait,” Twilight waved her hand to bring the conversation back on track. “Is that what you were doing when you met Tirek’s men in the bar?”

Aria nodded. “Yeah. They had suits and looked pretty well off, so we approached them, but when the conversation turned you guys, we jumped on the chance to use them to get back at you--and then, or course, they turned on us, and… well, you know the rest. But… luckily, I was able to film everything without them knowing, and they sent me out to do their dirty work not knowing that I had video proof of Tirek acting like a psychopath.”

“Hm… and the rest is history, I suppose,” Rarity smirked. “Though I would have preferred you came to me before you destroyed my boutique.”

Aria shrugged. “I had no idea what I to do. The timing was all messed up, and I was flustered and not thinking straight…” She paused, closed her eyes and shook her head. “Trust me; there’s a lot of things I would do differently if I could go back, and that was no exception. I don’t even know why I came to you, Rarity. It was a total snap decision; I didn’t know what else to do.”

Sunset sat upright and offered a friendly smile. “You did the right thing--for obvious reasons. The Ministry is gone, and the city is now--“

The red-head was cut off when the book began to vibrate in her lap, beams of violet light emanating from between its pages. After a quick glance around at everyone, she opened the book and scanned the pages.

“Is it the princess?” Dash asked excitedly. “Did she reply!?”

“Yeah,” Sunset replied, staring at the page.

“Well what’s it say?” AJ asked.

Sunset drew a breath. “It says:

’Dear Sunset Shimmer,

It’s so nice to hear from you after all these years! Thank you so much for messaging me. I thought I might hear from you after my meeting with your friend Golden Arrow--which was a lot of fun by the way, even though it took me half a day to recover from it--‘“

Sunset gave me a dirty look after reading this part, making me face the other way, scratching behind my ear.

”’But that’s OK, it sound like you’ve been very busy, and that’s a good thing! I understand completely. I’m busy too, so I am technically just as guilty.

Anyway, to reply to your letter: this is amazing news! I was already aware, thanks to Golden Arrow, that Sonata had already decided to join you, and when I learned that, I knew that someday the other two might eventually come around--it was just a matter of when. And sometimes, all it takes is a little strife to bring people together, and to realise that sometimes, even enemies need each other to survive, and this invariably leads to a partnership, and then eventually, friendship.

Because this is such a big occasion, I’ve brought it to the attention of Princess Celestia. She was very happy to hear this, but was also quite concerned about the lifestyle the sirens had been forced to take in the absence of their magic. I know it’s easy to say, ‘well, they should just get a job,’ but they are centuries old, and that style of living is not easy to change so suddenly.

Because of this, Princess Celestia has decided that she wants to meet Adagio, Sonata and Aria in person to discuss their futures.”

Aria and Sonata perked up immediately and locked eyes with each other first, then they both faced Sunset, listening intently as she continued.

”’The issue is --and some of you learned this the night I visited Golden Arrow-- is that when Starswirl the Bearded banished the sirens to your world, placed a ‘screen spell’ on the portal, meaning the sirens are essentially ‘locked out’ of Equestria, unable to return. Now, it IS possible for Princess Celestia to remove the spell, but the risk in doing that is that we don’t know what OTHER dangers the spell might be keeping out of Equestria. In light of this, Princess Celestia has decided that she is going to…’”

Sunset trailed off rather suddenly, her eyes widening as they darted faster and faster across the page. The rest of us watched, curious as to what the letter said.

Leaning closer, Rarity decided to ask. “Er, darling? What did she say?”

Sunset looked up at the fashionista, mouth open, eyes wide as saucers. Then she glanced around at the rest of us, eventually landing on the sirens.

“Princess Celestia is coming here…” she said.