Author's Note

F'naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...

Y'know, for anyone who may or may not be wondering...

...I am not an expert on relationships. And I certainly don't know anything about actual polyamory. So forgive me for stepping on many tentacles as I attempt to slowly rationalize and draw forth some sort of "rationalized" anime harem situation.

At the end of the day, this is a goofy erotic fantasy story... even if most of the eroticism so far (and beyond) is "cerebral." I wouldn't take it seriously if I were you, cuz it only gets worse...

...or better(?)

I Am Their Futa, I Am Their Poly, I Am a Conversation

Strong yellow-painted fingernails ripped open a tiny plastic pouch and deposited a rainbow assortment of fruit snacks onto an amber palm. Sunset Shimmer tossed the gummy treats into her amazonian mouth like she was popping pills. Chewing liberally, she balled up the plastic scrap and deposited it into a waistbasket beside the enormous couch she was reclining lengthwise on.

"Mrmffff..." She scarfed and chewed and swallowed. "Hrmmfff... Twilight and I..." She tongued the inside of her mouth, savoring the meager fruty juices with a soft smile. "...first started dating in our senior year." She rested her hands behind her head and laid back with a prolonged sigh, her cheeks rosying at the memory. "Up until then, we had always been close friends. I mean... pfftchyaaaa... ... ...the way in which we met and how we helped each other cope under the spread of Equestrian magic certainly cemented that. But... I... uh..." She lifted a hand up and brushed her fiery bangs aside as her eyes scoured the ceiling. "... ... ...I guess things didn't start getting serious until well after our bodies began... er... 'transforming,' so to speak."

Flash Sentry nodded. He sat on the furthest end of the couch from her. The amazon's legs had to part ways so that her feet left room for his petite, squatting form. He listened intently from where he sat, and in the meantime he pulled the length of Pinkie's bedshirt down so that Princess Peach properly covered his lower body—some sort of unspoken femboi etiquette. He pulled a small plastic bag out from the fruit snack box and tugged and yanked and fussed with it.

"Anytime crazy magic happened..." Sunset continued. "It was up to me and Twi to figure it out." She smiled cynically, albeit with a smidgen of pride. "Hell... it's always up to us. Twilight Sparkle is the smartest scientist I know and I... well... I'm the only pon—er... person with any experience in magic around here. So... it was a match made in Canterlot High School. Heh..."

The boi gave a polite nod. His face tensed and his cheeks reddened as he fought and tugged and wrestled with the stubborn little bag—

Thwpp! Sunset snatched it from the sissy's grasp, gave it the lightest twist, and opened it in an instant. With a motherly smile, she handed it back to him.

Flash sighed... shamefully received his fruity gift... and returned his attention to Sunset.

"For several months there, we were continually observing and taking notes on what was happening to us and the other... 'Elements of Harmony.'" Sunset cleared her throat, squirming slightly at the revelation to come. "But to truly understand what was happening to our bodies, we had to... take far closer looks at our bodies. And it was always super awkward getting the other girls to subject themselves to examination... sooooo..."

Flash turned over a disfigured baby-blue pumpkin coach in his hand. His eyes darted back towards Sunset across the far end of the couch. "You both pl-played doctor?"

"Well, that's one way of putting it."

Flash shrank into the cotton candy scented shirt. "Sorry..."

"Don't be!" Sunset stood up slightly, chuckling. "It was funny, Flash!"

He merely trilled while popping the blue fruit snack into his mouth.

"Looking back at it all, it's just so... strange and funny." Sunset Shimmer hugged herself slightly as she settled back down into a reclining position. "At first, Twi and I both thought we could maintain an aloof scientific attitude about the whole situation... but—come on—we were high school girls and magic is inherently goofy and it was just a weird thing to be... growing so fast..." Sunset breathed deeply through her nostrils, her eyes drifting aside. "We laughed and giggled. I mean—what else could we do? Our bodies had become runaway locomotives and there was no telling when the craziness would stop. Even though the rest of the girls were supportive, the pressure was stacked on top of us and... and the only relief we found was..." She hugged herself tighter. "...in each other."

Flash Sentry nibbled patiently on the silhouette of a red rose under a glass case. "I almost wish I was still around at the time," he said. The taste of strawberry filled his mouth and he smiled slightly. "You deserved all the support you could get."

"Oh, we had more than enough, Flash." Sunset smiled. "We had each other." Her eyes twinkled slightly as she spoke. "Some of my best memories are the conversations we had. Just... learning everything there was to discover about each other. Twilight's adorable childhood days of learning. My... so-so and ordinary pony upbringing in Equestria... that somehow thrilled her to bits. I... I-I used to be mortified that I'd run out of pony stories from my youth and she'd get bored of me. But that never happened." A slight shudder, and her eyes moistened above a tranquil smile. "Twilight was just... so happy to be around me... to see me. I... I've never really felt such sincere infatuation like that before. And it was all the more magical that I thought the world of her. Like—genuinely... sincerely... with each passing day."

Flash paused between fruit snacks, blinking at the amazon. "You... really are in love with her, aren't you?"

"Heheh... y-yeah..." Sunset ran a hand through her hair until her upper skin flushed to match it. She smiled drunkenly towards the ceiling. "I really friggin' am."

Flash hung his head with a resolved breath. "I guess I should be sorry."

She arched an eyebrow. "What for?"

"For... for nearly a year..." He squirmed where he sat. "...you were stuck with me. Almost seems like—in hindsight—I just held you back... delayed you from finding true love—"

"Oh, Flash, sweetie..." Sunset sat up, lips pursed. "Don't say that—"

"But—at least you turned a new leaf and found Twilight." Flash smiled weakly towards the couch cushions. "So I couldn't have messed things up too much—"

Her large hand cupped his cheek. She stared down at him, eyes narrowing. "There was nothing wasted. You must believe me." Her lips curved in a warm smile. "I loved you then. Truly. Just as I love you now."

"... ... ..." Flash glanced aside... above... then back at her. "Uhm... what kind of a conversation are we having?"

Sunset chuckled. "An honest one."

"But... I... I-I think I'm lost..."

Sunset lowered her hand with a rattle of the beaded bracelet. "Care to point me in the right direction, then? Hmmm?"

Flash glanced at her accessory, then back at her. "Have you... always liked—...?" He bit his tongue in mid-speech, fumbled, and rotated fruit snacks in his tiny wrist like they were massage balls. "I mean... first me... then Twilight..." His eyes narrowed. "Are you... into both?"

"I love people, Flash," Sunset insisted. A beat, and she nodded. "And ponies too, I suppose. Can't forget—" She took a sharp breath and shifted where she sat. "I dig everyone... mmmkay?"

"Mmmmmmmm..." Flash blinked. "Just what is that, then? Uhhhh... pan? Pansexual?"

"It's called 'love.'"

He winced again. "Sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry for." She stroked his shoulder, gazing down at him. "I know what you're trying to ask, and—honestly—I don't really have a multiple choice answer to give you. If it helps you to know..." She folded her hands in her massive lap, gazing across the room. "I... never thought much of mares before I came to this world... females, that is. But I didn't really think much of stalli—... men either."

"So you... experimented?"

"I experienced," she said. "And I hate to refer what you and I had as an 'experiment.' I was... not the same person then as I am now."

Flash glanced at her, then at the couch again. "But it was an experience, nonetheless."

"One that I wouldn't be without," Sunset murmured, her voice laced with melancholy. "I only wished I had... made it a good experience for you."

"I... I think I know what you're going to say..." Flash looked up at her, tensing up slightly in fear of the answer. "But... I gotta wonder, Sunset... is all this some convoluted way of making up for it?"

"No..." She calmly shook her head. "You being here is all about the same thing that would have Twilight here... or the rest of the girls here, for that matter."

He opened his mouth to speak... paused... and exhaled through pursed lips: "What do you mean... 'rest of the girls?'"

Sunset Shimmer blushed.

Flash blinked at that.

"Mmmmmmm..." Sunset sat up straighter on the couch, her breaths growing firmer... more concentrated. She looked as though she was about to run a ten mile marathon. "...I've been... ... ...struggling with a way to word all of this, Flash... to you, I mean. For the girls and I, it's all old hat... but to someone who... who doesn't know... who hasn't been with us—who hasn't been us all this time..."

"You and Twilight are intimate," Flash bravely suggested. His mind wandered to the funky things he had seen in the guest room—but he quickly erased that thought before his telepathic friend could pick up where he had been. "I-I mean... I get that! And... that's totally fine." He popped a purple sewing machine into his mouth, chewed, and smiled. "Really! I'm truly... truly happy for you two."

"It's... ... ..." Sunset curled a single strand of hair around a finger. "...not..." She blushed and avoided Flash's gaze like a coquettish schoolgirl one-eigthth her size. "...just the two of us."

"... ... ..." Flash lingered in place, his mouth tasting of grape and sugar and confusion. "... ... ...Twilight's pregnant?"

"What?" Sunset snapped. "No! No, it's—" She smacked her forehead, took a deep breath, and groaned into her palm. "This should be so easy. Why isn't it easy...?"

"Sunset, you told me when I first arrived here that you were going to be honest with me," Flash said.

"I know..." The amazon whimpered like a child. "...that's why I've been dragging my hooves—heels with it... because I thought being slow about it would make it all less weird."

"Weird?"

"Apply some lubricant, y'know?" Sunset said, and she laughed nervously.

Flash hopped over that last metaphor so that it wouldn't break his brain. "Point is, I'm cool with whatever, Sunset," he said in an earnest voice, gazing up at her with soft eyes. "So long as you're being honest."

She parted her fingers and glanced down at him.

He put on a tiny yet genuine smile. "You've done so much to help me. Maybe... somehow... this would be my way of helping you."

Sunset stared at him... and stared at him some more. Her nostrils flared. Harder. Ardent. Her hand blurred past him.

The boi couldn't help but flinch—

Thwpp! She snatched another bag from the box, tore it open, and popped the treats into her mouth like she was inhaling wine samples. She chewed-chewed-chewed. Swallowed. Then—

"ThegirlsandIallloveeachother."

The thunder of the "confession" ended as soon as it began, leaving Flash blinking in the wake of it.

"Well... of course you do...!" He nodded. "You're friends."

"No, Flash."

His bottom lip quivered. "You're... n-no longer friends?"

"What—NO! Of course we're friends! And we love each other very much! Thing is... we..." Sunset breathed in through a wince and breathed out through a smirk. Cathartic. "...we all love each other as more than friends." A gulp. "Each and every one of us."

Flash grasped the last snack in between two dainty fingers, but he couldn't bring himself to swallow the lemon-flavored glass slipper. "So... uh... you're... ... ...all going out?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes."

"A m-manner of speaking?"

"I love Twilight Sparkle," Sunset stated. "And I love Rarity and she loves Fluttershy and I love Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle loves Pinkie Pie and she loves Applejack and Applejack loves me and we both love Rainbow Dash and Rainbow Dash loves Twilight Sparkle and Twilight Sparkle loves Rarity and Rarity loves me and we both love Fluttershy and Fluttershy loves Applejack and Pinkie Pie and all three of them love Rainbow Dash and Rainbow Dash loves all of us and all of us love Pinkie Pie and she loves Twilight Sparkle who loves Applejack and me and... and... and..."

Flash watched—mesmerized—as Sunset Shimmer's face ran the gamut of ecstatic, hopeful, lonely, sultry, anxious, happy, horny, and melancholic then back to ecstatic. In the end, she laid back on the couch, hugging herself... eyes closed as if she was inhaling the invisible scent of all the names that she just spoke of. And it made her high. Clearly.

"Mmmmmmm..." She purred. "I... I don't know if you can understand, Flash... what it means to be in the center of and on the outside of perfection, and knowing that you'll always flow in and out of it, always fulfilled and always protected—and yet you'll be able to fulfill and protect so much yourself.

"I..." Flash shifted where he sat, trying to trace the air for words to formulate his understanding—or lack thereof. "...I-I suppose I could use a little bit of help perceving."

"I... I-I think I'm overcomplicating it..." She sat back up, shaking a bit. It made the whole couch shudder. "It's just... we... we're in love with each other, Flash."

"As in... all seven of you dating?"

"Dating. Going out. Holding hands. Cuddling. Snuggling. Having dinner. Watching movies. Crying. Laughing. Feeding ducks by the pond." She managed a smirk as her own speech calmed her. "You name it—we've done it, and survived all these years through thick and thin."

"So... uhm... are we talking some sort of..." Flash squinted. "...some sort of poly—"

"Polyamory? I see how you could conclude that," Sunset said. "We've all talked about it ourselves... as if in some attempt to explain it. But... it's not the same, Flash. We're not just... casual swingers. At least, I wouldn't put it like that. We're the same friends we've always been. Only... we're more." She hugged herself with a cotent smile, positively beaming this time. "We've always been more... as if it was destined."

"Destined?" Flash squirmed. "Like... how do you mean?"

"At first, I was afraid to draw conclusions—because I didn't want to detract from what we had... what we have... what we will continue to have. Nevertheless... there is an invariable connection... and over time, the girls and I have come to accept it. And... and we're not ashamed of it... or of knowing it... because our lives are all the better for it... for us."

"What, Sunset?" Flash asked. "What's 'it'?"

She looked squarely at him, appearing serious for a moment. "You know how our magics—the power that makes us the Elements of Harmony—come with side effects?"

His tiny eyes traveled the lengthy miles up and down her amazonian figure. "I... do seem to recall that."

"Well, there are... other effects that result from our empowerment," Sunset said. "Some minor—like our immune system and the changes in our metabolism..."

Flash nearly dropped the last fruit snack. "You call not being able to use the bathroom 'minor?'"

She carried on: "And others are... well... major. Like the size of our bodies. Our interconnectedness and... and..." She took a deep breath. "... ... ...and the energy that binds us."

"Binds you?" Flash blinked. "Are we talking Yoda fluff?"

Sunset giggled. She sat up and drew the gasping boi closer so she could ruffle his hair. "No, Flash, what I mean is..." She smiled down at him in the half-hug. He could feel her warmth radiating in every direction. "...our magic draws us to each other. We're happier when we're together. We're whole when we're together. It took some time... but soon we all realized—Twilight and myself and the others—that being the Elements of Harmony is more of a oneness than something plural."

Flash could only blink.

"Yes, well..." She positioned him around and lifted him slightly. Soon, the boi found himself seated in her lap with the back of his head against her ample bosom. In such a helpless position, Flash felt her hug him gently—yet closely from behind as she spoke romantically towards the walls of the room. "...maybe there is no proper way of explaining it, really. But it's... something that happened, Flash. At first, it manifested itself quite coyly. We started a band together... we had slumber parties... we'd go on road trips. Sometimes... a lot of times—when we had every reason to be apart, we'd find excuses to be together instead. Fluttershy would ask me or Pinkie Pie over to be with her at the shelter. Rainbow Dash would always insist on having Rarity or Applejack around to cheer her on during a soccer match."

Flash was locked in place, powerless to do anything but listen. Soon he felt Sunset squeezing his shoulders in gentle, loving gestures as she hummed on... waxing poetic about the matter. He felt her heart beating heavily through her chest and into his everything.

"Soon enough... Rarity would be canceling openings at her fashion boutique just to have breakfast with the rest of us... and Applejack—the poor sap—she even considered abandoning her trip to Manehattan to visit her family reunion! The only way we could fix that was for... all of us to go... and that meant Twilight missing an astronomy seminar at her university and... and we realized that maybe... just maybe... we had an issue."

Sunset took a deep breath. Her big strong arms tightened around Flash, but not in a way that would hurt him. He heard the rattle of her beaded bracelet as she murmured onward:

"Thing is... n-none of us wanted to fix this 'issue.' While Twilight and I had been the first to officially 'date,' Fluttershy started going out with Rarity. And Applejack started... spending lots of time with Rainbow Dash. Those two had always given the rest of us some vibes—not to sound rude—but then they started inviting Pinkie Pie along. Twilight and I would hang out with them, but then we'd find ourselves coming home with... w-with Rainbow Dash. And... and we all knew what we really wanted to do, Flash. We all knew... but we beated around the bush for so long until... well..."

Flash looked up at her, seeing nothing but the bottom of her chin.

"... ... ...we... simply... asked..." Sunset gulped. "Twilight asked me if it was okay that she went on a date alone with Rainbow Dash and... I-I was fine with it." She shook her head. "I don't even remember having an inkling of not being fine with it. Rather... I was slightly worried over why I was so okay with it... but I didn't pay much attention cuz—that same night—I had asked Twilight if she'd mind if I went out on a date with Rarity and she was... okay! And I was okay... and Rarity was okay and... and..."

"You weren't weirded out at all?" Flash asked, shrugging in her embrace. "Any of you? Jealous? Afraid? Angry?"

"No!" Sunset exhaled. "We were only weirded out by the fact that we were not weirded out. Turns out—the moment that we stopped thinking about it—the sooner we could relax! And we did, Flash..." She squeezed his shoulders again, smiling across the room. "We relaxed and... and we hung out like we always did before. Only this time..." She squirmed—squirmed with him in her grasp, like she was hugging a little doll. "This time..."

He swallowed and said: "You were girlfriend girlfriends."

"Heeheehee..." Her whole body deflated with a happy sigh. "Yeahhhhhh..."

For the first time, Flash felt claustrophobic in her slinking embrace.

As if sensing it, Sunset cleared her throat and loosened her grip of the boi. "Anyways... before we knew it... we stopped being afraid of... being happier."

"So... you're all lesbians?" Flash asked.

"We're all us, Flash," Sunset insisted. "It's not about labels. Not with us. It's... it's far far more complicated... and yet—it isn't."

Flash nodded. "And it's all because of magic."

"Yes. Yes it is. And yet... we don't accept it exclusively because of that. I suppose it's... a matter of hindsight." Sunset exhaled. "We're all so... wonderfully happy with the way things turned out that we couldn't imagine ourselves any other way. And... it's helped us, Flash."

"How do you mean?"

"Being together... being close... being intimate," Sunset clarified. "It's directly related to our powers."

"It is?"

"Mmmmhmmmm." Sunset smiled, stroking his hair from behind like he was a kitten. "The happier we are... the closer we are... the better the magic manifests itself."

"So... happy girlfriends make for happy superheroes?"

Sunset giggled. "Something like that."

"You make it sound so perfect."

"I do exagerrate, I suppose," Sunset muttered. "We have our fights... especially Applejack and Rainbow Dash." Her eyes rolled. "Celestia on a bike, Applejack and Rainbow Dash..."

Flash winced.

"But—!" Sunset stroked his hair again, smiling pleasantly. "They work out their shit in the end. They always do. Besides..." She chuckled. "Applejack and Rainbow Dash both argue with Rarity even harder... so every once in a while they'll just spend a night together and by morning it's all smoothed out. Lubricated, even... hahahah..."

Flash cleared his throat. "So it is an intimate thing."

"It's an everything thing," Sunset insisted. "I know it may sound weird... but—it's all the world for us. And... heh..." Sunset rolled her eyes. "Let's face it, Flash. It's not like any of us are gonna see much action outside of our magical little circle of benefits."

The boi sniffled. "That's sad, Sunset."

"Not really, it isn't." She hugged him gently, speaking into his hair. "I'm not. Y'hear? I'm not sad. How can I be?" A wink and a giggle. "I've got six of the sexiest girlfriends in the world."

"But... mostly Twilight," Flash said.

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmm-yes." Sunset nodded. "But mostly Twilight."

He managed the tiniest smile.

"For most of us... stuff like that comes in waves," Sunset declared. "Rarity and Fluttershy will spend a month being exclusively with each other. But then they'll start spending time with Pinkie Pie... then Fluttershy will date Rainbow Dash and Rarity will date Twilight and then I'll be with Pinkie Pie... but..." A softer breath. "Twilight and I always come back to each other... sorta like Rainbow Dash and Applejack. I... don't know if you can understand where I'm coming from but... for us—us girls—time apart only means enjoying our future time together all the more."

Flash nodded. "I... guess it is a lot to take in."

"Mmmmmhmmm."

"And... it's you and I respect you, Sunset," Flash said. "You and the girls... so I'm not weirded out. Not really, I mean."

She chuckled lightly, followed with a hum. "Mmmmhmmm..."

"But... but something awful must be happening," Flash said.

Sunset blinked at that. She looked down at the petite creature in her lap. "How do you mean?"

His big sapphire eyes gazed up at her. "Only that... well... I-I've heard on the news. The Elements of Harmony have disappeared. It's... no big secret. Something's messing up your powers. Does..." He fidgeted in uncertainty. "...does that mean you seven are breaking up?"

"On the contrary, Flash," Sunset spoke. "We're closer now than we've ever been."

"Then..." His adorable nose scrunched. "I don't get it. If everything's so perfect—and you girls are still so close—then what's stopping you from being the Elements of Harmony? I thought your magic was related to your... well... your love."

"It is," Sunset nodded. "But—as it turns out—there's more to it than that."

"Like what?"

Sunset opened her lips... hesitated... and sighed out the side of a smile. "It's... complicated, Flash."

The boi was deadpan. "More complicated than everything you just confessed to me?"

"As a matter of fact, yes!"

"Is that why you're hesitating?"

"... ... ..."

Flash sighed, gazing down at the last fruit snack still in his grasp. It had stained a patch of his palm yellow. "I appreciate you being honest with me, Sunset." He popped the treat into his mouth; it wasn't a victorious gesture. "Call me selfish," he spoke after politely swallowing. "But I kinda sorta wish you would be honest with me faster."

She nodded, replying faster than he expected. "So do I."

He raised an eyebrow at that. Then he felt her squeezing his shoulders.

"Have you ever considered that maybe—just maybe—the girls and I aren't the only ones affected by magic?"

Silence.

"Huh?" Flash squeaked.

Sunset sighed quietly—it sounded both amused and exasperated at once. Nevertheless, she ruffled Flash's hair and finally parted the hug. "Tell you what..." She plopped him on the furthest edge of the couch, stood up, and smiled. "...what say we go for a drive?"

Flash fumbled where he sat. "Do I have a choice in the matter?"

"Do you want to?"

"... ... ... can I have a choice in the matter?"

To which—Sunset merely laughed, and Flash immediately knew the answer.