When Rob woke up, he found himself in a different location to the one he’d fallen asleep in. He was half expecting to still be outside the mine, only, he was warm, relaxed and comfortable; something that one wouldn’t usually associate with a dry dirt floor digging in at the sides. For all of these things, he was grateful.

Blinking a few times, he tried lifting his arms, something he soon found he wasn’t able to do very well. They teased him with the odd shake and twitch, but overall, they were sore and unresponsive. He tried to glare in an angry fashion at them through the covers that were placed over him, all to no avail.

“Shit…” He muttered, as he quickly realised that he was in Carousel Boutique, a place he’d made sure to avoid on many an occasion, or else become subject to Rarity’s wildest dreams, desires, and wicked fashion sense.

Besides, fashion wasn’t exactly his style, despite the constant rebuttals stating otherwise from the white unicorn. He’d often made a point of turning up in the most obnoxiously garish outfits whenever he had to make an appearance at the boutique, much to Rarity’s chagrin. It was amazing how easily he could procure atrocious clothing from Celestia on simply a whim.

He remembered the first time visiting the boutique properly; Twilight had sent him to over to deposit a sticky filly who had decided it was a good idea to play scientist in the basement, claiming it was; “So the way she was going to get her cutie mark!” He’d been sent on a round trip to Apple Bloom’s home, Scootaloo’s home, and Sweetie Belle’s home to deposit the children with a letter from Twilight detailing how dangerous the whole expedition could have been. Somehow, she thought that a stern letter was going to stop them.

It was in the very same room that he was in now, that he had witnessed Sweetie Belle taking on all of Rarity’s rage. He was impressed. He was certain that he’d have crumbled in such a situation. After the first twenty minutes, his mind and eyes had wandered to the room. Pale cream walls? Very Rarity. Purple banners hanging from the high ceilings? Rarity all over. Minimalist, but stylish décor? Yeah, that was Rarity too.

Smiling, he relaxed back into the bed, just as a door over to his left swung open, almost hitting a bookcase just behind it, snapping him out of his daydreams. In strolled Rarity with a plate and a mug being held firmly within her magic.

“Hope you’re feeling well enough to eat, Arc? You’ve been asleep for the whole night now!” Her sing-song voice echoed through the room.

“Yeah… But… how’d you know I was awake?” He questioned, trying, and failing, to sit up.

“Call it intuition, dear.” She responded, while walking over to his bedside and helping him with her magic.

He looked over at her as she laid the plate down next to him on the bedside table. “And how’s Twilight?”

“She’s fine.” The pony flippantly answered, turning around to find a chair which she moved over to the bed and sat on. “She was just tired from using her magic for too long.” She frowned. “Unlike you…”

“Me?”

“Yes you idiot! All those burns on your hands! You’ve killed almost all of the nerve endings in your hands!”

He waited. “Well… ok. Don’t really know what to say to that…” He chose to look away as she glared daggers at him. Reaching for the drink and failing, he cleared his throat, “And Sweetie is ok too?”

Rarity’s face softened as she calmly brought him the drink. “She’s fine too… Thanks to you and Twilight.”

“No, no. Twi did all of that. I just got lost, pissed off a bunch of spiders, and injured myself. And look at this… now I make you take care of me too.” He chuckled. “Fat load of help I was...”

He reached across to take the plate, he felt a sudden craving for the delicious looking scones placed upon it, but sighed when his hands wouldn’t do what he wanted. “Come on, let me help you.” He looked over as Rarity spoke, lifting the food towards him.

“This feels really stupid and embarrassing…” He grumbled. “Magic must be really useful sometimes.” Noticing her raised brow, he smiled. “You know, your magic, as opposed to mine!”

Giggling, she held the first half of a scone in front of his face, and begrudgingly, he leant forwards and took a bite out of it. He couldn’t deny that it tasted really good, but the shameful way in which he was eating it really dug away at what little of his pride remained. “I got them from Sugarcube Corner this morning. Pinkie made them. Nice, aren’t they?”

Nodding, Rob continued chewing.

“Also…” She paused. “We’re going to have to fix your hands, and… it’s not going to be easy.” Allowing him another bite, she stood from her chair. “We have to re-feed the magic through your hands and… umm… Twilight did tell me the rest but it was oh so complicated and I can’t really remember the finer details…” She drifted off as she wandered around the room, checking things that Rob couldn’t rightly see.

Swallowing, he faced her. “Can’t you just do that stuff Celestia did? You know, horn-rape me and then laugh while I writhe around in pain?”

“I… are you feeling alright?” He smiled at her expression.

“Yeah… forget it.”

“If you say so…”

“And you say this is perfectly safe?”

After dinner at Rarity’s and another quick nap, he’d been taken back to Twilight’s for some medical therapy. According to Twilight, who had better explained what Rarity had been trying to tell him earlier; he had used way too much magic without being prepared for it. Apparently the body needs time to adjust to using magic, and with what he’d been doing in the mine, he’d well overworked himself.

The plan was to stimulate the dead cells by feeding magic into them, rather than through them. And seeing as Rob didn’t have the talent to do that, the job came down to Rarity and Twilight – mainly Rarity.

Twilight had told him that the finer magic could be done by Rarity, as she used it far more for the delicate tasks than Twilight did, who was simply more diverse and powerful. The fashionista didn’t like the idea of it, but was quickly convinced by the pair; Rob who was paralyzed, and Twilight who was feeling pretty run down after the venture the day before.

Currently, they found themselves back in the library, gathered around in the study, waiting for everything to begin.

“Don’t worry Rarity; the books say explicitly how to do this procedure. You can do almost anything with magic!” Twilight piped up.

Sighing, Rarity thought back to all of the problems caused over the past few days. “That’s what I’m afraid of…”

Walking over to her, with his arms hanging limply at her side, Rob bent down. “I have faith in you, Rar’. I’m sure you’ll do fine!”

“Oh, darling, confidence is one thing, but it has no actual relevance… If I don’t do this right, then I could just hurt you more!”

“Yeah, but you’ll do fine.” He nodded as he stood back up and walked over to Twilight who was busily flicking through a book. “She’ll do fine… right?”

The unicorn simply laughed and moved away, replacing the book back on the shelf, leaving Rob filled with faith.

“Great…” He sat down and waited as Rarity was briefed on the procedure.

“Done this before?”

“One has completed the procedure in the past, yes.”

“You’re slipping.”

“Oh, then yes; I have done it before.”

“Safe?”

“Oh yes, nothing to worry about.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“That actually makes me feel better… Thanks, Lulu.”

After not too long, Rarity moved over to him and took his hand in her hooves. It was quite a soft feeling, and Rob was enjoying what little of it he could feel. The look of concentration on her face was quite complimenting, and Rob thought about the small pony.

He liked her. Whether she helped him or not, she had, on many occasions, been a strong pillar of support for him. He knew he could depend on her, but still, having someone do weird things to your body was never nice.

A cough brought him back to reality, and he found himself looking straight at her. Tilting her head in confusion, she spoke. “I’m ready… if you are?”

He nodded and let out a deep breath. “Go for it.”

The feeling was strange once it began. It was similar to the water in the cave, but much less physical. It was like smoke, a light and tingly sensation trickling through his hands. A caress which eased the numbness slowly began spreading up his arms, and he noticed Rarity deep in thought, still holding on to him eagerly.

Twilight was sitting not too far away, intently watching the two as the process unfolded. It was an interesting experience for her, seeing as she usually found herself doing the magic. It was weird to be the one sitting on the side-lines for once, but she knew as well as any, that due to years of needlework and fine stitching, Rarity was the best when precision came to mind.

She’d run through the process many times with the seamstress, and she knew that Rarity could pull it off - all she had to do now was wait.

In the meantime, she headed upstairs to find Spike and Moondancer. Last she saw them, they were playing a game of Tornados and Thunderclouds, kindly lent to them by Rainbow Dash who had traded it in for the next edition of the Daring Do series. Ever since the hospital, she’d been playing that game less and less.

Twilight wondered if the pegasus even cared about her trip to the mine, she seemed far more excited about the book. Laughing, she shook her head, pushing the silly thought out of her mind. She was well aware or Rainbow’s loyalty, seeing as it had saved her on many an occasion. She just wasn’t too sure that the mare was very good at showing her feelings. Concern looked weak, and maybe she’d used the book as a means of checking up on them without appearing worried.

“Oh, Rainbow…” Twilight whispered to herself as she strolled up the stairs to the second level of the library, where she saw the two playing their game on the overhang looking out upon the ground floor.

“Umm… Cloud nine!” Spike called out, pointing gleefully at Moondancer.

“Miss!” The mare giggled venomously, “And now I have you! Cloud four!”

After a brief show of manly bravado, Spike crumpled down and let out a sigh. “Fine… you got me. Game over, you win.” He looked over at Twilight and blinked, “Ugh, hey, sorry Twilight, I didn’t hear you come in.”

“That’s ok, Spike.” She spoke, walking closer to the pair. “I do have something to ask of you both though, as long as you’re finished with your game?” She changed her tone at the end of the sentence, to a more commanding one. “I need you two to go and get Applejack and Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. They should all be on the farm right now.”

Spike nodded, rising from his seat, and asked, “Why?” Shuffling away from Moondancer, who was putting the game away behind him, he stood at Twilight’s hooves. “I thought they were at Rarity’s?”

Shaking her head, Twilight turned and walked back towards the stairs. “No, Arc stayed with Rarity last night, and Applejack picked up the girls and took them back to her place. Arc and Rarity are now downstairs though, but… don’t go into the study, they’re working hard on something which must not be interrupted.” She looked back over her shoulder. “Do you understand?”

The fierceness in her glare kept Spike from questioning her, and swallowing, he nodded and turned back to Moondancer. “You heard her, right?” She looked up in a guilty fashion, trying to cram the remaining pieces of the game into its box. Spike raised an eyebrow.

“I… umm… No…” She hung her shoulders limply and nervously chuckled.

“Don’t go into the study… That’s the second door on the left downstairs.” He briefly looked back at Twilight, but she had already gone down the stairs. “And come on, we’re going out.”

Hopping up, Moondancer levitated the game box back onto the table and followed Spike down and out of the library; onto the streets of Ponyville.

Upon walking back into the study, Twilight found Rob and Rarity both resting. She imagined it being a difficult skill, and Rarity didn’t have stamina like she did.

“How’s it going, you two?” She asked, taking a seat across from them.

Looking up, Rarity smiled weakly. “Well, it sure it a tiring way to spend your time…” Turning to Rob, she looked down at his hands. “And… is it working? Do you feel anything?”

Slowly, he raised his arms and after a few seconds of frowning, managed to slightly wiggle his fingers. “I’d say we’re making good progress.” Letting out a breath, he focussed on Twilight. “Thanks for sorting all this out, Twi.” He faced Rarity. “And thank you so much Rarity for fixing me. You don’t know how much I appreciate what you guys do for me.” He smiled. “So, thank you. Both of you.”

A wide smile spread across both of their faces as they simultaneously nodded. “You’re welcome!”

He laughed as they both called out the same thing together, and faced his hands once more. Just a bit longer, and soon they’d be usable again. Although, he was under strict orders to take a few days off of the physical magic training. He didn’t think that was a bad thing though, besides, any training was good training, even if it was only meditation and general maintenance.

Not long after that, and Rarity continued her healing, leaving Rob time to let his mind wander. Twilight oversaw the whole operation, and occasionally flicked through a book; something to both kill the time, and be productive.

It wasn’t long before there was a knock on the front door, which interrupted the procedure. Twilight expected it to be Spike, and set off to answer it, but as Rob found out upon Twilight returning, it was Vinyl.

Complete with her usual shades, she strolled into the room without a care, and before anyone had a chance to say anything, threw a small white thing at Rob; something which out of reflex, he caught. The first thing he and everyone else noticed was how easily he’d managed to catch whatever it was that she’d thrown. The second thing he noticed was what exactly it was that she’d thrown; a small white rabbit.

He looked up at her quizzically. “And this is…?”

She shrugged and took a seat next to Rarity on the floor. “I dunno. It was in my room when you came over the other week, and you were looking at it a lot while I was being all moody about my parents.” She chucked, “Heck, you even carried it all the way to the studio… Not that I think you noticed…”

He stared at the small cuddly animal in his hands, and vaguely remembered it from her bedroom. “And it’s ok for me to have this for…?”

“Saving the kid and bravery… and stuff like that.” She flicked her glasses onto her forehead. “Look, it’s like a get-well present or something, and I didn’t have anything else to hoof…”

“You live in a million-dollar mansion, and you had nothing else to hand…” He sighed. “I’d have settled for some booze or maybe a lump sum of cash…” Laughing, he leaned over and ruffled the DJ’s mane. “Cheers, gal. I’m glad you thought of me!”

She smiled, “Course I do! You’re my favourite human!”

“I’m the only human…”

“That too!”

Twilight soon interjected, “And Vinyl, how did you know he was here?”

“I saw the small dragon dude while I was out in Ponyville.” She rolled her eyes up in thought. “Sprinkles…? Skippy…?”

“Spike?”

“Yeah! Spike! And he was telling me about what you guys did yesterday!” She looked over at Arc. “You sure do get into a lot of crazy stuff, don’tcha?”

He nodded. “You don’t know the half of it…”

“So yeah, the lil’ guy knew that we were friends, and told me all about it. I went home and dropped off my shopping, and came right over here!” Leaning back, she concluded her story.

“That makes sense.” Twilight spoke for the group’s mutual agreement. “Also explains why he’s been gone for so long…”

Once again, Rarity set about healing Rob, and got to work with her magic. In the meantime, Vinyl entertained them with stories from the business; from drunken escapades to funny fan stories. Rob spent the entire time looking down at the small rabbit she’d given him. If he thought about it hard, aside from Celestia’s amulet, this was the first physical gift he’d received since he’d been here. The fact that it was a small toy didn’t matter.

After that session of healing, Spike was back, and with him were Applejack, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

The group from the study had reconvened in the main area of the library, and were now sprawled around on the furniture; Vinyl was lounging in a recliner under the window, Rob and Rarity were crammed next to Twilight on one sofa, and Applejack was sharing another with Spike. The three fillies took the floor next to Moondancer, and sat facing the others in the room.

Clearing her throat, Twilight began the discussion. “Ok, so I bet you’re all wondering what you’re here for.” She looked at the fillies. “I presume Applejack and Rarity have already given you three some sort of lecture about all of this, and so that’s not what I want to talk to you three about.” She faced Rob. “With your help, my knowledge and those three, I would like to try and work out more about what actually happened down there.”

“Just ask them what ya need, Twi.” Applejack responded.

Nodding, the unicorn sat up straight. “First, Sweetie Belle, you spoke about copies, correct?”

The filly nodded.

“The books never spoke of anything like that… But Arc found them too.” She pondered for a moment. “So… the webs… they make copies of things they’ve seen out of their webbing?”

“It was weird… I was talking to Apple Bloom but when I turned around to look at her, there were two of her!” Scootaloo piped up, buzzing her wings energetically. “And then one hissed and I knew that wasn’t Apple Bloom…” She looked at Sweetie Belle and turned her head down sorrowfully. “We ran…”

“Hey, kid. Sounds like you did the right thing if you ask me.” Vinyl looked over her shades at Scootaloo before slouching back in her chair. “I mean, you’re all here safe and sound. That probably wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t run back and told these guys.” She poked a hoof at Rarity, Arc and Twilight.

Gulping, the small pegasus shrank back down in her seat. “It still feels bad though…”

Apple Bloom patted her on the back as Sweetie looked at her sympathetically. “Don’t worry about it too much… They never would have found me if you hadn’t run.”

The onlookers smiled. “She has a point, darling. You did the right thing.” Rarity paused. “Not that I think you should have been in that mine in the first place.” Arc watched as the three children all backed away and sunk down. “But we’ve been through that already.” The fashionista concluded as she winked at Applejack.

The room was silent for a moment, before Rob spoke up. “Twi, I’ve been meaning to ask you. That spell; what was it? It was amazing!”

She sighed. “It was strenuous, I know that much…” Sipping at her drink, she began explaining. “It was actually a few spells being used simultaneously. I needed to get you out, and I had no other way.”

“But what were the spells?” He looked down at her.

“Well, one was a vibration spell. You obviously heard that one. The next was a filtration spell to shift the focus away from the potential weak spots on the walls of the cave, and the third was an illusion; the one you saw me using to direct the spiders back into the cave.” She shrugged. “By themselves, those are all easy things, but… doing them for that long, on such a big area, all together is really hard…”

“I can imagine…” His eyes widened for a second. “Wait! Just before getting out, I remember looking over at Twilight. I mean, Rarity was above me, and Sweetie was over by Twilight. Where was Moondancer?”

“Oh! Pick me! Pick me!” He deadpanned the crimson maned unicorn on the floor.

“Ok, Moondancer, you’re up.”

“Yes!” She pumped her hoof in the air. It amused Rob to see that even the fillies next to her were shaking their heads. “Well, you see, after Sweetie Belle came out of the mine, Rarity sent me back here to get Applejack and Rainbow Dash.” She began to blush, “It’s not that I’m calling you heavy or anything Arcky~ But… I can’t carry you by myself!” Rob cringed as she began to squirm.

“Anyone else wanna carry this on before Moondancer makes the carpet sticky?” The human propositioned the others in the room.

“Not particularly, Arc. Especially not after what you just said.” Rarity commented.

Rob found it hard not to laugh as he watched the little southern filly turn to her big sister. “Why would she make the carpet all sticky, Applejack?”

The glares he got back from the aforementioned big sister soon calmed him down though. “Err… no reason Apple Bloom, just a figure a’ human speech, that’s all.” Her stare intensified. “Ain’t that right Arc?”

He chuckled. “Yeah, pretty much…” Rubbing his forehead, he smiled at the filly down on the floor. “Don’t worry about it.” She returned the smile, and went back to chatting with her friends before Rob broke her off. “You know, I was telling Twilight about that, you three. I saw another one of you Apple Bloom, only… well. It was a shell.”

“A shell? Like a turtle?” She panned her head in confusion.

“Hah, no… like when a snake sheds it’s skin.” He laughed again. “But you say that when you first saw them, they were animated? I was under the impression to begin with that they just laid the clones as diversions. I mean, I’d sure have been distracted if I saw Twilight again in that mine. I’d have run straight at her, and if she was a clone, anything could have popped up behind me and killed me.”

The trio gulped. “Y-yeah, they were just like us but they couldn’t speak.” Scootaloo spoke.

“Yeah, then… how?”

No one was able to answer the question.

“One’a the things Ah’d like ta know is how in the hay you survived down there, Sweetie Belle?” Applejack asked from behind the girls, on the sofa.

“I just… hid. But I’m white and they could see me, so after falling down into a hole, I got covered in black stuff.”

“That’s the coal.” Twilight butted in, to which the filly nodded.

“It made me black and they sort of couldn’t see me if I stayed still.”

“How did ya get split up though? I mean, no offence girl, but, I’m amazed things ended up going so well down there.” Arc butted in.

“When they came, Ah ran one way with Scootaloo and when Ah looked back, Sweetie Belle was gone!”

“We just got split up!” The small pegasus and the earth pony looked at each other and nodded.

“I ran back into the mine and down one of the tunnels. I don’t know where though… I got lost down there. At some point, I slipped and fell into the coal, and from then on, I just walked around, looking for a way out. I hid when I heard any noises.” The small unicorn looked down. “It was pretty scary… But I saw the light! And it was Twilight!”

The group nodded. “I suppose that all makes sense.” Twilight found herself commenting. “From what I can work out, the spiders followed Apple Bloom and Scootaloo only so far – they wanted the superior numbers. They turned back after realising that one was already trapped and easy prey.” The mare smiled. “Lucky for us, they’re pretty stupid creatures.

“Why not just use the web? Or the paralyzing stuff?” The group looked to Spike off to the side, who shrugged. “What? It just makes more sense.”

Twilight smiled at here assistant. “You’re right. You’re all right. Everything we’ve said here makes sense, and yet, those spiders did things that just don’t make sense.” She sighed. “I guess we’ll never know.”

An hour or so passed, with Twilight interrogating each and every one who was at the mine; Arc included. Apparently she was going to write up an action plan for the Canterlot council, and try and get them to check the mines out for any further Arachne infestation. If there was one thing they all agreed on, it was that they wished nothing like that ever happened again.

Time passed and soon enough, ponies started leaving.

“Well, guys,” Vinyl rose from her chair and stretched. “I got places to be and things to do, so I’ll catch you all later, alright?”

A few goodbyes were given and Vinyl left, with Applejack and Rarity following soon after. Twilight had enough things to report on, and needed nothing more from anyone at that moment, so she’d sent them all home. Evening was arriving, and only the three fillies remained in the library.

“You said you’d play with us!” Three voices rung out simultaneously.

“I did. But that was before you all dragged me into a giant pit of death.”

Rob watched as three sets of ears flopped over.

“We’re sorry…”

Smiling he bent down and placed his arms around Scootaloo’s midsection.

“Wha-!?”

After the initial shock, and then the wriggling, the small pegasus found herself being rubbed up against the humans face and he pressed himself into her belly.

“You’re just so fluffy!”

“Put- me- down-!” She managed to blurt out after each rub.

Eventually he released her and she gently buzzed to the floor. He fixed his gaze on the other two. “So who’s next?”

“Fine… Ah’ll do it.” The small farm pony nominated herself and stepped forward into the clutches of the human, who repeated the procedure once again.

“I do love filly face towels, they’re just so soft!” He placed Apple Bloom back on the floor. “Ok Sweetie, come here. You get the biggest hug and rub yet, seeing as you’ve caused me most of my trouble lately…” He reached out towards the fully and lifted her up, pulling her in tight for a cuddle. “And you’re just so snuggly!”

She giggled as he stroked her stomach, prompting Apple Bloom and Scootaloo to roll their eyes down on the floor.

“Ya sure ya ain’t enjoyin’ this a bit too much there, Sweetie Belle?”

“It- it tickles!” She replied to her friend amongst bursts of laughter.

The two more grounded fillies simply sighed as the humans assault continued.

Eventually he released her and faced the three fillies. “Ok, that makes us even for all the crap you’ve put me through this week. But yeah, the offer from before still stands; I will at some point spend time with you and help you get your cutie marks or whatever…”

He felt a deep sense of happiness as three large smiles spread out in front of him. One very loud “YAY!” was called, and immediately, the trio bolted for the door, apparently satisfied with what they’d gotten.

Before turning around, he called back after them, “And don’t do drug- Aaah, what’s the point.” He shuffled over to the open door and closed it as the chilly breeze threatened to invade the library.

Peace was once again restored to the library, and Rob set off to go back to his bedroom, saying a quick thanks to Twilight and Spike on the way up.

“Twi, a quick word.” The human drew her aside and into the kitchen. “You’re sure than no one here is a clone?”

Her face turned stern. “Yeah, I checked them all. None of the fillies are clones, and you aren’t. Rarity and Moondancer are fine too. That’s everyone, right?”

He looked at her, “Yeah… it is. Aside from you.”

She smiled, “I thought you might say that. Look, I’m me, and besides, those creatures couldn’t even speak, they just hissed, right? I can’t be one of them.”

“Still, I wanna test it.”

“You can’t do the spell.”

“Look over there for a second.” He pointed out of the window behind the unicorn, prompting her to turn around. The next thing everyone in both the library and it’s near vicinity heard, was the sound of Twilight yelping out in surprise as a hand came down roughly on her behind.

“The hay are you doing that for, you… you… idiot human!?”

He made a quick escape.

The plan was to do some meditation training and maybe go to bed early. He had work in the morning, and with all the stuff that had happened over the past few days, he was pretty tired.

Soon enough, he reached his bedroom and went in, throwing himself upon the bed as soon as it was in sight. The gentle sheets enveloped him and he relaxed, sinking into it.

“Oh god… why do I have to have work tomorrow…?”

He moaned as that Sunday night feeling came over him.

“You can’t do me a favour and just not raise the sun, right? Make today just another day longer, so that I can fully rest and feel better for the impending day…”

“… … …”

“Bitch… I’ll kill your family!”

“Excuse us!?”

“Oh, not you Lulu, maybe some other dildo down the royal line…”

“What’s a dildo?”

“I’ll show you one day, but for now. Sleep.”

He felt the connection drop, and mirrored it, rolling over and falling down onto his pillow. For a while he simply stared at the ceiling above, finding patterns in the faint paintwork as it spiralled around the room. Part of him wanted to go and stand back out on the balcony, but another side of him remembered Twilight’s words. He knew just how angry she’d be if she caught him sleeping outside again.

He was broken out of his reverie by a faint knocking on his bedroom door. Sighing, he craned his neck to peer judgmentally at the entryway. “Yeah, come in.”

“You sure it’s ok?” He heard Moondancer whisper from behind the door.

“Suppose so.”

Closing his eyes, he heard the door open and close again. Soon enough, the sensation of movement down by his legs forced him to raise his head again.

Internally sighing, he watched as Moondancer crawled up closer to him. Just her being close made his heart beat faster. It didn’t help that her mane was draping along behind her, tickling up his arms as she moved further up the bed.

“Didn’t we go through this, Moondancer…?”

She stopped and looked over at him with a gentle smile. “I know but, I was going to go home again tomorrow and… I didn’t want to leave without doing something special.”

He nervously laughed… “And… you think I’m something special?”

Licking her lips she advanced once more. “I do.”

“How do you expect me to say no, after what you said the other night…? It’s not fair…”

“Nope.” She tugged gently at his shirt with her magic. “It’s not.”

Shivers ran though his body as she slowly stripped him with her magic. He just let it happen, watching her the whole time, and staring into her sapphire eyes. Her gaze was determined and compelling, he just sank right into it, as if ethereal and completely under her spell. He wanted something - he wanted her. He just didn’t know if it was the right thing to do. Something about her affection was addictive, but, venomous in contrast. He didn’t know what to do.

Thoughts danced around his head as she continued to work her magic, crawling up onto his chest. Pushing her away seemed wrong, and yet… leading her on wasn’t right either.

“Moondancer…” He placed his hands up onto her shoulders, noticing that he was bare-chested. “Are you sure this is ok with you…?”

She smiled and nodded, moving forward to lie on his chest. “Yeah… so much.”

Grasping her chin, he pulled her up to face him. “Then… fuck it. I don’t know what you see in me, and I don’t know why you want this, but… I also don’t know what your heart feels, and that’s all that matters, right?” He leant down and kissed her on the lips. “I’m yours for the night I suppose.” He let out a breath. “If you’ll have me?”

Leaning forward, she kissed him back and gently smiled.

“I will.”

Author's Note

Next section will be the final part of this chapter 14 business by the way. Any errors you people see, let me know. I'm one of those stupid people who writes and publishes without a proofreader!

So yeah, the next part. It WILL be 99% clop.

Yes, you can skip it, if you dislike that kinda thing.

NO this won't be happening every time I want to write clop. It just so happens that on this occasion, it's convinient for me to do so.

Cheers for reading, guys and gals!

...Not that I think I have any gal readers?