Nightwalkers

Hunt

Flash Sentry opened his eyes and beheld a darkened room. The smell of roses and wine and smoke was thick, and as his eyes adjusted he realized it was his own dorm room. He sat on the edge of his bed, facing the wall.

Was I sleepwalking? Flash held his head and groaned. He didn’t remember waking up, but here he was. But then, if it was sleepwalking, I wouldn’t remember, would I?

“Well, well, well.”

Flash stilled. He darted his eyes to the side and saw nothing. Shadows seemed to fill the room beyond his direct line of sight, as though the room was fading away. “Hello?”

“Hello, little boy.”

A woman’s voice, husky and deep. Flash gulped and stood up. He turned in a circle to survey his entire room, stopping when he was looking down at his bed. He was alone.

“Where are you?”

The voice chuckled. “Right here.” A pair of hands came down on Flash’s shoulders and pushed him forward. He landed on the bed and rolled over, at last laying eyes on his visitor.

The speaker was not a woman but a demon, over six feet tall with deep crimson skin and a dress of yellow and red flame patterns. Her hair was colored likewise, a flaming mass of yellow and red stretching up into the air. Her eyes, black and teal, looked down at him and grinned, showing off sharp fangs. “Hi there.”

Flash backed up on the bed, not taking his eyes off the demon. “Who are you?”

“Call me Hellfire.” The demon giggled. “A bit on the nose, but it works, don’t you think?”

“What do you want with me?”

“You tell me, this is your dream.” Hellfire stretched her arms above her head and let out a long, low murmur. As she did she began swaying, her hips swinging side to side. Flash lowered his gaze from her face to her body. The bulge of her breasts pressed out from her dress and swung with her movements. The demon watched him and smiled. “Like what you see?”

Flash snapped his eyes back to her face. “N-no.”

“Oh?” The demon lowered her hands to her dress. “Maybe you just need to see more?” She ran a finger down her dress. The garment caught fire in her finger’s wake and burned away, leaving her torso covered in a black bra that strained to cover her breasts. Her other hand drew itself up her thigh, burning the lower part of her dress away to reveal thin black panties.

Flash’s jaw dropped. “Uh… okay…”

Hellfire bent and climbed onto the bed, pawing to him on her hands and knees. “Still wondering what I want?” she whispered. When she was kneeling over Flash, her face inches from his, she ran her tongue over his lips. She put a hand on his collar and drew her claw down. His nightshirt burned away like her dress until his chest was bare. When she reached his groin Flash tensed.

“Wait—” Flash was silenced by a claw on his lip.

“Don’t worry. I’ll…” Hellfire grinned wickedly. “Well, I would say ‘I’ll be gentle’, but strictly speaking that isn’t going to be true.” She grabbed Flash’s chin and pulled him up into a kiss.

The electronic beeping roused Flash from his slumber. He rolled over and stared at his alarm: 8:36.

“Shit!” Flash threw off his covers and scrambled to his dresser. “I’m gonna be late!” He threw on a pair of pants and grabbed a T-shirt. He flung his nightshirt across the room onto the bed and stumbled to his shoes by the door. He toed them on and grabbed his keys and phone, then headed out the door, locking it behind him.

Late on orientation day. Great. He’d taken this job as a resident assistant for the single room dorm, with the understanding that aside from keeping an eye on students on the floor, he intended to be an active and model student - which he did. Being late on orientation day was not how to make his first impression.

Flash reached the ground floor of the dorm and headed out into the main campus of Canterlot Crystal College. He took a moment to get his bearings and ran towards the main building. He looked down at his phone. 8:39. Twenty minutes. No problem. Flash paused as he ran through the parking lot and made eye contact with his reflection in a car window

Maybe stop at the campus store and get a hairbrush on my way.

The auditorium was almost entirely filled by the time Flash jogged through the doors at 8:58. An instructor gave him a disapproving glare that he ignored. He found an empty seat three in from the aisle and pushed his way through the legs to sit down.

Made it. Flash craned his neck up and looked around the room for any of his friends that were attending the college, but if they were here he couldn’t make them out; everyone was facing forward. Well, almost everyone. Flash paused when he made eye contact with a girl sitting several rows in front of him at the end of the aisle. Bright teal eyes, long red and yellow hair, black jacket. She smiled when she made eye contact and gave a wave. Flash returned the gesture.

“Students of Canterlot Crystal College!” The auditorium lights dimmed and Flash lost sight of the red-haired girl as she turned forward and pulled down in her seat. A spotlight shone down at the red curtains on the stage, illuminating a woman with pale pink skin and hair in shades of cream, pink, and purple. “I am Ms. Amore, but you can all call me Cadance. I’m Dean of Humanities here at 3C, and also a life guidance counselor.” She paused and gave a small bow as the auditorium gave a polite applause.

“Thank you. I’ve been chosen as this year’s host for the 3C inauguration. I know many of you have toured the campus already, probably even been here for a week or two as you moved into dorms. But I still want to take the time to let you know what a wonderful college you’ve chosen to become a part of, and all the exciting opportunities you’ll have to get engaged with campus activities.”

As Cadance continued to talk, Flash’s thoughts came back to his dream. I don’t think I’ve dreamed about a demon forcing herself on me before. Granted, a very sexy, shapely demon that was beautiful in a dark way. Still, Flash wasn’t one for costume or monster fetishes; if anything his tastes were rather vanilla. Of all the sexual dreams he’d had, none of them had ever involved red-skinned demons. Try as he might to remember details of the dream, he remembered nothing save for the demon’s appearance and the amazing things she had made him feel. He shuffled in his seat as he felt himself start to get hard.

Guess it must have a hell of a dream, if I overslept that much. He yawned and blinked. In spite of getting a full night’s sleep and then sleeping almost half an hour through his alarm, he still felt tired. Might have to take a nap when I get back.

“Rough night?”

Flash turned. A girl with purple skin and deep purple and pink hair sat next to him, giving him a curious look.

“Yeah.” Flash rubbed his eyes. “Overslept.”

“It happens.” The girl shrugged. “I used to have to set my alarm an extra hour early because I knew I’d sleep until half an hour after anyway.”

“Did it work?”

“No.” The two shared a laugh. The girl smiled. “I’m Twilight Sparkle.”

“Flash Sentry.” Flash smiled back as his fatigue began to go away. “What are you studying here?”

“Science. You?”

“Music.”

Twilight’s face lit up. “Cool. What do you play?”

“Guitar.”

“My favorite.”

Flash gave her a suspicious look. “You’re just saying that.”

“Nope.” Twilight shook her head. “What about you, into science much?”

“Only enough to pass my high school courses. Sorry.” Flash paused. “But I did watch a lot of Mythbusters in high school.”

Twilight burst out laughing, earning disapproving looks and shushes from around her. Flash blushed and smiled as she settled down. “Well, I wouldn’t call that the most scientifically intriguing show there is, but that’s cool.” She shuffled closer. “I’m mostly into chemistry and physics. You know, how the universe works.”

“Right. I know what the terms mean, at least. Just not much beyond that.”

She winked. “They mostly mean that, rather than making stuff explode, I can tell you why it explodes.”

“Can we film it with slow motion cameras?”

“No.”

It was just before ten o’clock when Cadance adjourned the inauguration ceremonies. Flash had missed most of it chatting with Twilight.

“Here.” Twilight took Flash’s phone and tapped through it. “There’s my number. Call me any time you want to hang out.” She held the phone back with a smile.

Flash looked at the new contact she had added for herself. “Cool.”

Twilight gave a small wave and stood up to file out with the other students. Still sitting in his seat, Flash watched her go and then back down at his phone. Haven’t even been here two hours and got a phone number. Score. He had never had much trouble talking to girls, but Twilight had been so forthcoming with her interest in him. She was intrigued by all his interests, shared several of them herself, and was unattached. What are the odds I sit next to a girl like that on my first day?

“Hey.” Flash looked up. Most of the auditorium was empty now save for a couple of instructors. The girl he had seen earlier with the teal eyes and red and yellow hair was at the end of his row. She jerked her head. “They’re waiting for us to leave. We’re the stragglers.”

Flash noticed an instructor staring at them and nodded. He stood up and followed the girl out of the auditorium. She fell back into step with him in the hall. “Name’s Sunset Shimmer.”

“Flash Sentry.”

“I saw you get in late. Wanted to skip but changed your mind?”

“Nah.” Flash shrugged. “Overslept.” He furrowed his brow. “…had some weird dreams.”

“Same. I got in just before you.” Sunset looked at her phone. “My first class isn’t for another two hours. You?”

“One hour.”

“Wanna grab some brunch? The food court has some decent pizza, should be coming out of the oven in fifteen for the lunch rush.”

Flash nodded. “Sure. Lead on.” Sunset jerked her head and began walking. Flash kept pace with her. “What are you studying?”

“Health care. You’re studying music, right?”

“Yeah.” Flash blinked, surprised. “How’d you know?”

“You’ve got the look. Like the old high school guitar player who’s grown up a bit and stuck with it.”

“Sounds about right.” Flash chuckled as he remembered his old band that had fallen apart after graduation and most of them moved away or lost interest. “You date a lot of high school guitar players?”

Sunset shrugged. “Dated and boinked most of them. Usually regretted it on both counts.”

“Really?” Flash’s eyebrows lifted at how forthcoming she was with that admission. “That’s… interesting.”

“Just letting you know where I stand.”

“Huh?”

Sunset eyed him and smiled. “I like to be upfront with who I am. People know what they’re getting into with me.”

Flash fell out of step for a moment to hide his confusion and discomfort. That hadn’t been an entirely nice smile. I feel like I just missed something.

Flash strummed a few strings on his guitar to end the song and let them hang in the air. When they faded he heard loud clapping and jerked in surprise.

“Sorry, didn’t want to interrupt.” Twilight waved awkwardly from the doorway a distance down the length of the classroom. “That was beautiful.”

“Thanks.” Flash set his guitar down.

Twilight stepped into the room and shut the door behind her, slowly turning the latch until it clicked. “Why not practice in one of the music rooms?”

“They were booked. Besides, I like to practice in the empty classrooms for acoustics. Figured out back in high school they sound more natural. At least to me.”

“Seems to work. Could hear you clear at the other end of the room.” Twilight reached him and leaned against a nearby desk.

Flash looked up at the clock. “We should go, actually. A friend of mine has his class in here in ten minutes.”

“No they don’t.” Twilight replied. Flash looked at her curiously. “I have the same class, it was cancelled. Teacher is sick.”

“Oh.” Flash shrugged. “Well, I’m cool to play some more then, if you wanna hang out and listen.”

“Actually, I had a better idea.” Twilight smiled and stood up. “Let’s play something else?”

“Like what?” Flash turned to her and was pulled into a tight embrace. Twilight molded her body to his and leaned up to put her arms around his neck. “Oh.”

“Always been a turn-on for me, fooling around in class,” Twilight whispered. “Just sit at the back of the room, make sure no one is watching… then…” She put a hand on Flash’s wrist and pulled it down to the edge of her skirt. “Slowly, surely… pull my skirt up…” She drew Flash’s hand up along the skin of her thigh. “Reach down…”

Flash shuddered and gulped, his eyes closed. “Here? Really?”

“Really…” Twilight’s breath washed over his ear. “Unless, you don’t want me?”

Flash opened his eyes and looked down. Twilight’s skin had turned a darker shade of purple, and her hair, floating in the air behind her, was almost black. “I… don’t not want you…”

“Not good enough.” Twilight hopped back on a desk and pulled him forward, her legs wrapping around his waist. The heat and scent and sight of her body wrapped around him and overwhelmed his senses, forbidding him from looking away. Her otherwise conservative blue blouse and purple skirt had shriveled away into a cleavage-baring purple and black dress cut high on her thigh. Her eyes glowed with blue light as she held his gaze. “Say it, Flash.”

Flash nodded. “I… want you.” He licked his lips. “I want you, Twilight.”

Twilight smiled, her pointed teeth flashing in the blue light of her eyes “Call me Midnight.”

Any questioning of the name was silenced by her kiss.