What are you listening to?

Amon walked back to the car, changed into his track suit and with a heavy Duffle bag over his shoulder.

"How'd that go?" Flash asked as he moved over to make room in the back. Amon shrugged.

"Apparently me and Lemon, if she wants to, need to meet my mom and dad on Monday for dinner." Amon said with a bland look. Lemon squeed with excitement.

"Ohh, meeting the parents! I'm totally in!" Amon looked at her, smiling slightly.

"Well, duh." He got into Vinyl's car and she was speeding off almost before he could get the door closed.

"Next stop Ponyville High!"

* * *

"Why am I getting out here?" Flash asked as he was pushed out the door by Lemon.
She cocked an eyebrow at him.

"I can't bring a guy to the girls dorm, dude." Lemon rolled her eyes before giving Amon a little wave.

"Oh, good point." Flash muttered as the door closed behind him and the car sped off. Amon rolled his shoulders after he’d watched the car take a corner and pass out of sight.

"Well, let's go see what special torture Coach has saved for me, eh?" Amon chuckled as he headed around the back of the school to the field. Flash followed, veering off to take a seat on the bleachers. He found a spot by himself, not that interested in shooting the shit with the few Ponyville students watching the practice.

Flash pulled out his headphones, plugging them into his iPhone and tapping around before he hit the play button.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCM_Fj3U1kM

Flash watched for a while as Amon was directed to the outside track of the oval by the track coach. Amon stretched for a few minutes, limbering up and loosening his muscles before he waved. The coach nodded and as Amon started off the coach started a stopwatch.

Flash watched the coach put the stopwatch on a bench and pull out a clicker, walking around and supervising the rest of the team. He seemed to be paying enough attention to click Amon's revolutions, but Flash wasn't sure.

He'd watched Amon run sprints before, and his form was, well, not great. Flash watched the seemingly easy lope Amon was using. He knew that if he was running alongside Amon, he would have dropped to the side gasping after the first five minutes

A few of Amon's teammates slid up next to him, conversing idly before they powered on to finish their set, but Amon just kept his pace.

'Maybe nine, ten miles per hour.' Flash guessed, not really that sure if he was judging the speed right. After about half an hour, Flash saw Octavia and vinyl walk around the building, Lemon peeling off from them to run over alongside Amon.

She had shorts and a tank top in bright yellow on, and Flash couldn’t help thinking that the outfit suited her. Lemon caught Amon’s attention with a poke in the side, then handed him a water bottle as she kept pace.

Vinyl and Octavia make their way leisurely over to Flash in the stands, and he slipped his headphones off as they sit down.

"Have fun infiltrating the enemy’s citadel, girls?" Flash said, prompting a laugh from Octavia.

"Someone actually recognized me. The ruckus was great cover for Lemon to grab her things." Vinyl chuckled, sprawling on a bleacher, her head resting in Octavia's lap.

"She's back for revenge! I swear that's what was going through that one girl's head. White as a sheet!" Octavia grunted while Flash shared in Vinyl's mirth. They were silent for a few moments before Flash decided to address the elephant in the room.

"So, who would have thought it? I've gotta say that was pretty much the definition of blindsided." Flash leaned back against the bleachers, looking up at the wispy clouds scudding across the sky with a pensive expression.

"Mmm, I can't say I would have guessed. Amon seems fairly well adjusted." Octavia murmured in reply to Flash. She absently stroked Vinyl's hair as she watched Amon and Lemon run side by side.

"Guess we just need to make sure we're there for him. I don't think there's really anything we can do to help beside that." Flash sighed before looking back down at the couple..

"That's true, Vinyl. What about this Veela girl? Any ideas on getting her to back off?" They stared blankly at each other for a few moments.

"Hit her with my car?" Vinyl offered weakly.

"No vehicular homicide. No homicide, for that matter." Octavia muttered, her eyes still on the running pair. "I think we need to find out a little more about this girl. Once Lemon joins us, we'll see what we can discover."

"Sounds like a plan. I'm gonna space out, poke me when she tires out and joins us." Flash slipped his headphones back on and queued up another track. He chuckled, thinking Lemon would approve.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsiNSovDvMI

Amon felt his muscles tense and release, the acid burn of fatigue starting to set in.

"Laps. Just run laps. Come on coach, I know I'm not like, your star athlete or anything, but seriously?" Amon would have thrown his arms up in disgust if it wouldn’t have put him off his stride.

"Whine whine whine, come on Amon. Kick it up a little, you can set a better pace than this!" Lemon harangued him. She was actually barely able to keep up the pace herself after fifteen minutes of running with him.

"I've been running for an hour! Fine, whatever. Hey, where are you going?" Lemon stuck her tongue out at him as she peeled off, heading for the coach. He watched absently as she grabbed the clicker out of his hand, looked at it, then started poking her finger into his chest.

'What the hell, Lemon?' Amon thought as he saw them walk over to the stopwatch coach left earlier. She picked it up, said a few things Amon couldn’t make out and pointed at Amon before stomping off to the bleachers. 'Oh, great.' Amon thought as coach set his thunderous gaze on him.

"What was all that about?" Flash asked, slipping his headphones off as Lemon stalked up the bleachers toward them.

"Bah, that guy’s an idiot, and in about fifteen minutes he's going to realize Amon is on the wrong team. Or, doing the wrong events anyway" Lemon bristled noticeably, crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently.

"Care to elaborate?" Octavia murmured, still gently stroking Vinyl's hair as she napped.

"I saw it the minute I watched him run, but Amon's not super fast so that coach has been ignoring him. At the pace we were going, Amon's run about eleven miles in the last hour."

"Is that good?" Flash asked, sitting up.

"Eleven miles an hour isn't good, but running eleven miles in an hour is crazy good. Like, top five in the Boston marathon good." Lemon mussed her hair distractedly.

"Oh, damn. Cool." Flash noted. Lemon seemed to be agitated to the point of distraction.

"Freaking morons..." Lemon muttered as she stalked back and forth in front of them on the bleachers, watching the coach like a cat watches a canary.

"Lemon, sit down. Vinyl is napping, and I won't have you waking her up with all your tromping to and fro." Octavia frowned at the girl, her own agitation becoming clear. Lemon spun around and flounced down onto a bleacher, harrumphing in displeasure.

"He wasn't even paying attention! He was barely clicking three quarters of the revolutions. I mean, how do you manage that when Amon's keeping a set pace?" Lemon's volume started to climb as she vented. "You just turn your head once every minute. How hard is that?"

Octavia growled as Vinyl starts to stir.

"Calm down, Lemon. You've done what you wanted, now wait for the results."She leaned down and kissed Vinyl's forehead as Lemon crossed her arms, still fuming but silent. Eventually, the coach looked back and forth between his clicker and stopwatch, turned around and motioned for Lemon to come down.

She jumped up, bouncing down the bleacher steps and walking over to him, and they had a quiet discussion. After a minute, Lemon turned around and walked back up the bleachers to where the rest were sitting.

"Well, at least he's not stubborn, as well as an idiot." Lemon said as she plopped back down on the bleacher, smiling triumphantly.

"Hmm? So, now what?" Octavia asked. She wasn’t really sure where this was going.

"Well, coach told Amon to run til he can't, so, we wait till he can't run anymore? Shit, how did this backfire on me?" Lemon threw her hands up, flopping back onto the bleacher. Flash gave Lemon a curious look.

"Come on, how much longer could he run for? It's been like, an hour and a half." Lemon sighed, pulling her iPod out and plugging it into the ever-present headphones around her neck.

"Honestly? I have no idea. His pace didn't slack off at all when I ran with him, and he actually picked it up after I came over here." She slid her headphones over her ears. "Settle in, I guess?" She thumbed the play button on her iPod.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yicTUvDVTHA&index=2&list=RDjuOTMMwAZgo

Amon stumbled to a stop, bending forward and supporting himself by placing his hands on his knees. He was gasping for breath, his joints were on fire, and his blood felt like acid in his veins.

"Gonna throw up?" Lemon asked. Amon glanced up tiredly to see her bent over in front of him, holding out a water bottle.

"Ughh, if I, guh, was going to, huh, I would have, huff huff, already." Amon grabbed the water gratefully from Lemon as he puffed like a bellows. He collapsed to a sitting position, sipping the water and groaning.

"So, how far do you think you ran?" Amon glanced up at the tone in Lemon's voice and noticed the coach walking over to him. He also noticed that the rest of the team was standing on the side of the track, along with Octavia, Vinyl and Flash. He waited a moment to get his breathing a bit steadier.

"I don't know, eighteen miles? That's my usual pace or so, right coach?" He wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand, blinking some out of his eyes.

"Well, Amon, I have to admit, that doesn't seem to be the case." Lemon shot a poisonous glance his way before turning back to Amon and smiling.

"You just ran a little under twenty-eight miles, you numbskull." Amon blinked at her.

"Bwah?" Lemon sat down next to him, pulling him over to lean against her.

"That's, That's a new school record there, Amon. Good job!" The coach noted hopefully, but Lemon scowled at him.

"It would have been a state record if he'd been paying attention, like, ever." Lemon hissed in a tone meant only to carry to Amon.

"So, that's why you were saying I should switch to cross country?" He asked, prompting an exasperated sigh from the girl.

"You should drop out of school and start entering in marathons.” She waved a hand in dismissal as he raised an eyebrow slowly at her. “Just kidding, don't drop out. Right now, you need to drink some Gatorade and eat. Like, right now. Your metabolism is eating you alive." Amon looked at her questioningly.

"How do you know all this stuff?" Lemon smiled, seeming a little bit embarrassed.

"I boned up on long distance running stuff after I watched you for a while. I figured you were an enthusiast, and we'd have something to talk about. Silly me, you're a bonehead." Amon smiled at her, tossing the water bottle he'd just finished and popping the top on a Gatorade Lemon passed to him.

"Your bonehead." Amon quipped, feeling slightly better as he drank the Gatorade slowly.

"Nope, You're gonna be BONED if you don't get up. Come on." Lemon motioned and Flash walked over, helping her pick up Amon and letting him lean on him as they made their way toward the locker room.

"Anyone have some yogurt? Or a Bagel?" Lemon called out as Amon hobbled toward the gym with Flash's help. He really needed it, too. His legs felt like Jello molds that hadn’t quite set. It also didn’t help when the rest of the track team started making a racket, clapping and whistling as he was taken off the field. The embarrassment was enough to make him a little weak in the knees as is.

"I'll go grab some from the cafeteria. Be right back." Amon's coach said, putting on an impressive turn of speed as he darted around the side of the building.

"Huh, he's being useful, who woulda thunk it?" Lemon muttered as she turned and followed the boys into the gym. Octavia glanced at Vinyl, awake and chipper beside her.

"How long til they kick her out, do you think?" Moments later a boy wrapped in only a towel walked out of the gym door, dragging a protesting Lemon behind him.

"Cold shower! And get him dried off and in dry clothes quick!" Lemon cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted back into the building as she was deposited outside.

"Sure, whatever, just, stay out, okay?" The boy said, blushing when confronted by Octavia and Vinyl's steady gazes then tipping an imaginary hat and bolting back inside. Vinyl looked at Lemon, a mischievous grin on her face.

"Who is this impostor, telling Amon to take a cold shower? What have you done with our Lemon?" Lemon regarded Vinyl evenly.

"He needs to get the sweat off him or he'll get chilled, but if he takes a hot shower for a couple days his muscles are going to blow up and he won't be able to walk." Vinyl gulped.

"Oh, okay then, cold shower for the win."

Octavia looked at Lemon worriedly.

"Is he going to be okay?" Lemon nodded.

"He'll be fine, he just needs to take tomorrow off and go easy for a while." Her face twisted up in a cruel grin. "And take an ice bath."

* * *

"Doctor's orders, Amon."

Amon was sitting in Flash's hot tub on his back porch. It was filled up to his waist with cold water.

"She's not a doctor! I demand a second opinion!" He was naked from the waist down with a heavy sweater on.

"Don't be a baby, Amon. I WebMD'd it, it's legit." Flash said as he dumped a bag of ice into the tub.

"Ah, shit! That's cold, you ass!" Lemon walked onto the porch, another bag of ice under her arm and a cup in her hand. She handed the bag to Flash who unceremoniously dumped it in as well.

"That's the point. You want to be able to walk tomorrow, right?" Amon grimaced as the ice numbed his lower half.

"Well?" Lemon prompted.

"I'm thinking about it." Lemon leaned on the edge of the tub, holding out the cup as steam wafted off of it.

"It's broth. I'll get you more in a few minutes." Lemon said in answer to Amon's questioning glance.

"Thanks." Amon took the cup and sipped a few times before downing it.

"Twenty minutes. Suck it up." Lemon said after accepting the cup back from him, turning and walking back inside. Amon glanced at Flash with an inconsolable expression. Flash was trying unsuccessfully to hold in his laughter.

"Fuck you, too, then." Amon crossed his arms, rubbing them as the chill started to creep up. The broth seemed to be helping, though. After a minute or so of silence he spoke up again. "So you guys just let me run almost thirty fucking miles?" Flash shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck and giving Amon an apologetic grin.

"I don't know shit about running. How was I supposed to know you weren't supposed to do that?"

"Common sense?" Amon grumbled. Flash hooked a thumb in the direction that Lemon had retreated.

"She didn't seem worried."

"SHE, is crazy." Flash reached out to Amon, pinching his cheek.

"Crazy about you, you cheeky devil." Amon stared at Flash. He stared back.

"Okay, that was weirder than usual. Let's just forget that happened." Amon nodded, mouth still slightly ajar and still speechless. Lemon returned with more broth a bit later, not noticing the awkwardness permeating the air. After a few more minutes she nodded.

"Okay, big boy, out of the tub." Amon regarded her for a moment. He then stuck out his arms, smiling. Lemon looked at him incredulously.

"Umm, no."

"What a gyp. I did it for you!" Amon said with a mock scowl, but the amused smile he was hiding behind it broke through almost immediately.

"You're physically capable of carrying me." Lemon deadpanned, crossing her arms and tilting her hip to regard this strange creature she was so fascinated with.

"Details. Hand me a towel." Lemon quirked an eyebrow.

"What, it's not like it's anything we haven't seen before." Lemon said with a grin. 'Or had inside me.' She thought, grin widening. Amon held his hand out.

"I've been sitting in ice-water for twenty minutes. It is NOTHING like you've seen before." Flash winced as Lemon blushed scarlet, turning quickly and grabbing a towel she had ready to dry Amon off. He grabbed it, sitting up with his back turned to both of them and wrapping the towel around his waist. He turned back and clambered out of the tub with plenty of help from Flash and Lemon.

"Feel okay?" Lemon asked as Amon tested his legs out, bending at the knees a few times.

"Actually, not bad at all. I feel like I could run again." Amon said with a modicum of surprise.

"Don't fucking do that." Amon turned a blase eye on Lemon.

"Yes, mistress." Lemon chuckled as Amon bowed, a bit more stiffly than he’d have liked, but he was pretty sore no matter what he’d said.

"I know you're doing that to make me feel bad, but it's just hot." Her expression soured slowly. "Damn, I just thought of something. We probably shouldn't fuck for a couple days. Shit."

"Shit." Lemon kicked the ground idly before grabbing a pair of sweatpants and handing them to Amon.

"Come on, let's take a few laps around the block. Slowly." She failed to turn around as Amon dried himself off with the towel and slipped into the sweats.

"Cooldown, right? Yeah, that's probably a good idea." Lemon turned to flash, who was inspecting his eaves with his back turned to them.

"You wanna join us, Flash?" He smirked at her, raising an eyebrow.

"Sure, I'll just join you two fitness freaks on another wild ride through exercise. No thanks, you kids have fun." Amon watched for a moment as Lemon tried to explain the importance of a cooldown walk to Flash, who smiled at her indulgently. He just rolled his eyes and walked around the side of Flash's house, starting down the street.

"Lemon, I just, I just don't care. Go catch Amon before he hurts himself." Lemon turned around to find Amon gone and took off after him, cursing.

"Ah, to be young and in love... And stupid. And have no impulse control." Flash chuckled before sauntering back into his house.

Lemon was surprised when she caught up to Amon almost immediately.

"You're actually taking it slow?" Lemon asked, a little taken aback.

"Either that, or this is as fast as I can walk. I'm not stupid, Lemon. Most of the time, anyway." Amon was limping slightly but he seemed fairly chipper. Lemon slid a hand into his and matched his pace.

"I can feel how bad I pushed myself. What's your vast knowledge of running say about how long I'm gonna have to take it easy?" Lemon fidgeted, looking away from him.

"Well, most people say recovery should be a day for every mile..." Amon blanched, staring at Lemon for a few seconds before shaking his head.

"Umm, nope. I have a meet on Thursday. That's not gonna work." Lemon sighed. She wasn’t surprised that Amon was balking at the circumstances he’d found himself in. It was one of the things she liked about him, after all.

"Look, the first three days are the most important. Nothing but stretches til Tuesday. I'm not gonna say you shouldn't go, but it's not a good idea." Amon looked at her as they came back around the block and passed Flash's house.

"Okay, I'll talk to Coach. Honestly, I doubt he'll mind." Lemon barked a laugh, her tone less than charitable as she spoke up.

"Yeah, he'll probably say 'Rest up! We need to do that again, with the Athletic Commission present!'"

"What's your problem with Coach, anyway?" Amon asked. He’d noticed pretty quickly that Lemon seemed a bit hostile toward the man. She was silent for a few moments as they continued to walk.

"He ignored you. He didn't recognize what was right in front of him, and let you waste your potential." She eventually said. Amon stopped, pulling her to a halt and turning to look at Lemon.

"This isn't just about Coach, is it?" Lemon refused to meet his eyes for a beat. Amon wasn’t having any of that, though, and reached out to gently tip her chin up. "Are you still mad at me for not noticing you for so long?" Lemon looked back at Amon, the wry smile on her face clear now.

"Well, I guess you're not totally oblivious. Maybe I am, a little. I'm getting over it fast, though." Amon smiled at her before a thought occurred to him. His smile curdled a little as he looked down into Lemon's eyes.

"This little run you set me up for wasn't some kind of punishment, was it?"

"What!?" Lemon's eyes widened, and she turned to Amon and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. "Amon, I set that up to show everyone how amazing you are." Lemon said quietly. She pulled back, catching his eyes and holding them. Amon was surprised by the intensity he saw there. "Including you."

Amon rolled his eyes nervously, holding Lemon loosely in his arms.

"I'm not any kind of amazing, Lemon." He said quietly.

"Yes you are! You are to me, dammit." Lemon stared at Amon intently. His cheeks started feeling a little hot as he contemplated the complicated girl in his arms.

"Me, too! You're totally amazing, Monny!"

Amon and Lemon look at each other, then around the empty street.

"Who said that?" Amon asked quietly, but a sudden sinking feeling in his gut told him he might have an idea.

"I have no idea-AH!" Amon's eyes widened as he heard a thump behind him. Lemon shrieked, stumbling backward away from him.

"Pinkie..."

"Hi Monny!" Pinkie Pie yelled from behind him and he bolted forward, spinning around.

"She just, fell out of the sky..." Lemon muttered as she stared at the bouncing ball of energy.

"What? No I didn't! That's silly Lemon, I was just up in this tree." Pinkie patted the oak tree beside her. Amon's eyes crinkled in thought.

"Was that here a second ago..?" Lemon looked back and forth from Amon to the tree, her eyes unsure.

"It's fine, you too! Don't worry about it! What's important right now is, I have so many parties to throw for you!" Pinkie yelled exuberantly, her arms waving like one of those used car wind puppet things. Amon rubbed his brow tiredly.

"Honestly, Pinkie, I was expecting you a lot earlier than this." Lemon looked at Amon incredulously as Pinkie pouted, crossing her arms and huffing.

"Well, you were with Flash all day. I Pinkie promised Flash I would give him some space this weekend because his parents are making him a big frowny pants." Lemon glanced at Amon, then back to Pinkie.

"I think he's over that, we've been hanging out with him and Octy and Vinyl all day. Rarity was here for a while, too." Pinkie turned to Lemon with a happy smile.

"Oh, you saw Rares? Do you know what's up with her?" Amon hurriedly looked away, adopting a nonchalant attitude.

"Umm, what do you mean? Something wrong with her?" Pinkie dropped down into a crouch, idly poking the grass with a finger while she frowned in thought.

"Well, I texted her to tell her I was coming over, and she said not to come over, and when I came over she was yelling in her room and when I knocked on her door she yelled at me to not come in and when I came in she was wrapped up in her covers trying to hide her dildo and when I told her not to stop on my account she threw her dildo at me." Lemon just stared as Pinkie’s explanation spilled out of her mouth in a single breath. She took a deep breath involuntarily, as if she could breath FOR this girl. Collecting her thoughts, Lemon spoke up as Amon put a hand on his hip, the other covering his face as he shook his head lightly.

"So, you walked in on Rares masturbating, and told her to give you a show... And something's wrong with HER?" Lemon asked carefully.

"Well, she never stopped before." Amon opened his mouth, about to ask if Rarity was aware Pinkie was watching her at the time, but thought better of it after a moment. Lemon wasn't so smart.

"Did she know you were there those other times?" Pinkie tapped a finger against her temple for a few seconds before giving her an uncertain smile.

"I... Think so?"

"Okay! Moving on. It's actually less awkward at this point to admit Rares got her motor running listening to me and Lemon." Pinkie quirked an eyebrow and tilted her head.

"Listening to you what?" She asked innocently.

"Fuck. And drop the innocent act, you probably know the exact amount of orgasms we've had in the last couple days." Lemon gaped at Amon as Pinkie grinned mischievously.

"Twenty-two, you silly bunnies. I'm a little jealous!" Amon frowned in thought.

"That seems a little high."

Pinkie tossed her head in Lemon's direction.

"She masturbates a lot."Amon struggled to choke back a bark of laughter as the pink menace tossed the comment off nonchalantly.

"Hey! I have a healthy relationship with my body!" Lemon rebutted angrily before blushing furiously, clapping a hand over her mouth as her eyes widened in realization of what she’d just said.

"Hey, no arguments here, sister." Pinkie reached into her blouse and pulled out two cards. "Here's your invitations to the 'Congratulations to Amon for working out his childhood issues by taking Lemon's virginity and winning Flash a pile of money' party!"

"We're not calling it that." Amon said flatly, hardly surprised that Pinkie had known what he was dealing with all along.

"Umm, the 'Amon purges his demons with a virgin sacrifice' party?" Lemon stared at Pinkie like she'd grown a second head.

"How does she know these things? She's scaring me, Amon." Lemon said quietly, slowly grabbing his arm and pressing into his side, moving like she thought any sudden movement would spell her doom.

"You get used to it. I go back and forth between she's a wizard and she's an alien." Pinkie laughed heartily.

"You're silly, Amon. I'm just a normal girl with a healthy curiosity. The more I know the happier I can make my friends!" Pinkie spread her arms wide as she beamed up at the sky.

"In their pants." Amon deadpanned.

"Ha! Good one, Monny." Pinkie snorted, flopping down onto her butt and kicking her legs up in glee. She wasn’t wearing panties.

"Pinkie, you can stop flashing me now. The bet's over." Amon said with a blush as he looked away pointedly.

"Don' wanna..." Pinkie muttered, pouting again. Lemon looked between the two, her fear somewhat abated.

"Up to you, I guess. Anyway, Can we just call it the 'congratulations on getting together Lemon and Amon' party?” Pinkie frowned, her forehead creasing in thought.

"But what about the subtext? What about the bet? What about that record you broke? I guess we could have separate rooms representing each aspect of the celebration, but..." Pinkie trailed off into mumbles as she walked in a slow circle. Amon, seeing his chance, slowly pulled Lemon away as they headed back to Flash's house as quickly as Amon could manage.

"Well, that was my friend Pinkie. No need to introduce you, she somehow knows everyone and everything about them." Lemon gave him a worried glance. She looked back over her shoulder, but the strange girl was nowhere to be seen. This only served to worry Lemon more.

"Is she, okay? Like, in the head?" Amon shrugged, but that felt a bit uncharitable.

"Sure. She takes some getting used to, but she's a great friend." Lemon still looked a little uncertain but she nodded, her arm slipping around Amon's back to pull him into her side.

"If you say so. Let's go back to Flash's, I think I need to lie down." She leaned her head on Amon's shoulder. He sighed, a wry smile on his face.

"Aren't I the one that should be tired?" Lemon poked him in the side.

"The 'with you' was implied, Amon."

"Oh. Sounds good."