The Convoluted Life of Gleaming Shield

No sooner had Gleaming’s head finally hit her pillow then she was pulled rudely from her blissful sleep by what sounded like somepony pounding quite loudly upon her front door.

Nuuuh, Anon. Wait, please. Come back. Groggily, she nuzzled her pillow. Lost in the fuzzy haze that comes in the state between sleep and wakefulness, she tried to commit her quickly dissolving dream to memory. Tears gathered in the corners of her closed eyes as the images slowly faded away into nothingness, leaving only the feeling of longing and loss behind.

P-please, don’t leave me…

The banging resumed.

Gleaming growled into her pillow as the noise caused the rest of the dream to slip through her hooves. Having now completely lost what she had been desperately trying to hold onto, she cracked open an eye only to groan upon seeing a beam of sunlight creeping through a gap in her curtains.

“Ugh… how long was I asleep?” she slurred.

“Oh, I’d say about three hours. Give or take.”

At the sound of the voice, Gleaming stiffened. With growing dread, she slowly turned her head, only to find a bubblegum pink mare floating in the air beside the bed. A bored look on her face, she was staring at her bat wings, the claws of which were cycling through a variety of colors—purples, golds, blacks, cyans.

Upon noticing that Gleaming was looking at her, the magic around the mare’s horns ceased and the wing claws returned to their original white ivory.

Cadance smiled warmly. “And judging by the current state of your bed, it must have been a tasty three hours too!”

Confusion rolled through Gleaming until she shifted. She winced as her flank settled into a very wet—and very cold—spot. Upon throwing back the sheets, she found the source. “Oh, ew. Really? Why me?!” Grimacing, she opened her hind legs wide. They remained stuck together momentarily before spreading, her inner thighs connected by multiple long, thin strands of a clear, viscous substance.

“That is one of the best cases of morning dew I’ve ever seen,” Cadance whistled.

“I just cleaned these sheets!” Gleaming whined as she eyed her soaked thighs. She glared at the mess in annoyance before there came more hammering that echoed down the hall from the front door. “Oh, for the love of…” Balling up the sheets, she used them to clean herself up as best she could before rolling out of bed and exiting the room.

“Can’t catch a bucking break,” she grumbled as she trotted off down the hall.

Cadance floated curiously along behind her.

“So, is that usual for you?” she asked innocently. When Gleaming glanced back at her in confusion, she waved a hoof about. “You know. All gushy like that? Moister than an oyster? Cause if so, I’m super excited about this relationship. It’s so hawt watching mares exploded like miniature geysers.” Her eyes became hooded and she bit her bottom lip hard as her whole body trembled. “Mmmm, yes.”

Gleaming endeavored to ignore her.

Reaching the door, Gleaming released the deadbolt and cracked it open a few inches. Before she could put her eye to the crack and figure out who was so intent on waking her up so early, the door was flung open suddenly, sending her staggering backward.

A figure slipped inside while she was stunned and slammed the door shut behind itself.

Fear flared up in Gleaming’s chest as she recalled the information she had learned yesterday. Thoughts of cults and assassinations filled her mind and, heart pounding in her ears, she charged up her horn. Just as she was about to release the spell, the glow of her magic glinted off of something on the top of the intruder’s head.

Gleaming immediately relaxed.

Placing a hoof against her chest, she let out a shaky breath. “By Celestia’s perky tits, String. I almost blasted you!”

“Yeah yeah yeah, whatever.” Adjusting her tinfoil hat, String Board hurried to the window and peered out through a small gap in the blinds. She eyed the streets below nervously. “There was a mare following me. All the way back from Saddle Street. I think I lost her, but I’m not entirely sure.” Letting out a yelp, she ducked down below the sill for a moment before returning to the gap. “She thought she was being sneaky, but I’m too smart for that. I mean, there’s barely anypony out this early in the morning, so it’s easy to spot somepony tailing you.”

Still half-asleep, Gleaming paused in clearing her eyes. “Wait… you were being followed?”

“From Saddle Street, yes.” String nodded as she continued staring intently out the window. “An older unicorn mare carrying several unmarked bags.”

“String…” Gleaming groaned. “Saddle Street is in the shopping district. As in shops and stores and stalls. And she followed you from there to here. To where several apartment buildings are located.” When String gave her a blank look, she shook her head. “She probably lives in one of these buildings and was just doing some early morning grocery shopping.”

String scoffed before returning her attention to the outside. “Oh please. The sun is barely up. Who goes shopping this early in the morning?”

“The elderly?” Gleaming offered. “Normal ponies who leave their houses more than once in a red sun?” She paused for a moment before blinking. “Wait, no, hold on. Back up. We’re getting off track. What are you even doing here?”

Cadance, who had been silently hanging back throughout the whole exchange drifted forward at that. She circled String Board, eyeing the new mare with interest. “A nice piece of flank barges unbidden into your home and your first reaction is to inquire as to why she is here? Tragic. Simply tragic. Just sit on her face already and be happy for the comfy seat. Best not look a gift horse in the mouth.”

Gleaming winced as String began to turn around. Why the fuck would she say that out loud?! Her brain whirred to life, trying to come up with an explanation as to who this lewd pink mare was and why she was there. She had almost put the finishing touches to some harebrained story about her being a distant cousin (twice removed, of course) when String turned around completely and proceeded to walk straight through Cadance without giving her a second glance.

Gleaming’s brain short-circuited.

“I’m here because I found some more information you might find interesting,” String said in a calm voice as if she hadn’t just walked completely through a grown mare She adjusted the straps of her worn-down saddlebags. “It took quite a lot of digging to find this stuff, but I managed, as I always do.”

Still trying to process what was going on, Gleaming tried to compose herself. “Y-you managed to find more stuff on Primae Noctis?” She was only half-listening for an answer. Instead, she was glancing between the oblivious String Board and Cadance, who was currently studying String’s rump with the intensity of somepony appraising a piece of priceless art. Is she just ignoring her, or can she really not see or hear Cadance?

“Well of course she can’t hear me,” Cadance scoffed with a roll of her eyes. “I’m not bonded to her. She can’t hear me, see me, or feel me. And I can’t touch her. Which is a real shame.” She sighed as she gazed wistfully beneath String’s tail. “Trimmed mares might be more hygienic and aesthetically pleasing, but that forest right there is just begging to be explored. Thoroughly.”

Almost choking on her own saliva, Gleaming fought to keep the blush off her face. She tried to focus on what String was saying. “No, I haven’t found anything more on Primae Noctis yet. It’s been less than a day. My moles need time to dig up some information. No, that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about… why are you looking at me like that?”

Gleaming tried extremely hard to ignore the fact that Cadance had her face buried in String’s rump. Literally. As in her head was inside String’s backside. “Oh my! Her ovaries are raring to go! Look at all those eggs just begging to get fertilized. She’s a born-to-use broodmare if ever I saw one!” came the muffled voice.

Oh sweet Celestia, why is this happening to me?

“N-no reason,” Gleaming answered quickly. She fought back the mental images that were crawling up from the dark, perverted recesses of her mind. Her face felt like it was on fire, as did her own backside. Unconsciously, her tail thrashed against her hind legs. “S-so then… what did you find?”

String Board gave her a suspicious look before motioning towards her barrel. “I found out more about that mark on your crotch.”

At this, Cadance straightened up and pulled her head free. “Oooh, she found what now?”

Gleaming stared at both of the mares for a long moment before sighing heavily. Lighting up her horn, she opened the nearby coat closet and pulled out a purple scarf. “Don’t get comfortable, String,” she said as it wrapped itself around her neck. “We’re going out.”

String paused in pulling out her notebooks from her saddlebags. “Wait… we’re leaving? To where?”

Pushing the mare out the door and locking it behind herself, Gleaming growled. “If I’m going to have to deal with all of this right now, I’m going to need breakfast. And some coffee. Lots and lots of coffee…”