"You've met Rainbow before, but have you met Spicy?" Rarity got hold of herself as she realized she was technically a host of this party. Gesturing over to the growing ring of couches that'd become a fixture of the apartment, she realized her nose felt a little funny. "Inebriated…"

Limestone nodded and let herself be led by a (compared to her) tiny college girl. "Yeah, I saw Rainbow at the little briefings that Navy wingnut wanted. Also saw both of them at the—uh—"

"Oh, yes, you took over things nicely there. I might not have approved of such things before that day, but after what they did to Applejack, they deserved a little rough treatment." Clearing her throat, Rarity managed to get Spicy and Rainbow to look up at her. "Spicy, this is Sonata's friend and Pinkie's sister, Limestone. Limestone, this is Spicy—Rainbow's very significrant other."

Rainbow looked up at Rarity, noticed the beer in her hand, and smirked. "Hey, Limestone. Have you heard anything about the FBI goon they had investigating all this magic stuff?"

It took Limestone a second before she let out a sharp laugh. Sipping her beer, she shook her head. "I don't know what dipshit they sent here, but we got a memo from on high that we were on eggshells with you guys. We figured it was best to leave the heroes alone and deal with the bad guys to get answers first. When they didn't play nice, I came to Sonata for help."

Rarity now could feel her nose wanting to twitch and wiggle. Thinking it a good idea to settle it with what it wanted, she took another sip from her drink. Each mouthful she'd had so far tasted better and better, though she wasn't having any thoughts toward emptying another can as fast as she had the first. "Sonata's been telling me she had a special job."

Looking at her options on where to sit, Rarity felt in a huggy-mood, though with Sonata still working on the food her choices were limited. She knew Rainbow wouldn't want to, and felt she didn't know Limestone well enough, which meant she had one choice. "I hope you don't mind, darling, but I need to hug someone about now."

With Rarity settling onto the couch beside him, Spicy was a little surprised when her arm circled around his shoulders and pulled her closer to his side. There was a certain amount of unity he felt with her—he was gay, she was a lesbian, so a hug meant nothing. "I get that, but you're not getting the full experience."

Limestone watched as Spicy stretched a leathery wing out and pulled Rarity closer to him with it. "I didn't know you guys were all so close."

"Them?" Rainbow snorted a laugh and brought her can of cider to her mouth. With her snout, she couldn't drink directly from the can—which is why she had a straw. "They're literally too similar to ever get far. Glad to hear you don't have anything to do with them. The other agency, that is."

Sitting down on another couch, Limestone struggled with how normal and yet how strange everything and everyone was. Rarity had a horn sticking out of her head, Rainbow was literally a small pegasus, and Spicy had a big pair of bat wings on his back and looked like he'd just stepped out of an industrial metal band's music video. "We're more focused than the FBI. We just deal with magic stuff happening. My boss has been really worried about more mind-whammy bullshit happening, but it turns out I'm kinda the best guy for that job."

The taste of alcohol in the cider was not really hitting Rainbow all that hard, though she noticed Rarity was giggling more than normal. Figuring Spicy would take care of Rarity, Rainbow kept chatting with Limestone. "Huh?"

"Well, we were doing some training and it turns out whatever your magic did to me to give me ears, also made my head like a rock." Limestone liked the comparison. "Ask Sonata how hard it was trying to get me to think anything new."

Carrying a tray covered with tacos, extra salsa, guacamole, tortillas, and several kinds of cheese, Sonata set it down on the coffee table before looking at Rarity snuggled against Spicy. "That looks comfortable."

"Hey, the more the merrier." Spicy stretched his wing a little wider to make room for Sonata. "Oh, and bring us some tacos."

Passing a taco to Spicy, one to Rainbow, and carrying two more over to sit beside Rarity, Sonata paused before biting into her taco. "Oh, and don't even get me started on how hard it is to mess with her head." Surrendering the conversation to someone else to continue, Sonata bit into her taco and shivered in delight.

Rainbow was about to complain about Sonata not using her mind-control for more fun things, but bit into her own taco and the words were gone from her. It was fiery, but not too much. Everything tasted amazing and made her just want to relax and eat. So she did.

"You know, if you had a truck selling these, I'd drive across town three times a day to buy them from you." Limestone could appreciate the food for how much better it was than rations she'd gotten in the Army.

"You're not the first to say that." The thought was good fuel for Spicy, who had been packing his head full of business ideas lately. "What do you think, Sonata?"

"Huh?" Sonata had her hands full already trying to keep Rarity from getting a little too affectionate with guests around. Feeding her a taco turned out to be her best defense. "You mean actually starting my own truck? I'm not sure if you've noticed, Spicy, but I kinda like working for you."

Waving his hand in the air, Spicy looked Sonata in the eyes. "Right, but let's say someone got you a taco truck and let you run it during lunchtime. Would you like that?"

Gulping down the mouthful of taco she was eating, Rarity looked her girlfriend in the eyes and earnestly said, "I think he wants to buy you a taco truck."

"I was thinking of leasing her a truck," Spicy said.

Sonata was surprised to be hemmed-in by Rarity and Spicy. "Okay, firstly, no more beer for you until you've sobered up a little." She tried to take the can off Rarity, only to find it empty. "Oh no, now I have to keep you distracted." Sonata's deadpan earned her a few laughs from her friends, but she had to think carefully. "So, business partners, then?"

"I might need to find some more people to work in the shop, but I was doing that already with planning the new location and the warehouse." Shrugging his shoulders and using his wing to squeeze Rainbow a little, Spicy took another sip of his cider. "It's a growing business."

"Why don't you just give it a try, Sonata?" Rainbow asked. "What have you got to lose? We'll pick up any losses—not that there'll be any, I know your cooking." Leaning forward, she stretched a wing out to grab her second taco.

Cuddling Rarity to her side, Sonata looked around everyone present. "You really all like them that much?"

"Mmhmm," Rarity mumbled. "I'd like to eat your taco right now."

Everyone froze at hearing Rarity's words, but it was Limestone who laughed first. "I wouldn't put it like that, but you make great food."

"I'll put money on it." It was a surprise—even to Rainbow—that she'd been the one to say that. "I mean, I'll put down the cash." She turned and looked up at Spicy, then stuck her tongue out.

Spicy shrugged and kissed Rainbow on the tip of her nose before she could pull her tongue in. "Thanks for offering to help screen new workers for the shop."

"Eh. I'd probably have done that anyway. It's kinda funny how easily some people just accept me while others can't deal with this." Using one wing to gesture at her chest, Rainbow brought her taco up and took a bite. "So good…" she tried to say, only, when Rainbow said it with a full mouth, it came out more like "foe food."

Sonata had to fight not to cry. Since the first time she'd met Rainbow—after the mess at her school—Rainbow had stood at her side. "You guys are the best."

Limestone wasn't too talkative, which suited her. It was easy enough to relax with the small group and just share the odd story here and there. She was surprised how quickly it got late and, with it raining outside, she had no clue what she was going to do about getting home.

"Need a lift home?" Spicy asked.

The question snapped Limestone out of her fugue and she looked over at Spicy—feeling every single one of the beers she'd drunk. "Yeah."

"No probs, let's get a taxi. I don't really feel up for driving, and Rainbow isn't going to be driving until tomorrow at the earliest." Standing up, Spicy drew his wings back from Sonata and Rarity (who had sobered up a little since her first rush of alcohol) on one side and Rainbow on the other. "Spicy to Rainbow Dash, are you mobile?"

"Huh?" Rainbow jerked up a little. It wasn't just the alcohol that made her sleepy. Since she'd become nearly completely a pony, she'd noticed her metabolism burned in fits and starts. Though, being woken up reminded her that her body was hungry for something other than a taco. "Can we, uh, go home now?"

Reaching into his pocket, Spicy pulled his phone out and used an app to order a ride. "Yeah, just organizing that. We'll help Limestone out too. I don't want to leave her in the lair of a pair of drunk lesbians—who knows what will happen?"

Now knowing Spicy well enough to judge when he was joking, Limestone snorted and stood up too. "Not me. I like dick way too much for that." The one thing she hadn't been getting a good reading on was Spicy. He seemed to her to be into Rainbow plenty enough, but the pair of cute girls under his other wing didn't even seem to register to him—and neither did Limestone.

"Ah! A girl after my own heart." Spicy helped Rainbow to her feet. "You good, babe?"

"Witness the superior advantage of four legs!" Laughing at herself, Rainbow walked carefully toward the door. "Not sure if I can stop, though."

"Don't. We need to go downstairs and wait for our ride." Following Rainbow, Spicy left Sonata and Rarity cuddled together—apparently oblivious to everything around them. "I think we all needed this."

The fact that their wing-blanket was gone actually stirred Sonata and Rarity from their snoozy cuddle. Rarity lifted her head first, thoughts still a little thick thanks to the beer. "You're leaving? But it's only—" Reaching for her pocket, she pulled out her phone. "… only one A.M. Huh…"

Rainbow did manage to stop, right at Limestone's feet. She looked up and up and up to see Limestone's face peering down at her. "You're way cooler than that—that…"

"The FBI agent?"

"Yeah! Her! She was a real bitch. Didn't get me at all, didn't even try, then insulted me. But you? If you ever need help, just ask. I don't know if you know, but I'm like super loyal to my friends and stuff—A princess told me I was. So just ask." Even with four feet on the floor, Rainbow wobbled a little.

Limestone could have kicked her new friend. Princess. Either Rainbow was referring to one of a handful of royalty in the world—or she was talking about another alien from that other world. She looked to Sonata and sighed. "Yeah, and I'm trying to be as loyal as I can too. If you ever feel anyone messing with your head or doing stupid shit, give me a call."

Opening the door, Spicy beckoned Rainbow, which gave Limestone a moment to look back at Rarity and Sonata.

"Sonata, I hate to have to say it, but I'm going to need you to tell me everything you can about this princess, but it can wait until tomorrow." Yawning, Limestone marched for the door, leaving a rapidly sobering Sonata and Rarity watching her back.

"On a scale of one to ten, how bad was it that she knows about Princess Twilight?" Sonata asked.

"Darling, if I could count that high, I'd have studied math more."

Author's Note

President Hurricane: Judging from the current state of your new 'students', do you ever expect some level of physical changes among staffs/students at your university from now on?

"Well, I've asked the girls to keep from any impromptu—or organized—concerts on school property. I've also spoken to the authorities and they tell me that with that unfortunate event taken care of, things should be back to normal in Canterlot." With his enthusiasm on full display, it was hard to tell if Hurricane believed the lie himself, even knew it was one, or had another motive.

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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Awesome ponies who are already helping to keep me in keyboards and rum:
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Canary in the Coal Mine
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