Shaded Hearts

Chapters

Chapter 1: Experimentation
Chapter 2: Confessions
Chapter 3: Confrontation
Chapter 4: Serenity
Chapter 5: Decisions
Epilogue

Chapter 1: Experimentation

„So, this is it then. Everything in place, so far so good“. The changeling stood in front of a mirror, a final check if everything was in place and ready. „Last chance to weasel out now…do I really think this is a good idea, I mean, if somepony were to question my reason behind all this I wouldn’t really have anything reasonable to defend myself. It’s like a personal death wish, only much, much weirder and sluttier“.

Taking another look in the mirror, his reflection showed a dark-grey changeling stallion with an orange mane, completely natural and undisguised, the way he was born and looked like all the time, all while wearing a black Maid uniform with a white skirt, completed with a huge white ribbon and a blush that almost made him look like a ladybug.

Shrugging it off, he turned in all directions to see if he was suited and ready to go. „I do look rather silly, and submissive“, frowing he continued his monologue, „come on Cyrax, they have a silly dress up theme tonight, you bought this only to confuse these ponies…remember. I mean, who would expect a changeling in a maid uniform, seriously“, bursting in laughter, he took a moment to regain his composure, „But hey, I can’t wait to see all the surprised and confused looks on their faces“.

„And even if it goes out of hoof, I can always shapeshift“, giggling one last time Cyrax looked at the clock as it read midnight, „Good, they started an hour ago. Time to go, I guess, now where did I put the map again?“.

Searching around in his stuff, he quickly found the map of Hollow Shades. He had taken vacation here, in the capital city of the batponies, right in their homeland of Nocralya. To clear his thoughts and to get to know something completely different for once, and since the relations between batponies and changelings are rather well, at least not sworn enemies, who could resist this change of scenery for once.

„Ah right, so I just have to go here, then take a turn left and then right. At the plaza, right again, mmhmm…mhmm…hmmm, and there, right. Perfect. Oohhhh, this is going to be fun“, giggling one last time Cyrax went for the door and walked outside.

Greeted by an illuminated city, he began to walk towards the only club in Hollow Shades, on normal occasions it would only be open during the daytimes, hence batponies were nocturnal by default, so partying till dawn was rather reversed with them. But since there was an event tonight, which was scheduled on Saturday, they made an exception for visitors and honestly, most ponies don’t work on weekends.

Cyrax coudn’t fly there because his suit didn’t have holes for wings, but a nice and calm walk through this city would be welcoming. He met many ponies on his way, some showed him weird looks, others cheered for him. Making his way down to the west district of Hollow Shades, he eventually found the club, titled ‘The Early Bat’. How ironic, he thought.

Hearing rather dense but catchy music, Cyrax made it towards the entrance. Lucky for him, there was no line, and the security, who was easily a head taller than him, gave him a sceptical look, „Are you sure you want to enter like this? “, while pointing a hoof at the changeling. „It’s not that I would deny you, but“, awkwardly scratching his head, he contuinued,“Naah, it’s nothing, go on ahead“, he stepped aside to let him pass.

As the music got louder, Cyrax heard him say „Have fuuuun~“, in an almost seductive way. Shrugging it off as imagination he walked further inside. At first he was overwhelmed by the rather rich and neatly designed interior of the club. The entire ceiling had been covered in countless lights wich emanated a dark pink, but not entirely purple light, the walls had been dyed black, which was usual for Clubs, but more so often he could see fancy mirrors who were curved in a way that changed your reflection to make it look really silly.

There were a lot of disco balls hanging from the ceiling, but unlike disco balls, they were mostly out of glass, which did make for a nice combination in the pinkish light. It didn’t reflect as much, as to be annoying, but enough to make a nice atomsphere. Upon entering, Cyrax saw two curved stairs leading down to the dance floor, he decided to take the left one. There weren’t as many ponies as he’d expected, but that meant more place to shake and dance.

All the while, the music had been complementing the enviroment really well, Cyrax had trouble pointing the genre but it felt very funky and ‘wanting to move’, his knowledge of music wasn’t very good, to say the least. Reaching the lower level, he found the main bar of the club, situated between the two stairwells. There were much more sideways on the upper level, which probably led to the restrooms, he assumed.

Up front, right across the bar, he saw the main DJ responsible for these awesome musical pieces, a batpony, which didn‘t suprise him. Overall, Cyrax was very impressed so far, the scenery and the music were working together amazingly well and the amount of ponies were just right, ocassionally one would bump into him by accident. In most situations they would complement him on his outfit, one even called him cute after giving him a surprise boop.

It was in this moment that Cyrax first realized that there were a suprising amount of stallions here, only every tenth pony happened to be a mare, and they all seemed to be taken already. And a very large portion of these stallions were also dancing with other stallions in a way that showed everypony else that they were closer to each other than just ordinary friends.

„Well, some ponies are known to embrace this kind of relationship, no need to worry. As long as everypony has a good time“, Cyrax thought to himself, while gulping. He had started to sweat due to his nervousness. Calming down, he trotted back to the bar and ordered a drink. „Come to think of it, the entire theme in here kinda looks A bit, gay, hrmmmm, whatever suits them I guess. I don’t have anything against them, supposed to be pretty nice and understandable, as long as nopony tries anything I should be just fine“, he thought while the barpony gave him his drink.

Taking a sip from his ‘Knaze Kolada’ Cyrax walked back to the dance floor, he found himself a neat little place off the side and began to dance, letting the music do most of the work as he tried to find a nice dance rythm. The music was very catchy he had to admit. Dancing amongst changelings is rather rare, considering their Stick-Up-The-Butt attitude, their culture amongst these kind of things, being noble, fancy dresses, dancing styles, music, you name it, was rather non existent.

Cyrax found himself trying his best to find a rythmic solution, which transcended into his moving limbs. It did not always work and dacing in this thing was a pain in the flank, but something about the music just wouldn’t let him stop.

Losing himself in the atmosphere, he failed to notice a set of eyes that had been watching him silently from the distance.

***********

„Wee…hell.., would you look at that. Is that a changeling? No, it can’t be, or, is it, this outfit does look a little too real“, the mysterious silhouette thought. Getting up from his seat, it continued to watch him. Covered in a dark area of the bar, one set of deep blue eyes scanned every part of the changeling, from head to hoof, from front to rear end, the latter receiving a lot of attention.

Purring, the silhouette began to grin „A stallion, and a cute one too. And all that packed together in a maid outfit like a present. My, oh my, what in Equestria is going on here? Is somepony playing a prank on me here, because this would be one prank worth biting into. Just too sweet to be ignored“.

The silhouette began to walk into the pink light oft he club, covered in a dark grey coat, his wings folded back to his sides, a masculine batpony emerged, quickly fixing his purple mane the batpony stallion began to walk towards the changeling. Trying to get his attention, as to not surprise him, the batpony began to dance himself in his direction, trying his best to match the dancing style. At first, the changeling didn’t seem to realize him at all, but as he grew more persistent, the changeling gave him more of his attention. „Good“, he smirked.

Breaking the ice, the batpony ignited the conversation. „Hey there. I’ve been noticing you from back there“, pointing a hoof at a small corner to his left. Both of them had stopped dancing and he now had the changeling’s full attention as he continued.

„I thought that you dance rather nice, mind if I join you?“, he smiled back at him. Putting a hoof at his own head, the batpony continued, „Oh, where are my manners. Terribly sorry. I’m Chester, nice to meet you“.

Reaching a welcoming hoof out to the changeling, Cyrax returned a small nod but refused the hoofbump. Chester was surprised when the changeling turned him down and walked away, but he wouldn’t give up this easily. Breaking into a dance again he quickly catched up with him and began to dance around him. „Oh come on, I haven’t even gotten your name. I’ll buy you a drink if you tell me“, Chester gave him a warm, yet expecting smile.

„I’m not interested“, was all that came back as a response. Not breaking his dance Chester stopped dancing around him and instead began to just dance in front of him. „All righty, then. How about we just dance instead. You must be feeling pretty lonely all by yourself.“ The changeling was still in complete defense mode, he made it very obvious. „Maybe you could show me how to dance like you, it looks really nice and relaxing“, he said, before, to Cyrax surpsise, he began to roll on the floor and put all four of his hoofs up in the air, „pretty please...“, he said in a whimpering loud tone, that caught the attention of some ponies around them.

Beeing embarrased by his silly behaviour, Cyrax quickly shushed him, „Okay…okay...fine…just stay quiet for Chrysalis’ sake“. Jumping back to attention, Chester let out an exciting squee and gave the small changeling a hug. „Wow, his fabric is soft“, he thought. „Thanks a lot, I’m super excited for it.”, standing at full attention one could see anticipation written on his face.

As Cyrax began to dance, Chester tried his very best to copy his movements. After a while he learned the pattern and they began to dance almost simultaneously. Cyrax was having a good time, he could tell. Occasionally Chester would ‘accidentally’ bump his flank to see how he would react, the small „Eeep' was worth it every time. Dancing for, what felt like an eternity, they finally stopped. Panting, both of them leaned against the bar next to each other.

„Woo…hoow, you’re really good, Chester. I take it you come here more frequently.“ Scratching his head, Cyrax decided to losen up a bit. „Sorry for earlier…I’m Cyrax. Nice to meet you“, he smiled. It took an immense amount of reserveness for Chester, not to hug him right now. He was so unbelievably cute and huggable. „The pleasure is all mine Cyrax, I’ve never seen you here before. I take it you’re new here, or you’re a tourist?“, he asked.

„Yeah, nailed it with the second one“, he laughed. „I just wanted to visit this club, but somehow there are a lot of, well, special kind of ponies here, if you get my hint“, a small blush forming on his cheecks. „I didn’t expect that at all“.

Stepping back from Cyrax, Chester looked at him with a half shocked, half sad expression. „O...oh, I thought you were…“, Chester said while stepping back even further. Then Cyrax began to put the pieces together.

„W...wait, you’re“, Cyrax began to feel really sad for him. „I…I didn’t know…I“, looking down to himself he realized that his outfit probably gave off these impressions. „I’m…sorry if this made you think…“.

Groaning in anger, Cyrax wanted to punch himself, „I didn’t want to do this...I...I wanted to prank ponies into believing I was gay…b..but I didn’t…thought, I…I didn’t want to…“, he was stopped by a hoof that was pushed on his lips to silence him.

„You don’t have to blame yourself. How should you have known? I was way too aggressive and forceful“, putting his hoof back down Chester continued, „Listen, you look really gorgeous in this outfit, I mean it. If your barn door doesn’t swing that way, I am perfectly fine with it. I won’t push it any further.“

„But you should wear something more straight next time“, Chester giggled. „To avoid something like this ever happening again. There are many gay ponies here in Hollow Shades“, for the first time tonight, a slight blush appeared on Chester, rather than on Cyrax. „Soo...uhmm, could we dance one last time together, please? I promise, I won’t bump you on purpose again“, he asked.

„W…wait, that was on purpose?“, Cyrax asked, shocked, but then giggled. „Sure, why not“, returning a smile, they continued to dance together for well over one hour. After the party was over, they both walked outside together.

Chester and Cyrax almost had the same route home so they talked some more on the way. Parting farewell before the motel he was in, Cyrax waved a goodbye at Chester, and as he walked away Cyrax stared at his flank for longer than he felt comfortable with.

Running up to his room like a mad pony, Cyrax threw himself on the bed and buried his face deep inside a pillow. Clearing his thoughts, Cyrax found trouble finding sleep.

The sad part was not him, feeling bad for falsely deceiving Chester into believing he was into this kind of relationship thingy, but rather his own lewd thoughts surrounding him, and the omnipresent fact that he agreed to meet Chester at the club tomorrow again…

***********

Cyrax felt his body temperature rising as Chester pushed him deeper and deeper into the bedsheets. Towering above him, the batpony had gently lowered himself on his belly and began to move his hooves up and down his body, almost petting him.Ocassionally planting kisses on his thorax, Cyrax could feel his soft fur, as more and more of his body began to brush against him, all the while still gently touching his armor with his hooves. Getting closer and closer to his face, Chester was now almost completely on top of him, as he began nibbling his ear in a playful, yet tender way.

Cyrax felt his entire body tremble from this sensational feeling as he instinctively opened his mouth to taste the love that Chester was providing him with. It felt so pure, Cyrax’ body began to heat up even more, as suddenly something soft met his lips. As Cyrax opened his eyes, he could see Chester locking himself on him as his tongue entered Cyrax mouth. He felt his hoof backing up his head as Chester pushed on his mouth with more and more strength. Cyrax didn’t want this to end, so he began to wrap his hooves around him. Changing their positions, they began to curl up next to each other, while still maintaining their kiss.

Cyrax was in total bliss as Chester began to cuddle him, holding tight but still very gentle, Cyrax began to run out of air. Gasping for it, Cyrax took a deep breath as he opened his eyes again to look at his lover. Wait, lover? Coming down from his pleasure ride Cyrax locked eyes with his oponent, who turned out to be himself now. Shocked, his doppelganger began to smile deviously as he began to talk, „Waaaakeee uuuuup!“.

Letting out a scream that probably woke up the entire town Cyrax gasped for air as he jumped up from his bed, covered in sweat. His heart felt like it wanted to hit the road as a loud buzzing noise prevented him from hearing straight. Letting himself fall back on the bed, Cyrax was breathing heavily, he felt exhausted, the scenario he had just witnessed playing in his head repeatedly like a broken recorder.

„W…What the buck. W…WHAT THE ACTUAL BUCK“, Cyrax began to scream in his pillow a couple of times before letting it go. „What the buck was that, w… why… why did I just dream that. What is wrong with me, I’m…I’m not gay. I..like…mares…right“.

Taking the pillow back in his hooves, Cyrax began to hug it. „Calm down old boy, it was nothing“, closing his eyes, still feeling the warmth of the pillow in his hooves, Cyrax saw an image of Chester, seductivly lying on a bed, presenting way more to him than he had to.

Throwing the pillow at the nearest wall, Cyrax let out a loud groan. Looking at the nearest clock it read 11 a.m. Perfect, the breakfast buffet had just opened. Had he really been sleeping for 15 hours? Walking down to the main dining hall, Cyrax needed to clear his thoughts, or shapeshift into air. He really didn’t want to be alive at the moment. Arriving at the breakfast area, he grabbed various fruits, moved to a table and began eating them.

The mangos sure were delicious. Batponies knew alot about farming, they harvest all sorts of fruit and the weather conditions here in Nocralya, at least in summer, made for a very good point to cultivate them. Taking a sip from his raspberry juice Cyrax ate through melons and apples and finally, as he peeled a banana his mind started to get really creative and perverted. His cheeks reddened so much that a waiter came to him to ask if he felt alright.

„M…me, yeah…I…feel good, I’m..just“, using fake laughs while beginning to sweat Cyrax looked at the batpony with embarrassment, he received confused and concerned looks simultaneously, which caused him to panic. It was a stallion. „E…excuse me, I really have to go, d..don’t worry…I’m fine“, trembling and shaking Cyrax stood up, „Really nice food you have…it’s very good, t...thanks, b..bye.”

He made his way to the stairwell to get back to his room as the waiter collected his plate, the peeled banana still on it. Shooting one last look at the weird changeling, the batpony humbly asked, „ Do you still want that“, but Cyrax was already out of sight. Slamming the door shut behind him, the bed was the next destination for him. Cyrax’ thoughts were everywhere he’d never seen them before. All centered around this one Chrysalis-forsaken batpony. Snorting, he began adressing the bugbear in the room.

„Am I gay….“, he asked himself as he laid on the bed, facing the ceilling.

Scrunching his face he growled, „No…no…I’m not. I am into mares. Fact“

„But then, why do I think about him soo much.“ Pausing, Cyrax exhaled, his heartbeat growing normal again.

„Because he is nice, very understanding, calm, extremly cute and strangely appealing to my subconcious.“ Hiding his face behind his hooves, Cyrax could still see the ceiling through his leg holes. How ironic. „Those dammed ears and…and chestfluff…and his eyes. Alright, that’s it“. Getting up and groaning Cyrax made it to a mirror and transformed into Chester, taking a peak at him….himself….whatever.

Cyrax stood there for a long time, and going deep inside him he began to realize that Chester had become special for him. He liked him. Apparently, he did REALLY like him. But from a point of view, he was a very nice pony. Cyrax could really see them becoming good friends as he seemed to have some sort of connection to him, and the more Cyrax thought about it, the more he began to like the thought. Talking, doing things together. He would be the first, non-changeling, friend he would ever have.

A warm smile forming on Cyrax’ cheeks, he was very happy that he agreed to meet him again. Some part of him almost coudn’t wait for it. Putting the pillow, he had thrown at the wall earlier, back on the bed, Cyrax made for the door, disgusied himself as to sneak by the dining area and to make it to the door. He would explore the town a bit, there was plenty of time, since the club would open up at 6 a.m.

***********

Chester had been taking a stroll yesternight after the club. It was quite relaxing and refreshing, especially after Cyrax, to his surpise, had been asking him if they wanted to meet each other again. Was that a disguised date? He was so happy about this that he wanted to eat him, just because he found it so sweet. After he came home he had done some laundry, watered his flowers and, for whatever reason, had refurnished his home a bit, he went straight to bed at 12 a.m, which was pretty late for batponies.

Purring slighty, Chester wrapped himself around the second pillow as he slowly nuzzled it. Batponies, hence their rather cold homelands but also because they are very social, share the desire for close body contact and just love to cuddle, then take this, and double it for Chester. After all, they were related to bats.

„Mmmmmm…if only you were real. If you only had the slightest idea of how interesting and appealing you are, you silly bug.“ Pressing himself against the pillow, Chester tightened his grip. „Soo…exotic, and, interesting. Just….how do you smell, what are you into, what does your armour feel like…maybe even.…how you taste…“, groaning, he bit in the pillow, leaving bite marks on it.

„Oh…shucks.“, another groan escaped his throat. „That stupid sexy changeling. Come on…it might be hard to accept...but he’s straight…accept it…and move on“.

Almost moaning, he held a hoof in the air, expecting to be able to touch the cute changeling.“Just one small bite“, noticing a growing heat, Chester felt his blood pulsating in certain areas that were screaming for attention. Growling and blushing he let himself sink back in the bed. „Gotta take care of this one“, he sighed.

Getting up at 8 p.m, Chester had slept very well, and after making his bed he decided to continue the book he had been reading on lately. A rather romantic story about a purple unicorn mare, who was tasked to strengthen the political relations between them and batponies, although it tends to twist the facts of reality a bit, it does so in favor of catering for a more exciting reader experience, Chester was just fine with it. And more than once had he caught himself replacing said unicorn mare with an orange changeling.

Luckily, a clock spoke his language as it signaled him that it was time. Finally. Eating some joghurt, flavored with an assortment of bananas, mangos and blueberries, he took a quick shower afterwards and prepared himself for his Sort-Of-Date. Taking one last look at the time, he could not wait to go and meet him again. Eager to have a nice evening with him, Chester had to turn down his anxiety, dedicated to him, for the sake of having a nice night.

Making his way towards the same bar as yesternight, Chester met one of his neighbours, who also happened to be homosexual but, lucky or rather unlucky, depending on the view point, he had a relationship.

„Well, what do we have here?“, the rather tall, deep blue stallion exclaimed, while smirking. „If it isn’t Chester, how’s it going? Didn’t hear anything from you in a long time, is everything alright. You look like you’re in a hurry“.

„Hey, Bernard. Actually, it’s going pretty well.“, as he wanted to continue, he was interrupted by Bernard, „Judging from the look, you are up to meet somepony. I haven’t seen this much anxiety on your face in a long time, hmmm“, his smirk has turned into a devious grin. Chester looked to the side, embarassed and blushing. Bernard let out a loud laugh, followed by a crushing hug. „That’s wonderful to hear, found yourself some cutie, I knew you’d eventually find one!“, Bernard exclaimed.

„In this case, off with you. Go catch your prey, bugbear. If you need any help with positions, I’ve got a loooooooot of things you and him would love to try out“, as Chester began to walk down the street he, thanks to Bernard, was not feeling any calmer with himself as he sighed and thought about a scenario where Cyrax would show reversed interest in him. „No…NO…STOP…IT…YOU…PERVERTED…IDIOT“, Chester thought to himself, while banging his head on a nearby pillar. „Please let me live through this night without doing something I will regret“. Walking towards the club, he met Cyrax, who was apparently waiting before the Club. His heart made a jump of joy. Waving in his direction, Cyrax gave him a smile as they met.

„Hey there, Cyrax. How are you? Slept well?“, Chester asked, while they gave each other a small hug. „C’mon…let go..you idiot….it’s too long…let go already“, he thought while not wanting to let him go. „Soo…umm….Yeah...this is me…without the dress and all…“, Cyrax said, pinkish red cheeks forming on his face.

Seeing Cyrax, all untransformed and naked, Chester needed a few seconds to comprehend this new perspective. Putting a hoof on his shoulder, he gave the little changeling a warming smile, „You look beautiful, Cyrax.“

‘You look so unbelievably adorable, I want to pick you up, carry you home, throw you on the bed, hug you, cuddle you, nibble your ear and do all kinds of other things with you. But letting you go is definitely not an option. You’re mine’, Chester thought.

‘Shut up, brain’.

‘You know you want him’.

‘SHUT THE BUCK UP’.

Noticing a nervous smile on Chester’s face, Cyrax began to worry. „Ummm, Chester are you feeling alright?“, he asked, while gently poking him. Snapping back to attention, he gave an uneasy laugh. „Y...yeah.., it’s just a lot of things going on right now. I’m still surprised that you wanted to meet me again. It really means a lot to me, especially after our rather weird first meeting“, he replied.

„Good, because I wanted to talk to you about something that’s been on my mind since this morning. But we should head inside first…grab something to drink“, Cyrax said, while blushing more.

Cocking an eyebrow, Chester followed him, but quickly decided that walking next to him would avoid any more weird situations. Coming up to the security stallion they both got inside.

Playing a nice variety of Jazz music, Chester noticed Cyrax stopping in track. „Surprised. They are always playing Jazz music on Sunday. I really like it. Do you?“, Chester asked him, while looking at his companion, squeeing.

„It’s definitely something new. It’s interesting, very low paced and relaxing. It sounds very different from what I heard yesterday…night. It sure has some appeal to it“, he replied. Making their way to the bar and ordering drinks Chester was surprised when Cyrax walked straight to a table and sat down, a serious look on his face. Hesitating, Chester sat on the opposite side, „Soooo…you wanted to talk about something.“, he said, while getting physically comfortable and mentally uncomfortable.

„Yes…yes I do“, Cyrax said, while looking him in the eye. „Chester, yesterday I realized something. Right after we parted, I….I had trouble sleeping, you know. I’m sorry for what I did to you, and the two of us had a rough start, but you seem like a nice, straightforward and reliable pony. I would really like to consider you a friend, especially after all the things that we talked about yesterday on the way home”.

Looking back up to him, Cyrax showed a very serious face, yet a warming smile spread on his lips. “Chester, I like you. I know this feels pretty rushed and I barely know you, but….I…I just felt the need to tell you that, and I would like to make up for it someday. Maybe just start the whole thing anew“. Cyrax looked like he tried to keep something. Shuffling around he seemed to be very nervous. Was he keeping something secret?

Cyrax began to grab Chesters hooves and started blushing furiously as he moved closer and closer to the batpony’s face. „Chester, I....I’m sorry if this is sudden and all…but I, I had some pretty weird fantasies with you in a dream last night. I kept thinking about you, it just wouldn’t leave my head and all. Y…you and I…we were doing some things that actually felt really nice…and all.”, shaking his hooves in embarassment as he corrected his former choice of words, “C…cuddling. Nothing more….eeep.“, he said, now really looking like a ladybug. It was simply adorable.

Calming himself down, Cryax tried his best not to embarass himself anymore. Exhaling, he contuinued in a more serious demeanor, “Chester, I’m confused. And the irony is that I went in this bar with the intention of being the one who confuses, not the one being confused. I think I’m developing certain feelings towards you. And to my own surprise, I would not want to ignore them. You sparked an interest in me I didn’t know existed.”

“We both don’t know each other for long, about twenty-four hours maximum…but as I said before, I like you. And I would like to expand that friendship with you because I think that we get along pretty well. So we could maybe change these twenty-four hours into something longer. I would really like that, partially beacause I could use a couple more friends. It’s not that simple as a changeling.” Quickly downing his entire drink in one swift gulp Cyrax steadied himself for the impending reaction from his companion.

A surprising blush formed on Chesters’ face, as his mind had to accept what the changeling had just said to him. He could hear his mind yell out ‘Jackpot’, but right now there were other things he cared more about.

Cyrax liked him, as a friend. Not as a one night stand, not as a device for initimate innuendos. He liked him…

…as a friend.

He wanted to form a friendship with him. Chester silenced his inner perversion swiftly, because he wanted that too. Cyrax was a very nice pony and there were plenty of things he would want to know about him. He said he could use more friends, and Chester felt like he himself did too.

“Woohowww…that’s a bit much to take in, but I appreciate your honesty. Would really like to hear what the two of us were doing back in your dream~”, teasing the changeling like a thermostat rising to its peak, Chester gave him a very devious grin. Yet, stopping dead in his tracks he put on a more serious face.

“Okay...jokes aside. I would be lying if I would tell you that I weren’t thinkin’ about you on more than one account during the last day. But aside from that, I really do like you, as a pony. And seeing you reach a hoof out to me this far, really moved me. I mean it. So how how could I possibly resist, one must reach out and grab it.”.

Reaching out and grabbing an actual hoof from Cyrax, Chester now played a very, very bad pun. “I would like to spend more time with you so we can get to know each other better. We could maybe take sightseeing tours together or play some games, dance some more”. His anxiety rising quickly, as quickly it began to deflate again. “But….you don’t live here…right. You were just here on vacation…right...that’s sad.”, letting go of his hoof and looking back to Cyrax one could visually see how sad he was. “How long did you plan on staying here, if I may ask?”, he asked.

“Well, that’s kind of the problem”, Cyrax stated, scratching his head awkwardly.”I would depart on monday noon, I am going to leave with the fist chariot you batponies offered me, so this…this is my last night here ”, his response made Chesters’ heart sink very deep. “I…I see, so you’ve seen pretty much everything our town has to offer, I guess…”, flashing images of yesternight jumped across Cyrax’ eyes as he was once again, hurting him unintenionally.

To his surprise, Chesters’ mood lightened up quickly as he gave him a warming smile. “I might just know one place you’ve likely not seen before, a secret hilltop not that far away which offers a beautiful view over Hollow Shades, we should visit it later when the sun rises.”, looking at a nearby clock It read 2 a.m, “it rises around 8 am, which is still plenty of time. But for now, let’s make the last night the best of all. Care for a dance? What do you say, Cyrax?”, his warming smile washed away all the bad thoughts Cyrax had.

“Yes, I would like that very much”, he replied as he gave him a hug.

Author's Note

A small refrence sheet to give you a better image of the two:

Chapter 2: Confessions

Cyrax and Chester spent the past hour trying to match the rather noble, old-fashioned music by dancing gracefully together but failed on more than one occasion. But nevertheless, they had a lot of fun. Leaving the club at half past 6 am, while trotting nowhere in particular, Chester felt very happy and in a cheerful kind of way he gave his companion a light hearted rump bump which resulted in a warming smile from his changeling friend.

“So, that was pretty silly and stupid altogether but hey, we tried…didn’t we?”, snickering, Chester gave his dance partner a punch, reflecting the embarassing misery. “That one time where we almost crashed in that couple.”, Cyrax said as he began to snicker too, “or..or when we banged our heads because we both wanted to pick up the tie that one pony lost…that was hilarious!”.

Since they had to kill another four hours of time, Chester decided to show Cyrax the water fountain in the middle of town at tha main plaza. Already sobering, Cyrax tried to convince him that he’d already seen it countless times and it wouldn’t be anything special. Yet, if you look at the other hoof, aside from this hilltop-thing Cyrax had seen everything the city had to offer at this point. Not much to be honest, but it was neat and he would definitely recommend it amongst the other drones back at the Hive.

Now standing before it once again he gave Chester a raised eyebrow, “Sooooo…..what now?”, he asked before getting tugged along to the left. They were approaching a small statue, neatly hidden to the right, close to some cottages. A dim light illuminated what seemed to look like two ponies, carved out of stone, embracing each other. To his surprise, they both looked like stallions.

The Statue itself was about three to four times taller than him and was protected by a wooden structure to prevent it from rain or other things. It also served as a way to illuminate it. Branches of trees were twirled up around the four pillars, giving it an oddly charming apperance. How did he miss this on his past strolls?

“What you see here is a memorial for the last king of this town. Many many years ago, Hollow Shades had a royal family who more or less ruled over this city, and the entire land respectively. This was made in honor of Sahlex Avenheart, the last king of Hollow Shades. And also the most generous we’ve ever had.”, Chester said, while not leaving the monument out of his sight.

“How long did he rule?”, Cyrax asked, looking at the two stoneponies. As he began to chuckle, his eyes were drawn to the batpony. “About ten minutes or so. He was elected king after a series of rather brutal events. And as soon as he was elected, he established some ground rules and then eliminated the monarchy and introduced the democracy we have now. Kind of cool if you ask me.”

“I see. And I guess she was his wife or…”, Cyrax asked, while pointing a hoof at the second Stonepony. Chester gave him a smug grin, “Not really actually. That was his friend Dusk. Short for Duskralya. They were a couple you know.”

“Hawzabha…what. Those two were…”, his words were silenced by a hoof from Chester. “Yes they were. Sorry to shush you, but the sun will rise soon. I’ll explain the rest on the way, but we should really go. Trust me, you won’t regret it.”, he said before proceeding to walk away.

Walking towards the eastern main gate of the city, Chester guided Cyrax’ head towards a small hill to their left. “If you look closely in that direction you can see a bench, and that’s where we’re heading. Can you see it?”, as he was peeking towards the changeling. The first rays of light already illuminated the sky as Cyrax tried his best to make out the bench he mentioned.

“I…I think I see it, but it’s still pretty dark...I’m not sure…”, he replied sheepishly. As Chester began to giggle, Cryax made a scrunchy face, to where the batpony smirked, “Awww…shall I carry you there? Wouldn’t want you to bump into anything~”. He was teasing him again. Cyrax blew him a rasperry as they both made their way through a series of bushes and hidden paths.

Finally reaching their destination, Cyrax found himself on a plateau that was surprisingly high and, just as Chester said, did offer a stunning view over Hollow Shades. The dawn slowly coming closer, the city looked very eerie due to the night fog still beeing omnipresent. Looking back to Chester, who gave him a gentle smile, Cyrax really wanted to thank him for this. “No, I definitely haven’t been here before. But I’ll keep it a secret between us, I promise.”

Chesters’ smile turned to a grin as he answered, “I wouldn’t be sure if you could really do that.”, while tilting his head to the right, a subtle signal to tell Cyrax hat the sun had began to rise.

The scenery which developed in front of him almost brought a tear to his eyes. As the first beams hit Hollow Shades they blew away the fog almost instantly as he felt the warm rays hit his coat. Letting out a purring noise, Cyrax didn’t want to move. He wanted to bath in this breathtaking view forever, his mind as clear as it hadn’t been in a long time. He realized he would have some serious problems not telling anypony about this.

“It’s…beautiful…I…I… can’t describe it better. Wooooooow. It’s amazing…stunning…beautiful…wait, I just said that.”, Cyrax stated as he watched the lights of Hollow Shades go out one after another. “Mhmm…I’m having the most beautiful view too…” he heard Chester, almost whispering. Smiling, he turned to face him, but to his surpise he wasn’t looking at the city, nor was he looking at the dawn.

He was looking straight at him. And he had gotten significantly closer as well.

A blush forming on Cyrax as Chester slowly came closer to him, he could see his breath condensate in the cold air. The sunrays warming his coat were not the only source warming him up now as he continued to come closer and closer. At this point he was mere inches away from him. Cyrax stared into his amber eyes, his pulse beginning to rise as his mind started to race.

“Ch….Chester..”, he said, a mixture of surprise and insecurity but also a hint of desire in his voice. “W…what are you doing?”.

The batpony would not respond, as instead he closed his eyes and slowly cleared the last gap between their snouts as he gently locked lips with him. Cyrax, caught off guard, realized quickly how much he liked this, as he slowly began to press against him too. It felt amazing, having Chester THIS close to himself, Cyrax enjoyed every second of it.

Breaking the kiss after, what felt like an eternity, they both sat on their haunches, hugging each other as the sunrays began to increase. Cyrax could feel more love than he ever felt his entire life being projected at him. Like his dream, the night before, it felt wonderful. The most divine feeling he had ever experienced in his whole life.

But that was a dream. This was real.

Pressing himself closer against Chesters’ fur, he responed by tightening his grip around the changeling too. He heard him purr softly.

“Cyrax, you’ve made your way into my mind all by yourself. Now it’s my turn to guide you to my heart.”, Chester whispered in his ear after they broke their second kiss, still hugging each other.

“Mmmmmhmmm…”, was everything that came as a response from the changeling.

***********

Cyrax felt his body temperature rising as Chester pushed him deeper and deeper into the bedsheets. Towering above him the batpony had gently lowered himself on his belly and began to move his hooves up and down his body, almost petting him. Ocassionally planting kisses on his thorax, Cyrax could feel his soft fur, as more and more of his body began to brush against him, all while still gently touching his armor with his hooves.

Yet this time it felt different. This time it was real. Opening his eyes, Cyrax looked back into the familiar set of amber pupils gazing down on, giving him a loving look. He was the center of his attention, and Cyrax would make sure to repay him more than equal. Everything since their little intimate moment on the hilltop was a blurr to him, the last thing he remembered was him, standing in a hotel room, facing towards his bed where a purple maned batpony had laid down, seductevly teasing him to join in on the fun.

How he ended up in his current position remained a mystery, but Cyrax couldn’t care less at the moment. He had pushed away all his worries about jumping to the other side of the rainbow, and was now fully embracing this new attitude. Carefully sucking in the love emanating from the batpony, Cyrax returned the hug and wrapped all his four hooves around Chester as he pushed him to the side. Now the two of them laid next to each other.

All curtains had been closed, dimming the room in a gentle light, giving them more then enough privacy as the day had begun outside.

Reaching out a hoof and gently running it down Cyrax’ mane, Chester chuckled as their faces were merley inches away from each other. “I’m not going to force you, nor am I going to rush. We don’t have to do this…I would certainly love to…but not without your willingness.”, Chester said, almost whispering as he continued to caress his mane. Even though Cyrax was about as willing as one can get to try this experience, something inside held him back. Could he trust him this far…

Waging his options, his mind was flooded with images of Chester going rough on him, dominating him as he screamed in pain, and that was just to name one of them. Shaking his head to flush these pictures down the toilet, Cyrax reached out to Chesters’ forehoof, guiding it towards his chest. “I’m nervous and honestly…a bit unsure about this but for you…”, locking eyes with the batpony, one could see insecurity painted on the changelings’ visage as he moved on, “I trust you. This is my first time trying something like this…so I would ask you to…. please go slow on me”.

The reflection on the batpony’s face told him that he took this more than serious as Chester put his hoof on Cyrax’ shoulder. “I would never hurt you, Cyrax. I am honored that you would go this far. I’ll try my very best to make this the best night you’ve ever had aswell as a pleasurable memory for both of us.”.

Cyrax could feel a small tear as his words washed away all the doubt he had about this, his body began to warm up anew as Chester swiped the tear away with his hoof. “Well then”, he began to purr, “less talk and more cuddling. Just follow me and I will guide you”. And with that both Chester and Cyrax embraced each other in a long kiss.

Parting their lips, Cyrax’ body was now in complete heat as he felt blood gathering in his south region. Chester was huffing slowly as his tongue was hanging out before he retracted it back in his mouth. Shifting his head around, Cyrax’ cheeks flared up as Chester shot him a devious grin.

Apparently he had noticed it as well. Oh boy.

Gulping, Chester came closer to his left ear as he nibbled on it, sending sparks through his body as he gently bit on it. Cyrax began to breathe heavily as this unsuspected thing seemed to turn him on even more. And as his body signalized not only Cyrax but also Chester that he was ready, the batpony began to whisper in his ear. “Don’t be nervous, try to relax and avoid thinking...now if you excuse me…my attention is needed somewhere else…”

Cyrax let out moan after moan of excitement as Chester treated him in a way he previously never ever thought about. Of something like this ever happening to him. Maybe in a lewd fantasy years ago, but never in real life. After his pent up state was a tale of the past, Cyrax came back to his senses as the batpony softly placed his head on his chest, looking up to him in anticipation.

“How was that? It sure felt like you enjoyed it~”, Chester asked with a grin. Cyrax just nodded while he purred.

“All warmed up I presume?”, Chester asked. Cyrax nodded.

“Good, because I’m more than willing for round two~”. Cyrax nodded yet again.

“I’m really pent up and could use some fun too, you know?”. Cyrax nodded yet again, playing with the batpony’s mane. He was visibly on cloud seven.

Chuckling, Chester had to smile at him. “Gosh, you are sooooo gay, you know that?~”. Cyrax nodded as he gave him a kiss.

This moment was simply wonderful. And it had all just started….

***********

Having spent a most unexpected, yet very interesting and relaxing day together with Chester, Cyrax found himself at an emotional state he’d never felt before. Relaxed. Comfortable. Bliss..sing. Is that even a word? Cyrax had trouble naming this particular feeling, mostly because he didn’t want it to go. Pulling the bedsheets closer to him, he let out a soft humming noise as his eyes closed. He didn’t think anything, to his own surprise. A clear mind like this had never before occurred to him. It felt like all problems the world had were gone. Simply gone. So far away, one wouldn’t even bother giving them any space at all.

Hearing the familiar splashing noise of water, Cyrax tried to imagine the rain, pouring down the windows as he laid there in his cozy bed. Was it evening? Probably. He didn’t care. The coziness of his situation was too valuable to lose to find the answer to that question. Turning his attention away from the rain he found Chester, sleeping right beside him, his breathing visualized in the sheets as they were moving up and down. Slowly turning towards him, Cyrax gave him a hug and soon found himself embraced in his hooves as well.

“Good morning, sunshine~”, Chester said softly, tightening his grip as he purred and cooed. “Slept well?”, he asked, rubbing his face against Cyrax’ chest. The motion caused the latter to open his eyes, which were met by his. His beautiful amber eyes. Can a pony be drunk from love? If anypony in Equestria could, it sure as hell would be a changeling. And yes, he was. Wasted like never before. “I know I have~”, Chester said while giving him a devious, yet loving smile.

Cyrax reached out and planted a kiss on his lips, to which he happily replied with the same. A good amount of time later, desire began taking the better of the two as Cyrax tightened his grip around the batpony and rolled himself on top of him, now pushing him in the bedsheets as he gave a playful laugh und leaned in for a kiss. His victory lasted for about five second before Chester easily turned the tides and was now on top of him, pushing his shoulders in, locking them in place.

“I believe this position suits you way more, submissive as you were the first time, huh…”, Chester gave a devilish grin at the changeling, whose response was to relax his hooves and not push against him, instead wrapping them around his waist, pulling Chester on his chest. In the blink of an eye, Cyrax began nibbling his ear playfully, much to the batpony’s pleasure. Murmuring something which Cyrax could not make out, he released him from his grip, and he sat up once again.”You really are the gayest changeling I’ve ever met, you know that?~”, that devilish grin still on his face.

“I guess I really am. Do you have a problem with that?~”, he replied playfully.

“Not. At. All.”, Chester said.

“Good. Because right now, you are way too far away from me. I feel so lonely”, almost moaning out the last words, Chester began showing off in a submissive pose, which caused the batpony to develop a new shade of red. Drooling slightly, his eyes moved away from his flank in order to meet his eyes once again.

“I love you soo much, Cyrax.”, was all he said.

“I know, Chester. Trust me, I know. I can feel it. It is all around you, inside you, coming from you.”, pushing a hoof against his heart he relaxed as his heartbeat matched his own, they almost synced. “It is the single greatest feeling I have ever felt…all thanks to you.”

“I love you too, Chester.”

Leaning in for a kiss, Cyrax once again wrapped his forehooves around him and began to pull him in to speed up the process. The train must have reached ludicrous speed by now. Who even cares anymore?

“Go get him, Cowpony!”, somepony yelled from behind the main door, which caused Cyrax to flare up in embarassment and Chester to flare up in anger, which resulted in the nearest object, a book, to sail through the air crashing at the door accompained by a surprisingly loud roar from Chester.

“FOR LUNA’S SAKE. BUCK OFF, BERNARD.”

The giggle that came from behind the door afterwards made Cyrax smile brightly, which resulted in a confused look from Chester, who now stood beside the bed. Giving him a playful smooch on the cheek he caught the glimpse of the clock on the nearby wall.

Quarter to twelve. His carriage had left fifteen minutes ago.

SHIT.

***********

“Ummm…Chester?”, Cyrax almost squeaked out the words which immidiately got the batponies attention. “Yes, my Love, what is it?”, he playfully answered, seemingly coming back to himself after scaring away the stalker, known as ‘Bernard’.

“Your clock over there. How high are the stakes of it being one hour earlier then what I’m seeing right now?”, he asked in a monotone tone.

“I’m afraid that I must disappoint you. This clock is set on the right time, It is in fact eleven am, fourty-seven. Why would you assume it to be earlier?”, the batpony asked. One look at the changelings’ face told him everything he had to know as, in unison with the fourty-eight, his gears made the connection and remembered that he had to leave.

“When does it leave? D-do we still have time?”, Chester blurted out, yet the solemmn shake from Cyrax made him relax, if not for the wrong reasons. “Is it bad, I mean, we could check out if, by a miracle, they haven’t departed yet.” Trying to cheer Cyrax up, Chester deflated more and more as his means found no goal.

Reaching a hoof under his chin and forcing eye contact he found himself a crying Cyrax, yet what struck him deep was not him crying in sadness.

No. Cyrax was smiling, tears running down his sides as he gave him a hug which caught the batpony off guard as he lost his footing and fell down in front of the bed, with Cyrax falling right on top of him. After a moment their puzzled selves recollected and began giggling.

“So I take it that you don’t care about it at the moment. Isn’t it important for you to get back home?”, Chester asked, a tad nervous about Cyrax’s demeanor. He seemed awfully passive about it, missing his ride.

In every other country, things like this wouldn’t be a problem, yet Hollow Shades’ forests were known for their dangerous wildlife that would not hold back from attacking a carriage. Thus at least three night guards travel with said carriage in order to protect it if anything should happen.

Giving the last incident had been years ago, one could never truly know. Better safe than sorry. This is also the reason that there’s only one available per day. So he had to wait until tomorrow, not that Chester had any problem with that. Not. At. All. Yet cutting back his desire, he would not want him to get into any trouble back in his homeland.

“Well….”, Cyrax started, “My vacation lasts until Wednesday, so this would be the day that I have to be back at the Hive. I’ll just take the one tomorrow, should not take me that long to accumulate my daily routine. I’ll be fine.”

“If you say so. Don’t mind me asking, but could you maybe get off me? It’s getting kind of uncumfortable here.”, Chester squeaked, Cyrax still half lodged on top of him.

“Oh, well personally, I would almost love to cut some of your chestfloof off but I guess you wouldn’t like that~”, Cyrax giggled deviously while getting up. “I should probably head to the Hotel and prepare my stuff, so I won’t miss the one tomorrow and be ready for it.

“Are you sure you want to go outside in this state? I don’t want to be rude, but you do smell. Like, A lot.” That comment got a good blush out of him, which was amplified even more when he began to sniff at his armor. Amplify that even more, thanks to the devious grin the batpony was shooting him after blowing him a raspberry.

“So, what do you propose?”, Cyrax asked while exhaling, already knowing the answer.

“A shower. And don’t you even think for a second I’ll give you your privacy. I’m coming with you, like it or not, this is my house, thus my rules~”, came the swift return. One could almost cut the air from all the confidence and lewdness the batpony was emanating.

“And here I thought I could escape your coat-burning stare, just so I could get a moment in privacy, silly me. How foalish of me to assume my host would grant me the opportunity to shower alone. Oh the agony!”, Cyrax played in a soap opera tone with the overacting confidence of a silly cuddlebug.

“I’ve always wanted to try that out.”, he then whispered in Chester’s ear. That caused his blush to transfer over to the batpony. 1:1. A tie!

“Are you just making this up or did I really buck you so hard that your interest swapped? I mean, I’m enjoying this as much as you do, but you do remember that, not even fourty-eight hours ago you swore that you were straight? Remember?”, he playfully accused him, which got a chuckle out of Cyrax.

“What can I say? Guess I changed my mind.”, he deadpanned, a loving look on his face.

Shaking his head in confusion and disbelief, Chester could do nothing more than accept what he just heard or rather, did. “A changeling really can change. I like that. Little changes spicen up your life, and don’t get me wrong, I like changes.”, he gave him a smirk, “You are not going to change again. I have found my liking in this version of you~”.

“I guess I can stick around with it a while longer~”, after which Cyrax leaned in for a kiss. Chester was happy to return the favor to him. Walking in the bathroom, Chester made way for him, so that he could enter first. “Ladies first~”, he smirked. Cyrax gave his flank a spank with his own tail before stepping in the surprisingly large shower.

Following without hesitation, Chester closed the curtains behind him and turned on the water. The cold water pouring down on them was no concern to either of them as their atttention was solely focused on each other….

“Bernard, could you please step back from the door? This is really stupid of you. I mean it.”, a green-maned batpony said to the large stallion who was trying to look through a keyhole.

“But I’m telling you, they are taking a shower together!”, he replied.

“And why would that be of your concern, Bernard?”, the deep purple stallion said in an angered tone

“Because it’s adorable and I want to hug him. Poor fella has been so lonely. I wanted to….”

“It. Is. Creepy, Bernard. Cut it out. If they eventually come out, you can talk to them. Okay?”, he said solemnly.

“I guess you’re right, Michelle. I just hope it doesn’t end like the last stallion.”, he sighed.

“Bernard, as much as I like Chester myself, you can’t deny that he has issues as well. He is afraid of bonding, of relationships as a whole. I feel sorry for him. I really do. But don’t forget that it was Chester who broke that stallion’s heart.”, Michelle said in a dead serious tone.

Sighing he trotted back in their apartment. “Sorry if I’m a bit rude, but if you wake me up in the middle of the day, only to listen to the neighbors having fun in bed, you have to expect me to be a bit pissed. I’ll be going back to bed and If I were you, you should do the same. Chester is old enough to handle that and nopony can help him face his inner fears but himself.”

Trotting right after him, Bernard turned to the door one last time, sighed and closed the door to their apartment.

Don’t fuck it up again, Chester. Please….

Chapter 3: Confrontation

“Sooo, now that we are clean again, how about we give it another round?”, Chester asked in a seductive sub-tone, while playfully fiddling around Cyrax’ mane. The changeling did not reply, and for a moment Chester thought he fell asleep. Gently poking him he shrieked back as he emerged from the bedsheets, walking up and down his living room as he was wearing an expression that made Chester feel very uncomfortable.

“Umm....Cyrax?”, uneasiness creeping over him, he felt that something was wrong. Cyrax looked half angry, half sad, yet a mixture of worry and resignation was thrown in the mix as well. His pacing did not stop as Chester has hoped. Addressing the orange maned stallion again proved effortless as he now started to murmur something before flopping himself on his haunches, finally snapping back to attention as he began to lock eyes with him.

His eyes were wet. His expression heartbroken as every inch of his body began to shake. A tight grip slowly engulfed around his heart as he jumped up, ready to rush to his side. What was going on here? Was he sick? Did something happen? Jumping out of the bed his movements were stopped by Cyrax, signalizing him to stay back. The warning was supported by him rasing up his voice to previously unknown levels, which made Chester flinch back.

Then he transformed. Slowly his carapace began to reform in a dark coat, his insectiod wings began to shape anew, leathery appendages bursting out of his sides. A black mane, with white stripes now placed on his head as his form reached its completion. His head was bowed down, yet Chester knew exactly who was standing in front of him.

Guilt began to squeeze inside his chest as his heart raced faster and faster, slowly constriced more and more. He was about to scream as he didn’t want to relive this moment.

‘Why! Why now!’

Stammering, he carefully approached the black and white maned batpony holding a hoof out. “C….Cyrax. A...are you okay?” , his voice trembling as he barely whispered the words towards him.

The mysterious figure rose its head, revealing the face of a pony that Chester knew all to well. His heterochromatic eyes filled with sadness, confusion and loneliness stared back at him, tightening the crushing grip even more as Chester took two steps back.

“D…Dusk, h…how do you know of him”. Chesters’ legs gave in as he fell to the floor, staring up to the batpony he once called his dearest friend. “Cyrax. Cyrax please stop, this isn’t funny. If you have questions, I…I can answer them all to you. I swear…”, Chester began to hyperventilate as the omnious pony smiled down at him in a smug way as it began to laugh hysterically.

“Are you so scared of seeing me?!”, the ponies voice boomed through his living room, sending Chester in a state of panic. “Is he going to be the next one? Are you going to use him? Like you did use me?!”. Now screaming in agony and pain the batpony began to cry. Rivers of red flowing down his eyes, turning the floor in a crimson sea of blood.

‘Please! Go away! Please, I’m sorry!’

Sobs and cries, stammering incomplete sentences. Chester began to shield his eyes in a desperate attempt not to lose it entirely, curling together in a ball as the voices began to echo through his head. Faint whispers growing louder and louder. Then the voice began to roar.

“AM I JUST ANOTHER SOULLESS FUCKTOY TO YOU. AN OBJECT OF PLEASURE TO BE USED BY YOU AS A MEANS OF WAY, ONLY WHEN YOU DESIRE IT. DO I HAVE NO PLACE IN YOUR HEART.

‘Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up!’

“COME ON. DO IT. DO IT YOU WORTHLESS SCUM. HURT HIM. THROW HIM IN THE TRASH WHERE HE BELONGS. DO IT NOW. TO YOU IT DOESN’T MATTER ANYWAY. NEVER DID. NEVER WILL. YOU KNOW ITS TRUE. LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID TO ME. FACE ME, YOU COWARD.”

Chesters’ hooves were forcefully pushed away, his eyelids began to open against his will. He could not resist as they stared right back at the skull of his former friend. His pale fur began to fall of, his wings mere stumps of bone as his still present eyeballs started right into his.

“The Pain…”, it began to whisper in an omnious growl.

“The Sadness. All because of you. Your love is POISON. ”, as it spat on him the world suddenly began to shake. Pictures falling down from the walls, the nightmarish creature began to tremble as a faint light began to bathe the room from above them. Hissing, it retreated as Chester was pulled inside the embrace of the omnious flash.

The world began to fade around him as he saw the blurred image of two hooves violently shaking him. Thrashing out in panic he successfully hit the silhouette that backed away, giving him time to recollect. As his senses slowly came back to full display he latched out towards it and began to punch it again and again.

The creature shielded himself behind his hooves as Chester relentlessly barraged it with punches before snapping out of his hallucination. As his breath and heartbeat began to relax he scanned the enviroment before he was drawn towards the sobbing pony between his bloody forehooves.

Chesters’ heart sank deeper than he ever thought possible as he jumped off of him, rushing towards the corner of the living room as he gained as much distance between him as possibly. Pressing his hooves against his own mouth he began to cry, damning himself to serve decades after decades in Tartarus for what he just did.

Cyrax slowly emerged from the bed, bruises covered his entire face as he stared at him in shock. Chester met his gaze and froze in place. Extending a hoof towards him, Chester felt the pain inside his chest burst out anew as Cyrax shrieked back.

His terrified expression ultimatively displayed the horror Chester had inflicted upon him. He would never ever forgive himself for what he had done just now. He closed his eyes as every limb gave in, now leaned against the wall of his home. Weak. Beaten. Broken…

He was a monster. He deserved this for what he had done. The past always catches up. HE knew that, even expected it to some extent. But not like this. Never ever did he want it to affect the ponies he cared about. Especially not Cyrax. The one stallion who made him feel better and less worthless after so many years of sadness and loneliness.

At the sound of approaching hoofsteps, Chesters’ face jerked up as his eyes widened. Cyrax was approaching him. Unable to move or to speak, he watched him come closer and closer towards him. After standing mere inches away from him he leaned forward and Chester received something he’d never ever thought to receive from him ever again.

A hug.

Chester could not take it any longer and let the dam break. He began to lean in on his shoulder crying rivers of tears down his coat as he returned the hug like his life depended on it. Sobbing, Chester apologized hundreds of times before breaking the hug and locking eyes with him. His right eye had gotten a nasty hit and he had numerous swollen spots on him.

Chester wanted to punch himself harder than anything that was remotely possible at this moment, for he deserved this amplified a hundred times. No, make that a thousand! He gave him the most apologetic look possible, while shedding more tears. “Cyrax, I am so so so sorry. I…I lost it, there was this nightmare, with…with you…and then him, and, and…”, Cyrax silenced him before returning a warming smile.

“Somepony named Dusk I presume?”, the changeling replied, sending another wave of guilt through the broken batpony. “I take it your relationship didn’t end well.”. Chester gave a simple nod.

“Broke up, leaving him heartbroken and you guilty of doing so.”, he continued. Another nod.

“Never had the courage to apologize to him, trying to resolve the problems and talk things out.”. Chester gave a sobbing nod.

“Is that the reason you took these pills I found in your shelf?”, he levitated out a box of sleeping pills, a worried expression on the battered changelings’ visage. He knew apparently. Of course he did.

‘I am so sorry, Cyrax. Why couldn’t I just tell you. Why…’

“I am worried about you Chester. We can talk about this here later.”, he gestured a hoof towards his own face, “But for now I want you to tell me everything that happened between you and Dusk. If there is anything I can do to help you, I will do so immediantly. Because I care about you.”

Rubbing his face against Chester he began to embrace him in a second hug, to which the batpony couldn’t suppress another wave of sobs.

“More than you think, Chester”.

***********

„Why…“

Trotting next to Cyrax, Chester could not bring himself to face him. After getting out of the nearby hospital his bruises were almost completely gone thanks to a unicorn nurse who was grateful to help the two of them. While Cyrax had his treatment, Chester took the opportunity to clear his mind off a few things. Most of them involved a carefully construced list of things he had to deal with. Yet the maw between ‘Had to‘ and ‘Want to‘ streched out further then one could see.

„I told you before. I want you to say it.“, the changeling replied in a monotone voice. No traces of anger or joy in them. „I won’t ever ever speak to you again if you don’t do so. And from my point of view, it will end badly for you in one way or another and let’s be honest, I highly doubt you’re successful at it, but let’s just say you are.“, Cyrax extended a hoof under Chesters’ chin and forced eye contact with him as he stopped dead in his tracks.

His warming smile sent a jolt through his body and all the problems this world had in store were gone. And he wanted him to maintain it, forever. He would do anything to undo the past hour in which he hurt his friend not only physically but emotionally aswell. And the latter would need a lot of time and more importantly,

Trust.

As if reading his thoughts, Cyrax’ smile grew more stoic with a hint of worry. „I am not doing this to harm you, I never would. And I certainly won’t be there to help you but at some point in your life you have to close this chapter. Yes, he will be furious to see you and chances are you end up like me an hour ago.“, the statement caused Chester to flinch away in shame, yet found himself forcefully dragged towards Cyrax almost instantly.

He was fixing his face in between his hooves as he spoke up, small tears forming on his face. „I don’t want you to be sad, Chester. You don’t deserve to be like this for the rest of your life“. Finding himself engulfed in a hug Chester stiffened like a board, standing there like a statue, unable to comprehend the current situation.

A gentle whispering voice came close to his ear which send his wings in an awkward half-assed ‘POMF‘. „Everypony deserves a second chance. You are no different from them. You gave me the most amazing feeling I’ve ever felt in my life. I know that I told you this a million times and I would happily do so again“. Breaking the hug Cyrax stared back at him.

His orange eyes teary, his mane frazzled, his voice trembling and his face bearing the faint reminder of violation, and despite all that, he smiled.

„I….don’t deserve you, Cyrax. Why…why are you trying to help me? After all I did to you, wh...“

At the sensation of their lips meeting, Chester was at the verge of breaking in cries again. His stiff body grew limp as he forced his hooves around him and returned the favor. He didn’t care about them kissing on the open street, he only cared about him. And whatever pheromones might be leaking out of his bug-like body, one of them gave his confidence a hard buck in the butt, desperately trying to drag it out of the cave. It was needed. Here and now!

„You made me feel loved, Chester. I never thought I’d deserve this. I did bad things too. Very bad, trust me. I thought of myself as a broken pony, and seeing you like this nearly crushed me“. Leaning in on once more, Chester found himself in a crushing embrace that felt less like a hug and more like clinging towards the last thing that gave somepony strengh.

„I love you Chester. I barely know you at all, but I’ve seen enough to know you’ve suffered too. You are alive, and you can be hurt too. And don’t you ever feel shame again for what you did. I’ve felt worse in my life, and for all the good things you gave me in return it is but a scratch. A scratch I’m proud of wearing.“

Released by the embrace, Chester stared down at him in shock. Tears forming on his own face as he couldn’t stop himself from smiling. A second chance could not possibly be thrown in a more obvious way as he didn’t hesitate for a moment, grabbed it and promised himself that he would never ever let go of it under any circumstances.

„Thank you, Cyrax. You really don’t deserve somepony like me, but if you insist…“, he gave a softhearted chuckle before adressing him again.

„…Thank you…“ Chester whispered, a grateful smile now spread on both their lips as they advanced on each other for one final hug.

„So,“, Cyrax spoke up, „about that sentence I wanted to hear“.

Sighing, Chester blew him a raspberry before getting back on his hooves, extending one towards his friend to help him up.

„I promise I’ll go talk to him, but Cyrax…“, Chester stopped mid-sentence in order to choose his next words, „…I am going to need to think about us, as a relationship I mean. As much as I would love to, I am unsure about my own feelings at the moment, so…as hard as it is, but…I guess us parting for now would be a wise decision, don’t you agree?“.

‘Please don’t be sad. Please…‘

„Sure thing. It’s not like we have a chance anyway. I caught a glimpse of a talk in the hospital about an evening carriage that supposedly departs in about an hour or so.“, he replied with a reassuring smile.

„But you’re probably right. Both of us should think about all of this, and as much as I’d like the thought of it, it’s probably for the better if we don’t see each other for a while. Let’s stay in contact via mail then. Could I have your address, maybe?“.

„Shouldn’t this be done BEFORE spending numerous marathons in bed and the shower?“, Chester smirked devilish at the ladybug before him before breaking in a chuckle.

„Awww, stop it, you stupid bat.“. Apparently ladybugs can talk. Interesting.

As they both parted way, eager to meet each other again, a familiar set of eyes traced them from a window.

„See, I told you they would work through it, huh.“, Bernard continuously poked Michelle, the latter seemingly annoyed by his friends’ actions.

„Yeah, you do remember when I told you to not wake me up in order to spy at our neighbours private business, right. I mean, It’s been a while since I told you, but come on”, sarcasm aside, Michelle had to admit that they looked rather cute together.

But he wouldn’t let Bernard have this sweet victory. You know…“, glancing over the brown stallion, Michelle could only stare at him in plain acceptance. „…you’re really making us look like an old couple here. A very creepy old couple.“.

Receiving a playful smooch from the brown stallion, Michelle gave a frown before they both chuckled, the sun slowly ringing in the day for Hollow Shades.

***********

After parting ways with Chester, Cyrax felt hollow inside. He more then once wanted to rush back to him for one last hug, to feel his soft fur brush against his carapace one final time. But he couldn’t, shouldn’t. He had to get back to his Hive. A lot of trouble could be avoided if he did so.

Torn in between duty and desire began to affect him physically as his face soon met the apartment door head on. It proved to be victorious. Groaning he opened it, stepped inside and flopped himself on the bed.

An emotional hurricane mixed with a tsunami of thoughts made him want to scream, yet he didn’t found the strengh to do so. Peaking outisde he met the last flickers of sun as it was setting, reminding him of the most complex, unexpected and fucked up day he had ever lived through.

‚Buck it. It was still amazing. By the queens’ flank, it was‘

Sighing he revisited the moment where Chester began to wiggle around next to him, stammering and whispering. It happened so fast. They got out of the shower, dried and did nothing more than try to regain some sleep. After all, they both had been awake for a long time. Add that up to a twisted day/night cycle, the lack of proper food, getting sober and the physical exhaustion of more then one intimate exchange. It does make for a pretty exhausting cocktail.

Lying there, facing the roof Cyrax couldn’t help himself but smile. The clock read 7 p.m, his apparent evening chariot would depart in about an hour and the station it did so was just around the corner. The strange coincidence of this much fortunate luck still seemed alien to him, but if it were true, he would get home sooner and thus, have more time to prepare for work again.

After everything that had happened over the last couple of days, Cyrax found himself at a crossroad. To the left he saw a relaxing vacation to an exotic place far off to the north in which he unexpectedly had took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up getting a very VERY good experience on how it feels to be a tad bit differently in sexual orientation.

On the other side he found a calm, understanding yet tender, cute and interesting new friend. Who also happened to be extremely sexy if viewed in the right light, but that wasn’t the point.

A friend.

Somepony who is as much of a broken mess as he was. And despite everything he had done, Cyrax didn’t want to abandon him because of that. In a world where everypony seems to be perfect in both mind and body, it was hard to find ponies to relate to from his point of view.

Changelings didn’t excactly house the best reputation amongst the Equestrians.

So to put it simple, Cyrax had to make a choice. One or the other. There wasn’t room for compromise.

‚Do I want to try and start a relationship with him, thus trying to go one step further, or do I want him to be nothing more than a close friend of mine, who would always be there for me when I needed help.‘

‚Do I want to have him close and risk losing him forever, or play the safe card and keep him at a moderate distance.‘

‚And as much as I don’t want it to be true, I do have to face the eventuality that he never loved me in the first place. That all of it was nothing more then a fraud.‘

‚Better safe then sorry.‘

But then, why did it feel so real. If any creature in Equestria could tell the pureness of love it would be us…‘‘

Groaing again, he forced himself up, shoving down the entire thought process to the corner of his mind and focused on the more pressing matter. The clock was ticking, and he barely gathered anything from his stuff. Packing his things, he readied himself to leave Hollow Shades. Paying for the apartment at the receptionist desk he made for the station.

Despite anything, there were multiple ponies waiting as well. A group of unicorns, some earth ponies, a pegasus couple. Wait, was that another changeling? Cyrax blinked in shock at him and as their eyes met, he could see his baffled expression matched perfectly with his own as he scanned him from head to hoof.

His mane reached down far below his shoulders, appearing in a mixture of deep and light blue, giving an almost ice-like appearance. His eyes were of similar color, and despite the scar on his left eye, Cyrax couldn’t really decide whether or not this changeling looked more feminine or masculine. Something about him felt odd.

As he decided to approach the changeling the bells suddenly rang, indicating the imminent departure of the carriage. Four armoured batponies, wearing deep purple barding and helmets came flying down as they stopped just above the vehicle.

They hardly looked like the type to play jokes on as the sheathed set of hoofclaws sent a shiver down Cyrax’ spine. He would rather not want to see them in action.

„Attention, passengers!“, one of the guards, probably the one in command, spoke up in a deep voice.

„On behalf of security reasons and an important ambassador attending us at this ride, we are expanding the usual safety escort to four guards, instead of two. We expect no interferences from wildlife but I must insist that you may keep your hooves and any other things inside the carriage at all times. The less problems we have to deal with, the faster we get through the forest. Any unimportant luggage shall be stored either in the back or on top. We depart in five minutes“, he finished before saluting to his squad, which returned the gesture and turned back towards the carriage.

‚An ambassador! Isn’t that a political thing? Somepony important is here with us. Must be that fancy unicorn in the suit. Okay, just sit down, don’t do anything and you won’t get in trouble.‘

Boarding the carriage, Cyrax made his way through the back, the blue changeling from earlier sitting to the left. Almost all seats were already taken, safe for the one right next to him, or her. Somehow Cyrax wanted to find that out, it was nagging at his brain.

„Mind if I sit down here?“, Cyrax politely asked the changeling who looked back up at him after giving Cyrax a smile, gesturing him to sit down.

„Be my guest.“, he said in a soft voice. „I don’t mind company, in fact I’m quite surprised to find another changeling here in Hollow Shades. Where are you from?“, he asked. The carriage had begun to move, passing by the gates of the city almost instantly. Looking back at the menacing walls, Cyrax felt a tight grip around his chest.

What would happen the next time he would pass through them.... Or if he even passed them at all…

Noticing his sad expression the blue-maned changeling extended a hoof towards him, trying to cheer him up. „Hey don’t look so sad. I know, a vacation is wonderful but everything has to end eventually.“.

„Yeah…..right…“, Cyrax hung his head down.

„You’ve met somepony here, right?“, the mysterious stranger asked. Cyrax gave a nod, then rose to attention, facing him in horror at the fact that he knew. How? Was it so easy to guess?

„Don’t be alarmed. I can sense these things pretty well. Emotions and all that. They can be pretty nasty. But still, I’m deeply sorry for violating your privacy like this. Force of habit, I guess. Sorry…“

„…Cyrax“, he finished for the stranger. “I’m from the Badlands, or more precisely, south of them. We live near a lush jungle and compared to here, it’s pretty warm. Do you happen to know it?”, Cyrax asked, now slightly cheered up by the welcoming change of topics.

“Pleasure to meet you, Cyrax. My name is Kryostase. But you can call me Kryo if you’d like too. And yes, I do in fact know the Hive you’re referring too. To be honest, I’ve been there once too. Neat little place to get away from all the trouble at our Hive. Chrysalis does get grumpy often.”, he exhaled, seemingly annoyed but recollected himself in a smile, baring his own fangs.

“C…Chyrsalis. You mean you’re from her Hive?!”, Cyrax stammered, baffled by the revalation.

Kryo gave a slight nod followed by a smirk. “Surprised?”, he teased.

“Yes, I am. Yet, you honestly don’t really look like one of her drones. They just look a lot more different. Usually with a larger physique and more menacing in appearence then you. Way more. But I guess... ”, Cyrax stopped as a set of chilly blue eyes glared at him.

“A….a….atleast that’s what I heard. I never actually saw one. T….To be honest.”, he stammered. As a result, the glare softened into a smirk and a light chuckle from Kryo. “…S..Sorry”

“Trust me, my dear Cyrax. Looks can be very deceiving. But let me tell you that this stallion here can be very intimidating if he wants to. Consider yourself lucky that I am good tempered tonight.”, Kryo said, still smirking.

Strangely, Cyrax did actually believe him. His feminine physique contradicted his statement of being a stallion, yet Cyrax did not want to find out if he was bluffing. However, out of curiosity his eyes traced down his flank anyway.

Peaking back up, he saw Kryo giving him a smug expression paired with a devilish grin, which, in combination meant to say one simple word.

‘Gotcha.’

Turned in a ladybug once again, Cyrax avoided eye contact with him for an uncomfortably long while before the latter gave him a pat on the shoulder, which broke the tension. A favor for which Cyrax would be eternally grateful.

“Don’t you worry, Cyrax. I have a friend here in Hollow Shades who does that often too. Can’t get his eyes off my butt for one second. Tsk…tsk, these batponies are a one-of-a-kind breed, I tell you. But you just can’t help yourself, something about them is just silly, cute and adorable. I just find it hard to not like them. Atleast, that’s my opinion.”, Kryo said while giving him an understanding expression which still bore smug remains.

As much as Cyrax wanted to point out the irony of this situation and use it to talk about himself and Chester he simply gave a long sigh and a nod.

‘Indeed. One of a kind they are…’

***********

“So he hit you. Not in a playful way but he actually beat you? Did I hear that correct?”, Kryo said in a strangely monotone way.

Contrary to his own intentions, Cyrax did talk about what had happened between Chester and him. He told Kryo everything, of course leaving out details regarding their more intimate times. Strangely, Kryo did try to press him into elaborating those details with a perverted look on his face, which made Cyrax reconsider if it was a good idea to tell him.

Luckily, Kryo did knew his limts and at the end of his exposition, Cyrax did somehow feel relieved. Finally being able to talk to somepony about these things did took a lot of weight off him.

A while after, their carriage had left them off at the border to Noctralya, which was right outside the lush and huge forest. The region was known for their assortment of rather huge trees, compared to the rest of Equestria. Clear lines were, of course, not present to indicate directly were their territory began, yet the imposing array of them made for a pretty good alternative.

Especially since they only got more and bigger the further you entered. Cyrax admitted to himself that, even if there wouldn’t be any dangerous animals inside it he still would’t dare to walk or fly to Hollw Shades. Something about this forest seemed creepy.

Shrugging it off he turned towards Kryo who sat right next to him. They decided to wait on the very same bench of the very same station they arrived earlier.The moonlight illuminated the rather empty plains just enough so that one could orient themselves well. In the distance one could spot the batpony border quite prominently.

Cyrax, as well as Kryo, had to wait for their connection ride, which would arrive in about half an hour. At least that’s what the guards told them before they made their way back.

The other tourists made for a nearby town but both Cyrax and Kryo knew they wouldn’t react kindly to changelings. Of course they could disguise and transform themselves but they shared a common desire to be away from crowds, so they decided to relax a bit and Cyrax eventually couldn’t keep his mouth shut anymore.

Another thing for which Cyrax liked batponies. They accepted changelings for who they were. Gave them a second chance, to prove better. At least they didn’t have a stick up their butt…

Trying his best to banish the little Chesters floating around his mind, doing lewd things with various objects one could technically call sticks, Cyrax tried to focus on answering Kryo’s question instead.

“Yes. Yes, he beat me, but you must understand. He was not himself. It was a bad dream. Very bad. It was too much for him and he just snapped. Nothing more. And I can understand that. Could happen to anypony, really.”, Cyrax sighed at Kryo who returned an angered expression.

“Cyrax, let me be honest with you. That sounds exactly like somepony who is in denial of the truth. I don’t know this Chester, but from what you told me he doesn’t appear to be healthy in his mind.”, He said in a serious tone.

“He…just needs some help”, Cyrax countered.

“Yes. Probably. But If I were you I would be careful, Cyrax. I find it very noble of you to try and help him, but you could easily fall into this spiral as well, then drown only to find yourself in an abusive relationship. You want my advice? Ditch him. It might sound harsh at first but you won’t risk to be hurt again. Physical or mental, doesn’t matter.”, he said in the same voice. Monotone, yet serious and reasonable.

‘Better safe than sorry.’

Cyrax felt a jolt of pain through his chest. He knew it wasn’t real, but it did the job. Talking with Kryo didn’t exactly made his decision easier. Now his head, influenced by painful words of reason, screamed NO. Yet his heart roared YES. As it tried his best to silence the former and begged his limbs to get up and reunite with him.

Groaning loudly, Cyrax thought of drowning himself in alcohol just to silence these two and finally get five minutes without thinking about this goddamn batpony.

‘For the Love of everything, WHY.IS.THIS.SO.BUCKING.COMPLICATED.’

‘Any now Chester was peeling a banana, slowly beginning to…’

Thank you brain. Now both of you combine and gang up on me. Thank you. Thank you very much…

Clenching his teeth together and forcing a smile Cyrax was determined to down an entire bottle of Wild Pegasus if he had any.

Of course he didn’t.

Turning his awkward smile towards Kryo he just said the first thing that came to his throat.

‘Yes, from now on you are in charge.’

„Say, you don’t happen to know who this ambassador was, right? My guess lies with that fancy unicorn in the white tuxedo.“. The changeling gave a chuckle before looking back at Cyrax.

„Perhaps. He did look like one. But we’ll never know for sure don’t we? Anyway, we should be happy that he, or she, indirectly provided us with more security. Pretty noble of him to travel with common folk, if you ask me.“, he finished with a smile.

Just as the change of topic were off, Cyrax was saved by another carriage which appeard on the horizon. This must be his ride home. At least he wished it to be. Hopefully his home and regular working shedule would help him clear his mind.

‘Now Chester was riding a gigantic eggplant. And…oh…of course he was licking it too..’

„I guess this is goodbye then.“, Kryo spoke up, extending him a hoof. „It was very nice meeting you, Cyrax. Maybe we can see each other again. I mean, who knows what the future might hold.“, The blue-maned Changeling said, locking eyes with him.

„From one changeling to another, Cyrax, I wanted to tell you something. Love can make you whole as fast as it leaves you hollow. It is like a coin. There are two sides of it. One is vast and rich, the other dark and shallow. I do not wish for you to experience the bad side, but sometimes you better don’t pick up the coin at all. As I said before, be carfeul. Save travels, Cyrax. Goodbye.“.

And with that, Kryo, to Cyrax’ surprise, flew off into the air, leaving him alone to enter the carriage. Apparently it really was headed in the direction he wanted too. What a lucky coincidence.

‘Wait, was Chester poledancing now. That’s it. You’re all fired. Dismissed.’

Taking a last look back in the direction were Kryo left off he could swear that he saw three changelings now, all disappearing at the horizon.

‘Where the hell did they come from. Did I miss something…Please don’t tell me I need glasses.’

Blinking in confusion he shrugged it off and turned his head forward again, trying to think about nothing.

Of course that’s easier said then done…

Chapter 4: Serenity

Chester was thrown against the wall with such force, that the very foundations of the building he was in began to shake from the impact. The buck to his side had sent Chester flying across the room faster than he thought possible from just one punch. As his head was throbbing and aching with pain, his blurred vision caught the approch of his pursuer.

Now standing right on top of him, the smartest move would have been to scream for help or to run, yet Chester stood his ground. Not because he couldn’t. He would put up a decent fight if he’d wanted to. But he shouldn’t run or fight back.

Because he deserved this.

“I’m sorr…”, was all he managed to say before he received a crushing blow to the side of his jaw that sent him tumbling on the floor. Recollecting himself, a surge of pain began to flow through his side. Coughing, he spat out blood on the floor as approaching hoofsteps caught his attention.

Daring to look up he saw the familiar visage of the dark grey stallion who once called him ‘friend’. Tears were making a mess out of his face, a white and black mane hung down the side of his head, lifeless and strained. His eyes twisted in between rage and regret. The sight of this made Chester feel millions of needles punctuate his heart from all angles possible.

This was Chesters fault. He did all this to him. He used him. He was the one who broke his heart. He, and he alone is the sole reason that drove him to this outburst of frustration, anger and rage. And now they both got what they deserved.

Chester deserved to be beaten up by him. He, on the other hoof had all the right to beat Chester up. May he take as long as he wanted. Chester would not run.

“Dusk. I….”, he was abruptly stopped by yet another strike to the side of his face. This time however, Dusk sat down on his haunches right in front of Chester and began to rain down a barrage of blows on his face. One from the left, one from the right.

Right. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left…

Accompained by screams and sobs of pure unfiltered rage and sorrow, Chester heard his former friend slowly break again in front of him. He would do anything to help him. He would endure this punishment for as long as Dusk needed it.

As the sobs grew lounder and the punches weaker, Chester was able to glance up to Dusk. He looked exhausted, at the verge of collapsing. His punches reduced to nothing more than soft pokes, yet he still continued his attempts to strike him with everything he had left.

Moments that felt like an eternity later, Dusks’ forehooves dangled down his sides from sheer exhaustion. Head hung down, tears began to trickle down on Chester, still pinned down by Dusks’ body.

Suddenly, and without any warning, Chester felt something soft touch his chest. Glancing downwards he saw Dusk who had leaned in on him with his face. Exhaustion edged himself into his features as he just sat there. Quiet, limp and lifeless.

Chesters’ entire body ached, countless bruises scarred his face, chest and side. Blood streamed down from his nose and, judging from his most prominent pain source, his right wing was probably broken.

And once again, this was only a quarter of the punishment, Chester should have faced. Because at the end of the day, pain is an emotion, which originates from a strained part of your body. A defensive action from yourself to tell you where the source lies. Over time it fades and dissapears, it may leave a scar but you get rid of it eventually.

But what about the mind? Does a mind feal pain? Sadness, loneliness, insecurity, fear, depression. The body does express these emotions in the same way it does pain. But where your body has the source displayed, so that it can be mended, the mind just screams and wails. Though it can be mended and even healed aswell, the excecution is exponentially more challenging.

Your Body can forgive, but your Mind can’t forget.

***********

Silence ultimately began to spread between the two batponies. All sense of time faded in obscurity as neither of them dared to move or speak. Chester knew that, if anypony, he should be the one to start a conversation because, after all, he needed something from Dusk.

Chester had to close this chapter of his life, or else, he would not be able to live with himself, let alone have a relationship with Cyrax. He knew that he would always think back towards Dusk and feel nothing but shame and hate towards himself because of it.

Carefully picking his words with the amout of ease, somepony who desperately tried to defuse a bomb would display, he immediantly contradicted himself as he slowly reached around Dusk and gave him a hug.

He did not respond. And at this point, it was still the best possible reaction Chester could get from him.

“Dusk. I….I’m sorry. For everything I did. To you. I should have stood my ground. For you. I should have been there. For you. And all I ever did is let you fall like the responsibilities I couldn’t live with at the time.”

“What…”, Dusk spoke up in a scornful voice. “…do you want from me, Chester”. He spat out his name like acid.

“I came here to apologize, Dusk. I want the two of us to go separate ways in peace. Where both our chapters are closed on a friendly note so, if we would face each other again, we wouldn’t hate us forever. I should have done this the day we broke up but I ran away. And though I manged to evade sucessfully, it caught up with me eventually.”

Embracing his hug around Dusk stronger, Chester fought back an urge to sob but found himself overpowered by it almost instantly.

“Please, Dusk. I’ll do anything you want. Anything. But please, Dusk. Please forgive me”, Chester managed to get out before another wave of sobs occupied his mouth.

“Is part of this apology the reason you let yourself beat up by me?”, Dusk said in a neutral voice.

Chester let out a faint “Mhm” that actually got a small chuckle out of Dusk.

“I thought so. And to be honest it worked pretty well. For me at least”, he gave another faint chuckle before slowly getting up on shaky hooves. “Go clean yourself up, you look like a mess. I don’t want any more of your vile blood on my floor. I’ll be waiting in the kitchen. I take it that you remember the way”, he finished scornful.

Fixing his curly, strained mess of a mane, Chester saw Dusk’s mismatched blue and amber eyes glaring down at his own. His current state could be explained similar to a cragadile who just had a feast. Timid and relaxed for now, but you don’t want to be around him when he gets hungry again.

“I’ll make us some tea. A friend of mine brought some exotic herbs from the east and I wanted to try them out. And then we shall talk”. He shot Chester a last glare before trotting off to the kitchen.

Getting up was literal pain as Chester felt every bone in his body. “Great to be alive” they seemed to tell before screaming “AND NOW FIX US YOU STUPID IDIOT!”. Chester happily ignored it for now, got to the bath and cleaned himself as good as he could. His wounds were already healing, so he wouldn’t lose any more blood.

Chester then realized how dizzy he felt. And surprisingly cold aswell. Not freezing cold but a prominent shiver ran down his coat. Probably for the impending talk. Maybe it was him being a chicken or he had a sadistic fetish, hidden somewhere in his body, but for a second he preferred another beating rather then trying to find the right words. It just seemed much easier.

“Don’t you dare back off now, Chester”, his bones said in his mind as Chester gave a confident nod of agreement. Wait, wut?

Making his way towards the kitchen, Chester saw Dusk sit at a table, his hindhooves crossed, a cup of tea in his forehooves and a glare directed right at him. Taking seat at the opposite side of him, Chester steadied himself, swallowed hard and prepared himself for the conversation he had dreaded and avoided for years.

The one that, hopefully, would set their differences aside forever.

***********

The simplest solution to a problem is usually the best and most effective way, yet outright telling Dusk that he came here in order to make up for all the wrongs he did felt like a very bold and stupid approach. Aside from the fact that he did not do this solely to get back to Cyrax without his guilt. That wouldn’t be true.

Giving Dusk the most sincere and honest expression Chester could form with his bruised face, he took a sip from his tea and inhaled.

“Dusk. I fucked up great. Everything that went wrong with us is on my bill. I can see that now. I wish I could turn back time and undo what I did. Because I loved you. I never properly showed it too you but I did. And it was the single most greatest thing about those times. Simply amazing.”

Dusk’s cheeks flushed slightly, to Chesters’ utter surprise before quickly returning to his pissed if somewhat annoyed-curious state.

“And I felt that you did too. Heck, remember the necklace I got from you on our first anniversary. I still have it. To this day. In the second drawer next to my bed. I would’ve carried it but I can’t. I just…can’t. And all these memories, of us…”, Chester leaned back and sunk down his head.

“Fuck…I…I was a moron. A stupid fucking idiotic selfish bastard who broke the heart of the only pony who ever gave me the feeling of truly being happy that I existed. Why did I leave you in the rain. Why didn’t I answer the door when you knocked”.

“Because you were only ever interested in the feeling. You might have mistook that love you felt. Because it was for my body rather than me as a pony. And as soon as it got serious, you backed off. And don’t get me wrong. I don’t blame you for that, but the way you executed it was way bejond being a simple jerk.”, Dusk finished in a chilling tone.

„I know, Dusk. You‘re right. I admit it, okay? I chickened out. I was afraid and...and nervous. I did not know what to do and...and everything just...it was too much for me.“

That sentence did little good in calming him down, instead it made him rise up and slam a hoof on the table with such force that half his tea spilled out.

„Then what was so fucking hard in just telling me. Huh, Chester? Honesty is a virtue. If you would‘ve just told me these words you just said back then none if this here would’ve happened.“

Wiping away the mess on his table, Dusk continued in a sad demeanor. “You know. I’ve waited a long time. For you. I was afraid...nervous. I had no idea what was going on. You didn’t talk to me. Didn’t answer me. ‘Was it me?’, I thought to myself. Were I the reason for your insecurity?”, Dusk rambled, clearly recalling the hurt as much as Chester had.

“You avoided me. When I saw you in the streets you ran away. ‚Why?‘, I kept asking myself. And I struggled with it for a long time, eventually, I just felt used. And ever since that day I began to hate you more and more. But I also blamed myself for being so foalish.“

Guilt crept onto Chester like a supernatural force dragging him towards the ground. Dusk looked heartbroken, every trace of anger disappeared as he sat there and gave him a sad expression.

Every part of Chester wanted to reach out to him and give him the tightest most sincere hug he had ever given somepony. But he just knew that wouldn‘t do any good to either of them.

„I‘m sorry...Dusk.“

He was silenced by Dusk, who simply shook his head.

„Stop it...just...stop, Chester. Please. I loved you too, you know. But as I said before, I don‘t know what part of me you loved, but it wasn‘t ME”. He emphasized the last word by pointing at himself.

“But well, congrats to you for finally seeing that, but at this point it’s far too late. You eventually learned your lesson. At the cost of me but well, you’ve got to think positive, right. Still, all desire that I had for you is lost. Probably for the better.”

He stiffened to a more neutral expression. A judging look came from Dusk as he continued.

„You want me to forgive you? You want us, to settle our differences once and forever, is that right?”, he asked with a scornful subtone.

Chester gave a nod of agreement.

“Well, as much as I enjoyed beating you up, Violence doesn‘t solve anything. But damn did it feel good”, his mouth curled up in a smile. It wasn’t of a comforting nature, that kind of smile that basically said ‘Run for your life!’.

“So what do you offer me as an apology?”, he asked before crossing his forehooves around behind his head as he leaned back in his chair.

Chester, despite feeling physically ill and psychologically violated, was rather relieved that things between them turned out rather nice for now. It also gave him the time to look around a bit.

Ever since he knocked and entered Dusk’s house, he had other more pressing matters to deal with than admiring the interior.

His kitchen was shaped like half a circle, situated more to the left of his house. The neat table they sat at was crafted to fit with the rounded bench along the walls.

“You really decorated it nicely here”, Chester said flatly, earning a raised brow and unimpressed snort from him. Sighing, he got back to the topic.

“Honestly, Dusk. I have nothing. I could give you bits, but that would be inappropriate. I can’t give you your time back and you stated that another beating would be pointless.”

Dusk gave another sickening smile, “Well, I never quite said that, I only said it doesn’t solve things.”, he said, sending a shiver down Chesters coat who proceeded to gulp as a response.

“But to be fair, I do admire it that you finally grew the pair to try and resolve it. I really mean it”, Dusk gave a hint of a smirk before finishing his tea. Exhaling he set the cup down and gave another neutral expression.

“Makes it kinda hard to still hate you.

I still wish to do so and don’t think I’m through with you just now. And don’t you get cocky, I’ll simply play along for now and wage my options, if I shall give you a second chance”, he finished, smirking.

“But if you planned on getting back together with me I must inform you that I’m taken. I found myself a rather exotic stallion. Bit weird from time to time but there’s just something cute about him”, he finished, quite happily.

“Oh, nonononono. I never planned anything like that”, Chester blurted out, “I found somepony special too. Which is part of the reason I finally confronted you. Not that I didn’t plan to at all, but he gave me the last push I needed to do so.“

‘Yeah, after you almost killed him. Exaggerating yes, but not less serious because of it’

“His name is Cyrax. I met him a couple of days ago. Cute little guy, I must admit. Had a lot of fun with him so far. And would you believe he’s a changeling!”, Chester said, booming with joy.

Dusk’s response was nothing like Chester expected as his jaw dropped down, eyes widening to almost cartoonish size. Dusk just stared at him, as if seeing a ghost.

“Y...You too...”, was all he said.

‘Wait, wut?’

***********

Sometimes you wonder how big Equestria really is. On paper, it‘s rather big. There are many pony races present and a vast collection of other creatures aswell. One amongst these pony races are batponies.

Granted, our population is rather small compared to the rest, some even describe us as exotic. Aside from Hollow Shades and some small communities around Canterlot we aren‘t that prominent.

Then there are changelings. According to the stories Cyrax told they are rather big in masses, populating various Hives around Equestria. But overall, they can be described as exotic aswell.

So how high are the stakes of another batpony falling in love with another changeling inside Hollow Shades roughly around the same time?

...

Catastrophically high, so it seems.

...

Both Chester and Dusk just sat there in shared bafflement for the longest time, not believing what both of them just heard.

„W...wait a minute…“, Dusk spoke up, clearly not believing it. „You mean to tell me that you have a changeling coltfriend too?“

„Umm...yeah. Small, orange mane,

makes cute noises when you tickle him. Sadly he had to get home but I really hope we’ll see each other again. Yeah...do you know him?”, Chester asked nervously.

Dusk just stared at him before opening his mouth, „No. No I do not know him. My friend is called Kryostase, but I call him Kryo. He prefers that. Blue maned but he is not ticklish. Not at all. I tried...“.

His cheeks flaring up slightly, he gave a baffled frown and resumed his serious state. „Wait a minute, why am I telling you this. This is...awkward. You‘ve got to be joking. Do you think this is funny?“, he said, starting to get angry again.

„Not at all. I am dead serious“, Chester said with as much sincerity as he could put in his words.

„Well...this is weird...like...really really weird. This world is really small“, Dusk said plainly. Focusing his attention back to Chester he leaned in on the table.

„Soooo, how did you meet each other?“, Chester asked, quite thrilled to hear the answer. Sadly Dusk just shook his head, shrugging the question off.

„I‘d rather not talk about it for now. I could maybe inroduce you to each other someday, but not before we settled things“.

Chester relaxed himself, though they had a rough start, for now it seemed that the tension had finally left both of them. Wasting no more time, Chester elaborated the events of the past three days. Every remnant of thick air has been flushed out in favor of talking about changeling flanks.

...

Of course it didn’t last long. Dusk soon shifted the topic to relationships again. Oh boy...

“So if everything I just heard is correct, I can assume it’s basically the following“, Dusk said, taking a deep breath. To which Chester‘s heartbeat rose in nervousness.

„You met a changeling at a bar who played gay but actually wasn‘t. Still, the two of you met again because you seemed to like each other. Then you went to the same place you took me back then“, Dusk stopped to give Chester a harsh glare.

„Glb...Mmmmm...mmmmaybeee?“, the stallion in question answered.

Earning a frown, Dusk catched up with the summary and continued, „You, too, landed in bed and did whatever you did, I honestly couldn’t care less...“, his flush made that statement doubtful.

„Anyway, you had a nightmare about your guilt regarding me, which caused a blind defensive panic attack in which you beat him up accidentally. Then you parted ways because you both needed to rethink about going full term on it. And that more or less forced you to come to me. Did I get that right?“, Dusk summarized with A raised brow.

„Basically yeah. Kind of sums it up pretty well. I was dead serious it would be over between the two of us. Nopony could blame him though, yet he stayed. He still considered to be with me. I told him that I didn‘t deserve somepony as good and caring as him but he didn’t care. I never wanted him to fall in love with me, Dusk. I‘m afraid that I fucked up“.

Chester felt a sting inside his chest. He wanted to be together with him…

but how far could he go? To his surprise Dusk gave him a warming smile. It was a wonderful feeling to him. Then Dusk chuckled.

“You know,”, he began, “you’re very much like Kryo right now. He also told me that he doesn’t want me to fall in love with him. Which is pretty hard, considering we have a lot in common. Like, a lot. I would be ready, but he just can’t cross that canyon yet. So I wait and won’t force it. Patience is key.”

“In your case, Dusk, it’s pretty much the same but switched. Think deeply about it and then make your decision. If our relationship taught you anything, you should know what to do and able to make the right choice. That would mean a lot to me”, Dusk continued on.

“I didn’t want to see you suffer, Chester. Not like this. This is wrong. Unhealthy. Granted, you fucked up our relationship but that is no reason you should be unable to have another one with another pony. That I can’t accept.”, Dusk said, tears began to form in Chesters’ eyes as a reponse.

“T...thank you, Dusk. I promise I’ll introduce you to each other one day.”, Chester said, beginning to sob.

“Looking forward to it. I just hope you tell the truth and didn’t just made this entire thing up to convince me to forgive you. Because if you did, I would capture you and feed you to the cragadiles”. He gave that sickening smile again!

“But from what you said, the way you react and your stoic acceptance of punishment do speak for the truth.”, Dusk admitted, if still scornful.

“Just make up your mind and tell him the truth. Works wonders long term, or so I’ve heard. And the two of us can have some tea in two to three weeks and you tell me what happened. Aye?”, he offered.

“Yup, that should work. I’ll take my time to think about it, promise.”, Chester said, relieved that everything worked out in the end.

“Great, now please get the fuck out of my house and treat that wing of yours. And if you need another beating, I am happy to oblige.”, Dusk said, ready to jump at him, but not with romantic intentions.

Chester found himself at the street again, not really remembering how he got there. Respectively how fast. But it didn’t matter to him. Chester felt like two mountains have been lifted off his shoulders.

Extending his wings, ready to fly off he felt and heard a prominent ‘crack’ before falling flat to the ground. Clenching his teeth together Chester suppressed a scream. Pain was surging through his right wing, reminding him that medical attention was advised.

‘Have you forgotten about us?’, they wailed in his mind.

“Ow...ow...ouch...”, Dusk pushed himself to the hospital, eager to get his wing fixed. Luckily, there wasn’t much going on so he quickly received a proper bandage and some painkillers. Given the choice to stay at the station for the day, Chester accepted the offer without hesitation. Lying in bed was uncomfortable with a wing stiff as a stick, but Chester didn’t care about it.

He finally made up with Dusk and could focus all his attention towards Cyrax now. Chester was so full of joy he grabbed the nearest pillow and squeezed it tightly to his chest. If it were Cyrax he would be reduced to his new personal body pillow. So it was probably a good thing that he wasn‘t present at the moment.

Exhaustion came down on him hard, Chester got comfortable and closed his eyes ready to be taken to Luna’s realm...

***********

‘Dear Chester. I’ve been thinking about you for the past months and came to the conclusion that…‘

The sheet of paper was abruptly crunched together and was sent flying towards the nearest wastebin. As expected, it failed to reach its destination. Bouncing off an already hopelessly overflowed stash of scrapped notes Cyrax let out a groaning noise. For three hours the orange changeling tried to form coherent sentences to tell his purple maned batpony crush.

Sounds simple enough in theory, yes. Reality however is, as usual, equally more challenging.

He stared at a letter he received about a week ago. Luckily for him, a brave unicorn stallion delivered it to his Hive, despite the abnormality of it. Said he lost a bet and was forced to do it. That didn’t stop Cyrax from lunging at him, embracing him in a tight hug. The repsonse was the unicorn, wailing about Cyrax not putting his eggs inside him before fainting in a comically silly fashion.

Levitating the letter from Chester towards him, Cyrax read it for the probably hundredth time.

Dear Cyrax. I really hope this letter got to you. I highly doubt it to be honest. But if it did I wanted to tell you something.

Cyrax, I lied to you. Not intentional, but I did nevertheless. I hate myself for the things I did to you. I can’t be forgiven for that. And for a long time I thought it would be the best to part ways. It would be the logical and reasonable thing to do. I broke the heart of a pony once, I don’t want to relive that again. You deserve to know what happened between me and Dusk. I loved him. Or I thought I did. I was only out for bucking like wild but he…. He fell in love with me. I rejected him but my stupid younger self was unable to tell him that. I thought I’d lose him forever if I did, but in the end I lost him anyways. Not because I told him, but because I didn’t.

Cyrax, I am not going to make that mistake twice. Not again. Not with you. I remember the things you said after we went to the hospital. ‚Get away from me you foalish idiot‘, I thought to myself. I didn’t want to hurt you anymore than I already did. So I wanted to ask you one simple question. Do you love me? Please take your time and think about it. In fact, please don’t read any further. Instead, I want you to put this letter aside and clear your thoughts out.

…

Cyrax, if you do love me, despite everything I did, I’d like to kiss you like we’re back on the plateau watching the sunrise. Because I love you. You’re cute and gentle, calm and understanding. You were there for me when everypony else would’ve backed away. You gave me everything I never thought of receiving from a simple flirt at a random night. So if you give me a second chance, I will give myself a second chance aswell and return the favor. To be there for you. And for you alone. I will make you the center of my attention, find new ways to make you laugh. Every. Single. Day. I promise.

Sincerely, Chester.

Tears began to trickle down from Cyrax’ eyes. A familiar warmth began to spread through his body as he stared at the letter. He could almost feel his love again. Divine. Pure. Addicting beyond his capability to describe. He would keep this confession for the rest of his life.

For a very long time Cyrax fought with himself, afraid that he only appreciated the feeling of love. The realization that Chester had faced a similar fate aswell struck Cyrax hard. He could easily empathize with him. But he would do better. Changelings have no need to disguise and fake their very existence if somepony appreciates them for who they really are. Shivers ran down his spine as he thought of unintentionally abusing Chester.

‘No‘, Cyrax thought to himself. He was stronger than that. He would do better. For his own sake. For Chester. For the Hive and general reputation of the changelings. Having gained new confidence Cyrax put the letter aside and focused back on writing a proper response. Every second that passed by was precious. Levitating a blank sheet to himself, Cyrax finally knew just what to write.

Hey Chester.

First of all, Thank you very much for the letter. Luckily it got here. I was very touched by it, even read it multiple times. I also appreciate it that you try to give things a second chance. Relationships I mean. Especially after what happened between you and Dusk. Sounds kind of lame, but I can understand you, at least slightly. I am also quite unsure about it. We should definitely meet again. To be honest, I really miss you. A pillow doesn’t quite do it for me anymore. Ooooff, getting out of hoof here…

I would definitely want to see you again. Preferably in Hollow Shades or somewhere else but not here. Talk things out, over tea or Celestia knows what. I also wouldn’t mind if we end up in bed. Works wonders I heard.

Sorry, Chester. I can’t do this. Writing I mean. Look.

I’ll try to put it simple. Yes, yes, all my yes. I want to. I want to be with you. You would be ready to try it with me? Perfect. So I would love to…

Cyrax let out a frustated growl and added another crunched paper towards his garbage can.

„Okay. That’s it. I give up“, Cyrax hissed. „I can’t do it. Of all the understandable, reasonable things that could cause things like this to fail, I have to fail because I’m too stupid to answer a freaking letter.“. Walking over to his bed, Cyrax threw himself face first on a blanket and proceeded to relax his limbs.

It didn’t took long for Cyrax to give his pillow some attention too. Certainly way more than it needed. Hugging the innanimate object, Cyrax’ thoughts trailed off towards the purple batpony. Of him gently nibbling his ear. Resting his head atop his soft belly. Of carefully inserting his appendage into his…

Jumping up Cyrax found himself panting. His heart was racing and he knew the familiar warmth in his crotch. „Oh, what I wouldn’t give to have you right now…“, Cyrax whispered, embracing the pillow anew. „Fuck….I’m gay. What the heck did you do to me, you cursed bat.“

Then…out of nowhere, Cyrax had an idea.

„What if“, glancing over at his wardrobe, he saw his black and white maid outfit. A smile began to form in the corner of his mouth. „What if I go out and get myself a second opinion on gay intercourse. To find out, not only if I’m hopelessly gay, but also to find out if I truly love Chester”.

Hesitating, Cyrax’ mind threw countless scenarios at him to further doubt his plans. Rough, rushed unerotic things that might only be enjoyed by others. Multiple dominant stallions forcing him in positions he wouldn’t be comfortable with. And at the end he would have to pay them for it. Shivering he held the pillow like A foal holding his plushie.

„You were always gentle with me. You took your time and got slow on me. It never hurt with you in charge.“. Exhaling, Cyrax purred before giving the pillow a smooch. Realizing he was doing something very questionable he put it aside.

Suddenly, Cyrax had another brilliant thought. This time however…it was not stupid.

Grinning devilishly, Cyrax got off his bed and proceeded to make the necessary arrangements to slowly shape his new plan into reality.

„Just you wait, my dear Chester. Just you wait…“, he purred…

Chapter 5: Decisions

“…and you really think the letter got to him?”, Dusk asked, raising an eyebrow. “I’m just wondering because I know how much of a pain in the flank it is to get anything to them. I hate to use the term, but ponies are extremely racist towards changelings. I mean, come on, they haven’t done anything like Canterlot for years…”

After Dusk finished his beer, he gently lifted the empty bottle down on the floor and took a second one out of the crate. Sitting on a comfortable bench outside makes it rather annoying to always walk back inside just to restock.

So why not take the entire crate outside? If you already have a private garden, why not use it? Hesitating, he peaked back up to the table, adressing the pony, who he shared company with on this rather calm night.

“Want one more too, Chester? I’m kind of in a good mood, so why not have one more tonight. Or two. Or three…”, snickering, he began to giggle to himself. This was not the first beer he had, nor will it be the last.

Chester found the entire situation to be quite entertaining. Nodding, he accepted the offer and Dusk soon had two more bottles on the table, swiftly opening them with the aid of his wings and an opener. The latter one did most of the work.

Taking another sip, Dusk gave a small belch before scrunching his face like somepony who just bit a lemon.

“Juck…this one’s rancid.”

Looking at the label, Dusks’ fears were proven right as the silhouette of a beige coated unicorn-like creature with an orange mane loomed over the label. It simply read: Kirin Beer.

“Really tastes like piss. Makes me wonder how they produce this stuff. But well, now I can proudly say that I tried it”. Shifting his attention back to Chester, Dusk picked up the original topic where they left off before.

“I’m sure he’ll write back. You’ll see. And if not, maybe my friend Kryo can help relay a message or something. So don’t worry too much”. Patting his shoulder, Dusk leaned back and kept a steady gaze at him.

He didn’t look too well. Something was clearly troubling Chester and every attempt to get him to talk about it was ignored or shrugged off. He really, really did not want to talk about it. So the next best action Dusk took was to try and get him drunk, or at least tipsy.

The current status of that plan seems to backfire massively. Dusk was leading the field with six successfully downed bottles whilst Chester just opened his second. And Chester was not a slow drinker. Part of Dusk felt really shitty about it but he couldn’t bear him like this.

Dusk felt sorry. For him. After their rather rocky reunion two months prior they had met regulary and things started to work out pretty good. Surely Dusk would never openly admit it to Chester, but he had really missed him and was glad that things brightened up again. Even though it was totally Chesters’ fault.

Yet to be fair, Dusk can get pretty emotional when drunk, so that might amplify these emotions too.

Chester sighed, grabbed his bottle and took a long sip. Setting it back down he shook for a second before meeting Dusks’ gaze.

“I miss him. I just…I can’t get him out of my head. I know it’s been like this for months now…but…I…I just want him…one more time. Just cuddling. Nothing more. His squishy armor, his scent. The cute noises he makes when poking him in the side…Just one more Luna-dammed time…”, exhaling Chester hung down his head.

Dusk thought of ways to comfort him, but had nothing. “I’m sure you know that yourself, but as soon as that happens, you will want to have him again. And you’re going to say the exact same thing. Just one more time…”

Hiding his face in between his forehooves, Chester leaned on the table with his elbow. Dusk didn’t hesitate and got up from his seat. Walking over to his friend he put his wings around the batpony and gave Chester a hug. This action would’ve been unimaginable two months prior but Dusk didn’t care at the moment.

“You know…”, Dusk spoke up, “I think I know what troubles you. You are uncertain of his reaction. His choice. Not knowing if he wants to be with you or not can be cruel. You’ll never know for sure and invent all kinds of imaginable mumbo-jumbo.”.

‘Did I really just say that. Sigh…Mental facehoof is in order.’

Forcefully, yet gently pulling Chesters head out from under his hooves, Dusk gave a warm smile. “Trust me, I know very much how that feels, Chester.”

Locking eyes with Dusk, Chester returned the hug and nuzzled him for a second, which caught the batpony offguard. Awkwardly jerking back, he fell from the bench right on his rump. A puzzled expression combined with flared cheecks from both blushing and an excessive amount of alcohol made it impossible for Chester to surpress a giggle.

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist”, Chester grinned, seemingly happy again. “The moment was just too good. But honestly now. Thank you, Dusk”. Chester gave him a releaved smile in return, which made Dusks’ worries disappear into thin air.

“I suppose you’re right. I should just try not to think about it too much. Who knows, maybe he feels the same”. Reaching a hoof out to Dusk, he pulled him back up and swiped along his coat several times to clean off some grass.

“You’re still adorable, you know that”, Chester teased to which Dusk only pouted. Heading back to the table, Chester lifted off his beer and proceeded to clang it against Dusks’.

“Thank you, Dusk. We should really enjoy ourselves now, sorry for dragging down the mood. I’ve also got to catch up to you, right? Well then, cheers!”,

***********

“…What is love…Baby don’t hurt me…don’t hurt me…no moooooooore…”

Chester had to interrupt his majestic musical score to burp. Since his departure from Dusk, Chester had drank the remaining beer on the way home. The first rays of sunlight already began to clear the dew off Hollow Shades.

Hence his beer-counter was somewhere within two digits Chester was quite obviously a little shaky on the hooves and, more then once, found himself in need of support to keep standing upright.

Happily aiding him were the walls of nearby houses and occasionally the floor if no wall was available. To the blank eye he looked like somepony with an alcohol problem, yet Chester wasn’t a drinker. Everypony might overstep his boundaries at least once, right?

“…Oh du lieber Augustin…Augustin…Augustin, oh du lieber…”

‘Wait, wut?‘

Arriving at his house just in time to shield his eyes from the first direct hit of Celestias’ ring of fire, Chester strolled towards the door of his apartment. Entering it after fumbling with the lock for an awfully long time, Chester found himself with a question of immense spiritual meaning.

To shower, or not to shower?

Chester decided against it and made straight for his bed. Taking a last turn to close the windows and the curtains Chester crawled on his bed, slipped under the blanket and prepared to doze off…

KNOCK. KNOCK.

Groaning, Chester got out of his bed and stumbled out of his comfortable resting place. Letting out another groan, he approched the door, mourning to himself.

“Who the buck is it?”, he snarled at the annoyance.

Opening the door he was greeted by Bernard who wore an extremely over-the-top smile. Something fishy was going on here. Chester immediately felt it. Especially after Bernard began to talk.

“Why, hello there, Chester. How are you doing tonight? Might I borrow some of your time real quick?”, he finished. Maybe the alcohol inside his system induced it or it really happened to look like it, but Bernard appeared to be holding back from jumping around like an overjoyed filly for no apparent reason.

What could he possibly be so excited about?

“It’s not like I’m pretty damn drunk and in need of some sleep to sober up. But I’m already up again, so why the hell not. What do you need, Bernard?”.

“That’s the spirit, Chester. Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll love it. Just follow me, I want to show you something”. The big blue batpony stallion led the way, indicating Chester to follow.

Leading him inside their own apartment, Bernard raced towards their living room and began murmuring something.

It proved to be of little difficulty for Chester to listen in on his whispering. Even drunk, his ears worked pretty well and did their job quite reliably.

“He’s here. Chester arrived just now. I led him in our apartment and he’s waiting in the next room. He’s a little drunk but I’m sure he’s happy to see you.”

‘See who? What the buck is going on?’

“Come on in, Chester”, Bernard said aloud in a tone mixed in between excitement and playfulness. Chester gave a long sigh, slowly trotting towards their living room to find out just what the hell was going on.

Part of him began to believe that he was already dreaming and all of this is just some sober-up hallucination. Arriving, Chester scanned the room and soon found his theory about all of this beeing a dream much, much more believable.

There, In between Bernard and his coltfriend Michelle stood the familiar silhouette of the one pony that, just over the small course of about three months, had turned into the most precious friend Chester ever had.

That one silly bug, who dressed up as a maid and walked into a bar filled with batponies, expecting them to avoid him. Only to discover that instead, he made himself the perfect target to receive all the attention.

The one pony who, against all odds and logical behaviour, came back to him, offering him a second chance to do better. To prove not only to himself, but also to him, that there was still hope for them. That the flame had not been extinguished completely.

The same pony who now stood before him once more.

Racing towards the orange-maned changeling, Chester embraced him in a hug while simultaneously crying like a foal. Wrapping his wings around Cyrax, Chester squeezed and nuzzled him like a filly would do to her most beloved plushie.

Cyrax, too, couldn’t hold back anymore and began to shed tears aswell. Tears of joy and happiness. Hugging Chester in return, Cyrax planted a small kiss on his neck before nuzzling his cheek.

Bernard and Michelle both stepped aside, giving them some space. Bernard failed to hold tears back himself at the adorable scenery that unfolded before him.

“Awwww…”, he attempted to say before his mouth was instantly closed by Michelles’ wing who slowly shook his head and silently mimicked him to give the couple some space.

After they left the room, both Chester and Cyrax were left in each others’ embrace. Not wanting to part again it was Chester who overcame the need and gently broke their connection.

“B...But why…H…How did you, W…what are yo~”, Cyrax silenced him and simply giggled.

“You talk too much”, the changeling whispered in a seductive tone while giving him a pair of bedroom eyes. “How about we talk it over tomorrow.”

Brushing coat on coat along his side, Chesters’ cheeks flared up at the unexpected action of Cyrax who took immense joy in playfully seducing him.

Having successfully stunned Chester, Cyrax went back in front of him, but not without giving him a clear swing of his flank before waiting unnecessarily long to turn around and face him again.

Chester was at the verge of drooling, which made Cyrax snicker. Leading the deactivated batpony towards his apartment and bed, Cyrax went back to thank both Michelle and Bernard for providing the means for the surprise.

The pair simply returned him a comforting smile before grinning devilishly. Cyrax simply copied their expression. The day was still very young. Making his way towards Chesters’ apartment, Cyrax closed and locked the door behind him.

He would not allow any further interruptions.

Upon arriving at Chesters’ bed, Cryax found said stallion already lying under his blanket. The silly bat probably gave up on anything making sense and decided to say ‘Buck it’. Snickering, Cyrax put up a smug smile and joined him without hesitation.

Only to find out that he was already sleeping and beginning to snore.

What a letdown…

Carefully and silently, Cyrax stepped over him and gently cuddled himself next to Chester. Giving the grey stallion a hug, Cyrax tried his best to get comfortable and catch some sleep. And if not, simply relaxing next to his friend was a more then welcoming change of pace aswell.

Tomorrow they would settle their relationship once and for all. And although Cyrax was very nervous about it, he was also more then confident that he could accept it, no matter how it’s going to turn out.

***********

Chester awoke to an assembly of irregularities surrounding himself. First of all, he had a headache which usually doesn’t happen after drinking just beer. Second, he had no memory of him ever actually entering his own apartment, which was also pretty weird.

Next, he had a confused dream. Something about his neighbors Michelle and Bernard, and for some reason Cyrax was involved too. The latter had acted so unbelievably gay towards him that it simply had to be a wet dream.

Yet, something was not right. He felt something warm next to him. And no, it was not his imagination, Chester was sure of it. There was somepony there. He heard someone breathe.

Could he have…

Not wanting to move, Chester didn’t dare to look at whoever he picked up for a quick buck yesternight. Sadly, it wouldn’t have been the first time…

Thinking of which, how late was it?

Peaking towards the curtains he saw nothing illuminated, concluding that it was probably night. Hoewever, more pressing matters were at hoof right now. Dreading to face his one-night-stand, Chester realized something.

Which hooker would stay at your place to spend the entire day with you?

…

Nopony.

…

Gulping, he turned around and found himself face to face with Cyrax.

…

Michelle and Bernard were woken up by an overwhelmingly loud scream. Sounding less agonized and more like unbelieved bafflement, they both snickered and simoultaneously murmured.

“Yup, he’s awake.”

…

Rising up to attention with a new academy record wich would make Spitfire proud, Cyrax found himself awoke in Chesters’ bed.

Alone.

Scanning around the apartment he found the stallion in question at the other end of the room. Crouched against the wall and breathing heavily, he pointed a hoof towards Cyrax and began stammering.

“W…W…W…What a…are you d…doing here? H…How did you? W...what the…?”

“Good morning to you too, Chester. Or rather, good evening. I’m sorry for all of this but if you give me a moment to explain, I can tell you what this is all about. Sounds fair?”, Cyrax asked while smiling, bearing his own fangs in the process. It made him look really cute.

Displaying his best efforts into remaining calm, Chester recollected himself and stood up. Approaching the changeling on his bed he felt his cheeks flare up. Rapidly.

“I…is that really you, Cyrax?”, he said. A mixture of worry and caution mixed with desire made the stallion in question flare up aswell. One could clearly see the desperation in his eyes, wanting nothing more than a simple ‘Yes’.

And that, Cyrax would provide for him. Nodding and further amphazising his action with a “Yes, it’s me, Chester”, Cyrax soon found his lips locked with the batpony as Chester overwhelmed him with his Love.

His legs became shaky as Cyrax was pushed into the bed by Chester, who did nothing more then to kiss him and caress his sides, gently hugging him. Pressing their snouts together even stronger, Cyrax wrapped his hindlegs around his friend and gave way for his own desire.

Breaking the kiss for the need of oxygen, Chester and Cyrax began nuzzling each other. Purring, Chester began to nibble his ear which made the changeling go completely limp. Using the opportunity, Chester got on top of him and began brushing his face up and down the changelings’ soft belly.

Planting a few kisses along his neck, Chester took immense joy, happiness and pleasure to finally be able to caress and play around with his favourite changeling once more.

Yet even he knew that he had to stop it. Now. He didn’t want to avoid it anymore. They had to talk this out, before things get out of hoof and repeat themselves.

Planting a last kiss on the changelings’ lips, Chester got off of Cyrax and got off the bed. Much to the changelings’ surprise who seemed to be one step away from total bliss. It was hard for Chester to tease him like this but this had to be done.

No more waiting, Chester needed this answer more then he needed this moment. Giving the puzzled changeling a warm smile, Chester sat on his haunches and began speaking.

“I really missed you, Cyrax. Thank you for coming back to me. I’m really glad to see you again. And I’m sorry for being rude, but right now, I’m not that interested in the how but the why? I’m guessing that you received the letter I sent to you?”

Desperation was once again, present in his voice. Cyrax was surprised by the immense seriousness of his friend. The silent flame within his eyes combined with the strengh in his voice.

It made it obvious to anypony who would observe this scene, that Chester really cared about him.

Cyrax held back his urge to hug him and simply nodded.

Chester let out a relieved sigh and continued on. “Then I guess there Is nothing more for me to say, huh? I love you, Cyrax. Every single night I think about you. I still don’t understand what you find appealing in me. But if I make you happy, then I’m happy aswell.”

Sobbing, Cyrax needed immense strengh not to cry like a filly. Sniffing, he spoke up, his voice slightly trembling. “I…I know. I can feel it, Chester. I…I love you too. And that letter was the single sweetest thing I ever received from anypony.”

Blushing, tears began to trickle down Chesters’ face as Cyrax continued. A weight, equal to his difference with Dusk fell off him in the blink of an eye.

“Yes, Chester. My answer I yes. All my yes. All of it. I want to be with you. Even if we have our differences. We can work this out, I’m sure of it”, booming with confidence, Cyrax spoke louder than he wanted to but kept on going nevertheless.

“The things I love about you more then once outweigh the things I don’t like. And I won’t accept you feeling bad for what you did to me. I’m okay. See?”

Both Cyrax and Chester began to silently cry at the same time. Sobbing and wiping the tears away, they both smiled at each other. “Hugs?”, Chester offered to which the changeling happily obliged.

Galloping into each other’s embrace, the two shared a long kiss combined with a firm hug, losing themselves into a sobbing mass of fur and armor, finshed with an immense amount of joy and relievance.

‘It’s happening. It’s really happening! Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!’

Cyrax could feel the tremendous amount if joy emanating from Chester as he held him in his hooves. Cyrax had thought about this for a long time. But no matter which road he choose, his mind would always end up with exactly this stallion.

Because he loved him.

Love doesn’t always make perfect sense. That lesson was taught to him by life. The only thing he knew for certain about love was its taste: Divine.

This stallion had sucessfully confused and pushed him enough to abandon his old ways of thinking and embrace this entirely new path. Excitement and genuine happiness were more then worth going through a small puddle of pain and regret.

Nuzzling his chestfluff, Cyrax looked up to him and met his gaze.

Never before in his life was Cyrax happier to see these kind of bedroom eyes on a stallion. Grinning, they both made their way towards the bed.

***********

Cyrax got comfortable and relaxed himself, eargerly awaiting his coltfriend to give him the one thing he had been missing ever since they parted ways. Something that only he could provide. The first and only stallion who ever felt that way for him. And the only stallion, Cyrax ever laid eyes on himself.

Thinking about it made Cyrax realize how surrealistic his life had become in just a few months. How his attention towards mares had been pushed back significantl, being replaced with curious and often lewd fantasies involving stallions.

After all, there is a hard difference to simple curiosity and actual desire.

One that could end dangerously. In past times he would have already been marked with a death sentence for even thinking such a way. It was a good thing that times like these have passed on. Ponies learned from their mistakes and grew to be more tolerating.

Especially here in Hollow Shades amongst the batponies. No other pony race is known for having such a high amount of homosexual relationships. They were as common as raspberry pie around here.

And Cyrax was very happy to be able to safely explore this newfound desire.

Focusing his attention back towards Chester, Cyrax braced and readied himself for his Lover. From the eager expression and swift movements, Cyrax could easily tell that he had been waiting for this moment a long time aswell.

Now towering above him, Cyrax was surprised to see him gently swipe some of his mane away. Having an unobscured and cleaner access towards his face, Chester began to playfully lick around his horn.

Baffled by this new sensation, Cyrax soon found out just how effectively this simple notion worked into getting him heated up. Feeling his tongue play around with the base of his horn sent the changeling panting within seconds.

Cyrax had to gasp for air, tranquilized yet again by how unbelievably good this stallion knew just which buttons to push on him. Chester now had his entire horn, which admittedly wasn’t that big, in his mouth and was slowly sucking it, much to the changelings’ delight.

Not daring to move his face even the slightest, Cyrax cooed and fully focused on the heavenly sensation his colfriend was providing for him. Like so many times before.

It was addicting to say the least. Yet, as much as Cyrax enjoyed the sensation, he had to try something of his own on Chester. An orange aura began to emit from his horn, which also caught the batponys’ attention.

Quickly releasing the appendage, Chester gave him a puzzled expression before letting out a sudden moan. The batpony almost spasmed before resting on the changelings’ belly, purring softly. His wings began to strech out to their full length. Chesters’ breathing grew faster and more intense.

Feeling his own cheeks flare up, Cyrax grinned while simultaneously strengthening the his magic grip on the batponys’ soft spot.

The spot inbetween his wings.

Carefully giving it a massage Cyrax succeeded in turning his coltfriend limp. Cooing and purring, the orange changeling was happy that it seemed to work out, considering the cute noises Chester began to make.

Cyrax then proceeded to switch positions with him. Carefully lifting him up to his haunches. The two lovers now shared a very lewd position, Chester, still panting and Cyrax, still pleasing.

„W...where did you l...learn to...”, Chester failed to continue, a moan escaping his throat. Mostly due to the sudden push of Cyrax’ magic.

The changeling then began to whisper in a seductive tone.

„Well, your neighbors were quite eager to tell me a few tricks they love to perform on each other. Something I wanted to adapt and experiment with you. Shall I stop?“, he finished with a smug grin.

„N...nononononono, p...please continue. You‘re...unf...you‘re very...very VERY good at this...“, Chester only managed to stammer.

Cyrax could see, hear and feel that he was successfully repaying him for all the blissful hours he had given him. It made Cyrax boom with confidence and only further encouraged him to move to second base.

Quickly grabbing the batpony and guiding him next to himself, Cyrax swiftly switched positions and got on top of Chester. Beeing on top of the adorable, fluffy batpony, Cyrax locked lips with him.

Not stopping the massage, Cyrax was taking on the dominant side for the first time ever, much to Chesters surprise. The purple bat had never, ever expected him to ever attempt anything like this before.

But now, that he saw him this eager, Chester couldn’t help himself but get even more excited for what was about to come. He wanted to see where this was going and thus didn’t resist.

Cyrax began to let his magic fade away slowly, giving his coltfriend a few seconds to recollect himself. Breaking the lustful kiss at the same time, Cyrax sat himself up on his haunches.

Seeing the fruits of his work in form of a massively pleased lump of fur right underneath himself gave Cyrax a peacefulness he never felt before. And even though he knew it was a bit unprofessional, he just had to ask him.

„Are you enjoying it so far?“, Cyrax nearly panted, exhausted from the excessive use of his magic.

...

Chester gently threw him off himself, and wrapped all four hoofs around the changeling, pushing his body towards himself. True, he did want to see what woud’ve come next but he simply couldn’t bear to wait any longer. His state of bliss began to turn him crazy.

„Cyrax, it was...wonderful. I would love for you to do exactly that again and again and again…”, the batpony whispered. Planting playful kisses along his cheek, Chester felt a primal instinct arise inside of him.

Glancing on his lovers’ neck, he began to drool. A desire unlike anything even he had experienced before erupted within his body, telling him, outright demanding him to bite and drink.

Chester got on top of Cyrax, pinning him down with his forehooves. He instinctively opened his mouth and began moving closer and closer towards the unexpected prey.

Cyrax caught notion of the sudden change of nature and carefully tried to push away his friend. Nervousness began to creep into him as he began to whisper his coltfriends’ name.

He did not respond.

...

But he did made brief eye contact.

...

And it was all the attention Cyrax needed. Because he could visually see the desperation inside Chesters’ eye to not overdo what he was about to do with him.

And with that, Cyrax closed his eyes and soon felt the painful sensation of two fangs pushing itself into his neck.

...

Under these circumstances, panic would normally get the better of everypony if thrown into such a state. Feeling the very source of your life forcefully taken away from you without any form of means to prevent it sounds like a nightmare.

But not to Cyrax. He let his coltfriend continue without any struggle. Both of them needed this. Because it was a test.

The deepest bond two batponies can share is blood. The ultimate test to see how far you’re willing to go with your very special somepony. How much you truly loved her, or him.

That you are willing to bound so far, as to even share you’re very own source of life. This can be seen as the greatest form of love two batponies can express to each other.

It is viewed as sacred within their culture and regarded even higher then marriage.

Chester had to overcome his own primal desire to feast in order to save his life. That under no circumstance, shall he give in to his instincts and hurt which he holds most dear.

In some ways, it can be viewed as romantic. And it does connect two beings in a way not easily explained towards other pony races. But it doesn’t always end well.

...

Cyrax began to feel cold. Dizzyness spread through his mind as his body grew weaker every second. His blood traveling down paths of no return. Yet, Cyrax did not fight back, he held on to his beliefs and didn’t move an inch.

He believed in Chester. He knew that he could do it.

Both Michelle and Bernard had warned him of this and even advised to stop Chester if he attempted something like it.

...

Looking back at it, Cyrax should have probably listened to them. As his eyeslids grew too heavy to keep opened up, the changeling had no power left to fight back and gave in.

...

When it all suddenly stopped.

...

Forcing his eyes open, he saw the vague silhouette of Chester glancing down on him. His lips were coated dark red and his eyes almost seemed to glow. Forming a smile, he leaned in for a kiss...

A kiss unlike anything Cyrax ever thought possible, a kiss he shall remember for the rest of his life, for it was the sole reason he was still amongst the living.

Because normally kisses don’t cure excessive blood loss...

A sudden burst of energy seemingly exploded within his chest as Cyrax’ entire body was instantly refueled with energy in the blink of an eye.

Chesters love had never been stronger. Cyrax was certain that no other changeling in history had ever felt it in this intensity before. Devouring his love felt different this time. More intense, more…pure…

It was literally strong enough to save his life.

Gasping for air, Cyrax rose up and met Chesters’ gaze. It only lasted for a few seconds before the batpony threw himself on him in a fierce hug.

Sobbing, Chester whispered a thousand apologies to which Cyrax could only smile. As he held his friend close he silently thanked the heavens as he let both himself and Chester fall down on the bed.

Lying there, wrapped into each other, a very well nourished Chester began to fall asleep next to a very well fed Cyrax.

“Oh, there is soooo much you and I need to talk about tomorrow...”, Cyrax whispered into the ear of his sleeping friend before drifting into the darkness himself.

But from this kind of darkness, you eventually return.

***********

„Rather eventful night, don‘t you think?“

Cyrax smiled upon his coltriend, who blew him a raspberry and gave his nose a playful lick. The two had been waking up quite relaxed and after a long needed cuddling session. Afterwards they decided to doze for a good hour and calmly explained to each other what had happened the past months.

Occasionally breaking their monologues to nuzzle and hug was, of course, mandatory for them to keep on going.

„Yeah, you could say that. First you show up out of nowhere and then yesternight. You and I and...and everything went by so fast...I just…“, Chester had to catch his breath to which the changeling let out a snicker.

„It‘s quite funny actually“, Cyrax spoke, „I could say the same thing back when we first met. Everything happened so fast...and now here we are…“, Cyrax finished gently. Playfully fiddling around with Chesters’ mane, the orange bug threw his hooves around his neck and began nuzzling him for a good amount of time.

„...together.“, Chester finished the sentence. „I missed you so...so unbelievably much, Cyrax. I’m just so…relieved. To finally see you again and knowing it won’t be the last time. I…I‘m still not sure if I‘m even awake. For all I know this could still be a dream...ha...HA!“

Chester felt something soft touch him in tender places, located south of his body. Places that knew to appreciate the attention and display their reaction as such. Glancing towards Cyrax, who proceeded to crawl on top of him, resting his haunches over his belly, Chester couldn’t help but smile.

„Have I told you how much I like this new assertive side of you?“, the batpony almost purred towards him.

„Only about a million times“, the changeling snickered before getting off of him, much to Chesters’ disappointment. He displayed it in pouting.

„Sooooo...about yesternight. There was something on my mind I wanted to ask you“, Cyrax continued earning a raised eyebrow from his friend.

„I wanted to ask you about my taste. My blood, I mean. Would be curious to know, from an outsiders’ perspective“. Cyrax gave Chester a compassionate smile.

The batpony responed by shaking a bit, an expression of regret and worry warping his face into a pained visage of sadness. „I...I‘m so sorry this happened...I...lost control and I...I just...“

„...Shhhhh...“, Cyrax placed a hoof on his lips, silencing him.

„Would it be more comfortable for you If I‘d start ?“, the changeling asked. Chester gave but a simple nod. A nod of shame Cyrax couldn’t bear to see him with.

„I really want to know your side aswell, because for me...“, Cyrax pointed at himself. “It was wonderful. Albeit a bit painful at first, I admit, there was a spark towards it that I am having trouble to explain. After you let go of me...that kiss you gave me...I thought I knew what divine love felt like...I was wrong.“

Cyrax locked eyes with his friend, giving him the most honest, warm and serious expression he could manage. „I‘d like it very much if we could repeat that sometime.”

Now it was Chesters’ turn. The batpony was taken aback by these words, utterly surprised about the positive feedback from Cyrax. He had trouble believing it at first but with that smile...

“Cyrax...”, he opened his mouth, “I’ve…I’ve never ever tasted anything more suitable to the term ‘perfect’ then you. I...It was just so...so...wonderful. I can’t really explain it either, I’m sorry.” Finishing with an apologetic smile, Chester gave the spot on his friend’s neck a gentle smooch.

“I’d love to drink from you again, Cyrax. But next time, I promise you to take less. You still look a bit exhausted and it worries me. We should grab something to eat, what do you say?”, Chester finished.

Tears trickled down the changelings’ visage, utterly speechless. He gave the only response he could think of.

A simple nod. To which Chester snickered and advanced on him with a passionate kiss. Caressing each other gently, the two Lovers broke the kiss and stared into each others’ eyes.

“I love you, Cyrax”, the batpony purred.

“I love you too, Chester”, the changeling whispered, burying his face in his coltfriends’ chestfluff.

Epilogue

After showering and thus, erasing all evidence of the steamy events from the past night, Cyrax and Chester stopped by Bernard and Michelle. Thanking the couple for silently helping their relationship numerous times. The two were shrugging off most of the compliments as they “Only gave them a nudge”.

Taking a stroll through the night, the two arrived by the statue of Sahlex Avenheart and his coltfriend. Chester told his friend the rest of their story and how the two of them, despite their dangerous desire for each other, had lived a happy life together. Cyrax couldn’t hold back tears over the cute story and once again, reflected on his own, rather surreal life and a smile spread across his lips.

Stopping by the house of Dusk, Chester was very nervous and worried, fearing that the two might not like each other. His fears were quickly silenced when the two ponies met on equal and were even chuckling more then once, clearly getting along pretty well.

Deciding to eat lunch together, Dusk, Chester and Cyrax made towards a small, delicate Inn and exchanged the wonderful news with the stallion, who was relieved two see them happy together.

Glancing over to Dusk, Chester could spot a smirk on the batpony, which almost mirrored the expression Cyrax was having aswell. And now, both their eyes were fixated on him. With bedroom eyes…

Breaking the gazes chuckling, the two took on a good laugh on Chesters’ flared up visage, the latter being busy unintentionally trailing off a lewd road.

‘I woundn’t mind tho…’

Coming down from his laughter and eyeing the couple, Dusk felt sadness creep into him.

Even though he shouldn’t, Dusk felt slightly jealous. Of course he was happy for them and would try his best not to ruin their luck by envying them. He did look forward to spending times like this with his friend too, but deep inside he knew it wouldn’t work that way.

Sometimes you just have to accept things for what they are.

His thoughts were quickly interrupted by Cyrax getting up and shooting a confused and surprised look towards the entrance. Dusk was thankful for that. Following his line of sight, Dusk laid eyes on a familiar face he did not expect to see today.

Standing in the doorframe was his friend Kryo…

Quickly rushing towards him, Dusk threw his hooves around his neck and gave him a hug. He returned the gesture and the two let go of each other. Making their ways back to the table, Dusk continued to question him about his surprise visit.

Showering Kryo in words, the blue changeling was unable to recognize Cyrax at first. Yet, after taking place, he and Cyrax finally met eyes.

“What the…WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?”, they both said in union while pointing a hoof at the other, baffled.

Dusk had to spit out his drink from the revelation and now shared his baffled expression with Chester.”Wait a minute…YOU KNOW EACH OTHER!?”, Dusk yelled out.

Now all four of them wore confused looks. It was Kryo who broke the awkward silence. “Well, would you look at that. This world really is small…”

Nodding, the table silently agreed before breaking into a laughter…

F I N

Author's Note

Over the course of writing this fic I got into a real relationship with a boyfriend of mine. We had a rocky start together and, more then once, kept hurting each other unintentionally. Trying to get along was difficult and only worked on certian aspects.
Two weeks ago we decided to end our attempts and revert back to simple friendship. It was hard for me at first, given he was the first guy I ever truly felt in Love with. And I'd still love him If I could.

I guess one has to look forward and make the best of it. So, with these words, I conclude Shaded Hearts. An homage to the first relationship with a male I ever had. I hope it was entertaining and interesting to read.