Chapters Is love real, or is it just an illusion of happiness we hold onto to stay sane
Love was never a thing to me, it was just a word without meaning. I had never experienced this “falling” for someone, and I highly doubted anyone would ever “fall” for me either. With a sigh, I looked up at myself in the bathroom mirror, the light from the ceiling glinting off it and into my eyes. I had a cherry colored mane, and cyan blue fur. I looked away from the mirror, turning my head to close my teeth around the brush next to my sink. When i felt my teeth squish satisfyingly into the grip, I turned my head again to begin brushing my coat smooth after a night of tossing and turning.
As soon as I finished, I shot one last look at the me in the mirror before retreating back into my bedroom, heading for the closet. As I neared it, something seemed… off.. But i didn’t know what gave me that vibe. Stopping, I looked around the room slowly, and noticed that it was deafly silent, the usual humming of the heater turned off, making the whole room eerily quiet. A pony in my head began screaming at the top of her lungs that it was a trap. Crap, that was enough watching space wars for me.
Shaking my head to get the pony to stop screaming, I continued to walk forward, but now a bit more cautious, my eyes darting around. “Why does this feel like the start of a horror movie?” I whispered quietly to myself, and moved forward a bit faster. Either a filly or an adult, that doesn’t banish the fear of a creature like Jason pouncing on you from the shadows. Reaching my closet after what felt like hours, even though I knew I only took 10 seconds flat, I slowly stretched a hoof forward, suddenly wishing I was a unicorn and not an earthpony and could use magic to open it. I opened it slowly, flinching as the door to my closet squeaked loudly.
“EEP!” I jumped backwards and cowered behind the couch, before slowly peaking over the side of the couch. Nothing was there. I just got scared by nothing. I groaned, both internally and externally and got out from behind the couch, walking over to the closet and grabbing the thing I had come back in for, my suit. That’s about when the pony in my head had a heart attack.
A jack-in-the-box, hidden behind my suit till now, sprang out at me, laughing maniacally as it did so. Startled, I let out a scream and backpedaled, dropping my suit out of surprise. Then i felt my back leg hit the leg of the couch, and I stumbled backwards. “Oooohhh, this is gonna hurt,” I moaned, just before my back slammed against the floor, knocking the wind from me as well as an “oomph”.
I layed there for a bit, stunned, before the pony in my brain recovered and told me to get back up. Groaning, I holstered myself up on a hoof, looking at the jack-in-the-box with a look that would kill Medusa. I got all the way back onto my hoofs, and limped back to where I had dropped my suit, and picked it back up. Before sliding it on though, I knocked the jack-in-the-box onto the floor and jumped on it a few times. Okay maybe a couple more than a few. Maybe a lot of times. I finished panting, and smiled nastily before singing “revenge can be sweet~,” and beginning to slip my suit on.
An hour later I was being chased by police ponies. While the pony in my head scolded me for how sloppy I had been, I darted into alleys, down narrow passageways and other places making it hard for me to be followed. Hearing the sirens fading away, I sighed and slowed down. I trotted down the alleys and passageways now, taking a shortcut home and enjoying the sights a bit. True there wasn’t much to look at besides trash bins and stray animals, but seeing the animals were enough to make the trip interesting.. and also pull a couple strings in my heart.
I wanted to take one of them home so bad, but I was barely supporting myself and that was with minor theft helping, I wouldn’t be able to sustain myself and one of the strays. While passing a mildly lit alley, I saw something that pulled more than just a few of my heartstrings. My whole heart wrenched at the sight, and I dropped the purse i had been carrying, slackjawed. It was a stray kitten, seeming barely old enough to have its eyes open, covered in grey and white kitten fluff. Its pink mouth was wide open as it squeaked and mewled pitifully, and I was trapped, starring at its skinny body and green eyes.
My whole heart told me to take it, to keep it with me and forget the money and just take care of it. But my head said too leave it, that I couldn’t support a cat in the household. I was torn, and I didn’t know what to do. That's when the kitten spotted me, and began mewling louder and more desperately, trying to walk towards me on its short stubby legs. It was way too much. I grabbed the bag and threw it in the direction of my house, before rushing to the kitten, gently taking it into my hoofs as it continued to squeak, its eyes going half lidded as it looked up at me.
It wasn’t just skinny, it was starving. I couldn’t support a starving kitten. But if I didn’t it would probably die by tomorrow. But if I took it with me then we would both starve unless I did more dangerous heists. But then at least if I pulled off just 1 big heist we would be set for a while, right? I stared at it, my eyes brimming with tears as I realized the cold hard truth. I couldn’t take care of this kitten, and it would die tomorrow. I stared, the tears beginning to roll down my cheeks as the kittens mewling died down, and its eyes closed. I knew it was just falling asleep do to the fast rise and fall of its chest, but even so this seemed a horrible way to leave it, to let it wake up with a glimmer of hope to be dashed because the pony who could have helped was gone.
I lowered my hoofs to the ground, the kitten sleeping on them, ready to put him back on the cold stone of the pavement. But I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. Immediately my hoofs changed course and I hugged the kitten to me, still crying but now a slight smile teasing the corners of my mouth. I wasn’t going to leave this poor thing to die. I just couldn’t, and I would take care of it even if it killed me. And then I felt someone tap me from behind.
I spun around, looking up wide eyed at a stallion, covered in a black cloak with an S symbol on the front, and I could see a mask discarded near where I had thrown the purse. I could tell it was a hero, or at least a hero wanna-be, standing in front of me, and I hugged the kitten tighter to my chest, casting my eyes down.
“What exactly are you holding, thief?” He said stonily, and I flinched at the word “thief”.
“It’s a stray kitten I just found, I was going to take it home and try to take care of it,” I responded quietly.
“Oh really? Then why were you about to set it down again, right back down in this alley?” he said coldly, and with that I looked up at him, and caught sight of his blue eyes, glimmering in the alley despite the dark lighting. His hair was brushed back in a wave, and although most of his body was covered by the cloak, I could tell he had sea-green fur from the fur on his head. I stared at him for a couple seconds, then responded “I don’t have a cutiemark so I was never able to get a job, who wants a pony who doesn’t know what her talent is, right? I can barely feed myself, and thats off the petty theft I do, because I don’t want to steal but have too to live and keep my house. I know if I take this cat I will probably kill myself, but my life is already heading for a dead end right? Why take a kitten down with me and have that hanging over my head too?”
He seemed to take in what I said, and his eyes softened, traveling to where my cutiemark would be under the suit, then looked back to me, asking softly “What is your name, miss?”. Although it was the simplest question he could have asked me, my heartbeat sped up, and I could feel the blood rushing to my face, but not out of fear for how he would react to the answer. Why was my body doing this? “M-my name is Misty Sunrise, after my blue coat and my pink mane like the sun rising,” I stuttered, and I could feel myself blushing as my heart sped up even more. Well at the very least the kitten seemed to be enjoying my warmth, snuggling against me as if trying to hear my heartbeat as it sped up. Little traitor, he was enjoying my… not quite discomfort, but something else I didn’t know the word for.
He offered me a hoof, and I took it, a bit startled with how suddenly he had went from hero to kind. “I’m Riptide, and no thats not just a hero name,” he smiled, and… was that a bit of pink on his cheeks? What was happening to us?! Was it a disease that the kitten was transferring to us!?
“N-nice to meet you I guess, although it could have been under better circumstances,” I said, giggling a bit “You can take the purse back to the pony I took it from, last time I saw she was about to go into a bar,” the smile that had been building faltered at those words, and I knew that without the purse I would only be able to feed the kitten now in my hoofs.
“Okay, but not before -” I knew what was coming, and I hung my head, before it shot back up at the words “come over to my place for a while and eat, i’ll show you the way,” he finished, smiling “You obviously did have a need for what you took, even if it was wrong, so let me help you along for a while.”
I was speechless, and all I could do was nod, hobbling after him on three legs, the third carrying the kitten. What was this strange feeling I felt towards him? I didn’t get it, but I had the feeling I would find the word for this feeling… eventually.
Author's Note
just to say this is my first long story, so I hope everyone enjoys this! also mind the occasional text errors please.
What I was doing was absolutely insane. I was willingly following a hero, into his home, and he was fine with it. The pony in my head started screaming it was a trap again, but I knew even if it was I had to take the chance so I could get this kitten fed. Plus if he attacked me at his house at least this strange feeling would go away. At least I think it would.
“Soo, if Riptide is your real name, then whats your hero name?” I asked, trying to break the slightly awkward silence.
“That’s the funny thing, my hero name is also Riptide,” he said, a small smile forming on his lips.
“What!? How do people not know your you then!?” I shouted probably a bit too loud, and I scolded myself in my head.
“Simple, I wear a mask,” he responded simply “You would be surprised how different someone can look with a mask on or off, even if it just covers the eyes.”
Genuinely confused, I asked “Why would you wear a mask just to cover your beautiful blue eyes?” and as soon as the words were out of my mouth I blushed. Crap, that just came out. He turned his head to me, the same eyes I had mentioned wide eyed and staring right at me. I guess both of us had been caught off guard with that question. “I-I mean ugh..” I stammered, but couldn’t find any other way to rephrase what I had just said.
This time the pink in his cheeks were unmistakable, and the pink went surprisingly well with his sea-green coat. I actually had to hold in an “aww” noise, which I normally only reserved for cats and other animals. “U-uhm, well thank you, but I have to do it from people who have weird powers with eye contact control from getting me or something like that,” he responded, stuttering a bit himself. Okay now the fight was real, and I had to at least whisper “aww”, which he seemed to hear and blush more, speeding up and turning his head so I couldn’t see it. In my opinion that was even cuter, but this time I could contain it.
By the time we were almost there I had moved the kitten onto my back, it bouncing up and down as I trotted next to Riptide, purring loudly enough for the both of us to hear it. Riptide stole a glance at it, and smiled, his eyes softening even more just like they had after I had explained about the kitten. This in turn made me smile, knowing I had found another animal lover. Even if that animal lover was going to trap me in his house and beat me up, at least it would be someone who likes cats.
“What are you going to name her?” He asked suddenly, looking over at me. Caught off guard, it took me a second before I could say “I was thinking maybe cloud, because he is pretty fluffy and he is gray like some clouds, but considering his luck I don’t think he should be called rainy cloud but just cloud,” I said, looking back at Riptide and smiling a bit. He nodded smiling back, and we both looked back forward, the house appearing in the distance.
My hoofs hurt from all the walking we had been doing, and my mind was wasted from the emotional stress from earlier. All together I was a sleepy kitten-carrying reck. Unknowingly I began to get closer to Riptide, and he looked over at me, an eyebrow raised questioningly. I yawned, and got close enough that our bodies were touching, and he blushed again looking away. Even while my mind moved at the speed of molasses, I wondered if the kitten had given us some kind of disease that made the blood constantly rush to your face and make you blush.
The house was only a couple yards away now, and by now I was leaning on him. He didn’t seem to mind though, so I kept doing it. The warmth coming off his body was making me more sleepy by the second, and I yawned again. I didn’t even notice as I felt the ground beneath my hooves go from dirt and stone too wood as we stepped onto his porch. I did notice however when he opened the door to his house, and led me inside. It smelled… pleasant, inside. Like a combination of roses and cinnamon. I breathed in deeply, and the smell seemed to restore some of my energy and I stopped leaning on him.
To my surprise I thought I heard a quiet sigh when I stopped, as if he was actuely enjoying it. I smiled, and bumped the side of his flank with my own “You got any food we could feed this little kitten?” I said, adding a hint of teasing to let him now I heard. He blushed, and headed for the kitchen with me following. “I have some raw meat which I hadn’t cooked yet, and some fish so it could maybe have the fish or the raw meat to give it a good source of protien,” he said, looking over at me.
“Lets go with the raw meat for Cloud,” I answered, and in turn he got the meat out and an old looking bowl, putting the meat in the bowl. “I hope its old enough to eat meat, because I know i don’t have any milk,” I said worriedly, and he looked at me seeming surprised. I looked back at him, confused what I said to surprise him, before he remarked “I’m honestly surprised someone hasn’t gotten to a pretty mare like you,” and of course we both blushed.
“You know what I think is happening?” I said to him, a blush still painting my cheeks.
“What?”
“The cat gave us some kind of disease that is making us say things unplanned and constantly blush,” I answered, and he laughed, making me smile. “I never heard of a disease that does that” he said teasingly, and put a hoof to his chin as if thinking it over. I giggled, and nudged him with my head, saying “well mister disease expert, could you help me get this kitten off my back and wake Cloud up?”
He nodded, and together we gently moved Cloud onto the floor, the sudden coolness waking it up with a disappointed mew. Getting wobly onto its feet, it looked up at me, seeming confused as its tiny belly rumbled loudly enough for me too hear. My heart cringed, and reaching down I gently bit it’s scruff, earning a squeak as I moved and placed it right next to the bowl.
Its little pink nose twitched, and it peered into the bowl seeing the raw meat. It crouched down, its tail in the air and its eyes narrowed, and I stayed quiet, watching next to Riptide. Bemused, I watched as it pounced on the meat, mewing triumphantly before beginning to eat. I sat down, getting a bit closer to Riptide so our bodies touched, and he sat down as well. The feeling that i felt towards him was.. Getting stronger, and I couldn’t say I didn’t enjoy it. Thats when I realized something and groaned.
He looked over at me, an eyebrow up questioningly, and even the kitten stopped eating for a second. “This suit is the only thing I have, its almost dark and I have no other clothes to wear while here,” I moaned, putting my hoofs too my eyes as the pony in my head sing songed that I was stupid. That pony was a traitor, and I needed to find some way to get it out of my head. Then it shut up as Riptide put a hoof around me, and I blushed surprised “Well you can stay here for the night, and then I could go get you your clothes in the morning, then if you want you can leave with them,” he offered. “Although I was hoping you would stick around for a while,” he added, nudging my neck with his nose. That helped the blood rushing too my cheeks as much as a flesh wound would, or in other words it only made it worse as I blushed more.
In my mind though I knew I wanted to stay a while, so I simply nodded and leaned into him a bit. Then I got an idea, and took my hoofs off my face for a second and smiled evily “Oh alright, but I get to use the bathroom and shower first in the morning, and you aren’t aloud to peak~” I said teasingly, and he giggled. “I wouldn’t dre- okay thats a lie I would, I won’t peak don’t worry,” he said, his small joke earning a laugh from me as well.
I yawned again, and looked up at him “Do you have a guest room I can sleep in?” I asked tiredly. He nodded, standing up and began walking towards a room, which I shortly followed. I heard the kitten squeaking excitedly behind us, and paws against carpet as it followed us. He led me too a fairly plain room, a bed located in the corner with a small dresser next to it, which I immediatly retreated too. Slipping under the covers, I let the warmth envelope me, sighing happily. After a couple seconds, I felt sudden pressure on the side of my body and a vibrating sensation, I could tell the kitten had jumped up with me.
I smiled as it crawled forwards so it was right against my chest, and snuggled there, purring happily. I looked over at Riptide one last time and smiled, just before falling asleep.
Author's Note
Things seem to be linking pretty fast,but will it last?
Sleep began to slowly slip away from me, and as it did I began to wake up, yawning and stretching my hoofs out. As my mind woke up with me, the pony in my head charted down 1 day without a nightmare, which was weird. Most nights I woke up in a cold sweat, having a nightmare of being caught by the cops or a hero pummeling me into a pulp. Today though I had woken up fine, no dreams being better then nightmares.
I opened my eyes, immediatly closing them again from the light. Opening them again, more slowly this time, I looked around, feeling the body of the kitten against my chest, still sound asleep as I checked my surroundings. Fear clouded my mind as my eyes took in the unfamiliar walls, before a breeze of memmory washed by to remind me I was in Riptide’s house. Sitting up, the kitten squeaking in protest as it woke up do to my movement.
I looked down at the kitten and smiled, using a hoof to scoop it up and hold it too my chest, scooting out of bed with my other three unoccupied hoofs. Standing up wobbily, I began to make my way out to the kitchen, looking down at my hoofs too make sure I wouldn’t trip. Unlike my house, Riptide’s was clean, and I had no trouble getting to the kitchen table where I layed the kitten down, it blinking up at me drowsily.
“I want you to stay here for a second, alright kitten? “ I told it, petting it along its little spine for emphasis. It purred in response, and I turned and headed towards Riptide’s room, wanting to check if he was awake. Quickly making my way to his door, I put my ear against it, listening in for a second. Inside I heard the soft, rhythmic breathing of a pony in sleep, and I smiled. What does his room look like? Wait, no no that would be a bad idea, I might wake him up. To that the pony in my head argued he would wake up anyway if I did, and I gave in to my curiosity and slowly opened his door, hoping it wouldn’t squeak.
As his door opened, I heard a radio playing in the corner, currently on “crawl out through the fallout”. Oh, so he was into those kinds of songs aye? As if to prove my point, the current song finished and began playing “atom bomb baby”, which randomly made me blush. Okay, if I needed any more proof that it was the kitten’s fault that was the final nail in the coffin.
Speaking of that kitten seemed to summon it, and the kitten came charging down the hall at the quiet sound of the door opening, charging into Riptides room like a tiny bull, jumping up onto the bed and directly onto his stomach. This action caused a not so subtle “oomph” to escape from his mouth. Well, trust a recently awakened kitten to be the one spreading its energy to all. I giggled as Riptide slowly sat up, looking at the kitten acussingly with drowsy eyes and slurred through his sleep “I didn’t order a kitten bomb, sorry,”
“Well the mailmare decided to give you a free package,” I said teasingly, and at the sound of my voice he seemed to suddenly become more awake.
“Oh, well then can you keep this free package from jumping on my stomach? I would like it not to come out through my mouth,” he teased, and the kitten pawed at his muzzle as I giggled.
A couple minutes later we were both out of bed and sitting at the dining table, the kitten following behind and pawing at our back hoofs as we walked. Of course neither of us minded, especialy once when the kitten missed my back hoof and tumbled onto its back, sneezing and looking up at us upside down, making us both laugh. “So, what are you craving for breakfast?” he asked, getting out some raw fish and putting it into the cats food bowl, much to its joy.
“Well, to that I have to ask what are the options?” I responded, tilting my head to the side.
“We got pancakes, sau -”
“I would enjoy having some pancakes,” I cut in, not wanting him to complete that word. Plus, who doesn’t love a pancake breakfast now and then? He nodded, and turned around back to the fridge to get the supplies to make some.
“Want any blueberries in it?” He turned his head and asked, and I considered, my attention being dragged to his blue eyes unintentionally. That same weird feeling went through my body, and I smiled, knowing just what to say to fan the flame of that feeling, whatever it was. After a night to let my head rest, I noticed it was some form of… wanting… but I didn’t know what I would want from this stallion yet. “Sure, I’ll take some blueberries, even though none of them are as blue as your sparkling eyes~” I purred, making him blush. The little pony in my head did a happy dance, both happy about its success and the fact he was looking adorable again.
“W-well thank you for the compliment, and alright,” he stuttered, and turned back around so I couldn’t see his face anymore. After a couple minutes of petting the now stuffed kitten, he began to put everything on the pan and start making the pancakes, in which I made a small “whoop” noise from my place, making him chuckle. I smiled, but that smile quickly vanished as the doorbell to his house sounded, surprising me.
“Had you expected too see anyone today?” I whispered, and he shook his head, walking to the door and peeked out to see who it was. He let out a sigh of what i recognized as relief, just before opening the door. Standing outside it was an aqua colored unicorn with blue eyes, her mane covering one of her eyes and flowing over one shoulder, a friendly smile on her face. She smiled at Riptide, and I wondered who she was, a strange twinge feeling plucking at my heart at the way she smiled at him. As she noticed me, her smile widened and a sly eyebrow raised up “Why hello, who are you?” she said slyly, making me slightly uncomfortable, as if I was apart of some plot.
“I’m Misty Sunrise,” I said, looking away from her uncomfortably. I could feel her gave leave me and switch back to Riptide.
“Why do you have a pretty mare seeming to be currently living in your house Riptide~” she said, and although the compliment was nice the same twinge plucked at my heart, as Riptide stuttered to respond. “U-uhm, she is just staying over for a while, i’m currently helping her take care of a stray kitten she found,” he said, and I could tell a blush was on his cheeks. As if on que, Cloud jumped onto the dining table and mewed at the newcomer.
She smiled at cloud, and responded “aww, well isn’t that sweet of you, although i have the feeling something is builiding between you two,” and with that she winked at both me and Riptide, making the both of us blush. Feeling suddenly mischievous, I leaned over to Cloud and said in a silky voice, “I think our guest would like a big hug, why don’t you go supply her one~” which cloud seemed to have no problems doing, which he showed by suddenly springing off of the table and onto her neck, wrapping his paws around it as she shrieked in surprise. As a satisfied smile spread across my lips, and Riptide shot me a look. I returned it innocently, but winked with my right eye, making him smile mischievously. I mouthed while the pony was still shrieking “I have no idea why Cloud did that Riptide, it “wasn’t” me~”, which he returned with an eyeroll.
She finally finished freaking out, and gently pulled Cloud off her neck. He looked up at her innocently, his tongue sticking out of his mouth just slightly. Man, he was good at pulling off the “i’m too cute to be mad at “ look. After a sigh, she put Cloud back on the dinning table, and nudged Riptide with her side “Mind introducing me to her?” she teased, and he cleared his throat in turn. “Misty this is Tsunami, my sister,” he said, and any of those twinges I had washed away, like the morning tide pulling away. I smiled, and held out my hoof which she took and shook.
She shook a lot harder than I thought, and my arm continued to shake even after she was done, and I had to stop it with my other hoof. “As much as I would like to stick around for a while, Riptide you need to flip your pancakes,” she said, before walking out the door while Riptide looked at the pancakes, which was at the perfect amount and he flipped it to get the other side as well. I relaxed in my chair a bit, and Cloud crawled onto my lap under the table, purring softly. I looked down at it and smiled, and I began to gently pet it along its spine, its purring increasing.
After a couple minutes Riptide finished the pancakes and brought them to the table, placing them in front of us as he took a seat beside me. I noticed the lack of utensils, and went back over to grab some forks and knifes. I gave him a fork and knife as well as too myself, and soon we began to eat, devouring the breakfast he had made for us. Smiling a bit, I scooted myself closer to him till our arms touched, making him blush. We continued to eat, now side by side, until both of our plates were completely clean of food.
I let out a contented sigh, and leaned against the back of my chair, before releasing how bad an idea that was. As my full weight shifted to the back of the chair, the front feet lifted off the ground, and the world seemed to slow as I fell backwards for the second time this week. I braced myself and closed my eyes, but instead of feeling the hard ground I felt something wrap around my back quickly, stopping my fall.
I slowly opened my eyes to find that Riptide had leaned out of his chair and stopped my fall, his hoof wrapped around me. He pulled me too him, the accidental force making me lurch up and onto his lap, my chest pressed against his and my legs sprawled out behind me, our muzzles touching. He blushed, and i’m pretty sure I did as well but I couldn’t help but stare into his eyes, and he stared into mine. I wrapped my hoofs around him, and pulled myself onto his lap, now straddling him.
I smiled down at him, and he smiled back. About then was when Cloud decided to join the party and jump onto my head, the unexpected weight making my head drop towards Riptides and make our lips meet. I blushed in surprise, like he did just as I heard a camera click. Pulling away from him, much to the disappointment of the pony in my head, I looked to where I had heard the camera.
Tsunami, lurking just outside the window smiling, and ran away with a camera clutched in her magic. Oooooohhh, she was so dead the next time I met her. I looked back at Riptide, blushing even more. “Sorry,” we both said quickly at the same time, and we both blushed more.
“Its okay, although sorry i kinda straddled you there,” I said, rubbing the back of my head and sticking my tongue out slightly.
“You still are,” he said under me, giggling as I quickly hopped off him.
“Oh by the way, permission to kill your sister and destroy that picture the next time I see her?”
“Permission granted” he nodded, and I smiled.
“Why thank you~”
I sat down on the couch, Cloud hopping up onto my lap almost before my flank touched the cushion. I giggled, and petted his back while Riptide cleaned the dishes. While we had ate breakfast, we had talked about random trivial things, most of it questions he had for me. Mostly he had wanted my backstory, of how I had gotten into stealing in the first place. After spending the morning with him, I had felt comfortable enough to tell it to him.
I had been fairly lucky as a filly, born into a middle class family of good reputation. My father had become a lawyer, speaking to the court for anyone who hired him. My mother had become a nurse, and a pretty good one at that. The combination of them was perfect, one gentle and kind while the other law abiding and willing to always help. They had sent me to a private school, in a way to try and help provoke my cutiemark faster, but in my opinion it had completely backfired.
The place they had sent me to school had very few ponies to talk too, most of them at least two grades higher than my own. The low pony interaction slowly made me less social, to the point my parents began to worry they made the wrong decision. They immediately switched me to a public school, which just sealed my fate.
Instead of working me to becoming more social again, they just threw me in and expected everything to go fine. Instead, I became even less social, unused to the questioning looks and constant noise, to the point I never talked anymore. By then my parents hadn’t had any idea what to do with me, except keep me in that school. My cutiemark never showed up during school, and I eventually began to get called a blank flank, as if it was the worst thing possible. Instead, I had hoped the lack of me having a cutiemark would mean I could choose any job, and not be forced to join a specific one. Instead when I finally became old enough to get a job, nobody would take me.
My lack of a specific talent made ponies think I wouldn’t be fit for any job, and I couldn’t do anything. Eventually my parents kicked me out of their house, and I was left to fend for myself. I had to start resorting to theft to survive, and it had only been about 3 months since I had been kicked out of the house. That factor had surprised Riptide, and he had asked what my age was.
“I’m only about 25 years old, and my parents kicked me out when I turned 25,” I had answered.
Riptide finished cleaning the dishes, and came over to the couch and sat down next to me. I yawned, the inactivity beginning to make me sleepy, and asked, “what do you do around here for fun?”
“Hm, well have you ever played a game in the fallout series?” He questioned, and I shook my head. “Oh, then I have something I think you will like~” at that I raised an eyebrow, and he did his best evil laugh. I had to admit it wasn’t a bad imitation, and as a reward I gave him a hug, which my mind was quickly realizing we both liked. At Least the kitten diseased me with a feeling that was a nice one I guess.
Ten minutes later, I had finally finished customizing my character, giving her a green long spikey mane, that fell down over her left eye and charcoal colored fur. I had given her green eyes a shade deeper then her mane, and a cutiemark that would supposedly help with charisma, a microphone with a single note near the mesh at the top. He said that put her as a songbird kind of character, and good at talking her way through things. I had no idea what the hell he was talking about, so I just nodded and started the game.
That was when he held up something called a VR helmet, and plopped it onto my head without my consent. “Wait what a- gah!” I began to protest, then made a surprised sound as my vision suddenly matched what the pony I had made was seeing.
“O-ho-ho, this is going to be entertaining,” Riptide said from beside me, and I felt him move an arm around my back as I looked around with my new eyes, astonished. “How is this possible?!” I half screamed, and Riptide chuckled. “Unicorn magic, they put it into these headsets that cover your eyes and teleport your mind and conscious thinking into the game,” he explained. “Basically, in a way you are the pony in the game, and i’ll probably be just something you feel in the back of your mind, so have fun little sun~”
Wait, did he just give me a nickname? Even with this “in the back of my mind” thing I could tell I was blushing, and was greatly tempted to kiss him if I could see him, even though I didn’t know why. Instead, I clicked start on the control he had given me, and suddenly everything faded. All I saw was black, and I felt nothing except the faint presence of Riptide. I slowly blinked awake in game, stretching and yawning. Woah, this shouldn’t feel this realistic.
It felt like I was the pony, and when I thought about getting out of bed I felt like I had to physically get out of bed, immediately missing the comfort of my bed. I trotted into the bathroom to clean up for the day, and in the mirror I saw… me, but yet not me. It wasn’t me yet it was me and - okay if I thought about that my brain was going to implode. I was younger then I remembered designing her, and guessed I was a filly. Walking back into the mainroom, I looked around the metal walls, feeling stupid. I was like a child, not sure what anything was. This was definitly going to get some getting used too.
If I remebered correctly, Riptide said I started in a vault, but from their everything else was random and based on my decisions. I walked towards the door that led out of what I guessed was my room, and jumped away from it with a shriek as it opened on its own, sliding upwards with a hiss to expose something that looked like a hightech living room. An older pony was standing in the corner, and not sure what else to do I headed towards him. At the sound of my hoofs clopping on the ground, he turned his head to look over at me, and smiled. Wait.. this didn’t feel right.
He looked similiar to my actuel father, and I felt an immediate closeness to him as he spoke. “Why good morning, how did you sleep Ebony Leaf?” he asked, and my mind flashed with surprise. That had been the exact name I was thinking of giving this character, or giving me, or - GAH WHATEVER. “I slept good father, how about you?” I asked, instinctualy calling him father.
“Very good thank you,” he said with a nodd, and I smiled a bit. I could feel a ghost like feeling off Riptide as he wrapped his hoofs around me, making me smile even more. “Now then, I believe you have somewhere to be,” he said, and I blinked, knowing a blank look was on my face. He raised an eyebrow “You have school in 10 minutes, so I suggest you hurry, today is a very important day,” he hinted, and I immediately sprinted out the door, not knowing where I was really going. Seeing some ponies heading a certain direction, I followed them, looking around blankily while I walked. The walls were all pretty plain except for occasional posters, and even those were ones of prewar activities. Wait, where did that thought come from?
Ignoring the weird thought, we soonn came across a classroom which all the ponies were filling into, and I followed, taking a seat near the back. I hope this was the ponies assigned seat if they did have assigned seats. “Good day everyone, today we are going to do probably the most important thing you will ever do in your lives, the GOAT test,” an adult pony in the front said, drawing all our attention to him. A GOAT test? What does that mean?
Suddenly all my vision went black, in and a second or two I was back in the real world, Riptide holding the vr system in his hoofs, smiling. I immediately sprung at him, smiling and hugged him tight. He hugged back, and whispered into my ear “Have fun?”
“Mhm, a lot, thanks” I said, my smile in my voice as I kissed his cheek, not knowing why i did it but knowing it made me happy. Plus it made him blush, so it was a bonus.
Looking back, I wondered where that thought had come from, and why everything seemed so real. I guessed I would have too ask Riptide about that, eventually. For now, I would think about it in the back of my head, considering what it could mean. That or I could spend some time with Riptide. Spending time with Riptide sounds like a good idea.
I stared intently at the book I was reading, my eyes gliding across the pages as I read the story. Riptide had said he had to go do something for a bit, so I had found one of the books he had in his room. Out of them this was one of the ones that interested me most, some story about a green goo pony, whatever that was, and how he had gotten his name. They were for some reason seeming to be keeping his name a secret, much to my annoyance, but the story was good anyway. Hearing the front door open, I put the book down, making sure to close it so the spine wouldn’t get damaged, and got up from my position at the couch, looking towards the front door.
To my surprise Tsunami walked through, her head looking around until she spotted me, and she smiled. “Hey Sun, Riptides by the ocean playing around, and he wanted to know if you wanted to join him and a friend,” she asked, a knowing look in her eyes. That look made me blush, as if she knew my answer even before I said, “Yah alright, sounds fun,”
“Alright! The ocean is litteraly right around the corner, so come join us when you are ready,” and with that she walked out, closing the door behind her. I looked myself over, and sighed. Cloud mewed from the couch, looking up at me questioningly as I began to head for the door. I looked back and smiled, telling him “I’m just going out for a bit, don’t get in trouble or no fish for a week,”. He mewed in response, and layed down on the couch, getting comfy it seemed.
I still didn’t have any other clothes, but my suit would work fine as a swimsuit so I was fine. I looked down at myself, and blushed a bit. My suit was skintight, like zero suit samhorn’s suit, so I hopped his friend wasn’t a boy. I was fine with Riptide seeing me like this for some reason, but any other stallion or colt was an immediate no.
After a couple minutes I felt my hoofs sink into the warm sand, and I looked around to see if I could spot Riptide. As soon as I did, I headed over to him, internally groaning. His friend was indeed male, and was a forest green with traces of gold running through his fur, his eyes a golden green and wings coming from his back. From what I could see his cutiemark was a bush, resting on… clouds? As I neared I saw that was exactly what it was, and I wondered how something could be grown on clouds.
Riptide saw me and waved, his friend looking around to see what he was waving at, his golden green eyes locking on me. I shivered beneath my fur, feeling as if he could see right through me. Once I was in speaking range, Riptide sprang forward and hugged me to him, much to my surprise. Can’t say I didn’t enjoy the hug though.
“Mind introducing me to your friend?” I asked teasingly, pulling away from the hug.
“Sunrise this is Sky Bramble, Sky this is Misty Sunrise, who I call little sun,” with that last part he winked at me, making me blush. At this Bramble rolled his eyes, which I found completely fine. I probably would have done the same yesterday. I held out a hoof to bramble and he took it, shaking it at a normal pace. “So, I thought most pegasi don’t like water?” I asked, tilting my head at him.
A small smiled formed on his lips, and he explained “When a Pegasi’s wings become wet they can’t fly, so most tend to avoid water that isn’t contained in a bottle or container,”
“Ah, so why are you okay with them getting wet?”
“Being grounded means i’m closer to wildlife that isn’t birds, so why not spend a bit of time swimming and take a walk later?”
At that I nodded, it seeming to make sense to me. I let out a surprised “GAH!” as I suddenly went flying into the ocean, the water closing around my ears muffling the sound of laughter. I surfaced sputtering, and looked around to see who had done it. My eyes rested on Tsunami, who was still laughing at her little prank. I saw Riptide looking to me worriedly, and I nodded, doing a bucking motion underwater then nodding at Tsunami.
He smiled slyly, then sneaked up behind Tsunami while she was still laughing and bucked her in, making her splash in next to me. Now it was my turn to laugh as she surfaced, her wet mane covering her eyes. “THAT WAS NOT FUNNY!” she screamed, which just made Riptide and even bramble start laughing.
“Really? It seems pretty funny to me,” I teased, in which she took revenge by splashing me with her hoofs. After that Riptide and Bramble both hopped into the water as me and Tsunami engaged in a splash war, the gentle pull and push of the waves seeming to encourage us. “That’s it, i’m winning this,” Tsunami proclaimed, then smashed both her hoofs against the water’s surface, causing a giant wave to surge out of the water towards me. Well, atleast I knew how she got her name.
I went underwater from the force of the wave, leaving me to paddle back up to the surface. When my head broke the surface for the second time, I nodded to her as if to say “fair play”, and began to swim towards Riptide. He and Bramble were just relaxing in the water, floating and letting the waves take them where it wanted too. As I came towards them, Riptide called “Hey! Have you ever done body surfing?”
“Nope!” I called back, and he immediately began paddling out further, which I followed, slightly confused. At a certain point he stopped, and I joined him, floating right next to him. “Keep your head up and look for a big enough wave, then tilt your body forward and ride it,” he briefed me, then as soon as a wave big enough to his liking came along, he dove forwards, catching the wave and riding it all the way back to shore.
Swallowing nervously, I waited for a fairly large sized wave, and in a couple seconds I saw one approaching. I got ready, bending a bit forwards and tilting my head up just as it hit me, and I straightened out my body. I was doing it! The wave was carrying me along, and soon I was right next to Riptide once again, giggling. After that we started a cycle, I went out and he watched me surf back, then he would go out and I would watch him come back.
Tsunami and Bramble were swimming around a bit, practicing their swimming techniques and trying new ones. After a while I joined them, trying out things like breast strokes and things like that. Bramble even found a way to use his wet wings as a boost underwater, which was unfair when we tried to race against each other.
Tsunami and Riptide were like dolphins in the water, majestically swimming despite being born upon land. It seemed their names fit their talent, as did most ponies. Looking back at my flank, I wondered what my cutiemark could have been. I had always felt close to animals, but I didn’t see how the sun or water was related to them. I shrugged, and looked back as Riptide did a little spin in the water. Suddenly getting an Idea, I shouted “Hey Bramble, come over here for a second!”
“Yah?” He shouted back, beginning to swim back to me as I swam to the shore. As we went for the shore everypony followed, and soon I climbed up onto land closely followed. “You like to be close to the ground, right?” I asked Bramble, a teasing smile on my face. He nodded, and I continued on saying “Well why don’t we get you into your natural habitat and into the earth~”
For the next half an hour we all laughed and talked as Bramble slowly got mud packed on top of him, eventually becoming a tiny hill among the mud. We all laughed, sitting next to him and just laughing, enjoying the day. Eventually the sun began to set, and we dug Bramble back up, and we all went home, me following Riptide, humming happily. He looked back at me, smiled, and slowed down so we were side by side, and I leaned on him a bit.
It felt nice and calming to be in his area, and I began to practically purr with delight. We got back to his house, which is about when I realized how exhausted I was, and began to head for my bedroom. “Hey little sun, would you like to sleep with me tonight?” Riptide said from behind me, and I blushed. Not just a small blush I mean like, mega party breaking tomato bursting blush. Then I turned around and saw he had the same kind of blush, and I giggled a little bit. “Alright mister wavey, but Cloud gets to come in with us,” I teased, and he faked a groan.
“Oh alright, but he better not bounce on my chest, or on you for that matter,” he said, and got close enough to wrap a hoof around my back.
He escorted me to his room, and pulled back the covers for me, making me smile. I slid into bed, and he slid in next to me, and within seconds Cloud jumped up after us, settling at the foot of the bed. I turned so I would face inward, and found Riptide, looking at me and smiling. I blushed again, realizing we were face to face, just before he hugged me to him, our noses booping at the sudden closeness. Well gee, that didn’t help the blush at all.
I looked into his bright blue eyes, then closed my own, leaning in and kissing him. After a second, he kissed back, his legs tightening a tiny bit around my back. We must of laid there, kissing, for at least 3 minutes. I enjoyed every second as much as I would a giant ice-cream cone. When we finally pulled away, I smiled, and gently teased, “How long have you been waiting for that mister wavey~”
“Since this morning,” he said softly, before laying his head against the pillow, looking at me. I did the same, and that's how we slept, embracing each other happily. In my mind before I fell asleep, I thought that the day couldn’t have ended better.
I began to slowly wake up, feeling the warmth of cloud on my side and something else that my hoofs were wrapped around. Wait a minute what did I have wrapped in my hoof!? My eyes flew open wide, only to cause a smile to form on my lips as I saw Riptide. Aww cute, he slept with his mouth open a bit when he slept. I considered getting up and maybe baking breakfast for him, but eventually cuddling for just a minute more won over that thought.
A few minutes later I let out a sigh, kissed his cheek and slowly slid out of bed, making sure not to disturb Riptide. Cloud wasn’t on the “do not disturb” list to his dissapointment, and he hopped onto the ground with his fur puffed out. I think that showed he was annoyed, but a scratch behind the ears made him purr which was enough re-assurance then I needed. Walking out of the room, I quietly closed the door behind me before moving on, heading for the kitchen. Soon I was getting out pots and pans, buuuut having no idea what to do with them.
Despite me being alone, most of my meals had been canned do to my low money, so I never had to cook. I sat down for a second, blankly staring at the contents of his fridge, trying to think of what I should try and make. I remembered my mother one time trying to teach me how to make an omelet. Welp I hoped he liked omelets, because it was the only thing I had any idea of how to make. Now then, what did I actuely need besides eggs?
I decided to get a bit experimental, and grabbed a couple ingredients and spices. I surveyed what I had grabbed, taking them in and racking my brain for a good use for each one. Onion, tomato, rosemary, pepper, salt, celery seeds, and sesame seeds. What was I missing? Looking over it a second time, my brain was only managing to draw blanks. Gah I knew what I was being stupid but I couldn’t remember. I hit myself with my hoof, and accidently conked myself a bit too hard.
Letting out an “EEP!” my own blow sent me falling onto my side, and making me rub the place I had hit. Damnit self restraint woman! Shaking my head, I finally remembered the most obvious thing I needed. Eggs, I needed eggs, the main part of the whole dish. The little pony in my head wasn’t going to let me forget THAT mistake. Getting up, I walked back over to the fridge, opened the door and grabbed a couple eggs. I also grabbed a couple blueberries.
Okay, so I needed only the yolk of the eggs, right? I stared blankly at the eggs, wondering how I was even going to get it out of the shell without getting the shell mixed with the egg. And furthermore how I was going to remove the yolk from the whites. Picking up and egg with both hoofs and stretching my neck to grab a cup for the whites and shell and another for the yolk, I positioned myself so the egg was between both of my hoofs, raised over the edge of the cup. Bringing my hoofs down quickly, I heard the crack as the shell broke.
I of course went to hard, and the yolk and whites fell out, followed by egg shell fragments, but none of them landed in the yolk. Some of the egg came for revenge, splattering against my coat much to my annoyment. Noticing it was still salvageable, I reached a hoof in and attempted to scoop the yolk out and into the other cup. Instead it slipped under my hoof and got crushed and skidded against the sides of the bowl. Okaay, this was going to need to be done differently.
Wait a minute, Riptide was an earth pony too! Blinking, I looked towards one of the drawers and hoped that there was something to make it easier. Jackpot. It was full of fancy little gadgets to help with cooking, and I found a device that seemed like it could work. It had a glass section, the perfect size for an egg with another section below, the reason for it unknown to me. Slipping an egg into the top, I closed it and pushed a button located on the side. The whole machine began to shake a bit, and I placed it down, trotting about 5 feet away. No reason not to be careful, right?
The egg shell began to crack, and the white and yolk leaked out. Well, this was going eggaclysmic. Suddenly the yolk leaking out began leaking into the bottom part, but nothing else. I smiled, and walked back over to the device, detaching the lower part and plopping the yolk into the proper cup. Well, that went better than egg-spected. The pony in my head told me to stop with the puns, but these “yolks” are too good. Plus why did it matter how many puns I make in my head? It's not like anyone is seeing my thoughts.
I did this process two more times, till I had three perfect yolks. Then I grabbed a pan and… what now? I think on cooking shows they normally put oil on the pan, right? With that thought I began to drizzle a bit of oil onto the pan, then flopped the eggs in. I watched as they began to Sizzle, sitting down and just watching. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do know, so I grabbed a spatula and began to play with them a big, moving them around a bit in the pan.
While playing, I accidently popped one, the yellow contents spilling into the pan, now cooking it. I blinked, then popped the other two realizing I probably should have done that at the beginning. Deciding to try and add something, I sprinkled some pepper and salt on it, liking the now speckly look it had. So maybe I added a bit more just for the looks. Okay a fair amount more.
Looking back, I took a wiff of the rosemary, and smiled at the aroma. It was sort of earthy and well.. Alive. Although I admit it probably wasn’t the best idea to do an action based off of smell, I picked up the rosemary and brought it over the the eggs, and then began to take the leaves off and put them into the eggs. The contrast of green from the rest of it looked nice. Wait a minute, don’t you normally fold an omelet over to make sure it doesn’t burn?
Picking the spatula up again, I folded the omelet over, noting the fairly nice looking side and the fact it was more solid now, like a pancake. Then I walked back over to the few ingredients I had left. I took one look at the tomatoes before putting them back in the fridge, and the same for the celery seeds. Honestly the omelet already smelled good and looked fine, so I just cut it in half and put both halves on a separate plate each. I carried the plates to the table, then made a couple runs grabbing napkins and utensils, placing them next to the plates. Thinking on a whim, I real quick got some bacon bits and sprinkled it along the edges of the plates. Bacon makes everything better after all.
I finished by adding a bit onto the omelet itself before putting the bacon bits away again. When I trotted back to the table, I was surprirsed to find cloud had decided to try and sneak a bite, and was now slowly crawling on his stomach towards the food, as if stalking prey. I sped up my trot till I could reach Cloud with my mouth, then grabbed the scruff of his neck in my mouth. He mewed pitifully, but even so I placed him back on the ground.
The mewing for the omelets quickely stopped as I got out some fish and put it in a bowl, which he bounded over too. Cats really weren’t picky, unless it came to hard things that could hurt their teeth. Even then they tended to bite and attempt to swallow it. I began to wonder what Cloud would look like if he suddenly became a pony, and if he would still be fluffy. Darnit thinking of his fluff made me want to hug him. Infact I did hug him, then went back to the table.
I heard a yawn from down the hall, and Riptide came out, hobbling on three hoofs as he rubbed his eye with one of his hoofs. I smiled as he approached, and motioned to the two dishes of omelets. “I present to you, poison on a plate!” I intoned, and he giggled. “I just threw a couple random things together, so lets hope you like it,” I said, and picked up a fork and began to eat. It wasn’t bad, and I began to eat a bit faster, surprised. I had expected to spit it out as soon as I tried it, but instead it resembled something good.
Even more to my surprise Riptide seemed to be enjoying it a lot, and was digging in like his life depended on it. If I could try so little and make something like this cooking is easy, right? I should still probably see if he could teach me anything, to be sure this wasn’t a fluke. Till then, I would enjoy this food.
I sighed happily, feeling Riptides hooves wrapped around me. He has asked if I wanted to play more of the fallout game, but after what happened last time I did it, with the whole sudden memory thing I was taking a break from it. Plus this was nice, warm and furry. My celestia the fur was nice. Plus he was a fair amount bigger than me, so he was able to easily wrap his hooves around me, blanketing me in warmth.
I cracked my eyes open slightly, looking at the current show that was playing. I think it was playing ponies and thrones or something, I didn’t really care. I snuggled my back against him, feeling the soft rhythmic beating of his heart, and the slow inhale and exhale of his breath. Wait, that was too slow to be normal breathing. I turned in place and saw his eyes closed, and his mouth slightly open.
Awww, he was asleep. Not being able to resist, I gently kissed him, and smiled as his mouth scrunched up a tiny bit into a kissing position. Sadly the kiss also woke him up, and in moments his breathing speed up. Dangit, there went any chance of taking a picture of him like that. The disappointment didn’t last though as he kissed me, and I kissed back. The feeling in my chest that had been steadily growing fluttered, but I still couldn’t think of what it was.
As he pulled away, I felt my lips stretch in a smile, and I quickely hugged him, in which he hugged back. “So what would my little sun like to do today?” he whispered into my ear.
“Well, I think I have gone long enough with only one piece of clothing,” I teased, and he nodded.
“I’ll go get some of your clothes now then, and while i’m gone you can decide what you do, alright?” he asked, and I kissed his cheek in answer.
A couple minutes later I was waving a goodbye as he walked out the door, closing it behind him. Now then, to find something to do for the day. I sat up, and looked around the house. He didn’t have too much for entertainment, and I guessed most of the time he was out on town, but I didn’t want to go out in this suit. It was my criminal suit and even more it smelled, so I decided against it. My gaze rested on the system in which I had played that fallout game, and gingerly picked up the helmet.
It wasn’t that the little bit I had played hadn’t been fun, I was just creeped out by that one thought. A thought about a previous war. Riptide hadn’t told me, so I had no idea how that had came across my mind. Taking a deep breath, I lowered the helmet onto my head. In a split second I was back in the game, sitting down in the seat I had picked.
Surprised, I watched as the teacher went around, passing out papers. Soon he came to my desk and put a paper on it, and I looked down at it, confused. If I remembed correctly he had said it was going to be a test, the GOAT test supposedly, but all this paper had was letters with little boxes next to them. Then after that he went back to the front and clicked on a projector. A projection hit the whiteboard at the front, showing the words “GOAT Test”. Ooooooh, so that's how this works.
“Question one, you are approached by a frenzied stable scientist, who yells, “I’m going to put my quantum harmonizer in your photonic resonation chamber,” what is your response?” the teacher questioned, and I blinked. What the hell kind of question was that? I looked down at the paper, and circled the one next too “Yeah? Up yours too, buddy!” which I found funny. I actuely had too keep myself from laughing, plus I knew I would probably actually say that.
“Question two, while working as an intern in the clinic, a patient with a strange infection on his foot stumbles through the door. The infection is spreading at an alarming rate, but the doctor has stepped out for a while. What do you do?” the teacher asked. Okay so I was suddenly an intern, okay then. Looking at the options, I circled the one next too “Medicate it to the best of your abilities”. Nobody deserved to watch as they became infected with something, so I hopped the “best of my abilities” was good enough to save him.
“Question three, you discover a young boy lost in the lower levels of the stable. He’s hungry and frightened, but also appears to be in possession of stolen property. What do you do?” Are all the questions like this or something? Looking at the options I immediatly picked the first one, next too “Give the boy a hug and tell him everything was going to be OK”
“Question four, congratulations! You made one of the stable 72 hoofball teams! Which position do you prefer?” I wasn’t a very big hoofball player, but whenever I did play when I was young I threw the ball, so I picked “pitcher”.
“Question five, your grandmother invites you to tea, but your surprised when she gives you a pistol and orders you to kill another stable resident. What do you do?” Wow, I thought your grandparents were supposed to be the smart and wise ones. I picked the one that was next too “Throw your tea in granny’s face,” which I knew I would do. Family or not she just sounded crazy!
“Question six, old mr. Abernathy has locked himself in his quarters again, and you’ve been ordered to get him out. How do you proceed?” Huh, Abernathy was a weird pony name. Seeing something I liked, and had done before, I picked “Use a bobby pin to pick the lock on the door”. You had to know that if you wanted to steal like anything.
“Question seven, oh no! You’ve been exposed to radiation, and a mutated hoof has grown out of your stomach! What's the best course of treatment?” What was radiation? Thinking back, I think i remembered watching a show where there was radiation. If I recalled correctly, it had stated that radiation could cause serious health deffects, including cancer and mutations. Also it said something about radiation sickness.
I picked the one that said “A bullet to the brain”, mostly because there was no “shake the hoof” option and I didn’t like any of the other ones.
“Question eight, a fellow stable 72 resident is in possession of a Grognak the Barbarian comic book, issue number 1. You want it. What’s the best way to obtain it?” Considering my background, I picked the one that said “Sneak into the residents quarters, and steal the comic book from his desk” Heck, it was a better option than stealing it at gunpoint.
“Question nine, you decide it would be fun to play a prank on your father. You enter his private restroom when no one is looking, and…” Hm, I didn’t think I would do any of this. The least threatening one seemed to be the one I bubbled in. “Loosen some bolts on the pipes. When the sink is turned on, the room will flood”
The teacher sighed, and pulled up the final question, which I had already circled an answer too. “Final question, who is indisputably the most important person in stable 72: He who shelters us from the harshness of the atomic wasteland, and to whom we owe everything we have, including our lives?” All the answers were the overmare. I was half tempted to write my own answer, but for my sake I wouldn’t.
Alright everyone that’s it, please come up and hand me your tests and I will give you your results.” the teacher said, and everyone stood up, and lined up to give the teacher their tests. When he looked mine over, he looked up at me, a small smile touching his lips. “Well it seems you are of management material, shift supervisor. I wonder if I’m looking at the next overmare. Crazier things have happened,” he Informed me. Huh, me, a supervisor? Thaaat wouldn’t end well for anyone.
I thought about going back to Riptide, and suddenly I was back to sitting down, the helmet seeming to disappear. I patted the top of my head, feeling only empty air. Where the heck did the helmet go!? I began looking around frantically, but I couldn’t see it anywhere. My head snapped towards the doorway as I heard it being opened, and my anxiety immediately melted. The pony in my head squeaked happily, and I almost did the same thing.
The door swung open, and Riptide walked in, holding my clothes on his back and in his mouth, and he used his back legs to shut the door. He quickly placed them in my room and walked back out, right over to me. As soon as he was in range I fired a hug tackle, and we both went to the floor, stuck together in a hug as I giggled happily. “Why thanks for the welcome back,” He teased, and gently kissed my cheek. I cuddled against him, hoping I wasn’t squishing him into the ground, and just smiled like an idiot. Soon the smile vanished though, as his mouth met mine in a long and drawn out kiss.
When he finally pulled away, he was smiling, a big, happy smile that lit up my heart. “I love you,” he said softly. Wait wait wait, what? I tilted my head at him and scrunched my eyes, before asking “love?”
He seemed surprised by my response, and quickly said “I-I mean I’m really glad your staying with me,” and that's when I finally realized it. The feeling fluttering in my heart was love. I loved Riptide. I smiled a bit, before saying “I love you too, mr. wavey~” and with that leaned in to kiss. He met me halfway to him, and we laid there, enjoying each others company. And each other’s lips, but you get the point.
Me and Riptide had been snuggling for about an hour now, relaxing on the couch and watch things like “Mane 6 go!” on catoon works, enjoying each others company. He had his nose against the back of my neck and his eyes peaking over my mane, which had allowed me to be able to jokingly hit him with my ears. It always made him sneeze, which was adorable. As much as I wanted this to last forever, I had something more important to do.
Get myself cleaned up for our date night later tonight! Looking back, I realized I hadn’t showered once during the whole week, and I felt filthy. I squirmed a tiny bit in Riptides grasp, and he let me go, seeming a bit confused. “Is something wrong little sun?”
“No, I just need to get cleaned up,” I explained, and I saw his eyes spark. Oh no, that spark was not going to happen. “Also no peaking, mister wavey,” I said teasingly, hitting his forehoof.
“Awww, alright,” He said, faking a pout while rubbing where I had hit him.
I began to walk towards the restroom, and before going in quickly grabbed a dress, for the date of course. After that I headed into the restroom to clean up. I turned the shower on and took off my suit, putting it in the trash. I seriously hoped I never had to wear that thing again, even as a swimsuit. Turning on the shower, I waiting for it to warm up before stepping in, letting the warn water cascade down onto my head and back. I sighed happily, and began to wash.
I stepped out of the restroom minutes later. I was fast at showering, which was something I was proud about. Boom, non too-much-water-using-mare here. Jeeze, if that was what I was going to start calling myself I would need to shorten that. I wonder how much water tsunami uses, or if she even showers. I guessed she probably just playing in a bath and smothered herself in her own giant waves.
I looked around for Riptide, and found him still laying down on the couch, now watching some weird show about talking potatoes or something. Smiling, I walked over to him, and as soon as he saw me he blushed madly. Wait a minute, I forgot to put clothes on. That realization put a blush on my cheeks as well, but as a pony I was fine, considering the only thing for him to see was at the back. Yet that seemed to be where his eyes were drawn, staring at the...side of my flank?
I looked back, and squeaked in surprise, nearly springing three feet in the air trying to get away from my own body. It didn’t work, and instead I faceplanted into the ground. Ow, okay no more loosing balance mid air. That never ended well, especially from three feet in the air.
I had finally gotten my cutiemark. Finally I had gotten it! It was a heart, with spikes coming out of the sides and a circle seeming to be behind it. It almost looked like… a sun behind a heart. I smiled a tiny bit, releasing that it was a sun rising over a heart, which I guessed meant my cutiemark had something to do with relationships. Remembering that not to long ago I had realized I loved Riptide, the cutiemark must have come then, when I finally realized it. Although I didn’t really know what my talent was, I didn’t care. I had my cutiemark!
I somehow managed to hug tackle Riptide from 5 feet away, forgetting completely that I was nude. I wanted to kiss him, so I did, and he kissed back. My hoofs wrapped around him and his wrapped around me, till we were joined in a loving embrace. Something interesting that happened is a mist began to build in the air, making it so we could only see each other, the couch, and a bit of the tv. We both seemed surprised by this, and thats when we heard a camera click from outside.
Jerking my head up, I looked towards the window to find I couldn’t see it past the mist. Oh my goddesses this was my talent! Riptide seemed to realize this as well, and smiled “So now you have a personal smoke bomb of mist whenever you want privacy aye?” he teased, and I shushed him with a kiss. While we were still kissing, I mumbled into his mouth“I swear I am going to kill that sister of yours, this is the second time!”
“Alright, but you could just also take her camera,” he suggested
“Can we agree I get to put an arrow through her knee, take her camera and that's all (for now)?” I compromised.
“Sure,” he said, and with that our lips parted, both of us smiling evilly.
A few minutes later I was now laying on the couch in my dress as Riptide got washed, although I hadn’t seen what he had picked to wear. I was guessing a tuxedo, but knowing him he might wear a swimsuit. I wouldn’t complain with either to be honest. After a couple minutes he came out of the shower, but I looked away so what he was wearing would be a surprise. Dangit, he beat my shower time!
He walked in front of me, and I looked up to find him wearing a swimsuit. The little in my head, now beginning to look a bit like Ebony for some reason, pumped her hoofs up and down in the air. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who thought the swimsuit was a better choice then the usual tuxedo. Plus it fit his personality better… and his body. Getting up, I smiled, and in turn he smiled. With that we began to walk right out the door, side by side. It was romantic, but the squeezing through the door wasn’t the most fun thing to do.
We had decided to go to a salad place along the shore, apparently the best one in town. To me that didn’t make much sense, since it wasn’t in the town. I hoped it fit its slightly unrealistic title. We approached the entrance to the restaurant, and Riptide went a bit ahead to open the door for me. I smiled, and walked through the now wide open door with him following behind. Soon he caught up, and we were side by side once again, waiting to be seated.
I had to admit the food was pretty good, although definitely not the best I ever had. It was definitely enjoyable though, and the waiter was nice. I wonder how many of them act nice, and how many are actually nice. Considering what they had to deal with, I guessed most of them faked it. Still everything was enjoyable, and during the meal me and Riptide talked about random subjects, such as the recent weather or what we thought Tsunami was up too. We both guessed she was playing in a tub somewhere.
Eventually we finished, and Riptide payed for the meal, which I thanked him with a kiss. I knew my skill wouldn’t get me any proper jobs, but I didn’t care anymore. I had Riptide, and that was all I needed. The world could kiss my flank, I had Riptide and now I was happy. Now then, it was time for the second part of the date, the part I was truly excited for.
We headed out of the restaurant, and headed back towards our house. Halfway there though we veered left, now on a path for the beach behind his house. Soon I felt my hoofs sinking satisfyingly into the sand. We headed for the water’s edge, and laid down, close enough so the waves lapped at our hoofs, but not quite in it. Then from there, we just looked up and took in the sight.
Together we looked up into the endless sky and space, stars twinkling and shining in the inky black night. I could make out some of the constellations, and pointed them out too Riptide, who looked to where I pointed and took in the sights. It was probably the prettiest thing I had ever seen, and getting to experience it with Riptide only made it all better. Then above all that there was the moon, hanging in the sky like a giant glowing disco ball.
Even from our position, we could make out the craters covering its surface, and see distant planets by just turning our heads. It felt like the universe was in between our hooves, and we could go wherever we wanted. In my personal opinion, it was the best feeling ever. I felt Riptide edge closer to me, and I slid a hoof under his back and hugged his side to mine, and gently let me head touch his.
I wondered how many other ponies were looking at this same sky, and how many of them felt like I did. I hoped plenty, because this night was good enough to go down in history. I smiled, and suddenly the air around us began to mist up, and Riptide looked over to me, seeming slightly surprised. The surprise on his face melted as I kissed him, and he kissed back. The mist concealed us completely within seconds, leaving us alone with the sound of the waves, and the now blurry night sky above.
Relaxation At Misty Waters
I yawned to a drowsy awakness, looking around groggily. Riptide and I had enjoyed each others company under the stars, and after I had brought down the mist everything had been a blur of him, white and sleep. We had fallen asleep in each others arms under the moon, which I smiled looking back. It seemed fitting, two ponies with names related to water sleeping under the thing that caused the tides. Thinking of Riptide, I looked around till I spotted his slumbering form, his body sprawled in the sand.
Giggling quietly to myself, I crawled over to him, and leaned over him. Oooohhh, this was going to be so fun! Slowly I lowered my mouth towards his, and as his sleeping mind felt my breath against his lips his mouth formed to kiss back. I pulled back, and instead booped his nose with my own. His eyes flew open and immediately focused on my own, slightly startled and confused.
As recognition kicked in, both of those emotions melted away, and what replaced them was something that I felt towards him. His eyes now showed love, compasion, and happiness as I felt his hoofs gently draw me to his body, and make our noses slip off each other so instead of a long boop it became a long, gentle kiss. Best, wake up call, ever.
As I pulled away, opening my eyes again he sat up, making me straddle him. “Well, thats an interesting way to say good morning,” He teased, and I giggled.
“Its not my fault its effective and a better way~” I purred, and scooted off his lap to stand up. He chuckled, then let out a yelp as a crab pinches his side, making him jump up onto his hoofs and do a little hop dance. I watched, amused, as he fiercely hopped, spun, and rolled around to try and get the crab off. On his fifth roll it finally came off, and he sighed in relief. “I think the crab was trying to give you its wake up call,” I teased, and he grumbled slightly while getting up, which I silenced with a kiss.
After a bit of debating we finally settled to going to the spa, which I remembered being called “Misty waters,” which strangely sounded faintly like my name. At Least the first part did. I had been the one mostly in favor of going, while Riptide just wanted to splash around in the ocean. After last night though I thought we actually get “clean”, and not just more wet in which we would just have to shower off do to the high salt amount.
It was a pretty nice day outside, the weather nice and clear and the sun warmly shining down on my fur. I knew we had the pegasi to thank for that, but I had to wonder why they had to make rainy days. Why make the whole sky cry when they could make clouds just for the plants they could send out? Or would that be too specific and they just generalized it so everywhere got what it needed. Not that I didn’t enjoy rain, but when looking at a day like this it really makes you wonder why.
The walk there was pretty uneventful, no banks being robbed and nopony calling me out for robbing any said banks. Even though I never had, some people would probably get me confused with some of the bigger criminals. I wonder where Riptide got his money, from the city when he stopped said bigger criminals? I looked over at him, and decided to save that question for another time.
My hoofs were already hurting when we were only halfway there, and I groaned, hanging my head in an annoyed gesture. Looking up at the sky, I wondered why I couldn’t just fly there, and why I had to be born an earth pony. I felt myself walking onto a rather large and furry bump in the road, and my mind drew a blank to what it could be.
Looking down, I suddenly squeaked as Riptide, who had gotten on the ground in front of me, stood back up with me now flailing on his back. He was a fair bit taller than me, to the point my hoofs were 4 inches off the ground as he began to carry me to the spa, and I wrapped my hooves around his neck, a bit scared of falling off. Realizing if I held too hard I would choke him, I loosened my grip a little bit, and grumbled to myself, “Why are the bucks always bigger than the girls? That's only the case half the time yet every story I’ve ever read always has the buck bigger than the female, except for that fanfic with pipsqueak and I think her name was succubus..” I finished with a shrug, and hoped Riptide didn’t hear what I said.
Despite my weight on his back he continued on strongly, and I almost enjoyed the ride, bouncing along with the bumps and as he had to occasionally hop over cracks in the sidewalk. It was just uncomfortable for me to feel my hoofs just off the ground, and I suddenly destroyed the idea of me wanting to be a pegasus. Considering my current feelings towards just being off the ground, yah that was never gonna happen.
He somehow managed to go faster then I was on hoof, which was probably do to his bigger size, and within a couple more minutes we finally reached the spa. He crouched down, and I quickly jumped off his back and onto solid ground, almost wanting to kiss it. Buut from the worm I could see inching in the dirt, I decided against it. A worm can get its own lover, but it ain’t gonna be me. How the hell would that even work? I just shrugged to my own thought, and turned to follow Riptide as he headed into the spa.
I blinked, looking around at the slightly humid air inside the spa. The air was tinted white, and everything had a relaxed feel about it. Shadow went to take a seat on one of the comfy waiting seats as I went to the front and bought a massage and an hour of alone time inside the spa, before going to sit back next too Riptide. For the bit of time we had before the massage I snuggled against his side, almost like a kitten. I wondered what Cloud was up too, and hoped he wasn’t messing with the couch. It was in such fine condition, I didn’t want his little claws too ruin it.
I was startled out of these thoughts as a spa pony, who I remember being named Spring waters, waved us to follow her. I got up and quickly followed, and Riptide followed me in suit, not wanting to fall behind. We quickly made our way to the place which I had dubbed “The Massage Room”, for obvious reasons. Me and Riptide were placed next to each other and asked to lay down in what they called a “massage rack”, which we did. It was a flat piece of metal covered in comfortable cushions, with a small circle for our heads to go into.
Within seconds I was sighing in relief, feeling hoofs pressing and pushing in just the right places to make the tension in my muscles melt away. Even though the last couple days hadn’t been stressful, excitement could do the same effects as stress. Plus I can’t say last night was exactly “tame”, it got pretty “wild”. I could practically feel myself melting into the cushions, my whole body turning into putty. If Riptide ever learned how to do this, I would probably melt in his hooves like I was now, which could only end well.
When they finished I could barely even get out of the massage rack, my body so relaxed my nerves were taking a day off. I was half afraid my limbs had fell asleep, but luckily they hadn’t. Yay, no pins and needles for me. I still could only move awkwardly though, and Riptide wasn’t much better off. Spring showed us to a little room, a tub in the middle big enough for four ponies. I slipped inside, shivering happily as the warm water closed around my body, revitalizing my limbs.
Riptide slipped in next to me, and Spring left us in each others company. “So do you still not like the spa?” I teased, and he shook his head in a “no” as I wrapped my hooves around him. He hugged me, and I nuzzled against his chest, enjoying the warmth coming off of both him and the water surrounding us. Suddenly getting an idea, I smiled slyly and the whole room began to fill with mist, mixing with the warm air and almost making it like a steam room.
Riptide looked around, looked down at me, then kissed me, long and deep. I kissed back, and closed my eyes. His hoofs pulled me in closer, till my chest was pressed against his. “I have the feeling I know where this is going~” I purred seductively into his ear. To confirm this I felt his hooves slowly slipping down my body, and I smiled. This was going to be a lot of fun.
A spa pony walked in, after we were finished, and gasped as the steam rushed out of the room, exposing the two of us sitting together in the little pool. She looked at him, then me, then back again. I blushed a tiny bit and said, “Uhm, sorry if the steam is a problem, I just kinda made some mist and it mixed with the air and became steam,”
“How exactly,” she asked, seeming slightly dumbfounded.
“Its my ability,” I said, a bit worried I was in trouble.
“How would you like a job here?” she then asked, which left me looking at her wide eyed. Someone had just offered me a job. Someone, had just, offered ME, a job! I had to keep myself from tearing up happily, and nodded a yes, which she smiled. “I will run it by the boss, but if he says yes come in tomorrow at 10, you’l work from 10 am too 4 pm,” she informed me, then walked out of the room, leaving me to let out a couple of the happy tears that had been building up.
I felt Riptides hooves wrap around me again, and I fell back into his embrace, crying soft, happy tears. I had finally gotten a job, after all this time. My new life was beginning. I had a boyfriend, a new job, and a new view on life. I hoped all of those things lasted as long as I did. With a final, shaky sigh I kissed Riptide, and settled into his loving embrace.
(there will be one more, then stories after that for your enjoyment, so I hope you do enjoy the last one and the stories that come after it ^_^ )
I hummed quietly to myself, trotting happily to the spa for my first day of work. It was the next day, and me and Riptide had spent the whole day celebrating, and had even invited Tsunami and Sky bramble over. We had cake and all played hoofalo 4, which I managed to beat everyone at. The first thing I had done when I first got my own house was practice hoofalo 4 after buying a horse-box, which in my opinion is a silly name for it. Every time one of them turned around a corner I was already waiting, laying down in a sniper pose with and got a headshot.
They kept accusing me of looking at their screens, but actually I had just gotten a skill on my character that if turned on it let me see through walls and made players glow bright red. Heck, it made things all too easy. I had decided to customize the armor on my pony the same as onyx leaf, who had for some reason become the little pony in my head, and equiped my skills and weapons. You would be surprised how far it can get you just to be able to always see your opponent. The suckers didn’t even get me once. Not to brag or anything.
One of the rounds was pretty funny too. The fun thing about the horse-box is that it was magic infused, just like the vr and teleported us into the game. It luckily didn’t have pain simulators, and to click things in the main screen there was a giant hologram infront of us so we could customize and everything. I had to admit it was fun, but some were the best.
I was looking around inside my armor, tracking Riptide with my skill as he explored the whole top floor of the building we were in. There were other skills, like sending out a hologram for like sneak attacks, but that was good for more like using a shotgun. Getting caught in though I wondered how a rocket launcher would work if used with a stealth kit. In my head, I saw onyx slowly sneaking up behind Riptide invisible, then screaming “SURPRISE ATTACK!” and suddenly firing off a rocket launcher. The thought in my head made me giggle, and I didn’t notice as bramble snuck up on me, slowly and carefully.
My ability let me see people invisible, but I wasn’t paying attention so I couldn’t see him. Then suddenly I heard “SURPRISE ATTACK!” from behind me making me whirl around to see bramble infront of me, aiming a rocket launcher. Crap, I thought I was the only one who had that idea. He shot the rocket, and I watched in slow motion as it came right for me, zooming through the air right for me. Then I just stepped to the right and the missle went flying down the hallway, exploding at the end leaving me and Bramble staring at each other.
“Uhm.. can we try and redo that?” he asked sheepishly, only to be forced to respawn as I pushed a hoof against the trigger and fired a shot into his head. As I laughed it bounced off the walls and echoed around, and I could see Riptide turning in confused circles, trying to pinpoint it. I was crying inside my suit from laughter, and I eventualy finished laughing. My sides hurt, even in game when I shouldn’t feel pain. Riptide finally found out where the laughing was coming from and charged, to be finished off with a shot between the eyes.
I felt bad for him, buuut that normally went away when someone else came careening down the hallway for me. Since that point the only one who tried to sneak up on me was bramble, and he did get me once. ONCE. I grumbled afterwards when he bragged about it like he won the lottery. I knew it had been hard to kill me, but still there was a gloat limit. Everyone else acted like he was a legend, and I switched to poison bullets, just for the thought.
After that we had all played random board games and just hung out. Eventually they both had to go home, so me and Riptide also decided to tuck in for the night. Then here we were to the present, me deciding to go to work early and try to start with a good first impression. I wore business casual, or in other words my skin suit, because I thought it would go well with the whole spa thing. I hoped if I was good enough me and Riptide could get free trips to the spa.
It took a little while, but eventualy I got to the spa and walked through the door, the scents of balms and warm water filling my nose. I took a deep breathe, and sighed happily, opening my eyes and going to the pony at the front desk, who was currently spring waters. She looked at me and smiled, waving a hoof at me to join her behind the counter. After a second of looking for the entrance, I walked in, in which she gave me a quick paper for me to sign. I glanced, and saw it was mostly just things to keep the spa out of trouble if I got hurt or something.
I signed it, and she took the paper from me and nodded. “You will mostly be doing special treatment’s for people who want more privacy and steam,” she said, and followed up with “You will get 5 dollars an hour,”
“Alright, sounds fair,” I conceded, and prepared for work. I didn’t have to prepare much, considering my position, but still. I fluffed up my mane a bit and checked over to make sure my suit was fine, then simply waited next to spring. While there she told me how much I would enjoy this job, and how nice it is too see couples relaxing together. To be honest it did sound pretty nice, and if I could help people relax it made it even better.
As soon as the doors opened I saw a couple walk in, and I could feel the pony in my head gawk at them a bit. It was a zebra mare, her black and white stripes looking glossy in the light and her eyes a brilliant blue, her mane done so it was covering the right side of her head, like a side mane style. Her mate was a unicorn buck, his coat a deep purple and his eyes shinned green beneath a black and green mane. They looked like a good couple, and I smiled as I heard them tell spring they would like an extra private room and missage. I held out a hoof to the mare and smiled a genuine and sweet smile saying, “Hi i’m Mist Sunrise, i’ll be helping you today,”
“Why thank you, my name is Marigold,” the zebra said smiling, taking my hoof and shaking it.
“My name is Lime licorice,” the buck said taking my hoof next and shaking, smiling.
“Nice to meet you both, i’ll show you to a room where you can relax,” I said, and walked away, noting the hoofsteps as they followed me. A minute later I showed them to their room, smiling as they walked in. I followed in behind them, which seemed to surprise them. “We asked for it extra private,” Marigold said, seeming puzzled .
“I know, and i’m going to help it be private,” I said, and smiled adding, “and don’t worry, if your planning on doing anything a little frisky,” I teased, and they both blushed. I nodded, and mist began to fill the room, turning into steam as it combined with the hot air, and I smiled even more as I saw both of them visibly relax. “After my work shift want to maybe come over to my house and relax as well?” I asked, and they nodded. I went over and sat down in a corner, sighing happily as I heard the water splash as they entered, and closed my eyes to relax. I knew I probably wouldn’t be able to do much considering what they were soon going to do, but eh. I would take the rest while I could.
It was the second job I had taken today, around 2 hours after the first one. This time I could immediatly sense the tension between the two, and decided to make things quick. I could tell this was probably something they decided to do after a long argument, and although I hoped it would help I didn’t want to know what was wrong. Plus I don’t think they would have wanted me to ask anyway. As soon as we got into the room I started up the mist, and they looked at me, seeming surprised but not hostile. “I’m here to provide the extra alone time,” I said, a small smile on my lips as I settled in my corner.
I didn’t have too many more after that, and most of them seemed tense, some even downright hostile. There was one other couple that was actually friendly, but they were having such a good time I didn’t want to bother them. At the end of the day though I did enjoy helping people, and everyone I helped went out relaxed and calm. Plus, I knew if I ever wasn’t happy Riptide would make me happy. I smiled at the thought, and walked out the door, prepared and ready for the rest of the day with Riptide.
Author's Note
Well it seems everything is going swimmingly.. for now. Will there be a sequal to these two? we will have to wait and see
