A Piece of Meat

A Piece of Meat
by Shivered Timbers

Chapter 2

There was nothing unusual about Sunset being invited over to Twilight's basement laboratory in the middle of the day to perform unspecified experiments.

Since the human world's Twilight Sparkle had joined their little group, she and Sunset had bonded over a mutual love of science. Sunset's interest stemmed from her foalhood study of magic, due to the intrinsic similarities in magical and scientific method. Twilight's, Sunset suspected, was due to a certain inherent Twilightness that was the exclusive domain in all the multiverse of one human girl and one magical pony princess.

It was a working hypothesis.

What was unusual was reaching the door and finding no sign of Twilight beyond a post-it note.

Meet me downstairs, it urged, amidst a veritable sea of tiny pen scribbles. Some of them looked like hearts that had been crossed out. Also, Sunset couldn't help noticing it smelled like...

"Perfume?" She wrinkled her nose. Twilight was not a perfume kind of girl.

Sunset stepped through the door and grabbed a spare lab coat hanging on the wall. Her stomach twisted as she approached the lab.

Opening the door to the sterile walls and mellow lighting, she was surprised to see nothing out of the ordinary. Twilight bent over a clipboard, back to the door. Bits of previous experiments they had worked on together still bubbled, churned or just sat and waited for long-term testing to begin. The sights and smells of scientific progress at work were familiar, comforting, and just what she'd been needing.

A lightness spread through Sunset's body. Yesterday's incident with Rarity had set her needlessly on edge. Twilight was just messing with her. She could look forward to a glorious afternoon of measuring, testing and charting, like they always had.

"Hey, Twilight," she said, waving.

Twilight started, bumping against the desk in front of her and standing bolt upright.

"Sunset!" she said, laughing off the edge in her voice. "I didn't hear you come! Er, c-come in! I didn't hear you come in." She gave Sunset a strained smile, her voice hitching. "To the room."

"Yeah..." Sunset leaned against the nearest table, fixing her friend with a bemused smile. "So, what's on the docket for today?"

The excited light Sunset associated with the anticipation of scientific discovery engulfed Twilight's eyes, and Sunset found herself relaxing.

"Biology!" exclaimed Twilight with a wide grin. "I've got some notes prepared already that should bring you up to speed with what I have in mind." She handed Sunset the clipboard. "Have a look!"

"Thanks." Sunset took the notes and leafed through. But she didn't even have a moment to let the words start sinking in when a long exhalation caught her attention.

Glancing up, she saw Twilight's lips moving. Then Twilight swallowed and undid the top two buttons of her lab coat. She was obviously not wearing a t-shirt underneath like she normally did.

"Twilight?" Sunset tried desperately to not think about what might be going on. "Are you hot or something?"

"No!" said Twilight, startling again. "I-I mean, yes. Yes, I am very hot." She cleared her throat. "Why don't you sit down, Sunset? I hear you've been working really hard lately." There was something inescapably odd and exceedingly terrifying about the way Twilight said 'hard'.

"I'm good," said Sunset, feigning nonchalance.

Then Twilight leaned across the table, and Sunset's heart dropped into her stomach.

From this angle, Sunset had an excellent view of Twilight's cleavage. Soft, round lavender flesh dove down into the lab coat's decolletage, with hints of black lace along the edges. Twilight was breathing hard, her small breasts parting to reveal a bony sternum before reuniting to hide it again. That perfume Sunset had noticed on the note now overwhelmed her senses.

She did, in fact, sit down.

"Twilight, what..." she croaked, then cleared her throat. "A-are you wearing anything under that lab coat?"

Grinning, Twilight leaned back and declared, "I'm wearing lingerie!"

She threw open her lab coat, buttons popping off and scattering around the room, at least one landing in a beaker of something.

Beneath the coat, Twilight wore a black lace teddy that cupped her chest and hugged her body. Sheer, see-through panels on the sides darkened her skin. The same was true with the stockings leading up from her glittery ruby red high-heels to the frilly garters around her thighs. And then there was the sheer, black silk underwear that scooched up right between those thighs, leaving absolutely nothing to the--

Repressing a gag, Sunset realized three things in that moment.

First, she did not think about Twilight in that way.

Second, Twilight absolutely did think about Sunset in that way.

Third, Twilight didn't know shit about people.

"Twilight?" Sunset began, raising her hand to shield most of Twilight's body from her view. "Are you trying to seduce me?"

Twilight's cheeks burned a hot red. She let the wings of her lab coat drop and hid her hands behind her back. "W-will it work if I say no?"

Closing her eyes, Sunset took in a deep breath. She tried not to think about how long Twilight, the closest Sunset had ever had to a sister, might have been harboring a crush.

"Twilight," she said, words measured, "this is extremely flattering. That... actually looks really good on you, if I'm being honest. And I'm sure someday, you'll find a girl who wants to be more than a friend to you. But... and please understand, I don't want to hurt you because you're my dear friend... I'm not interested in... in being seduced right now. By you. Or anyone."

She cracked an eye open and got a sudden jolt of fear as Twilight was nowhere to be seen. The panic didn't last long, however, as two thin hands clutched at the knees of her jeans.

"Please!"

Sunset reeled. Twilight was literally on her knees, right there between Sunset's legs, staring up at her with desperate, pleading eyes.

"Please, Sunset!" Twilight yammered, twisting the jeans fabric in her fingers. A torrent of babble streamed from her mouth.

The mouth, Sunset couldn't help but note, that had been decorated with a very tasteful shade of lipstick. It complemented the eyeshadow and rouge that Sunset had not noticed until this very moment. Whoever had done Twilight's makeup was a cosmetological genius, as a matter of fact.

"I heard you had a penis!"

And now there was a beautiful, smart, very friendly girl between Sunset's legs, staring up at her with a deep, palpable need, talking about her penis.

Sunset stiffened, in every sense of the word.

"A-and I've never even seen a penis," Twilight blurted onward, like a steam train headed for a rock slide. "At least not up close, not for real, not even my brother's, n-not that I'd ever want to, I promise, and I swear, I really wanted to do some research on why you have it at all, but I just wanted to see it, I won't even touch it, I really won't, just please, this is my best and only chance to see one!"

The last words came out in a whine, but it was the tears in Twilight's eyes that snapped Sunset out of her half-aroused stupor. She toppled the chair over, landing on her feet and sending Twilight backward onto her silk-covered butt. They both stayed like that, panting and staring at each other, for a solid minute.

There were so many questions flickering through Sunset's head, she couldn't grasp one long enough to decide if she should ask it. She wasn't sure if she was frustrated, or scared, or turned on, or really, really angry. She couldn't even be sure who she was mad at. It almost certainly wasn't Twilight. Someone had to have put her up to this. That was the only explanation that made sense. And she wasn't sure she wanted to expend the effort to figure out who it was.

Sunset took her lab coat off and hung it on the wall. Only there was no hanger there, and it dropped to the floor.

"I'm sorry, Twilight," she said. And then, making a terrible decision, she added, "I hope you kept the receipt for that lingerie."

She walked out, leaving Twilight sobbing on the laboratory floor.