The Heart of Pleasure
By Haunter Rayne
Chapter 109 - A Penance Overdue

It came as no surprise to Rayne that a day's worth of chaotic antics would be enough to scare away just about anyone. Although that did not help to alleviate the sting as four dark hooves sat alone in a room waiting for another who was never going to show.

Rayne peered out the window of the Ponyville Hotel staring off in the direction of the Everfree Forest. He had taken to running shifts with himself so as to help mitigate the disappointment in his heart whenever Chrysalis didn't show. Everynight a copy of him would sit and wait at the hotel just in case while having the reassurance to know that another copy of himself would still be snuggled in happily with Maud. Then at the dawn of every morning the two would rejoin to combine their experiences and balance each other out.

However as the bitter sight of morning crept up over the horizon, the resentful stallion scowled realizing he had somewhere else to be. "The other half of me will just have to wait… There's an errand I need to take care of and I think that right now I am in the perfect mood to handle it." He snarled with fangs springing forth from his snout and his tail shifting slender as his body mass grew. Then in a blink the panther teleported himself away.

• -

"CURSES TO ALL WHO DARE TO DREAM UPON SUCH A DAY!" A looming voice ripped out into the middle of the Canterlot Castle's main hallway.

While sitting upon her throne looking over the itinerary for the day Celestia almost dropped the scroll that she was reading when her sister materialized from the dream realm into the room. "Oh, Luna! Welcome back… tough night in the dream realm last night I take it?" She asked politely but was unnerved when her sister shot back a glare at her.

"Never again! NEVER again, Celestia!" She roared before marching right up to the throne. "Ponyville! The dreams of the town 'twere madness last night! How art we supposed to assist ponies with their dreams when the difference between their fantasies and their nightmares can no longer be told?!" She cried. "I wasted SO MUCH TIME chasing ponies around in their dreams only to find that they were elated by the things that which frightened them! But now… oh no, I refuse to watch over the dreams of ponies on the night following this accursed new holiday they have opted to begin!" She declared while stomping her hoof. "From now on, just for one night after 'Discord Day', you may officially consider me as ON VACATION!" Then Luna turned to immediately storm out of the great hall and toward her own chambers.

"Luna! Sister wait, please!" Celestia called out while dropping the scroll to the ground and chasing after her sister who was still grumbling to herself. "Luna listen to me!"

Luna was too worked up in her emotions to feel that she could be bothered with Celestia's concerns at the moment. She opened the doors to her wing at the castle but then froze immediately, now giving ear to what Celestia had to say. "Um, sister… what is all this?" She asked while staring at the space in front of her while normally led up towards her spiraled staircase.

Laying out before her was a room that was filled with flowers. From one end of the room to another were gorgeous displays of reds and blues and yellows. Her senses were assaulted by the fragrance of varying wildflowers which were so great in number they almost seemed to block the path that led up toward her private bedchambers in the tower above.

Striding up beside her now, Celestia spoke calmly to her sister saying, "Forgive me. I was trying to warm you. He arrived here early this morning having all of this carried in tow behind him. I believe it was his intention to surprise you upon your return, despite my recommendations that you would likely prefer otherwise."

"What?!" Luna recoiled back. "All of these are a gift, for me? And… wait, you say he is here now?!" She said blushing while nervously attempting to straighten her mane with a hoof. "But wait, who is it? Who could have gone through such extravagant lengths just for…" She asked softly as she inquisitively stepped into the room.

Luna's eyes were spread open wide as she peered around every corner. There were rows and rows of flowers of various kinds and Luna's ears were perked as she scanned around looking for the mystery suitor who had left her such a present. That is when her heart picked up as she heard the clopping of hooves stepping around from behind a bouquet of lilies and a voice spoke out to her sounding steady and calm. "Hello, dear princess…"

"Oh, it's you." Luna replied with surprise.

Blushing uneasily with clear signs of disappointment Magnus replied, "That was… not quite the reaction which I had been hoping for. But yes, it is I, Flash Magnus. And I come bearing this peace offering and apology for what happened at the Gala."

Realizing just how rude she must have sounded Luna instantly stepped forward with an apologetic tone. "Oh, no, no. Please, forgive me. I am weary this morning from venturing through the dreams of ponies all night and I did not think before speaking. The flowers are lovely, thank you. But you needn't come all this way to apologize to me."

Magnus stepped up to her and smiled showing that there was no harm done. "Then perhaps the real reason was that it was worth the trouble just to see you, princess." Magnus asked while finding it quaint how she turned away from him.

Meanwhile though, Luna sighed uneasily as her energy faded and her muscles ached. She tried not to grimace but she didn't feel very worth the trouble at the moment, knowing how she looked when she was overly exhausted. "Dear Magnus, if you would be the one to forgive me… this really isn't the best time for all of this. I-"

"Nonsense, there is no time like the present." He assured her to which the dark blue alicorn sighed. "I feel that I already spent too much time licking my wounds as it were so I've come here, braving my vulnerabilities and tarnished ego, to show that I am willing to put you ahead of all these things. And if there is anything that you need from me then I assure you that I am a stallion who can be relied on." Luna paused and actually smiled to him after that statement. But then she was surprised when he leaned toward her and asked, "So, go on then. You seem to be troubled my lady. Please tell me what I can do to be of service for you. After all, I do need to make up for what happened at the end of the night."

Now Luna took a step back from him feeling both pressured and overwhelmed. "Sir Magnus please, that really isn't necessary. After all, it was Celestia's doing that caused the commotion and not I. So there really isn't-"

From behind her the white alicorn interrupted while smelling a large sunflower and clearly eavesdropping upon their conversation. "Hpmh! Well, from my point of view he only has his own actions to blame for what happened."

Now the pegasus lowered his ears as he repeated, "Yes, and again I apologize for any disrespect that my actions may have caused. At the very least I am happy that the matter has remained private. I hope that we can find a way to move forward following this transgression." Magnus replied with hope in his voice.

However as he plucked a rose from a bouquet and attempted to offer it to Luna, she however looked to him awkwardly as she pushed the rose away while levitating a newspaper over in front of him. "Yeah, about that… I believe that there is something you may want to see." She told him as the pegasus looked at her questioningly and then unfolded the newscript to the front page.

• At the Same Time, Off in Las Pegasus -

"Historic Hero Thrown From Gala For Misguided Affair?" A stallion read from a newspaper headline in his hooves. "Hmm. Why that's a punchy headline if I do say so myself. What do you think brother?" He asked from his reclined leather chair while placing his grayish yellow hooves up on their desk.

Sitting on a couch stroking his red mustache another stallion replied, "It says here that the recently recovered hero Flash Magnus from the Canterlot Legionnaires is rumored to have made some sort of proposal for the hoof of Princess Luna. But while there appear to be no signs of the princess having neither accepted nor denied his request, Magnus was promptly expelled from the social event in fiery outrage by Princess Celestia once she had become aware of the matter." The unicorn then opened up to the second page of the paper to reveal a photograph of Flash Magnus caught mid air being levitated out of the ballroom while Celestia was screaming in the background.

The first unicorn stallion chuckled while dropping his hooves to the ground. "My… and here I thought that 'we' were overprotective siblings of each other." The two shared a laugh together but were suddenly cut off as a small light violet mare entered the room.

She wore a pair of secretary glasses that were just a bit too big for her face and her orange mane was messily done up into a bun. "Oh uh, excuse me Mr. Flim and Mr. Flam. I'm sorry to disturb you. I know that you told me never to interrupt the two of you while you were working unless it's for 'him.'"

"Yes, yes, well what is it?" Flam asked impatiently while hardly even affording the mare a glance.

"W-well sir, you see the thing is… it's him." She stuttered out as a dark figure suddenly let himself into the room from behind her.

Flim and Flam both nodded only half paying attention to her until they froze at realizing her meaning only a second before a black stallion with a bushy mane over his face made his way in. "Good heaven's, well why didn't you say so?! Never, ever, and I mean EVER leave this fine gentlepony waiting again! Do you hear me?!" Flim shouted, half leaping over the far side of the desk and walking up to shake the dark stallion's hoof. "Sir Faceless, so good to see you again!"

But the stallion merely turned away from Flim disinterestedly as Flam was rushing their assistant out the door. "My word, and to what do we owe the unexpected honor of having our fine business partner grace us like this?" He asked as he walked toward the desk and pulled out a small magical artifact. After turning the dial, a privacy barrier was erected in the room which was sound proof, scry proof, blocked microphones or electronic devices, and neutralized any forms of invisibility or anti-detection magic in the area.

All of a sudden the dark stallion seemed to explode outward into a mass of muscles and claws. Flim gasped as the sizable panther suddenly encompassed most of the room while one of it's paws pinned him to the ground by his chest. "We need to have a talk, you two and I!" The beast roared while baring his fangs. "You dare call me partner when I know full well you have been selling my records outside of our agreement?!" The dark feline growled out furiously.

Flim grimaced and looked up as if to speak until the panther's paw pressed down squeezing the air from his lungs. Quickly talking on his brother's behalf Flam looked on with worry and said, "Surely there must be some mistake. The details of our contract were made quite clear. No sales of your records are to be distributed for purchase outside of the commercial sector. Sales to private individuals are to be restricted only to those willing to pay the commercial pricing for a record, each of which to be priced per record sold individually. Believe me, my brother and I have memorized these agreements by heart. So there is no way that-"

Suddenly the panther materialized a music album out of thin air and tossed it to the floor by Flam's hooves. "This I covertly took out of the possession of a filly who lives in Ponyville. It was mailed to them by a relative who is also another filly of the same age living in Manhattan, where it was passed to her by a family who purchased it in Baltimare."

"Ack- Bal-ghk-timare?!" Flim choked out looking even more nervous than before.

"That's right." The panther stated as he finally stepped back allowing the stallion on the floor to breathe. "I investigated the matter personally. I found that a word of mouth sale has been running in the city for some time, releasing not one but several of my records. Each with the lyrics uncensored and uncut for all to listen to. And there seemed to have been no regard for who was allowed to purchase my records as long as the buying party could pay the substantially reduced price."

Despite the panther's confidence Flam picked up the record with disbelief as he looked it over. "I'm sorry but I'm telling you that there is just no way-" But he stopped when he looked over to his brother who was signaling for him to be quiet.

The feline scoffed, clearly having seen this too as he said, "You can drop the act. I tracked the sales and the distribution straight back here."

"Flim… what have you done?" The mustached stallion asked. "When?! How did you-"

"Oh it wasn't all that hard really." Flim replied as he dusted himself off. "Just an offer here and a brokered deal there… and the extra bits just started pouring in. It wasn't difficult going by eye witness accounts to ascertain that our silent partner here had never visited Baltimore before. It was the perfect location to drum up some additional sales under the table. I was planning on surprising you with the extra money next week in fact but it would seem I was found out." He grimaced as the cat rounded upon them both now.

It was clear that Flim's pride was hurt at getting found out. He spoke with a bitter tone and kept his gaze away from making eye contact with anyone like a stubborn child throwing a tantrum and not wanting to admit their guilt when they already knew that they had done wrong. But what happened next was completely outside of anything they had expected as Flim looked up curiously as to why his brother suddenly had a horrified look upon his face.

It was the sound that really drove ice through the veins of Flam's heart when he watched as the panther's gaping maw suddenly closed down over Flim's head. That muffled rush of air from the vacuum of his furred lips when in one bite his brother's skull was swallowed up straight down to his neck.

It was clear that from the sight of Flim's body that he had immediately gone into shock, his hooves dropping like weights in disbelief to everything suddenly going dark. Then before either brother could properly react, Flim was lifted up by the powerful neck muscles of the panther and a loud gulp sank the stallion into the beast's jaws to his shoulders.

"NOOOOOO!!!!!!" Flam cried as the reality set in that his brother was being eaten directly in front of him. It was about that time as well that Flim began to rationalize his situation as his hooves finally began to spasm and kick. But as he was held in the air far from the ground his struggles were as useless as a tiny sparrow caught in the beak of a hungry Roc.

All of a sudden both stallions were slammed back into the wall as the panther spat his catch out, sending him like a bowling ball into his brother. Instantly Flam looked his brother over as Flim choked out in panic while covered in the panther's saliva. "Guuuahhh!!! Aahh- HE… HE WAS GOING TO EAT ME?!"

Both brother's scrambled on the floor against each other now as they stared at the approaching panther with fright. "Yes… and I still might." He snarled as with a wave of his paw, nightmarish creatures of smoky black stone lifted themselves up from the floor. They barked and snapped their jaws at the brothers but with no sound leaving their mouths which only made them seem all the eerier. "You arrogant little two-timers!" The great cat bellowed at them. "Did I not warm you about what would happen if you tried to cheat me?! Did you think me a fool or seek to call my bluff?! Huh?! Well did you?!"

As Rayne looked to them groveling in terror on the floor he paused because he wasn't even sure that they could hear him anymore. With a sigh he waved his paw causing the Obsidianwolves to depart. Then the large cat shrank back down looking once more like the musical artist known as Faceless.

"Oh come now, get up! Look at yourselves, you look pitiful. I didn't even bite down. As a panther I may be big but I'm certainly not large enough to swallow a full bodied pony whole at one time." He said while resting himself into the leather desk chair and lifting his hooves up onto the table.

Flim was shaking, still in full blown shock while his pupils were dilated. But as Flam looked his brother over he realized that there was no blood. The panther hadn't bitten down on his brother after all. Slowly rising to his hooves but while protectively holding his sibling in his arms Flam looked over to the monster in pony form and asked, "What is it that you want?"

The bangs over Faceless' head tilted off to one side as the mysterious pony stared toward the two stallion's cowering before him. "What do I want? Well that's simple. I want to be respected by you two. And I want to not be cheated... I want to know that while you con, swindle, hussle, and bamboozle every mare, stallion, and creature in this land with a bit to their name that you remember I am the one pony who you would never dare to cross." Dropping his hooves back to the floor Faceless rested his arms in front of him as he leaned forward over the desk. "I want you to know that trying to cheat me will have real life consequences… savage, and dire consequences."

There was silence in the room for a moment which allowed Flim to have time to collect himself. On wobbly hooves he steadied himself from his brother's grasp and looked to the dark stallion who was sitting in his seat. "As much as we may love profits and the universal mechanism of how money makes the world go round… I assure you, Faceless, that we love living even more."

The dark pony nodded but then slouched back into the leather cushioned chair while seeming unconvinced. "Hmm… heartfelt indeed. I'm sure you mean those words, but how do I really know that I got my point across? Now that I think about it, I really only need one of you for distributing my record sales."

Looking between each other again Flam stepped forward protectively of his brother and announced, "We humbly apologize for our sole transgression. What my brother did was a mistake and I can assure you that nothing like this will EVER happen again. So please messieur, if you could just-"

"You know what? You're right." Faceless said and it only frightened the stallions more when he suddenly stood up. "Nothing like this will ever happen again." Then with a wave of his hoof four Obsidianwolves rematerialized back into the room. Quickly the two brothers stammered in fright as the wolves charged towards them. But as they waved their hooves screaming in fear of being torn to shreds both Flim and Flam looked around in confusion as the stone hounds seemed to disappear right into them.

"What… what just happened?" Flam asked as he felt himself up and down while looking around himself.

"These are my pets you could say, and they are very loyal to me." Faceless said as another hound materialized to sit calmly and be stroked by him. "They never need to rest... They never eat… They never tire… Once they have committed themselves to a task they will see it through with absolute obsessive resolution." He explained while patting the head of the creature affectionately. "However, unlike normal Timberwolves that live in the forest, my Obsidianwolves live within the shadow of just about anything I tell them to."

That was when the two stallion brothers balked. "Th-they… are inside our shadows?!" Flim screamed while looking down at the ground under their hooves. Then they saw a stony face peering back up at each of them.

"That's right." Faceless explained to them. "Think of it as a gift… or an insurance policy, however you decide to take it. You both have two each and they will watch over you and all that you do. I don't want you to worry about them interfering with your day to day lives. You can feel free to con ponies as you wish. Or you could become saints or serial killers for all I care, it's really none of my business. No matter what you do you will never even notice that they are there… unless of course either one of you decide to cheat me again."

"W-wait! You're just going to leave us?! With these things inside us?!" Flam shouted as Faceless seemed to be walking toward the door.

The dark stallion laughed and turned to the brothers with a nod. "Just so you know, it won't matter if you whisper or even try to write notes to each other. You can use magic, or send smoke signals even. Anything that you two can see or hear they will also. And if they detect you trying to double cross me again they will appear and tear out your throats." Faceless said as a hound appeared out from beneath Flim and Flam's own manes before vanishing again. "Oh and one final warning. Don't try to get cute by shining flashlights at your hooves or anything, thinking that might get rid of my wolves."

Suddenly Flam watched as Flim clutched his stomach in agony. His brother screamed in pain and then looked up at him with fear in his eyes. But when Flim opened his mouth to scream again, Flam could see an obsidan snout poking out from inside of Flim's throat.

"They won't take too kindly to you trying to get rid of them…" Faceless warned before walking to the door. "I'll expect my usual payment on time, plus one hundred percent of the profits made in Baltimare from illegally selling my records. Do make sure to count your bits correctly. I would hate for us to have another… disagreement with each other in the future." Then as the Obsidianwolf seemed to banish from inside Flim, Faceless made his way out the door.

"Brother… I'm sorry." Flim whimpered as he curled up on the floor as the experience had left him feeling somehow violated.

"It's okay, brother." Flam said, attempting to comfort him. "It'll all be okay. Let's take a moment to recover and then we'll go over the book together to make sure we count out his bits correctly." To this Flim nodded as they two remained huddled on the floor together.

• -

Just outside the outskirts of Canterlot, a dark stallion from Ponyville and a dark stallion from Las Pegasus met with each other to merge together before stepping happily up the road. "I feel so much better than I did this morning." He laughed, happy to shake off his earlier tension and stepping along under the afternoon sun with hopeful prospects ahead of him.

The trek from the city gates to the castle wasn't a long one and Rayne slowed his pace knowing that he wasn't really in any kind of hurry at the moment. "Hmm. I never really took the time to explore Canterlot very much in the four months that I've been here. I suppose I should figure my way around though, seeing as I now have a reason to be visiting the city more often." He said aloud to himself but decided to push that off for a later date as he headed straight for the castle gates.

It wasn't quite evening when Rayne strolled up to the outer gates of the castle as the sun was still high in the sky. But he knew that within an hour's time that Celestia would be lowering it's light while Luna would be awake to in turn raise the moon. "Well, better to be early then late. I don't actually know what time she wakes up after all." He said while pondering Luna's sleeping schedule thoughtfully.

"And what time who wakes up, might I ask?" A voice called out just as Rayne passed through the gates.

Rayne stopped in surprise before turning towards one of the guards who were keeping watch. "Oh I'm sorry for talking out loud. I'm here to visit Princess Luna, once she awakens of course. The castle is still open to the public for ponies who have reason to be here, is it not?"

The guard seemed to shuffle in position uncomfortably as he answered in a much deeper voice, "Uh, yes it is. But I didn't say anything to you."

Rayne looked back feeling a little confused until a voice spoke again causing the stallion to look up overhead. "He isn't who spoke to you, I did." Called a male pegasus who flew down from above.

"Flash Magnus…" Rayne said as he had no trouble recognizing the pegasus this time. "Are you making your rounds, flying about to help keep Canterlot safe? I dare say, Ponyville could do with somepony of your vigilance."

Magnus seemed wise to the compliments of a pleasure pony and simply disregarded the statement. "If you're here for the purpose of visiting Princess Luna then I am afraid that you have wasted your time. She was regrettably in a fool mood after the antics of Ponyville's supposed holiday that ran through into the evening and I suspect she would be ill pressed for time to answer a social call when she has her own nightly duties to attend to." Magnus announced to Rayne dismissively.

Rayne looked back somewhat surprised though. "Oh? Did the Discord Day in Ponyville really cause her grief to deal with?" He said regrettably. "I didn't even think about how the excited dreams of ponies might affect her after having such a day."

What came as even more of a shock though was when Magnus decided to place a wing around his side while moving to walk him back through the gates. "Yes well, sorry as it was, Luna was in a simply dreadful mood after shepherding the dreams of ponies all evening. I would hate to be the pony responsible for coming up with such an absurd idea and causing the princess such distress."

Rayne quickly pulled away from Magnus as he did not appreciate the commentary and the two of them were not friends. "Well I appreciate you being so open about the princess's personal matters with a stranger. I will be sure to offer her my condolences for her difficult evening when I see her." Then Rayne turned to step aside Magnus until one of the pegasi's wings stretched out to again bar his path.

"I'm sorry but did you not hear me?" Magnus called out. That made two of the guard ponies look over at hearing raised voices being used. "Luna is a busy princess with many responsibilities. And on top of her duties, I just informed you of the ill timing to your visit. So unless it was your intention to be disruptive to the city royalty, then I suggest that you leave now to return another day." Magnus said sternly and now had the guards staring at Rayne quizzically.

The dark stallion just frowned as he took a step back. He knew that Magnus had no authority to bar Rayne from the castle but he was doing an excellent job of giving the guards probable cause to not let him through. Additionally Rayne couldn't blame any of the guards for looking at Flash Magnus as somepony to look up to. "Very well, for the benefit of the princess, maybe it's for the best that I rethink my visit to her." Rayne announced and walked back from the gates.

What surprised him though was when the pegasus seemed to walk with him. "You know, I haven't really spent much time in Ponyville since my return. Perhaps I should accompany you back to town and then a pleasure pony such as yourself could help to show me the sights of the small town?"

It was clear to Rayne that Magnus' goal was to escort him away from the castle. However, if Magnus wanted to also step away to do so then that suited Rayne just fine. "Oh it would be my pleasure. I feel somehow that we may have started off on the wrong hoof, you and I. I'd be happy to show you around town and maybe after, you and I could be friends in the end." Rayne offered as no one else saw a shadow leave his back hoof and then travel over the castle wall and into the courtyard.

• Not More than a Few Minutes Later -

"Luna! LUNA! SISTER, WAKE UP!" Came a vehement shouting which agitated the princess of the night from her sleep with a fright.

"Aahh-! What is it?! Are we under attack? Who dareth to threaten the safety of Canterlot dear sister?!" Luna spat out while stumbling from her bed with her mane in her face.

Celestia however just giggled to herself from behind a hoof. "Oh don't be so dramatic." Reaching for Luna's hoof she hastily exclaimed, "I woke you up early because there is something that you absolutely HAVE to see!" She announced excitedly while her perturbed younger sister was pulled along.

Another minute or two later and Luna was still complaining as she walked with Celestia, hair a mess and restless bags under her eyes. "Really Tia, look at the time! I definitely could have slept in at least an hour more! You know how hard things have been for me lately so what could be so important as to disturb my rest?!" Luna whined as she groggily followed her sister out to a balcony overlooking one of the gardens below.

Still snickering to herself Celestia pointed down over the balcony's edge. "Just look down there. Ohhh, it's simply priceless. You may not believe it at first but I'm pretty sure that this is for you…"

It was with a skeptical gaze that Luna walked past Celestia to the end of the balcony. But what she saw made her scream as she quickly recoiled back away. Tiptoeing to the railing on her hooves now Luna glanced down to where she saw a dark stallion staring up at her. The lone stallion stood there without flowers, chocolates, or invitation. But all the same his hooves held a record player up in the air which was playing a pleasant romantic melody.

"Awww, isn't it sweet, dear sister?" Celestia snickered at Luna, clearly enjoying the sisterly moment to tease her younger sibling. "Why, I've certainly never had a suitor attempt to serenade me by record-music up to my balcony window! It's just like something out of an old ponish romance tale. I think I like this one Luna, he must really have it for you bad!" After that Celestia was almost cackling to herself as Luna stared down below in abject terror.

"TIA! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?!" Luna hissed out to her sister in anger while trying to not to be heard by the pony below. "Why would thou allow us to be dragged out here when we are in this state?!" She growled while holding up her unbrushed mane. "Thy forcibly rouses me from slumber only to parade thy sister before a suitor without makeup or even the decency of a cleanliness spell?! I am in no state to entertain a suitor at this moment! Doth thou truly find my inconvenience to be so amusing?! Look at me!"

Luna was so infuriated that her nostrils were flaring. However her panic only became worse as a voice suddenly spoke out from behind her. "Yes, look at you." Rayne's charming tone came from just behind her shoulder making Luna's pupils shrink to needlepoints as her jaw fell open with disbelief.

"Ahem, good afternoon Rayne." Luna choked out as she hastily attempted to straighten her mane and then stand upright as if nothing had happened. "What an unexpected surprise."

It was clear that she was attempting to avoid eye contact with him, namely because at this moment her age was showing. She had some wrinkles across her cheeks and the underside of her eyes were looking worse for wear. But none of those things mattered to the stallion as he looked upon her and spoke with a tone that was almost heartfelt. "Good evening Luna. And if I may say, I meant the words I spoke a moment ago… look at you." He whispered softly.

Luna now fidgeted in place while finally turning to look at him but keeping her chin held high to fight off her embarrassment. "Y-yes, well… Here I am. I am afraid that you have caught me unprepared to recover guests. So what of it?" She asked while glancing at him nervously.

What she was unprepared for though was how Rayne's smile never broke it's poise when he told her, "You look beautiful…"

Now Luna's demeanor failed as equally as her preparation had for this moment. The princess blushed while crossing a hoof over her other leg, suddenly feeling nervous for an entirely different reason. "Please do not tease me, Rayne. Believe me when I say that we receive enough of that from our sister." She reprimanded him, but spoke softly and without anger to her voice.

Feeling bold Rayne stepped forward to stand before the princess face to face. "I would never do that, Luna. You may not know me well enough to believe that yet, but I mean what I said. You look beautiful to me." He said with a determination to his voice to emphasize his seriousness. "I'm the one who should apologize for clearly arriving at an hour too early for you. I had assumed that approaching you early in the evening would be kinder to you than in the morning where you would surely be tired. I will go if I'm intruding, but still… it makes me happy that I at least got to see you."

The scene as a whole started with leading Celestia into another giggle fit. Although she did manage to fight through her laughter after witnessing when Rayne had somehow levitated himself up to the balcony before climbing over the railing to speak to Luna directly. "You know, while the first floor is generally open to the public, the higher floors as well as the balconies are not. So while I am not inclined to immediately call the guards on you Rayne, you are technically trespassing right now." Celestia now told him.

Rayne grimaced as he honestly hadn't thought of that. But before anypony else could speak, Celestia was almost knocked over in surprise by the glowering face of her younger sister glaring almost snout to snout with her. "Thy wouldn't darest after thou has embarrassed me before a guest, and then have the gall to accuse him of wrongdoing with him speaking so sweetly to me!" Before Rayne could even believe what was happening, Luna grabbed him by the hoof and sharply yanked him forward as she began pulling him along with her down the hall. "To all the day guard in the castle, you are relieved from your posts early! Summon the night guard immediately!" She then shouted in her Royal Canterlot Voice to any who could hear her.

Celestia nearly snorted in amusement as she shouted down the hallway to Rayne. "Oh my, hehe. It would appear that you have been invited in, Rayne! Don't do anything I wouldn't do! Remember, you are in the company of a princess after all! Ha ha ha!"

Author's Note

So hello all to the first chapter of 2021! I am happy to be continuing this story into another year and there is so much more of the tale to get through! Thank you to all of my followers who are still reading along this far!

So as I'm sure you can imagine, some sort of reckoning with Chrysalis is soon to be approaching. Discord's words from the previous chapter are weighing heavy on Rayne's heart. But even still, it is not every night that the changeling graces him with her presence. And it was indeed her absence that put Rayne in such a foul mood which he decided to take out on an unsuspecting pair of brothers.

Now a couple of you already guessed it for yourselves that Flim and Flam are the distributors for Faceless' records. After hiring Svengallop as his band manager, they contracted with Flim and Flam for selling their music records to only high end venues such as casinos, amusement parks, large hotels, and the like. And only very rich ponies like Fancy Pants or Filthy Rich would be able to purchase a copy of their records otherwise. Rayne, or Faceless, did not want his explicit lyrics falling freely into the hooves of colts and fillies. As such, you may remember his surprise in the Cute Mark Crusaders chapter # 103 where he discovered that young ponies from all over Equestria were familiar with his music. Ever since then this day was due to come and it just so happened to be today.

So Rayne once threatened a griffon with the similar fate in the past but this time he meant it. Rayne really did leave two of his hounds inside each of the Flim Flam brothers. All of Rayne's bravado about hurting them is actually a bluff. He doesn't want to kill ponies. But he is serious about making sure he won't be two timed by those swindlers. He's just making his empty threats super convincing. And at this point I think they believe him.

Also there is a dual movie reference in there that I am sadly unable to name. The receptionist is just somepony I made up. I couldn't find a mist of background ponies in Las Pegasus. The bit about "never interrupt me unless it's him, well sir it's him" was taken from Mr Zorg in The Fifth Element but the part about never making him wait was taken from another movie of which I cannot remember where I took that line from.

Now for the lighter side of things in this chapter. The struggle for Luna's heart...

Unbeknownst to Rayne, Magnus definitely got the drop on Luna this morning. But who was the more considerate one here? Magnus approaching Luna in the morning or Rayne approaching Luna in the evening? And while Magnus surprised Luna with a room full of flowers while she was in no state to appreciate them, Rayne approached Luna with nothing and yet made her feel good about herself when her self image was feeling a bit low. Neither Rayne nor Magnus know about how the other is romancing Luna yet. But when Luna saw all of the flowers in the room it wasn't Magnus who she had become excited to see waiting for her. And just where could Luna be rushing off to now with Rayne pulled tightly along in tow? Hehe.

Now just an FYI, there is a new blog for chapter updates for the new year.
https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/933233/live-update-for-2021-1-12