Fizzlepop was a young girl playing ball with her friends. It was a fun time, with the innocence of her youth filling her up until she couldn't help but giggle. Then an older boy had arrived and took their ball.

"Give us our ball back!" the young Fizzlepop had demanded.

"What're you gonna do about it?" the bully had replied, and when Fizzlepop tried to rush him to get the ball, he'd sidestepped and let her trip.

Screaming in anger and pain, Fizzlepop had jumped to her feet and rounded on the bully—her fists swinging wildly.

Even in her dream she could remember when one flailing hand made solid contact—and at her height it was just right to fold the bully over. She grabbed the ball, but the bully had gotten up again and grabbed her.

Sunset winced at the violence and nudged Fizzlepop forward.

High school. Fizzlepop as a sophomore, more focused on good grades and making friends than anything else, spots two students approach each other. One passes the other a bag of something and then cash is exchanged.

"What are you doing?" a teen Fizzlepop demands as she marches over to the boy who took the money.

"Buzz off, twerp."

Planting her knuckles on her hips, Fizzlepop glared up at the senior. "Or what? You sold him drugs, didn't you?"

"Want some advice?" When Fizzlepop didn't respond to his question, the older male stepped closer so he could tower over her. "Why don't you go and get fu—"

Fizzlepop had learned that punching for the groin was less than honorable, but the gut was a fine target. As the taller boy folded over, she punched his hand that was reaching for something. When his knife fell to the ground, anger overcame sense. "You were going to stab me?!"

The ruckus had drawn attention. Students and a teacher walked over in time to see Fizzlepop kick the older boy in the leg and then start beating on him.

It was one of Fizzlepop's happier memories of high school—it had confirmed in her mind who she wanted to be.

"Next? I think next." Sunset pushed the memories on.

The scenes fell into a montage. Fizzlepop studying hard through high school, graduating in the top ten of the school, attending a police college and being picked up by the FBI's recruiting arm.

It had felt like destiny. She'd used her smarts and sometimes brawn to defeat the bad guys while making the country a safer place for all the good guys.

There were flashes of times she'd seen people with extraordinary powers helping to keep the peace. Fizzlepop had passed them off as vigilantes—problems for the FBI to deal with.

Then there was her arriving and seeing the bloodbath Adagio Dazzle had caused. Finding an off-duty soldier having apprehended them had made her feel pride that the good guys had done good, but then she'd found out about the Rainbooms and about Sonata Dusk.

The siren had shaken her world. A type D threat, Fizzlepop had hated to hear her superior demand she leave the case alone. She couldn't, though. This was an itch that Fizzlepop had to scratch. When the complaints about her treatment of Rainbow Dash had eventuated, she'd taken the initiative to attend the same college as the Rainbooms to get to know them and—"

Sunset let go of Fizzlepop's hand. "You didn't mean to show me that, did you?"

Fizzlepop slumped into her seat. "No. I didn't think it'd go that far. The point is I—I don't know anymore. Sonata has messed up my tight little worldview. She's not a bad guy."

"The sirens have—" Fizzlepop had to bite down on her words, mostly because the history of the Dazzlings was incomplete. "We were ordered to drop the case. Someone from an agency higher up the pecking order than the FBI told us to back off. No, I can't prove who, I only know that someone is paying a lot of attention here and—"

Sunset reached for her door handle. "And it's like a scratch on the roof of your mouth. You can't stop but itching at it. Look, tomorrow, after class, meet up with me again and I'll introduce you to Sonata—if she wants to, of course. She's walked a dark path, Fizzlepop, but she's grown stronger for it."

Biting her lip again, Fizzlepop shook her head—not at the offer, but at the fact she was willing to go ahead with it. "Yeah. Okay. I'm not an idiot—I can see there's a hole in my knowledge here. My boss, my coworkers, and even you are saying she's not a monster. So, show me."

Pulling the handle and opening the door, Sunset liked Fizzlepop's ability to handle such a weird situation but still be open. "Will do." The rain was welcome to Sunset. It washed away the emotions of the odd life experiences she'd picked up from Fizzlepop and let her retain the scenes themselves free of the strong emotions of an angry little child, a furious teen, and a spicy adult.

The rain wasn't even a problem for her. She walked slowly inside, fully intent on a warm shower to wash away the chill. Opening the front door, she saw Pinkie Pie standing there with a grin on her face. "Hey, Pinks."

Pinkie wasn't looking for an ambush tonight, she just wanted a hug. Reaching out, she wrapped her arms around Sunset and pulled her close. Even Sunset's breasts—pressed tight against her—failed to be as comforting as just a good hug. When Sunset returned the hug and pulled her closer, Pinkie finally let out her breath and sighed. "I needed this."

"You know what I need?" Sunset asked.

Her eyes locked on Sunset's, Pinkie just raised an eyebrow.

"A warm shower."

Pinkie's ears couldn't have perked forward if she pinned them there. "A snuggle-shower?"

"Of course, but just us two this time." Laying a kiss on the tip of Pinkie's nose, Sunset tried to resist kissing her more and only barely held back her urge by reminding herself that if she got carried away it would only delay the shower.

Slumping, Pinkie let out a little whine. "But Gummy loves it in there."

"This isn't getting me my shower…" Sunset pondered her options and then she turned a little in Pinkie's grip, moved one arm behind Pinkie's butt, and picked her up. "This should work."

Pinkie let out the most girlishly happy squeal of her life and kicked her legs in excitement.

Sitting in the living room, Marble lifted her head and watched Sunset carry Pinkie past. She still didn't like actively beginning conversations, but she didn't feel the constant need to flee to the basement anymore.

Marble wished she could ignore the excited giggles and moans that came from the pair before they closed the bathroom door. It was late enough in the day that she would need relief shortly, but not so late that she felt compelled—at least, she hadn't before hearing Sunset and Pinkie.

The front door opening again urged Marble to raise her eyes from her tablet again. She watched as a surprisingly dry Twilight walked in and paused. Then Thunderbolt leaned in and kissed her.

It was a moment Marble hated. She'd spotted the pair having sex more than once, and despite her aversion to actual sex—it had looked like a lot of fun. Now, with her mind focused on it, she felt her body grow aroused at the idea.

"Hey?" Thunderbolt asked when he saw Marble. He cleared his throat—something that would have bathed Twilight in fire if he hadn't kept his mouth closed. "Hey!"

The louder shout broke Marble from the funk she'd been in and made her look at Thunderbolt. She also realized her hand had been massaging one of her breasts. Shaking a little and blushing, she felt like running from the room.

"You wanna have some fun?" Thunderbolt had started to learn how to better get his intentions across, and that revolved around letting the other person put their own interpretations on it. When she looked more like a deer in headlights, he took a slow breath. "Would you like to fuck?"

"Thunderbolt!" Twilight rolled her eyes and looked over at Marble. "Sorry about him, he gets—"

"Y-Yes." The word fell from Marble's mouth before she could stop it, and once it was out she had no idea what to do about it. She watched as Thunderbolt stuck his tongue (his split tongue) out at Twilight.

"Sometimes people think too much. She didn't want to admit it when I gave her the interpretive way, which meant I needed to clarify." Thunderbolt stepped further into the house, keeping on all fours as he'd learned was best indoors.

Marble shook her head and tossed her tablet to the couch beside her. "Wait. Hold up. I didn't—"

"You don't want to try?" Thunderbolt asked.

Snapping her mouth closed, Marble found herself conflicted. On one hand she had heard Twilight howl like a banshee while Thunderbolt screwed her, on the other she hadn't planned on having sex—ever. "M-Maybe we could—I just don't know if I want to—Could I just try some things first?"

Smiling, Thunderbolt nodded. "Sure. Anything in particular?"

Marble's eyes drifted to Twilight and, despite having spent a few intimate times together with her, was still reluctant to talk about those kinds of things with someone else around. "C-Can we talk alone about it?"

Letting loose with a rumbling purr, Thunderbolt pointed toward the back of the house and the covered patio with a wing-claw. "Shall we?" It was normally one of his favorite spots when it wasn't raining so much, though covered as it was, it was at least dry.

Standing, Marble left her cozy corner spot on the couch and followed Thunderbolt outside. The rain, she realized, would muffle their voices perfectly. "So…"

"You don't want to fuck, do you? It's the thing in your head making you want to do something." As he said it, Thunderbolt watched Marble seem to deflate a little. "It's okay. I'm not exactly a good fit for a novice, either."

"What do you mean?" Marble asked.

Rolling to his side, Thunderbolt showed Marble his belly and his extended hemipenes. "Rainbow says it's like getting fucked by two lamp posts."

Eyes widening at the sight of him, Marble realized why Rainbow would say something like that. "You're huge."

Rumbling like the biggest cat ever purring, Thunderbolt couldn't help but smile. He looked at Marble, mentally undressing her and imagining the curves of her body. "You're gorgeous."

Not much else could have made Marble blush quite as much. She felt like running and hiding, but there was something utterly safe about being with the dragon. When she didn't reply immediately, it felt like the silence was deepening and she had no idea how to stop it.

"At least, I think you are. You're wearing a lot of heavy clothes." Flicking his tail, Thunderbolt reached out with a wing—slowly—and ran the leading claw down Marble's sleeve (taking care not to harm the clothing).

Of all the places Marble had expected him to touch her, just stroking her arm hadn't been it. She'd gotten an image of Thunderbolt as a sex-hungry monster, but he seemed so gentle. "I don't like showing off."

"Would you like to just cuddle?"

The question surprised Marble, as all of Thunderbolt's words had. She thought about it for a few moments, about how her body seemed at odds with what her mind wanted. Without replying she crawled closer and pressed herself against his chest.

Wrapping a wing around Marble, Thunderbolt brought his tail up on the other side of her, careful to keep her away from his vent.

The horniness was annoying, but being able to touch someone without any expectations of sex appealed to Marble almost as much as hiding in her room with a vibrator. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. I also wanted to ask if you'd be able to help me with biology."

That made Marble jerk in surprise. She squirmed a little until her head was free of his wing and look Thunderbolt in the eyes. "You're studying biology?"

"Yeah. I want to get my high school diploma, and vice-principal Luna has built a study plan that will shore me up on the topics I have trouble with." Using the claw on his wing, Thunderbolt gently stroked Marble's long mane of hair. "Twilight said you know biology better than she does."

Marble blushed a little at that. She knew how sharp Twilight's mind was and it seemed crazy to have her say such a thing. But, at the same time, she felt confident about it. "What grade are you in?"

"Vice-principal Luna said my grade level was 'all over the place'."

"Well, what does she have you studying in biology?" The rain and Thunderbolt's warmth combined with her favorite topic to relax Marble. The ache to get some relief faded and she could just talk without worrying what he'd think.

Author's Note

Professor Chrysalis: Why haven't you asked Sunset what kind of power your magical form have? Not curious about it?

"I don't plan to investigate that aspect of things since I don't plan to allow myself be changed again. There was—I had some strange sensations when the event at the game happened. I'd rather not talk about that." Reaching up to her glasses, Chris adjusted them a little higher on her nose. "I don't need a magical form to study my preferred topic, after all."

So I do this "Ask X" thing. X can be any pony within the story. You can ask them anything and they will definitely, hopefully reply. Keep the questions appropriate to the age-rating of the stories, and they will answer the best question in the author notes of the next chapter. The more votes a comment has the more likely I will get it to the right pony to answer. Try to keep it to one question per post! They will pick one question per chapter.

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