Moonlit Eternity

Chapter 12

"Gilda?" Rainbow Dash said, astonished and slightly perturbed at the sight of her former friend. She was wearing a blue uniform and a sailor's hat. The griffon walked toward Rainbow slowly. Rainbow prepared herself for any kind of altercation that could arise between her and Gilda, due to their previous falling out. Intead of an attempted punch or kick or an insult, Gilda took Rainbow Dash in a quick friendly hug, further suprising and confusing the pegasus. Gilda let go and stepped back. "What are you doing here?" The Pegasus said.

"I work here on the ship." Gilda responded. "I figured that I might as well try to get a job and stop wasting my life goofing off."

"Yeeeaah..." Rainbow said, turning around to walk away with her friends. Gilda put a hand on her shoulder.

"Wait, Dash." She said. Rainbow turned around and raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Dash said, narrowing her eyes. "The last time a saw you, you treated my friends and I like crap. You think a little hug can make it all better? What could I possibly have to say to you?" Gilda cleared her throat nervously.

"Yeah, I know how I acted..." She said. "I'm...look, I'm..." Gilda cleared her throat again." Rainbow raised an eyebrow and looked at the Griffon. Gilda gulped. "I'm sorry, okay? I shouldn't have acted that way. I really want to be friends again...honest." Rainbow sighed and nodded. Gilda smiled at this show of acceptance.

"It's alright. I guess we can let it go." Rainbow said. Twilight Sparkle stepped forward and smiled widely.

"I'm glad we can all make amends!" She said, offering a friendly hoof. Gilda shrunk back slightly, not used to such forward friendliness from ponies she didn't really know, but nonetheless, reached forward and shook her hoof. Applejack stepped forward and patted Gilda on the shoulder heartily and smiled happily.

"If ya got the humility to step forward and apoligize, then you're a friend of mine!" The orange mare said. Gilda smiled slightly and looked at Rarity, who also smiled and nodded at her.

"Where are Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy?" Gilda asked.

"Pinkie was attacked by a timber wolf." Rainbow said. "She's in the hospital. Fluttershy elected to stay behind and look after her." Gilda looked legitimately worried at this, even further suprising the cyan pegasus.

"Oh, no. Will she be okay?" Gilda asked. Rainbow nodded. She was, in all candid honesty, astonished at her old friend's drastic personality change.

"Yeah. She's gonna be fine." She replied. 'What's happened to the Gilda I used to know?' Rainbow thought to herself. 'Maybe she really has changed.'

"Well, that's good." Gilda said. "Next time you see them, could you give them my apoligies too?" Rainbow smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I will." She said. Gilda looked to Rainbow's side and noticed the large red stallion with a coal black mane and rich brown eyes. The griffon blushed as she appraised him. Steel noticed this and nervously looked to the side and stepped back slightly.

"Who is this?" Gilda asked. Rainbow noticed Gilda's apparent attraction to her coltfriend and took his front leg in hers.

"This is Steel Anvil. He moved to Ponyville from Manehattan a few months ago." She said before looking at Gilda in the eyes. "He's my coltfriend." When Gilda heard this, her eyes widened as she quckly stepped back slightly and scratched the back of her head.

"Oh, well, that's cool." She said. "Good to meet you." Steel nodded at her.

"Yeah, good to meet you too." He responded.

"So, what are all of you doing going to Griffon Territory?" Gilda asked.

"Holiday." Rainbow said, making up the story as she went along. "We have been planning this for a while, now. When Pinkie was attacked, we were all going to stay there with her, but she didn't want us to. So, at her urging, we went ahead and took the trip. It's a shame, really. Pinkie and Fluttershy really wanted to be here with us."

"Yeah, I get that." Gilda said. "Still, there's not really anything in Griffon Territory that isn't in Equestria."

"It's not really as much for the sights as it is the culture." Rainbow quickly said, in an effort to end the lie before it got too twisted.

"Oh, well, yeah we do do things different here. Where are you guys going?" Gilda said.

"Lost Child Canyon." Twilight responded for Rainbow.

"Yeah. We heard a lotta good stuff about it." Applejack added. Rainbow thanked the goddesses for her quick witted friends.

"And we heard that the food is simply superb!" Rarity said. Steel nodded.

"Actually, Lost Child Canyon is a pretty rough place and the best food you're gonna find there is fried salamander..." Gilda said. "And I'm sure you're all vegetarian." They all nodded.

"Well, shoot!" Applejack said. "Ah gotta few choice words for that travel agent!"

"Agreed. We will get back every single bit from that crook! Why, the very nerve." Rarity added, thrusting her nose into the air. Rainbow nearly laughed at the contrast between Applejack and Rarity's acting skills, but they were seeming to fool Gilda all the same.

"Well, this isn't good." Rainbow said to Gilda, sighing. "I guess we got gypped."

"Ah, well that-" Gilda began.

"Gilda!" Rainbow looked and saw the male griffon that she assumed to be Gilda's manager. "What are you doing standing around? There are other guests on the ship who need to be attended to, you know!" His gruff voice was an assault on her ears. Gilda scowled and looked over at him. He raised his eyebrows. "Get back to work!"

"Yes...sir..." Gilda said, annoyance obvious in her voice.

"You rolling your eyes at me?" He said.

"No." She responded.

"No what?"

"No...sir." Gilda said, between gritted teeth.

"Good. Now get back to work!" He yelled. Gilda looked back at Rainbow.

"Sorry. It looks like I have to get back to work. Mr. Mcdouche over there just wants to keep me busy. He hasn't liked me since day one." Gilda said.

"I understand." Rainbow said and smiled. "Take care of yourself, Gilda."

"Have fun, you guys." Gilda said. "Maybe I could come visit you guys in Ponyville and y'know..." Gilda scuffed her foot on the deck and looked to the side. "Be cool this time?" Rainbow nodded.

"I'd like that." She responded.

"Gilda!" The manager yelled again out of view.

"Oh, shut up!" Gilda responded walking away. She waved to the ponies. "See ya." They all waved back.

"Okay, that's another demerit!"

"Whatever..." Gilda said as she turned the corner. Rainbow chuckled before turning to her friends. Steel had a confused look on his face.

"Rainbow, who exactly was that?" He asked. Rainbow mentally kicked herself for not introducing Gilda to Steel.

"Oh, that's Gilda. She's an old friend of mine from when we went to Junior Speedsters Flight Camp when we were younger." Rainbow evaluated. "She came to visit me in Ponyville a while back, and it was awesome until I found out she was treating all my friends like dirt behind my back. Poor Pinkie Pie just kept trying to be her friend, and she made Fluttershy cry. It was just a shock to me. We just kind of split up and hadn't talked to each other since. But, I guess we're cool now." Steel nodded.

"Ah'm glad Gilda was willin' to apoligize. Seems like the two of you had a whole lotta fun back in the day." Applejack said. Rainbow nodded.

"Yeah, we did. I'm happy it all ended up working out." Rainbow replied.

"It seems this voyage will carry on until tomorrow afternoon." Rarity said, observing the posted schedule on the wall. "Maybe we should find some rooms to stay in for the night."

"Good idea, Rarity." Twilight said. "But where exactly are they?"

"Just ask that tooty-fruity lookin' griffon over there." Applejack suggested. Twilight shrugged and walked over to him.

"Excuse me, sir." She said kindly and politely, immediately making the griffon turn his head and look at her strangely. "My friends and I are very tired. Could you direct us to the rooms so that we could get a good night's sleep?" The griffon scoffed and made a feminine hand gesture.

"You go upstairs, obviously, can't you read?" He said, shooting and pointing claw over to the directory concealed by darkness in the corner of the room. His accent threw Twilight's gaydar into overdrive.

"Okay, geez, sorry I asked." She responded, walking away.

"Just try to get used to being around smarter creatures now that you're in griffon territory, little pony." He said and scoffed again. She stopped dead in her tracks. Twilight Sparkle was usually a level-headed mare. She could take abuse on any subject about her, whether it be her manestyle or her affinity for books, but insults on her intelligence were just too much for her to take lying down. Her neck straightened and her ears perked up and she turned to the griffon, a magical spark on her horn and an angry look in her eyes.

"What did you say?" She said, just above a whisper. He smiled at her and raised an eyebrow.

"What, you're deaf and dumb?" Twilight had had enough of this gay, racist prick. She huffed and walked away, her horn glowing. The griffon chuckled. When she reached her friends they all looked at her.

"Twilight...what are you doing?" Steel asked. Seconds later, they heard a large splash and a high-pitched scream of horror came from the area she had just come from. They all looked over to the source of the noise and observed an adult male griffon that was crying like a baby, his expensive looking blue suit stained blood red by the punch that was splashed down on him by a levitating punch bowl, which proceeded to fall and shatter beside him, making him shriek yet again. Various unicorns in the room were being stared at, due to the bowl obviously being levitated by magic.

"Time to go." Twilight quickly said before ambling out of the ballroom. Her friends immediately followed suit, struggling to keep their laughter under control.

_____

The ponies eventually reached the floor of the ship that had rooms for anyone wanting to sleep. The vacant ones, of course, had green "Vacant" signs on them. The occupied, red. They found two adjacent, free rooms on a walkway in the light of Luna's moon. Rarity sighed.

"Alright, everypony. We're here. I think Twilight, Applejack and I should share one," Rarity said before raising a comical eyebrow at Rainbow Dash and Steel, who just happened to be pressed together at the moment. "And Rainbow Dash and Steel get the other." Rainbow blushed and Steel, had he been capable of doing so, most likely would have as well.

"For what?" Rainbow said nervously.

"Oh, I don't know." Rarity said. "Whatever it is couples do these days!" She smirked at them and winked. "Goodnight!" She said as she quickly went into the room. Applejack and Twilight followed her, eyeing the couple and giggling. The door shut behind them and they locked it. Rainbow gulped at the sound of the deadbolt locking into place and at the sight of the small sign switching to "Occupied." She looked at Steel who was tapping his foot and looking up at the moon. Obviously Rarity meant sex, so how would it get to that point? She and Steel had gotten quite hot and heavy in the Everfree Forest at the waterfall, and it most likely would have escalated from there. After seconds of staring at Steel, Rainbow decided to just let the chips fall where they may and just layed her head on Steel's shoulder. There they sat on that balcony, looking up at the beautiful moon, minds wandering. Steel finally broke the silence.

"It still perplexes me to no end." He said.

"What does?" Rainbow responded.

"Pinkie Pie's been hurt, Fluttershy's stayed behind with her, we've lost two of the ponies on our journey, and yet, you all still want to continue on. You want to go out of your respective ways just to help me. You could have let me come alone, but you all insisted on sticking with me. I just find it amazing that you guys would do this...for me." He said. Rainbow kissed his cheek.

"There's no way we'd let you just do this without our support." She said to him. "Even if none of them came, I still would have. Because I love you. That's all there is to it." He smiled and looked at her. His eyes glowed like fire in the night, contrasting the dark ether of the night sky so vividly, they almost drew her into a trance.

"When you're cured, are your eyes still going to glow like this at night still?" Rainbow asked him. He laughed.

"No. Vampire night vision. Sorry. I hope you don't love me any less because of that."

"Maybe just a little bit." She said and they laughed. They embraced and came away from it slightly to look into each other's eyes. They kissed, slowly and lovingly, feeling the moment for themselves, individually. Slowly, the kiss deepened and became more passionate. Rainbow moaned as she felt Steel slowly move his tongue into her mouth. She did the same. They both breathed heavily through their noses, but there is usually only so much of that one can do. They eventually disconnected from the kiss for air. Rainbow smiled and grabbed Steel's hoof. She opened the door to their room and pulled him in. 'This is it! Oh, Goddesses I'm excited.' Rainbow thought as she closed and locked the door behind them as she immediately turned to face Steel again as they reunited in another loving kiss. Rainbow slowly pushed Steel onto his back on the bed. They continued to kiss more and more fervently until Rainbow felt something stiff poking between her legs. Her wings flared as she disconnected from the heated kiss and gasped as she grinded her sex on Steel's organ, buliding her pleasure greatly. Steel groaned as well, throwing his head back. Her natural moisture had began to leak onto his member which had increased friction and pleasure for the stallion. He rolled Rainbow onto her back and began to grind into her more, much to her delight. He leaned down and kissed her neck. She gasped again and breathed heavily.

"That's good..." She said. He kissed her neck again, this time, employing his tongue to further enhance his partner's pleasure. She threw her head back and moaned again. "More..." She breathed. He was having the time of his life. In bed, with the object of his desire, so close to making her his. If his undead heart could beat, it would be breaking from his chest cavity. He felt something elongating in his jaws. His mouth drew closer and closer to her neck. He figured that biting her neck next sounded like a good idea. Suddenly, he realized what he was doing, his eyes growing wide as he threw himself off of her. He fell off of the bed and fell to the floor. Rainbow Dash was jarred from her sexually-aroused stupor and looked at her partner in worry.

"Steel! Are you okay?" She asked. He looked up at her, pure fear in his eyes.

"I almost did it..." He said. "I couldn't help it...it just...took over." He said, sorrowfully.

"Almost did what?" Rainbow asked him. "Baby, talk to me, please."

"I almost fed on you." He said. "I was so close..."

"Oh, Steel, it's okay..." She said, moving back up on the bed toward the back. "Come here." He got up on the bed and sat next to her. She kissed him. "You didn't. That's all that matters. You were able to stop yourself."

"I could have killed you."

"But you didn't."

"But-"

"But," She said, emphasizing her point. "you didn't. That's all I need to know about your restraint...from now on, until we get you cured, I just won't let you get close to my neck when we...yeah." He sighed and chuckled.

"I guess so..." He responded. "And for what it's worth, for however long that lasted, that was great." Rainbow looked down at his stallionhood, which was still throbbing.

"Looks like you're still ready to go to me." She said with a giggle. He smiled at her.

"Well, yeah..." He responded, rolling his eyes. She smiled at him and raised an eyebrow seductively. She moved to the front of the bed and got into the mating position. She looked back at him.

"Well, here I am." She purred.

_____

Rainbow Dash awoke the next morning feeling fulfilled and happier than usual. She wondered why exactly this was until she recalled the events of the previous night. The sex had been among the greatest that she had ever had. Steel had exceeded her expectations and made her feel like a queen. She sighed as she snuggled into her lover's arms.

"Morning, beautiful." He said to her. She leaned up and kissed him.

"Morning yourself." She responded. "Okay, look, I just wanna get this off the table. Was the sex that good because you're a vampire?" Steel laughed.

"I don't think so." He responded. "Some of the marefriends I've had moaned and screamed a lot like you did back when I was normal." Rainbow felt shivers go up her spine.

"Okay, okay, okay...let's not talk about your old marefriends..." She said.

"Oh, don't worry, Rainbow." He said, taking her face with a hoof. "Out of all of them, I love you the most by far." She smiled and kissed him.

"Damn straight." She responded. They layed there for what seemed like only a few minutes before they heard a rapping at their door. Steel went and answered it to find Rarity.

"Where have you two-" She stopped herself when she caught a glimpse of the messy bed and the messy maned pegasus laying on it. Rainbow's eyes met Rarity's and both of thier eyes went wide. "Oh." She said. Steel immediately blocked the doorway.

"Is there something I can do for you Rarity?" He asked her through a toothy, faked smile. Rarity chuckled to herself.

"I just thought that I'd tell you we're nearing Griffon Territory. We'll board a train when we get there to Lost Child Canyon. Be ready to dock!" She said before trotting off. Steel shut the door behind her and fell forward onto the bed, his hooves on the back of his head. Rainbow's eyes were wide and she was blushing heavily.

"That wasn't-" She said.

"Yes, it was." He replied, muffled by the sheets.

"Did she-"

"See you and the bed? Yes, yes she did."

"She's never going to let us live this down." Rainbow said, sighing and shaking her head. "Let's go ahead and get ready."

Obligatory End-of-Chapter Author's Note: Eeeyup. This is my shortest chapter so far. But, seeing as I'm hung over and would like to get some sleep, I think it'll be okay. Yes, yes, I am well aware that I skipped the sex. The reasoning for this must seem extremely obvious. A sex scene with an OC and an existing character is very widely hated on this site. Hell, even shipping an OC with an existing character is hated and seeing as how I already pissed some people off with the premise of this story in general, I'm hard pressed to include some romantic sex. I am always eager to please my readers. But, if you guys want some romantic clop between Rainbow Dash and Steel Anvil sometime in the future, tell me and I'll consider it. But, anyways, in other news- F*CK YEAH!!! FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC SEASON THREE HAS BEGUN!!!! Please feel free to leave a comment on what you think of the story so far. Cheers!