Lost Pegasus

== Chapter One: Awakening ==

    My eyes opened suddenly, my breaths shallow gasps. My head was throbbing in pain as I jumped to my hooves. I quickly took stock of my surroundings. I was in a small closet. The walls were grey, and the door ahead of me was brown. A mirror was attached to it, and I was able to get the first good look at myself since I'd arrived at Las Pegasus.

    I looked like shit, which wasn't saying much. I took in my dark red coat and brown, slicked-back mane. My tail had always been a bit short, but it always seemed shorter each time I saw it. My horn was at an average size.  I still had a blank flank; I had given up searching for my special talent years ago. Tearing my teal eyes from the mirror, I looked around the room, paying attention to what was inside. There was a mop and bucket in one corner, and a broom and dustpan in the other. My head ached as I tried to remember what I was doing before I ended up here...

    Memory took hold as I burst out of the closet, the broom in tow by magic. The door to the market was opened, a couple of undead ponies inside with me. I winced as they turned to shamble towards me, making a mental note not to make so much noise when I moved around. I noticed my saddlebags ahead of me, a few feet from the ponies.

    I walked forward until I was about seven feet away from one of the things, lining up a swing and waiting for it to walk into range. It made the last step and I swung the broom sideways into the thing's head savagely, knocking the creature back a few steps. It responded by turning to me and snarling. I took a few steps back as the other one got a tad closer than I'd like. I waited for it to get into range before I made a downward swing, bringing the broom down as hard as I could over its head. I floored the beast and broke the head off the broom, leaving a jagged pole in my magical grip. The broom head clattered to the ground.

    I let what just happened register before I shoved the sharp end of the pole down into the floored beast's head, stilling it. I then turned to the other undead and shoved the bloody weapon through its forehead, making it fall to the ground heavily. I pulled the spear out and examined my new best friend. It was still incredibly sharp. I walked forward and checked my saddlebags. They were considerably lighter, and much less jingly than when I had first walked into the market. The food was still there, but almost all of my bits were gone. I packed up a bit more food and then grabbed a few bottles of water before putting on the 'bags and heading to the door. A big block stopped the door from closing, and attached to it was a note.

    'I'm sorry, I really am. I didn't want to have to do that.

    You didn't really leave me a choice though. You had a ton of bits in your bags, and you were going to go out and kill yourself! Maybe not intentionally, but that's what was going to end up happening. I couldn't just ask to take them from you, either. I didn't think you would just say, "Oh sure, take this small fortune off my hooves!" Kinda ridiculous sounding, right? That's what I thought. Anyways, if you're reading this, then that means I didn't kill you with that hit, and nothing walked in and snuffed you either. Best of luck, and should our paths cross again, I really hope you can look past what I did and see why I knocked you out.

No hard feelings,

    Quick Draw'

    After reading the hastily scrawled note, I frowned and stuffed it in my bags with all my other stuff. "If I find that pony, I'm going to give him a serious piece of my mind. Hopefully it'll involve wrapping mine around a blunt object and bludgeoning him with reason..." I levitated my broom-spear forward and walked out the door.

    When I had first ran towards the market, I hadn't really paid attention to my surroundings. Now that I had time to think, I looked around. There were overturned chariots everywhere. Mindless abominations were limping here and there, some just deciding that standing was the best option. There really was no sense of purpose behind their movements, and I didn't want to add any. After a recap of what was going on, I decided I had best go find Fortune and fill her in. I looked up and spotted the hotel. It was about five blocks away, and there were plenty of undead between here and there.

    I was able to walk unnoticed for about a block before one set of those lifeless eyes locked onto me and the body it was connected to growled. I would've walked by, but the growl had alerted all the creatures in the immediate vicinity. Eight of them in total. I looked into the street. There were a couple chariots in the road, and three of the creatures were behind one, attempting to climb over it. Two were to my right, and there were three in front of me. The one that was closest to me began to limp with a vengeance. It got close, mouth already open, so it could receive a spear through the eye. I made sure to jam it farther in, grimacing as I pierced the brain, making the body go limp.

    I was so preoccupied with the one in front of me that I had forgotten about the two to my right! One snarled and lunged at me, teeth gnashing. I jumped to the side and spun around, the thing recovering from its attack. I charged forward and stabbed the spear towards the head of the beast. The thing moved its head up to look at me as I stabbed and the spear got lodged in its neck. Blood squirted out and about, painting the ground nearby a dark red. I figured it would fall over quickly, but it continued to stumble towards me. I backed up and looked left, noticing the other two undead much closer to me. The three behind the chariot were now on top of the chariot, falling over onto their faces on my side.

    I decided to just run. I didn't want to keep wasting time when I needed to go help Fortune. I ran back and around the two to my left, and then back onto the sidewalk on the other side of the two that were originally to my right. They snarled as I kept running, jumping out of the way of any undead that wanted to make me it's next meal. I ran all the way to the hotel, panting as I slid through the doors. The body of the receptionist was still on the ground, next to the large, once-functioning lamp I had used to beat her down. There weren't any new bodies, moving or otherwise, so I walked over to the elevator and pressed the button. I waited a minute before remembering that the thing was out of order. I groaned in frustration and headed for the stairs.

    I got to our room and opened the door. A terrified Fortune was huddled on the bed, shaking as she wept. When she saw me, she instantly became much more relieved, but her tears continued to spill. I went to her and hugged her in a tight embrace, kissing her softly on the cheek.

    "G-Grey, oh Grey! I'm s-so glad y-you're ok... I thought something h-had happened to you!" Her crying was beginning to let up as she kissed me fiercely. "Where were you? You've been gone for nearly f-four hours!" I glanced at the clock. 1:00. I had been knocked out for three hours!?

    "Fortune, I ran into a pony... He was nice at first, but he knocked me out and took all the bits I had with me. He left me this note." I pulled out said note and let her read it over. When she finished, she sniffed and wiped the rest of her tears off her face before handing me the note back. I tucked it away before looking back to Fortune.

    "Grey, what does he mean you were about to go out and kill yourself?" She asked, confused. "What exactly is going on here? Is this just a joke?"

    I sighed before filling her in. I told her about how the 'un-identified threats' were undead ponies that were trying to eat others. I told her about how I'd gotten my first kill, how I'd dashed to the supermarket with Quick Draw. And then I told her about how he'd bashed me in the face and robbed me. She didn't look pleased.

    "You're telling me that there are a bunch of zombie ponies running around? You're kidding... Right?" Zombie ponies! How had I not thought of the name before!?

    Back to the matter on hoof. She was fearful and I needed to console her. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying." Good start, Grey! I mentally kicked myself and continued. "There are a bunch of zombies out there. Apparently it happened last night, while we were... *Ahem*" I blushed a bit at the mention of last night, scratching the back of my neck. "We need to get out of Las Pegasus. I packed up a bit of food and water, so we should be fine for a few days. Also, we'll need a weapon, and definitely something special for you, seeing as you can't use magic." I searched about the room fruitlessly. There just wasn't something you could use to kill a pony in here. Huh.

    Fortune just stared at me before whispering "You're being serious, aren't you?" Her eyes began to tear up once more. I quickly hugged her again. She hugged back, but the tears quietly spilled down her cheeks. "What's going to happen? So many ponies must be dead... How come Celestia hasn't come in to save the survivors? Grey, what's going to happen to us? We're practically in the center of Las Pegasus! Getting out is going to be nearly impossible without one of us getting hurt or..." She stopped talking, a look of regret etched onto her face. I made a small frown but said nothing. She went back to talking softly, "Grey, I didn't mean to say that. We'll be ok... Won't we?" Uncertainty was her dominant feature.

    "Fortune, I know I messed up the other day. I let you get hurt. But I got you out of there. I'm not going to let you get hurt again. I'm going to save you. Even if I don't make it, I'm going to get you to safety. I promise. I love you." She didn't seem happy, but she knew I was going to protect her. That's all that mattered. That I keep her safe. All that mattered...

    We sat in our room for the last time, eating our last meal in silence (canned hay tastes as good as it sounds, but it was food). After we ate, I told her some of the key points I'd picked up from my venture. "You'll know if it's a zombie because their eyes will look lifeless. Also, it'll growl. Makes them stick out like a sore hoof. Another thing I'd like to point out is that they react pretty fast to noise, so try and be quiet." I thought for a moment and said "Don't forget to aim for the head. That seems to be the only thing that kills them." She looked at me like I had gone crazy.

    "How can you say that!? You want me kill them? They're ponies, Grey! I'm a lover, not a fighter!"

    "I would never have found that out on my own. You, a lover?" I smirked and kissed her cheek. "It's you or them, Fortune. I'm rooting for you, personally. If you don't find a way to at least keep them off you, then it's going to make things difficult. Just try for me, ok?"

    "Fine, Grey," she sighed. "I'll try. I really hope I can live with myself after this..."

    "Fortune, I can't guarantee I'm too happy about what I've done already, and I've only actually killed, what, four of them? But I'll be ok, knowing that what I did got you safe. Trust me, we'll be alright." I tried my best to support her, but I felt like I wasn't doing a good enough job...

    "Well, I suppose we'd best get going." She got off the bed and walked to the door. I followed her as she opened the door. Just outside the door was a zombie. The thing lunged at Fortune, teeth sharper than I thought I'd ever seen. I didn't have time to scream, time to help. It just attacked.

    My Fortune is something, let me tell you.

    When the zombie went to bite into her chest, she got up on her hind legs, the bite missing very narrowly. Then she brought her hooves down right on its head, crushing the skull against the floor instantly. I let out a shaking breath of relief. She seemed shocked she killed it so easily. "W-was that a zombie? Please tell me that was a zombie! Oh dear Luna, I just killed a pony..." She began to hyperventilate. I quickly grabbed her and pulled her away from the body, blood beginning to pool around it.

    "Fortune, it was a zombie, it's ok. It tried to bite you, remember? You saved your life. Was that so hard?" I tried to rationale killing as a good thing. I was already becoming a monster. "Look, if you do this every time we take one out, then we're going to have a lot of hardship down the road."

    She looked at me and smiled. "I wasn't ready, that's all... It caught me off guard!" She said in defense. I guess I can see that as traumatizing. I had time to figure out that the first one I had found wasn't right. She just had one thrown in her face. I'd be scared too.

    "Let's keep moving, alright? We need weapons, bad. Standing here won't get us any." She turned for the elevator. "Doesn't work, Fortune. We have to take the stairs." So we took the stairs. All the way to the lobby. So many stairs. As was the normal now, the receptionist was dead on the ground, blood dried in a puddle around her. Fortune stared in shock. "That was my first one. The lesson I learned was that lamps make good weapons. From there I learned that anything makes a good weapon." I walked behind the desk and began to dig around underneath it.

    "Um, Grey... Look..." She sounded worried, and a moment later I heard growling from near the exit. I stood up from behind the desk and saw a zombie, slowly making its way into the hotel. Fortune was on the other side of the desk I was behind.

    "They're pretty slow, Fortune. Don't worry, we have a few moments." I began to dig around in the drawers and cabinets, looking for anything I could pummel the undead with. I found a box of sharpened pencils. I decided to try out some improvisation. "Fortune, turn around for a moment, I don't want you to see this."

    She complied as I hopped over the desk, box in tow by magic. I opened it up and pulled out four pencils. I then launched them as hard as I could at the zombie. Two of them hit the neck, one grazed the head, and the last one went into the eye socket. I pulled out a couple more and jammed them as hard as I could into the other eye. It somehow kept moving, now halfway to the desk from the door. I took one last pencil and jammed it as far and hard as I could into the eye with only one pencil. The zombie finally fell, blood dribbling out the socket.

    "Ok, Fortune, it's taken care of. You can turn around." She looked at it, appalled.

    "Did you shove pencils into its EYES!? That's so messed up!" She looked at the creature with disgust as it bled.

    "Hey, survival is a must. Anything is a weapon if you know what you're doing." I shrugged and decided against searching further. There obviously wasn't anything of use in here, so we'd best keep moving. "C'mon, let's get out of here. I'm not spotting anything particularly lethal." I moved for the door.

    "Grey..." I stopped and looked at her. "Are you ok?"

    "Oh yeah, I'm fine. Why?" I was a tad confused.

    "It's just... You're so relaxed right now. It's as if this doesn't even bother you. You just mashed pencils into the eyes of what used to be a living, breathing pony. You killed it so easily, so simply, and you don't seem bothered at all..." She looked at me, a tad scared.

    "Fortune. I would be lying if I said I'm not scared. Lying if I said this doesn't bother me. But I can't let this get in the way of me protecting you. I can't let it get in the way of me staying alive. I can think about what happened after we get out of the danger zone. So let's stop wasting time, ok?" I gave Fortune a sad smile as she nodded. "Ok. Let's go."

    We went outside and looked around. There were only three zombies nearby, so I wasn't too worried. I searched the buildings with my eyes from where I was standing, until I found something that stood out. A poster on a window to a store named 'Saddlebags 'n More' said it sold maps of Las Pegasus. "Hey, Fortune, let's go in there. We're going to need a map if we want to get out of here." She simply nodded. I was feeling pretty worried about her. "Do you think you're going to be alright, dear?" I had no idea what was going through her head.

    "... Yeah. Yeah, I'm going to be fine, Grey. Don't worry about me." She flapped her good wing and smiled at me, attempting to hide the fear in her eyes. I kissed her and moved across the street, Fortune close behind.

    "These zombies aren't very observant," I whispered. I slowly opened the door to 'Saddlebags 'n More' and looked around. The lighting was bright, so it wasn't hard to spot the undead... Hiding behind a cash register? Just next to it was a pile of maps. I pulled out my pack of pencils, and Fortune nudged me, pointing a hoof to the far end of the store. There were souvenirs all over the wall, and I spotted metal baseball bats from different teams. I smiled at her and grabbed one off the wall, before moving over to the register zombie. My shadow passed over it as I got closer.

    I didn't expect it to scream at me and start flapping wings. I didn't even know it had wings.

    The creature launched itself over the counter, biting furiously in my direction. I took a swing, but it flew upwards to avoid getting hit. Then it went to dive at me, mouth open. I held up my bat defensively just in time for the zombie to bite down on it, so it could tear it from my magic and throw it away. I retreated, stumbled, and fell onto my back. It lunged at me, and I held it off me with my hooves, barely stopping it from taking a chunk out of my face or neck.

    It was an inch away before Fortune appeared, bat in her mouth, smashing the thing in the face so hard that the head came off. The body went limp. Shaking, I pushed the body off of me and slowly got to my hooves. "Th-thanks Fortune. I owe ya one." She dropped the bat and hugged me, crying softly. This was a lot for her to handle, and it tore me up inside that she had to go through it with me. I held her close, letting her cry on me. I stroked her mane softly as she let it all out. When she finally shed her last tear, I looked into her eyes.

    "I'm sorry I'm not as strong as you are, Grey..." She sniffed, her eyes now downcast.

    "What do you mean, not strong as me? You just beheaded a zombie with a single swing! You saved my life! You're way stronger than me!" She went to talk back, but I kissed her. "Now be quiet, or I'll do that again!"

    "Maybe I want you to do that again? What then?" She giggled, wiping away the rest of her tears. I was glad to keep her happy.

    "Then I will!" I kissed her again, her working wing extended. She glanced at it and gave me a look, causing me to blush almost instantly.

    "Not right now, Fortune! Geez, how can you think about that at a time like this?" I teased. She just smiled sweetly before turning around to get a map. When she grabbed it, she made sure I got a good view. She looked at me and caught me staring, my blush even brighter through my red coat. I quickly looked away.

    "Oh, Grey, how can you think about that at a time like this~?" She mocked. "That's sooo wrong!" She walked closer and giggled a bit more, letting me grab the map.

    The map in the grasp of my magic, I turned away and looked it over. "I don't know what you're talking about. Anyways, let's see what this thing has to say..." I read over the entire map until I found our hotel. It didn't even have a name, yet it was a four star hotel. Why I never asked what the name of the place was, I have no clue. The way Quick Draw had led me was south, which was also the way to the closest border. "Ok, Fortune, we're going south."

    "What's that? You want me to go south? Didn't we just establish now isn't the time for that?" She grinned as my face once again flashed bright red.

    "No! We need to go towards the border of Las Pegasus, which is south!" She continued to smile at me as I stood there. I went back to looking at the map for anywhere we could possibly get a firearm. Unfortunately, any gun shop in Las Pegasus was north, and it was too far away to make the trip worth it.

    Fortune grabbed us both a bat. She dropped mine by my feet and carried hers towards the door, which she promptly went through. As soon as she left, I quickly packed away the map and followed her outside, bat floating alongside me. Fortune was waiting just to the right, bat on the ground, looking around. "Grey, I think something's wrong." All the cheer from a few moments ago had left her voice.

    "What do you mean? I think this is great. There aren't any zombies around. It'll make it easier to get out of here."

    "That's what I mean. There aren't any nearby. I can see a few a couple blocks down, but there aren't any nearby. There were a few out here when we walked inside, but they're gone."

    I thought back on it. "They were walking around a lot, maybe they just moved somewhere else?"

    "I don't know, Grey. It just seems suspicious to me, like something bad might happen soon."

    "Well, let's try and keep moving. Hopefully we'll be ok." I started walking south, and Fortune was quickly by my side. We went one block down, and Fortune stopped again as we were in the middle of the street. She spat out her bat and let it hit the ground.

    "Grey, I can feel it. Right here." She was panicked. "Don't move, either. Just, stay right here and be ready!" She picked up her bat. I took her seriously for about thirty seconds before I gave her a funny look.

    "Fortune, there's nothing here. What're you-" I went to take a step, and in a flash, a unicorn and three other zombies were surrounding us. I jumped and swung the bat horizontally at the unicorn in surprise. I struck its horn, and it snapped off.

    The ponies around us began to shake uncontrollably, and only the unicorn seemed unharmed. They fell to the ground, and a moment later, their heads exploded. Fortune fainted before me, and I dove to catch her. The hornless unicorn lunged at us, and I swung the bat down on its head, leaving a large indent. It didn't try to get back up.

    I stood up and slung Fortune over my back, feeling particularly bothered. "They can teleport in with groups? That's hardly fair." I stuck Fortune's bat in my saddlebags (Which amazingly decided to fit) and levitated my bat alongside me. From there, I continued south. I avoided the zombies I could and killed the ones I couldn't. With Fortune on my back, I had to be careful, seeing as I wasn't maneuverable. When Fortune began to stir, I ducked into the nearest building and set her down gently. Then I flicked on the lights and looked around.

    I was in what looked like living quarters. There was a sofa against a wall, chair on the opposite wall, tv besides it, coffee table with a vase and flowers on it. There were also four zombies in the corner, eating an earth pony mare. When I flicked on the lights, they looked up and spotted me. Growling, they started to shamble towards me. Using both my magic and physical power, I pushed the couch against the door and picked up my bat, ready to start swinging. One stepped too close and received a muzzle-ful of bat, knocking it over. It tried to right itself as I brought the bat down on another zombie's head. The head came right off and bounced on the ground, rolling to look in my direction. I frowned and brought the bat up, hitting the third zombie under the chin. I then pushed it as hard as I could into the downed zombie, causing them both to squirm on the ground. The last zombie jumped towards me, attempting to rip me apart with its jaws. My reaction was swift, which was to jump back and bring the bat down as hard as I could on its head.

    I then walked over to the downed zombies and brought the bat down repeatedly on their heads and bodies until both stopped moving. Panting, the magical exertion exhausting, I fell back on my haunches and relinquished control of the bloody weapon, letting it fall to the floor. I turned to see Fortune looking at me, horrified. I was no longer tired as I stood up and quickly went to hug her. She flinched away as I did. "What is it? Fortune, what's wrong?"

    "Look at you! It can't be that hard to tell!" I looked down and noticed that my red coat was a bit darker and a bit wetter. I was covered in blood. "Where are we? An apartment? There must be a shower nearby..." I looked and noticed a hallway on the right side of the room from the door.

    "I'll go clean myself off. Just stay put and be careful, ok?" I looked at her with worry in my eyes. She nodded and looked away. Picking up my bat and giving Fortune hers, I went down the hallway and noticed it had a closet and a bathroom. I went back into the main room and saw that there was another hallway. I pushed the chair and tv in front of it before going back to the bathroom. If there was anything else in this house, then I didn't want it to harm Fortune.

    I started the shower and let the hot water run before I got in and started to scrub away the gore with a bit of soap that was already in here. There was so much I nearly emptied my stomach. After a good ten minutes of me washing off the blood, my coat was looking its natural color, as well as my mane. I stood in the shower for an extra few moments to enjoy the water before I heard a scream. It was Fortune's. I instantly sprang out of the room and down the hall, bat held near my head. I entered to find her backed into a corner, a zombie slowly pressing closer. I quickly ran over to it and swept out its legs with my bat. Using my magic, I dragged it back before crushing its head.

    "How did this get in here?" I asked Fortune.

    "It was the one that was getting eaten when we walked in..." She looked at where it had been before looking towards the floor. "Sorry I ruined your shower."

    "You have got to be kidding. You had one of the most legitimate reasons I've ever heard to do that. Don't be sorry." That made her smile, which made me smile.

    "Would you like to shower again~?" She asked me, giving me her look.

    "F-Fortune! Not the time!" I should dye my coat a bright red, because she likes to see it that way.

    "You know you want too..." She pressed.

    "No! I'm not going to shower again. Let's just be on our way?" I pleaded.

    She groaned in frustration. "Fiiine, but you better make up for it later!" She winked at me and grabbed her bat by the door. "Ready?" She managed to say around the bat.

    "Sure, let's go."

    ... ... ...

    We had been traveling for about two hours. We weren't ambushed during the travel, nor did we find any survivors. Every so often a gunshot could be heard in the distance, but it was impossible to tell in what direction. We dealt with the zombies as they got close, Fortune uneasy about it, but getting the job done. As we continued to travel south to the closest way out of Las Pegasus, a gunshot rang out, and a zombie on the other side of the street lost a head. It was a red mist as the body fell to the ground.

    "DEAR LUNA! What was that!?" I jumped in fear. Another gunshot and another zombie lost its head. I pulled Fortune into cover behind one of the chariots in the street. I heard a shout in the distance, followed by another shot. I looked from behind my cover to see that the zombies in the street were being picked off. A speck in the distance on a rooftop was waving its hoof at me, yelling something. "Fortune, I think he's friendly. Let's go check it out." She just nodded and followed.

    As we got closer, the speck was indeed a pony. An earth pony, surprisingly. SHE had a rifle set up on the roof, which was used to pick off any undead left on our way towards the building she was resting on. She was a dull pony; her coat was a light grey, her mane nearly white. The sun was getting close to the other horizon, and hid behind the building as Fortune and I walked up to it. "Hello up there!" I yelled.

    "Howdy! Good to see a couple of survivors roaming about. I was beginning to think all the ponies got eaten and I was the last one left!" She yelled down at us.

    "To be truthful," I said, "you're the first we've seen for quite some time. The last pony I saw went by the name of Quick Draw. Unicorn. Was headed this way, actually. Knocked me out and took all my money."

    "Yeah, I saw him," she said bitterly. "Tried talking me down, something about 'night terrors.' Also told me to get rid of any corn I had. Weirdo. I think something snapped up top." She spun her hoof in circles near her head for emphasis.

    "Anyways, you mind if we come in? It's getting late and we need a place to sleep." I gave my warmest smile possible.

    "Sure, go on in! I'll stand lookout for awhile longer and meet you down there."

    "Sounds like a plan. Say, what's your name?"

    "The name's Victory, but everypony at the shooting range just calls me Sure Shot."

    I nodded in approval before stating my name. "I'm Grey, and this here is Fortune. We'll meet you inside." Victory smiled and looked through her scope once more. The building was a small restaurant, 'Dream Garden'. The doors were made of sturdy wood, and could probably survive a hard beating. We went inside and closed the door, looking around. There was a cash register on a counter top directly in front of us, a bit of blood splashed on the wall behind it. A quick check behind the counter showed a body with a hole in its head. We turned left, the only direction to go besides out, and moved further in.

    The place was a wreck. There were tables upturned, blood in pools here and there, bodies lying on the floor, completely lifeless. However, near the back of the room, was a cleared out and cleaned space, all the clean seats put together to make a bed. There was a gun lying on the ground, and next to it, a couple clips lying down. I dragged Fortune over to the clean area and sat down next to the bed, letting her have the comfy spot.

    She poked me to get my attention. When I looked at her, she had her hooves spread wide, expecting a hug. I gladly complied, wrapping my hooves around her. When she wrapped hers around me, she pulled me down on top of her and kissed me, giggling a bit. "Is this all you can think about?" I asked quietly, smiling.

    "There's just something about you... I can't help it!" She watched as my face became bright red.

    Victory chose that moment to enter the room from a door that must've led to the restaurant’s kitchen. "Oopsie, didn't realize I was interrupting you two. I'll give you some privacy. Holler when you're done. ... Come to think of it, just come get me." She went to turn around.

    I stood up and got off of Fortune. "No, no, it's fine! We weren't going to do anything, were we Fortune?"

    Fortune giggled and said, "Well, maybe..." She giggled more as I turned bright red again.

    "Remember that conversation we had earlier? Something along the lines of 'now is not the time?' I'm bringing the lesson from that back here." She sat up and looked at me.

    "But Greeey, you owe me! When are we going to get the time for you to start paying me back?" She stuck out her lower lip and looked at me with big, round eyes.

    "Not the time! Let's be a tad more polite to our hostess?"

    "Ugh, you're so mean, Grey!"

    "Aren't you two cute?" Victory commented as she walked over to us. "And for once, a stallion is trying to talk his way out of a good time. I don't think I've ever seen that." She smiled at my bright figure, then at Fortune. "You really like to torture him, don't you?"

    "Yes she does!" I piped before Fortune could state otherwise. "She's trying to run me ragged, I tell you! She's never satisfied!" Victory snorted as Fortune fell over laughing.

    Once Fortune regained composure, she looked at Victory and said, "He's telling the truth. I'm not going to stop until he can't move a muscle. Then maybe I'll push him a tad more~" I don't think red has ever been so bright before. Victory covered her face in agreement.

    "Damn, for one that goes by Grey, you sure do get red. It's so bright I'm getting blinded by it!"

    "Oh, you're so funny. I can't take it, you're so funny. Why you so funny, Victory?" The room got a tad darker as my blush began to fade away.

    "There's gotta be a reason you like to push him so much, Fortune. What's the secret?"

    "He's just fun~ and listen to this!" Fortune licked my horn slowly from bottom to top. I couldn't stop a moan of pleasure from escaping my lips as I sagged a bit. Then I stood up and once again lit the room in a bright red glow.

    "That sounds like a lot of fun, I agree. Maybe I could...?" Victory hinted.

    "Don't I get a say in this?" I asked fearfully.

    "I'm afraid he's taken, Victory. Why, just last night he proposed." She dug in her saddlebags and took out the ring I had gotten for her. "Isn't it dazzling?"

    "I'd say so. One problem though, how do you intend to wear it?" She asked, a confused look on her face. I was just glad of a change of topic, my face finally its original color.

    "Like this." I tapped the heart-shaped ruby on the ring and it grew out until it was a large hoop. "Extend your good wing, Fortune." She complied, and I slid the ring all the way down to where the limb met the body. I then tapped the ruby again and it shrunk until it fit the limb. "And then I can tap the diamonds on the ring to replicate it on her other wing."

    Fortune looked at the ring with wonder. She stretched it out and flapped the wing once, watching in awe as the ring didn't hinder her what-so-ever. "Oh, Grey, it's like I've just received it all over again! I didn't even know it could do this!" She tackled me in a hug, adding a kiss for good measure. "It must've been difficult to find."

    "Sure, the ring is great, Fortune, but you're more important. It's just a material way to say I love you."

    "Yes, but it's so special. I love you, Grey."

    "I love you too, Fortune. You make me the luckiest stallion in Equestria."

    "You two are just the cutest," Victory said, reminding us of her presence. "I really hope things work out for you. Seem like you're a strong couple."

    Fortune bobbed her head in approval. "I won't ever leave my Grey."

    "And I won't ever let go of my Fortune."

    Victory smiled at us. After a few moments, Fortune got off of me and let me sit up again... "Well, I've been down here long enough. I'm going to go back onto the roof. There's still a few hours sunlight before Luna puts up her night sky." She walked for kitchen, pausing at the door to wink at Fortune. "Try not to make a mess." As she went through, Fortune gave me her look. I gulped.

    "Looks like we have time now, Grey~"

    "So maybe we do." I tried to hide my blush, failing miserably. She smiled and licked my horn again, prompting another moan.

    "From the sound of it, you really want it. Stop fighting, Grey."

    "Ugh, fine... But only because I owe you!"

    "Shut up and let it happen!" She pushed me onto the bed and we embraced in a kiss...