In a Rut

Chapters

Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 1
Chapter 7

Chapter 2

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Chapter 3

Two Months Later

“Sunset Shimmer!”

The nurse called my name and I made to get up, then paused at the weight on my shoulder that had recently begun to drool. I grimaced at the small pool of liquid on the corner of my jacket, rolled my eyes, and poked at my companion.

“Hey, bitch, wake the fuck up,” I elbowed Rainbow Dash lightly in the ribs and she stirred dozily.

I never understood how it was that Rainbow could manage to fall dead asleep anywhere she sat down. That girl was like a living energy drink right up until she stopped moving, and then she would just nap.

She was like a goddamn shark.

“Huh? Wuzzah?” Rainbow mumbled intelligently.

“I’m going into the back,” I jerked a thumb towards the door as I stood up, stretched, and relished the cracks and pops of my joints. “You good here?”

“Yeah, I’ll just nap here, alph-uhhh…” I raised an eyebrow as a blush crept up Rainbow’s cheeks. “Uh… S-Sunset.”

“R~ight,” I stepped away from her, straightened my jacket, and made my way into the back room of the doctor’s office.

That wasn’t weird or anything.

“Good afternoon,” the nurse, a beta by her scent, was a peppy little thing with a high voice, dyed blue hair, and a too-friendly smile. “My name is Huckleberry, and I’m just going to take your vitals before Doctor Hive comes in, okay?”

“Sure thing, bluebell,” I grunted as I followed her into one of the exam rooms and sat down. “I’m just here to have her write a prescription, though.”

Huckleberry nodded as she pulled out a stethoscope, blood-pressure cuff, and one of those little hammers they used to whack your knee and test your reflexes. I never really got that one, but I was always tempted to kick them in the face when they knocked on my kneecap.

“We still need the information, just in case,” she said, still far too energetic for my current mood. I’d been kinda rancid all day, though, so it wasn’t her fault.

I held out my arm and she took my blood pressure, then checked my heartbeat, took my temperature, took a dainty swing at my knees, and then shone a flashlight in my ear for some reason.

“Hm, your heart rate is a little high, and so is your blood pressure and temperature,” Huckleberry noted as she looked over her notes.

“I’m an alpha,” I said by way of explanation, “I’ve always run hot, and I…” I considered my next words carefully. It’s not like any of them knew Rainbow Dash, so they couldn’t know her breed.

“...I was just next to my omega,” I lied.

The reasoning was sound though since, annoyingly, my body reacted to Rainbow very similarly to how it reacts to omegas, and I didn’t want them thinking I had a fever or something when it was just because I was sitting next to Rainbow who has a serious case of Sleepy Bitch Disease. It’s just that whenever she’s asleep near me and I’m not doing the same my body is instantly geared up to either fuck her or fight to protect her.

“Aha,” Huckleberry clucked her tongue, then chuckled. “That would explain it, I’ll let Doctor Hive know you’re ready, then.”

“Sure thing,” I sat on the exam table as the nurse left and considered my next move.

I had put off getting my suppressant prescription for way too goddamn long. I’d gotten too comfortable just relying on Rainbow Dash to sate my rut, and frankly so had she. If I was eventually going to break things off with her I would need another way to handle my cycle, and the longer I put this off the tougher it would be to come up with reasons to end this.

As if ‘She’s An Alpha’ wasn’t a good enough reason.

For five straight months, and then some, Rainbow had been my bitch. There was no way this was a good thing. I don’t know what I’d been thinking back in the campus gym when I’d bitched her the first time, and that was if I’d been thinking at all which I wasn’t convinced of, but this situation was seriously getting out of hand.

No, fuck that, it had gotten out of hand a while ago and I’d just chosen to ignore it.

I tried to give Rainbow an out a couple of months back, but she’d just blindly blundered past the opportunity and fallen right back into my bed. Since then she rarely left it, to the point that her dad apparently wanted to meet me because I guess I was now Rainbow’s ‘Best Friend’?

That’s according to Rainbow Dash, by the way, and I’d nearly had an apoplectic fit when she’d told me. I mean, I get it. Her reasoning was that she’d had to tell her dad something about why she was always staying at my place, but come on! I routinely pin her to my bed, fuck her ass, and call her a bitch!

‘Best Friend’?!

That is so incredibly fucked up.

A knock came at the door, followed by the Doctor herself. She was pretty in a terrifying kind of way, all sharp, severe, patrician lines, with clear, jewel-tone green eyes, coal-dark skin, and hair that was an incongruously iridescent shade of teal.

I also noted the ring on her finger. So she was married, then, and… I sniffed slightly as she stepped closer.

She was an omega.

“Good afternoon, Miss Shimmer,” she said pleasantly, “my name is Doctor Hive, and I have to say, I was expecting you some time ago.”

I raised an eyebrow at that.

“Why were you expecting me at all?” I asked.

“My wife mentioned you’d probably be coming by here,” Doctor Hive tapped her ID badge, and I looked at it more closely.

Chrysalis Hive-Sonnen, M.D.

Sonnen.

“Seriously?” I looked up at her, and Chrysalis smirked.

“Seriously,” she replied with a playful chuckle. “My wife has always had a soft spot for you, Miss Shimmer, and I think if she’d met you years ago she probably would have tried to adopt you.”

“That would’ve been weird,” I said with a weak laugh. “Chancellor Celestia is like…” I paused as I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. Celestia did kind of mom me a lot. “It would just be weird, alright?”

Doctor Hive just nodded, then straightened and held out her hand.

“Well, since this is the first time we’ve met officially,” she started, “it’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Shimmer.”

“Uh, likewise,” I took her hand and shook it. She had a nice, solid handshake.

“So, I understand you’re here for a suppressant prescription?” Chrysalis said as she looked over a clipboard covered in charts and notes. “How regular are your cycles?”

“Not very,” I admitted. “My next one should hit in about two or three days though, and they last about three to five.”

“How bad are they?”

“Agonising,” I replied flatly, and Chrysalis winced. “Did Celestia tell you she-?”

“Shared one of her suppressants?” Chrysalis answered wryly. “She did, and while it’s not strictly allowed, I know everyone does it… did it help?”

“Barely,” I replied, and Chrysalis frowned. “Seriously, between that and an ice-cold shower it was barely noticeable, and I think I burned right through it.”

“I see, that’s problematic,” Chrysalis’s tone took on a concerned cadence. “Normally suppressants serve a dual usage,” she explained. “The first is that you take it about twelve hours prior to your Rut and it prevents your hormone levels from spiking, the second is taking it mid-Rut to decrease its intensity.”

“Yeah, I know all that, what’s your point?” I rolled my hands in a ‘move along’ gesture.

“My point,” she stressed the second word, “is that if your rut is both that intense and irregular, that could seriously decrease the efficiency of the suppressants.”

“What?” I sat up straighter at that, feeling worry gnawing at my gut. “Why?”

“Because if you take your dose too soon,” Chrysalis took out a pen and tapped a timeline chart on her wall, one of a standard, regular heat cycle, “you could lose a whole day and still suffer your heat.” She prodded the ‘early stages’ marker of the heat chart. “See, you need to take it in an eight-to-fourteen hour window prior to your rut to stop it from happening, but if your rut is irregular you might miss the window.”

“Can’t I just take another one?” I asked, feeling my heart sinking.

Chrysalis shook her head.

“It’s a suppressant, Miss Shimmer,” she pressed, “it dampens your hormones, meaning you’ll be left lethargic and sleepy, which is why most alphas take their dose the night before their rut starts and just sleep through the side-effects.” She pointed to another chart showing dosage levels. “But, the problem isn’t your irregularity, if it was that then I’d just prescribe you a couple of weaker doses to thin out your hormone levels, the issue is your intensity.”

“Aw beans,” I grumbled.

“Beans, indeed,” Chrysalis smiled wanly. “The dose I’d need to prescribe you to stop your rut would be far too high for you to risk taking a second dose too close to the first one, you could go into shock and end up in the hospital.”

“So what am I supposed to do?!” I looked back up at her and she gave me an apologetic shrug.

“I’ll write you the script,” Chrysalis said. “But if you want my honest, personal advice?”

“Shoot.”

“Find nice omega, invest in some industrial-grade birth control, and have at it,” Chrysalis replied blithely, and I rocked back a little at her bluntness. “Don’t give me that look,” she said with a small laugh, “it’s not exactly ‘medical advice’ but the hard truth is that your rut is going to be very hard to control… maybe prohibitively hard.”

“But how am I supposed to just find an omega?” I was grasping at straws. I couldn’t exactly tell her I had the perfect solution sitting thirty feet outside in the waiting room.

Now it was Chrysalis raised an eyebrow.

“Honey, have you smelled you?” she asked plainly. “You could drop an omega’s panties at ten yards with a look… the trick is finding the right one and having a healthy relationship.”

Ooh, damn. If only you knew.

“If I could, I’d prescribe you a dating app and couples counseling,” Chrysalis continued. “It would probably work a lot better, but as it is, here.”

She handed over a slip of paper and I took it.

“You’ll have to take it in yourself,” she continued. “The dosage is extremely high, meaning it’s past the threshold where I’m allowed to send it in electronically.”

“Balls,” I stood up and sighed, pocketing the script. “Thanks for the advice, though.”

“No problem, sorry I couldn’t be more helpful,” Chrysalis sounded genuinely apologetic. “Also, if you don’t mind my asking, don’t you have an omega out there with you?”

I tensed. Chrysalis was Chancellor Celestia’s wife, meaning it was possible she might mention Rainbow to Celestia who knew damn well that Rainbow Dash was no omega. Unfortunately, I’d already let that particular cat out of the bag with the nurse and, if I knew nurses, that little tidbit would slip out eventually.

“Y-Yeah,” I started cautiously, “but it’s not like… serious or anything.”

Bullshit it wasn’t serious. It was serious as the fucking grave by this point.

“I haven’t marked her,” I added.

“Hm,” she leaned in a took a tentative sniff before wrinkling her nose. “I don’t smell another scent on you either, but honestly that might just be your natural pheromones covering it up… Lord, girl, you are a potent alpha.”

“Fucking tell me about it,” I grumbled, shoving my hands in my pockets

I said good-bye to Doctor Hive and made my way back out into the waiting room. I figured I’d fill the script tomorrow, I was in a shitty mood and the appointment hadn’t helped, and I just wanted to go home.

Dash stirred as I approached, opened an eye, yawned, and then stood up, moving beside me and nuzzling against my neck submissively as she did.

That made me feel a little better, which I hated to admit.

I slid my arm around Rainbow Dash, bringing it to rest on that comfortable place at her waist, and tugged her close. For her part, Rainbow just molded against me, her narrow hips moving with mine and her head half-leaned on my shoulder.

To anyone else it would look like an odd way to walk or move together, but for us it had become comfortable. Rainbow had this thing where she had to have as much contact with me as she could manage and eventually I just let her do it, which led to us moving like a single unit most of the time. Rainbow wasn’t particularly heavy, and she matched the lead of my stride easily, so we never tripped over one another even when it looked like we should.

I never should have let myself get this comfortable with her.

We stepped outside into the cold bite of the chilly February air, and Rainbow shivered at the breeze before pulling the fur-trimmed hood of her winter coat up over her head. For my part I just tugged my jacket a little closer around myself and kept moving.

Alphas run hot, it’s in our nature. Rainbow Dash seemed to be the exception though… she got cold easily, at least it seemed that way lately, and I wondered if it was my fault.

She acted more and more like an omega every day.

“You hungry?” I asked.

“Nah, I’m fine,” Rainbow replied, but she turned to nuzzle my neck in thanks for asking. “You?”

“Not really.”

“I figured,” Rainbow chuckled, and I frowned.

What was that supposed to mean?

Before I could ask my question, though, Rainbow locked her arm around my elbow and tugged me into the shadows of an alleyway we were passing by. I stumbled slightly as she laughed, and I found myself smiling as she turned and put her back to the wall, pulling me closer to her and giving me that warm, smarmy grin of hers as she stared up at me.

“What the hell?” I grumbled, but there wasn’t much steel in my tone, and what little remained was probably stolen by my smile.

Rather than answer, Rainbow leaned in and pressed her lips to my neck then began kissing up my jaw until her lips found mine, and I let out a small sigh of relief against her mouth as it felt a pressure uncoiling from my spine.

I hated how good Rainbow was becoming at getting me to relax.

Quill… why couldn’t she have been an omega?

I indulged her anyway, or maybe I just indulged myself. Either way, I leaned into her, the fur fringe of her hood tickling my cheeks as I pressed close and returned her kiss. My hands found her waist easily, and I pulled her against me, and she hummed delightedly as our tongues met and tangled.

The moment was disturbed by the sound of laughter and a wolf whistle, and I looked up in annoyance at some smiling passersby, fixing them with a sharp look and issuing a low growl.

“Hey, don’t waste time with them,” Rainbow reached up and laid a hand over my cheek to turn my head back to her. “They’re just jealous.”

The growl at the back of my throat turned to a rumble as I met those cerise eyes of hers, and I forced a smirk onto my face.

“Naturally,” I leaned down to nip playfully at Rainbow’s ear, and she laughed, a surprisingly light sound for her normally raspy voice. “Who wouldn’t be jealous of someone who has all this-” I reached down and squeezed Rainbow’s ass, prompting a squeak of embarrassment from her, “-to herself, huh?”

“You say that like I belong to you or something,” Rainbow replied with a smirk, but there was something else lurking underneath her tone and smile.

Another growl rumbled out of me, and I leaned in, pinning Rainbow to the wall with my weight.

“You’re my bitch,” I snarled softly, “so who else would you belong to?”

I expected her to smirk back at me, or say something smarmy and bratty like she usually did. Something I learned relatively quickly was that Rainbow Dash was a massive brat pretty much all the time by nature, and as much as it frustrated me, I actually enjoyed our little arguments.

She didn’t smirk or smile.

She didn’t say anything bratty.

Instead, Rainbow just got this incredibly intense look on her face that caught my breath for a moment before she leaned against my neck a muttered a single, quiet word.

“Noone.”

Another growl rumbled up from my chest, this one born of frustration. I couldn’t keep doing this… I tried to let her go, to force her away, to give her every chance to step away from me, but then every chance I actually had to make it happen myself, I said shit like that.

Pushing away with one hand, pulling her back with the other.

Fuck it, I’m too tired and too irritated for this right now. I just want to go home, sleep for a few eternities, and wake up when this isn’t my problem anymore.

I pulled back from Rainbow, slung an arm over her shoulder, and stepped back out into the chilly sunlight of Canterlot City. She leaned against me as we walked that odd two-step we did when we were together.

Too comfortable.

This was far too comfortable.

“Aren’t we going to the grocery?” Rainbow asked.

“Nah,” I grumbled, “I’ll take the script in tomorrow… I’m too tired, and besides, everyone is off work by now, the place is gonna be fuckin’ packed.”

“Tomorrow?” Rainbow gave me an odd look, “you sure?”

“Did a fucking stutter, bitch?” I snarled, and Rainbow wilted back a little. I sighed, pulled her closer, and nuzzled her affectionately by way of apology. “Sorry, I’m just in a crappy mood… the doctor didn’t exactly have great news.”

“That sucks,” Rainbow leaned into my affection before brushing her lips over mine and then going back to resting her head against my chest. “Anything I can do?”

“If there was I’d’ve slapped your ass and told you to do it,” I replied with a dry chuckle, and Rainbow laughed along with me.

We walked to the bus stop in companionable silence, and I found myself turning multiple times to take in Rainbow’s scent. I hated how the cold made it harder to catch the smell of her, and it felt like my nose was about to freeze off half the time.

“You heading home?” I asked quietly as we got to the stop.

“Yeah,” Rainbow grumbled. “Dad wants to have a movie night, and then maybe go out tomorrow and hang, y’know?”

“Not really,” I replied honestly.

Parental bonding time wasn’t exactly something I had in spades with any of the mother figures I had in my life, my total lack of father figures notwithstanding.

“Oh, r-right, sorry,” Rainbow sagged a little, and I let out a huff.

“Don’t be, I’m fine with it,” I said as the bus creaked to stop in front of us.

I paid our fare and tugged Rainbow along with me. To everyone else on the bus I was just an alpha taking her omega out, and I was happy enough for them to keep on believing that. It was a lot easier to let everyone just assume everything was normal than have to deal with the weirdness of the truth.

We settled into a pair of seats in the back, and Rainbow started to doze against me again, once more proving her ability to nap even in the cloying mire of public transit.

I would’ve just taken my bike here, but between Rainbow not having riding leathers and the total dumpster fire that was trying to find parking in downtown Canterlot, I opted to just let someone else do the driving today.

Besides, the old town clinic was in a cramped part of town I’d rather not leave my ride unattended in, so maybe it was all for the best.

Pulling out my phone, I made to leave a reminder for myself to take in the script tomorrow when I noticed the blinking red line on the battery reader.

“What the hell?”

“Sunset?” Rainbow snapped awake at my tone. “What’s wrong?”

“Ugh, nothing,” I flicked my phone off and tucked it away. “My phone’s almost dead… I coulda swore I plugged it in last night.”

“Maybe you did that thing where you plugged in the cord but the charger wasn’t in the socket?” Rainbow said with that bratty smile of hers.

“Yeah, maybe,” I sagged back against the seat and sighed. Today was just getting crappier and crappier, if only by inches.

“Hey… you alright?” Rainbow asked, her tone a little softer now. “Seriously, you look beat.”

“I’m just having a bad day,” I said, waving my hand casually. “Forget about it, okay?”

Rainbow continued to frown, then looked around, said ‘fuck it’ softly under her breath, and moved closer to me, pulling down her hood, weaving her fingers into my hair, and then pulled me down to press my nose to her neck, and cradled me there for a few minutes.

I wanted to push her away. I should push her away, but I don’t. I don’t have the energy or the wherewithal or, fuck, I dunno… the care.

“Thanks,” I muttered quietly, taking a deep breath of her scent and just leaning into her.

All I could smell was that gentle, barely-there musk of her, like fresh-cut grass and rain. Rainbow’s scent was so calming to me, it was something that chased away the restless irritation in my limbs and the growing throb at the back of my head. I was stressed out, I knew, and she knew it too… so she was doing what a good omega was supposed to do, and calming her alpha down.

If only she was one.

“I’m… I’m a good omega, right?” Rainbow asked quietly, and I sighed, then breathed deeply, and nodded.

“You’re the best omega,” I replied wearily.

Rainbow Dash drew away slowly, put her hands on my cheeks , and looked me in the eyes. There was a moment there, one I hadn’t expected, and it struck straight through whatever caked on malaise of apathy and irritation was congealing around me. Her eyes were warm, and lined just slightly with concern.

She was worried about me.

It was more than just hearing her say it, or hearing Rainbow ask if I was alright. I could see it plain as day in her eyes.

“I’m fine,” I choked the words out, and they emerged a little raw.

Rainbow leaned in and kissed me, and I hugged her close, returning the kiss before pulling back and sighing as we came up on my side of town.

I pulled the cord to signal a stop, stood up, and sidled out of my seat. Before I could leave, though, Rainbow took me by the hand and pulled me down for one last, quick peck on the lips.

“I…” Rainbow started, then cut herself off, before trying again. “I… I’ll see you soon, okay?”

“Yeah,” I straightened, brushed my thumb over her lips playfully, and gave her a smile. “See you soon, ‘omega’.”

I have got to be the world’s worst hypocrite.

Snow filtered down in lazy drifts as I stepped off the bus and started towards my complex, pausing only to turn and wave as the bus carried Rainbow Dash towards the nicer Whitetail neighborhood.

A dull, angry ache settled in my heart as she left my sight. I didn’t like it, but that was the problem, wasn’t it? I was getting attached to Rainbow Dash the same way I should have been getting attached to an omega. At this point I was as much of a freak as she was, moreso actually since I was the one who was keeping this fucked up matter going.

Alphas weren’t meant to mate with alphas. It didn’t happen, or it shouldn’t anyway. Alpha’s, especially potent ones like me, ought to be with omegas… we were made to breed strong pups, not waste ourselves in meaningless debauchery which was really all I was doing with Rainbow.

I couldn’t breed her, no matter how much we faked it in bed.

My slow, heavy steps came to a halt in front of my door, and I blinked in surprise. I’d been so lost in thought I’d auto-piloted straight to my flat. I really was lost in my own head. Lost in thoughts of a certain rainbow-headed alpha.

I fitted the key, unlocked the door, and stepped in. My flat felt empty knowing Rainbow wasn’t here, moreso than usual I mean. I had lived alone for years though, so why should it bother me now?

The door shut with a noticeably loud clatter as I elbowed it closed. I really was in a crappy mood, and this time there was no bitch in my bed for me to take it out on.

I tossed my keys on the table, followed by my wallet, hung up my jacket, and unlaced my boots before kicking them off towards the door. I was feeling slow and heavy, and my body was way too warm despite how cold it was. I’d always run hot but today I was a furnace, and it caused me to reconsider whether or not I might actually be getting sick.

It was incredibly rare, but it had happened before and it was always miserable.

“Fuck it,” I grumbled as I opted to forgoe a shower and head straight to bed despite it only about five in the evening.

It’s not like I was doing anything useful anyway, I had classes tomorrow so an early night wasn’t going to hurt me.

Burrowing under the covers, I wrinkled my nose at the scent that was clinging to them. Rainbow had spent the night last night, like she did most nights, and the smell of us was still hanging around the sheets.

There was no one here but me, meaning there was no one to judge me, so as I curled up in the blankets and sheets I pulled them up to my nose to took a long, deep breath.

“Rainbow…” I shivered, feeling myself getting painfully hard. I wanted her and badly, I wanted my bitch beneath me.

I took another breath of our mingled scent as I slid my hand beneath the sheets to take a grip on my cock, squeezing in pulsing motions as I stroked myself.

This was wrong, but I didn’t care. It was my flat, my room, and my bed, and I could think about whoever the fuck I wanted while I jacked off.

The fact that I was thinking about the alpha I’d bitched and dominated only to keep firmly under my bootheel for the past four months and not the cute, pink-haired omega I shared a couple of classes with that had been giving me bedroom eyes for the past month and a half was irrelevant.

“Shit,” I swore quietly.

I tried thinking of Fluttershy instead, of her soft lips and that cute little pink tongue of hers. I tried to think of her on her knees, mouth open and waiting for me, and those beautiful baby-blue eyes looking up at me as she serviced my dick, and I pumped my hand up and down my length as I did.

“C’mon,” I groaned softly, “c’mon, just…” I kept jerking but it wasn’t working, rather than pushing me closer it was just frustrating me.

It wasn’t working. I tried imagining how wet she would be for me, for an alpha as strong as I was. I tried thinking of how good she would feel squirming beneath me.

Not nearly as good as Rainbow feels, my traitorous brain replied.

“Shut up!” I snarled, trying to refocus.

All I had to do was close my eyes, think of her, and… and her eyes turned cerise. Pink hair became streaks of prismatic color…

“R-Rainbow…” I moaned her name softly again.

Alpha…

Why couldn’t I do it? Why couldn’t I hear that word in anything but Rainbow’s voice? Why couldn’t I see anything but cerise eyes and that infuriatingly bratty smirk of hers?!

“Rainbow!” I cried out her name, my voice muffled by the sheets that I bit into as I took another deep breath and found my rhythm again, my hand moving up and down with swift, furious strokes until I came to a shuddering climax.

White sprayed across my stomach and breasts, and I sagged back against my bed, breathing heavily and shaking slightly.

“What the fuck is wrong with me?” I muttered bitterly.

I reached for the bath towel I’d left by my bed from my shower this morning and used it to clean myself up before pitching it at the hamper and rolling over to grab my phone and plug it in, making sure the stupid charger was in the wall this time.

My whole body was buzzing slightly, and I knew it was because my instincts were griping about there being no omega, or more accurately no bitched alpha, in my arms after I just came.

For a moment I considered calling Rainbow up, but I had no idea what I would say to her.

What was I supposed to say? ‘I just wanted to hear your voice’?

Written’s Quill, if that sounded half as lame out loud as it did in my head I would never live it down, and yet… it didn’t change how miserable I was feeling.

Maybe I would have her over tomorrow night after whatever she was doing.

Yeah, I’d tell her to get over here and warm up my bed for me. That always got her moving in my direction. If I wanted her, I could have her anytime and she knew it just as well as I did.

At least until this mess was over.

Quill, I really hope those suppressants worked.

I woke up on fire just after seven in the morning.

“Shit!” I snarled the word out practically as soon as I opened my eyes.

My whole body was covered in a sheen of sweat, and I kicked the covers off as I sat up. My limbs were shaking, my head was pounding, and I was breathing hard… hard enough that my brain was filling with leftover scent of Rainbow Dash and it was driving me up the fucking wall.

What the hell?!

“No…” I murmured, horror creeping into my gut as I shook the sleep from my head and staggered out of bed.

It must have been freezing in my flat but I couldn’t feel it. I was so hot it was like my skin was about to boil right off of my bones.

“It’s too fucking early!” I barked the words out as I staggered into the bathroom and stared at my reflection.

My face was flushed, and my red and gold hair was matted to my face and shoulders with sweat. I was hard again, painfully so, and my heart was going about a thousand miles an hour.

“I should still have at least a day!” I punched the wall, bruising my knuckles and leaving an indent. “I SHOULD STILL HAVE A WHOLE FUCKING DAY!”

My rut had started earlier than it ever had before.

And it was worse than ever, too.

I thought my rut had been agonising before, but this one was an order of magnitude worse. I could barely see straight, and my brain was filled with the shrieking sound of metal on metal as I tried to organise my thoughts into something resembling coherency.

It wasn’t working. I couldn’t think straight, couldn’t… couldn’t…

I dropped bonelessly back into my bed and grabbed my phone. I needed to call someone… Rainbow Dash, so I hit the power button. I needed to call-

Dead.

No matter how many times I clicked the button the screen remained stubbornly dark. A desperate fear flooded my belly as I rolled over to look down between my bed and the wall, hoping I had just fucked up last night and forgotten to plug it in.

It was plugged in.

I grabbed at the charger plug. Maybe it was just a dead outlet! I stood and staggered over the living room, dropped onto the couch and plugged it into the socket on the wall furthest from my room.

Nothing.

No power symbol, no charging sign.

“SHIT!” I pulled the phone out and hucked it across the room, then curled up on the couch and started to shake.

It felt like someone was filling every inch of my skin with needles. What the hell?! What kind of messed up mistake of biology could possibly result in a rut this intense?! There was no way this was fucking natural!

Briefly, I considered making a run down to the pharmacy at the grocery near my place to fill my suppressant script, but immediately discarded the idea. I was in no state to drive and there was no way in hell I was getting on public transit in this state. Even if I didn’t jump the nearest omega I came across, the sheer magnitude of the pheromones I must be putting off would probably make them jump me.

I couldn’t call anyone… couldn’t go anywhere…

“Shit!” I sobbed.

I stood shakily, stumbled toward the bathroom, and cranked on the cold water before crawling into the tub and hunkering down as the icy spray sluiced over my head and shoulders.

Steam started to rise off of my skin and I watched as the water would strike me and roll in droplets down my flesh, only to immediately start to evaporate.

That’s probably not a good sign.

Tears rolled down my face as I took sharp, heaving breaths. The pain was fucking unbelievable and it was only getting worse. This was just the start of my rut, and if my experience held out then it would only climb from here until I either sated it or it burned itself out.

In three to five days.

“Fucking kill me,” I muttered hollowly as I rocked back and forth in my bathtub.

I’m not sure how long I sat there, but it was long enough for me to finally scrabble some semblance of control back from my rebellious biology. I couldn’t stay under the shower spray forever, as much as I might want to, so eventually I forced myself up, cranked the water off, and stepped out. I only shivered for a moment before my rut sent my temperature sky-rocketing again.

An idea hit me as I passed my sink, and I immediately whipped around and yanked open the medicine cabinet.

I pulled out the little white bottle of sleep aid pills. I used to have these brief, weird fits of insomnia that left me lying awake for hours on end and I'd finally gotten the bottle just to have it in case I needed to sleep.

Right now, I’d really like to be asleep.

I cracked the bottle open, took out a triple dose, and dry-swallowed it before capping the bottle and stumbling back to my bed.

The bottle went onto my night stand, and the only thing I did before collapsing onto my mattress was crack open the window. Hopefully the winter air would keep me cool enough to stay asleep through today.

The dosage worked quickly and my eyelids started getting heavy, but my brain was shrieking at me all the same. Eventually, a half-sleep delirium settled onto my brain, and it left me torn somewhere between deep, cloying slumber and manic wakefulness.

I felt sick, and between fits of delusion I wondered if maybe those pills hadn’t been the brightest idea after all.

Dreams filtered into my reality. Voices and whispers… along with the nostalgic sound of the great waterfall that cascaded down the Canterhorn in Equestria, feeding into the mighty river Canter, filled my ears. It was a familiar, deafening noise I’d accustomed to during the years that I’d lived with Princess Celestia.

I had been able to see the waterfall from my tower window, and I’d loved watching it fall and watching how the light cascaded off of the droplets of water.

So many rainbows…

My breathing was harsh and ragged as I tossed and turned in my bed. I was sweating like crazy, with the cool air only barely keeping me in check.

I could smell the clean mountain air of Canterlot, my Canterlot, mixing with the eastbound winds carrying the scent of the great plains that stretched beyond the marble peak.I

I could smell the cold trash and asphalt stink of the human city of Canterlot. The rust and burnt rubber cloy of the Ponyville Commons.

The rancid slums of Canterlot never really change, even between dimensions.

Fire was burning inside my chest and belly and loins. I needed relief but my limbs weren’t working right. My hands were dull and numb… those pills were definitely a bad idea.

Another scent hit me from the edges of my delusions. The smell of clean-cut grass, rainfall… and… and there was something cool on my forehead, something-

A moan left my lips as I pleasure rocked through me. Warmth was wrapped around my painfully hard erection. Something warm and wet, and I lasted all of about ten seconds before my hips were bucking in instinctive reply to the sensation and seconds later I was falling off the edge of my climax.

My hips rolled and jerked as I pumped out streams of seed, and suddenly my head began to clear. The haze of lust and borderline insanity lifted just enough to me to turn my head and see-

“R-Rainbow?” I muttered her name, not quite sure if she was actually here or if I’d really lost it. “What-?”

Rainbow Dash was lifting her lips from my cock and smiling at me with a faint look of worry in her eyes as she brushed hair from her face.

“Hey,” she moved up the bed to my side and leaned in to kiss me, and I moaned again at the skin-to-skin contact.

A damp cloth tumbled from my face as I sat up, although I couldn't properly account for when it had gotten there.

“What’re you doing here?” I finally asked, “what… what time is it?”

“Like, noon-ish?” Rainbow answered as she stood up and pulled her shirt off, then tossed it to the side before smirking at me again. “You look like shit, Shimmer.”

“Feel like shit, too,” I replied, too tired to admonish her for her tone as I slumped back onto the mattress.

Rainbow frowned at that.

Before she could say anything, though, a notion occurred to me. Something that Rainbow had said yesterday about going out.

“Weren’t you spending the day with your dad?” I asked, rolling onto my side and fixing her with a suspicious glare. “Why’re you here?”

Rainbow shrugged as she pulled her pants off and sat down on my bedside.

“Because when you didn’t answer,” she held up her phone, “I figured your rut must’ve gotten pretty bad pretty fast once it started,” I raised an eyebrow at that. “So I told my dad that my friend had hit her rut early and was in bad shape, and I needed to help her out… no big deal, okay? Me and pops can hang out another time.”

She slid into bed next to me, nudging me to the side to make room for her, which I did, and then wrapped herself around me. Her skin was blessedly cool, and I sighed in relief as I pressed myself against her, my alpha instincts finally balancing out as I took hold of Rainbow Dash.

“How did you even know my rut had started?” I asked as Rainbow buried her face against my neck and started scenting me, running her tongue calmingly over my neck and throat.

“Because today was when you were gonna start?” Rainbow said between small licks, then pulled back and smirked up at me again. “You barely ate anything yesterday, remember?”

I raised an eyebrow.

“So what?”

“And you were acting like a total jerk,” Rainbow added.

“I’m always a jerk,” I countered, and Rainbow laughed.

“I mean like, moreso,” she replied. “But c’mon, you never noticed?”

“Noticed what?!” I was starting to get frustrated, but Rainbow calmed me down again with a soft kiss as she took my hardening length into her hands.

“You always get super cranky and lose your appetite, right before you rut,” Rainbow answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “I noticed it months ago.”

My jaw dropped.

I… I hadn’t noticed. It was all just the same thing to me, I hadn’t connected the dots the way Rainbow apparently had. Maybe I’d just been too close to the matter, but I hadn’t noticed my shift in mood or appetite at all, or rather I had but it just hadn’t occurred to me that they were connected.

And yet Rainbow Dash, an alpha, had been so attentive to my moods and cycle that she had almost immediately noticed the pattern and had begun predicting my rut cycle faster than even I could.

I knew omegas that weren’t that good.

“Sorry I was late, by the way,” Rainbow said demurely as she began stroking me. “I should’ve been over here hours ago, I didn’t think it would be this bad.”

“It’s… it’s okay.”

I quivered as Rainbow pulled her hand from me and turned over onto her belly, getting on her elbows and knees.

“C’mere,” Rainbow offered quietly. “I know what you need.”

She did. Rainbow always knew what I needed and she was always oh-so-happy to give it to me. Maybe if I weren’t such a spineless asshole I wouldn’t be just as equally happy to take it.

I moved over her anyway and she accepted the weight of my body with a satisfied sigh as I mounted her. I pressed my tip to her entrance, pushed, and let out a relieved sigh of my own as I slid inside of her. Now, finally, I was right where I belonged, and so was she.

Slowly, I began to move, thrusting in and out while I wrapped my arms around her, pumping against her as she found the familiar tempo with her hips and began moving with me. Maybe it was the intensity of my rut, but she felt even better than usual… she was so tight and soft, she felt like an omega; wet and hot and willing to take me for as long as I needed her.

“Alpha…” Rainbow moaned the word with quiet need. “You f-feel good, alpha.”

Her voice always pitched a little higher when she was submitting and it drove me crazy, which I think she knew, because no matter how hard I was she always seemed to be able to coax a little more out of me.

“Of course I do,” I snarled, my voice deepening to a growl as I leaned forward and nipped at her ear. “You’re my bitch… bitches always feel good when their alpha takes them, don’t they?”

“Y-Yes!” Rainbow cried. “I’m a good bitch!”

“Fuck yes, you are,” I pushed hard, my knot swelling with record speed, and with a grunt of effort I locked us together, prompting an ecstatic cry from Rainbow. “And good bitches thank their alpha when they get knotted!”

“Thank you!” Rainbow shivered and shook under me as I rocked inside of her. “Thank you, alpha! Thank you for kn-knotting me!”

“Good girl,” I breathed, running my tongue along the back of her neck. It was an indulgence, and one I let myself have too often. “Who’s my perfect little bitch?”

“M-Me!” Rainbow shivered, rolled her hips, and I felt her jerk as she came, staining my bed sheets again.

Knowing that I’d done that to her sent a fresh wave of lust through me. She was intoxicating in every sense. Rainbow Dash’s presence dulled my senses and soothed me, she made me bold and stupid in equal measure and I wasn’t sure I was alright with it.

I wonder if this is what it feels like to be an alcoholic.

This thing, whatever it is, is toxic, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was killing us both.

Right now, though? I didn’t give a damn.

“Fuck, I’m… I’m gonna-!” I gasped, and Rainbow looped her arm up and around to the back of my head, drawing me down until my nose was pressed against her neck.

I took a deep, shuddering breath, and my mind went blank with ecstasy as I hit my peak, filling Rainbow tight ass with my seed and drawing out a long, satisfied moan from her as we both went limp at the same time and collapsed to the side, panting and slick with sweat.

There was little passion and no romance to it, but neither of us cared. I was half-delusional with rut and sleep-meds, and despite that Rainbow still wanted to sate me. If I had a spine and anything resembling a moral compass I would have pushed her away… but I didn’t. Instead I chose to keep eroding whatever was left of the alpha in her for my own pleasure.

Guilt gnawed at me as I pulled Rainbow close, and it was only made worse by the small, pleased noise she made in the back of her throat.

My head had barely hit the pillow before darkness closed over me like a gestapo’s black bag, dragging me down to where my dreams were just a cool, empty darkness that I floated comfortably inside of, barely aware of reality.

Amongst the dark there was a gentle sensation I couldn’t quite place that surrounded me, and I was vaguely aware of drifting in and out of consciousness, briefly waking multiple times to see long sweat-stained prismatic locks filling my vision before feeling as though I’d satisfied some need and passing out again.

It was night by the time I truly woke up, and Rainbow Dash was still in my arms, dozing happily.

I was sore, and there were numerous new scratch marks across my body I didn’t remember earning. Rainbow was also, I noted, in a drastically different position than when I’d gone to sleep last, on her back now and mostly underneath me. That suggested that we’d had sex one or more times beyond the first one I recalled, which wasn’t really suprising since I was mid-rut and half-high on sleeping pills.

Fuck, those pills were a stupid idea.

I sat up, shivered, and freed myself from Rainbow Dash. My erection had gone away for now, although I was certain it would be back in short order, but it had thankfully taken the feverish delirium with it.

As I made to move from the bed, Rainbow Dash made a noise of irritation, reached out, and grabbed my arm, tugging me back to her.

“Come back t’bed, alpha,” she grumbled. “S’late…”

I looked out the window and grimaced.

“Yeah, I guess it is,” I replied softly. “Just… lemme shut the window, okay? You know you get cold easier than me.”

“Mm… fine…” Rainbow grumbled, grudgingly letting go.

I stood up and walked to the window, muscled it shut, and then turned to go back to Rainbow’s side.

The moment I turned around, I froze.

Even now I can’t say exactly what it was that caught my breath at that moment. I don’t think it was one thing, actually, I think it was a bunch of things all coming together at once and swatting me across the skull like a ball-peen hammer.

Rainbow was a mess, the bed was stained and she was tangled half-in and half-out of the sheets. The comforter was hanging mostly off of the bed although she’d tugged some of it over her while leaving my side of the bed free of it so I wouldn’t overheat.

Her hair was matted and tangled, her face was flushed and a little blotchy with sleep. Rainbow’s bare asscheeks were red, her back had a few marks, but probably nowhere near as many as mine, and frankly she looked like some kind of sex fiend.

And…

And she was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen in my life.

Very slowly, I closed my eyes, blew out a breath, and tried to focus on reality. The reality was that I was in the middle of my rut, I’d just finished a sex marathon, my brain was pickling in dopamine and oxytocin, and I was not in my right mind.

My rut would end in a few days and these feelings would go with it because they had to, because the alternative was completely untenable.

Because alphas did not mate with other alphas.

“Alpha~…” Rainbow whined, waving her hand blindly in my direction.

“Sorry,” I said softly before flicking the light off, slipping into bed and curling up around her. “I’m here now.”

“Mm…” Rainbow hummed a wordless noise of approval as she nestled against me. “You can wake me up with your dick if ya need to,” she said in a playfully sleepy voice as she turned her head to kiss me. “I know how your rut gets.”

“Like you need to tell me that,” I grunted, grabbing her waist and rubbing myself against her sore ass to make my point, and she groaned pleasantly. “I’ll fuck my bitch whenever I want to.”

“Mhm, yeah y’will,” Rainbow agreed, then brushed her lips on mine once more, and nuzzled my neck. “G’night, alpha.”

I buried my face in her hair, sweaty as it was, as she settled back into sleep, and I took a deep breath before replying.

“Goodnight,” I said quietly.

That’s right… alphas don’t mate with other alphas.

They sure as fuck didn’t fall in love with them.

Damn it. This had to end… I needed to end this.

I’m sorry, Rainbow.

Chapter 4

Present day

“Fluttershy!”

The pink-haired omega paused at her name as she was leaving our Psych class, turning as I moved beside her. The moment I was in close proximity to her a warm blush crept up her cheeks.

She looked beautiful today in her long flowing yellow sundress and jacket, but then again Fluttershy was beautiful every day. It didn’t even seem to be something she did on purpose, she was just a beautiful person by nature.

The most infuriating part about Fluttershy, if there was such a thing, was that her beauty was inside and out. In my experience pretty faces like hers tend to come attached to liars or worse, but Fluttershy was the exception to that rule.

Not only was Fluttershy head of the CCU’s animal rights club, she ran demonstrations at euthanasia clinics that were essentially huge adoption events. She had the voice of an angel when she wasn’t too embarrassed to sing, and I think the closest thing to an unkind word I’d ever heard pass her lips was ‘peeved’.

And that was regarding her brother who I had a variety of unkind words for.

Being a jerk myself, Fluttershy’s demeanor was honestly kind of intimidating.

“Oh, uhm… good morning, Sunset,” she brushed her hair from her face in a purposefully demure motion and gave me one of those angelic smiles of hers.

“It is a good morning,” I grinned as I matched her stride, ignoring the glares I got from the other alphas in the hall. “Can I walk you to class?”

“Uhm, s-sure,” Fluttershy had the prettiest blush, enough so that I’d always thought it was kind of unfair to all the other omegas on campus that they had the bad luck to be in the same district as Fluttershy. “But isn’t your class on the other end of the building?”

“I’m already ahead in the class anyway,” I waved a hand dismissively. “I can stand to be late if it’s for a good reason.”

“Oh,” Fluttershy’s smile warmed considerably, and I noted with some satisfaction that she moved a little closer to me as we walked. “Well, I uhm… I don’t know how I feel about being a good reason to be late.”

Laughter bubbled up from me as I reached up and playfully flicked a pink lock of hair from her face. We passed a window as I was laughing and she was smiling, and I caught a glimpse of us reflected in the glass. We cut an impressive image as a couple, her being about half a head shorter than me, all soft lines and willowy limbs, juxtaposed to my stronger build and sharp features.

My nose especially, I thought. I always liked my straight, duchess nose. It was perfect for looking down at people over.

“Flutters, you are the best reason to be late to something,” I replied with my best ‘gobble-you-up’ grin.

Fluttershy went positively scarlet at that.

“Even for an alpha, you’re pretty shameless, huh?” Fluttershy stated more than asked, although her smile told me she didn’t mind it. “I don’t think I could ever say something that bold.”

“Bold? That’s nothing,” I said, and paused as we approached her class.

I turned to her, and I could smell the faint scent of anticipation coming off of her. She really was the omega version of me, her pheromones were making my heart race just as mine were probably giving her all kinds of problems south of her waistline.

“W-What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked softly, and I moved closer, looking down at her and taking a deep breath of her gentle, floral scent.

“I mean this,” I took one of her hands in mine and brought it to my lips, brushing her knuckles with a brief kiss. “Fluttershy, would you mind if I courted you?”

Her blue eyes went wide at my request, and I could feel the looks being leveled onto me from around the hall. I’d definitely just made some enemies, but if she said yes then they wouldn’t be able to do jack shit about it.

This was how it had to be done though, assuming I was doing things properly.

A courting request was old school but it was still how things were done if an alpha was really serious about trying to start something with an omega. Alphas might be the big bad bully-boys of our society but, at the end of the day, it was the omegas that could grab us by our short and curlies if they wanted to.

Of course, nowadays there were a lot more casual relationships. Plenty of omegas were happy to have a little collection of alphas they could string along to satisfy their heat and buy them nice things, and there were just as many alphas who kept track of the omegas they’d laid like belt-notches.

Fluttershy was not a belt notch. She was a proper lady and a proper omega and deserved to be treated as such.

“I…” Fluttershy began, then paused, took a deep breath, and gave me a radiant smile. “I think I’d like that very much, Sunset.”

“How does tomorrow sound for a date, then?” I leaned in a little, nuzzling against her cheek lightly. “Maybe Gustav’s?”

Fluttershy returned the gentle affection with a nuzzle of her own.

“That sounds v-very nice, actually,” Fluttershy said softly. “I’ll meet you there around seven?”

I smiled as I drew back, letting my lips linger playfully a few inches from hers as my grin widened to show teeth.

“Sounds perfect,” I replied, pulling back just as she began leaning forward to close the distance.

She stared up at me with wide eyes, and only the ease of long practice kept my face at a pleasant neutral while looking at her adorably bewildered expression. I brought a finger up and ran it teasingly along the underside of her chin, relishing the slight shiver that ran through her as I did.

“See you tomorrow night, Flutters,” I blew her a kiss as I turned and started back down the hall towards my own classroom.

I made it all the way to the next corridor before I felt a chill up my spine and caught the achingly familiar scent of rain and cut grass.

“What?” I schooled my tone to a hard, emotionless edge, and practically felt Rainbow Dash flinch behind me.

She caught up to me anyway, matching my pace as I walked to my next class.

“I saw that,” her voice was tight and strained, and it was only an effort of will that kept my expression in place.

“Congratulations,” I replied dryly. “That makes you and half the university by this point… what’s your deal?”

“Why?”

“Because I’m an alpha?” I replied dully as I turned a corner, but Rainbow Dash kept on my heels.

“And?!” she snapped. “You don’t need her!”

I paused, turned, and fixed her with a withering look that put her back a few steps.

“Excuse you,” I stated grimly. “I thought Fluttershy was like, your childhood friend or something? Didn’t you two grow up together?”

“Y-Yeah…” Rainbow finally had the good grace to look abashed. “But that’s not my point!”

“Oh yeah?” I gave her my best ‘imperious eyebrow’. “And what is your point? Because she’s an omega and, given our dynamic, I doubt you’ve forgotten that I’m an alpha.”

“No,” she replied quietly, shrinking in on herself as I approached her. Or more accurately towered over her, and the delicious scent of submission drifted off of her. “J-Just… can you meet me out in the quad after class, maybe?”

“You’re done two hours earlier than me,” I pointed out.

“So?” Rainbow rallied and finally forced herself to meet my gaze. “It’s not the first time you’ve made me wait for you!”

Well, she wasn’t wrong there. More often than not I’d tell her to wait after her classes for various reasons, and it had actually resulted in her finishing some of her homework in a timely manner thanks to her having little else to do.

The fact that those ‘various reasons’ were because I was hard and wanted to fuck her behind the gym or something equally debasing was irrelevant.

“Fine,” I said after a long moment. “Is that it?”

Rainbow drew back, looking hurt, and it took a lot of effort not to just tell her I was sorry right there and then drag her into an empty classroom for a more… physical apology.

“What’s your problem today, Shimmer?” Rainbow asked softly. “You’re… you’ve never been this-”

I raised my eyebrow again, and Rainbow clammed up.

“See you after class, Rainbow,” I said, then turned and stalked away from her without a backward glance.

That had hurt.

I couldn’t show it though. I couldn’t let her see how doing that to her had cut me. I couldn’t let her see that I’d practically bitten through my lip during that conversation, or that I’d dug my nails into the flesh of my palms hard enough that when I drew them back they came away stained faintly red.

She wasn’t allowed to see it, because if Rainbow Dash so much as suspected that I wasn’t absolutely sure of what I was doing then I would never get rid of her.

More accurately, she would never be rid of me.

I stepped into my Neighponese Culture and Society class and sat down near the back, barely paying attention as the teacher droned on about some obscure custom or other. I couldn’t keep my mind focused because it kept drifting back to what I’d just done.

Rainbow needed to be rid of me, that much was clear. This relationship that had come up between us had turned into something I had never thought possible, and if it were between an alpha and an omega, or even a beta, it might be fine.

But it wasn’t.

This relationship was ripping something fundamental out of Rainbow Dash and replacing it with bits and pieces of me.

My demands. My needs. My desires.

Even now, months after the most intense rut of my life, that image of her lying in my bed, her hair askew and her body stained, sweaty, and tangled in my sheets, stayed with me. Even worse, the feelings it brought along with it had stayed too, and that was the part I didn’t know how to deal with.

It was bad enough when our relationship was just physical, but it had gotten worse when I’d started to depend on her, and in turn, forced her to become dependent on me.

I’d all but killed the alpha in her head and then force-fed her the opiate high of my pheromones by repeatedly dominating her.

Repeatedly bitching her.

I felt sick.

Even worse, it had taken me two more months to work up the spine to start pushing her away. I’d started flirting more overtly with Fluttershy who seemed more than receptive to my advances even before I’d made my request, at the same time I’d been calling on Rainbow less, forcing her to come over less, and she had definitely noticed.

My body had noticed too.

I was so used to having a warm bed with a soft, willing bitch occupying it that, now that I was going without, my alpha instincts had been left keyed up to high gear better than half the time, leaving me irritable and waspish.

It didn’t help that no matter how many times I washed them, my sheets still smelled like Rainbow Dash to me.

Laying my head on the long table that served as my desk in the classroom, I waited out the rest of the hour. I couldn’t keep my attention on anything for long but I had a vague idea of what the Professor was talking about so I resolved to just go over it tonight at home.

Assuming I could keep my head on straight that long.

By the time class was over I was restless and my temper was fraying, which didn’t bode well for anyone today.

“Sunset!”

Speaking of ‘anyone’.

I grimaced as I turned and fixed Applejack with a glare as she approached, but the stolid daughter of the Apple Clan didn’t even flinch as she moved to start walking alongside me.

“What?”

Applejack frowned, then shook her head.

“I got a bone t’pick with ya, Sunset,” Applejack started, her warm features were set with grim determination, and blew out a breath as I braced myself.

“Get to pickin’ then, hayseed,” I drawled at her. “I haven’t got all day.”

She scowled at me but didn’t rise to my bait which probably just goes to show that Applejack was a better person than me.

Not that I’d set that bar particularly high.

“Fine, I’ll ask it plain then,” Applejack took two long strides and stepped in front of me, squaring up and impeding me as blatantly as possible, and drawing looks from everyone in the hall. “The hell you got over Rainbow?”

My nostrils flared as I straightened out, met her glare with one of my own, and bristled. The air started to fill with the scent of two competing alpha, it was the stink of barely restrained violence, and it was almost physically pushing the rest of the hall’s occupants away.

I was a seriously potent alpha, no one questioned that, and while Applejack was probably less so than I, she was definitely in my weight class when it came to intensity. That meant that, if we really got into it, the only two outcomes were enough people pulling us apart which would probably require a taser and a dose of suppressant apiece, or one of us was going to the hospital.

“You ask that like it’s your business, hayseed,” I replied dryly.

Applejack’s lips twisted in anger, but to my surprise she kept her temper.

“Horseshit,” Applejack took another step closer, but I gave her no ground, putting us a finger’s breadth apart. “Rainbow’s mah friend and she’s been actin’ mighty funny these past few months… plus, she smells all wrong, and don’t act like I ain’t seen’er hangin’ around ya too goddamn much.”

“Last I checked you weren’t her fucking keeper, Jackie,” I snarled, a low growl rumbling through my chest.

Applejack matched my growl with one of her own, and her brilliantly emerald eyes flashed viciously. If I was as mad as her I’d probably be throwing hands by now, but her self-control was clearly better than mine too.

Then again, if this situation with Rainbow Dash was any indicator then that bar was an equally subterranean one.

“How ‘bout this, Sunset,” Applejack started in a deathly quiet voice, her fury chilling to something far more dangerous than just anger. “Whatever ya’ll’re doin’ t’Rainbow, you stop, and ya leave’er alone, and that’ll be that.”

“That’ll be that, huh?” I made a show of giving her offer a lot of thought, and I could see her tensing up for another volley of verbal abuse.

“Fine.”

Applejack almost visibly stumbled, confusion painting her face as I stepped back from her and shrugged.

“Fine?” she asked, her voice dripping with suspicion.

“You want me to spit in my palm and shake on it, cowgirl?” I asked blithely. “I said fine, and that means ‘fine’… I’ll leave her alone.”

There wasn’t an ounce of trust in those green eyes of hers but, finally, Applejack just nodded and took a step back herself, giving a little ground to me the same as I had to her, a kind of deliberate peace offering.

“You swear it?” Applejack asked stonily.

“On my pride as an alpha,” I replied, and those words came out maybe a little rawer than they ought to have.

Probably because I actually meant them.

Whatever the case, my words seemed to mollify Applejack, and she backed down, let out a breath, and gave me an odd look.

“Gotta say, Sunset, I ain’t sure what t’make’a you,” she said.

“Don’t think too hard on it, hayseed,” I replied with a thin-lipped smile. “You’ll only hurt yourself, and you’ll probably get it wrong anyway.”

Her scowl returned, lingered for a moment, then she shook her head.

Applejack jabbed a finger in my direction. “Y’all better not go back on your word,”

I didn’t bother to give that accusation the benefit of a reply, instead turning on my heel and putting my back to Applejack, waving dismissively over my shoulder as I left her behind. I had better and more important things to do today than argue with the local apple merchant.

Two more classes still to go, which would equate to about three hours of being unable to concentrate on anything but what I would have to do at the end of my day.

The weight of what was coming left me feeling irritable and lethargic throughout my classes, such that by the time I actually got out of my last class I was feeling particularly miserable.

I couldn’t avoid this forever, though. I’d been avoiding this for months already and it had only hurt the both of us, her more than me, and that had to come to an end.

The day was brighter than it had any right to be, and the sunshine of the late afternoon went a long way towards soothing the chill in the air. Canterlot was a city both cold and bright by nature, both in this world and in mine, and I usually took comfort in that comparison.

Now it just felt obscene.

“Hey.”

I paused, frowning as Rainbow Dash stepped out from under the tree she’d been lounging beneath in the quad. The branches were showing a few early blossoms and I found myself thankful for that because their scent masked hers just a little.

I’d take what I could get at this point.

“Dash,” I greeted her coolly, and she missed a step. “What’s up?”

“This thing you’re doing with Flutters,” Rainbow started, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. Something she’d started doing more and more lately. “Is this for real?”

“You mean am I aiming to mark her?” I asked bluntly, and Rainbow wilted back a little before nodding.

“Y-Yeah,” she replied finally. “Are you?”

I sighed and crossed my arms, turning to face her fully with a scowl.

“Are you implying I wouldn’t take Fluttershy seriously as an omega?” I spoke casually but a growl lurked under my words, and Rainbow paled. “She’s not some lazy pillow princess like Trixie, Dash… Fluttershy deserves to be treated right and I intend to do just that.”

“W-What about-?” Rainbow started but trailed off, her cheeks flushing as she wrapped her arms around herself.

A tight wedge of hurt curled up in my chest at the sight. Alpha or not, Rainbow had been my bitch for over half a year and my body recognized when she was in pain.

Before I knew it I was across the grass and tugging Rainbow around to the other side of the tree, and pulling her into my arms.

My hand went to the back of Rainbow’s head and pressed it to the hollow of my neck.

Right where she belonged, my mind told me. My omega was right where she belonged.

Even my instincts had trouble differentiating Rainbow Dash from a true omega lately. Instinct was a powerful, and powerfully stupid, thing.

“What happens to me?” Rainbow asked quietly after a few deep, calming breaths.

I furrowed my brow at that and pulled away to look Rainbow in the eyes, putting my hands on her shoulders as I braced myself for what I had to do next.

“What happens is that I let you go,” I replied, and Rainbow blinked in confusion. I sighed, let go, and stepped back. “Rainbow, I’ve basically been holding you captive all this time,” I explained slowly. “You’ve been my bitch for like, seven months… you know that’s a bad thing, right?”

“I… I mean, yeah,” Rainbow said it, but it didn’t quite sound like she meant it.

“Rainbow,” I started, feeling an odd worm of doubt enter my heart. “So long as things stay this way you can’t take an omega, remember?” She looked pensive but nodded. “You can barely say no to me, and hell… when was the last time you even went into rut?”

“F-Five months,” Rainbow admitted, and I cussed softly under my breath.

“Rainbow, look,” I reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, and I could feel the fear and tension radiating off of her. “It’s for the best to let this end, okay? We both agree it probably shouldn’t have ever happened, it was just a random shit situation and… fuck, you know I don’t treat you very well.”

“You treat me fine, Alpha!” Rainbow’s voice cracked as she replied with a suddenness that stunned me.

Even moreso, she had called me ‘alpha’, something she normally only did during sex.

This was worse than I’d thought. Rainbow wasn’t just acting like an omega, she was starting to think like one too.

“If I’m going to be courting Fluttershy I can’t fuck around on her,” I pointed out, and Rainbow grimaced.

“You… that’s only after you mark her, though!” Rainbow countered. “Until then you… we could…”

“Rainbow Dash, look at me,” once I might’ve grabbed her by the jaw and made her do it, but now she didn’t need the incentive, she just obeyed. “Are you seriously arguing about staying my bitch?”

Rainbow swallowed hard and I could tell she wanted to look away, but my command was strong enough that it overrode the impulse.

She clammed up, though, and I felt my temper rising.

“Answer me, bitch,” I snarled, a growl rising in my throat.

I watched the shiver of dominance wash over Rainbow, and she whined softly before finally forcing the words past her tongue.

“W-What if I am?” Rainbow finally said. “What if I don’t want things to change?”

Stepping closer, Rainbow molded against me, it was a familiar weight and warmth that I’d grown both used to and comfortable with over the past seven months. She pressed her face to my neck and licked me a few times before moving up to offer me her lips.

Damn it. Rainbow knew I hated saying no to her… Maybe it’s because she was an alpha that she knew how to push my buttons. Either way, she knew I had a habit of indulging her, and only lately did I realise that it was a bad habit.

I gave into temptation and kissed her anyway, locked my lips over hers as I slipped my hands down to her slim waist and pulled her closer.

She drew back, giving me a plaintive, needy look before raising her chin, turning her head, and blatantly exposing her neck to me.

A growl escaped my lips. “Don’t tempt me, Dash.”

“You don’t need an omega,” she said angrily. “You’ve got me!”

This time I did seize her by the jaw and I pulled her face back in line with mine.

“I’m not going to mark you, Rainbow,” I snarled. “You’d be a fucking laughingstock and we both know it.”

“I don’t care!” Rainbow smacked my hand away and exposed her neck again. “Just do it, okay? I’ll be whatever you need me to be!”

“What is wrong with you?!” I snapped, grabbing her by the wrist and dragging her deeper into the shadows of the school before turning to face her again. “You’re an alpha! Where’s your fucking pride?!”

“It’s with you!” Rainbow jerked her hand back from me but didn’t lower her head.

With her neck exposed I could smell her fully, that faint musk of a submissive alpha, the scent of my bitch that I’d gotten so accustomed to over these past months. It was driving me insane. She knew what she was doing to me, I was painfully hard and she wanted me to lose my cool because of that, indulge my instincts, and mark her.

“I’ll… I’ll be your bitch, okay?” Rainbow said desperately. “Those people can laugh all they want! Because they don’t get what it’s like to have you!”

Fuck, Rainbow really did know exactly how to stroke my ego.

She knew exactly what I wanted to hear and she was completely shameless about it.

But this was wrong.

I knew it then just as well as I know it now. I’d broken Rainbow, taken her, bitched her, knotted her, and now she was addicted to me.

“Aren’t I good?” Rainbow let her voice soften, and it sent a thrilling tingle up my spine as she drew a little closer to me. “Aren’t… aren’t I a good bitch?”

I grabbed her by the throat this time, and she didn’t resist. She relaxed into my grip, submitting completely to my strength as I pushed her up against the wall of the school, flipped her around, and pinned her to brickwork.

She whimpered as I pushed her hair away and pressed my nose to the back of her neck, right up against her scent glands, and took a deep breath.

“Mark me,” Rainbow begged. “Please.”

I wanted to. I wanted to dig my teeth in and leave my mark on her so badly. I wanted the whole world to know that she was mine, that this pretty little alpha was my bottom bitch.

She moaned as I ran my tongue along her neck, tasting the sweet salt of her sweat. My instincts were roaring, and I was tempted to just tear her clothes off and knot her right then and there.

Instead, I pulled back, and Rainbow whined out a low, agonised, and wordless plea.

“No,” I said quietly. “I should never have done this to you.”

“But-!”

“No!” I snarled. “This was wrong! I shouldn’t have-, fuck!”

I stalked away a few steps, my limbs practically vibrating with lust as Rainbow turned and reached out for me.

She never touched me, I moved away before she could, and I turned to fix her with as neutral of a look as I could manage.

“I’m not going to mark you, Dash,” I said finally. “I’m not going to ruin you like that… you deserve better than that.”

“Alpha, please…” Rainbow reached out again, but I shook my head and stepped back further.

“You deserve better than me, Dash,” I said. “Now just… just go home, okay?”

“Sunset… no,” there were tears in her eyes and it was pure agony to see it.

“Go home, Rainbow Dash,” Forcing those words out was like vomiting razor blades. “We’re finished.”

I turned my back on her and left, moving as quickly as I could force myself to without breaking into a run. I didn’t look back, because if I did I’d have to see her crying and reaching out for me, and if I saw that I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I’d be back at her side, apologising to her, and kissing her, and doing whatever I needed to to make her smile again.

So I didn’t look back.

Even if it broke my heart.

Chapter 5

If I’m being honest I probably shouldn’t have made the date for tonight.

My head was still foggy and dull from breaking things off with Rainbow Dash, and the whole day after that passed in such a grey haze that by the time the evening rolled around I’d barely realised what had happened.

I hadn’t seen Rainbow on campus, and I suspected she’d skipped her classes that day. I didn’t strictly blame her, considering what I’d done, but it still hurt to know it was my fault.

I’d hurt her, and badly, but in the end I had to believe it was for the best. She was an alpha, and we weren’t meant to be dominated like that. What I had been doing to her wasn’t just wrong it was unnatural, and the fact that her mind had been bent to the point of actually wanting me to continue only reinforced my decision to stay away from her.

Alphas didn’t fall in love with other alphas, after all.

My brain was scrambled all day, and I could barely pay attention again. All the same I managed to fumble through my classes and make it home at a reasonable enough time to get ready for my date with Fluttershy.

This was the right thing to do.

It had to be.

Either way, though, I still had a date to get ready for and that meant I needed to at least be presentable.

Despite living in kind of a shit-hole part of town, I made sure to invest in some decent clothes. In my personal opinion, no self-respecting alpha should be without at least a pair of decent suits.

The one I chose for tonight consisted of a pair of black dress slacks, a scarlet button-up with gold thread trim with a matching tie, and a black blazer with faux-gold buttons.

I showered and dressed as quickly and efficiently as possible, briefly argued with myself over using lipstick, opted for a colorless sheen to give them some pop, and moved on.

My hair ended up tied back in a low ponytail that hung just loose enough to give me what I thought was an appropriately dashing, ragged air, and I finished my ensemble with a touch of pheromonal cologne to give my scent a slightly more appealing aroma.

Given that I’d be spending the night in the company of a gorgeous omega, I’d rather not be throwing off my usual musk.

Tugging the blazer straight, I gave myself a once over in the mirror and smiled.

I was no one’s knight in shining armor, that was for certain, but I flattered myself to think that I pulled off the ‘rake at the gates of hell’ look pretty decently, and that was charming for certain definitions of the word.

“Okay Sunset, time to suck it up and bring your ‘A’ game,” I gave myself my best glare, trying to bully myself into ignoring a certain rainbow-headed specter that was haunting my thoughts.

Turning away, I fitted my riding leathers over my outfit as carefully as possible, slung my heavy, black leather jacket on, and left my flat with a sinking feeling in my stomach that I had been trying to ignore all day with a noticeable lack of success.

I was still worried about Rainbow Dash.

That wasn’t something I could afford to let cloud my thoughts, though. I was courting Fluttershy, and I wasn’t just doing it to push away Rainbow… objectively speaking, Flutters was a perfect match for me, and I genuinely liked her.

I owed it to her to have my head on straight during our date, and hauling ass on my motorcycle always helped to clear my thoughts up.

The ride to Gustav’s was uneventful and blessedly dry. The freeways weren’t even particularly choked since commuter traffic was mostly leaving downtown at this time of day, rather than going in, so I was able to open up the throttle more than usual.

The roar of the engine and the wind ripping over my helmet was a welcome distraction, and by the time I rolled into the parking lot of the restaurant I was feeling reasonably more upbeat.

I was about fifteen minutes early, per habit, so I parked, pulled my helmet off, touched up my hair a bit, and settled in to wait.

And wait.

A~nd wait.

By the time seven-forty-five rolled around I had begun to suspect I'd been stood up. Anger welled in my gut, and not just over the fact that I, Sunset Shimmer, might've been left hanging on a date. The anger came more from how it highlighted an inescapable comparison that I’d rather not think about.

About how Rainbow would never have done this to me.

Hell, she would've been earlier than me. My bitch would have been waiting right here when I rolled up, thrilled that her alpha was doting on her. She would have been pretty and dolled up just for me.

Damn it.

I was torn. A part of me wanted to leave, while another part wanted to give it just a bit longer, if only to hear the explanation.

Just as I was about to make a decision on that, a long black Cadillac pulled up to the side of the restaurant.

I raised an eyebrow as a broad, thick-necked man who could be more accurately described as a goon and could’ve reasonably owned a nickname like ‘Tombstone’ stepped out of the driver's seat, moved around to the rear of the car, and opened the side door.

Well, actually he only managed to get it open about halfway before a pair of dainty feet in cute flats violently kicked the door the rest of the way clear. Their owner followed suit a second later as Fluttershy emerged from the car looking frazzled and irritated.

Her expression fell to something like mortified embarrassment when she looked around and spied me watching the spectacle bemusedly from the entrance.

The panic on her face seemed to spread through her body like wildfire as she rapidly smoothed out the creases in her long, flower-patterned skirt before looking around herself in alarm, diving back into the car, and then emerging again with a small clutch.

I think I did a fair job of not laughing as she pulled a little comb out to get her hair straight again, smoothed her skirt one more time, presumably for good luck, shot her driver a dirty look, then made her way over to me.

“Well that was fascinating,” I remarked dryly as she reached me, and her cheeks, already an abashed pink, reddened further.

“I am so sorry I’m so late,” she said softly, stepping in close to punctuate her words with a better-than-friendly nuzzle, which I allowed but only because she really seemed apologetic. “I uhm… I only told my mom what was happening a couple of hours ago and she insisted on a background check.”

“Of me?” That caught me off-guard, my eyes widening as a small nugget of shock displaced the anger in my chest. “Why?”

Fluttershy rolled her eyes and sighed, a more blunt gesture than I was used to seeing from the normally painfully polite omega. Her reserves of patience, which I’d always taken as nigh-on infinite, had clearly been taxed to their limits tonight.

“I… I think she wanted to make sure you were a good match,” she replied uneasily. “I also think she might’ve pulled your academic records… I’m so sorry, Sunset…”

“Talk about overprotective,” I said with a slightly nervous laugh before offering Fluttershy my arm. “So?”

“You uhm… you still want to have dinner with me?” Fluttershy asked, her hand going to a lock of her long pink hair to fidget with it as she shuffled her feet awkwardly. “I’ll… I’ll understand if this uhm-”

“Flutters,” I spoke with a solid, even tone that cut through her meandering nerves as I made a show of offering my arm one more time. “Let’s have our dinner, okay?”

Her angelic smile came back in full force as she nodded happily, moved to my side, and took my arm.

“You look beautiful, by the way,” I remarked quietly as I led her into Gustav’s, and she missed a step.

“O-Oh, uhm, s-so do you!” Fluttershy beamed up at me, then seemed to actually take my outfit in for the first time that night along with my wry grin, goldfished for a few moments, then sighed and hung her head.

“I’m… I’m sorry,” Fluttershy wilted in on herself a little. “I r-really wanted to make a good impression, but…”

I paused as we entered the restaurant, the warm air and low chatter of patrons replacing the noise of the city, and turned to face her with a frown.

“Okay… how about this,” I started, then stepped back and gave her another smile. “Let’s pretend we both meant to meet at eight, which means we’re both early, and we just start the date over, alright?”

Rather than being happy, Fluttershy seemed to regard me with something like suspicion, which put me off a little. Her expression shifted back to that angelic smile of hers though, and the almost cynical look vanishing like smoke.

“If that’s okay with you,” Fluttershy said softly, pressing against me again. “What about the reservation, though? Gustav’s would need one, right?”

“Oh that?” I laughed and waved a hand. “Don’t sweat it, I’ve got that covered.”

I walked up to the girl at the front, a pretty blonde with bright hazel eyes.

“Good evening and welcome to Gustav’s,” she chirped. “Do you have a reservation?”

“Yes and no,” I replied with a laugh. “Is Bonnie in the back?”

The girl blinked, then gave me a sidelong glance.

“Why do you ask?” Her tone was one of guarded curiosity.

“Because she owes me big,” I replied, smirking. “Ask her about it sometime, it’s a fun story.”

The girl’s expression turned to a Cheshire grin as she pulled up a small black walkie and spoke into it.

“Hey Bons? We have a guest up here who needs to speak with you.”

The walkie crackled with reply, and through the whole exchange Fluttershy was just watching me. There’s more analysis in her gaze than I would have expected, and I got the feeling that I was being weighed or evaluated which caught me off guard.

It’s not that I thought Fluttershy was an airhead or anything, on the contrary it takes some real smarts to do what she does. That said, I hadn’t expected the kind of grim regard she was wearing.

“Was our reservation for seven?” Fluttershy asked quietly while we waited, shame still coloring her voice, though that odd regard never wavered..

“Mhm,” I nodded, and she hung her head. “But that’s why I chose Gustav’s,” I continued. “I’ve got an… acquaintance who works here, and I wanted to make sure we had a smooth night, I just didn’t expect to call this in so early.”

“I’m sorry.”

I considered telling her to forget about it, but my thoughts were interrupted as a pale young woman in the sharp, pressed outfit of a lead server emerged from the back and headed towards us.

Her hair was the same two-tone I remembered, with one side a deep navy blue and the other a cotton candy pink.

“Bonnie!” I grinned and detached myself from Fluttershy, throwing my arms wide.

The young woman’s face morphed from schooled professionalism to a deep grimace as she saw me, and her formerly studious gait turned into a stumble.

“Ah shit,” Bon Bon recoiled for a moment, then sighed and kept moving. “What do you want, Shimmer?”

“What, no hug?” I wiggled my arms at her but her teal eyes just sharpened with annoyance.

“I’m working,” Bon Bon said stiffly. “Now talk.”

“Killjoy,” I chuckled, lowering my arms. “Fine, so I had a reservation for seven but there was a little delay,” I began my grin still firmly in place.

“Not my problem,” Bonnie remarked cooly.

“Obviously,” I agreed. “Which is why I’m calling in that marker you owe me and making it your problem.”

A variety of interesting expressions flickered over Bon Bon’s face, all of them sharing a fascinating array of colors in the spectrum of red.

“I can’t just make a table appear!” She said finally, her voice tight and angry. “We’re at capacity! We’re always at capacity at this time of night!”

“No you’re not,” I replied with a grin. “There’s always one table still open.”

This time both Bon Bon and the girl at the register blanched.

“That’s the mayor’s table,” Bon Bon hissed. “I can’t just give it to you!”

My expression flattened to a cruel edge.

“You owe me, Bonnie,” I said evenly. “Unless you want me to collect from Lyra,” Bonnie went rigid, but I wasn’t done. “Alternatively, maybe I’ll ask Chancellor Celestia to take a closer look at your omega’s thesis, alternatively alternatively, you could fucking knuckle down.”

Bon Bon’s eyes widened to a furious glare, but only for a moment, and then the expression vanished.

“Fine,” she said through gritted teeth. “But after this we’re square.”

Then she closed the distance between us and the front entrance was suddenly choked in the pheromonal stink of an enraged alpha.

“And if you ever threaten Lyra again, I will fucking end you,” Bon Bon swore softly. “You know I can.”

“I know, and I’d make you regret it,” I replied, not budging an inch as she took a step back. “But so long as all debts get paid I’m happy to stay out of the way.”

“Fuck you, Shimmer,” Bon Bon snapped.

Then, like a drawn curtain, her expression shifted to polite hospitality and she was suddenly all smiles.

“Thank you for choosing Gustav’s, follow me right this way!” Bon Bon’s voice was bright but brittle as she turned on her heels and marched towards the rear of the restaurant.

I held out my arm to Fluttershy again, who took it, and whose expression had shifted from cool analysis to surprised interest.

We followed Bon Bon back into the further end of the restaurant, where things only seemed to get nicer.

Gustav’s was a beautiful, old-fashioned kind of place done up in shades of warm gold, bronze, and brown with honest-to-Celestia Crystal chandeliers. There was nothing harsh to the eyes, nothing that didn’t suggest you should be doing anything but relaxing with a tumbler of whiskey and good company while you were here.

The air was filled with a soft, jazzy horn, the kind of thing you could listen to all day without it becoming tiresome, and faded just enough into the background to provide the perfect foundation for an even better evening.

Fluttershy clung to my arm, her head moving gently this way and that. I had the impression she’d been here before, but if I was being honest I couldn’t say I was surprised. You didn’t take an omega like Fluttershy to just any old diner for a night out but, even if she had been here before, I was resolved to make sure that this visit was the one she compared all of those other ones to, and not the other way around.

“I’ll be along in a few minutes to take your order,” Bon Bon said through gritted teeth as she stopped at a private table set apart than the rest of Gustav’s.

The chairs were cushioned and well appointed, the table was spacious, and the menus were already in place along with a full cutlery set. The other tables in the main dining area were all of a similar like and kind, high end but identical. This table had far more adornments, and looked like it belonged in the parlour of a rich alpha’s study.

“Thanks toots,” I shot a grin back at her, and I could practically hear the vein in her forehead popping out.

She wisely said nothing as she left while I pulled Fluttershy’s seat out, and gestured with theatrical gallantry.

Fluttershy giggled, the first real expression of mirth she’d made all day, and swept her dress out of the way before sitting. I joined her on the opposite side and began looking over the menu as another server left a glass of ice water each.

“Uhm, Sunset?” Fluttershy asked warily, and I peeked over the menu at her.

“I guess you wanna know what that was about, huh?” I ventured, laying the menu down flat.

“K-Kinda,” she admitted. “It was a little… scary.”

“I was?” I asked. “Or did you mean Bonnie?”

“B-Both.”

I sighed, carding my fingers through my hair and pulling my loose tail out of its band so I could retie it.

“I pulled Bonnie and Lyra out of a fire a while back,” I explained slowly. “It was about a year and a half back or so, Lyra was about to graduate with her masters in psych.”

Fluttershy nodded along, leaning in as I took a sip of water and considered my next words carefully. It wasn’t that I didn't trust Fluttershy, but for all of our contentious relationship I didn’t want to put Bon Bon in a bind.

“They got into a fight, basically,” I finally said. “Bonnie has been hiding something, Lyra lost her shit, things escalated, and somewhere in there Lyra’s thesis research got… destroyed.”

“Oh no…” Fluttershy put a hand to my lips and her eyes went wide.

“I think Bonnie did it out of spite after Lyra split up with her,” I explained, but before Fluttershy could respond I followed up with, “but she instantly regretted it!” I held up a staying hand. “It was a rash, dumb thing, and Bonnie immediately tried to make it right.”

“What happened?”

“Well,” I chuckled weakly. “That’s where I come in… I kind of write papers for people… for money.”

“You cheat?!” Fluttershy looked shocked.

“No,” I gave her a pointed look. “Other people pay me so that they can cheat.”

“That’s still academic fraud,” Fluttershy pointed out.

“And I’m an orphan with a genius IQ,” I countered. “I don’t have a ton of options for cash, okay? I do what I have to to make ends meet, and if I end up with a little extra scratch at the end of the day because of my side business so be it.”

Fluttershy’s eyes went wide, and I sighed.

“Sorry,” I said softly. “I’m a little sore about that… stuff, okay? I didn’t mean to snap.”

She nodded silently, so I took the opportunity to continue.

“Anyway, Bon Bon swore to Lyra she’d make it right, and she’d must’ve heard about my business from somebody because she approached me,” I chuckled wanly and gestured towards the back of the restaurant. “She needed me to reconstruct the thesis in less than twelve hours, otherwise the deadline would pass and Lyra would never forgive her, so I told her I could do it, quoted her my price, and she nearly shit herself.”

To my surprise, Fluttershy barked out a laugh that she immediately covered up with her hands.

“S-Sorry, go on.”

“Don’t be sorry, you’ve got a cute laugh,” that earned me a blush and a smile. “But yeah, she couldn’t pay, so I made her a deal… she pays a lot less and owes me a lot more, and she agreed.”

“So now she’s paid up?” Fluttershy asked, looking concerned.

“At the end of the night, yeah,” I replied. “I told you, I’m no cheat. But I refuse to be cheated.”

“Would you have really done it?” Fluttershy eyed me carefully. “Gone after Lyra? Or told the Chancellor.”

“Hell yeah,” I said instantly earning another look of surprise. “She owed me a debt… it doesn’t matter how much I like Bonnie and her omega, I can’t just not collect, even if it would ruin both of us, that's just bad business.”

“She’d come after you?” Fluttershy pressed.

“Definitely,” I agreed. “Even if Bonnie knew I had every right, she’d still do it… even by alpha standards she’s crazy protective of Lyra.” I laughed weakly as I leaned back in my seat. “And honestly? She’d probably kick my ass or worse… Bonnie has some kind of history.”

Fluttershy leaned forward with bright eyes.

“What kind of history?”

“Dunno, not my circus, not my monkeys,” I replied with a shrug. “Bonnie and her family are really intense though, my guess would be witness protection or something.”

“Wow…” Fluttershy stared, and I waved a hand to interrupt her thought process.

“That’s just speculation though,” I continued. “Like I said, not my monkeys, I don’t care what Bonnie may or may not have done so long as she’s not whipping my ass with those crazy hand-to-hand skills of hers.”

At that point I saw the opportunity to pivot the conversation, and I leaned forward on the table to regard Fluttershy more directly.

“Speaking of history though,” I started, “since when does a college student have a bodyguard that looks like he works out by bench-pressing cinderblocks?”

“He works for my dad,” Fluttershy answered cooly. “I could have just driven myself but mom gets really… uhm… insistent about my safety.”

“Your dad has his own security guard?” I laughed lightly. “What’s he even do?”

Weirdly, instead of answering, Fluttershy just gave me an incredibly cold expression that surprised me with its intensity. Before I could question her about it, though, Bon Bon arrived to take our order.

I wasn’t paying terribly close attention to my order, I chose the only pasta dish on there because it was hard to go wrong with noodles, and the cream sauce sounded appealing, which was enough for me. I wasn’t here to eat, I was here for Fluttershy, which meant that my mind was occupied by the strangely aggressive response I’d garnered.

Fluttershy ordered the vegetarian dish, some kind of stuffed pepper dish I think I remembered point over, but I hadn’t given it much thought.

Bon Bon swept up the menus the instant we'd made our order, stalking off with irritation still writ all over her body language.

Bonnie’s attitude was the least of my concerns right now though.

“I… I’m sorry if I said something wrong,” I began quietly, taking a sip of water. “If your dad’s a sore subject I won’t bring it up, I’m not exactly great shakes with my parents either considering I don’t even know them.”

That got another glare, although this one was tinged with something like confusion. I didn’t look away from her though, instead I just met Fluttershy’s gaze and hoped she could tell I was being sincere.

Apparently it worked, because after a moment she relaxed, sat back, went back to that strangely analytical look, eyeing me up and down for several moments before finally speaking again.

“Do you… uhm… sorry, but do you know who my father is?” Fluttershy asked tentatively.

I raised an eyebrow as I sipped my water again, then shrugged.

“Should I?” I replied. “Is he famous?”

Fluttershy stared at me, her jaw hanging open slightly. After a moment of the background music filling the deafening silence, she finally closed her mouth with a click and then started to laugh uncontrollably.

Her mirth lasted several minutes, and that full laughter of hers was probably about the prettiest thing I’ve ever heard to be totally honest. If I’d known why she was laughing I would have felt a lot better, but since I didn’t I opted to just wait it out and take some comfort in the fact that she seemed to be in a better mood than when she’d been glaring at me.

Once her giggle-fit had subsided, I pushed her water glass a little closer, which she took and swigged from gratefully.

“So uh…” I fidgeted with a piece of cutlery for a moment as I searched for a way to broach the topic before deciding on the direct route. “What the fuck was that?”

“I'm sorry, it was nothing,” Fluttershy replied, her voice still bright with laughter. “So uhm… what kind of movies do you like?”

I sat back, confused at the sudden change of topic, but mentally shrugged and brushed it off. If she didn’t want to talk about her family then who was I to judge? Quill knows I had nothing good to say about the people who had raised me.

“Horror movies are basically cinematic comfort food for me,” I admitted. “Golden-age slashers are my favorite, but there’s some new stuff I’ve enjoyed.”

“Did uhm, did you see that one that came out about a year back?” Fluttershy asked with what I thought was slightly forced nonchalance. “The one about the nine people who all worked in the same building being stalked by a killer?”

“Nine Lies?” I grinned at that. “Best horror movie in the past decade in my opinion, it used all of the old school camera cuts and perspective tricks too, no messy CGI or computer effects, just good old-fashioned suspense and eye for detail.”

“The director was pretty spot on,” she agreed.

“He’s probably one of the best thriller and horror directors since the OG masters, like Carpenter,” I agreed. “I’m not a huge fan of modern stuff, but I’ll watch anything that Camera Shy has had his… hands… on…-”

I trailed off as my brain caught up with my words and began to short out while Fluttershy just gave me that too-innocent smile from across the table.

“Oh look, our food’s here!” she turned with a bright smile as our plates were put in front of us.

Fluttershy hummed in delight as she took a dainty bite of her stuffed pepper while I stared at her in gape-mouthed shock. It wasn’t often that someone caught me off-guard like that, but the knowledge that this pretty little omega was the daughter of one of the most famous modern horror directors left me speechless.

I picked at my pasta for a few minutes, trying and failing to find a new topic. Eventually, though, it was Fluttershy who managed to salvage things as she set her fork down and looked a little sheepish as she spoke up.

“S-Sorry,” she said softly. “I don’t usually, uhm… mess with people like that, but it’s been a long time since I met someone who didn’t know who my dad was.”

“More fool me,” I admitted softly, “I didn’t even think about looking at your parents.”

“That’s kind of charming actually,” Fluttershy replied, blushing as she raised her head to meet my gaze. “I… I thought you were like everyone else, you know?” she fidgeted and flushed prettily. “Like the ones who wanted to court me because my family has a lot of money? But you didn’t even know.”

“Looking at other people’s families is kind of an afterthought to an orphan,” I explained quietly as I leaned back in my chair. “It’s not important to me because I don’t have one, so it’s a blind spot, I guess.”

She reached out and took my hand, pulling it across the table towards her until we were met in the middle. My first first thought was just how soft her fingers were, her palms too. Fluttershy’s touch was feather-light, and her fingers wove between mine fondly as her smile brightened.

“But, uhm… I still want you to know that...” her voice cracks a little as she takes a firmer grip on my hand, “that the fact that you wanted to court me, for me… well, it just means so much to me!”

“Every omega deserves an alpha who cares for them,” I said firmly, more iron entering my voice as I spoke. “You deserve an alpha who cares about you, not your family.”

“Well…” she trailed off, her cheeks reddening, further as she gave me those heart-stopping bedroom eyes again. “I think I might have found one.”

I was about to respond when a sensation I had not been expecting glued my tongue to the top of my mouth. Fluttershy’s cute little foot was trailing up and down my leg beneath the table, occasionally brushing my inner thigh and sending tingles up my spine to my hindbrain that sent my alpha instincts into overdrive.

“You’re uhm… you’re a very beautiful alpha, you know,” Fluttershy began in a voice that was starting to grow husky as the omega instincts in her started boiling up to the surface, egged on by my own pheromones. “Or uhm, do you prefer handsome?”

“Handsome, beautiful…” I shrug and smile at her, “what does it matter? I always look good.”

I nailed the cheesy line perfectly, and Fluttershy burst into laughter. I had to admit, making Fluttershy laugh did feel good. It felt like she didn’t do it quite enough and that was a thought that bothered me.

The tension faded, we dug into our meals intent on getting to them before they grew cold. I ordered a pint of dark ale the next time Bonnie came around while Fluttershy ordered a berry cider that ended up tasting pretty decent when I asked to try it. I wasn’t the biggest fan of sweet things, but it had a refreshing bite to it that I enjoyed.

By the time we were done with our meals, I was feeling in considerably better spirits, and Fluttershy looked more than pleased with the evening which was my main concern. How it had begun notwithstanding, I actually found Fluttershy to be excellent company, a witty conversationalist, and a much deeper person than I’d expected.

“I still can’t believe I never connected you to your dad,” I admitted as I pushed my plate away, and Fluttershy giggled lightly again.

“It’s not like I’m anything like him, honestly,” she said a shrug. “Despite being an omega, he’s got a lot of wanderlust, and he’s so precise.”

“Camera Shy is famous, or maybe infamous,” I amended, and Fluttershy just nodded with a wry smile, “for having his hand in every stage of production…” a thought occurred to me that sank in my gust unpleasantly. “Fluttershy, is your dad very… critical of you?”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened at the question, then she burst into laughter.

“Oh! Not at all!” she shook her head, smiling as she reached out to take my hand again. “I’m sure daddy would love it if I went into film or something like him, but when I told him I was pursuing a veterinary degree he was nothing but supportive!” I felt a bit of relief at that. “No, it’s just, uhm… I don’t get to spend much time with him and momma, they’re always on six-or eight-month or even year-long shoots.”

“Right, your mom would be Barricade, then? Camera Shy’s bodyguard?” The director had famously married his own security officer during a long shoot decades ago, it was apparently pretty romantic, but now I felt a bit bad bringing it up. “They’re gone a lot then, I guess.”

“They both try to be home for birthdays and holidays,” she said wanly. “And it’s not that they neglect me or anything, they call as much as they can, and I know they love me very much, but it’s, uhm… a little lonely, I guess.”

“I’m a little surprised you never found an alpha to spend time with before this,” I admitted. “But then, you did have pretty good reasons.”

Fluttershy let out a dry little laugh. “I know some of them probably liked me, but a lot of them just gushed about my dad and…” she sighed quietly. “I mean, I thought maybe Rainbow, since we grew up together but…”

My heart clenched in my chest at the sound of her name. Rainbow… shit, why had I brought up other alphas to her? Rainbow was an alpha and Fluttershy’s childhood friend, of course she would have been in the running at some point! Stupid, stupid, stupid!

“If you don’t want to talk about it…” I tried to give myself an out but Fluttershy, naturally, just smiled and shook her head.

“No, it’s okay,” she squeezed my hand. “I don’t want you to think you have to compete with her…” Not the problem, but alright, guess we’re doing this. “Rainbow tried to court me once, but momma shut her down flat,” I raised an eyebrow at that. “She said no, told Rainbow she wasn’t a strong enough alpha to care for me, and then told her to leave.”

“Savage,” I winced, that kind of blatant rejection must’ve hit Rainbow hard.

“She was… really upset for a long time,” Fluttershy said softly. “Rainbow has always been very soft and kind for an alpha, I think maybe it's because she was raised by an omega,” Fluttershy smiled fondly. “I care about her deeply, but Rainbow accepted that we weren’t going to be bonded when my mom rejected her, she respects momma too much for that.”

“I actually think that might’ve been a mistake,” I said carefully, and Fluttershy looked up in surprise. “Accepting the rejection, I mean.”

“Why?”

“Well, if it were me,” I considered my next words carefully, not wanting to offend her on Rainbow’s behalf, “I think I would have pushed someone away to see if they had the strength to push back… it’s an alpha thing.”

“You think momma wanted Rainbow to fight her on it?” Fluttershy asked, her eyes widening.

“Probably,” I replied. “It’s not necessarily fair but, like I said, it’s a very alpha thing to do.”

“I never thought about that,” Fluttershy admitted quietly, then she chuckled and shook her head. “That probably cemented it in mommas head that Rainbow wasn’t right for me, and maybe she’s right… I get the feeling Rainbow wants someone else.”

You have no idea.

Silence fell between us for a few minutes, barely filled with the background music of the jazzy horn that had never ceased to play, and I let it fill the space as I took her hand and rolled my thumb over Fluttershy’s knuckles, feeling the soft skin and her delicate fingers beneath mine.

“Sunset?”

I raised my eyes to hers, and found those big, perfect baby blues fixed on me.

“Hm?” I gave her hand a little squeeze, and she smiled.

The expression was big, wide, and radiant, and the sheer beauty in it caught me out for a moment. Before this there was something deeply guarded about Fluttershy that I hadn’t been able to see past, but now it was like the sun had come out from behind the clouds and it was all the lovelier for it.

“Thank you,” she said softly, “for taking me out, and for treating me so well, and for uhm… for everything,” I was about to wave it off, but she caught me before I could speak. “Don’t say it was nothing!” she pressed. “I was so late, and you’ve been so good to me tonight, and just… you’ve been the perfect alpha, and I’ve been just… suspicious and I’ve needled you, and I feel awful.”

“You had good reason,” I pointed out.

“It doesn’t forgive that I did it to someone who didn’t deserve it,” she countered gently. “I, uhm… I want to try this, us, I mean,” Fluttershy continued more firmly. “If you still want to, I’d very much like if you courted me and then, maybe down the line, we could uhm… y-you know…”

Her cheeks went deliciously red, and I smiled. She was genuinely offering to let me mark her eventually, assuming the courting went well which at this point there was no reason to assume it wouldn’t.

“I’m willing to wait,” I promised. “Maybe sometime next month I could meet your mom at least? Your dad’s on a shoot I think, right?”

For a moment it looked as though she was going to immediately agree, but a breath later Fluttershy’s face fell, and I got an odd feeling pulling at the pit of my stomach.

“He… is,” she confirmed slowly, her earlier good mood seeming to evaporate. “B-But, uhm… I’m afraid next month isn’t good for me.”

I blinked at that. Was that too fast? Waiting a month before meeting either the sire or dam alpha wasn’t too unusual but maybe her family was more old-fashioned?

“Then… the month after?”

Fluttershy sighed and sagged in her chair.

“Actually, in about a month I’m going to be gone for a while,” she replied finally. “For… almost five months, actually.”

My jaw dropped.

Five months?

“Summer is coming around and I don’t have classes,” Fluttershy continued with a touch of apprehension. “Daddy wanted me to come out and spend the summer with him on location for his shoot, since we barely get to spend any time together I agreed immediately… I didn’t know this would happen.”

Tears started to gather at the corners of her eyes, and immediately I was on my feet and by her side, kneeling at the side of her chair as she wiped at her eyes.

“I’m sorry!” she sobbed quietly. “I c-completely forgot until you asked, and then I remembered I’d promised daddy and… and I’m... -!”

Before she could say another word had a hand on her cheek, my thumbs wiping at the trails of saltwater tears as I pressed my lips to hers. Fluttershy let out a muffled squeak, but her surprise lasted only a moment before she all but melted against me.

Oh wow.

When I imagined how nice it would be to kiss an omega as soft and lovely as Fluttershy I had been badly underestimated just how lovely she would really be. Everything smelled like flowers around her, and it took me a second to realise that was just how she smelled. That was her pheromonal scent, and it wasn’t even a perfume base either… it lacked any of the vaguely chemical undercurrent of even high end aroma masks.

Fluttershy’s lips were like rose petals, and she draped herself across me in the most intoxicating way. Her warm, silky weight not only wasn’t a burden, it made me feel stronger just holding onto her.

But none of that held a candle to how Fluttershy kissed.

She kissed me like she could only breathe through my lips, like I was the only thing holding her together. She kissed me in a way that if I were any other alpha I think I would be hopelessly addicted.

If I were any other alpha, though, I wouldn’t have been thinking of Rainbow Dash’s lips in that moment.

We parted, and she had a dreamy look on her flushed face. Her lips were warm, soft, and just slightly red, and on instinct I leaned in to kiss them again. To kiss her again.

She kissed me back, and this time our tongues met. I stood as we kissed, pulling her into my arms with a strength that she readily and happily yielded to. Fluttershy was the kind of soft that every omega wishes they could be for their alpha, and it wasn’t hard to see why her presence alone tended to drive my breed batshit fucking loco.

Her taste was like nothing else, clear as spring water and sweet as plum brandy.

“Ahem.”

We both froze at the sound of Bon Bon clearing her throat, and we parted sheepishly, with Fluttershy instinctively burying her head against my chest, a purposeful act of submission. An omega sought shelter from its alpha by nature, and Fluttershy curling beneath me sent a thrill up my spine as I met Bon Bon’s level gaze.

“Well,” she began dryly. “I was about to check and see if you were ready for dessert, but…” she gave us a once over, “apparently you didn’t need the prompt.”

“Creme brulee for me,” I said with a smirk, then glanced down at my date. “Flutters?”

“Uhm… the chocolate cake a la mode, please,” she said softly from half-inside my blazer. “W-With extra whip cream, too?”

“Ugh, she’s adorable,” Bon Bon grumbled, before nodding. “Creme Brulee for the asshole, and chocolate cake a la mode, extra whip, for the beautiful omega who is way too good for her, got it.”

“Thanks, Bonnie, you’re a doll,” I quipped before lowering Fluttershy back to her seat, studiously ignoring the withering glare I was getting til Bon Bon left.

Fluttershy fidgeted with a long lock of hair for several minutes after I took my seat. Every time she raised her head to look at me or say something she immediately clammed up and lowered her head, only to make another attempt a second later with approximately identical results.

“You okay?”

“I think so,” Flutterrshy replied after a moment. “You uhm… you kissed me.”

“I’d apologise, but I’m not sorry,” I said with a broad grin. “That was way too nice of a kiss to regret.”

Her blushed deepend and this time she managed to look me in the eye.

“Does that mean… you don’t mind that I, uhm… that I messed up?” Fluttershy’s lovely blue eyes were fixed on me. I couldn’t exactly say anything but yes, could I? And honestly… I sort of was okay with it.

“Mhm,” I nodded. “We’ll try a few dates now, then you’ll go on your vacation, come back, and we can try this again properly if you still want to.”

“I think I will,” Fluttershy said.

Her smile turned to a thoughtful look, and I could see the wheels in her head turning as something occurred to her. Probably the same thing that occurred to me, honestly, so I braced myself for it.

“Or…” Fluttershy started. “You could come with me?”

I shook my head, my answer already leaving my lips.

“As much as I would love to watch Camera Shy at work, that’s gonna be a hard pass,” I replied without a moment of hesitation, and that drew a frown from Fluttershy. “No offense, but I’d rather his first impression of me not be me horning in on the big daddy-daughter bonding time that he’s probably been looking forward to.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened at that, and I smiled.

“But thanks, raincheck?” I offered, and that radiant smile made another show of parting the clouds.

“Mhm,” she nodded quickly. “I’m sorry, you’re right, that, uhm, that probably would’ve been awkward.”

I shrugged. “It wasn’t a bad idea, but I’ll have other chances, or at least I hope so.”

“Well, I certainly think so,” Fluttershy gave me a warm smile. “You’ve really been so perfect tonight, Sunset… I have no idea why your reputation is so uhm… rough.”

“Because like the lady said,” I gestured towards where Bon Bon had left. “I’m an asshole.”

“I don’t think-”

“I threatened to ruin Bonnie’s life and the life of her omega just to have a nice night out with you,” I pointed out, cutting flatly through Fluttershy’s denial. “I’m kind of an asshole.”

Fluttershy frowned then, sighed, nodded, and met my eyes again.

“But uhm, you’re not one to me,” she said softly.

I chuckled grimly. “Call it old-fashioned chivalry, but I like to think I know how to treat an omega.”

“I think you do, too,” Fluttershy agreed warmly.

There was a moment there, as she stared into my eyes, that I lost myself a little. The jazz horn filled the air and the sound of the distant patrons chatting and enjoying their night washed over us, and between that and the dim, comfortable lights reflecting tones of bronze, I found myself admiring just how beautiful Fluttershy really was.

Before it was something I just knew.

Now it was something I could feel.

I don’t know how else to describe it, but the way she looked at me, with those bright blue eyes of hers and that heart-shaped face that looked like it was made to make alphas fall in love, I could feel the beauty coming off of her.

“And uhm, you know…” Fluttershy blushed heavily as she tucked a long lock of pink behind her ears. “I… I like to think that uhm, that I know how to treat an alpha.”

“Oh?” I gave her a smoky grin.

“Mhm…” to my surprise she met my gaze with an equally intense one of her own. “So uhm… if anyone asks, I just went to use the little omegas room, okay?”

I blinked in confusion, trying to piece together her meaning. Before I could meaningfully manage it though, she gave me a wicked little smile, then vanished underneath the tablecloth.

“What- OH!”

I nearly jumped out of my seat as I felt her move between my legs. Honestly speaking, I was already pretty worked up between her little impromptu game of footsie on me and the kiss we had shared, but that was nothing unusual for an alpha who spent any amount of time in the presence of an omega, especially one like Flutters.

That’s not something you bring up at a dinner table, either, so I’d just been ignoring my hardness.

Now, though, I could feel the buttons on my slacks being undone by what I was reasonably certain were Fluttershy’s teeth, and a moment later a cool draft tickled across the bare skin of my length as she got past my pants with remarkable efficiency.

I was beginning to think Fluttershy might not quite be as innocent as I had been led to believe.

“Oh… sh-shit,” I moaned softly as Fluttershy’s tongue ran along my heated length. “F-Flutters that’s-”

I swallowed hard, glancing around as I tried to keep my composure. Fortunately, our table was set well aside from the other patrons so no one was looking our way. I forced myself to keep my hands above the tablecloth, too. My alpha instincts told me to grab her, to take her by the hair and use her, but I refused to give in.

Not only would that be pretty goddamn obvious, you also didn’t just treat an omega like that.

Well, not unless they wanted you to.

Like Rainb-

Nope, not thinking about he-, about that while I’m getting head from one of the most beautiful omegas in the fucking world. I am not going to think about that.

Instead, I took a deep, shuddering breath, and let myself feel her.

Fluttershy had been gently kissing up and down my length, teasing me with her lips and tongue, until finally she placed a dainty little kiss at my tip, one that turned into a soft opening as she began to take me into her mouth. Her warm tongue flattened and played along the underside of my cock as she bobbed her head up and down, each repetition moving her further down my length until she was pressed against my base.

I had to bite my lip to keep from moaning aloud, while Fluttershy, on the other hand, already had something muffling her moans. The vibration of her throat sent shocks of electric pleasure through my spine as she took a slow breath through her nose, and then started moving again.

“Holy f-fuck,” I muttered.

I’d gotten a few blowjobs in my life, and none of them even kind of compared to how Fluttershy’s mouth felt.

She went slow and gentle, every bob of her head allowed her tongue to caress the full length of my member as she hummed in soft delight.

I wanted to pull the tablecloth aside and look down at her. I wanted to see those blue eyes looking up at me as she serviced me on her hands and knees. It was a primal need, but one I knew I couldn’t indulge if I ever wanted to come back here again.

“Creme Brulee and Chocolate- hm?”

I went rigid as Bon Bon approached carrying a tray that had our desserts set out on them. Bonnie looked left and right, then back to me with level expression.

“Where’s your date?”

“L-Little omegas room,” I replied with what I thought was admirable composure considering I was in the middle of the best blowjob of my entire life.

Bon Bon narrowed her eyes at me as she slowly set the cup of custard in front of me, and the chocolate cake with its generous scoop of ice cream and large dollop of whipped cream in front of Fluttershy’s empty chair.

“She is way too good for you, y’know,” Bonnie repeated as she straightened, and I forced a grin onto my face.

My grin very nearly collapsed as Fluttershy began to purr with my cock taken fully into her throat. The sensation all but shut my brain down before I managed to wrestle conscious thought back into my grip with a titanic effort of will.

“You have no idea,” I forced out.

Bon Bon frowned, looking skeptical for a moment as she stepped back from the table, her tray in hand. It was only as she was turning that something stopped her, she froze, standing stock-still and staring straight down.

I followed her gaze with a glance of my own and spied a tiny corner of Fluttershy’s sundress peeking out from beneath the tablecloth.

Crap.

With a twitch of my foot I pinned the offending piece of fabric beneath the toe of my boot under the table, and tugged the sliver out of sight.

Bon Bon’s eyes widened as she looked up from the floor to me, clearly not fooled for a second.

“Thanks for the dessert, Bonnie,” I bit out with a shit-eating grin.

“You lucky little cunt,” Bon Bon snarled under her breath.

“LIke I said,” I replied as I shivered again, Fluttershy’s ministrations getting more intense now as her purring increased. “You have no idea.”

The glare I got was absolutely scalding, but she didn’t do anything more. I was lucky, in a way, that it was Bonnie serving us. She wasn’t going to risk me going public with her secret, so she would let me get away with just about anything within reason.

Apparently a discreet blowjob under the table fell into that jurisdiction.

Fluttershy began bobbing her head more intently, and I forced myself to relax into the sensation. A moment later that edge began to approach, and I let out a shuddering breath as twitched my leg, trying to signal to Fluttershy what was happening.

My guess was she already knew, because she redoubled her efforts and I had to clap a hand over my mouth to keep from crying out.

SHIT, the thought blared through my brain as I hit my climax, blowing my load deep inside Fluttershy’s small mouth.

My vision grayed at the edges as pleasure rolled through me, and to my surprise Fluttershy didn’t stop, she took every last drop, swallowing with slow, steady gulps until finally she drew back, cleaned me up with her tongue, put a last kiss at the base of my cock, and then put everything back the way she found it, right up to the buttons.

When Fluttershy emerged from under the table, peeking out first to make sure she was clear before rising to settle demurely back into her seat, it was a certain air of pleased satisfaction.

She didn’t say a word, she just gave me that angelic little smile of hers, licked her lips, and then started to take bites of her cake a la mode.

“I’m uh… not used to being speechless,” I started after a moment of floundering as I picked at my creme brulee.

Fluttershy giggled lightly. “I noticed.”

“That was uh…”

“Good?” she asked hopefully.

“Incredible,” I corrected her, and she laughed. I liked that laugh, it was bright and cheery, and just soft enough not to grate.

“I’m glad,” she said between bites. “I actually, uhm… I like doing that.”

“In the middle of Gustav’s, though?” I laughed a little weakly. “Fluttershy, that was crazy.”

To that she just shrugged and smiled again.

“But it was a lot of fun,” she replied, her cheeks reddening a little.

It was certainly that.

By the time we left Gustav’s, Fluttershy on my arm and Bon Bon’s glare settled squarely between my shoulderblades, it had grown well and truly dark. Fluttershy watched as I fitted my leathers that I’d left along with my jacket at the valet, and it was as I was pulling on the final strap that her own ride arrived, the same long black Cadillac with its cinderblock driver.

“Thank you for tonight, Sunset,” Fluttershy said softly, as the driver emerged, moved to the side door with the same mechanical efficiency, and opened it expectantly. “I had a lot more fun than I expected to.”

“Rising above expectations is a hobby,” I replied with a smirk, and Fluttershy favored with a smile and another one of those bright little laughs of hers.

Then she pressed herself against me, looped her arms around my shoulders, and pulled herself up to me. I responded in kind, cradling her slender waist and hourglass weight against me as I met her lips with mine.

The kiss was different from the first one we shared, less intense, but powerfully warm. The curve of her mouth found mine with delicious softness, and her tongue tangled with mine eagerly.

We kissed for what felt like hours but was probably less than a minute, not that it mattered because, hours or minutes, it didn’t last long enough.

When Fluttershy finally pulled back, her lips red with desire and her blue eyes burning, she didn’t step away. Instead she leaned in again, this time pressing her nose to my neck and taking a long, deep breath.

I replied in kind, burying my nose just above her ear into her hair and breathing her in.

It was a little early, perhaps, to be scenting one another like this. Imprinting was the second major step of a courtship though, a kind of affirmation that you would be back because the memory of scent would take weeks to fade, and the longer it took the more restless the alpha and the omega would grow outside of one another’s presence.

“I won’t be leaving for another month,” Fluttershy said as we parted. “Call me?”

“Try and stop me,” I gave her a bare-toothed grin and relished the little shiver of delight it sent down her.

Watching her leave left me with a strange feeling of detachment. It occurred to me that I should be feeling that pulling sensation in my chest, the feeling of an alpha being parted from her omega. It was a painful sensation, even when it was a bond as new and tenuous as ours, but to my faint surprise and annoyance I felt… nothing.

It wasn’t that I didn’t like her, or that I didn’t want to see her again. I certainly did want to see her more, I’d had a better time out that even I had expected, not even counting the impromptu ‘present’ she’d given me under the table.

I had deeply enjoyed the night with Fluttershy, and I was looking forward to more.

But that primal pull wasn’t there like it should have been.

Why?

I was an alpha, she was an omega, and we were pretty much perfect for each other so… why?

Why was I still thinking of Rainbow?

Chapter 6

//My Bitch: Hey//

I glared down at my phone, and at the message notification that had woken me up in the middle of the night with its familiar chime.

It only occurred to me at that moment that I probably ought to change the tone on my phone, along with Rainbow’s contact details. She wasn’t my bitch anymore, but back when she was I’d set my messenger so it would play a specific note when she was the one texting me so I would know it was her. I’d taught myself to listen for that sound for seven months, and now it was biting me in the ass because the sound of that chime could apparently still wake me out of a dead sleep.

“Damn you, Pavlov,” I muttered as I closed the message.

I’d left her on ‘read’ for her past ten messages. I don’t know why she keeps texting me when she knows I won’t answer. Maybe she’s hoping I’ll have a moment of weakness, but I like to think she knows me better than that.

Three weeks.

It’s been three weeks since I’d broken things off with Rainbow Dash.

Three weeks and three more dates with Fluttershy after the first, each one going better than the last.

I was even going to be meeting her today before classes for breakfast, and I refused to show up with bags under my eyes because my ex wouldn’t stop texting me at fuck’o’clock at night.

Ugh, ‘ex’... that wasn’t even really the right word.

Rainbow and I had had a relationship, I guess, but we’d never formalised it, even in private. She was my bitch and I was her alpha, and I’m not sure there’s even a word for that.

If it was a relationship then it was a toxic and abusive one.

//My Bitch: I miss you//

“Quill,” I swore, “why can’t you just let it go, Dash?”

I stared down at the screen, trying to will the messages away even as I knew it wouldn’t do any good. No amount of want would apparently change Rainbow Dash’s mind on this matter, all I could really do was stay away from her and hope that in time her mind repaired itself.

Maybe she needed therapy or something. Hell, I probably needed therapy, maybe if I’d had a good therapist I wouldn’t have hurt her so badly.

//My Bitch: Whatever I did. I’m sorry.//

“Damn it,” I muttered, and the plastic case of my phone creaked as I gripped it tighter. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Dash… I was the one who-”

I closed my eyes, pushing back the bile that was rising in my throat. Every time I thought about what I’d done to her, it made me sick to my stomach. She didn’t deserve to be hurt like that, no one did, she certainly didn’t deserve to be ruined.

//My Bitch: Please. I promise I’ll be better.//

Somehow she knew I was reading the messages, even though it was only the notifications on my lock screen, so it didn’t even register as ‘Read’. Or maybe she didn’t know and she was just hoping I’d eventually see them.

//My Bitch: I’ll be good. I’ll be the best.//

Rainbow Dash, just let it fucking go.

//My Bitch: I promise.//

“It was never you, Dashie,” I set my phone aside and rolled over in bed, trying to ignore the empty space beside me that I wished she was still occupying. “I was the one who didn’t deserve you.”

I closed my eyes and tried to push away the images of her, the scent of her… the memory of her body against mine and how she felt beneath me. It wasn’t working but, then again, it never did.

Ding

“God dammit, Dash,” I sat up again and grabbed my phone, intent on setting it to silent.

Unfortunately, I made the mistake of reading the message first.

//My Bitch: I know you’re not sleeping.//

“Fuck you, Dash,” I snarled into the dark and silent room. “You aren’t sleeping either.”

//My Bitch: Let me help.//

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and then blew it out. I needed to take a second to reinforce my will because that was a painfully tempting offer and one that I knew my shit self-control would give in to if I wasn’t careful.

But no. No, no, and a thousand times no.

I was not going to make a booty call to my ex-bitch because my lame ass couldn’t sleep properly. And besides, she was the one keeping me awake by messaging me!

Ding

“If I do see you again, Dash,” I swore as I opened up the app. “It’ll only be to break your fucking pho-”

The last syllable died in my throat as I saw the message Rainbow Dash had sent me.

Well, to be accurate it wasn’t a message at all. It was a picture.

The picture was a selfie of Rainbow Dash herself, sitting up in her bed in the dark, and lit only by the flash of her phone. She was naked, gripping her hard cock, and giving me those ‘fuck-me’ bedroom eyes and that bratty little smirk that never failed to buy her ass a good pounding back when we were still together.

I swallowed hard and instantly hit the home button, turning my screen dark. I needed to delete that picture as soon as I could, but right now I wasn’t sure I had the impulse control to do so. I’d do it in the morning, after a nice, long, cold shower, and then-

Ding

No… no, Sunset, don’t you dare look at that phone. Don’t you dare pick it up and look at whatever it was that Dash just sent you. You know what it probably is, and you know that you shouldn’t look.

The cricket on my shoulder wasn’t making a very good case for doing the right thing, or maybe I just happened to be deaf in that ear today, because I picked up my phone knowing full well it was a terrible fucking idea, and opened up the app.

“Fuck,” I hissed.

Almost against my will, my hand found it’s way between my legs to grip my hot and hardening length.

The second picture Dash had sent showed her with her legs spread, her hands between her legs and beneath her cock. She was fingering herself, two knuckles deep, her tongue lolling out just a little as she panted. There was just enough shake to the picture that it was clear she was getting herself off while taking it.

I started to move my hand up and down my own erection. This was wrong, and I knew it… I knew I should stop, and that I should just delete the pictures, dunk both my heads in some ice-cold water, and then try to go back to sleep.

Instead, I started jerking myself off.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I snarled the words out as I stared at the image, my mind’s eye freely filling in all the details.

I knew exactly what she smelled like, exactly how her skin tasted, and what her soft, plaintive little moans sounded like when she was being pleasured. It was like she was right here in the room with me and it set something on fire in my heart.

This needed to stop.

I needed to stop.

Right now… stop touching yourself right, fucking, n-

Ding

My eyes widened, and I almost choked. This time she hadn’t sent an image, she had sent a video.

My hand froze on my length as I tried to wrestle back some semblance of self-control, but I wasn’t sure there was any to be had. I just didn’t have anything like that left when it came to Rainbow Dash.

“Do not,” I muttered. “Play. That video.”

My thumb hung over the play button, the thumbnail was dark, but I could see Rainbow’s outline lying supine on her bed, and it didn’t take an enormous leap of logic to guess what the video contained.

Don’t do it, Sunset, you know what’s in it.

I swallowed hard.

Don’t.

…

I pushed the play button and instantly my room was filled with the soft sounds of Rainbow’s voice. She was moaning quietly, muffled by a wad of her sheets she was biting onto as she stroked herself faster and faster.

The phone was on the bed on its side, giving me a landscape view of her lean, athletic body as she bucked her hips against her own hand, making soft, plaintive cries as she gripped herself with one hand and went two knuckles deep into fifth base with the other.

//Alpha...// she moaned, the sheets slipping from her teeth.

Oh, fuck.

I started jerking myself off along with her. I was harder now than I had been on any of my dates with Fluttershy. I could even reasonably say I was harder than I was the night she gave me head under the table at Gustav’s, which was insane.

A video, with crappy resolution, of my ex bitch jerking herself off while moaning for me had me harder and more aroused than when I’d literally had my cock in the mouth of CCU’s prettiest omega.

What the fuck was wrong with me?

At that moment, at least, I didn’t care.

I let Rainbow’s moans wash over me, and I pretended she was right there in the room with me, jerking herself while I egged her on.

//Alpha… I’m… I’m cumming!//

“Good girl,” I muttered, “cum for me, bitch… cum for your alpha…”

It was like she heard me, and maybe somewhere in mind she did, because the moment the last word left my lips she let out a sharp, stifled cry, bucked her hips, and arched her back as a long spray of seed burst from her cock to cover her taut stomach.

I followed an instant later, grunting and cussing as I came hard and fast, staining my hand, groin, and sheets with my cum as I watched Rainbow Dash go limp in the video, relaxing into her post-orgasmic high while she trailed slender fingers through the puddle on her stomach and then drew her fingers up to clean them with her lips.

“Fucking… damn it,” I swore as the video hit its end, my bitch frozen in that perputal dim light, her fingers paused mid-suckle on her lips.

I was breathing hard, and shame filled my chest as I looked down at myself and grimaced.

Before that moment I wasn’t aware you could do a walk of shame in your own home from your own bedroom to your own bathroom, all while being alone, but apparently you can, because I managed it. I turned on the shower, nice and cold, stepped under it, and tried not to think about what I had just done.

It should have left me feel angry, frustrated, and even more pent up than usual but it didn’t and I hated that.

I hated how… satisfying that was.

A little past two in the morning, I was sitting under a cold spray of water while my alpha instincts purred in the back of my head for the first time in weeks, all because my bitch- no, my ex-bitch -had sent me nudes along with a video of her going to fucking town on herself.

The moment my head was relatively clear, I stepped out of the shower, went to my room, picked up my phone, and deleted both photos and the video.

//You can’t do that again.//

I hit send, even knowing it was a bad idea. This is what she wanted… she wanted me to send her that message, to talk to her again, but now I was afraid that if I didn’t she would keep sending me that stuff and that I… that I would keep looking.

//My Bitch: You came pretty hard, huh?//

A snarl twisted my lips.

//And what the fuck gives you that idea?//

//My Bitch: Because it took you like, twenty minutes to get back to me.//

Dammit, she had me there. I could practically feel that bratty smirk on her face. I wanted to have her here so I could fuck it right off of her like I usually did, except… that would kind of defeat the purpose.

//I’m serious//

//My Bitch: So am I//

I raised an eyebrow at that.

//About what? Sending me nudes and cumming on camera?//

//My Bitch: About being with you.//

“Fuck, not this again,” I muttered.

What did it take to get it through her thick head that I wasn’t going to take her back? This wasn’t a healthy dynamic and never would be! We were both alphas, we’re literally born and bred to be with omegas, or at the very least a specific subset of beta.

//My Bitch: You can’t make me give up, alpha.//

//WHY?!//

//My Bitch: Because we belong together, I belong to you, I don’t care how creepy that sounds, it’s true! No one will ever be better for you than me!//

I hung my head for several minutes, staring at her words and trying not to hear them echoing in my ears.

It wasn’t much use trying to hide how much I wanted her. She knew it just as well as I did that I… I cared about her a lot more than I ought to, and it was never worse than when I was awake in the middle of the night.

My bed felt so much colder and emptier than it really was.

I wanted to feel her in my arms. I wanted to feel Rainbow curled up against me, that soft, slightly raspy snore of hers settling in her chest as she buried her face against my chest or neck, drowning herself in my scent as if it were the only way she could sleep in peace. I wanted to feel her pressed up against me, her whole body, and I wanted to feel the way she wrapped herself around me again.

And I… I just…

I missed her so much.

//Go to sleep, Rainbow.// I finally sent as my reply.

//My Bitch: I won’t quit.//

I sighed, then typed out my response.

//Yeah, I know, now go the fuck to sleep.//

I changed my phone to silent, hit the power, and set it face down on my table as I yanked my covers over myself and curled up in my empty bed.

Sleep did not come easily or, I suspect, really at all.

Like, I had vague recollections of losing consciousness and then jerking awake, and then passing out into that weird, half-dream haze again before repeating the process another dozen times until finally, around six in the morning, I finally got sick of it and peeled myself out of bed.

I was sweaty, slightly sticky, and hard as bedrock.

My dick, apparently, was convinced I was back with Rainbow, and that I could just call her up to take care of me like I used to. I never should have let myself get that used to having someone sate me on the regular like that, because now every morning was an exercise in abject misery.

Alphas were supposed to fuck semi-regularly, but I’d always been a one-omega kinda gal and Fluttershy wasn’t the sort of omega you just dicked down whenever you felt like it.

I meant it when I said I wanted to treat her right, which meant waiting, and honestly I was happy to for more than one reason. Practicality was one side of it, we couldn’t form a bond that was too strong, otherwise, when she left in a week or so, it would be agony for both us as our instincts raged at us to get back to one another.

The bigger part, though, was just that I never wanted her to feel like I expected her to be my sex toy or something, the way certain other alphas acted around omegas.

Fluttershy deserved better than that.

So I jacked off in the shower, tidied up, and got dressed.

The day was warm as I stepped outside and I’d bet it was set to get warmer. Summer was encroaching at its slow meandering pace, the heat of it blunted by the chill of the great Lake Canter that soaked up the cold of winter and bled it out over the months leading up to the warmer seasons.

It was still cool enough that I wore my jacket, and it was early enough that I could get to the CCU campus on my motorcycle without much traffic.

Parking was still a pain in the ass though, with all the early class students having taken the good spots. Still, I found a decent motorcycle spot near the front, parked and started towards the cafe that was just down the hill from the campus where I’d agreed to meet Fluttershy.

Sunlight streamed down over the city as I made the walk, and it was a clear, crisp kind of day that was made for taking deep breaths.

I was still tired as fuck, though, which I blamed on Rainbow.

It was still a half hour til Fluttershy was supposed to be at the cafe, so I opted to go in and order a cup of coffee while I waited. I needed the caffeine pretty badly anyway.

The Garden was a popular little spot with the few university students who knew it was there. To anyone passing it looked like a quaint little house with a raised porch, and only the wooden sign hanging from a post like an old style tavern gave any indication that it was anything more than someone’s residence.

The owner was a kind, funny old female omega named Telltale, who I guessed was probably in her sixties but it was kind of hard to tell. She was the sort of person who aged gracefully, so she could've been much older and I’d never know it.

Telltale didn’t serve any of the sugary, half-milkshake drinks that most of the other coffee spots did, but she made a mean cup of black joe, the kind you could enjoy without sugar or cream because it was brewed just right. There were little add-ins of course; carafes of the aforementioned cream and cups of sugar, along with sweet scones, fresh muffins, as well as her shop's modest claim to fame, which were these charming little jam-filled pastries shaped like blooms called Flower Tarts.

I munched on one of the tarts as I sipped at my coffee and watched out the window.

My mind wandered up and down the streets of Canterlot, and they strayed towards the neighborhood of Whitetail more than once, where I knew she lived.

Why did she have to make this hard on both of us? It was already painful enough, but refusing to let go was just causing more pain. Rainbow deserved better than someone who had used and abused her, and she sure as hell deserved someone whose go-to word for her wasn’t ‘bitch’.

So why-?

“Good morning.”

I nearly inhaled my coffee, and spluttered as I looked up to see Fluttershy standing beside the table I’d sat down at, her usual cup of steaming tea in hand.

Wiping at my face with a napkin, I stood with a sheepish laugh and leaned in to her. Fluttershy nuzzled against my neck softly, exchanging scents in the casual, familiar manner of a courting pair.

“Morning, beautiful,” I brushed my lips over hers, and she kissed me back, a gentle press of lips that left tingles behind where they touched.

“Starting without me?” She asked in mock hurt, and I rolled my eyes as I pulled out a chair for her, letting her sit before taking my own seat back.

“I need my morning coffee,” I replied blithely, “so yeah, kinda.”

“I guess I’ll forgive you this time,” Fluttershy put a hand over mine and smiled as she sipped at her tea, and slowly, her gentle smile became softer and more concerned.

“Are you alright?” she asked. “You look tired.”

“I…” I started to lie and tell her I was fine, that I wasn’t tired, but it would’ve been a pretty poor lie honestly. “Yeah… I’m exhausted, actually.”

“What’s wrong?” The clear worry in her eyes hurt. I didn’t deserve that, not after last night especially.

“Do you want the truth or a pleasant lie?” I asked with a wan chuckle as I took another sip of my coffee.

“Truth, thank you,” Fluttershy said firmly.

I sighed. I knew that’s what she would say, and I didn’t want to just lie to her. That didn’t mean I had to give her all the gory details, and I sure as hell didn’t want to out Rainbow Dash as being the source of my problems. Fluttershy and Rainbow were friends, she didn’t need to know what was happening to her… and I didn’t really have the courage to tell her what I’d done to her friend.

“My ex was texting me last night,” I admitted quietly.

There was a faint squeak from the cup Fluttershy was holding as she gripped the handle tighter.

“Is everything… okay?” Fluttershy asked quietly. “Are they bothering you?”

I scoffed softly. “I’m fine, she’s not.”

Fluttershy frowned at that over her teacup. I didn’t flinch away from her blue gaze though, I met it cleanly. If she wanted to see the sins in my eyes, she was welcome to, I’d earned that.

“What do you mean?”

I turned my mug in my hands a few times as I considered where to start, then finally opted for a truncated explanation as I took another drink, swallowed, and shrugged.

“It was a bad one,” I replied finally. “The relationship was unhealthy, toxic, basically abusive, even if no one ever threw a punch or raised their voices, it was still… yeah.”

“Oh,” Fluttershy said softly, reaching out again to take my hand. “I’m glad you got out of that, then.”

I blinked at that, her tone catching me off guard. It took me a moment to realise what she meant and when I did I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly, drawing a surprised look from Fluttershy as I pulled my hand away.

“That’s… really flattering,” I said dryly.

“What is?”

Another sip of bitter black coffee passed my lips which were cut to a humorless line.

“That you think I was the one being hurt,” I clarified, and Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “It’s not like I was trying to hurt her… it just… I think we were just really bad for each other, you know?”

“How do you mean?” Fluttershy asked, her voice more gentle now.

“I think… that I was everything to her,” I continued. “She didn’t know how to say no, and I didn’t know where to stop… and I went too far too many times.” My hands clenched to fists. “I treated her like garbage, manipulated her… I was pretty horrible, actually, but in the moment I didn’t even think about it, it wasn’t until a lot later that I realised how bad I’d gotten.”

“And she left you?” Fluttershy guessed, to which I laughed again, an even more broken sound that put a look of real worry on Fluttershy’s face.

“Fuck no,” I waved a hand dismissively as I leaned back in my chair. “I left her because I finally realised how badly I was treating her, and she still doesn’t get it! She still doesn’t see how much of her I broke.”

“Oh,” Fluttershy sat back in her own chair and stared down into her half-full teacup for a moment before glancing back up at me with renewed interest. “That’s… that’s why you’re so careful with me, isn’t it?”

“Hm?”

“You’re so gentle with me,” Fluttershy pressed. “You’re always making sure I’m okay, and always being patient, and trying to talk to me and make sure I’m alright with everything… and that’s why, or am I wrong?”

I frowned into my coffee for a few minutes, but couldn’t find a particular argument against Fluttershy’s reasoning. I hadn’t really made the connection, but I suppose she wasn’t wrong.

“I guess,” I shrugged as I took another sip. “Just wary, maybe.”

“It means you want to be better,” Fluttershy offered a little more brightly. “And, uhm, I think the fact that you left her means you wanted her to be happy and healthy, even if it wasn’t with you.”

“She deserved better than what I was doing to her,” I spoke roughly, my voice raw and tight, and Fluttershy put a calming hand over mine.

“I know,” she said gently.

Her kindness was probably more than a little wasted on me, and I was about to tell her so. Except, the words that came out of her mouth next stole every other sound from my throat.

“You must have really loved her.”

CRACK

Let me tell you, it takes some real force to crack ceramic with pure grip.

The small amount of coffee left in my mug spilled between my fingers to pool onto the table as the shards dug painfully into my skin. I barely even felt though, because I was too busy hyperventilating.

“Sunset?!” Fluttershy was up and at my side in an instant. “Sunset what-?!”

“Don’t!” I snapped, and she recoiled from the venom in my tone as I glared at her.

Slowly, I stood up, set the shards down, cleaned up the spill, and walked over to the front counter to apologise to Telltale for the mess and the broken mug. The look of worry on her face neatly mirrored Fluttershy’s as I insisted on paying for it until she couldn’t say no any more.

“Sunset?” Fluttershy began cautiously as I stepped away from the counter and made for the exit with slow and slightly unsteady steps.

I made it all the way to the door before I finally had to stop and take a real breath, and it made my head spin. I gripped the handle and leaned against it hard, only staying upright through force of will.

Sunset I-’

“Don’t touch me,” I hissed, and Fluttershy drew back, pain on her face as she pulled her hand back against her chest.

She stared at me with a kind of agonised, pleading expression as I pushed the door open and stepped outside, breath deep of the warming early summer air before staggering out to the steps of the porch and slumping down onto them, burying my face in my hands.

Her footfalls were feather-light as she moved to my side, and she softly shuffled her skirts as she sat down beside me, but I didn’t look up.

I couldn’t.

So we just sat there. For better than half an hour we sat there, with people moving past us up and down the stairs, in and out of The Garden, until finally I found my voice again.

“You’re wrong,” I croaked.

Fluttershy turned to me, although I felt it more than saw it since I couldn’t bring myself to raise my head quite yet.

“About what?”

“I didn’t love her,” I said hollowly.

“Are you sure?” Fluttershy sounded like she didn’t believe me, which was fair. I wasn’t sure I believed me, but I had to try.

“Love doesn’t look anything like the things I did to her,” I said, my voice flat and hard as a tempered blade. “Love doesn’t hurt someone like that.”

Fluttershy looked pensive for a moment before sighing, leaning against me, and looping her arm through mine.

“Sorry,” Fluttershy said softly, and I sighed before leaning my head against hers, taking her hand, and lacing our fingers together.

“Don’t be,” I replied. “You didn’t do anything wrong, it’s just a sore subject… I think being with her made me realise that I’m a lot worse of a person than I wanted to believe.”

“I think you’re okay,” she said gently, turning her head up as she did to kiss my cheek.

I snorted a little and shook my head, hugging Fluttershy tight against me and turning to bury my face in her soft, pink hair. That floral scent filled my nostrils, but as pleasant as it was it just wasn’t the same as the scent of rain and fresh-cut grass.

“Are you going to be okay?” Fluttershy asked quietly, and I nodded.

“I’ll be fine,” I sighed and carded my hand through my hair. “It’s just… raw.”

“I kind of wish I wasn’t leaving so soon now,” Fluttershy said, leaning her head back against my shoulder. “I’m worried about you.”

“You deserve to spend some real time with your dad,” I replied, shaking my head. “I told you, I’ll be fine.”

There was something sad in her eyes as I said that, and I could really account for it. The expression was gone a second later though, vanishing so quickly I couldn’t be certain I’d really seen it as she brought a hand up to my cheek and let her soft palm linger on me.

“I care about you so much, you know?” She said gently, and I smiled at that. At least that much I could accept.

“I know,” I put my hand over hers. “I’m going to miss you, Flutters.”

She giggled lightly, and in lieu of a reply she drew me down into a kiss that was long, slow, and sweet. Her lips and tongue tasted of flowers and the green tea she’d been drinking, and my hands found her waist as we deepened the kiss and she leaned into me.

“I’m definitely going to miss that,” I said cheekily as we parted.

By the time we got back up the hill to the campus our respective classes were about to start. I opted to accept being a little late to my own class to walk Fluttershy to hers, which she chided me for.

She let me do it anyway, though.

The petty part of me relished the jealous looks I got from everyone, walking hand-in-hand with Fluttershy through the halls.

As we reached her class, she leaned in for a goodbye kiss, but I caught her before she could get close enough, slipped one arm around her waist and the other around her back, dipped her low enough to make her squeak in surprise and grab my shoulders for support before planting a passionate kiss on her lips

She wore a look of shocked delight as I pulled her upright, and she wobbled unsteadily on her feet.

“See you later, gorgeous,” I shot her a shameless wink, turned, and started down the hall, purposefully ignoring the incandescent glares I was getting.

Look, just because I’m insistent on treating Fluttershy right doesn’t mean I’m not alpha enough to flaunt my beautiful omega in everyone’s faces, okay? I like to think of it as being proud of my omega.

Definitely cemented a few more enemies today, though.

I was almost to my class when my phone started buzzing in my pocket.

“Wonder if Flutters- Oh come on!”

Rainbow Dash’s contact detail was flashing on my screen. She didn’t actually think I was going to pick up did she? I told her it was over, I told her we were through! What was it going to take to get her to start living her own god damn life again?!

I ignored it, silencing the vibration and stuck the phone back into my pocket as I stepped into class and sat down.

Damn it. My concentration was suddenly shot. My hindbrain was growling at me to go to my bitch and make sure she was okay, but my instincts were basically a bunch of monkeys in a cage banging bones together for all the good ideas they came up with.

My phone buzzed once, then twice.

Against my better judgment, I pulled my phone free of my pocket just enough to see the backlit lock screen.

One Missed Call

One Voicemail

Fuck.

The best choice would be to just delete it, but a part of me was worried about her. A bigger part of me than I was strictly willing to admit, actually.

I try to ignore the voicemail and focus on my classes. I’m not falling behind, but I’ve been more distracted than ever lately between the crap with Rainbow and the fact that Fluttershy was leaving for almost half a year.

Damn it Dash.

She should have been here in class, but I hadn’t seen her almost at all.

I was getting seriously worried about her grades, actually. I’d seen her on occasion but only in passing, and to be honest she’d looked pretty bad.

I wanted to say she’d looked messy, but it was worse than that.

Rainbow was always kind of rough-looking, but this was different. Lately she looked grimy, haggard, and unshowered.

Between the voicemail squatting in my inbox like a belligerent wino and my concern for Rainbow’s wellbeing, the day dragged ass. I was barely able to keep focus enough to stay on top of my classes today, and although it wasn’t as bad as the day I’d broken it off with Dash, it was bad enough that I still noticed.

My limbs were leaden by the time I left my final class of the day and the evening light was growing dim as I stated the slow trudge towards the parking lot. The day had started on a… well, not a high note precisely, but it hadn’t been bad.

Now though? It was looking like it was going to end that way.

Ding

I frowned, fishing for my phone again and pulling it out. That wasn’t Rainbow’s chime, which I remembered I still hadn’t changed. I kept telling myself I would and kept failing to do so, but then I guess that’s just the story of these last several months regarding Rainbow Dash.

//Flutters: out of class?//

I smiled faintly, and typed out my reply. //Just now, yeah.//

//Flutters: Wanna come over?//

My eyebrows slowly rose up to my hairline as I read, then reread, the short message. There wasn’t a lot of text, but there was plenty of subtext, at least assuming I wasn’t reading too much into it.

But I mean, what kind of self-respecting alpha would say no, right?

//Sure, be there in a bit.//

//<3//

I lowered my phone, my brain moving a mile a minute. To date, Flutters and I hadn’t gone further than going down on each other. In part it was because we hadn’t wanted to risk something like a marking happening before she left, and in the back of my head I knew it was probably a good idea to keep to that.

Then again, I was definitely not against getting my dick wet.

Choices, choices.

Fuck it, I already knew the choice I was going to make. I’m an alpha and an omega was asking me to come over to, presumably, get her engine going. If this was something Fluttershy definitively wanted then who was I to turn her down?

Feeling substantially better about the day, I slung my leg over the saddle of my ride, fitted my helmet on, and gunned the engine, rolling it out of the lot and opening up the throttle as I hit the asphalt.

Fluttershy lived up in the Canterlot Heights, the second-ritziest part of the city next to the Gold Coast, and it mostly consisted of little McMansions set into the sides of the rising foothills that lead up to Mount Canter northwest of the city. The roads that wound around the hills are narrow and scenic, and I enjoyed the ride through them as I made my way up to Fluttershy’s place.

I’d only been there once, thus far, and that was to pick her up for one of our dates. I’d been surprised to find that she had her own riding leathers and everything, and I suspected she’d picked them up solely for the sake of riding with me. Leathers like those were expensive too, but then again she was the daughter of a multi-millionaire director so I suppose it wasn’t even a drop in the bucket.

As I rolled up to Fluttershy’s home, I was struck again by the suspicion that her family was definitely rich enough to live on the gold coast. I suspected that they only didn’t because Fluttershy would have been miserable being that far, and that much removed, from the rest of the world.

That place really is its own little echo chamber of rich snobbery.

There was a wide open roundabout in front of Fluttershy’s home, and the three-story mansion was flanked on all sides by flower gardens. Posts of climbing ivy, bushes in full bloom, and so many roses.

I parked by the front entrance and pulled off my helmet, swinging my hair free and carding my fingers through it to loosen up the snarls I’d gained during the ride before dismounting, meandering casually up the steps of the front porch to the door, and knocking sharply a couple of times, pulling out my phone to shoot Flutters a quick text as I did.

//I’m here.//

//Flutters: I’m up in my room <3//

Cinderblock answered the door as she replied.

That wasn’t his real name, his real name was actually Grindstone, which was so hilariously close that I’d thought Fluttershy was fucking with me when she told me, but no.

“Afternoon Mister Stone,” I smirked up at him, and he stared down at me with that same impassive expression he always did.

“Welcome back Miss Shimmer,” he rumbled, his voice was as gravely as his name, and colored with a thick Manehattan accent. “Miss Shy’s in’er room.”

“I know.”

I shot him a wink, passed him my jacket and helmet, and strolled past him towards the stairs. I wasn’t sure if he had valet duties, but my general rule when entering a new place was to act like I owned it, and it had worked out for me pretty well thus far.

“Thanks, Stone,” I gave him a cocky wave, “don’t wait up!”

Fluttershy’s room was on the second floor, and I skipped steps to get to the upper landing. Maybe I was imagining it, but I thought Fluttershy was being extra flirty over text. I wondered if she was actually…

I took a deep breath as I approached her room.

“Down girl,” I muttered. “She may have just wanted to talk before she leaves, just relax.”

I rapped my knuckles against her door lightly, and a muffled voice answered.

“Sunset?”

“Yeah,” I called back, “you decent?”

“Come in!”

I opened the door and stepped inside, Fluttershy’s pervasive floral scent filling my nostrils as I crossed the threshold. Her room was done in soft pastels that were easy on the eyes, there was at least one potted or vase’d flower on every flat surface and absolutely none of that was registering today because my throat had locked up and my tongue had glued itself to the top of my mouth at the sight of the room’s sole occupant.

Fluttershy was lying sideways on her bed, and it was clear that she was very naked, with only the thin sheets covering her up to her chest and one arm laid languidly over her generous curves.

Her long, flowing river of pink hair covered her blushing cheeks, and the look in her baby blue eyes somehow contrived to give her an expression of innocence despite her state of dress.

“Hi,” she said softly, batting her eyelashes at me as she gave me a shy little smile. “Wanna close the door?”

I swallowed hard, unsticking my tongue as I nodded dumbly, elbowed the door shut, locked it and moved forward dazedly.

“You uh,” I cleared my throat roughly as I got closer. “You look…”

“Good?” She offered.

“Delicious.”

Fluttershy blushed beautifully, and slowly tugged the sheets down, letting more of her soft, creamy curves show.

“You could, uhm… you could join me,” she said quietly, still smiling. “If you want to, I mean.”

If I want to?

I’d have to be castrated and dead not to want to join her.

Numbly, I doffed my leathers, then my boots and socks. By then I had made it to the edge of the bed, leaving a trail of discarded riding leathers and was just throwing my shirt and bra to the floor, when Fluttershy sat up, letting the sheets fall away and causing another hard twitch beneath my belt line.

“Here, let me,” Fluttershy said gently as she moved off the bed, lowered herself to her knees, and unbuckled my jeans.

“Let me take care of you,” she whispered as she tugged them down and freed my cock.

Without missing a beat she had my length in her hands, gripping it tight enough to make me moan as she stroked up and down with teasing slowness.

I barely had time to get my brain gear before I felt the soft petals of her lips, followed quickly by the wet heat of her mouth, on my cock as she took several inches at once.

“Oh shit!” I gasped and dug my fingers into her hair while she bobbed her head back and forth.

My alpha instincts were screaming at me to take her and sate myself. It was an ordeal not to just grab her by the back of the head and start fucking her mouth, but I fought down the urge and let Fluttershy lead.

Her soft tongue played along the underside of my member as she sucked me off. She had told me the night of our first date that she liked doing this, and holy hell had she not been joking.

I rocked my hips forward in time with her movements, letting out soft moans as my cock reached the tightness of her throat, only to pull back into the wetness of her mouth, and then return.

Fluttershy’s hand cradled my sack for a few moments before moving it between my legs and back to my ass where she slipped a finger inside, drawing a guttural growl of pleasure from me.

Look, most alphas like a little stimulation back there, okay? I’m just willing to admit it.

It didn’t take long, Fluttershy knew what she was doing, and after a few more minutes of her bobbing her head on my cock, sucking and fingering me, I let out a sharp gasp, fixed my hand around the back of her head, and bucked my hips as my load filled her mouth and throat.

Fluttershy swallowed with slow, heavy gulps, and I was vaguely aware of her free hand going down between her legs to play with herself.

“Fuck,” I groaned, sagging slightly on suddenly wobbling legs. “That was- oh shit!”

I was going a little soft, but was still hard enough that Fluttershy took the opportunity to keep me that way by abruptly deep-throating my cock.

She pulled back just as quickly and looked up at me with a smile that was far too innocent for what she just got finished doing to me, and slowly licked her lips.

I took several deep breaths, my once-more fully erect dick settled against her cheek, and then grabbed her by the hair and worked a smirk onto my face.

“My turn.”

I let go, dropped to a knee, scooped my arms around her, and heaved Fluttershy up into my arms while she squealed in delight, then laid her out in the bed with her legs hanging over the edge at the knees.

“Suns-eeeee!” Fluttershy went beet-red as I dove between her legs, running my tongue up her soaking wet slit, and fixing my lips onto the sensitive nub, giving it a few rough licks between suckles.

Fluttershy’s legs locked around my head like a vice, keeping me anchored there as she bucked her hips wildly against my mouth. One thing I had learned over the past month was that, for such a sweet and quiet little omega, Fluttershy sure was loud in the sack.

I worked two fingers inside her, sliding them in and out as I pleasured her, and in seconds I was rewarded with a splash of sweet cum across my lips that I eagerly lapped up.

Maybe it was just a trick of biology, but omegas always tasted sweet to me.

I didn’t stop, Fluttershy was about as insatiable as I was, and once was never enough, but before I could really work up a tempo, her hand came to rest on her forehead and pushed.

“S-Sunset h-hold on,” she gasped breathlessly, and I drew back in surprise.

“Flutters? What’s wrong?”

I stood and moved up next to her, and she just smiled, laughed, and shook her head.

“Nothing,” Fluttershy said as she buried her face against my neck and breathed deeply. “I uhm… I just… wanted to maybe… uhm…”

“Fluttershy?” I cradled her in my arms as she stammered, then clammed up, then took another deep breath and looked up at me.

“I w-want you inside me,” she said softly.

My eyes widened.

“Flutters are you sure?” I asked gently. “You don’t have to… and if you’re leaving then-”

“S-So long as you don’t knot, it’ll be fine,” she replied, then looked away. “But uhm, I know that’s asking a lot, and if you don’t think you can then we can just… you know…”

“I can control my knot well enough,” I said wryly. “You’re sure?”

“I am,” she nodded, a small, gentle gesture. “I want you.”

I took a deep breath of my own, then nodded and steadied my arms around her, pulling her up onto the bed fully, then moving over her.

“Sh-Should I, uhm, turn over?” Fluttershy asked.

“No,” I said as I straddled her, put a hand in either side of her head, and rested the head of my cock against her entrance. “I don’t want to risk marking you in the heat of the moment… it would make you miserable until you came back.”

“R-Right,” Fluttershy sounded almost disappointed as she shuddered, lust glazing her eyes as she felt me press against her.

Those omega instincts of hers were taking over. The instinct to take my mark and my seed both, to give herself completely to me, and to let herself be knotted.

My pheromones must have her head swimming by now, but she was smart enough to know I was right. If she were in heat it might be a different story, but unlike me her suppressors were a lot more reliable.

“Just relax,” I whispered against her ear as I lowered my weight onto her. “I’ve got you.”

Fluttershy nodded frantically before wrapping her arms and legs around me and burying her face against my neck, taking long, slow breaths of my scent.

Nothing calmed an omega like the scent of a powerful alpha.

Slowly, I pressed my cock against her slick opening, and slid inside. I was gentle, and took my time, going inch by inch until I was hilt deep inside her warm depths.

Fluttershy whimpered in delight at the sensation, and the moment I felt like she had gotten used to me, I began to move.

I thrust in and out of her, first slowly, then speeding up to a steady tempo. It took her a moment, but soon Fluttershy was gasping and crying out as she rolled and bucked her hips in time with me.

She must have been right on the edge because she came quickly, her wet cunt tightening around my rock hard length as she climaxed.

I wrapped her in a tight embrace and sat up, levered her up into my lap as I rolled my hips and pressed my lips to hers.

Fluttershy moaned against my mouth as she rocked herself up and down on my lap, her instincts driving her forward, and I moved my hands down to cup her soft, lovely ass to support her as she bounced up and down on my cock.

It wasn’t long before she was clenching around me again, her pussy gushing another stream of cum as she kissed me deliriously.

Her mind must have been blank with pleasure by now, and she probably wouldn’t have even noticed if I had started to knot. Or she would have and then would have immediately tried to get the knot inside her as her omega instincts demanded that she let herself be bred.

I couldn’t knot her, though. She was trusting me to take care of her the way she wanted me to. No matter how she was now, with her mind soaked in hormonal lust, she was trusting me to be careful with her.

And I was.

I kissed her. Her lips, and her cheeks, and her neck, down to the swell of her breasts as she arched her back in pleasure.

Fluttershy’s body was perfect. She was an hourglass of supple, flawless curves. She was the perfect omega; submissive, loving, and absolutely beautiful, and I ran my fingers up the curve of her hips to the small of her back, scraping my fingers along her skin, and drawing out more moans and soft, pleasant cries of delight.

“Alpha… alpha…” Fluttershy moaned quietly as she rocked her hips. “Breed me, alpha… f-fill me up and breed me!”

I wouldn’t, but I didn’t say that. That wasn’t what her omega instincts wanted to hear.

Instead I laid her out flat, pinning her to the bed by her wrists, and began to take her more roughly.

Fluttershy cried out in ecstasy, her legs still wrapped around my waist, locking me tightly in place. This felt right to her, I knew… it was the feeling of a powerful alpha dominating her, filling her over and over again.

She came again and again, and each time she tightened around me she would cry out.

It took me… Quill… better than an hour to reach that same peak.

I don’t know why, but it was like I was fighting something in the back of my own head until the sensation overwhelmed me and I finally buried myself to the hilt and came hard, filling the shivering mess of an omega that was Fluttershy to the brim.

Without my knot, my seed spilled from her as I collapsed against her.

She curled around me, instinct driving her to hold herself in contact with her alpha inasmuch as she could. I returned the embrace, pulling her close against me and kissing her.

Her responses were mostly automatic, the instinctive act of an omega responding to her alphas affections. It helped though, and in moments she was nestled against me, her heavy breathing slowed to purring exhalations as she fell into a deep, exhausted sleep.

It was a place I couldn’t follow yet, but I was happy to hold her as she drifted away.

Fluttershy purred against me as she slept, and it was a satisfying feeling knowing I’d made her happy, and that she’d enjoyed herself so thoroughly.

The act itself though?

It wasn’t… bad. The sex had been fine, Fluttershy had been wonderful, soft, beautiful, and everything an omega was supposed to be, and of course I was sure she would be oh-so-impressed at my self-control in the morning, keeping from knotting her as I did. I would preen and act the pompous alpha shithead, too, because I wouldn’t be able to tell her the truth. I couldn’t just humiliate Fluttershy by telling her the urge to knot her had never even come over me… that my knot had never even risen.

That the sex just hadn’t satisfied me.

No, instead I’d been left with something in the back of my head that was itching and scratching away. Restless energy was still coursing through my arms and legs, only now it was like even my own body didn’t know what it wanted.

It had an omega asleep next to it, one that it had just fucked for over an hour straight, and the air was drenched in the combined pheromones of us; of a potent alpha and an equally potent omega. It should have been a perfect recipe for the best night of sleep of my life and I couldn’t even manage to get my eyes to close without the buzzing in the back of my head becoming intolerable.

Night had fallen completely by now, the moonlight streamed brightly through the cracks in the window curtains of Fluttershy’s room, and suddenly I felt like I was boiling. I was too hot under the blankets, and even Fluttershy’s minimal body heat was starting to get me sweating.

It took some doing, but I managed to get myself shifted out from under Fluttershy. I was lucky she was so tired, otherwise her omega instincts would have kicked her awake the moment I was out of arm’s reach.

If we’d been bonded it would have done it anyway.

“Shit,” I muttered, sitting up naked in her bed my body temperature started to slowly rise.

It wasn’t my rut, at least, but it was still too damn hot. My body was telling me I needed to get some, conveniently ignoring the fact that I had already done just that.

“What is wrong with me?” I buried my face in my hands as I took several deep breaths.

I’d been asking that question far too often lately, and frankly I was starting to get tired of it.

I grabbed my phone out of my discarded jeans and opened it up, not really intent on doing anything in particular beyond maybe scrolling MyStable or something else equally mindless.

The little red dot icon indicating a pending voicemail hovered tauntingly above my Call app. I still hadn’t listened to Rainbow Dash’s message and I probably shouldn’t bother, especially if it was anything like what she’d sent me last night.

Ugh, it was probably just a voice recording of her getting herself off.

Or maybe she was in trouble and needed help.

Damn it. That cinched it, so I turned the volume down low, got up and paced to the window as I held up the phone to my ear and hit play.

Beep

One. New. Message.

My phone's robotic voicemail rattled off the timestamp of the call and the incoming phone number, both of which I already knew, and then gave another crackling beep as it began the playback.

My heart froze in my chest as I heard sobbing on the other line. It wasn’t harsh or frantic, just… heartbreaking. It was the kind of ragged, heavy-chested crying of someone who'd had too much and there was nothing left to them but to try and squeeze it out of themselves via their tear ducts.

//S-Sorry,// Rainbow started before sniffling miserably. //I uhm… I’m not okay, Sunset… I know I t-try and act like it, but I’m really not okay without you.//

“Dash,” I held a hand to my mouth to keep my voice from carrying. “Come on, you’re… you’re stronger than this.”

//I know you said you were hurting me,// she continued, //but you weren’t… I’m just… I miss you-// her voice dissolved into more tears, and I swear I could feel my heart trying to rip itself out of my chest. //-and I know it’s stupid, but I miss you… you weren’t hurting me okay? I liked being with you and I… I need you… I need my alpha.//

By this point Rainbow Dash wasn’t the only one crying. I was actually afraid I was about to crack my phone with how hard I was gripping it.

//Please come back,// her voice was high, pleading, and wet with grief. //Please… let me come back…//

The message trailed off into more crying, slowly becoming more incoherent until the message cut off. That had been in the middle of the afternoon, so she would almost certainly be asleep by now, but it didn’t change how badly I wanted to go to her side, to kiss away the tears, and lay beside her, and tell her that she was my good little bitch, and that I would always take care of her.

I wiped at my cheeks, silently cursing myself for crying over something like this, but at the same time I was becoming less and less certain breaking off matters with Rainbow was a good idea. I’d been so sure of it when I’d done it… I’d been absolutely sure that if she were just out of my proximity for long enough, she would go back to normal.

Now I had to face the terrifying prospect that this, whatever this is, was the new normal for her.

I had to face the knowledge that I may very well have broken Rainbow for good.

Whatever had happened, I would deal with it later. Fluttershy wasn’t going to wake up to an empty bed, not after giving herself to me like that. I had already hurt someone badly enough, I didn’t need to compound my karma with her.

So I laid back down beside her, forgoing the sheets as the little warmth Fluttershy gave off while she was snuggled up against me was more than enough, and almost too much.

I didn’t sleep for a long, long time, though.

Chapter 8

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Chapter 9

One Week Later

I turned the wrapped box over in my hand several times, feeling strangely nervous about giving it to Rainbow as I sat in the food court of the Crystal Emporium Mall. I’d ordered it the day after we’d gotten back together and I’d picked it up less than an hour ago, and now Rainbow was on her way here to meet me.

I wondered if it was too much.

We had already talked. For hours, actually, after a short marathon of sex as we caught up on our respective need for one another Rainbow and I had showered, laundered the sheets, and while those were running we’d laid on the couch, curled up together, and talked.

To my surprise, even outside of our sexual compatibility, Rainbow and I shared a surprising number of interests. We both liked run-and-gun shooters, and cartoons of various stripes, and finding all of that out just made me wish I’d tried harder, earlier.

Moreover, it turned out that Rainbow really had liked being my bitch. Not necessarily because she liked being browbeaten with it, but because she liked being doted on while still being able to be a brat about it.

And I loved doting on her, especially when she was being bratty about it.

It’s kinda hot, okay?

I turned the box over in my hands again, a strange little set of nervous butterflies taking up residence in my stomach as I considered what it contained. I didn’t want to insult Rainbow, and I didn’t think I would, but I wanted to see her smile really badly, and I was hoping this would do the trick.

She always smiled at me, of course. She did it all the time.

But I wanted to see that smile.

The one where her whole face lights up and her cheeks go a little pink, and I can kind of tell she wants to get all emotional and sappy and maybe cry a little but she won’t because it’s not cool.

Rainbow is surprisingly soft-hearted for an alpha, and I’m not sure it’s just because she was raised by an omega the way Applejack seems to think.

“Hey, alpha.”

I nearly jumped as Rainbow’s voice kicked me out of my inner musings and I looked up to see her working her way through the crowd.

“Hey, Ra…” I began, but my words faltered as I choked on them.

Oh no, she’s cute.

Her short, bobbed hair was freshly washed and styled in that purposefully punk and windblown way, with the two-tone dyed locks of scarlet and gold hanging over her eyes. She was wearing a denim jacket over a tight top that did wonders for her modest curves, but the biggest shocker was that she was wearing a skirt; an adorable little pleated skirt that went down to just above her knees and showed off her shapely calves.

And it was obvious that she knew exactly how good she looked to me.

“See somethin’ ya like, alpha?” Rainbow gave her best coquettish smile as she playfully flared the hem of her skirt.

A growl built up in the depths of my chest as I stood from the couch I’d been lounging on, crossed the distance between us, and grabbed Rainbow by her hips and pulled her against me, crushing my lips to hers hungrily as she curled up in my embrace and returned the kiss.

“You,” I hissed between kisses that had Rainbow purring, “are a cheeky,” another kiss, “little bitch, you know that?”

Rainbow’s cheeks were flushed and her lips warm with my affection as she smiled while I glared down at her, and she looped her arms over my shoulders and around my neck to hang off of me playfully.

“You love it, alpha,” Rainbow smirked as she buried her face against my neck and took a deep breath, then murmured against my skin, “because I’m the best little bitch, right?”

My hand went to her ass and gave it a hard squeeze that made her squeak as I nipped at her ear.

“Damn right,” I snarled.

I grabbed her by the neck as I said those words. My grip was gentle but implacable, and Rainbow knew better than to fight it as I moved her head to the side to run my tongue over the bonding mark on the back of her neck, reinforcing it again.

“Freaks.”

Rainbow and I both froze for a moment, and I turned my head slowly to see an alpha and omega pair walking past us. Both of them were giving us disgusted looks.

Like me, the alpha was female; she had short-cut green hair, and she was taller and broader than a female omega who was under her arm. Both of them were dressed for the warmer weather, and if it weren’t for the ugly looks on their faces they might have both been pretty. As it was, Rainbow wilted a little in my arms under their glares, but I just straightened my back, met the alpha’s eyes, and bared my teeth at her.

The air took on a thrumming tension for a long moment as the other alpha tried to square up against me, while Rainbow buried herself against me and Green-hair's omega did the same.

A low growl started to build up in the other alpha’s chest, but I drowned it out with one of my own as I advanced on her, my eyes and temper blazing. Omega and alpha alike backed up a step on instinct as my pheromonal rage clashed against them, but I didn’t let up my advance.

“You got something to say, say it,” I snarled. “We can take this to the parking lot if you want, shithead.”

Green-hair looked like she wanted to start something, but I could see the effect I was having on her giving her second thoughts. She wasn’t even remotely in my weight class as an alpha, she was closer to Rainbow if anything, and we both knew if push came to shove I would drag her happy ass across the asphalt and leave her in the dumpster behind Acy’s.

Good sense won out, surprisingly, and Green-hair just turned, drew her omega closer, and walked away, head bowed a little and tail tucked metaphorically between her legs.

I didn’t take my eyes off of them until they were well out of sight, and I made sure to extend my glare by proxy to anyone who even looked like they might be judging Rainbow Dash.

“I’m sorry,” Rainbow’s voice was small from under my arm, and I sighed quietly as I turned back to her.

“Nothing to be sorry about, babe,” I said as I pulled her closer and hugged her. “Just people being people, that’s all.”

“I know you warned me, but…” Rainbow trailed off as she took a long breath and hugged me back. “I feel like I’m dragging you down, alpha.”

“You’re not dragging me anywhere,” I stepped back from her, carded my fingers through her hair a few times and petted her gently before bringing my hand down to cup her cheek. “I’m right where I want to be, and that’s next to my bondmate.”

Rainbow purred softly as she nuzzled against my hand, and I couldn’t keep the smile off of my face as she looked up at me with those beautiful cerise eyes of hers. Every time she looked at me I knew all over again just how much she meant to me, and every time she smiled I knew I’d do anything to see it just one more time. This was what having a bondmate was supposed to feel like, and I knew that just as well.

On that note, I still had to apologise to Fluttershy.

Technically, we’d agreed to table anything like a relationship until she was back, so I hadn’t been involved with her, but I know the expectation had been there. She was barely gone a day before I was shacking up with Rainbow again, and while I know it’s more complicated than that, I still feel like a heel.

Whatever, I was ready to eat as many helpings of crow as I had to for my actions. I’d apologised to Rainbow already, and I’d sent Fluttershy a message explaining that something had happened and that I wanted to talk to her about it when she got back.

This wasn’t something I wanted to do over the phone. That felt like a coward’s way out. If Fluttershy was going to take it out of my hide she deserved to be able to do it in person.

“So uh…” Rainbow started, drawing my attention back to her, “what’s with the box?”

I glanced down at the gift-wrapped box I’d been gripping this whole time, and smiled as I slung my free arm around Rainbow’s shoulder and pulled her under my arm as I began walking towards the mall exit.

“Just a present,” I said with a grin. “For my best little bitch.”

There was that smile.

The one where her shoulders go up a little along with the dimples in her cheeks, and her eyes go a shade brighter as she wraps her arms around my middle and hugs me tight for a moment before going back to her comfortable place beneath my arm.

That was why I’d put up with Dash’s bitchy, bratty attitude any day of the week. That smile I get from her when I do something nice, and all the brattiness just goes away for a second and all that’s left behind is my soft, lovely bondmate being as happy as I can possibly make her.

“Gimme!” Rainbow snatched for the box and I pulled it away from her grasp.

“Not yet,” I said. “Wait til we get back to your place, okay?”

“Why~?” Rainbow whinged at me and her lip turned down in an adorable pout.

And there’s the brat.

“Because I said so, bitch.” I growled low, but Rainbow just stuck her lip out and met me glare for glare.

We kept walking and our staredown kept right on going until my temper started to actually rise. Rainbow was really pushing her limits with me today, it took a lot of balls to look your alpha in the eyes and scrunch up your nose like a petulant child.

Time to remind Rainbow just who those balls belonged to.

As we passed a small alcove in one of the emptier parts of the mall, I dragged Rainbow into it with me, getting a small yelp of surprise that turned into a strangled, choking noise as I pinned to the wall with one arm and snaked my free hand under her skirt to grab her by the jewels.

Rainbow froze for the second time that hour, but this time the instinct was a purely primal one.

“You’re really pressing your luck today, Dashie,” I said quietly as I pushed up against her until our noses were touching. “I think you forget who belongs to who.”

“I… I j-just… if you got me a present why can’t I just- eep!” Her words cut off as I squeezed just slightly.

“Are you seriously still giving me lip?” I asked with a small, chuckle. “The only lip I ever want from you is when they're wrapped around my cock.”

Rainbow’s cheeks were flaming up to a brilliant red, and I could feel her getting harder under my grip.

“Y-Yes, alpha,” she said sullenly.

“Good girl,” I said, and reinforced it by letting go her sensitive bits only to move my hand up to her slowly hardening length to begin stroking it through the fabric of her panties.

Her cheeks went a shade redder as she let out a quiet, shuddering gasp. “A-Alpha, what are you-?!”

I gave her shaft a gentle squeeze, and her sentence trailed off into a soft moan of pleasure as I started stroking her again. I decided I really did like it when my bitch wore skirts. I’d have to make it a requirement for any time we went out in public because this was just too much fun.

“Ssh,” I pushed my lips to hers and slid my tongue into her mouth, kissing her deeply as I continued to stroke her off.

Fortunately, my bitch was a bit of a quick-shot, and a few seconds later she was shuddering and moaning into my mouth as she stained her panties and skirt with her own seed.

I wiped the excess up with my hand before pulling it back from under her skirt, bringing it up to my lips, and licking my fingers clean while Rainbow panted quietly in my arms, coming down from her sudden high.

“That… that wasn’t fair, alpha,” she grumbled, and I just laughed as I pulled her back under my arms. Rainbow shifted her legs uncomfortably, the stains starting to set in along with the humiliation.

“Maybe next time you remember who’s boss, then,” I replied, smirking down at her as we reached the mall exit and I steered her outside. “Besides…” I leaned down until my lips were right up against her ear, “I’ll fuck you properly once we’re back in bed.”

Rainbow shivered at my promise and nuzzled closer to me.

“Thank you, alpha,” she murred softly.

As if I could do anything else. I was hard as an I-Beam after jerking my bitch off and having her come right in my hand like that, plus the submissive scent she was giving off was putting me right up in the same hormonal region that was usually reserved for my ruts.

When my bitch wanted to be bred, her body was painfully obvious about it, and right now it was practically screaming at me to mount her.

As I said, Rainbow did ‘omega’ better than most actual omegas I knew, and that list included Fluttershy.

“Did you have to do that like, right there?” Rainbow asked as we approached my motorcycle. “Now my skirt is all… sticky.”

“Maybe don’t be such a brat in public next time,” I said with a grin as I tossed Rainbow her helmet before putting mine on. “Now mount up, bitch.”

“Yes, alpha,” Rainbow grumbled as she fitted her helmet and got onto the bike behind me. She didn’t have her leathers which meant I’d have to go slow, but she lived close enough to the Crystal Emporium, so that was fine.

I revved the engine a few times before opening up the throttle, rolling out into the parking lot, and then towards the street. Rainbow wrapped herself around me from behind, pressing herself flush against me as I leaned into the speed and put us out onto the road heading west towards Whitetail.

The little gift I had tucked away in my jacket kept my spirits up. I was still looking forward to the look on Rainbow’s face when she actually opened it, but the alpha and omega from earlier were still threatening to spoil my mood.

Freak.

They weren’t the first, and certainly wouldn’t be the last. Ever since Rainbow and I had gotten back together and decided to do things properly this time, public affection included, we’d gotten more than our share of sour looks and unwarranted commentary.

It was everything I had warned Rainbow about, and I knew it stung her more than she let on. I didn’t care as much because, frankly, I could trounce any of the idiots who dared to give my beautiful bondmate trouble, but Rainbow was as proud and belligerent as she was lovely, and the derisive remarks hit her right in that pride of hers.

Even when I offered to be more circumspect about our relationship, though, Rainbow refused. She wanted us to be together and for the whole damn world to know it, come what may… and like always, I’d give her exactly what she wanted in the end. I was phenomenally shitty at saying no to Rainbow Dash and I suspected I always would be, but this was a matter on which I kind of wished I’d put my foot down.

Too late now, though.

I sighed quietly as we pulled into the driveway of Rainbow’s house. Her father was still out of town, although he knew the broad strokes of what had happened between us. I’d felt obligated to let him know that I was ‘dating’ his daughter.

Of course, by ‘dating’ I meant: ‘plowing six ways from Sunday’, and I’m pretty sure we both knew that, but I felt like saying ‘dating’ was a lot more respectful.

And I did respect him, just like I respected Dash.

I treated Dash like my bitch because that’s what she wanted. She wanted me to dominate her, and to dote on her, and to doll her up, and treat her like a princess, and endure her bratty little temper tantrums and rampages while knowing that I would kiss and fuck her just as hard afterward.

Rainbow Dash wanted to be able to act like a total brat and, with me, she was allowed to. By that same token, she didn’t want someone who would just let her run roughshod over them. Rainbow wanted me to push back and put her in her place, and I enjoyed doing that as much as she enjoyed being put there.

Whatever my words and actions were, though, Rainbow Dash knew one thing for certain, which was that I would literally die before I let anyone lay a hand on her.

Rainbow was safe with me, no matter what.

I held out a hand to help Rainbow Dash off the bike, which she took although she gave me another sullen pout at the offer. She still wasn’t used to getting off of a motorcycle though, and the first time she’d tried it she had faceplanted neatly onto the ground after refusing my help. Apparently, the idea of accepting my hand had become marginally less humiliating than risking another romantic encounter with the concrete driveway.

Rainbow moved a little unsteadily, and the way she shifted her legs under her skirt was all the reason I needed as to why.

That lesson would definitely sink in longer than the others.

At least until a few laundry cycles had passed.

“Ugh, why did I let you do that?” Rainbow said. “I just got this skirt!”

“So wash it,” I replied, then reached down, around, and under her skirt to grab her pantie-clad ass. “Also, you’re going to be wearing a lot more of these from now on.”

“This is my only skirt,” Rainbow wiggled her hips against my palm as she flared the hem of the skirt again and twirled it a little.

“Not for long it isn’t,” I gave her ass a firm smack that gets her trotting a little faster towards the house. “Now come on, or do you not want to open your present?”

That got her moving, and I grinned back at the bratty smirk she shot over her shoulder at me before unlocking the front door. I followed Rainbow into her place and took a deep breath of it. The little suburban house was a lot nicer than my place, and I liked spending time here, but a part of me missed doing this at my shitty apartment and having all of my crap nearby.

Also, there was just something primally satisfying about spending several hours in my bed with Rainbow Dash, alternating between fucking and napping until she was as wrecked as I could make her.

“I’m gonna wash up, okay?” Rainbow called as she dipped into the hall, and I just waved a silent reply as I walked to her room.

As the shower started to run, I could see her in my mind’s eye, peeling off her clothes and scrubbing herself down. She knew that I liked having a nice, clean bitch under me just as much as I enjoyed getting her all messy again. Rainbow was good to me, far better than I was to her, or at least better than I had been.

I was trying harder now.

I pulled the present from my inner pocket, then doffed my coat and tossed it onto her dresser to among the rest of her discarded clothes. Her room was still a mess, but it was kind of endearing in the same way her attitude was. I threw a pair of old socks off of her bed and into the hamper nearby which, somehow, managed to contain less dirty clothes than her floor, and sat down on the rumpled comforter as I stared down at the present again.

Rainbow would love it, that’s what I kept telling myself because honestly I was pretty sure she would. But I was still nervous… I wanted her to know how much I cared about her, and how much she meant to me.

I needed her to know how much I loved her.

My grip on the present tightened as my throat closed up and a sudden wave of raw emotion fell over me. I couldn’t keep my hands from shaking as I tried to take a few slow, steady breaths, that only marginally helped my nerves.

Was I doing the right thing?

I loved Rainbow, and she loved me, but those two assholes at the mall were only the tip of a douchebag iceberg. Being with me meant that we would never be free of them… that she would never be free of them.

Was I worth that?

“Alpha?”

I looked up sharply from. I hadn’t realised I’d zoned out badly enough to miss Rainbow coming back.

My breath caught in my throat as I looked at her, bare naked and still damp from her quick shower as she leaned against the doorway with a look of gentle concern on her face. Her slender figure was on full display for me, and as many times as I’ve seen it I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of looking at her.

“You okay?” She moved up next to me and knelt to rub her cheek against my hands which had finally stopped shaking.

“I am now,” I replied as I set the gift down, caught her chin in my hand, and drew her up to kiss her.

The kiss was long and slow. It was the kind of kiss I liked best because it let me savor the softness of her lips and the feel of her mouth. The simple sensation of Rainbow Dash was enough to be intoxicating all by itself, but the little sounds she makes when I stroke her cheek and trail my fingers over her neck make it that much more satisfying.

“I love you,” I said as I pulled back, then darted into to peck her on the nose, drawing a happy noise from her. “Now, c’mere…”

I moved further back on the bed and gestured for Rainbow to join me. My cheeky little bitch crawled up and deposited herself soundly in my lap, which was right where I wanted her, and wiggled her ass against my hardness, teasing me as she leaned back against me and smiled.

“Do I get my present now?” She asked with a cheeky grin.

I gave her an even glare before rolling my eyes and sighing. I couldn’t keep the smile off of my face when she looked up at me like that and she damn well knew it.

“Brat,” I muttered as I held up the present. “Here.”

A gleeful giggle escaped Rainbow as she snatched the present out of my hands and tore open the wrapping. Inside was a smooth wooden box, that was dark with a polished layer of veneer. She quickly worked her fingers into the seam and popped it open, and for a moment her features were painted over with confusion.

The interior of the box was lined with velvet and had three things inside.

The first was a wide steel band, the inside of which was lined thin layers of soft cotton, the second was an arm cuff, also steel and lined similarly, and the third thing was a coil of fine chain links.

Rainbow picked the steel band out first, and her eyes widened as she read the word that was engraved along the front of it in bold, curling print.

BITCH.

On the opposite side of the band was a small, boiler-plate-like stamp that read: ‘If lost return to Sunset Shimmer’.

“Here,” I took the band from her hand and worked my fingers around it until I found the catch, then clicked it open. “See?”

“It’s… a collar,” Rainbow said softly.

“I uhm,” I swallowed hard and held up to her neck, but stopped before I put it on her, “I wanted to get you something… something that showed how much I cared.” I took a deep breath as I braced myself. “But you don’t have to wear it if you don’t want-”

“Put it on me!” Rainbow demanded, and the sharpness in her voice took me by surprise, but she mellowed a moment later. “I… I mean… please?”

I nodded slowly, then opened the collar, fitted one half of it snugly against her neck, and slowly clicked it shut. It was a close fit, but the deliriously pleased smile on Rainbow’s face told me it was perfectly comfortable.

As I was locking it, Rainbow plucked out the last two objects. The armband, which matched the collar, was fitted for me. It bore my divided-sun symbol, and beneath the sun were the words: ‘I’m Sunset Shimmer’. The chain was several feet in length with each end terminating in a hook-latch.

Furrowing her brow, Rainbow ran her fingers across the metal of the collar underneath her chin, then grinned as she found the little loop of metal made to accept the latch and eagerly clipped it on.

“Give me that, you goof.” I took the armband from her and closed it around my right wrist.

I carefully clipped the opposite hook of the chain to the armband, then spun my hand around a few times, gathering up the slack of the chain in my palm until it drew taut and tugged Rainbow gently towards me.

Rainbow responded by wiggling her hips again and tracing the letters on the front of the collar with one finger as she smiled at me.

“Well?” Rainbow said. “You gonna remind me why I oughta be wearing this or what?”

I gave the chain a sharp jerk, bringing Rainbow’s forehead flush with mine as I growled low in my chest.

“You little brat.”

I let the slack go and pushed her over onto the bed, crawling over her as I nipped at her bare skin until I reached the gleaming steel of the collar. I sighed softly as I ran a finger across the smooth, cool metal before moving past it and pressing a rough kiss to Rainbow’s lips while my other slipped between us to grip her cock.

Rainbow Dash gasped as I began to give her slow, even strokes with one hand while I worked my jeans free and pulled them down with the other.

Kicking my jeans and pants off, I gripped Rainbow by her hips with both hands and flipped her over roughly onto her belly before clambering over on top of her, slipped my cock between the cheeks of her ass as I did, and rolling my hips a few times while I grabbed the lube from the little table beside the bed a dribbled some of it over my length.

I gave Rainbow Dash’s leash another sharp tug, rolling my hips to spread the warm oil evenly, and my bitch let out soft, eager moans every time I tightened my grip.

“How’s this for a reminder, bitch?” I said as I leaned in and angled my cock against Rainbow’s tight entrance. “Ready for some remedial lessons?”

“Mhm!” Rainbow nodded frantically as I tugged a little harder and pushed in at the same time, leveraging my newfound grip on her as my cock slipped inside of Rainbow’s ass.

“MMMF~UCK!” Rainbow bit down on the cover of her bed as I bottomed out inside her while pulling hard on the leash, and I felt her spasm and jerk her way into her second orgasm of the day, staining the sheets with her seed.

Every roll of my hips sent shockwaves of pleasure through me as I rode my bratty little bitch hard. Rainbow liked it playfully rough, and I knew just how hard she wanted it. The way she squirmed underneath me, cussing and moaning through a mouthful of fabric while her fingers gripped the sheets and covers tight, told me I was doing her exactly how she wanted it.

I wrapped another layer of chain around my hand, shortening the slack to keep up the pressure as I leaned in and slipped my hand around to her face, pressing my fingers to her lips.

“Open up, bitch,” I whispered as I laid my weight on top of her fully.

Rainbow shivered and opened her mouth obediently, letting the wad of cover she’d been biting down on fall away as I slipped two fingers past her lips. She suckled on them as I rocked my cock inside of her, and the blank, almost cross-eyed look on her face told me she was well out of her mind with lust.

“That’s my good girl,” I cooed as I pushed my cock deep while stroking her cheek with my thumb as she played her tongue over my fingers. “That’s my good little bitch.”

“Mm… Mhm…” Rainbow moaned out her wordless assent as I gave the collar a little more pressure.

There was nothing in the world like feeling Rainbow submitting underneath me. It was addictive and insanely intense, and although I wouldn’t normally call myself a quickshot in bed, Rainbow could push me right up to the edge in record time, especially when she got all soft and pliant like she was now.

“Get ready baby!” I snarled. “Get ready for me!”

Rainbow nodded frantically as my breathing started to turn ragged, and a familiar coil of pressure tightened up in my abdomen. A low, basso growl rumbled out of my chest as I pulled my fingers out from between Rainbow’s lips, then clapped my hand over her mouth at the same time I jerked the chain fully taut and hilted hard in her ass.

My voice turned to a harsh, barking growl as I hit my edge, and Rainbow Dash let out a muffled cry of ecstasy against my fingers as I came hard inside of her, my load filling her to the brim as I knotted her ass again. Rainbow’s whole body was quaking underneath me with the force of our combined climaxes, and my vision narrowed to a tight, grey tunnel as my hips jerked instinctively against my bitch’s ass.

I could feel Rainbow jerking her own hips in wild, chaotic ruts against the sheets, and I knew she was cumming just as hard as I was. My bondmate always had her most intense orgasms when I was taking her like this, so this was how she wanted it most often.

And I was happy to give it to her.

By the time the high faded my whole body had been reduced to putty, and I collapsed against Rainbow Dash who laid happily underneath me. Her whole chest was rumbling with a constant, satisfied purr, and it took me a few seconds to think to let up the pressure on the collar, unraveling the coils of chain from around my hand.

I winced at the red marks they’d left behind where the chain had been corded around my palm. I resolved to find a decent fingerless glove to wear next time we used the collar and chain, which would probably just be whenever we had sex next, so I should probably just overnight the damn the thing.

Fuck, this was an expensive little bitch I’d found.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Mm… alpha…” Rainbow cuddled against me and I returned the embrace, reaching up to unhook the chain as I did so it didn’t get tangled.

“I’m here, baby,” I said. “Your alpha is right here.”

She nodded and reached up, taking my hand in hers.

“Don’t… please don’t move.” Rainbow held on tight and shivered. “I like it when you’re on top of me like this… it feels good.”

I chuckled quietly. “Okay, I’ll stay right here then.”

I managed to grab a pillow to fit underneath hers and my heads before Rainbow Dash pulled my arms down to wrap around her. Knowing what was coming, I laid my head beside hers and snuggled against her gently, and sure enough, after a moment she started to shake.

This wasn’t unusual, sometimes Rainbow Dash would fall right asleep, and sometimes she would have these little crying fits. Rainbow tended to cry when she was overwhelmed with emotion, I discovered. It was just her way of getting it out, and although I’d kind of freaked out the first time it had happened a few days ago, I knew what to do now:

I tugged the collar down a little and lavished her neck with kisses right over her bonding mark, occasionally nipping it to reinforce it, and nuzzled against her to remind her I was here in a more physical manner.

“I l-love you,” Rainbow mumbled. “I love you, alpha.”

Like I said… overwhelmed.

“I love you too,” I replied between kisses to her neck. “I’ll always take care of you, Dash… I’ll always be here for you.”

“I know.” Rainbow curled up as she started to level out and I could feel her breathing starting to become easier and more steady. “I… I know…”

“Take a nap, baby,” I said. “I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

Rainbow nodded wordlessly, yawned, and a moment later she was dozing.

As always, the moment Rainbow Dash relaxed she immediately went into ‘power-save’ mode and fell asleep. I laughed a little as I pulled the sheets up and over us. I’d probably overheat a little but Rainbow got cold easily, even with me on top of her, and I had to keep my mate warm somehow.

Once she was tucked in, I indulged my own softer side and propped myself up on my elbows to stroke her beautiful prismatic locks. I loved looking at Rainbow… especially when she was asleep. I loved how soft she was, and how innocent she looked underneath me. I wanted to protect her… I had to protect her. She was my bondmate now, alpha or no, and that meant it was my responsibility to make sure she was warm and safe, clothed and fed, and perhaps most importantly: satisfied.

Well, at least I didn’t seem to have any issues with that last part.

“I love you, Rainbow Dash,” I whispered. “I love you so… s-so much.”

My voice cracked at the last few words, and tears started to track slowly down my cheeks. Not many, and not quickly, but they were there. I wiped them away after a moment, taking a deep breath to steady myself. Rainbow Dash wasn’t the only one who felt a little overwhelmed sometimes… part and parcel of our pheromonal bond, I guess. It was hard not to feel overwhelmed with a relationship this intense.

I settled in atop her, pressing a soft kiss to the bondmark on her neck as I did, and closed my eyes. I promised I would be right here when she woke up, and I intended to be.

Besides, I could use a nap.

Chapter 10

Six Months Later

“I can talk to her instead if you want.”

I shook my head at Rainbow’s offer. It wasn’t the first time she had made it but as always, I turned her down, despite the notion being an attractive one.

“I owe her this, Dash,” I said. “I owe it to Fluttershy to be honest about us.”

“Okay, but it’s about me, too!” Rainbow countered. “It’s not like I had nothing to do with this!”

“I’m not saying that.” I gently rubbed at the back of her neck with my fingers, right above the where the bondmark was concealed by the collar I’d gifted her months ago, and Rainbow Dash instantly started to relax. “What I’m saying is that I’m the one who started the courtship, even if we kind of ended it when she left, we both knew it wasn’t supposed to be for real.”

“You were never hers to start with,” Rainbow grumbled. “You were always my alpha, Sunset, and you know it!”

“Don’t be a brat about this, Dash,” I said firmly. “And yes, I know that now.”

“Should never’ve broken up with me,” she muttered under her breath, and I tightened my fingers to a grip that got a squeak of alarm from her.

“I said I was sorry,” I said in a forced, neutral tone. “You don’t have to keep bringing it up.”

“S-Sorry, alpha,” Rainbow said as I let my grip up. “Just… I know she’s my friend and all, but I’m antsy when you’re around her, because… y’know…”

I nodded. I did know, and couldn’t blame her for it.

“Just let me handle this, okay?” I said, carding my fingers through Rainbow’s short, punky hair as I did. “She deserves this much.”

“Fine…” Rainbow crossed her arms and pouted, but she always gave in when I really put my foot down, which was one of the reasons I did it so rarely.

Rainbow Dash gave up a lot to be with me, I owed it to her to give her a little of it back.

I wrapped my arms around her as she frowned, used the chain linking us to pull her closer and put a finger under her chin to guide her lips to mine. However much she pouted, she loved it when I took control, and now that we were in a better place as bondmates I had come to understand the most important part of that control.

The truth was, I wasn’t taking anything. Rainbow was giving me control willingly because she wanted me to be in control.

The best example was the pleated skirt she was currently wearing, one of a half dozen I’d bought her.

Rainbow never failed to complain, and loudly, every time I made her wear one of the skirts because she claimed it ‘wasn’t cool’ or something to that effect, and was generally just a massive brat about it until I hooked the chain to her neck and made her get dressed.

At the same time, once we were actually out, she was unbearably flirty. The skirt was just a little too short, cut off at a few inches above the knee to show off her soft, limber legs. That meant it was short enough that she could surreptitiously flash her ass at me in public, which she often did because she knew it drove me crazy.

In the end, it was a game.

She wanted to be pretty and cute. She wanted to dress like, and be doted on like, an adorable little omega.

Above us, the PA system chimed.

//NOW DISEMBARKING. FLIGHT TWO-SEVENTEEN FROM MANEHATTAN.//

“That’s hers.” I got up and unhooked the chain linking us, putting a hand on Rainbow’s head and ruffling her hair a little as I passed her. “I’ll come find you after we’ve talked.”

“Hey.” Rainbow grabbed my hand as I stepped away, and I glanced back at her.

“I love you,” she said in a gentler tone than I was used to.

I smiled. “I love you, too.”

Giving her hand a firm squeeze before letting go, I made my way through the broad halls of O’Mare International towards the cafe where we had agreed to meet. Her flight was delayed, but only by twenty minutes, and I honestly still can’t decide if I preferred it delayed, or if I’d rather it had shown up early so I could get this over with.

Procrastinate versus ripping off the bandage, the eternal question of the coward.

The smell of sandwiches filled the air of the cafe as I waited in line. I had maybe fifteen minutes before she disembarked. Her bodyguard would be grabbing her luggage from the conveyor, so I knew she would come straight here from the platform.

“What can I get you?” The young clerk asked with a bright, phony, customer-service grin.

“One Reuben bagel sandwich, extra sauce,” I replied. “And a Veggie too, and can I get au jus on the side with that one?”

“With the Veggie bagel?” She asked, raising an eyebrow. “Sure, I guess, extra twenty-five cents, though.”

“That’s fine,” I waved it off and passed her a twenty. The register chimed brightly, and she drew out my change, handed it off, and then went around to make up my order.

For my part, I just found a small out of the way table where I could get chewed out in relative peace. I fished around in my pocket as I sat down, making sure I had an extra tenner for a tip once I left. These poor food workers didn’t ask to witness a messy breakup between a crappy alpha and an omega who was way too good for her, but that’s what they were going to get.

Hell, it would probably be up on someone’s online story by the end of the day, if not on multiple.

Not that it mattered.

So long as I had Rainbow Dash, people could say whatever they liked about me. The only thing that bothered me was how it might reflect on my bondmate.

These last six months had been surprisingly blissful, not counting the ugly looks we got whenever we went out since people inevitably cottoned on to the fact that we were both alphas despite one of us being decidedly omega-like. No matter what, Rainbow still had the scent glands of an alpha, and moreover she bore a bondmark over them.

The funny part was that every time we went out the people around inevitably went through the exact same stages of realisation.

My alpha bondmark on Rainbow Dash was the most obvious sign that something was up since it permanently changed her scent. There was no getting around the mark informing everyone in the area that she was somebody’s bitch, and that somebody was pretty obviously the alpha who had her on a literal leash.

That meant that stage one was everyone looking at me like I was some kind of abuser for about as long as it took them to realise just how weirdly happy Rainbow Dash looked while being led around by me.

At stage two their looks would shift to her, and that’s where I started to get mad. They’d look at my bondmate like she was some kind of freak, and even with my heavy-weight alpha status, I’d still gotten into three knock-down-drag-out fights in the past two months with alphas who couldn’t contain their disgust to civil levels.

I guess some people just gotta swing their dicks anytime they see something that threatens their fragile egos.

Stage three was everyone sullenly leaving us alone after I’d either growled, or physically beaten, down whoever had the balls to confront us about our behaviour.

Of course, I couldn’t help the other stuff, like the times we’d been asked to leave restaurants or when we weren’t allowed in clubs or bars. It got to the point that I was wary of even going out… not because it even bothered me all that much, but because of the look on Rainbow’s face every time we were asked to leave.

She always told me it was fine, but I knew it stung.

And… shit, I just… I loved her so much, and I hated seeing her unhappy. It made me feel like a failure.

“Sunset?”

I raised my head to Fluttershy’s usual beatific smile. It was as radiant as ever. She brushed some stray strands of pink from her eyes as she set down her carry-on bag and took the seat opposite me at the table I’d chosen.

“Are you okay?” She asked, her tone coloured with concern.

“Heh, sort of,” I admitted. “How was your flight?”

“It was uhm… it was a flight,” she replied in a slightly tired tone. “I’m kind of jet-lagged.”

“Sorry, we can talk tomorrow if you-”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Nope, I’ve been wondering why you wanted to talk for six months now and I uhm… well, I don’t really want to wait anymore.”

I sighed and nodded.

“Fair enough.”

Before either of us could speak again, our bagels arrived, and Fluttershy brightened considerably at the veggie bagel and little cup of au jus that was beside it. She snatched it up off the plate almost as soon as it was on the table and took a hearty bite, chewing through the vegetables with gusto before swallowing.

Then let out a cute little burp.

How is it she can even burp gracefully?

“Oops, s-sorry,” she dipped the corner of her bagel in the au jus and took a much daintier bite that she swallowed before continuing. “I didn’t really eat anything on the plane… or this morning.”

“I guess not,” I replied with a smile before taking a bite of my Reuben.

“But… you remembered,” Fluttershy said softly as she looked down at her meal, and I raised an eyebrow as I chewed. “My favorite order, I mean… even the side of au jus… you remembered.”

I swallowed, then shrugged. “It’s not a complicated order.”

She didn’t reply, she just kept staring at her bagel like she was expecting it to vanish out of her hands. The odd sense of tension she was giving off wasn’t exactly doing wonders for my appetite, so I eventually sat the bagel down and waited.

“We’re not getting back together, are we?” Fluttershy said suddenly, and my stomach clenched at the rawness in her voice.

“No,” I replied quietly. “And… and I know this is going to sound trite and cliche but I swear it’s true when I say ‘it is definitely not you, it’s me’.”

“Hm.”

The small sound was her only response before she took another small bite of au jus-dipped veggie bagel.

“I made a mistake, Flutters,” I continued. “You know I’m… I’m not a great person, or even a very good one, but I should never have started this thing between us.”

Every word seemed to drag my shoulders down a little more until I was resting on my arms with my head bowed. I wanted to look Fluttershy in the eye when I said all this, but now that it comes to it I just… I don’t have it in me.

I really am a coward.

“May I, uhm… may I ask why?”

Here comes the ‘fun’ part.

“I’m with someone else,” I said simply. “For whatever it’s worth, I honestly don’t think I would have made you happy, and as selfish as this next part sounds… I know that I couldn’t have been happy either.” Saying that last bit was like pulling teeth, but I did it. “I know I fucked up, and you have every right to hate me and drag me through the mud, so go ahead, just know that I am sorry.”

I raised my head finally, met Fluttershy’s gaze, and to my surprise, there was no hurt in her eyes, there wasn’t even an accusation. There was something else. It was a kind of analytical intensity that put my hackles up as she stared into my eyes.

A weird kind of primal terror took up residence in my stomach and in my limbs as she stared me down until, finally, she leaned back in her chair, and sighed.

“May I ask you another question?” Fluttershy said.

“Sure?” My voice came out hitched from the tightness in my chest.

“I want you to answer me honestly, okay?” Her tone was sharp, and I nodded immediately. Fluttershy eyed me with suspicion for a moment before nodding to herself. “Are you back with Rainbow Dash?”

My eyes went wide at my bondmate’s name, and I couldn't keep my jaw from clicking open slightly in shock. I’d never told Fluttershy that Rainbow had been the one I’d been with before her, and I hadn’t mentioned it in the few texts we’d exchanged since she’d been gone.

But she knew.

Plus, the way she had worded it: ‘are you back with Rainbow Dash’, suggested that she’d always known.

“I am,” I answered finally, a cold chill settled over the table.

The intensity in Fluttershy’s gaze seemed to double and suddenly I’d gone from being seated at a table with a dainty little omega to being stared down at by an apex predator intent on devouring me whole.

It lasted all of a second and a half before she closed her eyes, nodded again, and then opened them, and this time the intense violence that was being projected from them was nowhere to be found.

“Let’s make a deal, Sunset,” Fluttershy said suddenly.

“A… deal?” I wasn’t sure where this was going but it was definitely not going the way I had expected. “What do you mean?”

“Whatever you’re getting from Rainbow Dash, you can get from me.” Fluttershy laid her hand over her heart and straightened her back. “She’s an alpha and so are you, if… if it’s dominating her that’s the important part, I can give you that.”

Fluttershy set her sandwich down, and I realised her hands were shaking as she did. Her grip had left scarred marks in the toasted bread, I watched as she visibly regained control of herself.

At no point did she look away from me.

“Rainbow Dash is my friend, Sunset,” Fluttershy said. “I… I know that alphas butt heads and fight, and I know Rainbow Dash probably picked a fight with you, and she probably got herself into this because she’s stubborn and… and…”

Tears started to form in Fluttershy's eyes, but her stoic expression didn’t falter. On the contrary, her eyes narrowed at me.

“H-How did you-?”

“Did you think I didn’t notice how Rainbow changed?” Fluttershy asked calmly, but my mouth snapped shut nonetheless. “I’ve known her since I was seven, and I know her scent. It changed, and then she changed! She would disappear after classes, and when she was here she looked miles away!”

“Fluttershy, I swear it isn’t what you think!” I leaned in, pushing my sandwich away as I did. “And besides, why would you even agree to courtship if you thought I was so bad!”

“For Rainbow Dash!” She snapped, finally, her voice rising in pitch and coloring with her version of anger.

Before she could really get on a roll, Fluttershy stopped herself. She leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes, took several deep breaths, then opened them again and all the anger had fled.

“I thought I’d hate you,” Fluttershy admitted quietly. “On our date… I wanted to make it miserable, that’s why I was late. I’m the one who asked mom to do the background check.” I blinked in surprise at that. “I wanted you to want me, but I wasn’t sure I wanted you to like me, and I know that’s… ugly.”

“No more than I deserved, honestly,” I said, leaning on the table as I sighed.

“Imagine my surprise when you turned out to be kind of… sweet,” Fluttershy’s soft lips curved up in a small smile. “You bent over backward to make sure I had a good time, you were a perfect alpha, and absolutely nothing like I expected.”

She sighed and poked at her veggie bagel despondently.

“That’s why I decided that maybe everything I had thought about you was wrong,” Fluttershy said. “That maybe it was Rainbow Dash who had gotten herself in over her head again, and the more I thought about it, the more I decided it was probably true.”

“That is true, actually,” I said with a wan chuckle. “This all started when she sucker-punched me in the showers on campus.”

“Oh Rainbow.” Fluttershy sagged in her seat and buried her face in her hands. After a moment she dropped her hands and sighed. “I uhm… I wish I could believe you were lying, but I know Rainbow, and I… I like to think I know you, too.”

I hoped so.

“Anyway,” Fluttershy continued as she rested an elbow on the table and propped her head up on her hand. “I… I understand that alphas do things a certain way, but I’m begging you, Sunset,” she reached out and grabbed both of my hands with hers, “please, just… forgive Rainbow, and m-maybe, we can try this again!”

A pit of ugly self-hatred had opened up in my gut at Fluttershy’s words. Was I really this much of a bad guy? Was this seriously my reputation?

“I thought maybe… maybe if you had me, you wouldn’t look at Rainbow anymore.” Fluttershy’s voice had grown taut, and her grip tightened. “I know you, Sunset, and I know that the only time you let go of something you want is when you see something else you want even more, and I can do that, just… please…” she bowed her head. “Please let Rainbow Dash go, she’s my best friend.”

I sighed.

“I can’t,” I replied, and I felt as much as saw every muscle in Fluttershy’s body tighten at my words.

“And it’s not for lack of trying.” I tightened my own grip on her hands as I spoke, then took a breath, and admitted the whole truth. “The only reason I dumped Rainbow and courted you, Flutters, is because I was trying to make her leave me and nothing else had worked.”

All the tension bled from Fluttershy’s frame in an instant, only to be replaced by dumbfounded shock as she raised her head, she jerked back from me and stared in patent disbelief.

“It’s no lie,” I said. “Ask Rainbow herself if you want, she’s just down the hall.” I gestured broadly towards the corridor outside the cafe. “Rainbow Dash is with me because, against all sanity and reason, she wants to be with me.” My hand found the smooth metal of the matched bracelet, the pair of Rainbow’s collar, and rested on it. “And I love her… more than anything.

“But… w-what-?” Fluttershy worked her jaw a few times, doing an excellent impression of a stunned guppy. “How… what?!”

I shrugged.

“If you ask society, we’re freaks,” I said evenly. “I wasn’t lying when we talked at the Garden, I really did think I was hurting her.”

I paused as I remembered the conversation, and more importantly, I remembered Fluttershy’s comforting words which suddenly took on a whole different light.

“Wait, so at the Garden… you knew back then?” I asked, and Fluttershy flushed a little.

“Y-Yeah,” she nodded, her pink locks falling like a veil over her reddening face. “I uhm… I was playing dumb because I thought you were going to talk badly about Rainbow, so I was really surprised when you called yourself abusive.”

She reached out a hand again, this time laying it softly over mine.

“I wasn’t really sure if I believed everything you were saying then,” she admitted. “About being sorry, about how you didn’t know, and how you regretted mistreating her.” Fluttershy took another breath and met my eyes more fondly. “But I wanted to… and I took it as a sign that maybe you really were a good person, and that things had just gotten out of hand.”

“Well, things did get out of hand,” I said with a weak chuckle. “But… I don’t know about good.”

Fluttershy didn’t remark on my comment, she just shook her head and smiled. Neither of us said anything for a while, we just sat in silence as we mutually digested the things we’d told each other. I for one was surprised at how devious Fluttershy really was under all that fluff, but I suppose it comes with being famous… you had to have some kind of survival skills for the political landscape.

For Fluttershy’s part, she just looked incredibly thoughtful as she took small, au-jus-dipped bites of her bagel in between pensive hums and glances outside where I’m sure she was looking for Rainbow Dash, either consciously or otherwise.

“Can I ask you something else?” Fluttershy said suddenly.

“I owe you that much at least,” I replied.

“Is Rainbow Dash happy?” Fluttershy asked. “I mean… is she really happy? Are you, uhm… are you taking care of her?”

“As best as I possibly can,” I swore.

“Good,” Fluttershy patted my hand and leaned back, then frowned. “Sunset… I… I have to apologise for something too, then.”

“Hm?” I raised an eyebrow. I couldn’t think of anything she had done that she needed to say sorry to me for.

“That day at the Garden, I said something… something really mean.” Fluttershy brushed her hair out of her face a few times, then sighed. “When I said ‘you loved her’ I was…”

Oh.

My stomach took a small dive.

Put in context, that seemingly off-hand remark also took on a new light. She’d known about Rainbow Dash and I, meaning she also knew what I was talking about when I talked about treating her badly. She knew almost all of the broad strokes of what was happening and had pretended she didn’t, meaning when Fluttershy had made the remark about love… she had probably said it sarcastically.

You must have really loved her.

She’d said those words because she thought they would hurt me because she knew that every horrible thing I had been confessing to her about had been done to her best friend.

“You must have really hated me in that moment,” I said quietly.

Fluttershy nodded silently.

“I uhm… I felt horrible right after I’d said it,” Fluttershy said. Her voice cracked a little as she wiped at her face with the palm of her hand. “When I saw how much it hurt you, I knew you couldn’t be faking it, and I want to apologize right away, but…”

“But you’d have to explain why you were apologising,” I filled in.

The jig would have been up. She hadn’t wanted to risk me pushing her away in anger for trying to manipulate me, because she was afraid I’d fall right back into bed with Rainbow Dash.

In her defense, that’s probably exactly what would have happened. Even now, I’m not thrilled about what she did, but I did understand.

Six months of perspective helped.

“I was just so… so mad!” Fluttershy looked like she was on the edge of full-on bawling, her small hands were gripped in tight fists that shook as she glared down at the table.

“I deserved worse,” I said softly.

“I just wanted to help Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said.

“Ever thought maybe I was helping myself just fine?”

We both nearly leapt out of our seats at Rainbow’s acid tone and sudden appearance. Somehow, she had managed to creep up on both of us despite not exactly being the exemplar of stealth, and had her arms crossed over her chest as she glared at both of us with equal annoyance.

“Dash?!” I made to stand, but Rainbow put paid to that idea by taking two quick steps and dropping herself squarely in my lap.

“Rainbow Dash, w-what are you wearing?” Fluttershy’s eyes were fixed on the collar around Rainbow’s neck, the one that read ‘BITCH’ in engraved metal letters.

“I’m wearing whatever I want,” Rainbow replied.

Without looking away from Fluttershy, Rainbow shoved a hand in her pocket and pulled out the length of chain. Then she took my hand, clipped the hook to the armband, then ran the chain up to the mate of the hook at her neck, and clipped that one secure too.

“Here, make sure it’s tight.” Rainbow casually gathered up the slack of the chain, handed it off to me, and closed my fist around it.

“Make sure it’s… what?” I stared down at her, dumbfounded, and Rainbow narrowed her eyes.

“I said: make sure it’s tight,” she repeated slowly.

Was she saying she wanted me to…

“Wait, right here?” I glanced over at Fluttershy, but Rainbow moved her head so it was between us again.

“Don’t look at her, look at me,” Rainbow pouted. “Do I have to ask again, alpha?”

Just past Rainbow’s ear, I could see Fluttershy silently mouthing the word ‘alpha’, and my cheeks started to redden. On the heels of the embarrassment came a familiar rush of petulant anger, and my indecision turned to hard iron as I tightened my fist around the slack of the chain and gave it a sharp tug.

Rainbow Dash made a small, pleased noise at the jerking motion.

“What have I told you about embarrassing me in public, bitch?” I snarled but kept my voice low. No need to bother the other patrons.

Not low enough that Fluttershy didn’t hear me, though. She stiffened at the last word out of my mouth, and opened her mouth to say something angry, but was cut off by Rainbow who gave me a soft little purr and nuzzle against my neck.

“Sorry, alpha,” she replied quietly, then closed her eyes and took a long breath of my scent.

Fluttershy’s mouth clicked closed, but her stare didn’t leave us. Now she just looked flummoxed. For certain, the Rainbow Dash she knew probably would have reacted violently to being called ‘bitch’ in such a derogatory tone.

“See?” Rainbow said quietly, looking up from my neck and meeting Fluttershy’s eyes. “I don’t need you to friggin’ martyr yourself for me, Flutters, I can take care of myself.”

Then she pushed herself up and turned so she was glaring down at me.

“And I don’t need you doing it either, alpha!” She prodded me in the chest, and I winced and hung my head. “All of this happened because you both had your heads so far up your asses trying to protect me that neither of you stopped to wonder if I wanted to be protected!”

Rainbow turned in my lap to face Fluttershy and crossed her arms again, leaning back against me like I was an easy chair while she wiggled her hips teasingly against my groin. I tensed and grimaced as my alpha instincts responded on automatic, and I got instantly hard.

I could practically feel Rainbow’s smug little grin as she settled the crease of her ass against my length, pinning it uncomfortably to my leg.

“Rainbow you’re an alpha! You-!” Fluttershy started, but Rainbow cut her off, slapping a hand down loudly on the table and scowling.

“I don’t care!” Rainbow snapped. “My breed has nothing to do with how I want to be treated and who I want to be with!”

Grabbing the chain on her end, she yanked it and pulled my arm up, then pulled it comfortably around her waist.

“Sunset makes me happy, Flutters,” Rainbow said. “And I… I make her happy… it doesn’t matter that I’m her bitch because she’s my alpha, get it? She’s mine.”

To make her point, she wiggled her hips again, crossed her legs, and leaned back. Rainbow was doing that thing where she treated me like furniture and, like every other time she pulled this, I was really going to take her task for it, but she was also not wrong.

I was her alpha.

Hers.

If she wanted to, Rainbow knew damn well how tightly she had me wrapped around her little finger. All she had to do was stick out her lower lip, give me a few crocodile tears, and say ‘please, alpha?’ in that petulant little voice she always used when she wanted her way, and I would fold like crepe paper.

“Rainbow, I…” Fluttershy looked between us, then leaned back in her own chair and sighed. “I just… are you… are you really happy?”

“Happier than I’ve ever been, Flutters,” Rainbow replied honestly, and all the bratty ire was gone from her voice when she spoke.

Then she reached up to the collar and released the lock on it, pulled it off, and turned her head to bare the back of her neck to Fluttershy where a dark imprint of my bite was visible clearly on her skin, and Fluttershy’s eyes flew wide at the sight of the bondmark.

“That’s how happy I am,” Rainbow said as she straightened and replaced the collar. “That’s how sure I am of Sunset.”

I wrapped both of my arms around Rainbow’s middle and hugged her close, pressing my lips to the skin just above where the collar covered the bondmark, and took a long, deep breath. The scent of my bondmate filled my head with delicious peace. I could never get enough of it, and Rainbow and I both knew I’d do anything to protect her.

She may have been born an alpha, but also may as well be an omega for all intents and purposes of our relationship.

Fluttershy ran her hands over her lap, nervously flattening out the creases of her skirt several times before finally closing her eyes, raising her head, and taking a long slow breath that she let out in a quiet sigh.

“All I want,” she began as she opened her eyes again, “is for my best friend to be safe and happy.”

“I am,” Rainbow assured her. “Safer and happier than ever.”

Fluttershy shook her head and, finally, smiled. It was a slightly confused smile, but it was a real one as she looked between us.

“Well, uhm… it’s a little weird, but so long as you’re both happy, I’m happy.” Fluttershy picked up her bagel and polished off what little was left as Rainbow draped herself against me.

“Are you sure?” I asked as I hugged Rainbow. “I really do like you, Flutters, and I don’t want to… I never wanted to hurt you.”

“I’m sure,” Fluttershy laughed as she dabbed at her lips. “I’m… maybe a little disappointed that you won’t be courting me, but neither of us started it for the right reasons either, so maybe that’s for the best.”

“Yeah.” I chuckled as I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. “You’re probably right.”

“If uhm, if it’s alright with you both, I think I’m going to head home.” Fluttershy laughed weakly as she stood and hefted her carry-on. “This has been a very long day, and uhm… I think I’d like to nap for a few weeks.”

“Mood.” Rainbow grinned as she held out a fist which Fluttershy daintily bumped.

“It’s only a mood because you always want to be napping,” I said grumpily.

She still had my cock pinned to my leg with her ass and it was really beginning to irritate me.

“Still a mood,” Rainbow countered.

“Maybe we, uhm, we can get dinner again, the three of us?” Fluttershy offered, and I nodded.

“Gustav’s again?” I offered. “I’d love to harangue Bonnie again.”

“Oh dear, maybe not,” Fluttershy said, but the laugh hiding under her words told me she wasn’t entirely opposed. “Well, good-bye.”

Fluttershy waved, then turned and left the cafe, leaving Rainbow purring happily in my lap as she half-napped against me. As nice as it felt to have her pressed against me, my situation south of the border was getting seriously problematic, so I gripped Rainbow by the short hair at the back of her head and very slowly drew her back until my lips were right by her ear.

“Yes, alpha?” She asked smugly.

“When we get home,” I replied, “I am going to bend you over the couch and raw dog you until you can’t walk straight.”

“Promise?”

I sighed.

“You little brat.”

Author's Note

We Have Come To Terms

I may write an epilogue, may not, but I have now completed this weird plot bunny that ended up a lot more complicated than it really had any right to be. Hope you all enjoyed it.

Chapter 1 Author's Note

Fair warning, the sex is a lot... messier... in this. Blame it on adhering to traditional Omegaverse tropes. Other than that, enjoy!

Chapter 1

Sweat beaded at Fluttershy’s brow and the hallway went dead silent from its usual noisy bustle of morning traffic. Canterlot University wasn’t a small campus by any stretch of the word, it was easily one of the largest community colleges in the area, in fact, so shutting everyone up simultaneously was quite a feat.

Of course, it is me, after all, so maybe it’s not so surprising.

Sunset Shimmer, Queen Bee and Big Dick Alpha on Campus. Where I walked, people moved, and where I looked, everyone else looked away.

“How’s your morning going, Flutters?” I smiled, my voice dripping with saccharine sweetness as I leaned forward, pinning the smaller and far more demure omega to the bank of lockers with my presence alone.

“Uhm, i-it’s going okay,” she stammered the words out, her cheeks flushing hot and eyes dilating as my presence overwhelmed her.

In Equestria, I’d been an Alpha among Alphas, but over here and all through high school I’d always assumed I’d ended up with a tamer pheromonal balance. That didn’t necessarily bother me either because, when it came to Alphas, with great power came a really obnoxiously intense rut. I’d actually thought I’d ended up with comparatively mild ruts, enough so that I barely noticed them.

It happened sometimes, and I was happy enough with that.

Seven months ago I’d been shown the grievous error of my assumptions because, as it turned out, my translation into this world had just seriously stunted my maturation in this body.

In short, I hadn’t noticed my ruts because I hadn’t had one yet.

And boy howdy had that first one been a fucking doozy.

“Well?” I planted a fist gently against the wall a few inches above Fluttershy’s head as I leaned a little closer, and I could practically hear her knees knocking together. “Aren’t you going to ask me how my morning is going?”

Fluttershy swallowed hard and licked her lips, and I had to suppress a shudder at the sight of that small pink tongue of hers.

“H-How’s your m-morning going, S-Sunset?” she asked shakily.

“Fucking phenomenal.”

I wasn’t even in rut and my pheromones were enough to knock Fluttershy for a loop, but that wasn’t surprising.

If I was an Alpha among Alphas, then Fluttershy was an Omega among Omegas. Perfectly soft and totally submissive, hitting her with the full blast of my scent was a little like sandblasting a soup cracker. She was a contentious point for CCU, though, because every alpha on campus knew that if they went for her they would get dragged down by all the other alphas who wanted her, making it a stalemate on their end, and Fluttershy hadn’t expressed any interest in choosing an alpha for herself, which made her something like the university’s Switzerland.

Until I stepped in, anyway.

“We got a problem here, Shimmer?” a voice drawled from beside me, and I scowled.

I glanced over at Applejack, one of the other more potent alphas. Even she was sweating in my presence but, to her credit, she didn’t tuck her tail and run like most of the others did.

“No problem,” I replied, grinning as I met the eldest Apple daughter’s green eyes before flicking my gaze back to Fluttershy. “Right, Flutters?”

Fluttershy swallowed hard again, tore her eyes away from me to look over at her friend, and shook her head.

“N-No problem, Applejack,” she said softly. “It’s okay.”

Applejack frowned and my heart leapt in my chest. Even as the main Alpha of the university I knew that, if Fluttershy said ‘no’, I’d still get my ass dragged through the halls by every angry alpha pulling a white-knight trick and jumping to her defense. If she was telling Applejack, the second-biggest alpha to yours truly, to back off, that meant Fluttershy might actually be making a choice.

A much wider grin split my face as I brought my hand down to rest lightly on Fluttershy’s shoulder, testing the waters, and sure enough she didn’t shy away from the contact. With that established, I turned back to Applejack and nodded at her.

“See?” I said, feeling smugly triumphant. “No problem.”

Then I turned, leaned closer to Fluttershy until my lips from inches from her ear and my cheek a hairsbreadth from touching hers, and whispered. “That’s my girl.”

A felt a shudder run through her and, to my surprise, she closed the distance and nuzzled her cheek very slightly against mine; a tentative mark of approval. She’d shared the smallest bit of her scent with me, and taken a stronger dose of mine onto herself.

Fluttershy would be carrying around a touch of my scent with her all day, and she knew it.

I had to fight back the urge to bite her, to mark her, right there. A low growl had taken up somewhere in the back of my throat, a rumble that drew out another shiver from Fluttershy. My lips were peeling back instinctively, and my alpha instincts were screaming at me to mark her, to make her mine right there.

Damn, she wasn’t even going through a heat cycle and my reaction was already this intense.

Not a chance though. You didn’t just mark an omega like Fluttershy, you had to court her properly.

Seeing the response, Applejack backed off, even as her mouth twisted into a grimace. She wasn’t going to argue with Fluttershy though, since the omega made her desires perfectly clear.

“You just gonna let that happen, sugarcube?” Applejack asked, her voice lower as she moved away, and I looked back to see her talking to Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow had been one of the other major alphas in the school up until about seven months ago, the operative word being ‘was’. If that coincidental fall in status seemed like it lined up right about with my first rut then congratulations.

No shit, sherlock.

Rainbow looked like she was about to have a conniption, but the moment our eyes met she wilted back and turned away, and in doing so exposed just a touch of her neck.

That’s right, Dashie… show me who your alpha is.

My eyes met her warm, cerise orbs, and I licked my lips, baring my teeth at her as I gave her my smokiest grin. There was the slightest widening of her eyes before she turned away fully, and I let out a low, throaty laugh.

Maybe my first rut hadn’t been all bad.

Seven Months Ago

Everything was bad.

My legs were twitching, my skin was on fire, I couldn’t sit still to save my life, and my dick was hard as a towel rack.

I’d thought my ruts seemed suspiciously light on this side of the mirror. I hadn’t realised those were just the normal hormonal up and downswings that the average human experienced.

In Equestria my ruts had been relatively intense, even by alpha standards, and had been annoyingly distracting.

This body’s rut was agonising.

It occurs to me only now that Equestrians, by nature, are a prey species, and so technically speaking their breeding cycles would be less intense than a predator’s. Humans, on the other hand, were the apex fucking predator of this world, and this current rut I was experiencing made my most intense cycle on that side of the mirror look like a campfire next to a continental blaze!

SNAP

I looked down at my pen I’d been fidgeting with. I’d had it clasped between my fingers and I’d managed to snap it clean in half, spilling ink all over my fingers.

“Shit,” I backed up away from my desk as our Professor, Missus Harshwhinny, came over with some paper towels.

One was held studiously up to her nose.

“Miss Shimmer,” she began in a low voice, “may I see you outside?”

I looked around, and grimaced.

Every omega in the room was in sweats by this point, with Trixie practically vibrating out of her chair trying not to jump me. Even the betas were looking markedly uncomfortable and I was pretty sure both Applejack and Rainbow Dash were about to start a row in the middle of World History on principle alone.

“Sure thing, Professor,” I grumbled as I helped her wipe up the mess.

My hands were shaking as I passed the towel back to her, then stood and followed her out of the classroom. We walked a good way away before she turned to me with a surprising amount of concern on her face. Most of my tenure here had held up Harshwhinny as the teacher least willing to take my shit, and that was including Dean Luna.

“Miss Shimmer I applaud your devotion to perfect attendance but,” she frowned and looked me up and down, “frankly, you’re a mess… you do know the University has a number of permitted absences allotted to you when your cycle comes around, right?”

“It snuck up on me,” I bit the words out tersely. It was technically the truth because I hadn’t even realised it would happen, much less that it would be this bad.

“I see,” Miss Harshwhinny sighed and shook her head. “Well, you’ll need to speak to Chancellor Celestia, she can fast-track you the paperwork for your permissions so you can schedule out your absences with your other professors if you know your cycle well enough.”

“It’s kind of irregular.” Irregular cycles were rare in my world, but they happened and it was the only reply I could think of so I hoped it would cut the mustard here or I was at least partially screwed.

“Intense and irregular,” Harshwhinny made a soft tutting sound with her tongue and shook her head. “That's unfortunate, my first husband was similar and it was quite an ordeal, Celestia may have some suppressants you can take, I’m sure she’ll offer you one.”

“Thanks, Missus Harsh,” I grumbled as she gestured towards the Chancellor’s office as if I didn’t know the way.

Not that I got sent there often at all, but I had the layout of the University memorised by my second week.

The halls were blessedly clear, I hadn’t realised how badly being around others was affecting me until I was alone. Even now I was probably polluting the halls with scent markings, I couldn’t even help it either which was humiliating.

Plus my situation south of the border was starting to become untenable. I was seriously beginning to hate the fact that I’d always chosen skinny jeans as my lower-wear because, no matter how good it makes my ass look, ripping through your zipper is never classy and the superheated piece of rebar between my legs was beginning to protest at length.

Hah, see what I did there?

I’m fucking hilarious.

Someone shoot me.

I reached Celestia’s office a few moments later, raised a fist, and pounded a few times. There was a slight delay before a muffled: come in, answered my knocks.

“Sorry in advance,” I called sullenly, and I stepped in to see a slightly confused looking Chancellor Celestia sitting at her desk with her younger sister at her side holding a few papers and wearing a similar expression.

The twin looks of confusion lasted about two seconds before both of their eyes flew wide. Dean Luna clapped a hand over her nose and scrambled to the back of the room, while Celestia just recoiled slightly like a bad smell had snuck up her nostrils and dropped a deuce.

“Oh dear,” Celestia mumbled before turning to her sister and shooing her away. “Luna, I’ll handle this one, obviously… I’d suggest a cold shower.”

Luna just nodded frantically before sprinting out of the room while doing her best not to breathe.

“Huh,” I grunted, “didn’t realise Dean Luna was an omega.”

“Few do,” the Chancellor relied wryly before grimacing again. “Sunset, dear, I’m the last person to try and impinge on people’s choices, and obviously the choice to take suppressants is a personal one, but this is-”

“It snuck up on me, okay!?” I snapped, my temper was already frayed, and I had to take a moment to just breathe slowly as I reached up and smoothed the damp tangles of my hair. I’d been sweating like a hog since my rut started and it was starting to get gross. “I’m sorry, I didn’t… It wasn’t on purpose, alright?”

Celestia gave me a sympathetic nod. “I understand, it happens to the best of us, and you’re only what… twenty-two now? You’re young, you’re allowed to lose track of time now and again.”

“Yeah, so… Professor Harshwhinny said I’d need paperwork to schedule my absences?”

The Chancellor nodded and began fishing around for paperwork, soon a manila folder full of papers were out in front of her along with a white bottle of pills.

“Here are the forms,” Celestia said with a warm smile, pushing them towards me, “and here,” she popped the cap and passed me a little gray pill. “Take one of these, they’re my prescription and I probably shouldn’t be giving them out, but you look like you’re in a lot of pain.”

“You have no idea,” I said dryly as I swept up the pill, tossed it in my mouth, and dry-swallowed it. “Thanks… hopefully it kicks in soon.”

“I have to say,” Celestia started as I sat down and began filling in the blank spots on the papers, “given the intensity of your scent and how my sister reacted, you’re probably even more potent an alpha than me.”

I paused and gave her a look, and she just shrugged.

“I’m only saying that as a warning,” she continued. “You can’t control your pheromonal output, but you should at least be aware of the effect it will have on others… you need to be especially careful around omegas, if they’re close to their heat you could trigger it prematurely.”

My pencil scratched to a stop, snapping the lead with a loud crack as I looked back up at her shock.

“Seriously?” I had never heard of an omega’s heat being triggered outside of a normal cycle before, but then again humans were a different species.

“Dead serious,” Celestia replied. “That’s why I’m warning you. If you don’t have a prescription for suppressants, I’d highly recommend getting one, I know it’s not something everyone is okay with, I know there’s a lot of people who see the heat and rut cycle as necessary for health and I don’t strictly disagree, but…” she gave me a level look and shook her head. “You have to consider more than just the surface, at your age your hormones are quite intense, I know you know that, Sunset.”

“I don’t need the birds and the bees, ma’am,” I was already feeling uncomfortable enough.

“This isn’t about that,” Celestia pressed. “This is about your quality of life and safety, and it is my job to see to it that you’re prepared to take care of yourself,” she took the completed forms from me and tucked them away before continuing. “Just bear in mind that between your hormones and having a rut this intense, what do you think would happen if you accidentally encountered an omega with a heat roughly similar?”

My stomach sank even as my alpha instincts thrashed inside my skull at the idea of it. The idea of a willing omega submitting to me, bending over and presenting herself to me… of marking her, knotting her…

Breeding her.

Ugh, maybe she had a point.

“I’ll make a doctor’s appointment later,” I allowed, “I’ll get a prescription.”

“I’m glad,” Celestia said with that beatific smile of hers that never seemed to fade even between dimensions. “I hope I didn’t push into something you’re uncomfortable with, but I really think it’s the best decision… Lord knows I had a bad enough time during my high school years going through rut, my mother didn’t believe in suppressants either so I just had to endure it and I’d rather you not suffer like I did since yours seems even worse.”

“Yeah… thanks,” I stood, rubbing my arm awkwardly. Chancellor Celestia knew full well I didn’t have a mother or father, I’d spun a relatively convincing story of being an orphan when I’d enrolled, so she had this odd tendency to mother me whenever we spoke. “I’m… I’m gonna go take a long, cold shower, if that’s okay.”

I jerked a thumb outwards and in the general direction of the gym, and Celestia just chuckled and nodded.

“You do that, and then head home, okay?” Celestia tucked away her bottle of suppressants as she nodded to me. “I’ll clear all of your absences for today with your professors, on the house.”

I laughed quietly, and nodded. “Uhm, yeah, thanks, Missus Sonnen.”

“Anytime, Sunset.”

I left the office in significantly higher spirits than I’d entered them in and started towards the gym. If I hadn’t been distracted by my rut and the constant pounding in the back of my head that neatly mirrored the painful throbbing below my belt I might have heard the low voices approaching from the corner I was coming up on, unfortunately…

Thud

“HEY!”

I stumbled and, on reflex, snapped a hand out to grab the person I’d run into, as much to regain my own balance as it was to keep them from falling over.

The one who’d yelled hadn’t been the one I’d grabbed. That voice had belonged to Rainbow Dash who was staring at me from a foot away looking utterly livid, I blinked, then turned to look at the girl whose arm I was still grabbing.

Fluttershy.

The omega’s omega, and the soft spot of every alpha in two districts, was staring at me, hyperventilating, with wide, dilated pupils.

She shook silently, her nostrils flaring slightly as she took in my scent, and a dark flush began to creep up her neck to her cheeks just as she snapped her legs together and let out a soft moan.

Rainbow slapped my hand off of her and stepped between us, her face twisted in fury.

“Stay the fuck away from ‘Shy, Shimmer,” Rainbow growled.

“I don’t see your mark on her,” I snapped, then almost bit my tongue.

Where had that come from?

“Uhm, p-please don’t fight,” Fluttershy spoke in that soft, featherlight tone of hers that sent electric tingles through my alpha brain. “I’m fine, Rainbow,” she said, glancing at her friend. “She bumped into me and stopped me from falling.”

“I would’ve stopped you just fine!” Rainbow’s voice was still laced with an undercurrent of rumbling growls.

“Whatever,” I grunted, moving around them and shouldering Rainbow out of the way as I did. “Move it Rainbutt, you’re getting between me and a shower.”

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes at me as I passed. I expected her to volley back but she didn’t, she just glared as I stalked down the hall. I could feel her eyes boring into the back of my head and somewhere in the rearmost corners of my mind my alpha was snarling and snapping at the bit for her to come after me.

I would’ve loved a good fight right about then. If I wasn’t going to fuck some whimpering omega into the ground I could at least blow off some steam with a nice punch-up.

The showers were empty when I entered, for which I was thankful. There aren’t any gym classes in rotation until the afternoon and onward, which means these showers should be empty for hours yet. I took the time to enjoy a nice, long, ice-cold shower which I barely felt the chill of past the scorching heat of my rut.

It was like trying to put out a roaring hearthfire with one of those little water droppers from Bio, but it was at least something. The painful edge of need also felt a little more distant too, which I attributed to the Chancellor’s suppressants finally kicking in, but as she had surmised, it wasn’t nearly enough.

Clearly, I needed a stronger prescription.

I stood naked under the ice-cold flow for almost an hour, silently trying to will away my erection and having approximately zero success. On my world my rut lasted about three to five days on average.

Reasonably, that meant I’d also have to endure three to five days of this shit.

Written’s Quill, I wonder if I accidentally teleported into Tartarus when I jumped through that mirror, fuck wouldn’t that be the ultimate twist.

If I have one positive thing to say about being an alpha mid-rut, it’s this: when you’re keyed up this high, ready to fuck for twelve hours straight and then immediately fight god for your morning bagel, it tends to heighten your reaction time, to say nothing of having all your senses dialed up to eleven.

That means that if some jackass tries to sneak up behind me in the ladies’ showers not only am I ready to fucking rumble, I am equally ready to die on that hill and take them with me.

My would-be assailant only got within about a half-meter of me before my adrenaline spiked, the alpha side of my brain screaming air-raid sirens that told me I was about to get jumped and, for once, it was right.

I spun on my heel, my feet planted on the damp tile as firmly as possible as I whipped an arm out and cold-cocked Rainbow Dash across the jaw, sending her sprawling.

“Wrong day,” I snarled, “wrong girl,” I stalked forward and planted my bare foot on her throat, “wrong choice, dumbass.”

She was still wearing her sportsgear, like always; a pair of too-short soccer shorts and a jersey, both of which were soaked through. She was shivering as the ice-cold water bit into her, and clearly enjoying it significantly less than I was, but then again her temperature wasn’t bordering on volcanic.

I saw a flash of real, genuine terror in her eyes and, honestly, I understood that much at least.

Look, all I’m saying is no one really wants to get into a fight with a naked bitch willing to kick your ass with a full erection, all right? That’s some seriously threatening energy right there, and I get that. That didn’t mean I wasn’t going to kick her ass, but it did mean I got where she was coming from.

Rainbow struggled for a moment, but I just levered more force onto her throat.

“Are you stupid?” I asked, then thought better and shook my head. “Never mind, that was a dumb question, obviously you’re stupid,” I gestured around us, “look where we are… better question is, did you seriously think that would work?”

“You fucked with Fluttershy,” Rainbow croaked past the arch of my foot. “I’m gonna break you in ha-urk!”

“Yeah, shut up,” I grunted as I leaned more weight on her throat. “You’re a piss poor excuse for an alpha, Dashie, y’know that?”

I reached behind me and cranked the water off, then took a step back from her. As she tried to rise, I threw a kick into her gut, sending her sprawling and coughing while I walked over to my towel, pulled it loose, and started drying off.

“You might’ve been big alpha on campus yesterday,” I continued as I walked over to her, “but all that changes now, capisce?”

Rainbow tried to stand, then stumbled and dropped to her knees as I reached her, and something about the sight stirred something in my chest which rapidly moved down through my gut to my loins, leaving a trail of fire where it passed.

I inhaled deeply, my nostrils flaring as I found the barest traces of her scent. They were hardly even there under mine, she was so far beneath me that it was hilarious, and she had tried to attack me? How had she even worked up the moxie to get close to me, to say nothing of…

Oh, of course.

As she tried to rise again I raised one leg, planted a foot on her shoulder, and shoved her back down.

“Sit, bitch.”

Rainbow hit the ground like a lump of coal, and her eyes flew wide.

“You made a huge mistake, Dashie,” I began softly, still using her as a pedestal, my foot on her collar and my cock hanging inches from her face. “You only got this close to me because you’re an idiot…”

I took a few steps back and smiled as she nearly fell forward trying to follow me.

“Can you smell it?” I let out a throaty laugh as I pulled the towel over my head, ran it roughly over my red-and-gold locks a few times, then pulled it free and shook my hair clear of my face. “My pheromones?”

And in so doing, sent a fresh and powerful wave of my scent into the air, saturating the showers.

“How about now?”

A low whine sounded from Rainbow’s throat as she tried to stand on legs that looked to be the consistency of jello.

“Stay, bitch.”

Rainbow froze.

“My pheromones were buried under an hour long shower and a suppressant pill,” I explained as I stalked forward, lowered myself to her level, and seized her by the jaw, “get it? This is me suppressed, and you’re still quaking and trying to run.”

“I… I…” She couldn’t even get a full sentence, or even a full word out.

There was something else, though… that fire burning in my gut. What was it?

I leaned in, pressing my nostrils to Rainbow’s neck, breathed deep, and shuddered as she let out another plaintive whine. Following a suspicion, I glanced down and smiled wide.

Thanks to the tight material of her shorts, it was clear that Rainbow was as bad off as me.

Turning my attention back to Rainbow’s neck, I took another breath, savoring the almost savory musk of her. It was the scent of an alpha, yes, but of a weaker one… a submissive one. It was the scent of an alpha whose pheromones had been totally overpowered and pummeled into the ground, leaving the alpha they belonged to a quivering mess, totally subordinate to the greater breed.

Oh fuck, she smelled good.

I pulled away, looked her in the eyes, and smiled as I noted how dilated they were. She looked, for all the world, like an omega.

“Do you want me?” I asked softly.

“I…” Rainbow’s voice came out as almost a sob, and I knelt, drawing closer in until our lips were almost touching.

“Go ahead, bitch,” I muttered, my too-hot breath tickling her lips. “Say it… say yes, say you want me, say that I’m your alpha, and I will make you feel so good.”

“I…” Rainbow started again, then faltered, some part of her pride choking her for a moment. It was a death rattle, though, because her next words were the ones I wanted to hear.

“I want you.”

“And…?”

“I… I want you,” Rainbow repeated, “my alpha.”

I didn’t waste another moment. I pushed Rainbow to the ground, sealing my lips over hers and dominating her tongue with mine as I gripped her jersey and started pulling it off, only breaking away from her to throw it to the side.

She was too flat to need a bra, part of being so athletic I suppose, but I’ve always been a fan of the idea that any more than a handful is a waste, so I was perfectly happy to cup her modest breasts as I pulled her closer.

I rutted against her, my cock grinding against hers where it was still restrained by her shorts. I made short work of those, Yanking at the tight material at first, but getting frustrated as it failed to yield.

“Lay down!” I snapped, and Rainbow fell to her back, her throat laid bare for me as I seized her shorts, gave an almighty heave, and tore them letting her cock swing free.

It wasn’t quite as impressive as mine but it was nice enough, six and a half inches to my eight and change.

She let out a low, needy moan as I took a steady grip on her cock and began working the shaft up and down with slow, torturous motions.

“Like that, little bitch?” I cooed, crawling over her until I was straddling her, my cock pressed against hers, my pheromones totally overwriting her own as I stroked her. “Who’s your alpha?”

“Y-You are,” Rainbow moaned, her legs shaking as cum beaded at the tip of her cock.

“Say it again.”

“You are!” Rainbow groaned as I speed up my ministrations on her.

“I’m what?!” I snarled. “Say my name!”

“You’re my alpha, Sunset!” Rainbow cried out, then she jerked spasmodically, bucking her hips as she climaxed, sending streams of seed shooting in arcs into the air.

They sprayed haphazardly across her, covering Rainbow in spurts of her own cum as she panted, humiliated and satisfied, on the floor of the locker showers.

I wasn’t even close, though.

“Turn over,” I commanded, and Rainbow’s eyes widened.

At first she didn’t move, she sat there as if waiting for me to tell her I was joking. I half expected her to leave then, to get up, tuck tail, and run like any other sane alpha would have.

She didn’t.

Instead, Rainbow slowly shimmied out from beneath me, then flipped over until she was on her stained belly with her arms wrapped protectively around herself.

“Hands and knees, bitch,” I spoke with an iron to my tone that surprised even me, and this time Rainbow obeyed without question, presenting her tight, pert little ass to me.

I could see her cock and balls hanging between her legs, her length starting to harden again as her alpha brain tried to catch up to what was happening.

Was I seriously going to do this?

This wasn’t a joke… taking another alpha like this was rare, and it was almost the ultimate show of dominance.

I moved closer, slipping my length between her cheeks and rubbing forward and back, the sensation sent lightning bolts of pleasure up my spine that curled back around to strike down into my gut.

There was a word for this… a word I’d been using on reflex, but was now about to become very real.

Bitch.

By definition, a bitch was an alpha who demurred fully to another alpha in all ways, but especially sexually. It referred to one alpha who acted for all intents and purposes like an omega to another alpha. It humiliated them, degraded them, and… and it was fucking exhilirating.

With a grunt of effort, I moved over her, positioning myself at her tight back entrance.

“Relax,” I whispered softly as I laid my full weight over Rainbow, and she shivered as I nipped delicately at her ear. “Your alpha will take good care of you…”

Another soft whine left Rainbow’s throat, but she nodded, and leaned up to nuzzle against me, a deliciously submissive action that gripped at the alpha inside me and yanked it fully to the fore.

This was mine.

She was mine.

I pushed forward, pressing against that tight ring, then grunted in satisfaction when it gave out against me and my first few inches slid inside of Rainbow Dash, well and truly making her my bitch.

Further and further, I pressed in slowly, giving my little bitch time to get used to my girth and length. Rainbow Dash whimpered softly, her body pulsing and relaxing underneath me as she submitted, suborning her own alpha will completely to mine.

I bottomed out with a gasp, fuck she was tight.

Honestly, I should have known a runner would have an especially tight ass but this was beyond the pale.

“Who’s my good girl?” I purred, running my hands down her sides, around her hips, then between her thighs to take hold of her rock hard cock. “Tell me… hmm?”

“I… I am?” Rainbow mumbled in a daze, and I started stroking her member in response.

“That’s right,” I replied, and she moaned as I began rocking my hips slowly to the same tempo. “You’re my good girl… my good little bitch alpha.”

Another moan, this one of pure pleasure and happiness, left Rainbow, and it tickled something primal in me.

The need to protect what was mine.

To feed her… shield her…

Breed her.

I stared rutting Rainbow in earnest now, all slowness gone as she shook her hips against me, pushing back and all but begging for me to fuck her harder. I obliged, and happily, seizing in her by the hair and bucking my hips against hers, bottoming out over and over.

And as I did, I felt something pressing at the base of my cock.

My knot.

My rut was demanding an omega. It wanted me to breed, and it wasn’t particularly choosy about who was beneath me. The thought of knotting Rainbow should have repulsed me, but it didn’t, it filled my heart with fire.

Taking another alpha as my bitch like this was nearly the greatest show of dominance, but only ‘nearly’.

The ultimate show was knotting that alpha. Treating them like a breeding mate but only for pleasure. An Alpha would never be able to bear children, that was the remit of Omegas and certain Betas, so knotting an alpha like this was pure domination.

Pure pleasure.

As I pounded Rainbow’s ass, she muttered and whined incoherently, shaking her hips against me with every thrust. She had to be able to feel my growing knot, but she wasn’t pulling away.

She was trying to get closer.

“Do you want it?” I growled, leaning and biting Rainbow’s ear gently, tugging at her earlobe as she shivered.

“Ye~s,” Rainbow almost sobbed the word out.

“You want me to knot you?” I hissed, pulling back and then leaning down to lick along the back of her neck where her scent glands were. “You want to get knotted by a bigger, better alpha?”

She moaned her assent.

“Beg me,” I pushed in all the way to my knot so it was pressing against her. “Be a good little bitch and beg for it.”

“Knot me,” Rainbow sobbed, “please knot me!”

“Oh fuck,” I swore.

That was the hottest thing I’d ever heard, and my knot swelled as I pushed hard against Rainbow ass. Rainbow cried out in ecstasy as I passed her ring and locked myself inside of her, inside of my bitch, and rocked my cock inside the tight tunnel of muscle.

All the while I jerked Rainbow off, sending spurts of cum out to stain the tile as I felt my own climax peaking.

“Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck,” I repeated the words over and over as my mind started going white.

“I’m gonna breed you, Rainbow,” I snarled, laying my weight on her completely. “I’m gonna fill you up and fucking breed you!”

Rainbow was reduced to wordless cries of pleasure as her legs buckled underneath me.

My whole core tightened up in a single, monstrous wave of pleasure as I bore Rainbow down to the ground, struck my peak, and came.

I clapped a hand over Rainbow’s mouth in a moment of clarity as she howled; I couldn’t let anyone see us like this, see her like this. I felt her cock jerk, pinned underneath her as it spasmed out another load while I filled her ass with my cum.

Streams of it spilled from me and my knot kept every drop of it inside her. Inside my pretty little rainbow-headed bitch.

Rainbow moaned against my hand, flecks of drool slipping between my fingers as she squirmed mindlessly beneath me. Without thinking, I pressed my nose against the back of her neck, taking a deep breath, memorising her scent, imprinting the smell of my omega-

No… she’s not an omega, she’s an alpha. I have to remember that, but it’s so hard to keep it straight in when she’s like this.

A deep, baritone growl rumbled up from my chest as I ran my tongue over the back of her neck again and again, getting it ready for me, for my mark. I opened my mouth, bared my teeth, and…

Stopped.

She was breathing fast and sharp beneath me, not struggling, not fighting, just waiting for me to take her the way I wanted to and the way she wanted me to. She wanted me to mark her, but I knew that the only reason she felt that way was because I was on top of her like this. The moment she came back to her senses, the moment my pheromones weren’t driving her libido into the stratosphere, I knew that she’d regret it.

And I’d regret it.

An alpha did not mark another alpha. It isn’t even a sign of dominance; an alpha letting themselves get marked like an omega was nothing short of the ultimate humiliation. If I gave her my mark, if I left my bite on her glands like this, she would carry my scent with her everywhere, announcing to the world that she belonged to me and me alone.

It would be like putting up a billboard in Downtown Canterlot naming her as a Grade-A bottom bitch.

Rainbow was too proud for that, and the shame would… it would ruin her.

I pulled back, and Rainbow let out a soft, plaintive whine.

“Ssh,” I murmured softly as I gathered her up in my arms and pulled her close. “Your alpha has you… it’s okay.”

We were still linked, and although my rut was keeping me warm, uncomfortably so, actually, Rainbow had no such benefit. It was freezing in here, the tiles were cold from my shower, and the water that was still dampening the tiles was no better.

So I wrapped her in my arms and shared my warmth with her as I kissed her along her shoulders and neck.

“I’ve got you,” I whispered, “just relax.”

I pulled my hand away from her mouth and Rainbow turned, instinctively seeking the lips of her alpha.

I let her find them, and I kissed her slowly and gently.

Look, I may be a righteous asshole most of the time, but let no one ever say that Sunset Shimmer doesn’t know how to treat an omega. Even one that’s, in fact, actually another alpha.

Ugh, what a mess.

I should let go, I really should. I could feel my knot dying down, and I knew Rainbow could too by the way she pressed against me, trying to keep me flush against her, but I could definitely let go, except… this was the danger of knotting. Alpha’s had a deeply intense protective streak for their omegas, and even though Rainbow wasn’t either of those things, mine or an omega, I’d still knotted her, and my alpha instincts were still screaming at me to keep her safe, to protect her, feed her, and shelter her.

To be a good mate.

Shit.

The intensity of my rut was dying down, having been temporarily sated inside of Rainbow Dash, and my head was starting to become blessedly clear. I hadn’t realised how bad it had gotten, my head felt like it had been full of wasps before now, and finally the buzzing was gone.

I pulled free of Rainbow, and she let out another soft noise of dismay.

“Ssh, it’s okay,” I muttered again, slipping my arms beneath her and lifting her up.

Rainbow curled against me as I carried her into the locker room, burying her face in the crook of my neck and seeking the safe presence of her alpha the same way an omega would: by scent.

This was bad, the more she drowned herself in my pheromones the longer it would take her to get her head back on straight.

“What’s your locker number?” I asked quietly.

“Thirty-two,” Rainbow’s reply was soft and sleepy as she nestled against me. “Code is seven, seventeen, twelve.”

I walked over to locker thirty two, fumbled a little to get a hold of the lock without letting go of Rainbow, and managed it after several aborted tries. I grabbed some spare clothes and a towel, moved to a bench out of sight of the main doors in case someone came in, sat down, and started the involved process of cleaning up my bitch.

After getting myself tidied up and dressed it took another ten minutes to handle Rainbow, but eventually I got her into some fresh clothes.

I’d had to put Rainbow down for that part and she hadn’t liked that one bit, but she also couldn’t deny me at this point. That was one of the reasons I had to be so careful. Alpha or no I had to treat Rainbow like a post-sex omega at this point because she’d pretty much say yes to whatever I wanted and that…

That was something I didn’t have any desire to abuse.

The thought of it made me sick, actually.

“Hey… Sunset?” Rainbow’s voice was significantly less groggy now as I led her out of the locker rooms and into the afternoon daylight.

“Yeah?” I had my arm around Rainbow’s waist, mostly because my hindbrain shrieked bloody murder every time I tried to let go of her.

Fuck these alpha mating instincts.

“Did uh… did that just happen?” Rainbow’s words came out shakily, and I grimaced.

“In the words of your friend’s brother,” I replied dryly, “eeyup.”

Rainbow shivered, stopped, then hunkered down and started to shake.

“Oh fuck,” Rainbow swore quietly. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

“That pretty much covers it,” I admitted as I paused to stand over her. “In my defense, you were the one who had the bright idea to attack me mid-rut.”

If there was one way to pretty much guarantee a dominance exchange between two alphas, that was it.

“I gotta get outta here,” Rainbow stammered as she stood shakily, wobbled on her feet, then turned to run.

My instincts screamed at me to follow her, to stop her from leaving, but I bit them back. They were primordial instincts, and I couldn’t let myself be overcome by them. I couldn’t allow them to just rewrite my brain. If Rainbow wanted to leave then I’d let her leave.

What else was I gonna do? Chase her down, club her with a jawbone and drag her back to my cave by the hair?

You, bitch, me alpha, Ooga booga.

Screw that cavewoman bullshit. It may be physically painful to let Rainbow leave but-

“SHIT!” Rainbow hadn’t even gotten two meters away before she spun around, stomped back to me and buried her face against my neck.

I almost jumped out of my skin at the sudden contact while Rainbow just took several slow, deep breaths until her shakes stopped.

“I guess… this is a thing now,” I muttered as I wrapped my arms around her tentatively.

“Fuck you, Shimmer,” Rainbow growled, but the fact that she was doing it while nuzzling my neck robbed her words of a lot of their sting.

“Uh… wanna walk me home?” I asked quietly, and Rainbow froze, then sighed and nodded.

What a mess.

“Home sweet home,” I said sullenly as I pushed the door open to my crappy one-bedroom flat.

It was on the fifth floor of a low-income housing project in the Ponyville Commons which was largely agreed upon to be the shittiest part of Canterlot.

Rainbow Dash sniffled as she followed me in, took a deep breath, and then started to relax.

“C’mon, dumbass,” I grumbled.

I dragging Rainbow along and pushing her into the one decent seat in the place, an old, comfortable easy chair I'd scavenged from the curb, which was my usual spot for relaxing.

She looked despondent, and I sighed as I leaned against one of the walls, trying to find something to say.

“It’s not that bad,” I said weakly.

“I’m a bitch,” Rainbow groaned. “It’s definitely that bad.”

“Yeah okay, fine, it is!” I threw my arms up as I stomped into my kitchen. “But it was your bright idea to assault me mid-rut, not mine, alright?! What did you expect would happen?”

I pulled out a pair of cokes from my minifridge, cracked one open and passed the other to Rainbow who took it and popped the tab.

“I thought I would win,” Rainbow admitted quietly before taking a drink.

“Win?!” My hackles went up sharply and Rainbow’s eyes flew wide as I squared up on her. “So wait, your big plan was that you were gonna bitch me?”

“What!? No!” Rainbow set the coke down and stood up, real panic in her eyes as she moved next to me. “I wasn’t gonna- I swear! I was just… fuckin’... I don’t know! I was just pissed off, okay?!”

“You went in with no plan,” I stalked forward, driving her back as my alpha instincts raged in my chest, “no idea what you were doing, and looking to start a fight with a rutting alpha? There was only one way that was going to go, dumbass!”

Rainbow staggered back as I advanced on her, I set my coke down before her grabbing her by the collar of her shirt.

“Well, guess what?!” I snapped, “now you’re my bitch, and you’re gonna stay that way until I say otherwise, got it?!”

I stepped back, grabbed my coke again, slugged it back, crushed it, and tossed it over my shoulder into the trash. My rut was starting to rear up again, and I could feel my temperature spiking as Rainbow fidgeted awkwardly with her own can.

“Finish it,” I said coldly.

“W-What?”

“I said,” I pointed to the coke, “finish it.”

Rainbow swallowed hard, looking down at the coke, then back up at me. I could see her instincts warring with one another. The alpha in her wanted to argue, but I’d just knotted her and that submissive impulse was still rooted deep in her brain.

“Why?” her voice was weak.

My mouth took on a thin, hard line.

“Because my rut is coming back,” I said heatedly, “and you’re gonna need the caffeine, bitch.”

Chapter 7 Author's Note

So, Content Warning here, things come to a head between two alphas and Sunset goes off the rails and it brushes the edge of non-con. Nothing actually happens, but I figure you all deserve a warning in advance.

Other than that, we're a few chapters from the end, thanks for sticking with this weird project of mine thus far.

Chapter 7

“I’m going to miss you.”

I chuckled as I leaned in and kissed Fluttershy, pulling her close as she draped herself over me before nuzzling against my neck fondly.

“I’ll miss you too, Flutters,” I replied, nuzzling her back.

The O’Mare International Airport of Canterlot was one of the largest and busiest airports in the world, and it was consequently loud. That said, it probably saw this scene better than a thousand times a day, as well as its opposite number just as often; with alphas and omegas being parted by distance and travel, and likewise being reunited after time apart, short or long, and kissing as though it had been the passage of ages.

Cinderblock- sorry, Grindstone -was standing nearby, Fluttershy’s surprisingly meager amount of luggage in tow behind him on one of the little dollies that the airport offered.

“Keep’er safe, Mister Stone,” I said, fixing him with a playfully withering glare.

Per usual, Grindstone didn’t reply or respond. He just stared at me as impassively as ever, although I liked to imagine he had gained some respect for me over the weeks of our acquaintance. His silence felt moderately less hostile than it once had, or maybe that was just my imagination.

I waved as Fluttershy passed through the final boarding gate, and I wish I could say that I felt that aching pull in my chest that any alpha should feel when they’re watching their omega leave, the one that would urge me to go with her, or to keep her by my side, but I didn’t.

There was a feeling of loss, sure, but nothing crippling. I was just sad to see someone I cared about leaving for a long time. I cared about Fluttershy far more than even I expected… she was great company, a fantastic conversationalist, a phenomenal lay, and I just really liked spending time with her.

But it was nothing compared to the ache in my heart anytime I so much as thought about Rainbow Dash.

“This has got to stop,” I muttered, lowering my hand with significantly less enthusiasm than I had raised it with now that Fluttershy was out of sight. “I have to do something.”

I turned and stalked out of the boarding zone, heading for the parking lot with an increasingly dark cloud over my head. I was tired of being torn in two directions, I was tired of being hounded by these feelings I couldn’t account for, and I was tired of being haunted by what I’d done to Rainbow Dash.

But what do I do with all of that frustration?

Chase her down?

For all I know that would make it worse? We couldn’t be together, that was insane! I’d be a freak and she’d be a laughingstock!

My foul mood must’ve been showing on my face because when I got onto the elevator that went up to the garage level I’d parked at I managed to clear the entire cab as its occupants suddenly remembered the incredibly urgent business they had to attend to on that precise floor.

How fortunate for them.

My foot beat out a staccato tattoo as the elevator rose.

I hated being stuck in a place where I couldn’t do anything. I wasn’t made for inaction, I was an alpha, we were born to act!

Most of my breed weren’t the deepest thinkers in the world, and I knew that. I was a rare sort of alpha that favored the more cerebral aspects of life over indulging my libido at every chance, however my recent poor record of control around Rainbow Dash argued otherwise.

It was a point of pride that I wasn’t an average alpha. I was extraordinary in multiple ways and I’d always flaunted that fact.

Now I had to wonder if maybe my exceptional nature had bred in some equally exceptional flaws.

My mood didn’t improve as I got to my motorcycle, and for once not even the comparatively long drive back to my apartment soothed my nerves, although the shitty downtown traffic was partially to blame for that.

Either way, I was not in a particularly charitable mood when I finally got to my complex and had to jockey for parking around some real sterling examples of automotive assholery including a triple-parked uhaul and a buick with a flat tire that had somehow contrived to block almost an entire lane in the parking lot.

“One bad day,” I muttered angrily, trying to keep a lid on my rising temper as I stalked to the stairs and started climbing, “it’s just one bad day.”

Of course, as a famous villain once said: all it takes is one bad day.

“You lyin’ varmint!”

Applejack’s drawling snarl was the only warning I had before her fist connected with the back of my head, sending me sprawling the moment I reached the fifth floor landing. Only the thick riding leathers I was wearing kept my knees from skinning open on the hard concrete as stars exploded behind my eyes and I dropped to my hands and knees.

I tasted blood, and a cursory sweep of my tongue along with the answering sting told me I’d bitten my cheek open.

A heavy workboot connected with my gut before I could get my bearings, blood spattered as I dry-heaved, but I kept enough wits about me to roll with the kick and put some distance between me and the furious alpha advancing on me.

Her emerald eyes were backlit by volcanic rage, and I could only blame my own distracted brain on having failed to smell the stink of pheromonal violence that soaked the air around us.

She must have been waiting for me here for some time.

“What th’fuck?!” I spat between gobbets of blood as I staggered to my feet, backpedaling away from Applejack as my instincts caught up to the situation. “I don’t know who put a snake in your boot, hayseed, but I am not in the fucking mood!”

Applejack pulled her cowboy hat down more firmly onto her head, those cold, green flames in her eyes never leaving my face for a moment, and I had a second to appreciate just how utterly and righteously mad she looked.

“Your word, Sunset,” Applejack hissed, her voice kept low and deadly. “You gave me your word you’d leave’r alone, and you lied to mah face.”

“What?!” I felt my own blood begin to boil as an adrenal cocktail shot through my veins. My alpha instincts, already itching and frayed, were suddenly roaring. “I’m a lot of bad things you mud-gargling cousin-fucker, but I am not an oathbreaker!”

I cracked my knuckles, satisfied that my jab at her family slammed home as Applejack let out a howl of mindless fury as she barreled down at me.

She was bigger, no doubt about that. Applejack and I were in the same weight class by alpha standards, and she had muscles born of a lifetime of backbreaking physical labor to fall back on.

What she didn’t have was skill.

Applejack was powerful, but at the end of the day she was still just a regular alpha; dumb, angry, and with little more than an extra cock between her ears, even if she did have a decent moral compass.

I squared up, then dropped and melted underneath her charge in a single dizzying instant that left her targetless.

One-two.

Two jabs directly into her gut blew the wind out of her, and Applejack heaved, staggered, and swung drunkenly around me as I bobbed under her vision. I followed her belligerent stagger, landing a hard right hook into her floating rib, and grinned maliciously at the satisfying crack it gave me, followed by Applejack’s breathless snarl of pain.

I ducked under her wide haymaker, she was still trying to use her stature and reach, but I was well inside her guard from here it was clear that she had no idea how to actually fight beyond crude brawls.

My dodge carried me behind her and I landed another set of twin jabs directly into the back of her head, using her skull like a speed bag and sending her to the ground where I’d been tossed just moments before.

My blood was up and pounding in my ears as I followed her down, slamming her to the ground as she tried to rise and wrenching her arms around her back to pin them painfully across one another.

All I could see was red, and I was grinning a bloody rictus as I struck her hard in the meat of her back between her shoulders, shocking the muscles to slackness.

Everything was red and hot and fast, the air was tinged with hormone and fury, pheromone and lust.

I’d beaten a powerful alpha, and my instincts were clangoring victory bells in my ears, egging me on to make this win into a far more permanent one. And why shouldn’t I? Why shouldn’t I teach this little mongrel alpha just who was the bigger beast between us?

My hands were at my waist before I could think twice. I’d already done it once, after all, and I was already so goddamn hard.

Of all the things to knock me out of my lunatic haze, it was the tiniest whimper of abject terror that escaped Applejack’s lips at the sound of my belt buckle snapping open.

She could undoubtedly feel the steel-hard length of my restrained cock against her jeans-clad ass, so the sound of my belt could only be heralding one thing.

What. The fuck. Was I doing?!

I jolted off of Applejack like I’d been electrocuted, staggering off of her gracelessly and falling onto my ass behind her while she curled up in a ball as sharply and quickly as possibly while small shivers of fear rippled over her body.

For several moments, I just stared at her. Applejack; proud, stoic, stolid Applejack, reduced to a gibbering mess as her alpha instincts desperately tried to recoup from the pheromonal suppression I’d hammered into her.

The body of an alpha responds to being beaten more than just in the mental sense of acknowledging a loss. Alphas have always battled for supremacy, and it’s in our nature to bend knee to the stronger alpha. When we’re beaten the way that I’d beaten Applejack just now, our own bodies, our own biology, goes renegade on us.

Of course, with that said, it’s a rare thing for even a beaten alpha to be threatened with what I’d almost done to Applejack.

What I had done to Rainbow Dash.

“Get away from me,” I spoke the words in a low, lethal whisper as I yanked my belt closed again. “If I ever see you again…”

I let the last word hang in the air, hoping Applejack’s mind would fill in the blank space with a threat of continuing what I had almost done.

I wouldn’t, of course. If I did to someone else what I’d done to Rainbow Dash I don’t think I’d be able to live with myself. That said, if it kept her away from me and kept us out of a repeat of this position, I’d gladly let Applejack think that I was that kind of monster.

After all, I kind of was, in a way.

Naturally, I’d barely gotten to my door when I heard Applejack scrape and rise slowly to her feet.

“Is that,” she started, horror and fury coloring her words in equal measure, “what you did t’Rainbow?”

I kept my back to Applejack as I closed my eyes and silently urged her to leave. My temper and mind were like a pain-maddened rat in a steel trap right now and if she kept poking it.

“Are you still doin’ that?” Applejack continued raggedly.

I had to bite my lip to keep back a response.

“ARE YOU STILL HURTING HER LIKE THAT?!”

With a monumental effort of will, I sucked in a breath, blew it out, and turned to face the red-faced and shaking farmer. All of the bravado was gone from her posture, there was grit still stuck to the side of her face where I’d pinned her to the concrete, and salty tracks cut through the dust on her cheeks from a combination of pain, fear, and shame.

“No, and I don’t care if you believe me, Applejack,” I started, and something in her expression changed at the absolute, bone-deep weariness in my voice.

I was too tired to keep up the act in front of her. I was too tired to anything but tell her the truth.

“I haven’t spoken to Rainbow Dash in better than a month,” I continued, dutifully ignoring the small indiscretion of the texts we’d shared a week or so prior, though I’d only actually responded to tell her to knock it off. “I haven’t even seen her except at a distance on campus a few times… I don’t know what fucked you up this bad that you had to attack me but I promise, I wasn’t involved.”

She stared at me hard for a long moment before wiping her bloody nose and giving me a grim look.

“Did you do that to her?” She asked, rather than reply to my statement, and I sighed. “Did you-?”

I sighed, then turned and shouldered my door open and gestured for her to come inside. She followed only grudgingly, and I started to speak as I doffed my jacket and hung it up.

“Remember when I went into rut in the middle of class last year?” I replied, and she nodded slowly, then flinched, and I watched the color drain from her face as she picked up my logic. “Yeah… she caught me in the showers and tried to pull this,” I gestured between us, “except she isn’t half the alpha you or I are.”

“Aw… dagnabbit, Dashie,” Applejack snarled.

“I was… gentler,” I offered, as if that meant anything. “She was no match for me, and she… she yielded so easily that I… I bitched her, and I don’t know if I can honestly say I couldn’t help it, because I can’t remember even trying.”

“And y’all just kept at it didn’tcha?” Applejack accused, and I flinched again at the barb.

“Yeah, I did,” I admitted as I kicked my door shut, walked over to my chair, and slumped down it. “But believe me when I say I gave Rainbow tons of outs, I did everything but throw her out on her ass to get her to leave me, no questions asked and no repercussions, and she just… she wouldn’t fucking do it!”

“Horseshit!” Applejack snarled. “Rainbow ain’t some-”

“She won’t leave me alone!” I bellowed over Applejack’s words. “I broke things off that day we talked! And since then I’ve stayed away from her but she won’t stop texting me and calling me!”

Pulling out my phone, I clicked open my contacts, slid open the old messages, and tossed her my phone.

“Here!” I snapped. “Listen!”

I hadn’t deleted the voicemail, partially out of some masochistic urge to emotionally self-flagellate because every so often I would listen to it just to remind myself how badly I’d fucked up.

Applejack looked down at it and I could see the war of emotions cross her features. A part of her, I knew, didn’t want to listen to the message, because she knew what was probably on it, but I knew the honest farmer couldn’t just ignore it either.

She hit the play button and held up the phone to her ear.

I watched what was probably a mirror of the expressions I’d worn when I’d first listened to it cross Applejack’s face as she endured the voicemail’s contents. I also knew I was probably destroying something in her by letting her hear it, but this was reality and Applejack had to face it, just like I did.

Eventually, she lowered the phone, and with it her head.

“I’ve tried to let her heal,” I said softly as Applejack passed my phone back to me in silence. “I’ve stayed away from her… I don’t want to hurt her.”

Slowly, Applejack put a hand in her pocket, then drew out her own phone, clicked through it, and as she did she spoke up in a grim tone.

“Reckon that mighta come too late, Sugercube,” Applejack said. “F’what it’s worth, I believe ya kept to yer word… but that don’t change what you did.”

“No,” I agreed. “I guess it doesn’t.”

“Here,” she handed her phone to me, having apparently found what she’d been looking for.

I didn’t want to look but, like Applejack with the message, I felt compelled to. I took her phone, turned it around, and what I saw on the screen almost made me choke on my own tongue.

It was an image from Rainbow’s MyStable, posted several hours ago of Rainbow, by herself, wearing a loose canvas jacket over a white tanktop, and what looked like military surplus fatigue bottoms. What bothered me was how it all hung a little on her, giving her a thin and almost frail look.

That said, her hair had recently been cut short to an adorable pixie bob which, my mind unhelpfully informed me, had enough left in the back for a firm handhold. It was a really cute haircut, honestly, and one that I liked, and it would’ve been a lot more positive if it weren’t for the long two-tone lock of hair she’d left dangling over her face.

Per her name, Rainbow’s hair was prismatic, bearing the striating colors of the rainbow in perfect order.

That was no longer completely true because that long lock had been divided in two and dyed separate colors from the rest of her hair, putting her entire head out of order.

Scarlet and Gold.

She’d dyed that part of her hair, from tip to root, in scarlet and gold, and it was the exact same shade as my own hair.

The comment she’d posted along with the photo was short and clear.

‘I know where I belong, do you?’

As if the hair wasn’t bad enough, I could tell there was something else off with her. Rainbow’s face looked thinner and leaner than it had last time I’d seen her, and there were bags under her eyes that no amount of foundation could fully erase.

She looked like a junkie who’d gone too long without her fix.

“This wasn’t me,” I hissed, pushing Applejack’s phone back into her hands. “I’ve told her to let it go, alright?! I told her!”

“Ain’t sayin’ it was,” Applejack replied quietly as she slipped her phone back into her pocket. “Leastwise, I ain’t sayin’ it anymore… ain’t gonna apologise for the sucker punch, though.”

“I deserved worse than that,” I agreed, then wrapped my arms around myself and shivered. “She needs help.”

Applejack nodded at that, then sighed. “Way I hear it, her daddy tried talkin’ to’er but it was like tryin’ t’uproot a stump with a spoon.”

“Can’t you try?” I hated the note of pleading that entered my voice but at this point I’d go on hands and knees if it meant making things right. “You’ve known her forever.”

“Ain’t sure I have,” Applejack said stiffly, and I knew she was hearing Rainbow’s voice on that message in her head again. “But if’er daddy ain’t gettin’ through then I doubt I’ll have much better luck.”

“Well we’re kinda running out of options, then!” I snapped. “Fluttershy’s gone on vacation, and I’m pretty sure both of us agree that I’d just make things worse, because that’s apparently all I’m good for!”

Applejack didn’t reply, she just stared down at the ground as the silence grew between us. I wasn’t sure what to do or say… that picture of Rainbow Dash had done its work though, and my heart was breaking all over again. My instincts had gone from ‘Fight’ straight into overdrive, and my hindbrain was hammering at me that my omega needed me, that she was in danger, that she was hungry and in pain, and I was failing her.

My omega.

She was neither mine, nor an omega, but try telling my idiot brain that.

“It ain’t natural, y’know,” Applejack said finally.

“Me and Rainbow?” I asked, and Applejack nodded. “Well tell her that, maybe she’ll listen to you, because she refused to hear it from me.”

“Stubborn jackass,” Applejack grumbled, and I couldn’t disagree, then she looked up at me more sharply. “Can I ask ya somethin’ personal-like, Sunset?”

“Shoot.”

What did I have to lose by this point? My dignity was already out the window and my reputation would’ve been too if Applejack was the type to gossip and if anyone would actually buy this story which I doubted.

“You really tried to break things off, right?” She asked, and I nodded. “And you really gave Rainbow all those shots at gettin’ out from under you, right?” I nodded again, not really sure where she was going with this rehash. “Except, thing is, you ain’t struck me as the generous sort, nor the type to let go’a someone once you got’em by the short’n’curlies.”

I glared at her for a few moments before sighing. “Fair, what’s your point?”

“Why’d you try and let’er go?” Applejack asked finally.

“Because I was hurting her!” I snarled. “You said it yourself, it’s unnatural!”

“And with the best will in the world, so the fuck what?” Applejack shot back. “You ain’t ever had a problem hurting other folks nor breakin’ the rules if it suited ya!”

“BUT NOT RAINBOW!” I roared, my heartbeat was thundering in my ears, and that furious red mist was starting to fall over me again.

How dare she even suggest that!

HOW DARE SHE IMPLY THAT I’D HURT MY-!

I swallowed hard, forcing that instinct back underneath the troubled waters of my mind again as Applejack gave me a level look, then shook her head and let out a slow, quiet breath.

“Damnation,” she muttered. “Y’all’re good as pair bonded, huh?”

The words cut through my anger like a frozen knife. Pair bonded? Ridiculous! We weren’t bonded! Neither of us had even marked the other, and I said as much.

“Don’t matter,” Applejack countered. “Marking just speeds it up, but if’n y’all’re compatible enough, and spend long enough together, it can still happen, ya didn’t know that?”

“How the fuck would I know that?” I bit the words out as I waved my hands wildly. “I’m an orphan! I never even met my dam and sire! My cup doesn’t exactly overfloweth with good examples!”

“Guess that’s fair, but that ain’t the part that bugs me, Sunset,” Applejack chewed her lip thoughtfully as she eyed me, her mouth becoming a thin, hard line. “What bugs me is ain’t no two alphas oughta be compatible like that, which means it ain’t just her.”

The bottom fell out of my stomach at her words as Applejack advanced a couple of steps and eyed me cautiously. Those emerald eyes of hers, no longer lit with fury, were now drilling into me as she looked me up and down for several moments before she forced herself to step back.

“Dammit, Sunset,” Applejack breathed. “How much pain’re you actually in right now?”

That struck the nail on the head, and I didn’t have it in me to deny it either. I couldn’t say with a straight face that I hadn’t been in agony since I’d left Rainbow behind in the quad a month ago. I couldn’t tell her my heart hadn’t been aching, my stomach cramping, and my guts churning as I went this long without seeing her, scenting her… laying with her.

It must’ve shown on my face, too, because Applejack could only sigh again and lean back against the wall of my apartment.

“Landsakes, Sunset,” Applejack said after a moment. “You really ain’t any better off’n Rainbow ‘cept, unlike her, y’all can hide it.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I said thinly. “Like you said… it’s unnatural, I shouldn’t be this way and neither should she.”

“Maybe,” Applejack nodded. “Then again, maybe not… ain’t like I know all the secrets’a the universe or nothin’.”

“I’m an alpha!” I snapped. “I’m supposed to breed an omega! Not-!”

“We ain’t animals, Sunset,” Applejack cut me off flatly. “Take it from a farmer, Sugarcube, y’all can’t just focus on instinct and drive… that ain’t how it works, leastwise not anymore.”” She moved past me to my window and looked out over the city. “Alphas, Betas, Omegas… tell ya what, my poppa was one heckuva’n alpha, right?”

“What’s your point?” I asked dryly.

She shrugged. “Momma was a beta… a fertile one, but that was chance, and I know you ain’t ever met my parents afore they passed, but I can tell ya, fertile or no, Bright Mac, my daddy? He woulda married my momma either way, Apple’s are stubborn like that.”

“But two alphas-!”

“Ain’t natural,” Applejack agreed. “But natural or no, I ain’t fixin’ to watch one’a my best friends die’a bondbreak all because’er crapsack bondmate can’t take responsibility.”

I was out of my chair and in Applejack’s face before the last word left her lips, and only my self-restraint stopped me from giving our brawl outside an encore performance in the middle of my tiny living room.

Applejack didn’t back up, didn’t flinch, and didn’t move as I stopped inches from her face, my fists raised and my face twisted into a rictus of fury.

She’d done it on purpose.

The thought filtered through the haze of instinctual, hormonal rage that was pickling my amygdala, and I forced myself to calm down and lower my fists.

“See mah point?” Applejack said flatly. “You acted like a bondmate defendin’er omega right there, and Rainbow ain’t even in the room.”

“Fine, so I’m a freak too,” I growled as I stepped back. “Happy?”

“I’ll consider it when mah friend ain’t fallin’ apart at the seams,” Applejack jabbed a finger into my chest. “T’be clear, I ain’t happy ‘bout any’a this, but Rainbow’s in pain, and near as I can tell you’re the only one who can make it stop!”

The wind went out of me as Applejack advanced on me, every salient point followed by another jab of her finger.

“You got’er into this mess,” jab, “you dragged it out,” jab, “and then y’all dropped her the moment it got hairy!”

Jab.

“That’s not how it went!” I tried to put some oomph into my words but I wasn’t even sure I believed it.

“Well that’s how it is,” Applejack replied grimly. “So now yer gonna nut up, knuckle down, pull on your big-alpha panties, and take some goddamn responsibility for once in yer damn life.”

For once, the alpha in the back of my head had nothing to say. I just stood there, withering under Applejack’s verbal tirade as she scowled at me. Finally, I let out a quiet breath, shivered, and wrapped my arms tightly around myself as I spoke in a voice so small I barely recognised it as belonging to me.

“W-What if I hurt her again?” I whispered.

“Then mah east apple orchard’s gonna have some new fertilizer,” Applejack replied tonelessly. “Should be good stuff too since it’ll be full’a shit.”

A weak laugh escaped me as I nodded.

“Sounds like a plan,” I wiped at my face and sighed. “Tomorrow, then… I’ll go see her tomorrow morning.”

“You damn well better,” Applejack said before shouldering past me, but she paused as she reached the door, then turned around.

“Y’know Sunset,” she started quietly. “For what it’s worth? Rainbow’s always been a little soft ‘round the edges… lotta bark in that one, but when push came to shove she was never the bigger alpha.”

“So?” I asked.

Applejack shrugged. “Just thinkin’, maybe y’all ain’t changed all that much about’er… maybe she’s just finally the sorta alpha she wants to be.”

“That’s kind of a stretch,” I replied dryly, and Applejack shrugged.

“Ain’t sayin’ it ain’t,” she allowed. “But are you sayin’ it’s impossible?”

I thought back to all the times I’d been with Rainbow Dash. How it had only taken a matter of hours for her to slip comfortably into the role of my bitch. I thought about how she never complained when I made what, to me, seemed like unreasonable demands, like keeping my bed warm for when I got home, or staying late at places just to prove to her that I could.

All that time and I only ever got the most token amount of resistance out of her, and I had a feeling that was just her nature as a brat, not any actual defiance.

“I… I guess I’m not,” I admitted, and Applejack nodded and turned away, but before she could leave I called out to her again.

“Applejack, wait!”

She tossed me a look over her shoulder as I crossed the room to stop in front of her.

“I’m sorry,” I said after a moment. “About what happened outside? I… I didn’t… I’m sorry, okay?”

Applejack turned a little pale and shivered, but nodded.

“Ain’t ever been beaten like that before,” she muttered. “Scared the daylights outta me… you’re one helluva potent alpha, Sunset… even I was ready to crumble.” She let out a slow breath and shook her head. “If I weren’t in your league, I probably woulda gone with it too, so I can see why Rainbow wants you so bad. Even if she is an alpha, and even if she swings that way… if you can even make me question it then, uh… yeah.”

“I still had no right to let my instincts get the better of me like that,” I pressed. “So, I’m sorry.”

“We’re alphas, Sunset,” Applejack replied. “Dominance is how we’re wired, and actually, I figure any other alpha woulda just kept right on goin’… so I’m mighty glad yer better than that.”

“I like to think our breed has more honor than that,” I said stiffly, but Applejack just gave a weak chuckle.

“So would I,” she agreed. “But alpha instinct’s a mighty powerful thing, and it’s why we ain’t in charge… s’why most big decisions get made by betas and omegas… left up to us, hell, we’d probably just kill each other.”

She turned and held a hand out to me as she finished speaking. I eyed it cautiously for a moment before reaching out and grasping it in a firm handshake.

“I ain’t ever liked you, Sunset,” Applejack admitted. “But I reckon you ain’t as bad as I thought… take care’a Rainbow Dash, y’hear?”

“I will,” I promised. “And thanks… for helping get my head on straight.”

She didn’t say anything, she just nodded, turned, and left.

Once Applejack was gone I was left with a much more pressing problem. Namely, what was I going to do about Rainbow Dash tomorrow. I had to follow through with it, not only had a promised Applejack I would, she had made a number of surprisingly good points.

At the end of the day, I had to deal with reality as it was, and that meant that I had to confront whatever this was between Rainbow and I.

At least I didn’t have to feel guilty about the matter with Fluttershy. We’d both agreed to put anything kind of actual relationship on hold while she was gone; long distance wasn’t healthy for a newly minted pair, physically or mentally.

If whatever this was with Rainbow Dash turned into something more, well, I’d just have to alpha up and admit it. Fluttershy might deserve better, but she also deserved the truth.

Shit… tomorrow’s gonna suck.